Chapter 53
Although dark outside, the moonlight shone a torch into the void Vicky had existed in. Now had to be the best time to escape. Hopefully the guards would be asleep or at least on the other side of the complex. After all, no one ever got out of the pit, so they probably wouldn’t be watching it too closely.
Vicky lifted the manhole cover a little more and bit down on her bottom lip as she shifted it away as quietly as she could manage. Once she’d moved it clear enough, she lowered it, her hips moving and tilting as she rode out the wobble from the stack of cadavers.
When Vicky poked her head out of the hole, she looked at the alleyway leading to the guards’ accommodation. It seemed clear. She then looked over at the large cage. Every prisoner in there stared back at her. She made eye contact with Aaron and spun her index finger in a circle to indicate her surroundings. “Is it clear?”
The bug-eyed and emaciated Aaron nodded yes.
Vicky nodded back, bent her tired legs, and pushed off against the stack of corpses. The top body slipped as she forced herself away from it, but Vicky managed to hook her elbows against the top side of the concrete hole and pulled herself to the surface, the rough ground biting through the thin fabric of her shirt.
A wet thud and Vicky looked down to see the pile of bodies had come apart and spread out on the ground like a cake unable to hold its shape.
Now she peered into the hole at the mess beneath her, Vicky shook worse than before. How the fuck had she managed to survive down there?
A hiss from the cage pulled Vicky’s attention over to it and she saw Aaron, his eyes even wider.
One final look into the pit and Vicky saw the small figure with army gear on. The youngest of the family. A pain ran through her chest to see the glistening hole in the centre of the girl’s face. Poor kid. Although, like Meisha—hell, like anyone—once they’d been bitten, they were gone. She hadn’t stabbed a little girl, she’d stabbed a stinking diseased.
The prisoners were silent as they watched on, all of them leaning into the chain-link fence holding them back. They might not have said anything, but their body language told Vicky enough. Hurry the fuck up! She acknowledged them with a raised hand and scanned the area. It seemed to be free of guards.
Vicky then ran for the exit gate. A glance back at the prisoners in the cage and some of them seemed more agitated than before. They wouldn’t let her run without a sound again. After all the empty promises she’d brought to them in the night, she had to take them with her this time; otherwise she wouldn’t be going anywhere herself.
Vicky got to the rock she’d spied. It sat inside the complex, which saved her breaking out first. She lifted it from the ground and ran back over to the large cage. While moving, she raised the rock above her head and brought it down on the padlock with a heavy whack.
A loud splash of metal and the lock broke into pieces, tinkling against the hard ground as they fell. “Come on,” Vicky hissed at the prisoners. “They’ll be on us soon; we need to get the fuck out of here.” She’d given them all she could, so she turned on her heel and headed for the main gate. Hopefully, the prisoners would follow.
The lock to the main gates gave way with one whack too and Vicky threw their exit wide open. When she looked behind, most of the prisoners had caught up to her and followed her out of the gates to the steep overgrown and lumpy hill leading away from Moira’s complex.
Vicky wanted to run and leave them behind. She wanted to get back to Home and let the others fend for themselves, but she stood still at the open gates and waited for all of the prisoners to get out of the courtyard. She drew her knife, bounced on the spot to spend some of her impatience, and watched the alleyway for the appearance of guards.
Once every one of the weak prisoners had started their bid for freedom up the steep hill, Vicky followed them, taking up the rear and holding the slowest pace against every instinct in her exhausted body.
Chapter 54
Impatience crawled over Vicky’s skin as she followed the slow prisoners in their shuffle up the hill away from Moira’s community. Step, stop. Step, stop. Step … If she had the strength, she would have pushed half the fuckers up herself.
Repeated glances behind and Vicky chewed the inside of her mouth after each step up the hill. It didn’t look like any of the guards had come to investigate the sounds of their escape. But then again, the night cast such a deep shadow over the complex, they could be hiding in it without her being any the wiser.
Step, stop. Step, stop. When a particularly slow man nearly halted in front of her, Vicky gave in and shoved his bony bottom. “Come on, mate. You need to keep moving. You can rest when we get to Home.”
He responded by taking his next step. A tortoise of a man, he slowly edged away from Moira’s community.
Not even halfway up the hill, Vicky saw some of the front runners crest it and disappear from view. Aaron seemed to be among them. At least one of them knew where to go.
Vicky’s head spun from how many times she looked behind to check the complex and then looked back up the hill again. Every time she checked, it still seemed clear. Surely Moira’s lot would be on their tail by now if they were going to chase them.
Another nudge to the man in front of her and Vicky watched more of the group reach the top of the hill before she looked to her left and right. For all the diseased that had been outside of Home, it seemed clear.
Once the slow man reached the top of the hill, Vicky did one final check behind. Still no movement. How the fuck they’d got this far without being caught, she didn’t know. Although, knowing Moira, the woman probably had a trap set for them somewhere. Make them feel like they’d got away and then fuck them over moments before freedom.
Far enough out of earshot, Vicky clapped her hands at the group and said, “Well done on getting up the hill, guys, you’ve dealt with the hardest part now. It’s either flat or downhill all the way to Home from here.”
It seemed like most, if not all, of the prisoners had waited for Vicky at the top of the hill. A quick check and she saw Aaron among them. “Can you lead the front-runners?” she asked him.
The darkness had turned his sunken eyes into two shadowed holes, and the silver highlights from the moon lit up his cheekbones. The shine on his face moved up and down when he nodded.
When the group set off again, Vicky remained on the brow of the hill with half of her attention down below. As she waited, she tapped her hands against her thighs and bounced on the spot again. Her heart beat with such a fierce kick, it rocked her where she stood.
Only when the slowest of the group had nearly gone from sight did Vicky follow them.
After a slow walk through the solar panels with the same man she’d followed up the hill, Vicky pulled his left arm around her shoulder and helped him down the short, steep drop leading to Home’s front door. The guy stank of the prison: rotten food and human waste. But she turned her face away from him as they descended and held her breath.
At the bottom, Vicky slipped from underneath him and nodded at the man. He nodded back. They were both okay.
The crowd parted to give Vicky a clear path to the front door. Keyless, she had to knock on the large wooden barrier. She made a fist and bashed the side of it against the door, sending a loud boom out across the landscape behind her. Another look into the dark and it still seemed free of the diseased.
When no one responded, Vicky called out, “Let us in!” Her voice went the same way as her heavy knock. Still no diseased.
Whether still Friday night or the early hours of Saturday morning, there wouldn’t be anyone in the canteen. Vicky stepped back and looked up at the white security camera above Home’s entrance. While waving her arms above her head, she jumped up and down on the spot. “It’s Vicky, guys. Let me in.”
For all the people around her, they stood as quiet as ghosts and Vicky paused again to listen for the murmur of the diseased in the distance. Nothing.
Just before Vicky could knock
again, the click of the lock on the other side of the door snapped free.
A crack opened in the door, and when Vicky saw Serj’s face, her legs buckled beneath her.
“You’re back,” Serj said as he rushed out and helped get Vicky to her feet.
Not one for outward displays of emotion, Vicky hugged Serj when he pulled her up, the lump in her throat so large she could barely breathe.
When they pulled away from one another, Vicky managed to stand on her own. “Get everyone to the canteen,” she said. “We need a meeting now.”
A half smile lifted Serj’s face.
“What?” Vicky asked.
“All you’ve been through and you’re still thinking about the community.”
“I’m afraid we have to. If we don’t take care of Moira now, we’re fucked.”
Chapter 55
Within just a few minutes, the first of Home’s residents stumbled into the canteen. Bed hair, bleary eyes, and walking as if they were the diseased, they shuffled into the space. Many of them found seats at tables and waited.
When Sally appeared, Vicky—who stood with the prisoners she’d rescued from Moira’s community—walked over to her. “Sally, can you take these people, please? They need to eat and get cleaned up.”
Pity twisted Sally’s features to look at the group. She then turned her attention to Vicky and nodded. “Sure.”
“Right, guys,” Vicky said, her voice echoing through the canteen, making some of the newly awakened arrivals flinch at the loudness of it, “if you follow Sally, she’ll look after you. She’ll get you some food, a shower, and some clean clothes.” For the first time, Vicky looked at the prisoners without guilt. A ragtag bunch of both men and women, their ages ranged from about twenty to about sixty. No children. It didn’t bear thinking about where they’d gone.
Sally moved off and the slow trudge of broken prisoners followed her. Although Vicky watched them, she also glanced at the monitors on the wall of the canteen. They showed the darkness of outside, but still not a single diseased. When a man walked near her, Vicky grabbed his arm as she said, “Excuse me, what happened to all the diseased?”
Only when she took a proper look at the man did she recognise him. Brian, the one who seemed to have more of a hatred for Vicky than even Sharon or Dan. For a moment he scowled at her.
“Look, Brian,” Vicky said. “It’s been a long fucking night, so spare me your bullshit and just answer my fucking question, yeah?”
Clearly caught off guard by her comment, Brian’s face flushed red. “We killed them all when we were outside the community. Not that you were any help.”
Although Vicky drew a breath to respond, Brian walked off before she could. She clenched her fists as she watched his broad back.
The line of prisoners continued to file past and it took all Vicky had not to screw her nose up at their smell. Each one of them moved as if they had glass in their shoes. Each one of them looked on the edge of their balance.
When the back of the line filed through, Aaron appeared in front of Vicky. A skeleton grimace pulled on his face and it took a few seconds for her to recognise it as a smile. “Thank you,” he said, “I didn’t think you’d be able to help us. I knew you wanted to, but I didn’t think you had it in you. Thank you for proving me wrong. Thank you for saving our lives. We won’t forget it.” He leaned forward and wrapped Vicky in a bony hug.
The marked change from Brian’s aggression to Aaron’s gratitude sent Vicky’s head spinning and she squeezed his slight frame. “You’re welcome. Now, go and get yourself healthy again. We’re going to need your farming skills to keep this place running.”
To see the glisten of tears in Aaron’s eyes made Vicky’s eyes itch too and her view of him blurred. After she’d cleared her throat, she said, “Go on, don’t make me look weak in front of this lot.”
“It’s a strength that you care.” Aaron squeezed her hands. “Don’t fool yourself into thinking of it as anything else.”
Vicky said nothing more and watched the man walk away.
Chapter 56
Maybe all of the people had turned up or maybe just most of them. Like when they went out to fight against the diseased earlier that day, Vicky couldn’t give it too much thought. A mostly full canteen, she couldn’t leave them too long at this time of night because they’d understandably lose interest.
Vicky made her way through the packed tables—the level of chatter rising with each passing minute—and headed for the blue crash mats on the other side of the hall.
Before Vicky got there, Stuart stood up in front of her. His blue eyes sparkled and a wide grin spread across his face. “Vicky!” he said, reaching forward and holding both of her hands. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was worried about you.”
Not one for close contact, Vicky cringed as she endured the second hug in the past few minutes. She offered Stuart a tight-lipped smile as they pulled away from one another. Her interaction with Brian still left a bitter taste in her mouth. In some small way, Stuart’s kindness helped dilute that.
When Vicky got to the front of the room, the chatter died down and the people looked at her. Flynn, Piotr, and Serj already waited and all three of them nodded at her when she stood beside them. Flynn gave her the most tight-lipped response of the three.
Vicky drew a breath and opened her mouth to speak, but Sharon cut her off. On one of the closest tables to the front, she sat there with her husband, Dan. Brian had also joined them. “Before you start,” the mum of the dead children sneered, “I want to know what you’ve brought into this community.”
The question disarmed Vicky and she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she said, “I beg your pardon?” her response echoing through the large space.
“Those things!” Sharon said as she straightened her back in her seat.
“Moira’s prisoners, you mean?”
“Things!”
A calming breath did nothing to bring Vicky’s rising fury under control. “You do realise you’re talking about people, right?”
“They’re also all men!”
“No, they’re not, you moron. At least half of them are women.”
When Sharon didn’t respond, Vicky threw her arms up in the air. “So what’s your point? Come on, love, spit it out.”
“My point is they come into this community disguised as prisoners, but they could be working for Moira for all we know. They could be moving in under the guise of needing help and bring us down from the inside.”
A couple of people other than Dan and Brian nodded at Sharon’s words, but only a couple. The rest of the community seemed uncomfortable with the conversation, shifting on their seats and staring at the floor.
Instead of responding to the woman, Vicky looked at the people of Home. “So I’ve been in Moira’s community again.”
“You haven’t asked anyone’s permission to bring them here,” Sharon said, cutting her off.
“Have you seen them?”
Sharon didn’t reply.
“Go and look at the state of them. Look at how skinny they are. They’re wasting away. Quite an extreme length to go to, to slip into our community, wouldn’t you say? Most of them can’t even walk properly they’re so malnourished. I struggle to see how anyone would do that to get inside a community that Moira’s going to attack anyway.”
A lingering stare at Sharon and she didn’t respond, so Vicky looked at the other people. “We always knew this day would come, and it’s been getting closer. We need to go to war tomorrow.”
“But you didn’t ask anyone’s permission,” Sharon said.
Fire rushed through Vicky and her pulse pounded when she roared, “Fucking hell, Sharon! I get that you’re upset, I really do. And you have every right to be. It’s fucking shit what’s happened to your family. But I didn’t do it—”
“Everything was fine before you turned up.”
“But it wasn’t, that’s the point. How many fucking times, Sharon? Moira still
planned on taking you down, you just didn’t know about it. This day was always going to come.”
“You still haven’t asked permission to take the prisoners in.”
“Serj,” Vicky said with a sigh as she turned to the leader of Home.
Serj flicked his head up at her.
“You okay with the prisoners being here?”
Serj nodded.
Vicky looked at Sharon, Dan, and Brian. Sharon opened her mouth to respond, and Vicky cut her off, “Grind your axe another day, Sharon. We have serious issues to deal with here.”
Another inhale as if she would go for Vicky again, but Sharon remained quiet.
After she’d watched Sharon for a few seconds, Vicky turned to the group. Half of them stared at her with their mouths wide open.
“As I said a moment ago, Moira’s coming. We need to take this fight to her. We need to end this war now. She may have told you she wouldn’t come here if she had me, but she didn’t mean it.”
A sea of confused faces looked at Vicky, who turned to Serj. “You didn’t have a conversation with Moira?”
“I would have slit her throat had she come anywhere near me.”
Dan spoke from the dissenting group this time. “So Moira was happy with just you? She would have left us alone if you’d stayed there? Again?”
Vicky sighed, but it did little to dilute her rage. “No! That’s my point. She’s coming to attack regardless of what she says and we need to deal with it. If I’d have stayed in her complex, you wouldn’t even have this warning.”
“Convenient,” Brian said.
Vicky ignored him. She then said, “Other than the prisoners—who are too weak to fight—we all need to be ready for this.”
“You’re going to leave them in here?” Sharon said.
“Now go and get some rest,” Vicky said to the group. “You’re going to need it. First thing in the morning we’re going to war.”
The Alpha Plague - Books 1 - 8: A Post-Apocalyptic Action Thriller Page 101
