by Ryan Casey
She took a deep breath and walked past Tate, Baby Holly wriggling in her arms. “I have to.”
Tate grabbed her arm, then.
She turned to him.
“You need to just accept you’re not doing good, Kelsie,” Tate said. “Not just for your sake, but for your baby’s sake, too. Because if you don’t tell us where you’re at… we can’t help you. Nobody can.”
She went to protest, but then she stopped. She looked away. The world around her was blurring. She was exhausted. Starving. She wasn’t in a good way. She could barely put one foot in front of another. “How long til we…”
“Five hours or so,” Tate said.
Kelsie’s stomach sank.
“So if you need something. If you need some kind of help. Now’s the time to actually start asking for it. Because if you don’t, then we know what happens. We know how it plays out.”
Kelsie saw the look on Tate’s face, and she knew what he was implying. If she wasn’t careful, she wasn’t going to survive this journey.
But she took a deep breath and forced herself to stand upright. “It’s okay,” she said. “Really. I… I can make it. Maybe I’ll need a rest on the way. But I’ll let you know if I do.”
Tate didn’t look convinced. “Promise?”
Kelsie took a deep breath and nodded. “Promise.”
He looked a little more reassured at that. “Good. Because I can carry your baby if that’s what you want, but I don’t think I’ll be much good at carrying you too…”
His speech trailed off towards the end. He looked up at the sky. Frowning.
“What’s wrong?” Kelsie asked.
“You don’t hear that?”
“I…”
She didn’t hear a thing. Not at first. Nothing other than the ringing in her ears.
But then she realised there was something other than the ringing in her ears.
There was something up there.
A noise she hadn’t heard for quite some time.
She lifted her head, and she saw it.
There were helicopters. Four helicopters. All of them moving in her direction.
Then moving overhead.
Then moving onwards, towards Heysham.
She felt the tingling up her arms. The slight smile at the corners of her lips.
Trev looked at her, as too did Jack.
“That’s them,” she said.
They smiled. All of them bemused. All of them unable to believe what they’d just witnessed.
Because as reluctant as Kelsie had been to believe Gina… she had to accept what was in front of her.
She had to accept what she’d seen.
She couldn’t argue with it.
Helicopters. Heading towards Heysham.
Heading towards this supposed other extraction point.
Kelsie felt alive all of a sudden. She felt recharged. Energised. She felt filled with life.
“Come on,” she said, taking a step. “We’d better get—”
“Kelsie, I need to tell you something.”
She heard Tate’s voice. There was a seriousness to it. Seriousness she hadn’t heard from him before.
A vulnerability cracking through.
She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
He looked down at the ground. Then glanced back up at Kelsie. He was quite visibly shaking.
“Tate?” she said. “What is it?”
He looked away, then. Looked off over the sea. And Kelsie got the sense that something was coming. That an inevitable confession was on the verge of being unleashed.
But nothing could prepare her when it finally hit.
“I’ve lied,” he said.
Two words. That’s all they were. Out of context, they meant nothing.
But they carried so much weight.
And they carried so many answers.
It wasn’t just Kelsie who looked interested by what Tate was saying now. Jack was frowning, too. “What?” he said.
Tate didn’t look back at Jack, though. Only at Kelsie. A look of regret in his eyes.
“The helicopter group. I wasn’t… I wasn’t a part of them.”
He mumbled those last words. But they were clear enough.
“You… you what?”
“I was just a survivor,” Tate said. “Just a loser, roaming around. I lost my group. I lost my people. And I… I saw this helicopter from above and I guess it crashed near me. Wounded me. But I still had chance to change into some of their gear. I still had time to prepare.”
Kelsie’s mouth was dry. She couldn’t speak.
“I—I saw an opportunity. A chance to be taken in by another group. Because—because I was a loser. I always have been a loser. I added nothing to my old group. I was banished. Kicked out. I’ve never had anyone close. I’ve always pushed people away. I needed… I needed to add value to my life. I needed to give you a reason to believe in me. And when I heard what was said on that radio. When I heard how long there was left. When I heard there really was somewhere out there… I had to give myself value. But I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Kelsie tried to wrap her head around everything Tate was saying. But in a way, she didn’t have to. It made sense. All of it made total sense.
Tate’s vagueness about where they were heading to.
The inconsistency in things. The rival group who were gunning people down. This supposed attack in less than a day. And his injuries, nowhere near as bad as that of a standard helicopter crash survivor.
She should’ve seen it.
He’d been a normal survivor.
A normal survivor who had heard something very abnormal.
And then when he had, he’d used that information to keep himself alive.
Kelsie wasn’t sure how to feel. But mostly, she could feel her skin heating up. Her blood boiling. Because she’d had faith in Tate. She’d trusted Tate.
Through everything, she’d believed in him.
And it turned out he’d been lying all along.
“So you’re worthless to us,” Jack said.
Kelsie looked at Jack and saw the disgust on his face. She saw the same looks on the rest of the group, too.
And she saw Tate standing there, totally lost, totally alone. Tears pouring down his cheeks.
“I lied about who I was,” Tate said. “But—but I didn’t lie about what was coming for us. I didn’t lie about what we had to do. I didn’t—”
“You pretended you were from this new world,” she said. “You gave us hope. Made us believe it was somewhere good.”
“I’m sorry,” Tate said.
“So this stuff. This stuff about the new world being almost full. Your supposed knowledge about why The Outsiders are here. That’s all nonsense, too?”
Tate lowered his head. He’d clearly given up. “I told the story I had to tell,” he said. “It didn’t add up. Not totally. But it worked enough.”
Kelsie looked away. She couldn’t bear to look at Tate for much longer. She was annoyed at him for lying. But she was annoyed at herself for believing in his lies, too.
“We should’ve left this bastard behind with Gina,” Jack said.
Tate shook his head. “I didn’t have to tell the truth. I didn’t have to say a thing. I could’ve just gone on and on and kept the lie alive. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I care. About you. About your baby. About everyone here.”
Kelsie took a deep breath. She didn’t know what to say to Tate. Her emotion was too strong. The moment was sweeping her away.
She just knew she didn’t want to be with Tate right now.
She went to say something. To tell him to turn around. To walk.
And then she stopped.
Because she heard something.
Something blood-curdling from the building to her right.
She turned around. Looked over at the building. The large detached house staring back at her. Maybe it was in her head. Maybe it was a figment of her imagination.
But then she
heard it again, and she knew it was for real.
“Is that…” Tate started.
He didn’t have to finish.
She heard it again.
It was a cry.
And not just any cry.
A cry of a baby.
Chapter Thirty
Seventeen and a Half Hours to Go…
Kelsie heard the cry from the building on her right and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
The afternoon sun shone down brightly, breaking free of the clouds of earlier. The sea alongside them looked beautiful and serene. If she really believed it, she could convince herself that it was just an ordinary day by the seaside.
But of course, that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t any ordinary day.
Especially not when she heard that cry.
She froze. Looked over at where she thought the cry was coming from.
“We should keep moving,” Tate said, uncertainty to his voice.
It said a lot that Tate’s confession about being a liar, about being just a normal survivor like everyone else, felt like it had been brushed under the carpet by the urgency of this cry.
“Kelsie,” Tate said. “I know I’m hardly in the best position to be giving advice right now. But we need to keep moving.”
But Kelsie couldn’t ignore that cry. She couldn’t just let it happen. She couldn’t understand it. People didn’t live out here anymore. They lived in wider communities. Sure, there were people like Trev and his group who had been on the road for a time, but that was different.
There was a sign of a baby in one of those dusty old abandoned buildings.
And Kelsie couldn’t just ignore that.
She turned to Tate and the others. Then she focused her attention on Tate. She wanted to believe in him. Wanted to trust him.
Then she turned to Trev and held out her baby. “Look after Holly.”
Tate’s eyes widened as he stepped in. “No,” he said. “Not a chance. You can’t keep doing this.”
“Excuse me,” Kelsie said, voice raised. “I didn’t ask you. There’s somebody in there. A baby. I can’t just leave them.”
Tate turned around, looked for some backing, but it didn’t look like anyone was backing anyone right now. “I understand this is difficult for you, all of this. But we’ve got less than a day to go, and miles to walk, and we could really do with as few distractions as possible right now.”
“Then keep walking,” Kelsie said, holding tightly on to baby Holly, Arya Jr by her side. “Keep walking, and just hope we don’t catch you up. Because I need to go in there. I need to see what’s going on. I can’t just leave a baby in there. Not when they might need help.”
Tate shook his head again.
But it was Jack who stepped forward, rifle in hand.
“I’m not saying I agree with your little side quest,” he said. “But I’ll come with you. I’ll keep an eye on you. Okay?”
Kelsie looked at Trev. At his two companions. Both so new to the group. And both holding back.
And then she kept hold of her baby, turned to the abandoned house and nodded.
She started walking towards the buildings.
“Kelsie?” Tate called.
She gritted her teeth at the sound of his voice. Then she turned around. Saw the uncertainty on his face. “What?”
“If anything happens… anything weird at all… you run. Okay?”
Kelsie swallowed a lump in her throat.
Then she carried on her walk towards the building, Jack by one side, Arya Jr by the other.
The building was much like many of the other buildings by the coast on her walk so far. A big old detached house. Looked like it would’ve cost quite a bit back in the day. Nice sea view, and all that.
But like everything, it had given way to the elements. The grass in the garden was halfway up the side of the house. Kelsie could see movement in there—small animals, birds, all kinds of life.
The white paint of the house was cracked. The windows—at least the ones that were still intact—were dusty and smudged. It didn’t look like the kind of house where someone had been living any time soon.
But she couldn’t deny the sound she was walking towards. The sound of the crying baby.
She got to the front door and stopped.
She looked at Jack. He was standing there. Holding his rifle.
Everything was too quiet. Too silent. But for this baby crying.
She took a deep breath.
Then she stepped inside.
Almost immediately after opening the door, Arya Jr shot off into the dusty darkness.
“Arya!” Kelsie called.
But it was too late.
Arya Jr was sniffing around.
She was rushing up the stairs.
Disappearing into the unknown.
Kelsie’s heart raced. Every footstep echoed around the place, every step kicking up yet another cloudy plume of dust. She wanted time to explore this place. To properly investigate what might be going on in here.
But it was already too late for any time-wasting.
Arya Jr had made sure of that.
She walked across the hall, past the old family photographs. Up the stairs, off in the direction Arya Jr had headed. And the further up the stairs she got, the more she heard that baby. The closer she heard it.
But there was something not right about it.
As she got to the top of the steps, the top of the landing area, sidestepping a hole in the wood, it was only then that she realised.
The cries. They weren’t unique cries. They weren’t individual cries. They were on a loop.
Like they were recorded.
Kelsie felt a sense of dread kicking in as she stood at the top of the landing. The door where the cries were coming from was right opposite her. She knew she should turn away. Call Arya Jr and just get out of here right away.
But she found herself walking towards that door.
She found herself wanting to see.
Wanting to know…
She reached the door. Partly open. Jack still behind her, rifle in hand.
She reached for the door. Pushed it. Heart pounding. Arya Jr panting somewhere in the darkness.
Swallowed a sickly lump in her throat.
And then she pushed the door open completely.
She saw the room. Saw the closed curtains. Heard the flies. But more than anything, the smell.
That awful but distinct smell of rot and decay.
She went to step out of the room when she saw it.
Saw what Arya Jr was sniffing around.
A body.
It looked like it had been there some time. The bulk of the flesh had decayed.
But it was in a cot.
And on its little chest… there was a recorder.
Playing the same looped cry all over again.
Kelsie swallowed a lump in her throat. “Come on, Arya. We need to get out of here.”
She turned around.
She only saw it in an instant.
Jack standing there facing her.
Then the figure behind him.
Creeping up.
“Jack,” Kelsie said.
But it was too late.
She saw the figure covering Jack’s lips with her bony fingers.
Saw a momentary struggle. A momentary realisation that something wasn’t quite right.
And then the woman sliced his throat.
Kelsie could only stand. Only watch as Jack fell before her. As his blood sprayed over her. As he struggled to the ground, rifle tumbling to his side.
She could only look at the woman who’d done it.
Bony. Gaunt. Hairless. Naked.
Almost alien in her demeanour.
She could only stare at the madness in her bloodshot eyes.
“My baby,” she said. “My Clarissa.”
She lifted her hand and looked right at baby Holly, whose cries began to echo those of the recording.
“It�
��s okay now,” she said, walking closer. “Mummy’s here…”
Chapter Thirty-One
Seventeen Hours to Go…
Kelsie watched the woman walk towards her, knife in hand, eyes on her baby.
The house felt like it was darkening and closing in on her. Its walls felt like they were surrounding her, suffocating her. In her line of sight, all she could see was that woman. Her gaunt cheekbones. Her grey skin. Her few wiry strings of hair dangling down from her mostly bald head.
But those eyes.
Those bloodshot eyes.
So focused on baby Holly in her arms.
There was something else in her line of sight, too. Jack. He’d gone still now. His eyes were staring up into nothingness.
She couldn’t believe how quickly it had happened, how fast it had gone down. One second he’d been there, standing there. The next… gone. Just like that. Click of a finger and gone.
Fine margins between life and death.
And yet still she was here.
Somehow, she was still here.
Baby in her arms.
Arya Jr growled by her side. Her teeth were on show, and her hackles were up. But Kelsie knew Arya Jr. She was loyal, but she was soft. There’s no way she’d go for this woman.
Besides. She wasn’t sure she wanted her to. She knew exactly what the woman would do if anyone threw themselves at her right now.
That knife in her hand.
Jack’s blood.
The rifle, lying by his side…
She stumbled closer towards Kelsie, but it was as if Kelsie wasn’t even there. As if the only things that were in this landing area now were this woman and baby Holly.
And that worried Kelsie.
Because she knew she’d go to any lengths here to take her baby from her.
“My daughter,” the woman said. Her voice was croaky, her throat clearly sore. She didn’t look like she’d eaten for months, let alone weeks. “I found you. You came back to me. All this time. All this time, and you’re here.”
She was just inches from Kelsie now. Stepping closer.
Kelsie knew she had to do something. That she had to try something. And she was running out of options.
Time was running out.
So she took a deep breath and did the only thing that seemed possible in the moment.