Annie led Heather up to the gorse bushes, revealing to her a horrible sight. The remains of two bodies lay there in the sand, covered with flies and the scattered remains of their possessions. One body, a male's, was almost totally destroyed from the waist up, the torso stripped of almost all flesh and internal organs, although the head and some of the arms remained intact. The other body, this one female, was in a worse state, with little more than the head and some of the legs remaining.
Both women tried not to vomit as the smell of putrefying flesh rushed into their nostrils.
“These things eat human flesh” said Heather, feeling sick to her stomach. “That's why they're after us.”
“What are they?” said Annie, “What could they possibly be? Are they human?”
“We need to get to the island” was Heather's only reply.
Both women turned away to walk back to the others, but after a few steps Heather stopped and turned back. There were clothes scattered on the ground, and two rucksacks. As they had no supplies and Claire was still naked, Heather didn't intend to waste what they'd found.
To Annie's astonishment, Heather began to remove the boots from the remains of the female corpse, tying the boot laces together and hanging them round her neck. Then she gathered what clothes weren't shredded or blood stained, stuffing them into the rucksacks. Throwing one pack over each shoulder she stood up and began walking back.
“We've no food or water” said Heather, “and Claire's really upset at being naked. We need their supplies.”
Annie just nodded in agreement, feeling a little queasy at the thought of eating the food of the dead, even if she was starving.
Now that her wounds were dressed with a torn t-shirt and some she had some clothes on, Claire's mood began to improve. She was wearing the dead man's shorts and fleece top, both much too big for her, but they brought her some comfort and relief from her nakedness. The boots turned out to be a good fit as well, thanks to a few extra pairs of socks.
“You've looked after me, thanks” said Claire in a weak voice as they began walking back to the rest of the group.
“It's nothing” replied Heather, “we've always looked after each other.”
Claire just smiled in reply, unable to think of a response.
“Is there anything in those pockets?” asked Heather, trying to change the subject and make Claire relax.
“Nothing much” replied Claire, “just some chocolate, oh and this as well.” Claire pulled a knife out of the pocket of the fleece. Heather could see it had a long blade and a plastic handle as Claire held it up.
“Put it in the rucksack” said Heather, not impressed with the apparent quality of the knife.
“What now?” asked Claire, hoping they'd be going home.
“We're going over to the island” said Heather. “That's where they're coming from. We might find out what's going on. It could help Brandon.”
“The island your parents died on?” asked Claire.
“Yes. You understand, don't you?”
“I remember how low you sank when you lost them” said Claire. “We all thought we were going to lose you too.”
Claire stopped, staring at the island, lost in thought.
“I've got so many happy memories of your parents” said Claire as a smile spread over her face. “So many happy summers.” Claire's eyes drifted as she remembered Heather's parents, and happier times.
“If you want to find out” continued Claire, a darker expression now crossing her face, “I'll be with you, all the way.”
“How is he?” asked Annie as she returned to where John and Chris were guarding Brandon.
“He's as cold as ice” said Chris, “but he still has a weak pulse.”
“He might even be improving a bit” said John. “We couldn't find his pulse earlier, we thought he'd died”
“Heather wants to go over to the island” said Annie, suddenly changing the subject.
“Why does she want to do that?” asked Chris.
“We found a bunch of those things dead on the beach, and she thinks they came from there. And given it's the island her parents died on, she wants answers.”
“Sounds dangerous” said Chris.
“I don't care, I'll go with her” said John in response, “I'm not leaving her. Besides, we can't go back with all these things running around.”
“I'm going with her as well” said Annie, “in fact we're all going, we'll even take Brandon.”
“How do we get over there” asked Chris, hoping no-one had thought of a way to get there.
“Heather says there's some old wooden boats in the dunes that have been abandoned for years” was Annie's answer. “We should be able to find one that'll float. Heather's out looking for one now.”
Chapter 18
The old rowing boat sat on the beach, a long track in the sand indicating where Heather had dragged it down from the dunes. Gathered round it, the group stared at it, impressed she was able to find one in such good condition.
“The locals used to do a lot of fishing round here” explained Heather. “But when the island was contaminated and quarantined they stopped coming here, and some of their boats were just left behind.”
“It looks in good shape” said Claire, who was now beginning to get enthusiastic about the trip. She had brightened up since she had gotten dressed again, and Brandon, although still unconscious, seemed to be improving slightly, with his pulse and breathing both now much stronger.
“It'll be fine” said Heather, “It's not far, and its more than big enough for us.”
“Well then” said John, “what are we waiting for?”
Heather's faith in the boat was well founded, and the boat easily took the weight of the group without any problem. John and Chris, at their own insistence, did most of the paddling, using old wooden planks that they found in the dunes. Brandon lay at the back of the boat, his head cradled in Claire's lap. Heather and Annie scanned the island with their eyes, looking for creatures or anything else that might be of interest to them.
They found the perfect landing spot for the boat, a patch of white beach sand that sloped steeply into the water. At the end of the beach was thick woodland, with what appeared to be an overgrown path leading off from it into the woods.
They beached the boat as silently as they could, and Heather leapt out of it, dragging it up the beach and onto dry land. Their sense of paranoia was acute now, they had no idea what to expect here, and they all knew that unless they were very careful, they might not leave the island alive.
“How is he?” Annie asked Claire as she leaned over Brandon, looking to see if there was any sign of life.
Claire never got a chance to answer. Without any warning, Brandon's eyes burst open and he grabbed Annie, pulling her towards him and sinking his teeth into her shoulder. Blood flowed from the wound as Annie screamed, but Brandon just bit down harder, biting clean through her flesh.
Quick as a flash, John reached over the edge of the boat and grabbed the knife from around Heather's waist. Pulling Annie off and throwing her over the side of the boat, he yanked Brandon onto his feet, throwing him over the other side, hard onto the sand. Brandon stumbled as he landed, falling over and rolling down the steep sloping beach
Claire just sat motionless, her eyes bulging wide open and in utter shock and terror.
Before Brandon could get back up, John was out the boat and on the beach, positioning himself between Brandon and the rest of the group. But Brandon was like a wild animal now, snarling, ferocious, dangerous.
“He's one of them” said Heather in amazement, “he's one of those creatures!”
Brandon lunged forward, throwing his whole body weight at John, knocking him to the ground and landing with Brandon on top of him. Brandon tried to attack John with his mouth, thrusting his head forward, trying to bite at John's shoulder's but John forced him back, holding his throat tightly and pushing back with all his strength. John even had to drop the knife, using both
hands to hold Brandon back, but he struggled, and Brandon's mouth got ever closer to John's flesh.
Claire watched in horror as Heather ran across the sand, diving to the ground and grabbing the knife. As Heather raised the knife above Brandon's head, she turned to Claire and mouthed “I'm sorry” before bringing it down hard through Brandon's skull.
Brandon instantly went limp, lying motionless and dead, pinning John to the ground. Ignoring him, Heather instead jumped into the boat and took Claire's hand, but Claire just pulled it away.
“I'm sorry Claire, I'm so sorry”, said Heather, over and over again.
Claire said nothing, but her breathing became quicker and harder. Suddenly, without warning she punched Heather as hard as she could, knocking her over the side of the boat. Heather landed hard on her back, and before she could react Claire had jumped after her and began to punch her again and again.
Chris pulled her off, restraining her despite her struggles and Heather sat up, blood pouring from her nose and mouth, and dazed from the punches.
But Annie's moans of pain distracted him and suddenly she broke free, kicking Heather in the face before running off into the woods. John pushed Brandon's body off and tried to chase after her but once he reached the woods there was no sign of her, just endless and overgrown woodland.
Annie was bleeding heavily from her shoulder wound as Chris emptied the contents of one of the rucksacks into the boat. Finding a fleece jacket he held it firmly against Annie's wound, putting as much pressure against it as he could. Annie just screamed even louder as he did it, but he didn't release the pressure, he knew he had to control the bleeding.
Heather wasn't much better. She lay on her back at the side of the boat, her face and chest covered with her own blood. Her head spun and her nose was in agony, she was convinced it was broken. Sitting up, she spat two teeth out, but she suddenly became dizzy and dropped back down again. Silent tears flowed from her eyes as she saw the corpse of Brandon lying beside her, gently swaying in the surf. Again she tried to sit up, but it was too much and she fell back again, this time blacking out completely.
Chapter 19
John's soft smile was the first thing Heather saw as she woke up.
“What happened?” said Heather, before the memory of what had happened returned. Suddenly she sat up, looking around, almost in a panic.
“Where's Claire, is she okay?” Heather asked frantically.
“Don't get up” said John, trying to calm her, “you've been out for two hours.”
“Where is she?” Heather persisted.
“I'm sorry” said John, lowering his head. “She's gone”
“Gone?” said Heather with astonishment. “What do you mean she's gone.”
“She ran off into the woods” said John. “I tried to find her, but she's hiding, she doesn't want to be found.”
“You left her there?” Heather asked angrily.
“It was either leave her or you” answered John, “and you were lying unconscious and coughing up your own blood.”
“I'm sorry” said Heather, feeling the weight of the past few days catching up with her, and John just nodded with understanding.
She looked down at her body in disbelief at the state of it. Most of her body was covered in scrapes from the fights, and a large bruise ran from between her breasts to her abdomen, a result of a hard blow from one of the creatures. She had several large cuts that continued to bleed slightly, one across the top of her thigh, another across one of her breasts and one especially deep one in her shoulder that the creature's claw like fingernails had delivered.
But her face ached more than anything. She could feel one eye beginning to close with the swelling, and it hurt if she talked to much.
“I ache all over” she said to John. “How do I look?”
“You get more beautiful as each moment passes” he replied, smiling.
“Oh god, that bad?” she replied, beginning a laugh that instantly stopped when she realised how much it hurt to laugh.
“Your face is a little bashed up,” said John, “but you'll be fine, there's just a couple of black eyes on the way, that's all.”
“How's Annie?” asked Heather.
“The bite doesn't seem too bad” said John, “but she's really upset by it. She's barely talking and just wants to cuddle up to Chris.”
“Keep an eye on her will you” said Heather. “Make sure she's okay.”
“Do you want to see her?” John asked.
“Yes, where is she, help me up” replied Heather.
John took Heather's hands and pulled her to her feet, holding her steady as her head spun for a few seconds.
“You okay?” asked John as Heather swayed on the spot.
“I will be” said Heather, “just take me to Annie.”
John and Heather walked across the beach to where Chris and Annie were resting. Annie was curled up in a ball in Chris's arms, but her eyes followed Heather as she approached.
“How you doing Annie?” said Heather as she lay down beside her friend.
“It hurts” said Annie through her tears, “it hurts so much. I'm scared now, I want to go home.”
“We can go back if you want, to the mainland” said Heather. “Is that what you want? We can leave now if you want.”
“No” said Annie, gently shaking her head. “We stay and look around. I'm scared, but we stay.”
“Thank you” mouthed Heather before leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on Annie's lips.
“Look after her” said Heather to Chris, “we'll rest for a little longer, then set off into the woods.”
Chris nodded and Heather stood up and walked away, back along the beach to the boat. She lay down on the edge of the water, letting the waves roll over her body, trying somehow to relax and calm her nerves.
“Would you really have left the island if Annie had said she wanted to?” asked John as he sat beside her.
“There's nothing I wouldn't do for Annie” she replied, “nothing at all.”
“Nothing?” said John.
“Annie saved me” Heather replied.
“How do you mean?”
“When my parents died, she was the only friend who understood me” said Heather. “I was all alone in the world, but she visited me as much as she could. She would even strip naked if it was warm, and join me to go swimming and walking. But every night I cried myself to sleep, then woke up screaming with nightmares about my parents. For two years my life was an empty hell, only ever brightened up by visits from Annie”
“Her visits saved you?” asked John, not understanding what she meant.
“No, they made living in hell bearable. But I couldn't go on. I decided to end it all.”
“Kill yourself you mean?” asked John incredulously.
“Yes, and I told her, I wanted to say goodbye.”
“How did she react?” asked John.
“Angrily. We had a screaming argument, but eventually I had a complete emotional breakdown in front of her. She held me in her arms for hours that night as I slept, comforting me as I cried, and waking me if nightmares began.”
“When I woke in the morning I was in her arms and content.”
“What happened?” asked John.
“Annie looked after me. She stayed with me for the summer before she left for university. She helped stop me be scared of living and taught me how to enjoy life again.”
“Did you guys....?” said John, trying to be tactful.
“We were just friends” said Heather, “but we were close.”
“What happened when she went to university?” said John, changing the subject. “Did the nightmares return?”
“No” replied Heather, “she stopped them for me.”
Heather sat up, putting her arm around John and placing her head on his shoulder.
“I love her.” she said. “I always have and I always will.”
“I know how you feel” said John, “she's an easy girl to fall in love w
ith.”
“You too?” replied Heather.
“Yes, for a while.”
“For how long.”
“Not long, just a few years” was John's reply.
“When did it stop?” Heather asked.
“The moment you opened your front door” he replied.
Naturist, Red in Tooth & Claw Page 12