by David Moody
Scott pressed his face against the glass and watched the soldiers crawling over his property. They were everywhere now – visible in all the windows, checking the garage and outbuildings, disappearing around the side of the house and rummaging through the garden, sticking their noses into places he hadn’t even looked yet. What the hell were they after? After what he’d already seen this morning, he didn’t want to know.
The back of the van was slammed shut and they began to move. Michelle looked over at Scott, hoping for some reassurance but getting none.
#
Minutes later and they neared the bus shelter, travelling as part of a convoy with other vehicles. Scott was less concerned with all the military might now, more worried about how the girls would react if they saw their father’s butchered body lying on the verge. He didn’t know what to do. Did he try and distract them, or not bother and just let Tammy and Phoebe see Jeremy lying there in his blood-soaked, naked glory. He cursed himself. Should have thought about this. He was sitting on the wrong side of the van. If he’d sat where Michelle was he’d have been able to block their view. As it was, he had no chance.
Except it didn’t matter.
Jeremy’s body had gone, a grubby crimson-brown stain on the grass the only indication he’d ever been there. There were more soldiers here, a crowd of them gathered around the back of a military ambulance.
Fortunately there was enough of a distraction on the other side of the road to keep Michelle and the girls looking elsewhere. The van lurched to a halt opposite the cottage where the twins lived. More soldiers surged towards the house, a replay of the procedure they’d followed at the family’s home. When they hammered on the front door it was opened almost immediately, no need to force entry. Scott watched as the twin who answered instantly crumbled with fear. She disappeared from view momentarily, pushed back into the house, followed by ten hazmat-suited soldiers, only to reappear a short time later, hand in hand with her sister, walking together like frightened little kids. The back of the van opened and the two of them climbed inside.
The routine was repeated again a few minutes later. Scott didn’t recognise the older man and woman being bundled into the van this time, but Michelle clearly did. He acknowledged both her and the twins. ‘What’s going on Dr Kerr?’ one of the twins asked, sobbing with fear, barely able to speak.
‘I wish I could tell you, Jeannie. Anyone else have any idea?’
‘They took us from our house, same as you,’ Michelle said.
‘It’s Mrs Griffiths, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right.’
‘We met at the surgery last week.’
‘Yes. These are my daughters, Tammy and Phoebe. That’s my husband Scott in front of you.’
Scott looked over his shoulder and Dr Kerr nodded.
A couple more stops and the van had almost reached capacity. As they drove further into Thussock, the doctor tapped Scott’s arm. ‘Any ideas?’
‘Not a clue. You’re a GP, right?’
‘Your GP, I believe. Your wife came into the surgery to register the family. It’s not usually like this round here.’
‘I’ve only got your word for that.’
‘We’ve never had anything like these deaths before... all of this must be something to do with the murders.’
‘I’m not so sure they were murders,’ he said.
‘Well they’re not suicides,’ the doctor replied, ‘I can tell you that much. I saw a couple of the bodies myself.’
‘Me too. Listen, can I talk to you in confidence?’
Dr Kerr looked concerned. He patted his wife’s hand and smiled at her. ‘Give me a minute, love,’ he said and he changed seats, shuffling up next to Scott. ‘What is it?’
Scott checked Michelle and the girls were out of earshot. He leant closer to the doctor and kept his voice low. ‘We had an... incident at the house this morning.’
‘What kind of incident?’
‘My wife’s ex-husband turned up... he practically forced himself onto her.’
Dr Kerr was confused, his weather-beaten brow furrowed. ‘Sorry to hear it, but what’s that got to do with anything?’
‘They don’t know this yet,’ he warned, ‘so keep it to yourself, right?’ The doctor nodded, and Scott continued. ‘We had a fight and I left her ex lying in the yard while I went to sort out the wife and kids. Things were crazy, you can imagine. Little while later, one of the girls notices he’d gone...’ Scott paused, unsure. Had he really seen what he thought he’d seen earlier or just dreamt it? Was he as mad as he now sounded? ‘I went out in the car to look for him.’
‘And?’
‘And I found him behind the bus shelter. He was with another woman.’
‘Who?’
‘Don’t know. Never seen her before.’
‘What do you mean, with her?’
‘What do you think I mean? He was fucking her. The two of them, at it out there in the open without a frigging care.’
‘And did they see you?’
‘She did, but it didn’t bother her. They finished what they were doing then she got up and pissed off.’
The doctor was struggling. ‘So this friend of yours—’
‘He’s no friend of mine.’
‘—this chap then... your wife’s ex-husband... where is he now?’
Scott paused again, forced to question his own sanity once more. ‘He’s dead.’
The doctor seemed less surprised than he should have been. ‘Go on.’
‘It was frigging horrible. Made no sense. It was like the woman had mutilated him when they were... you know... The end of his dick was all mangled... blood everywhere.’
‘Is the body still there?’
Scott shook his head and gestured at the soldiers. ‘This lot took him away. Maybe that’s what this is all about. Like I said, the kids don’t know. I’ll tell them when the time’s right, but it’d be too much for them to take right now.’
Dr Kerr nodded. Scott watched him and wondered what he was thinking. He probably thinks you’re a crank. He thinks you’re as mental as you sound.
‘All these deaths...’ he said to Scott, his voice only just audible. ‘All along we were looking for someone to pin the blame on.’
‘I know. I was that someone for a while.’
‘I’d heard. But what you’ve just told me has confirmed what I’d been thinking for a while, something I couldn’t get the police to accept.’
‘And that is?’
‘That perhaps they should have been looking for something, not someone.’
‘I don’t get you.’
‘I think we’re dealing with some kind of parasite or disease.’
‘That’s transmitted sexually?’
‘Exactly. Sergeant Ross called me out last night when they found the last body.’
‘Which body?’
‘Young girl, Heather Burns. I only saw her in the surgery last week.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘Much the same as all the others, I expect, but I don’t know for sure. Sergeant Ross called me back before I’d even left the house. He told me not to bother, told me there were already people at the scene. They’d taken the investigation off him. He was fuming.’
‘Who?’
‘The same people who’ve just rounded us up, I presume.’
‘So where was the body?’
‘She was found in the bar of the pub.’
‘Jesus. That’s where Jeremy was staying last night.’
‘Jeremy? Is that—?’
‘Michelle’s ex-husband.’
‘Then it sounds like your wife had a lucky escape this morning.’
‘This is too much. I mean, I knew this place was fucked-up, but honestly...’
The doctor remained stony-faced. ‘Doesn’t matter how it sounds, fact is, it’s happening. Trace it back... did you hear about the police officer? Mary McLeod from the café? Poor old Graham, and that Polish lady.’
‘I he
ard.’
‘All the time they were looking for the person or persons who was doing this, but there might never have been anyone. I know how this must sound, but I think the killer – the germ or parasite or whatever – remains invisible until it’s too late.’
Scott felt strangely reassured. As far-fetched as it was, he’d thought similar. ‘So where do you think they’re taking us?’ he asked.
‘No idea. Somewhere isolated, perhaps? I think they’ll want us out of the way until they can round it up, stop it being passed onto anyone else.’
‘Until they round her up,’ Scott said, correcting him. ‘The woman who had sex with Jeremy, she must be the one who’s carrying it now.’
‘Unless they find her corpse.’ The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, then leant closer to Scott again. ‘You do realise the implications of this, don’t you Mr Griffiths? If no one sees it being transmitted, the damn thing could be inside anyone.’
25
The van stopped again, and all those inside knew that this was the end of the line.
School.
Tammy thought she was going mad when she realised where they were. She pressed her face against the window and watched as armed guards opened the school gates and allowed the van through. It was a bizarre collision of the normal and the surreal: the banality of the out-dated school campus, now alive with military activity, their equipment everywhere. Right in the middle of the netball courts, near to the temporary classrooms, was a helicopter, and it didn’t take a genius to identify stockpiles of guns and missiles. What the hell was going on?
They’d reached some kind of checkpoint, manned by more soldiers, this time armed with clipboards, pens and tablets rather than guns. Scott craned his neck to see what was happening. At the front of the van paperwork was exchanged, lists of names compared... were the people of Thussock being processed? ‘Looks like I was right,’ Dr Kerr said. ‘They’re rounding everyone up.’
‘I guess.’
‘My money’s on that fracking site. Must be something to do with that. Problem is they never fully investigate these things before someone gives their high-powered friend a grant and tells them to get on with it, do they? It’s always profit before people, you know?’
‘I don’t reckon this has got anything to do with digging holes in the ground.’
‘You never know though, do you? I was dead against it from the start. I got on all the committees and went to all the public meetings, but did it make any difference?’
‘I doubt it,’ Scott said, wishing he’d shut up.
‘Damn right it didn’t. All the objections were just dismissed. It was an absolute bloody whitewash. You’d think they’d be legally bound to act on objections, wouldn’t you, but you’d be surprised.’
‘Nothing surprises me anymore.’
The doctor was about to say something else when the van juddered forward again, processing complete. It followed the narrow road towards the main school buildings, then curved sharply to the left.
A few rows behind, Phoebe watched with wide eyes as they drove deeper into the campus. She’d almost been on the verge of getting used to this place, but every last shred of familiarity had been stripped away today. There was the assembly hall which doubled-up as a gym, and the Portakabin classrooms, freezing cold even on warm days, the uncomfortable temperature keeping her awake during Maths. There was the dilapidated technology block and the music rooms, and the playing field and—
—and this looked less like a school now, more like something out of a science-fiction film. The relatively new leisure centre towards the back of the site had always seemed out of place, but now it looked positively alien. It was surrounded by armed guards, and much of the car park space had been filled with camouflaged temporary buildings. As she watched, another van similar to this one drove away from the leisure centre. Parts of the angular building were covered in heavy-duty plastic sheeting, like someone was trying to shrink-wrap the place.
The van stopped again. The driver turned in a tight circle, then reversed back into the space the other vehicle had just vacated. There was a delay, probably less than a minute but which felt inordinately long, before the back doors were opened and the van’s passengers were asked to move out, politely but very firmly, by more faceless military personnel.
The doctor returned to his wife. Michelle and the girls waited for Scott. He walked with them in silence.
The gap between the back of the van and the leisure centre door was several metres wide. Big enough, Scott thought, to be able to make a run for it if he wanted to. But even though the barrels of their rifles were pointing at the ground, there were enough armed guards around to deter anyone thinking about trying to make a break for freedom.
Dr Kerr was just ahead of them. ‘Is anyone going to tell us what’s going on?’ he demanded of one of the soldiers. Scott couldn’t hear what the reply was, but it was clearly insufficient as far as the doctor was concerned. He continued to rant, oblivious to the proximity of their weapons, sounding increasingly angry, winding himself up but, it appeared, no one else. None of his questions or demands seemed to warrant even the most cursory of responses.
When they reached the inside of the leisure centre, Tammy stopped walking, dumbfounded. It looked as if the entire population of Thussock was already here, that they were late to the party. She remembered how this room had felt like a vast, cavernous space when she’d first come in here, bigger than the rest of the school combined. Right now, though, it felt uncomfortably cramped. It looked like something out of a film, one of those old disaster movies, she thought, or maybe something she’d expect to see on the TV news after an earthquake or tsunami. The floor was covered with row upon row of people lying on metal-framed camp beds or sitting on thin foam mattresses and bedding rolls. Thussock had seemed like such an insignificant place in comparison to Redditch, but the sheer volume of people gathered here in close proximity made it feel horrendously overcrowded. She was feeling claustrophobic, and the fractious atmosphere wasn’t helping. People were uncertain... afraid. Considering how many people were trapped in here, it remained unexpectedly quiet.
‘Chelle!’ someone shouted. Michelle looked up and saw that Jackie, Dez and the twins were camped on the far side of the huge room, leaning up against the back wall. There was a space next to them. Without waiting for anyone else, Michelle marched over to her friend. The girls sat down in silence, still in a state of shock, but Scott remained where he was, reluctant to follow. His heart sank when Dez got up and walked over to him. There was no escape, no way of shaking him. Between Dez and Dr Kerr (who’d also followed them across the gym and who was setting up camp with his wife just a couple of metres away), he imagined he’d be struggling to breathe if they were stuck in here for any length of time.
‘How long have you been here?’ Scott asked Dez.
‘Couple of hours.’
‘And have they told you anything?’
‘Nothin’. You got your pack yet?’
‘My pack?’
Dez pointed to a half-demolished mountain of cardboard boxes in the diagonally opposite corner of the hangar-like room. More were being taken away as Scott watched. ‘You get a couple of pillows and sheets, some water, a bit of food, and this,’ Dez explained, pulling a laminated card from his pocket and handing it over. Dr Kerr intercepted it. He adjusted his glasses to read it, flipping it over first, holding it up to show Scott the biohazard symbol printed on the reverse.
‘Residents of Thussock... We apologise for any inconvenience. A biological concern has been identified in the immediate area.’ He stopped and looked from Scott to Dez and back again. ‘A biological concern? Who wrote this garbage?’
‘What else does it say?’ Scott asked.
‘Blah, blah, blah... not a lot really. It’s all just bullshit and flannel. All very vague... all residents are required – by law – to remain on these premises until such time as the hazard has been successfully contained and neutralized.�
�
‘And that’s it?’
‘Pretty much.’
‘Shit.’
‘Well, there’s not a lot we can do for now,’ the doctor said, and he handed the card back to Dez, then ambled back over to sit with his wife.
Scott realised Michelle had gone. He looked around and found her on the other side of the leisure centre with Jackie and Tammy, collecting boxes. He watched her every move.
Bottles of water, pillows and a few chocolate bars kept the girls and George occupied temporarily. Michelle walked over to Scott. ‘Mind if I sit here?’
‘If you want,’ he grunted.
‘What’s happening, Scott? You’ve been talking to the doctor... what does he say?’
‘He knows as much as I do. Nothing. You see the card?’
‘This thing?’ she said, picking one out from her cardboard box and studying it. ‘Doesn’t say much, does it?’
‘Not really.’
‘Look, Scott, I just—’
‘Do me a favour, Michelle, just don’t even talk to me. In fact, just stay away.’
26
The last time Scott had seen Barry Walpole, the two of them had almost come to blows over the death of Ken Potter. Barry had been full of anger then, ready to defend his late friend’s dubious honour. He’d been a formidable creature that day, all piercing eyes, bulging veins and flared nostrils. Not now, though. Today Barry was a shadow of his former self. He was quiet and subdued, timid almost. Scott didn’t even notice him there until he almost tripped over him on the way back from the bizarrely heavily guarded toilets. ‘Strange how they’ve got armed guards round the toilets, isn’t it?’ Barry said. His voice was drained of all its former energy. He was sitting cross-legged on a mat, holding a frail-looking old woman’s hand, his other arm around her shoulder, his size dwarfing hers. He carefully let her go and stood up. ‘You all right, Scott?’