The BIG Horror Pack 2

by Iain Rob Wright

  “Lily!” Anna put a hand to her mouth.

  Nick stood back up, patting the dirt off his coat. “Lily? Is that the monkey’s name?”

  “She’s not a monkey, she’s an ape.”

  “Okay. So where did Lily come from?”

  “The enclosure you’re standing right in front of. This was her habitat.”

  “How’d she get out?”

  “I let her out,” Anna said. “Sort of.”

  “Is she dangerous?”

  Anna chewed at her lower lip and said, “Could she be dangerous if she wanted to be? Sure. She could crush our skulls with a single swipe, but do I think we need to be worried? No. From what I know about her, she’s very intelligent and sensitive. She’s lost her family just like the rest of us.”

  Nick glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

  “There was a mate in the pen with her, and an infant. You can see them, there, under the blankets. When the first infected people appeared they flooded into the enclosure and attacked Lily and her family. She was the only one who made it.”

  “So, the infected attack animals as well?” Nick said.

  Anna shook her head. “They walked right past the other animals. I’m guessing that a primate is enough like a human to pass for a target. They must get confused.”

  “Should we feed her?” Nick asked.

  “I don’t think Shawcross would like that,” Mike said. “He and Dave are already kicking up a fuss about the daily rations being too high.”

  “Screw them,” Anna said. “We feed her what we can. Lily’s a part of this group, too. A survivor. Anybody has a problem with that, they can talk to me.”

  “Fine by me,” Nick said. “I think we’re better off with her around. She might make a good look out from up there.”

  Anna smiled. “How’s your head?”

  Nick felt the faint bump on his forehead from when he had fallen days before. “It’s better. I still feel a bit sick when I first wake up, but the headaches have stopped.”

  “I think you probably had a mild concussion.”

  “I’m just lucky to have such a small brain. Otherwise I could really have been hurt.” He laughed.

  “Let me know if it gets worse. You and Mike are the only people I can talk any sense to. You’re both just the right amount of insane.”

  Nick laughed again. “So, where are Shawcross and Dave?”

  Both men had been in a constant battle for authority since meeting. The pathetic thing was that neither man had noticed how little the rest of the group cared who was in charge. It was a thankless job that no one else wanted.

  “They’re both back at the restaurant with Pauline and Eve,” Anna said. “They’re working on a map of the park and marking it with emergency food stashes, weapons, and stuff. Dave doesn’t think it’s a good idea to have all our supplies in one place. Shawcross agreed with him for once.”

  “Probably a good idea,” Mike said. “At the moment, we’re screwed if we lose the restaurant.”

  “So what are Alan and Michelle doing?” Nick said.

  “They were rooting through the warehouse next to the office building last I checked,” Mike told them. “Alan said they found a bunch of fireworks.”

  “Don’t think there’s going to be much chance for a display,” Nick said.

  “No, but they’d be a perfect signal for help if it ever arrives in the villages below.”

  Nick didn’t think it was a possibility, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared. “Anything else in there?”

  “Some gardening equipment. Alan suggested digging some pits around the edge of the park, like booby traps, you know?”

  Nick nodded. “Over time we could probably dig quite a few.”

  “So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?” Anna asked him.

  Nick shrugged and looked up at Lily in the trees. “I guess I’ll fill in where I’m needed. First thing I’m going to do, though, is tell Eve about the newest member of our group. She’s been pretty low the last few days – we all have – so maybe it’ll cheer her up.”

  “Okay,” Anna said. She and Mike waved Nick off as he headed back for Big Dog restaurant.

  The restaurant was near the centre of the park and was now fronted by a minefield of plates, pans, and cutlery. The windows had also been boarded up permanently with tabletops and chairs, with only a single window left clear to act as an entrance.

  Heading up the few steps to the building, Nick could already hear Dave and Shawcross bickering. They were discussing Jan and Rene, who were still imprisoned in the cellar. Nick had been visiting them a couple times a day, bringing food and beers. Their good nature about the situation was beginning to sour and Jan now expressed a growing desire to be let out.

  “They can help with the jobs around here,” Dave said. “They’re two strong men.”

  “They could kill us all in our sleep,” Shawcross argued.

  “They’re not murderers.”

  “You have no way of knowing what they were in prison for. The big one looks like a sodding serial killer.”

  Nick hopped through the window and joined the conversation. “His name is Jan, and he’s a reformed bank robber. He told me how much he regrets his past and I believe him.”

  “Of course he said that.” Shawcross folded his arms and sighed. “He probably had it rehearsed from all of his failed probation hearings.”

  Nick rolled his eyes and decided not to say anything more. There was no point getting caught up in their ceaseless bickering. Dave probably didn’t even care if Jan and Rene were released, he just liked undermining Shawcross.

  Eve and Pauline were sitting at a table nearby, sharing a cup of lemonade. Eve smiled as Nick approached. “We were supposed to be working out our defences,” she said, “but then they started arguing.”

  “It’s been twenty minutes so far,” Pauline added.

  “Best to just let them get on with it.” Nick took a seat and started telling them all about Lily.

  “So, she’s just sitting there in the trees?” Eve confirmed.

  “Go see for yourself. She seems friendly, even waved to Anna.”

  “No shit? Soon as I’m done here, I’m heading straight to the zoo.”

  “What’s this supply map I’ve been hearing about?” Nick asked.

  “Dave’s idea,” Pauline told him. “We’re going to choose a few places around the park to drop off food and weapons. They’re just trying to work out whether or not to let Jan and Rene help. I think Shawcross has taken it far enough now. We should let them out. Cassie told us about what they did to save you and what Jan did to try and help Margaret.”

  Nick nodded. “I’d be dead if not for Jan. Where is Cassie, by the way?”

  The two women shrugged. “I haven’t seen her since this morning,” Pauline said.

  “Me either,” Eve said.

  Nick had a bad feeling. “I think we should go find her.”

  The three of them made to head out. “We’re going to find Cassie,” Nick shouted over to Shawcross and Dave, but both men were so busy arguing that they didn’t even hear.

  “You don’t think she’d try to hurt herself do you?” Eve asked as they headed away from the restaurant.

  “I don’t know,” Nick admitted. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

  They were quiet for a while. The tense silence made it clear what they were all thinking. Cassie was the most delicate of all the survivors and she was usually the last person to want to go off alone.

  The office building lay ahead. Anna had explained that there were bodies inside one of the rooms that had become the unofficial morgue of the park; not somewhere to visit for any other reason. Beside the office block was an open warehouse with a large truck parked outside. Alan and Michelle were both milling about inside.

  “Hey,” Nick said as he entered the warehouse. He spotted several cans of petrol, which seemed a little unsafe to be stored next to commercial fireworks.

  Alan noticed Nick
staring at the fireworks and grinned. “Quite the collection, isn’t it? With all this petrol we might be able to get the generator juiced back up.”

  “What were all these fireworks meant for?” Eve asked.

  “Shawcross said the park used to hold fireworks displays at Halloween, New Years, et cetera. I guess they bought in bulk.”

  “Makes sense,” Nick said. “I hear there’s been talk of using them as a signal if rescue arrives?”

  Alan nodded. “Michelle and I are going to set up a crate of rockets at the edge of the hill so we can set them off if we spot help. We’ll cover them with some tarps to keep them dry.”

  “Sounds good,” Nick said, then remembered what he was there for. “Have you two seen Cassie? Nobody’s seen her for a while.”

  “No, I haven’t seen her,” Michelle said.

  “Wish I could help you,” Alan said, “but I haven’t seen her all day.”

  “Okay, then we’ll leave you to it.”

  On their way out of the warehouse, Pauline said, “Maybe we’re overreacting. She might just need some alone time, Nick.”

  “I don’t think she’d wander off without telling anybody.”

  “I don’t think she’d hurt herself though,” Eve said.

  Nick stopped walking. “Really? What makes you so sure?”

  “The way she’s been talking the last few days, I guess. She told me how glad she was that we were all safe and that she hoped rescue would arrive soon. She was looking forward, you know?”

  “Then where is she?”

  They carried on exploring. For the zoo’s animals, life was normal. They carried on unaffected. Life was no more complicated for them than it ever had been. Nick envied them. Their food came to them each day and all they had to worry about was when to sleep. An easy life.

  They were coming back around to the orang-utan enclosure so Nick glanced up at the treeline to see Lily. He was disappointed, too, when she wasn’t there.

  “This is where the orang-utan was,” he said. “Hopefully she’ll come back.”

  “That sucks,” Eve said, pouting. “I really wanted to see her.”

  Pauline sighed. “Isn’t Cassie our main concern right now?”

  Mike came speeding around the corner.

  Nick immediately assumed the worst. “You’ve found Cassie, haven’t you?” he said

  Mike nodded. “Yeah, she’s at the restaurant.”

  “At the restaurant?” Pauline frowned. “We just came from there.”

  “She was in the cellar,” Mike explained.

  Nick suddenly felt weak. “What’s happened to her?”

  Mike frowned. “Nothing. She’s fine.”

  “Then why have you come to get us?”

  “Because she’s broken Jan and Rene out. Your prisoner friends have escaped.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Cassie, what’re you doing?” Nick demanded.

  She was standing with Rene and Jan, all three of them brandishing knives. Standing opposite, also armed, was Dave and Shawcross.

  Cassie stared at Nick determinedly. “We can’t keep Jan and Rene locked up like animals anymore. Jan saved me. He saved you too, Nick. I’d feel safer with them free.”

  Nick nodded. “I never thought they needed to be locked up in the first place.”

  “Well, it’s not your decision,” Shawcross said. “You made a deal when we let you stay.”

  “Bullshit,” Jan grunted. “We showed you good faith. We could have forced you to take us in, but we trusted in you being good guys. Enough is enough. Rene and I aren’t staying locked up a moment longer. It’s been weeks and we haven’t even been let out to see the sky. This is worse than prison.”

  Shawcross shrugged. “Then you’ll have to leave.”

  Jan shook his head and Rene stood unwaveringly beside him, yet silently. “Leave? Are you crazy? There is no leaving here. We’re all stuck.”

  “You’re not a part of this group,” Shawcross said.

  “Yes, they are,” Cassie shouted. Her entire body trembled. It must have taken an awful lot for her to make such a stand.

  “Just put the knives down, Jan,” Dave said. “This isn’t how we do things.”

  “Really?” Jan said. “Is that what you were thinking when you tried to bash Kathryn’s skull in? Seemed like you were pretty willing to use force then.”

  “If you’d let me, Carl would probably still be alive.”

  Nick stepped closer, his hands out in front of him. “Come on, everyone. Let’s just calm down. We can discuss this like adults.”

  Shawcross shook his head. “We discussed it already. The prisoners stay locked up or they leave.”

  “I think the jury is still out on that one,” Dave said. “You know I think we should let them out.”

  “Who cares what you think?”

  Dave turned now, pointing his knife at Shawcross. “You know something? I’ve had enough of your attitude, you pompous sod. I don’t know why I’m even arguing with you.” Dave turned back to Jan and Rene. “You two are free to join the rest of us. Lower your knives, relax. We’re done taking orders from this dickhead.”

  Shawcross’s face went bright red before twisting into a furious scowl. He pointed at Dave’s smug face with a long, bony finger. “How dare you! I am in charge here. I am the manager of Ripley Hall.”

  Dave turned his back on Shawcross and walked away, laughing. “You ain’t shite. Just a no mark who thinks he’s important.”

  “Do not speak to me that way. You have no right. No right!”

  Nick watched in detached bewilderment as Shawcross rushed at Dave with his knife. Dave had his back turned and didn’t see the danger.

  “Look out,” Nick shouted.

  Dave acknowledged the warning just in time. He half-turned and managed to sidestep the attack by a hair’s breadth.

  Shawcross slashed at the air but quickly readjusted and raised the knife again, preparing for a second attempt. This time Nick managed to intervene. He leapt forward and caught Shawcross across the jaw with a punch. The man pirouetted to the floor, his elbow bumping a table on the way down. He was out for the count, the first man that Nick had ever hit.

  Dave grinned at Nick and patted him on the back. “Way to go, slugger. I owe you one.”

  “I didn’t do it because I’m on your side. He was going to stab you. This is all a huge mess. We have to live together. We can’t go around stabbing and punching each other. I already have enough wounds, thank you.”

  Dave looked persecuted. “Hey, don’t tell me. It was that bloody muppet who tried to get all stabby.”

  “You provoked him, though.”

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Anna was climbing through the window and as soon as her eyes fell upon Shawcross, she lit up. “What the hell are they doing out? What happened to Shawcross?”

  “It’s okay,” Nick said.

  “Like hell it is. What’s going on?”

  “I punched him,” Nick said, not knowing quite how to qualify it.

  Anna stared hard at him and, eventually, she said, “It’s about time somebody did, but you better have a damn good reason for doing it.”

  “Look, I know this looks bad. There was a standoff over whether or not to let Jan and Rene free…”

  “I know,” Anna said. “Mike filled me in.” She glared at Cassie. “Wasn’t very diplomatic the way you went about things, darlin’. We can do without troublemakers.”

  Cassie stared at the floor.

  “She was just doing what she thought was right,” Jan said. “I made a promise to protect her the day all this started. She probably feels she owes me.”

  Anna sighed. “I’m sure she thought she was doing what was right. The problem with that, though, is that people have differing opinions of what’s right and what’s wrong.”

  “We tried to talk it out,” Dave said, “but that loon came at me with a knife.”

  Anna looked to Nick for verification. He nodded. “It’s
true. Shawcross was the one who got violent.”

  “Well,” she said. “I doubt he would have done so unprovoked, but what’s done is done.”

  “So what do you want to do?” Nick said. “Can we let Jan and Rene out?”

  “Looks like the decision’s already been made. I don’t trust either of them, I’m not going to lie, but I trust you, Nick. If you think they should be free, so be it. Just don’t make me regret it.”

  “You won’t,” Jan said. “I promise.”

  Anna looked at Jan and rolled her eyes. Then, without saying anything else, she exited the building through the window.

  Shawcross stirred on the floor, moaning.

  “What should we do with him?” Cassie said.

  “Lock him in the cellar,” Dave growled.

  “No,” Jan said. “Nobody else is being locked up. I think it’s time for a fresh start. An equal one. No more prisoners.”

  “But he tried to stab me,” Dave shouted.

  “And he got his clock cleaned for it. He’s probably learned his lesson. If not, then he only gets this one chance.”

  Dave huffed. “Fine, you just keep him the hell away from me, Jan.”

  “I’ll personally guarantee it. I appreciate you going to bat for me, brother.”

  “You’re welcome. Just be sure to make yourself useful, and remember your loyalties.”

  Right then, Eve climbed through the window. She placed a hand on Nick’s arm. “Anna just told me things were all sorted in here. What happened?”

  Nick sniffed. “My hand’s swollen from punching Shawcross for trying to murder Dave, but other than that everything’s hunky dory.”

  Shawcross continued moaning and started to drag himself up against the bar.

  Eve looked down at Nick’s injured hand and winced. “Wow, you must really have hit him hard.”

  “Yeah, I suppose so. It’s fine, I’m sure, just bruised. Hopefully Shawcross will be okay too.”

  Eve grinned at him like he was misbehaving. “Come on, let’s go back to the kitchen and bathe it in cold water.”

  Nick felt the fuss unnecessary, but he went with Eve anyway. The kitchen was now filled with pots and pans full of water in anticipation of the day where the water stopped coming through the taps. There had been a lot of discussion recently about using some of the water to wash with, but Shawcross and Dave hadn’t been able to agree on anything.