Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever

by Winkless, Lance

  I stumble away, my heart racing, unable to catch my breath. My head spins, and for a second and I think I am going to pass out. Gulping down smoke-laden air does little to stabilise my wobbling body and I must take a knee before I keel over and risk injuring myself. My vision blurs and I have no choice but to lower my head to get blood and the oxygen it contains back into my brain. The position leaves me defenceless, but there is no other choice than to hold it until I can feel my senses begin to return and my oxygen levels even off.

  I’ve seen worse than this, I tell myself, and I have, not only in the Tower of London, but in the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Get your shit together and stop being such a wuss!

  Deriding myself, but determined, I push, not willing for a few burned bodies to defeat me. As soon as my legs straighten, however, I know I have made a huge mistake, I’ve risen too soon and too quickly. The thick taste of smoke in the back of my throat sticks in my mind as my eyes glaze over and I feel myself falling.

  Chapter 14

  Something prods me sharply in my ribs, my mind searching for where the hell I am. Another prod stirs me further, this time it is aimed at my leg. What the fuck is that? I ask myself, am I dreaming?

  The caustic taste of smoke in my mouth suddenly brings reality flooding back, and with it comes fear. I passed out, all at once. I remember my eyes glazing over and the awful feeling of falling onto the road, near to the pile of incinerated cars and the torrid black charred bodies. How long I have been unconscious for I couldn’t say. I hear a scraping noise close by, near my head, and I know I must open my eyes and overcome the dread in the pit of my stomach. My fear of what horrors opening my eyes will reveal, is stifling.

  Forcing my eyes open, light floods back into them and it takes a second for them to focus. I am lying on my side, almost in the foetal position. The first thing I see is my M4 lying next to me, discarded in the road. A shadow moves next to it, and then another, and my terror of what is casting the shadows is paralysing. A leg clad in indigo blue jean moves into my field of vision and then I know for sure that the shadows are not random. Someone, or something is next to me, blocking the feeble sun.

  A low grunting noise comes from behind me, and it is closely followed by another prod, in the middle of my back. The grunting is Rabid, that’s for sure, and it and the prod didn’t come from the owner of the leg in front of me. There is more than one creature standing over me, I suddenly realise.

  I can’t play dead in the middle of the road forever; I’ve got to continue on to find Karen and Jim. Turn over, I tell myself, if the Rabids were going to make a meal out of you, they already would have. My muscles tighten as I build myself up to take the plunge and turn over, I even find myself doing a childish countdown in my head, promising myself that I will go on zero.

  I roll over, my muscles miraculously relaxing as I turn from my side and onto my back as if they have surrendered to my fate. My eyes blink and I find myself looking up to the sky through the smoke haze, with a circle of creatures standing over me.

  Time stands still for a moment as I lay there in a standoff with the ghouls hanging over me, except I am the only one not standing. I risk circling my eyes around and count five pairs of legs but no faces, the Rabids are obviously not that interested in me. Next to my right shoulder, one of the legs move, pushing a foot to stab my shoulder and it is accompanied by another impatient grunt. My eyes move to focus on the owner of the leg, but all I can see is that it belongs to a tall, wide-bodied creature.

  My confusion lifts and the realisation of what is going on hits me. The Rabid is attempting to wake me and to get me back onto my feet, but why? Does it want to befriend me in some twisted way? The possibility stuns me. Could the Rabids, or at least the ones surrounding me be not just mindless beasts—is there at least some semblance of consciousness contained behind their dead eyes? Even the most solitary and ferocious of wild animals needs companionship at some point, even if it is only to breed. Is that what I am dealing with here, a pack of ferocious wild Rabids, who are inviting me to join the pack?

  These creatures may not need to breed, but they do need to hunt and perhaps it is more efficient if they hunt in groups. It is the only explanation I can think of, while I am flat on my back in the middle of the road, and I decide to play along, at least for now.

  My shoulder is hit again by the same creature, and this time I react to the blow and I begin to move to sit up. I take it slowly, taking in my surroundings as I go, my hand poised, ready to pull my Sig out of its holster at the first sign of aggression. There is no aggression and I find that my head is clear, my dizzy spell has passed as I sit in the road. My confidence building, I decide to continue and to get to my feet.

  My M4 scrapes across the roadside, its tether, the other end of which is attached to my combat vest, pulls it. I do not attempt to grab hold of it yet, I let the tether bring the rifle up with me. The last thing I want is to act like a human by taking hold of the gun and spook my new friends.

  Standing in the middle of the pack, I can now see their abhorrent faces and the evil behind their eyes as they size the newcomer up. There are five Rabids in the pack that I find myself a candidate to join. Three of them were once women and the other two were male. Each face is terrifying in its own unique way, but what they all have in common is they are all grotesquely disfigured and all of them carry injuries. One has a dark red mush where its left eye once sat in its socket, while another’s face has shredded skin from what I am sure was the result of an explosion it suffered. The beast probably got too close to an exploding grenade.

  Only one of the Rabids has not looked directly at me, the tallest and widest of the pack, the one with the insistent prodding foot. This creature is the leader, the Alpha of the group, I am confident of that.

  Tensions build as I stand with my new brethren, unsure of my next move. The pack mill around but none venture far, they are waiting for something, they are waiting for direction and that will only come from one source, the Alpha. I am too afraid to look at the leader directly myself, terrified that the fearsome creature will have a change of heart and decide that I don’t fit into his pack and instead decide to launch an attack on me and rip me to shreds. Something needs to happen to snap it out of the daze that it seems to have fallen into, I haven’t got all day!

  Gradually, I bring my head up and straighten my back, my eyes moving to look at the chief beast, that is stood no more than a meter away from me. Wispy strands of matted black hair clinging to the side of the creature’s face, its grey skin almost translucent. A wide gash, that shows no signs of healing, festers across its cheek and across the bridge of its nose, a nose that twitches as if it is thinking and building up to something.

  No sooner than my eyes fix on the Alpha Rabid, the tension builds again and fear courses through me as the Alpha’s head begins to turn in my direction. Every fibre in my body screams for me to take evasive action, grab my Sig, or simply run, run as fast as I can away from this monstrous beast. I am surrounded by creatures almost as terrifying as the leader, however, and I could be cut down as soon as my back was turned if I tried to flee.

  I attempt to calm myself; the pack has had plenty of opportunities to taste my flesh, I know something more is going on here and I must front it out. The Alpha’s head squares up to mine and it stares straight at me, sizing me up making its decision, and all I can do is wait for its judgement to seal my fate.

  Alpha’s face suddenly changes, it scrunches up, its decision is made, that much I know. Its mouth snaps open and an almighty, high pitched roar slams straight into me. My ears are pounded by the onslaught, about to burst as the terrifying sound reverberates out of its cavernous black mouth. Spittle from the disgusting hole sprays across me, the infected bile splashing onto my face. I resist raising my arms to wipe the virus away and without a second thought my mouth opens and I scream as hard as I can back at my tormentor in defiance.

  My lungs give out rapidly, I cannot compete with Alpha’s
fearsome display and completely involuntarily my mouth snaps shut and my head bows down in submission to my superior, my pitiful display over.

  With my head down, I stand in obedience waiting to discover if I will be shown mercy. I am almost trembling in fear as my eyes reach up, straining in their sockets as far as possible to try and catch a glimpse of Alpha’s next move. My arms tense, poised to reach for my weapon if needed.

  Gradually, Alpha’s roar tapers out and its body relaxes. To my relief, I see its stance turn an inch or two away from me and it is then that I know I have passed my initiation. Alpha has accepted me. My head comes up slowly to see the other four Rabids have been watching the display, their eyes fixed on me and Alpha.

  Their eyes move to Alpha alone as the creature turns away from us and without warning springs forward. As soon as Alpha moves, the rest of the pack surge forward after him and I quickly take my cue and launch after them. In unison, I take the chance to take hold of my M4 that is dangling beside me and I’m off after them.

  I am in awe of the pack as it manoeuvres at speed through the city. The way they dart between obstacles and fly into the air to jump over bodies and over other hurdles is impressive. The pack is so efficient that I cannot stay with it and in no time, I am rapidly falling behind.

  Just as I start to think that my time in the pack will be over before it has begun, Alpha suddenly comes to a stop ahead of me. The beast turns back, to see where I am and I realise that, unbelievably, the fucker is waiting for me.

  By the time I reach them, my legs are moving at no more than a jogging pace. My feet are hitting the ground hard, and my lungs are heaving, surely Alpha will decide that I am a waste of time and put me out of my misery? When I come to a stop next to the pack, Alpha just stands there watching though. Is it giving me a chance to get my strength back before we continue? I wonder. Whatever the reason, I take the opportunity to recover and mimic the pack, I stand motionless, whilst trying not to sweat too much.

  The excursion has built up a deep thirst inside me and the incessant smoke has left a thick film in my mouth, but as tempting as it is, I don’t reach for my canister of water. I think that would be taking the piss out of my new friends. Instead, I tentatively look around to get my bearings.

  The pack has moved me closer to my destination, I see as my eyes move in their sockets. We are on a wide, devastated road that is directly in line with London Bridge. I can’t be sure exactly how close Karen and Jim’s building is because I cannot see it above the surrounding buildings, even though they are relatively low. I know that the building is close, however, it must be, I am smack bang in the middle of the financial district. Right in front of me is another skyscraper under construction that I think is next door to theirs.

  I bide my time, getting my breath back, trusting that Karen and Jim are waiting, if not patiently. I am going to have to see where Alpha leads us next, if the creature takes us in the wrong direction, I will have to slip away when we move. That might be easier said than done though, Alpha seems to be keeping an awfully close watch on me.

  As my breath returns, I am itching to get moving again, but I don’t want to push my luck. Instead, I try to show Alpha that I am ready to go, I start to shuffle around, again mimicking the other members of the pack.

  Alpha eyes me and my ploy works because the creature moves off. This time, thankfully, it doesn’t sprint away, it slopes off slowly, perhaps it has some sympathy that I am struggling to keep up when they move at speed. Or perhaps there is another reason for the change in speed.

  A large open junction is ahead but Alpha stays close to the building on the right side of the road. As we approach the junction, he begins to turn right, sticking close to the buildings. We join on to the next road and I wonder if this beast has a destination in mind or is it just a random path it is leading us on?

  As we join the junction, my heart skips a beat when I suddenly see the tall, sloped side of the Cheesegrater skyscraper reaching up into the smoke. I am finally almost in touching distance of Karen and Jim’s building. I even begin to imagine them stuck inside that office on the tenth floor.

  I almost trip over a body part on the pavement, my neck craned up to look at the building and I quickly bring my concentration back onto the world around me rather than letting my imagination distract me.

  The path ahead makes me wish I had remained in my imaginary state. Twisted dead bodies and gruesome body parts litter the road ahead, their number unbelievably sickening. This time, I do not curse myself for my weak stomach, the scene is one of shocking slaughter and devastation, dark red blood and body matter coat everything in sight.

  Jim had described the mayhem in the streets from his vantage point in his office when I spoke to him and Karen on the first day of the outbreak. He told me the military was opening fire on the people below, that the undead was swarming through the streets. His description did not convey this devastation, how could it have?

  Cars are also strewn all around, smashed into buildings and many of them burnt out. Bodies lay on top of them and squashed beneath them, their heads and bones crushed. The slaughter does not discriminate between men and women, both are torn to ribbons by the high-velocity rounds that have obliterated the area ahead, the gunfire emanating from the road behind me. The one and only solace I can find is that I don’t see any children in amongst the carnage in this business district of the city.

  I pick my way around the carnage as much as possible, in a half-baked stupor, knowing I must regain my composure, and fast. The tower’s overhanging canopy and my destination is coming into view and soon it will be the building’s foyer I am adjacent to.

  My mind begins to calculate how best to make my escape from the pack of Rabids I find myself entwined with. I look ahead to try and see where they might be heading, in the hopes I can see a potential opportunity to escape. The strange, inside-out designed, Lloyds of London building is opposite to the front of the skyscraper that I am aiming for, and the thought crosses my mind that could be where Alpha is leading us? Jim had also described a car smashing through the side of the Lloyds building, although that might have nothing to do with Alpha’s plans.

  As if he is reading my mind, the fearsome creature’s head turns to look behind, its eyes falling on me, then turns away. Not daring to think it until the beast’s head has turned back to the front again and away from me, but is the beast checking on his new recruit, I wonder?

  The front entry to the Cheesegrater comes into view from behind the adjacent older and nondescript buildings, it is set back from on the side of the road. Tall steel cross members reach up at the front of the building, holding up the front sloping face of the tower. Escalators reach up behind the cross members and into the building. I see that my entry into the building will not be an issue, the shards of shattered glass sprinkled across its entrance confirms that.

  Alpha leads us level with the building, but the creature doesn’t stop to take in the view, it keeps on going and begins to head right. The beast is leading us towards the Lloyds building, where smashed through the railings that surround the building, is a car. The car must be the same one that Jim had described to me in the chaos he saw. Only the rear of the car is visible, the rest of its body is inside the building. Somehow, it miraculously managed to miss the predominant concrete that makes up the street level of the building and found a softer spot to hit.

  I debate whether to make a break for it as we begin to move past the Cheesegrater. I see the perfect route to get inside, through the shattered glass and bodies, and on to the stalled escalators that lead up and inside the building, but I bottle it. Alpha’s head keeps swiping back in my direction and the rest of the pack is too close for comfort, no matter how much I try to ‘unintentionally’ hang back.

  Instead, I keep on following, I will just have to continue searching for an opportunity to disappear from the pack. I casually glance at my watch, I am now more than half an hour late, I can only imagine Karen and Jim’s state of mind right no
w. They will be going through turmoil and I am surprised that my phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook, or has it? Have I missed the device vibrating in my pocket, more than likely I have? I am prone to miss calls under normal circumstances, never mind when I am running with a zombie horde.

  Watching Alpha casually, my hand enters my pocket and slides out my phone. I keep the phone down by my side, so as not to draw attention and turn it slightly up to try and get a look at the screen. My thumb presses the power button on the phone’s side when it is in position and the screen illuminates as I glance down. I do have missed calls, I can’t see how many or who they are from, but it doesn’t take much guessing who has been trying to reach me.

  A grunt startles me while my head is down peering at my phone, and I almost whip my head straight up to see what Alpha is grunting for. I must stop myself though and instead, I keep my head down and flop it from side to side while my thumb calmly presses the power button again to cut the screen off. I am not sure how good my impression of a mindless undead beast is, but it can’t be that bad because I am not attacked and torn to pieces. Instead, I am grunted at again and this time I bring my head up slowly as if I’ve only registered the second grunt in my undead head.