by Watts, Russ
* * * *
“What’s that light?” grumbled Karyn, as she woke. A small but bright glint of sunlight was striped across her face. Her son, George, was wide-awake, lying in the doorway of the jet, tapping away with obvious concentration on something.
“I’m just writing my diary, Mum.” George was absorbed and had opened the door to let some light in. He didn’t turn to look at his mother when he spoke.
“George, for God’s sake, that diary is pointless. If you want to be doing something, you should be studying. Just put it down.”
George indignantly turned off his iPad, shoved it into his back pocket, and sullenly walked down the steps into the hangar. His sister, Lucy, stirred from her slumber and Karyn watched her follow him. Both children trotted over to Joe, and Karyn went to the small on-board bathroom, clapping her cheeks awake. She turned the tap on and nothing came out.
“Cheap bastard,” she muttered.
She straightened herself out, brushing down her suit, flattening her unkempt hair. Looking in the mirror, she admired herself. A widower at twenty-nine but still, she looked good. Sure, Pete not being around would be a pain, but he was well insured. They had made sure their wills were set up. Karyn smiled. Soon she’d be able to get all the things he had denied her. Like a decent fuck for starters. The jet needed a makeover and she’d be able to afford a proper nanny now. Joe had his uses, but she had no doubt as to where his allegiances lay.
“I suppose I will have to take charge of the situation, as usual.” She strode out of the bathroom purposefully, out of the jet, heels clacking loudly in the hangar, and headed toward Joe and Evan.
“George, Lucy, stop pestering Joe, please.”
“It’s all right, Mrs Craven, they weren’t bothering us,” he said, defensively.
She crossed her arms and spoke directly to Joe, ignoring Evan completely.
“So what have you managed to sort out so far, Joe? Have you called the authorities? What’s it looking like outside now?”
“Phones are down, Mrs Craven, no signal at all. Don’t suppose you can get internet on that thing can you, George?”
“Nah.” George and Lucy were sitting on the floor playing a game on his iPad.
“Nah, it’s broke,” said Lucy. At five, she was a few years younger than her brother. She was cute, thought Evan, not much like her mother.
“So,” said Karyn, ignoring her children, “have we enough petrol to get back home? I’m not wasting any more time in here. It’s cold and it stinks. I need to feed the children and there’s a lot to do. Mr Crow, do you know how to fly a plane?”
“Er, no, I...” Evan was stopped mid-sentence as Karyn interrupted him.
“Didn’t think so, somehow,” came the patronising response. At no point did she break eye contact with Joe. She waved her hands dismissively.
“Well, Joe, bring the car around, I’d like you to take us home now. You can find you own way home now, Mr Crow, I’m sure.” She gathered up her handbag and sat down expectantly, looking at Joe who let out an exasperated sigh.
“Mrs Craven, I’ll go check on the car, but I am not going out there alone. You saw what it was like yesterday. You lose me, and you don’t have a driver no more.”
She was not used to being talked back to, certainly not by her employees.
“Now look here.” She started raising her voice, asserting her authority. She had gotten used to the power struggle between her and Joe over the years, but with Pete gone, it seemed different now.
“Mrs Craven, Karyn, I can go with Joe. I can help. If you can perhaps just give me a ride out to the city with you, I can find my own way from there.” Evan didn’t know how on earth he was going to find his way to Tasmania, but sitting around here wasn’t helping any.
“I’m not leaving Evan on his own. There’s no way we’re leaving anyone behind.” It was Joe’s turn to fold his arms. Karyn quietly seemed to think it over for a minute. She had never bothered learning to drive. There had always been someone to do it for her, like most things.
“Fine. I’ve decided you can come with us, Mr Crow. If you two can actually make yourselves useful and get the car, we’ll be on our way. Sometime today would be nice?”
Evan and Joe headed for the door, pleased to be leaving Karyn behind. Under his breath, Joe said, “Thanks, mate.”
Standing by the door, Evan paused. He needed to talk to Joe for a minute.
“Never mind the battle-axe, Joe, I’m more worried about going back out there. I don’t know what we’re going to find out there so let’s be careful, eh? Those things I saw yesterday didn’t seem like they were going to give up and go away. There could be none, or there could be a thousand of them waiting outside.
“Look, when we get out of here, maybe you can drop me near the airport terminal. If it’s clear, I can probably find a car I can use. I’ve got to get to my family. That boat I told you about yesterday? Well it’s on Tasmania. That’s where I’ve got to get to. My son, Charlie, I’m sure he’s there with my father and my daughter, Anna. At least I think so.”
“Sure. Evan, if it’s no good, just sit tight with us. If we can make it to the house, I’ll see you right. Don’t worry about her. With Pete not here to back her up, she’s all mouth. Look, I can drop her and the kids off and then take you down to the harbour. Maybe it won’t be so bad. You can take a boat and be with them by tomorrow. I’d come with you, but I can’t leave George and Lucy. Not now.”
Joe was optimistic. Evan felt determined but didn’t have Joe’s confidence. He felt like a rabbit in the headlights, not knowing which way to turn.
“Right, let’s see what the damage is,” said Evan, opening the door carefully. It squeaked slightly, but they heard no other noise outside.
Joe slipped out of the door first and glanced around. It was dark and gloomy. A blanket of fog had covered the airport like a shroud. He spotted a few bodies sprinkled over the tarmac, but none was moving. He cleared his throat softly, hoping the noise might stir any into life whilst they still had time to run back inside the hangar. Nothing moved. He trod softly toward the car and discreetly motioned for Evan to follow him.
Evan slunk out of the doorway and shivered as the fresh, cool morning air wafted over his face. It brought a unique array of smells, not least of which was the sweet burning smell of aircraft fuel. Evan didn’t want to think about what the other smells were. Through the murkiness, he too noticed the bodies on the ground, looking like piles of dirty washing. He couldn’t see to the terminal or any planes. The fog was too thick.
Joe reached the car and opened the driver’s door quietly. He started the car and the engine hummed into life immediately. Evan got in beside him. Joe gripped the wheel and pulled the car up to the hangar door.
“I don’t like this. The sun should clear it away soon, but it’s gonna be hard to drive through this fog,” said Joe.
“I’ll go get the others.” Evan feared they were going to delay. He knew it was a risk, but he chose to ignore Joe’s words. He wanted to get going as soon as possible.
Evan slipped through the hangar door and a moment later, came back out with the Cravens in tow. Karyn fussily strapped George and Lucy in the back seat before climbing in next to them. George started humming which made Lucy do the same. She was always copying her elder brother, acting like him, following him everywhere. George often complained to his mother about Lucy, but secretly liked the fact that she looked up to him. He glanced over and gave her a wink. Lucy smiled and tried winking back, failing miserably, scrunching up both eyes together. George smirked and kept humming away.
“Quiet.”
One short, stern word from their mother was enough for them both to know that they had to be quiet, and quickly. George stared out of the car window. There was an undeniable tension in the car as Joe pulled them slowly away from the hangar.
“Can’t see much,” he said quietly to Evan. The car lights stretched out a short distance but just hit the dense wall of fog. Joe kept the
car creeping forward.
As they continued on, the car’s headlights picked out eerie images: an abandoned loader, suitcases strewn around it lazily, the belly of a small plane splashed with blood, a man’s cadaver bizarrely sat upright, as if in meditation. As they inched past it, Evan looked in the wing-mirror, back at the man. His head was empty, hollowed out like a pumpkin. Evan shivered.
The fog cleared a little and Joe realised he was on the right track, the terminal building just barely in sight now to their left. A lone figure stumbled in the distance in their direction, just a grey figure thrashing along in the fog.
“Nearly there,” Joe said confidently, speeding up some more, leaving the figure behind.
“Don’t go too fast, Joe, we don’t want to hit anything,” said Evan. Moments later and the car bounced over something causing them all to jump. Everyone was privately hoping it was just a discarded suitcase that they had run over.
George pressed his face up against the glass straining to see.
“Hey, Mum, there’s someone out there.”
“I know, dear, just ignore them please,” said Mrs Craven, taking her son’s hand. She was nervous but didn’t want to show it. She had to project the strength she knew everyone else was expecting from her. Her mind cast back to yesterday. On the way to the airport, she’d made George and Lucy close their eyes. Such horrible images she could not forget. Joe had earned his dues yesterday, she had to admit. He had gotten them here. It wasn’t his fault there were no pilots. God knows where their regular one had gone. She could see the zombies now, remembering how Joe had swerved around them like on an obstacle course. Bloodied corpses everywhere, people pleading for help, arms reaching for the car. She shuddered and put it out of her mind.
“I’ve got a rough idea where I’m headed, but...shit.” Joe was cut short as he pulled the car dramatically to the left, dodging a zombie that appeared out of the gloom. As it brushed the side of the car, Mrs Craven shrieked in surprise. The children recoiled in terror as the lurching zombie’s hands slithered off the windows and it retreated into the mist. Evan saw a brief glimpse of green flash by his window, a flash of flowing hair, and the figure was gone, fading away as the fog swallowed it up as fast as it had appeared. Joe sped up.
“Mum, someone’s waving at us. There’s two of them,” said George.
“All right, George, that’s enough!” Mrs Craven squeezed her son’s hand tightly. She did not want to see any more zombies waving around in her face. George spoke no more.
“I believe you, George,” said Evan. “Once we’ve found some help, we’ll try to go back for them, okay?” The taste of fear in the car was palpable.
Evan glanced in the mirror, but all he could see now was a lone figure running away. He felt guilty for not asking Joe to stop and see if someone needed help, but he had to put his own needs first. He rubbed his temples, trying to ignore his growing headache. He had to find his family.
They drove on in silence for a minute, the awkwardness slowly dissipating as painfully as the fog. It was Lucy who saw it first.
“Look, Mum, there’s the airport. Is that where dad is?” She said it so cheerfully and hopefully that Karyn had to bite her lip from saying anything. It was better they didn’t know.
They all looked at the building that loomed out of the fog and said nothing. Yesterday it was a busy airport with thousands of people scurrying around, today it was desolate, no sign of life anywhere. There was a row of taxis at the front, all crashed into the back of each other like fallen dominoes. Dozens upon dozens of bodies littered the pavement. Two abandoned police cars blocked the road and Joe had to drive over the pavement to get past. The terminal doors were open and the windows shattered. Joe kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“We get past the building, take the next left, and we’re home free.”
Joe relaxed a little and turned around to give Lucy and George a quick reassuring smile. He didn’t see the woman run out in front of him. Evan called out, but Joe was going too fast and ploughed straight into her, sending her tumbling over the bonnet with a sickening thud. Joe swerved and the car rammed headfirst into the line of taxi’s, coming to a sudden stop. Lucy and George were crying and Karyn was groaning, rubbing her neck.
“Tell me that was one of those things!” shouted Joe as he jumped out of the car.
“Stay here,” said Evan, ignoring Mrs Craven’s glare. Smoke was coming from the car’s engine as Evan leapt out and he saw Joe standing over a figure on the road. He heard the screams before he could see where they were coming from. Evan took a step back toward the car.
“If she’s dead, Joe, she’s dead. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Through the fog curtaining the airport, two figures came running straight toward him. A young woman was screaming something unintelligible. An older man ran beside her, grim-faced and breathing heavily. The woman’s face was fraught with worry, but she looked otherwise uninjured. She ran straight to Evan and he grabbed her shoulders.
“Help us, please; we have to get out of here!” She took in the scene and looked at Joe standing over the body. She left Evan and raced over to the body.
“I’m sorry,” began Joe, “she just ran out in front of me.” He tailed off and watched the young woman bend over the body, sobbing. He trudged back to Evan wiping his brow.
“What’s done is done; we’ve got to go, Joe. It was an accident,” said Evan.
The second figure finally made it to them. An older man, dressed in overalls, overweight, and struggling for breath.
“Tell me your car works. We need to get out of here, fast. I’m Miguel,” he said, offering a sweaty hand.
Shaking it, Evan asked, “Who are you two? Who was that who ran out in front of us?” Joe looked down ashen-faced.
“I don’t know them really, I’m just a cleaner. I don’t know anything. Although I know we’d have been all right if she’d kept her mouth shut. We were fine, then this morning that stupid old woman starts mouthing off, getting all panicked and shouting something about Kyonshi, whatever that is. Don’t ask me. All I know is, we’ve got a heap of trouble coming. I’m serious, can we go? Now?”
Another figure came stumbling through the fog toward them. Only this one was not shouting or screaming. Evan swallowed. The figure came toward them, swaying like a drunkard.
“Get in the car. Let’s go,” Evan said urgently. Another figure appeared behind the first one. Then more and more shapes came out of the shifting fog: moaning, crawling, wheezing, and stumbling. Joe and Miguel jumped in the car as Evan ran over to the crying woman.
“We have to leave now, come on,” he said gently, but insistently. She looked up at him through tears and nodded. He led her by the arm to the car as she stumbled alongside Evan. He opened the back door and she got in next to Miguel. Lucy was now on her mother’s lap and George was squashed in the middle. Mrs Craven glared at the newcomers, but there was no time for introductions or explanations. The young woman sat in the back seat sniffling, and Evan jumped in beside Joe.
Joe was trying to start the car but the engine just spluttered and died. Joe punched the steering wheel in frustration.
“Oh come on, I can’t fucking believe this.” The engine twinkled into life and died for the last time.
“It’s gone. We’ve got to run for it.”
“Right,” said Evan, “stick to the plan, let’s get to the main road, we’ll try to find a car there. Everyone follow Joe and keep up, we don’t want anyone getting lost in the fog. We can out-run those things.” He didn’t know if he believed what he was saying but they had to try.
Everyone jumped out and Joe raced to the boot.
“Here,” he said to Evan, and handed him a nine-iron. “They’re Mr Craven’s golf clubs. I’ve got a feeling we might need them.”
He took one for himself and scooped up Lucy. She held on piggyback style as they jogged off into the distance. Karyn grabbed George’s hand and Miguel, taking a club too, ran after them. The m
ysterious young woman followed on autopilot and Evan brought up the rear. As they ran, Evan glanced back over his shoulder. The zombies were following but they weren’t gaining. Joe kept barking out where he was and they managed to keep each other in sight as they ran through the foggy street. They passed scattered broken cars and stuck to the middle of the road. At an intersection, Joe stopped, waiting for everyone to catch up.
“Over there,” he said pointing. There was a car rental yard, its big red sign sticking out of the fog like a beacon. They all trotted over to it. There was a small building in front of the yard. The office was open, glass and keys littering the floor like a sparkling welcome mat. Evan called out, but there was no reply and he ventured inside, brandishing the golf club above his head. There was nobody around and everyone followed Evan in.
“Looks like someone else had the same idea,” said Miguel, looking around at the mess.
As they all sheltered briefly inside, Evan looked at Joe.
“You can drive anything, right?”
“If you can find some keys...” Joe was resting on the golf club, getting his breath back. There were a few keys left scattered on the floor, and Evan picked them up.
“Follow me, everyone.” He took the handful of keys outside and they all followed him out into the car park, nervously looking around.
“Karyn, stay here with George and Lucy. Everyone else, look for the reg. First one to find a car, shout out.” Evan handed the tearful woman, Miguel, and Joe, a few keys each. He could hear the zombies getting louder. A few moans carried over the wind, the pounding of scurrying feet on the dewy road with them.
Karyn held onto George and Lucy and watched the others spread out into the fog, gradually disappearing from sight. She shivered. George and Lucy clung to her in silence.
Joe approached a large saloon in the corner of the yard. The driver’s door was open and the headlights shone weakly. The keys were dangling in the ignition but as he reached the door, he heard a muffled scraping sound from inside. It was still dark and he couldn’t see anything moving. Gripping the golf club tighter, he went to the back and pulled the handle. The door clicked open and Joe braced himself, but nothing stirred. He was sure he hadn’t imagined it. The boot was full of coats, bags, and suitcases. He pulled out a large case and heard it again, a scratching sound accompanied by shallow breathing. If he got into the car to try the keys, he didn’t want to be jumped by anything with teeth so he pulled aside a second case.
