by Ryan Casey
Chloë squeezed back on her mum’s hand. “Okay.”
Claudia sat back in her chair. She looked around at the door to the canteen area. Mike was standing there. He had a distant smile, like he was asking with his expressions whether it was okay to join them.
“You finish your soup,” Claudia said. “I’m gonna go have a little word with Mike.”
Chloë nodded and slurped up another spoonful of her soup.
Mike smiled wider as Claudia approached him.
“All sorted?” he asked.
“I think so,” Claudia said. “She…she was just trying to make me happy.”
“Kids and their intentions, eh?”
“It’s not her fault. She…Her sister. We lost her.”
Mike’s face dropped. “I’m so sorry, Claudia.”
“It’s okay,” she said, shaking her head. “We’re tough. Tough together. But sometimes with…with some of the things Chloë’s not only seen but had to do, well…I just worry about her.”
“She seems tough. That’s a good trait for a girl her age to have in this world.”
“That’s what worries me. I worry she’s a bit too tough for her own good.”
Mike and Claudia walked around the canteen area. It was dim in there as it too was boarded up at the windows, just like the rest of the first few floors. Anything to keep the creatures out. Anything to stop them from noticing.
“I…I can’t help but ask about the other group. At the caravan site.”
Saying those words was like releasing a ginormous elephant into the wild. It’d been on Claudia’s mind ever since they’d got back safely to Draca Hotel earlier.
Mike let out a breath that suggested he’d been waiting for that bubble to burst too. “I’m glad that lot didn’t have your daughter. They’re a dangerous bunch.”
“Should we be worried? I mean, if they can get so close and do…well, whatever they did to that man out on the roundabout. Shouldn’t we be worried?”
“We are worried,” Mike said. “But…but only as much as ever. Nowhere’s safe. That’s just the way it is now. And as long as we stay outta their way, I guess we’ll be alright.”
“It’s just not right,” Claudia said. “That caravan site. It could be made into something good. And if there’s generators and stuff, then maybe the place could be fuelled—”
“It is,” Mike said. The corners of his mouth twitched. He stopped, looked right at Claudia with his weathered, stubbly face.
“You say that like you know.”
A slight pause. Then a burst of words.
“We didn’t want to say anything. No reason to. But…but before we were here, some of us were over there. Heathwaite’s Caravan Park, the place is called. Set up all good. Massive fences, generators, even a place to ditch the zombies in. Perfect place you want to be over winter. Or any time of year.”
“What happened?”
Another slight pause from Mike. He scratched his greying hair on the back of his head. “We…I had a disagreement. With the leader, I guess. Rodrigo, he’s called. I was getting a bit worried about the sort of people we were letting in. And the amount of zombies building up outside. Wanted to stamp my foot down a bit. And I did. I did some bad things. But we’ve all done bad things, haven’t we?”
Claudia thought back to the Chinese Restaurant. To the barracks. To the way they left Ivan in that freezer room to die in an ice cube. She nodded. Just once, but once was enough.
“Anyway, this Rodrigo and a few of his men, they decided to cut me loose while they could. So they did, to cut a long story short. But they kept something of mine.”
“What?”
“My son,” Mike said.
Claudia’s mouth dropped. “Your…your son. Then why aren’t you out there? Why aren’t you—”
“Because I know how dangerous these people are,” Mike said, his voice wobbling. “I—I know what they can do. What they’re capable of. And I know what they’d do to my son if I went back there. That’s why I…when your daughter went missing, I dunno. I panicked. Worried the same thing was going to happen to you. Part of me wanted…wanted you to go over to that site. Pretend you were on your own to fool them. Something like that. But it wouldn’t work. I know that now. And Chloë’s here. She’s safe. Which is good.”
Claudia couldn’t actually believe what Mike was telling her. Mike, who looked like all his defences had been torn away from him as he told her about his lost son. Stevie, he was called. In his twenties. A good lad, and a good fighter, but no good if he was tied up. So all Mike could do was wait. Wait until he had a proper plan. Wait until he had enough people to go on over to Heathwaite’s—or enter stealthily—and get his son back.
“Maybe…maybe I can still go and find your son. See if he’s—if he’s safe.”
Mike shook his head. “No. Not now. It’d look suspicious, come to think about it. No. We stay put. Bide our time. Something will drive them out eventually. Something will send them begging to our doorstep. Til then, we wait. They won’t hurt my son as long as I don’t hurt them.”
Remarkably calm for a man whose son had been kidnapped by this rival group. But maybe that was just Mike. Calm. Thought ahead.
“You should go spend a bit of time with your girl,” Mike said, waving at Chloë, who sat alone on the canteen table. “She’s a good kid.”
“She is,” Claudia said. Her throat welled up with pride and happiness and guilt just looking at Chloë. But at least she was here. At least they were both here, together. They hadn’t got her. Nobody was getting her, not any time soon.
“Don’t worry too much about the other group,” Mike said. “Let us worry about that.”
Claudia smiled at Mike. “Mike, I’m a single mother living in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Worrying is what I do.”
For Mike, today was becoming a very tough day to make decisions.
First, he’d let Seth sneak out and put the body of the captured, castrated fuck of a Heathwaite’s resident on that roundabout. It was Matt’s idea. Of course it was Matt’s idea. Matt was the ideas man when it came to brutality and sneakery. Let Claudia and her kid go with us and bump into the man wrapped to the roundabout. Then we can blame the caravan people. Might even work in our favour in future.
So he had. And that had gone okay. Except Chloë had gone missing. That hadn’t been planned. That had been out of the blue. But in that moment, where Claudia was filled with grief and impending loss, he sniffed out an opportunity. A chance to really plant the idea that Rodrigo was messed up and twisted. Which he was, but sometimes showing is better than telling.
He figured it would be good to send Claudia in there, just for a split second. Another person to send in, let Rodrigo welcome in with open arms, bond with, then destroy everything he had. That’s what Mike wanted, really. To see Rodrigo have all tugged away from him before he killed him.
Because it would be Mike who killed him. It had to be Mike.
But his son. He couldn’t do something that could threaten his idiot of a son. Stevie had sided with the wrong group. But he’d see sense. Eventually, he’d see sense.
He’d have no choice but to when the rest of the Heathwaite group fell.
Mike stared out of the window of his hotel room. The sun was setting in the horizon, casting a pink hue over the sea. At least Chloë had come back. For Claudia’s sake, anyway. Because he didn’t mind Claudia or Chloë. They seemed like decent people. And they were much more useful to him alive than dead. The incident with the thieving boy at Heathwaite’s, that had taught Mike something. Trust someone, and they’ll trust you.
If they break that trust, then act. Not before. And not a moment late.
He sipped some stale Budweiser from a warm bottle on his windowsill and stared out, over the sea, towards Heathwaite’s.
He’d figure something out. A way to take Heathwaite’s. A way to get h
is boy back. Something that didn’t involve putting Claudia or Chloë’s or anyone’s lives in jeopardy. Show trust to earn it, that’s how it worked.
Besides, he hadn’t finished having fun with Rodrigo yet. He had a whole lot more planned for him before he snatched it all away, right in time for Christmas.
He took another sip of his Budweiser.
The sun set.
Chapter Five
It was on the tenth morning of Claudia and Chloë’s stay at Draca Hotel that everything started to go wrong.
First, Claudia went down to the lobby to be greeted by morose faces and tears. Shania had died, apparently. Passed away in her sleep. Although Claudia hadn’t spent much time with Shania—the crux of which came down to fears that her illness was contagious—she felt the ripple effect and the strains the news brought on the group. Keith was inconsolable, after growing really close to Shania. Karen and Smith were mortified. Mike huffed and puffed and shook his head.
Matt and Seth were, naturally, rational.
“She was just such a nice woman,” Karen said.
“So full of life,” Smith added. He blushed as soon as he realised the mortal mistake he’d made.
“Me and Chlo are really sorry. We didn’t know her much, but from what we saw and heard of her, she was nice. Just like the rest of you.” Claudia patted Karen’s hand. Karen nodded and let out a sigh.
“I’ll feel a lot better after a cuddle,” Karen said.
Chloë smiled, then wrapped her arms around Karen’s floppy waist. Over the previous nine days, Claudia had almost forgotten she was living in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. It was quiet outside. Apart from the occasional straggling creature, they weren’t bothered by anyone or anything.
And more importantly, Rodrigo’s group was staying quiet. Maybe they’d backed off. Retreated from Heathwaite’s for good.
Which was a shame for Mike, if so. She caught him staring out at that caravan park a few times, wondering about his son, whether he was safe, etcetera. She wasn’t sure how he managed to contain himself. If it was her daughter, Claudia would’ve gone charging in there. Then again, he seemed a much more controlled person than Claudia had ever been.
“We can bury her in the sand,” Smith said. “Give her a nice spot on the beach.”
“She’d like that,” Keith said. “Always said she liked the beach.”
Karen squeezed his hand tightly as tears stained his cheeks.
“I’ll get you something to drink,” Claudia said, patting Keith’s shoulder. “Got to get some fluids down you.”
Keith nodded. Attempted a smile. “Thanks, Claudia. Thanks.”
On her way to the canteen, Claudia was met with a familiar stare from Matt.
“Ello, sexy,” he said. “Gettin’ something for me?”
Claudia ignored him. He’d got even weirder and creepier over the last few days. And even though he was coming out with these weird complimentary remarks, Claudia sensed the sincerity behind them. Didn’t help that whenever he made the remarks in Seth’s presence, Seth usually had a stonking boner. She’d have to watch herself. Watch herself, like she always had.
Claudia grabbed a bottle of cold water from underneath the sink. They hadn’t got a battery for the fridge, but it was cold enough down here anyway. And it was only going to get colder as winter progressed.
Claudia walked back out of the canteen, past Matt. She felt his eyes on her. She felt him looking at her in weird ways. She tried her best to ignore it, but it was difficult. But shit—what did she do? She’d been warned. What could she expect from a slimeball of a man like him?
“Here you go,” Claudia said, handing the water bottle to Keith.
Keith barely acknowledged her. He just nodded his head and smiled, like he was in some sort of distant dreamworld.
“Can probably get you some ice for with that,” Karen said, patting Keith on his arm. “There was a teeny bit of snowfall last night. Want some?”
Keith didn’t respond. His tearful, heavy eyes just drifted around the room.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Karen said. She got up and headed towards the side door.
“Can we see the snow, Mum?” Chloë asked. Her eyes had lit up right as Karen mentioned the snow. “Can we go see it, please?”
Claudia smiled and jabbed her daughter on the shoulder playfully. “Maybe later. Not even had our brekkie yet.”
Chloë rolled her eyes. “I bet I never see the snow again. I bet when it starts snowing you never let me go out and play and make snow angels in it.”
Keith coughed up something that resembled a laugh as he sat in silence with Smith. A good sign. As long as they were there for him—there for each other—they could get through this loss, they really could.
As Karen struggled to open the side door, footsteps echoed down the steps to the left of the lobby.
“Keith.” It was Mike. He had a flat look of regret on his face. “I’m so sorry. Shania was lovely. She was—”
“ARGH!”
The scream cut through Mike’s speech. The entire lobby turned around. It came from the side door.
From Karen.
From…
Fuck.
Karen was on the floor, right in front of the wide-open door, which danced in the breeze.
Blood sprayed out of her arm.
And behind her, storming into the room, the largest group of groaning creatures the group had seen in days.
“Quick!” Mike shouted at everyone. “Get upstairs. Get the fuck—”
“We gotta defend this place,” Matt said. Seth too emerged from the stairs, staring at Karen’s bleeding arm and the crowd of creatures storming into the lobby, so close.
Claudia grabbed Chloë’s hand. “Come on,” she said. “Come on. We need to get upstairs—”
“Get your weapons!” Mike shouted at Matt and Seth. “Get them, and get the fuck back down here as soon as possible—”
“ARGH!”
Another shout. Another scream. Only this time, a man.
Smith had been bitten trying to run to the stairway. The creature on top of him sunk its teeth into his sinewy neck. Blood sprayed out everywhere. He clawed out his withered hand, dug his fingernails into the hard ground, as the creature bit even deeper, draining all colour from his face.
“Got the guns, boss!” Matt tossed a pistol over to Mike and handed Seth another one.
“To everyone,” Mike said. “Keith. Claudia. They can shoot.” He fired his gun at the first of the creatures heading towards him, smacking it straight in the chest.
Matt hesitated as he stared at Claudia. He probably wasn’t staring for long, it just felt like forever it was so intense.
“I can shoot!” Chloë shouted. “Mum, tell them I can shoot—”
Matt grimaced and threw a gun at Claudia. He threw one at Keith too, but this gun simply bounced on the canteen table and fell to the floor, Keith completely ignorant of it as a creature closed in on him.
“Keith!” Claudia shouted. “Pick up the fucking gun!”
But it was too late.
Keith closed his eyes and sat in that chair as a creature pushed him down, biting right down into his neck. He didn’t shout. He didn’t scream. He just let it happen. His time had come.
Claudia looked ahead. There were at least twenty creatures in the lobby. They were surrounded. There was no way they were getting upstairs. Mike shot at some, Matt shot at some, Seth shot at some.
Claudia tried, but the gun was stuck. The trigger was jammed.
Three creatures closed in on her and Chloë. She held the gun up. Kept on trying to fire, but still nothing was happening. Chloë backed into her. Her little warm body pushed right up against her.
“Matt! Mike! Seth! Please!” Claudia shouted.
Mike looked over, but he was too focused on the creatures heading his way.
Matt and Seth pretended to be too focused on the creatures heading their way
.
“I’m sorry, Chlo,” Claudia said. So this was it. This was how it ended for her. Karen had gone to get some ice and now it was going to end. “Just—just hold my hand. Hold my hand.”
But Chloë didn’t hold Claudia’s hand.
She slipped free of her grip and leaped forward towards the canteen table.
“Chloë!” Claudia shouted.
Chloë’s crawl under the table distracted a few of the creatures. Bought her a bit of time. But now her daughter was stuck. She was trapped under a table. She was a goner. She was dead. She was—
Chloë lifted the gun intended for Keith, aimed at the creatures from under the table, and she fired.
The first shot went right through the head of the creature closest to Claudia.
Claudia backed up. It was all she could do. She backed up as her daughter fired, and as creature after creature fell, some of the shots hitting right through the heads, some of them in the legs, sending the creatures tumbling to the floor.
The numbers were dwindling. They were going to survive. Some of them were going to survive, after all.
Chloë emerged from under the table. Claudia didn’t even try to hold her hand as she lifted the gun and fired, again and again and again.
Three creatures left.
Two creatures left.
One creature left.
Then…
Nothing.
The door was empty. Silence dropped down on the lobby. Claudia looked at Mike. Matt looked at Chloë. Chloë looked at Seth. Claudia burned with rage seeing Matt looking so stunned. He’d given her a duff gun. A gun without ammo. She wanted to shoot him, right there and right then. In fact, she probably would’ve, if it wasn’t for Mike falling to the floor, tears rolling down his cheeks, bawling like a baby.
“Mike?” Claudia said. She moved towards him. He was…Wait. He was cradling one of the creatures. A ginger male. In his twenties, by the looks of things. Despite the deaths of Karen and Keith and Smith, it was this creature he was cradling.
Matt covered his face with his hands. Seth just stood there, looking more surprised than Claudia had ever seen him.