by Casey, Ryan
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Chloë said.
Riley felt tears rolling down his cheeks. “But I do,” he said. “I promised… I promised I’d never let you go. I promised I’d never fail you. But I did. I failed you too many times. So many times. I turned my back on you. The things you went through… you shouldn’t have had to go through those things. No child should have to go through those things. All your loss. All your pain. And then how it ended. It’s just—”
He felt Chloë’s hand around his, then. He saw she was crying, too. Crying, but smiling.
“You’re right,” she said. “You made mistakes. But we all made mistakes. And at the end of the day… you made the decision that was right in the moment. The decision that was right in the time.”
Riley took a sharp breath in. Wiped away his tears. “But you’re not real,” he said. “Even if you do forgive me. Even if it feels like you’re here right now. You’re not. You’re not real.”
Chloë tightened her grip. He smelled her hair. Saw her face in all its detail. Parts of it he’d forgotten. The little freckle on her forehead. The way her eyes were slightly off centre. That parting in the middle of her long hair that wasn’t quite central. “Are you sure about that?”
She held his hand, and Riley closed his eyes and felt her warmth. He knew she wasn’t real. He knew this was some kind of fantasy. He knew he was going to wake up and face the chaos all over again in no time at all.
But she had a point.
How sure was he that she wasn’t real?
Because she was real in his heart.
She was alive in his heart.
She was here, right now, in all her detail.
In every single way.
“We’re all with you,” Chloë said. “Every single one of us.”
Riley saw movement around the hospital room, and he realised the pair of them weren’t alone.
Pedro was back.
Jordanna was back.
But not just them.
Ivan was here. Standing there, smile on his face.
Rodrigo was here.
Cody was here.
Claudia.
Elizabeth.
Trevor.
Stan.
So many faces.
So many lost faces.
All looking at him.
All smiling at him.
All so real.
“So many people I could’ve helped,” Riley said. “So… so many people I could’ve saved.”
“But we’re still here,” Chloë said. And it felt like the others were talking, too. Talking in unison. “Our memory lives on. Because of you, Riley. Because of you.”
He looked around at all these people, and he felt a combination of emotions. Guilt at first.
But then that guilt started to smooth.
That guilt started to ease.
Because Chloë was right.
He was still here.
And so was Kesha.
He looked up into Chloë’s eyes, and he saw her smiling. Because she saw that he understood, now. She saw that he realised.
“You’re in control of one thing here, Riley. You’re in control of one thing. And it’s the most important thing of all. Don’t you see? It’s more important than I ever thought. More important than I ever believed. You know what it is. You see it now. Don’t you?”
Riley took a deep breath as he laid there, the pain still crippling, and he nodded.
“Keep Kesha safe,” he said.
Chloë nodded. “Keep Kesha safe.”
He looked around the room. And he saw Alison was here, now. Ted was here.
They looked healthy. Happy. Like their old selves before all of this.
And as they looked back at him and smiled, he could see them nodding at him. See them saying the same thing.
“Keep Kesha safe,” they said.
He felt them drifting away, then. Felt his grip on Chloë’s hand loosening. And he wanted to hold on. He didn’t want her to slip away. He didn’t want to let her go.
“Please,” he said. The fear building. The tears blurring his every vision.
Chloë put a soft hand on his head, and she stroked. “Ssh,” she said. “You’re okay now. You know what to do. You know exactly what you have to do.”
“But…”
He felt her hand on his head, again and again.
He felt the room fading around him.
The hospital disappearing into the background.
Light taking over.
And he was scared. He was afraid. So, so afraid.
But Chloë was right.
Chloë was telling the truth.
“Keep Kesha safe,” he muttered under his breath.
And then he took a deep breath, and he sat up.
He climbed out of the bed. Climbed through the pain. Climbed through the rock-hard paralysis crippling his legs.
He climbed, and he walked towards that door as the light built around him.
Towards that door, where he could see the figures approaching.
Where he could hear Rhubi shouting.
Where he could see Kesha.
“Keep Kesha safe,” he said, smile across his face, tears kissing his lips.
Another step.
“Keep Kesha safe.”
Another.
He reached the door.
Felt a pushback.
Felt an urge to climb back into that bad. To go back in there and surround himself with the people he’d lost. With the people in here. With them all surrounding him.
And then he gritted his teeth and walked into the light.
He opened his eyes.
Lifted his head.
And then he stood.
“Riley?” Rhubi said.
He looked at the grey sky above.
At the buildings around him.
Then at the road ahead.
The creatures in the distance.
Heading their way.
“Riley?” Rhubi said.
Riley looked at her.
Then at Kesha, in his arms.
“We keep Kesha safe,” he said. “We do whatever it takes. No matter what.”
He looked at the oncoming creatures.
Looked back at Kesha.
Then he held her close, turned around and ran.
Chapter Six
Riley held Kesha close and ran away from the oncoming creatures.
He had no destination in mind anymore. Nowhere he needed to reach, at least not specifically.
Just somewhere he could keep Kesha safe.
Somewhere he could keep her out of harm’s way.
He looked over his shoulder a few times as Rhubi ran alongside him. Looked back at the hordes of creatures heading their way. The advanced forms, that much was clear. Runners. Intelligent ones.
The ones that Melissa had converted.
The one who were hungrier than their counterparts.
But more for Kesha than for anything or anyone else.
“Are you okay?” Rhubi asked.
Riley looked at her. Then down at his stomach, which was still bleeding. It made him feel a little sick to look at. But he couldn’t lie. He was feeling stronger since he’d woken up. His purpose had been renewed.
His main focus on was ensuring Kesha’s safety. That came before anything.
“I’ll be fine as soon as we’re away from here,” Riley said.
“Your stomach,” Rhubi said. “The bleeding. It’s—”
“Bad, I know. But I know how it is now, Rhubi. I know what I need to do. What we need to do. Kesha. She’s important to them. Everything hinges on her.”
“So have you considered…”
She didn’t have to finish, as they ran together. She didn’t have to continue. Because Riley already knew what she was getting at. He already knew what she was implying.
“No,” he said.
“You’ve got to think about it rationally,” Rhubi said. “If Kesha is their key to spreading their virus c
ompletely. If she’s the key to their victory. What if you take the key out of the equation? Wouldn’t that be the kinder option for everyone else?”
Riley slowed down. Looked over his shoulder at those approaching creatures. Getting closer and closer by the second.
Then at Kesha in his arms.
He looked at her, and he remembered the time he’d thought she was infected. When she’d displayed the symptoms of the breakout—the bloody nose, the blue-ish skin. He thought about how close he’d come to putting her out of her misery, and he felt nothing but guilt for that moment.
But Rhubi had a point.
A horrible point.
But a point all the same.
If they took Kesha out of the equation… the virus would die.
It couldn’t survive without her.
Narcissus was its own worst enemy.
He heard Pedro speaking in his ear. Telling him how hard he was. How strong he was. How he’d always done what he had to do.
Then he heard Chloë.
Telling him to do what was right for the future.
Then Jordanna.
Telling him how much of a fighter he was. How he’d never given up fighting, no matter who it was for.
“No,” Riley said.
He pulled Kesha close to his chest, and then he kept on running.
“But—”
“No,” Riley said. “Now come on. We need to find a place to lay low. A place to hide.”
“Is that what it’s going to be from now on? Is that the way life’s going to go?”
Riley sighed. “If it has to.”
He ran further, Rhubi by his side, Kesha in his arms.
And then he saw something up ahead.
Or rather, someone.
They brought him to a halt.
Stopped him, right in his tracks.
Because it wasn’t just any creature.
It was Anna.
She stopped when she saw him. A glimmer of surprise on her face like she wasn’t expecting to see him, either.
And for a few moments, Riley wondered whether he was imagining this. Whether it was real or not.
But it was.
Because it wasn’t just Anna opposite.
There was another person there, too. A man. He didn’t know who he was, but he looked meaner than Anna. More focused. Like he was ready to act—and that was bad news for Riley. For everyone.
They both stood there, still, silent. While there was a look of recognition on their faces, Riley could tell from the look in their eyes that they were infected. That they’d turned.
“Riley,” Anna said. “I… I didn’t expect to—”
“You have to let us pass, Anna. You have to… you have to let us leave.”
He said these words, and he felt pain. Because as much as he tried to tell himself this wasn’t Anna anymore, that they were already too far gone, and that they only wanted one thing… he still had that bond with her. He still had that attachment.
He still loved her.
Losing her all over again was going to be too much to take.
“We can’t do that,” Anna said. Smile on her face. “You won’t realise. Not until you feel what we feel. Not until you see what we see.”
Hearing Anna speak like this was heartbreaking. After everything they’d been through. After their separation, for so long, then their reunion.
Now this.
It couldn’t come down to this.
He couldn’t have failed someone so badly, all over again.
He looked at Anna—looked at her shifting face, at the inner battle raging inside of her—as he and Rhubi stood there. The creatures behind growing closer. Soon, they’d be upon them.
He looked into Anna’s eye and remembered what Melissa said. What she’d said about her baby. About her child. How something about it changed her in some way. How it convinced her to resist.
“Anna, you remember us. You remember me and Kesha and Rhubi here. And… and as hard as this is, you know you need to keep Kesha safe.”
Anna shook her head. She was starting to cry. Specks of blood in her tears. “Riley, I can’t. I need her. We—we all need her.”
“Remember what we said?” Riley said. “Remember what we promised? We promised we’d raise Kesha. Raise her like she was our own. Because the kid’s been through enough already. She’s lost so much already. We don’t know where she came from. We only know how important she is. Whether she’s capable of turning you all or not. Whether she’s got some kind of a cure in her system or not. She’s important. Because she’s a part of us. Just like our next child. Just like her or him. Right?”
He looked into Anna’s eye, and he saw her gaze softening. He saw a fragment of her in there, hiding behind those eyes. Her old self.
But he’d seen it in Melissa already.
The battle.
The struggle.
The fight for agency of Anna’s body.
And it wasn’t going to be a battle that was easy to win.
“Riley, I can’t.”
“You can,” Riley said. “You can because I’ve seen it. I know what you want. What you need. But you know why I can’t just let you have that. Why I can’t hand Kesha over. Not just because of the virus. But because of who she is. You see that. And deep down, you know it too. Don’t you?”
There was a standstill between them. A standstill, as they stood opposite one another. A standstill, as the creatures closed in behind. A standstill, as their chance of hiding slipped out of sight all over again.
The man beside her stepped forward. Clearly not as strong. Clearly not as able to resist.
“Hand her over,” he said. “If you don’t, I’ll be forced to take her from you. Don’t make me do that. Mate.”
It was the way he said that last word. The way it was filled with such venom. Because it reminded him of someone. Ted. Like the virus understood it could get to him. Like it was playing on his emotions, toying with Riley by speaking in ways they used to communicate.
“You wouldn’t let him do that to me,” Riley said, still focused on Anna.
The man looked at him. His neck snapped to one side, and his smile stretched.
And then he stepped forward and reached out his arms.
“So be it,” he said.
Riley pulled Kesha close.
He thought about what Rhubi said. About how he could end it. How he could finish all of this by taking the key out of the equation.
But that didn’t even enter his mind.
It didn’t even cross his thoughts.
Because he cared about her too much to do her any harm.
He pulled her close as this man stepped forward.
He waited for his hand to grab her.
To rip her from him.
He waited for the inevitable.
But nothing happened.
His eyes were closed. He stood there, totally still. Kesha was in his arms. She hadn’t budged.
He opened his eyes, and he saw the man standing right there.
He was still.
He wasn’t moving. Not even slightly.
For a moment, Riley thought of Alison. That maybe she was back. Maybe she’d fought her way out. Maybe she’d made it after all.
But then he saw the blade through this man’s neck.
And then he saw Anna standing behind him.
Blade in her hand.
A look of terror on her face.
“Go,” she said, crying. “Go. Before—before they get to her. Before they take her.”
Riley stood there, heart racing.
He looked into the man’s desperate eyes.
And he saw a look of regret. Like he was apologising for something he had no control over.
Like he was sorry for so much.
He put a hand on his shoulder as blood trickled down from his mouth. As he gasped, that blade wedging further and further out of his neck.
“I’m sorry,” Riley said. “I’m sorry it ended this way for you.�
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But this man didn’t look sad anymore.
There was something different about him.
His eyes brightened, and he smiled.
“Keep that girl safe,” he said. “You—you know what… what you have to…”
His eyes faded.
His body went limp.
The man was gone.
“Riley,” Anna said. “Go. Now.”
Riley zoned back in. He heard stirring behind him. Creatures growing restless. Creatures realising what had happened.
And as he stood there with Rhubi by his side, with Kesha in his arms, he knew he had to go. He knew he had to leave.
But there was something stopping him.
And that something was Anna.
He moved past this man. Stopped right in front of Anna. Saw she was crying. Saw the blood on her face. Saw the way she was in such pain. Such grief.
And he felt his throat welling up.
Felt himself crying, too.
“Why did it have to end this way?” Riley said. “Why did it have to happen to you? To—to our baby?”
“Riley, we need to go,” Rhubi said.
But he could only look at Anna.
He could only stand by her side.
“It’s not over,” Anna said. “Because you’re still here. You still have a—a chance. But you need to go now. I’ve dodged death enough. I’ve—I’ve been through enough already. I’m ready to… to rest now.”
Riley shook his head. He wiped away his tears.
Footsteps getting closer.
Time running out.
“Our baby,” Riley said.
And then Anna looked right into his eyes, and she smiled. “You’re already holding her.”
Riley looked at Kesha through tearful eyes as she sat there in his arms.
He looked back at Anna, at the way she looked at Kesha.
“Look after your dad, little one,” she said. “Keep him… keep him safe.”
And then she did something Riley didn’t know she was even capable of doing in her current state.
She leaned forward.
Kissed Kesha on the head.
And then she moved back, and she wiped Riley’s tears away. “Go.”
Riley stood there. Heart racing. Stomach bleeding. Creatures behind getting closer.
He looked at the man lying on the ground.
Anna standing there, fighting her own battle.
A whole life flashing before them.
The Chinese takeaway.
The caravan park.