It lashed out with a single, deadly hand, smiting him across the neck and sending him flying to the side. He crashed into shelving, toppling and breaking the display. There were no more bullets. No second opportunity to fight or fly. Just as Rohith had not even stood the slightest glimmer of a chance of escape, Sinna was dead before his body slumped to the ground, now spraying blood out of the fresh wound that the creature’s talons had opened across his throat. Talons that had sliced the chain to his dog tags, leaving them behind with the pool of blood as the only evidence he had ever been there.
CHAPTER 6
Having arrived back at RAF Headley Court and been confronted by Denny, Sergeant Abbott then deposited the Land Rover at the MT section and went back to his room. He closed the door and rested against the door frame. His head was literally buzzing with random thoughts that felt like alien voices being spoken from all around him and he had developed a thumping headache. He fought back waves of sickness and reached into his wash bag for some pain-killers but before he could find them he had forgotten what he was looking for and collapsed down onto his bed. He lay there panting and holding his head, waiting for the nausea to pass.
A while later, Lewis and his three soldiers arrived back at the base with no explanation for the disappearance of Sinna and Rohith. Lewis felt extremely relieved to be behind locked gates once more. He radioed through to Denny who instructed him to come immediately to his office, along with the Station Medical Officer, Squadron Leader Anna Singleton.
Denny fidgeted in his chair and stared at the map on the wall behind him as he waited for the others to join him. He was in his fifties and hence one of the eldest on base but kept himself in reasonable shape with a strict exercise regime. As he sat, he too pondered the events of the preceding weeks that had seen them all thrown together into what some had called the beginning of Armageddon. Denny however did not believe in the religious connotations associated with the horror they had all witnessed. He believed in science and fact, in the bullets that he loaded each day into the gun that never left his side, and in the discipline of his military background and training.
RAF Headley Court was primarily a military hospital. There was also an aeromedical branch that researched, taught and applied learning from that particular field. Amongst other things this involved teaching pilots all about the atmosphere, the pressures and distribution of different gases, the potentially disastrous effects of hypoxia on the brain and how the body copes with the various stresses of aviation in general.
Headley Court had once been a stately home owned by Lord and Lady Lloyd-Mostyn who had bequeathed the estate to the Ministry of Defence. It was built in the late eighteen hundreds with a sweeping gravel drive, impressive, red brick-work and marble pillars. The main building was a beautiful, old house with white columns and grotesque, mocking gargoyles staring out relentlessly over the front of the edifice. There were eighty-five acres of land providing ample space for physical activity, various open, grassy areas and small wooded copses with ancient oak trees, and the grounds were surrounded by a reassuringly imposing twelve-foot brick wall. The station had been used during the Second World War for the treatment of RAF pilots, and had now expanded that role to include men and women from the army and navy. In recent years additional buildings had been added to provide medical facilities and accommodation for staff although most of the more modern buildings were hidden away towards the rear of the estate, sheltered by trees. Denny’s office was on the ground floor in the main part of the building.
There was a knock on the door. Captain Lewis and Squadron Leader Singleton entered and stood briefly to attention.
“Hi Thomas, Anna, have a seat.”
Captain Lewis was in his early thirties, a handsome and reasonably tall man with a quick wit and full head of dark hair. He had a relaxed, friendly demeanour and always seemed to be dating more than one lady at a time. Perhaps it was because of his laid-back, louche attitude and his slightly irreverent sense of humour, but Squadron Leader Singleton and he had never exactly seen eye-to-eye. There was always an underlying, bickering tension. She had served in the RAF for fourteen years and although Lewis was second in command she officially outranked him. However the fact that he did not seem to defer to her experience or years in service was not well received. This was something Lewis instinctively knew but he could not help but push her buttons, never with malice but usually resulting in animosity from the ever-officious Singleton.
Lewis quickly filled them in on his excursion to search for Sinna and Rohith. They sat quietly in the flickering candle light as he outlined his findings. There was a stunned silence. Lewis had had some time to digest the events and it took Denny and Singleton a while before either was able to speak.
“Are you quite sure their bodies were not there?” Singleton asked but it was a stupid question and she immediately regretted it.
Lewis gave her a dismissive glare. “Yes of course I am. We searched everywhere. Very carefully. You can’t just hide two bloody corpses without any giveaway signs. They were not there. And besides, why would any of the septics try to hide the bodies? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“What do you think might have happened?” Denny asked. “Do you have any ideas at all?”
Denny pronounced each syllable of every word, making sure he enunciated clearly and correctly. Lewis always felt that it made him sound a little too stiff and formal and thought he should loosen up a bit.
“Only that they’re dead, that’s all,” Lewis replied. “But how, and by whom, I have no idea; none whatsoever.”
They were still talking when there was a second knock on the door.
“Come in,” barked Denny. Abbott entered and stood stiffly to attention.
“You look tired Sergeant Abbott,” Denny said. “How are you?”
“I’m okay sir. Yeah, a little tired I guess.”
“Captain Lewis has just been filling us in on his trip to try and find Sinna and Rohith. I’m afraid to say that it seems they’ve been killed.”
Abbott bowed his head, closed his eyes and looked as though he was about to fall over.
“Please, take a seat.” Denny half stood up and waved Abbott to the remaining chair.
“Also, we’re all really sorry to hear about Private Campos. I know this must be hard for you but we may as well get down to business. Can you tell us what happened?”
Abbott looked down at his hands in his lap. They were damp with sweat and clenched tightly. “Well as you know we were out on a scavenging mission. We’ve done that a couple of times over the last week and never had much of a problem, I mean occasionally we’ve had to take evasive action and get outta there pretty fast but that’s about it. We haven’t had to draw our weapons for a few days now.
“I don’t know if you are aware but Giuseppe - sorry, Private Campos, was a local lad. His parents live… lived, not far away. The supermarket was near his house so we just thought we should stop by, you know, just in case there was any chance of anyone surviving and still being alive in there. He was desperate to check. We’d nearly finished the scavenging and Sergeant Sinna suggested that we go ahead to the house whilst they finished up. That way we would be done quicker. They were due to come right behind us but they never showed up.”
The three officers said nothing, already feeling absolutely terrible that more soldiers were dead and dreading to hear the horrific details. Denny held his head in his hands as he listened, emotion and responsibility weighing heavily upon him.
Fresh from his own visit to the supermarket, Lewis was brimming with questions but deliberately spoke calmly and evenly, trying not to distress Abbott further.
“Sergeant, I couldn’t find any trace of their bodies, just a large pool of blood and Sinna’s dog tags. I’ve got to ask you, when you left the supermarket was there anything suspicious? Is there anything you can tell me to shed any light on their death and disappearance?”
Abbott thought for a moment then looked up. “No sir, nothing that
I can think of. It was all quiet when we left them, otherwise we wouldn’t have gone. They were almost finished. They should have been done in less than a minute, so I really can’t understand what happened.”
“But presumably they had their weapons on them at all times?”
“Yes sir. Sinna was guarding us all while we loaded the trolleys so he was holding his SA80, locked and loaded.”
“And they were still in the store when you left?” Lewis was desperately searching for any information that might give a clue to the mystery but he was no closer to the truth.
“Yes sir. We were all near the entrance but they were still inside when we left.” His voice wavered and faltered and Lewis took pity on him.
“Okay, well if you think of anything else, anything at all that seemed odd or out of place then let me know. And please, carry on with your account.”
Abbott nodded, took a deep breath and looked as though he was about to vomit but swallowed hard and continued. In the dim light Lewis did not notice the perspiration forming on his brow or the hollow expression in his eyes.
“It all seemed quiet and there was no one around so we popped into Campos’s house, just to have a quick look. I didn’t really want to go in as I thought it might be unwise to get out of the Landy but he was desperate to check whether one of his parents might still be alive and hiding in the house.”
Lewis exchanged a glance with Denny. Everyone had lost loved ones in the recent events and although it was not a safe thing to do, Lewis could understand that desire. He knew that now was not the time to reproach Abbott for his actions, although they would most certainly have to reiterate standard operating procedures for all activity off base.
“We went in. It was a right state, all in a mess. Furniture was broken, plates and bowls were smashed and blood smeared down the walls. We had our weapons drawn at first but the house was so quiet and still that we were sure no one was there, so we put our weapons away. We looked in all the rooms anyway and when we went upstairs he attacked us.”
Now Denny, Singleton and Lewis were all looking down, unable to meet his gaze. There had been plenty of unimaginable events in the last few days and this was opening fresh wounds for all of them.
Abbott looked worse as he relayed the story but forced himself to finish. “He was a crazy man and went for Giuseppe first only because he was closest. It was his father. He was killed by his own father. I tried to help but Giuseppe had only made it as far as the top stair and the attack forced him back. He fell and broke his neck as he went down. Then his father came at me. I didn’t have time to draw my weapon before he was upon me. He must have been fifty-five or sixty years old, maybe more, and he was smaller than me but he was so strong. I could hardly hold him off.”
Abbott described to them in detail how the fight had ended with the candlestick. He stared vacantly into space as he finished his account as though he had been mechanically relaying a shopping list. None of them spoke at first as they digested the news.
“That’s absolutely terrible,” Lewis broke the silence. “I’m so sorry. And you’re sure it was his father?”
Abbott nodded.
“Were you hurt at all?”
He hesitantly shook his head.
Singleton leaned forward, interested in the development of the sick man, her professional curiosity kicking in. “How did Campos’s father look? I mean the colour of his skin, the look of his eyes, whether he was saying anything coherent, that kind of thing; do you remember any of that?”
Abbott wearily rubbed his forehead between his eyes; his headache was making it hard to concentrate. “Err, yes ma’am; I got pretty close to him. I mean, I was not really bothered about what he looked like at the time but I guess I did kinda notice.”
He again rubbed his head and Denny took it as tiredness and interrupted. “I’ve no doubt Sergeant Abbott could do with some rest now? I am sure these questions can wait until morning, if that’s okay with you Anna?”
She frowned but let the matter drop. “Yes, yes of course but please come and see me first thing. Not only do I have some questions for you but I would also like to check you over to make sure you’re okay after your ordeal. Is that all right? Be in my surgery first thing in the morning.”
“Yes ma’am.” Abbott stood and left the office. None of them noticed in the candle light how much his hands were trembling as he saluted. When he was gone Lewis checked outside the door and closed it softly.
“That’s dreadful, killed by his own father. I can hardly think of a worse way to go.”
“Also it’s quite incredible that his dad was still in the house after so many days,” Singleton added. “That must imply some kind of resorting to previous behaviour patterns.”
“Either that, or he had indeed been in hiding and only recently contaminated,” Lewis replied.
“Unlikely but possible I suppose,” Singleton said acidly. “I can’t imagine he’d have survived this long in a house that was not all barricaded up.”
“Well yes,” Lewis answered with a note of irritation himself, falling all too easily into their habitual bickering, “only that we don’t know whether the house was previously secure. Maybe he was only recently infected and started smashing furniture and tore open the front door. So if they had only got there earlier…” he finished, turning to Denny.
“What are you getting at?” Denny retorted sharply.
“You know what I think Tristan. I don’t think we can afford to shelter behind our walls any longer. I believe that we should get out there and try to find some survivors. There are bound to be more people like us who have managed to hide from the infected.”
“Actually they are not, as you say, ‘infected’,” Singleton interrupted brusquely. “That is to say, as far as we know it is not really an infection. Originally the sick people had some form of dementia which is a disease. Then their brains reacted badly to the Mnemoloss and it transformed into something else.”
“And then those who were bitten? Surely they’ve subsequently been infected?” Lewis replied wearily. They were getting nowhere. Stress and tiredness was affecting them all.
“Well again we can’t be certain yet of the exact method of transmission, but fluid transfer through biting does seem to be the most likely cause, yes. And as to exactly whether it’s an infection, a contagious disease, a virus or something else, without proper study it’s impossible to say.”
“Okay well you say tomato; I say to-maah-to. The fact is they’re dangerous and to be avoided if at all possible. If they’re not actually infected per se, then they are certainly carrying something unpleasant and I for one don’t want to get it. But even so I do think that we should be out there looking for other survivors. We can’t just stay here and wait for all this to pass and then to re-emerge and see what’s left. What kind of people would that make us?”
For once Singleton nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Lewis, taking him aback.
Denny held his hands up covering his ears, and closed his eyes with an angry expression like a child. He spoke loudly over the top of them and sounded as though he was reciting some well-rehearsed script. “We also have a responsibility to protect those who are here, not to endanger their lives but to keep as many safe as possible. The only reason any of us are still alive is because we have remained secure on the base.”
Even before the state of emergency was declared Denny had ordered the gates to be kept closed and locked. This had helped to keep the station free of the illness and the only losses they had sustained were when they had started going out into the surrounding areas. For that reason he was unhappy about venturing forth any more than was absolutely necessary, preferring to remain on the station and closed off to the outside world.
He removed his hands from his ears and continued, although still in the same droning voice. “If we find no other survivors and we lose half of our remaining people whilst looking for them, then that puts those who remain in a very vulnerable position indeed, and we
have already lost too many over the past few days.”
Lewis sighed, realising he was going to get nowhere with this head-on approach. He raised his hands. “Okay, okay, look - there are bound to be other survivors hidden away. Or perhaps other military units and such like, where they already had a secure entry system. But I do agree with you, we need to take more care out there. We cannot afford any more losses. However this should be no different to patrolling the streets of Kabul or Belfast. In fact as this ‘enemy’ is not organized or intelligent, it should be a lot easier to survive.”
“Well we don’t actually know that they’re unintelligent and disorganized, do we?” Singleton interrupted again. “I mean after all, if Private Campos’s dad was showing retained behaviour patterns, then as I was saying earlier, maybe they do have some residual intelligence. Obviously I have not been out on patrol yet, but I understand they show signs of cohesive, organised behaviour. They still group together and act collectively for whatever reason and they recognize who are, as you say, ‘infected’ and who are not.”
Lewis was trying hard not to become antagonistic in his reply and was confused because for a moment he had actually thought that Singleton was on his side for once. “Even a Giant Schnauzer can recognize that a Chihuahua is another type of dog, but that does not exactly make them ‘Brain of Britain’ does it,” he replied cuttingly.
“No, but it does imply at least some basic level of intelligence which is a lot more than everybody seems to be attributing to the ‘infected’ so far,” she snapped. “All I’m saying is that if we’re going to start venturing out more then it would help us if we could learn about what we’re up against. And the best way of doing that would be by capturing one of them and studying it. We could see exactly how intelligent they are, what they eat, how long they live without food. We can find out whether they can be distracted by flashing a torch in their eyes for example, or loud noises, or fire. Do they feel pain, can they learn to perform simple tasks, that kind of thing.”
The Blood of the Infected (Book 1): Once Bitten, Twice Die Page 11
