The BIG Horror Pack 2

by Iain Rob Wright

  “Perhaps,” Anna said, “but we still need to be careful. The dead are slower than the infected, but they don’t give up.”

  Shawcross nodded. “I’d like to think that we can liberate Ripley Hall at some point, but I think it’d be best that we continue to lay low for now. No unnecessary risks. No commotion. If we’re smart, we may just make it through.”

  Eve came running up from the amusement park, panting.

  Shawcross ran a hand through his slick, ginger hair. “Eve, sweetheart. Whatever is the matter?”

  “The supplies,” she said. “I’ve checked half-a-dozen places and they’re all gone.”

  “Gone?”

  Anna exchanged a knowing glance with Mike.

  “You must be mistaken,” Shawcross told Eve.

  Eve shook her head. “We have no food.”

  “Actually,” Anna said, “the reason Mike and I have just come from the zoo is that we’ve discovered supplies missing from there, too. I think we might have a thief.”

  Shawcross’ eyes narrowed and his lips went thin. “Get everyone together,” he ordered. “Now!”

  ***

  It took less than ten minutes to get everybody together, excluding Rene and Nick.

  “We have one very serious problem here, people,” Shawcross said, standing in the midway that was now being used to store supplies.

  The group stared at one another blankly.

  “There is a thief amongst us.” Shawcross almost shouted the word thief. “A dirty scoundrel. Who is it? Speak now, or God help you later.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Alan said.

  Michelle folded her arms. “Me, either.”

  Shawcross snarled. “Well, somebody is responsible.”

  “Maybe it’s the monkey,” Cassie muttered.

  Shawcross cocked his head. “What?”

  “The monkey,” she said. “Maybe it’s been raiding our supplies at night, trying to survive.”

  Anna objected. “Lily isn’t taking our supplies.”

  “How can you be so sure?” said Shawcross.

  “An orang-utan would have no need for the weapons and medicines that we stashed along with the food and blankets. She could potentially take things she could eat, but I don’t see her taking lengths of pipe and rope, do you? But that’s not even the main reason I know it’s not Lily.”

  Shawcross raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “I know, because I’ve been leaving food out for her at night and by morning it’s all gone. She’s living somewhere in the woods nearby and she’s well fed.”

  Shawcross went bright red. “You’ve been giving our supplies away to a goddamn monkey?”

  “No,” Anna said calmly. “I’ve been giving a few supplies to an intelligent primate. One of very few left alive – even before the world went to shit. She has as much right to survive as the rest of us.”

  “Nonsense! You’re a thief.”

  “Hey!” Mike said. “Let’s take it down a notch with the witch hunt, yeah? Anna is a vet and took an oath to help animals in need.”

  “Actually, vets don’t take an oath,” Anna whispered, “but thank you.”

  Mike carried on speaking. “Anna is the only person who can help any of us if we get sick or injured, so I’d say we best be nice to her.”

  Shawcross folded his arms. “So we should just let her do whatever the hell she likes, regardless of the rest of us?”

  “Hell yes. We were all stuck in a kitchen when she found us. Without her we might still be stuck there or, most likely, dead. She risked her life for us on more than one occasion, so how dare you attack her like this?”

  “I don’t mind feeding the monkey,” Cassie said.

  Mike shrugged. “Me either. I couldn’t watch it suffer and starve.”

  “She’s an ape,” Anna said, “but I’m glad you don’t mind feeding her because I’m doing it regardless.”

  “What if we end up starving?” Michelle said. “It’s just an animal. We’re people.”

  “Exactly,” Shawcross said. “We’ll be using animals for meat soon enough, so what’s the point in feeding them?”

  Anna shook her head. If they were happy letting a rare species die, why bother wasting the breath to argue? If that was how they felt, the world would eventually become a very bleak and meaningless landscape, devoid of beauty. Anna would rather die than live in a world like that. She turned away from the group, not wishing to discuss it further.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Shawcross shouted after her.

  “To find your thief,” she said. “Then maybe you’ll stop blaming an innocent animal.”

  “If I find out that you’re behind this, Anna…”

  “You’ll what?” Mike said, before hurrying after Anna. The feeling of having someone on her side, ready to fight for her, was unfamiliar. It’d been a long time since somebody had supported her like that.

  “You’re really sure that Lily didn’t take the supplies?” he asked her.

  “Yes. She’s been taking the scraps I’ve been leaving and can probably live off some of the local vegetation too. There’s no way she could have carried off all the supplies we left. Whoever is responsible for the missing supplies is much more calculating than an orang-utan.”

  “You’re right. Whoever’s taking the extra food is making a conscious decision to screw the rest of us over.”

  Anna took a seat on one of the park benches. In front of them was the cable car station and behind it open sky. The sun had begun to dip beneath the horizon and evening would arrive soon.

  “You know what’s crazy, Mike?”

  He put his hand on her knee. “What?”

  “That people scare me more than the infected do. The undead don’t keep me up at night. Shawcross does.”

  “The undead? Are we calling them that now?”

  “May as well call a spade a spade.”

  “I can’t believe Dave was murdered and now someone’s stealing from the group. You’d think that with all that’s happened, people would finally want to stick together.”

  “Looks like the opposite is happening. Life is about survival of the fittest – everyone out for themselves.”

  Mike asked the question: “Who do you think took the supplies?”

  Anna chewed her lip and thought about it. “Do you really think that Nick killed Dave?” she asked instead of answering the question posed to her.

  “Couldn’t have been anybody else. Trust the evidence. Didn’t they used to say that on some TV show?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve forgotten what watching television was like.” She leant back on the bench and stared up at the sky. “So, you think Nick did it, then?”

  “I don’t know,” Mike admitted. “Wouldn’t have pegged him as the killing kind before it happened, but I suppose none of us are in any position to trust one another.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” Anna asked him, surprised that she was hurt by his words.

  Mike blushed, his angular cheeks blooming with colour. “Of course I trust you. You’re the exception.”

  Anna smiled at him. “Good, because one of the only things keeping me sane right is knowing that I have you on my side.”

  “Always.” He leaned in for a kiss and when they broke apart a minute later, the world had gone dark. It took a couple of seconds before Anna realised that the darkness was coming from a shadow cast over them. Before she could see who was standing over her, something heavy struck her head and things got darker still.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  It was nighttime when Anna opened her eyes again and she quickly realised she was sitting inside a greenhouse. She lifted her head, and winced as a lump throbbed at the back of her skull. She was tied up, bound to a chair by her wrists and ankles. Mike was beside her, unconscious.

  “Mike,” she whispered. “Mike, wake up.”

  Mike didn’t move.

  “I think he may be asleep a little while longer,” said a familiar voice. S
hawcross emerged from the shadows at the back of the greenhouse and eyed her like a hungry vulture. “Mike received quite a blow to the back of the head. Might not wake up at all, I fear to tell you.”

  Anna spat. Just seeing the man made her skin crawl. Knowing he was the one behind this current indignity made her furious; that he felt he had any right to tie her up…

  “Shawcross, you fucking weasel. Get me out of this chair right now.”

  “Now, now,” he purred. “There’s no need for such hostility. I’ve let you in on my little secret. You should be honoured.”

  Anna looked at him with disgust. “What secret?”

  Shawcross stretched his arms wide and gestured to his surroundings. “What do you think? I found the greenhouse. There are enough plants in here and crops outside to sustain a small group of us indefinitely. A small group.”

  “When did you find it?”

  “After you all turned on me and put that brute Dave in charge. I was going to leave, but on my trek through the woods I found this place. Besides, I couldn’t leave Ripley Hall to you peasants. I need to be nearby for when it’s reopened someday. I am its manager, after all.”

  Anna looked around at the greenhouse interior. There were long shelves; three tiers high, brimming with tomato plants, cucumbers, and a whole host of other fruits and vegetables. Stacked up in the corner of the building were all of the group’s missing supplies.

  “You took the supplies,” she said. “All the shit you gave me, and it was you!”

  Shawcross laughed. “Not exactly, but close enough. Like I said, there’s enough here for a small group to survive indefinitely. Our current group, however, is slightly too large.”

  Anna’s stomach rolled as she absorbed what she was being told. “What are you playing at, Shawcross?” she demanded, rocking back and forth. “Untie me from this goddamn chair.”

  “I’m afraid I cannot do that, Anna. I’m sorry that things have ended up like this, because I have always respected you, even if I have never particularly liked you.”

  “I always thought you were a wanker. Looks like I was right”

  Shawcross growled at her and pointed his finger in her face. “You’re in no position to sling insults. I thank you for making this easier for me.”

  “You can’t seriously be planning to kill me.”

  Shawcross slapped a palm against his forehead. “Have you been listening to a word I’ve said? That’s exactly what I plan on doing. The group of us won’t make it through with the food we have. We’ll eat ourselves to death in a matter of months. However, with a few less mouths to feed, we’ll be just fine. Nick is locked up with that retard, Rene, and you and Mike are here with me, about to be disposed of. To my knowledge, that’s all of the troublemakers dealt with.”

  “Troublemakers?”

  Shawcross nodded. “Yes. You and Mike have been quite outspoken in your defiance of me. Today it became unfortunately clear that neither of you are going to respect my authority.”

  “That’s because you have none.”

  Shawcross scowled. “Don’t I? Just look at the position you’re in. Look at what happened to Nick after he attacked me. Look what happened to Dave for going up against me.” Shawcross put a hand over his mouth. “Oops! Whatever have I said?”

  “You killed Dave.”

  “Of course I didn’t. I was with you the whole time.”

  “Then how?”

  “Not for you to worry about, Anna. You know, it really is such a pity that you couldn’t see my way of thinking. If civilisation is over as we know it, then you and I would have made a great match for a repopulation effort.”

  Anna felt revulsion. “I’d rather fuck a pig.”

  Shawcross exploded, the look on his face inhuman; so full of hate and malice, twisted insecurities. “Maybe I’ll have you fuck every animal in the zoo before I kill you, or maybe I’ll show pity and just teach you a lesson myself. You think I’m not man enough for you? You’d rather choose an ambitionless moron like Mike – a man with zero ambition, zero intelligence, zero—”

  Mike flew out of his chair, ropes hanging loose around his wrists. He tumbled into Shawcross and tackled him to the ground.

  “I’m intelligent enough to get the drop on you, you greasy-haired motherfucker.” He held Shawcross down and let fly with his fists.

  While this was going on, Anna started struggling frantically with her own bonds. The ropes were thick, but the chair wasn’t. As she yanked and twisted, she felt the joints of the old wooden chair begin to loosen. The armrests began to rattle.

  Mike was still pummelling Shawcross on the floor. Anna shouted out to him. “Mike! Help me.”

  He saw her struggling to get free and ran over to help her. “One sec,” he said, grabbing at the ropes around her wrists.

  The ropes slipped away and she was free. With a hiss, she rubbed at her stinging flesh of her wrists. Layers of skin had been grazed away, leaving two sore, red rings.

  “Come on,” Mike said, grabbing her. “Let’s get out of here. We need to tell the others about what this piece of shit has done. Then we can all decide what to do with him. I vote for lynching.”

  Anna jumped up from the chair and glared down at Shawcross on the floor. He’d rolled onto his side and was looking up at her with hazy eyes, slowly regaining their focus.

  “You son of a bitch.” Anna kicked Shawcross the ribs and the wind exploded out of him in a pained gasp. Then she kicked him again.

  When she was done, she turned back to Mike and the two of them headed for the exit at the rear of the greenhouse. She had no idea where the hell they were other than in the woods some place.

  As they hurried, Anna had a sudden, random thought. How did Shawcross have time to drag both her and Mike out to the woods before anyone noticed? How did he kill Dave while he was with everyone else? He couldn’t have done it alone.

  “I can’t believe this,” Mike said. “Was he always this much of an arsehole or was he—”

  He stopped mid-sentence, stumbling back against a rack of root vegetables. He placed his hands to his stomach, a long knife sticking out.

  A stranger emerged from the shadows. A man Anna did not recognise.

  Despite his wound, Mike threw himself at the stranger. “Run!” he shouted at Anna. “Run!”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Anna found herself in an open field; deep woods surrounded her on all sides. Behind her, she heard Mike’s struggles as he fought with his attacker. Someone had stabbed him. Mike was badly injured and she was running away. But if she could find the others, she could come back and help him.

  Battling with the urge to stay, Anna shot off across the field as fast as her legs would carry her. Roots and unearthed vegetables tripped her several times but she kept on going. She entered the treeline and left the open field behind. Shadows enveloped her as the moon failed to penetrate the leafy canopy with any except a few thin shafts of light. It was like running with her eyes closed, dodging trees at the last minute whenever she was about to crash into them.

  “Here pussy, pussy, pussy.”

  The voice was far off, but still near enough to stoke Anna’s panic anew. She didn’t recognise the voice, hadn’t recognised the man it belonged to back at the greenhouse. She prayed to God that Mike was okay, but knew that he must have lost the battle if his attacker was now chasing after her.

  She ducked off in a random direction, hoping it would lead her back to the park.

  “Just stop running, girl. I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

  Anna jinked around a bush full of nettles and headed for a tight cropping of trees, hoping they would provide cover.

  “Bitch, you winding me up now. Give it up and come here.”

  Fuck you! Anna almost shouted, but managed to stop herself. The last thing she wanted to do was give away her position.

  She was surrounded by apple trees. Their spoiled fruit littered the grass and crushed underfoot as she ran. She found a long straight rut and mo
ved into it, the hard, clear ground allowing her to sprint more surely. The pair of parallel dips suggested the regular use of vehicles in that area, which was encouraging as it might mean she could follow it back to the park, if it led there.

  “Bitch, I gunna find you. Then I gunna party hard wid you.”

  The voice was getting closer. She might have only seconds before he found the clearing and spotted her. He was faster than her, not as beat up as her.

  Anna felt as if her knees were turning to jelly as she thudded across the hard mud. A thicker treeline up ahead was tantalisingly close, yet she just couldn’t seem to make it. It always seemed close.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

  Anna burst through the treeline just as she heard her pursuer’s voice echo through the clearing behind her. She’d made it into fresh cover just in time.

  She might still be able to get away.

  Then something moved ahead of her and she screamed.

  “I hear you, bitch. Now you in big trouble,” came the voice behind.

  But it was in front of her that mattered. Anna looked up at the branches overhead and was shocked to see Lily. The orang-utan stared down at her and hooted.

  The stitch in Anna’s side was enough to drop an elephant, but she had to keep going. She had to keep going until there wasn’t a single drop left in the tank.

  Lily swung ahead, keeping to the branches. Eventually she stopped and hooted.

  “What?” Anna said. “What do you want?”

  Lily leapt to a new branch and hooted again.

  “You want me to follow?”

  Lily swung to the next tree, hooted again.

  Anna followed Lily.

  The orang-utan swung from branch to branch, tree-to-tree, altering direction slightly every now and then. Anna used the last of her reserves to keep up with the leaping animal.

  “I see you, bitch,” the stranger shouted close behind her. “Time to give it up for Daddy.”

  Anna screamed. “Help.”