First Interview (Necromorphosis Book 1)

by CT Grey

  *** Jane ***

  Jaq was in love. One could have even claimed she was deeply in love. But even though I could see the questions churning in Jaq’s mind, I sensed she didn’t want to appear desperate. And I don’t think any of the office drones, who’d been curiously hovering near us, were going to complain about that.

  Not because they had their own problems, and even though it was obvious why the ‘punk lady’ had crashed through their window, nobody questioned her motives to take my side, and continue her search.

  The world of yesterday was gone, and human relationships were, after all, the thing that kept people’s hopes up. I even though they admired her determination. It was as if she was a hero in their eyes. None of them said even a word, not even when Jaq joined in the conversation about how far they’d have to go to make sure everyone was safe inside the big office. Jaq wasn’t stupid, far from it.

  “Boss, can you spare me another minute?” she asked.

  “Take your time,” the tall blond woman said, moving to converse with her group at the end of long table. “I’ll be over there if you need me.”

  “Finally.” Jaq rolled her eyes. “I thought she would never leave.”

  “Lower your voice and show them some respect. Thank you very much.”

  “All right.” Jaq shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well.” Jaq glanced at the barrier the intelligence analysts had built against the double doors. “I’m not sure how to say this, so I’ll just say it. I’m not so sure if tearing down that barrier is such a good idea, yeah?”

  I said nothing.

  “The thing is,” Jaq said. “If you open it and start sweeping this floor without proper weapons, you’re going to doom everyone in this room. And who knows, we might need them, as I’m sure they know more about this than they’re telling.”

  “What are you saying?” I glanced at the office people watching us.

  “They have their fingers deeper in this soup than anyone. I saw that in the basement. And let me say—”

  “What basement?” I frowned.

  “The one that I came through to get in here.” Jaq sighed deeply. “Boss, that place is pure hell. Believe it or not, nothing you’ve seen up here can compare to those horrors.”

  “What horrors?”

  “I rather not say,” Jaq answered. “Just trust me. What I saw wasn’t nice.”

  Over the years in her profession as a cleaner, she’d seen a lot. So much so that if she said she didn’t want to talk about it, I figured it was because she wanted to spare the people in the room from the terror that could have driven a man insane.

  “Right,” I sighed deeply. “Then what would you suggest we do?”

  “Well,” Jaq said. She turned her gaze towards the table, where the people had laid their makeshift weapons. “With they’ve got here isn’t going to do it. We need better weapons than those; possibly firearms and lots of ammo, before we can even start contemplating clearing that barricade. Okay?”

  “I see,” I said. “And where do you ‘reckon’ we are going to get these weapons?”

  “Well,” she shrugged. “You got your piece from the dead people, but for that lot … I reckon we need to raid an armoury.”

  “An armoury? What makes you think it hasn’t been cleared out? In fact, do you even believe they would have left anything in there?”

  “Are you serious?” Jaq raised her voice. “In this place?”

  “Excuse me.” Their leader approached us quickly. “Can you guys keep your voices down, please?” As those words died on her lips we heard a heavy slam, followed by scraping and groans coming from other side of the outside the double doors. “They can hear you.”

  “So what?” Jaq snapped. “It’s not like they don’t know we’re here, do they?” As the lady in red was about to speak, Jaq continued, “What I was saying to Jane, and I think she agrees, is that if we are going to clear up this place, we are going to need better weapons than those flimsy, clumsy things you lot have put together.”

  The lady in red chewed her bottom lip for a moment and then said, “I agree. But where we are going to get better weapons?”

  “Armoury,” I said, as if it was my idea. “You’ve got one in this building, haven’t you?”

  She looked startled for a moment, then she turned around and asked: “Anderson, how many armouries have we got?”

  “Where?” Anderson looked up from the end of the long table.

  “Here, in this building. Was it three or four?”

  “A bit more than that,” Anderson answered. “Cos according to the book – if I remember correctly – everyone higher than level five has a locked gun locker in their offices, and then there’s one big one at the basement next to the indoor range, one in the ground floor…”

  “In total, you numb nut,” the lady in red snapped at him furiously.

  “Five,” Anderson said proudly. “If you don’t count the gun lockers.”

  I winked at Jaq and then turned towards Anderson. “Thank you, Anderson. That’s exactly what we needed to know, but let me ask this hypothetical question: if you considered raiding one of them, which one would you go for?”

  Anderson pursed his lips, looked the door and then said, “Taking into account the amount of the weapons and especially the ammunition, I’d say that your best bet would be the one at the top floor, near the glass-houses.”

  I noticed Jaq glancing the ceiling and she shivered. I couldn’t blame her, as it wasn’t going to be any easier to get up there, even if she had me by her side. “What about the other ones?”

  “I wouldn’t go for them,” Anderson said. “They’re closer, but I believe all others were cleared when those screamers appeared from the basement.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Did you just say they came from the basement?”

  “Yeah,” Anderson nodded his head. “This all started when they overran the basement and the first floor. And it didn’t take long before they were in the other floors even though we were putting up a pretty good fight.”

  I glanced at Jaq and saw her acting as if she was hearing this first time before I asked: “How long ago was this?”

  “About ten to fourteen hours ago.”

  I grimaced as I thought his answer did fit perfectly with the timeframe of Alison’s disappearance, but there was also another thing that didn’t make any sense. But before I even managed to voice it, Jaq asked: “And nobody came to help you?”

  “That’s right,” Shelly answered. “We were told to handle this on our own, without exposing what was really going on inside these walls to the public.”

  “By whom?” Jaq asked.

  “Excuse me?” Shelly looked at her as if she was offended.

  “Who gave you the order?”

  Shelly flicked her eyes momentarily towards the window; where most of the power resided inside the burning building. “I can’t tell you that.”

  Jaq stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I know. Trust me. I know.”

  “You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure it out,” I said. “But what I don’t understand is why they believed they could sacrifice you guys so easily?”

  “Because it’s not about the sacrifice,” a new voice answered as short, balding man stepped out from behind the others. “And because it’s virtually impossible to take down the whole intelligence apparatus even if you gave it your best try. And that is because there are certain—”

  “Just leave it there John,” Shelly stepped in. “I think they got it.”

  “Okay,” Jaq said. “Let’s not get into an argument as we don’t have all night, do we, Jane?”

  “That’s right.” I looked outside to determine the deepness of the darkness. “I reckon that we have at least six, maybe seven hours before the sun comes up.”

  “Excuse me,” Anderson said. “But I don’t think that you have to be overly that tactical, do you? You got all the time in the world to do
this job properly.”

  Jaq shook her head surreptitiously. “Man.” She poked her finger at his chest. “I’d not worry about that if I were you. Because if we haven’t done this by seven, then you might as well…” she ended her sentence by forming a pistol at her temple and pulling a trigger.

  “No,” Anderson said. “I don’t think you get it. These creatures…”

  “Zombies,” Jaq helped.

  “These zombies don’t care if it’s day or night. They don’t stop for a sleep.”

  “Yeah,” Jaq nodded. “We know. And I said, don’t worry about it.”

  Without giving Anderson, Shelly or John another chance to open their mouths, we walked over to the window and looked out. In between the screams, gunshots and booms, we heard terrible groaning coming from underneath us. It was almost as if the zombie people had decided to regroup around this place some reason. Or maybe it was our imagination. It not only played havoc with the office workers’ morale, but also Jaq’s morale when she leaned outside the window to check the route to the first ledge. Although it was only five meters, I saw that it was five meters too much, as she drew back in hastily, looking paler than a sheet that had gone through bleach treatment.

  “You all right?”

  “No,” she answered. “I’m definitely not. There are stiffs poking their arms out of windows, while the rest have gathered down there like a punch of scavengers in case we drop.” Jaq took hold of my shoulders and looked desperately into my eyes. “Jane, I think we need to reconsider how we’re going to do this.”

  “Jaq,” I said softly. “There’s nothing to worry about, darling. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. But if you have a better plan my love, I’m all ears.”

  Her grip remained tight as she said, “Well, I think—”

  I placed a finger over her lips and whispered, “No Jacqueline. We are not going up the stairs, as you so well put it, as it would be a suicide not only for us, but for them as well.”

  “But—”

  “Ssh. It’s going to be all right.”

  I moved to the window and poked my head out to confirm that the screamers were still on the floor above us. And maybe it their shrieks that had made a group of walkers gather in the street below us. Even if they were poking out from couple of windows, they weren’t outside crawling on the walls and that decided it for me; the plan was executable.

  “Jaq,” I said and I withdrew from the window. “We can do this.” I wrapped my hand around a curtain and yanked it down. “Trust me.”

  “No, no,” she said. “I’m not going out there on a rope again.”

  “Not on a rope.” I shook my head. “On my back.”

  “Are you serious?” she asked. “What if you slip?”

  “I’m not going to,” I said as I put my legs through the loops and tied a loop around my waist. Then I started forming another set, while she paced at front of the window and a group of workers started to gather around to see if I’d gone crazy. “I’ve done this a couple of times before. So as long as nobody’s shooting at us, we’ll do this in no time. Five meters is nothing. Trust me. That wall is perfect for scaling as long as you don’t start panicking in the middle of the climb.”

  “I agree,” one of the analysts said. “The regiment boys have done that many times, even under fire, but they have never carried anyone on their backs at the same time.”

  “Well,” I said. “They are not me. But you look like the sort of person, who has done climbing before.”

  “Oh yeah,” he nodded. “I’m kind of an expert when it comes to free climbing.”

  “Then would you say this wall is scalable, or not?”

  “It is,” he admitted. “But you are going to carry a load on your back and to be honest, having around sixty, seventy kilos—”

  “—fifty seven.” Jaq corrected him sharply. “I’m not that fat.”

  “Apologies,” he said. “It’s still a lot, but in a theory, it’s doable.”

  “Then, would you be kind and help me to secure this?” I offered him the harness.

  “Of course,” he said and took the material as I turned around to see Jaq still having doubts in her mind. But I didn’t allow her to back out as I jerked my head sharply towards the loops and turned round to face the window.

  It took a few minutes - and a lot of muttering - before she was tightened against my back. With her arms around me, I pulled a chair close and used it as a step as I climbed out from the window and started rapidly scaling the wall as if I was a spider. I didn’t care about the screamers trying to reach us as we went past the windows, but I wished more of them tried to follow us. A few did, but didn’t get far, before they lost their grip and smacked on top of the crowd of their own kind. The rest stayed indoors, or tried to follow us to another floor, but I was faster as I flung us around the uppermost ledge and stopped there to take a breather.

  “Look.” Jaq pointed out. “The city’s burning.”

  I saw an angry red and orange glare coming from somewhere behind St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was a large fire, probably consisting of a number of buildings that the army helicopters, low-flying jets, or other elements had set on fire. One thing became absolutely clear. The world we’d known was changing. It was going through a necromorphosis and there was nothing we could have done about it. Not a damn thing. Not from that window ledge and probably not even if we would have had some sort of backup. What had started a few hours ago was now a complete reality. “It’s almost like it was in the year sixteen sixty six. And I can only assume that it won’t be long before the people are out in the streets and then—”

  “Jane,” Jaq said. “Do you really have to tell me all nasty details?”

  “Of course not Jaq,” I said. “Sorry.”

  “I guess you can’t escape your past, can you?” she said quietly.

  I wanted to say, ‘no you can’t’ but I didn’t. Instead I turned and kicked in a window. Then I stepped through the shattered frames into a lavishly furnished office, which had most probably belonged to someone very high in the hierarchy. Maybe even to someone who had worked very hard to achieve that position and now it was completely abandoned. There was not a soul, no body or even a shambling walker occupying it.

  “Do you mind?” Jaq said. “I’d like to get off.”

  “Oh sorry.” I pulled the knot and let her down. “There you go.”

  She glared at me, grimacing as she started rubbing her thighs. “Thanks a lot.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “’Cos you were so busy doing your thing I didn’t want to disturb you. And what would you have done, if I’d said that when we were outside?”

  I shrugged my shoulders “I could’ve done something.”

  “Forget it, we’re here now.”

  “Sorry,” I said quietly and left her to get feeling back into her legs as I went to explore the office. It had everything. Button sofas, ceiling-high shelves stacked full of old books, old oil paintings, preciously expensive china sitting untouched on the coffee table and of course a side-table full of crystal decanters. And it left no doubt in my mind, whoever had occupied this office had known about what was coming. But then my gaze locked onto a familiar looking painting. One that my …

  “Jane,” Jaq said suddenly. “Could you come give me a hand?”

  I turned around reluctantly and saw her kneeling behind desk. “What did you find? Something good, I hope?”

  “A couple of locked drawers.”

  “That painting. I think it’s a real Monet. And I believe it’s one of his earlier works.”

  “Right,” Jaq said sarcastically. “And how do you know that?”

  “Because I had the privilege of meeting him before he became famous,” I answered as I wrapped my fingers around the small handle and yanked hard. The wood shrieked as the small handle pried off from the drawer. “Can you believe that?”

  “So fucking typical.” Jaq kicked the desk. “Fuck that…”

  “Wher
e are you going?” I asked as Jaq approached a cleverly-hidden door. She didn’t answer. I guessed there wasn’t even a point in trying to get any sense from her, in her current mind-set. But I couldn’t ignore the drawer as I wanted to get hold of some sort of firearm sooner rather than later. I would have assumed that an officer of this calibre would have had at least a cavalry sabre hanging from his walls. But then I noticed Jaq had gone awfully quiet. Too quiet for my liking.

  “Jaq,” I left the table and its contents alone as I approached the hidden door with a machete in my hand. “Jacqueline darling…”

  She was standing still in a room that was no larger than a broom closet and she stared at a door next to a framed and half-burned Union Jack.

  “No way,” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”

  “What’s not possible?”

  She didn’t answer, just stared the door as if a biblical revelation was standing behind it. And that I couldn’t ignore. Not even if wanted to, I had to know. I pressed my ear against its eloquent panelling. But I couldn’t hear anything. No growling, moaning, screaming or even munching. There was no walking, no running, not even shuffling that came from the walkers dragging their mangled feet across the floor. All I could assume was the room was empty or it was something other than the walking dead that Jaq was stunned by.

  I looked at her and said quietly, “I’m going to open this door now.” But she remained unresponsive until I pushed down the handle and pulled open the door fraction, and in that moment she shouted: “NO!”

  I looked through the crack to see a large and mostly dark dining room. And there, in the middle of the floor were a group of people worshipping a female figure, who was bathing in the moonlight that was filtering through massive skylights.

  Jaq slammed the door shut and then quickly turned the key in the lock. “It’s not possible. It can’t be. We have to—”

  Her words were muffled by tormented cries just before something heavy slammed into the door. The flimsy piece of wood bent and cracked, and I knew it wasn’t going to hold for long. Not without us doing something, but by then Jaq had already backed away into the main office. It was almost as if she was in shock. And I couldn’t ignore it. Just turn around and trust that the door was strong enough to hold the screamer back for as long as I needed to get us out of there.