by Jenkins, Seb
“Right about what?” Lizzie chimed in.
Paulo leant in closer and lowered his voice even further.
“For a few weeks now I’ve noticed that the guard count has been far lower than usual. It seems that with every day or two that passes, they have less and less.”
“How many used to escort you over to start with?” Max asked.
“In the beginning, around four per person. Either they’ve gotten lazy, or they’re running low on man power. Either way, it could be our chance.”
“Chance as in chance to escape?” Lizzie said excitedly.
Paulo waved his arms in a downward motion.
“Hush girl! This stays between us for now!” he hissed at her.
“Why? Surely we need all the help we can get?” she replied snootily.
“Not until we come up with some kind of solid plan. We don’t want anyone getting too excited and jumping the gun; not now. We only have one shot at this,” Paulo clarified.
Lizzie nodded in agreement, clearly not happy that she had lost the argument.
“Have you got any kind of plan?” Max queried.
Paulo thought for a second before replying.
“Nothing subtle, no.”
“We don’t really do subtle,” Lizzie joked.
“Well then maybe I’m talking to the right people, Paulo smiled back.
“The way I see it, when they come to collect the contestants, the only people here are Nev and a couple of guards” he thought aloud.
“So you’re thinking just storm them and overpower them, all together?” Max asked.
He had to admit the plan wasn’t impressive or clever, but if Paulo was right about the guard count being low then it might just work.
“Precisely. I’m afraid once we’re out of this room it’s every man for himself,” Paulo warned.
“Agreed,” Max nodded.
“Sounds good to me,” Lizzie added.
“So I guess that just leaves the question of when?” Max pondered.
“I think we leave it a few days, monitor the guard situation, and slowly bring everyone else in on the plan,” Paulo theorised.
“What if me and Max aren’t around in a few days?” Lizzie muttered.
“We’ll just have to take the chance kid,” Max said, reassuring her with a confident look.
She nodded back at Max, not at Paulo. It was Max she would place her trust in, not him.
“Well, we’re in,” Max said, extending his hand out.
Paulo shook it and smiled.
“I knew you would be.”
Max, Lizzie, and Paulo discussed the escape for what felt like hours, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t come up with an alternative. After a guard turned up to throw stale bread into the cell for dinner, Lizzie eventually fell asleep curled up on the sofa.
“So what’s the deal with you two anyway?” Paulo asked, pointing his finger between Max and Lizzie.
“The deal?”
“Well she keeps calling you Max, so she isn’t your kid; is she a niece, or cousin, or…?” Paulo probed.
“Just a friend,” Max answered bluntly.
Paulo looked at him, his face clearly begging for more information than that.
“We met on the road; I saved her. Well, she saved me, really. I haven’t been able to get rid of her since,” Max joked.
“Everyone needs someone, I don’t care what some people say. This is a lonely life, especially now, and you can’t do it alone,” Paulo said.
“I know I couldn’t,” Max replied, smiling at the sleeping Lizzie.
“But tell her that and I’ll rip your balls off,” he smirked at Paulo.
Paulo forced out a chuckle before falling into silence once more. His mind was clearly elsewhere.
“Who did you lose?” Max asked; he knew the look on Paulo’s face. He knew that pain.
“I don’t even know. That’s the worst part of it…the not knowing.”
“What do you mean?” said Max.
“I was away for work for a while. I’d just got the news that I could go home early when all this shit broke out. By the time I made it back home, all their stuff was packed and gone. I know they got away safely; the car and suitcases were missing, but after that I have no idea. I have no idea if my wife and kids are even alive man!” Paulo said numbly, with a dead, defeated look in his eyes.
“Sometimes you’re better off not knowing man. At least you can convince yourself they’re still out there,” Max argued.
He wished he’d had that privilege with John.
He knew his family were dead. He knew every graphic detail of his brother’s death. There’s no way not knowing would be worse; no way.
“You know if we ever get out of this place, you can always come with us?” Max offered sincerely.
Paulo really smiled warmly for the first time.
“You know what, I think I’d like that.”
They both sat there, sharing silence and grief, before they both drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Four
A few more days passed by with little else happening. A couple of prisoners went off to fight in the pit; neither returned. From what Max, Lizzie and Paulo could see, the guard count was still extremely low and their plan was moving into action.
They had slowly informed the other prisoners of what they were planning on doing. Most were behind it immediately, and others took convincing; but now everyone was on the same page. It seemed that everyone would rather risk death than live here a second longer.
Max was sure that he and Lizzie would be called forward to fight most days after the popularity of their last, but that hadn’t been the case…until today.
At around mid-day, Nev and two guards entered the building, rattling on the iron cell bars to wake up those trying to catch some sleep.
“Okay, rise and shine ladies and gentlemen!” Nev shouted, his eyes never diverting from Max.
Max could tell his name was going to be called; waking people up and putting them on edge was just part of Nev’s sadistic game.
“Today’s lucky contestants will be…Max and Lizzie. You have ten minutes to prepare,” he said with a wicked grin, before leaving the room once again.
Lizzie clearly hadn’t been expecting this as much as Max had.
“What?! This is bullshit! We fought more recently than most of the people in here!” she argued, looking to Max for defence.
Max ignored her outburst, instead turning to Paulo.
“Are we ready?” Max asked him impatiently.
Paulo shook his head and looked down.
“I’m sorry my friend. We need more time to finish the weapons and to get everyone up to speed,” he answered apologetically.
“Okay. Then get them ready, we move as soon as we get back!”
“Max I’m not sure we can…”
“We move as soon as we get back! No one else is dying in that fucking pit,”
“What about us Max? We only just scraped through last time,” Lizzie pointed out.
“We’ll be fine kid,” he said with a fake reassuring smile.
“Okay, I’ll get it done. Just make sure you get back here Max; we can’t do this without you. We need all the fighters we can get,” Paulo urged.
Lizzie cleared her throat, arms crossed fiercely.
“And you of course, Lizzie,” Paulo chuckled.
Max nodded, shaking Paulo’s hand and pulling him into an embrace as Nev re-entered the room.
“Okay, okay. Enough of the displays of affection. Let’s go!” he barked.
Max and Lizzie walked through the cell door and let the guards march them towards the weapons room. On the way, Max looked at the guards in as much detail as possible. They carried assault rifles, but they didn’t even have any clips in them. They probably ran out of ammo months ago. This was great news for the prisoners; it meant that all the guards carried on them were knives and machetes.
The prisoners had been working non-stop,
trying to turn anything they could find in the cell into some kind of weapon. They were sharpening pieces of plastic, tearing sharp springs from the sofas…anything they could get their hands on. Max was more confident than ever; he just needed to make sure him and Lizzie got through the next half an hour or so.
The guards led them into the weapons room, locking them behind the cell door. As he glanced around the room, Max noticed a shelving unit full of random items, including his and Lizzie’s backpacks. It looked as if they hadn’t got round to going through them yet. He could see his bat and machete poking out from the sides. He made a mental note of this; if they were to escape, they would definitely need their things.
Max and Lizzie plucked the same weapons as last time from the tables. In addition, Max threw a bow and a quiver of arrows over one shoulder. They knew they were fighting clickers today; he figured he would rather pick them off from a distance.
The klaxon sounded and the two walked out as they did before. If anything the crowd was even louder today, clearly happy to see them again.
Max scanned the pit for any clues as to what they were fighting, but came up with nothing.
“Welcome back to our fighting team! Max and Lizzie, take a bow!” Patrick boomed from his podium.
Max and Lizzie stood still.
Patrick moved on.
“Folks, today we have something very special for you. You’re in for a treat! Happy fighting!” he yelled before taking his seat again next to the servant and Otto.
Patrick and Otto beamed across at each other, itching in anticipation.
A second klaxon sounded.
Silence.
The whole crowd was silent; Max could hear his own beating heart.
Then the crowd erupted.
From the large tunnel underneath Otto and Patrick, three clickers sprinted out. They were different from any Max had ever fought. They were huge, well-built men; far bigger than any normal sized person. However, as they got closer, Max noticed that this wasn’t the case. They were dressed head to toe in full body armour, including steel helmets.
“How the fuck did they even get that stuff on them?” Lizzie shouted across at him.
Max didn’t know. He wasn’t surprised by the lengths these people went to for sick entertainment anymore.
The clickers were still running; even with their armour, they were faster than any Max had come across.
He tore off his shield and threw it at Lizzie.
“Keep as far away from them as possible; use that if you absolutely have to!” he screamed, before charging towards his oncoming adversaries.
Max ran until he was about thirty yards away, before drawing the bow and loading an arrow. He wasn’t a great shot, but he figured he might get lucky.
He fired off an arrow. It met its target, but bounced harmlessly off the steel armour. This happened again. And again.
“Fuck!” he shouted, tossing down the bow and arrows.
It looked like he would have to do this hand to hand, but he had no idea if he could take all three at once.
He continued to sprint at them. The three clickers were now spread perfectly in line. They were getting closer, and closer still. Then they were just metres away. Max threw himself on the dirt ground, leading with his feet as he skidded past them. For a moment they were confused by this sudden movement, and Max was able to slice at the calf of one as he slid by. The clicker didn’t flinch, but it had hindered his mobility on that side.
Two of the three turned, continuing to face Max, with the third running off after Lizzie. There was nothing he could do to get to her now; he had all three of the armoured undead between him and her. He just hoped she would have the sense to keep moving.
Max lunged with his machete, slicing at the head of the nearest clicker. The blade struck the metal armour, vibrations shuddering down Max’s arm, with the machete flying out of his grasp.
The two clickers threw their arms out at him as Max did his best to block their efforts. The skin showing between the cracks of armour was so small that Max knew his blades wouldn’t be able to do much damage. Instead he opted to kick and push, hoping to topple them over and strike as they were grounded.
Max twisted and kicked out leading with his heel. The clicker on the left dodged it expertly before swiping Max’s leg away with one swat of the hand. Max’s face hit the dirt and he desperately crawled away and stumbled back to his feet. He was astounded; he had never seen a clicker move like that.
He stepped forward, throwing a few lazy punches to see if the event would repeat itself. The clicker sidestepped his punches before lashing out with an arm. Max managed to leap back and avoid this, still coming to terms with what he was seeing.
The clicker’s eyes looked as bright red and lifeless as all the others he had seen, but they couldn’t have fully turned yet. There still seemed to be an ounce of human instinct in there somewhere.
Max had never thought about the stages of turning. To be honest, he’d had little time to think of much since this all began.
He shook his head sharply, forcing himself to get his mind back in the game. He darted from left to right, and then back left again, before squirming through the middle of the two clickers. They reacted fast to kicks and punches but they were still easily confused. As they were turning, desperately trying to figure out which way Max had gone, he kicked down with all the force and energy he had onto the back of one of the clicker’s legs. He slammed into the point he had cut minutes earlier, and the clicker stumbled forward away from his fellow undead.
Max leapt at this chance, diving forward and rugby tackling it to the ground, putting all his weight on top of it. He could hear the teeth clicking from inside the helmet. Max didn’t have long before the second clicker would be tearing the flesh from his back, so he tore the helmet off before scrambling away to safety.
Max withdrew the smaller knife from his waistband, feeling the weight in his hand. He couldn’t get too close to these guys; not when there were still two of them. Max jabbed and darted as best he could, but all his efforts were blocked and dodged. He was getting breathless now.
He took a couple of steps back before clutching the knife loosely by the handle and throwing it through the air. It twirled for what seemed like an eternity, spiralling towards the unprotected head of one of the clickers before slapping him in the face handle first.
“How the fuck does she do that?” he screamed in frustration.
Max ran round in a full circle, snatching up his fallen machete as he did so. He faced up to the two clickers once more, before suddenly thinking of a new game plan.
He threw a dummy punch with one hand, before retracting it and jabbing with the sword. The clicker was confused, reaching out to swat away the punch that never came. His jab bounded harmlessly off the armour, but his plan had worked. He threw another punch, before stepping forward forcefully and propelling his sword arm forward.
The blade sliced through the flesh and bone of the clicker’s head. It was tougher to break through than the more rotten flesh of a clicker who had turned weeks ago, but it did the job. His machete stood protruding from the clicker’s face. The undead fell, its armour clanging as it hit the hard ground. Max slammed a boot on the steel chest plate and wrenched his machete back out. The skull bone cracked as he did so.
Now only with one enemy, Max chanced a glance over his shoulder, seeing Lizzie on top of her clicker, wrenching off the helmet. Either she had the same idea, or had seen Max’s success; but either way, she was doing okay.
Max needed to get over to her to help. He let out a lion like roar, daringly charging at his one remaining clicker. It swiped at him with its right hand, connecting with his jaw. The cold metal smashing against him sent him into a daze, but his momentum kept him moving forwards, throwing both himself and the clicker onto the ground.
His vision was blurred and he couldn’t find his bearings. By the time it returned, the clicker was now on top of him, trying to bite away at his face, obvio
usly unaware of the metal between its teeth and Max.
It was taking every ounce of strength and every aching muscle in his body to push against it and keep the clicker at bay, but Max was tiring. He took one deep breath before letting go.
The clicker dropped down on his chest, sucking the air from his lungs. Max used his spare hands to grasp at the clicker’s helmet before throwing it off into the distance. Its teeth, no longer muzzled, were snapping away at Max’s face.
Max, now struggling for air, slapped away at its head with his blade, not having the energy to land anything substantial. He could feel himself passing out, and throwing every last bit of what he had into it, he drove the machete forwards.
The weight on top of him went limp. He rolled the huge beast off himself, gasping for air as he did so.
Not stopping to catch his breath of recover a moment longer, he pulled himself to his feet and ran as fast as he could to where Lizzie and her clicker both lay motionless.
The clicker had three of Lizzie’s knives sticking out of its face, one in each eye and one in the right temple. Max could see the fast, panting breaths coming from Lizzie as he came nearer, her stomach rising and falling.
“Lizzie!” Max shouted, falling down next to her and scooping her into his arms.
“I’m sorry Max; I just wasn’t fast enough,” she whispered, her eyes falling down to her arm.
Max followed her gaze and looked up at the sky in horror, blinking away the tears as it became clear; she had been bitten. The wound was deep, and wasn’t looking good. She had lost a lot of blood already.
“Max, listen, make sure you…”
“No! Don’t say it as if you’re already dead kid; you’re down, you are not fucking out yet!” he smiled, wiping away his tears.
She gripped his hand as tightly as she could, smiling back through the pain.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Our champions once more!” Patrick yelled to an applauding crowd.
Max turned around in anger.
“You did this! You fucking did this! She’s sixteen years old you sad, twisted pieces of shit!” he cried.
“Oh I’m afraid it isn’t over!” Patrick winked.