by Riva, Aline
As the others stood in the staff room, Lina came in and joined them.
“There is a problem?” she guessed.
“I'd say so,” River replied, and she held out the open file as Lina's eyes widened in alarm.
“But we have been here for weeks. He's not tried anything with any of us!”
“He's probably biding his time. Even if he's not, even if he's decided to be a good guy and stick together with us because we're stronger against the zombies that way – I don't want him around,” Mickey said, “He's filth. I don't want filth like that around women and let's remember there's a kid here too!”
“I think us women can make our own decision on how to handle this,” River reminded him, “He's been no threat to us. Not in all the time we've been here! Maybe we can find a way to lock him in a cell.”
Mickey shook his head.
“He's not tried anything yet,” he replied, “But I bet he's thinking about it.”
Lina thought back, right back to the first day when they had arrived. He had flirted with her, she had even kissed him on more than one occasion. That memory gave her a chill as she shivered.
“But he has always been so kind. There has never been a hint of a threat from him!How did we not realise?”
“That's because he's playing his own game,” Mickey replied, “We don't know what he's planning.”
Joy had been thinking it over.
“I have noticed he always steers the conversation away from the possibility of us leaving any time soon,” she remarked, “And let's remember, he holds every key to this building. We can't get out of here without his keys.”
“We can move from building to building,” Lina reminded her.
“Only from the pool area to the staff quarters,” River added, “Unless we take the long away around and that would mean crossing an exercise yard full of zombies top reach the route that leads to the locked gate that goes to the front entrance. It's like a maze out there.”
“And only Jack has the keys,” Lina agreed, “I asked him today about maybe going out to search for fuel for the chopper – he said no. I said we could seek out survivors, he said there was no point.”
River shuddered as horrible thought hit her.
“He's keeping us here for a reason, and I don't think it's company,” she said, “He's planning something,” River looked again at the file.
“We can't share this place with a maniac!”
“Damned right we can't,” said Chris as he stood up and looked toward the direction of their voices, “Sooner or later, he's going to target one of us. And going by his record, he likes to rape and murder women, so that means you're all at risk. Also, he's killed at least one man that we know of, so that doesn't make me or Mickey any safer, either. He could kill us all if he wanted too.”
“Unless we kill him first.”
All eyes were on Mickey as he uttered those words.
“I think,” Mickey added as he stiffly turned and headed for the kitchen area, “For now, we should act as if we know nothing – it's safer that way. And you ladies stick together and don't worry about Jack. Leave it to me and Chris, we can handle him.”
“I don't think this will be easy,” Chris added as he made his way into the kitchen, following the sound of Mickey's voice.
“Relax,” Mickey said as he lowered his tone, “There are ways to deal with people like Jack. There's only one way we can go with this...”
Just then Jack tried the door. He looked through the glass panel as his expression changed.
“You locked it from the inside?” he yelled through the glass, “This is MY place, not yours! Open the damned door!”
River slid the case file under sofa cushion and sat down.
“Open it,” she said, glancing to Lina, who gave her a quick nod and went over to the door, feigning dismay at the sight of the bolt slid shut.
“I do not know how that happened!” she laughed, meeting his gaze and hiding her unease well as he entered the room, “So sorry, we did not realise it was locked!”
“Thanks for helping out with Sage,” River added, determined not to move from her seat as she thought about the evidence beneath it, “She had quite a fright. But she's okay now.”
In the kitchen, Chris reached for the bolts that secured the door from the undead.
“We're doing this?” he asked.
Then he heard the button pop up as the kettle boiled.
“Yes we are,” Mickey said in a low voice, “Just keep out of the way when that door opens up...”
“I really wanted to speak to Sage,” Jack was saying, “It''s about what she saw in the pool - two of my colleagues turned, they were infected after the evacuation and I had to kill them. The bodies are still in the pool and I know it upset her... what she saw was... nasty. Is she in her room?”
Mickey walked to the door and looked over at Jack.
“Could I have a word, please? Alone.”
Jack looked confused and then shrugged.
“What's on your mind, Mickey?” he asked.
The others exchanged a glance, as tension filled the air. Something was about to happen...
Mickey walked stiffly into the kitchen, keeping his weak hand at his side as the other rested on the kitchen counter, close to the boiled kettle. He noticed the excess steam coming out from the lid because it wasn't properly closed and hoped Jack had not noticed it, because he had no plans on taking on this maniac, not unless he could use the element of surprise and boiling water... But Jack was looking from Chris and then back to him with a confused expression.
“What's this about, Mickey?”
“Well,” Mickey said, stepping closer to the counter and lifting the kettle, “It's a chilly day. How about some tea?”
“That would be nice,” Jack replied, “But I really need to speak to Sage. I'm not quite sure how she feels after what she saw in the pool house.”
Mickey turned back to him with eyes like ice.
“I don't think that will happening, Mr Swiftman!” he said sharply, and hurled the boiling water.
Jack screamed as he doubled over and his hands flew to his scalded face. Chris was tugging back the last of the locks.
“Now!” Mickey yelled, and Chris flung open the door as Mickey grabbed Jack and shoved him out.
The dead descended, closing in on the fresh meat as Jack screamed and those screams turned high pitch as flesh was torn from bone and dead hands shone bloody under the springtime sun. Then a lumbering creature gave a roar, turning back and making a dash for the doorway. Mickey slammed the door and threw his weight against it as the door bounced on its hinges as the creature pounded.
“Hurry up!” he yelled.
Chris was closing the locks, starting at the bottom as dead fingers found their way through a gap and the creature on the other side slammed against it, and Mickey fell backward. The door buckled on the upper half as an arm reached through, then the door was slammed shut, severing the arm with a squelch and a crunch as it fell bloodied to the kitchen floor. Lina and River had flung their weight against it as Joy dragged the rest of the bolts across. She turned back and held out her hand, helping Mickey from the floor. They all stood there, looking down at the severed arm.
“Well, you certainly handled that,” Lina said in a sour tone as she looked from Mickey to Chris.
“It was the only way – for all our sakes,” Chris reminded her.
Lina shook her head as she gave a heavy sigh.
“You removed the threat. You killed the maniac, you fed him to the zombies.”
Mickey stepped closer, looking at her in confusion.
“Yes, we did, Lina! What's your problem with that?”
She cast a glance to Joy and River, then back to Mickey as she gestured to the window.
“You are an idiot, Mickey Silk!”
Annoyance flashed in his eyes.
“I'm a what? That's no way to speak to the person who gave you a new life and a very well paid job!”
“You are both idiots, you and Chris!” she said, “If we needed to get out of here – and some day, we will – we will need the keys. The keys are on Jack's belt!”
River shot a stunned look at Mickey. Joy did the same as Mickey turned his head.
“We've screwed this up big time,” he heard Chris say.
Then as Mickey looked out, he saw the zombies tearing off flesh and unravelling intestines as they grabbed at the fresh meat. Then a ravenous female in a blood stained white dress with black hair that trailed to her shoulders lunged in with both hands, tearing chunks from a pelvis gnawed bloody and hollow, ripping off a chunk of flesh from the hip and tearing the keys with it as she stuffed the whole lot into her mouth and then reached for more.
“That thing just ate the keys!” Mickey exclaimed, turning back to the others.
Joy gave a heavy sigh.
“So one of us has to go up to the roof and shoot it, we need to bring it back here and gut it and get the keys back.”
Mickey's jaw dropped as he looked to the others.
“I'm not doing it! You saw what happened to Jack!”
“No, you're not doing it,” Joy agreed, “There has to be another way. A safer way, like luring it in...”
“This will end badly, Chris muttered as he briefly placed his hand on River's shoulder as he passed her and then made his way back to the other room.
River turned away to follow him, leaving the others to talk in the kitchen.
“So,” Joy said, “To sum it up, Jack was a threat and we got rid of that threat – and now we've lost the keys and we're stuck in a fortress. We need those keys back, if the freezer went down and we lost the food, or if there was a fire, we would need to get out! And we can't stay here forever. We need those keys. So, how are we going to do this?”
Lina thought about it.
“We would have to wait for that zombie to get close to the door... only that zombie.”
“Others will come in. They will flood this place. We only just held them back just now, and the door was open for a matter of seconds,” Mickey said.
“We have to think of something,” Joy added as she looked to the window, watching the zombie in the white dress mingle into the middle of a heavy horde, “Without those keys, this isn't a safe place any more. It's just a prison, and we're trapped!”
Mickey looked down at the severed arm as dead fingers gave a twitch.
“Someone should clean up this mess,” he remarked.
“Yes, someone should!” she said, looking directly at him as he stared back at her. She walked out of the kitchen and Mickey looked to Lina.
“Could you...” he pointed downward at the arm.
“No!” she said defiantly, “This is your mess Mickey, YOU clean it up!”
Chapter 2
Poppy was watching from the window, her eyes following the zombie in the white dress as she stumbled about among the horde. Poppy had been dismayed to learn the zombies had got Jack, but the others had decided to tell her no more, because she was a child who had already seen much horror and she didn't need to know another kind of monster had been lurking here amongst them, a living monster. It had a taken a while to think up a trap. But those keys had to be returned, and there was little option but to find a way fast to retrieve them. They had no plan to follow the retrieval of the keys, just to keep them safe, to ensure they could leave quickly should the need arise.
And that need arose faster than anyone could have anticipated, when they were talking about a way to get the keys, sat around in the comfort of the staff room as they talked over their theories...
Poppy had grown tired of watching the key eater, and had walked down the corridor that led to the cold storage area, and she had wrinkled her nose as a foul smell had hit her. Stepping closer, she saw water seeping out from under the door of the freezer unit. She stepped back, went over to a large refrigeration unit and opened it, then jumped back as a putrid smell flooded out. There was a blackened cable plugged into the wall and the socket had a scorch mark. She looked down the next corridor, and it was in darkness. She turned away and left the area, heading back towards the next corridor, getting as far away from the bad smell as she could.
She remembered they had spoken about disasters, mentioning fires – it looked like there had almost been one today, the water, the freezer unit... she also knew the food getting spoiled was another disaster they had mentioned. Well, that had happened now...
Poppy had told Sage, and then the others had joined her to take a look at the mess. Mickey had gagged and stepped back, turning his head towards a window.
“We need fresh air in here!”
River gave a sigh.
“Without the key? And why would you want a window open anyway, the zombies smell worse out there than it does in here!”
Mickey gagged again and walked off, keen to escape the stench. Joy hurried after him as Sage inspected the wiring and discussed it with Chris and Lina.
“I'm not surprised about this really,” Sage said as she closed the fridge door, “A big place like this needs a lot of staff and maintenance – this place is old, too. We're lucky it didn't go up in flames,” then she turned the plugs off and they left the chilled area, closing the door behind them.
“We still have canned and dried goods,” River reminded them, “That will be enough to keep us going – and enough to load up into the vehicles if we have to leave. If the electrical system is going down, we have no choice. And that water will spread, it's going to flood the living area, too. The freezer unit is huge and now it's full of rotting meat and melting ice. It could be a health hazard.”
“We could clean it up,” Sage replied as they walked away.
“Yes, but we're still stuck with a failing power system. The problems are no doubt throughout the complex.”
Just then the overhead lights flickered. Sage looked up, watching as they stuttered on and off.
“That's not good,” she added, “Let's remember, a lot of the locks around here are held in place electronically – manual keys are for emergencies.”
River stopped walking and looked sharply at Sage.
“I've only just worked it out!”
“Worked out what?”
“If Jack had been a genuine guard, staying behind to take care of the place, he would have had access to both. He knew how to turn off the electric fencing and open up the main door with a card, but that was all. He's been using manual keys all the time...”
Sage shook her head.
“We didn't spot that or think to ask why.”
“I guess we have to live and learn in this new world,” River replied, “We can't take anyone at face value. We can't trust any new people we meet. Anyone can lie and get away with it, especially when it comes to using a fake ID under these circumstances.”
They carried on walking and reached the door to the staff room. Chris was inside handing a warm drink to Poppy. The lights flickered again and Poppy looked upward with a worried expression.
“If all the electrics fail,” Sage said in a lowered voice, “The zombies will get in.”
“All the more reason to get those keys back and pack up and leave as soon as we can,” River agreed, then they went inside and said no more about the crisis, as Poppy sat there still looking worried, eyes turned to the ceiling as she waited for the next flicker of the lights.
Lina had been sitting in silence for a while when she suddenly looked up from where she sat in the corner of the room in a comfortable chair.
“We can not get fuel for the chopper.”
“Then we leave it here,” River told her as she sat beside Sage, who looked to Poppy and gave her a reassuring smile. Poppy looked up at the lights again, but they stayed on.
“I just thought of something,” Chris said as he sat there with a mug of tea in his hand, “If the power goes, all the electronic doors unlock and -”
/> “And don't worry about that yet,” Sage said, “Poppy's worried enough about the lights going out – we don't have to worry about doors just yet, Chris.”
He heard the tone of her voice and understood: Not in front of Poppy.
“Oh, right,” he replied, “Of course – the doors are okay for now...”
“Yes - for now.” River added in a low voice.
In the kitchen, the lights were on because the skies outside had turned dark as the wind had picked up and hailstones had started to rain down, tapping at the toughened glass as they bounced off the pane. Outside, the zombies were stumbling about, the remains of Jack were reduced to a few gnawed bones and some ragged clothing. They had picked the body clean. And then as a face pressed up against the glass leaving a trail of slime to run down the window, Joy nudged Mickey's arm.
“Key eater!”
He stepped back into the middle of the kitchen, looking directly at the key-eating zombie and gave a wave.
“Hello!” he said, looking intently at the creature as it opened a mouth of sharp teeth and gave a snarl, scraping at the glass with bony fingers.
“Guys,” Joy called back, “You might want to leave the staff room. And take Poppy back to your room, Sage. We need the area clear.”
River looked around the doorway.
“Why?” she asked.
Joy pointed to the window.
“Look who's back!”
The zombie snarled again, dead eyes set on the living within. River dashed from the room.
“Chris, Lina... Sage... they're going to get the keys back.”
They all exchanged a hurried glance and got up and Sage took Poppy's hand.
“We're going back to our room,” she said, and hurried off through the open staff room door.
“Do you need help in there?” Chris called back.
“No, we'll be fine!” Joy replied, “Just clear the area and lock the door behind you.”
“Will do!”
She glanced out the doorway, seeing the others leave the room, then Chris closed the doors behind them, pausing to slide bolts top and bottom into place as he stood in the corridor beyond. Joy took a deep breath. She watched as Mickey stood there and decided in that moment, this would be one thing that would sum up the apocalypse for her later on, when it was over – assuming that day came – Mickey, standing there in a dark suit, dressed like it was just another day in gangland London as he went about his smuggling business – except that this was the apocalypse, and he was dressed for business not a fight, and there he was, standing there, casually waving at the key eating zombie as he edged slowly across the kitchen, keeping her attention with every step he took, oblivious to the murderous hunger he saw in her eyes as the zombie snarled and fingers of exposed bone dragged at the glass, making an ear splitting screech of bone on pane.