Escape Artist (End of the World Book 3)

by Thomas Hall

  It doesn’t make sense.

  I continue to turn, looking for Harriet, seeing nothing. And wonder how that can be. If they are here then I should be able to hear them. If they are here, then they should be able to hear me.

  Which leaves only one possible answer: they aren’t here.

  The thought fills me with dread.

  The only reason they wouldn’t have followed me into the forest is if they hadn’t seen me. But if they didn’t see me, then who were they shooting at?

  I don’t want to consider the possibility, but I have to be honest with myself. My family isn’t here and neither are the soldiers. The soldiers were shooting at something. The soldiers were shooting at my family and are following them wherever they have gone.

  I swear.

  Nothing happens.

  I turn back to the entrance and start walking. I keep stopping to listen, but I don’t hear anything.

  Soon I reach the end of the path and I can see the field through the trees. Is looks bigger from here than it did from the road, it must span acres and now it is all dead. There are going to be a lot of hungry people in the world soon, assuming that any of them have survived. We are going to need to protect ourselves and the food that we are planning to grow.

  I can see the road.

  There are three large black SUVs. Four helicopters circle above. I’m not sure whether that means they have found Harriet and the others, or if they are still searching. Either way, it is going to make it more difficult for me to move around.

  There is no sign of my family. They are out there somewhere, I am sure of it, but they must be hiding. Good for keeping away from the soldiers, bad for me finding them.

  I step out of the forest and expect to hear shouting and gunfire as soon as I make my position known. It doesn’t happen.

  I keep walking and soon I am back in the corn rows, with no better idea how to find them than I had before.

  The day has begun to heat up and the closeness of the dead corn makes it feel uncomfortable. I am soon sweating as I move through the tight rows.

  I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and turn. The other possibility is that the Infected are in here. I am not sure why they would be, but I have to consider the possibility. They could be hiding anywhere, waiting for the opportunity to come out and attack me.

  I slow down as I approach them. Unless it will guarantee my daughter escapes, I don’t want to give myself up to the soldiers. Later I may make that exact bargain, but that time isn’t now.

  This whole situation was avoidable. We have been incautious and this is the direct result of that. Once we are all back together, there will be no more racing around in white cars.

  I hear the sound of movement nearby. The soldiers move in concentric circles around the same area. They push corn out of the way with the barrels of their long guns. From time to time I glimpse their faces and I don’t see the hate that I was expecting. If anything, these people look concerned.

  When I glance down blue, shiny and familiar catches my attention.

  I stop.

  I hear the crackle of radio and a man speaking in German.

  My heart is in my throat but I kneel down and pick up a bead. Why is it familiar?

  I roll it around between my thumb and index finger and try to remember. I have seen this somewhere recently.

  I glance ahead and see another bead.

  The memory comes back to me: the necklace Cassie gave Harriet for her birthday. This bead came from that.

  I don’t know whether this is a trail that they have put down for me to follow, or proof that I am already too late. I keep following them.

  I pick up the beads as I go, thinking Harriet might want them back. Soon my pockets are full and I have walked past the soldiers, but there is no sign of Harriet and the others. I look around for another path to follow, but see none.

  “Evan?”

  I turn towards the voice. I look around but I can’t see anyone there.

  “Evan walk forwards,” the voice says.

  I start to walk. After a few steps I find them crouching in the grass, huddled together like cornered animals. They look at me but none of them speaks. I don’t have the words to comfort them. Instead I go to Harriet and put my arms around her. I bring Michelle into the embrace and, a moment later, Cassie as well.

  We stay that way for longer than is safe. There is a comfort to having them back with me but I know it is delusional. I let go of them one at a time. Harriet last of all.

  “What happened to you?” Michelle whispers.

  I shake my head. Now is not the time to go into it. “We have to go,” I say. “The forest.”

  “We won’t make it,” Cassie says.

  I ignore her. Not because she’s wrong, but because I’m afraid she’s right. The forest is our only option.

  We move as fast as I dare.

  The crackle of radio static filters through the air. I try to work out whether it is getting closer or further away. I hear men talking to each other in German. I can’t tell from their tone whether they think the search is going well or not.

  All I know is that they are still there, and that the forest is still far away.

  I hear footsteps behind us and turn to look. I can’t see anything.

  Somebody shouts something, another more distant voice answers. Then there are more of them.

  “Run!” I say without bothering to keep my voice down.

  “Run! Run!” Harriet says, echoing my tone and moving so fast that she is dragging me behind her.

  The forest looms in front of us and I am sure that we won’t make it. Each time I lift my foot, I expect to feel them behind me. Grabbing my shoulders and pulling me back.

  It doesn’t happen.

  The forest appears and we run up the hill to meet it.

  I brace myself for a repeat of the gunfire I heard the last time I made it this far, but that doesn’t happen either.

  We make it inside.

  I keep running, forcing the others to run with me. Soon we near the hill and run down the other side into the forest proper.

  We leave the forest path as soon as possible. The trees are so thick in some places that we can’t make much progress. The light is already beginning to fail.

  After a while I hear the sound of the soldiers crashing around in the but they are not close.

  We get further away from them, walking through the rest of the day and not stopping until the night sets in.

  The tree canopy provides us with shelter from the cold, but it is still going to be a long night.

  Michelle unpacks her bag and hands us each a tin of soup. I wince as I pour the cold sauce into my mouth. I manage half a tin before deciding that it isn’t worth it.

  An hour later Cassie and Harriet are asleep.

  CHAPTER 12

  THE NEXT DAY WE WALK UNTIL THE FOREST comes to an end. Either we stay where we are for the night or we go back on the open road where we will be visible for miles around.

  The problem with staying in the forest for the night is that, come morning, we will be even more visible on the road. If we stay in the forest tonight then will have to stay tomorrow as well.

  “We need to rest Evan,” Michelle says when I tell them what I’ve decided.

  “I know,” I say. “We’ll find somewhere soon, I promise.”

  “What’s wrong with here?”

  I tell her.

  She doesn’t have an answer.

  I lead the way, pushing aside the overhanging branches, and step onto the road. It is dark, but we are vulnerable. We need to get shelter as soon as possible.

  We walk.

  I don’t know how long for.

  Time seems to lose all meaning.

  The night goes on. There are no clouds in the sky and I can see more stars than I have in years. They are like flour on black velvet. The moon is our only source of light.

  I relax when we leave the main road and take a country lane that at least make
s it less likely the soldiers will find us.

  “Hör auf, wo du bist.”

  I don’t understand, but I stop where I am and the others do as well.

  A figure emerges from the darkness. A man. He steps closer and see that he is wearing an army uniform.

  “Wer bist du?” he says. “Was machst du hier?”

  Cassie steps towards him. “Wir suchen einen Platz zum Schlafen.”

  I had no idea that she could speak German.

  The soldier says something back to her and Cassie replies.

  “What’s he saying?” I ask.

  “The soldier says we have to go with him. It’s not safe out here.”

  “Is he here on his own?” I say.

  Cassie speaks to the soldier and then to me. “He’s on patrol,” she says.

  “We have to go,” I say. This time speaking to Michelle.

  “He’ll follow us,” she says. “He’ll call for help.”

  “I know,” I say. “We have to stop him.”

  “How?” she says.

  “We’ll run at him. If we’re quick he won’t have time to shoot us. We can knock him over and he won’t come after us.”

  “He’ll still call for help.”

  “If you’ve got a better idea?” I hope she has, but I don’t expect it.

  She shakes her head.

  “Okay then.”

  On three we run at the soldier and he doesn’t have a clue what to do about it.

  He tries to get out of the way but we are too quick for him. I see him swing his gun but he doesn’t shoot. I duck out of the way and pull Harriet with me.

  Then we are past him.

  He shouts something in German which I don’t understand. Cassie calls after me: “He’s calling for backup.”

  When I glance back, he is chasing us.

  I keep running.

  We pass a house perched on the side of the hill. It looks haunted and nowhere near safe.

  We keep going.

  I begin to hear the sound of soldiers behind us, shouting in their German voices. I don’t need Cassie to translate what they are saying, but she do so anyway. “They want us to stop,” Cassie says.

  Of course they want us to stop. It would be much easier for them if we gave up and handed ourselves in, but there is no way I’m doing that.

  “They say it’s not safe,” she says.

  A trick.

  I keep running, dragging Harriet and Michelle along behind me. Cassie brings up the rear.

  We reach the top of the hill and I look back to see where the soldiers are. I expect to be able to see them from here, but I can’t. They haven’t come onto the path that leads up. After a moment I spot them at the bottom of the hill looking up.

  We keep walking until we reach the town.

  I slow down and the others come to stop beside me.

  None of us speaks.

  Whatever happened here, I don’t like it. The buildings are in ruins. The streets covered in broken glass and masonry. It looks like a battleground.

  The fact that the soldiers have decided not to follow us here, only reinforces that idea.

  “We need to find somewhere to rest,” Michelle says.

  I look around but none of the buildings seems welcoming. We settle on the only building which still has windows. It is dark and cold inside.

  “Are we really staying here?” Harriet says.

  I nod. There’s no point lying to her. We might be here for a while. “We only need to stay for a few days, so that they don’t find us.”

  She nods and smiles. “Okay daddy.”

  “Wait here with Cassie while we take a look around,” I say.

  Michelle and I go into the hallway to talk.

  “We’ve got a problem,” I whisper.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The soldiers won’t come into the village,”

  “That’s a good thing though, isn’t it?”

  “It could be. But it could means the Infected are here.”

  Her face falls as she understands what I’m talking about. “There would have to be hundreds of them to scare the army away.”

  I nod. This is exactly what I’m afraid of.

  “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” I say. Although I would give a different answer if Cassie or Harriet asked me, I will not lie to Michelle. “We’ll think of something.”

  “We have to leave,” she says.

  “Soon. We need to rest first.”

  She nods, looks a little relieved that I’m not sending us back out there straight away.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” I say. “I wanted you to know.”

  “Thank you,” she says.

  “You get some rest,” I say. “I’ll take the first watch.”

  She smiles and doesn’t argue.

  CHAPTER 13

  I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME PASSES. I sit by myself until Michelle comes to join me and we sit for a while in silence. I take her hand and lace my fingers between hers. We sit and we wait.

  She hears the moans first. She flinches. “Shall we take a look?” she says.

  I nod and we stand up together. Still holding hands we walk through the dusty room and out into the hall.

  We open the door.

  I expect to be able to see them, but I can’t. I can hear that they are all around me but I can’t see anything. The darkness would be complete if it wasn’t for the distant glow of lights from the army.

  “I’ll get Harriet and Cassie,” she says. “Wait here and shout if they come any closer.”

  I hear her going up the stairs.

  The Infected moan to one another but they don’t seem to come closer. There are a lot of them.

  The first that I see is young. Not much older than Harriet. Thick strings of hair hang over her dirty face. Her eyes seem to glow in the reflection of some unseen light.

  I look for others but she is alone. She stands a couple of metres in front of me and opens her mouth.

  Without hesitation I rush forwards. The hammer is in my hand and I swing it into the side of her face.

  Her hands reach out to grab me but there is no strength in the gesture. She falls to the floor when I pull my hammer free and lays there convulsing for what seems like minutes.

  I am out of breath and panting.

  I back away towards the house, scanning the area to see if any others will come forwards.

  Michelle and the others come out the door. “Is everything okay?” she says.

  I nod. “Let’s go,” I say. “Have you got everything you need?”

  “Where are we going?” Harriet says.

  “I don’t know sweetheart,” I say.

  Before I can say more the Infected come towards us en-masse. A hundred dirty faces appear from the darkness. The terrible moan sends shivers through my body.

  I raise my hammer.

  I take a step towards the Infected and swing at the first one I meet. My aim is true and I take chunks out of their skull. They fall to the ground and I move to the next one to do the same.

  Again and again they fall but more keep coming. There must be thousands of them here.

  After a short time blood covers my face and my arms are numb. I look around for the others but I can’t see them. It reassures me a that I can hear them grunting. I never thought I would be glad to hear the thud of a hammer hitting a human skull.

  The bodies pile up and the Infected attempt to walk over them. Some of them trip over and can’t get to us. I swing at them but the dead form a wall that keeps me safe, for now.

  Michelle appears beside me. “How’s it going?” she says, panting.

  “I’ve had better days,” I say.

  She swings at an old woman who falls to the ground. “Where’s Harriet?”

  I turn but I can’t see my daughter amongst the mass of Infected. I call her name but the only answer I receive in the groans of the dead.

  “Harriet?” I say again.

  There
is no answer.

  “Come on,” Michelle says. She takes my arm. It is slick with blood but so is her hand. I offer no resistance as we move away from the wall of bodies and go to find my daughter.

  We find Harriet with Cassie. There is a pile of bodies on the ground near them and I can see that Cassie has done most of the killing.

  “We can’t keep this up,” she says without turning to look at me.

  An Infected man who looks like a tank lunges for me. I spin and swing, killing him at once. But his body weight and momentum keeps him coming forwards and I am almost crushed beneath him.

  At the last moment Michelle manages to push him aside and I stumble free.

  “Thanks,” I say.

  She blows me a kiss.

  “Come on,” I say. “Let’s see if there’s a way through.”

  We move forwards.

  The Infected lunge towards us but we are no longer afraid to strike them down. It is easier to kill them as a group than as individuals. They seem less human this way.

  It is slow and bloody progress but it is progress nonetheless. I lead us forwards and the others follow. Soon we are in the midst of the Infected and when I turn back I can no longer see the house.

  Two men wearing the remains of business suits come at me from either side. It seems, for a moment, as if their attack is co-ordinated. I hit the first one in the cheek but it doesn’t slow him down. Before I can pull my hammer back to try again the other one is on me, pulling me away from behind.

  I cry out.

  There are more hands on me.

  With perfect clarity, I recall Phillip and Bushe in the forest. The Infected tore the flesh from their bones while they were still breathing. The Infected ate them from the inside out while they could still scream.

  I panic and begin to wave the hammer around. None of them come close enough for me to hit. I don’t know where Michelle and Harriet are but they are close enough to hear me.

  “Daddy!” Harriet screams.

  “Evan?” Michelle calls.

  I try to answer them but there is a hand on my throat. I can feel something sharp against my flesh and I know that this is the end.

  CHAPTER 14