Nick held back and made sure everybody got out. He realised someone was missing.
“Shit!” he exclaimed. “I have to get Margaret. She’ll still be in the staffroom.”
“Leave her,” Dave said. “You’ve got no way to reach her.”
Nick stood, tempted to fight his way back through the restaurant, but the infected were everywhere and one bite was all it took.
Jan yanked Nick and tossed him through the door before Dave slammed it shut behind them. The infected mob clattered against the other side, beating at it furiously.
“We have to go,” Dave said to everyone gathered around the back of the café,
Nick shook his head. “We can’t just leave Margaret behind. She might still be alive in there.”
“Don’t be a fool. You can’t risk your life for an old woman.
“She went back for her friend, Ethel. She deserves someone to go back for her.”
“You do whatever you have to,” Dave said, “but the rest of us are getting out of here while we still can.”
Eve looked at Nick pleadingly. “He’s right. We have to get out of here before they find us. You can’t help Margaret.”
Nick couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the old woman behind. He had already gotten Jake killed when the lad had tried to help him. He had to do something to even the books. “You go with everyone else,” he told Eve. “I’ll catch up with you.”
“No way, Nick. You have to come with us.”
“I will. Just get going and I’ll catch up. I promise.” Eve started to argue but he cut her off. “Just go!”
The argument over with, everyone clambered up the hill behind the cafe, before heading for the woods they’d come from the day before. Nick watched them go, but was surprised to see that Jan did not go with them.
“What the hell are you doing? Get out of here, Jan.”
“I figured you could use a hand.”
“I’m not sure I trust you to help me.”
“Well, maybe the old dear trapped inside would like my help. You selfish enough to turn me away when a woman’s life is at stake?”
“Fine, let’s just do this.”
Nick pressed his back against the building. There was no way back inside the fire exit, and even if there was it was suicide, but the staffroom had a window. If Nick could find it, he might be able to get Margaret out. If she had stayed put inside.
Jan followed Nick as he moved cautiously around the building. The keening pitch of the security alarm was deafening, making it impossible to hear what was going on around the next corner.
“Be careful,” Jan told him. “The infected people see you and they come at you like heat-seeking missiles.”
“I know. I’ve seen enough of them.”
Slowly, inch-by-inch, Nick leaned around the corner.
“Damn it!” he grunted. “There must be at least a dozen of them around there.”
Jan scratched his beard. “I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
Jan glanced up at the cafe’s roof. “It’s a single story,” he said. “With a boost, I should be able to get up there and create a distraction for you.”
“Yeah, great idea. How do you get down afterwards without them getting you?”
Jan shrugged. “One thing at a time, brother. You in?”
Nick shrugged. “If you’re crazy enough to do it.”
He threaded his fingers and made a platform for Jan to step on, then hoisted him up.
“Jesus Christ, you weigh the same as an elephant.”
Jan dangled and then heaved himself up. “Only two things to do in prison,” he said. “Educate one’s mind and exercise one’s body. You ready? I’ll try to get them to follow me to the other end of the building.”
Nick nodded. “You know we’re still going to have to have that conversation about what happened to Cassie last night?”
“Looking forward to it,” Jan said, then raced to the opposite side of the roof.
Nick waited for the distraction. Then got it.
“COME ON, YOU STINKING ARSEHOLES. COME GET IT!”
Nick peeked around the corner and saw the infected disappear as they rushed to the other side of the building. The coast was clear.
Nick hurried around the side of the building, peering inside each window as he passed. After looking into the kitchen and then into the manager’s office, he found the window that led to the staffroom.
There was no sign of Margaret.
He tapped on the glass lightly. “Margaret! Margaret, are you in there?”
Margaret suddenly appeared from her hiding place behind the room’s sofa.
Nick sighed with relief.
“They’re inside,” Margaret said to him through the glass. “I can hear them.”
“I know, they’re everywhere. Open the window and I’ll get you out of here.”
Margaret was white as a sheet, but she did as she was told. She fiddled with the window latch and managed to slide it upwards. Nick held his arms out to her and she clambered through. It was clearly a struggle but she managed to get herself into Nick’s waiting arms.
Jan continued to heckle the infected from the rooftop. “COME ON, YOU PANSIES. YOU WANT A PIECE OF MY ASS; YOU NEED TO WORK FOR IT.
The coast remained clear.
Nick grabbed Margaret by the arm and hurried her to the back of the building before heading into the woods. When they were sufficiently far enough away from the café and car park, they stopped to catch their breath.
Jan still shouted curses from the rooftop. Nick wasn’t sure he could’ve got Margaret out without the other man’s help.
He placed a hand on Margaret’s shoulder. “I need to find a way to get Jan off that roof in one piece. Can you wait here?”
“Of course, just make sure you come back in one piece, young man. I’ve grown rather fond of you.”
Nick patted her shoulder gently and then headed back through the trees. Once at the treeline, he could see Jan still standing on top of the roof, waving his muscly arms above his head and hollering at the mob of infected below. Jan probably didn’t even know that Nick and Margaret had already got away.
With the alarm still wailing, Nick could think of no subtle way to get Jan’s attention, other than whistling. Luckily, Jan heard it and turned around.
Nick crouched in the bushes and waved a hand. Jan spotted him and gave a thumbs-up. The expression on his face was an obvious, now what? Nick had no clue. Getting Jan off the roof safely was not going to be easy.
He crept out of the bushes and headed for the rear of the building. The only way he could help Jan get down was if he took his turn distracting the mob, so he headed around the side of the building and went back to the open staffroom window. First checking that no infected people had found their way inside the room, he climbed through.
The only weapon he could find was an abandoned umbrella that wasn’t even worth taking. He would have nothing with which to defend himself.
The alarm was muffled from inside the staffroom but Nick could make out the shuffling of infected feet in the corridor outside. If he opened the door, Nick would be face-to-face with a murderous horde.
Then, suddenly, Nick had an idea. He hopped up on the sofa and balanced on the backrest. From there he was able to push up against one of the foam ceiling tiles. They wouldn’t be strong enough to hold his weight, but the metal railings fixing them in place might be.
He leapt up and grabbed at one of the rails and held on. It bent beneath his weight but then held firm. Kicking at the wall for leverage, Nick managed to clamber his way up into the ceiling space. It allowed unrestricted access from one end of the building to the other. It was a struggle to move along the railings, and the exertion was quickly exhausting, but Nick kept going. Inch by inch, he shuffled through the crawlspace until he was where he felt he wanted to be.
He pulled aside a tile and peeked through the gap. In the corridor below were half-a-dozen infected people. They mille
d about like hungry birds searching for insects, all twitchy movements and sudden flinches. They barely resembled human beings anymore. Yet they were not dead, only infected.
Nick carefully replaced the ceiling tile and continued along the railings. He had to keep his face down, chin-to-chest, as age-old insulation and dust swirled around him and threatened to make him choke or sneeze.
Eventually he stopped where he imagined the restaurant floor to be and carefully positioned himself astride two parallel rails. They groaned a little. He took a deep breath and prepared himself, then smashed his fist into one of the ceiling tiles and sent it plummeting to the floor. A couple of infected people immediately stared upwards and screeched.
“Hey!” Nick shouted through the gap in the ceiling. “Come and get it, you…you knobheads!”
The screech of the infected in the restaurant brought others near. They funnelled in from the corridors and kitchen areas, and even started pouring in through the windows from outside. It wasn’t long before the Rainforest Café was once again packed with infected people. Eventually Nick was satisfied that he had them all. So many of them were now packed inside that their collective screeching was enough to drown out the alarm.
Nick pulled himself back up into the ceiling and swivelled around on the railings, ready to return to the staffroom.
He fell.
The railings bent beneath Nick bent and then sagged. The screech of the infected below grew more ravenous as he slipped towards them.
Nick grabbed hold of the sagging rails as best he could, wrapping his arms around them as he dangled perilously.
The rails continued to groan, but they ceased to bend any further. Nick started to pull himself back up. The infected directly beneath him leapt upwards, snatching at his ankles and trying to bring him down.
Nick felt his arms tire, his muscles freeze. He groaned as the effort became unbearable; but he did not stop until he had made it back up into the ceiling space. He quickly flattened himself across several rails and was sure that he was once again safe. A delirious giggle escaped his lips.
He quickly headed back to the staffroom, mindful to make as little noise as possible. His intention was for the infected to remain in the restaurant, glaring up at where they’d seen him last.
Nick dropped down into the staffroom and doubled-over with exhaustion, but there was no time to dawdle. He raced towards the open window and threw himself through it. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he let out another quick whistle, hoping to get Jan’s attention.
Jan appeared at the back edge of the roof. “They’ve all gone back inside,” he said.
Nick nodded. “Get down. We need to go.”
Jan hopped down off the roof and the two of them raced into the treeline and headed towards the woods.
“D’you think the others will have waited?” Jan asked him as they cut a path along the base of the steep hill.
“I doubt it,” Nick said. “Dave pretty much said that he wouldn’t hang around. Damn it!”
Nick skidded to a halt.
Jan stopped too and looked worried. “What is it?”
“Margaret. I told her to wait here for me. Where is she?”
“I’m sure she’s here somewhere.”
Nick turned a circle, scanning the trees that surrounded them, but there was no sign of the old lady.
Crack!
“What was that?” Nick said.
Jan crouched down and grabbed a branch. “I don’t know, brother. I think we should keep moving.”
“Nick? Nick, are you okay?”
Nick couldn’t help but grin. “Eve! What are you doing out here on your own?”
“I came to find you. The others are going to move on if you’re not back in ten minutes.”
“You need to stop coming to my rescue,” Nick said, still smiling. “Where’s the group now? Do they have Margaret?”
“Yes, she’s with us.”
“Thank God,” Jan said.
“We should head up the hill,” Nick said. “It might be safe up there.”
“Dave said it would be a waste of energy climbing all the way up the hill. He’s taking everyone back the way we came in.”
Jan shrugged his giant shoulders. “Up, down, left, right, I don’t care. Let’s just catch up to them before they leave us behind.”
They got moving, Eve leading the way. The screeches and wails of the infected stopped as the restaurant’s security alarm finally died out and they eventually realised Nick was no longer there. Now the only sound was the pounding of feet, the panting of breath, and the snapping of twigs.
Eve pointed. “They’re down there.”
At the bottom of the hill, Dave and the others were gathered in a tight bunch. Margaret waved at Nick as they approached. “Thank Heaven’s you’re okay,” she said once they were close enough.
Nick gave Margaret a quick hug.
Dave folded his arms impatiently. “We were just about to give up on you.”
“Thanks for waiting,” Jan said. “What’s the plan?”
“We head back into the woods where we started out. We know it’s clear of infected because it was clear when we came through.”
“So was the car park,” Carl said, “but it’s had a few visitors since.”
Dave glowered. “That was the alarm. It brought them to us overnight.”
“But Dash managed to turn the alarm off after only a couple of minutes,” Eve said. “Was that all it took?”
“They must have just kept heading in the same direction,” Nick said. “Even once the alarm stopped.”
“Damn, those sick fucks are relentless,” Dash said.
“Let’s just get moving,” Jan said. “It’s only a matter of time before one of them buggers stumbles on us. We’re exposed out-”
Carl screamed.
So did everyone else.
“It’s that bitch,” Dave shouted in alarm.
“Oh hells no,” Dash added.
Kathryn had Carl on the ground and was trying to sink her teeth into him. Her face was swollen with the bruises Dave had given her, but her eyes were now bulbous red orbs threatening to pop out of her skull. Blood poured from her mouth, so thickly that it was like her insides were melting.
“Help me!” Carl cried out from the floor. “Somebody get her off m—”
Kathryn’s teeth sunk into Carl’s throat and cut of his voice, ripping away his carotid artery and chewing on it like a length of sausage.
Cassie cried out. “Carl, no!”
She went to run to him, but Eve grabbed her and pulled her back. “He’s already gone.”
“Look out!” Dash shouted.
Several metres away, coming at them like a charging bull, was Jake.
“He must have heard the alarm,” Nick said.
“Everybody run,” Dave bellowed.
No one hesitated. They stampeded back onto the car park, bursting back out of the treeline and spilling onto the cracked concrete; but they skidded immediately to a halt.
Several of the infected had now exited the Rainforest Café and were now back outside. Jake and Kathryn’s screeching had alerted them.
“There’s nowhere to run,” Eve cried. “We’re surrounded.”
Jake and Kathryn were coming up behind them. Dozens of infected people came at them from the front, more piling out of the rainforest café to join them.
Nick looked around desperately for an option. “There!” he pointed. “Head for the cable cars.”
The group sprinted across the car park. The infected clattered across the pavement towards them. Nick didn’t know if they had any chance of making it. They were running for their lives, so fast that he worried his legs might fail at any second. The infected would be on them any second.
“Quickly,” he shouted. “Into the cable cars.”
On the raised cement platform, only two cars were accessible. They were too small to accommodate the entire group, so they were forced to split up. Nick leapt into the near
est car, followed by Cassie and the three prisoners. The rest of the group were lagging further behind and barely managed to make their way inside the remaining car before the infected reached the platform.
Nick yanked the sliding door shut and watched through the plastic windows as Dave did the same in the other car. It was then that he realised something horrible: Margaret wasn’t inside either car. Nick looked out across the car park and spotted the old lady stumbling across the pavement.
“You won’t make it in time, brother,” Jan told him. “Her nine lives are up.”
“We only just saved her.”
But it was definitely too late. The infected engulfed her like a swarm of flesh-eating locusts. They pulled her arms at unnatural angles, snapping her fragile bones and sinking their teeth into her tissue-paper skin. She came apart like freshly baked bread.
Nick closed his eyes.
The infected hit the cable cars like a storm, rocking the vehicles on their hooks and pinballing everyone inside.
“There’s no way these cars are going to hold,” Jan said, climbing up off his knees.
“We be screwed, honkey,” Dash shouted at Nick. “Great plan.”
The infected bashed their fists against the car’s plastic windows, loosening them in their frames. One of the infected – a plump Asian man reminding Nick of his co-worker, Paul – got his fingers inside the sliding door and started to work it back and forth on its hinges.
The occupants of the other car were equally doomed. Eve stared over at Nick with pleading terror in her eyes, but he couldn’t bear to look at her. If only he had left her in that cupboard. He hadn’t rescued her, he’d doomed her.
Eve began to move. Not just Eve, but the entire cable car she was in. Nick stumbled and realised he was moving too. The cars were operational, climbing the cable up the hill.
Tears were streaming down Cassie’s face. “What’s happening? Why are we moving?”
“Someone switched on the cable cars,” Nick could only assume. “They saved us.”
They were climbing out of danger, rising up where the infected could not reach them.
Except for one.
The plump Asian hung from the cable car’s door and had already managed to get one of his arms through the widening gap. He clawed at the passengers inside.
The BIG Horror Pack 2 Page 11