by Stevens, GJ
Having covered half the distance to us, they were a stone’s throw away without our notice.
31
“Fire,” was all I could think to say, my voice hardly registering against the bass drone of the crowd. “Fire!” I repeated, shouting out across the line.
Faces turned forward and rifles lifted, sending the air thick with hot lead once again. Calls for reloads came too soon, silencing the advantage before we’d regained. My pistol clicked empty with two shots missed and I spun around, fist balled towards what had grabbed me, pulling me by the shoulder.
I let myself fall into Toni’s arms as she cupped my fist in her hand and pulled me away from the roadblock. Taking my weight back, she hurried to the van with the rifles and pistols lighting up again.
The shouted commands blurred into one long call and Toni dragged me by the hand, pulling hard as we passed the back of the Land Rover. She wouldn’t let me reach out, turning only as she pushed me through the driver’s door of the van so she could run around the bonnet.
In the driver’s seat I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the chaos at the line.
I couldn’t help but look.
The guns fell silent, knives swung out and the soldiers stepped away, leaving the line. Ghouls were falling, but not fast enough. As one fell to the floor another would be at its back.
Three of the soldiers were down by the time Toni’s calls went out.
“Go,” she pleaded. “Drive.”
My gaze fixed on the only two remaining by the time her words faded to nothing. The sergeant and the sniper.
I slammed my hand to the horn and faces looked up, dead white eyes set in our direction.
The sergeant turned, soon consumed by the pack, his struggle obscured by those once under his command.
The sniper didn’t turn but edged away with three or more of the creatures snapping on his heels, using the one advantage we still had. He ran, moving out of my view.
Only when I heard the doors at the rear opening and weight in the back shifting did I push the accelerator to the floor, whilst doing my best to ignore the bloodied hands at my window.
I didn’t pause for the turn. I didn’t wait; instead, I let the tyres spin in the mud as they caught the incline of the hill, pushing my foot harder even though I knew there was nowhere further for it to go, my wide-eyed gaze on the expanding line of the undead shrinking in the wing mirror.
Toni slowed me after a moment, her hand on my shoulder when the van almost tipped on its side rounding the corner.
I watched the surrounding land flatten. All I could think of was the village I’d passed on the way in, the motorway near; an artery for the infection to spread.
I slowed at Toni’s command, lifted my foot from the accelerator and watched as two police cars came into view. I watched the pair of officers gawking in our direction in fluorescent jackets as they took in what must have been a terrifying view.
I let my breath calm, even though I hadn’t realised it had been racing, in a hope my heart would slow. Turning to Toni, I watched as she mirrored my expression and slowed the van as the police cars separated. Neither got out of their cars as we rolled by, but just as our metal passed theirs, I slammed on the brakes and let the window drop.
“You need to call someone.”
The police officer paused, his head turning sideways.
“You need to call someone,” I repeated. “Then get the hell away from here.” I pushed the accelerator, taking the road which led under the motorway. “Where now?” I said, my words without emotion.
“My place,” she replied, her face fixed forward. “Next junction, by the Holiday Inn. Can’t miss it.”
I drove, the motorway deserted, but I wouldn’t have noticed any cars if it had been gridlocked, my thoughts so distracted by the growing pain in my stomach. I’d felt it earlier, but with everything else it was the least of my concerns. Now the action had died down, fear and something else grew to take the place of the adrenalin. I could feel it already growing inside; the hunger, the thirst.
I didn’t want to return to what I’d been before, what she’d made me into.
“This one,” she said, and the road snapped back into my vision.
I pushed the indicator left and slowed, looking up at the ten-storey hotel as it loomed out in front.
Her words sounded muffled, cotton wool in my ears as she gave directions, passing by the hotel, the empty car park. I stopped at a pair of low holiday chalets. The ache in my stomach cranked up as we rocked on the brakes.
“What’s wrong?” Toni said and I turned to look, feeling as if the blood had run from my face.
“What’s wrong?” I said, and she smiled in a reply which melted my heart.
“Apart from the obvious,” she said, holding out her hand.
A wave of pain rushed over my stomach as our hands touched, her skin so warm, so inviting. I craved to be close, to hold her in my arms, to take in her scent. I craved to run my tongue over her neck, to bite, gently at first.
As the air came alive with smells I didn’t want, my smile fell and she repeated the question with the raise of her eyebrows. I took a deep breath through my mouth, holding back the ache of my empty stomach.
“It’s happening again,” I said, and her face dropped.
“What’s happening again?” came an unfamiliar male voice from behind us.
32
I jumped, turning through the pain to see the shadow of the solider in the back of the van.
“What’s happening again?” he said, his voice again urgent as he drew forward, his gaze falling to my hand resting at my stomach.
“Shit,” Toni said, her reaction sharper than mine. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. “She’s hungry, that’s all. I need to get her something to eat,” she replied, pulling open her door, turning back as she left. “It’s not time yet.”
I smiled back in her direction, wincing as I turned away with my stomach aching with emptiness.
“Thank you,” I said, my eyes closing.
“For what?” he said. “Are sure you’re all right?”
I nodded, unable to do anything else as Toni took me from the seat and helped my feet to the floor.
“What is this place?” I heard his voice join at our backs to the sound of Toni pushing keys into a lock.
She stopped, I felt her turn towards the soldier.
“What are you doing?” Toni said, holding her free hand at the door.
“I need to use your phone,” he said. “I need to call this in. Make sure they're sending everyone this way.”
Toni paused on his face, then turned, her eyes narrowing.
“You think they don’t know?” she replied, and just as she did, I heard the beat of helicopter rotors in the air.
Pain ripped across my stomach, a feeling like something was about to burst. I bent, letting out a stream of air.
His strong hands gripped around my waist, catching me before I could fall.
“Get off her,” Toni snapped, and despite my eyes being closed I knew the glaring expression she would fix as she took over, peeling his hands from my body.
She led me through the door, my gaze on the wooden floor as I fell down to a soft sofa and heard her harsh words exchanged through the pain, the detail muffled through the throbbing beat in my ears.
“Jess.” It was Toni’s voice, near. “I’ll get you something to eat, just hold on a minute.”
I kept my eyes sealed tight, squirming on the sofa while I listened to the sounds of a kitchen close by, my mind wandering over what she could have to satisfy the ache. A slaughtered lamb? A side of uncooked steak? I felt bile rise in my stomach as it contracted.
“Jess.” The words came again and I forced my eyes open and saw the cheese sandwich on the plate offered out in Toni’s hands.
I pulled my hanging jaw closed and focused on her smile.
“What were you expecting?” she said.
I shook my head and pulled the bread from
the plate, stuffing the food in my mouth like it was the first thing I’d eaten in days. The flavours were out of this world, the taste of the cheese so intoxicating.
“Slowly,” I heard her say, as the pound in my ears lessened. My fear subsided, the pain easing with every swallow.
“All because I was hungry?” I said with the last mouthful pushed down.
“Better now?” she said, a soft smile on her lips as she handed over a tall glass of water. I nodded with enthusiasm and took my first look around the room as I drank.
Faded sunflower relief hung on the walls of the open-plan space, with a small kitchen to the right and along the wall exposed steps rose to the next floor. I sat on a three-seat sofa facing an imposing wall-hanging TV, but my attention drew to the blinking light on the black stand where a cordless phone rested under the large screen.
“Where’d he go?” I replied, remembering the soldier’s words, but couldn’t see him anywhere in the room.
Toni turned her gaze away from the TV.
“To do his job, I hope,” she said, dismissing my enquiry to the growing sound of helicopter rotor blades passing over our heads. “We need to get out of here.”
“You think he’ll tell them where we are?” I said, stretching my back to work out the last of the pain.
“They won’t care for now. Too much going on, I hope. It’s us that need them.” Her eyes drifted to the red vials laid out on a kitchen cloth on a table at the far wall. “I’m astounded by the results so far, but you’ll need another dose tonight or tomorrow morning, then more. And we need a few other supplies before then,” she said, turning away.
“How many doses do you think it will take?” I replied, looking back to the table.
She didn’t reply straight away, her head not turning my way.
“Honestly?” she said, finally meeting my gaze.
I gave a slow nod.
“I don't know,” she said, her words quiet. Her hands rested on top of mine clasped at my lap. Her brow lowered as she squeezed my hands. “I don’t even know if it will work long term.”
This wasn’t news.
I gave a nod as I drew a deep breath. It had been the only thought going through my head since the first dose.
“But we’ve got to try, right?” she said, pulling her hands away to grip me under the shoulders and help me to my feet. “Shower first,” she said with a sharp blow of breath.
I stopped and looked down, raised an eyebrow and nodded back. I watched as she stood, then following with my hands out to steady myself on the arm of the chair.
Together we froze as a shadow moved across the window by the door, both of us drawing back in a start as a heavy fist knocked hard against the wood.
33
We stared at each other, breathless for a long moment Toni’s eyes matching the stark wideness of mine as I tried to rationalise the panic at the knock. The infected wouldn’t be tapping on the door so politely, but perhaps the authorities had come to take us back and continue where they’d left off.
Snapping away from the moment, she shook her head in reply to my screwed-up brow. As she turned, her gaze caught on the flaking stains across my front and followed the scattered dark dried blood trailing in my wake.
I crept to the side and out of view of the door as she stepped toward it. Moving to the foot of the stairs, my view snapped to the news van parked outside and the dark ink blots across its front.
A policeman circled its perimeter, his head turning at an angle as I remembered the blood smeared across the white of the back doors and the jagged bullet holes marking their journey.
Twisting with my mouth agape to Toni, her long hair thick with knots and thin splashes of blood up her arms and across her t-shirt, I wanted to scream for her to stop, but no sound came from my mouth hanging wide as she pulled the door open.
I listened with intent to the depth of the new voice, watching the yellow of his jacket reflecting into the room, my breath halting with the pause in his flow.
“There’s been an accident at the chemical plant near…” he said, his voice already hesitant.
I watched as Toni’s face turned with what looked like the proper level of concern, her soft features staying high with surprise despite the officer not completing his words. I envisaged the change in his expression as he deserted his practiced script.
“Are you okay, miss?”
Toni raised her eyebrows further, setting her mouth in a toothy smile. With a high voice, she explained about the strawberry jam she was making. The officer gave no response as she swept her hand towards the side of the room you could call the kitchen.
I imagined his raised expression, waiting for the questions to flow when he saw no pots and pans, no ingredients spread across the kitchen work surface. Instead, a question came from further away, the officer who’d been circling the van appearing from behind as my look shot back in his direction.
“Is this your van?” he said, dropping his radio from his mouth.
Toni shook her head.
“Do I look like I work for the BBC?” she said. There was a second pause. “The guy next door,” she said, gesturing to her right, “works in film. He’s always bringing home the props,” she said with laughter in her voice, running her fingers through her hair and pushing out her chest. The moment hung silent in the air.
It all came down to whether he had time for a wild goose chase when there was real chaos unfolding up the road. My breath came back the moment he spoke, the intake of air so loud I could hardly hear his words.
“Okay, Miss. The advice is to stay indoors. Keep your windows closed and stay off the roads. There’s a lot of military coming in to help with the clean-up. It’s nothing too bad, but best to keep to what I say. Do you understand?”
I watched as she took a moment to think and then let out a nod before closing the door.
“A chemical spill?” I said as she stepped away.
“They had to say something,” she said, then pulled her mouth wide, flashing her teeth as she spoke. “Sorry, a group of government scientists just up the road are bringing people back from the dead, only to let them escape. They’re coming your way, so stay inside. If you don’t, you’ll get bitten and you’ll join the massing undead army.”
I stood still, waiting to see if she would burst into laughter. Waiting for a sign this wasn’t real.
“People need the truth,” I replied when her face remained flat as stone before I hurried up the stairs.
***
The cascade of water felt as if it cleansed through my entire body. The act of lathering up, washing myself down, watching the water turn from red to clear again. Untangling my hair as I ran my fingers through felt like I cleaned away all that had gone by.
As I dried, I felt shrouded in optimism, the bite wound now barely a scar. I felt an uplifting sense it was all going to be okay.
My thoughts turned to who I’d call first. I had to tell my parents I was okay, even though it was a lie. Then Stan. I’d have to tell him about Mike and Dan. I could feel my head getting heavy as I thought about their families.
I had to remain calm. I couldn’t lose it. I was already going to sound like I’d lost my mind when I tried to explain what was going on. Perhaps I should just say I needed picking up. I could set up in the regional offices in Exeter and Stan could come to me. I could tell him in person and make a plan from there.
I stepped from the bathroom full of resolve and retraced my steps to find Toni’s wide-open smile greeting me as she stood pulling off her white lace bra which matched the knickers already laying to the floor. I drew a slow, deep breath, determined not to dissuade me from my course.
My gaze fell to the clothes she’d laid at the bed. My clothes, I thought as my heart fluttered. The red jacket and skirt she’d grabbed from her office. An outfit I’d left behind in my rush to get away two years ago now, and for the first time I wondered why she had kept it at her office?
I stared, letting the thought drop as
memories of pleasure flooded back and I turned to see her standing beside me, her warmth radiating through my towel.
“What you smiling at?” she said.
“You’re smiling too,” I replied, glancing down to see her protruding nipples. I thought about letting the towel drop and watching as her grin raised higher.
By the sight of her biting her bottom lip, I could see she was thinking the same.
“No time for that,” she said, her mouth bunching in a pout.
I didn’t say a word, but my eyebrows lowering did all the talking as I ran my hand between her shoulder blades.
“No,” she said stepping away.
“You’re right,” I said, the disappointment clear in my voice as I kicked myself for the control she had.
Toni disappeared through the door towards the shower, her words echoing before it closed at her back.
“I’ve found her.”
34
The white vest top from Toni’s drawer fit as if it were my own, the bra a size too large but would have to do and the jacket, which was mine, hung loose and gaped wide.
I heard the two opposing voices in my head. The first, my mother reaching for the cupboard to find me food as she chastised me for not eating properly. The second, Toni’s single remark as we ate takeaway at her dining room table to make me push away the plate.
I stood at the mirror, running my hand down my stomach, not knowing whether to curse the inward flow of my touch as I stared at the way the material hung loose, or to celebrate the loss of weight. Either way I had to be ready to meet the world again. I had to be ready to share my story.
I heard the rush of water stop and I stared out of the window, my gaze following the tops of the olive drab trucks rolling along the motorway in the distance.
At the sound of the bathroom door opening wide, I busied myself with a brush through my hair, despite having already smoothed it to perfection.