Viro (Book 1): Viro

by Taylor, Barnaby

  ‘That is a death sandwich. It will be full of viros!’

  Ellis didn’t look worried. She smiled at me. She wanted to make me feel better.

  ‘Those things are everywhere now,’ she said. ‘Maybe the tunnel has less of them than the town. If they are hunting humans then they would be better off sticking to the streets.’

  Ellis sounded confident. She spoke with clear thinking.

  ‘This way might be viro-free,’ she said.

  This wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. I wanted to make Ellis see. I couldn’t find all the words. I only said soft when I needed to be harder. I didn’t know how. It was never needed before.

  ‘I doubt it,’ I said.

  Ellis looked at my eyes. She didn’t speak again. I felt I had to be brave. She wanted that. I had to try. That was what she wanted.

  I led the way. I had to show being stronger. Ellis followed me. I didn’t want to be the last. We climbed over a wood fence. It wobbled. There were loads of stinging nettles behind it. I nearly fell.

  ‘Hold your breath,’ said Ellis. ‘My uncle told us it was how you stopped yourself being stung by them.’

  I held my breath. I walked through the nettles. I didn’t get stung. It worked.

  We came to a wall. I sat on the edge and dropped down. I landed in thick bushes. The railway line was next to them. Some of the brambles scratched me. Ellis passed me her backpack. It was her turn. She lowered herself down. I heard her hiss.

  ‘Ouch!’ she said. ‘I’ve just twisted my ankle.’

  Ellis had stood on a broken brick. It made her foot hurt. Ellis limped out of the brambles. She sat down.

  ‘My ankle is really sore,’ she said. ‘I don’t think it’s broken but it doesn’t feel right.’

  She looked sad again.

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  I sat down next to her. I wanted to put my arm around Ellis’s shoulder. I didn’t know if I should.

  ‘Don't say sorry,’ I said.

  ‘But I’m going to slow us both down,’ Ellis said. ‘It’ll take forever to get there now.’

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ I said but I wasn’t sure. ‘If your shortcut works then we’ll find Vinnie soon.’

  I stood up. I was in charge now. I really had to lead. I leaned down to Ellis. She stood up. I pointed at the tunnel.

  ‘We’d better go.’

  Footsteps

  The tunnel looked dark and dangerous. I didn’t want to go inside. No way. I wanted to run away. But I had to help Ellis. She had helped me at the shop. She thought this was the right way to go. Ellis put her arm around my shoulder. We started to walk.

  The darkness ate us all up. It was impossible to see. I looked back at the entrance. I wished we were out there still.

  Ellis limped next to me. Her ankle was very sore. She was trying to be brave. I heard her gasping. It was so frightening.

  We went very slowly. I was very edgy. Danger could be anywhere. I kept my head clear. I needed to pay real attention.

  I heard something. The stones moved. I hoped it was just an animal. I heard it again. I thought it was a footstep.

  The stones moved again. It was footsteps. I felt upset.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Ellis said.

  ‘There’s something behind us.’

  ‘We’d better hurry then.’

  It was hard to hurry. We couldn’t go fast. Ellis was too sore. Her ankle made us slow. This was danger.

  The footsteps kept coming.

  I was really worried. I pulled Ellis through the tunnel. She sounded hurt but didn’t say anything. We kept going.

  The footsteps started running.

  This was bad. Ellis couldn’t go faster. I knew the tunnel was a bad idea. Why didn’t I say so? I should have done. It was too late now. We couldn’t go back.

  ‘Ellis,’ I said. ‘We need to get out.’

  ‘How? Tunnels only have one way in and one way out.’

  ‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘I did a project on old trains at school. We need a ventilation shaft.’

  I touched the side of the tunnel. I wanted to find a ladder or a doorway. Bricks. Bricks. Bricks. Then I felt metal pipes. They were on the side of the wall.

  ‘Quick,’ I said. ‘Follow the pipes.’

  I kept my hand on the pipes. There was muck all over them. My hand was dirty quickly. I felt the tunnel curving.

  It was hard to touch the pipes and pull Ellis along. She was really sore.

  ‘I can’t keep going,’ she said. ‘My ankle is killing me. You find the shaft and come back for me later if you can.’

  ‘No way!’ I said. ‘You won’t be eaten in this terrible tunnel. You saved my life. I’m saving yours.’

  I pulled her harder.

  ‘Come on.’

  Then the viros howled. The sound was way back. The tunnel made it really loud. It was all evil echoes. The howl frightened Ellis. She let go of me. She tried to run. It was like quick hopping. She started to cry.

  This is stupid, I thought. Why did we do this? We should have stayed on the roof. It was safe up there.

  Why did I have to survive? I could be a viro like all of them. That would be easier.

  We kept running. My side got hurt. It was a stabbing pain.

  ‘Stitch,’ I said. ‘I’ve got the stitch.’

  ‘Keep going!’ Ellis said. ‘There must be something up ahead.’

  ‘There is,’ said a voice behind us. ‘Up here on the left.’

  Sooty

  Two shadows ran past us. They disappeared. They were loud on the stones. Someone started climbing a metal ladder.

  ‘Quick,’ said the voice. ‘Get up the ladder before they get here.’

  We had to be quick. I pushed Ellis in front of me. She put her foot on the rung. She started to climb. It was very hard for her. Her ankle was bad. She couldn't stand on it. We weren’t being quick.

  ‘Too slow,’ said the voice. ‘She’s climbing too slowly.’

  The voice sounded worried. I had to make it quicker.

  ‘I'm going to push you up, Ellis.’

  I grabbed her good foot.

  ‘Hang on!’

  I pushed her up. It was hard. I looked up. There was shaft of light. I pushed hard. Ellis flew up the ladder.

  It was my turn. I grabbed the ladder. I went foot over foot. I climbed as quick as I could. There was someone right behind me.

  ‘Quicker,’ they said. ‘You've got to be quicker.’

  The ladder led into a small space. I crawled to the side. A boy came up the ladder. He grabbed the metal hatch. It was slammed shut. Clang! The boy locked the hatch.

  ‘That should hold them for a while,’ he said.

  His smile was sooty.

  The strange kids led Ellis and me down a dimly lit corridor. We came to a large metal door. The boy pulled the door open and stepped through.

  ‘After you,’ said the girl.

  I helped Ellis limped inside.

  It was a small room. There were metal shelves on one wall. There was a steel sink in the corner and a first aid box. The girl opened the box and took out a roll of bandages. She pointed to a rusty chair.

  ‘Sit down,’ she said to Ellis. ‘I’ll take a look at your ankle.’

  Ellis sat down.

  I felt very tired. I sat on the floor. The boy gave me a bottle of water. I took a big swig.

  ‘Who are you both,’ said Ellis, ‘and why were you following us?’

  ‘I’m Abraham,’ said the boy, ‘but everyone calls me Abe.’

  Abe pointed at the girl.

  ‘My twin sister’s name is Amber.’

  ‘And I’m the eldest by three and a half minutes,’ said Amber as she put a bandage on Ellis’s ankle.

  ‘We were on our way back here,’ Amber continued, ‘when we heard the two of you making enough noise to wake the already-awake dead.’

  She laughed.

  ‘This tunnel is a zombie-magnet. Had you gone much further you would never had got out. We were running
to warn you.’

  ‘And because there was another swarm right behind us,’ laughed Abe.

  Ellis looked puzzled.

  ‘But how did you know that this place existed?’ she asked.

  ‘Our dad owned the construction company that was repairing this tunnel and he told about these rooms. He says they were built just in case anyone got trapped in the tunnel due to a train crash or something. They could make their way here and wait to be rescued.’

  Abe was cheerful. He laughed again.

  ‘Clearly no-one is coming to rescue us any time soon.’

  Drive

  Amber finished with Ellis’s ankle and put the bandages away. Everyone was silent for a minute. Then I spoke.

  ‘I am Jake. She is Ellis. We met on the roof of my local corner shop. My mum is missing. We are going to find Vinnie. He is hiding at St. Dunstan’s School. We have been bumping into lots of viros.’

  The twins nodded.

  ‘Viros,’ said Abe. ‘That’s a cool name for these things.

  ‘We had no way of knowing who you were,’ said Amber, ‘so we followed you until we realized that we were being followed ourselves. That’s when we started running.’

  As we sat down, I said our adventures to Amber and Abe. I said about Mr. Bishop, Ellis on the roof and the soldiers in the trucks. I also said we saw a big fight happening somewhere far away.

  ‘We saw that too,’ said Abe, ‘and were planning to head in that direction.’

  Amber shook her head.

  ‘It seemed like a great idea at the time but then we realized just how far it probably was and decided that we couldn’t take the chance.’

  ‘I know,’ said Ellis. ‘We thought about the same thing but the soldiers will likely shoot anyone who just walks up to them unannounced. If we had a vehicle then that would be another story.’

  ‘But none of us can drive,’ said Abe.

  ‘Vinnie can,’ replied Ellis. ‘Well, at least he had started his driving lessons. I bet he could drive us to the soldiers.’

  ‘He probably could,’ said Amber, ‘but we need to find him first.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Ellis. ‘What are we waiting for?’

  Amber looked at Ellis’s ankle.

  ‘You won’t get far with that ankle,’ she said. ‘Perhaps we should wait a while.’

  Everyone fell silent. I felt sad for Ellis. I knew she liked to do her own thing just like I did. I thought she would be very annoyed at being slower. I looked around the dirty room. There was a pile of orange traffic cones. Something was behind them.

  ‘Wait,’ I said.

  I moved the cones out the way.

  ‘What about this?’

  It was a rusty wheelbarrow.

  I said to Ellis.

  ‘We could push you. You wouldn’t slow us down. You could fire your catapult.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ said Amber and Ellis together.

  I carried on looking.

  ‘We should find things to fight with.’

  I grabbed a mop. It was better than nothing. I looked under the sink. There was a dirty can of red spray paint.

  I handed Abe the dirty can.

  ‘Spray this in a viro’s face.’

  I gave Amber the mop.

  ‘You might fight with it.’

  Amber grinned. She liked the mop.

  Clumsy

  We were ready. Abe said he would check the tunnel.

  ‘Be careful,’ said Ellis. She sounded nervous. Abe put his hand on her shoulder.

  ‘I always am,’ he said. ‘I was in the Scouts for a while so I know how to track and move quietly. When we were younger our dad used to tell us stories about people who survived earthquakes and plane crashes and other disasters. He said he was teaching us what to do if we ever found ourselves in a similar situation.’

  Abe looked at Amber.

  ‘He could never have known that the world would turn out like this,’ she said, ‘but we owe it to him to practice what he preached.’

  Abe nodded.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he smiled. ‘I’ll be back before you know it.’

  We waited for Abe to come back. I felt worried. How would he manage? Everything was now so dangerous. There was trouble everywhere. I wasn’t as brave as Abe.

  Abe came back later. He looked happy.

  ‘The main swarm seems to have passed by a while ago. I waited to see if there were any stragglers and apart from one lame-looking viro crawling after everyone else, there’s no sign of any movement.’

  Amber hugged her twin brother.

  ‘Right,’ she said. ‘Let’s get going. It will be easier to go back the way we all came and then head through the Ornamental Gardens.’

  She looked at Ellis.

  ‘There will probably be lots more viros on the way but the paths are all concrete and we can move faster than them so we should be ok.’

  Amber and Abe were so calm. They were not panicking. I wondered how long they had been living like this. They made me feel clumsy and silly. I didn’t want to get anything wrong.

  It was easy to put the wheelbarrow into the tunnel. Ellis was very brave. She climbed into the wheelbarrow and loaded her catapult.

  ‘Let’s get going,’ she said.

  I pulled the handles up. It was very heavy. I thought I could do it. Amber walked in front. She was holding the mop like a warrior. Abe was behind us. He had the spray can ready.

  The barrow bumped on the railway line as I pushed it. The barrow wobbled. I think it was hurting Ellis. She didn’t say so. She smiled instead. I pushed harder.

  We passed the viro with the broken leg. It looked like all the other teenagers who hung around the town. The bone was sticking out. Its face was covered in blood. I felt a bit sick. The viro crawled along. It looked really mean. It wanted to bite me. I felt sorry for it anyway. It looked confused.

  What did it feel like to be one?

  The viro hissed at me. I kept pushing.

  I thought I saw something move up ahead. I didn’t know. A giant viro jumped from the darkness. I was too slow to shout. It grabbed Amber.

  The viro tried to bite Amber’s face. Ellis fired her catapult. The stone hit its back. Nothing happened. Amber was fighting with all her might. I dropped the barrow and raced for Amber’s mop. I grabbed it and charged forwards. I rammed the mop into the viro’s head.

  The viro looked up. Ellis fired again. She hit it on the head. The viro roared. It turned to get us. Amber crawled away. The viro tripped.

  The viro was trying to stand up. I hit it again with the mop. The viro fell on its back. Abe sprayed red paint in its eyes. The viro wiped its eyes. It fell over, waving its arms and legs like an angry turtle. Amber stood up.

  ‘We’ve got to keep going,’ she said. ‘We don’t stand a chance if we try to fight. We’re faster than them but they’re much stronger.’

  Sorry

  I felt really sad. It was my fault. I should have shouted.

  ‘Sorry, Amber,’ I said. ‘I saw something move but I froze.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Amber said. ‘It happens to all of us. This is all so weird that none of us know what to do.’

  Abe agreed.

  ‘We have a slight advantage,’ he said, ‘because the two of us have been alone for a while now.’

  ‘What do you mean alone?’ asked Ellis. ‘Even before the outbreak?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Amber. ‘Our parents were out of the country on business and we were being looked after by our neighbor but she got drunk and hit Abe one day and so we moved back into our own house without telling anyone. We assumed that it would only be for a few days until our parents came back but then all this happened and now they might never come back.’

  Amber paused. No one said anything.

  I looked at the three new friends I had found and felt happy. Things were nasty now but they were also nice. I started to speak. I couldn’t stop.

  ‘I’m glad that we met,’ I said. ‘It makes me happy.’


  Ellis nodded.

  ‘So am I. I was stuck on a roof with my family gone and not knowing what to do. First Jake, then you two, I’m really lucky.’

  ‘I know what you both mean,’ said Abe. ‘It feels better for the two of us since we met you.’

  Amber interrupted her brother. She sounded bossy.

  ‘I hate to break up the party,’ she said, ‘but we have a viro-filled town to cross and very little time to do it. We’d better get going because once the morning comes everything is going to be twice as hard as it is now.’

  ‘Fair enough, Sis,’ smiled Abe.

  He looked at the two of us.

  ‘We can continue this love-in later.’

  Ellis laughed at Abe’s joke. I liked her laugh. I also liked Abe’s joke. It made me blush. I turned away. I didn’t want them to see my burning cheeks.

  We left the railway line way behind us. It was much faster on the road. My arms hurt but I kept pushing. The wheels squeaked. It wasn’t loud so I didn’t worry. I liked the sound. It went on and on. It was like music to me.

  I looked around. I had never seen blacker clouds hanging in the sky. They looked like a pen had exploded. The orange light from the streetlights wasn’t very bright. The streets were empty. I guessed all the viros had gone in the tunnel. We had a lucky escape. We went past a row of shops. They were all dark apart from one. It was a pet shop. It was locked up. There were two fish tanks in the window. Small white lights made the water bright.

  All the fish were dead in one tank. There were more dead fish in the other tank. But I saw one fish left. It was small and red. It was swimming around. When was it going to die? It could never escape.

  Pond

  We kept going until we got to the gardens. I knew they were built in 1872. It was meant to be a happy place to play with friends and family. People were supposed to like the pretty flowers and read their books on the benches. But I was running away from a bunch of zombies with three new friends.

  I was very scared. All the viros in the world could be hiding in the bushes. They could eat us at any time. We ran towards a small bridge. I could hear moaning. I put down the barrow and looked over the side.