Adrenal7n

by Russ Watts

  “No, stop!” Bashar heard a woman’s voice up ahead. “Stop it!”

  Lissie. It was Lissie’s voice he heard. They had not gone far and were yet to reach Regent Street. What was happening? Bashar looked around for more zombies but saw none. He could see no reason for Lissie to be crying like that. He crept forward next to Neale and Marama.

  “Trouble already?” Marama looked concerned and raised her knife gingerly.

  “Wait here.”

  “If you insist,” said Neale.

  Bashar jogged past them to Rad. “What’s going on up there?”

  “Don’t ask me. Can’t see far with this mist. He said we should wait.”

  Bashar trotted to the junction with Regent Street. Zombies were approaching from the north and he looked to his left to see Tony on the ground with Lissie kneeling over him. He was shocked to see two figures were running across the road back to where the plane had come down. In the fog he thought it was the two footballers, but wasn’t sure. Bashar squinted and saw Hedley standing next to Tony’s van. He waved back across the road signalling for the other two to join him.

  “What the hell happened?” Bashar asked Lissie as he raced to Tony’s side.

  “Bastard jumped me.” Tony sat up rubbing his jaw. “Cupcake. He smacked me one and took off with those two idiots.”

  Bashar looked across the road and stepped over a charred seat from the plane. Hedley was pulling on the driver’s door as the orange side lights flashed. As Joe reached the van the two men jumped in, leaving Blake standing in front of it.

  “Hurry, Sir, we’ve got to go.” Blake seemed to be pointing at Bashar and yet he knew Blake did not want him.

  Bashar saw a sheepish looking Carrington step out from behind a pillar and into the road. The Deputy PM looked at Bashar. “I’m sorry about this. For the record I didn’t think it was a very good idea. Blake is known amongst the Cabinet to behave somewhat impetuously at times.” Carrington began to walk toward the van. “I hope your friend is okay,” he said earnestly, looking at Tony.

  As Carrington began to walk across the road toward the waiting van, Bashar looked at Tony. He was back on his feet and nursing a bruised jaw, but he would be fine.

  “Carrington, that’s not a good move,” said Bashar. “The van is in no shape to get you across London.”

  Carrington shrugged. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”

  Blake was getting into the van alongside the two footballers and peering through the cracked windshield. He was smiling, almost laughing. Bashar didn’t care so much that they had taken Tony’s keys or that they were leaving. But the rumble of the engine seemed absurdly loud in the quiet street and would undoubtedly bring the dead. Blake’s crazy plan would bring a squall of death. He was jeopardising not only his own future but everybody’s.

  “What’s that wanker doing?” Rad had joined them and approached Bashar. “I thought we weren’t going in the van?”

  “We’re not.” Bashar turned around to see the others had all caught up. Marama, Neale, Lulu, and Michelle were all circled around Tony and Lissie. Jo clutched her daughter to her and stayed back, tucked up against the exterior wall of the department store. “We’re leaving,” said Bashar. “Right now.”

  “But what about them? What about Carrington and getting to Whitehall?” Marama looked at Carrington and then at Bashar. “What about sticking together?”

  “Not our problem if they want to get themselves killed.” Tony tapped Bashar on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go. Leave them to it. Idiots. They’re going to bring nothing but—”

  A howling scream pierced the air and Bashar clapped his hands over his ears. It echoed between the old buildings and swept down the street like an icy wind.

  “What the hell is that?” asked Lulu when it stopped. She held her knife aloft ready to defend herself.

  Bashar looked up into the sky. The fog was parting again, receding like soft rain that was ascending instead of falling. Patches of blue became visible briefly before he saw something that made his knees go weak. Something was flying above them, flitting around the tops of the buildings. It wasn’t a bird, nor was it human, yet it was something in between. A huge carcass that appeared to be from a dead pig, with four hooves instead of trotters was hovering over the smoking hull of the plane. Black droplets of blood fell from the wounds and cuts on its fleshy body, and there was a marked line around its short neck. The animal’s head had been torn off and it looked as if it had been replaced with a human head. As Bashar looked at it he heard it scream again. The head was that of a young girl. She had light blue eyes and deep blue lips, and as she screamed a howl of death the monstrosity descended rapidly to land on the roof of Tony’s van.

  “Holy fuckballs,” said Rad. He grabbed Marama’s hand and pulled her toward Regent Street.

  “Christ,” said Tony. He turned to Lissie. “Definitely time to go.”

  Bashar saw the panic in Blake’s eyes as the creature landed on the van. Hedley was behind the wheel and instantly slammed the van into gear, speeding up quickly and tearing down Beak Street toward them all. Carrington, who was still standing on the street, had to dive out of the way as Hedley drove straight at him in his desperation to get away. As the van neared Bashar he saw Blake trying to stop Hedley, pulling at the wheel and yelling at him to stop. Joe was urging him on and looking up at the roof of the van. The creature was pounding on it and the girl’s mouth was uttering horrible screams.

  The van’s tyres squealed as it skidded around the corner and onto Regent Street.

  “Wait. Blake, wait, what are you doing?”

  Bashar watched as Carrington ran after the van, his suit jacket flapping open as he ran. The van turned right and skidded once more over a dead body. Bashar saw Tony and the others turn left, away from the direction of the van. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. What was that thing? He jogged forward to catch up with Tony, not wanting to get left behind on his own.

  The van’s red brake lights suddenly came on as it screeched to a halt. Carrington had stopped chasing it as he saw the wall of zombies approaching from Oxford Street. Carrington stepped backwards and then turned and ran away from the van. The fog had almost disappeared completely and as Carrington ran past Bashar, he heard the van begin to reverse. The monster on its roof flew up high into the sky and then Bashar saw it. The van wasn’t reversing from the zombies, but from the demon. Standing high above Oxford Circus was the black beast they had seen earlier.

  Bashar slowly stepped backwards, hearing the shouts of Tony for him to hurry, but so amazed by what he saw that his legs failed to respond to his brain’s commands to flee. The monster was standing directly over the road, each leg astride of the buildings. Its tail hung down low and as Bashar looked up he saw how solid and powerful the demon was. Its black head seemed only blacker against the backdrop of the blue sky, and those two red eyes bore into his. There was a hint of a smile on the thing’s face as it lifted a leg and took a step forward. A four storey building on the eastern side of Regent Street crumbled like dry, brittle pastry as the creature planted its foot down. The demon bent lower and opened its mouth, roaring and sending dozens of zombies hurtling down the road, forced off their feet in the hurricane breath that the demon expelled. Bashar put his hands over his ears again. Even though he was a hundred feet away he could feel the warmth of the creature’s breath. It smelt of sulphur and Bashar gagged as he took another step back.

  He saw the van reversing and it smacked into a traffic light. The pole bent and then fell as the rear of the van crumpled. The wheels spun around sending smoke into the air but the van was stuck on the pedestrian crossing. The passenger door opened and Bashar saw Blake tumble out. He fell to his knees and looked up. The demon took another step forward and demolished another building. Masonry and glass fell to the sound of terror and screams. Dozens of zombies were buried beneath the rubble but many more were still advancing. The demon leant forward and Bashar held his breath as it raised an arm. It lifted its
clawed hand high into the air and then brought it down over the van. There was a muffled explosion as the van was squashed beneath the monster’s wide palm. Joe and Hedley were killed instantly, but Bashar noticed the portly Blake running away.

  Bashar felt a hand tug on his arm. “Tony, are you seeing this? Tell me you’re seeing this too.”

  Bashar saw a zombie run out of a shop and into Blake. The Junior Minister for Social Development pushed it away, but it had slowed him down. Another zombie appeared from Burlington Street, a naked man covered in blood from head to toe and chunks of flesh missing from his back. The zombie grabbed Blake and he tripped over, his obscene body sprawling over the hard pavement. The bloodied man fell on top of Blake and Bashar wanted to help him. He wanted to save Blake from the zombie, yet going to help him would mean certain death. He had to think of Nurtaj. She needed him more than Blake.

  Bashar felt the hand tugging on his arm. “I know, Tony. I know.” It was hard to take his eyes off the carnage developing in front of him.

  Bashar saw Blake manage somehow to push the bloodied zombie off him and get to his feet. The horde of dead bodies had almost reached him. The abomination that had landed on the van roof earlier was zipping from rooftop to rooftop, the face of the girl tortured into a permanent scream. Then Bashar saw the demon reach out and pluck Blake from the street. He heard the man’s screams as he was hoisted high into the sky and Bashar knew he had to go. The demon had claimed Blake as his own and yet Bashar couldn’t tear his eyes away. He was revolted by what he saw yet unable to move. Blake was slowly crushed in the monster’s giant hands. He was held high above the monster’s head and his body drained of its blood. Blake’s bones cracked under the pressure and his body liquefied as the demon squeezed him until there was nothing left. His body disintegrated and showered the monster’s face in gore and filth and blood and flesh.

  “Okay, I am gone-burger.” Bashar turned to go with Tony and found a zombie clutching his arm. A dead woman with curly white hair lurched forward and sank her mouth into his shoulder. Bashar swung a punch at the woman but he was too slow and he felt her jaws closing around his flesh.

  “No!” Bashar screamed but he was too late, too slow; he pictured Nurtaj smiling as the zombie sank her teeth into him. Bashar cried out with the knowledge he would die and his wife would forever be waiting for him.

  CHAPTER 14

  As the zombie’s teeth clamped down on his shoulder Bashar felt himself suddenly yanked backwards. His shirt caught in the dead woman’s teeth and tore open, and his feet tangled together causing him to fall. The dead woman lunged at him but Bashar rolled away and the zombie hit the road. Its jaws broke and teeth rattled across the road like skittles. Bashar reached for his cleaver but found it pulled from his grasp. A figure picked it up and slammed it down into the woman’s skull. The zombie stopped moving as shards of skull splattered over Bashar. The bright blue sky threw the figure into shadow and Bashar carefully took the hand offered to him.

  “Here.” The figure pulled Bashar to his feet. “Don’t forget this.”

  Bashar took his cleaver back and quickly examined his shoulder. The zombie had ripped open his shirt but missed his skin by millimetres. He had been lucky.

  “Got to be quicker than that,” said Carrington breathlessly. “Now what do you say we catch up with your friends.”

  “Thanks.” Bashar found himself back in the real world. Watching the demon and the dead he had found himself almost hypnotised. It was as if he had been put in a trance. Undoubtedly if Carrington hadn’t helped him he knew he would have succumbed to the zombie.

  Both men ran hard. The thin mist parted for them as they headed down Regent Street. Bashar spotted Rad and Lulu waiting by a Chemist’s shop, sheltering by a blue Ford Fiesta that had mounted the kerb and taken out the front of the store. Lulu was signalling for him to head over. The shop was on the corner of Vigo Street, a narrow road leading off Regent.

  “Come on, Bashar.” Lulu grabbed him as Rad hauled Carrington off the street. “I thought you’d done a runner,” she said, as they fled. The sound of the demon was fresh in their ears and the incessant march of the zombies too close for comfort.

  “No, I just—”

  “Never mind.” Lulu quickly got Bashar moving and they were soon reunited with Tony and the others. They had taken shelter under the canopy of a nightclub. Vigo Street had suffered as much as anywhere. Like Regent Street it was decimated and it looked as if a bomb had gone off. Rubble lay strewn across the area and most of the store fronts and cafés had been destroyed. The fog had become thin and wispy, and Bashar knew it wasn’t going to last. It seemed that the stronger the demon became, the weaker it was. Similarly the larger the demon grew then the more London was reduced to rubble.

  “All good?” Tony noticed Bashar’s ripped shirt, but let him catch his breath.

  “Yeah. Blake and those other two idiots didn’t make it.” Bashar bent over and put his hands on his knees. Running for his life was just as hard as he expected it might be. Carrington too was sucking in deep lungful’s of air, despite the toxic drifting smoke that emanated from the burning buildings nearby.

  “Well I’m sorry for those two footballers. They should’ve stuck with us,” said Lissie softly.

  “Blake convinced them that he was going to take the van. I heard him,” said Jo. She patted her daughter on the head reassuringly. “He was a fool.”

  “Yeah and this wanker probably knew what Blake was planning.” Lulu jabbed a finger into Carrington’s arm. “I say we throw him back out there. Cut our losses.”

  “You and your mate are bloody psychopaths,” said Rad. “What were you thinking?”

  “I’ll tell you what they were thinking,” said Tony, “they were thinking they would leave us behind. Drive off and leave us to rot. Isn’t that what the government is good at? Looking after themselves?”

  “Hang on,” said Carrington. “I did not go along with Blake’s plan. He was the one who thought of taking your van, not me. I tried to talk him out of it. I didn’t think he would go through with it.”

  “Yeah, but you were still going to go.” Lulu stared at Bashar. “Well? How about you, Bashar? Nothing to say?”

  Bashar glanced behind him. The demon was getting closer. The floor was vibrating with every step it took. The zombies marauding down Regent Street were not going to stop to debate the actions of the Deputy PM or whether his moral compass was askew. He did know that if Carrington hadn’t stopped to help him, then he would be dead for sure. The dead woman had been moments from ending it all and yet Carrington had stopped to help. Bashar sensed that perhaps he wasn’t as bad as his subordinate Blake and at least deserved a second chance. He grabbed Carrington and pushed him into the road. “I say we stick to the original plan. We get to Whitehall and find safety. We find a way to get a message to our families that we’re not dead yet. I say it’s time to go.”

  He pushed Carrington forward and began marching behind him.

  “Look, I know we haven’t got off to a good start, but…”

  “Shut up, Carrington,” hissed Bashar. “I just saved your life.”

  “I guess that makes us equal then.” Carrington looked nervously around him as the others followed.

  “Don’t start on me now,” growled Bashar.

  Tony retook the lead as the others swarmed around Bashar.

  “He’s a fucking liability,” said Neale. “This whole plan is shot to shit because of him. We could’ve snuck quietly through London, but no, thanks to Blake taking Tony’s van we’ve brought a whole army of the dead on us.”

  Bashar waved away the protests and complaints. “We all need to get off the streets as quick as we can. That monster is coming for us and there’s nothing we can do about it now. What’s done is done. Carrington can get us into Whitehall and that bunker. So he stays with us. He stays with me.”

  “Whatever.” Neale scurried away to Marama and Rad.

  “Just for now,” said Tony. He had he
ard everything. He looked angry with Bashar, yet it was just a natural response. He had been betrayed and was rightly angry.

  “I’ll keep an eye on him,” Bashar reassured Tony. “That bunker may just be the safest place in the whole city. We have to give it a shot.” He knew Tony didn’t have a problem with him. Anything that put his family and friends in danger would’ve provoked the same response.

  “Perhaps we should just go back,” said Michelle. “To Libertas. We can hide there. We can wait for help. The military will be back. They’ll send someone.”

  “I doubt that,” said Bashar. “They haven’t sent anyone for the Deputy PM have they, so they’re hardly likely to bother about you and me.”

  Michelle glared at Carrington and then scurried away to join the front of the group.

  With the sound of hundreds of feet pounding the road behind them and the terrifying monster pulling apart the ruins of Regent Street they quickly made their way down Vigo Street and onto Sackville Street. Several dead bodies lay in their path and Bashar watched as Jo tried to shield her daughter from the carnage. It was impossible to avoid it though. Blood ran in rivers down the gutters and the stench of death was everywhere. It ran down the bricks and buildings into the air, and gruesome body parts scattered the pavement. They passed a pub that was alight. Glass and alcohol stained the concrete outside and there was a severed arm in the doorway. Bashar wondered just how far they could make it. Tony was doing his best to lead them, but they had a lot of ground to cover. The black beast that had devoured Blake was still close. The tall buildings still standing were providing shelter and hiding them from it, but sooner or later it would find them. Bashar heard another roar from the creature. Had it found another victim? Had it torn up another one of London’s old buildings from its roots? Soon there would be nothing left.