Viro Book One

by Barnaby Taylor

  I felt different when I said these things to myself. I wanted to make my mum proud. I wanted to be able to tell her how good I had been. She didn’t want to hear silly stories. That stuff with the caravans made me feel stupid. No one would like me if I were always like that.

  From now on, I said in my head. No more silly.

  Shouting

  I went to bed early. I was exhausted. It was great to be under a duvet. I had my head on a pillow. I felt the same as I used to. It was almost like my own bed.

  I thought about Mum. I wanted her to be safe. I hoped so. Rachel might be right. Mum might be evacuated. She might be waiting for me. She might be waiting to hug me. I was going to ask Rachel to help me speak to someone. She might have a phone number. I wanted to find out.

  I could ask about Vinnie as well. I wanted good news for Ellis. She deserved some. I could see she was worried. It would be good to make her feel better inside.

  I felt better. I closed my eyes.

  ‘Jake,’ whispered a voice in my ear. ‘Jake, wake up.’

  It was Abe.

  ‘Rachel has gone out and there’s louds of noise downstairs.’

  I sat up.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I heard shouting and doors being slammed.’

  Abe sounded concerned.

  ‘I think Rachel might be in trouble.’

  I got dressed. Abe and Amber were in the hall. Abe had a torch.

  ‘What about Ellis?’ I said. ‘Should we stay with her?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ said Amber, ‘but Rachel might be in trouble.’

  Amber pressed the button. The lift arrived. Abe and Amber stepped inside.

  ‘Come on,’ said Amber. ‘Ellis will be fine for a while.’

  I hesitated.

  ‘Come on, Jake,’ Abe said. ‘She’ll be fine.’

  I stepped into the lift. Amber pressed a button. The lift went down. It stopped with a bump. We stepped out. It was a dark corridor. We stood still.

  ‘Down here,’ Abe whispered.

  We went slowly. The floor was a bit squeaky. I thought we were too loud with our feet. We stopped at every door.

  Nothing.

  Nothing.

  Squeak. Squeak.

  Stop.

  Listen.

  Nothing.

  I felt knotty inside.

  Abe pointed at the door just ahead of us. He touched his ear with his hand.

  Listen, I said in my head.

  We stopped just behind him.

  I listened.

  Something was banging behind the door. Abe tested the handle. Amber tapped his shoulder. Abe opened the door. He went in. Amber did as well. I followed them. I didn’t close the door just in case.

  We were in a small corridor. The noise was coming from behind a closed door in front of us. We followed Abe.

  The thumping was louder now.

  ‘Oh no you don’t!’ Rachel shouted. ‘Please don’t, darling.’

  Abe opened the door.

  Rachel was standing in a bedroom trying to keep a door closed. She saw us.

  ‘Please, help me close this door. I can’t let them out. They’ll be killed for sure.’

  Me and Abe grabbed the door handle.

  ‘Push then pull,’ Abe shouted. ‘It’s the only way.’

  Rachel pushed the door inwards. We pulled it closed. Abe locked the door. Someone started kicking it. Rachel fell on the bed. She was crying.

  Angry

  I had never seen anyone cry like Rachel. Her tears were big and wet. They bubbled up from her belly. She cried into her hands. I thought she would eat her fingers with her snotty, dribbling mouth. I couldn’t stand it. I looked somewhere else instead.

  We were in a boring bedroom. Rachel was on a thin bed. It had no sheets or pillows. There was no more furniture. A big window by the bed was broken open. Cold wind blew inside. I looked at Abe. He shrugged. Abe looked at Amber. Amber put her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. Someone kept kicking the door.

  ‘What’s the matter, Rachel?’ asked Amber. ‘Who’s behind the door?’

  Rachel didn’t reply. It was awkward.

  ‘Who’s behind the door, Rachel?’ Amber asked.

  Rachel looked up.

  ‘My babies,’ she said. ‘My poor little babies.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Amber.

  ‘How could you understand?’ hissed Rachel. ‘How could any of you?’

  She was angry. I was worried. Me and Abe stepped back. Amber didn’t.

  ‘It’s ok, Rachel’ she said. ‘You can tell us.’

  ‘Tell you what?’ said Rachel. ‘What could I possibly tell you?’

  She stared hard at Amber. Amber returned her stare.

  Rachel stood up.

  ‘You need to leave straightaway,’ she said. ‘You need to get out of here and forget all about me and my babies.’

  Rachel put her lips to the door and whispered.

  ‘Mummy’s here, my poor little things. I’m not going anywhere.’

  This was not nice. I was sorry for Rachel. She was broken. Amber sat next to Rachel. Rachel didn’t push her away. Amber put her arms around Rachel. She started to cry again.

  ‘I woke up yesterday morning and my two girls were gone from their beds,’ she said.

  ‘I heard a noise down here and found my husband with them. He had been infected and had infected them in turn. I pushed him out the window and locked my girls in this bathroom. I thought they would be safe here while I went to look for help.

  I drove around but couldn’t find anyone who knew what to do. I nearly lost my car a couple of times when people tried to steal it so I decided to stop looking for people to ask. I just drove around. That’s when I saw you all and I wasn’t really thinking but I stopped and brought you home because I’m a mother and you looked like you needed looking after.’

  Rachel stood up.

  ‘You do need looking after, don’t you?’

  Rachel had stopped crying. She sounded different now. More darker.

  ‘You’ll let me look after you, won’t you?’

  Rachel grabbed Amber by the hair. She pointed a long knife at Amber’s neck.

  ‘I brought this knife down so that I could help my babies sleep but neither of them were tired yet.’

  Rachel looked at us.

  I’m here to help if anyone else is feeling sleepy.’

  Rachel smiled. It didn’t look nice.

  ‘Now, why don’t we all go back upstairs and I can carry on looking after you.’

  No one moved. Rachel waved the knife.

  ‘Move,’ she said.

  Her voice was real evil.

  Rachel watched us walk backwards. She kept the knife at Amber’s neck.

  ‘Don’t hurt her, Rachel,’ pleaded Abe. ‘Please don’t hurt her.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Rachel replied. ‘I’m not going to hurt anyone. You’re my new family. No one is going to take you away from me.’

  She waved the knife.

  ‘Be a good boy and call the lift, please. We’re all going back to bed.’

  Family

  Rachel made us go into Ellis’s room. Ellis was sitting up. She looked worried.

  ‘What’s happening?’ she said.

  Rachel made us sit on the bed. She smiled at Ellis.

  ‘Don’t worry, Ellis, nothing is happening. We all got a little bit overexcited downstairs so I thought we could do with some quiet time.’

  Rachel turned to us. The knife glowed in the light.

  ‘You all need to think about what I said a moment ago. Don’t worry about anybody else, I’m taking care of you now.’

  Rachel closed the door.

  ‘We’re going to be one big happy family.’

  The door slammed. Rachel locked it.

  No one spoke. We were too frightened. We waited. Rachel might bring her knife back. Ellis spoke in the end.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked. ‘I heard the lift. It woke me up.’

  ‘Rac
hel has two young children locked in a bathroom downstairs,’ said Amber. ‘They’re viros now. She was going to kill them with that big knife.’

  ‘Viros?’ said Ellis.

  ‘Infected by their dad,’ said Amber. ‘Rachel pushed him out of the window because he had bitten their children. Rachel locked them in the bathroom while she looked for help. That was how she found us.’

  ‘She says that we’re her new family,’ said Abe.

  ‘Rachel is very angry,’ I said. ‘Is she mad?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Amber. ‘Normal people don’t push their husband out of a window and then try and kill their children with a knife, do they?’

  ‘But nothing’s normal,’ I said. ‘Normal has gone away.’

  Ellis touched my arm.

  ‘It’s okay, Jake,’ she said. ‘It’s all going to be okay.’

  ‘Is it?’ said Amber. ‘We’re locked in this room with a crazy lady outside with a knife saying we’re her new family. How is that going to be okay?’

  ‘We’re going to wait for her to calm down,’ said Ellis, ‘and then we’re going to talk her. Surely, we’ll be able to get her to understand?’

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ replied Amber. ‘I’m really not so sure.’

  Amber looked at the three of us.

  ‘She was going to kill her own children with a kitchen knife.’

  ‘They’re infected,’ I said. ‘She said she wanted to help them.’

  I felt shaky. What happened if I saw Mum was a viro? What would I do? Would I kill her with a knife? Could I do that?

  ‘What if those kids downstairs aren’t hers?’ said Amber. ‘Then what?’

  Amber pointed at the door.

  ‘Don’t forget, she found us on the street. She brought us home. She’s locked us in a room. We’re just like those kids downstairs. Maybe this is what she does? She drives around, collecting kids, brings them home and then kills them. What about all those clothes she has in those drawers? Where did they come from?’

  ‘She can’t’ I said. ‘She can’t …’

  Amber interrupted.

  ‘Can’t what?’ she said. ‘Can’t do what she’s doing? She’s already done it.’

  Amber was getting angry now.

  ‘What if the only thing she can’t do is let us leave?’

  Abe went over to the window.

  ‘If she won’t let us leave then we’ll simply escape.’

  Abe looked at his sister.

  ‘Just like we did before.’

  Amber looked back at her brother.

  ‘Maybe, Abe, but last time we slipped out a back gate when no one was looking. We didn’t get out a sixth story window and climb down the side of a hotel in the middle of the night.’

  Bed

  There was nothing to do. We waited. I tried to rest. Amber and Abe were on the floor. He found a blanket and some pillows in the wardrobe. Abe gave me the blanket. I gave it Amber.

  ‘You have it,’ I said. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘If you’re sure,’ she replied. ‘Thanks, Jake.’

  Amber lay down. Abe got down next to her. They huddled under the blanket and fell asleep. They looked peaceful. It was like they were on a sleepover. They didn’t look in danger from a lady with a knife.

  There was no room for me on the floor. I leaned against the door. I would know if Rachel came through the door. Ellis was watching me.

  ‘What are you doing, Jake?’ she asked. ‘There’s plenty of room on the bed.’

  ‘No thank you,’ I said. ‘I slept earlier. I’ll stand guard.’

  ‘I think we’ll hear her unlock the door,’ said Ellis.

  She pointed at the end of the bed.

  ‘There’s enough room for you.’

  I felt my blush again. This time it was super-red.

  ‘I’ll stay here. I don’t want to sit on your ankle.’

  ‘Whatever you like, Jake,’ Ellis laughed. ‘But if you change your mind you know what to do.’

  I nodded. Ellis closed her eyes.

  I watched Ellis as she slept. I really wanted to sit next to her. I did. But I couldn’t. I felt confused. It was hard wanting to do something but not want to do something. Running away from viros was easier than this.

  Mum would really like Ellis. She liked me making new friends.

  ‘You’re such a nice boy, Jake,’ she always said. ‘People are really lucky to have you as a friend.’

  I think she was right. It was hard to know how people felt about me. I knew I was different. That was easy. Most people were different to me. We cancelled each other out.

  We were new in this town. We had only been here for one month. I didn’t know many people yet. I spent most time home with Mum. I felt safe and happy there.

  I felt unsafe and unhappy here.

  I was locked in a bedroom. A lady outside had a knife. She wanted to kill her kids. She pushed her husband out a window. She wanted us to be her new family.

  I wanted to sit next to Ellis but I couldn’t.

  I’m pretty sure that Amber hated me. Abe probably did as well. They were right. All I did was get things wrong.

  Happy

  I was half-asleep when the door unlocked. The sound made me jump. Rachel opened the door. She had the knife in her hand. I backed off. Abe and Amber got up.

  ‘Morning everyone,’ Rachel said. ‘I hope you all got some rest?’

  ‘What’s happening, Rachel?’ asked Amber. ‘Why are you still holding that knife?’

  Rachel looked down and shrugged.

  ‘This is my version of the naughty step,’ she replied with a smile. ‘Now, who wants some breakfast?’

  I really wanted to eat. I didn’t want Rachel holding that knife.

  ‘Please put the knife away?’ I said.

  Rachel nodded.

  ‘Okay, sweetheart,’ she said. ‘If you all swear to behave.’

  ‘We will,’ I said. ‘We do.’

  ‘Speak for yourself,’ snorted Amber.

  ‘That’s not nice, Amber dear,’ said Rachel. ‘There’s no need to be rude. Jake is only trying to help.’

  ‘I’m not being rude to Jake,’ said Amber. ‘I’m letting you know how unhappy I am with this whole happy family thing.’

  ‘But we are a happy family,’ said Rachel. ‘And we’re going to stay a happy family for the rest of our lives.’

  ‘We’re just worried,’ said Ellis. ‘We don’t really know you and though you saved our lives we’re still not sure what to think.’

  ‘Not sure about what?’ replied Rachel. ‘That you are alive because of me? That you are safe because of me? That your ankle is getting better because of me?’

  Rachel struggled to stay nice. Her lips went tight and thin. She looked at us. She looked at the knife.

  ‘I’m really not sure what you’re all not sure about.’

  She turned to leave.

  ‘Perhaps you need a bit more time to think about things?’

  Rachel left. We heard her lock the door.

  ‘Well, that could have gone better,’ said Abe. ‘That could have gone a whole lot better.’

  He looked at his sister.

  ‘You’re going to get us all killed if you keep that up.’

  Amber flushed.

  ‘You mean like he’s been doing ever since we met them?’ she said pointing at me. ‘I’m trying to keep us all alive!’

  I said nothing. Amber was right. Abe saw that I was blushing.

  ‘Well, not like this you won’t,’ said Abe. ‘Besides, Jake and Ellis are now like brother and sister to us.’

  ‘To you, maybe,’ said Amber. ‘I’ve already got one brother and he’s making a complete fool of himself.’

  ‘Guys,’ said Ellis. ‘This really isn’t helping.’

  Amber and Abe stopped arguing.

  ‘Jake saved my life,’ Ellis continued. ‘He helped me like he has helped the two of you so lay off him!’

  Ellis sounded really firm.

  ‘This isn’t
the time to be arguing and blaming each other. We need to get out of here.’

  She sighed.

  ‘I know that Rachel rescued us and took care of my ankle but I don’t think she is thinking straight. The awful stuff that has happened to her family has really upset her.’

  ‘We should pretend …’ I started.

  My voice went wobbly. I thought Amber would shout at me. I looked down.

  ‘Go on, Jake,’ Ellis said. ‘We should pretend what?’

  ‘We should pretend we’re happy and try to escape.’

  I looked up.

  ‘Rachel has to sleep. She can’t always watch.’

  ‘I suppose not,’ said Amber. ‘But we’re not waiting forever before we try and escape.’

  ‘Of course not,’ said Ellis.

  She smiled at me.

  ‘Good thinking, Jake.’

  I felt a little better.

  Pancakes

  Rachel opened the door later. We were much more friendly. Even Amber smiled. Rachel was cheerful.

  ‘Sorry about earlier,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to lose my temper.’

  ‘We’re sorry too,’ said Ellis. ‘We didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.’

  ‘I know you didn’t, sweetie,’ Rachel replied. ‘It’s just that I want us all to be so happy that sometimes it makes me feel very tense.’

  Rachel smiled.

  ‘Perhaps I should stop trying too hard.’

  ‘We know you mean well,’ Ellis continued. ‘We know you want what’s best for us.’

  ‘I do, Ellis. I want what’s best for all of us.’

  Rachel looked at me.

  ‘Are you hungry, Jake? I’ve made a pile of pancakes and there’s plenty of maple syrup.’

  ‘I don’t like maple syrup,’ said Abe. ‘Do you have chocolate spread?’

  Rachel breathed deeply. I thought she was going to get angry.

  ‘I’m sure we can find something, Abe,’ she said. ‘Now, let’s go and eat.’

  Rachel stepped back into the hallway.

  ‘After you,’ she said and pointed towards the kitchen.

  We left the bedroom. Rachel waited for Ellis.

  ‘Come on, Ellis,’ she said. ‘You can probably put some weight on your foot if you’re careful.’