“Use Soba-maps if you get lost”.
“I don’t have much battery life left”.
“Use your phone sparingly then”. She went silent for a few minutes and sighed.
“It’s six fifty-five... the kids would have been home safe almost half an hour ago…”
Terry didn’t know how to reply, what she sought was comfort, the type of comfort and reassurance he could not provide, not when their lives were still on the line and so much had already happened.
“Let’s just try and get out of this situation alive, we’ll figure out next steps when we are safe”.
“Terry... about Daniel... did he…?” She begun, heading in a direction of conversation he wasn’t comfortable with, but to his relief a call came in on the other line.
“I’m getting a call, Natasha, I’ll text you. Let's not ring each other without texting first, just to be on the safe side. We’ll meet at the Golden Wasp”.
“Okay, be safe”, she replied and hung up. Terry switched to the other line and heard sobbing.
“Hello?”
“Daddy? Help me! Please come and help me quickly!” Ria cried, sheer terror in her voice.
CHAPTER 17 - RIA: 4:57pm - 5 Hours, 12 Minutes since outbreak
Long before the events that led to Ria calling her father in tears, she had just given up pursuing her brother, realising that the two of them running around without any clear aim of where they were going would only lead to them both endangering their lives, besides, the dispersing crowds and people fleeing in the opposite direction left her feeling uneasy.
Panting from having already run a marathon, she picked up her mobile and called Terry.
“Dad!”
“Ria? What’s happened?”
“Oh my God, we were on our way out and then there was a crash and we were unconscious for a bit, and…”
“Slow down, Ria, explain again”.
“We were in a crash”.
“What? How? When?”
“Not long ago, someone stepped out in front of the car, Charlotte hit them, swerved into a shop and crashed”.
“My God, is everyone okay, is your brother okay?”
“I’m fine, just some bruises, mostly superficial, Charlotte looks in a bad way and George... erm…”
“What happened to George, Ria?”
“He ran off while we were unconscious, I think he’s coming to look for you”.
“Shit! Shit! Shit! Okay... okay, I’ll backtrack and keep an eye out for him. Go back to Charlotte and if you can’t do anything about her, get to safety yourself”.
“What about Charlotte?”
“Your life is my priority, Ria. Of course I’m concerned about Charlotte, but I’d rather your life not be in jeopardy for her sake”.
“Okay dad”.
“Head east and wait outside of the city by any means necessary, do you hear me?”
“I hear you”.
“Good girl, we’ll talk later. Text me if you need anything”. Terry hung up.
Ria spun around on the spot unsure of what to do next. Charlotte was the only thing that came to mind, but before that... she spotted shops to the side and had an idea.
She stepped forth from the shops equipped with a few new batteries, a charger, a pen knife, snacks, a flashlight, other little bits that might come in handy and a guilty conscience. The situation didn't make it okay to steal, regardless of how incremental these things would become in her attempt to escape.
She spent no more than about five minutes scouring for the items in the shop and already she was beginning to spot suspicious characters in the direction George and her father had ventured. Not suspicious in the sense that they were up to something, but that something was up with them. Twitching erratically, standing on top of cars and appearing as though they were sniffing the air.
Pulling out her phone, she used the camera to zoom in. Closer inspection revealed their blood-soaked clothes, hands filled with what could only be left to the imagination to interpret.
A shudder passed down her spine.
She took a few photos and decided it best to make a hasty exit before they drew close enough to spot her. As she ran, in the opposite direction back to Charlotte, she uploaded the photos to all her social feeds using her tag #riasinlondon and much to her surprise, not only was the tag trending, so too was she, but in spite of it all, she felt as though her reasons for documenting everything now were more with regard to mortality rather than profit, she was faced with danger after danger, each one bringing her a little closer to death's doorstep and since she had faced this all mostly by herself today, she didn't want to die with no one to notice, she didn't want to die feeling as though she had achieved very little in life, she didn't want to die full stop.
She could imagine what the naysayers would have to remark about, but they weren't here, they weren't in her shoes, stricken with nausea induced dread. Fame was the last thing on her mind now, she had a responsibility to share this with the world. Whether they believed it to be authentic or not, people needed to know what was going on here, what she and her family were experiencing and in the event they didn’t make it, at least people knew who they were.
Upon returning to the scene of the crash, she found the streets to be emptier than they previously were, the aftermath of their presence all that was left behind, the scene of what looked to have been a riot.
She approached the shop they had crashed into and outside sprawled across the ground was Charlotte, discarded like a used rag, a complete lack of empathy shown towards her, invoking anger in Ria. How could they treat her like that? How could they treat another human like that? What had people become?
Ria rushed to Charlotte's side and checked her over. Miraculously, she was still alive, but only just. Every breath she took seemed a struggle, her life hanging in the balance.
“Hang in there, Charlotte, I'll get you out of here, I promise. I won't let you die".
Ria looked around for someone or something useful. If only she could drive and knew how to break into and hotwire cars like Charlotte, she could maybe just speed right on out of here.
A noise from the tool store besides her caught her interests, she turned to look and it stopped, only to start again. She stood up, maybe it was help, someone who could assist her in carrying Charlotte out of here. She approached the store with caution, paying mind to the fact that she could be setting herself up to fall into someone's trap.
She stepped inside the shop and looked around, feeling compelled to shout out to someone, but also not to, for fear that it might be one of those people she zoomed into earlier.
Quietly she crept around the car and fallen shelves to investigate. She could hear a series of whispers and louder shuffling. As she crept forward, she noticed movement towards the back of the store. She crouched down and peered between the gaps in the shelves. Three individuals, rummaging around for things, likely tools.
“Do we have enough L.N?” One of suspicious characters asked another, a male voice.
“We'll need about two of everything, chuck in some of those Allen keys, they'll prove useful”, another male replied.
“The fifth container?”
“Nails”.
“Does it matter which?”
“No, once it goes off, they'll all do the same job".
“What do we need for the mufflers?” The third male asked, but before L.N or the other male could reply, Ria, in attempt to get a better view, knocked a box of screws to the floor. Dammit, just what she needed. The three men spun around with a start.
“Who is there?” One of them demanded.
Ria ducked and covered her mouth, but it was a reflex rather than necessity, immediately feeling stupid for doing so afterwards.
“Come out, we know you are there”.
Ria stood up and stepped out to where they could see her.
“Who are you?” They asked.
“Hi... err... I was just... err... looking for someone to help me carry
my friend", Ria replied.
“Who's your friend?” L.N replied.
“The woman laying out at the front”.
“Is she with you?” One of them asked.
“Yeah, we were in a car crash”.
They stood upright and turned to her, holding items they were clearly in the process of stealing from the store before she interrupted.
“What did you see and hear?” They asked?
She waved her hands submissively.
“Nothing, barely anything. I just got here, you totally don't need to worry about me, I took some things from a shop I was in before here, so I wouldn't judge you. I'm not here to spy on you, my friend is just in a really bad way and I wanted someone to help get us out of London and her to a hospital".
“No, we haven't got time for kids and she's a lost cause", one of them replied.
“Hey, don't be like that to the young lady, didn’t your parents teach you manners?” L.N shut him down. He then turned to her, “We will help, but under the condition you keep what you've seen here today to yourself".
“You've got a deal, secrets reeled, I'll never squeal, my lips are sealed".
They stared at her blankly for a second, before L.N chuckled.
“I like this girl. Don't worry, we'll give you a lift out of London and get your friend to a hospital, we have a vehicle”.
Finally leaving the darkness of the store, Ria was able to get a better look at them.
L.N was particularly good looking, enough so to make her heart flutter.
He smiled and suddenly, she didn't know what to say or how to react and she was certain that if she could flush red, she probably would. How was it even possible to be that good looking? And that smile was most definitely criminal!
She felt as though she had seen him before somewhere, though couldn't recall ever having met him before, she definitely would have remembered that heart-melting smile.
L.N suddenly felt compelled to question her.
“Why did you leave her side?”
“I went to look for my brother, he ran away when we crashed”.
“Is he okay?”
“My dad is going after him, I called him just now and I came back for her”, Ria replied, pointing towards Charlotte.
“Are you two related? Is she your sister or something?”
Ria shook her head.
“No, no. I only met her today, but she’s been helping us, so I guess we are together. Is it okay with you if I just let my dad know that I'm okay? He'll be worried about me".
“Yeah, as long as you don’t…”
“Don't worry, I won't say anything. I stole stuff too, remember?”
The guy smiled.
“We need to hurry a little, I don’t think we have much time. Radio says the army has lost control of the situation and can’t contain it, might mean they are considering more extreme measures. We don’t want to be around if and when that happens”.
“Okay”, Ria replied, following behind them.
She pulled out her mobile and texted her father.
‘Dad, found some help for Charlotte an old couple’, she lied, ‘her legs look really bad, she might not make it without medical help soon, so they offered to take her to hospital outside of the city. They offered me a ride, I don’t have any other option, everyone else is gone and we can see those people coming our way, so I guess I’ll go with them, but I’ll let you know if anything happens. I’ll talk to you later’.
A few short minutes later she received a reply.
‘Be careful, princess, let me know if something happens. Be vigilant, opportunists and twitchers everywhere’. Twitchers? Was he referring to the crazy people? What a weird nickname.
They came to a people carrier family vehicle, where upon they opened the doors to dump their loot, carefully place Charlotte and allow for Ria to sit down.
Ria took the middle seat, propping Charlotte's head up onto her lap, whilst one of the men took the seat next to her.
Once they were all in the car and Ria felt a little more at ease about finally making a move and leaving this hellhole behind, she thought she might update Lacey, because she was sure to be worrying about her, but if the aim was to quell Lacey’s concerns with news that she had not only been rescued, but rescued by three strange men, she was sorely mistaken. Lacey was not most pleased with her nonchalant attitude towards the situation and seemed dismissive of the fact that she was short of options, they seemed nice, Charlotte was perilously close to death's door and that one of them was cute... although she did return to that last point after her lecture, evidently weak to the power of good looks. Lacey requested a photo, but with the guy sitting next to her, glancing over at her phone every so often, that was going to be no easy feat. He was probably just paranoid that she’d out them all, but it was annoying as all hell.
She felt a little guilty for not having put more thought or feelings into prior events, the crash, who they had hit, those people she had seen, where her brother had gotten to and whether or not he was safe, the wellbeing of her parents, but with everything converging on her all at once and mentally dismantling her little by little, the pathetic little distractions like how cute L.N was, was a nice normal distraction, at least for the meantime.
She put her phone down as though disregarding it, keeping it out of the line of sight and fumbled for the camera button. Once she was fairly certain she had it, she made conversation in order to get their attention.
“So, where were you when all of this started happening?”
“Home, shit’s unreal, still can't believe this is all happening", the driver replied. L.N sat quietly in the passenger seat, but it was him she wanted a reply from.
“So why were you with that woman?” The driver asked. “Where’s your parents, kid?”
“I’m not sure”, Ria replied, refraining from giving away too much information. It was a good thing she had that pen knife, not that she was expecting anything per se, but you could never be too cautious.
"Your dad didn't tell you? You spoke to him, didn't you?"
"He's rescuing my mum from her office in the centre and then coming for me".
"Ah, okay. Pretty brave, not even the ol' bill is taking a chance with that shit".
"Yeah...” Ria replied half-heartedly, softly stroking Charlotte's hair. “Do you know anyone who was in the middle of it all?”
“No, fortunately”.
None of this was working, L.N wouldn't even glance at her, she needed to be more direct.
“So, what are your names?”
Maybe that question was a little too direct, because they responded to it with radio silence.
“You don't have to tell me, I was just making conversation, my name is Ria". That was about the most they were going to get out of her and it would prove to work, because L.N glanced back.
“I suppose we can share with you. My name is Barry and these two here with me are Ross and Jason.
He was lying. There was no way he was a Barry and she specifically heard the others refer to him with the abbreviation L.N, so whether or not those were his real initials, was yet to be discovered. If he was lying about his name, it was safe to assume he was also lying about theirs. It was understandable that they’d want to keep their identities secret, if only to avoid implicating themselves in anything.
She missed an opportunity to capture him with her camera the first time around, but she was ready for him the second time and snapped away, praying she had captured his best side.
“Pleasure to meet you, Barry, Ross and Jason”, she replied, to which L.N shot her a reassuring smile.
Keeping her phone out of the line of sight, she sent a photo over to Lacey. It was a little blurry, but that was probably the best she was going to get under these circumstances.
Within seconds Lacey replied and the feelings were shared, cute but frustratingly familiar.
‘Do you want me to post his picture? Find out who he is?’ She asked in a message.
&n
bsp; ‘It's okay, I'll ask’, she replied and reverted over to Chirper to upload the picture with the words.
‘My handsome hero! Who is he?’ Followed by a series of love hearts.
The replies were most definitely not what she was expecting and within seconds, everything changed.
“I'm putting on the radio", L.N declared, “We need the updates".
Meanwhile, Ria scrolled through the messages, her stomach feeling heavier and her mind spinning a little more with each one.
Llisaluv @ria_riley<3 Darling! Don’t go with him, he looks like the leader of that massacre not so long ago.
Gerrybitts @Llisaluv @ria_riley<3The Walters Foundation massacre. If that's who we think it is, that's Lugo Neil, the leader and ******* scum of the human race.
Kiki1 @Gerrybitts @ria_riley<3Lugo? Holy ****! OMGOMGOMG! Of all the people to be stuck in a car with. Jump out if you have to!
RachelHeart @ria_riley<3Get the hell outta there babe, fuck that shit
And the torrent of messages kept coming in, each one sending her mind further into a tizzy. Her mouth dried, as panic overwhelmed her.
L.N was Lugo Neil, it all made sense now. It explained why they had lied about their names, why they were so concerned about her leaking information, fuck... this whole thing was probably their plan, they were terrorists after all.
She needed to get out now, why the hell did she even get in? Her dad told her explicitly not to go off with any strange people and not only did she do so, she ended up in the car of the very worst possible people and now they were going to kill her and Charlotte, kill her and dump her corpse in a shallow grave where her family would probably never find her. She couldn't bear to think about it. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think straight. She was better off taking her chances on her own. Why hadn't she just tried to escape by herself, why did she have to be so reckless and stupid? So much for nice normal distraction, this couldn't be further from normal if she tried.
Just as the car had begun to feel as though it was crushing in on her, they came to an abrupt stop.
"Why are we stopping here?" Ria asked nervously.
"Picking up something", the driver replied and stepped out of the car.
Cryptophobia (Book 1): Outbreak [Fear The Unknown] Page 18