The BIG Horror Pack 2

by Iain Rob Wright

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Lily,” he said.

  At the sound of her name, Lily hooted again. Then she took off into the night as quickly as she’d arrived. Nick missed her as soon as she was gone, disappearing into the trees. Now that he was alone again, his thoughts would resume their torment of him. His memories had talons and they were poised to rip him apart.

  He was almost glad when he heard someone cry out. The scream had been male, short and abrupt.

  Nick slid from the top of the roof, hung, and landed back on the pavement. He winced as a shooting pain went from his ankles to his knees, but managed to walk it off quickly.

  His first thought was that an infected person had found their way past the fences, but when he saw the knife jutting out of Dave’s chest as he lay in the middle of the path, he knew he was wrong.

  Anna came running. “We heard screaming,” she said and skidded to a stop when she saw Dave lying there.

  “Where’s Shawcross,” Nick said, shaking his head and clenching his fists in anger. If this was murder, there was only one man responsible.

  Anna shook her head. The rest of the group appeared behind her, Shawcross included. “Shawcross is with us,” she said. “He didn’t do this.”

  Nick shook his head confused. “Then who. I heard him scream. The blood’s still coming out of him.”

  “He was on his way to see you,” Jan said. “He said he didn’t want to hold grudges and that we all needed to work together.”

  Rene nodded, confirming Jan’s statement.

  “It’s true,” Eve said. “Dave asked me if I knew where you’d gone so he could make peace.”

  Nick shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like Dave.”

  “No shit,” Eve said. “Surprised me too, but I guess we don’t know each other well enough to make judgments. He seemed pretty genuine.”

  “He was glaring at me all night. Didn’t seem regretful at all.”

  Eve shrugged.

  “It’s a tragedy that you took his approach as a threat rather than the apology it was meant to be,” Shawcross said, sounding smug. “Seems as though you may have gotten the wrong end of the stick.”

  “What? I didn’t do this.”

  “Nobody else could have,” Anna said. “Every one of us was in the restaurant. You left and then five minutes later Dave followed. We all came when we heard the scream.”

  Nick looked to Eve for help, but she just looked confused.

  “I didn’t do this,” he shouted at them.

  “We need to lock him up,” Shawcross said. “Until we decide what to do with him.”

  To Nick’s utter disbelief, Mike and Alan grabbed hold of him. He shoved them away, swinging his fists and kicking his legs. “Get the fuck away from me. I didn’t do this.”

  He managed to land a punch on Alan’s cheek, but was too late to react when Shawcross came and took a swing at him, clubbing him under the chin in an exact reverse of what had happened earlier in the day.

  The force of the blow was too fierce for Shawcross not to be holding something in his fist. By the time Nick fell to the ground, he was already unconscious.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Nick had to flutter his eyes for a few seconds before he could see properly. His head and jaw hurt badly. He tried to open his mouth but couldn’t.

  “I’d try not to speak if I were you,” Jan said. He was sitting in a wooden chair against the wall. Rene was right beside him. Candles lit the corners of the room.

  Nick realised he was in the restaurant’s cellar. The prison. It was musky and damp. “What am I…?” Nick winced as the pain exploded in his jaw, but fought past it. “What am I doing here?”

  “I think you know,” Jan said. “You did a stupid thing, brother.”

  Nick rubbed at his jaw and cleared a wad of phlegm from his throat. “Dave…? I had nothing to do with that.”

  Jan shrugged. “We were all together in the restaurant, everyone except Dave and you. Things are tense, people need someone to blame.”

  Nick sighed and let his head drop. “I can’t explain it, but it’s true. I didn’t touch Dave.”

  “Can’t say I don’t believe you. You’ve always been a straight up guy. But if you did kill Dave, you’re in a lot of trouble. Shawcross is campaigning to have you sent down the hill. Can’t say I blame him if you’re a murderer.”

  Nick spat on the floor and laughed. He was already tired of being accused of something he didn’t do. “This is his doing. Somehow. And how dare you judge me, Jan. You’re a bank robber.”

  Jan smiled. “Attempted bank robber. I was never any good at it. It’s a whole lot different than murder, anyway, brother.”

  Nick hissed. “Just fuck off, Jan. I’m innocent.”

  Jan stood, his tall frame stretching almost to the ceiling. “Like I said, I can’t say I don’t believe you, brother. Hopefully time will clear things up. Just keep strong. Try not to think. Time goes slower when you do. Especially if they’re guilty thoughts.”

  “I’ll be ready and waiting for your apology,” Nick said. “I was big enough to give you one when I judged you wrongly.”

  Jan nodded but didn’t say anything in reply. At the stairs, he turned and looked at Rene. “You coming, brother?”

  Rene shook his head.

  Jan shrugged. “Fair enough. Come find me when you’re done.”

  Jan left the cellar.

  “So, what the hell do you want?” Nick demanded of Rene. “It’s not like you’re here for conversation, you don’t even talk.”

  “Don’t talk is not the same as can’t talk, my friend.”

  Nick almost flew back in his chair. “Y-you can speak. What…why?”

  “People take speech for granted, Nick. It is what separates us from the animals, and yet we treat our words with disinterest. We ignore their power.”

  Hearing Rene talk was surreal. He had a softly spoken Nigerian accent, but what he was saying was hard to follow. “I don’t get it. You’ve been able to talk all along but you haven’t. Why?”

  “Because more can be learned from listening, my friend. God told this to me.”

  “God did?”

  “Yes. I was once a bad man, Nick. A charlatan, a trickster. I would use my words to fool people into giving me their money. I took people’s savings. I took people’s lives. Then I went to prison and my life changed.”

  “You found God?”

  “No, Nick. God found me.”

  Nick grunted. Religion wasn’t his thing, but he played along, not wanting to offend Rene. “How did God find you?” he asked.

  “An old lady came to visit me in prison. I had taken her life’s savings by pretending to be from the gas board. I convinced her that her boiler was dangerous and she needed a new one immediately. She handed over her chequebook and I emptied her account the next day.

  “When she came to see me, this woman, she asked me why I did it. I said I did not know why I did the things that I did other than wanting the money, but she disagreed. She told me I was afraid. I was afraid of how hard life could be, which is why I took the easy ways like cheating and stealing. She told me that deep down, I felt worthless and she was sorry for me. Then she told me that she forgave me and she was a friend if I needed one.”

  Nick sighed. “More fool her.”

  Rene carried on, undeterred. “I asked how she could forgive such a wicked man. Her reply was that God had given me great weakness so that I might one day find great strength. She told me to seek him out, and so I did as the old lady asked. I sought out the Lord. I learned of his ways, read his teachings. Soon I realised that words were precious and that I must use them no longer if I was to make my penance – if I was to find my great strength I would have to give up my greatest asset. I was a conman with no voice.”

  “So you really just stopped speaking?”

  Rene smiled. “Yes, for many reasons, my friend. So that I could listen, learn, but mostly as penance, you understand? I decided that the next t
ime I spoke it must be with purpose and a desire to do good. Only then could I hope to redeem myself.”

  “You sound crazy,” Nick said.

  “Perhaps, but this is a crazy world we are living in, no? Is it not crazier to be sane with all that we have seen?”

  “I suppose so. Why are you talking to me now? What good can you do me?”

  “To do good. I believe you did not kill Dave.”

  Nick sighed. It was actually a relief to hear that someone, at least, believed him, even if it was a strange bird like Rene.

  “Deep down, I do not believe that Jan condemns you either, but he is afraid. He values his place here and does not want to lose it. He will go along with the group consensus…up to a point.”

  “Why not you?” Nick asked.

  “Because my mind is clear. I have observed for many days. While the rest of you have bickered, I have watched silently. I see a man’s intentions better than most, and yours are not of murder.”

  “No, they’re not, but then who is responsible? Everyone was together when Dave was murdered.”

  Rene shook his head and then got up. “I do not know. Whoever it is, they are benefitting from you being blamed, and by Dave being dead. He may even have killed himself and this is all one big misunderstanding, though I doubt it. Dave did not have a coward’s heart and his scream was not one of pain, but fright. I heard it well.”

  Nick closed his eyes to think, but came up blank. “There’s nothing to gain from Dave being dead. We’re all in the same messed up situation no matter what.”

  Rene smiled at Nick. “You are naïve, my friend. There is always power to be gained and there are always men who wish to take it. The world is not so different.”

  Nick’s eyes widened. “You think Shawcross was behind it, don’t you? But how?”

  Rene rolled the wedding band on his finger that Nick had never noticed the man even wore. “Shawcross is a weak man with selfish intentions,” he said. “I have seen this with my own eyes. Now that Dave is gone and his closest male ally is locked in this cellar, he will be able to assume authority easily. You were the only other who could oppose him so this fits his plans perfectly.”

  “Me? I’m no threat to anyone.”

  “People respect you, Nick. You have a level head, no? The thought of you committing murder has damaged the group badly, made them feel lost and insecure. This is the time to establish a permanent hierarchy – while the populace is desperate and weak.”

  “I don’t see the point. What is there to be in control of? We have nothing.”

  Rene smiled knowingly. “At the moment, nothing. Later, however, there will be life at stake. To be the man who controls who gets food is an envious position. To decide who lives and dies is to be God. The one true Lord does not look kindly on such ambitions. That is why he has told me to help you.”

  “Help me?”

  “Yes. I will remain here with you. Whoever killed Dave will likely prefer you permanently out of the way. I will make sure that does not happen.”

  Nick thought the whole thing ridiculous, but Rene seemed deeply serious. With all that had happened, it was better to be overly cautious than foolhardy.

  “Okay,” Nick said finally. “Thank you.”

  “You are a good man, Nick. I hope that is proven.”

  “Me too, but what if it’s not? Shawcross couldn’t have stabbed Dave himself, so what the hell happened.”

  Rene tilted his head. “Only the Lord knows.”

  The door at the top of the stairs opened and Eve came down holding a plastic tray. “I brought you some food,” she said indifferently.

  Nick got up and walked over to her. “I didn’t do it, Eve. You know me.”

  She handed him the tray. There was a pint of coke and browning leaves of a salad. “Do I? I thought I did.”

  Nick put the tray on the floor and looked her dead in the eyes. “Yes, you do, Eve. You know me better than anybody else left on Earth. I didn’t do this.”

  Eve stared at him and sighed. “I don’t know what to think right now. Dave was a pig, but he didn’t deserve to die. There was no one else who could have done it.”

  Nick nodded. “I agree, he didn’t deserve to die.”

  Eve started back up the stairs.

  “Eve,” he shouted after her, but she ignored him and disappeared. The lock clanked behind her.

  Nick sat back down and looked over at Rene. “I guess you really are all I have.”

  Rene nodded solemnly. “Things change, my friend. You just need to be patient. God will shine his light of truth on those who are guilty.”

  Nick stared down at the wilting salad on the floor and wrinkled his nose. “I just hope the truth comes out before I starve to death.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  It had been almost a week since Dave’s death. Anna had dragged the man to the morgue herself to join the bodies of Clark, Charlotte, Tom, and Greg. She couldn’t get over the fact that Nick had committed murder. In fact, there was a part of her that didn’t even believe it all. She was a person of logic, though, and the only logic available said that Nick had murdered Dave. Everyone else had been accounted for.

  “You okay, Anna?” Mike asked her as they fed the Clydesdale horses. The foal she had delivered two weeks ago was doing well.

  “I’m just thinking,” she said. “Not about anything important, so never mind.”

  “I’m out of food. Do we have any more nearby?”

  Anna nodded. “There’s one of Shawcross’ emergency stashes over there. I’ve been using it for feed and veterinary drugs. It won’t be long until we have to go out in the woods to find that greenhouse. What we have won’t last forever.”

  Mike nodded. “I’ll go see what we have.”

  “The stash is inside the green bin.” She pointed to a large, round receptacle. She’d helped Shawcross empty it herself before storing additional supplies in it. There were dozens of similar stashes all over Ripley Heights.

  Mike pulled the lid off the bin. “Um, Anna?”

  “What?”

  “You sure this is the stash?”

  “Positive. I used it yesterday. It was full.”

  “Not anymore. Come look.”

  Anna hurriedly glanced inside the bin and frowned. There was nothing left other than a few discarded medical supplies, bandages, and a spare feeding bottle for the foal.

  “What the? This was chock-a-block with stuff yesterday. There were weapons and water bottles and medicines.”

  “So, what then? Did somebody move it?”

  Anna thought about it. “No, somebody stole it.”

  “Who would be that much of an arsehole?”

  Anna stared at the empty space where the supplies should have been. “I’m not about to start accusing people just yet. Let’s just go tell the others.”

  Mike sighed. “Shawcross is going to flip his lid.”

  “I know. Can’t say I’d blame him, if it turns out that we have a thief.”

  Mike took Anna by the hand. “Well, the only person I trust for sure is you.”

  Anna laughed. “You don’t know it wasn’t me. I could be the thief. Mere weeks you’ve known me, you fool.”

  Mike shook his head. “You care too much about what people think, you know that?”

  “Me? I don’t care. People do nothing but disappoint me.”

  “Yet you never stop trying to help them. That’s why I know it wasn’t you. That’s why I’m falling in love with you like a teenager.”

  Anna choked. “You love me? Don’t be so silly.”

  “I’m not being silly. Anyway, I said I’m falling in love with you, so don’t get ahead of yourself. This last week you and I have barely been apart. I’ve gotten to know you more than I think I’ve ever known anyone. There’s no point hiding how I feel about you. Life’s too short – especially now.”

  “You don’t know me. None of us even know ourselves with all that’s happened.”

  “I think the opposite.
I think it takes a situation like this to show who people truly are. All of our bullshit – the vanity, the ego – gets stripped away. The only thing left is who we really are. And who you are is beautiful.”

  Anna stared at Mike for a while, trying to find the right words. “Mike, I…”

  “Can’t say you love me back. That’s okay. I have time. Not much, maybe, but I can wait as long as I have.”

  Anna shook her head and grinned. “Wow, you’re always so dramatic, do you know that? Come on, let’s go find Shawcross and give him the bad news.”

  They headed out of the zoo and found Shawcross by the cable car station. He was staring down at the car park below.

  “What’re you doing?” Mike asked him.

  Shawcross spun around with a grave expression on his face. “They’re back,” he said grimly. “Look.”

  Anna peered down the side of the hill and saw that a few dozen infected people had found their way back to the car park surrounding the Rainforest Café. More were wandering in from the distance.

  Mike cringed. “Oh, shit.”

  Shawcross put a finger to his lips and shushed him. “I’m sure if we keep a low profile we’ll be quite safe. We’re prepared to deal with the odd one or two that find their way up here, but we have to make sure we don’t attract them in large groups. Being quiet is key.”

  Anna looked further into the distance. The fires that had been burning in the nearby villages had finally died out. It somehow made things feel even more final, like the candle of civilisation had finally blown out.

  “They must have wandered back from the towns,” Anna said. “Look some of them are burnt.”

  “There’s obviously nothing left to keep them there,” Shawcross said, “so they’ve dispersed, probably in every direction. A depressing thought indeed.”

  “They’re all dead,” Mike said.

  Anna turned to him. “What?”

  “Look, they’re all slow and clumsy. Not a single one of the fast ones amongst them.”

  “Perhaps the virus has burned through all of the infected and killed them,” Anna said. “Now they’re all dead.”

  “It certainly smells like it,” Mike said, wrinkling his nose. “If there are only the dead ones left, maybe they’ll die-off too eventually. Won’t they just keep on rotting until there’s nothing left?”