Afflicted

by Susanne Valenti

  “I don't think so. They weren't even the same sandwiches; Eric’s was chicken and bacon. They came from different places and they're both within date,” Shilo said with a frown as he inspected the packets.

  “So what? You think something else made them sick?” Spencer asked.

  “I dunno, maybe…” Shilo frowned at the empty packets for a few seconds then glanced at Eric. “I don't think I'll be eating chicken any time soon though.”

  “So what now?” Rose asked. It must have been getting late. I had no idea if the crazed animals were still outside but there had been no sounds of sirens either. It felt like we'd been abandoned to whatever fate awaited us beyond the cafe doors.

  “I guess we just keep waiting,” Spencer said. “What's our other option? Trying to walk home whilst avoiding… hell there's so much shit going on out there we'd have to just avoid everything.”

  “You still think someone's coming to help us?” I asked a little desperately.

  “Of course they are. There must be so much happening that they just haven't made it here yet,” Ryan said firmly.

  “We keep waiting then,” Rose agreed as she headed back towards the others. “Maybe we should move Eric?”

  Tara was sobbing hysterically, clinging to Chloe like her life depended on it.

  “Me and Spencer will do it,” Ryan offered.

  Spencer nodded stiffly and the two of them lifted Eric’s body and started to move him out of the staff room and towards the cafe. I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that that morning it had just been like any other day and yet now two of my friends were dead. I wondered why I wasn't crying. I should have been crying. Shouldn't I?

  I realised that they were struggling with the door and hurried to help them. I turned away quickly as Ryan backed through the door and Eric’s lifeless gaze landed on me.

  The staffroom door swung shut and I hovered by it as they carried him away from me and further into the cafe.

  The boys carried Eric to the far corner and I hurried behind the counter to try and find something to cover him with. I opened cupboards and pushed the contents aside but the only thing I could find that would work were some black sacks.

  I approached Eric and laid the sacks over him, muttering a quick apology as I pulled the last one over his face. It wasn't the most dignified resting place, sprawled across the much-used couch and covered with trash bags. I just hoped his family would understand that we'd done our best with what we had.

  Curiosity tugged at me and I slowly approached the glass shop front.

  Night had well and truly fallen and the faint gleam from the shop signage cast a reflection onto my side of the glass. As I approached, all I could see was a shadowy reflection of myself and icy fingers of fear started to creep along my skin. I felt exposed. Like someone was watching me from the darkness outside.

  As I reached the window, I cupped my hands above my eyes and leant against the glass to squint out.

  The street was the same as it had looked when we arrived; cars rammed end to end and abandoned. Bryony’s body was gone but a smear of dark red blood disappeared between the cars where she had been. Nothing moved amongst the vehicles but litter tumbled across the sidewalk, caught in a strong breeze.

  As I peered to the left, trying to gain a view further along the street, a faint orange glow caught my eye. The light flickered brighter and darker, dancing and pulsing with an unpredictable rhythm.

  “Ryan?” I called softly, hoping he was still in the cafe with me.

  “What is it?” he asked as he moved to my side.

  I pointed to our left, reluctant to voice my fears until he confirmed them.

  “Is that… are the stores down the street burning?” he asked.

  “These stores are all connected aren't they?” I whispered. If I was right we weren't going to have a choice about leaving this place.

  “That fire could be coming right for us,” Ryan agreed.

  “Someone needs to go out there and check,” Reese spoke from behind us, making me jump. The last I'd seen, he had been looking after Jason in the staffroom.

  “It's not safe,” I said quickly, knowing that wouldn't matter if the fire really was coming for us.

  “We have to know,” Reese moved towards the door and I hurried after him.

  “Ryan, make sure everyone's awake and ready to leave if we have to,” I said as I wrapped my fingers around the knife which was still in my pocket.

  “You can't go out there,” he said, grabbing my elbow to stop me from following my brother.

  “Why not?” I demanded. “I'm not letting Reese go alone and we need to know what's happening out there.”

  “Then I'm coming too,” Ryan said. “To protect you.”

  “I don't need protecting. You're no more capable of dealing with any of this than I am. You need to stay here and help get the others ready. If we have to go soon, Jason and Demi probably won't be able to run. You and the other guys are gunna have to figure out how to help them. I'll be back before you know it.” I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and pulled out of his grip.

  Reese gave me a stiff nod as he pushed the door open and we headed out into the night.

  The thick, acrid stench of smoke assaulted us as soon as the door opened and I blinked against the stinging in my eyes. It barely seemed worth checking on the fire but we had to be sure it was heading our way before forcing Demi and Jason to move.

  The temperature had dropped with the setting sun and I pushed my hands deep into my pockets as we started jogging towards the orange light. Reese didn't speak and I was glad he'd chosen to leave the silence alone. Who knew what could be out there listening for the sound of approaching prey.

  We jogged half a block down the street before the heat hit us. A large truck had overturned, blocking the sidewalk and we had to move into the street to pass it. As we rounded the end of the cab the flames were revealed, eating their way through the remains of a hardware store.

  I stumbled back again as the blaze half blinded me and squinted to try and make out the details.

  “It's crossing to the next store.” Reese pointed and I nodded as I spotted the flames licking their way along the roof of the hairdressers.

  “So it's coming for us,” I sighed. “We have to move on.”

  “Looks like it,” Reese agreed.

  A huge crash of breaking glass sounded as something collapsed within the burning building and we backed away.

  “Come on then.” I turned to leave but Reese caught my shoulder.

  “Wait.” He pointed towards the righthand side of the store where a wheelchair was laying on its side beside the body of a man who looked like he'd been thrown from it. “For Jason.” Reese ducked low and ran towards the flames before I could stop him.

  I took a few steps to follow but the heat billowed around me and I stumbled back again, covering my eyes as they burned.

  Reese grabbed the wheelchair and dragged it away from the store, staying low to the ground. I reached for his arm and pulled him back behind the shelter of the overturned truck.

  He turned the wheelchair upright and quickly inspected it. The leather back was stained with soot but it seemed sound otherwise. Without another word, we sprinted back towards the cafe, Reese pushing the empty wheelchair ahead of us.

  Lacey was waiting for us at the door and she held it wide as we rushed inside. My heart pounded wildly but it had nothing to do with the run. The whole time we'd been out there I hadn't been able to shake the feeling that we were being watched. Even though we hadn't seen another living soul, I still felt better to be behind a locked door again. I wondered if there really had been anyone watching us or if I was just slowly coming unhinged.

  “Do we have to leave?” Lacey asked.

  “Yes,” Reese replied as he ushered her away from the door. “We need to get out of here as quickly as we can. There's no sign of those wolves out there now so they're probably long gone.”

  The two of them disappeared in
to the staff room, leaving me alone in the coffee shop with the wheelchair and Eric’s body.

  As the silent seconds ticked by, I found myself staring at the lumpy shape covered with black sacks. Something about it didn't seem real. Like my brain couldn't link my friend with the body abandoned at the back of the coffee shop.

  “We stay close no matter what,” Spencer said as he pushed through the staffroom door. “Everyone needs to keep their weapons ready and their eyes open at all times.”

  “If we stick together we’ll be fine,” Ryan agreed.

  The others nodded their agreement as they huddled together and approached me by the door. Reese helped Jason into the wheelchair and his friend smiled at him weakly. I noticed everyone holding knives which I presumed they'd found in the kitchen.

  Lacey hung several paper bags from the wheelchair handles and Spencer headed into the bathroom to retrieve Demi.

  I ran my thumb over the novelty handle on my steak knife which was still jammed into the pocket of my leather jacket. The blade had pierced the pocket lining and now sat somewhere between the lining of my jacket but the handle remained within reach.

  “Kaitlyn?” Rose asked as she approached me. I gave her a weak smile and tried to stop my mind from spinning long enough to focus on what she had to say. She tucked her short black hair behind her ear as she checked that no one was listening in. “Is it… has it calmed down out there?”

  “I dunno,” I replied, unable to shake that feeling that I'd been watched whilst outside. “It seems like it but… maybe everything has just moved away from that fire? Or maybe we got lucky as we were only out there for a few minutes? Or maybe the crazed animals have headed back to the forest and the police or army or whoever are just around the corner waiting to save us-“

  “Hey if we’re hoping for a best case scenario, I'd go with this whole thing being some kind of screwed up nightmare,” Rose interrupted as I began to ramble. “We’ll just wake up warm in our beds any second, thinking how glad we are that none of this has really happened.”

  “I don't think I could have dreamt up half of the crazy shit we've dealt with in the last few hours,” I admitted. “My imagination just isn't that impressive.”

  “Well if it comes down to this being reality then we just have to face it. No point worrying about what's already happened. Or what could happen next. The only thing we can control is the moment we are occupying. So I say we decide to be survivors and head out there with the full knowledge that before we know it we’ll be living in one of those fancy apartments in the city.” Rose gave me a fierce smile and I almost believed it except that it didn't quite reach her eyes.

  “Here's to getting out of this nightmare then,” I agreed as I turned back towards the door.

  “Everyone ready?” Spencer asked. He had Demi in his arms, her arm draped around his shoulders while her head leant against his chest. She looked sickly pale and her skin seemed a little clammy but her piercing blue eyes glanced around brightly.

  “Let’s just get the hell out of here,” Chloe said as she elbowed the door open and pulled Tara out behind her.

  I took a deep breath as everyone else filed out. Our group was down to fourteen and I didn't want it to get any smaller. I wished that Carter hadn't led most of the football team back towards the cinema. We'd been safer when there were more of us, but I couldn't think about that now. They were gone and our group was still large enough to cast an intimidating shadow. I just had to hope it would be enough.

  I set my jaw and finally stepped out into the smokey evening air. We were exposed again and one way or another we had to get home. I just hoped we’d all make it.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Kaitlyn

  We kept up a fast pace as we jogged down the street between the abandoned vehicles and away from the raging fire.

  Tara whimpered slightly as she ran but she didn't slow down. She just kept a hold of Chloe’s hand and put one foot in front of the other.

  I started to count my steps as we ran, first aiming for one hundred then two hundred and so on. Keeping my mind occupied as I continued to scour the shadows for any signs that we might come under attack again.

  Just before we reached the highway, we came across the cause of the blocked roads. A huge fuel tanker had overturned, blocking all four lanes of traffic and steadily spilling its load onto the street.

  I pressed my sleeve over my nose as the fumes engulfed us and hurried up onto the verge to clamber around the obstruction. We had to wait so that Reese and Ryan could help Jason to clamber around and Lacey pulled the empty wheelchair up behind them.

  I took the opportunity to catch my breath and gratefully accepted a bottle of water as Lacey started handing out supplies from the bags on the wheelchair.

  Spencer looked exhausted from carrying Demi so far. She may have been small but it still must have been insanely difficult for him to carry her whilst keeping up our jogging pace. Shilo offered to take a turn carrying her and though Demi protested at first, she gave in when Spencer told her he'd end up getting the two of them left behind if they couldn't keep up.

  Obviously deciding being carried by Shilo was preferable to becoming wolf chow, Demi ungraciously accepted.

  Beyond the overturned fuel truck, the highway was eerily clear. We set a quick pace, Reese still pushing Jason in the wheelchair while the rest of us formed a tight circle around them.

  “Half a mile more then we should head into the forest. It should be a straight shot from there to home,” Spencer called as we ran.

  We must have been running for nearly an hour but I wasn't even beginning to tire. I'd never run for so long without needing a breather. I didn't know if it was adrenaline or fear but whatever it was that kept me going, I wasn't going to stop any time soon.

  “There's the trail,” Ryan called pointing across the highway.

  We swung left and gathered by the narrow track which led into the trees. The last time I'd seen it I could have sworn the path was wider, the grass not so overgrown around it. Even the trees seemed taller, denser and more ominous too. I didn't know if it was my imagination playing tricks on me but I didn't want to step foot inside those trees.

  “Are you sure we shouldn't take the road?” I asked. “I know we agreed on the shortcut earlier but what if there are more wolves in there?”

  “The wolves were in the town too. We can't rely on them behaving normally; they're just as likely to be prowling the streets as the trees,” Rose replied uneasily.

  “And I'd rather take the shortcut and get home quicker,” Chloe added.

  I bit my lip against any further argument. They'd made their minds up and I wasn't about to head off alone.

  “I can walk now,” Jason said as he pushed himself out of the wheelchair. “This thing will be impossible to push down that track anyway.”

  “Are you sure?” Reese asked with a frown. “I can force it down the path easily enough if you need me to.”

  “Thanks man but I'll be alright. I just feel a bit weak.”

  “Have some food.” Lacey hurried to retrieve the paper bags from the back of the wheelchair and passed him a blueberry muffin.

  Jason looked like he'd really rather not eat it but thanked her and took a tentative bite. We all waited in silence for several seconds to see if he'd suddenly start throwing up again. He gave us a reassuring smile and took a second bite.

  Once he'd finished the muffin, everyone relaxed slightly.

  “You should eat too Demi,” Lacey said, offering the bag of muffins.

  “When were they made?” Demi asked, her lip pulling back in distaste. I wasn't sure if it was because she still felt ill or didn't like the idea of eating a stale muffin.

  “How should I know? They seem fine though,” Lacey pressed the bag towards her and Demi reluctantly accepted a chocolate muffin.

  Satisfied that she was eating, Lacey quickly passed the bag around the rest of us. I quickly devoured mine and turned away from my friends to take a few hes
itant steps into the woods.

  Shadows hung heavily between the trees, the moonlight only finding its way down in dappled shafts. Though fear started to creep along my skin again, I forced myself to take another step into the darkness. And another. Before I knew it, the sounds of my friends talking quietly were fading away behind me and the trees had swallowed me whole.

  An owl called somewhere in the treetops, its ghostly cry drifting down through the branches.

  A breaking branch made me flinch and I spun to find Ryan approaching in the darkness.

  “Are you alright?” he asked, reaching for my hand.

  I pretended not to notice the gesture and turned away to inspect the trees again.

  “Stop asking that,” I muttered. “There's nothing alright about this situation but I'm not about to fall apart either. And I really don't want to be asked if I'm okay every five minutes.”

  “Sorry,” Ryan said softly. His hand landed on my shoulder in a comforting gesture and I held back a sigh. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the intention but I really didn't need checking up on every five minutes. Somehow Ryan seemed to have gotten the impression that I was some delicate thing that needed his protection.

  I stayed still for a moment then stepped away, causing Ryan's hand to fall from my shoulder.

  “I'm only going a little way on,” I said. “See how the others are doing while I check the path is clear in the moonlight.”

  “I don't know if you should-“

  I walked away quickly before he could finish his sentence and pulled my cellphone from my pocket. I illuminated the flash on my camera to let me see more of the path ahead. I just wanted a few moments alone after all the chaos. It was probably a bad idea but I walked on all the same.

  The sound of heavy footsteps and a few twigs snapping told me that Ryan had decided to do as I'd asked and I let out a heavy breath of relief.

  The path was winding but well trodden. The ground beneath my feet was hard packed dirt trampled flat over years of passage. I moved silently, years of cheer practice had made me nimble and I had always enjoyed sneaking up on my brother and making him jump.