Jackson Kidd | Book 2 | Evolving

by West, Mark

  The pair take a break under a tall sign hovering over the highway. They are about three hours walk north of where they crossed the barrier. There are fewer cars abandoned on the road here. It’s getting darker by the minute and they are both tired and hungry. William looks up at the green sign with its large, white letters.

  ‘It says the stadium is this way.’

  Eden studies the area around the off-ramp. ‘Seems clear. What do you think?’

  William shrugs. ‘I think we need to find shelter and get the hell off this road.’

  ‘Agree.’

  They follow the off-ramp for another five minutes, until it joins the main road leading into the centre of the city. They are yet to run into any Infected and stop out the front of a small convenience store. Both of their stomachs are starting to groan.

  ‘I need to eat,’ Eden says. ‘I’m getting cranky just thinking about food.’

  William agrees with her entirely. He is hungry as hell, and there’s no way he is going to walk any further with the pain he is suffering. He pulls the gun free from his belt.

  ‘Get behind me.’

  They approach the store cautiously, wary of the dark alleyway to the left of it. On the right is a dry cleaners, and after that, dozens of towering buildings. William checks behind him before stopping at the glass door and looking inside.

  ‘It’s hard to see in this light, but it looks empty.’ He tries the door. ‘It’s unlocked.’

  Eden grips his shirt and looks along the empty road to the towering buildings. ‘Wait.’

  William stops and listens, his hand on the handle of the door.

  ‘Can you hear that?’ Eden whispers.

  William angles his ear towards the dark end of the road, where the tall buildings are blocking out the sun.

  ‘What is that?’

  There is the distant sound of marching – a parade without the music – and it’s drawing closer.

  ‘Sounds like a …’ Eden’s words trail off as realisation kicks in. ‘Get inside. Quick.’

  William swings open the door and they run inside, ducking behind a confectionery stand. William can just make out the road through the grimy windows.

  ‘Can you see anything?’ Eden whispers.

  ‘Nothing yet ... Wait. Look.’ A figure has seemingly emerged from nowhere and is lurking near the store. ‘Infected.’

  Eden leans over and whispers. ‘The door’s unlocked.’

  ‘Shit.’ William watches as the shadow moves away. But he knows it won’t be long until an Infected tries the door and comes inside. He needs to do something. ‘Wait here.’

  Eden grabs at him as he tries to stand. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘The door.’ He gently brushes her hands away. ‘If they come inside we’re toast.’ Eden reluctantly let’s go and William gives her a weak smile. ‘I’ll be back in a sec.’

  Slowly he moves towards the door, staying low to the ground and trying to make his body as small as possible. The strain he is putting on his ankle is making the pain intensify and the cut is really starting to sting. He ducks behind a poster in the window as another Infected ambles past.

  Carefully, William reaches for the snib on the door. He twists the lock and it clicks. The Infected stops and immediately turns towards the store. William retracts his arm and holds his breath.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  William peeps out as the Infected creeps towards the store. He knows if he tries to slip away now, he will be seen. He crouches lower, waiting and watching.

  Please go, please go.

  His heart is pounding again and that horrible feeling of wetting himself is tugging at his bladder. He daren’t give in to it. The smell would give his position away as well as embarrassing him in front of Eden.

  The Infected tilts its head as if thinking and takes a step closer. It snarls, exposing unnaturally pointed teeth. It doesn’t seem human anymore. It’s far more disfigured than any Infected he has seen before, more like an alien or a ghoul from a horror movie.

  William thinks back to the blood he saw on the road, how it looked like oil. Infected blood he had seen before was always red with a weird black swirl. Perhaps the infection was changing – mutating.

  The ghoulish Infected stops metres from the door and suddenly turns. Another Infected appears and bowls it over, knocking it to the road. It happens so fast William doesn’t get a good look, but this one seems like a runner, only much bigger and more agile.

  William risks standing and looks out of the window. The pair are tumbling along the road, slashing each other with razor-sharp nails. Blood is spurting from their wounds, showering them and turning them into gruesome sea monsters. The big runner appears to have the advantage. It forces the ghoulish mutation onto its back and latches onto its neck, pulling away chunks of flesh. The Infected on the ground screeches and swipes desperately at the big runner, but it is forced down by the sheer size and power of the bigger Infected. Within minutes it is all over.

  Two more Infected come running down the road, with a similar ghoulish appearance to the dead Infected. They charge straight for the runner, hitting it like a train and sending it hurtling backwards. All three scramble onto the road. The pair rip into the big runner, teeth and all, until it stops moving. But William knows the fight isn’t over.

  Five more Infected are sprinting from the opposite end, all similar size to the runner, big and powerful looking. They begin attacking the others. There are two kinds of Infected and they are fighting each other.

  William watches in wonder as the battle unfolds before him. More Infected emerge from both sides. He could slip back to Eden without being seen, but what he is witnessing, gruesome as it may be, is something truly astonishing – like The Lord of the Rings all over again. He stays put.

  The sound of marching is growing louder. William can now make out a growing shadow coming along the road, like a heavy cloud, murky and mysterious. Hundreds of Infected gradually take shape, expanding across the road.

  ‘There are hundreds,’ William murmurs. ‘But where are they all going?’

  The runners begin to back off, wary of the approaching horde. They start to howl, perhaps warning to others, then turn and sprint away, leaving behind their dead.

  William decides it’s time to move away from the window, petrified his luck will run out. He takes one last glance at the remaining Infected, taking in their alien-like backs, the oil-like blood that is oozing from their wounds. His hand moves to the cut on his ankle.

  Which one will I become?

  Carefully he edges away from the window and back to where Eden is hiding.

  ‘What did you see?’ she asks nervously.

  ‘Infected. Lots of them.’ William shakes his head in disbelief, his mind spinning. ‘Seems one kind has mutated dramatically or something. They look like ghouls, thin and gangly. Nothing like the ones down south that still resemble humans.’

  Eden stays silent as William describes the battle.

  ‘There’s a war going on and we’re right in the middle of it.’

  ‘But the stadium. The shelter?’ Eden whimpers.

  William frowns. ‘I doubt we’ll make it.’

  Eden nuzzles into William’s shoulder. He holds her tight, comforting her, despite his own pain and worries. He rubs her back and looks cautiously through the shelves at the hundreds of ghoul-like Infected marching past and wonders what the next day would bring.

  He can feel the infection working up his leg like a trail of hot worms, its destination his brain.

  It won’t be long now.

  He must find Eden somewhere safe to live before he turns, if it’s the last thing he does. Then, who knows, he may decide to join them.

  Chapter 65

  The stadium

  The next morning, William is woken by the throbbing in his ankle. The sun is shining through the grimy window of the small store, lighting up the room in a hazy orange. Eden is asleep by his side, still covered in the hand towels they used to f
ight off the cold night air. It had been the best they could find to make the night comfortable, that and cardboard to cushion the concrete floor.

  William pushes aside his hand towels and sits up, careful not to wake Eden. It had been a rough night after the pair had witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of mutated Infected marching past and lurking in the shadows outside the shop. At any moment, they expected one to burst through the door and maul them to death, but their luck had held.

  William’s hand moves to his ankle. It feels like it’s on fire. He rolls up his pants, revealing a purple and black ankle. It looks almost twice the size of his other and pulsates under the bandage.

  Carefully, he folds down the strapping to reveal the cut. Black pus is oozing from the wound. It doesn’t look healthy. It reminds William of a boil he once had, but this has tar coming out of it. It makes him feel ill. He shouldn’t have looked.

  ‘What am I going to do?’

  ‘What’s that, Will?’

  Swiftly, William rolls down his pants and turns to see Eden groggily looking at him.

  ‘Just talking to myself.’

  Eden sits up, the hand towels falling off her. ‘How did you sleep?’

  The throbbing had kept William up most of the night, not to mention the thought of an Infected bursting through the doors. This new mutated type scares him worse than the others. They seem smarter, more agile and vicious. They would be hard to outrun, let alone hide from.

  ‘Not bad,’ he lies.

  Eden smiles. ‘What’s the time?’

  William checks his watch. ‘Almost six.’

  Eden rubs her face. ‘Shall we get moving then?’

  ‘I guess so.’

  But William doesn’t hold out much hope for the stadium. The horde they had seen last night had proven that. But part of him is still intrigued. They have come this far. May as well check it out and plan from there.

  William stands, careful not to apply too much pressure to his ankle. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel too bad. Perhaps he was seeing things before.

  ‘How’s the ankle?’ Eden asks, looking at his leg.

  ‘Yeah, not bad. I think it’s getting better,’ he says, giving a half-hearted smile.

  ‘Let me check it out. I’ll re-strap the bandage if you like.’

  Eden reaches towards his leg, but William takes a step back.

  ‘It’s fine. I re-tightened it in the night.’

  ‘Okay.’

  William forces another smile. ‘Best not to waste any time.’

  The pair leave the safety of the building a short while later, bags on backs, gun ready. They check all is clear and step out onto the street. The bodies from the fight the night before are festering on the road: black blood staining the ground; a stench in the air.

  ‘It’s so quiet out here,’ Eden says peering up and down the street.

  ‘Too quiet.’ William knows any moment they could be ambushed. The quicker they get to the stadium, the better. ‘C’mon, let’s get moving. I don’t want to be hanging around here if more arrive.’

  Cautiously, they work their way up the road, ducking past abandoned vehicles, scattered debris and more dead Infected. A few buildings over, they spot the stadium peeking between the tall office towers, its impressive structure welcoming in the morning light.

  ‘There it is,’ Eden whispers, pointing at the large, circular construction.

  As the pair approach, the sheer size of the stadium is overwhelming. Concrete panels span the building, framed by steel piping that twists and weaves to form a nest-like structure. Glass panels break up the solid walls, and up high the pair can see torn billboards, nearly the length of two buses, displaying previous up and coming games.

  ‘Where are the Infected?’ Eden asks, looking around as they approach.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  William carefully scans the open area in front of the stadium, taking in the flat expanse of concrete that separates the building from the road, no doubt to hold the masses that gather during game times. There are no vehicles, no barriers and no indication there had ever been a rescue shelter here.

  Eden points to the front of the stadium. ‘Look!’

  William peers towards the building, following Eden’s line of sight. By the entrance, halfway up a set of wide concrete stairs, is something hanging from the wall. It flaps lightly in the breeze like a banner of some kind.

  ‘What’s that?’ he asks, taking a step closer.

  ‘A sign?’

  The pair approach the entrance, like two tiny bugs. It doesn’t seem right to William that no Infected are around. They had not witnessed one live Infected since leaving over twenty minutes ago. They should have at least seen one.

  ‘What’s the banner say?’ William asks.

  ‘Hmmm.’ Eden takes a few steps up the stairs to get a better look. ‘It’s kinda hard to read. The letters have run together. It’s all blurred.’

  Eden continues up the stairs, William following closely behind, watching, checking to make sure they aren’t being followed. His ankle is starting to hurt again. This time it’s worse than before. He can feel the pain now pulsating in his groin. It’s uncomfortable and irritating.

  ‘I don’t like this Eden. I think we should go. Something doesn’t feel right,’ William says nervously.

  But Eden continues up the stairs until she stops at the sign, ignoring his warning.

  ‘It says … The people … Hmmm … The people are …’ She huffs loudly. ‘I can’t make out the rest.’

  But William isn’t listening anymore. Something has just moved from one of the buildings across the road. It was quick, too quick for him to make out what it was, and it ducked back into the shadows. But it was big, human-sized big.

  ‘I think we should go, Eden,’ he says, tugging on her arm.

  ‘The people are … I think it says running or coming? I’m not sure.’

  ‘Eden!’ William hisses more urgently, tugging a little harder.

  William’s eyes are fixed on the shadow that’s on the other side of the road. It has now stepped out into the light, exposing its slimy skin – a Mutation, thin, gangly and dangerous as hell.

  ‘Eden!’ William barks, spinning her around.

  ‘What? I think I‘ve—’

  ‘Look!’

  The Mutation slinks into the light, eyes fixed on the pair. Eden catches sight of it as it sprints towards them, howling, arms splayed, showing off its claw-like fingers. Something howls back.

  ‘Run!’ William yells and fires off a few rounds, missing the Mutation by metres. ‘Get inside. Quick!’

  The pair get to the top of the stairs as the Mutation reaches the bottom. William is unsure where to go. On either side are wide, dark passages, each seeming to lead around the colossal stadium.

  ‘Left!’ William insists.

  They begin running again, following the dingy passageway. An Infected steps out from one of the corridors leading down onto the oval. It takes Eden by surprise. She screams, jumping aside to avoid its snapping mouth. William reacts quickly, firing two shots into its stomach before clipping its neck and running past.

  Behind, the Mutation is still fast approaching. It ignores the fallen Infected, running past in pursuit of live meat, snarling as it pounds the concrete, steadily getting closer and closer.

  William spots a sign ahead, indicating the corporate boxes that run the length of a corridor. If they can hide in one, they may have a chance to double back and escape.

  ‘Get inside one of the rooms!’ he yells.

  Eden checks the doors frantically, metres in front of William who has slowed down to shoot the charging Mutation. He fires off a round but misses, hitting the wall behind. More Mutations round the bend, coming into his view. There are six in total, just as manic as the first.

  ‘They’re locked!’ Eden yells.

  William spins to see Eden now on the fourth door, tugging at the handle. Her face is panic-stricken.

  ‘Keep checking!’<
br />
  He fires again, missing completely, and runs to Eden.

  Chapter 66

  The choice

  ‘It’s unlocked!’ Eden cries, and pulls hard on the handle, swinging open the solid door.

  ‘Get inside!’

  William starts to shove her. His body is burning in pain. He needs to get inside so that he can get Eden to safety before he changes. But she doesn’t move.

  He looks in the room. It is filled with Infected, all peering back at them, mouths open and dripping with saliva, their shoulders rising and falling as they begin to growl. But it’s beyond that, what he can see through the glass, that terrifies him the most: bodies – hundreds of them. They are piled up in the middle of the oval like a tower for all eyes to see. This is no longer a place of sanctuary; it’s a mass grave.

  The closest Infected rushes towards them, catching Eden off guard. She lets go of the door in fright. The pair jump back as the Infected grabs the swinging door, shoving it open and stepping through, allowing it to shut behind and trapping the others. William raises the gun and fires, hitting it in the head.

  ‘What do we do?’ Eden says.

  William is burning up. The Infection is taking over his body. It won’t be long until it reaches his head.

  Then what? Will I die? Will this be the end?

  ‘Just keep moving!’ he shouts.

  They run around a bend and William spots a bike in a rack. He pushes Eden towards it.

  ‘Get on the bike!’

  Eden pulls it free from the rack.

  ‘It’s too small for both of us,’ Eden cries.

  ‘Take it,’ William says. ‘Take it and get the hell out of here!’

  ‘No, I won’t leave you.’

  ‘You must, Eden. It’s our only hope – your only hope.’

  William grabs her hand and pushes it onto the handle.

  ‘Get on the fricken bike and go!’

  Eden reluctantly gets onto the bike. Her face is streaming with sweaty tears.