by Ryan Casey
The woman smiled again, then held out a hand, gesturing him to continue. “After you.”
Ricky looked down at the hatch roof. He lifted it, and then went to descend the ladder.
It was only at the last moment he saw the man down below poke a gun up towards him and pull the trigger.
CHAPTER FOUR
Cody opened his eyes.
It was bright. He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know how long he’d been here. But he was totally at ease with his situation, in a weird kind of way.
He felt like he was just waking up from a long sleep, where all of the nightmares he’d imagined didn’t happen.
He lifted his head off the pillow he was lying on. His neck was stiff, and it didn’t feel like he’d moved it in a long time. In fact, his entire body was stiff. Kind of like a brand new toy that had yet to be played with, or some new leather boots, the leather still not yet broken into.
He couldn’t deny he liked the way he felt. He might be hungry, but he sure was fresher than he’d felt in a long time.
But… wait. Had it been a long time? Or had he just dreamed everything after all?
His heart started to race. He thought about the undead. He thought about all the people he’d seen bitten. And more than anything, he thought about his wife and daughter. If it’d all been a dream, then they would still be out there. They wouldn’t be dead. They wouldn’t—
He heard a door opening, and he realised right then that his hopes of everything being a dream were sadly misplaced.
The man standing at the door, smiling, was familiar. He couldn’t properly place him, but he knew that he knew him. He’d spent time with him. A long time with him.
“Cody?” the man said. “Damn, I didn’t expect you to be back with us for a long time. How’s the shoulder?”
Cody looked at his shoulder and saw it was bandaged up. He remembered the pain he’d felt then, as he’d taken a bullet to it. And then he remembered something else. Being bitten back when Gav had left him to die in that creepy old building.
But he was alive.
He was still here.
“How…”
The man—who Cody remembered now as Michael—sat on the edge of his bed. “You’ve been out cold a long time. We didn’t think you were ever gonna come round. But you’re awake now, and that’s the main thing. It says a lot about your strength, for sure.”
“My wife. My—my daughter.”
“Still not with us,” Michael said. He put a hand on Cody’s other shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Cody lowered his head then. He felt the grief returning. His family were still gone. His hopes of any of the things he’d witnessed being false were scuppered. This was life, and he was still being forced to live it. “I was infected,” he said. “How am I still here?”
He looked up then, and he saw Michael smile. And it was then that he remembered everything else. Michael’s promise to take Cody and his group to an extraction point. The chaos they’d faced on the road together. Cody finally, finally getting Michael to the place he’d wanted to go… and then Michael reuniting with his family. Cody could vaguely remember a military presence unlike any he’d seen since the fall. Part of that filled him with hope. Part of it filled him with fear.
“You’re still here because you’re strong, partly. But also because…”
Michael stopped, then. He looked around at the door, like he was checking if anyone else was listening.
Then he turned back to look at Cody and he smiled. “I think you should see what we can do for you. In your own time.”
Cody didn’t need any more prompting to get out of this bed.
He staggered to his feet. Pins and needles spread right up his legs. But he didn’t care. He was just glad to be here. Glad to be alive. Glad that his faith in humanity had been reinforced.
“Whoa, there,” Michael said, steadying Cody as the pair of them walked towards the door. “You know, I can get you a wheelchair if—”
“I don’t need a wheelchair.”
“Trust me,” Michael said, barely able to contain his smile. “What you’re about to see could knock a perfectly healthy person down.”
Cody gritted his teeth. He was still here, for one, so something strange was happening. But Michael seemed excited. He seemed hopeful. There was something about the tone in which he spoke that told Cody he was about to discover something big.
He followed Michael towards the door.
“My family,” Michael said. “I’ll introduce you to them properly. I’ve told them everything about you. The lengths you went to in order to get me back here. And they’re grateful. Eternally grateful. You should join us for dinner when you’re feeling yourself.”
Cody nodded. The thought of food was nice. It was only then that he realised how ravished he was, and how bony he’d become in the space of an unconscious month.
“But for now,” Michael said. He stopped by the door. “Cody, are you sure you’re ready for this?”
Cody narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Michael didn’t respond at first. He couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “What you’re about to see. It might… it might knock you back.”
“I’m used to being knocked back,” Cody said. “Just make sure you keep bloody hold of me and I’ll be fine.”
Michael laughed a little. Then he nodded. “Yes. Yes, I guess you will.”
He reached out for the door handle.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Cody nodded.
He thought he was ready.
He really did.
But when he saw what was outside, he realised there was no way he could be ready for a thing like this.
Nothing could’ve prepared him for the reality of what was facing him.
CHAPTER FIVE
Riley looked at the fire burning around the door and he knew he was going to have to act fast.
He could feel the room getting warmer. The smoke was thick. Soon, the entire structural foundations of this room were going to crumble down, no doubt. There was no telling what kind of repercussions that’d have on the rest of the building. At least Carly, Amy, and Melissa were technically in the area between the building, so they should be safe from any fallout.
But Riley knew there were more problems than just the burning building.
Those problems started as soon as he got outside.
The creatures.
In the corners of his consciousness, he had a vague sense that the others were calling for him. That they were shouting at him to come back. And that would probably have been the wisest thing to do. Might burn himself on the way down through the bathroom window, sure, but it was certainly a better decision than the one he was facing right now.
He looked at the inferno wrapping around the door and he knew he didn’t have long.
But it was something he had to do if he wanted to save Kesha.
He held his breath, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. He tried not to think about the mass of the dead outside, or the searing pain he was going to feel the second those flames touched his skin.
But it was worth it.
If it meant a reunion with Kesha, saving her from Mattius, then it was worth it.
Besides. He still had a bone to pick with Mattius.
He gritted his teeth together and he had a momentary flash of everything that had happened for him to get to this point.
It couldn’t end now. This couldn’t be it.
He closed his eyes, wrapped the towels further over his body, and he held his breath and readied to drive himself through that doorway.
Then in the corner of his eye, he saw the fire extinguisher.
He laughed. Even though he was choking on smoke, he couldn’t help laughing. He’d come so close to throwing himself through the flames, and they’d all got so close to burning, and yet he hadn’t even noticed there was an extinguisher. Not even Mattius had noticed there was an extinguisher.
&
nbsp; He rushed over to it. The metal was hot to touch and burned his fingers. He struggled with the nozzle, and he pulled the pin and readied to spray.
“Watch this not work,” Riley muttered, still dazed by the hilarity of the situation. “Watch this not frigging work.”
But it did work.
The extinguisher fluids sprayed out. It cleared the way right in front, covered some of those flames. In a matter of seconds, the fire had gone from raging to calm.
Riley turned and saw to the rest of the room. Not a lot of it had burned, mostly furniture and things like that, so the foundations of the building should be okay for now. He was thinking about the others when he did it, really. Carly, Amy, and Melissa. He wanted them to be okay, as well as clearing a route for himself.
He grabbed his knife, turned to the door when he’d done and, without the threat of being burned to a crisp, he walked through it.
He walked outside and gripped his knife in hand. He looked to the right, then to the left. There was nowhere to go to the right other than other rooms. On the left, a corridor.
But Riley sensed something at the end of that corridor. He knew something was coming up those stairs.
He could hear their dull groan from here.
He had a choice, though. Either he took them on or he tried to find another way. He didn’t have much time on his side. That said, Mattius had found his way out of here, so there had to be another way.
He tried all the doors, being sure to have his knife raised in case any of Mattius’ people were left. Although most of them would be more interested in fighting the dead now, Riley had no doubt that a few loyalists would still be staying true to Mattius’ cause.
If there were any still standing, that was.
He kept on moving along, turning more of the handles.
When he got to the last door on the right, the handle turned.
He felt elation, just for a split second. Although it was a long way down, at least it was a potential escape route. A tricky one. A frigging nigh-on impossible one at that. But hell; he’d dangled from a drainpipe before and lived to see today. Maybe he’d have been better off if he’d fallen from that pipe on day one after all.
His elation was soon interrupted when he saw the first figure wander up onto the corridor.
The second figure followed soon after. The third and the fourth and the—fuck, a lot of them, uncountable even. He heard their heavy footsteps thump against the floor, and immediately they stumbled in his direction, like hunters honing in on their prey.
Riley figured he didn’t have many options anymore.
He ran into the room and slammed the door shut. He rushed over to the sofa in the middle of the room and tried to drag it over, but it was too heavy. Instead, he settled for a coffee table.
The door broke under the weight of the creatures before he even got there.
They flooded into the room now. And ultimately, it left him with no choice.
He knew what he had to do.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but he had to do it.
He ran over to the window. It was a balcony kind bay window, looking out over the surrounding woods. Riley could see small pockets of emptiness within the creatures outside now. They’d found their targets; now they were splitting up, breaking from the collective hive mind.
He peeked over the edge of the balcony and his stomach turned. He’d never exactly been scared of heights, but under the circumstances, anyone would be.
The footsteps and groans of the creatures got closer.
He had a decision to make.
He climbed over the side of the balcony. He saw more balconies beneath him. If he could drop down and grab onto the next couple, he’d be able to drop quite comfortably down onto the ground.
Gripping wasn’t easy, though, considering he was two fingers down on his left hand. Honestly, though, the pain wasn’t what it had been. The adrenaline was just too strong.
He edged further down. He knew that one slip would spell the end for him. But at the same time, one bite would do the trick, too.
He swallowed a lump in his throat and thought of Jordanna, Chloe, and Anna, too. He thought of why he was doing all this. What it was all for.
“I’m coming for you, Kesha,” he muttered.
The creatures pushed through the bay window and raced onto the balcony, their teeth snapping just inches from Riley’s fingers.
“I’m coming,” Riley said.
He took a few deep breaths.
Closed his eyes.
Then he loosened his grip and he dropped.
CHAPTER SIX
It’s a good job Ricky’s reactions were fast, or he’d have a bullet in his face right about now.
He fell back as the blast rang through his ears. He could hear movement down in the hatch—the one the woman had brought him to and told him to open. She’d set him up. For some reason—whatever sick reason people used these days—she’d brought him here, and she’d set him up.
He looked at her, still disoriented, as more movement sounded outside.
He didn’t think she looked like she expected that gunshot.
She looked shocked.
“Shit,” she muttered.
“Shit indeed,” the man in the hatch called up. Ricky could see him now. He had long hair to his shoulders and a thick greasy beard. In his hand, a small pistol, albeit one that’d packed quite the punch. “Now you get the hell away from my home or we’re gonna have a problem on our hands.”
Ricky was still on his backside. He was struggling to keep up with everything. So the woman hadn’t set him up after all? This really was just some lone straggler? He was actually expected to believe that?
“We’re not going anywhere,” the woman said. Her hood was pulled right up now, right over her face. “Because this is our place. Not yours.”
The man narrowed his eyes. The dark circles underneath them bulged out, all purple and veiny. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve got a gun.”
“And in case you didn’t notice, we’ve got the upper ground. You can take your chances. Maybe you’ll take one of us down, if you’re lucky. But we will get to you if you don’t drop your weapon. And we will kill you. Is that what you really want?”
The man looked from Ricky to the woman and back again. He seemed to be weighing both of them up, trying to figure out who the softer touch was. And shit. Ricky might’ve thought of himself as tough, but this woman was something else entirely. She had an edge to her. A real edge that Ricky was convinced he didn’t want to cross anytime soon.
“You drop your gun,” the woman said, lifting her axe and walking closer towards the man. “You drop it, and you step out.”
“Can’t we figure somethin’ out here?”
“Not with a gun in your hand we can’t.”
He looked back at Ricky, like he was waiting for Ricky to give him some kind of leeway.
“Shit,” he said. “Shit. I just—I just wanted a place to sleep, that’s all.” Ricky saw then that his teeth were black and worn down. “Been out here so long. Didn’t mean any of you any harm. I just wanted a place to sleep.”
“Drop your gun,” the woman said. She wasn’t buying any of his sob story; that much was clear. “That’s the only way we can make any progress here.”
“Fuck you,” the man said.
Then he dropped his gun down into the hatch. Ricky heard it hit the floor.
“Good,” the woman said, walking over to the man.
The man started to climb out of the hatch, his hands above his head. His hands had turned a strange shade of orange, the skin hard and worn down. “Please. I don’t have nothing on me.”
“I’ll see about that for myself,” the woman said.
She searched him all over. She pulled a few things from him. His jacket. His shoes. Even his socks and underwear. She left him standing there, freezing, sobbing. And Ricky couldn’t help sympathising with the man.
“This is what you’re going to do next,�
� the woman said, pressing the axe against the side of the man’s neck. “You’re going to turn around, and you’re going to walk away. Far away.”
“With no clothes? I’ll freeze.”
“The dead have plenty of clothes on their skin. You’ll find some more.”
Ricky could hear the man’s teeth chattering from here. He could see the tears on his face. “You can’t do this. You can’t just leave me.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you tried to rob us.”
“I didn’t know!”
The woman sighed. Then she pulled down her axe and patted the man on his bare shoulder. “It’s a tough world. You’ll live. Maybe.”
“Wait,” Ricky said.
He hadn’t intended to speak. He hadn’t planned anything to say. But he couldn’t stand here and watch this man suffer like this. After all, he was right. He’d just been trying to find a place to stay.
He walked over to the man and handed him his coat. He felt cold without it, sure, but no way near as cold as this man would.
Ricky half-smiled at him. “Take this. But do what she says. Go. There’s a mass of zombies over to the east that you really don’t want to bump into anytime soon.”
The man’s tear-filled eyes glistened. His teeth were still chattering, but he sounded grateful. So grateful. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you so much. So much.”
He took Ricky’s hand, and Ricky held on.
Then the man’s face shifted.
In the other hand, Ricky caught a glance of a knife.
The man pulled it back and went to ram it into Ricky’s stomach.
But he didn’t get that far.
The woman’s axe had already split his head in two.
He looked into that man’s fading eyes, and for a moment, he swore he saw that gratitude again. That look like he’d just been doing what he had to do. Taking his chances to survive.
Then the man’s head fell apart like an Easter egg that’d rolled down a hill, and he fell to the ground.
The woman walked up to Ricky then. She pressed the bloodied axe to his chest.
“That’s why you don’t fucking let sentimentality slip in. Ever.”