by Stevens, GJ
I had no time to think. Still, I didn't move. What if on the road travelled an injured friend, running lame from a danger I already knew too well?
What had Andrew seen for us to dive into this hiding place?
We were blind to all around, only with our ears to lead us in the right direction. Was it an animal gaining in the bushes, a stray dog not fed for over twenty-four hours?
How long would it take for a pet to reverse hundreds of generations of breeding? I'd rather tackle a hungry animal than something which would kill me and make me live again.
What if it were one of our friends? We'd separated and I had no chance to question what had happened. Alive or dead? I needed to know.
Zoe's face came to mind, even Naomi's slid past in the gallery of images. Toby was gone, or soon to be.
Matt. I didn't know how he'd faired. Lily. She was past the point of no return for sure. Was it a blessing they'd gone together? How long would it be before they turned into those things?
Toby wouldn't be dead yet. Lily either. Unless they'd bled out, but not by now? Or had I missed time? Moments unnoticed whilst I'd lain overwhelmed.
I thought of Cassidy. Her blonde striking hair and blue eyes. Then Ellie, her shorter mirror image. Her fear pointed in my direction.
I thought of Leo, Daniel and Max. A sudden hope sparking they may have made it. They'd left earlier than the rest of us; perhaps there was a chance for them.
I thought of the old man's head crashing so hard against the windscreen; the splintered glass was something I would have to live with for as long as I survived.
Realisation sparked. Was he was one of them when he'd died? Is that why he was in the road? But there hadn't been that smell, the odour of decay.
No. I couldn’t let the thought temper the guilt. He was alive before, but what was he now? What were any of them now? Was it one or all of them, dead, hunting for their next feed? Were all of them out there in the bushes or on the road? No distinction between the two. A pincer movement with no right way to turn.
Or was it our friends, searching in the dark? Scared, like us. Like me.
Andrew was no help. I couldn't see past the leaves at my face, my ears full of the rustle of life, the scrape of soles against the road.
Andrew knew why we'd dived into the bush. He'd said there were more, but not how many. The roadblock was not so far away. I had no real idea of how far, how fast I'd driven in my race to get away from where Chloe was first attacked. From the place when this became all too real.
Now I'd wasted too much time. They were on us, so close. Somehow they knew, must have known where we were.
Finding Andrew's wrist in the dark, I gripped, tensing twice. He reflexed in response.
I tapped left, trying to indicate towards the noise in the bushes, but he twisted right; my right, showing the opposite direction.
Did he mean it was not the way to go? I indicated left once more, moving his hand with a jerk.
His arm was limp. The noise too much, the scrape of the feet too close; the rattle of the leaves like drums in my ears.
I took Andrew's lead, or what I thought he'd meant and leapt right, the breath of cold air feeling great on my face. The pistol in my hand pushed out.
I'd made the right and wrong choice, depending on how you felt about what I stood in front of.
My feet were on the hard surface of the road, my vision clear, the first rays of sun climbing the horizon.
I hoped the gun worked this time.
20
In front of me stood not one of my friends, not a companion who'd died and come back as something else. Not someone I'd seen before.
Still, my finger wouldn't commit on the trigger. I'd made too many recent mistakes in this life already.
She was mid-twenties with brunette hair tied high in a causal bun, the right of her face reflected perfection in the first light of the day. A thin, straight eyebrow ran to a point after hours of preening. She wore an Aran jumper. To the left was a black hole hovering over her breast where dark, dried liquid radiated out. Somehow, I knew it would look a different colour in the sun.
Underneath was faultless skin, not the wide-open wound I'd expected to stare back, oozing with blood.
I returned to the details I'd skipped at first sight, my head refusing to acknowledge the dark sunken hole where her left eye should have looked out. Skin on the left of her face was tight, desiccated, drawn over skeletal features. Her mouth hung wide.
The wind drew her stench across my nostrils. I pulled the trigger and the gun exploded.
At first, I thought my hand was on fire. The explosion ripping through my flesh, cutting me to ribbons as the gun back-fired. The gun shot backwards as I fumbled in the dark.
When she dropped to the floor I looked at my hand to see it was still intact, the gun in one piece, just a ring of pain left in my ears.
My legs carried me forward and I hovered over her body. Now both her eyes were missing. Her mouth closed. At peace.
The rustle in the bushes grew to a fever, but I didn't turn, didn't wince as I looked up to the horizon. The sun was beautiful as its amber rays highlighted the curve of our little planet.
Andrew joined at my side. I glanced left and saw another, then two more. Zoe, Naomi and Cassidy with Ellie tucked up to her hip, almost hidden.
Each joined in the line and stared out. We shared that silent moment of hope as if today was the day when maybe the world would make sense again.
One of the girls was the first to pull in the sharp breath. The others followed with their hands reaching for their mouths, almost in unison as we saw a figure running towards us on the road, a dark outline against the growing light, but he wasn't alone.
Horde was the only word I could find to describe what we saw at the runner's back. On the horizon came a writhing mass of figures with unnatural, stilted movement. Their speed less than the runner's, but not slow enough for my liking.
“Go,” I said, turning to the line. “Go,” I repeated.
Cassidy and Ellie were the first to peel off and break into a jog, then Zoe and Naomi to the sound of sobbing for the shattered illusion of hope we'd just shared.
Andrew stood held to the spot.
“Go,” I shouted.
“Fuck off,” he replied, panting through a half-hearted smile.
Together we held our ground with the runner closing. I repositioned the warm gun in my hand as a club.
Andrew stood with a lighter held tight in his fist, the stick of a giant star-mottled firework in the other.
After a minute we saw Matt's features, his roman nose appearing first as the light climbed.
Andrew and I swapped a glance, wide grins shared. I heard the rasp of a lighter at my side, the fizz of the fuse.
My hand out, I grabbed at Matt's outstretched fingers. The rocket electrified the air, racing toward the approaching crowd, their gut-wrenching stench already here.
I had his palm and let my blood pressure relax at his warmth. We were already running, chasing away, making good ground towards our friends as the firework exploded at our backs.
We almost clapped hands in a high five, turning to watch the middle of the pack halt and tried to ignore the surge of double dead bodies forming over the mound.
Andrew couldn't have been carrying enough fireworks to take the whole pack on, but we had pace. Above all we had pace, although the girls were already beginning to slow.
Still running, I watched as first Zoe stopped. She turned our way, then Naomi too, despite my waving hands and shouts urging them on.
Cassidy was next, Ellie tucked in. They'd turned and were jumping in the air, arms waving, screaming at the top of their voices, no longer worried about the horde of things running our way.
Before I could slow, I heard the unmistakable sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air.
21
Tears rose as I came to a stop. With my hand reaching for my mouth, my lungs gasping, relief electrified my nerve
s. I wasn't going to die anytime soon. We weren't going to die the same terrible way as we’d watched our friends.
I watched the helicopter as a dot on the horizon, but still it was clear they were heading our way. It followed the road. They couldn't miss the horde who took no notice. They wouldn't miss us. We were saved.
With the chopper approaching, I walked backwards; the stench reminding us these things were gaining, would still run us down if we didn't pick up the pace and we needed to get away so the crew could land safely.
Matt slowed, waving his hands, not moving much from his position. The rest of us turned and hurried once again.
The beat of the rotors grew and with each step my legs felt lighter, my mind clearing, joy rising at the thought of a safe escape and getting answers to those questions circling around everyone’s heads.
We'd lost two friends along the way, but hope surged we'd see Leo, Daniel and Max on the other side.
The tone of the engines changed, but before I could look, a jolt of rapid gunfire broke out.
I slowed. The others did too. Ellie tucked back into her sister's side. Naomi and Zoe linked arms tight as we watched a line of fire rain from the side door of the camo-green Merlin helicopter still heading our way, but side on.
A helmeted figure steered the door-mounted gun, tracer bullets glowing red hot as they leapt away, a dark mist rising from the crowd.
Still, I took steps back. The horde continued advancing, despite their numbers diminishing before my eyes.
The others followed, even Matt started to move as the gunfire paused and we watched the walking bodies still ignore their slaughter.
After a moment of activity from the door, the gunfire took up again with a rampant fever, but soon fell as the numbers on the ground thinned.
I slowed, gaps lengthening between the blasts as the crewman took his time, the crowd diminishing with each burst.
We watched as a ball flew from the side door. An explosion tensed my shoulders forward as a spray of debris reached high in the air.
Backing off, the action gained ground. The helicopter crew were circling, chasing individuals hobbling as they only now started to disperse. More grenades flew from the doorway, explosions rocking me back as I jammed my fingers into my ears.
We backed off further and Matt had too, but he was still a few hundred metres away. I pulled my fingers from my ears and took a turn.
I breathed a sigh of relief, for the first time not retching at the foul smell. We were safe. They were dead. Again.
I hugged Andrew at my side, walked the few steps and met Zoe then Naomi, taking them in my arms. I felt the stress release with each squeeze, even sharing a smile with Cassidy as her sister hid away.
Turning, the sound of the chopper grew. The long machine gun had relaxed on its hinges, pointing down.
I took a few steps to Matt, stopped as the chopper grew nearer, eventually flying over our heads as they continued to follow the road.
For one fear-filled moment I thought they would race on along the highway, but I relaxed back again as it rose higher, sweeping to our side in a long arc and circling the field to head back our way.
I pushed my hands in the air, the others joining as we waved. We wouldn't allow them to mistake us for people who didn't want to be rescued.
Andrew said something in my ear, but I missed the detail. Instead I watched as the helicopter twisted, turning through ninety degrees.
I watched, still waving high as the machine gun pivoted. My stomach contracted as fire rushed from the muzzle and Matt fell, a red mist following the bullets ripping into his shadow.
22
The spray of lead glowed against the receding darkness, its path grinding onwards past Matt's slumped, unmoving remains as it kicked up great mounds of tarmac.
We stood in a line, faces transfixed as another version of death raced in our direction.
“Run,” I screamed. Everyone seemed to wake and turn on their heels, but I held my ground, waiting for their reaction.
Andrew speared across my front, his plan to separate and to get away from the group to force a choice to whom they'd kill first.
Zoe and Naomi clung to each other as they moved, but soon released and gained speed, running parallel along the straight road.
Ellie's short legs weren't pumping so hard. Cassidy slowed too as she scooped her around her front.
I wouldn't let them be the first.
I quickened my pace, catching them with no effort, grabbing around Ellie's stomach whilst locking my gaze with Cassidy as her eyelids widened.
She released her grip. Ellie squirmed as if I was the Child-Catcher from her nightmares, only calming as I slung her over my shoulder and she saw her sister running beside her.
“Get off the road,” I heard Andrew scream, his voice already distant.
I swerved left, seeing sense in his words; Cassidy followed too. I couldn't keep my gaze on Zoe and Naomi, my concentration fixed forward through the grass at the edge of the road as I tried to stop my top-heavy weight from toppling on the uneven ground.
At our backs, the machine gun had stopped screaming, but the engines were so loud, the tone bass as it changed pitch.
I glanced around to see it manoeuvring for the chase. I didn’t look for long enough to see who they were going after; the only chance we had was to run and hide.
An explosion rocked me forward, taking all my effort to recover from the stumble. Ellie let out a yelp, but the chaos sounded further away than I expected.
A pit of emptiness opened in my stomach as I realised they were going after one of my friends.
The sky brightened with each wide step. The grass fell down a valley at my feet, the lightening horizon filling me with hope.
In the dawn light a wood of dense trees stood a few hundred metres away. Somehow, I found more inside me and picked up the pace, ignoring the scream of pain in my legs.
The machine gun lit up the air and I winced as an explosion followed, brightening the sky with a flash. It was the unmistakable pop and fizz of a firework.
We were at the tree-line and I let Ellie down. With my arms aching at the relief, I stared on as she jumped the few steps to Cassidy, grabbing around her waist.
I followed as they turned to gawk at the onslaught. The helicopter had followed the course of the road. The pit opened wider in my stomach as I saw it must have been Zoe and Naomi they'd chased.
I closed my eyes and let my breath settle, said a Godless prayer in hope they'd split up to halve the chances.
A breath pulled at my lungs as I watched a thin silvered line appear from behind the chopper, the air popping with a blue glittered explosion at the tail rotor. The helicopter didn't react, a line of fire bursting from the door at its original target.
I wrapped my arms around myself. I was cold, but not the kind the sun would solve. The chill came from my impotence to change the next few moments.
Cassidy stepped near, leaning next to me. She looked up, her face warm, concern radiating in my direction.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing a look across at Ellie, watching as she hid behind a wide tree. Cassidy’s arm went around my shoulder and I leant in.
Another firework raced from the ground, its launch closer than before. The chopper rocked to the side as the red explosion gave a direct hit at the rear of the fuselage. The darkness wouldn't tell if he'd done any damage, but it didn't seem to have mattered.
The line of tracers cut off and the chopper raced forward, turning to re-zero its guns. As it turned, another rocket raced, then another at its back. One after the other, five or six salvos bursting from the ground.
Andrew was giving all he had as I silently urged him on. I hoped by now he’d turned and fled, running to find somewhere to hide.
The air popped as each glitter ball exploded without harm, the chopper out of range, out of danger as it tracked back, guns silent towards the source.
I pictured the gunner looking through his visor, one eye clo
sed, taking time to centre his aim. A prolonged blast exploded from the muzzle. The chopper hung still for a moment before turning, tracing the route to its last hunting ground.
I turned to Cassidy and took her embrace. Not able to hold back the tears, I sunk to my knees.
23
A crackle of electricity cut through the air. Through tears, I turned up to the hazy sky, dismissing the sound as an echo of my imagination until shockwaves rattled through our bodies with a furious explosion of light erupting from inside the helicopter and out into the half-light.
Clambering to my feet I ran, vision fixed as the aircraft became unsteady. Smoke circled out, whisked away by the speeding rotors.
Stumbling, my face turned to the ground. I leapt to recover, looking skyward as quick as I could, watching the body of the chopper spin. My feet took me right, veering as the path of the rotating fuselage sped through its turn.
My gaze fixed forward, seeking any sign of my friend. Or what was left.
The grass grew thicker and I slowed to raise my legs high over the uneven ground. It was hard going and not just because my attention was elsewhere.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the helicopter falling to the ground a few hundred metres away, a second explosion coursing outward. The tail caught and the spin changed direction in an instant, sending the fuselage over on its side, the rotors crushing down and splintering, debris pinging off in all directions.
Falling to my hands and knees, I interlaced my fingers over my buried head. Tucking into a foetal position, shrapnel fell to the grass. The burn of oil and hot metal fell all around.
With the last of the debris I stood, giving only a casual glance over to the wreckage as it rocked to a halt and ended its final barrel roll.
“Andrew,” I screamed and paced forward again. My gaze scoured the dense grass.
I soon saw the road and its surface mottled to shreds, fractured with lead still steaming from the small craters.