by Matt Shaw
“Even so, just wait in the car. Anything goes wrong - just get out of there. Avoid the cities in case they try and flatten any more of them. Stick to the country roads. Head up north where it’s cooler and then start spreading the word about the heat being required for their survival...Okay?”
I nodded. With all the rubbish that’s been happening recently - I can’t believe we’re worried about interacting with fellow survivors as much as we’re worried about running into spiders.
“I’m not going to just leave you...” I went to say that there was no way I’d abandon him there and just drive off if he got into trouble but he cut me off...
“Yeah, you will. You have to. We’ll park up when we’re closer and swap seats. You can drive us in. I’ll get out and talk to them. You see trouble - you just drive off. I’ll be fine,” he said.
I still didn’t agree with what he was saying. If the shoe were on the other foot, I didn’t believe that he would just leave me there. He’d come for me. After all, he took me away from the camp in the first place and, although a little trouble had kicked off, it would have been safe to stay there. He just took me away on the off-chance that something was going to happen. I paused. At least, that’s why I thought he had originally plucked me from the site. Did he do it for his own selfish reasons? He didn’t want to be alone? I looked at him again. His expression was cold and emotionless. Was it always like that? Have I only just noticed it, since the accident with his children, yet it was always there? I tried to shake it out of my mind. Not sure what my brain is trying to do to me or why it even feels as though something like that is important now. It’s not as though I can turn the clock back and refuse to go with him. Besides some good came from leaving. I shook my head again. It’s just my brain trying to find an excuse to ditch him, if need be. Any little thread of a reason to grasp onto. Anything to numb the feeling of unease should it come to driving away from him.
We pulled to the side of the road.
“Okay,” said Ethan, “I’m pretty sure the camp is around the corner so let’s swap seats. You can drive us in. Park near the exit, facing away, and I’ll head up to talk to whoever is in charge. You watch in the rear-view mirror. And I mean it, any trouble, just get out of there. Understand?”
I nodded.
“It’ll be fine,” he said. No doubt he could sense my discomfort. “It’s just a precaution.”
“I know,” I answered.
He opened the door and climbed from the driver’s seat, with the engine still running. I, too, did the same from the seat I had been sat in. A quick exchange and I was in the driver’s seat and he was in the passenger’s.
“Kill the headlights,” he said. I looked at him. He really was worried about the possible outcome of this meeting. He was leaving nothing to chance. I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew something that I hadn’t foreseen. Regardless, I turned the headlights off. “Okay. Ready?”
I responded by putting my foot down, gently, on the accelerator. We accelerated to a steady speed as I slipped the gear stick up through the gears until we were in top gear. I was never the best night-time driver and the lack of light, illuminating my path, made me even more nervous. Just as he had predicted, a couple of miles around the next corner, was the entrance to the camp. It stuck out like a sore thumb with lights, from the various tents, shining into the black night sky.
“Pull in, do a three-sixty and I’ll jump out,” he said. He sounded remarkably cool considering all of the precautions he was taking to try and keep me safe. I did as he clearly instructed and pulled into the field before doing a three hundred and sixty degree turn so that I was facing the exit again. I pulled the car to a standstill and he jumped out. He leaned back in to talk to me, “Remember...”
“I know. Go. Be careful.”
I didn’t want to watch him as he walked up towards the soldiers that I noticed were standing on the horizon. I kept an eye on the rear-view mirror as instructed, the engine running so I could make my speedy getaway if required. All the time I kept thinking...I should have gone. I should have gone. Sure, we could be in trouble for how we left the camp but the fact that I had helped them when I originally got there...It might have been enough to do a little damage control? Certainly more chance than he had considering the fact he had come to the camp under such a dark cloud to begin with!
The soldiers had spotted him. I was able to tell they were soldiers due to their silhouettes; large, men - obviously people who had gone through a strict training regime - and weapons slung over their shoulders, like the rifle we had taken earlier and subsequently left behind. They have spotted him. They’re running towards him. Maybe surprised to see a survivor approach the camp unaided? Maybe they’re running to make sure he isn’t bitten...Wait. No. One of the soldiers has pulled his rifle from his shoulder and is aiming it at Ethan. Ethan has instinctively, I guess anyway, raised his hands in the air to show he isn’t a threat. I should go. I can’t though. Nothing has happened yet. This could just be for show - let them know they are in charge. This is their territory. Suddenly another soldier ran up to Ethan and hit him. I’m not sure whether it was with his fist or whether he hit him with the butt of a gun. It was hard to tell at this distance, and in this light. Regardless, I jumped as it was unexpected. I swiveled around in the driver’s seat, to get a better look of what was going on by looking directly out of the back window. Eyes distracted by something previously unseen in the corner of the parcel shelf though, directly underneath the window. A small ball of spiders, gently pulsating. I’m not sure whether it’s from the car’s engine throbbing underneath them or whether this was normal. I screamed and jumped from the car. A few degrees warmer in there and they could have re-hatched, or whatever they do, and killed us both.
I slammed the car door, just in case they did suddenly hatch into a frenzied, dangerous life again and stepped away from the car. Voices in the distance. I turned to them. Some of the group who had intercepted Ethan were running towards me. Others were kicking Ethan whilst he was already sprawled out on the floor. They remember us alright. Shit! Shit! Shit! I turned towards the trees, next to the field we had turned into. I wouldn’t be able to outrun them if I ran back onto the road but I did have a chance of losing them amongst the trees - especially with darkness on my side and careful, quiet footsteps if they did happen to get close.
Voices telling me not to fucking move. I ignored them as I ran towards the trees. A few steps only before I suddenly froze to the spot, horrified by what I had noticed. On some of the closer trees - balls of spiders. At least six balls going by what I could see in this light and at a quick glance. No doubt there’d be more spiders the deeper into the woods I went. Panic rushed through me along with sickness. I bent over and vomited onto the grass. Footsteps closer behind me. I turned to the soldiers ready to beg them for help, ready to tell them why we had come back, to warn them about the spiders in the car and on the trees if they hadn’t already seen them - and I was guessing they hadn’t.
“Get on the fucking floor!” one of the soldiers shouted. I didn’t recognise him from when I had been at the camp earlier. I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not. His gun was raised to my face.
“Don’t shoot!” I shouted; my hands also raised as though they had the ability to stop any possible bullets from hitting my petrified body. I dropped to my knees. “We’re not bitten!” I told them, hoping they’d be a little more pleasant with their greeting techniques. I warned them about the spiders in the back of the car and, the soldier who was aiming his gun at me still, instructed his colleague to deal with it.
“Get the fuck up,” the soldier barked at me. His gun still aimed at my head. Slowly I got to my knees. “Walk!” he ushered me in the direction of Ethan and the rest of the soldiers who had made up our welcoming committee.
“We need to speak to whoever is in charge,” I told the soldier as he began to push me in the direction I was already walking - perhaps in a hurry for me to join Ethan who was still on th
e floor with the other soldiers surrounding him. A loud explosion from behind me made me jump. I glanced back, still walking forward thanks to the shoves I was receiving. Our car had gone up in smoke. The soldier who did the damage was a few steps behind us, looking at the carnage he had caused whilst laughing and cheering at his effort. I turned my attention back in the direction I was headed. “We have some information,” I told him in an effort to kick start a conversation which may result in them being kinder and, perhaps, doing something about the chaos that’s hatching around us.
“Shut up,” he told me. As I neared Ethan, I was able to see - for the first time - other parts of the camp I couldn’t make out from down by the car. Small fires had broken out. There were bodies on the floor, piled up - mostly of civilians. Smashed windows on the vehicles parked up close to the main tents. Dark patterns splattered on the side of one of the closest tents to where I was. I could hear wailing from someone on the horizon - suddenly cut short by a loud crack which echoed through the night sky. It was clear that something very, very bad had happened here.
Next to Ethan now. The soldier, behind me, pushed me to the floor. Another soldier stepped in front of me. I looked up to him, ready to tell him that we had important information. His face clearly visible when he leaned down to talk to me, face to face.
“Welcome back!” he said. His voice low and sinister. The soldier we had earlier attacked in an effort to get away from the site.
“Please,” I said, “please...I’m sorry about the other day but...We have some information...It’s important.”
Ethan wheezed, “Don’t tell him. Look around. The place has gone to Hell...Fuck them. Let them go to Hell too...”
The soldier suddenly pulled a handgun from where it was tucked into his trousers. An expression on his face I had never seen on anyone before. He raised the gun. I shrieked and raised my hands to my face - again, my brain foolishly thinking they would save me. A loud crack rang through the air once more. Nervously, I pulled my hands away from my face. He had successfully made his point. I looked up, shaking. The soldier was staring me in the face, his expression had yet to change to a calmer look. The gun wasn’t aimed at me. It was aimed to his side. It was aimed...I followed the barrel and burst into tears.
Ethan. Eyes lifeless. Bullet in head.
The soldier was talking to me but I didn’t hear his words. I only heard my own but, even then, I don’t know what was actually coming from my mouth other than shouting, screaming, wailing, cursing. No words were heard. The gun barrel changed the direction it was aimed and pointed at my forehead. I heard my words then. “Fuck you.” A rage burning in me. If this is how quickly humanity changes, in the face of disaster - when they’re sure things can’t be fixed - I don’t wish to be a part of it. Nor do I wish to save it. The weather will change, in time, killing the spiders. I’m sure of that. But not before the spiders kill everyone here.
Soldier is still talking to me. I slowly start to hear him. Something about the easy way or the hard way. I didn’t answer him. He looked towards another soldier, standing close behind me out of my line of sight. I heard the second soldier step forward and turned to see....
D A Y F O U R
T H E E N D O F M Y W O R L D
“Wake up.”
A cold liquid, presumed to be water, splashed me in my face. I opened my eyes and went to sit up. Couldn’t move though, not much at least. My legs tied by the ankle to each leg of an uncomfortable camp bed. Same with my wrists. Two soldiers were standing next to me. One had a bucket in his hand and a smile on his face. The second was the soldier who had killed Ethan. A panicked look around the room. One of the smaller tents. Air conditioning units dotted around, keeping if cool in here. A couple of other beds. Girls tied to them too. One looked my age. The other girl, crying, looked younger. Much younger. Whereas the girl, my age, was wearing underwear - the younger of the women was naked. Her clothes heaped on the floor where they had been carelessly tossed. Even though the older girl wasn’t crying - she still looked as though she feared for her life. Her eyes fixed on me. Perhaps it wasn’t my life she feared for.
“Focus on me,” the soldier said. I did as instructed. “What were you talking about? What information did you have?” I didn’t say anything. I just struggled against the belts which bound me in place, much to the soldiers’ amusement. “Good luck with that,” he laughed. “As you can see, since you were last here, there have been some changes. People were becoming a little restless, blaming us for what happened outside. Some of them started rioting and one thing led to another.” He turned to the second soldier, “You think it’s fair to say things escalated fairly rapidly?” The second soldier laughed again. I couldn’t help myself, I spat at them. The soldier sighed and slapped me in the face. The stinging lasted a few seconds and the initial hit was enough to bring a tear to my face. “Look around you,” he warned me, “you probably want to play nice. There’s about fifty men outside of this tent who have needs which need satisfying. Some of them are a little rougher than the others...Play ball and I’ll see to it that they behave themselves. Don’t play ball, I’ll let them in here one at a time and will continue to do so until you tell us whatever it is that you think is so important. Do you understand me?” I glanced over his shoulder towards the tent’s open doorway. Outside the sun was starting to come up. Another half an hour or so and it would be up fully. Hopefully raising the temperature to such a level that the spiders come from within their little huddle. To think, we came to save everyone from the spiders and now I was hoping they’d save me from the people. “I can’t hear you,” the soldier said - a lackluster way of trying to force an answer from me.
Another man, also dressed in uniform but older in appearance, walked into the tent. “Well?” he asked as he stepped over the threshold. The two soldiers turned to him. No saluting, as I had expected. I guess, now the end of the world is happening, all rules are thrown out. “What’s so important they decided to come back then?” he continued.
“She still hasn’t told us. Not long been awake.”
“Perhaps a lesson to be learnt here, boy. Start killing them after they’ve said what has needed to be said.” The soldier stopped at the foot of the bed and gave me the once over. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking but I didn’t like the ways his eyes undressed me. “You can make this so much easier on yourself,” he said. His voice was lower now. Lower than when he had spoken to the other soldiers at least. “Who knows - if the information is that good - we may even let you out of this tent. Trust me when I say you’ll probably be thankful for that.” I kept thinking about Ethan’s face. Before and after it had been penetrated by the bullet. They weren’t about to let me go. The soldier sighed and looked towards the man with the bucket in his hand still. He nodded towards the older of the two girls, on the beds opposite me. “It’s your lucky day,” he told him, “you get to jump the queue.” The man smiled broadly and dropped the bucket to the floor. The officer, at least I presume he was an officer, ordered the other soldier - the one who shot Ethan - out of the tent before he took a seat on the bed, next to where I was still squirming fruitlessly against the restraints. “Watch...” he told me. I didn’t want to but he twisted my head, with his overly large hands, so there was nowhere else that I could look. I whimpered in his grip.
The other soldier was next to the woman who was starting to panic. He pulled a knife from his belt and cut her bra top and knickers off with a quick flick of his wrist. Like me, she writhed with little point against her own restraints.
“Struggle as much as you want,” the soldier told her, “just makes me enjoy it that little bit more.”
She was begging for him to leave her be. Begging for me to tell them what I knew. Begging. I didn’t want to though. Even if I had, the soldier wouldn’t have stopped what he had so aggressively started with a quick rub and spit between her legs. It wouldn’t have stopped them from doing the same to me either. I knew, just from what they did to Ethan, that they couldn�
��t be trusted. The evil in the camp was worse than the evil nesting in the nearby trees. I just kept wishing for the sun to come out fully. The heat of the day to turn up to the required level. I knew we were safe in here, with the air-conditioning units, but if all Hell broke out beyond the tent...Both soldiers would run to see what was happening. From what I had seen of the spiders, and the amount of people out there ready to be infected once the first bite was made, I knew they wouldn’t survive.
The girl let out a cry of pain as the soldier penetrated her for the first time. The younger girl whimpered where she laid but otherwise did her best to stay quiet - no doubt worried that my lack of cooperation would get her some unwanted attention too.
“He is one of the more gentle of us too,” the soldier said. “Although I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not see...He can make it last for ages. The others, definitely harder and faster than this fine officer, they tend not to last as long. A thoroughly unpleasant experience, I should guess for a fine lady such as yourself, but at least it’s over quickly. Well, I say that, just because they are done - it doesn’t mean there isn’t a dozen or so more officers outside who are ready to fill the gap left, so to speak. Come on, you say you have something important to tell us...So, tell us. I promise, I’ll get you out of this tent if you tell us. If fact, I won’t even leave it at you. These two ladies can leave with you. How’s that? A fair compromise?”
