Clifton Falls

by L A Taylor

  “Sorry mate. I did tell you earlier, but you weren’t quite with it.”

  “Look at it.” Blake stretched out his arms. The shirt and jacket sleeves rested about eight inches from the wrist, and the trousers gripped his calves. “The bloody thing doesn’t fit me.”

  “But it was the best thing I could find in short notice.”

  Everyone laughed now, and so it was the troubled man’s turn to change his facial colour. How come I didn’t notice? Blake thought.

  “Why have you still got this?” he asked.

  “Memories...” Dave smiled. “It’s a reminder of us and what we used to do.”

  Blake opened his arms to hug his friend, but the back of the jacket tore wide open as he wrapped them around the larger man.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  That was that. They all cracked up again, laughing and falling over in fits of giggles.

  Gary and Tony had work to go to but embraced Blake, showing him support. They all smiled at each other. They knew Blake’s was only temporary and he would soon have his mind switched back to the hellish, horror thoughts, but for now he thanked his mates for being here. Dave shut the front door as they left.

  He chose this time to try and persuade Blake to go to the hospital for a check up. There were no markings or scratches that could be seen, but Blake needed to be seen by professional people. Dave had more than one reason for wanting the other man to go. He also wanted to know more about Karen, was she or wasn’t she one of the un-dead? He wanted to believe his mate, but deep down hoped and prayed that Blake’s mind was confused and Karen was just as much alive as they were. Dave knew this conversation would change the emotion of the other man and could also send him over the edge again, but he needed to try.

  “Blake, mate. I’ll drive you to the hospital if you want. You need looking over.”

  “I’m sorry Dave, but I can’t think straight. I keep seeing those things every time I close my eyes.” Blake seemed to be fighting with his hands. Each time he pulled them away from his face they would crash back down again to cover his vision. “I know I need help. I keep having visions of my wife. She’s telling me all’s not well. The danger isn’t over, it’s just starting.” There was another pause while he loosened the hands away from his face again. “What’s she saying, man?”

  This wasn’t a good time for him to be on the verge of madness. Demons were inside his mind and Karen was trying to reach out to him, but the images of dead, rotting corpses were stopping her from telling him something.

  “I wish I knew,” Dave replied. This was the right time for him to speak like he was treading carefully on eggshells. “The danger is over and I’m sure your images are only temporary. The nightmare’s gone, mate. I’m here to help you now.”

  Dave wished he knew what the hallucinations meant, but had no chance. It was up to Blake to fathom it out.

  Mike sat in his office, pondering over what’d happened to Blake. He wasn’t going to rest until his whereabouts was located, but the necessary calls to the priority candidates of the latest victims had to be achieved now. Susan watched from outside the room. She could see Mike talking on the telephone, expressing his deepest condolences to family members. At one point he caught her eye and she gave him a sympathetic smile, hoping that he would manage to remain strong.

  He was now ready for an update to Harry, but there was no mention of Blake in the speech. It was Mike’s decision not to let Harry know at this time. He didn’t need another chaotic moment occurring when there was a good chance it wasn’t needed, but the suggestion of moving Shane to the city was mentioned.

  A letter of resignation was rustled up as Mike spoke to his superior. This was the only chance of doing it without Susan knowing. Yes, she could see Mike clearly from where she stood but he had his back to her, so her view was hidden from what he wrote.

  “I’m sending you my resignation, Harry.”

  “Look, Mike. We can work through this together. I was angry with you, but I don’t want to lose you. Just take a few days off and then we’ll talk.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore.” Harry knew the other man wasn’t playing. Whatever Mike had seen and had done over the past week had shocked him, and it was going to take him a long time to recover. “I lost too many close friends out there and I have to live with what I did.”

  Harry could hear the strain in Mike’s voice and the depth of his sadness was almost catching, so decided to stick to practical matters.

  “You do what you need to do, but I’ll leave your position open for a few weeks in case you change your mind.”

  “Thanks. I’ll post it today. You take care. I’ll speak to you when I’m feeling less stressed.”

  “You’d better. Take care yourself. Tell Susan I said thanks for her hard work in all of this and my commiserations for her loss.”

  Mike put down the phone and stood up. He then waved to Susan to indicate he would join her, but just before he left the room, slipped the letter into an envelope and placed it inside his jacket pocket. “I think it’s time we shut everything down, don’t you?”

  Susan just smiled. She began switching off the power switches, but as she did so, the phone rang. Mike hesitated. He was close to leaving so definitely thought about letting the phone ring. However, he still had a job to do and wasn’t unemployed yet. “Hello,” he said.

  The other end remained silent, but the chief knew somebody was there. He could tell because he heard breathing. “Hello, is anybody there?”

  On the other end of the line was Blake. He might not have wanted to go to the hospital but was going to let Mike know he was fine. All he had to do was speak.

  “I know there’s someone there, speak to me.”

  Mike could easily flip, but it was a good job he didn’t. Blake wouldn’t have been able to take it and would be gone for good. Susan shrugged her shoulders again as Mike mimed the words: “They aren’t talking.”

  “Is that Mike?” The spoken words almost had the chief’s heart leaping out of his mouth. He recognized the voice immediately. “It’s Blake, and I’m okay.”

  Mike was just about to reply, but the line went dead. Blake had done enough to convince the other man that he was still alive. Even though they hadn’t talked to each other there was still a sense of closure in the mind of the chief. He replaced the handset and laughed out loud. This reaction confused Susan.

  “What’s happened?”

  “It was Blake,” Mike said, grinning largely.

  “So he made it then.” She too was now smiling.

  Mike stopped laughing.

  One man survived, but Wayne hadn’t, he thought.

  Even though the female smiled, Mike knew his words had hit a raw spot within her heart. “Hey, come here,” he said, reaching out and hugging her again. “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I was happy because at least now the virus hasn’t spread.”

  “I know.”

  EPILOGUE

  Behind a hedgerow on the farm, near to where the fire had recently burned, lay the remains of three, recently deceased bodies. They’d been buried in unmarked graves. Someone had buried the dead in their own private cemetery, but why? What was the reason for this? Were they hiding something?

  The smoke and flying ash had somehow located this area, and had fallen onto the piles of dirt. With the incoming wind blowing a gust, the dirt piles became dressed in a new coloured blanket. Black Clouds hovered over the spot like hyenas waiting for a feed and suddenly rain began to pour again, washing the ashes on the graves deep into the soil.

  A bloodstained, abandoned car was found in the western area of England. Local police officers in Liverpool had checked the vehicle for any signs of activity, but the only thing found was a bloodsoaked piece of material, probably part of a shirt. The villains had escaped, but where were they going?

  Deep, deep, deep in the heart of the city, the great Surgeon, Victor Thompson was unravelling his latest project to his class of top, student doctors.
On a table, in the middle of a room, at the City Hospital, lay the greatest experimental find in the history of the human race.

  The class gathered around this hidden with a sheet figure. All they could hear was groaning and clattering together of teeth. “Are you ready to find out more about the human form? And how powerful the brain can be?” a pleased Surgeon said.

  Everyone in that room watched the sheet being removed and the sickening corpse found on the morgue room floor was unveiled. About seventy per cent of the group either fainted from the sight, or choked up some form of bodily fluid. The creature’s eyes glowed with pleasure at seeing a possible feast, so all it had to do now was taste it.

  About the author, L A Taylor:

  I live in Bedworth, Warwickshire, England, and have been writing for a few years. CLIFTON FALLS was originally released as ZOMBIES (Morgue of the Dead), but I changed it to the name of the movie script version.

  I’ve also written a novel based on the old saying – “Night, night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” It’s titled – BEDBUGS (Can you see them?)…It’s a sci-fi style, alien horror story about man eating insects. It’s also available for sale.

  In 1993 I started writing a story about “Killer Rats,” but I never finished it. In December 2011 I resurrected that story and started writing it again. I’m hoping to have the latest version released for the 20th Anniversary of when the idea came to light. It will be titled – THE S.T.A.R.S. PROJECT – Science testing aimed at rat’s survival, and nothing to do with the same name from the Resident Evil game...

  There’s also an audio version of CLIFTON FALLS & a script version ready to sell to the movie world.

  My writing style may be different to other writers. I tend to write like I’m inside my novel and it reads a bit like a movie. My aim is for readers to vision what I saw when I wrote my story. If I can achieve this then I’m happy.