‘St. Dunstan’s is second left and then about two miles down the ring road,’ said Amber. ‘It’s just past the sports centre.’
She stopped.
‘We’ve got to get off the road,’ she said.
Another huge gang of viros was coming our way. They were all tight together. The viros looked like the wave from an angry sea. The light from the lampposts made everything look like a scary horror film.
‘Quick, under the bridge,’ said Amber. ‘We’ll try and get around them by following the river.’
We went down a slope. A footpath ran next to the river. It went under the bridge. We went that way. A wall of bushes blocked us from the road. The water was dark and loud. I didn’t like it here. I stopped. Amber ran ahead. Abe followed her. Ellis looked at me.
‘You’re really brave, Jake,’ she said. ‘You’ve got me this far and you can get me the rest of the way.’
Ellis made me feel better.
I picked up the handles.
Office
I once went to a caravan park for a holiday. We only stayed two days. It rained really hard. The toilets were really dirty. The caravan was really small. Mum and me just felt really sad all the time. I had an ice cream from the shop but I didn’t feel better.
Now, me, Ellis, Abe and Amber were hiding in the office of the caravan park. We were too frightened to turn on the light.
We had followed the path under the bridge. My arms really hurt but we got away from the horde. I got used to pushing the barrow. Ellis looked like she was asleep. I caught up with Amber.
‘We need to stop,’ I said. ‘I can’t keep going. My arms hurt.’
Amber pointed in front of us.
‘The caravan park is just up there. We’ll stop there?’
Abe joined us.
‘We might get some more supplies,’ he said.
‘What about viros?’ I asked. I didn’t want to sound scared.
‘There might be some,’ replied Amber, ‘but it’s out the way and if it’s only one or two then we should be alright.’
‘Why are you two both so brave?’ I asked. ‘Have you done this stuff for a long time?’
Abe looked at Amber. She nodded.
‘We have,’ said Abe.
‘We kind-of lied to you both back there,’ said Amber. ‘We weren’t waiting for our mum and dad to come back from holiday because she murdered him four years ago and then killed herself. We’ve been living in a children’s home ever since.’
‘But it was horrible and the staff treated everyone really badly,’ said Abe, ‘so eventually we decided to run away. We’ve been on our own ever since.’
He laughed.
‘I guess with everything else that’s happening at the moment they’ve probably given up looking for us.’
I didn’t know what to say.
‘How have you survived on your own?’
I knew I sounded silly. I didn’t care. I wanted to know the answer.
‘We slept rough when we had to and stole when we could,’ said Abe. ‘I know it sounds bad but we only stole things that we were sure people wouldn’t miss or worry about. We didn’t want to hurt anyone.’
‘We also begged,’ said Amber.
She suddenly looked very sad.
‘It’s awkward and uncomfortable to begin with asking strangers for money but eventually you get used to it.’
I couldn’t speak. This all just sounded crazy. First, it was Ellis and her zombie mum and dad. Now it was Amber and Abe living on the streets. My life was not like theirs. It was ordinary. It was quiet and simple. It had no adventure of any kind. That was what I liked. That was how I wanted my whole life to be.
It couldn’t be now.
Now, everything was just crazy.
I didn’t want this way.
Window
Amber said we should break the window and climb in.
‘No-one will mind. There’s no one around. In any case, with everything that’s going on, the owners would definitely want us to be safe.’
She was probably right. It didn’t feel good to be doing it. I never thought I would do things like this. I was a burglar. It was a crime. I worried about the police.
I was doing loads of new things now. Things I had never done before. It was the virus that made me do them. The virus had made everything bad. Did this mean I was doing bad things? I didn’t know.
The caravan park looked deserted. Rows of white caravans stood side by side. They looked like miserable monuments. Abe wanted to raid them for supplies. Amber said that there were too many. It would take too long. Ellis agreed.
So, with Ellis, Amber and me standing guard, Abe broke the window with a brick. He put his arm in and opened the window. He climbed inside. The front door opened.
We were in a small kitchen. Me and Ellis looked for useful things. Amber and Abe explored the rest of the building. The cupboards were bare. Ellis found a jar of old coffee and two damp paper tubes of sugar. She wrinkled her nose.
‘No one’s going to want a cup of this,’ she said. ‘Even with the sugar.’
I found a rusty spoon. I thought it might be useful. I put it in my pocket. Abe came back to us.
‘In here,’ he whispered. ‘We’ve found something.’
We followed Abe.
Amber was standing by a desk. She was listening to a telephone. She smiled.
‘The line’s still working,’ she said. ‘Perhaps we should call someone?’
‘Who?’ asked Ellis. ‘My parents aren’t my parents any more. You two don’t have any.’
Ellis looked at me.
‘That just leaves you, Jake, and you don’t even know where your mum is.’
‘I could try,’ I said. ‘Mum might be home now. She’ll need to know where I am.’
Amber smiled and handed me the receiver.
‘Here’s your chance to find out.’
I took the phone. It was hard to remember my phone number. I felt strange.
What if Mum was at home?
What would I say to her?
I couldn’t ask her to come and get us.
That would be far too dangerous.
I would tell her to stay there.
We could get back to her.
I started to dial.
The phone rang and rang. I hoped she answered. I needed to hear her voice. I wanted her to say that she would save me. The phone rang more. She had to answer.
She wasn’t there. The answer phone spoke.
‘Hi, we’re not here right now but if you leave your name and number we promise we’ll get back to you when we can.’
I loved my mum so much. Hearing her voice made me cry. She was my everything. I didn’t know where she was.
I started to speak.
‘Hi Mum,’ I said. ‘It’s Jake. I’m scared. I hope you’re alive. I miss you. I love you. I want to find you. Don’t look for me because it is too dangerous. I have some new friends. They are helping me. We’re going to find Ellis’s brother and then find you.’
I stopped.
I kept crying. My tears were big and lonely. I didn’t care who saw them. They fell some more.
Amber took the phone from my hand. Ellis hugged me. Amber smiled. Abe stood still. We didn’t speak.
Rest
Finally, Abe said something.
‘Look what I found,’ he said. He had a small plastic bag.
‘Here’s a big bunch of keys. I bet they would let us into every single caravan on this site.’
Amber smiled at her brother.
‘We haven’t got time for all that. We should grab what we can and get going.’
‘You’re right,’ said Abe, ‘but we’re exhausted. We have been running and fighting for hours and we need to rest.’
He looked around.
‘This place is ideal.’
We all looked at Amber. She frowned.
‘If we must,’ she said. ‘But we can’t stay too long. We need to be back on the road in two hours.’
‘We will, Sis,’ said Abe. ‘I promise.
I sat down in an office chair. I felt really tired. I ached all over.
Abe handed me a bottle of water. I took a big drink. I gave the bottle back. I swung my legs up onto the desk. The chair tilted backwards. I closed my eyes.
I woke up.
The room was dark. I had no idea how long I had been asleep. Ellis, Abe and Amber were gone. Where were they? The chair creaked as I stood up. The noise startled me. I went into the kitchen. Ellis was crouching by the door.
She was looking outside. I knelt down beside her. She put her finger on my lips. She shook her head. I nodded. Ellis pointed outside. I gasped.
Abe and Amber were on top of the nearest caravan. It looked like they were playing a game. Then I saw a bunch of viros. They were trying to get them. I had to help. I whispered in Ellis’s ear.
‘Meet me by the gate,’ I said. ‘I’m going to help.’
Ellis shook her head. It was too late. I stepped outside. The viros were looking at the twins. They didn’t see me. There was an old bucket lying in the wet grass. I picked it up. I hit the bucket with my spoon.
Clang.
I hit it again.
Clang.
One of the viros turned around. I hit the bucket. Amber and Abe looked down. Another viro turned around. Then another.
I kept hitting the bucket. I started walking backwards.
Clang.
Clang.
The bucket rang like a rusty bell. All the viros followed me.
I beat out a marching rhythm. I knew Ellis was watching me. I felt really proud. I was a hero saving lives. I wasn’t a baby crying on the telephone. I was big and strong.
I hit the bucket and started to march. My legs pumped up and down.
‘Left. Right. Left. Right,’ I shouted.
‘Left. Right. Left. Right.’
I was the General. The viros were my soldiers.
‘Left. Right. Left. Right. Quick march!’
The viros followed. I felt really good.
I fell over.
Wall
There was a scream. I opened my eyes. My head really hurt.
‘Move, Jake! Move!’
‘Get out of there!’
Ellis and Amber were shouting at me. Ellis fired her slingshot. Three viros were trying to get me. They looked like teenage boys. One still had a baseball cap. Another was wearing shiny tracksuit bottoms. The other one was naked.
A low wall was in the way. The first one tripped. So did the other two. They fell on each other. It was messy.
I tried to get up. I was slow. The viro with the baseball cap tried to grab me. It had really dirty hands. They were covered in mud and blood. One of its eyes was missing.
I scooted back on my bum. Someone ran past me. Abe sprayed paint in the viro’s face. It squealed. The other two were getting nearer.
‘Get the girls,’ Abe shouted, ‘and head for the gate.’
I stood up. I felt dizzy. I nearly fainted.
Abe grabbed me.
‘We haven’t got time for that!’ he said.
Abe dragged me over to Ellis and Amber. A stone whizzed past us. It hit the painted viro on the nose. The viro fell over. Another stone bounced off its head. Abe looked at me.
‘Can you run?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ I said.
Ellis climbed into the wheelbarrow. I looked at the viros. They were getting together. They looked hungry. They wanted to eat all of us. Amber pointed to the entrance.
‘That way,’ she said. ‘Quickly!’
We rushed to the entrance. Ellis looked at me. I didn’t look at her. I felt silly. I wanted to be a hero but it went wrong. I wanted to impress her. I wanted to be cool and amazing. But I fell over and looked stupid. I nearly got us killed.
Ellis groaned.
‘Oh my God.’
A group of viros was stumbling through the gate.
‘Follow the fence,’ shouted Abe. ‘We’ll climb over further down.’
Gap
There was a gap between the fence and a row of caravans. We ran down this way. I kept running and running. I wasn’t properly looking. I just wanted to get away.
Ellis shouted something. I didn’t hear. The handles twisted out my hands. The wheelbarrow tipped sideways. Ellis fell out. So did everything else.
I had crashed into a gas cylinder.
Ellis stood up. She limped away. I tried to get all the things on the floor. They were everywhere. I didn’t know where to begin.
‘Leave them!’ Amber shouted. ‘It’s too late for that now.’
She was angry with me.
‘Up there,’ shouted Abe.
He pointed at the toilet block.
‘If we can climb up there we can jump over the fence.’
He looked behind us at the viros.
‘We’ve got to get over the fence.
The toilet block had a low concrete wall. There was a row of black plastic bins behind it. Abe hopped onto the wall. He stretched up and pulled himself onto the roof. He leaned back over.
‘Here,’ he said. ‘One a time.’
We helped Ellis up onto the roof. Amber was next. Then me. It was really hard. I thought something was going to grab my legs.
The gap between the roof and the fence was long. There was a small bunch of trees and long grass on the other side. It looked soft enough to land on. I watched the viros groaning towards us. I look at everyone. We all nodded.
Ellis started to run. She limped badly but jumped. She screamed when she landed. Amber went next. She started to run. She made the jump. Abe pointed at me. I shook my head.
‘You next,’ I said. ‘If anything happens, please look after Ellis.’
‘Nothing’s going to happen,’ he said.
Abe made the jump look easy.
I looked down at the viros. It was all my fault. I kept getting it wrong. The guys needed a better friend than me. They would have less problems.
I thought about Mum. What if she was already infected? I would never find her if she was. There was too many of these things now. But what if I became a viro too? That might make it easier to find her. I wouldn’t have to keep hiding. I could move around more easily.
What was it like to be attacked by them? How much would it hurt? How many times would they bite me? Would it hurt all the time or only to begin with?
Abe was waving. He didn’t know why I was waiting.
The viros were right underneath me.
I could just step off and land on top of them.
Angry
‘You bloody idiot,’ whispered Amber.
We were hiding in the trees. The viros were by the fence. I didn’t think they could see us. I stayed low.
‘You could have got us all killed!’
I blushed really bad. Amber was right. I was an idiot. I was trying to impress Ellis. I couldn’t tell Amber that.
‘Hang on,’ whispered Abe. ‘We were the ones on the roof of the caravan. Jake was trying to rescue us.’
Amber snorted.
‘We were doing fine,’ she said, ‘until Mr. Marching Band here decided to do his circus thing.’
Amber jabbed me with her arm. She was very angry.
‘Don’t you ever do anything ever again like that,’ she hissed.
‘I won’t,’ I whispered. ‘I promise.’
I wished that I had jumped into the viros. We had lost everything now. We had no food and no water. I felt so bad.
Abe saw that Ellis was missing.
‘Where’s Ellis?’ he said.
‘Don’t tell me she didn’t make it?’ hissed Amber.
She hit me again.
‘If she’s waking up dead somewhere because of your tomfoolery then I hope she puts you at the top of her fresh-meat-to-eat list.’
‘Hey!’ said Abe. ‘Don’t be so mean, Amber. Jake feels bad enough already without you making him responsible for everything.’
‘But he is responsible for
everything!’
Abe put his hand on my shoulder.
‘I’m sure that I saw Ellis clear the fence. She must be around somewhere.’
We found Ellis leaning against a tree. She was unconscious. Her ankle was all bent. It didn’t look good. She must have crawled here until she fainted.
Things were just getting worse. Amber looked at me and started to speak. There was fire in her eyes. Abe put his hand to her mouth.
‘Not now, Sis,’ he whispered. ‘Not now.’
Abe looked at me.
‘Jake, I need you to try and find something to use as a splint. Ellis’s ankle looks broken to me.’
She?
I crawled away. I looked over to the fence. There was a single viro leaning against it. Its head was titled to one side. I thought it had seen me. I froze. The viro didn’t move. I waited. The viro hadn’t seen me. I looked at it.
It had once been a teenage girl. It still had a ponytail. It looked like all the girls l saw at bus stops. They used to make me nervous. I always worried they would laugh about me. I liked to look at them. I like to think about their families and friends. They excited me as well.
The viro’s face was angry. It had a bulging neck. Its eyes were bloodshot and dangerous.
The viro licked its ruined, bloodstained lips.
Was it thinking about all the people it had eaten?
I wanted to say ‘she’ but I didn’t know. Were they still ‘he’ and ‘she?’ They were still alive but they weren’t still alive. They weren’t human any more. Or were they? There were more of them than there was of us.
That would then make me the odd one out.
Again.
As always.
I found a thick stick. I crawled back to the others.
Ellis was awake again. She was sweaty and crying. I couldn’t bear to look. I grabbed her hand. She tried to smile. I started to cry. Amber was trying to help. Ellis groaned with the pain. Amber looked at us.
‘We’ve got to get Ellis out of here. It won’t take long for those things to find us and then we’re done for.’
Amber looked at Ellis.
Viro [Book 1] Page 4
