by Russ Watts
“Just because they’re different to us, why should they be exterminated? They no longer function like humans, but they live, move and scurry about their business like an ant. The UN decided they had a right to exist like every other animal on this planet. Would you go out of your way to stomp on an ant hill?”
Mark snorted. “If the ants wanted to eat me, then yes. All day long.”
“Great white sharks want to eat you too, but we don’t kill them, do we? The dead are doing all they know to do, just like the ants and the sharks of this world. Look, African militia are dangerous. You of all people should know that, Mark. To some people, the Muslims are dangerous. To others, it’s Christians, Westerners, the Arabs...I could go on. You have to draw a line somewhere. What does it mean, Mark? All of this?”
“That we’re all going to hell.” Mark turned away from the window and the conversation.
Kelly watched as hundreds of Deathless swamped the rain soaked streets around the mall. They had converged around the walls and doors, but as Roach had said, there was no way in. She wondered how long they would remain there, trying to find that elusive opening. Was Mark right? Would they stay for days, months, or longer? The thought of spending years in here frightened her. All of a sudden, her desk back at the museum wasn’t such a bad idea. She spent most of her working time rushing around and moving from place to place. All she wanted to do now was to go home and stay there. Better to live alone in a cramped New York loft than die amongst the dead, cowering on The Grave amongst the Deathless.
“Let’s get back to the others, eh?” Mark had sensed Kelly’s sombre mood and the light was failing anyway. He wanted to catch up with Roach and the others to find out how they were going to get home. He had a big story to tell, and was getting sick of the sight of rain and walking corpses.
He was finding himself drawn to Kelly in a way he hadn’t expected too. In many ways, she was completely different from him. He also knew that if you spent long enough in someone’s company you were liable to end up either loving or hating them. With Kelly, he hadn’t quite figured out which way he was going to go. Having never been in a serious relationship, the last thing he wanted was to fall now. Mark knew he was on the verge of a major story. Back in New York, there would be a lot of work to do. An image of the bloated maggot-ridden carcass sprang back into his mind and he forgot about everything else. To think that death and disease were so close. He let out a long breath.
“Let’s bust a move,” he said getting up.
As Kelly turned to leave, the empty tin cans from dinner fell off the table and rolled noisily on the floor. Pots and pans clanged together loudly in the kitchens and then the floor began trembling. The whole building rocked gently from side to side, at first weakly, then growing stronger until she had to grab a table to stand. Another earthquake was not what they needed now. Kelly wondered if the structure of the building would hold and keep out the Deathless as the floor beneath her feet suddenly buckled. Kelly screamed.
THIRTEEN
Kelly was about to tell Mark they should duck under one of the tables, when the swaying and shaking abruptly stopped as quickly as it had started. It ebbed away like a gentle wave flowing out into the ocean and she looked at Mark.
“Another earthquake, right?” Mark’s knuckles were white and his fingers slow to release his grip on the back of a chair.
Kelly nodded. “I would say the one we felt earlier was quite big; somewhere around four to five on the Richter scale. You often get quite large aftershocks after one like that, so it’s not going to be uncommon for us to feel some more. This island is centred over several tectonic plates and has a lot of seismic activity. I just hope these are not a precursor to anything bigger. We have enough to handle without anything else fucking with us.” She looked down at the food court’s tiled floor. Several of them had buckled, but she was grateful there was no further damage. Falling through the floor was not on her to do list.
“Amen to that. Let’s get back to the others. I wonder if Roach got any beer from that supermarket he mentioned, I could do with a drink.”
Mark and Kelly left the food court with the Deathless still outside.
”Why were they left here like this?” Mark asked Kelly as they walked. “They’re a protected species, right? Like the panda?”
“Well, because something is unsightly or dangerous, does that mean we should kill it? We didn’t wipe out crocodiles, red-backs or snakes, did we? If anything, man nurtured them, protected them from danger. We let nature take its course. The Deathless are here on this planet and are more than a snake or an insect, they’re us. They used to be just like you and me. We can’t deny our past or where is our future? Based on lies and deception? If the Deathless were just brushed under the carpet we risk repeating the same problems again.”
Mark kicked a stack of newspapers out of their way as they slowly went back to the others. “But what’s the point of keeping them alive? If you ask me, they should be exterminated. If you have an unsightly growth on your body, you have it removed.”
Kelly had no answer and left Mark’s comments hanging in the air. He made a good point, but she couldn’t yet agree with him. As they walked back, his hand accidentally brushed hers and for a moment, she thought he was going to take hold of it. She felt a flush of excitement and then realised how inappropriate it would be to think of Mark as anything other than a colleague. The night was closing in and with a full stomach, she was ready for a rest. If she could only get a decent night’s sleep, maybe she could start thinking clearly again.
* * *
“You’re looking a bit better, Claire,” said Kelly, making her way over to the bed and sitting down beside her.
“Yeah, I feel better, thanks.” Claire had put on the dry clothes Will had brought back for her and managed to eat one tin of sliced apricots. She had stuffed a couple of pillows behind her head and was sitting up listening to the others. She still felt drained, but she was calmer now. Everyone had taken such good care of her that she was starting to feel better, even optimistic about getting home tomorrow. She had tried her mobile once more when she had awoken, but there was no reception so she’d given up on the notion of sending her mother a message.
“Did you feel the earthquake?” she asked Kelly. “My bed was shaking. It didn’t seem quite as scary as before though. I’m glad Mum’s not here, because she wouldn’t like it. She won’t even go on the rollercoaster at Coney Island.”
Kelly patted Claire’s knee through the floral duvet. “Yeah, we felt it; just another exciting aspect of being on this strange island, honey.” Kelly gave Claire a kiss on her forehead. It was hot, but it looked like her fever had run its course. A little colour was back in her cheeks and a rosy patch beneath both eyes that accentuated her slender cheekbones. She was going to be a good looking woman soon. Kelly was impressed at how well Claire was handling the situation.
Kelly got up and sat down on an empty bed next to Claire’s. Everyone had found somewhere to sleep for the night, and they were lying either on it, or in Suzy and Tricia’s case, in it already. Roach’s bed had been obvious surrounded as it was by various bottles, books, and piles of clothes. She scanned around the room and it looked like everyone was still fully dressed.
“So we need to get a plan together for tomorrow.” Kelly sat on the top of the bed and thought about taking off her new jumper. The mall was quite cool though and the bed sheets cold, so like the others, she decided to stay in her clothes. They were fresh and clean anyway. “I guess we try to head to the coast as we were. We’re very close.”
Will sat up, ruffling his hair. “We could...”
“No.” Roach’s voice cut Will short. “No, you can’t do that.”
“Why? Once the people monitoring this place see us, they’ll send a chopper or a boat to pick us up,” said Will. “Won’t they?”
“You think I didn’t try that already? You think I haven’t already exhausted every possible way of getting off this island? I haven’
t been here for years, living in squalor and losing my mind, and not thought about escape. If all it took was a stroll down to the beach, I wouldn’t be talking to you now, would I?” Roach spoke vehemently and everyone listened. He had their full attention now. “There’s really only one way off The Grave and you have a slim, slim chance of making it. My chances are non-existent.”
“What do you mean?” Suzy had propped herself up on her elbows so she could see Roach clearly.
“Well, the coast is a no-go zone. Mines, booby-traps, automatic guns, miles and miles of barbed wire...even if you somehow made it past those, you’d be taken out before you got off the island. They don’t want anyone or anything getting away. It’s called The Grave for good reason.”
“So assuming that is true, how do we get out?” Will didn’t doubt Roach, but he wanted to push him. They needed the full story if they were to survive.
“Well, you need to get down to the capital. Ex-capital, since I’m not sure there officially is one anymore. It’s not far though; you can fairly easily make it in a day on foot. The dead are spread pretty thin between here and there. There’s not much for them to snack on so they tend to stay away from the highway. Of course, once you get there, the real fun begins. I’d estimate there’s approximately half a million Deathless in the city, give or take.”
Roach heard a few gasps around the room and paused for them to take in what he’d said. He could see Claire’s eyes drooping. “Do you really want me to tell you?”
“Yes, of course. You know this place better than we do,” Will urged Roach on. He didn’t seem to need much encouragement though. “So you mean we get to the scientist’s base in the city, right? They’ll help us. They’ll have communications with the outside world. We had thought about that option.”
Roach laughed uncontrollably. He had to put his hand over his mouth to stop and when he did so, he felt embarrassed. They were looking at him as if he were a madman. “I’m sorry, it’s just...I’d better explain. There is no base there or anywhere. There are no scientists. Wow, so Agnew has managed to keep the lie still going? Kudos for the effort.”
“Of course, there’s a base,” said Kelly. “If I remember correctly, it was believed to have been set up beneath the U.S. Embassy because that was one of the strongest buildings in the city. We know all about the research they’re doing there, the men working around the clock to find a cure, the brilliant team of...”
Roach began laughing again, but stopped himself quickly. He didn’t want to offend these people. “Sorry, but you are gravely wrong. Pun intended. You’ve been fed a pack of lies; the whole world has. That bastard, Agnew.”
“Who’s this Agnew you keep mentioning?” said Tricia. “You don’t mean...the President?”
“That’s exactly who,” said Roach bitterly. Instantly, his eyes were alight, the coals in his mind stoked and his blood pumping. “I’ll tell you my story. I’ll tell you the truth and then you’ll know why I’ve been left marooned here like some warped Robinson Crusoe. I should be dead, and as far as Agnew and the world is concerned, I am, but he made a powerful enemy when he picked on me. I don’t give up easily.”
“I think you’d better start from the beginning,” encouraged Will.
Roach did as he was asked and started with a brief summary of who he was. “Franklin Roach, father to Bobby and husband to Stella. Lord knows what’s happened to my family. I can only pray they are safe and well back home. I haven’t seen them in years. I was the U.S. Senator of the State of California back in the 80s. I was elected way back in 2176. Agnew was already vice-president by then of course and he didn’t like me one bit. The feeling was mutual, the slimy son of a bitch. I had five good, but testing years. You all know what happened in 2180 of course.”
“The San Francisco bombings,” said Kelly.
She wasn’t there, but Kelly remembered the news. It was the biggest terrorist atrocity committed on U.S. soil since the Trade Centre attacks way back in 2001. The Golden Gate Bridge had been blown up. Two powerful bombs exploded simultaneously on one of the pillars, strong enough to destroy it, and along with it, the entire bridge. It had collapsed into the harbour killing ninety-six people instantly with another seven from their injuries dying later in the hospital. The casualty rate was considered low, but the cost and high profile nature of the attacks certainly got the world’s attention. It had even cost the President at the time his job, with Agnew taking over. “So you’re the Franklin Roach?”
“Guilty. But that is the only thing I am guilty of. I had nothing do with that attack at all. The stuff the media came out with afterwards was incredible. It was all fed to them by Agnew. I had dirt on him and he wanted me out of the way. I don’t want to dredge it all up again, but I was sentenced without trial.”
“That’s right. I remember you disappeared shortly after you were accused. You were said to have gone to South America somewhere wasn’t it? I remember vaguely you were supposed to have sought asylum there, but you fell off the radar.”
“You have a good memory, Kelly. Paraguay I think it was that I was supposed to be living in. I’ve never set foot in South America. They locked me up and threw away the key. I spent two and a half years in prison. No lawyer, no trial, no telephone calls, nothing; I don’t even know which prison I was in, but I doubt it was in America. They interrogated me now and again. I think that was something for them to do, rather than to get anything out of me. Agnew knew I had nothing to do with the Golden Gate.
“Anyway, about four years ago, after a long stint in solitary without any hint of what was happening, they dragged me out of my cell and brought me here.”
“Why would they do that? Why would President Agnew do that?” Kelly was astounded. She could tell from the faces of her friends that they were amazed too. Roach’s story was incredible, yet he was convincing and he seemed to be telling the truth. “The Grave is off limits, a protected island monitored by the UN and the US military. You’re telling me they dumped you here? Alone? What about the research base?”
Roach held up his hands in a defensive posture, his palms outspread. “I know, I know, it must seem unbelievable to you. But I have nothing to hide, no reason to lie to you. If you don’t believe me, then you can be on your way and forget all about me. But if you want to live and get home, you’re going to need to listen to me.
“You see, I was brought here on a U.S. military helicopter. There were five others with me then. We were all handcuffed and blindfolded so we had no idea where we were being taken. Once we found out of course...we were dropped on top of the US Embassy in the old capital of this island, about six miles south of here. I’ve seen them come and go on an almost daily basis since. They bring convicts, murderers, political dissidents – anyone they need to get rid of. There is no research base. There is no one looking for a cure for this thing, because there isn’t one. This is an island of death and a very handy one for those in power. They drop you off here and know you’re gone for good. Nobody can leave. You’re expected to die here. Nobody is going to come looking for you. Nobody is going to find your body washing up on the banks of the Hudson with a bullet in your head. No journalist is ever going to expose the truth, because anyone who comes here is on a one-way ticket.
“I managed to get out of the embassy with one other person; Min Wang. She was innocent like me, but the Chinese needed her to disappear so she wound up on The Grave. Everyone else in our group was slaughtered within minutes of the soldiers leaving us. They just laughed and joked as if we were dogs. They shot Quentin because he was threatening to expose them. The others never made it out of the embassy. They fell to their deaths into the crowd of Deathless they had waiting for us. Izliev refused to go. I watched as the motherfucker Warwick pushed her over the edge. The Deathless were on top of her instantly. Min and I could only watch helplessly as they ripped her to pieces.
“So Min and I ran. We managed to avoid the Deathless for a few days by hiding out in a nearby apartment block. We saw the chopper co
me and go, but knew there was no point in trying to get back with them. They would shoot us on sight. So we bunkered down and lived on scraps until we were forced to go out looking for water. It was a fluke really that we made it this far. We got lucky. All the Deathless were concentrated around the embassy so the highway from the city to here was deserted. We never saw another living soul. It wasn’t easy. I’ve had to put down several of those things. It never gets any easier.
“This mall became our home. We had plenty of food and water, apart from the summers when it can get dicey. But it tends to rain a lot in this country so I guess we got lucky there too. We were like brother and sister. We knew there was no way back to our old lives and we came to depend on each other. Min was such an intelligent woman. She opened my eyes to a lot of things, but as the days became weeks, she struggled to adapt. This place is really just another prison. She couldn’t face the prospect of living here forever, constantly on the lookout for the dead. I found a couple of guns in an SUV one day, but it wasn’t enough to reassure her.
“In the end, she died of desperation. She refused to believe they wouldn’t rescue her if she signalled for help. She went down to the coast and I followed her. I tried to stop her. I protested all the way, but it was useless. She had made her mind up. We found a quiet cove and she took a small rowboat out. I refused to go. I couldn’t do it. She said that once she got home, she would send help for me. She got past the wire and the mines, but...they just shot her down. They tore the boat apart with her in it. I never saw her again. I was a coward. I should’ve done more to stop her.”
They gave Roach time to compose himself. It had obviously been painful talking about it and he had broken down whilst talking about losing Min. Eventually, they questioned Roach further, probing him for answers and explanations. He was able to satisfy everything they threw at him. Finally, they began to realise he was telling the truth. Stunning though it was, it also explained why they had not seen or heard any sign of rescue. They were doomed to this island too.
