The Rot (Book 1): They Rot

by Luke Kondor

  It didn’t matter, though. None of it mattered. It wasn’t real. He was simply dreaming again.

  He was the itsy-bitsy spider. The rain was coming down. And here, he had climbed to the voice that was sweet and thick like honey, impossible to ignore.

  Suddenly Sunny stopped, his toes gripping the jagged edges of the rafter’s floor as he stood before a wide, gaping hole. He looked down and saw the weak pulses of his captors’ hearts, then ahead, across the hole, where the pulsing throb of the nameless thing was waiting.

  *

  Dutchman grew nervous as he narrowly avoided another hole in the floor. The cold draught rose. Below there was nothing but darkness. How the boy had managed to navigate across this trap-ridden floor was beyond his understanding. He studied his footsteps, doing his best to tread exactly where the boy had gone, but it was so dark now that, if Sunny hadn’t been so pale, he would’ve lost him a while ago. His skin radiating a fine glow that made him a dull beacon in the darkness.

  The rain was beating so hard now that drops were working their way through the roof. He could hear them dripping around him. A couple times he felt the cool liquid as it fell on his head. He began to wonder how far they were going to go, and how long he would allow the boy to sleepwalk.

  But then Sunny stopped. And it was only as Dutchman caught up that he saw why.

  There was a hole – no, more of a chasm – that opened up in front of them. Its edges were rough where the rotten boards had fallen through after years of neglect and wear. In the ceiling above, the roof opened up to the sky and he could see dark rolling clouds as sheets of rain poured down and into the factory. Dutchman wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly feeling cold and exposed.

  Sunny took a step forward. “No,” he called as he went to grab for the boy. But just then lightning flashed in the skies and he saw a metal beam, no wider than a girder, stretching across the chasm. Sunny’s foot connected with the metal, shining and slick with rain, and he held his arms out wide like a circus performer ready to take to the tightrope. Another step and the boy’s clothes grew heavier as the material lapped up the moisture.

  Dutchman felt helpless as he watched the boy take the beam step-by-step. He spared a look down and saw the shattered remnants of the floor below, and beside that the figure of Joanna as she appeared to wake, and look up at the rain. With the rain pouring onto her face it would be hard to see anything at all. She had realised that her companion was missing, though, as she suddenly whipped her head around, looking in all directions. “Sunny?!” Her voice little more than an echo.

  Sunny was halfway across now, and all he could do was watch. He laced his hands behind the back of his head and took deep breaths. At one point Sunny misplaced a step and his arms shook violently to compensate. Dutchman’s breath caught, but the boy seemed to be a pro and regained balance with a simple bend of the knees.

  A few more steps and he’d be there. He’d be safe – or so Dutchman assumed. The closer Sunny got to the other side, the more he realised that, if he wanted to protect the boy, he’d have to cross himself. He looked left and right as far as he could see, but the hole seemed to stretch from wall to wall.

  Shit. Ins for a penny…

  Dutchman took his first step as Sunny touched both feet on the other side. He let out a deep breath and smiled, feeling relief come in the boy’s safety.

  Until he saw something that chilled his bones more than the rain now soaking his flesh. There came another flash of lightning which, for half a second, illuminated the upper floors in a harsh light.

  And it was there… only ten feet away from the boy, that he saw the writhing, translucent shape of the spore-cluster.

  ~ 28 ~

  “What’s he doing?” Ria asked Joanna, pointing over to where the boy had decided to sit cross-legged in front of the cluster. His eyes were closed, his breath steady.

  “He doesn’t know… he’s dreaming again. He’s just dreaming.”

  A sheet of rain and a bare beam was all that separated them. After Dutchman had seen the spore-cluster, it hadn’t taken long before he’d shouted for the attention of the others. Joanna was the first to look up and see him, almost seeming to understand the situation easily without a word exchanged. Ria followed shortly after, reluctantly leaving Lee to guard the front door. She hadn’t asked after Stephen, or where the other prisoner might be, for which Dutchman was thankful. How was he supposed to tell her that he’d lost them both, and taken a beating, all in one night?

  He looked now to the concerned expression on Joanna’s face. A look that was sprinkled in a mix of motherly love, and utter terror at her boy as he danced along the edge of a busy overpass. “Whats is this… ‘dreaming’?” he asked.

  Joanna thought for a moment before answering. “The boy has a gift. I’m not sure I understand it myself, but he’s able to… to feel, to communicate.”

  “With what?”

  “With… with the spores, the rotters, maybe more, I don’t know. But he can just… he can talk to the rot,” Joanna answered. On the other side of the hole, the great translucent organ pulsed and jived. The stretched fleshy sack moved with the rhythm of a beating heart. A low whining noise intermingled with grunts and clicks gently reverberated around them. It was almost so quiet that, had they not been so close, they might never have been aware.

  Ria turned back to Joanna.

  “You knew this entire time, didn’t you? You knew there was one here, and you didn’t tell us?!”

  “No! Of course not,” Joanna said. “Sunny’s gift doesn’t work like that, he can just sense them. Hear them. They call to him and tell him where to go. He doesn’t know their exact location or how many there are. But hell, I tried to warn you!”

  “You said there was danger. You didn’t say anything about this fucking mess in the rafters!”

  Dutchman stepped between them, hands out wide. “Please, come on. We cans argue later. All we need to figure out is how to get him back. I don’t knows about you, but I don’t want to get near that thing.”

  The cluster gave an extra large pulsing shake as if it had heard Dutchman speak. Sunny kept himself meticulously still, a small choir boy caught in a meditative slumber. They all looked at the slick beam, rain hammering its thin surface, the droplets falling the thirty feet through the jagged, misaligned holes until they soaked the lower floors.

  Ria scowled at Joanna. “Any ideas?”

  Joanna sighed. “I’m not an expert on the kid. Like I told you, he’s not mine.”

  “But you’ve seen him like this before?”

  “On a couple of occasions. What do you think we were doing when you the kid and the old man picked us up? They chased us from a house not far away across the fields.” She took a step closer to the edge. Down below there was a creaking noise and the sound of footsteps. She stretched one toe onto the beam, cupped a hand around her mouth, and whispered, “Sunny? Hey, Sunny… time to wake up, kiddo. We’ve got a big day ahead.”

  Ria rolled her eyes and folded her arms, tutting.

  Joanna turned and scowled. When she leant out to Sunny again, she said a bit louder, “Sunny. C’mon, wake up, honey. We need to get out of here.” She sounded more desperate now, as Sunny continued to sit without a quiver. As if he were cast in stone and left to guard the throbbing, translucent cluster that sat almost double in height.

  Dutchman watched in awe until he heard a whisper to his left. It was Ria, talking out the side of her mouth. “Don’t think I’ve not noticed the fresh swell of elephantiasis on your eye. We’ll sort this shit out and then you can tell me what the fuck happened to Stephen and that dirty mutt… oh, and the dog.”

  Dutchman forced himself to hold her eye contact, feeling his throat dry and his fingers shake. Suddenly his eyes were drawn to movement downstairs as Lee came into sight, just below them all. Behind him stood Chicory, wet through to the bone, a menacing smile on his face as he looked straight up at Ria.

  “Oh for fu…” Ria muttered. “Clowns�
�� all of you.”

  Joanna clicked, an idea coming to her heard. She leant forward one final time and threw caution to the wind, saying as loudly as she possibly could, “Sándor! Wake up!”

  Sunny’s eyes snapped open. The words an invisible slap to the face. Suddenly he shook his head and turned to the direction of the caller. His eyes melted from their unseeing haze to recognition as his body half-twisted, one hand gripping the beam. Joanna smiled at him and held out her arms. “That’s it, Sunny. We’re going to need you to come on back, okay? Onto the safe side of the roof.”

  Sunny looked around, suddenly realising where he was. He looked down in terror as he saw the height in which he currently sat, and when he turned and saw the cluster he let out a scream, the noise of which seemed to make the cluster undulate.

  “What’s going on up there?” Lee called from down below.

  Dutchman saw as Ria went to offer an angry response when her face suddenly dropped. Her head turned to him, but her eyes were fixed. “Dutch, we need to leave. Now.” There was no question in her voice. Just a simple command.

  “What are you talking about? We can’t leave him over there by himself!” Joanna cried, but Ria had already made a break for it, her footsteps clanging and fading into the distance as she headed downstairs. Joanna looked around wildly, “You,” she said, grabbing Dutchman’s top in both hands. “Please, help him.”

  Dutchman looked down below and saw Lee and Chicory with goofy stares, shielding their eyes from the rain as they tried to work out what was happening above.

  “Please!” Joanna said again. “…Please.”

  Dutchman sighed, took a breath, emptied his mind, and placed a foot on the beam, feeling the lack of friction as his heel slid across the metal. He took another step, holding out his arms wide and bending his legs. The rain water hit him like ice shards, each droplet painful as another lightning flash lit up the horror ahead. In a few seconds, he was across, his heart thumping fast as he felt the solid weight of the floorboards beneath him.

  He was now only a foot away from Sunny – and a few more feet away from the cluster. He could smell it now. A kind of damp smell mixed with sweat and earth. He hooked his arms beneath Sunny’s and lifted him slowly off the floor, not sure if his movements were slow from fear, or slow out of respect for the sack. When Sunny was standing, he turned a half-circle and bent low, signalling for him to climb onto his back. A moment later he felt tiny arms wrap around his shoulder, and he made his way back across the beam and away from the scent that made him feel like he was about to throw up, trying his hardest not to concentrate on Joanna as she stood with hands clasped to her mouth, emitting tiny gasps and screams every time they wobbled.

  Dutchman placed Sunny down, and Joanna immediately ran over and embraced the boy, not caring about how wet his clothes had become.

  “Thank goodness, thank goodness,” she said before spinning and hugging Dutchman tightly. “Thank you so much.”

  It felt nice – to feel the warmth of another human being – and Dutchman found himself relaxing as Joanna’s body heat melted into his own. He felt her breath on his neck and squeezed her back, realising how good she smelled despite the clothes she wore and the grime that coated her skin. If only it could be this easy all the time. If only they could all just learn to trust each other again.

  They broke free and Joanna smiled before kneeling and whispering to Sunny to check he was truly okay, when they suddenly heard a shout from below.

  “What the hell?!”

  Dutchman turned just in time to hear something tearing. On the other side of the chasm, the matter inside the spore-cluster began to move, straining against the exterior of the cluster. There came a series of clicks and rips as small holes began to appear on its surface, through which thick, white myelin strands began to protrude. They slithered out like vines, thick and stumpy at first, before lengthening and reaching towards the base of the beam.

  They stood, mesmerised.

  “What is that thing?” Dutchman whispered.

  For the first time, he heard Sunny’s voice. A sweet, innocent tone. “It’s hatching.”

  ~ 29 ~

  “Bolton!”

  Colin had no idea what to do. He stayed low to the ground, the stench of the dead creeping up his nose. Those unblinking eyes set to stain his dreams for a good few years to come.

  “Where are yer?”

  Slowing his breathing, he tried to find reason. Perhaps he was jumping to conclusions? Perhaps David had simply suffered from some sort of heart attack or crash and now here he lay?

  Heart attacks don’t crush skulls, idiot.

  “Come on, now. We haven’t got time fer this,” Stephen said, skulking around the car, looking for a sign of Colin. He spread his arms wide and let them fall with a huff. “You’ll never find Hope without me.”

  Colin’s heart sank. It was true. He’d never find the place that had filled him with an unquenchable curiosity since Kitty handed over the note. That he found mention of in the notebook. The town of mystery that filled Colin with thoughts of community, and safety, and somewhere he might have a damn chance at actually surviving this world.

  Head west, towards the setting sun…

  Colin steeled himself, his brow furrowed as he crept backwards, away from Stephen and further into the dark. It meant crawling over David’s body but his mind had been set. He would rather search alone for Hope than to take the risk with Stephen. Even if it meant his search spanned for months.

  Somewhere in the trees, Wheat barked. Colin raised his head, suddenly remembering he wasn’t alone. Another bark and he heard Wheat running. Stephen’s head turned in the direction of the noise and he took a few steps to Colin’s left. A moment later, Wheat raced past Stephen, darting between his legs, and sniffed around the car. Colin held his breath once more, praying that his faithful companion wouldn’t give his position away.

  He slid a foot back, rustling fallen leaves.

  Wheat’s head snapped in Colin’s direction and he ran eagerly towards him. As Colin’s vision filled with fur and dog-tongue, he caught a glimpse of Stephen as a smile crept up on his face and he began to walk towards them both.

  “Stay back,” Colin shouted, leaping to his feet. Grabbing a hold of a jagged rock the size of a grapefruit. He cocked his arm back, ready to fire. “Any closer and I’ll take your fucking head off.”

  Stephen held his hands up, looking to yield. “Okay… okay. This is all just a big misunderstanding, Bolton. Whatever yer thinking, I can assure you yer wrong.”

  A couple feet away from Colin, Wheat growled as his teeth sank into the corpse, shaking his head violently back and forth as he tugged on David’s ear. Stephen’s eyes shot down to Wheat, and his eyes widened.

  “Am I? Because from where I’m standing it seems that you already knew about this little accident. You were mighty keen to stop me discovering it, so I’m going to take an educated guess and say that this had something to do with you?” He pointed to the body. “This is David. Correct?”

  That smile crept back onto Stephen’s face. The one that made Colin feel nervous. He’d seen that smile before…

  “And wasn’t it you who was the last person to see David alive?” He waited a moment, letting the words sink in. He knew he was right.

  Stephen dropped his hands to his sides and took a step forward.

  “Uh-oh… it looks like you got me,” he sneered. “Maybe I’m not the reformed golden child the old coot thought I was, eh?”

  He took another step and Colin tensed his throwing arm.

  “Oh, behave. What damage do yer think a rock is going ter do ter me? I’ve been through worse, Bolton. I’ve seen things you can never imagine.” Another step.

  Colin let fly the rock. It missed Stephen by a hair’s width, and the giant chuckled.

  By now he was just a couple metres from Colin, only David’s corpse separating the pair. Wheat looked up and sensed a change in the brute, instantly drawing back on his haunches an
d growling at Stephen. Stephen’s head tilted as he looked at David. “Poor guy. They really seemed ter like him. Just a shame that he had the biggest mouth of them all. He wasn’t prepared at all ter give me a chance ter show I’d ‘changed my ways’. On me like a hawk that one. I couldn’t piss without his permission. He just saw my tattoos and assumed. Quite rightly, though, eh? I knew he was going ter be a thorn in the side of me dick. So I fucked with his car, switched some wires around – kids stuff. Waited for him ter pull over, then rearranged his face a little. Might even have been with that rock.” He pointed to where Colin had picked up another stone and weighed it in his hand. “I didn’t really mean it, though. I guess yer could just say that I’ve got an anger problem… runs in the family.”

  Colin’s head hurt. This latest revelation confusing him beyond belief. “So why go back to them? Surely you knew someone would find out?”

  “I knew there was always that chance. But they were always too trusting, that lot. What more do yer expect from a group who call themselves, ‘The Hopefuls’? Stupid name if I’d ever heard one.”

  Colin’s ears pricked up. “‘Hopefuls’? As in—”

  This time Stephen took a big step forward, forcing Colin to take one back. Stephen’s smile stretched from ear to ear as he seemed to revel in pulling the carpet from beneath Colin’s feet. “Hope… That’s right. Yer scavvie captors back at the factory are from the very place you were looking to find.”

  “But they never said—”

  “Of course, they’d never tell yer that directly. Gotta keep up the pretence until they arrive back and let Henry judge yer fer himself, don’t they? There’s a lot of dangerous people in this world, Bolton. A lot of dangerous people indeed. Which is why I need you.” Lightning flashed and illuminated Stephen’s face, detailing every menacing line as he grinned nefariously. He dug a fist into his pocket and withdrew a folded piece of paper. “You know what this is?”