The BIG Horror Pack 2

by Iain Rob Wright

  “Over here,” Eve said. She stopped next to one of the kitchen sinks. “It’s not ice-cold, but it should be cool enough to stop some of the swelling.”

  “You’re quite the nurse,” he said.

  “I used to look after my little brother sometimes. He was always getting into scrapes.”

  Nick saw the sadness that appeared briefly in Eve’s eyes. The less they all thought about their old lives, the better.

  He dipped his swollen fist beneath the water and used his other hand to pull Eve into a hug. He gave her a quick squeeze and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I haven’t checked in with you much the last few days. Are you doing okay?”

  Eve hugged him back. “I think we’re all doing about the same. Personally, I’m feeling a little shell-shocked, like this is all just a dream or something. I can’t really be stuck with a bunch of strangers while monsters devour the earth, can I? That’s not real, is it?”

  “I guess the difference between nightmares and reality has become pretty thin recently.”

  “You’re telling me. I keep expecting to wake up.”

  “Me too. Every morning I wake up wishing that my wife was beside me. Then I remember everything that’s happened and I realise that I’ll never see her again. It takes everything I have just to face another day.”

  “I know what you mean. I don’t know if I can keep doing it anymore.”

  “Get up every morning and just get on with it,” Nick said. He clenched his fist in the water and winced at the pain. “We’re all survivors. We’re all strong in our own way. We just have to concentrate on doing what we can with whatever the day brings us. I don’t know if I would’ve made it this far without you. If you ever find that things are getting to be too much, come find me, because I owe you my life.”

  Eve moved closer to him and looked into his eyes. “Things are getting too much for me,” she whispered. “I need you to be here for me now.” She went to place her lips against his.

  Nick backed away. “Eve, I’m married.”

  “You were married.”

  It hurt Nick, even if it was technically true. To him, marriage wasn’t something that ended a few weeks after your spouse’s death. James and Deana were still in his heart. He was still committed to them.

  Tears appeared in Eve’s eyes and she looked away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “That was a really shitty thing to say.”

  Nick shook it off. “It’s okay. No harm done.”

  Eve made herself look at him again. “It’s just…I’m so frightened and I feel…I feel so alone.”

  Nick held her close again. “You’re not alone, Eve.”

  “I don’t want to lose you, Nick. You’re the only person that makes me feel safe. I just want to hold onto that, because it’s the only thing that makes me feel like I still have anything human in my life.”

  “I understand, but you don’t have to be with me in that way just to keep me close. We started this thing together. We’re friends and I care about you more than anyone here. I’ll always have your back.”

  Eve started sobbing.

  “I’ll keep you safe,” he said. “Don’t be afraid anymore, okay? Things are going to be alright, I promise.”

  “You can’t promise that,” she said.

  “Maybe not, but I’d rather live in a world where we can still make promises, than one where we’re all too afraid to. I promise to keep you safe no matter how impossible the odds, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Setting himself a mission and giving himself a responsibility made Nick feel stronger. It gave him back the purpose he’d lost when he stopped being a father and a husband. It was the part of him that had been missing. The protector.

  He kissed the top of Eve’s head. “Come on. I think it’s about time we all had a little fun.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Anna knew things were going to get tense. When she’d entered the restaurant and found Shawcross half-conscious and the two prisoners holding knives, she’d known she had to stay calm and not take sides. If she had, she wasn’t even sure which side she would pick. Her two closest friends were Mike and Nick.

  As it stood, she’d decided to trust Nick’s judgement. She knew his inclination was towards peace rather than confrontation. Loud-mouthed Dave, on the other hand, was a small man with large ambitions, just like Shawcross. In Anna’s experience, men like Dave and Shawcross were trouble – abusers of power.

  Mike caught up with Anna just as she was entering the zoo. The animals were due for a feeding.

  “I heard Shawcross went at Dave with a knife,” he said.

  “I wasn’t there. I wouldn’t put it past him, though. He’s a petty man with a bad temper.”

  “You’re not a fan then?”

  Anna shrugged. “I’ve seen Shawcross treat his staff like dirt in the past, enough times to know that he views other people as commodities. He won’t like not being in charge.”

  “You think there’ll be more trouble?”

  “I’d bet on it. The only thing more dangerous than the infected people at the bottom of the hill are the healthy people at the top.”

  “You included?”

  Anna nodded. “I suppose.”

  “Glad I came prepared then.” Mike lifted his shirt to show her a crude vest of armour. “Made it out of some magazines I found in one of the offices. I don’t want to be the next one to get stabbed.”

  She laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Anna shrugged. “It’s just that before all this happened, I hated my life. I spent every night trying to drink myself to death. I suppose I was committing slow suicide, not brave enough to do it the quick way. It took the end of the world to make me realise how much I actually like living.”

  Mike stared at her. “You wanted to die?”

  She nodded. It felt good to admit such weakness to him. “I was just done with things. Tired, you know?”

  “Why?”

  “Because one day I was pregnant and married, living in a three bed semi, and the next I was giving birth to a stillborn baby, divorced, and alone in a cramped flat.”

  Mike was silent and his shoulders scrunched together like somebody had pinched his neck.

  “Sorry,” she said, sensing his discomfort. “I doubt you’re very interested in my life story, especially when it’s so depressing.”

  Mike remained silent and plucked something from his back pocket. It was the wallet she’d retrieved for him weeks ago in the hotel room. Amongst the useless money and credit cards was a photograph. Anna studied the picture with interest. It was obvious that the girl in the photo had Down’s syndrome.

  “Who is she?”

  “My daughter, Lucy. Dead now, I suppose.”

  “That’s why you wanted your wallet.”

  Mike returned the wallet to his pocket and lowered his head. “I guess I sensed early on that things were pretty bad. I didn’t want to not ever see her face again. This is the only picture I have of her.”

  Anna looked at Mike and realised, for the first time, how much sadness the man carried with him. He wore it around his neck like a lead-weight. “You’ve been so brave,” she said. “I never would have guessed you had a daughter.”

  Mike cleared his throat and looked away. “Not talking about her doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about her. It’s just the way I deal with things, I guess. The best way to cope with her condition was to always be positive. It’s a habit that stayed with me.”

  Anna grabbed Mike’s hand, which was clammy. “It’s a good habit to have. You’re very courageous.”

  “So are you, Anna. What you went through…” He sighed. “At least I got to know my daughter, if only for a little while.”

  Anna didn’t know which was worse, her having never known her child, or losing a child after raising her for years.

  “What about Lucy’s mother?” she asked. “Do you know what happened to her?”

  Mike shook his hea
d. “We separated a long time ago. All I know is that they would’ve been together at the end. I hold on to that.” It seemed, for a moment, that he might cry. Instead, he said, “Thank you for giving her back to me. The photo, I mean.”

  She patted him on the back. “My pleasure. She was beautiful.”

  Suddenly, Mike leant down and kissed her. To her surprise, she let him. They broke apart after several seconds and Anna felt her cheeks growing red.

  She cleared her throat. “What was that for?”

  Mike stroked her face with the back of his hand. “Life has become unpredictable; no point spending all of it just trying to survive. We’ve got to actually live sometime.”

  Anna couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure there was a big philosophical point in there somewhere.”

  Mike smiled and kissed her again. Anna’s stomach fluttered and she held on tightly as they embraced.

  When they finally broke a second time, they heard someone laughing.

  Mike looked around in confusion. “Do you hear that?”

  Anna nodded. “Sounds like people having fun. Almost forgot what that sounded like.”

  “Let’s go check it out.”

  “Okay, but then I need to feed the animals.” She found herself blushing as she asked the question, “Would you like to come along?”

  Mike squeezed her around the waist. “Where you go, I go.”

  Anna wrapped her arm around him and they headed towards the laughter. It was strange how much a single kiss could change a relationship, but it had.

  After walking hand-in-hand for a few minutes, they found Nick, Eve, Pauline, Cassie, Alan, and Michelle gathered in the midway. Earlier events had apparently been forgotten and they all wore gleeful smiles.

  “What are you all up to?” Anna asked.

  Nick tossed her a basketball. She flinched but caught it, then held it up confusedly.

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” he said. “Throw it in.”

  Anna looked up at the row of nets inside one of the booths. She didn’t see the harm so reared back and thrust the ball up into the air. The basketball hit the backboard and bounced away. Eve leant over the shelf and retrieved it. “Good try,” she said.

  Anna grinned, feeling good. “What’s this all about?”

  “It’s about fun,” Nick said. “I think we all need a break from supplies and defences and rations. It’s time to kick back for an afternoon and try to remember what life is all about.”

  Mike motioned to receive the ball. “I’ve just been saying the exact same thing. How ‘bout we get into teams?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Nick said.

  Everyone else agreed.

  Anna and Mike joined up with Alan and Michelle. They took turns making baskets, but it wasn’t long before Nick’s team was several points ahead.

  “Were you a professional basketball player in your old life?” Anna asked Nick. “You never miss a basket.”

  “I used to play a lot as a teenager,” he said. “It’s like riding a bike.”

  Mike wiped sweat from his forehead. “Well, I think we should remix the teams. You lot are whipping our arses.”

  “What is going on here?” Dave was marching towards them with Jan and Rene close behind.

  “Nothing,” Nick said. “We’re just having a bit of fun.”

  “Fun? Fun? We have things to do. We all need to be working.”

  Eve picked up the ball and stood defiantly. “Says who?”

  “Says me!”

  She rolled her eyes. “And who the hell are you?”

  Dave bristled. “Apparently, I am the only one looking out for this group.”

  “Look, you’re not in charge of everyone, Dave, and neither was Shawcross,” Nick said. “You had your little coup d’état in the restaurant, but the rest of us are going to do what we want to do, not what you tell us to.”

  “We’ll end up dead with that kind of attitude. There is danger all around us and you’re playing…basketball!”

  Anna sighed. She knew Dave had a point, but Nick was right as well. They all needed to let off steam or they were going to end up having nervous breakdowns and killing each other. “We’re just taking a break,” she said. “We’ll be back to work soon.”

  “Now,” Dave said. “You all need to do the jobs assigned to you now.”

  Everyone stared at Dave. Anna couldn’t believe the gall of the man. What made him think he had any right to order them around?

  After a while, when he saw no one was going to budge, Dave shook his head and spat at the ground with rage. “Nick, are you going to back me up here? You know, since I picked you all up, I’ve only had this group’s interests at heart.”

  Nick sighed. “You know what, Dave? I don’t know what your motivation is, but I do know that we’re all getting pretty sick and tired of you assuming that you have any right over the rest of us.”

  “Nick, you need to understand—”

  “We’re playing basketball, Dave. Either join us or go away.”

  Dave’s eyes narrowed and he glared at Nick as though he was trying to burn a hole through his forehead. Then he spun in a huff and marched away.

  Anna took a deep breath. “I think you just made an enemy there,” she said.

  Nick grabbed the basketball and bounced it. “I’m a big boy,” he said. “I can handle it.”

  He threw the ball and made another perfect basket. Nobody picked it up again, though. Suddenly the fun was over.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The evening was tense, particularly between Dave and Nick. Nick had felt Dave’s angry gaze fall upon him several times throughout the night and he was getting sick of it.

  The whole group was now in the restaurant eating dinner. The food was horrible, but satiated everybody’s hunger. Seeing how much food they’d consumed for just one meal made it dauntingly obvious that their supplies wouldn’t last much longer.

  Shawcross sat alone, eating his meal with his head down. He was a broken man, obviously unused to violence, and the ease of which it had stripped him of his self-respect. Nick felt guilty for having been the one to punch him, but the man had brought it on himself.

  After they’d finished playing basketball, everyone got back to work. Nick returned to the restaurant to clear the air with Shawcross, but the man had been nowhere in sight. He’d only reappeared less than an hour ago and told no one where he had been for the three or four hours in between.

  To Nick’s great surprise, Jan and Rene had chosen to sit with Dave during dinner. They even shared a few beers together. Perhaps they appreciated his lobbying to get them out of the cellar.

  Nick finished the last of his lukewarm burger and stood up. He felt a headache coming on and the growing darkness in the restaurant was diminishing his mood.

  “Where are you going?” Eve asked him, a concerned look on her face.

  “I just fancy a walk and some air.”

  “You want me to come with?”

  Nick shook his head. As much as he enjoyed Eve’s company, he just wanted to be alone. “I won’t be long,” he said.

  Eve seemed unsettled that he was leaving on his own, but she didn’t say anything more.

  Nick headed outside into the shadows of the park. The moon was full and everything seemed to glow. The park’s rollercoaster, the Hood, towered in the distance but Nick headed the other way towards the zoo. The animals had a calming effect on him lately. Their calmness rubbed off on him.

  However, whenever his eyes caught sight of the smouldering fires in distant villages, reality always came crashing back.

  Coming up on his left was the empty orang-utan enclosure. It was a serene landscape of shadows and dark angles. He leant up against the enclosure’s barrier and let his head drop tiredly. Beneath him were the rotting bodies of the infected that Anna said had attacked Lily and her family. It spoiled the peacefulness somewhat, so he looked for somewhere else to settle.

  The bungalow at the edge of the habitat was
sloped, low on the side that faced the footpaths and taller on the side that faced the enclosure. A drainage pipe ran up one side of the building, almost seeming to invite someone to climb it.

  Nick didn’t know why, but the thought of getting up on the roof was appealing. Five-hundred-feet above the ground and still he wanted to go higher. Maybe it was his inner child, wanting to make believe that being up high gave safety and security. It was certainly true in the case of the hill they all lived on.

  He hopped up and grabbed the drainpipe, making it easily to the top. From up high, Nick had a better view of Ripley Heights as a whole. Ripley Hall rose in the shadows at the back of the park, its rooms full of shrieking horrors that could be released at any moment. He shuddered as he thought about what would happen if the doors were ever opened. He chose instead to look over the amusement park, but even that had taken on a sinister façade. Its unused carousel, its abandoned pirate ship, and its dormant big wheel had all taken on an ethereal quality under the moonlight. The whole place was haunted, echoing its past of children giggling and parents kissing, all things the park would never see again.

  Thud!

  Something hit the roof behind Nick and made him cry out in fright. He twisted around and almost lost his balance, but grabbed the edge of the roof and managed to steady himself.

  “Jesus Christ!” he said when he realised what was behind him. His first instinct was to flee, but the orang-utan made no attempt to hurt him in any way.

  Lily examined Nick curiously and raised an arm towards him. Gradually he raised his own hand to meet hers. Lily’s rough fingertips slid over the cold flesh on the back of Nick’s hand and she let out a soft hoot.

  “I heard we have something in common,” he said softly. “I lost my family too. At least your man did his job and protected you, though. I let my family down.”

  Lily’s breath was audible as it escaped through her deep nostrils. Her smell was unpleasant, yet comforting. It was a reminder of what man really was deep down: an ape – egotistical and self-involved, but really nothing more than an ape.