For Those In Peril (Book 2): The Outbreak

by Drysdale, Colin M.

  ‘So Nick wasn’t lyin’ when he said Gordon was killed by an infected.’ Daz was looking over my shoulder as Mitch lingered by the door.

  ‘Yeah.’ I reached out and turned what was left of Gordon’s torso, ‘but it wasn’t the whole truth either, look.’ His hands had been fastened behind his back with a thick black cable tie.

  ‘Awww fuck!’ Daz kept his eyes trained on Gordon’s body as he spoke. ‘What do we do now?’

  ‘There’s nothing we can do, not for Gordon at any rate.’ I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate and despite the smell, I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath. ‘But we need to get out of here; we need to get up to Rhum and get the others away from there as soon as we can.’

  As I turned to leave, I spotted a small metal tube with a tuft of yellow fibrous material protruding from one end. I pulled the sleeve of my shirt over my hand and carefully picked it up before sliding it into my pocket so I could examine it properly later; if it was what I thought it was, it would do a lot to explain what had happened to Gordon.

  ‘So,’ Daz turned the wheel to keep us pointing in the right direction, ‘what d’you think went on back there?’

  We were back on the boat and heading for Rhum. It would be a good few hours before we got there and we had plenty of time to discuss what we’d just found.

  ‘I think there’s little doubt that Nick killed him.’ I stared out into the darkness. ‘I don’t know how much the other marines know, but I don’t think he could have done it alone.’

  Mitch was sitting opposite me in the cockpit. ‘But what I don’t understand is how they could have got him in there with an infected. You saw how it went for us when we tried to get in.’

  ‘Because they used this.’ I took an old rag from one of the deck lockers and gingerly pulled the small metal tube out of my pocket, making sure I kept my fingers well clear of its razor-sharp tip. Daz leant forward to pick it up, but I stopped him. ‘Careful. If I’m right, that’s infected blood on the end of it.’

  He recoiled instantly. ‘What is it?’

  I held it up and ruffled my thumb across the yellow fibres. ‘It’s a tranquilizer dart: the kind vets use to knock out large animals.’

  Daz frowned. ‘What’s that got to do with anythin’?’

  I examined it closely: it was about half an inch wide and five inches long, with a thick hypodermic needle sticking out of one end. ‘I think they used it to knock out the infected so they could put it in the room with Gordon. It’s the only way they could have done it safely.’ I glanced across at Mitch. ‘It would also explain why they waited around for so long; they wouldn’t have known how long it would take for the infected to recover and they wouldn’t want there to be a chance of Gordon getting away.’

  Mitch stared at the dart. ‘But why go to all that trouble?’

  ‘Think about it; if they’d just shot him and we’d stumbled across Gordon’s body, then we’d have known what they’d done.’ I stared at it. ‘This way, if he was ever found, it would look like he’d been killed by an infected, just as they said.’

  ‘But what about the cable tie?’ Daz was watching me closely, ‘is that no’ a bit of a giveaway?’

  I carefully wrapped the dart in the rag and tucked it into a safe place beside the helm, just in case we needed the evidence later. ‘My guess is they forgot about it until it was too late, and when they realised, they couldn’t exactly go back in and take it off.’

  ‘You don’t think they saw me, do you?‘ Mitch was concerned. ‘You don’t think that’s why they attacked Tobermory?’

  I rubbed my hand along the side of my face, feeling the thick beard which now grew there. ‘There’s certainly a good chance that was part of it. But it could also have just been good, old-fashioned revenge. Or maybe it was because we were the only other group left and they knew we were unlikely to give into them. Other than us, they’ve got pretty much everyone under their control now. They’re saying it’s for protection, but I think there might be more to it than …’

  A thought popped into my head and it was so startling that it stopped me in my tracks. If they’d managed to knock out one infected with a tranquillizer gun, why couldn’t they have done it to others, too? Nick had made it clear in the bar that he thought they were in charge and that everybody should be doing exactly what they said. What if he’d worked out a way to persuade people he was right? It was only after that night that we’d really started having problems with communities being overrun, and we hadn’t worked out any possible way for the infected to be getting to the islands on their own. What if someone had given them a hand?

  It wasn’t unusual to see lone infected loitering near the shore on the mainland or the islands they infested, and with a tranquilizer gun, the marines could easily immobilise one. Once they’d done that, it would be simple enough to pick it up and drop it into a community under cover of darkness. All they’d need to do then was wait for it to recover and start attacking people; they could then ride in, all guns blazing. It would be the perfect demonstration of why people needed them, and why they should be allowed to take control. Once the marines had saved the day, people would feel indebted to them, and would do what they said. It was a simple strategy, yet the very idea of it was horrifying.

  I wondered if Nick had got the idea from Iona, because I was pretty sure he wasn’t behind that attack, but the others after that, the ones we’d had so much difficulty trying to explain, they all fitted with the pattern rapidly coalescing in my mind.

  Maybe Gordon had been getting suspicious, and that’s why he’d had to die; or maybe he’d simply out-lived his usefulness. It was Gordon’s friendliness and leadership that persuaded people to leave their homes and move to Rhum; not Nick’s strong-arm tactics. Now all the other communities had been forced to move there by the infected, and Tobermory had been destroyed, maybe Nick felt he didn’t need him anymore. If that was the case, things on Rhum were likely to take a turn for the worse with a man like that in charge. It wouldn’t be a democracy, it would be a dictatorship, with Nick reigning supreme, while the other marines took their places in the upper echelons: everyone else would be treated little better than slaves.

  If I was right, and still I wasn’t yet certain of that, then we were in real trouble, because the last thing Nick would want would be us turning up at Rhum, trying to take Claire, Tom and Sophie back to Tobermory. There was just too much evidence there of what they’d done, and they had too great a need for Claire and her medical skills if they wanted to survive in the long term.

  Chapter Nineteen

  ‘Are we agreed that this is the best plan?’ I looked at Daz and Mitch, and they both nodded. I examined my watch and then the sails. ‘We’ll reach Rhum in about twenty minutes. Are you both clear about what we’re going to do?’

  They nodded again.

  ‘Any questions?’

  Daz moved nervously on his seat in the cockpit. ‘You think this’ll work?’

  I avoided giving a straight answer. ‘I think it’s the best chance we have.’

  ‘That’s no’ really answerin’ the question, Ben.’ Daz glared at me. ‘Is it?’

  ‘If we’re careful, yes, I think it’ll work.’ I picked at my nails. ‘The biggest question’s what they’re going to do once they find out we’re gone.’

  Mitch stood up and stretched her back. ‘What d’you think they’ll do?’

  ‘My guess?’ I chewed on the inside of my lower lip. ‘They’ll come after us, but they’re going to assume we’re heading for Tobermory: that should give us enough time to get away.’

  Daz stared down at his feet. ‘If we’re no’ goin’ back to Tobermory, where are we goin’?’

  I shook my head. ‘I don’t know. Somewhere north would be best; see if we can find somewhere that’s beyond their reach.’

  We’d delayed our arrival as long as we dared. It would need to be dark before we tried to make our escape, and the less time we spent on the island, the less time there’d
be for our plan to be discovered. We finally pulled into the bay in front of the Big House just before five in the afternoon, with Mitch taking care to keep out of sight: our plan would only work if they didn’t suspect that Daz and I knew about what had happened in Tobermory. Even before we’d dropped anchor, one of the ribs was speeding from the shore towards us with Nick at the controls, flanked by two other marines, both carrying their assault rifles.

  Nick smiled as he pulled up alongside. ‘Glad to see you made it. We were beginning to wonder where you’d got to.’ While his voice was calm, there was an edge to it and his expression was forced.

  I smiled back, hoping I was doing a better job of faking it than he was. ‘I thought we’d take our time. After all, there’s no rush, is there?’ I searched his face, trying to work out if he believed me or not. ‘Did Claire manage to get your man sorted?’

  This seemed to throw him. ‘What? Oh, yes. Turned out it wasn’t as bad as we first thought; it wasn’t really an emergency after all.’

  ‘That’s good to hear.’ I paused briefly, suddenly getting cold feet about our plan, but as far as I could see there was no other way: it was this or nothing. Yet, once we’d started to put it into action, there’d be no going back. Mentally, I steadied myself and then took the plunge. ‘You want to give us a lift ashore then?’

  Nick looked nonplussed; he’d obviously not expected us to go with them voluntarily, and without our own dinghy as that would mean we’d have no way to get back to the yacht. He took a couple of seconds to answer. ‘Yeah, okay. Climb in.’

  Daz and me jumped into the rib, and moments later we were skimming across the water towards the beach. Just above the high-tide line on the shore, I saw the distinctive shape of the Professor’s home-made tidal power generator lying on its side. It hadn’t been here the last time we’d visited, and its presence here now seemed to confirm my suspicions that Nick was behind the infected suddenly appearing out of nowhere, both in Tobermory and in so many other communities.

  Once we got to shore, it took us almost half an hour to find Claire and Sophie, mostly because Nick was keen to interrogate us about what we knew, but he was careful to make it seem casual and friendly. Eventually, he must have decided that we really didn’t know what was going on, and he let us head off in search of the others. We found them in the room which Gordon had ear-marked for the clinic. It had already been well-stocked with equipment and supplies, and a number of beds had been set up at one end. Claire and Sophie were standing round the nearest, changing the dressing on the shoulder of the marine who’d been shot the previous day. Given what we’d discovered in the last twenty-four hours, I’d half-expected there to be no injured man at all, but then I realised there’d have to have been if Nick was to have any chance of getting Claire on side.

  There was a yelp of pain from the marine.

  ‘Hold still.’ Claire’s voice was firm and authoritative. ‘Sophie, hand me the new dressing.’

  Sophie passed Claire a white square, which she slapped unceremoniously onto the marine’s shoulder, causing him to yelp again. There was the sound of Elastoplast being ripped from a roll before Claire spoke again. ‘That’s you finished for now, but it’ll need changed again in the morning.’

  The marine grumbled and rubbed his shoulder as he slid off the bed, and headed for the door. That was when he spotted Daz and me. He froze, a look of complete surprise on his face that suggested we were the last people he’d expected to see there. After a second, he seemed to come to his senses, barging past us and out into the corridor, slamming the door behind him.

  I stepped forward. ‘You were a bit rough with him, weren’t you?’

  Claire spun round, a look of relief spreading across her face. ‘You got here safely then? I was starting to get worried.’ She went over to the door, opened it, glanced outside and then closed it again. ‘Just wanted to check we’re not going to be overheard.’

  She beckoned us over to the far side of the room. ‘There’s something very odd going on around here. For a start, that marine wasn’t shot by accident in a fight with the infected.’

  Daz frowned. ‘How d’you know?’

  ‘Powder burns around the wound. By the looks of it someone took a bullet, removed most of the charge and then fired it into his shoulder at point-blank range. It looked bad, but it was never going to do him a serious injury. I think they were just trying to get me up here.’

  My eyes drifted to the window. Outside I saw the injured marine talking to two others. He was pointing first out to where our boat was anchored and then up at the window where we were standing. Claire continued. ‘And I think a lot of locals are regretting ever coming here. I ran into one of the women from Iona that we picked up in the dinghy, and she gave me the impression that she feels trapped here, like they’re being held prisoner. No one’s allowed a boat except the marines and they seem to expect the locals to do all the hard work: like they’re little more than servants.’

  I turned my back to the window. ‘Did she actually say that?’

  ‘No, it’s just the impression I got from speaking to her. She was being very careful about what she said. I think she was scared one of the marines might hear her. I don’t quite know what, but there’s something really wrong here.’

  I let out a sigh, ‘Claire, you don’t know the half of it.’

  ‘Why?’ Sophie chimed in. ‘What’s happened?’

  Before I could say anything, Daz leapt into the conversation. ‘We found Gordon.’

  Claire’s eyes widened. ‘Gordon’s alive?’

  ‘No, Gordon’s dead.’ I was uneasy about speaking when I didn’t know if I could be overheard or not, but Claire had to know. ‘And I’m pretty sure Nick killed him.’

  Sophie was shocked. ‘But I thought Gordon was killed by an infected? That’s what Nick told us, wasn’t it?’

  ‘He was killed by an infected alright,’ Daz shot back, ‘but Nick set it up.’

  ‘How?’ Understandably, Claire was incredulous.

  I told Claire and Sophie about what we’d found at the lighthouse and what had happened at Tobermory; I told them about Mitch’s seaplane and how we thought the infected had been getting onto the islands … and why.

  Both Claire and Sophie looked horrified. I kept my voice low. ‘It’s really important that you don’t let on that you know any of this. If they get even a hint of it, I think we’ll be in big trouble.’

  ‘But we can’t stay here.’ Claire hissed back.

  ‘I know, but they’re not going to let us just walk out of here, are they? You, in particular, are too important an asset for them. They need your medical skills.’ I checked once again that no one was listening. ‘We’re going to have to wait until it’s dark and then try to sneak out. We’ll have to be very quiet, but I think we can make it. They brought us ashore, so at the moment they’re going to assume we don’t have any way of getting back to the boat. I’m hoping that means they won’t keep too close an eye on us for the time being. I’ve arranged for Mitch to bring the dinghy ashore at midnight, so if we can just get down to the beach to meet her, we should be able to make it out of here.’

  ‘Okay, but what are we going to do for the others? We can’t just leave them here, not living like this.’ Claire was adamant.

  ‘I know,’ I rubbed my temples with the thumb and fore finger of one hand, ‘I know, but the first thing we’ve got to do is to get ourselves off the island; then we can work out what we can do to help everyone else.’

  ‘Speakin’ of gettin’ ourselves out of here,’ Daz was now standing by the window looking down at the marines. ‘Where’s Tom?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’ve been in here all day.’ Claire looked at her daughter. ‘Soph, you were with him after lunch. When was the last time you saw him?’

  Sophie shrugged. ‘When he dropped me off here.’

  Claire glanced at her watch. ‘That was about four. Any idea where he was going?’

  Sophie thought for a moment. ‘He said
he wanted to check something out while we were here.’

  Daz turned to face her. ‘D’you know what?’

  Sophie shrugged again. ‘I don’t know. We saw a couple of the marines going up the path into the woods, the one that only they’re allowed to use, and Tom suddenly said he’d drop me back off here because he wanted to take a look at something while we were here.’

  Claire seemed puzzled. ‘Who told you the path was out of bounds?’

  ‘One of the girls I was speaking to last night while you were fixing up the marine.’ Sophie nervously twiddled with her hair. ‘They showed me round a bit, remember?’

  I thought back to what Tom had told me after our last visit to Rhum; that he thought there was something going on in the woods. ‘I think I know where he was going. Daz, let’s go and see if we can find him.’

  At that moment the door opened and Nick strode in. He smiled. ‘So, are you all caught up?’

  A jolt went through me and I wondered whether he’d been listening at the door, and, if so, for how long. Claire was the first to break a silence that was starting to get awkward. ‘Yes, not much to tell, though. When you’ve heard Ben go on about one sailing trip, you’ve heard them all.’

  Nick was clearly relieved to hear that this was apparently all we’d been talking about. ‘You want to join us for supper? We can’t offer you much, but we do okay.’

  Looking for Tom would have to wait. I rubbed my hands together, ‘I could certainly do with some food.’ I glanced at Claire, ‘and it would be good to have some company that I haven’t already bored to tears with all my sailing stories.’

  Claire scowled back as she followed Nick and me out of the room.