Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel

by Wright, Iain Rob

  Garfield turned around slowly. There was no one behind him other than Lemon, Chris, Cat, and the two soldiers – certainly no Poppy. Barker and Price were doing clean up, taking out any dead that still wriggled and crawled along the deck. “What are you talking about?” asked Garfield. “Where is she?”

  “The little girl, Poppy. She is lying just there behind you.” The Frenchman pointed. “I am sorry.”

  Garfield looked where the man was pointing and felt as if his stomach was about to explode. Acid rose up his gullet and burned his throat. His breath came out in wounded gasps. There were bodies all around, which was why he’d missed her the first time.

  Poppy was laying in a row of bodies, with Alistair and Chris either side of her. Her face was ruined, blackened and torn, but she was still his beautiful little girl. One of her plaits had come unravelled but the other lay over her shoulder. She looked peaceful. Garfield fell to his knees beside her and cradled her in his arms. She felt so light that he wondered how she didn’t just float away. It was a child’s body in his arms.

  I was so scared of her becoming a woman. Now she’ll never be one. Garfield knew it was his fault. He brought the injured man to camp, then set off and abandoned everyone. He was so fixated on getting guns to protect the pier that he ended up leaving it defenceless. The irony disgusted him.

  He leapt back to his feet. “Who did this? WHO FUCKING DID THIS?”

  The Frenchman staggered backwards and clutched his daughters. The little dog at his feet barked at Garfield, but he didn’t care. He would happily beat them all bloody if they didn’t tell him, right now, who was responsible for everything that had happened.

  Old man Bob had managed to catch his breath and straightened up. Tears streaked his face. They glistened like silver slug trails in the moonlight. “The captain of that fleet is Samuel Raymeady. He is responsible.”

  Garfield showed no reaction. He just wanted the facts. “The richest man in the world?”

  Old man Bob nodded. “Yeah, he was the head honcho of Black Remedy, that company which seemed to own just about everything back before the infection hit. The man you found, Tim, tried to blow Samuel up by planting a bomb on the ship.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he knew Samuel was responsible for everything that happened one year ago. Black Remedy engineered the virus that killed everybody. Samuel planned to start a new kingdom or something, I dunno. It’s all a bunch of bloody drama and fairy tales, but one thing is true: that son-of-a-bitch fired his cannon at the pier and now Poppy, Alistair, Samantha, and Chris are all dead. That ain’t no fairy tale.”

  Garfield clenched his fists, but needed to hear more before he acted. There were names missing from old man Bob’s story. “Where are Anna and Rene?”

  “With Tim,” said Jimmy. “The three of them took Hugo’s boat and headed for the frigate. Anna’s plan is to surrender and then try to take Samuel Raymeady down. They won’t be coming back. It was a suicide mission.”

  Garfield stood stiff and swallowed the lump in his throat. Every fibre of his body wanted to turn around, pick Poppy up and take her away from all this, but he was sure that if he did he would shatter completely and never recover. For now, he had to put Poppy out of his mind. There was a situation that needed to be dealt with. Without word, he left the others and walked down the pier.

  He found sergeant Price standing next to the Challenger. He was stamping his thick army boot onto the heads of any dead men still moving. The deck had become thick with bloody slurry.

  “This the camp you were telling me about?” Price asked.

  Garfield nodded.

  “Shit luck. You know what happened?”

  “Yes, and I know who is responsible. Will you help me?”

  Price narrowed his eyes. “You wreck my home, kill my commanding officer, and then drag me along to a burning ruin.” He laughed. “Yeah, I’ll help you.”

  The man had a point. Garfield had brought him nothing but disaster. “Why will you help me, after everything that’s happened?”

  “Because when that bloody dingo was trying to take my head off with a shotgun, you intervened. You even got shot for it – good thinking with the magazines by the way. You’re one of the good guys – or at least whatever counts for one these days – and whoever caused all this is definitely not. The world is on a knife-edge. It could go either way. Personally, I want to see the good guys win and the bad guys get their arses kicked. You want my help, you got it.”

  Garfield nodded. He wanted to hug the man, but he doubted it would be appreciated. Instead he turned to the Challenger tank. “Will this thing still fire?”

  Price smirked. “Old Betsy? Oh, she’ll do more than just fire. She will rain the wrath of the God’s down upon her enemies. She will shock and she will awe, scorch the earth dry until nothing remains but crust and sand. She can kick some bloody arse, is what I’m telling you.”

  “Good,” said Garfield. “I want you to fire on that Navy frigate out there, the one all lit up like a floating village. The man who did this to the pier is the captain of that boat.”

  Price smiled wider. “You mean I get to shove it to a bunch of Marines? Bleedin’ marvellous. Barker! Load up Betsy.”

  Corporal Barker nodded and got to work.

  DAMIEN

  When Damien awoke, he was surprised to find that the adjacent cell had been filled. He was even further surprised when he saw that it was the woman from the pier and the cripple. Should stop calling him that. I think he had the right idea trying to blow up the Kirkland. Jesus, what am I saying?

  Anna looked broken. The bags under her eyes could have carried bricks and the determined glint in her eye had faded away to a weary sullenness. Despite that, she still managed to make a joke when she saw he was awake. “I hear the room service makes up for the beds.”

  Damien sat up and stared at her through the gloom between the cells. “How the hell did you two get here?”

  “I changed my mind,” said Tim. “I gave myself up, hoping Samuel would show mercy to those who survived at the pier. I feel quite naive now.”

  Damien glanced down at his stump, where the broken shard of his spear lay and felt much the same. He had tried to eliminate Samuel but been found wanting. The captain was far stronger than he looked. “Samuel doesn’t have mercy,” said Damien. “I learned that lesson the hard way, too, so I guess we’re all fools.”

  “I thought you were one of Samuel’s men,” said Anna.

  “I was my own man. Only reason I stayed on this goddamn ship was to keep my friend, Harry, safe. When the infection first hit, Harry and me were close to death. We were floating out in the middle of the sea on a cramped dinghy. Samuel rescued us, so I guess I felt like I owed him. Loyalty only goes so far, though.”

  “You saw what he did to the pier?”

  Damien nodded. “I’m sorry. I…huh, it doesn’t matter.”

  Anna looked at him. There was no defiance in her anymore, not like there had been back at the pier. “Tell me,” she said.

  Damien sighed. “I tried to defend you people when Samuel said he was going to fire at you. I told him you were all innocent, but he gave the order anyway. I didn’t do a thing to stop it.”

  “Thank you,” said Anna. “I don’t think there’s anything you could have done. I should have handed Tim over at the beginning when you came to the pier.”

  “No,” said Damien. “There’s never a good reason to give into bullies. You were right to keep Tim from me. Samuel is the bad guy here. Looks like the bad guy’s going to win, though. We’ll all be dead by the afternoon. Samuel will want to make our deaths part of the morning festivities.”

  “Oh, don’t be so sure,” said Dunn, suddenly appearing. He was swaggering through the brig towards their cells. “I think Samuel may just string your deaths out for a few days, perhaps even a week. The people want blood.”

  Damien stood up and went over to the bars of his cell. “Petty officer Dunn. How’s the nose?”
/>   Dunn’s nose was purple and bent to one side, both his eyes were blackened, but he managed a great beaming smile anyway. “Nothing that won’t heal, Roman, and it’s ‘Lieutenant’ Dunn now. Samuel rewards those who are of use to him. Those who are not end up like you - expired.”

  Damien smirked. “It’s a wonder you can get your nose so far up Samuel’s arsehole after I broke it so many times.” Dunn smashed at the bars with the blade of a bloodstained knife. Damien hopped back from the bars and noticed that Anna was crying. “You okay?” he asked her.

  “That’s the knife he killed Rene with. He doesn’t even have the decency to clean the blood off it.”

  Dunn laughed and held the knife up in front of her like a prize.

  Damien kicked at his bars. “Hey, show some goddamn respect and put that away. You think killing people is a joke? You’re a moron.”

  “And you’re a dead man, so I would spend your last words more wisely.”

  “Go fuck a goat.”

  Dunn hissed and grabbed for the keys on his belt. He pulled the bundle loose and levelled one of the keys towards the lock on Damien’s cell. That’s it. Come inside and I’ll break your nose a fourth time. I just wish I had my sword to chop your goddamn dick off.

  Suddenly Dunn stopped. He started laughing. “You think I’m an idiot? You won’t fool me into opening your cell, so just be quiet.”

  Damien snarled. I’ll get you before I’m through. I promise you.

  Dunn called for two crewmen to appear. Both men were big and burly.

  “Evening up the odds, are you?” said Damien. “You’re gunna need more.”

  Dunn shook his head and sighed. “Roman, you do amuse me. I’m here for the cripple, not you. He’ll be put to death soon, although it may take several hours – maybe even a week. I’m sure you’ll get your turn as well before long. Samuel really does hate a traitor.”

  Anna did nothing while the two crewmen took Tim away. She was a pale shadow of the woman he’d met at the pier. That women would have bitten and clawed until someone knocked her unconscious. She’d put Birch’s lights out without a twinge of doubt.

  Once Dunn and the crewman departed with Tim, Damien turned to Anna and reached through the bars with his one hand. “Hey, you okay? Snap out of it.”

  “Just waiting to die,” she said. “Kind of looking forward to it actually.”

  “Hey, stop thinking like that. You were a proper little badass at the pier. You even made me think twice, so why are you letting a slug like Dunn bother you. They may kill us, but do you want to make it easy for them?”

  Anna huffed and shook her head. She stared down at her shoes. “Samuel Raymeady killed billions of people and got away with it. He’s still killing people now, so what’s the point in fighting? I know you don’t believe me, Roman, but Samuel is evil. He released the virus that destroyed the world. He can’t be stopped. Rene and I tried…”

  “My name isn’t Roman, it’s Damien, and, yes, I do believe you. I’ve seen Samuel taking control for almost the last year. I’ve seen him do terrible things a hundred times over, but I didn’t do anything. I was the same as you: I thought, ‘what’s the point?’ But when he bombed the pier he went too far. A man evil enough to do something like that is evil enough to do anything. I believe he could easily have been the one who released a plague upon the earth. Samuel Raymeady had more money than some countries. If any man could have been behind the virus, it’s him. In fact, I believe that now with my whole heart.”

  “Finally,” came another voice. “You listened to me.”

  Damien span around. “Harry? What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve come to rescue you? Still against staging a coup?”

  Damien leant against the bars and smiled at his friend. “I’m still not interested in becoming the new Grand Supreme Leader, but I’m more than happy to kill the current one.”

  Harry grinned. “Then let’s get you out of that cell.” He produced a set of keys from his jeans and jangled them in front of Damien’s face.

  “How did you get those?”

  Harry lifted up a heavy wrench with his other hand. “Took it off the guard in the corridor. I’m pretty handy with tools, remember?”

  Damien stepped back from the bars and waited while Harry fiddled with the ring of keys. “Hurry up, man. I’ve got a lunch appointment.”

  “I’m trying, I’m trying. There’s like a hundred bloody keys here.”

  Damien turned to Anna. He reached through the bars to her but she was still staring at the floor. “We’re getting out of here, okay?”

  “And go where? We can’t exactly sneak off the ship. Even if we could, the pier is gone. There’s no point. You’re just making it harder on yourself.”

  “Yikes,” said Harry. “Where did you pick up Miss Sunshine?”

  “Leave her alone,” said Damien. “Samuel murdered half her family. We’re taking her with us and she’s going to snap out of it.”

  Anna huffed. “Whatever.”

  Harry was still fiddling with the keys when the two guards who had left with Dunn returned. They saw Harry and immediately started running.

  “Shit!” said Damien. “Get this pissing thing open?”

  “Okay, okay.” Harry fiddled with another key…and then another….

  Clink!

  Damien burst out of his cell and tackled the first guard around the thighs, taking him to the ground and mounting him. He let fly with rights followed by rights followed by rights. His left stump hung uselessly in the air, missing its spear. Eventually the stunned guard managed to fight back. He punched Damien in the windpipe, sending him backwards, spluttering.

  Harry swung his wrench at the other guard’s head but missed and was quickly taken down with a headlock.

  Damien lay on his back, gasping. His throat seized and his breath would not come to him. The guard he’d been battling rose up and stood over him. “I’m gunna mess you up,” he said, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Then he booted Damien in the ribs and knocked out what little air he had left in his lungs. The guard reared back to aim another kick at Damien’s head, but was knocked to the ground when something hard struck his skull.

  Harry dropped his wrench on the floor when the other guard had taken him down. He’d also dropped the keys. Anna picked them up and let herself out of her cell. She grabbed the fallen wrench and flung it at the standing guard’s temple so hard that it had killed him instantly. Now the remaining guard was outnumbered. He let go of Harry’s throat and stood up. He was worried, but still willing to fight. Harry lay unconscious, but Anna joined Damien and put her fists up.

  Damien was just about to lunge at the remaining guard, when he heard shouting.

  Three more guards entered the brig.

  Bollocks.

  “Time to go,” shouted Anna. She threw a haymaker and caught the distracted guard in the chin. His lights went out and he fell to the ground.

  Damien stared at her in awe. “Damn!”

  Anna grabbed him. “Come on!”

  Damien allowed himself to be dragged and the two of them started running. “We need to get Harry,” he said.

  “There’s no time. He’s out. We have to go.”

  Damien glanced back at Harry. The three guards were coming in fast. There was no way to get Harry and carry him out of there. I can’t just leave him. But there was no choice. The three guards gave chase. Damien cursed and sprinted forward, catching up with Anna as she made her way into the next passageway. They ran as fast as they could. Damien knew the ship, so he took the lead, heading for the surface. Several crewmen got in their way en route, but the men were confused and did not try to stop them. Eventually, Damien made it onto the promenade deck at the portside of the ship. “This way,” he shouted at Anna. “If we can get to the aft deck we might be able to steal a lifeboat.”

  Anna nodded. Her steely determination had returned to her and she was once again ready to kick ass. All it’d taken was seeing an ally in danger. The wom
an could not stand by while the guards kicked the shit out of Damien and Harry. If we don’t die, I should take her out to dinner someplace. A nice, run-down restaurant in the wasteland. It’ll be nice.

  Damien and Anna took off down the promenade deck and made it out onto the wide-open space of the aft deck. Lieutenant Dunn and a dozen guards were standing there, waiting to receive them. Dunn still clutched the bloodstained rigging knife, but two of his men clutched iron bars as thick as Damien’s arm.

  Anna skidded on her heels and stumbled into Damien’s back. “What is it?” she asked, but then saw the group of men coming towards them. “Oh, shit.”

  Damien smiled at her. “My advice, go for the balls!”

  “Please! I’ve been kicking men in the balls for as long as I can remember. My advice to you is not to get in my way.”

  Damien sniggered. “Nice meeting you, Anna.”

  “You too, Damien.”

  They turned to face the approaching mob, unarmed yet ready – ready to die fighting.

  Then something struck the ship and all hell broke loose.

  ANNA

  Anna woke up on her back, surrounded by fire and debris. For a moment she thought she was lying on the beach again beneath the burning pier, but then she blinked the dust from her eyes and saw that she was still on the Kirkland. The vast grey ship was listing to one side and as Anna lay on her back she saw the sun rising on the horizon. Dawn had arrived and brought yet more chaos.

  Anna sat up and looked around. Many men were bleeding, some were burned, and lots were dead. Anguished screams filled the air, joined by the wrenching and shifting groans of folding steel. The large open area at the back of the ship was blackened and scorched as if some great meteorite had stuck it. Part of the gunwale was missing and a gaping hole had opened up on one side of the ship. Why do people keep blowing me up?

  Hands grabbed Anna beneath her arms and yanked her to her feet. Her legs were weak and she nearly fell right back down again, but the man kept a tight hold of her. It was the man with the broken nose. Damien had called him Dunn.