by Tim Flanagan
As he sat there, he noticed that his breathing was becoming quite difficult and all he could manage were short shallow breaths. He screwed his eyes up tight trying to clear the fog from his vision but it never changed. His hearing was also becoming muffled and distant. He tried to focus on the large white-faced clock on the wall at the end of the canteen but it seemed to swim uncontrollably in mid-air. He could just about make out the black hands telling him that he only had five minutes of his break to go before he would have to get back on the work floor. Gilbert decided to use that time to freshen up as much as possible so that he could see his day through to the end and not lose any pay.
He struggled to stand. By holding on to the wall he slowly made his way through the double doors and into the locker-room looking like a crooked old man. He found his locker amongst the sea of other identical metallic grey boxes and fumbled with the key as he tried to slip it into the small lock. He felt his forehead with the back of his hand; it was cold and wet. He took a box of pain killers out of his bag and pushed two tablets out of their silver pockets and into his hand.
An overwhelming feeling like a wave of shivering heat washed across the surface of his body and his legs collapsed beneath him. By the time his body hit the floor, Gilbert was already dead. His still open eyes turned a milky colour, his heart stopped, his lungs could no longer suck air into his body and his muscles had wasted away, eaten by an unknown bacteria that fed on his flesh.
Unknown to Gilbert, the bacteria had transferred from the cow’s meat under his fingernails and into his mouth. The rest of the staff at the Abattoir had also picked up the bacteria from the work surfaces, handrails and doorknobs that Gilbert had touched, as well as through the air he had coughed into and they would slowly end up the same way as Gilbert. As would his wife and their two daughters.
Unless something was done, the unknown bacteria would continue to spread itself in the same way, from staff to their families and very quickly into the community.
7. London to York
Steven left the MI6 building and walked across
Vauxhall Bridge Road towards the nearest underground station. A sharp breeze blew off the Thames, stinging his cheeks, but he welcomed the fresh air after spending an hour inside the windowless box of a room with the other men. During that one meeting his belief in alien life forms had been ignited once again. Although the bacteria inside the meteorite was only one of the most basic of life forms, it was still alien to this planet.
He entered Pimlico underground station and jumped on the first train towards Kings Cross. Whilst the tube train rattled along the track in bouts of acceleration and deceleration, Steven pulled out the train ticket to Parsley Bottom he had been issued with before leaving the meeting. After a few minutes he arrived at Kings Cross Station and began picking his way through the crowd of people whilst looking at the departures board for his train, making a mental note of the platform number. Once inside the train he found a seat with a table and looked out of the window at other passengers dragging luggage trolleys or children quickly along the platform, to avoid missing the train.
Other passengers entered the carriage. Some sat down whilst others moved through into the next carriage. Steven was grateful that no one came and sat at the table; he preferred a bit of privacy. As the whistle blew and the train started to pull its way out of the station, Steven looked around the carriage. Every one else was settled in their seats ready for the two hour journey to York. He was to be met at York station by a MI6 field agent who would take him to Parsley Bottom. He sat back in his seat and relaxed, but his mind kept wandering back to the meeting inside the MI6 building.
The fact that the bacteria was changing so rapidly was incredible, but what was even scarier was its ability to eat flesh.
‘What would bacteria usually eat?' Steven had asked Seward inside the enclosed room.
‘Bacteria are decomposers; they eat things like algae and fungi as well as dead skin cells and hair. Instead of using a mouth they produce enzymes that break down the food into smaller parts, just like the acid inside your stomach would. Some bacteria will only eat one type of food, whilst others are able to eat several different types.’
The deep voice of Coldred interrupted his colleague. ‘But they can adapt to their environment. Bacteria that can’t break down one type of food will live next to other bacteria that can.’
‘So why was the alien bacteria found inside the body of a cow? Shouldn’t it have been living on decomposing animals, or leaves, or something else?’
‘Most bacteria would, but don’t forget this is new to the planet. It acts in different ways to Earth bacteria,’ replied Seward. ‘There are several possibilities as to how it could have got into the cow. It could have drunk from the river, consuming the bacteria, then it started to eat the flesh after the cow had died. The second possibility is the cleanliness at the abattoir could be below standard and the bacteria may have been introduced on the blade of the knife, then started to multiply and divide on the flesh.’
‘But how could the bacteria be on the blade in the first place? You're avoiding the most likely explanation,' said Coldred who didn’t appear to be convinced and seemed to be frustrated by Seward's explanations. He didn’t wait for an answer before continuing with his own opinion. ‘The other possibility is that it was already eating the cow from the inside before it died.’ They all turned towards Coldred.
The room was silent.
Seward and Sir Adam looked uncomfortably at each other; Steven thought maybe Coldred had said too much.
'Are you saying that the bacteria was eating it alive?' Steven asked in amazement.
‘We don’t know that for sure,’ Seward quickly spoke, preventing Coldred answering. ‘This bacteria just acts differently to ones we have on this planet,’ he continued, providing this as an explanation for Steven.
There was tension in the room. Steven wanted to move the subject on and pretend that he hadn’t noticed the importance of what Coldred had said. Sometimes he found that it was better to act stupid to avoid any complications that understanding could cause. However, he couldn’t stop thinking that if the bacteria had got in the cow and was eating it, it would probably mean that the bacteria had killed the cow by attacking it from the inside. It didn’t just eat dead cells and fungus, but could attack an animal and silently pick the living flesh from the bones from the inside without the animal knowing. This was a much more complicated and deadly bacteria to any that existed on Earth.
‘What happened to the cow?' Steven asked casually, trying to act normal.
Coldred looked at Seward, almost waiting to receive the go ahead to answer the question. He was obviously aware of his disapproval over his last outburst. Seward nodded to Coldred who then answered. ‘I have it at my laboratory. Some of my staff are observing the process of the bacteria eating the flesh as we speak.’ Coldred then turned to Seward, ‘a full report should be ready shortly,’ he said as if he was trying to gain back some approval.
After talking briefly about the importance of secrecy, he had been instructed by Sir Adam to go to Parsley Bottom and look for evidence of any other meteorites that may have fallen, as well as talk to Mr McRae, the man that had found the original rock. Although they had provided some enlightening information, Steven felt that there was a lot more that he wasn’t being told. He remembered what Sir Adam had said on the walk to the meeting, 'do not trust everyone you are about to meet. What you are about to see is only half the story. There are things they won’t tell you.' Steven definitely felt uneasy about Coldred, there was something strange about him, his eyes seemed to stare into your head, reading what your brain was thinking.
'But why me?' Steven had asked.
'We don’t want panic,' answered Sir Adam, 'just a polite and inconspicuous investigation. Out of all the members of the UFA team you are the one I choose. You are the one I can trust. We don’t want the army ploughing in causing chaos and panic. For now we need to determine how far the bacteri
a has spread. Find as many meteorite samples as you can and try to establish an area that may have become effected by the bacteria.'
'The bacteria doesn’t seem to react well to sunlight so we don’t think it will be able to survive long in the open. Look for dead or sick animals, talk to the farmers and take water samples. This is an unofficial investigation and that’s the way I want it to remain,' Seward had instructed him.
The train continued on its journey to York. The rocking motion of the carriage together with the constant hum of the metal wheels against the track, made Steven want to close his eyes. Despite trying to resist it, his heavy eyelids closed and he drifted off to sleep. Steven wasn’t the only person in the carriage who had gone to sleep; a university student used her overly large back-pack as a pillow against the cold window pane, whilst two children played on handheld computers, their parents completing a crossword together. At the back of the carriage, a grey-haired man in a suit was reading today’s newspaper; the open pages were large enough to shield his face from everyone else, but he lowered the paper slightly so that he could look over the top. He observed the rest of the occupants in the carriage, but his eyes lingered on Steven for longer than was necessary. After all, that was what he was being paid to do.
‘The next station is York,’ announced the recorded voice from inside the carriage.
Steven looked at his watch; he had been asleep for nearly two hours. As he blinked himself awake, he stood slowly, arched his stiff back and reached up into the air. Several people gathered by the train door as they waited for it to open at the station.
The train slowed and Steven stepped out onto a concrete platform. There was a cold breeze blowing along the tracks towards him and he thought he could feel the odd spit of rain against his cheeks. He pulled the collar of his jacket up around his neck and began to walk towards a vending machine for some chocolate as he hadn’t had much since breakfast.
‘Mr Knight?’ came a soft voice from beside him. There was a slight Spanish lisp in the voice which betrayed its origins.
Steven turned to see a slim and beautiful lady in a sharp suit offering a slender hand for him to shake. Her skin had an olive colour to it that didn’t seem dull even in the grey northern climate. Her full lips gave a cautious smile as she hoped that she had approached the right man.
‘Yes,’ he blustered, ‘I’m Steven Knight.’ He took her warm hand in his and shook it. He noticed that she was slightly taller than himself, but that could have something to do with height of the shoes she wore.
‘My name’s Georgia Brown, I’m an MI6 operative assistant. I’m here to take you to Parsley Bottom. A case of clothes has already been arranged for you and is waiting at your accommodation. If you would follow me?’
Before Steven could reply, Miss Brown had already started walking towards the car park, expecting him to follow. Her golden brown hair bounced gently against her shoulders as she walked gracefully towards a black car. But Steven wasn’t the only person watching Georgia. At the other end of the car park the grey-haired man from the train already had the engine of his car running, waiting to discreetly follow Steven.
8. A Birds Eye View
Max and Joe followed Scarlet over some large stepping-stones away from the church and across the river to the woodland on the other side. Once they had scrambled up the soft muddy bank, they found themselves surrounded by thick trunks of conifer, oak and ash trees. The light from the sky shone through the leaves of the canopy above and bathed the woodland in a magical green glow. The smell made Max think of Christmas and the pine-tree his grandparents always put in the entrance hall to their home. If he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the heat from the fireplace and the excitement in his stomach.
Joe tried to put his trainers back on but the sole was now coming away from the rest of the shoe so he decided it would be easier to leave them off altogether. Despite the thick soft layer of leaves that covered the ground Joe could still feel every stone or bump beneath his feet.
As they took a few steps forward, the woodland appeared to close in around the children and they quickly lost sight of the river and church.
‘Come and climb my tree,’ said Scarlet excitedly as she rushed off ahead.
‘Who is she?' Joe whispered to Max.
‘I don’t know but at least we’re not in that creepy church,’ Max replied as he followed Scarlet. ‘Don’t worry about Peter. I bet he’s already gone home. He’s certainly not in the graveyard anymore,’ he shouted as he ran amongst the trees after Scarlet.
‘No, I suppose he’s not,’ said Joe to himself, although he wasn’t as easily convinced as Max. It certainly looked like Peter had been in the graveyard at some point but then moved into the church. But what was all that slime? Wherever Peter had been, the slime had been too, almost like it had been following him. And the white-bearded man? Was he the same one that Mrs Crisp had mentioned to Mr Blundy? Then there was that symbol on the wall, the circle with the lines coming out from it; what could that mean? Max seemed happy to think everything was ok, but Joe had a very uneasy feeling in his stomach.
He started to run in the same direction the other two had gone, desperately looking for a glimpse of Max’s blue jacket between the trees. Up ahead he heard the voice of Scarlet calling Max on, but then there was nothing and the only thing he could hear was the rustling sound of leaves beneath his socks.
Joe looked around him. Everywhere looked the same; he couldn’t even tell which way he had just come; all that he could see was a wall of tree trunks and leaves. He strained to try to hear something, a voice or a movement, but there was nothing except the faint whispering of the wind blowing through the tree tops almost like the woodland was sucking a deep breath then breathing out heavily.
Suddenly Joe could see nothing but darkness.
It felt like something had been put over his head. He reached up and grabbed at whatever was on his head, desperately trying to get it off but he panicked and fell to the ground. As he continued to struggle, the cover dropped onto the floor. What lay in front of him was Max’s coat and from somewhere above him he could hear giggling coming from the tree.
‘Max!’ Joe shouted as he brushed some leaves from his jeans, ‘Don’t do that!’
‘Sorry,’ replied Max still laughing. ‘Come up here! You can see all over town. I think I can even see your house.’
Joe grabbed hold of the lowest branch and lifted himself up onto a thicker limb. From there he could see coloured climbing holds drilled onto the tree trunk at random positions, like the shaped grips he had once seen on a climbing wall. Using them allowed Joe to scale up the trunk relatively fast to reach the canopy of the tree. There had been some modifications made there too. Max and Scarlet were perched on a solid platform made from a series of wooden planks. Joe pulled himself onto the platform and punched Max playfully on the shoulder.
‘This is great,’ he said as he looked over the tops of the trees and the town below.
‘My dad made it for me,' said Scarlet. 'He got the foot and hand holds at a car boot sale and put them on the tree for me. I often come here and watch the animals. Mainly it's just birds you can see but sometimes there’s other stuff too. I have a tame grey squirrel that comes up here sometimes and I’m sure I saw a kingfisher the other day on the river down there.’ Scarlet pointed down to a spot just downstream of the graveyard. She unhooked a waterproof bag from a branch next to the platform and took out a sheet of paper. ‘Look. I keep a chart of all the animals I’ve seen,’ she said showing Joe and Max who tried not to look too bored.
‘How did you know we were in the church?' asked Joe.
‘I saw you with these,’ Scarlet took a small pair of binoculars out of the bag and showed them to Joe. ‘I also saw that man go in shortly after you. Did you know he had been watching you from the other side of the road since you first arrived? I thought he may be going in to tell you off. You’re not supposed to go into the church without going to Mrs Merchant first at Manor Cottage;
she has the key. Anyway, I thought I would come and rescue you.’
‘Can I have a look?' asked Joe.
‘If you look towards the river in the bank beneath the church, there’s a large hole that wasn’t there a few weeks ago. I think there may be otters nesting there or something. Sometimes, when the sun’s facing in the right direction, I can see the shapes of something moving inside. If it is otters, they must have some pups as well. Seems rather full inside.’
‘There are dogs in there?' Max asked.
‘No, silly. Pups are baby otters,’ replied Scarlet disappointed that Max didn’t know as much about otters as she did.
‘Why do you come up here?' asked Max.
‘This is my father’s land; he’s Richard Baxley the farmer.’
‘I’ve never noticed you before at school.’
‘I go to a Saint Winifred’s, the private school over at Otley.’
‘Oh,’ said Max, feeling slightly inferior, despite being top in his class.
Joe focused the binoculars on the hole in the river-bank which coincidently seemed to be directly below the smaller hole under the church wall that he had looked at earlier. The hole had been dug deep into the riverbank and although it appeared to be dark inside, occasionally Joe's eyes picked out shapes moving around from within, as the daylight reflected off the surface of the water and into the hole.
After picking out the landmarks of the town which looked very different from above, the sun became so low in the sky that it began to shine in their eyes making it difficult for them to see. Max, Joe and Scarlet made their way back down the tree, headed towards the river crossing then went their separate ways. Max and Joe carefully jumped over the large flat stepping stones back across the river and into the graveyard to collect their bikes. The graveyard was still quiet and as they mounted their bikes Joe took a last uncomfortable look over his shoulder towards the gravestone where the sleeping bag lay in a tangled mess.