She didn’t answer, but she was thinking about it and the more she thought, the more she began to think that it really couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Let’s consider the facts,” Harold said. “Like, good scientists. We know that Dale and this woman were in a relationship, correct?”
Velma nodded.
“And we know that the super zombie was created using large parts of Dale’s DNA, correct?”
Velma nodded again.
“And you tell me that you found the super zombie attacking a convoy which this woman just so happened to be a part of?”
“You’re suggesting that the super zombie was looking for her?” Velma said.
“I’m not suggesting anything,” Harold said. “I’m looking at the evidence available to me, and I’m proposing a hypothesis. I need you to do the same.”
Velma considered what Harold was saying, whether he admitted it or not he was proposing a theory. It was not one that would stand up to any sort of rigorous testing, but it was difficult to dismiss it based on the evidence they had.
The odds were too far against it being a coincidence. But there was nothing scientific about the creature finding Beth because it happened to have some of Dale’s DNA. The whole idea was ludicrous, but she kept coming back to it as the only available explanation.
As far as she knew, there were still some small communities living in the country. Harmony had been an exception because of its sheer size and likely would have collapsed under its own weight if the army hadn’t been protecting it behind the scenes. The numerous other communities were much smaller and many of them violently dangerous. The super zombie could have gone to any one of those, but it hadn’t.
It had found Beth.
She tried to remember what she had seen when she’d led the soldiers towards the convoy. There had already been gunfire and one hell of an explosion which she thought had probably been a grenade launcher. The people from the convoy had already been attacking the super zombie, but had she seen any evidence of it attacking them?
She shook her head.
“You have another suggestion?” Harold said.
There had been no sign of the super zombie attacking the convoy, but she had put that down to it not being able to get close. When they had arrived, it had turned and run.
“It’s possible,” she said.
Harold smiled.
“But even if it’s true, how does it help us?”
“You brought the girl back,” Harold said.
Velma remembered the promise that she had made to Beth that she would be safe there.
“I don’t think we need to do anything just yet,” Harold said. “There’s a chance that the creature will come to us.”
“But if it doesn’t?” Velma said.
“Then we might have to take further action. If it comes to that are you going to be with me?”
Velma didn’t even need to think about it. She nodded at once.
“Excellent.”
“What do you want me to do now?” she said.
“Take a few days, you look terrible. Get some rest and then come back and see me.”
“Thank you,” she said as she stood up. She walked towards the door doing her best not to limp as she went.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dawn sat at the edge of the pit and watched the other children playing on climbing frames which had been built out of old scaffolding. The ground was black, ashy sand. She didn’t want to know where it had come from.
The little kids from school had integrated well. There were other children their age running around, and they were all so dirty that she could no longer tell them apart.
There was also a group of children her age. They were standing in the ash by the tallest climbing frame, huddled together, talking and, occasionally, laughing. A part of her wanted to go over and join them, but she didn’t know what to say. She was sure they would think she was strange and want nothing to do with her.
They had been in the compound for three days and Beth still hadn’t left her room. Dawn had tried talking to her, but she couldn’t seem to put into words what she wanted to say. She didn’t know why Beth was so scared. Even she could see that they were safe now.
After a few more minutes Dawn got up. They had, almost, complete freedom within the compound. They weren’t supposed to go into any of the buildings, except for the living quarters, but other than that she could do wherever she wanted.
She walked towards the living quarters because there was nothing else to do. She was tired, but it had nothing to do with lack of sleep. Since their arrival, she had slept better than she had since Harmony.
She reached the apartment building. A dark shape hovered in the lobby, and she stopped. She couldn’t tell who it was, but she felt anxious as the figure moved towards her. When they were caught in the light, she saw Toby standing there.
“Where have you been?” he said. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Dawn smiled, but she wasn’t pleased to see him. She had been doing her best to avoid him since they’d arrived.
She walked towards him and tried to get to the stairs, but his hand shot out and caught her arm.
“I need to go and see Beth,” she said, not looking at him.
“I need to talk to you first,” he said.
She stopped struggling and nodded but didn’t meet his eyes.
“Not here,” Toby said. “Come back to the convoy with me. There won’t be anyone there.”
That was exactly what she was afraid of. She could still remember the way his hands had felt as they moved down her body and she had let him do it. She hadn’t wanted to, but she hadn’t tried to stop him once he’d started.
“Why can’t you talk to me here?” she said.
He laughed. “Come on Dawn, don’t be like that. I’m not going to hurt you. You trust me, right?”
If she told him that she didn’t then what would he do? Dawn didn’t feel like she had any choice in the matter. She nodded, but it was a lie.
“Come on then,” he said. “Follow me.”
He left the building, and she followed a safe distance behind. Although Toby had repeatedly told her that there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, she knew that he knew differently. Why else would he want it to remain a secret? Why else would he command her not to tell Beth?
The caravans were parked behind one of the large grey buildings. She stood in the shadows and watched Toby go inside.
If she was going to run away then now would be the time to do it, but she knew that she wouldn’t do that. If she ran then, Toby would find her, and she had seen him get angry before. No, on the whole, it would be better for her if she just did what he told her and got it over with. At least then nobody would get hurt.
Dawn entered the caravan a few minutes after him and closed the door behind her. It was dark, but she could hear him breathing.
“Come over here and sit next to me,” he said.
She didn’t want to, but she did. She told herself that this was the easier option.
Dawn sat next to him on the bench seat by the window. The blinds had been pulled down.
“Relax,” Toby said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
She nodded, more to herself than to him, and didn’t move his hand away when he touched her leg. He began to stroke her thigh through her jeans and she bit her lip, telling herself that it would be over soon and then she could leave. He never had much time for her once he had finished and she was glad about that.
Dawn thought about the children she had seen in the playground. They were about her age, and they were probably still talking and gossiping about kissing boys. She wondered what they would think about her if they knew what was happening now.
“Take off your trousers,” Toby said.
She could tell that he already had his off. Even in the dark she knew that he was sitting there in nothing but his boxer shorts and that she would soon be in a similar position.
<
br /> Dawn wanted to be in the playground with the other children her age, not sitting in a dirty caravan with a boy who was going to do things to her she didn’t want him to.
He moved his hand moved further up her leg, and she felt the top button of her jeans pop open. She put her hand on his and took it away.
“Toby don’t,” she said.
“Come on Dawn,” he said. “This hard to get attitude is starting to get boring. You know you want it as much as I do.”
She shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, I don’t.”
His hand moved back to her jeans, and she knew he was going to try and do it, whether she wanted him to or not.
Dawn swung her arm back and slapped him. He recoiled just enough for her to stand up and back away.
“You little bitch,” Toby said. He stood and she could now see that he had removed both his trousers and his boxer shorts. His penis was hanging out beneath his t-shirt as he walked towards her.
“Stay away from me Toby,” she said.
“Or what?” he said. “You’re going to run and tell your sister?”
“Maybe I will,” Dawn said.
“And what do you think she’s going to say when she finds out you’re a little slut?”
“I’m not—“
“Yes you are,” he said. He took another step towards her, and she found that she couldn’t move away. Her legs had locked up, and all she could do was watch him come closer. “You wanted it as much as I did.”
“No…”
“Then why didn’t you try to stop me before?” he said. “You’re a whore Dawn, you know you are.”
She could no longer speak. She stood there shaking her head feeling like the worst kind of fraud. The worst part was that he was right; she hadn’t tried to stop him. She’d let him do what he wanted to her because it made her feel important. Toby had made her feel like she was of some use to someone.
“Slut,” he said. “Prick teasing slut.”
Dawn shook her head again, but it was too late. He grabbed hold of her wrists. When he started dragging her towards the bedroom she didn’t put up a fight.
* * * * *
The bed had been stripped down to the mattress. Dawn fell on it and bounced just enough to meet him when he came down on top of her. He pushed her wrists up above her head, and she could feel his penis against her leg.
“Are you going to be a good girl for me?” he said.
“Please Toby, don’t.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then,” he said.
He held both of her wrists down with one hand and knelt over her. With his free hand, he started to unbutton her jeans.
Dawn twisted her legs to make it more difficult for him to remove her trousers, but he continued to try. When he gave up on that, she bent her legs up beneath him and pushed him away.
He let go of her wrists as he fell away from her. The whole caravan shook as he hit the floor.
“You bitch!” he spat.
“I don’t want to do this,” Dawn said.
“Who’s asking what you want?” Toby said.
He came towards her again. His penis was erect, and she tried not to look at it. The real danger was his hands, his strong hands that would be able to make her do anything, regardless of what she wanted.
“You don’t have to do this,” Dawn said. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”
She immediately saw that it was the wrong thing to say. Perhaps it had never occurred to Toby that she would talk about what he had done to her. He balled his hands into fists.
He swung at her face and she managed to raise her hands in time to reduce the impact a little. Dawn tried to back away, but he grabbed her arm and held her in there.
“You bitch!” he shouted. He called her names that she had never heard before while he punched her as hard as he could.
Dawn wondered whether he was going to kill her.
The thought was like a dull glow in complete darkness. It was better than uncertainty.
She screamed as loudly as she could. She didn’t expect anyone to hear her, but the noise startled Toby, and he lowered his hand.
Without thinking about what she was doing, she twisted her body and felt his fingers come loose from her arm.
She turned to the door and started to move. She knew that he would follow her, but didn’t look back to confirm it. Now, convinced that she was running for her life, she opened the door and ran.
* * * * *
Dawn threw the door closed behind her, hoping to buy herself an extra few seconds. All too soon she heard it open again and then his feet on the concrete as he came running after her.
She ran as quickly as she could but Toby was stronger and faster than her. She knew that she wouldn’t make it far before he caught her, that her only hope was to find other people who might be able to help.
There was no way she would be able to make it all the way back to the living quarters. Her best hope was the building in front of her. Assuming she could even get into it.
She found the strength for an extra burst of speed. Every step sent shockwaves of pain through her head where he had hit her, but she kept going.
She could hear Toby behind her and knew that he was getting closer. She refused to look back, but summoned the last reserves of her strength and sprinted towards the double doors at the base of the building.
Dawn hit the doors hard enough to hurt. They burst open, and she stumbled inside.
* * * * *
It was dark in the lobby, but she could see a set of stairs to her right and a number of doors along a corridor to her left. The air was cool and stale.
She went to the stairs and climbed them two at a time.
On the second floor, there were more doors, more stairs, and the painful realisation that she couldn’t beat him. She could hear Toby coming up behind her. The building felt empty, abandoned, there was no one here who would help her and, she was certain, that none of the doors would open if she tried.
She stopped at the stairs to the third floor. If she ran to the top she would be exhausted and unable to fight him. If she kept going then, she knew, he would catch and kill her.
“Dawn stop,” he called. Judging by the volume of his voice he was just coming to the top of the second flight of stairs. “This is stupid. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She didn’t believe him for a moment. He sounded tired, but she guessed he could just be putting that on. There was no reason to believe him and every reason not to.
She looked up the stairs and started to climb them.
* * * * *
At the next floor, she found her answer.
She stopped in front of a red fire extinguisher. There had been one on every floor, she realised, but she hadn’t considered them a potential weapon until now.
There was nowhere to hide at the top of the stairs and she could hear Toby’s footsteps coming more quickly. She picked up the fire extinguisher and was reassured by the weight of it, but knew that she would only get one chance.
Toby stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her.
“What have you got there?” he said.
Dawn didn’t answer him. She stood in the middle of the top step and watched him. A part of her realised that if he didn’t come to get her, that if he turned and walked away, then she would be trapped there, never able to leave for fear that he was waiting around every corner to jump out at her.
He took a step up.
“I just want to talk,” he said.
“About what?” Dawn said. She guessed that her best chance was to let him think she believed his lie, to lull him into a false sense of security, so that he would keep coming up the stairs.
“About what happened,” he said, taking another step and then another. “I’m sorry. I lost my temper.”
She nodded.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he said. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
He kept climbing the sta
irs until he was three or four down from her.
“Is that a fire extinguisher?” he said.
She didn’t answer.
“What are you planning to do with it? Hit me?”
She didn’t answer.
For a moment they both just stood there, looking at each other. She remembered when he had tried to kiss her, and she’d stopped him. If she hadn’t gone back, then he might have left her alone. Her moment of doubt became a moment of weakness. He seemed to sense it and took another step up.
“Give it to me,” he said.
Dawn didn’t move.
“You’re not going to hit me,” he said.
He took another step up, and she tightened her grip on the handle. It was made of plastic while the rest of it was metal. She hoped that it would be strong enough. Fire extinguishers weren’t made to be used as weapons.
“Come on Dawn, we both know you won’t do it.”
Toby stopped when he reached the step below the landing. His hair had grown longer since they’d first met and now hung in greasy threads. Despite having free access to showers and clean clothes he still stank and, now that she was clean, it was as if she was noticing it for the first time.
He started to move again, and another step would bring him to her level.
“Don’t come any closer,” she said.
“Dawn I know you won’t do it,” he said. “So quit pretending. Put the fire extinguisher down.”
His voice was so calm and reassuring that she almost did put it down. But then she remembered all of the other things he’d convinced her to do with that voice.
Dawn swung the fire extinguisher.
It moved too quickly for him to react but she saw his eyes widen as he realised what was about to happen. His footing wasn’t secure and, no matter what she tried to tell herself later, she knew it.
The red metal canister connected with his face and she saw blood and bits of teeth come flying out of his mouth. He tried to keep his balance; his arms flailed around wildly, but there was nothing for him to grab hold of.
Zero Hour (Zombie Apocalypse Book 2) Page 18
