Robyn did not flinch; instead, she took a step towards Matthew, who was at least half a foot taller than she. “Why? What are you going to do about it?”
“Hey!” Wren shouted, stepping in between the two of them. “Stop this crap. We need to get off this roof before it’s swarming with those things.” Robyn and Matthew backed down, and he went to put a comforting arm around Melissa. “I’m going last. I need to cut these ropes,” Wren said a little more calmly.
“What?” Robyn said.
“How far do you think we’re going to get if we just come out of the building next door?”
“She’s right,” called Susan as she looked down to the main street. Robyn and Wren went across to join her and saw for themselves that it was teaming with creatures. Some were forcing their way through the gap in the door, some were running down the side street to get a better look at the rising smoke from the hotel, but all of them were on the hunt, thanks to the screeching alarm.
“Come on,” Robyn said. “The sooner we get away from here, the better.”
Elizabeth approached them, carrying Ruth in her arms. “She won’t be able to climb over by herself,” she said, gesturing to her daughter, who had started sucking her thumb like an infant.
Wren let out a long sigh. “Okay, maybe we can—”
“I can take her,” Matthew said, peeling himself away from Melissa. “She can go on my back.” He turned around and gestured for his mother to lift her on. Ruth wrapped her arms and legs around Matthew, and they headed towards the ladder.
“Be careful,” Melissa said, running up to kiss him.
“I will,” he replied, climbing over the railing and clamping his hands on the aluminium frame.
“I think I’m gonna puke,” Robyn said under her breath.
Ruth started screaming in Matthew’s ear as she looked down to the alley below, and suddenly, a handful of creatures who’d been heading towards the bank building stopped and looked towards the source of the noise. They advanced down the alley, and more began to join them as live prey was now in sight. Ruth’s screams got louder, and as Matthew edged along with his knees and shins painfully advancing one rung at a time, his heart began to race. Heights were not an issue for him but to see these monsters gathering below with their arms reaching upwards like the Devil’s own offspring waiting to be fed, his heart started pounding. Every teaching he had ever heard about Hell began to play through his head, and he froze.
“Matthew! Matthew!” shouted Elizabeth as she watched her only son and daughter freeze on the precarious aluminium bridge.
Matthew did not respond; he just continued to look down at the massing throng of beasts below him and began to weep.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Robyn said.
“Matthew!” shouted Wren, trying to make herself heard above the sound of the alarms, the inferno, and the grungy chorus from the creatures below. “You need to focus. Don’t look down. Look ahead. That’s where you’re going. You’re going ahead. You and Ruth. You’re heading to safety.”
“Hey! Sir Shagalot, get your arse moving, or Melissa and everybody else on this rooftop are going to be a zombie buffet,” Robyn yelled.
“Nice. Really subtle, Bobbi. If we ever rebuild, I suggest you pursue a career in motivational speaking,” Wren said.
“We don’t have time for this crap.”
“Matthew! Just lift your head up. Just do that. Forget everything else and lift your head up,” Wren said. Matthew slowly lifted his head and looked across to the other rooftop. “Good. That’s great, Matthew. Now just keep your focus and slowly start moving again, just one rung at a time like you were. C’mon, Matthew, Ruth needs this. You need to get your little sister to safety. That’s what big brothers do. They look after their little sisters.” Matthew began to move again slowly.
He could hear his little sister screaming in his ear above all else now, and rather than being a distraction, it spurred him on. He kept his eyes on the other roof, and as the safety rail appeared underneath the ladder, and then the roof itself, he let out a long-held breath, realising he had made it. He climbed off the ladder and crouched down, allowing Ruth to slide from his back.
“Okay!” he shouted. “We’re okay!”
“You next, Susan,” Wren said, tapping the top of the ladder.
Susan climbed out onto the ledge and grabbed the ladder firmly. She began to move across, slowly at first until she got into a rhythm. She looked back over her shoulders towards the others. “This isn’t so hard. Just concentrate. Keep your eyes on the other roof like Wren said.” She continued across, and Matthew helped her down at the other side.
“Okay, Elizabeth, you now,” Wren said.
Elizabeth climbed onto the ledge, but before she mounted the ladder, she turned back. “You’re a special girl. Both of you are special girls,” she said, looking at Robyn as well.
“Let’s see if we get out of this in one piece first, shall we?” Wren replied.
Elizabeth clutched the ladder and began to shimmy across, careful to keep her eyes on Matthew and Ruth at the other side.
“Have to admit, this was a pretty good idea,” Robyn said. “But then again, you were due one.”
Wren smiled. “Eat my—” The crash against the fire door made them all turn, even Elizabeth, on the ladder. Whatever had battered against it had hit the panic bar, and the screwdriver, still wedging it, for the time being, moved a couple of inches, revealing shadowy movement beyond.
Exploring, grey fingers emerged into the sunlight, and the door edged open a little farther as more bodies pushed up against it.
“Oh shit!” cried Robyn and Wren in unison. “We’ve got company!”
chapter 18
Robyn took an arrow from her quiver and aimed towards the doorway. Wren pulled Melissa around to face her. “Listen to me, you can do this. A few seconds and you’ll be over there. Just follow Elizabeth. Now go.”
Melissa cast a fearful look towards the doorway and then another towards the ladder. Wren helped her onto the ledge, and she began her journey across, as Matthew beckoned her with words of encouragement. The door edged open a little more as a head tried to force its way through the increasing gap. Robyn fired an arrow, but missed the target, and it disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell. She drew another and fired again, this time achieving a headshot. As more beasts pushed against the door, the creature remained there, frozen like a grotesque doorstop.
Elizabeth reached the other side, and she, Matthew and Susan all shouted words of encouragement as Melissa carried on her slow journey, steadfastly refusing to lower her gaze.
“You go, Wren, I’ll try and hold them off,” Robyn said.
“No, it’s better if you get to the other side first. You can cover me from over there.”
Robyn looked frustrated for a second but didn’t argue. She hugged her sister tightly. “Love you.”
“Lezzer,” Wren said, but only got a sad smile in return. “Be careful.”
Robyn climbed onto the narrow makeshift bridge with the quivers and rucksack on her back while still holding the bow in one hand. She began her climb across, hoping Melissa would speed up a little and get to the other side so she could cover Wren.
There was a high-pitched shriek as the screwdriver shifted even further, and now another beast’s arm emerged, pushing down the head of the creature dead from Robyn’s shot. Wren looked back to the ladder to see Melissa being helped down at the other side. “Watch out!” she shouted, throwing the javelin across, making sure she aimed it away from the others but wanting them to pay attention all the same. The metal spear slid across the surface of the roof, and Wren climbed onto the ledge as the screwdriver finally launched from its position and skidded across the roof.
Wren pulled out her knife and cut one, then the other rope. She glanced round to see her sister being helped down at the other side then looked back towards the crowd of creatures storming towards her. She jumped onto the ladder, and the aluminium fra
me bounced with the force as she began to climb across. She shot a final glance back and knew there was no possible way she would make it before the creatures reached the ladder.
“Pull, pull now and don’t let go!” she shouted. Gripping onto one of the rungs with all of her strength, she laid down flat and closed her eyes.
Robyn, Matthew and Susan grabbed the ladder and pulled. The end of it slid across the railing of the bank offices and swung down to meet the solid wall on the opposite like a broken clock hand, dropping from nine to six. The clatter as the aluminium frame smashed against the brick was jarring, but nothing compared to the pain Wren felt as her ribs smashed against the rungs, and her shoulders nearly popped out of their sockets. Elizabeth and Melissa threw their arms around Robyn and Susan’s waists, as all three of the people holding the ladder lurched forward with the weight and banged hard against the railings.
Wren kept her eyes closed tight, expecting at any second to feel a sudden drop as the weight of the ladder became too much for the ones holding it, but that sensation did not come. She slowly blinked her eyes open and looked up. Matthew, Susan and Robyn were still holding onto the ladder with everything they had. Wren inhaled a deep breath and began to climb. With each step, the ladder moved a little, and her heart fluttered, but as her head rose above roof level and she felt someone grabbing onto the back of her jacket, heaving her to safety, a wave of relief hit her.
They continued to drag the ladder up and over, finally bringing it to rest on the floor. “You okay?” Robyn asked as she joined Wren.
“I will be when my bones stop shaking.”
“That was quick thinking.”
“Yay for me,” she said, rubbing her ribs. They both looked across to the other side as more creatures emerged onto the rooftop and spread out along the railing, extending their arms as far out as they could, not understanding why they could not reach the bounty they saw on the other side.
“What now?” Susan asked, walking up to the two of them.
“Now we do it all over again,” Wren said, walking over to pick up her javelin.
✽ ✽ ✽
The group traversed two more buildings in the same manner, minus the bruises, the hysterics, and the risk of getting ripped to shreds by an army of rabid monsters. Just as Wren placed her second foot firmly on the roof, a crack as loud as a gunshot tore through the air. They all looked across to the bank building as the safety railing gave way. At least forty beasts toppled forward over the edge like malevolent lemmings. They beamed hateful stares as each one disappeared from view.
“I wouldn’t want to be the road sweeper who had to clean that mess up,” Robyn said.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Wren replied as she pulled the crowbar from her rucksack and wedged it between the wooden door frame of the roof’s exit. She pulled hard, but could not get it to so much as chip.
“Let me try,” Matthew said, stepping forward. He grunted as he put all his body weight into the manoeuvre. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then a chunk of wood the size of a potato wedge splintered away. He dug the crowbar in again and repeated the action, making a bigger chunk fly through the air. Then again and again until there was a hole big enough to reach through and hit the panic bar.
The door opened, and the Robyn stepped in first with Wren beside her, holding a torch to illuminate the dark staircase. As they descended the first flight, there was enough natural light from the windows on the upper level to see. It was another office building, and they walked down the first corridor towards the stairs, but came to a stop outside the door that said: “Canteen.”
Their eyes were immediately drawn to a vending machine loaded with snacks and cans of drink.
“Result!” Robyn said.
“I suppose when everything went to hell, the last thing they thought about was emptying the vending machine,” Wren said, taking the crowbar back from Matthew and smashing the glass. She reached in and passed everybody a can before choosing one for herself. They sat down, on chairs and kitchen surfaces, just grateful to rest their feet for a few minutes.
Nobody spoke for a while. They took thirsty gulps and quietly reflected on the events of the last few hours. Wren began to look around the cupboards, searching for anything worth scavenging. She found a supermarket bag for life with shoulder straps and took it over to the machine where she began to fill it with the snacks and drinks. “I suppose we’d better have something to eat while we can,” she said, starting to pass around bags of crisps and bars of chocolate. “We don’t know when we’re going to be able to stop again.”
She picked up a Lion Bar and passed it to Robyn, smiling. “Thanks, sis,” Robyn said, tearing open the wrapper and devouring half of it in one bite. She could barely move it around her mouth enough to chew, and as melted chocolate leaked through the gap in her lips, Wren could not help but giggle, which caused Robyn to do the same, releasing even more of the melted chocolate. She leaned forward, and a small stream of thick, gooey, brown saliva blobbed to the floor, making both of them become hysterical. Susan and Elizabeth began to laugh too, while the others looked on wearing polite smiles.
“You are sooo gross,” Wren said.
The two sisters eventually calmed down. Wren opened a bag of prawn cocktail crisps, and piled a few in her mouth, not so much relishing the flavour, as relishing chewing solid food. She washed it down with a drink of warm Irn Bru and wiped her mouth.
“So where do we head next?” Robyn asked Wren.
Elizabeth came over to join them. “Susan has family in Aberfeldy. Apparently, they’ve got a big place. There’d be room for all of us, until we figured things out.”
“I don’t even know where that is,” Robyn replied.
“It’s out in the country,” Susan said.
“That doesn’t actually mean that much, anymore,” Wren replied. “The monastery was out in the country, and look what happened there.”
“That’s true, I suppose, but if it weren’t for our injured traders, we’d still be hidden away. Unless you have any better plans, that’s where I’m going to head with my family. I’d like you to come with us,” Elizabeth said.
“I don’t even know where we are,” Wren confessed.
“I think we’re in Dunedin, just a little north of Arbroath,” Susan said.
“Okay, so how far are we from Aberfeldy?” Robyn asked.
“About sixty miles, I’d guess,” Susan replied.
Robyn burst out laughing. “Erm...I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we can’t go sixty feet out there without running into those things.”
“I can drive,” Elizabeth said.
“We’ve been out there on foot, and we’ve been out there on the road. If you’re in a vehicle, it doesn’t mean you’re safe,” Wren replied.
“It’s got to be better a little safer than walking, surely,” Elizabeth said.
“Do you know how to hotwire a car, like they do in the movies?” Robyn asked.
“No,” Elizabeth shook her head.
“Then how do you suggest we get one?”
“I...I don’t know.”
“I do,” Wren said. “We head a little further out of town. I bet there are hundreds parked in driveways and in front of houses. We could take one of those.”
“How?” Robyn asked.
“We break into the house and get the keys,” she replied.
“Damn why didn’t I think of that? I mean, it’s easy now you say it, cos everybody keeps the car keys right by the side of the door, don’t they? So all we do is smash a window, creating a din that a deaf octogenarian could hear, reach around the corner to the key hook that would undoubtedly be on the wall next to the door with a label underneath it saying car keys, and then all climb in and start our little jaunt across sixty miles of zombie-infested wasteland. Great plan, sis. Really well thought out.” Robyn took another bite of her chocolate bar.
“Well obviously there’s a bit more to it than that, but it’s a better plan than staying
put in a town full of those things,” Wren replied.
“Maybe we can find a car showroom,” Melissa said.
“Yeah, or maybe we can find a self-piloting helicopter with the blades already running,” Robyn replied.
“You’re being stupid,” Melissa said. “A town this size might have a car showroom.”
“That’s right,” Matthew said, nodding.
“And how do you propose we find out?” Robyn asked, standing up. “Shall we just wander around out there among all those things that are trying to tear us to pieces until we happen across one? Oh, I tell you what, better still, we’ll ask one of them. Does anybody speak flesh-eating zombie? I’m a little rusty.”
Ruth began to cry again as she sensed the tension in the room rising, and Matthew jumped to his feet. “Melissa is trying to help, which is more than you’re doing with your negativity.”
“Help?” snapped Robyn. “How the hell is that any help? There might be a thousand things that can help us in this town, but without us knowing where they are, they are useless. We go with what we know, and as much as I hate to admit it, my sister’s right. If we head out of the town centre, we’ll run into houses at some point, and they’ll probably be our best chance of getting a car. And that’s not to say that we’ll get a car…” Robyn looked around the room; the expressions bordered on hostility. “You people have no idea what it’s like out there. You think you’ve seen everything because of what’s happened in the last twenty-four hours. Let me tell you, you’ve seen nothing. Imagine your worst idea of what Hell is, then times it by a million.”
Wren went to stand beside Robyn, while Elizabeth rushed across to Ruth and comforted her. “Listen to me,” Wren said. “My sister’s right, it’s really bad out there, but we can do this if we stick together and cover each other’s backs. Now, Robyn and I are going to have a quick check around the rest of the building, see if there’s anything that might be useful to us. Finish your food and drinks and get ready. We’ve got a real journey ahead of us.”
The End of Everything Box Set, Vol. 1 [Books 1-3] Page 51