by Haywood, RR
‘You can’t stop it!’ Alexander shouted. I only realised he was still there at that point. His face was a mess. Bloodied and swollen. ‘There’s nothing you can do!’
Camilla shot him. Then we were inside the chopper with Frank pointing his gun at the pilot. I blacked out then blinked awake to see mountains below us.
‘Neal, come on,’ Camilla said. We’d landed somewhere. After that was just blurred, and I finally woke up a day or two later in a motel room.
Albert and Camilla were there. Talking quietly. I pretended to be asleep.
‘I’ll go out for food and contact the office,’ Albert said. I heard him leave. Then I heard the shower running and when I peeked out, I saw Camilla walking naked into the bathroom.
I threw my clothes on, grabbed the memory stick and ran out.
That was the last time I saw Camilla, and as much as it hurts, I hope I never see her or Albert again. Just the thought that I was used so easily and to such depth kills me inside.
I quickly used every ATM and bank I could find and kept withdrawing money until I was told there were no funds left.
I stayed beneath the radar and finally made my way to the migrant camps in northern France and paid a lorry driver to sneak me through the Channel Tunnel.
Now. A week or so later, and here I am. A fugitive, I guess. I can’t go back to my life because I know they will find me. I won’t make contact with this Henry either because they can’t stop it. Nobody can stop it. And besides. They’ll only use me for their own ends. Or kill me. This thing runs too deep.
I have a year before it happens. One year to get ready for the end of the world. But I have the list too. The names of the people with immunity.
I know I’m not a brave man. I’m not a soldier, and I have no real clue what I am doing. But those people need to be protected from what comes after the cull. Maybe I could try and find a few of them. Get them to safety or something.
I’m tired now. I need to rest. I’ve rented a secluded property. I’ve got food and everything I need. But I’m exhausted. I still have nightmares too. About that facility. I don’t know what happened to it, or to anyone else. I haven’t been online for fear of being tracked.
I’ll sign off and sleep. But one thing I did realise while I was on the run, is that cars and vehicles won’t last for very long once the end comes. Fuel expires. Engines seize up. I’ll need another way of moving about. Perhaps a horse. Yes. I shall get a horse and teach myself how to ride. The company would be nice too, and I’ve heard that horses are gentle, loving creatures.
Signing off.
NB
11
Day Twenty-nine
Camber Town
The café once again fell silent as I thought back to when we met Neal at the end of the big battle in the square. By the following morning he was dead from drinking contaminated water. We didn’t get a chance to speak properly. To hear his tale, or to know him as a man.
The concepts at play became so complex they boggled my mind – especially in that heat, and so I once again wiped the sweat from my forehead while those around me did the same and absorbed what they just heard.
Carmen kept her head lowered, staring at her hands in her lap as Jess, the gentle loving creature that she is, grew bored of being outside and clip clopped into the café, smacking chairs and tables aside until she reached the counter where she picked up a large carton of oat milk, and burst it between her teeth before setting about licking it up.
‘Poor sod,’ I said quietly to a few agreeable murmurs. ‘He got seduced by that Camilla then chose the most violent horse that’s ever lived before meeting us and getting killed. Talk about bad luck.’
‘Howie,’ Paula snapped, giving me a hard look as Marcy slapped my arm.
‘Ow! What was that for?’ I asked before spotting Carmen staring at her hands as the penny finally dropped. ‘Oh shit. Sorry, Carmen.’
‘It’s okay,’ Carmen said quietly.
‘I feel awful now. Was Camilla a friend of yours?’
‘Oh, my good god!’ Paula said, shaking her head at me. ‘Have you turned into Cookey?’
‘Huh?’ Cookey asked. ‘What did I do? But yeah, shit. Sorry, Carmen. Was she your mate?’
‘You bloody idiots,’ Marcy said. ‘She is Camilla, and that’s Albert,’ she added, pointing to Frank.
‘Eh, what?’ Frank asked, blinking awake. ‘We having more coffee are we?’
‘You can be really insensitive sometimes, Howie,’ Marcy said.
‘But… No way, were you Camilla?’ I asked. ‘With the mayonnaise on your ear.’
‘Howie!’ Paula snapped as Marcy swiped at him again.
‘No, I just meant. Like. I didn’t mean-.’
‘It’s fine,’ Carmen said again.
‘But er, blimey,’ I said, nodding slowly as everyone looked at me. ‘Syringe in the eye. Best kill ever. Then face-planting the other guy on the counter.’
‘That was fucking awesome,’ Blowers said.
‘While Albert is taking the guards out,’ Nick said.
‘Yeah, and he’s telling ‘em all he’ll burn them alive,’ Cookey added. ‘That’s what Dave does. He says things like that.’
‘Yeah, but the syringe,’ Blowers said.
‘In the eye,’ Howie said, pointing at his own eye as Carmen finally smiled and looked up. ‘Straight from one guy’s arse to another guy’s eye.’
‘Sounds like Blowers’ day off.’
‘Cookey!’ Came the many voices as more laughs went around the table.
‘Idiots,’ Carmen said, rolling her eyes at them, but at least she was smiling.
‘Sounds like you quite liked him,’ Charlie said.
‘I did,’ Carmen said. ‘Neal was a good man.’
‘Yeah, he was alright for a nerd,’ Frank said as Jess popped another carton open over the back of Clarence’s head. ‘Got milk on your head, nipper.’
‘What happened after that?’ Paula asked. ‘This facility and the scientists.’
‘The fire was put down to an electrical fault,’ Henry said. ‘And the scientists who left the facility were all killed within a day or two. All tragic accidents of course. A few car crashes. One was in a light aircraft that went down. Another drowned after falling from a ferry. A few more committed suicide.’
‘Fuck,’ I said as the others nodded in agreement.
‘We assume the rest decided to join them, but it went dark. Even your father couldn’t get any intel, Howie. There was no chatter anywhere.’
‘He said that name,’ I said. ‘The politician.’
‘Alistair Appleton,’ Henry said. ‘Who was also on the select committee that allocated our funding.’
‘Ouch,’ Paula said with a grimace as Henry continued.
‘Of course, our funding was cut, and we were told to start making preparations for closure.’
‘And?’ I asked as Henry gave me a blank look. ‘Don’t tell me you did nothing.’
‘We thought we had time,’ Carmen said. ‘The release was meant to be a year from the time of the project.’
‘Something must have happened,’ Paula said.
‘It could be that something spurred them to act sooner,’ Henry said. ‘Or simply it could be the impatience of people like Donegal and Hussein. You heard the diary entries from Neal. Those people were delusional fantasists acting on their own volition. Any one of them could have decided to make it happen and release the virus. And don’t forget one drop is all it takes.
One infected person released into any major city and 98-99% of the population are wiped out, and, as you heard, the plan is to round up the survivors and place them into controlled environments.’
‘At which point they’ll release the Panacea, right?’ Paula asked.
‘I’m not so sure,’ Reginald cut in. ‘Alexander told Neal they wanted to control people, which you don’t do by giving them perfect health. They’d have no control over their version of utopia without creating reliance on
things like healthcare and medicines and security. I should think they would use it as a way of keeping people controlled. While also allowing fear of the outside to build up. Stay here. We’ll keep you safe and if you get sick, we can cure you.’
‘Okay then,’ I said. ‘So, we’ve got a mutating virus that was released on purpose. But that virus is now splitting into sections and becoming sentient. Reggie, is that right?’
‘Correct,’ Reginald said. ‘All of the control points were infected with the same virus. They all have the same thing, but the manifestation differs according to the mind of the individual control point. That means there’s not one singular enemy, but lots of them all working independently that all think they are the one true race.’
I paused to think for a second. ‘The next question is, will all of these sects or players start competing with each other, or will they try and find a way to combine into one entity?’
‘I think that is the next logical step,’ Reginald said. ‘If one of those control points realises the same as we are now, then yes, I believe they will try and unite.’
I nodded. ‘Whatever we do needs to be before that. Because we’ll be fucked if they gang up. Seriously, that’ll be some super mega zombie overlord shit that will. Like Darth Vader and Skeletor made a baby with Genghis Khan and gave it to Hitler to raise. With Stalin as an uncle, and Pol Pot giving it lessons on ethics.’
‘I think we get the point,’ Paula said.
‘No, but can you actually imagine it?’ I asked, looking around. ‘It’ll be worse than Paula when she starts making lists.’
‘And you’d all be in dirty undies if I didn’t make lists. Speaking of which, we need to go shopping. Yes! I know. Supply run. Shopping. Whatever. Anyway, I’ve got a question. How did we get our version of the virus?’
‘Ah now, yes. I’ve given this some thought,’ Reginald said. ‘And I think we now have a verified link. Carmen and Frank were at this secret facility where live test subjects were being handled. Perhaps Frank and Carmen picked up a mutated strain and brought it back with them. Which means they could have passed it to Henry and George and of course, to your father, Howie.’
I shifted in my seat at a sudden thought. ‘But what about my sister? She wasn’t immune, or infected. And we’ve nearly all seen family members die from it.’
‘My mum,’ Cookey said quietly as Charlie reached over to touch his shoulder.
‘Siblings and relatives are not genetic clones of each other,’ Reginald said. ‘But it might also explain why Kyle was able to fight so closely to the infected and not become infected himself.’
‘We haven’t seen Kyle for years,’ Carmen said.
‘Maybe Howard met up with him for a brew,’ Frank said as Henry nodded in agreement.
‘Howard did like maintaining contacts,’ Henry said. ‘But Reginald is correct. Carmen could be immune, or she could have been vaccinated. Perhaps we can circle back to that point. For now, I would like to know how you are defining your mission. What are your key objectives? And how do you plan to achieve them? Have you established an operation order?’
‘Right,’ I said as I thought back to the managers meetings I used to sit in. ‘I guess our main objective has been to er, try and slow the evolution.’
‘Excellent. And how precisely have you been achieving that? What’s the methodology?’
‘Erm, mainly by killing zombies.’
‘Right. That’s good. And how are you planning for that part of your mission?’
‘Well. We look for the zombies. And then we kill them.’
‘I see.’
‘We did use some maps once,’ I added brightly.
‘Maps,’ Clarence said, clicking his fingers at Henry.
‘And Reggie worked a route out,’ I said. ‘On the maps.’
‘Maps,’ Clarence said.
‘So the zombies wouldn’t know which route we were taking,’ I said. ‘That was our plan. Oh, but then we did it that day when Reggie was telling it about pies.’
‘Pi,’ Charlie said.
‘But that fucked up cos they jumped us after guessing our route,’ I said.
‘We didn’t use the maps,’ Clarence said.
‘And then we ended up in the cocaine place. But er, yeah, so. It’s been very fluid for us really,’ I said.
‘Fluid,’ Clarence said.
‘We’ve had to stay very fluid,’ Roy said.
‘Hydrate,’ Dave said, making everyone turn to see him staring back without any form of expression.
‘Understood,’ Henry said into the slightly odd silence. ‘Was that your sole mission? To stem the evolution?’
‘Oh god no. We’re also going to find whoever started it and kill them,’ I said. ‘And then release the panacea.’
‘Or we could release the panacea and then kill them,’ Paula said. ‘I mean, it’s not fixed is it. It’s not a fixed plan.’
‘No. It’s fluid,’ I said.
‘We’re remaining fluid,’ Roy said
‘It’s important to hydrate,’ Dave said.
‘We’ll use maps though,’ Clarence added.
Henry nodded slowly. ‘One more question if I may. What is the reason for killing those, as you describe them, who started it?’
‘Cos they started it.’ I said.
‘I understand that, Howie. But what for? What is the aim?’
‘To bloody kill them.’
‘Okay. I’m understanding that part. But my question is what purpose will it serve?’
‘Oh. Got it. Sorry,’ I said as Paula shifted from the energy in me starting to change. ‘So, there was these people right. They had this zombie virus and they released it. Which killed everyone.’
‘This is revenge for you then? Is that correct?’
‘Yes,’ I said quietly. ‘It’s revenge.’
‘And what is your mission, Henry?’ Reginald asked.
‘Our mission objective is to first find and release the panacea, and thereafter to disrupt the plans for gathering the survivors into forced camps.’
‘That’s very altruistic of you,’ Reginald said. ‘Is that why you made the power grab for the fort.’
‘The fort holds no value to me, Reginald. But if the immunes are being sent there then it needs to be held safely.’
‘It is being held,’ I said.
‘Which is why Lilly was not shot yesterday,’ Henry said as I realised I was right, and that Henry and George planned that execution in advance.
‘Joan. What about you?’ I asked, looking over to the older woman sitting ramrod straight.
‘I said last night, Howie. I won’t hold a rifle for Lilly. Even if she is an asset,’ she added with a look to Henry. ‘If it’s all the same I’ll tag along. I can help with the food too.’
‘Joan is a good sniper, Mr Howie,’ Dave said from behind.
‘And Bash?’ Howie asked. ‘Does he speak any English?’
‘A few words only,’ Henry said. ‘But I speak his language and he said he would rather shoot zombies than build shithouses. His words.’
‘Fair enough,’ I said with a slow nod. ‘Okay, my terms are that we’ll work together to find and release the panacea, and in return, you’ll help us find the people that did it… And you won’t try and stop us from killing them.’
‘Agreed,’ Henry said. ‘The next obvious step would be to start heading into London. I don’t know where they are, but I do know where to start looking. However, before we do that, I am interested in this control point theory. To that end, I would suggest that before we go to London, we seek some infected so I can view them in close situ.’
‘Do you really want to risk that?’ I asked. ‘I mean. We know we’re immune to it.’
‘Indeed. Which is why I’m suggesting Frank and I will undertake a simple test to ensure we have immunity. Marcy is contagious, yes? Perhaps, if you don’t mind, Marcy, we could use you.’
‘Guess I’d better get snogging then,’ Frank said, getting to his feet with
a wink to Marcy. ‘And I brushed my teeth this morning.’
‘Lucky me,’ Marcy said. ‘Paco’s infected. Snog him.’
‘He’s got a beard. It’ll chafe.’
‘There won’t be any kissing,’ Henry said, rising to his feet. ‘Let’s go outside.’
‘Henry, are you sure about this?’ I asked as they all started heading out into the hot street.
‘Frank was in close combat yesterday and didn’t succumb. We know Carmen has immunity, so it stands to reason I am. Dave, if I should become infected then double tap please. Carmen, if that happens then pass message to George that he is the CO. He will task Kyle at the fort and assume command.’
‘Understood,’ Carmen said as Henry came to a stop in the middle of the street. ‘And there’s really no need for this to be dramatic either. Marcy, would you prick your finger please,’ he added, producing a small pin.
‘I’m not pricking my finger, Henry. We can just kiss.’
‘I’d rather not do that.’
‘Eh, but,’ I said, still trying to get my head around it as Marcy planted her lips on Henry’s then stepped away. ‘Jesus, Marcy,’ I said.
‘Oh, piss off. You’re not the jealous type,’ she said. ‘How are you feeling, Henry?’
‘No change,’ Henry said, staring at his watch as I turned with a start at the sight of Dave aiming one of his pistols at Henry.
‘Jesus,’ I said, looking again at Henry. A lean man with a bald head. He must be sixty years old too. Mind you, he’d not batted at eyelid at the prospect of turning into a zombie, or at being kissed by Marcy either.
‘Two minutes,’ Henry said, looking up. ‘I feel no changes. Are there any outward physical signs?’
‘Er, no. None at all,’ I said.
‘Great. Frank?’ Henry said as the rest of us shared looks at the clinical nature of them.
‘Righto,’ Frank said, handing his weapons over to Henry before walking out into the middle of the road. ‘Dave, if I turn into a zombie then sod off and don’t shoot me. Let me dribble in peace.’
‘You do that now, old man,’ Carmen said before glancing at Dave aiming both of his pistols at Frank. ‘Dave, he’s not done it yet.’
