by Riva, Aline
Greg snatched the meds from him and put the bottle in his pocket, then he turned to face him. Marc felt the anger that was prickling in the air like electricity. Greg was steaming mad and he knew he needed to step back because this was between Greg and the doctor.
“Outside,” Greg said coldly.
Christian stepped back on to the porch and Greg followed.
“Your experiment almost killed Vicki!” Greg fumed, and slammed a fist into Christian's face.
He staggered back, stumbling down the porch as his cheekbone stung and he saw stars. A visible welt was showing red as he staggered to his feet and rubbed at his face.
“I'm sorry...” he said, still stunned from the blow, “But you killed my experiment!” Now rage crept into his voice as he squared up to Greg.
“You stupid fucker, that creature was freshly turned! She was responding to my treatment! You've just killed the only hope of curing the virus! And as for shaving Vicki's head to stop her hair pulling, what kind of idiot are you? I've heard all about your past, word gets around on this island.. I bet you forced her into it. Once a thug, always a thug!”
He lunged at Greg, who dodged a blow from his closed fist and landed him a second punch. Christian hit back, slamming a fist into the side of his head.
“Enough of this shit!”
Marc had pulled them apart, holding Christian by his shirt as he pushed him up against the wall. Greg lunged in again but Marc shot him a warning glance.
“Enough!” he said again, “It makes no difference to me that you're my best friend, Greg – I'll knock the pair of you out before I stand here and watch you kill each other!”
He let go of Christian, who straightened his glasses and shot an evil glare in Greg's direction.
“You'd better hope another fresh corpse turns up,” he said bitterly, “Parsons had high hopes for my experiment!”
“And Parsons will hear all about your escaped creature and its threat to life!” Greg said angrily, “I'll make sure he finds out!”
Marc stepped between the two men again.
“Start walking,” he warned Christian, “NOW!”
Christian shot him another angry glare then turned and walked off, heading for the infirmary. Greg stood there on the porch shooting him a death stare as he watched him leave.
“Chill out,” Marc said, “Seriously, Greg... let go of it. Get upstairs and look after Vicki.”
Just then Zodiac came running down the street. He turned back, waved to Helen then dashed towards home.
“Uncle Marc is back!” he yelled joyfully.
Marc glanced at Greg, shooting him a warning look to remind him the quarrel was over, then Zodiac joined them and they went inside and Marc took Zodiac out to the kitchen as he asked what Raven Isle was like. As he heard Marc start to lie and say it was a lovely place but no one lived there, he knew he would hear the real story much later. Then he went up the stairs, his thoughts only with Vicki as he guessed she hated him right now, and had no clue how much his heart was breaking for her and all he had put her through...
“Are you awake?”
Greg had asked the question quietly as he went into the bedroom. He paused to close the door and lock it to ensure privacy, then he went over to the bed and sat on the edge of it.
“Vicki... please don't turn away from me,” he took the pills from his pocket and placed it on the table next to the bed, “Christian dropped your meds off.”
“I heard the fight.”
She sounded wounded and his heart ached as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned around, pushing the covers back, tears in her eyes as the sheet barely covered her breasts and she shot him an accusing look.
“That thing could have killed me!”
“And I should have believed you when you said you saw something. I'm sorry.”
“You've got a bruise on your face.”
She reached up and touched his cheek, as their eyes locked he leaned closer.
“I'm sorry about your hair. I was trying to help you -”
“It's okay,” she said quietly, “I haven't had the urge since you shaved it, maybe you did the best thing. Maybe I should have done it myself a long time ago. It might have broken the habit.”
“Are you still seeing things that are not there?” he had asked the question carefully.
“I don't know,” she replied sadly, “I thought I was looking at the man I loved, but he left me with a creeping corpse that wanted to tear me apart.”
Her words cut deep as Greg joined her on the bed, but stayed on top of the covers and put his arm around her. He kissed the side of her bare head and she heard him catch his breath as he blinked and a tear ran on to her skin.
“Please don't blame me, I didn't know what to do with you! I was trying to help you!”
“Tell me about the fight with Christian.”
He gave a sigh.
“He was angry that I killed his experiment. I was mad at him because that experiment could have killed you. It's his fault, he shouldn't have kept a live corpse in the lab!”
“And I told you it was loose.”
He paused for thought.
“He called me an idiot. He called me a stupid fucker and a thug! He made references to my past in the old world. What the fuck does that have to do with who I am today? This world has changed everyone!”
“And what did you call him?”
“Nothing, I punched him in the face. He fucking deserved it. I know he saved my life when I was wounded but he's a doctor, that's his job. Our friendship is over!”
Vicki groaned into the pillow.
“Christ, you sound like a pair of kids in a playground, Greg! He's always been a good friend to you. He took great care of you after you had the surgery. And you've always been on good terms with him. Don't wreck it. There's not enough people left in the world to make new friendships – there are very few of us humans left!”
“It was a big fight,” he replied, “Our friendship is over. Too much was said, we had a punch up... leave it alone, I don't want to talk about it.”
She turned over, reached for him and pulled him into her arms and held him tightly, then their lips touched and they shared a kiss that for Greg was far too brief as he wondered if she would ever forgive him. But he didn't get the chance to ask her because she turned her back and closed her eyes, as he put his arm around her, he felt her hand close over his arm, but then she was sleeping deeply, leaving him to wonder and worry in the dark.
It was dark when Emma woke up on the floor of the abandoned pub. Alex was already up, he had a single candle a light and indicated to Clare, who was still sleeping.
“Wake her,” he whispered.
“Why?” she asked, blinking as she grew accustomed to the darkness, then remembering the windows were boarded.
“Just wake her... we need to move out.”
“What?”
Emma got up from the floor, went over to Clare and whispered her name. As Clare opened her eyes she looked up at Emma and saw worry in her eyes.
“What's going on?”
“This is going on,” Alex whispered, standing by a board that covered a window. He gestured to the women and they followed him over, standing there as he tugged at the board and a shaft of light fell into the room. Through the gap they saw a narrow view of the parking area outside, and looked on in horror to see undead creatures stumbling around, one bumped into the car, another thumped on a boarded window close by, then staggered off as another thump sounded. This was louder. It was coming from the doorway, where the board was not secure.
“We need a plan,” Emma said.
The three companions looked at one another by the light of the candle as they all reached for their guns at the same time.
Emma's throat was tight as she spoke again.
“So the plan is, we hope for the best?”
Alex nodded.
“Yes indeed,” he replied, “And the odds are not in our favour...”
Chapt
er 9
As the creature thumped against the barrier it buckled then bounced back as sunlight came in along with a glimpse of the corpse behind the door, then it was gone again. Another thump saw it repeated, now the sounds of the others were mingling together, low moans and snarls as they turned, fixing their dead eyes on the sight of creature that pounded the door, giving a loud cry from a dry throat, a signal it had found something and its scent was filled with warm blood of the living. The creatures began to slowly move towards the corpse that called the signal, surrounding the doorway as it crashed against it and the barrier loosened.
Behind the doorway, Alex glanced to the others.
“I'll deal with the first one.”
“And then we hope for the best,” Emma said as her face paled.
The barrier was buckled in now and through the gap the creatures could be seen as the main attacker lumbered forward again, smashing against the broken door.
As its shadow retreated to return with another blow Alex kicked at the barrier, sending it and the creature flying backwards with force. He lunged out, spraying the air with bullets, felling some of the undead as others took minor hits, jerking to a stop and then fixing their eyes on their prey and advancing once more.
Now Clare was out followed by Emma, they took positions left and right and fired off rounds, the combined force of the firepower was deafening as they stood their ground and more of the creatures fell. Then silence came over the parking area. Bodies littered the ground. Emma lowered her weapon and paused to take a breath.
“I think we did it.”
Alex looked left and right, swung his gun around and then turned back again.
“For now,” he replied, “But we need to get out of here, we can't afford to wait.”
Emma looked again at the corpses on the ground.
“I did promise some booze for the island bar...”
Alex gave a heavy sigh.
“Ten minutes to load up and no longer!”
The women placed their weapons against the wall of the pub and went back inside.
Stripping the pub was easier than they had first thought, they left the spirits on the optics and opened up a door at the back of the bar and went down to the cellar, relying on the light from the single candle that remained to guide the way. They packed boxes of beer cans and then bottles of spirits and carried them together sharing the weight, going back up the stairs, through the pub and then outside, where they loaded the boxes into the boot of the car.
“One more,” Emma said as she looked at the two well packed boxes, “I saw some champagne down there.”
“Hurry up. I'm waiting here, I've had enough, I didn't come on this trip to stock a bar!” Clare replied, then Emma went back through the broken doorway.
As she stood beside Alex, the stench of the dead bodies that littered the parking area filled the air. She cast a glance about the ground, watching for warning signs, but all were dead and staying dead.
Alex leant his gun against the wall beside the other weapons, took a walk towards the beer garden close by and looked over the low fence. There were benches set in a lawn area, on some tables bottles and glasses still stood, further up skeletal bodies lay rotting where they had fallen, broken glasses beside them.
“The whole worlds like the Mary Celeste...” he murmured, we are living in a giant ghost ship...”
Clare looked over at him. She was still standing on the corner by the doorway.
“What did you say?”
He turned around. As a creature moved around the corner and grabbed her by the hair she screamed, kicking out and aiming punches behind her. Alex raced for his gun as she was dragged off and he heard the sound of teeth tearing flesh and biting down on bone. Her screams were high pitched now, he grabbed his weapon as there was a crash and sound of glass breaking inside the pub.
Emma raced out and snatched up her gun in time to follow Alex around to the back of the pub, where four creatures were on their knees, tearing up chunks of fresh and bloody meat and gorging on it greedily. In that moment as the body they gathered around shuddered and fell still, they realised the creatures were actually feasting on Clare. Emma's gun was still raised as a tear ran down her face.
“We're moving out,” Alex said quietly.
She heard him but as she lowered the gun she could not tear her gaze from the terrible sight of her friend being torn apart like a piece of meat. She could hear the creatures chewing, they were splitting her open and plunging dead hands into her guts, slithering intestines were cascading out and shining in the morning light as the creatures grabbed at them, tugging greedily until the guts split and they ate noisily, cramming her insides into their mouths and chewing loudly.
“We have to go!” Alex repeated urgently, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Emma finally turned from the scene, leaving the creatures to feast and ran to the car. Once they were inside and the door was closed, they drove away in silence.
“We'll head for the other end of town.”
Alex had broken the silence but Emma gave no reply, her thoughts still resting with her dead friend. As they drove on and left the scene of carnage behind them they went uphill, passed a few more living dead creatures stumbling about, then went on down a long road that led to more shops. Here it was quiet.
“We might get lucky,” he said, indicating to a pharmacy where the shutter was partially closed.
He took the car over to the other side of the road, pulled up and turned off the engine. They both got out carrying their weapons, pausing to watch and listen for signs of creeping danger, but saw and heard nothing. Alex wound the shutter upwards, then pushed the door of the shop and it opened. He smiled in triumph.
“I think we just got lucky!”
She followed him into the store. Daylight spilled in and there was no sign of damage here. The place was small and once glance told them no undead lurked within. They took some carrier bags and while Alex grabbed bandages and first aid items, Emma went around to the pharmacy and began to clear the shelves, taking every medication she could find, filling bag after bag. Four trips to the car saw the boot capacity filled and then they started loading it on to the back seat.
Finally, with the pharmacy picked bare and the shelves emptied and the back of the car crammed with everything from medication to powdered baby milk, they got back into the car and Alex started the engine.
“We need to head back...Oh, if only we had the ability to fly!”
“You're always talking about flying.”
“I'm a bird,” he replied, “A wingless creature now. The urge to fly takes me over sometimes but then I remember I'm on the ground, living among the dead...”
He reached into his jacket, took out a photo and handed it to her. Emma looked at the picture,: Alex was in it, with a woman beside him and two young children.
“This is your family?”
“Dead,” he stated, taking a turn in the road and heading back the way they had come in.
“I'm sorry. The apocalypse took a lot of people.”
“No, this was before. Car accident. I was up there,”he pointed to the sky, “Taking my passengers from London to New York.”
“You used to be an airline pilot?”
Suddenly his crazy talk was making sense.
“Yes,” he replied, “But after they died, I changed... people in my home town call me Crazy Alex, they look at me kindly and say, That's the one who went mad before the old world ended... I don't know if I'm crazy. Maybe we all are to carry on living in a world like this one.”
She handed the picture back to him and he put it back in his pocket.
“That's something we have in common,” she told him, “We're both pilots!”
“I would love to fly again,” he said.
“So would I! My chopper was blown up out at sea. Shot to pieces.”
They weaved around some crashed cars and carried on heading out of town.
“I'm taking the same route we took b
efore,” he told her, “But if I see a clear short cut, Ill take that too. I want us to be back at your pick up point by sundown.”
“I have a boat,” she told him.
He smiled as he drove on.
“Ah, the sea! How I love its sparkle when the sun hits the water! You should come with me to Circus. It's a magical place. Fairgrounds, entertainment, good food. They even have factories up and running! The border to the town is heavily guarded and nothing can get through. It's a safe zone. And I can't wait to see the tower shining in the morning sun, I shall greet her and she shall greet me...how I love talking to the helter skelter!”
Emma smiled as she looked away at the thought of him talking to a fairground amusement. Then a thought hit her.
“Take the boat with me, come over to Wolfsheer. I think Parsons will want to hear about your community, Alex! Maybe some of the islanders might want to go there. You've travelled the route many times, you know the way.”
He glanced at her.
“Very well,” he agreed, “I shall stay for a short time only, then I require passage back to the mainland. I'll leave my car close to the dock. It should be safe enough. I know my way home.”
She smiled as she caught his gaze.
“I think you'll like Wolfsheer, it's a great community.”
“Perhaps I will,” he agreed, “I may even stay.”
Then they drove on and she said no more, Clare's death had shocked and saddened her but the thought of Alex joining the community at Wolfsheer had made her smile. She wasn't sure why, she just knew she liked having him around, even if he was slightly crazy Alex was someone she had grown to like, and quickly, too.
Vicki was resting in bed while the rest of the islanders went about their day. Greg had put word out that the bar would be closed until it could be restocked, then he had returned home and bandaged her sprained ankle, brought her tea in bed and insisted that she stay there and rest until she was healed. Zodiac had come in to see her, she had explained she had cut off her hair because she needed to stop her habit of pulling it. Zodiac had only stared at her for a moment, then gone about his usual day of playing between his room and the garden.
