Escape Artist (End of the World Book 3)

by Thomas Hall

  The Infected make a terrible noise, but in the dark, with low hanging smoke, it is impossible to tell where they are. They seem to be coming from all around me. I turn with the sound, raising my gun and aiming it at the dark. I know that I can’t start shooting until I actually have something to aim at. But holding the weapon makes me feel better.

  “Keep moving,” I say, encouraging myself as much as them.

  I check to make sure that Harriet is safe and we walk as quick as we can. It reassures me to know that the Infected will have as much trouble as we do walking through the mud.

  CHAPTER 27

  WE MAKE BETTER TIME ONCE WE REACH THE road. Now that I can see the building, I am more confident in my plan. The sounds of the Infected retreat behind us and I make the mistake of believing that the danger is behind us.

  I reach the building first and stop outside to wait for the others to catch up. There are no lights on and I hear nothing from within.

  My first thought is that I was wrong, and that no one has taken refuge here. But then anyone who was smart enough to find shelter here, would also be smart enough to keep quiet about it. We all know that loud noises attract the Infected.

  I push the door open with the barrel of my gun and step inside.

  It is darker than I expected, but since we first arrived I have been here many times. I know the layout and don’t need to see to make my way through the long corridors.

  I don’t hear anything.

  My eyes dart from side to side but I don’t see anything either.

  I stop at the bottom of the stairs and turn around. The first person I see is Michelle, but if this all goes to hell then I want her with me. So I turn to the soldier behind her.

  “Take the top floor, don’t make too much noise. We’ll meet down here in ten minutes.”

  He nods and then runs up the stairs. The next soldier steps forwards like candy in a Pez dispenser.

  “You take the floor below.”

  She nods and dissapears.

  I distribute the other soldiers between the floors.

  I lead the three of us back through the corridor until we reach the door which leads to another staircase. I go down.

  “Who are you?” a voice says.

  The relief is palpable. A voice that I recognise. “Liz it’s me,” I say. “It’s Evan.”

  “Evan who?” she says.

  If this is a joke, then I don’t find it funny. I recognise her voice, so she should recognise mine. “Can you put the gun down,” I say.

  “How do I know I can trust you?” she says.

  The question doesn’t make sense. I am talking to her, so I can’t be one of the Infected. “What do you mean?” I say.

  A light goes on and is pointed in my face. It burns my eyes. I squint but can’t see her against the brightness.

  After a moment, it seems that she accepts that it is me. She swings the torch away and shows me the floor. At first I don’t see anything, but then an image reveals itself to me.

  A man.

  He is laying face down and there is something dark around his head.

  “I had to do it,” Liz says. “He attacked me.”

  “Liz it’s okay,” I say, thinking that I know what has happened here. The man must be one of the Infected. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “You don’t understand,” she says. I realise that she is crying now. “He tried to… to touch me.”

  I frown. Touch is not the word that I would use to describe what the Infected do. It’s too gentle. I look away from the body to Liz. “What happened?” I say.

  She sniffs. “We came down here to hide, I know I should have tried to help but… I thought I could trust him. Then he backed me into a corner and tried to make me take my clothes off. So I hit him.”

  The man wasn’t Infected at all but I have no sympathy for his fate. I don’t know what to say to Liz.

  Michelle steps around me and takes Liz in her arms. “It’s okay,” I hear her say. “You’re safe now.”

  We sit with Liz until she stops crying and tells us that she’s ready to go. She doesn’t know what happened to the other people in the building. I can only hope that the other soldiers have had more luck.

  We climb the stairs. I hear a burst of gunfire and then shouting.

  I reach for my gun and check that the safety is off, before going through the door to find out what has happened.

  The Infected are here. In the darkness it is difficult to tell how many. I count at least twenty of them prowling through the hallway.

  “On me,” I say. I can’t afford to wait for the other soldiers to join us. We need to get out of this building as soon as possible.

  Michelle doesn’t question my decision as we make our way towards the door.

  We keep close to the walls and the Infected move past us without seeming to realise we are there.

  There are at least a hundred Infected in the lobby and there is no way for us to get past without engaging them.

  I signal for the others to follow me and we slip into a side room.

  Harriet closes the door behind us and I make a mental note to ensure that she is not the last one in the group again. She needs to be between myself and Michelle at all times.

  “What are we going to do?” Liz says. The fear is all over her face again. How many times she has actually seen one of the Infected? She has been in the camp for longer than me, it’s possible that this is the first time she has seen them up close.

  “We’re going to have to fight them,” I say.

  Her face falls, but her fear can’t be my guiding light. I turn to Michelle instead and see that she is resolute. I know that I can count on her.

  “We’ll split up,” I say to Michelle. “You go left with Liz, I’ll take Harriet and go right. Okay?”

  “Meet at the front?” she says.

  “If it’s safe. If not then head for the gate. We’ll see you there.”

  She nods.

  “On three,” I say.

  Michelle counts down for us because I’m no longer sure of my ability to speak. I have only one thought in my head and that is to get Harriet out of this building. No matter what.

  CHAPTER 28

  THE MASS OF INFECTED IS SO TIGHT THAT it is an effort to move forwards at all. Clawed hands grab at my flesh and I push them away. But they do not go far. I struggle to keep hold of Harriet but I am determined. I would rather lose my arm than let go of her hand.

  The smell is nightmarish. The Infected are alive, but rotting.

  “Keep going!” I shout. I’m not sure if any of them here me, or if I am talking to myself. I take another step forwards but Harriet doesn’t follow me and I am yanked back.

  I turn to see what has happened and at first I can’t see her. The mass of Infected seem to have centred on her.

  I pull her arm and almost lose her. Her fingers start to slide through mine and it is only at the last moment that I am able to grip them.

  There is no sign of Michelle and Liz. I am on my own. There is no option but to go back and hope that she is still in one piece when I get to her.

  I push my way back past the Infected. As I move towards Harriet my hand begins to slip again and in a moment I have lost her.

  “Harriet!” I shout.

  I don’t wait for her to respond, I expect that she can’t anyway.

  Moving forwards I raise my gun. I don’t plan to fire it, there are too many of them for that, but the blunt end makes an effective club.

  When the heavy wooden handle strikes the woman in front of me, her head caves in like a soft boiled egg. She drops immediately. She hits the ground and I climb over her.

  “Harriet!” I shout again. I search for signs of movement but there is too much going on for me to pinpoint any single thing.

  An Infected man lunges towards me, pushing others out of the way. I turn with my gun raised in time to feel the full impact of his charge against my chest. I let out a throaty gasp as he knocks the oxygen out of m
y lungs. Then I am falling.

  I see the rotting limbs and torn clothing of the Infected as I pass between them. They are all around me and I know instinctively, that if I hit the ground I won’t be able to get back up. Harriet might be their preferred meal, but they won’t turn my aged flesh down if I offer it to them on a plate.

  In desperation I reach out for something to steady myself on and my hand slides down a blood soaked coat. I look into the eyes of the owner and for a moment I don’t see them. She has changed. In some impossible to describe way she has changed and she is going to kill me.

  “Cassie?” I say. I know that she can’t understand me, but the word is out before I can stop myself.

  I kid myself that she pauses, some vestigial recognition of her name. When she opens her mouth, I see that, even if she was capable of the thought required for speech, she wouldn’t be able to say anything. Her tongue is gone. Her mouth filled with the gunky black substance that passes for Infected blood.

  The sudden horror of the sight, on top of everything else that is going on, is enough of a shock to force me into action.

  I manage to get a leg beneath me and push myself up. I shove her as hard as I can and she stumbles back a few steps, but not far enough for me to completely get away. Now that I am back on my feet I am in a better position to fight and when she comes at me again, that is exactly what I do.

  I swing the gun as she comes towards me.

  “Stay back!” I shout.

  This time she doesn’t even hessitate.

  “I’m warning you,” I say.

  She keepts coming towards me as if I haven’t said a word.

  Wherever Harriet is, I hope that she can’t see me. She is Harriet’s mother, and I can only imagine the kind of emotional scarring this has the potential to cause.

  But it is either her or me. At least if I survive this, I will be capable of looking after Harriet. If Cassie kills me, then she will have no one.

  It isn’t her anymore, I tell myself.

  I swing the gun.

  It connects with the side of her head.

  It goes in and I know that it will be a struggle to pull it back out again.

  The light goes out of Cassie’s eyes. I know that she is gone, but enough energy remains in her body to keep her moving forwards. She grabs for me and if she was able to keep going for a second longer then she would get me. But, before her hands can close around my neck she starts to fall. A second later she is laying on the ground like a bag of flesh.

  For a moment I am too stunned to move.

  I look down at my ex-wife, the mother of my child and the butt of the gun that I have caved her head in with.

  Whatever the Infected are, I can see now that they are beyond saving.

  I crouch down and pull the gun out of her head. More of the blackened puss leaks out and her body caves in with what seems like a sigh. But no, that is wishful thinking. She isn’t relieved to go, she went a long time before. She was not the person that I killed.

  My thoughts turn to Harriet.

  I have dealt with one problem, but now I have to face another.

  How much time has passed since I felt her fingers slip away from mine? No more than thirty seconds. It seems impossible that so much has happened.

  I turn away from Cassie and start moving, further away from the exit with each step.

  The Infected crowd in around me, grabbing for me and trying to make me one of them. I keep moving, my body alive with the need to find my daughter before it is too late.

  I don’t call out for her again. There is no need. After a few seconds of walking I see her ahead of me. She is by the stairs, taking a step up backwards, waving, kicking at the creatures that are trying to pull her down.

  I move towards her.

  An old woman takes a swipe at me and gets a lucky hit. She only tears a little of my coat before she falls away and then I am moving again.

  After a few seconds I become aware of something on the ground. A spongy substance that seems to move as I walk across it. It is the Infected bodies that have fallen down by the crush of people, I ignore it and keep moving forwards.

  I keep my eyes on Harriet and see that she is not alone on the stairs. Creeping down behind her are more of the Infected and she doesn’t turn to look at them.

  A moment before I reach her my foot hits something on the ground. I look down and then before I know what’s happening I am falling. I collide with one of the Infected and the only reason I survive the encounter is because their back is to me. While they clamber towards my daughter I attempt to regain my balance but fail.

  When the Infected moves out of my way I tumble forwards. My hands go up to cover my face because I don’t want to land in the disgusting mess on the ground. Everything goes dark for a moment.

  I don’t hit the ground.

  Something is wrong.

  “You need to watch out,” Michelle says.

  She lets go of my arm and I turn to face her. “You shouldn’t be here,” I say.

  “Lucky for you I am though, right?”

  “Where’s Liz?” I say.

  “Outside, waiting for you.”

  “You shouldn’t have come back,” I say again, but I am glad she did.

  “Get on with it then,” she says.

  I push through the crowd of Infected, hoping that I am not too late to save Harriet.

  I near the stairs and when I look up I see that she has noticed the Infected behind her. She stands there screaming and I know that I don’t have long now. One final attempt to save my daughter.

  I lunge past the final few Infected and reach for her. I misjudge the distance and stumble a few feet short. Luckily I don’t fall and I am able to regain my balance and climb up the stairs to stand beside her.

  “Are you okay?” I say.

  “They’re everywhere,” she says.

  I pull the gun out. It looks as if I have no choice but to shoot my way out of the situation. If it is what I have to do to save my daughter then so be it.

  “Hold my hand,” I tell her and wait until her fingers curl through mine. Then I raise the gun and aim it at the head of the first Infected I see. I wish I could tell her to look away, but I need her eyes.

  I take a breath.

  I squeeze the trigger.

  The explosion half deafens us. The creature’s head erupts and covers us in bone fragments and brain matter.

  I pull her after me as I start walking.

  The Infected may have more intelligence than I’ve given them credit for. The gunshot has made them all appear cautious and they back away a little as we approach.

  I raise the gun and aim it at a young man who looks as if he might have come from the camp. He flinches and turns his back on me. I don’t have it in me to shoot while he’s walking away.

  It isn’t until we are halfway to the door that I have to shoot another one. A late arrival comes running into the building. A woman. For a moment I am terrified that it is Lis. A closer look shows me that it is not. A woman who I don’t recognise.

  I raise the gun, squeeze the trigger and she is no longer a concern.

  We keep moving. In parts the ground is slippery with blood, but we manage to stay on our feet. Harriet is silent throughout the whole ordeal and that helps.

  When we reach the door I see Michelle standing with Liz, waiting for us.

  She nods at me.

  I nod back.

  The four of us start moving.

  CHAPTER 29

  THE CAMP IS OVER RUN WITH INFECTED. A part of me wants to look for survivors, but I know that it would be a waste of time. If there are any, then we can’t do anything for them. If we try then one of us might die in their place.

  I try not to think about the soldiers who I sent to their deaths.

  There was no way I could have known.

  I am not to blame.

  I squeeze Harriet’s hand and try to gain some reassurance from that. The two of us have survived and that is the most i
mportant thing.

  Michelle reaches the gate first.

  “It’s locked,” she says, turning around to face me as if I can do anything about it.

  “Can we climb over?” I say.

  “It’s okay,” Liz says. She sounds out of breath but a little happy that she can finally contribute to the situation. “I’ve got the key.”

  We stand around her and keep our guns raised in case the Infected spot us. I listen as she works the key and when the door swings open I turn around.

  Freedom.

  Ahead of us the darkness is lit by the moon and I see no Infected.

  “Lock the gate behind us,” I say.

  I doubt that it will keep the Infected inside for long, but a little is better than nothing. She does as I ask and then we turn away from the camp.

  Breath a sigh of relief.

  Every muscle in my body relaxes and at the same time cry out for relief. I need to rest, but I can’t do that until we are safe.

  “What now?” Michelle says.

  There is only one place we can go where we will be safe. There is food in storage there and the promise of more to come at harvest time.

  “The farm,” I say.

  I start walking.

  The blood of the Infected that I have killed is drying on my skin. It will be a long time before I am clean again, but a shower and a sleep will go a long way to helping.

  We don’t talk as we walk.

  I keep my eyes open, but the road is quiet and I am full of hope that the four of us will be able to settle in the farm. It might not be somewhere that we can stay for ever, but it beats life in the camp and it sure as hell beats life on the road.

  About the Author

  Thomas Hall is really James Loscombe in disguise.

  It is an open pen name used for publishing post-apocalyptic fiction.

  Thomas / James is based in the UK, which might explain a thing or two about why he finds end of the world scenarios so fascinating.