by Lauren Algeo
Georgie was gaping at him, confused. ‘How?’
‘I want you to try and forget what we’re doing here.’
She started to protest but he cut her off.
‘I know, that’s impossible. But you have to try and push it down at least so it’s not on the surface if the hiker gets in. Lock the plan in some deep part of your mind. Or if he does get in, I want you to immediately think of something else; anything to distract him. Sing a song or think of old schoolwork, whatever. But do not think of the blood.’
Georgie frowned in dismay. ‘Now all I’m going to think about is not thinking about the blood.’
‘This is deadly important,’ Brewer said firmly. ‘If that hiker gets one hint of what we’re trying to do, he’ll do his best to kill us, or worse, send a message to the Grand.’
Georgie’s face paled at the idea of the Grand joining this little party. ‘Ok, I’ll do my best.’
‘No mistakes.’ He shot her one last warning look then turned his attention back to the hiker.
The whispering had stopped temporarily and the hiker was walking towards the front door of number 11. Brewer motioned for Georgie to follow him.
‘Stay close to me,’ he murmured. ‘If this goes wrong, I want you to run away and don’t look back. Go straight to the flat and wait for me there.’
She nodded silently suddenly feeling scared. She’d been so desperate to find the hiker and infect him; she’d forgotten it would be more dangerous than getting the blood had been.
Brewer’s mind raced through all the scenarios as they walked. He had been on plenty of stakeouts and raids during his detective days, and some of the training habits came flooding back. He assessed everything rapidly – looking for exits and entrances, points they would be vulnerable, places the hiker could be going now.
They were at the head of the road, no going back. Georgie clung to his arm and he shrugged her off until she dropped back to give him space. He could hear everything: the slight bumping of the rucksack against his back, Georgie’s boots slapping lightly on the pavement, his shallow breathing.
The hiker reached the front door of the house and paused there for a moment, before turning sharply and walking around to the left of the house to open the side gate.
Brewer figured the vessel must have fallen asleep so the hiker had time to kill before he could resume his persuading, or he was being strangely lenient for a while. Brewer edged his way to the front of the house. Through the open gate, he could see a large shed at the back of the garden. The hiker was fiddling with the lock on the shed door.
He heard Georgie take a sharp breath at the sight of him. She’d never seen the hiker who’d tried to kill her up close before. He willed her to keep calm and not ruin this for them.
The hiker got the door open and disappeared inside. Brewer beckoned for Georgie to follow him into the garden. He gradually eased down the zipper of his coat and took out the syringe box. The plastic clips made a loud click when he opened them, which he hoped was muffled by the wind. Georgie waited obediently for instructions. He got a good grip on the syringe and held it out in front of him like a loaded gun.
‘I’m going in,’ he whispered. ‘Stand by the door. When I come out, lock it.’
She nodded vigorously. ‘Good luck,’ she murmured back.
‘Block your mind,’ was his parting shot.
Brewer walked fast to the shed and through the door without pausing. He kept his mind blank and prayed they had the element of surprise.
The hiker had his back to him, rooting around on a workbench of tools. The shed smelt musty and it somehow seemed colder in there than it was outside.
Brewer raised the syringe high then plunged the needle in to the vulnerable skin at the back of his neck. The hiker jerked back wildly but he held the base down firmly to pump the infected blood into his veins. It was over in a second. He was bolting backwards for the door before the hiker had even spun around. Brewer felt him try to pry in his mind but he was weakened by confusion. The puncture wound in his neck would already be closing over and sealing the virus inside his body.
Brewer stumbled outside as the hiker’s black eyes locked onto his. Georgie slammed the shed door shut between them and secured it with the deadbolt. They heard the hiker smash against it and roar in frustration. He sounded like an animal.
‘Move!’ Brewer grabbed Georgie’s arm and propelled her to the gate. ‘That won’t hold him for long!’
They sprinted back out onto the road and didn’t stop until they were in the next one. They slowed down by their surveillance spot. Brewer could feel the adrenaline coursing through his body and he had trouble catching his breath. That had been both terrifying and exhilarating.
‘That was awesome!’ Georgie panted next to him.
There was a faint sound of breaking glass in the distance; the hiker had given up on the door and smashed his way through the tiny window on the side. Brewer got out the binoculars again and watched the house.
The hiker emerged through the gate a second later. He looked extremely agitated and his head whipped back and forth as he scanned the road. They were well hidden, and after a minute, the hiker gave up and got in the car. He would be confused about what exactly had just happened – all he’d felt was a quick pain in his neck, then he’d got a brief glimpse of Brewer before the door had slammed shut. There was no way he would know what they had just inflicted on him.
‘We’ve done all we can,’ Brewer said. ‘Now we wait and watch.’
The hiker stayed in the car for a while. He soon figured out the incident had nothing to do with the vessel or target, and he resumed his cajoling whispering. The next day would be time to put his plan into action.
Brewer and Georgie found an empty house for sale in a road nearby and took shelter for the night. It was close enough to still hear the hiker whispering, and Georgie could sense if he moved on. They took it in turns to sleep or keep guard. It was ice cold in the unfurnished house, with no heating or hot water, but at least they were out of the biting wind. Tomorrow would be four days before Christmas, and the temperature was plummeting.
Chapter 30
By early the next morning, they had eaten all of the food they’d packed and drained the water bottles.
‘How long is it before something starts to happen?’ Georgie was hunched up on the floor looking miserable.
Her stomach was completely empty, she was freezing, and she wanted a hot shower.
Brewer checked his watch. It was over 12 hours since they had infected the hiker with meningitis.
‘He should be having symptoms by now,’ he told her, trying to remember what he’d read about it. ‘A high temperature, stiff neck, maybe a rash.’
They hadn’t heard any whispering for a while. Maybe it was working already?
The hiker started up again half an hour later only he spoke to the vessel in sporadic bursts. Brewer started to get a feeling in his gut that something was already wrong with him. He didn’t voice it to Georgie in case she got too worked up.
‘Are you ready to go back out there?’ he asked instead.
‘I suppose,’ she grumbled.
They gathered up their stuff and left the house exactly how they’d found it. The short walk back to the vessel’s road loosened up Brewer’s tight muscles and increased his sense that something wasn’t right with the hiker. His whispering was sounding weaker, raspy even, and he seemed confused about his own plan.
‘The swimming gym… in the centre.’ Came a muddled outburst when they reached their old surveillance post.
Brewer lifted the binoculars to check it out. The hiker was slouched in the front seat of his car, with his head leaning against the driver’s window. He wasn’t moving.
‘Is he still there?’ Georgie asked impatiently.
‘Yes.’ Brewer was keen to go over to the car and see the extent of the damage the virus was causing but he was wise enough to wait. ‘We’ll watch for a while then go and investigate.’
She flounced off down the road, back the way they had come. Brewer was so used to her temperamental ways now that he barely blinked. She’d be back with food soon and would no doubt bring some for him. They could use the fuel for whatever would happen next.
He monitored the street diligently, alternating between checking the hiker in the car, the vessel’s house, and the area around him in case anyone got suspicious about what he was doing. One person walked past with a dog and a couple of cars drove by but that was it. Brewer hid the binoculars when they went past and no one paid attention to him. With his rucksack at his feet, he looked as if he was waiting to be picked up.
Georgie came back a while later. He saw her meandering along the pavement in the distance. She had her rucksack slung over one shoulder, and was holding a couple of carrier bags in her left hand and a king-sized chocolate bar in the right. She smiled sheepishly when she reached him.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Feel better now?’
‘Yep!’ She handed him the plastic bags. ‘There’s some food for you. I found a place that did hot stuff so I got bacon sandwiches. I ate mine but yours is in there.’
Brewer’s mouth watered at the mention of bacon. ‘Here,’ he said, giving her the binoculars. ‘Watch while I eat.’
She smiled at him. ‘Bet you’re glad I had a strop now, aren’t you?’
He rolled his eyes and tucked into the sandwich. It was still warm and Georgie had got them to put brown sauce in it for him. His stomach growled happily at finally being fed.
‘Did I miss anything?’
‘No.’ He swallowed another mouthful. ‘He hasn’t moved or whispered; nothing.’
‘Maybe he’s dead!’
‘Not yet.’ But the idea sent a little tingle of excitement through his body.
When he’d eaten the sandwich, and drunk a bottle of water, he joined Georgie next to the tree. It was nearly 16 hours since they’d injected the hiker, more than long enough for something to be happening to him.
‘Ready to check it out?’ he asked.
Georgie didn’t need to be asked twice, she practically ran across the road.
‘Georgie!’ he hissed, calling her back like a naughty child.
He took his knife out of his rucksack and held it carefully by his side before he followed her. She tapped her foot impatiently until he caught up.
‘Seriously! He hasn’t moved for like two hours. Ah, but I know, we have to be careful,’ she added before he could say it.
She was mocking him, however he knew she was scared underneath the bravado. She didn’t like being around the hiker that nearly killed her one bit.
They approached the car slowly. It was a black, 5-door Fiat of some kind; something non-descript that didn’t draw any attention. Brewer checked all around and the road was empty.
They were near the car door when he realised the hiker’s eyes were wide open and they were staring straight at him. He jumped back in alarm and stepped on Georgie’s foot, but there was no attempt to get into his head.
‘Ow!’ Georgie yelped.
She hadn’t seen his eyes yet, although the gasp of fear a split second later told him when she had.
‘Is he… dead?’
Brewer could see his chest moving and his body was slightly twitching in the seat.
‘No, he’s alive,’ he frowned. ‘But he’s not trying to get into our minds.’
He steeled himself and walked around to open the car door – the passenger side, far away from the hiker. He gripped the handle and tugged it open, ready to sprint away if he needed to. He had the knife poised in front of him in case he attacked. Georgie hovered behind, unsure what to do.
The hiker’s eyes watched him as he opened the door and ducked inside. He turned his head slightly to follow his movements, although his body stayed still. Brewer could feel the fever radiating out of him and the hiker’s breathing was laboured. He glared up at him with hatred but he was unable to attack. The blood was working, and it was working fast – much quicker than it would affect a normal person.
Brewer smiled coldly at the hiker. ‘Not so powerful now, are you?’
He eased himself slowly onto the passenger seat. Georgie poked her head into the car behind him. She was still nervous but couldn’t resist getting a closer look.
‘It’s working!’ she cried gleefully.
The hiker’s eyes flipped to her and she stopped smiling quickly. ‘What should we do with him?’
Brewer reached out and touched the hiker’s arm. He flinched and snarled at him, but he didn’t seem to recognise them, and he couldn’t get into their heads to see what they had done to him. He wasn’t a threat.
‘We can’t leave him sitting here; someone will get nosy,’ Brewer said. ‘We’ll have to take him somewhere.’
‘Where?’
‘I don’t know yet,’ he replied. ‘We’ll have to take the car as well.’
He glanced up at the vessel’s silent house and tried to think. There was still no one around.
‘Ok, Georgie, I need you to help me move him into the passenger seat.’
‘What!’ she screeched.
‘Well, we need to drive the car and we can’t exactly carry him out and put him in the boot so we’ll have to shift him across.’
‘I’m not touching that thing!’ She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
‘You are, and you’ll do it now,’ he told her sternly. ‘We have to be quick before anyone sees us.’
She pouted but didn’t protest any more.
‘I’ll pull him over from here, and you go around and push him from the other side. I need both hands to lift so take the knife and…’
He saw she already had her own blade clenched in her small hand. ‘Keep that trained on him; if he makes any attempts to attack, physically or mentally, stab him.’
‘Got it.’
He didn’t really want to cut the hiker, in case some of the infected blood seeped out and he regenerated new, healthy blood, but they couldn’t take any risks. Georgie opened the driver’s door and got in position.
‘Ready? One, two, three.’
Brewer heaved up the hiker’s body and pulled it towards him. His leg got caught on the gear stick and Georgie shifted it free while her knife stayed unwaveringly pointed at his head. The hiker weighed more than he’d anticipated, and Brewer’s arms strained with the effort. He growled like an animal and tried to twist out of his grasp only he was too weak. The hiker slapped out pitifully but hit nothing. Brewer set him down in the passenger seat and stepped back, breathing hard. He risked a look down the road to make sure there were no witnesses.
Georgie leant against the roof of the car. ‘Now what?’
‘I want you to get in the back seat and sit behind him. Keep the knife on him while we find somewhere to go.’
‘Why do I have to guard him?’
‘Can you drive?’
Georgie gave a brief shake of her head.
‘Then you guard him.’
They both got in the car. Brewer felt massively uncomfortable sitting next to the hiker however he had no choice. Georgie sat behind with her knife ready. She leant forward on her knees, braced to attack if he did anything. The keys were in the ignition and Brewer started the car. The engine purred to life immediately – no shoddy motors for hikers. He drove carefully down the road. The streets were still icy but it hadn’t snowed for a few days. They drove for a couple of miles then Brewer pulled up in a quiet car park.
‘Get my laptop out,’ he told Georgie.
She had both rucksacks on the backseat with her. She took out the laptop from his and passed it through the seats.
The hiker was panting loudly. He had his eyes closed and his forehead was shiny with sweat.
‘Are we staying here?’ Georgie asked, peering out of the windows.
The car park was quiet now,
while people were at work, but it wouldn’t stay that way.
‘No, we need to find somewhere empty to hole up for a couple of days.’
Brewer powered up the laptop and opened Google maps. According to arrow on the screen they were near Battersea. He looked around in all directions from the arrow. It was too built up around there for them to find anywhere completely secluded. He widened the search and found there were some better areas out towards Richmond. He located an industrial park with some warehouses; one of those would be perfect. He gave the laptop back to Georgie.
‘Where are we going then?’ she asked.
‘Richmond.’
‘Because…?’
‘There’s somewhere there where we can watch this fucker deteriorate in peace.’
He saw Georgie grin in the rear-view mirror.
‘Drive on then.’
Chapter 31
They found a perfect empty warehouse at the back of the industrial park. It was quite small but could be accessed through a rear entrance, which suited them. Brewer drove by a couple of times to scope out the place. It was early afternoon and people were buzzing in and out of buildings, and numerous delivery vans were driving about so no one noticed them.
Brewer pulled up in a vacant spot behind the empty building. It was hidden from the road and he couldn’t see any CCTV cameras angled towards them.
Georgie got out of the car as quickly as she could. She stood a few feet away from it and wiped her hands on her jeans as if they were dirty.
‘Ugh, I never want to sit that close to one in a confined space again!’
‘Me either,’ he agreed. ‘We do have to get close again to get it inside though.’
Georgie’s mouth turned into a thin line. ‘Let’s do it quick then before I lose the nerve.’
She stood guard with her knife while Brewer hoisted the hiker out of the car. He howled in agony at the bright daylight and tried to writhe back into the dimmer car. Brewer gritted his teeth and dragged him through the warehouse door before he drew any attention to them. He set him down on the floor and the hiker laid whimpering and clutching his head.