ANNA
Anna had some ointment in her medical bag, but her medical bag was inside the diner. Right now, it would have been of great use to ease Rene’s pain, but it would be too dangerous to retrieve it from the ruined building. The skin of his neck had sloughed off in thin, wet sheets and every time he moved it hurt him. He’ll get an infection for sure, Anna thought glumly.
The fires started to peter out. The pier had been constructed after an older, smaller pier burnt down. It’d been erected with fire-safety in mind. The gaps between the buildings were sufficient enough that they didn’t fall like dominos and the decked walkway was lined with strips of galvanised steel. The rain, which dawn had brought, only helped to stymy the flames further. The pier was destroyed, but half of it, at least, still stood. Most importantly, the gate still remained in place.
The dead were drawn to fire like bumbling moths. The sound of the initial explosion had drawn them from miles around. Now they lined up at the gate in their dozens. Anna knew that, given time, they would assemble in their hundreds. The gate would fall. It’s all lost. Once the dead get through that gate, they’ll be nothing left but blood and guts come the time when Garfield gets back. There already is…. Losing Poppy is going to break him.
Anna studied herself, examining the blood that caked her from head to toe and the soot that clung to every inch of her clothing. Then she looked at the three bodies laid out in a row on the decked walkway: Chris, Alistair…Poppy. A child.
Anna had seen hundreds of dead children in the past year, but this was the first to truly matter on a personal level. The sight of Poppy’s ruined face burned down right to Anna’s bones, as if the fires themselves had consumed her. Samuel Raymeady will pay for this.
Rene placed an arm around her. It was the first time he’d ever done so. When she looked at his face, she could see that the pain from his wounds was nothing compared to the agony going through his mind.
“This is so messed up,” said Jimmy, limping over to the railing. “What are we going to do? We’ve got the dead on one side and those boats on the other. What do we do?”
“We should all head down to the beach,” said Samantha. She walked down the deck towards the sea and the others followed after her. “We’ll have to go along the shore.”
“That’s probably our only option,” said Anna. “We can’t go into the village. Not with all of the zombies arriving. We’ll have to trek down the beach and try to find somewhere safe.”
“What about Garfield?” said old man Bob. “He’ll be back soon. If we’re all gone….”
“He’ll have to look for us,” said Anna. “Better that than he finds us all dead. We can’t wait for him. For all we know, he might never make it back. Who knows what the foragers ran into out there?”
The thought made everyone drop their heads in sadness. One day ago, they’d been a family, safe and sound. Their only danger each day had been irritation at each other. Now it had all gone to pieces in a heartbeat. Their home, their family, had been torn to shreds. Surviving long enough to find the pier in the first place had been a miracle. None of them could hold out much hope of finding another sanctuary. They would probably all be dead soon.
Anna stared out at the frigate. Now that morning had arrived, it looked like the queen bee at the centre of a hive. A hundred smaller boats surrounded it and Anna had no vessel of her own. The only way to get to the frigate was to sail to it, but any of the boats in the fleet would likely just finish their captain’s job and kill her. Please, God, don’t let me die without taking that tyrant with me. He can’t get away with all he’s done. If what Tim said is true….
Something caught Anna’s eye as she stared out at the fleet. One of the boats was coming closer. It was a small yacht, piloted by a man. Rene went to speak but she nodded before he had chance. “I see it. Probably someone come to finish us off.”
“What should we do, Anna?” old man Bob asked.
“Arm up and get ready. We didn’t make it this long to go down without a fight.”
Tim was sitting on the deck with his legs dangling over the collapsed edge of the walkway and his crutches lay across his lap. He said it was easier on his back to sit down. Now he was pointing to the small yacht coming their way. “I don’t think it’s coming to hunt us,” he said. “Look.”
Anna did as Tim asked and looked harder. As she squinted, she made out a man piloting the boat. He looked harmless enough: shaggy brown hair atop a benign face. It was the two people standing either side of him that made him seem completely unthreatening. “He has two children with him.”
“And a dog,” said Tim. “And it’s way too small to be an attack dog.”
Anna nodded. The little dog was more like a longhaired rat than a Rottweiler. The two young girls standing beside the man were about Poppy’s age and both were waving their hands. Anna frowned in confusion. “Get weapons,” she said. “I don’t trust anyone at this point.”
Everybody nodded and went and fetched whatever they could find. Luckily, most of the pier’s weapon stockpiles were close to the gate, which was at the untouched front end of the pier. Once they all returned they looked like a huddle of gladiators.
The yacht came closer and Anna saw that its passengers looked even warier than those on the pier. The man at the wheel kept his daughters close to him and seemed to be speaking words of caution, if the grave expression on their faces was anything to go by. Anna knew her own face was unfriendly, her expression hostile, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t about to trust anybody on a boat.
The unknown man waved a hand. “A-ahoy! Is…is anybody hurt?”
Anna snorted. The man had a French accent, which made him sound cultured and intellectual, but the words out of his mouth were stupid. “What do you think?” she said. “Your captain just bombed us.”
The man looked embarrassed. “I apologise. That was stupid of me, yes? I…I do not know what has happened to you, or why the Kirkland fired at you, but I am here to help if I am able. Is there anything I can do?”
“Yeah,” said Anna. “Piss off!” Rene grabbed her wrist and gave her a chiding look. Anna sighed and rethought her approach. “I’m sorry. Your captain has ruined us. Some of our people are dead because of him. That makes you our enemy.”
“I am no one’s enemy,” said the man. “My name is Hugo, and I am worrying that my great captain is a bad man, no?”
“He is evil,” said Tim. “I used to be on that frigate, but when I left he sent a man to kill me and bombed this pier when he found out I was here.”
Hugo puttered the boat the last few feet so that he was directly underneath them. His young daughters looked hardened by life at sea, but they also had that naïve innocence that only young girls possessed. Poppy had had it too.
“I do not know who you are,” Hugo told Tim, “but if these people are guilty only of knowing you, then the captain’s actions are most wicked. My boat is too small to take you all aboard, but I can spare supplies, maybe pass on a message to the captain for you. Perhaps he will accept surrender.”
“Sod the captain,” spat Anna. “And sod surrender.”
Hugo winced. “Please, madam, my girls…”
“Sorry,” said Anna.
“It is okay. I understand. I wish only to see you safe. Ask of me what you will and I will do what I can.”
“Give us your boat,” said Tim.
Anna looked at him and frowned. Hugo frowned, too. “This I cannot do for you, sir. It may not be much, but the éternuer is my home. My daughter’s home.”
“We only wish to meet with the captain and discuss terms of safe surrender,” Tim explained. “You will have your boat back within the day.”
“No, I am sorry.”
Tim went to argue, but Anna put a hand up. She was beginning to form ideas of her own. “We don’t need your boat, Hugo. We’ll give you terms of surrender to deliver to the Kirkland for us. No one else has to die today.”
Hugo nodded. “I am glad to help
in this.”
“We need to sit down and discuss it first,” she said. “Our home is a little battered right now, but we have plenty to drink and some fresh fish. It might be a bit overdone after the fires, but we will gladly welcome you as a guest while we decide the content of our message to the captain.”
Hugo’s face fell and suspicion washed over him. “I…I do not think that would be a good idea.”
Anna smiled. “I understand you don’t trust us, but we are not the bad guys here. How long have you been at sea?”
Hugo sighed. “Many many months.”
“Then come aboard for an hour and feel the ground beneath your feet. Let your daughters stretch their legs and your little dog sniff something new. It’ll do you all good. I promise we’ll do nothing to harm you and we cannot take your boat without your keys, anyway.”
Hugo’s daughters both muttered to him. From the look on the man’s face, he was obviously being nagged. He looked up at the pier anxiously. “We will come aboard, but please, I beg you, do not show yourselves to be bad people. My faith in men has been badly damaged these last few days, and I cannot cope with more badness. My daughters…”
“Are beautiful,” said Anna. “And we would never dream of treating them as anything other than friends. Climb up, Hugo. We would usually drop down a rope, but with the struts in the mess that they are, it’s pretty easy to get up without.”
Hugo nodded. “Oui.”
The Frenchman’s hands were shaking as he helped his daughters climb up from the yacht. He’s afraid of us. Afraid for his daughters. But he’s desperate enough to take the risk. Anna and old man Bob helped them up, while Hugo attached the yacht to the pier. Once he finished tying a large mooring knot, he hoisted up the little dog, which wriggled and yipped! “Be careful with my little Houdini,” he said. “He has not made new friends in quite a while.”
Yip!
Anna managed to hang down and grab the little dog under the flanks. Old man Bob held her from behind and yanked her back with the animal in her arms. She set the dog down and watched in amusement as it spun in a circle of disbelieving excitement. Within seconds, the small hound was sniffing the ground and peeing up the railings. Make yourself at home, champ.
Hugo switched off the yacht’s engine and pocketed the keys. He grabbed a hold of the pier’s twisted struts and pushed himself upwards. Anna grabbed him by the hand and yanked him up over the edge. As soon as his feet hit the deck he smiled.
“Feel good to be on solid ground again?” Anna asked him. Don’t get too used to it.
Hugo bounced a little. “I can feel it in my knees. It…it has been too long. Thank you for allowing me into your home.”
“What’s left of it,” said Anna, waving a hand over the burning debris of the more unfortunate buildings. “We’re going to have to move on soon.”
“I am sorry for your pain. These are my daughters, Daphne and Sophie. This little man is Houdini.”
Anna patted the friendly dog on the head and smiled at each of the girls. That was when Hugo leapt backwards and almost fell into the sea. Anna grabbed him just in time. “What is it?”
Hugo pointed down the pier at the gate. “The…the dead.”
Anna chuckled. “They can’t hurt us. The gate will hold them for now. Don’t worry, you get used to them. I suppose you haven’t seen the dead much from the sea.”
Hugo shook his head. His bottom lip quivered. “Are they everywhere? Is nowhere safe?”
“This place was safe,” said old man Bob. “Until your boss destroyed it.”
Anna sighed. It was not Hugo’s fault. She could tell that the man’s concern for them was genuine. There was nothing to be gained by giving him a hard time. But I don’t have a choice. “There are some safe places, but they’re hard to find, Hugo. We’ll move on from here soon and look for someplace new. Somewhere with thick doors and a way of finding food. You can come with us if you want.” Would he want that? Is the fleet really so great?
When she made the offer, both of Hugo’s daughters looked at him expectantly. Hugo stammered for a second, but declined the offer. “A bad idea, I think. I must keep my daughter’s out of harm’s way.”
“I understand,” said Anna. “Worst thing in the world is seeing a child hurt, wouldn’t you agree?” We’ll see what you truly think of it in a moment.
Hugo nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. I cannot let anything happen to my young ladies.”
Anna patted the man on the back and started him moving. “Let’s go and decide what we’re going to give the captain. Here, this way. We can rest a little.”
Anna led Hugo and his family down the deck and past the burnt-out diner. Hugo looked worried as they moved closer to the zombies at the gate, but his anxiety turned to abject horror when he spotted the three bodies lying in a row. A hand went to his mouth and he looked like he was going to be sick. Both his daughters started to cry, while Houdini sniffed at the bodies and backed away.
Anna cleared her throat. She felt bad for what she was inflicting on the French family. “You’re a guest, Hugo, so you should meet all the family. Allow me to introduce you to Alistair, Chris…” she stepped forward and pointed down at Poppy’s partially-burned body. “And this little angel is Poppy. She’s nine. How old are your girls, Hugo?”
Hugo swallowed and spoke in a voice thick with saliva. “E-eight and nine.”
Anna pursed her lips. “Same age. What a coincidence. I’m sure Poppy and your daughters would’ve gotten on really well. Pity she’s dead. Your captain burnt her to death.”
Sophie and Daphne sobbed and buried their heads in their father’s chest. Houdini barked. “Why are you doing this?” Hugo asked. “You…you promised not to harm us.”
“We’re not going to harm you, Hugo. You have my word. All I’m trying to do is show you why we need your boat.”
From the look on Hugo’s face, he didn’t understand. “My boat?”
Anna nodded. “You need to give us your boat, Hugo. We won’t take it from you, but you need to give it to us.”
“Why?”
“So we can sail to the Kirkland and give ourselves up,” said Tim, obviously understanding the plan that Anna had already formed in her head. “Samuel wants me,” he continued to explain, “so Anna will take me aboard and hand me over. She’ll be brought aboard to speak with the captain. He’ll want to thank her – and gloat about the fact he’s battered her into submission.”
“Then I’ll kill him,” said Anna, “and make sure that no more little girls have to die. You’re a father, Hugo. What would you do if this were your girls lying here? What if Samuel decides one day that your daughters belong to the fleet? Samuel needs to be stopped. Give us your boat and I will give him what he deserves, and believe me it goes much further than this. He’s responsible for much much worse.”
“But that’s a story for a different day,” said Tim. “Please help us.”
Hugo was shaking his head. “I cannot give up my boat. It is my home. My daughters need a home.”
“Then stay here with us,” said old man Bob. “There’s another dozen of us due back soon. We’ll all set out together and find somewhere safe. Somewhere without a captain making all the decisions about who lives and dies.”
Hugo’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. He was faltering.
“Give them the boat, papa,” said the older girl, Sophie. “I don’t want to go back out to sea, ever. Just look how happy Houdini is?”
They all looked at the little dog, which was happily squeezing out a turd at the side of the deck. When he saw them all looking, a strange expression of pride seemed to come over him.
Hugo sighed. He’d gone white as a sheet. When he reached into the pocket of his jeans, his hand was shaking like a leaf in the wind. He pulled out his keys and handed them over to Anna. “I pray I do not regret this.”
Anna shrugged. “No more than you would staying with the fleet and witnessing senseless slaughter whenever it takes the captain’s
fancy.” She turned to Tim. “We’ll leave in a few hours, so get some rest and make your peace. We’re not going to make it back again.” She nodded to Hugo. “Thank you.”
Hugo nodded back, but the uncertainty was written all over his face. “You are welcome. Good luck to you.”
“I am coming, too,” said Rene. “We started this journey together, Anna. I would like to end it that way.”
Anna gave Rene a hug. “You’re always welcome by my side. Just make sure I kill that son-of-a-bitch before he kills me, then I can die happy.”
“I promise,” said Rene.
“I would like a cup of tea if you have one,” said Hugo, wobbling on his feet and growing pale. “And perhaps something to eat for my girls.”
“I’ll see what I can find you folks,” said Old man Bob. “Come on, follow me. We need to gather together what we can, ready for the journey.” Everyone agreed that was a good idea. They all headed over to the Sea Grill to spend their last few hours together as a family.
GARFIELD
Kirk stopped the minivan next to the chain-link fence and everybody got out. There was an entrance to the Army base ahead, but the small guardhouse had been reinforced with planks of wood, a huge engine block, an antique cannon, and endless bundles of razor wire – the entire compound was ringed with razor wire. Garfield grimaced when he spotted decaying dead men ensnared in the barbs every hundred feet or so. It was clear that at some point a last stand had been made, but now the place seemed deserted.
The foragers stood in a group outside the chain-link fence, and peered in at the place they’d been searching for. “Didn’t think we’d make it for a minute there,” said Kirk. “She’s quite a place, though, ain’t she?”
Garfield stared through the metal links and found himself agreeing. The base was huge. A wide main road with multiple side roads branching off from it gave the appearance of a small town centre. There must have been close to a hundred buildings, as well as several large open spaces, some of them paved, others just overgrown fields. An Army ambulance lay abandoned ahead and a row of 4-tonne trucks lined up in front of a nearby building. There was also a bright green fire engine poking out of an open shed.
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