by Watts, Russ
“Oh, my God.” Heidi gripped Tom’s arm tighter. “Mum?”
“She got away.”
Heidi threw herself at Tom and he held her there. He could feel his chest getting wet through his shirt from her tears.
“What happened, Jackson?” Christina sat down beside him and he inched away from her.
“It was so fast that I hardly know. I went after Lenny. I traced my way back to the house, and to the fields out the back of the house. By the time I got there, I couldn’t see Lenny, but I saw the petrol station. Laurent and Rosa got inside with Glenda, but Daniel...he was too slow...the zombies, they...” Jackson didn’t want to tell Heidi what he had really seen, how he had seen those dogs rip him apart.
Christina touched Jackson’s arm and he flinched.
“Don’t touch me. Sorry, but just don’t, okay? Look, the others got into the petrol station, but then someone else turned up. They were in an ambulance of all things.”
Tom looked at Mac who nodded. Jackson went on.
“There were three of them to start with, but they killed one of their own. They just maimed him and fed him to the zombies. Then they got to the station and before I could do anything, they got Laurent, Rosa and Glenda. They were armed with knives and swords and they just bundled them into the back. They took Lenny too.”
“Those motherfuckers, I knew it. I knew they were bad news.” Mac began pacing up and down. “Well, I guess I know where Sally and Keisha are. Fuck, we have to go get them.”
“Steady on,” said Tom. Heidi had stopped crying and Tom gingerly pushed her away. Caterina took her to one side and consoled her.
Jessica watched. Maybe Heidi’s tears were real this time. Her father had just been eaten alive. Jackson was right, this was fucked up. “He’s right, Tom. Rosa’s there, so we have to go get them. What did these men look like, Jackson? Do you know where they were going?”
Jackson shrugged. “I’d recognise them again, but I don’t know where they were going. One was a short fat man, the other average looking. Big butch man though. Thick hands and arms. If we’re going looking for a fight, I think we’ll get one.”
“Oh, God I can’t believe this. We were so close.” Christina put her head in her hands. The thought of reaching that naval ship tomorrow had been her focus for so long now that it had kept her going. She had planned to get Caterina on that boat no matter what. Now Laurent and Rosa had been kidnapped? That boat wasn’t going to be back. They had to be on it tomorrow, they just had to.
“Excuse me,” said Jimmy clearing his throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but there are nine of us in this room. Just to play devil’s advocate, but it sounds to me like you’re proposing going to rescue your friends? What if you don’t? These men took four people, two of whom you hardly even know. One of them is an old man, right?”
Christina looked at Jimmy. She had comforted the boy, got no more than two words out of him the whole time, and now here he was giving a speech about how they should leave their friends behind? “Jimmy, shut the fuck up before someone shuts you up,” she said calmly.
“I’m not leaving my mum!” cried Heidi.
“Are you for real?” said Jessica. “Who the fucking hell are you anyway? It’s your fault we’re in this mess, you little shit! We should be leaving you behind.”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” said Tom. He picked up the garden shears and rested them against a shoulder. “Jimmy, you’re way out of line. I don’t know what rock you crawled out of but you’d better start growing up fast. We can always throw you outside if you’d prefer. Heidi, Jess, we’ll go back for them.” Tom sighed. He had to get some control of things before people started going their own way. If Jimmy kept talking that way, he was liable to get lynched. Tom watched a red-faced Jimmy slink into the background. “Jackson, what about Laurent and Lenny, did they seem okay?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“How about you? Are you okay?”
Jackson looked at Tom and didn’t answer.
“Jackson, tell Tom you’re okay,” said Christina.
There was no response.
“No, no, no,” whispered Christina, a horrified look dawning across her face.
“When the ambulance left, I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow it,” said Jackson softly. “The only option I really had was to get back and find you to tell you what had happened. I thought I was well hidden in the cornfield, but turns out, I wasn’t hidden so well. There were so many of them, so many of the dead.”
“Oh fuck, no. Did you get bitten?” said Harry.
“Sort of. I got quite far through the fields before I realised something was following me. I thought I was going to make it back, but I knew I wouldn’t. I came to the edge of the field and then I saw them. It was a pack of dogs and they were all dead. I guess they could smell me. I didn’t have anything on me so I had to run for it. Unfortunately, dead dogs can run quite fast.”
Jackson leaned over and rolled up his trouser leg. There were two sets of bite marks on his shins where they had bitten him. The skin around the bites was already bruising and Tom saw the tell-tale sign of the infection already, a line of white blisters spreading up his leg. Jackson rolled the trousers down.
Christina leant over and gave Jackson a hug. “I’m sorry, Jackson, I’m so sorry,” she whispered in his ear.
“Well, better me than one of you lot,” said Jackson stoically. “I’ve had a good inning and I do miss my Mary. I know she’s waiting for me.”
Tom smashed the shears down on the table and stormed out swearing. Harry followed him.
“I’m sorry, Jackson,” said Caterina. “Thank you for trying. Thank you for everything.” She came over and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Jackson brushed Caterina away, keen not to let her get any closer. “You’d best all keep your distance from me.” He shook himself and shuddered. “Well, sod this, I’m not dead yet. Now who are you, young man?” He began talking to Mac.
Heidi sank down into one of the sofas and held a cushion to her chest. She had stopped crying, but was sniffing and dabbing at her eyes. She couldn’t believe her father was dead. Her mother was alone out there. Daniel had been a rock for her and Heidi was worried that without him, her mother might crumble. Where was she now?
Jessica saw Heidi holding back the tears and thought it might be time to mend some bridges. She sat down beside her. “Hey, I’m sorry about your dad.”
“Thanks. He was…“ Heidi choked up as so many memories of her childhood raced through her mind. She had to try and think about that later. Her mother was still alive. “I’m worried about my mum.”
“I told Rosa not to go, but she’s pig-headed sometimes. If she’s with Laurent, she’ll be okay. Glenda too. Laurent’s a good man. He’ll look out for them.”
“So you and Rosa are...together?” asked Heidi innocently.
“Yeah, no problem with that, is there?” Jessica had enough to worry about without having to worry about homophobia too.
“Of course not, I’m not my dad. I just wasn’t sure. I thought maybe you and Tom...”
“No, we’re good friends, but that’s it,” said Jessica.
“I can’t get him out of my head,” said Heidi. She knew Jessica and Tom were close, that they had been through this since the beginning. She still wasn’t sure quite how their relationship worked, and wanted to try getting some understanding of how she might fit in. “I know this isn’t exactly the time, but I can’t help it. There’s something about him. Shit, if he can get my mum back, I will have his babies.” Heidi wiped her eyes and tried to smile at her own lame joke, hoping Jessica might open up. “I’ve never met anyone like him. You know him well. Did you know him before all of this? You think I should say something to him?”
Jessica gritted her teeth. She had been wrong to think that Heidi would fit into their group. She was too immature and Jessica was fed up. She was worried about whether Rosa was alive or dead, yet all Heidi could talk about was boys?
“I think you need to grow up. He isn’t interested, okay? I’ve met plenty of pretty girls like you before, all tits and blonde hair, and I’ll meet plenty more when you’re gone. Just leave Tom alone. He’s got bigger issues to deal with right now than your hormones.”
Jessica left Heidi looking on bemused as she grabbed a drink and walked out of the restroom. She hadn’t meant to snap, but there was something about Heidi that pushed her buttons.
Jessica heard voices and tracked them down. She made her way past the garden furniture display into the gift area and found Tom and Harry in deep discussion. “Mind if I join you, it’s getting crowded in there.” Jessica was feeling pissed off and didn’t want to be in the same room as Heidi anymore.
“Sure. How’s Jackson doing?” asked Harry.
“Surprisingly chirpy, considering,” she answered. “He’s chatting away with Mac.”
“How’s Heidi coping?” asked Tom.
Jessica shrugged. “Fine.” She wasn’t about to tell Tom what Heidi had said. He had other things to be thinking about right now, like how they were going to get Rosa back.
“We were just saying that we need to do something sooner rather than later,” said Harry. “Mac doesn’t have a very high impression of these guys and from what Jackson tells us, I agree. If Laurent and Rosa were taken at knifepoint, then we have to assume the worst. Mac says they would’ve been taken to the Mount.”
“What’s that?” queried Jessica.
“A big fucking problem,” said Tom crossing his arms. “It’s about two miles away. We didn’t see it on the way here because we came from inland. This place is out to sea, about two or three hundred yards off the coast I think. It is literally a mount. There’s a castle on top of it and it’s difficult to access. You can get across the beach when the tide is out, but otherwise, you’d need a boat. It’s built on granite mostly, and the terrain is tough. It gets battered by any storm before the mainland and it’s had its share of bloodshed over the years.”
“So why would they be there? Sounds horrible.” Jessica popped open the can of lemonade she had grabbed from the restroom.
“Sounds perfect to me,” said Harry. “It’s pretty inaccessible which means it’s easy to defend. If anyone or anything got to the island, you still have to work your way up a steep rocky hill to get to the castle. If they’ve kept it clear of infection, then it’s a pretty good place to be right now. Whoever’s in charge over there is onto a good thing and they know it. I’m guessing they use the ambulance to run errands, you know, come to the mainland now and again and see what they can pick up? They probably didn’t figure they were going to pick up Laurent and Rosa today; that was just a fluke.”
“So how do we get them back? We can’t just knock on the door, can we? What would they want with Rosa? Lenny’s just an old man, what use could they have for him?” Jessica absent-mindedly picked up a trowel.
“Best not to think about it,” said Tom. “Look, we’re going to have to do something. We handled Brad and we can handle this. If we can get to them and back without being seen that would be best. We don’t know how many people are on the Mount and the less that know we’re here the better. I’m thinking we run a small scouting party up there, two or three of us at the most. Find a way in, get our friends and get out of there quickly.”
“You just said it was inaccessible,” Jessica argued. “We don’t have a boat and by the time you’ve got across the causeway and up the hill, they’ll have had plenty of time to see you coming.”
“True.” Tom’s eyes were vacant. Jessica could see him mulling something over. “Ask yourself, where did that ambulance come from? You’re not telling me they keep it on the Mount and drive it back and forth over the beach. I bet there’s a tunnel.”
* * * *
Tom, Harry and Jessica explained to the others what they planned. It was simple. Whilst Christina, Heidi, Jessica and Mac distracted the zombies outside again, Tom and Harry would sneak out and make their way back to the crashed van. Their supplies were still in it, hopefully, and that meant guns. They had surmised that if the men from the ambulance only had knives, then they didn’t have any serious weapons or guns. Tom and Harry would then look for the ambulance and the tunnel to the Mount. All being well, they would be back with the others and they could head to Penzance as planned for the rendezvous with the ship tomorrow morning.
“I should come with you as far as the van,” said Moira. “You can’t carry all the guns and bags with you, so whatever you don’t need I’ll bring back here.”
“I’m coming with you too,” said Jackson coughing.
“No way, you need to rest,” said Tom.
Jackson stood up and grabbed the long-handled shears. “If you think you can stop me, Tom Goode, you just try it. I’m not sitting around here waiting to die while my friends are out there in trouble. I need to do something and I’m coming with you.”
“You sure?” said Harry.
“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” said Jackson, “yet.”
Tom laughed and they all joined in. Jackson had a black sense of humour sometimes. Tom could not believe his friend was dying. As Jackson pointed out though, he wasn’t dead yet.
“Right, let’s do this,” said Tom.
“I’m worried,” said Caterina as half the group left the restroom.
“Me too, honey, but have faith. We’ve gotten this far and Tom and Harry know what they’re doing,” countered Christina. “Besides, you need to worry about nothing but yourself, okay? We’ve talked about this.”
“I know, but what about Jackson. Will we see him again?”
“Probably not, Cat. When he said goodbye just now he knew it was the last time. He’s a brave man. He wouldn’t want some big fancy goodbye. He’ll help get Rosa back, and the others too. We just have to wait now.”
* * * *
Tom and Harry watched as Moira began jogging back to the garden centre, laden down with bags of ammo. They had ditched the food and water. There was too much to carry, and with the arrival of the navy tomorrow, they would have plenty of food and water soon enough. Tom and Harry took two guns apiece and enough ammo for both.
“Think she’ll be okay?” asked Tom.
“She’ll be fine,” said Harry. “I’ve been out there with her a lot and she can handle herself.”
“What about us?” asked Jackson. He was carrying a pair of shears and a saw. He didn’t want to be carrying the guns so that, if the infection took hold and he couldn’t carry on, they wouldn’t be lost.
“Lead on, Jackson. You said the ambulance went down the coast, yeah?” Tom slung an automatic over his shoulder. They had kept it from the encounter with Ferrera at the airport and Tom was glad they had.
“This way.”
Jackson trotted off down the street. They had gotten away from the garden centre with only a few of the zombies following them. The majority had been drawn to the fence where Heidi and the others were shouting and screaming. Tom nipped down alleys and small streets until they had managed to lose the zombies. It felt odd being out in the open. There was no sign of any dead out here on the road, but Tom still kept one hand on the trigger. Jackson had been caught unawares and if he and Harry were caught too, then the group would be in serious trouble.
They jogged down the road together in the mid afternoon sun, the ocean on their right with empty fields and broken houses on their left. After a while, the road began to turn inland slightly, but they always kept the ocean in their sights. They passed a caravan park and more houses, but there was no sign of anything alive. The salty sea air breezed past them and Tom remembered how much his mother had loved going to the seaside. She had always loved the smell of the ocean. It was a shame they could not enjoy it now, and Tom was desperately hoping they would find the ambulance soon.
A honking flock of geese suddenly flew low above them, traversing the coastline. Harry watched them fly away in a V formation, as they kept jogging. “What do you think that thing was earlier, Tom? Th
at monstrosity that attacked Jess?”
“I don’t think even God knows what that was. I just hope we don’t run into any more of them. It’s not just zombies we have to watch out for anymore. And not just bad guys either. Now we have these...monsters? Things that can fly and crawl and who knows what.”
“Look at that,” said Jackson. He stopped and pointed to something on the side of the road. It appeared at first to be a dead rabbit. A rat was sniffing around it, deciding whether to make a meal of it or not. The rat was thin and breathing heavily. It looked as if it had not eaten in days and was weak. Jackson jumped back, astonished, when tendrils burst from the rabbit’s stomach and snared the rat. They wrapped around the rat’s body and it squealed, unable to escape. Its feet lost contact with the ground as the tendrils hoisted the rat into the air and curled around the rat, squeezing it tighter and tighter. Blood seeped from the rat’s eyes and mouth as the tendrils began to crush its bones until with a loud crack, it squashed the rat completely. It exploded like a jar of jam in a microwave, shards of blood flying in all directions and sticky red rat blood spurting out over the road.
Tom raised his gun and pointed at the rabbit creature that had made a meal of the rat. The tendrils were growing, now a foot long, and seemed to be swaying in the air as if searching for something. They went stiff and then bent low, pointing at the ground, pointing toward Harry. Tom pulled the trigger and blasted the dead creature. The rabbit’s body exploded just as the rat had done moments earlier.
“Let’s hurry this up, shall we?” Tom slung the gun back in his belt and left the bloody entrails of the rabbit and the rat on the road.
“That ship had better come tomorrow,” said Harry as he jogged after Jackson and Tom toward the Mount.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jackson was the first to spot it. “Look, over there, I see it. The ambulance!”
The road they were on had turned back toward the coast and they had religiously followed it until they saw the Mount. They had not seen any more zombies since leaving Longrock. There seemed to be another small town the closer they got to the Mount, with little houses, shops, cafes and a school. Their progress slowed as they proceeded more cautiously, unwilling to rush for fear of stumbling across a zombie, a flying undead cat, or worse. They passed a slip road that was signposted as leading down to the beach for vehicular access to the Mount at low tide. The ambulance wasn’t there, so they continued on, looking for its hiding place.
