by Casey, Ryan
But most of all, from the scene ahead of him.
“It has to be this way,” Noah said. “It can only be this way.”
He looked down at him. Shook his head. “Maybe it doesn’t.”
Noah frowned. “Wh…”
“Live together; die together. Remember?”
And then Noah heard the blast.
Chapter Three
I: BEFORE
Noah opened his eyes and knew right away what day it was.
He covered his face with his hands. He’d got a little drunk last night. His mouth was dry. His head spun in circles. He knew the rum wasn’t a good idea. Told Anwar to put it away the second he pulled it out. But Anwar wasn’t an easy guy to turn down. Especially when it came to drink.
Shit. He felt like a rat’s arse. Whatever the hell a rat’s arse felt like. Probably not pleasant. Certainly wouldn’t smell good.
Whatever, he didn’t feel great. At all.
But at least the fact he didn’t feel great was the epitome of his problems.
He moved his hands from his face. Looked around the grey-walled room he called his flat. It was a studio apartment just south of Lancaster in a smallish village called Galgate. He’d lived here for two months now. Two long, weird months since he and his friends had reached this place. Since they’d found a home here.
Food. Shelter. Protection.
And a sense of purpose. A sense of normality.
Life really couldn’t be better, considering the circumstances.
He went to climb out of bed when he felt movement by his side.
He froze right away. Fuck. Had he…
He turned around.
Saw the dark-haired girl lying beside him. Jane. Malcom’s daughter.
Shit. Shitting shit.
Malcom pretty much ran this place. He was a decent guy. The kind of bloke everyone respected, even those who didn’t particularly get on with him.
But his daughter Jane was… well, problematic.
She was nineteen, for one. So, a good bit younger than Noah, a good bit more than he cared to admit. She’d had a crush on him ever since he got to this place, of that he was certain. She was a kind girl. Mature. Intelligent. Conscientious. But Noah knew damned well he shouldn’t go there for two reasons. The age gap, of course. Although there was nothing technically wrong with a twenty-seven-year-old and a nineteen-year-old, legally… it definitely breached the half-plus-seven rule. It felt morally a bit icky. Noah remembered being nineteen, and he was definitely of a younger mind than he was now. Eurgh.
And two. She was Malcom’s fucking princess.
And Malcom was protective of her. Ultra-fucking-protective of her.
He jumped out of bed right away. He stood there, naked, a little embarrassed at his nudity. A little late summer light peeked in through the blinds; blinds he’d usually open but blinds he couldn’t bear to crack mostly because of who lay here in the room. Like by keeping these blinds closed, he could convince himself they wouldn’t be spotted. They wouldn’t be found. Their secret would stay secret.
He looked around his room. Looked at their clothes spread across the cool black tiled floor. At the little kitchen area, empty bottles of wine sitting on the side. He looked at the door and…
Shit.
It was ajar.
He hadn’t even bothered closing it.
And he could hear footsteps out there.
Shit.
Shit shit shit.
He rushed over to the door, almost falling with the pain in his skull, and he clicked it to and locked it right away.
He let out a breath. Sighed. Heart pounding.
Pull yourself together, Noah. Jesus, pull yourself to—
“We didn’t sleep together,” Jane said, out of nowhere. “If that’s what you’re wondering.”
Noah turned around. Saw Jane sitting upright in the bed. Saw her perky breasts staring back at him. Those bright blue eyes.
“Umm, morning,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. It wasn’t that Jane wasn’t an attractive girl. Hell, she was.
But there were just too many problems. Too many issues.
And one of those issues was Jasmine.
He thought of Jasmine, and he felt a bit sick. He hadn’t been with many girls after they’d split up for the first time. Always saw her when he was making love.
And that hadn’t gone away since.
That guilt.
That memory of the pair of them. Together.
Of how good they were. Together.
“So you don’t have to worry about my dad,” Jane said, twiddling with this bright silver necklace of hers. “You don’t have to worry about a thing. Happy birthday, by the way. Daddy.”
Noah wanted to throw up right there on the spot. ’Cause shit. He was a whole year older than he was yesterday. That practically made him a fucking nonce right now. “Jane, I—”
“I know, I know. It doesn’t matter if we fucked or not, does it? I’m going to walk out of this room. People will start talking. That talk will get back to my dad. If only there were a way I could sneak out of here. Keep a low profile. If only you could convince me to keep my lips sealed shut.”
An evil look crossed her face. “That sounds an awful lot like blackmail,” Noah said.
Jane smirked. “I’m just kidding, sweetie. You’re a nice guy. Seriously, don’t worry about last night. It was fun. We drank a lot. We took our clothes off. And then you started muttering about how special you were ‘in a virus sense’ whatever the hell that means, and honestly, it was a bit of a turn off when you started farting in a half-sleep state. Looks like you’ve escaped my tempting clutches for now.”
She stood up. Walked casually around the bed. Noah could never get how people could be so casual when they weren’t wearing anything. He always felt a little self-conscious, even when he was on his own.
She threw her clothes on. Then she walked over to Noah. Stared up into his eyes, all five foot two of her.
And then she stepped up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek.
“Happy birthday,” she said. “Seriously. Last night was fun. You’re sweet. We should do this again. My dad won’t mind. He likes you.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Doesn’t matter how much he likes me. If he finds out we’re sleeping tog… sleeping in the same room together, I figure he won’t like me too much.”
Jane smirked. “Then you’re just going to have to keep on resisting me, aren’t you?”
She walked over to the kitchen area. Noah started to grow frustrated. He had a job to go to, for one. Might be his birthday, but he was a part of the team constructing a new wall to the west. A storm had sent it collapsing down, so the sooner they could get a new one up, the better.
“Jane, I think you should—”
“Aren’t you going to ask me if I want to stay for breakfast?”
Noah rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve got work. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be such a dick.”
She rolled her eyes. Sighed. “I get it. It’s okay. I just don’t get why you’re so… well. Resistant.”
“Resistant to what?”
She walked over to him. Stopped, right by the door.
“Resistant to connecting with anyone new.”
He heard those words, and they stung, he had to admit. He didn’t like to think of himself as emotionally unavailable. But he knew why it was. It wasn’t without reason. He knew his past. He knew his motives.
And two months wasn’t going to change that.
Neither was a pretty, flirty nineteen-year-old.
She walked over to him again. Pecked him on the lips this time.
“You’re cute. And I know you like me. It’d just be nice if you looked at me like I didn’t have, like, blood all over me or something.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. You look at me like you’re terrified of me.”
Noah stared into Jane’s eyes. Tried not to look away.<
br />
But in the end, he couldn’t resist.
“It’s my birthday in two weeks, anyway,” she said. “Maybe you can bake me a cake. Mary Berry.”
She walked away, then. Opened the door. Peeked from left to right, then sneaked out.
She looked back in first, though. Winked at him. “Laters, loverboy.”
And then she closed the door and disappeared.
Noah covered his face with his hands. He staggered back to bed. Fell back onto it, groaned. His head ached. His cheeks flushed. Shitting hell. That was close. Too damned close.
And then he heard a voice that made him jump out of his skin.
From over behind the kitchen island.
“Well, shit,” Zelda said. “Aren’t you a fucking dirty dog?”
Chapter Four
Eddie held on to the flowers and fully realised what a fucking damp squib he looked.
It was morning, and it was warm. Hell, it was always warm this summer. End of August, now. Hottest summer he could remember. Just a damned good job they had a stream nearby that he could wash in, and also that they had power here. It’d been a long road to get there, but a few of the electrical whizzes here had figured out how to get things back online. It’d take a long time before the rest of the country got to that stage. It’d take a long, long while before everything was back online. It might not ever happen at all.
But at least they had Galgate.
At least they had their home.
He looked at the grey bricked houses either side. Saw the church in the distance. A quaint little village, cosy, especially with over two-hundred people here. He saw some of those people in the streets. People looking at him as he walked past them. Smiling. Nodding. And he felt himself blushing. ’Cause he knew he had only one destination in mind. And he knew he was so damned pathetic that they knew it, too.
Kelly.
It was all about Kelly these damned days.
He kept his head down as he walked down the road. He remembered getting here, two long damned months ago. He was on a high. He’d helped his friends escape that creepy compound. He had a thing going with Kelly. They’d slept together. First woman he’d slept with his entire life.
And he kind of thought things were gonna be straightforward when they reached Galgate. There were a good few hundred people here. There were remnants of the military looking after the place. There were supplies. There were rations. There was shelter. There was running water. There were all kinds of luxuries that Eddie hadn’t seen anywhere else.
But most of all, they had some kind of testing system going here. Some way of testing people using these kits. Kits that were designed to test for something else—for this virus that almost became a pandemic a few years back, but the world actually had their shit in order, so they managed to prevent draconian lockdown measures and excess deaths and untold suffering. Except these kits worked for this virus, too. For Trojan. 100% success rate.
And Eddie tested negative.
Kelly tested negative.
Zelda tested negative.
As too did Noah.
They’d kept quiet about their brushes with Trojan to Malcom, the ex-military leader of this place. Figured there was no point sharing what they’d found out from Dr Jenkinson if it might put them in danger. And at first, Eddie thought it might be a bit of a selfish view to take. But at the end of the day, they weren’t infecting anyone. There hadn’t been any accidents in this place. There’d been a few brushes with the infected, sure. But the last attack was a while ago. A long, long while ago.
They had a good thing here. People had jobs. They pulled their weight. Everyone got along, pretty much. It was just a normal place. A normal, tight-knit community.
And yet it felt like they were sitting on a precipice. Waiting for something to change. Staring out at the horizon and waiting for something to strike.
But shit. He had his own personal battle to fight right now.
And that started with Kelly.
Back to the story. They got here. Things went well. But he wanted to ask Kelly out. He wanted to sleep with her again. Hell, he wanted to love her. ’Cause he was pretty sure it was love.
But she pulled away. Grew more distant.
And then she started hanging out with this guy called Anwar a lot.
Eddie felt the hairs on his arms stand on end when he thought of Anwar. It wasn’t that he was a dick. He wasn’t. That was part of the problem. He was handsome. Buff. Had this pearly white smile that seemed so natural, so genuine. Every damned person liked Anwar.
Except him.
Because of Kelly.
That was the problem.
Anyway, Eddie didn’t know for sure, but he was pretty certain Kelly and Anwar were sleeping together. Took him a while to see them hanging out, hand in hand. Felt awkward walking past them. Kelly probably thought he was a bit of a weirdo. Sometimes, she even said things he was pretty sure she wouldn’t say if Anwar weren’t there.
He was fully aware he sounded like a whiny schoolkid. But he felt like him and Kelly had something. Felt like they’d formed a connection.
And just when it started to feel like things were going good… well. Things went to shit.
He hadn’t even been able to talk to her. About his feelings. About anything.
But then last week, after much moping, he’d heard some amazing news. She and Anwar had fought. They’d fallen out.
Which gave him an opportunity. Eddie, you goddamned white knight. Who’d’ve thunk it?
He stopped at the corner of the street. Looked down the road at the west wall. The scaffolding. The corrugated metal, thirty feet high. He smiled. They’d be done with it soon. Another way of keeping this place separated from the outside world.
He took a deep breath. Thought of how good things were here. How safe things were here.
And he didn’t want to curse it.
Oh boy he didn’t want to curse it.
He stood there, flowers in hand, stupid white knight plan in mind, and he went through his head what he was going to say.
“Oh hey, Kel. I know you’re not a flowers girl, but…”
No. Who the fuck did he think he was? John Travolta in the seventies?
“Hi Kelly. Heard about you and Anwar. Just want you to know I’m here for you.”
No. Too creeper.
He shook his head. He’d say whatever came to mind. Maybe he’d be honest. Honesty got him laid in the first place, after all.
Besides, people said stuff about him. He knew it wasn’t true, but it upset him a bit. They whispered about him. Said he was creepy around Kelly. He’d heard Anwar chatting with a few of his jock fuck mates a few times; said about how someone was “obsessed,” and even though he smiled and nodded at Eddie, Eddie knew damn well who he was talking about.
He wasn’t obsessed. Not one bit.
Besides, jock fuck. Let’s see who’s laughing when I give your ex some flowers. When she sees who really cares for her.
He wasn’t creepy.
He wasn’t obsessed.
He only thought about her 90% of the time.
When he turned the corner and looked up at the steps to Kelly’s flat, he froze.
Kelly stood outside the door.
Anwar holding her in his arms. Making out with her.
He froze, right there. His cheeks flushed. His world collapsed.
He needed to turn.
Needed to get away.
Needed to—
“Eddie?”
He stopped. Turned back around. Put the flowers behind his back. “Hi, Kelly. Didn’t see you there.”
“What you got there?” Anwar asked. Hunky, gorgeous Anwar.
“Nothing,” Eddie said. “I’ve got nothing at all.”
“Are those flowers?” Kelly said.
“No. They’re peacock feathers. I’m going insane and pretending I’m a peacock.”
“Oh. Okay. Bye, Eddie.”
“Yeah. Bye, Kelly.”
“Bye,
Roadrunner,” Anwar said.
Cheeks flushed. “Yeah. Bye, Anwar.”
He turned back around the corner and threw the flowers to the ground as his cheeks flushed a hundred degrees.
If he ever saw a fucking peacock again, he’d throttle the bitch.
Chapter Five
Noah didn’t really want to talk about what happened with Jane last night.
But with Zelda hovering around, that wasn’t exactly easy.
It was early. Blistering sun beat down from above. There was a light breeze, too, though. A sense that summer was in its final stages, that autumn was rearing its head.
And after autumn, winter.
Noah shivered at the thought. He’d never liked winter at the best of times. Found it miserable. It dragged on far too long, too. Seemed to last forever.
But this winter was going to be even more challenging. Hunting would be more difficult. There would be supply issues. And as much as they’d managed to bring power back to Galgate in a limited capacity, which was an achievement in itself, he knew damned well they were going to run into issues and problems down the line.
Besides. There was no knowing just how the virus would mutate next.
He walked down the street. It was just like an old street, really, before the outbreak. People walking along, getting on with their lives. The sound of chatter. An air of normality to the place. Children playing. The bins being emptied by litter collectors. People walking their dogs. You’d do well to spot a difference to the world before. Or you’d have to look closely, at least. Very closely.
But there was still just something in the air. An uncertainty. A sense of distrust. And an underlying feeling that as good as things seemed, things could change at any moment. Everything could flip.
Things were just too peaceful.
“So how was she in bed, anyway?”
Noah’s cheeks flushed. He just wanted to get to work. He was helping build the new wall over to the west. Manual labour was never his thing, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. “Don’t you have some crops to pick or something?”
“Got the morning off,” Zelda said. “You’re dodging my question. How was she in—”
