Escape Artist (End of the World Book 3)

by Thomas Hall

She glances at Harriet.

  “What don’t I understand?” I say.

  She sighs. “They’re evacuating the military personnel.”

  I wait for her to finish. At this point I would even take a ‘first’ to ammend the statement, but after a moment I realise that it’s not coming. “What about everyone else?”

  “There’s not enough space to move everyone. We don’t have the resources.” I can tell that she’s parroting the line of reasoning that doesn’t believe in.

  “They’ll be killed,” I say.

  “I know.”

  “I...” But what can I say? It’s not her decision and she doesn’t seem any happier about it than I am. But understanding that doesn’t mean I don’t want someone to take my anger out on. Michelle is unlucky enough to be the one delivering the news. “So what, you’re going to abandon us?”

  She shakes her head.

  “You’re going to stay behind?”

  She shakes her head again. I don’t know what she is trying to say and, I suspect, she doesn’t either.

  “So what then Michelle? You’ve got to do something?”

  “I know,” she says.

  “What do you know?” I say. I want to chew her out for this. “How long have you known?”

  She shakes her head. She’s ashamed and I’m making it worse.

  “Tell me,” I say. I can’t help myself. I am angry and there is nowhere else to direct it.

  “Evan you have to understand...” she says, cutting herself off with a sob that is at odds with her hardened demeanour.

  “Understand what?” I demand.

  “This isn’t a fight we can win. If we stay then we’ll all die.”

  “So it’s better to abandon everyone? There’s children in the camp Michelle. Do you want them to die?”

  “Of course I don’t.”

  Of course she doesn’t. She’s in a difficult situation and she shouldn’t be telling me any of this. What if I go back and tell everyone that the people who they thought were defending them were planning to run away? I could start a revolution.

  Michelle looks at me from across the table and I soften towards her. She doesn’t want this any more than I do. The only difference between us is the side of the fence that we sit on and right now, I’m actually on the same side as her.

  “Where’s Cassie?” she says.

  I turn to Harriet and feel guilty for having kept it from her for this long. But I also recognise Michelle’s attempt to change the subject.

  “That doesn’t matter,” I say. “It’s not about us.” I am surprised to realise that this is the truth and I’m not sure when my feelings on the matter changed. “What about all the people out there who are going to die?”

  She doesn’t answer me.

  “Well?” I say.

  “There’s some people staying behind,” she says. Her voice is so quiet that I don’t quite hear her at first.

  “Staying behind?” I say.

  She nods. This could take all night.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The order is to evactuate,” she says, sounding a little more confident. “But not everyone agrees with it. There’s some people who are planning to stay behind to fight.”

  I nod.

  “They’re disobeying a direct order,” she says.

  I know that she has considered joining them. I know that the reason that she hasn’t done so already is me and Harriet.

  “How many?” I say.

  She moves her mouth, but I don’t hear what comes out.

  “How many?” I repeat.

  “Fifty-three,” she says. “They’re hiding weapons and waiting.”

  I look at Harriet. It would be better to take her away from this. If there is a chance that Michelle can get us away then I owe it to my daughter to try. But how long can we keep running? Sooner or later we have to be able to stand and fight, and there might never be a better opportunity than now. We have trained soldiers and weapons. This could be the time.

  “I’d like to help,” Harriet says.

  We both look at her. Michelle turns away to look at me and now it’s my decision alone. I am the adult, I can tell Harriet that we are leaving and after a serious amount of pouting, I know that she’ll agree. But she’s right.

  I turn back to Michelle and nod. “Me too.”

  She doesn’t look as pleased as I would have hoped and I realise that’s because we are now making the decision for her. She would be safer if she left with the rest of the army, but she wouldn’t be able to do as much good.

  “Are you sure,” she says. “You don’t know the full story.”

  “Which is?”

  “There’s more of them coming. I don’t know why, but they seem to be massing on the camp. It’s like something’s drawing them here.”

  I nod. It is a lot to take in, so I don’t answer straight away. “How many?”

  “Hundreds. Maybe thousands.”

  It’s too many. “How long do we have?”

  “The first are already here. They’ll keep coming.”

  It’s as good of an answer as she’s able to give me and I suppose I have to take it as the final answer. If I am going to change my mind about leaving then I need to do it now.

  Instead I turn to Harriet.

  “Harriet, about your mum--”

  “It’s okay,” she says to me.

  I frown. It isn’t okay. It is very far from okay.

  “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

  I nod. “I’m sorry.”

  She looks down at the table for a moment and sniffs.

  After a moment Michelle stands up and walks around the table to sit next to my daughter. She puts a hand on her shoulder and then Harriet leans into her. They embrace as friends and I am excluded, but very grateful to have Michelle.

  We sit there for some time without speaking. This might be the last time that we are all together. Or this is a new beginning. I can’t know. But sooner than I like I will find out.

  CHAPTER 25

  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MISTAKE WHEN THE EVACUATION begins. The Klaxons whale is loud enough to deafen us. We shout at one another at the tops of our voices but can’t even hear ourselves.

  The soldiers at the other tables stand. Michelle stands and takes Harriet’s hand, then mine. While the whole area resounds with the confusion of an evacuation, we slip away unseen.

  She leads us into a corridor. Men and women, soldiers, are streaming along it in both directions. I am wearing civilian clothing and Harriet is too young to be here but nobody pays us any attention. They are running for their lives, I realise, and we are neither a help nor a hindrance, so, for the moment, we don’t exist.

  We are only in the corridor for a few minutes before we reach a door. There are no markings on it to show where it leads. Michelle pushes it open and we follow her through.

  Although I can still hear the klaxon, it is not as loud. Michelle doesn’t slow down.

  There are stairs ahead of us. We go up and onto another corridor. We do not see any soldiers. I am out of breath from, but there is no possibility of stopping yet. We can’t risk them finding us here. I can’t lose Michelle as well.

  The shock of Cassie’s death has taken several hours to hit me. Now that it has, I find myself choking up. I glance at Harriet and see the strength in her determined expression. I have lost a friend my daughter has lost a mother. I can’t be the weak one. I have to be strong.

  Strength, right now, means continuing to follow Michelle. It is dangerous, but better than the alternative. If things go the way I am expecting them to, I won’t have long to grieve. Soon we will all be dead, but at least we will die having done the right thing.

  We reach another set of stairs and this time go down. At the bottom there is another door and through it more stairs. Michelle reaches for the light switch but it doesn’t come on. Instead she takes a torch out of her pocket and we follow her, guided by a weak yellow light.

  Our journey comes to
an end at another door.

  We stop behind Michelle and I let go of her hand. Michelle knocks on the door and we wait.

  I don’t know how long we stand there, but it seems to be a long time. The klaxon is still audible, although distant. I listen for footsteps but hear nothing.

  A slider opens in the middle of the door. Sexless eyes look out at us.

  “Turn off the light!” a man’s voice hisses.

  Michelle switches off her torch as instructed.

  “Who are you?” the man says.

  Michelle identifies herself.

  “And these two? You’re supposed to come alone.”

  “I told you about them,” she says. “This is Evan and his daughter Harriet.”

  The man doesn’t respond. After a moment the slider closes and we are standing alone in the darkness. There is a heavy clang and the door opens. A weak, watery light gives me my first full view of the man. He is small, rotund. He doesn’t look like a soldier.

  “This way then,” the man says. He no longer sounds angry, only exhausted.

  I keep hold of Harriet’s hand and follow Michelle inside.

  We are not walking for long before we reach a small room. There are exposed pipes and electrical wire pinned to the walls. There is no furniture, but a dozen men and women are standing there.

  “Evan!” says Suzy Kim. “What are you doing here?”

  I turn and see her across the room. She, along with myself and Harriet, are the only people not wearing military fatigues. I should have spotted her the moment I came in. She walks towards us.

  “You aren’t supposed to be here,” she says. “You aren’t a soldier.”

  “Neither are you,” I remind her.

  “That’s different,” she says. “I’m here to help.”

  “Likewise,” I say. Then I nod in Michelle’s direction. “You remember Michelle?”

  Suzy Kim looks at her. Michelle has almost a foot on the young woman. “Yes of course,” Suzy Kim says. Then she turns back to me. “So you understand what’s happening here?”

  I have not completely ruled out the possibility that this is a trap. Suzy Kim might have started the defection to lure these people here, but she won’t be willing to admit it yet. I nod in answer to her question.

  “You understand that this is dangerous?” she says. “We don’t stand much chance against the Infected.”

  “We would stand more chance if the rest of the army wasn’t running away,” I remind her.

  “Yes, of course,” she says. Her forehead wrinkles in what appears to be anger. “But there’s nothing I can do about that. Not my jurisdiction.”

  “What exactly is your jurisdiction Suzy Kim?” I say.

  “Right now?” she says. Then before I can answer otherwise, she continues. “I’m the one who brought these people together and I’m the one who is going to fight to save the people up there.”

  “If there are any left,” I say.

  She winces at my words, I have struck a nerve. I am not trying to hurt her, but I can’t seen to stop myself. “We’re doing what we can,” she says. “There will be people hiding in the new blocks, we can get them out.”

  “After we fight our way through a thousand Infected?”

  “If you have a better idea Evan, I assure you I will consider it.”

  I don’t, so I stay silent. Behind me the door opens again and Suzy makes it clear that our conversation is over. She walks away to greet the new arrivals.

  “You shouldn’t antagonise her,” Michelle whispers.

  “What? Why not?”

  “She’s doing her best to help. We all are. This can’t be easy for her.”

  “What do you mean?” I say.

  Michelle looks around as if she’s afraid of being overheard. Then she steps closer to me. “She’s the daughter of the founder.”

  “The what?” I say.

  “Suzy Kim’s father founded the camp. She works for him. Did work, I mean. I’m not sure. He ordered her to leave but she refused. So she ran away.”

  “And came here?” I shake my head. Something about this doesn’t make sense. “How long have they known the Infected are coming this way?”

  She looks away from me for a split second.

  “Michelle?” I say.

  “A week,” she says.

  “A week!”

  She nods.

  I don’t know what to say. A week would have been more than long enough to evacuate everyone.

  “That’s what the farm was for,” she says. “They weren’t expecting them to arrive so soon. There should have been time.”

  “To move everyone there?” I say.

  She shakes her head. Surprising me. “There was never going to be room for that.”

  “Who then?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The ground begins to shake as helicopters take off. This is it then, once the sound of the motors dies away, we will be on our own.

  Fingers touch my hand. I don’t know whether it is Harriet or Michelle, but it doesn’t matter. We are the one’s left and we are here together. Whatever might happen.

  CHAPTER 26

  I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR the rumbling engines to disappear. It is difficult to tell how much time passes in the dark beneath the ground. I guess somewhere in the region of thirty-minutes, then there is silence.

  Even when the noise stops, we continue to sit in the darkness. No one wants to be the first to suggest we leave. I am not sure that I even want to go, much less take Harriet with me. Anything could be waiting for us. There might be no one left.

  But an idea occurs to me.

  I chew it for a moment, looking for weak spots. It seems too obvious that I don’t know why no one else has suggested it. Finally, after finding no downside, I turn to Michelle.

  “If we going to go to the farm before, why don’t we go there now?”

  She doesn’t say anything.

  “Michelle?” I say.

  “It might work,” she says. “But there’s not enough room for us all.”

  I don’t know what she has seen of the fighting above. I am convinced that we don’t need to worry about there being too many people left alive up there. We will be lucky if we find half a dozen.

  “Unless anyone has a better idea?” I say.

  A minutes passes without anyone speaking.

  I don’t want to be in charge of this expedition, but if no one else is going to, then it seems to fall to me.

  “Let’s go then,” I say.

  I let go of whoever’s hand I was holding and walk back towards the door. I hear footsteps and know that at least some of them are following me.

  I lead on.

  It is several minutes before we reach a point where I am able to see further than the end of my nose.

  “Which way now?” I say to Michelle.

  “Through here,” she says. “Then it’s up the stairs to get out.”

  It takes another five minutes before we reach the ground floor.

  The military zone is quiet. The soldiers have left with such efficiency, that it is difficult to believe they have been there at all.

  “Here, give me a hand to get it open...”

  I turn towards the voices. Three soldiers with their backs to me are bent over a box. They top swings open and then one of them leans in and starts pulling out guns.

  They hold out a gun towards me. I am not trained to use it but it would be foolish to go out there without some way of protecting myself.

  The man holds a gun out to Harriet. She looks at me and I hesitate. I give a small nod and she takes the gun.

  Once we are all armed we congregate by the door. None of us is keen to go out there, but we don’t have another option. I push my way to the front where Michelle is waiting.

  “Ready?” she says.

  I shake my head. I wish there was another way, but if there is then I can’t think of it. “You?”

  She shakes her head as well.

&nb
sp; “Guess we’ll stay here then.”

  I sigh. The fun of it gone. I check my gun and then I reach for the door. It swings open and I hear the unwelcome sound of the Infected. The others come out behind me.

  This is it. Nothing to do now except move forwards. Either we get out of here and find someplace safe to live, or we die trying. It seems as if this was how it was always going to be.

  I look through the distant fence. The buildings that we are heading towards are not quite visible in the dark, but I know they are there. I heft the gun onto my shoulder. I start to walk.

  Harriet is with Michelle and the rest of the soldiers are behind them. I stand alone at the front of the group, marching towards the Infected.

  I try to tell myself that they aren’t people anymore, but that doesn’t ring true. I have seen the spark in their eye and I know that they are still humans. Sick, ill, humans, but I can’t pretend they won’t feel pain when I hurt them.

  We reach the fence and I see thick white cloud drifting across the camp. I smell burning.

  “Cut the fence,” I say.

  Someone comes forwards. His face lost to me in the darkness. When he has finished he stands up and nods.

  I could send any of them through and they would go without question. But I am not a soldier. I bend down and climb through the gap that he has created.

  A sudden terror seizes me as I stand up on the other side of the fence. It seems as if they must be able to see me, that they must be aware of my presence.

  Michelle stands close to me so I know that she feels it as well.

  “Are we mad?” I say to her.

  “What else can we do?” she says. “They’re here. If we don’t want to starve to death, we need to be somewhere else.”

  We help Harriet to stand up between us and then the soldiers climb through. They don’t look as worried about what lays ahead as I am, but they trained for this.

  “We’re heading for the processing building,” I tell them. “If there are people hiding, then that’s where they’ll be.”

  Someone translates into French, another into German.

  No one raises any objection, so we start walking.

  Almost at once, I find that the recent rain and many trampling feet, have left the ground a sticky marsh. This will double the time it takes to reach the processing building, but it doesn’t put me off.