Unable to resist the urge, Alice raised her right hand, her middle finger rising skyward, as she mouthed across at the man, “Fuck you!”
His eyes widened at the gesture, his voice loud behind the glass as he shouted angrily, although his words were unintelligible, his right fist banging hard upon the window before his face.
As Alice began to walk once more, a glance ahead showing that Lauren and Brandon were now outside the hospital, the nurse gesturing for Jiyaa and the porter to join them, and feeling freedom within sight, the embalmer began to speed up.
She flinched as a sudden snarl erupted from beside the shop, and turning her head she stared back in shock as one of the ghouls took a step towards her, its crusted calloused features twisting in shock as if it wasn’t sure what it was seeing and then it roared once more, a half dozen of its brethren turning towards her, their furious, excited howls and grunts loud in the foyer.
“Run!” the voice of Lauren was loud as Alice spun on the spot, arms pumping at her sides as she charged towards the doorway, Geri dashing through it ahead of her to join their companions.
“Go!” Alice shouted, arms waving as she raced towards them, “Don’t wait for me…fucking run!”
They did as she had instructed, Jiyaa joining Lauren in taking the wrist of Brandon’s hand that was clasping his book, the trio running in a line, while Geri and the porter ran alongside them all.
Heart pounding away in her chest like a jackhammer, Alice surged through the door and out into the fresh air, following her companions as they charged right along a narrow curving road, and she went with them, the grunts and snarls of the ghouls behind loud in her ears.
“Where are we fucking going?” the porter shouted, hands gesticulating like a windmill as he ran ahead of Alice, his voice almost hysterical, and several feet behind him, Geri grunted softly.
“Will ye shut up and run!”
Suddenly, the roar of an engine sounded loud, and the group ahead of Alice all cursed and gasped as an ambulance suddenly skidded around a corner, tyres and brakes squealing as it swerved to avoid them then stopped twenty feet ahead in the road. As the group began to run towards it, shouting and calling for help, the passenger door of the vehicle swung open and a bearded man with dreadlocks scrambled out, his body dressed in beige combat trousers and shirt with a dark green body warmer over the top.
With a jerk of his hand, the man swung open the rear door of the ambulance, directly behind the cab on the passenger side, a hand gesturing frantically for their group, his voice grim, “Run!”
The porter reached it first, racing on ahead, and the stranger almost pushed him inside the open door, then hurried forwards to help Lauren, Jiyaa and Brandon as the latter stumbled, and fell, dragging the women to the ground with him. In seconds, Alice was beside them, a glance back sending her into a panic as she saw the almost endless wave of ghouls charging towards them from the hospital, grunting in excitement.
“Come on!” the voice of the man was insistent and blinking, Alice turned, watching as Lauren and Jiyaa practically pushed a screaming Brandon inside the ambulance, Geri joining them.
With a grimace, the man slammed the door shut, and gestured towards the cab as he glanced at Alice, “Come on, there’s a spare seat up here!”
As he wrenched open the door, she glanced inside, seeing a woman with silver hair shaven at the sides behind the wheel, then glanced back, a curse escaping her as she noticed something upon the ground, an equal distance between the horde of ghouls and the ambulance. Without thinking, she raced for it, rushing back to snatch it up, almost falling as she turned, then she was running once more, her heart skipping a beat as the ambulance began to drive away, the bearded man hanging from the open doorway, extending a hand in her direction, his features twisted into a grimace as he shouted at her, “Fucking run!”
Alice screamed as she felt the fingers of a grasping hand brush against her back, the sudden realisation of how close the ghouls were urging her on and with a curse she jumped for the open door, terror washing through her as she realised she had timed her leap wrong entirely.
Then the hands of the bearded man were grasping at her leather jacket, his voice cursing as he dragged her up and into the cab of the ambulance, slamming the door shut behind them.
Almost sobbing in relief, her body shaking, the embalmer leaned heavily back against the seat beneath her, her eyes fixed to the wave of white-skinned figures fading back into the distance in the side mirror on the door, as the silver-haired woman behind the wheel put her foot down, steering them out of the hospital grounds.
Suddenly weary beyond belief, Alice turned as the bearded man spoke, his voice thick with confusion, “What the Hell was so important you nearly got yourself killed back there?”
Unable to stop chuckling as adrenaline kicked in, Alice raised the prize that she had snatched up from the road, nodding as she met the man’s surprised gaze, “Brandon’s book”
Chapter Twenty Six
Sitting beside the door of the ambulance, Victor stared out through the windscreen as Bella drove them quickly away from the hospital, his hands bracing himself as she was forced to bump up kerbs to cross lanes to avoid abandoned cars.
Beside him, the brown-haired woman in the leather jacket and the Dr Martens was quiet, her hands clasping to the book that she had risked her life to save, his stomach knotting as he considered how close she had come to dying.
For a book.
She had said that it belonged to Brandon, but he had no idea who the mysterious Brandon was.
Could it be the young black man that the nurse and the woman in the sari, had helped into the back of the ambulance? Were they his carers?
Realising that guessing was going to get him no answers, Victor turned to ask her and then thought better of it, his gaze meeting that of Bella as the former soldier turned her face from the road ahead towards him, and he sent her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, only for her to wince and turn back away from him once more.
She was angry with him, he knew that, even if she wasn’t going to speak the words and admit it.
He had failed to shoot the creature that Moonshine had become, and because of that hesitation, one of her dogs had been killed.
Grimacing, he turned to look back out of the windscreen, brow furrowing as he saw rain begin to spatter down upon it, the sky turning grey.
“As if the day couldn’t get any worse, now its raining” the woman seated between he and Bella suddenly gave a bitter chuckle, and he turned to meet her gaze, wondering what atrocities she and the others had seen within the hospital.
Smiling grimly, the former priest chuckled as she turned to meet his gaze, “I’m Victor Doggart…but most people just call me Dog”
“Alice…Alice Stone” the woman nodded, then turned to glance sideways at Bella as the silver-haired woman spoke, eyes not leaving the road.
“Bella Atkinson”
The woman, Alice, nodded once more, smiling awkwardly, then she glanced at them both in turn, “I really appreciate what you did back there, I know the others will too”
“What we did?” Bella cast her a confused look.
“Yeah, you stopped for us…waited…helped us”
“What else would we do?” Victor gave a confused laugh, head shaking, “Who wouldn’t help?”
Alice grimaced at his words, her head shaking as she met his gaze, “I can think of two people”
Victor raised an eyebrow, glancing to meet the questioning gaze of Bella before he looked back at Alice once more, “Who?”
She shrugged at his question, a faint smile creasing her features, “Oh, just two men that we ran into back in the hospital…it doesn’t matter now…they don’t matter now”
Victor nodded, studying her for a moment, then winced, “How bad was it in there?”
“Bad” she met his gaze, the pain of what she had seen evident in her brown eyes, and he stayed silent as she continued, “There were three of us at first, then we j
oined another group…those things…they were killing everyone they could”
“Did you lose anyone?” the voice of Bella had them glancing at her, and Alice shook her head.
“No, well, I came to the hospital for my friend Sarah but I was too late…then all Hell broke loose, a couple of the group I was in got killed…an old woman, I didn’t get her name, then Jennifer was killed by her husband…and a cleaner…oh, and at the start Jiyaa’s brother became one of these things and killed a nurse”
Exchanging glances with Victor, Bella gave a grunt, “Someone got killed by their husband?”
Alice nodded, “Stabbed and then thrown over the stairs from the fourth floor”
“Fuck” the former soldier grimaced, and Victor did the math, nodding in sudden understanding.
“He was one of the two men you mentioned”
The brown-haired woman nodded at his words, then frowned, “Have you had it rough out here?”
He winced, a sudden image of Moonshine filling his mind, “Yeah, its been pretty fucking grim”
She nodded at his words, her voice soft as she studied his face, “Did you lose anyone?”
His throat was suddenly tight, and he nodded at her, “My friend…Spencer…Moonshine…Bella lost her grandparents…there are two kids in the back of the ambulance who lost their grandfather too”
“I’m sorry” she made an awkward face, and Victor forced a smile, shrugging as he replied.
“It’s no-one’s fault”
Alice sighed at his words, turning to look back out of the windscreen and he did the same, watching as the wiper blades swept back and forth, cleaning the glass only for it to be covered again almost immediately by the heavy rain.
“This storm is getting worse” Bella grunted from behind the wheel and nodding, Victor leaned forwards, looking up at the darkening sky overhead, suddenly curious what the time was.
“What time is it?”
“Quarter past one” Alice replied, dragging her mobile phone from her pocket and glancing at the screen, “It looks a lot later”
Victor nodded, “Have you got signal?”
“Yeah”
“Try and get hold of the police or someone”
“Sure” she typed at the buttons and raised it to her ear, holding it there for what seemed an eternity before she lowered it, her features grim as she met his gaze, “There’s no answer”
“This is happening everywhere” Bella glanced at them, nodding grimly, and Alice shook her head.
“Don’t say that…that’s a terrifying thought”
“Why aren’t they answering?” Bella raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing as she glanced back out of the window then cursed aloud, the ambulance slowing down to stop, “Fucking Hell”
“What is it?” Victor leaned forwards, grey eyes straining to see through the rain, their vehicle’s lack of movement suddenly making him feel exposed and vulnerable, “What’s wrong?”
“The road is blocked by cars this way” Bella grimaced, pointing to the abandoned vehicles ahead of them in the road, “This is the way we came…damn it, how is it blocked now?”
“What’s that?” Alice suddenly leaned forwards, a hand rising to point towards a red car that was on its side, “I thought I saw something move”
“Where…” Bella began then cursed as a white figure suddenly charged out of the rain towards them from behind the upturned vehicle, what looked like a metal bar in its hands. With a snarl of her own, the former soldier floored the accelerator, swerving around the charging figure, the ambulance lurching as she bumped up onto a grass verge and steered it among the small trees that grew there, her features set in a grim mask.
In moments they were level with the pile-up, Victors blood running cold as he glanced at it and saw the half dozen white figures that waited there as if trying to trap them, his head shaking in disbelief, and then Bella steered their ride right once more, dropping back down to the hard road surface. Gritting his teeth amid his beard, Victor stared out of his side window, studying the area that they were now speeding through, recognising it from their journey to the hospital not so long ago, and then he cursed as Bella suddenly slammed on the brakes once more.
“Fucking Hell!” he turned to the silver-haired woman, head shaking, “What now?”
She grimaced, pointing with a finger to their right, “That’s the way we came in…there are cars everywhere now…we have to go left!”
“What’s left?” Alice turned to her, suddenly seeming to realise the situation, “Where are we going exactly? I have a car back at the hospital!”
“Fuck the hospital” Bella grunted, throwing her a look of sadness, “That place is a death trap, we need to get out of here and get everyone safe until we can figure out where to go for help!”
“This is madness” Alice shook her head, glancing at Victor as he studied the two women and he winced, turning his gaze forward to study the road sign that stood ahead of them in the driving rain, reading the name of what lay to their left, the only safe direction open for them to travel in.
“The North Pennines”
Chapter Twenty Seven
“I didn’t think we were going to make it…I thought that was game over” the porter stated from where he was standing at the far end of the middle aisle of the ambulance, his head shaking as he spoke almost to himself, and nodding at his words, Lauren turned from where she was standing beside the door, glancing at Brandon.
The young black man was seated upon the pillow end of the stretcher against the wall beside her, his knees drawn up to his chest as he sobbed and moaned, rocking back and forth slightly, the palms of his hands pressing against his eyes.
Concerned, she reached out to place a hand upon his knee nearest her in a bid to console him but he let out a high pitched whine and jerked away, and wincing, she moved her hand back away.
For several seconds, she stood staring down at the floor, hands reaching out to support herself against the wall as the ambulance suddenly jerked and swerved, then straightened once more, her mind reeling as she imagined the reasons for their erratic driving. Were there ghouls in the road? Were they on the ambulance?
Taking what she hoped was a steadying breath, she turned her face, her eyes meeting those of the Indian woman as she glanced up from the seat that she had taken beside the door, and reaching out, Lauren placed a hand on her shoulder, aware that they spoke different languages but feeling the need to support the woman who had helped them all so much, “Are you OK?”
Jiyaa nodded, her own right hand rising to clasp the hand of Lauren’s upon her shoulder, then her eyes drifted to Brandon and she winced, lips moving as if she wanted to speak but didn’t know the words. Smiling, guessing her meaning, the nurse gave a nod, “I think he’ll be OK”
Jiyaa smiled, squeezing her hand gently once more and removing it from her shoulder, Lauren turned her head, letting her gaze drift over the other occupants of the ambulance, smiling as she found two Asian children watching her from where they were seated at the other end of the stretcher from Brandon, the boy about five and the girl looking like she was almost in her teens.
“I’m Lauren” she told them, feeling a sudden need to put them at ease as they stared back, realising for the first time that there was a border collie lying upon the stretcher between them. The boy nodded at her words, smiling nervously but the girl stayed silent, eyeing her with suspicion, yet Lauren wasn’t offended by her behaviour, realising that they had probably been through similar situations to her and her companions.
Glancing away from the children, she studied the Scots woman as she sat on the floor of the ambulance before Lauren, one hand on her heart, the other holding her glasses as she breathed heavily, her eyes closed, then the nurse was glancing at the porter as he moved to stand at the back of the ambulance, leaning against the doors. Their eyes met and he nodded, smiling, and she returned the expression then shifted her gaze to the tired looking man in the doctors coat that was seated upon a fold-out chai
r beside the porter, his expression blank, a hand rubbing back through his silver hair as he stared into space.
The ambulance suddenly swerved once more, worse than before then lurched as it bounced up something, drawing curses and gasps from everyone in the rear of the ambulance, the dog barking once, its tail wagging weakly as it licked tenderly at one of its front legs, the nurse winced as she realised that the limb was at an odd angle.
“Is that leg broken?” she asked the girl, getting a nod in reply, and the young nurse made a pained expression, “How did it happen?”
The girl grimaced, and the boy gave a sigh, his little shoulders slumping, “It was one of the monsters that did it…it broke his leg”
“Her leg” the girl sent him an irritated look, her right hand reaching out to gently stroke the dogs back, “She’s a girl…Castiel was the boy”
At her words, the boy nodded, his head lowering as if he was about to start crying, and Lauren shook her head, “Where is Castiel?”
“Dead” the girl replied, her tone cold, “He’s dead, just like Moonshine…the monsters killed them”
“Ghouls” the voice of Brandon suddenly stated, and turning, Lauren saw him sitting back against the wall of the ambulance behind him, hands upon his knees as he nodded wisely at the two children, “They aren’t monster, they are ghouls”
The girl grimaced, but stayed silent and the young boy smiled, nodding up at Brandon, “I’m Eric, she’s Emily”
“I’m Brandon” the black man replied, nodding as he spoke, “I live at the hospital”
“Not now you don’t mate” the porter gave a bitter chuckle, an effeminate twang to his voice, and as Brandon snapped his face towards Lauren in sudden concern, she forced a smile back at him.
“Don’t worry, I am sure everything will be fine”
“Fine?” the porter gave a sneer from the other end of the ambulance, his head shaking, “You were just out there, weren’t you, darling?”
Ghoul: The Beginning Page 15