by Casey, Ryan
They got closer to the party of five. Closer to Amanda, the person leading the party.
Hayden tickled the trigger. Braced himself. Readied to fire.
But the infected just carried on walking past Amanda, past the five.
They didn’t even stop to turn their heads.
Hayden felt his muscles loosen. He didn’t totally understand how he’d been cured and brought back to life. He just knew that he’d infected himself to prove to the people of New Britain that Terrence Schumer was lying about the airborne infection. He’d felt the life slipping out of his body, six long months ago.
He’d seen darkness.
And then he’d seen light.
When he’d woken from what was so close to being an undead state, Hayden was faced with Martha, his old friend from back at Riversford, who’d stayed behind there with her daughter, Amy, and whose dad, Newbie, Hayden had travelled from the north with. She told him what happened. How she’d come across some people who had developed an immunisation—a way of reversing the effects of the infection. Only they hadn’t found anybody truly capable of lasting longer than a few minutes, mostly because the wounds killed them, or their bodies were in a deathlike state as it was.
And then they’d found Hayden, and everything had changed.
Hayden, who’d shot the virus into his-self. A wound that they’d stitched up and seen to immediately. That the New Britain doctors had done their damnedest to clean of infection.
That Martha and her people had injected him with the vaccine.
Hayden spent the three months that followed in a coma. A state blacker than death. Several times, Martha and Daniel discussed switching off his life support. He was never going to come back. The last of the antidote sample that Daniel had developed had gone to waste.
And then he woke up.
Everything Daniel and his team of—admittedly weird—scientists thought they understood about their cure changed. They couldn’t reverse the process of death, not too widely anyway. That was too radical. Too far-fetched.
But Hayden had something in his blood. A specific blood type that combined with their cure—blood type AB. Apparently, less than one percent of the world’s population had that kind of blood type.
He didn’t know why—nobody knew why—but something in Hayden’s blood type made him stop dying. Staved off the infection.
And when his blood was put into others, they could become resistant to the eyes of the infected.
And here he was, three months later, watching people immunised with his own blood walk past the infected like they were not even there at all, being treated like a hero in the streets.
Life had been worse.
His vision started to blur. He let out a yawn. He knew there wasn’t going to be a lot to see on watch. Perhaps a few more infected would join the party. Mostly, it’d just be watching his people wander across the nothingness in search of supplies.
Of course, there had been a few incidents recently. A group went missing four weeks back. The odd person disappeared here and there. But that was just the nature of the new world. Something you came to accept.
Occasionally, sat here alone with his own thoughts, he wondered what’d happen if the immunisation just stopped working someday. If he just… changed.
He’d died once before. And according to most people who “died,” going through that made you fearless. Made you realise there wasn’t a thing to worry about.
Hayden knew they were talking out of their ass.
He didn’t want to die.
He wanted to survive more than ever.
He wanted to live out a normal, peaceful life here in New Britain.
Nothing else.
His mind started wandering in another direction when he heard a scream.
It was loud. Sharp. Startled him right out of his thoughts.
He looked around. Looked at the group in front. The five people from…
Shit.
Something was happening.
Something seriously fucking wrong.
The five group members were running. Amanda was at the front, and the rest of the group were close behind.
They were running from something.
From infected.
Hayden steadied his grip on the rifle and tried to ease his breathing. He pointed the gun at the back of the first of the running infected, fired.
The bullet missed.
Pierced one of the group members in the ankle.
“Fuck.”
The infected jumped on top of that group member. So too did another, and then another, and before he knew it, Hayden was witnessing a bloodbath in front of him.
He didn’t know what to do.
Didn’t know how to act.
He just pointed at the mob of infected and fired three bullets.
All of them hit. All of them took down the infected. But by the time Hayden had a chance to refocus on the rest of the infected, another of the group members was down. Then another. Another, Colin, was missing.
And then there was just Amanda. Just Amanda, running off towards the woods. Three of those infected behind her.
Hayden pointed the gun. Aimed it at the pursuing infected.
Fired off another two shots.
One of them made contact.
Another missed.
Amanda disappeared into the trees.
Hayden was still for a few moments. He stared at the scene ahead of him. The blood on the road. The guts spread across the grass. The pile of bodies, both human and infected, lying there in the dirt.
The taste of vomit built in his throat. He tried not to think about what this meant. About what the repercussions could mean.
But he’d seen what he’d seen.
Infected chasing people.
Infected chasing immunised people.
People who weren’t supposed to be recognisable to the infected, not anymore.
“Hayden?”
Hayden turned. He saw Gary, the guy whose watch he rotated with, standing right behind him. He had short, ginger hair and narrow cheekbones. They didn’t exactly get on great. Hayden had better friends here. He sensed something of envy from Gary, and it made him uncomfortable.
“What… what the fuck happened out there?”
Hayden turned back. Looked at the bloodied mess.
“All of them? They—they all fucking down?”
Hayden thought about Amanda. Thought about her running off into the trees. He knew part of his job was to retrieve the missing. He knew part of his job was to rescue those who’d got lost.
But those infected.
The way they’d attacked, just like they used to.
He swallowed a lump in his throat and etched Amanda from his memory.
“All down,” Hayden said. “Nothing… nothing I could do for them.”
Gary stared at Hayden in disbelief. “Fuck,” he said. “Amanda. She… Amanda was with ’em.”
Hayden couldn’t look Gary in the eye. He and Amanda weren’t together as such, but he knew Gary had a thing for her. He could just tell from the way he looked at her. And his thing for her was advancing ever since Amanda’s husband went missing along with the rest of his group a month back.
And now Amanda was in the trees. Missing.
Hayden handed Gary the rifle. Descended the ladder.
He couldn’t go outside. He couldn’t step out of these walls.
He hadn’t done for six months, and he wasn’t planning on anytime soon.
Even if it cost lives.
But he believed he’d done what he could for Amanda. He really believed it.
His hands didn’t stop shaking as he climbed down the ladder.
They wouldn’t stop shaking for hours.
Chapter Three
Hayden tossed the chicken into the pan and tried not to think about the events earlier that day.
Dinner time was usually a lonely pursuit. But tonight, as the moon glowed through the windows of Hayden’s kitchen, he felt t
he added pressure of having to impress with his culinary skills. Skills that, admittedly, he’d only developed in the last few months.
“I have to say, I’m a little worried to taste this.”
Hayden turned around. He saw Miriam sitting at the circular table in the middle of the kitchen. She half-smiled at him, and her eyes glowed in a way that made Hayden feel warmth inside. He smiled back at her. Shook his head. Returned to the pan where he threw in garlic, chillies and herbs, fresh from one of the many greenhouses. “You shouldn’t be.”
“You told me yourself what your diet used to consist of.”
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles.”
“There’s everything wrong with chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles. Or Pot Noodles full stop, for that matter.”
“Heathen,” Hayden muttered.
He heard Miriam laughing. And hearing this gorgeous woman laughing at his jokes, enjoying his company, helped him forget the events of earlier somewhat. Not completely. Only an idiot would forget the events of earlier completely. After all, Hayden knew what he’d seen. Infected. Infected hunting down those who were supposed to be immunised; those who were supposed to be unrecognisable to the undead.
He’d seen that group out there attacked. He’d watched those strong, fast infected tear those people he knew apart.
He’d watched Amanda disappear into the woods.
He wanted to believe she was okay. He wanted to believe she’d found a way free of the infected somehow.
But he wasn’t sure whether he was just being optimistic.
He remembered the look on Gary’s face when he went out there, put a bullet through the heads of the fallen bodies. He knew what that look said. Amanda. She was missing.
And Hayden knew Gary suspected Hayden hadn’t watched her die after all.
When he’d finished cooking, he put the plate down in front of Miriam. The smells of the spices were strong in the air and made a fresh change to the usual dull meals that Hayden forced down his neck. His mouth watered at the sight of the freshly cooked meal. He didn’t have the greatest appetite—never had. But especially not after today.
But if he could forget just for a short while. If he could forget, just while he was in Miriam’s company.
Hayden watched Miriam pull her plate close. She curled her nose up, glanced across the table at Hayden.
“Don’t judge it ’til you’ve tasted it.”
“Appearance is part of the package. You should know that.”
Hayden shrugged. He leaned back, waited for Miriam to take a forkful.
“It worries me that you’re waiting for me to be your guinea pig.”
“It’s because I’m planning on poisoning you.”
“Should I have swapped the plates just to be sure?”
“Rookie error that you didn’t.”
Miriam smiled. Then, she stuck her fork in and took a bite of the chicken.
She chewed it for a few moments. And Hayden watched her mull it over, enjoyed her changing expressions that always put a smile on his face.
After a few seconds of silence, Miriam shrugged. “It’s alright. For a lackey.”
Hayden flicked a piece of chicken across the table at Miriam, then tucked into his food, the pair of them laughing.
For the most of dinner, lost in conversation with Miriam, the woman he’d travelled all the way down from the Midlands with, Hayden felt totally at ease. Here he was, inside his home, with a woman whose company he enjoyed more than anything. This was his home. This was his new life. Nothing was taking that away from him. Nothing.
Dinner went well until Miriam gave him that look across the table.
“What?” Hayden asked, starting to feel full.
Miriam shook her head. Chopped up another piece of chicken.
“No, go on. What is it?”
“I heard,” she said. “About the wall. About what happened.”
Hayden felt his insides turn the second Miriam mentioned the wall. He wasn’t very hungry at all anymore. “I’d rather not—”
“I heard about what happened. To Pete. Amanda. And the others. Someone said they were torn apart by the infected. Is it true?”
Hayden didn’t want to confirm Miriam’s suspicions because he didn’t want to send her world crashing around her. This place, this life of theirs, it’d been built on the foundations of safety. It was supposed to be a worry-free place. It was supposed to be a safe haven. The immunisation was the biggest part of that.
But Hayden couldn’t lie. He had to be honest.
He nodded.
“I did what I could.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, go on. What?”
“I just heard you didn’t do everything you could. That’s all.”
Hayden’s muscles loosened. He knew what Miriam was referring to now. He hoped that’d stay quiet. He didn’t want news of Amanda’s disappearance into the woods and Hayden’s lack of action going to chase her, getting out.
He knew it was part of his job, part of his duty, to protect the citizens of New Britain at all costs.
“She wasn’t going to make it,” Hayden said.
“And how do you know that?”
“They were right behind her!”
Hayden realised he’d raised his voice. He regretted it in an instant. Miriam put her knife and fork down, then scraped the chair back against the floor.
“Sorry,” Hayden said.
“I don’t know what happened out there. I don’t know who the her you mention is. But I knew before I even mentioned anything that something went wrong while you were on duty.”
Hayden shook his head. “Amanda. She got chased into the woods. I had to think about… about the people inside New Britain.”
“How is letting someone get chased into the woods thinking about the people inside New Britain?”
“The immunisation. In my system.”
“Oh don’t use that one.”
“What?”
“There’s plenty of your blood backed up in those labs. Ninety-percent of people living here are cured. Don’t pretend you’re some kind of god who can’t be put at risk because you’re so damned important.”
“Maybe if people like you actually took the immunisation, I wouldn’t have to.”
Silence followed Hayden’s words. He watched as Miriam narrowed her eyes. “You know why I don’t want that blood inside me.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“You know why I don’t want any cure inside me, Hayden. I saw firsthand what medicines and immunisations can do to the people you love when they go wrong. And that’s exactly why I’m not surprised by what’s happened outside the gates today.”
She took her plate over to the sink. Rinsed it off. Then she grabbed her coat and slipped it on.
“There’s only one reason you didn’t do everything you could today. And it’s the same reason you never ask me to stay for a glass of wine. It’s the same reason you never really leave these walls. We both know what that reason is.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“Your comfort zone, Hayden. Your perfect little bubble. You’ve dug yourself so deep inside it that you just can’t face bursting it and climbing out.”
“Would you with the things I’ve had to do?”
Miriam smiled. Shook her head. “Don’t pretend you’re the only person who’s had to rebuild their life in all this. Don’t for one second pretend that.”
She walked over to the door. She didn’t turn back to look at Hayden. He knew she wasn’t properly pissed at him. She’d come round tomorrow, and everything would be forgotten—or buried—just like it always was.
But for now, her words stung.
He wanted to ask Miriam to stay. To ask her to stay for a drink. He wanted to spend time with her. Spend the night with her. Let her into his life.
But instead, he just watched as she opened his
front door. As she turned. Smiled and nodded at him. Proving his point with every step.
“Miriam, why don’t…”
The door to his house slammed shut.
Miriam walked away.
Hayden was alone.
Alone inside his perfect little bubble all over again.
Chapter Four
Amanda ran as fast as she could through the suffocating darkness of the trees.
The night sky was as black as she’d ever seen it. There was an icy chill in the October air, teasing the rapid onset towards winter. She could feel the cold biting right through her skin, through the tips of her fingers and all over.
She just had to get back to the wall. She just had to get back to New Britain.
She just had to tell them what had happened.
What she’d seen.
There was total silence around her as she ran through the thick trees. Autumn leaves crunched beneath her feet, drawing far too much attention for her own liking. There was a strong smell in the air. Like rot. And Amanda knew what that smell meant. She knew what it always meant.
Rot meant the undead were nearby.
Only they weren’t just any old undead. They were…
She heard a noise to her left. Swung her head around. She tried to look through the trees but it was pointless. She couldn’t see a thing in these woods. But she wanted to know. She needed to know if they were after her; if they were onto her.
Because if they were…
She kept on running. Kept her focus on getting through these trees and back out into the open. She had her rifle, but she didn’t want to use it for fear of attracting any more of the undead towards her position. She’d used the gun to shoot at a few of them earlier when she’d been running away from them in the first place. Reached the trees then shot them down when she got a spare moment.
But no matter what she did, no matter what attempts she made to get those memories from her mind, Amanda couldn’t shake the look in the eyes of that infected who attacked her.