by RR Haywood
‘Jumping.’
‘Why?’
‘You told me to do something unexpected.’
‘Oh yeah, I did didn’t I. Okay, fair enough mate, cheers for that.’
‘Okay Mr Howie…MILLY!’
‘Fuck Dave…’
‘Sorry Mr Howie, I didn’t warn you…I am now going to shout for Milly…okay?’
‘Bit late to warn me after the fact mate.’
‘MILLY,’ he roars ignoring my comment, ‘PLEASE STOP RUNNING.’
‘What?’ I ask him as he cocks his head to one side.
‘Nothing,’ he answers too quickly with a slight worried look on his face.
‘Dave, what?’
‘She’s laughing.’
‘What?’
‘I heard her laugh.’
‘Laughing.’
‘Yes.’
‘At us?’
‘I don’t know what she is laughing at, but she laughed.’
‘She laughed?’
‘Yes.’
‘You heard that?’
‘I did.’
‘Tell her this isn’t a game…tell her this is serious and she must come back right now or she will be in lots of trouble…’ Taking a hasty step away as Dave bellows into the air, I try to bite down a flare of righteous anger and have to admit my pride is starting to get seriously dented.
This time even I hear it. The distant giggle of a little girl who finds something funny. Not creepy ,like a horror movie or anything like that. In fact, it’s a nice sound and at any other time I would be smiling at hearing it.
‘Right, we need a cunning plan.’
‘There are none Mr Howie.’
‘I know.’
‘If there was a plan I would have done it by now.’
‘I know. It just made me feel better saying it.’
‘We just have to keep running after her.’
‘I know.’
So we do. We keep running and running. I’ve lost track of the streets and the direction. All I know is that we’re heading further away from the town and closer to the countryside.
The girl has skills. Not taught or probably even skills that she is aware of. She has survived this long on her own. Yes she’s been eating shit junk food but she had the gumption to at least eat and stay close to home. Even now with running like this, she’s deviating the route and going through houses. The glasses trick has been repeated a few times. Dave and I staggering into a house, well me staggering and Dave jogging lightly, to find one glass emptied and two full ones next to the sink. As a point of principle I don’t want to drink the water, but we do. We down it thankfully and very gratefully before setting off again.
Both of us take turns in shouting out, calling and begging her to come back and to stop running. A couple of times Dave has run ahead, confident at being able to catch her on his own with his exceptional speed and agility. Couple of minutes later I come chugging round the corner to find him standing there, scratching his head with an expression of how did that happen?
Jesus, no wonder the undead haven’t got her. They probably tried for a few nights then gave up to find an easier target, staggering away all grumbling and sulky at being out-foxed by a little girl.
Which is what I want to do right now. Except, like I said, we can’t. The junk food will run out soon and guessing at the state she’s in, well the state of her bedroom and the house, she could get any number of diseases. The streets are littered with rotting corpses, which doesn't seem to bother her, but they will also be spreading diseases.
There is no choice. No person with a conscious could walk away and leave her.
Street after street, house after house, garden fences, another house and back into the street. It’s also hampered by the fact that so many of the houses have ruined front doors, so unless we catch a sight of her we don’t know which one she’s run into and have to wait and listen, prowling quietly for the creaking of a fence, or a back door being opened.
‘Getting near open land,’ Dave observes as we jog along. Looking up, I can see what he means by the absence of roof tops and houses.
‘Hopefully,’ I pant, gasping the word out, ‘she’ll go that way.’ Open land with nowhere to hide. She doesn't stand a chance against Dave in the open; even I might be able to catch her on open, flat run.
‘There,’ Dave points. A vehicle moves slowly across the junction at the far end of the street. Without thinking, I draw my pistol and loose a shot into the air, causing Dave to snap his head round at me in shock.
‘It’s the others,’ I blurt out hoping the gunshot didn’t scare the girl. Hopefully, she won’t know what a gunshot is and just think it’s a loud bang.
‘Might not be.’ His face morphs into a serious expression, which is the same as all the other expressions. Except I know Dave now, and I can tell the difference. It’s just a subtle change in the way his eyebrows lower, his eyes narrow and he becomes more focussed.
‘It is,’ I reply flatly. I don’t know how I know it is them, but the vehicle reverses back into sight and stops. One of the doors opens and something long, big and black jumps out.
‘Meredith!’
‘HERE,’ Dave booms and even from this distance I can see the dogs immediate reaction as she spins round and locks on. Then she’s off, head low and ears flattened as she sprints flat out towards us. With all thought of the girl gone, we both start running with a big grin spreading across my face.
My god she is fast and she covers the ground within seconds. She bounds up to us with high pitched barks of excitement. When we meet she goes nuts, running round our legs while making little yelping noises as her tail wags faster than helicopter rotor blades.
Both of us drop down to give her fuss, rubbing her head and back as she snakes round and round. Looking up, I can see the vehicle has manoeuvred to head up the street towards us. The unmistakable shiny, bald head of Clarence is behind the drivers wheel with one huge arm waving out the window.
With the dog jumping at us and yelping in glee, I miss seeing who else is in the vehicle until it comes to a stop and both front doors open up. The sight of Lani running towards me makes my heart drop through my stomach and I’m off, running towards her while my axe clatters to the ground.
She rushes into my arms and the sudden warmth of her, the contact, is spellbinding. Her strong, lithe arms wrap round my neck, pulling me close as I do the same. I literally lift her off her feet to spin her round.
‘I thought something had happened,’ she sobs into my neck, the wet tears pouring down her face, ‘I was so scared…why didn’t you come back?’
‘Lani…’
‘Don’t do that again, not ever…you hear me…’
‘I won’t.’
‘Promise Howie…you promise me…’
‘I promise Lani…not ever…’ We cling on tight and right now, at this very second, nothing else matters. The world can do what it wants; it can go to hell as I am holding the woman I love in my arms.
‘Are you okay?’ I gasp as my own tears stream down my face to mingle with hers.
‘Fine, fine…are you crying?’
‘I don’t care, yes…yes I am…’
‘I’m crying,’ she half laughs and sobs again. Lani is a tough woman, of that there is no doubt. She is like Dave in so many ways, holding a straight face and voicing her opinions. She laughs easily and is stunningly beautiful but she is also incredibly smart and not afraid to voice her opinions. This can make her intimidating at times but I feel all that melting now, the raw emotion pouring from her is so beautiful and so strong it takes my breath away.
‘I came after you…I tried Howie…’
‘It’s okay,’ I whisper softly.
‘I lost you,’ she cries again, ‘I couldn’t find you…’
‘I’m here Lani, right here.’
‘What happened? It’s so hard not to kiss you Howie.’
‘Kiss me then.’
‘I can’t…don’t Howie…what happe
ned? Where did you go?’
‘Lani, look at me…’ Her brown eyes lock onto mine, the red tinge from crying adding to the softness and love coming from her. ‘I’m immune,’ I whisper.
She doesn't reply but stares in wonder. Pure shock crosses her face as she blinks slowly and swallows,. ‘What?’ she gasps but I don’t reply. Instead, I gently move my mouth towards hers. She stares at me in disbelief at first, like it’s some sick joke that will play out but at the last inch she melts, closes her eyes and moves in until our lips touch.
The soft, tender feel is beyond words. The contact, the connection, the chemistry that fires and releases inside of me is intense. All I know is that it feels amazing. Totally and utterly amazing. Just lips touching, that’s it, but it’s so much more than that and I truly hope she can feel the love pouring from me.
Tenderness evolves into passion as the kiss becomes harder, like something we have been denying ourselves that we can now have. Our tongues probe gently with loving caress as we wrap our arms more firmly round each other.
Breaking away, her eyes remain closed for long seconds until slowly they flicker open. Pupils dilated and warmth emanating from them as an easy grin stretches across her face.
‘Ahem,’ Clarence says pointedly, ‘did you just say immune?’
‘Yeah,’ I nod, still looking down at Lani and not wanting the moment to end.
‘Oh right, nothing important then,’ he remarks.
Finally I have to step away, both of suddenly conscious of being in front of Dave and Clarence. Clumsily, I go to retrieve my dropped axe and start to worry until Dave holds it up for me.
‘Cheers mate.’
‘Immune?’ Clarence prompts with forced patience. Lani just stares at me with her head shaking slightly side to side.
‘Only you,’ she says softly, ‘only you could get taken like that and walk away.’
Chuckling self-consciously, I check the axe head and start to explain what happened. Most of it they know, about the circling motion of the undead and getting drawn in. After that, the bit with the fight and then the heart being shoved into my mouth they didn’t know.
As I tell them, Lani stares at me in fascinated interest which slowly blends into horror at the thought that she just kissed a man who only hours before had a still beating zombie heart rammed in his gob.
‘That,’ she spits, ‘is disgusting…’ She spits again, ‘you could have said something.’
‘What?’ I ask just a little offended at the way she keeps spitting.
‘Oh I don’t know,’ she snaps, ‘maybe Hey Lani, nice to see you. I would kiss you but I had this still beating heart IN MY MOUTH.’
‘Well it’s not there now is it,’ I exclaim.
‘Have you brushed your teeth? And if you have then how? Because your toothbrush was in your bag, which was in the Saxon.’ Another looks of horror crosses her face, ‘don’t tell me you used someone else brush?’ She steps away and spits again.
‘No!’
‘No you didn’t brush or no you didn’t use someone else’s?’
‘No I er…didn’t brush,’ I mutter as Clarence starts looking at me with distaste while shaking his head.
‘Gross boss,’ he rumbles.
‘I used mouthwash,’ I shrug sulkily.
‘Did you?’ Dave asks, ‘I didn’t see any.’
‘Cheers Dave,’ I groan.
‘Oh Howie,’ Lani says, ‘urgh, there could have been bits of heart in your mouth.’
‘Don’t be daft! Anyway, I used toothpaste and my finger so…’
‘Well that makes it alright then,’ she still shakes her head. ‘Listen, I’m glad you’re okay, really I am…I love you Howie but that,’ she grimaces, ‘was gross.’
‘You love me?’ I ask with a big grin.
‘Yes!’ She laughs, ‘but I am not kissing you again.’
‘Hear that?’ I face Clarence, ‘she loves me.’
‘She does,’ he nods, ‘but that was disgusting. I would have punched you if you kissed me.’
‘Really? Wanna try it?’ I take a step forward with my mouth puckered up ready.
‘Fuck off!’ He steps back quickly.
‘Howie, we’re missing Nick,’ Lani cuts in, the humour gone in an instant.
‘Eh?’
‘Nick, he’s missing.’
‘What? What happened?’
So they tell their story, of how Clarence and Nick got out with the Saxon and the youths, while Lani got stuck on the levels searching for me. On the road out, they got swamped to the point of being overrun so everyone had to starburst and run, including Nick.
Then Clarence hits home with the double whammy, telling me about the fort being occupied by another group.
Dave and I listen intently, absorbing all the information quietly until they’ve finished.
‘Right.’ I switch on and down to business, ‘Blowers and Cookey are looking for him yeah?’
‘And you, we’ve got to meet them back at the car park.’
‘Okay, so Nick ran off into this town somewhere. Knowing Nick, he would choose a safe place for the night then sleep for hours, especially if there was no one there to wake him up. We find Nick then get down to the fort.’
‘The girl Mr Howie,’ Dave prompts.
‘Girl?’ Lani asks.
‘Shit, the girl, fuck it. Right, that throws another spanner in the works.’
‘What girl?’ Lani asks again.
‘Little girl, we saw her running off earlier. She’s just a tiny thing so we went after her. Her house is a complete shit tip with actual shit everywhere. Poor little bugger has been living on junk food. Doesn't look like she’s washed or changed her clothes either.’ Both of them make faces while I pause for breath, ‘anyway, turns out she’s like some distant relation to Dave…’
‘Really?’ Clarence glances at the small quiet man.
‘No, not really but she bloody should be as we can’t catch her. We’ve been chasing her for hours now, she just keeps running.’
‘Like a game,’ Dave adds.
‘Yeah, and,’ I point emphatically, ‘she keeps running through houses and out the back but get this, she puts two glasses of water out for us.’
‘No way,’ Lani leans forward in surprise.
‘Yep, just heard her laughing a minute ago too.’
‘Hasn’t Dave got her?’ Clarence asks.
‘Nope, not even Dave,’ I say with a furtive look at Dave who chooses that second to glance away. ‘I did grab her but er…well she bit my hand and kicked me in the bollocks before running off again…what? That isn’t funny Lani.’
‘It is,’ she laughs, ‘serves you right for kissing me with a dirty mouth.’
‘I’m struggling here,’ Clarence rubs one big hand over his big bald head, ‘so you’re immune, we’re missing Nick and now we’ve got a little girl to catch…oh and the fort has been taken over…’
‘Yeah,’ I nod, ‘that’s about it mate.’
‘I need some sleep,’ he moans.
‘You not had any?’
‘No, oh yeah…by the way,’ he mentions casually, ‘the Saxon is fucked too.’
‘Oh what?’
‘Broke down on the way back, I got a van back here but that was it. It’s left in some shitty little town.’
‘Did you strip….’
‘Yes Dave,’ Clarence growls, ‘I stripped it.’
‘Good.’
‘Easy,’ I step in at the glare from Clarence, ‘another busy day then,’ I comment.
‘Still,’ Lani beams at me, ‘you’re immune! Oh my god Howie…did you pass it to me when we kissed before?’
‘You could have passed it to me?’ I reply.
‘So have we got to kiss everyone else? I’m not sure they’ll mind doing that with me, but you?’
‘I’m not kissing you,’ Dave says quickly, ‘either of you.’
‘No offence boss,’ Clarence agrees.
‘Truth is we don’t know anything mo
re now than we did before. We could be uniquely immune, resistant, carriers…fuck knows…Either of us could have passed immunity to the other but that doesn't mean we can pass it on again…’
‘Still fucked then,’ Clarence says.
‘Yep, business as bloody usual really.’
‘Until we find a doctor,’ Lani prompts, ‘that has to be a priority now.’
‘Funny that,’ I smile, ‘that’s kind of what we’ve been trying to do for days now.’
‘True,’ she nods. ‘I am so happy to see you again.”
‘Oh stop it,’ Clarence grumbles, ‘have we got to put up with you two going all gooey now?’
‘Gooey?’ I ask.
‘Yeah gooey.’ He shrugs, which is like watching two massive bowling balls raise a few inches before plummeting back to earth at terminal velocity.
‘Plan?’ Dave brings us all back to reality.
‘Right, Lani stays with us to help find this girl. Clarence can you head back to find Blowers and Cookey and bring them back here. We get the girl, get everyone together and then find Nick who will no doubt be fast asleep in some comfy bed somewhere the lazy shit. Once we’ve done that we’ll go find the Saxon, figure out what’s wrong with it…which Nick can hopefully do, then go rescue the fort. Ha! No problem.’
‘Jesus, you’re happy,’ Lani says.
‘I am,’ I grin, ‘the sun is shining and I just had a big, wet kiss with a beautiful girl.’
‘Don’t remind me,’ she spits again ruining the moment.
‘If you’re chasing this girl?’ Clarence asks, ‘how will we find you?’
‘We’ll break car windscreens,’ Dave says flatly, ‘follow them.’
‘Got it,’ the big man says, ‘dog staying with you?’
‘She could get the girl,’ Dave says looking down at Meredith taking a piss a few feet away.
‘No Dave, we can’t send a dog after a little girl.’
‘She wouldn’t hurt her,’ he replies.
‘You sure?’
‘Yes, I am,’ he says firmly.
‘Well what good would it do then?’
‘She could bark and tell us where she is.’
‘And she’s trained to do that is she?’ I ask.
‘Maybe,’ he mutters.
‘Clarence, can you take the dog with you,’ I ask before he climbs into the car.