by Ryan Casey
One look really was all they needed.
The upper half of Andy’s body was at the gate. His fingers clawed against the chained fencing, propping himself up. His intestines dangled from his body and onto the floor behind him, like a tail.
And at the other side of the fence, there were a group of people crouched down on their knees. For a split second, Riley thought about calling for them.
But then he saw the blood dripping from the mouth and down the neck of a girl. The glassy, glazed over eyes. Eyes like Andy’s.
But mostly, his eyes were focused on the thing they were eating.
It was a man. He was wearing a strange suit, like quarantine gear. A broken suitcase rested beside him, his fingers gripping it tightly. Through his blood-drenched white jacket, the creatures were sticking their hands in, dragging chunks of raw meat to their mouths and ravishing it.
“Oh… Oh God,” Ted mumbled.
One of group turned around and faced Riley and Ted as Andy let out a large groan. Another of them let out a groan, and another followed. Soon enough, all of them were at the gate, blood-drenched bodies pressed up against it, blocking any possible form of exit.
Ted’s hands started to shake. “I… I think we should go back to the flat. Crisis talk.”
CHAPTER THREE
They stumbled back around the corner and into the parking lot. Ted fell against the wall, panting. Sweat dripped down the side of his face.
And at the gate, around the corner, the groans. The rattling of the chain metal fence. Six or seven of the creatures, all lined up against it, pushing their way in.
“Come on. We’ve got to get back and work out what we’re—”
“You saw those things. You—you saw what they were doing to that man. We’ve no chance, mate. We’re… we’re food to them. What the fuck? What the actual fuck?”
“Ted!” Riley crouched opposite him and put his hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got to snap out of this. I… I know it’s not good what happened out there, okay? But we’re fortunate. We’re in a fifth floor flat. We can ride this out until…”
“Until what? What exactly are we riding out here? Because, I hate to say it, but the emergency services don’t look like they’re paying much attention anymore. Do you hear any sirens? See any police? And those helicopters — hear them anymore?” Ted shoved his phone into Riley’s chest and barged past him. “How about you ring them and leave them a fucking voicemail?”
“Then what do you propose we do? Give up? We have to think this through, Ted. We can’t go making any rash decisions. You… you’ve seen what these things do. We can’t let that become us. And that’s all I care about.”
“All you care about?” Ted swung around and squared up to Riley. The groaning and the shuffling grew louder. “What about your dear grandma, hmm? Don’t you care about her?”
Grandma. She wouldn’t have any idea about any of this. The last time he’d spoken to her, she’d…
“Oh. Oh shit.”
Riley pushed past Ted and rushed back in the direction of the exit gate.
“Woah, woah, woah,” Ted said, jumping in front of Riley. “In case you haven’t already noticed, there’s not a fucking chance you’re leaving through that route in one piece. And as annoying as you can be, I quite like you in one piece.”
Riley’s head throbbed. “Somebody’s at the door. Probably one of those salesmen.” Grandma’s final words. “Grandma. She… she’s in trouble. We need to help her.”
Ted shook his head. “Of course she’s in trouble. We… I think it’s pretty clear we all are. But your grandma. She should be okay, man. She… she never left the house really, right?”
“Unless it was to answer the door to somebody. Shit.” Riley walked back towards the stairway door. “I need to go and see she’s okay.”
Ted groaned and followed Riley. “The fuck, mate? She lives at the other side of town. If these… these things. If they’re all over town, then you don’t stand a chance.”
“I have to try. She’s all I have. She’s done everything right for me since my parents left. You know what she pulled me back from better than anybody. I can’t abandon her, not now.” He walked towards the white Fiat Punto as the roaring of dead voices continued outside.
Ted stood in the middle of the parking area shaking his head. “It’s too risky. Way too risky. I hardly think the bus service will be running through all this either.”
Riley grabbed the door of the Punto with his sleeve, being careful not to touch the blood. Couldn’t take any chances. They didn’t even know how this virus spread yet. If it even was a virus. Was that just something he was taking from TV? Inside the Punto, the car keys dangled from the engine. “This looks good enough for me.”
Ted’s mouth dropped. “But you… Your license. You aren’t supposed to drive for… for weeks, right?”
“Ted, I hardly think chasing up license points is the priority of the police right now. Besides, I’d rather it be me driving than you.” Riley closed the door of the car and walked up to Ted. “I’ll go back to the flat, get a few supplies — food, drinks — and go to my grandma’s.”
“And the creatures outside the gate? How are you going to drive past those?”
Ted had a point. But the flat, it was positioned around the corner from the gate. “If we can drop something out of the flat window, then we can try and distract them. It’s worth a shot, right?”
Ted’s gaze wandered. His bottom lip shook. “Wha… What about me?”
Riley shrugged. A movement caught his eye over by the exit. It was the top half of Andy’s body dragging himself slowly towards them. Stretching out his bloodstained fingers. Cracking his teeth against one another. “You can stay here or you can come with me. That’s your choice. We… We’re going to have to do something about him though.”
Ted turned to look at Andy. The pair of them watched as he struggled ever closer. Dead eyes. Possessed muscles. Dragging his upper body along the ground with every last ounce of strength. They’d have to get rid of him somehow. Whatever he was, he wasn’t Andy anymore.
“If I can bring my nachos along, I’ll take my chances on the road with you.”
A tension rose in Riley’s throat. “You… You don’t have to do that. You know you don’t.”
Ted smiled and stared at Andy’s half-body, edging ever closer, so slowly. “What’s my other option? Who else do I have?” He walked over towards the elevator and pressed the button. “I mean, the idea of locking myself away and playing Call of Duty sounds great, but I dunno. The noises outside could get kinda distracting.”
Andy was a matter of metres away now. Teeth marks across his neck. Dried blood covering his cracked head. “We’ll go back to the flat. Get some supplies. Attempt a distraction. Then I’ll… I guess we’ll drive over Andy and put him… put him out of his misery. Elevator’s still not working, by the way.” Riley stepped away from the stairway door and circled Andy, drawing his retching body away so he wasn’t too close.
The elevator pinged to life. “Well I’ll be damned,” Ted said. “Looks like it’s working after all.”
A sudden dread hit Riley in the stomach.
The bite marks on Andy’s neck.
The gaping wound that had torn his torso in two.
Somebody had already started feasting on Andy, and they were nowhere to be seen.
“Looks like the doors are as sticky as ever though.” Ted bashed his thumb against the switch and stepped back.
“Stop!” Riley rushed towards Ted, his heart racing. “The elevator — get away. Get the fuck back!”
Ted looked around, bemused. “What are you—”
Riley grabbed Ted and pulled him back as the elevator doors creaked open.
Inside, the six-strong family of Polish immigrants from the fourth floor turned around to face them.
Their eyes were glazed. Blood dribbled down their chins.
And on the floor in front of them rested a half-eaten pair of legs.
“Get to the stairs!”
Riley scrambled to his feet, grabbing at Ted’s collar. Ted was static, staring up at the six creatures in the elevator, transfixed.
The tall, bald man who looked like he was constantly ill.
The slightly chubby wife, a chunk of flesh missing from her stomach.
And their four children. Eyes glazed. Limbs bent and disfigured.
“Ted, quick! We need to get back!”
Ted’s entire body shook as the creatures staggered out of the elevator, dropping Andy’s missing pair of legs to the ground like leftover food. He scrambled backwards as Riley grabbed him underneath his armpits before stumbling to his feet and shimmying in reverse.
They started to run towards the stairway door, away from the crowd of oncoming creatures. Riley’s heart raced. His vision blurred and every sound seemed like it was out of proportion with reality. They had to get out of here. Somehow, they had to get back to the flat and get out of here.
“Watch out!”
Ted’s voice.
Something solid beneath his feet.
He looked down and he saw Andy’s upper body right in front of him.
He yanked his foot backwards and jumped over Andy as his teeth tried to gnash at Riley’s lower leg. Shit. So close. Too close. Try to stay calm. Try to stay cool.
Ted held the stairway door open and waved Riley through. His eyes were widened, focused on the creatures. The shuffling feet. The chesty cries. Get to the stairs. Keep on running and get to the stairs.
He reached the door and took a final look back at the room. All six of the creatures staggering towards them. Six and a half, counting Andy’s half a body. All of them blocking access to the car.
The gates rattled in the background.
They were trapped.
The dialling rattled in Riley’s ear.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
He tightened his other hand. Waited for an answer. Sweat dripped down his face and his heart crashed against his sternum, any harder and it might just explode. The empty blue screen of the television, switched to the rolling news channel, illuminated the room.
Ring.
Ted perched beside the main window staring out at the street. Occasionally, he tutted, and shook his head. Swore under his breath. The groans were still just about audible right up on the fifth floor.
“I’m sorry, but the person you called is not available at the moment. Please try again later, or leave a message after the—”
Riley hit the cancel icon and slid Ted’s phone across the floor.
“No luck?” Ted asked.
Riley shook his head. “She always answers her phone when she’s home. Always.”
“I… I’m sure she’ll be okay, mate. Maybe a neighbour went round to help her out. Maybe she’s in someone’s attic keeping herself safe. She’s more in the countryside than us, right? She… she’ll be okay.”
Riley stared into space. The pride in her voice when he’d told her he’d managed to keep hold of his job. “Oh, of course you did!” Her faith, unwavering, but completely misguided. She should have left him to fend for himself when his parents went away. Should have left him in his one-roomed pot-filled hole to fend for himself and learn to get back on his feet the hard way, like everybody else did.
“She’s a… Well, a tough lady anyway. Remember when she pushed me down the stairs when she thought I was an intruder that time? Nobody’s gonna barge past your old Gran!” Ted attempted a laugh of reassurance, but his face soon straightened again, and he looked back out of the window.
“See anything out there?”
Ted exhaled and puffed out his lips. “These ghouls. Wandering aimlessly around the street. Abandoned cars. I just… I don’t get it. I don’t get how something like this can happen. How it can all just… just break out like this in no time?”
Riley crouched beside Ted and stared out of the window. A woman in a flowery dress, grey skinned, blood dripping from her half-eaten jaw. A man wearing a builder’s cap, crouched on the ground, feasting on the remains of a body. All of their lives. All of their normal lives, gone in a violent, bloody few moments.
“I mean, do you think it’s airborne? Or something in the water? Or… What about us? What if we have it?”
“I don’t know,” Riley snapped. “Nobody knows. The news channels clearly don’t know and aren’t going to tell us any time soon. The police and the emergency services — well. I don’t see them anywhere. I just… The fact is, we’re alive. We’re not one of those things. No matter how it happened. What matters is now.” He stepped up and shot across the room, grabbing what remained of the canned food from the broken-doored cupboard and stuffing it into a black rucksack on the sofa.
“What are you thinking, mate?”
“I’m getting out of here. Getting to my Grandma as soon as possible. If there’s a chance she’s still alive — if there’s the smallest of chances — then I have to take that chance. She would’ve done it for me.” He walked to the door and gripped the handle.
Ted’s hand came down hard on his shoulder. “You saw what it’s like down there. I don’t… Mate, you know I love you like a bro, but this is suicide. There’s six — six-and-a-half of those things down in the parking area alone, and that’s before you even get beyond the gates. You aren’t thinking straight. You need a plan. We need a plan.”
Riley held the handle of the door. He wanted to open it. He wanted to walk on out there and charge past them. He wanted to get into the Punto and drive through them as fast as possible.
But Ted was right. It was suicide.
He moved his hand away from the handle and leaned against the wall beside the door. “We need to distract them. Somehow, we need to distract them.”
“Like a pair of legs?” Ted said.
Riley frowned. “What do you mean?”
Ted shrugged and walked back into the lounge area. He picked up an empty bottle of Coke from the floor and tossed it towards the overflowing bin, where it fell atop the rest of the missed litter. “Well, I’m thinking you saw a body torn in two. And then we go down there, what — ten, fifteen minutes later? And the legs are in an elevator with a bunch of those things. Does that not say something to you?”
The realisation washed over Riley. Andy’s legs. The way they were there in the parking lot, and the way they vanished. “Somebody put those legs in there with them. They… they were trying to feed them.”
Ted nodded. “Maybe the elevator was on another of the floors and they were trying to draw the creatures towards it or something. An escape plan of some form. Whatever they tried, I hope it worked for them. But… Well. It didn’t work so much for us.”
Riley rubbed his temples. They needed a distraction. Some form of distraction that would clear a good enough path for them to get into the Punto, and then to get out of the gates. A plan was laying itself out, piece by piece in front him. Every piece he saw of it, he wanted to unsee. But it was all they had.
“Remember when you were paranoid about there being a fire in the corridor and you… you were going on about getting a rope ladder in case we couldn’t reach the fire escape?”
Ted shrugged. “Well, yeah. Still worries me to the day. Never did test the thing.”
“So you have a rope ladder?”
Ted began to nod, but it soon turned to a shake of the head. “No. No. Whatever you’re thinking, no. We can’t just climb out there. You’ve seen the streets — it’s madness. Even if there is a car out there with keys inside, we’ll be torn to pieces before we even have the chance to ask ‘manual or automatic?’”
Riley rose to his feet and walked over to the window. He brushed his fingers against the ledge, then tensed and lifted the window. A gust of air worked its way through the room, sending empty crisp packets to the floor.
“Oh, he’s serious. He’s actually serious and he’s completely lost it. I will not be a part of your crazy suicide act. I will not be—”
Ted backed away. His mouth jolted open and shut as he narrowed his eyes and squinted at Riley. “We… We’re going… But who does what?”
Riley reached into his pocket and pulled out a two pence coin. He flipped it in the air and slapped it against the back of his hand. “I suppose the only diplomatic way of answering that question is the good old fashioned method. Heads or tails?”
CHAPTER FOUR
“So you’re okay with doing that?”
Ted rubbed his head in his hands. His greasy fringe dangled over his fingertips as he inhaled and exhaled audibly. Something else Riley had taught him. A calming method. One of his favourites.
“I climb out of the window,” Riley said. “I shout and attract the attention of the ones on the outside. Draw them away from the gate. Keep them distracted.”
“And that shout is my cue. Yeah, I get it. I get it.” Ted slumped back against the sofa and stared at the blue screen of the television longingly, his Xbox fan still whirring by its side. “I go down the stairs, get the Polish creatures down there to follow me, then get back here and tug the rope ladder—”
“—But call the elevator first, remember. We don’t want to get caught by them waiting for the elevator. And make sure they follow you into the stairway. All of them. Okay?”
Ted sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, yeah. It’s mad. That’s what it is. Mad. They might catch us when we’re making our way back to the elevator. But strangely, I don’t think we have much of a choice right now. And of the limited choices we do have, which as far as I can tell stops at ‘die in a heap of microwave enchiladas and Gears of War’, it’s probably the least nihilistic choice, too.”
“Right.” Riley poked his head out of the window. Creatures were scattered around the street, but none of them close enough to pose an immediate threat. As he stuck his head further out, he could see the group still pressing against the gate, ten or twelve of them now, still trying to force themselves through. A bunch of them were gathered behind them, feasting on a body.