Apocalypse Hill (Apoc Hill Miniseries Book 1)

by Matthew Stott

  Bill turned back to Mary, who lifted her head to look at him; only it wasn’t Mary anymore—

  ‘Cali!’

  She screamed and the beast in the void roared.

  …

  …

  …

  Bill opened his eyes to see the pub’s ceiling up above him, the tang of spilled blood infiltrating his nostrils and almost causing him to gag. He saw Cali reaching desperately toward him in the yellow room and he was more certain than ever: someone was trying to manipulate him. The Yellow Man, for whatever reason, was pushing him to go to the house by Apoc Hill. He didn’t know why, for what real purpose, but he knew it made him scared like he hadn’t felt since he was five years old and he turned from a shop front to look for his Mum, only to see she was no longer beside him. Realised he was alone as giant grown-ups rushed back and forth, ignoring a tiny boy as he cried and slid onto the sidewalk.

  Bill pushed himself up and into a sitting position and looked around at the carnage. He had to get away from here, get far, far away from Apoc Hill. He needed to load up and drive as far away from Hell as he could.

  He stood, wincing as his hip complained, then tucked the taser into his belt and walked out.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Officer Mark Harvey never came back. Alice had waited, and she had waited, but any hope had been slowly squeezed out of her. She was alone, alone. Alone again.

  She had tried to keep her spirits up by singing songs in her head—only in her head as then no one passing close by could hear her and try to get her. No one quietly creeping past the car, stepping slow and gentle so their monster feet didn’t crunch, crunch, crunch the gravel, could hear her voice and leap out at her.

  Officer Mark Harvey must be dead now. Must be. Otherwise he would have come back, just like he said. So he could only be dead; monsters got him. Monsters got Dad. How long until the monsters got her, too?

  The hours had stepped sluggishly by, and she’d heard the screams, heard the inhuman shrieks, and all the time she sang, sang, sang whilst yellow slowly spiralled down from the sky and brushed against the car.

  Alice knew she was in her very own horror movie. Maybe her mum had been right, maybe the movies had done for her just like they had Billy Tallen. They’d screwed up the inside of her head and she’d gone all crazy and now she was just seeing stuff. Her dad was shaking her but she couldn’t see or hear him anymore as her mind was just dribble now.

  No, she wasn’t mad. Didn’t think she was mad. This all felt too much like really, real reality. The cold, the sharp pain as she bit the side of her mouth, the dried blood and brain bits stuck to the outside of the car window.

  ‘I’m not crazy,’ she said quietly to herself. Part of her wished she was, ‘cos then her dad wasn’t actually dead and maybe she might get better and see him again. That would be good.

  But no.

  Alice knew deep down in her belly that she wasn’t crazy; knew that she was in a real life horror movie, and the monsters outside weren’t playacting. She wondered if she’d be dead soon.

  In most horror films, little girls like her didn’t end up dead. It was like a rule: adults can die, but not small, skinny girls who haven’t even reached double figures. There’d be a hero. In the film, there’d be a hero and he’d take care of her, even if it meant bad things for him.

  Would there be a hero in a really, real-life horror movie?

  Her mum would know now, for sure. Know her daughter and husband were missing. She’d have known for hours and hours. She must have searched for her, mustn’t she? Must have called for help, then driven around, pushing tears out of her eyes so she could see clearly, searching for any sign of them; so why hadn’t she found her? There’s no way she wouldn’t have passed by here at least once already and seen Dad’s car parked up.

  Maybe the yellow stuff had covered the car too much. Hidden it. Should she get out and try and clear some of the stuff off so her mum would see her when she passed by again?

  But then someone was sure to see her.

  Something.

  Something that liked to kill dads and police officers and even little girls, no matter what the rules said. So she stayed inside.

  Alice saw the man again, leaving the bar. She’d watched him, keeping as out of sight in the car as she could, as he’d arrived. Seen him move from one building on the strip to the next. Saw the two monsters follow him into the bar.

  She hadn’t expected to see him walk out.

  Expected he’d be just like Officer Mark Harvey. Be just like her dad. They’d walk away and be swallowed up, leaving her alone. She should have tried to warn him that the monsters were coming, beeped the horn or something to get his attention, but she hadn’t. Instead she clenched her eyes shut and tried to remember all the words to that song she and her dad liked to sing together.

  But the words wouldn’t come.

  Alice heard a door shut and peeked out the driver’s side window. She was surprised to see it was the man, the monsters hadn’t got him! Or maybe they had? Was he a monster now, too? He didn’t look like a monster; he looked tired, looked scared.

  So what should she do?

  Alice was scared, worse than scared, but how much longer could she hide? She was already hungry, and fiercely thirsty; at some point she was going to have to go out into monster-land on her own to get food and water, or to pee, or she was going to have to try and ask for help.

  Her dad had said to stay put, so had the police officer, and her mum would shout at her, pace the floor, and shout at her some more if she ever found out she spoke to a stranger. Tell her tales about little girls who start talking to strange men in the street and are never seen again. But right now, Alice figured the whole world was strange, and she was a small thing all alone inside a car in a town full of monsters.

  So Alice beeped the car horn.

  The man jumped back a little in surprise at the sudden sharp noise. He turned to Alice and his eyes widened as he saw her. Not knowing what to do, Alice waved at him. The man paused for several seconds, then waved back. He started to walk over.

  Well it was done now; she’d taken a risk.

  The man stopped by the car and bent over a little to look through the window at her.

  ‘Hello,’ said the man. Alice thought he looked kind, but sad; she saw there was blood on his clothes.

  ‘Hello. What’s your name? If I know your name, then you’re not a stranger.’

  The man smiled a little, his face crinkling. ‘Call me Bill.’

  ‘Hello Bill, I’m Alice Anders. I don’t think you’re a monster.’

  ‘No.’

  Alice bit her lip, ‘Did you see my dad in the shop? He went in there, said he’d be right back, but…’

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t see anyone ali… I didn’t see anyone in there.’

  ‘Oh.’ Alice wiped at the water racing to fill her eyes and streak down her cheeks. ‘Can you help me? Can you help me, please? The policeman said he would but then he never came back. It would be really, really nice of you.’

  ‘I can do my best. Do you live close by?’

  Alice nodded eagerly. ‘Yep, I do! I know the way, I can show you!’

  Bill looked around, then back to Alice.

  ‘Okay, come on, I’ll take you home.’

  Alice wavered just for a second, but knew she didn’t really have any other choice She unlocked the car and stepped out onto the road. She looked up at the man’s sad looking face.

  ‘Did you have to kill monsters?’

  ‘Yes. Yes, I did.’

  Alice smiled up at Bill, he looked like a beaten down thing, waiting for the final punch. ‘Don’t worry, Bill. Sometimes that’s all you can do to monsters.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  So what was the score now? Bill tallied it up as he drove. There was Paul, who he’d known for almost the whole of the boy’s life, a dog, and a… well… He supposed ‘monster’ would do. Well, scratch that, three monsters. Just think of them all as
monsters, that’ll make it easier to live with. And it wasn’t like it was a lie, all three had been changed, that was obvious. Gone crazy, desperate to do just tear, bite and rip others limb from limb.

  All he’d done was kill a few monsters, even if some of them did wear familiar faces. He thought about Neil; now Neil was something different. The others, they’d gone down like you’d expect, but Neil had blown his own brains right across the pub; Bill had seen that. So how could Neil then have stood, have attacked, have spoken to him? A lot of the day so far had seemed impossible to Bill, but Neil was the one thing that unquestionably was. There was no explaining that, no amount of mystery-sickness rationale explained a man who just emptied his head of brain matter getting up and acting like it was no big deal. That was some supernatural, unexplainable horror no matter which way you tried to slice it.

  And then there was the Yellow Man. The Yellow Man, Apoc Hill, Mary and the house that stood in its shadow, spewing yellow hell into the world. Yellow hell that was slowly taking people and making them beasts. Just a dream? That’s all. Just a dream. Just trauma finding a writer’s brain a happy playground. Maybe that was all it was. Bill’s knuckles hurt from gripping the steering wheel too tight; he tried to slow his breathing and relax his grip.

  ‘Are you okay, Bill?’ asked Alice.

  Bill forced a smile and looked over at the small, skinny girl, ‘I’m okay. Just a... really bad day.’

  Alice nodded, ‘Yeah. When I’m having a bad time like this, I try to think of happy things all the time, then before you know it, you trick yourself into feeling a bit better.’

  ‘Is that working for you right now?’

  She shook her head, ‘I think my head isn’t in the mood for tricks at the moment. Sometimes it knows you’re trying to trick it, I suppose.’

  ‘What are the happy things you think about?’

  ‘Oh, I have a few. I have movie night. I have the smell of my dad’s jacket. I have my mum singing to me as I try to sleep. Oh! And chocolate and pizza of course. Always chocolate and pizza! Do you have a happy thing?’

  Bill thought about his daughter. Thought about Cali choo-choo-chooing across the floor.

  ‘Yeah.’ Bill smiled and drove on.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Alice’s house wasn’t far, and within a few minutes she could see it in the distance, it seemed to shine out from the surroundings.

  ‘There it is, Bill! That’s my house!’

  ‘All right then.’

  Alice’s heart beat fast. It beat fast at the thought of getting home and safe again, beat fast at the thought of running into her mum’s warm arms, beat fast at the thought of telling her mum that the monsters had got Dad.

  The car pulled to a stop.

  ‘Alice, maybe I should—’

  Alice had jumped out of the car and was sprinting towards the door.

  ‘Alice! Alice, wait! Shit…’

  Alice heard him, but it didn’t matter; that was her house and her mum would be inside; there was nothing to worry about. Nothing could hurt her in her own house, even monsters would be scared of her mum.

  ‘Alice, wait!’

  Alice burst into the house: ‘Mum? Mum! Where are you, Mummy!’ She ran from room to room, each as empty as the last. ‘Mum? Where are you?’

  As she ran back into the corridor, she saw Bill just stepping into the house; he had a weird looking gun thing in his hand and was breathing heavy.

  ‘Alice, to me, we don’t know what’s in here.’

  ‘My mum is in here, her coat’s on the kitchen table. Mum!’

  A shadow fell across the stairs as someone appeared at the top.

  ‘Mrs. Anders? Is that you?’

  ‘Mum!’ Alice ran for the foot of the stairs, but Bill reached out and grabbed hold of her, pulling her back; Alice struggled. ‘Let go of me, Bill! That’s my mum!’

  Alice’s mum walked slowly down the stairs, not saying a word.

  ‘Mum, something bad happened to Daddy. Something really, really bad.’ Alice felt herself start to cry now, relief and sadness joining forces.

  ‘Mrs. Anders? Is everything okay?’

  Alice’s mum continued to silently descend the staircase.

  ‘Mrs Anders, one last chance, prove to me that you’re still you.’

  ‘Mum, what’s wrong?’ It was then that Alice noticed the knife in her mum’s hand, blood trickling over her fingers. ‘Mum?’

  ‘Alice, I’m sorry Alice, I’m so sorry, but I really don’t think that’s your mum. Not anymore.’

  ‘Of course it is! Mum? Tell him Mum!’ Alice fought, but Bill refused to release her.

  ‘She’s changed, Alice. Look at her eyes.’

  ‘No!’

  Alice’s mum smiled, her teeth red, her eyes shining bright and yellow. ‘Hello, Alice. Oh, how I have missed you. Come over here and I’ll give you a big hug.’ She held open her arms, knife gripped tightly.

  ‘Don’t move, don’t you fucking move!’ Bill trained his weird gun on her—

  Mrs. Anders grimaced and began creeping forward.

  ‘I’m gonna count to three and if you don’t stop…’

  ‘Don’t point that at my mummy!’

  ‘We’re so looking forward to you both joining us, Bill.’

  ‘Three-Two… I said fucking stop!’

  ‘No!’

  ‘One!’

  Alice shoved hard, pushing his arm to the side and sending the weapon tumbling from Bill’s hand to the floor—

  Alice jerked herself free, staggering away from Bill. ‘You won’t hurt my mummy!’

  ‘Alice, that’s not your—’

  Alice’s mum slammed into Bill and they tumbled back through the open doorway and out into the garden.

  Alice crouched down and hugged her trembling body. No. Not her mum. Not her mum, too. She could hear her monster mum and Bill struggling out of view. Alice didn’t want to see that; if she didn’t see it, then maybe it wouldn’t ever be real? She closed her eyes tight and wished she was back on the couch, watching scary movies with her dad, and that this whole thing was nothing but a bad dream, but it was no good. She couldn’t block the noise, couldn’t block away the reality. She could hear a noise from outside. It was a bit like her mum screaming, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was animalistic, terrifying, evil. Alice stood and saw Bill’s strange looking gun sat on the floor; she went over and picked it up. It felt cold and heavy and unnatural.

  Breath staccato, Alice walked out of the door and into the front garden, every step a struggle as though she were wading through treacle. Bill was on his back on the ground; Alice’s monster-mum was on top. Bill’s face was strained, bright red, eyes wide, as he struggled to stop the knife she was pressing down towards his neck from moving any further.

  ‘Mummy? Mum?’ Alice wandered over and stood beside the struggling pair. ‘Mum, I’m sorry I sometimes thought mean things about you.’

  Alice could see Bill’s neck tendons bulging with the strain, his arms shaking as he lost the battle.

  ‘Mum? Please stop, Mum. Please stop now.’

  Alice heard Bill hiss through clenched teeth as the tip of the knife began to break his skin.

  ‘I love you, Mum.’

  Alice swung the weapon with both hands, bringing it down hard across the back of her monster-mum’s head. There was a sound like a hammer hitting a coconut, then her monster-mum toppled to one side, the knife falling from her grip.

  Bill was breathing heavily, face drenched in sweat as he sat up, touching a shaking hand to the small wound on his neck, smearing his tanned skin with a little blood.

  Alice handed him his weapon, then looked down at her unconscious monster-mum.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ‘We’ve got to get as far away from Apoc Hill as we can,’ said Bill. ‘This town has really gone to hell.’

  Bill had left the monster Alice’s mum had become unconscious in front of her house. Should he have killed her? Maybe. Perhaps she’d
wake up and go on to kill another person. Would that blood be on his hands? Bill touched his neck again; the small cut had decided to sting fiercely, as though to remind him how close he came to dying. Again. How close he came to dying again. He was making a habit of that today. Maybe, pretty soon, his luck would finally run out.

  ‘Bill, is this the end of the world?’ Alice asked in a small voice, looking not at Bill but at her hands. The hands she’d used to swing the taser down onto her own mother’s skull.

  ‘I honestly don’t know. But it certainly feels a lot like it.’ He looked up into the yellow sky; it rippled like the surface of a lake. He wondered if Cali could see that yellow sky as she passed on by above.

  They drove aimlessly for a while in silence. Bill would steal glances at the young girl next to him every few minutes, not knowing exactly what he was hoping to see. Perhaps more worried that he wouldn’t be able to care for the girl properly if she looked up, desperate for someone to take care of her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

  Finally, Alice spoke.

  ‘Can I have a drink, please?’

  Bill fumbled with one hand to grab a bottle of water and pass it over. ‘Sure, of course, here you go. Drink as much as you want. Okay? Okay.’

  Another ten minutes of silence as Alice slowly sipped from the bottle, then rested it on her lap. Sipped, and rested. Over and over.

  ‘Are you, you know… are you okay?’ asked Bill. ‘No. I mean, I know you’re not. Sorry. Stupid question.’

  ‘Thanks for the water.’

  ‘That’s all right.’

  ‘So what’s your favourite movie ever?’ asked Alice.

  Bill blinked in surprise, looking back and forth between Alice and the road.

  ‘Well… uh… I like a lot of films. I don’t know if I have, um, well, a number one favourite ever, or…? How about you?’

  ‘I like horror movies. Scary movies. Me and my dad love them. He always shows me scary movies when my mum’s…’ Alice’s bottom lip trembled for a second before she regained her composure. ‘When my mum’s out.’