And there it was. The unspoken thing, said out loud.
Anna leaned back in the cart and stared face-to-face with her oldest pal.
“John,” she said, keeping a very deliberate distance. “You’re my best friend, yeah? You know that.”
“’Course,” John replied. Even the tips of his ears blushed. They were best friends, they’d always been best friends. But they could be so much more, now it had all changed, he wanted to say, the words on the tip of his tongue. They could be so much more to each other.
“John.”
He opened his mouth to speak as their eyes met. This was it, this was his moment.
“You’re my best friend,” Anna said. “And nothing could ever change that.”
All the air went out of him at once. His shoulders sagged and something in his eyes went away. Anna bit her lip. She hated to do it, hated to hurt his feelings, but she knew that she could never feel that way about him, no matter how hard she tried. Why couldn’t he see that a best friend was so much more important than a boyfriend? They would be in each other’s lives forever, and she wouldn’t do anything to risk that.
“Swap,” John said, awkwardly stacking himself into the cart in Anna’s place. Obediently, Anna pushed him onward.
“Besides, nobody’s dying,” she said with confidence. “I’m going traveling and you’re going to art school. You’re going to be a world-famous artist and come back and buy this entire town and bulldoze the school to make room for your incredible new studio.”
“Because people are really going to be in need of cartoons after this,” John replied, a sarcastic and slightly sour note in his voice. She didn’t want him. She’d never want him. Not even if he was the last man on Earth.
“More than ever,” Anna agreed, missing his sadness, on purpose or otherwise.
“You seriously think you can still get away after all this?” he asked as they passed a travel agent office. The windows were full of pictures of palm trees and sunny beaches and snowy mountains dotted with deliriously happy people zooming down them on skis.
“Watch me,” Anna replied.
* * *
“I always knew I’d be good in a crisis,” Nick said as they crept through the outdoor mall. “I’ve got all the right survival skills.”
I suppose there had to be an upside to being a selfish, aggressive wanker, Anna thought to herself, but decided now was not the right time to criticize. “I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it before.”
“I always figured I’d be good in a zombie apocalypse,” Steph said. “You’ve got to be tough, you’ve got to be ruthless. I just want you all to know, I’d take any one of you out if you got bit. I wouldn’t even hesitate. So don’t worry about it.” Her protective exterior was back, although it was quite obvious this time that she was trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, thanks, Steph, I feel loads better now,” John said, moving farther away from the platinum-haired girl as she gave a gracious but threatening nod.
“I’m good at stuff,” Chris offered. “Like building fires and cooking and things like that.”
“Practical skill, that’s what we need in times like these,” Nick said, clapping him hard on the back before turning his attention to John. “What about you, John Boy? You going to draw a nice picture of the end of the world?”
“I can do loads of things,” John snapped back. He hated himself for never being able to find a great comeback when Nick verbally attacked.
“Yeah, he can paint as well as draw,” Anna said, leaping to her friend’s defense as the other boys all laughed. Chris gave him a double thumbs-up. He liked John’s paintings.
“Not just art stuff though,” John added, embarrassed. “I’m handy, I can build stuff. I put up those shelves in your bedroom.”
Anna bit her lip at the memory of the shelves. She’d never told him how she’d had to redo the whole job after they’d collapsed on her head in the middle of the night.
“I killed a pig once,” said Tibbsy. Everyone stopped and stared as he grinned back at them blankly.
“Awesome,” Steph said, pushing through the group and leading the way through the darkened alley. “Because every apocalypse survival team needs its own sociopath.” Tibbsy looked at Nick in hopes of a clue if that was a good thing or not.
One by one, the entire gang stopped outside a gaudily painted, ramshackle warehouse. Strings of tiny lights flashed on and off around a shoddily painted sign that read RUDOLPH’S CHRISTMAS TREE EMPORIUM—SALE NOW ON!
“It’s Christmas Eve,” Chris realized aloud. He smiled for a moment. Just for a moment.
“Could cut through here,” Nick suggested to Anna as he nodded toward the dark and tightly packed lot of Christmas trees. “Quickest way to get to the school, find your dad.” He looked back at his friends, all of them staring at him. “Plus it’ll be fun, right lads?”
All four of them guffawed and leaped at one another in clumsy attempts at chest bumps.
“Yeah!” Steph pumped her fist in the air. “Certain death is so much fun!”
“Don’t piss your pants,” Nick scoffed, pushing her out of his way. “The men will keep the nasties away.”
Graham, Jake, and Tibbsy assumed manly poses, grunting, while Steph naturally shifted her weight evenly across both feet. She quietly turned toward Nick, subtly raised her hand, and slapped him across the face once, hard. She rudimentarily assumed her place back in their informal lineup. No one moved. It was as if it never happened.
“It’s pretty dark in there,” Anna said, peering inside the warehouse. Nick was right. It was the quickest route, but there was no way to see what was inside.
“And it’ll be dark outside soon as well,” Nick reasoned, still a bit stunned. “We go this way, we might make it to the school before the sun goes down.”
Anna looked back into the dark abyss of the warehouse and then back at Nick. There was an expression on his face that she’d seen only a few times before. He was being genuine for once. But still, it was a risk.
“Come on,” he said, a half smile on his face. “You know we’ve got this.”
John watched the two of them from a distance. How could she feel anything for that knob when she couldn’t even bring herself to consider giving them a chance? He kicked at the ground as Nick sweet-talked her into getting exactly what he wanted. And not for the first time, John thought bitterly.
“All right,” Anna said, almost relieved to let someone else make a decision for a moment. “Fun way it is.”
Next to the doorway, she spotted a giant, novelty candy cane jammed in the dirt. With a determined yank, Anna pulled it out of the ground and tested the weight of it in her hands, noting its sharp, pointy end. It reminded her of a hockey stick, only far more festive, and she was fully aware of how much damage someone could do with a hockey stick. She hadn’t played in years and still had bruises on her shins.
“Eh, can we vote on this please?” John asked, not exactly desperate to follow his rival to almost certain death.
“Live or die,” Nick replied, resolute. “There’s your vote.”
Anna gave John a half smile before heading into the darkness with her candy-cane weapon in her hand. Nick followed closely behind, trailed by his goons, then Chris, and finally Steph. With a resigned sigh, John followed everyone inside.
19
“RIGHT,” TONY SAID, standing in front of the school doors with his keys in one hand and an ax in the other. “Everyone knows the plan, yes? Eyes open, stick together, and if you see something, say something. If we get separated, head toward the base. There’s bound to be people waiting for us there, even if the soldiers outside … well. That’s still the safest place to meet up, I reckon.”
Murmurs moved through the crowd, everyone nodding and shaking, parents clutching small children’s hands and trying not to cry.
At the back of the group, Lisa held on to Bea, one arm around her waist, the other holding her hand.
“Lisa, love,” B
ea whispered into her ear as Tony carried on giving his instructions.
Lisa chewed on the inside of her cheek, really not wanting to hear what she had to say.
“You’ve got to leave me here,” she insisted. “I’ll stay in one of the little offices until you can send help. I’ll be fine.”
“Chris wouldn’t want me to leave you behind,” Lisa replied, staring straight ahead. “We’ll be all right if we stay together.”
“No,” Bea replied, quiet certainty in her weak voice. “I’m not going, love.”
Lisa teared up and looked down at the fragile old woman. She was all the family Chris had and she just couldn’t bear it.
“I’ll stay with you,” she offered. “We’ll wait here until Chris comes to find us. I’m sure he’s on his way.”
“I’ll wait here and you go and find him,” Bea corrected. “You don’t want to be stuck here with me when you should be out there with everyone else. I know you’ll come back for me, love.” She paused and smiled, pressing a papery hand against Lisa’s cheek. “I’m not afraid.”
“Let me talk to Tony,” Lisa said, smothering the tears in her voice. “He’ll know what to do.”
As she turned to look for Anna’s dad, a hand roughly shoved her out of the way, knocking her into Bea and sending them both flying into the wall.
“No!” Savage screamed, tearing through the gathered mass of people and heading straight for Tony. Everyone turned at once to look at him as he pressed his back against the front doors, blocking their exit. His face was beet red and there were flecks of spit in his beard. “No one is going anywhere!”
“Arthur, a decision has been made,” Tony said as calmly as he could manage. He was through playing nice; Arthur wasn’t listening anyway. The man didn’t know the meaning of the word reasonable. “We’re going to take our chances outside.”
“No,” Savage replied. His eyes were wide and bright behind his glasses, his arms stretched out wide like wings. “You’re going to stay, you’re going to listen to me. I’m sick of it, Shepherd, sick of all of you.”
He shoved Tony out of his way and turned his vitriol on the cowering crowd.
“Look at you,” he screamed. “Lambs trotting off to the slaughter. Idiot lambs. I should let you go, I should shake you all by the hand and send you out one by one, but I won’t, I won’t allow it. You’re going to stay here, you’re going to listen to me and you’re going to do as you’re told.”
“You’ve lost it,” Julie said, a grim look of determination on her face. “You always were an arsehole, Arthur, but this is going too far. You’re not our leader, you’re just a bully. What happened to you when you were a kid? Did you not get enough hugs from your mum and dad?”
“Don’t you mention my parents!” he thundered, descending on her like a well-dressed scarecrow. “My parents were pillars of this community. They raised me properly, taught me manners, showed me wrong from right. They valued education and civility. Not like the foul beasts you allow to roam these halls day in and day out. Perhaps if you’d raised your children the way my parents raised me, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“You need to get out of our way,” Julie warned, not afraid in the slightest. “Before I make you.”
“And what are you going to do?” Arthur crooned, dancing around John’s mother with wild spastic movements. “Draw a pretty picture of your feelings like your moron son?”
That was all it took. Julie drew back her hand and slapped Savage hard across the face, leaving a red imprint right above his beard on his pale cheek. His reaction was instantaneous.
“How dare you,” he growled, grabbing the woman by the neck. Her eyes popped open as she tried to catch her breath. “How dare you speak to me this way? After everything I’ve done for the people of this town? After everything I’ve sacrificed for your idiot children!”
“Arthur, let her go!” Tony yelled, dropping his ax and grabbing at Savage’s arms, but he was so much stronger than he would have guessed. “You’re hurting her.”
“And you’re trying to kill her,” Savage spat as Julie’s eyes bugged out of her head, her hands clawing at his wrists. “Why don’t we just open the doors and let those things in here? It’ll be much more expedient, don’t you think?”
“Let go, now!” Tony shouted.
Savage looked back at his victim as her eyes rolled backward and she went limp under his grip. Suddenly disgusted, he let go of her, pushing her away as hard as he could. Julie blinked and gasped for air, stumbling as she tripped backward, reaching her arms out into thin air. She seemed to be falling forever as Savage, Tony, and the rest of the assembled parents and children watched. And then, all at once, her head struck the sharp edge of the radiator and her body crumpled to the floor.
And then she was still.
“Arthur,” Tony breathed without moving. “What have you done?”
“I didn’t do anything,” he replied. He stared down at Julie, her eyes already glassy, stuck wide open and staring back at him with unflinching accusation. “She fell. You saw it; she fell.”
“Julie?” Tony collapsed to his knees and picked up her wrist. Her arm flopped lifelessly in his hand. “Oh God, Julie.”
He looked up at Savage, a different kind of fear on his face.
“She’s dead.”
The parents gathered in the hallway took a collective breath, all of them moving backward, away from Arthur Savage, away from Tony Shepherd, and away from the dead body of Julie Wise.
“She slipped,” Savage said slowly. “She fell.”
“You killed her,” Tony said, closing her eyes with tears running down his face. “And we all saw it.”
“Yeah, we saw it!” An unseen person’s voice broke out.
An accident, Savage told himself. But was it? the voice in his head whispered. Was it really? Didn’t she have it coming? Didn’t they all have it coming? A chorus of accusatory agreements echoed, rising in volume until he couldn’t take it any longer.
“Shut up!” Savage screamed. “Shut up, all of you!”
The edges of Arthur’s mouth twitched as he cast his eyes over the parents. He watched as they cowered, as they slunk away from him. They were afraid of him.
At last.
“I’ve had a change of heart,” he said with a soft, calm smile. “Anyone who still wants to leave is more than welcome.”
Not a single person moved. Everyone stared at Arthur Savage in utter horror. For the first time that day, they were much more afraid of what was inside the school than whatever might lie outside.
“No?” He freed his enormous ring of keys from his belt and pulled out the lock for the front door. “Are you sure?”
Slowly, deliberately, he slid the key into the lock.
“Arthur, no,” Tony whispered, standing upright with Julie’s body in his arms.
“But you were so keen to leave,” Savage crooned.
With his gaze locked on Tony Shepherd, he squeezed the head of the key between his cold fingers and turned it sharply. The lock clicked and the door began to creak open, a blast of cold air shocking them all where they stood.
Arthur watched with a smile on his face as the parents caught their first glimpse of what awaited them outside. One by one, they all turned and ran back into the school, screaming.
“Now,” he said softly, clipping his keys safely back into place. “Who wants to go first?”
20
“YEAH, THIS WAS a brilliant idea,” John whispered to himself, bringing up the rear of the group. On any other Christmas Eve, he’d have been delighted to spend an hour or so screwing around in Rudolph’s Christmas Tree Emporium with Anna and Chris, and what the hell, even Steph. She wasn’t so bad when she wasn’t trying to guilt trip him into sponsoring orphaned turtles in the Galapagos Islands. But this was not his idea of fun.
The warehouse was almost pitch-black and they were surrounded by row upon row of Christmas trees, all drying out for the want of a good watering, a shower of need
les covering the floor every time he brushed past. And while he enjoyed the odd decorative elf as much as the next Christmas-obsessed seventeen-year-old male, in this situation they were just downright creepy. They peered out at them from every corner, making faces and grinning in their stupid green hats.
“I hate this plan,” John muttered, hurrying to catch up to the others.
Anna felt him sidle up beside her and relaxed by a fraction. She just felt better when she knew where he was. It had always been that way.
“Anna,” he whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Do you reckon my mom’s okay?”
She bit her bottom lip and squinted into the dark.
“Of course,” she replied. “Her and my dad.”
“Big Tony’s definitely all right,” John said, treading carefully across the fallen branches. “He’ll be telling everyone what’s what. Your dad’s one hundred percent A-okay, Anna.”
“I hope so.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. “He’s all I’ve got.”
“No, he isn’t,” John said, his hand finding hers in the dark. “You’ve got me and my mom, too. Always. We’re family.”
She smiled at her best friend, more grateful than ever to have him at her side.
* * *
Chris held up his phone, filming as they moved slowly through the rows of Christmas trees. He glanced at the screen for just a second. Thirty percent battery left. Up ahead, Jake swung his own phone around, the flashlight in the front casting strange shadows. Long branches of prickly pine trees, stretching out monstrously against the corrugated steel walls.
With a sharp intake of breath, Chris raised his hand and everyone stopped dead in their tracks. He pointed at the closest mass of trees with his phone. There was something hiding inside the branches, something red. Holding her breath, Anna moved forward to investigate, only realizing Nick was right by her side when she squatted down to take a closer look. He prepared himself, readying his bat for action before nodding for Anna to act. Ignoring the stabbing pain of the pine needles, she wrenched the tree branches out of the way to reveal the interloper.
Anna and the Apocalypse Page 12
