by Riva, Aline
Then he hesitated, feeling unsure of how to approach the next subject.
“Maxie has the spare bed in the room out the back,” he reminded her, “I can't put him back in the other one because he was bleeding and it's gone through to the mattress and it's a bit late at night to get that cleaned up and get a replacement from the ground floor... You're more than welcome to have my bed tonight – it's a big bed, I won't try anything...I promise.”
She saw a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, and as fondness for him warmed her, she smiled.
“Thanks, Rick,” she replied, “I'm sure I'll sleep very well tonight.”
“I'm glad that's sorted out,” he said, his face flushing as he looked away, then Lois got into bed, far on the left side of the mattress, as he went around to the other side, then turned out the light and started to undress in the dark. Moments later he got into bed too, keeping tight to his side of the bed to be sure she knew she could trust him. “Are you okay?” he said quietly.
“I'm fine. You sound so worried!”
He turned on his back and looked up into the darkness.
“I have bad dreams sometimes,” he confessed, “I dream my hand...the one I cut off... comes to get me in the night. It comes back as an infected corpse hand, runs up the bed and strangles me.”
Lois gave a sigh. For all his might and power and the tough image he gave off to those who lived at the plaza, there was something endearing about Rick when he was like this, away from his people and behind closed doors. She wanted to hug him but guessed that would have to wait, because his intentions had been honourable and by the way he was clinging to the edge of that bed putting himself far from her reach in case she took offense, it was clear he was not ready to get closer – and getting closer was something she would certainly welcome, he was very easy to grow fond of, and deeply, too...
“It's okay. Your hand won't...come back and get you. It takes a whole reanimated corpse to do that, remember?”
“Yes I know...thanks for listening, there's not many I feel I can openly talk to like the way I do with you... Goodnight Lois.”
As she turned away from him she couldn't help smiling as she thought again how endearing and funny his confession had been – at that moment he had sounded more like a scared kid than the powerful man whose followers called Mall King...
“Good night, Rick,” she replied, “Sleep well.”
The room then fell into a peaceful silence and the moonlight rays slipped in through a gap in the drapes, illuminating the bedroom with a soft yellow glow, a tender ambiance which led the pair in to their long comfortable slumber.
After their meal that, although from tinned goods of many varieties, had been the best food they had enjoyed for months, the three people imprisoned in the secure room had slept well, even Lauren, who had struggled to eat because her thoughts had stayed with Maxie as she felt the separation from him sharply.
The night had passed quickly, morning had seen them rise stiffly from their makeshift beds on the floor and a short time later, coffee was served, along with the message that David and Tara were required in the middle of the mall, ground floor, in half an hour.
“What the hell is he playing at now?” Tara complained.
“I have no idea,” David replied, “But I guess we'll soon find out...”
The time passed slowly. Then the door opened and Rick looked inside, first to the two women and then to David.
“I require you and Tara, please,” he said, “Lauren, you'll have to stay here for now – purely because I need assurance they really can be as trusted as they claim. And don't worry about Maxie, he's stable and the pain relief is working fine, I had him checked over this morning and he's doing well. In fact he's doing so well he told one of my people to fuck off out of his room.”
Lauren smiled.
“That's my Maxie,” she replied, “Still a fighter.”
“I'm glad to hear it,” Rick replied, ignoring the flicker of hostility he caught in her gaze. Then he stepped back, inviting David and Tara out of the secure room. As they followed him out, he closed the door and the guard locked it, sealing Lauren inside.
“This way, please,” said Rick, and he led them up the corridor and into the ground floor of the plaza, as they passed others who cast odd glances their way, Tara shifted closer to David, feeling safer for his presence as these people still regarded them with mistrust.
“This will do,” announced Rick, and he stood there as passers by slowed down, as others stood about watching as their leader addressed the newcomers who had showed up under such difficult circumstances...
“You and Tara will accompany three of my people on a journey to prove my faith in you is well placed,” he announced, “David, you and Tara will go, unarmed, with three of my people who will have minimal ammunition for personal protection – and you will fetch me some desperately needed supplies.”
David and Tara exchanged a glance.
“This mall is well stocked. What could you possibly need?” David asked him.
Rick leant against the fountain, looking elegant in his fine suit as the lighting above bounced off his metallic hand.
“I need some bottled water,” he replied as amusement danced in his eyes, “Go on, get out there and prove how trustworthy you are – go out into the vast wilds, where the dead are lurking, and fetch me some bottled water, because I need it.”
“Water?” exclaimed Tara.
David looked at Rick in disbelief, then at the crystal fountain that trickled clear behind him. Up above on the next floor two kids were shooting each other – with water pistols. On the ground floor a woman had just wandered over from a vending machine, snapped off the top of a bottle of water and started to drink from it.
David fixed Rick with a look of disbelief.
“Water?” he repeated in a low voice, “You're taking the fucking piss, right?”
“No, I do need the water,” he replied, “Preferably the carbonated kind that comes in little glass bottles... love it with a slice of lemon...”
“This is to make you look good?” he said quietly, but Rick shook his head.
“To stop a possible random attack against yourselves after he shooting incident,” he replied in a low voice, “By the time you get back I'm sure the word would have got around to everyone about how Maxie has more than redeemed himself for the death of the guard. And please, do consider joining us...it's bad out there, David. You know how bad it can get and so do I.”
“And you're holding Lauren to make sure we come back, right?” Tara guessed.
“I never said being a leader was easy,” Rick replied.
“Mineral water?” David said.
“Yes please, “ Rick replied.
“And I thought the water was under the bridge now,” David remarked.
Rick flashed a brief smile as he was joined by two men and a woman.
“This is Sandra,” he said, indicating to the young woman in combat clothing, “And Toby,” he added, looking to the older man beside her, “And finally, we have Nick, he's our youngest armed guard but a fine shot.”
The young guy looked to be no older than eighteen, he had short dark hair and green eyes and the rips in his dark jeans were intentional – here everyone wore the latest trend of clothing. All three of them were armed with hand guns.
“Off you go,” Rick said, “And do be careful out there David, you too, Tara – no chasing stinkers for fun – remember you're unarmed and my people have minimal ammo. Life isn't a video game. Now go and fetch me water.”
As the others turned away and David and Tara turned to follow, David was silently fuming.
“Cheeky bastard!” he said angrily under his breath, then he and Tara followed the others out of the mall, where nearby in the almost empty car park, a battered old car sat waiting.
“Where's our car?” Tara demanded.
“Around the other side of the mall,” Toby replied, unlocking the car door. Then he got in the driving seat, San
dra sat beside him and Nick opened up the passenger door and looked to David and Tara.
“Get in,” was all he said.
David and Tara exchanged another glance, thinking how crazy this whole situation was, then he got into the car, and Nick got in too, closed the door and Toby started up the engine and moments later they were heading out towards the gates, where beyond, a world of lurking dangers awaited...
As they drove away, Rick watched from the closed door of the mall, then he activated the shutters and they slid down gracefully.
“I know a place where there's bottled water.”
he looked around to see Lois standing beside him. She had changed into dark jeans and a top that clung in places he didn't want to think too much about, because thoughts of his hands wandering over her curves were cancelled out by the nervous realisation that if the attraction he felt was shared, he only had one hand to run over her body now – something he had yet to get used to...
“I don't actually need the water,” he confided, “It's just a gesture to keep people happy here. Just to prove David and his people can be trusted.”
But Lois didn't give up.
“There's an empty village a couple of miles from here,” she told him, “And we still have their car, right?”
“What of it?” Rick asked her.
She smiled. He saw the warmth in her eyes and felt very optimistic as the realisation hit him that the metallic hand he had built and hated wearing was actually no bar to a possible love life. Until then he had thought too much about the loss of his human hand but now that thought was far from his mind as he felt his old adventurous spirit return.
He looked to a nearby guard and smiled.
“Fetch me the keys to David's car,” he said, “Me and Lois are going for a quick drive...we won't be gone long...” Rick smirked, then hit the activation to raise the shutters once more.
A few miles up the road away from the plaza, Toby came to a junction.
“Left or right?” he wondered.
“Take the one that isn't blocked,” Tara said from the back seat, and Toby noticed further up on the right, several empty cars were in a crashed mess, empty and abandoned, blocking the route.
“Left it is, then,” he replied, and they took the turn, carrying on down a long, straight road.
“I don't see any place to find water,” Tara said, looking about the open fields that were swaying in the subtle summer breeze.
“What's that up ahead?” Toby murmured, seeing a large structure looming into view in the distance and surrounded by wire fencing.
“That used to be a big race track,” Sandra replied, “I grew up five miles from here, used to come here sometimes...”
David looked thoughtfully at the vast structure as they drove on towards it.
“Hardly worth stopping there, is it?” remarked Toby.
“I can't see us finding water there,” Tara added.
Then Sandra smiled as she turned from the front and looked at the passengers in the back.
“Water?” she exclaimed, “More like champagne on tap! That place used it be the height of luxury...Let's go for it!”
David started to smile.
“Looks like Mr Lester will have to make do with a case of champagne,” he replied, and the car sped on towards the deserted racetrack, the closer they got, the larger the place seemed, and it soon dawned on the occupants of the car that they might well find much more than water or champagne here...the place looked magnificent and now they were close up, it was clear that what ever was still intact inside would certainly be a great find – they all felt as if they had hit the jackpot....
Chapter 7 : A Day at the Races
The gates to the race track were easily unlocked after Nick climbed over and then David followed, and between them their efforts to bust through chains that were padlocked saw the gates part, then they pushed them open. Then Toby drove down to the main building, parked the car and the others got out. Tara looked to wide, luxurious lounge area that was visible through wide windows and she smiled.
“I think we've just found what we're looking for, guys!” she announced. But David looked over to the race track standing ghostly, empty and silent. In the old days spectators would have packed this place out to watch the races, but now it was empty, abandoned... Then he noticed a building a short distance from the track and the doors were closed, but not locked as one door creaked on the breeze, moving slightly but not opening.
“I wonder what's over there?” he said.
As the breeze blew back her hair, Tara stood with the others, watching as David walked off.
“You might want some back up?”
He gave a wave of his hand.
“Yeah, what ever, come with me, let's explore!”
“We don't have time for this!” she exclaimed as she hurried after him and the others followed, cautiously drawing their weapons in case of lurking dead.
“We should be okay for a while,” David added as they approached the unlocked doors, one way in as I see it – and we chained it back up pretty well...” he paused, casting a glance about the vast area, “Of course I don't know how good the fencing is on the perimeter...but we can soon get back to the car if we get any trouble. It's so quiet out here, I don't think we'll have any trouble today, I mean, this place is deserted... they go where there's food – no humans have been here for months, that's enough to persuade any horde to move along.”
“Or to hang round and wait,” murmured Sandra as she cast her gaze towards distant woodland, “You never know where they could be, or how many of them are out there.”
“I make David right,” Toby said, “I see no stinkers. So let's not worry until we do, okay?”
She and Nick exchanged a reluctant glance, then she nodded.
Between them, David and Toby opened up the doors , and then David laughed as he looked to Tara, then back at the sight of the gleaming Lotus race cars parked inside.
“Oh yes!” he exclaimed, looking at the impressive sight of the four cars, all were sleek and gleaming with no sign of damage, there was an orange and black Lotus Elise, a yellow and black Extige, beside it another Extige in silver and the fourth was red with a black pin stripe.
“Not quite water is it!” David added excitedly, “And I don't care what anyone says about this, we're taking these beauties for a spin! One hundred and fifty miles per hour maximum speed, can't pass up a chance like this!”
The others exchanged a glance, as Tara started to smile, then as David jumped into the silver car she joined him. It didn't take long for Nick to grab the red car, then Toby took the yellow and after looking at him and shaking her head, Sandra gave in and grabbed the orange Lotus. Then the cars engines ignited with a thunderous roar and made their their decent down the garage pit ramp away from the storage area, heading for the track waiting at the end of the lane.
As the sound of roaring engines filled the air and it carried up and outward over silent ground where no human had set foot since the outbreak, that sound reached the woodland and the darkness within it, as the sheer noise generated by four cars taking to the track was like a pull the the undead as rotting corpses looked towards the direction of the sound, perhaps the noise on the air carried a memory, or perhaps the stirrings of sound carried with it a promise of warm blood and human flesh as a vague trace of it carried on the breeze.
They could smell it even in the depths of the woodland. One by one the creatures turned, snarling as they made their way out into the light, into the clearing past the trees. The sound from the racetrack was loud and clear, like a beacon to guide them. There was a food source somewhere among the roar of the engines, they knew it as sure as they smelled warm blood and felt the yearning to feed.
The undead began to walk across the field towards the race track, increasing in numbers as more of them came out from the heavy foliage, skin mouldering, carrying the stink of death and all tinged with flash a deathly white-blue hue that would forever remind two of the cu
rrent occupants of the racetrack of the nightmare they had survived back in the Arctic...
As the cars continued to race and the sound grew louder as the wandering creatures grew nearer, it was clear the living would not be alone for long. Many undead had emerged from the wilderness, and as they heaved against the chained gates, the mass of their bodies caused the chains to groan, then snap, and as the gates yawned open, the dead began to enter the structure, seeking out the source of the sounds that filled the air, drawing them closer...
Far off in the other direction, over a hill and down a winding lane, Lois had driven the borrowed car into a small village. It used to be picturesque, but now windows were smashed and curtains flapped grimy in the breeze as here and there, rats scurried in and out of cottages, darting into long grass, their tails slipping from sight as they hurried back to the damp and gloom of the over grown gardens. Cars were abandoned on the roadside, if there had been bodies - and a few bloodstains remained as splashes on car seats and bloody hand prints on vehicle exteriors – the victims of the dead were long gone, having reanimated and got up and joined them, travelling off in search of fresh human kill.
As they drove along, Lois went slowly. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sights of blood stains smeared up cream painted cottage walls, blood spatters were dried on shop front, the evidence of rotting flesh was only apparent by the shrivelled up, mouldering remains of guts and bloody chunks of skin here and there at the roadside, cast off months back by the starving dead in their feeding frenzy, as flies buzzed about it and maggots churned over it dizzily, here only filth seemed to feel at home.