When he opened his eyes, he saw a woman shoulder barge Jake. It sent him sideways over the low wall that surrounded the water fountain. A popping crack sounded out as Jake’s top half went towards the water, but his feet remained in the same place. Jake seemed oblivious to his clearly broken shins. Instead, his twisted features remained fixed on Rhys. His desire to attack seemingly overrode what must have been pain beyond measure. Either he didn’t feel the pain, or his lust for the kill burned brighter than anything else. Something inside told him it was the latter and a chill gripped Rhys.
The blonde woman passed Rhys at a flat-out sprint, so he called after her, “Hey, wait up.”
She didn’t.
For a second, he froze and stared at Jake in the fountain. The boy’s legs pointed at impossible angles to his body, and he thrashed and writhed as if he were drowning. A loud roar grabbed Rhys’ attention. He saw another one of the crazed people nearby. “Sorry, Jake,” he said, spun around, and sprinted off after the woman who’d just saved him. In the insanity that surrounded them, she seemed to be the only person with purpose.
The combination of too much noise and too little air in his lungs made it a struggle to get his words heard, but Rhys tried anyway as he called after the woman again, “Wait up.”
She still didn’t react.
The crowd continued to flee from the square. At least he didn’t have to run against them anymore. Although, with so many bodies, he lost sight of the athletic woman who’d saved him.
The roars of the people from the tower spread. The woman then came back into view as she tore a zigzagged path through the pandemonium, and Rhys tried to keep up.
Rhys gave everything he had, but the woman continued to pull away from him. The crowd thickened and she disappeared from view again.
This far back, no one seemed to know which direction to run. Two people in front of Rhys fell to violent attacks.
A strong grip stung Rhys as it locked onto his shoulder. He shook it off, stumbled, and turned to see the bloody eyes of one of the crazed people. They tripped and fell before they could grab him again.
The sound of his own ragged breaths echoed through his head, and Rhys dug deep as he pushed on. The heat of the day suffocated him, and sweat cascaded into his eyes. It didn’t help to run in slacks and a shirt; they raised his body temperature by what felt like a thousand degrees. Thank god he had his trainers on. The woman came back into view through the crowd. She had about a ten–metre lead on him.
An impact stung Rhys’ left side and an older lady spun away from him like a top. Her arms and hair flailed out from the collision. She fell and someone jumped on top of her. Before Rhys had passed her, she screamed as the person that had pinned her down bit into her face.
More people got between Rhys and the athletic woman. All of them seemed occupied by their own personal panic. At least a third of them fell to attacks before his eyes as the amount of enraged people multiplied by the second. With raised arms, Rhys shoved anyone who got in his way aside and kept his focus.
When a gap opened up in the crowd again, Rhys saw the woman disappear down a tight alleyway between two buildings.
He hurdled a bench, shoved a man with blood-streaked cheeks away from him, and followed after her.
Chapter Eleven
Rhys burst from the other side of the alleyway and found himself on a road with a line of thick steel pillars that protruded from the ground. They ran all the way down the middle, spaced about five metres apart. Four pillars separated him and the woman up ahead. The gap continued to increase as she outran him. Rhys called after her again. “Wait!”
But she didn’t stop.
Sweat stung his eyes, and his head spun from the exertion of trying to keep up with her. “Wait up, please.”
For the first time since she’d saved him, the woman turned around and looked at Rhys. She was younger than him, although he couldn’t tell how much younger. She looked to be maybe twenty-four.
With a raised hand, Rhys repeated, “Wait, please.”
Although she didn’t stop, she slowed down enough for him to catch up with her.
Once he was next to her, Rhys wiped his brow with his sleeve and spoke in between gasps. “Thank you… for… saving me.”
Her cool blue eyes pinched at the sides as she stared at him. She breathed evenly. It made a mockery of Rhys’ fitness levels.
A scream shot out of the alley they’d just exited. The woman looked back, alert like a rabbit that had sensed a fox. She tugged on his sleeve and pulled Rhys along with her. “We can’t wait around here. Can you walk at least?”
After he’d gulped a dry mouthful of hot air, his throat sticky from the run, Rhys nodded.
As they walked, Rhys continued to chase his breath and neither of them spoke. The tall buildings on either side of the narrow road had been built so close together, they stood like huge walls and cast heavy shadows. The steel armour that surrounded each building nullified the illuminating effect of the shiny windows. Rhys had never seen the city this dark before. Another phlegmy roar from the square turned Rhys’ skin to gooseflesh.
The pair walked either side of the line of pillars down the middle of the road. Rhys tapped each one as he passed it. They’d clearly been erected to quash even the idea of driving on the roads.
“Did you see how many people ran for the car park as if to get their cars?” the woman said.
“What?!” Rhys tapped another pole. “Didn’t they see these in the road?”
The woman shrugged. “Panic turns people stupid.”
After he’d slapped two more pillars, Rhys glanced at the woman next to him. She scowled as she took in their environment. When his breath finally returned to him, he said, “It was good of you to save me. You didn’t have to. Thank you.”
For a moment, she didn’t reply. Then she looked at him. “Why were you running at the zombies?”
The word nearly choked him. “Zombies?”
“Well, that’s what they are… or as good as anyway. Didn’t you see them?”
Who was this woman? A fine physical specimen, no doubt, but where was her head at? “I thought zombies only existed—”
“In movies?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember a line once from an old film—‘The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world it didn’t exist’. By filling you with popcorn and adrenaline rushes, the government kept the ‘myth’ of zombies alive. They kept them fictional so we wouldn’t believe in them. All the while, they were creating them under our noses. They were nearly ready to drop them in The East.”
“Okay,” Rhys said, “so if they’re zombies, why aren’t they slow, shuffling, brain-craving deadites?”
“Deadites?”
Rhys shrugged it off.
“It’s more like a virus, a disease. They’re not reanimated corpses like in the movies; they’re infected humans. They may be stronger and faster than your average human, but they die in the same way. There are two effective ways of killing them—serious head trauma or drowning. For some reason, they can’t swim. They can’t climb either. The virus makes them fast and aggressive, but they lose a lot of control over their limbs.”
“How do you know all—?”
Another scream came from behind, and the woman’s shoulders pulled into her neck. She quickened her pace. “It’s a virus that turns people insane. It spreads through saliva. If you get bitten, you’re fucked.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I worked in The Alpha Tower.”
Rhys stopped. “You worked in there? I’ve always wondered what went on in there.” He resumed his pace and caught up with her again.
“Well, now you know. It’s a biological warfare lab.” As they walked, she glanced behind, in front, and up at the tall buildings, which flanked their path. If something appeared, she made sure she’d notice it. “I only found this out about an hour ago when soldiers from The East infiltrated the building and set the disease
loose. None of them looked oriental. It was only when I heard them speak that I realised where they came from. By then, it was too late. They even managed to sneak guns in.”
“Guns? But what about the arms embargo? I thought we knew how to detect weapons.”
“So did I; I honestly don’t have a clue how they managed it.”
“That must have been who I saw driving away,” Rhys said, more to himself than the woman. When he saw her looking at him, he explained. “After the explosion, I saw a car with tinted windows speeding away. They looked seriously suspicious. So why a virus?”
The woman shrugged. “Dunno. My only guess is it’s a good way around the anti-weapon policy. The East can detect the equipment and processes involved in making weapons and flag them as suspicious, but there are no restrictions on labs, so how could they tell if a virus was being made? That would be my guess anyway.”
“And we clearly aren’t as clever as them to invent weapons that can go undetected.” Rhys shook his head. “What the fuck? We’ve created fucking zombies to try and win a ridiculous war.”
“None of that matters now,” the woman said. “We’ve already lost. It’s all about survival from this point on. Anyway, you didn’t answer my question.”
Rhys looked at her
“Why were you running at The Alpha Tower?”
Rhys removed the bark and photo from his top pocket and showed them to her.
Despite her obvious need for urgency, the woman stopped and levelled a dead stare at him. “You nearly killed yourself for a photo and a lump of wood?”
“A photo and a paperweight.”
“Why?”
“It’s a photo of my boy, Flynn. I don’t see him much. His mum only lets me see him once a fortnight for a few hours on a Saturday morning.” Sadness gripped his heart. “If I’m lucky, that is. She sometimes cancels. She often cancels. The bitch cancelled this weekend, in fact.”
When he held up the bark, he couldn’t help but smile at it. “He painted this for me. I take both items with me everywhere. I couldn’t leave either of them behind.”
The woman didn’t respond.
“You think that’s stupid?”
“No, I don’t have kids, so I can’t pretend to understand what it’s like to feel that kind of love for someone. I’m just not sure I’d risk my life for a photo.”
“I didn’t really think of it as risking my life. I was confused. You don’t ever expect a violent disease to spread while you’re on your lunch break.”
“I do.”
Rhys looked across at her.
“Surely you have a plan?”
“Um…” Now he felt stupid.
“Everyone has a plan for when the zombies hit.”
Rhys didn’t. Fortunately, she didn’t push him on the matter.
“So why do you let your wife keep you away from your son?”
“What else can I do? I have to fight it through the courts. I have to do this the right way, and to do that, I have to keep paying my crappy solicitor until they decide they have a case pulled together. Arguing with my ex will only upset Flynn. It’s the right way to do things.”
“There’s no right way now.”
“Huh?”
More screams called out from behind them. The woman pulled her long blonde hair back, slipped a hairband from her wrist, and tied it in a ponytail. “Didn’t you just see what happened back there? This is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. You’ve seen the movies, right?”
Fear gripped Rhys’ stomach. “It’s really going to be that bad?”
“Didn’t you just see how quickly it spread? This is ground zero. Things are going to get a whole lot fucking worse.”
“In that case, I’ve got to get to Flynn. I have to get him out of school. If we’re quick, we can outrun this and get there.”
“We?”
“You’re coming with me, right?”
The woman winced. “Sorry, but I’ve got to get my shit together. I’m sure your kid’s a lovely boy, but I have my own issues to deal with.”
Another scream, louder than before, called out behind them.
“They’re getting closer,” she said. “Come on, let’s go.” And with that, she broke into a jog.
Chapter Twelve
Rhys reached out and grabbed the woman’s arm. “Please, I need to slow down again…”
Despite her deep frown, she accepted his request and they slowed to a fast walk. “Fine. And it’s Vicky, by the way.”
It took several deep breaths before Rhys finally said, “Rhys.” He tugged on his shirt, but the second he let it go, it stuck to his body again. “I’m going to do everything in my power to save my boy.”
The sound of the diseased and their victims screamed behind them. Far enough away to not be a problem, Rhys kept his attention on Vicky.
Vicky looked ahead and continued their conversation. “I know; you’ve already said.”
Both the heat and exercise had turned Rhys’ throat arid. A hot gulp did nothing to relieve it. “It’s the only thing I can think about doing. It’s the obvious thing to do. Flynn’s only six years old. I can’t possibly leave him in this world on his own.”
“No, you can’t; he wouldn’t last thirty seconds.”
Yet she still didn’t want to help. “How come you know so much about this virus? You said you just learned about it an hour ago.”
The question made her flinch. When Vicky replied, she didn’t look at him. “You can learn a lot in an hour when you watch it tear through a building.”
“The right thing for you to do would be to come with me, you know? He’s a little boy.”
Vicky spun around and pointed an angry finger at him. With the tip of it just millimetres from his face, she said, “Fuck off!”
Rhys threw his arms wide and looked around the deserted street as if he had a crowd of people to appeal to. “What? What did I say?”
Despite her fierce demeanour, a softness dampened her blue eyes.
“You’re trying to guilt trip me,” she said. “I don’t appreciate it. What the fuck do you know about what the right thing to do is?”
“What else do you want me to say?” Grief wedged in his throat like a hot lump of sand. His eyes watered. “He’s the most precious thing in my world. I need help saving him, and you’re the only person around. I’m desperate.”
The heavy frown that sat above her azure glare faltered. “Well, say that then. Don’t try to guilt trip me; that ain’t going to work.”
“I’m sorry,” Rhys said, “you’re right.” After a pause, he held his hand out to shake. When she took it, her grip firm, yet soft, he said, “Let’s start again. Hi, my name’s Rhys.”
“I don’t care what your name is.”
“That’s not very nice. What’s your name?”
“Vicky. You know it’s Vicky; we’ve been through this already.”
Before Rhys could say more, Vicky walked away from him toward a sports shop on the side of the road. Like all of the other buildings, it had a shutter of protective steel. Rhys looked back in the direction they’d come from and then returned his attention to Vicky. “You know that’s locked too, right?”
The fit woman spun around and pressed a finger to her lips.
The sound of chaos behind them had gotten louder. Soon, it would be so loud they’d be able to feel the hot breath that came with it—sooner, if Rhys didn’t shut up.
Despite his body’s reluctance, Rhys jogged over to her, but before he could say something—quieter than before—he saw her remove a security card. When she swiped it through the reader, the light above it turned green, and the shutter rose. The steel clattered as it lifted.
“You have a clearance card?”
When Vicky stared at the card but didn’t reply, Rhys’ cheeks flushed hot. “Obviously!”
“It’s only level B. I can get into commercial buildings, but without another card, I can’t get into any of the blocks with most of the people in th
em. Not that I would want to anyway. I just want to get the fuck off this shitty island. If I released even one building full of people, it would make getting out of here twice as hard. The amount of diseased would double and we’d be fucked. Besides, the towers are controlled centrally. Release one—”
“And you release them all,” Rhys said. “So you got the clearance card…?”
“Because I worked in The Alpha Tower; I’ve already told you that.”
Another glance up and down the road, and Rhys still couldn’t see any of the creatures. Then a particularly high-pitched cry ran a shiver down his spine. “Whatever you’re doing here, Vicky, it needs to be damn quick. Those fuckers will be on top of us before long.”
After she’d levelled another dead stare at him, Vicky walked into the shop.
Rhys followed behind.
The lure of the trainer section pulled Rhys over to the far wall. The sheer amount of them made the entire shop smell of rubber.
Then Rhys found it—the same trainer he’d coveted for months, now. Solicitor bills had ruled out frivolous purchases, but money didn’t matter anymore… at least not at the moment anyway.
He pulled the trainer from the shelf, tilted the tongue back, and read the label behind it. “It’s my size. Surely it’s a sign?”
As he laced it up, Vicky turned around and stared at him. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’ve needed a new pair of trainers for months now. I need to make the most of this opportunity to get them.”
A shake of her head, and Vicky turned away to look at the wall of bats and racquets on another side of the shop.
The run had left Rhys’ socks damp with sweat, but he slid his foot into the shoe anyway and wiggled his toes. Nothing came close to feel of new trainers.
After he’d tied the shoelaces, he walked up and down and checked how it looked in the little strip of mirror along the floor. When he looked up, he met Vicky’s cold stare. The penny finally dropped. “I’m only going to have the right one, aren’t I?”
A smile cracked her stern face, and she shook her head.
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