by Riva, Aline
“Be careful!” River yelled as Sage crawled across the ladder, then yelled to Joy.
She saw the creature lunge and Joy lashed out, smashing its partly destroyed face with the empty gun. It connected with exposed bone, sending the creature sprawling backwards. And still that creature rose, giving a shriek as it set blazing eyes on Joy, cornered at the dead end of the maze as it rose to its feet. Sage looked down at the drop below: If this went wrong, the zombie would at least have two of them to chase and that would buy time...
“This way!” she yelled, and Joy looked up and saw her as the hay wall wobbled and she leaned across it, reaching down from the ladder that laid across it.
Joy ran to her and raised her hands, grasping them as Sage tried to lift and Joy kicked at the wall, finding footing in the damp straw. The creature ran at her, reaching out with bony fingers as it snarled. Joy kicked back with a boot that connected with rotting bone as fingers snapped and still the creature lashed at the hay wall. Joy climbed for the top as Sage backed off across the ladder, she leaned down, grabbed Joy's hand and pulled, as the hay wall wobbled but stayed up as she scrambled to the top and the safety of the ladder and looked down. The zombie looked up with half its face missing, bared long teeth and gave a roar of rage. Now they were on top of the maze and on the ladder, crawling back to the corner. Joy glanced over at the barn as she yelled down to River.
“There's a petrol can in there – fetch it for me!”
Chris had hurried out, grasping at the low fence as he found his way over, and as he heard her say that, he reached for River's arm.
“Wait till they're clear!”
“They can jump from there,” River told him, “They are right at the top of the hay, in the corner, it's fine, just wait here!”
As she ran off to fetch the petrol, on top of the maze, Joy was on the hay wall as Sage looked down from the edge of the ladder to see Poppy run towards her.
“Sage, be careful!”
“Stay there!” she warned her, then as River handed her the petrol can, she lifted it towards Joy's outstretched hand. Below in the maze, the creature was up tight against a hay wall, looking up and lashing out as on the other side of it, Joy leaned over, between the dead end and the next corridor, as she splashed the creature with petrol.
“Sage!” Poppy called again.
“Get back - right back, everyone!” Sage said, jumping down to the field and landing with ease, unaware that a middle section of hay had just slid loose as rotting hay slid out of place.
Sage hurried over to Poppy, standing beside her at a safe distance from the maze as Chris stood beside them, trying to make sense of the chaos he was hearing.
“She's going to fire it from up there? You should have made a trail of petrol.”
“No, it's fine – she's going to fire the other side and let it burn through to the zombie...”
“She needs to get down from there! That's not the best way to burn something!” Chris said urgently.
“I'm sure none of us know the best way to burn something, Chris,” River replied, “Least of all Joy – she's a police woman, not an arsonist. None of us are arsonists...We just have to burn the zombie, the only zombie around here, and then we're clear.”
And she turned her head and looked at Mickey as within the maze, the zombie clawed at a hay wall and gave a roar.
“I bet you know if this is the best way to do it.”
“No, and I'm not an arsonist either!” Mickey exclaimed, “Thanks for that, River – I may have done a few shady things, but I'm not a fire starter!”
Joy struck a match and tossed it downward. The zombie gave a screech as it started to burn, and lunged at the hay wall as partly dried hay began to smoke thick and fast. Joy made a move to jump down on the outside of the maze – but instead the middle block slid in and she tumbled with it, over the second wall and into the corridor beyond the burning zombie, where thick smoke was curling as the maze rapidly caught on fire.
“Joy!” Sage yelled as she ran forward.
“Joy, make for the exit!” River shouted.
Mickey looked in panic as Sage, who was clinging to Poppy to keep her back, looked on in horror. The wall began to crumble to flame as the zombie writhed and fell and the flames rose higher. Thick black smoke was billowing out of the maze as River clung to Chris as she looked on in horror. The entrance to the maze was still clear, but there was no sign of Joy... And there was no time to think. His leg was aching from falling in the maze earlier, but it didn't stop him dashing in as Sage yelled at him to turn back. Mickey ran in, whipped a handkerchief from his pocket and tied it to cover his nose and mouth as he made for the first turn, recalling the way he had come in.
“Joy?” he yelled, and heard coughing.
Mickey dashed for the turn in the maze where smoke was creeping out thick and fast as heat rose and the crackle of burning hay filled the air as past the next turn, the glow of fire was flickering. She was on her belly, crawling away from the blaze as the flames caught on a mix of dry and damp hay, making for a rapid spreading blaze as thick smoke billowed through the maze and went skyward. Mickey ducked the thickest haze and went in low, reaching for her and dragging her up as she coughed, then he kept an arm around her and headed for the dead end, the closest turn, and began to push at the intact hay bales.
“We're over here!” he yelled as the smoke closed in.
As the wall shook and started to come apart, bales slipped as shards of daylight emerged, then a blast of light and fresh air hit as Sage and River tugged at the bales, sending them tumbling up and out on the field as the fire within raged closer. Mickey stumbled out with Joy and as she fell to her knees he did the same, gasping lungfuls of fresh air as Joy coughed on her hands and knees. River looked back to see Poppy standing beside Chris, her eyes wide as she related the events quickly:
“They're okay... Sage and River got them out... no one's hurt.... there's a big fire, the maze is burning...I think the zombie is dead.”
The fire was left to burn itself out. It sent a huge plume of dark, thick smoke skyward, but in the house, with the windows and doors shut and the wind direction in their favour, all occupants were safe. River had checked over Joy and Mickey, who had taken some smoke, but not enough to cause concern. The worst outcome of this was Joy's decision to fire the maze the way she did had shaken everyone up. She had not known the wall would collapse, but she was only too aware that if she had fallen differently, she would have fallen into a pit of fire, on top of a burning zombie. That wall of hay between the two pathways was all that had saved her. That and Mickey, taking a chance and running into the burning maze...
River set about clearing out a fridge of rotted food, then she checked the freezer and found it working, this place still had electricity and gas, forgetting the zombie and the burning maze, this place had been a lucky find... She asked Poppy to help her find something suitable for supper that night, and while they searched the cupboards, they talked about the maze and the zombie and the fire, as River hoped this would be enough to ward off nightmares for young Poppy, who had looked terrified as Joy had fallen into the smoking maze.
“Need any help?” Sage asked as she entered the kitchen.
River took some tins from the cupboard and passed them to Poppy as she looked over at Sage.
“No thanks, we're okay,” she told her with a reassuring smile, and Sage nodded, feeling sure Poppy was in good hands as she left the room to rejoin Chris in the front room, where the fire was on low to warm up the room and chase off the evening chill.
Upstairs, Joy had washed off the stink of the fire as soon as she returned to the house, and the heat of the shower had lifted out her aches and pains from the fall into the maze. After a brief rest upstairs, she felt much better. But Mickey had been absent for a while, so she knocked on the bathroom door and as she heard a lazy Come in from Mickey, she smiled as she shook her head: He had run stiffly into that maze after falling more than once on that uneven ground. True, he h
ad helped her get out, but she was sure their bumps and bruises were on an even par, but yet again, Mickey had taken over the bathroom for more than an hour. The air was scented with lavender as she walked in, he was in a tub of warm bubbles up to his neck, his hair was wet and he took a damp flannel from his eyes as he turned his head and watched her walk over.
“Are you going to soak in someone else's bath all night long?” she asked as she stood beside the tub.
Mickey leaned back in the water and gave a sigh.
“It's been a long day. And no one else is complaining about taking over someone else's house - someone who is probably dead, probably in the duck pond – while Chris sits on her sofa and Poppy helps as River cooks what can be salvaged of her food while Sage uses her washing machine and you, Joy – you wear her bathrobe... I don't think I'm in the wrong if I want to soak in dead duck pond woman's bath for an hour.”
Joy's jaw dropped. She laughed as she looked at him, trying not to laugh, but it was one of those moments where only Mickey could say something like this and it would come out sounding so damned funny.
“Dead duck pond woman? Is that what we're going to call her?”
He sat up in the bath, cautiously stretching his aching back.
“She's dead and in the duck pond, we don't know her name, there's nothing with personal details lying around – so yes, dead duck pond woman.”
Joy laughed again.
“Oh, you're terrible, Mickey!”
“No, the apocalypse is terrible. And humour keeps us human...” he reached for a bottle on the edge of the bath, opened it and took a sniff.
“You should try this, Joy. Aromatherapy bubble bath, it's expensive stuff, I read the label.”
“I just grabbed the supermarket brand mango shower gel,” she replied as he set the bottle down again.
Joy got closer and knelt down on the soft bath mat, leaning on the edge of the bath as Mickey slid back, reclining in the warm water and their gaze met.
“You should get in and join me,” he said hopefully.
“No, I'll go to bed and wait for you.”
“Please,” he said teasingly, “I need you.”
She looked at him doubtfully, seeing amusement creep back into his gaze.
“I suspect you might have a motive behind that crafty smile.”
“Yes, I do,” Mickey replied, “I've fallen multiple times today and my leg aches and my weak wrist is throbbing and I might have trouble getting out of this bath unless you help me!”
Joy slid her hand into the water as Mickey closed his eyes, resting there with a smile on his face as he waited to feel her touch. Instead she made a grab for the plug, tugging it up and out as the water started to drain. He sat up sharply as she laughed.
“No, I didn't mean drain it yet!”
He made a snatch for the plug as she pulled it away from his reach.
“Come on then,” she said with a giggle as she grabbed a towel, “let's get you out of that bath.”
“This isn't how I planned to end my time in the bathroom.”
“I know that,” Joy said.
She reached for him as he leaned on the side of the bath and got up. For all his fooling around, he really was painfully stiff, and appreciated her help as he climbed out and she handed him the bath towel. Moments later, with his hair still damp, he grabbed a robe from the back of the bathroom door and put it on, then Joy kept an arm around him as they left the bathroom and went off to bed, both aching from the maze and the fight to escape the fire, both wanting to do so much more than sleep, but both too tired to do more than embrace, then turn out the light.
The days passed.
The weather got warmer, the sun got brighter and the good weather outweighed the bad. Spring was well and truly underway and on course to greet Summer. They had been at the house for three weeks now. The food from the kitchen was gone, and they had started to use their own supplies instead. But the heat and lighting still worked and the house was secure. They took turns to keep watch in the front garden, the main gate was bolted on the inside and that would keep out the undead as sure as the brick wall around the back of the farm house, where there was a private garden filled with roses and herbs, was impenetrable – at least, to the undead. They remained aware of a possible threat from the living, should looters spot the house and decide to break in. But the road stayed quiet, and the only zombie seen for miles around was part bone and part ash in the large, burned out area of the adjoining field where the hay maze used to be.
It was peace.
It was as close to the old way of life as they could hope to get.
It felt like a return to normality...
The garden was large and square with a path running down the middle. There was a tough metal gate at the bottom, it was solid and bolted and stayed bolted shut after the incident with Poppy at the other place, and that felt like a lifetime ago. Roses were starting to bud under the warm sun as they popped into life in a riot of colour. There was a scent of mint and lavender coming from the herb garden close to the kitchen window. The duck pond no longer held a corpse, the body had been buried on the other side of the field near the scorched place where the hay maze had once stood.
As Sage watched Poppy as she sat in the garden with a sketch pad and began to shade a sketch of bluebells, Chris and River were in the kitchen laughing and talking as they discussed dinner plans. Sage just stood there for a moment, on the doorstep looking out, watching as a butterfly flitted over the wall and began to dance about the lavender. It was so peaceful. Being here made all they had been through seem like a distant, fading nightmare. The sounds of the undead, the look in their eyes as they lashed out, wild and starving – it seemed a lifetime away. But thoughts of Bess were never far from her mind. And if she could find a safe place with River and Joy and the others, there had to be more places like this, places of safety. And Bess had to be in one of them, somewhere. That was the hope she clung to each day, for the first moments as she woke each morning, reminding herself that hope still existed. Here she was, alive and making it through – and if she could do that, so could Bess...
There were times when her heart ached at her absence, when her arms ached to hold her, when tears stung her eyes as she longed to see her smile and take her hand and hear her voice again. But Sage tried not to dwell on all that would tear at her heart, thinking instead about the hope she still held that Bess was alive. Others had made it this far, of course Bess stood the same chance. And she would go where it was safe, and where she was needed, so she could help others.
They were still heading towards the coast – at least, they would be when the food began to run low. It was okay to stop for a while, it was necessary after all they had been through. In the Winter, the old asylum had been their safe haven, a refuge from the winter chill. Now this farm house was their place of safety, simply because they were all weary of the horrors out there – no one could stay on the road, constantly witnessing the terrible things that happened out there. Everyone needed this, to stay sane, to feel strong and ready to face more when the time was right. Sage knew she could not stay forever in one place, not without Bess. And when the time came to move on, they would be heading for the coast just as Summer arrived. Bess had said, she would head for the coast if she could. Something in her heart was sure there was still hope of finding her alive. And hope like that, for one so precious, was what made life worth living in this crazy world – along with watching from this doorstep as her little sister sat safely in a peaceful garden on a warm Spring day and sketched flowers. The old way of life was still achievable. Knowing that made everything possible...
Joy was standing idle in the driveway, looking up the lane to the road where nothing ever passed by, living or dead. The barred gate was shut and the view beyond it past the road to hedgerow and then field and finally, blue sky with sun shining down, made the day seem deceptively normal. As if it would be only too easy to forget a threat existed out there. At times like this, she wonder
ed if there was still a threat – had the virus died out sooner than expected? Would they soon see cars and helicopters and signs that normal life was returning once more?
It was so quiet and uneventful here. She woke each morning beside Mickey and they went about their day, such ordinary days if not for the fact that they took turns to stand watch in case of zombies. But even the zombies were becoming distant in their thoughts now. She had always feared how the world would be when this thing came to an end – people traumatised, unable to get back to a normal life, with minds full of scars from all they had seen... but perhaps it wouldn't be like that. Here they were, living as normal a life as possible, and they all wanted to cling to that. No one had nightmares, no one grabbed a rifle and ran for the door at the snap of a twig or on hearing a moan as the wind passed about the old place on a bad weather night. It was as if normal life had slid back, and they had slid back with it....
Now as she stood there, she frowned as worries clouded her gaze as she looked to the horizon: One day, this would be over. They kept talking about that like it was the dream come true they were all awaiting for – but what would that mean for her and Mickey? She was a copper, she would be recalled to duty. He was a criminal who would have been behind bars by now, if not for the apocalypse...The police had been tailing him, watching his every move, building a case against him, another move to bring down his late sister's empire. What would happen to Mickey when this thing was over? To never want it to end was crazy. Of course she wanted normal life to return. But not at the price of losing him. The apocalypse wasn't selective when it came to who survived. The company you got was random. And for Joy, that had meant falling in love with a wanted man who had been looking at life behind bars when the cops caught up with him...