I know about you and Sheila, and how your life would be better with her and Wendy sucking on your dick, you can have that now, so enjoy it. I won’t leave this letter bitter because I have too much self-respect. I’ll have to go to a solicitor about the custody of James so make the most now while you still have access.
I was always faithful, loyal and caring and loving and you threw it back at me and I’ve had enough.
Molly x
The letter ended with a dark kiss, the real heartbreaker of it all. Perhaps being eaten was the only redemption left in this sin ridden world.
Her mother lives near the docks on the North West part of the island. Like her father, it was at least ten miles out. There is a road that leads off from the beachfront to the Northern part of the island. It is rarely used as the dock’s community is self-sufficient and receive goods from freight ships. The entirety of the Northern community could be safe.
James and the shy kid were playing with the kitten on the bed. Harry was zoned out. The dead on the landing had quietened, they didn’t scratch at the door.
What he couldn’t understand was why she would lie about James. That grinded him. He massaged his cheeks. If she had told him it was easily remedied, he could have avoided the hospital and avoided having his back impaled and bruised by Charlie. He could have avoided the dreary hours in that doctor’s office saving lives. Oh boy, she better have a good solicitor, because there was only one way this could go, his way.
Harry walked to the bed. ‘Kid, what’s your name?’ Moonlight shone onto Harry’s face; tears streaked his cheeks. The corners of his mouth were dry. The boy looked in awe. He smelt of urine and needed some new clothes, but Harry didn’t know where the clothes were. He didn’t know if this was Miss Penny’s son or someone else she looked after.
‘Sam,’ he said. Sam cried the mucous in his eyes dry. That was something they all needed, water. Harry reached for James, lifted his shirt and examined the bandage on his shoulder. The bandage was well covered, it shouldn’t be a problem. The pyjamas could be a problem if the rain didn’t let up. They were silk black long sleeves, a size too big. The neighbours must have given him them. Another point for the lawyers, Molly couldn’t be bothered to bring fresh clothes before leaving.
‘Nice to meet you Sam,’ Harry smiled reluctantly. He was drained. He used tampons left on the table to wrap around his hand.
They had to evacuate off the island. There had been no news of any government safe zones or quarantine zones on the radio.
The church was the safer option with its big doors and high windows. It was a haven during earthquakes. An earthquake had struck a few months ago, it was big enough to destroy the church gates and dislodge the bricks around the bell tower. If one happened now it would be a blessing. The earthquake would knock the dead over and give them a chance to escape. God, if you are listening, send me, James and Sam an earthquake. Harry felt selfish for meddling with such thoughts. Wait no, don’t do that, just help us.
His thoughts were out of focus, he was dumbfounded, why say a prayer to god? Harry didn’t believe in him. Only when his family were gone did he truly want to believe. It was faith or adrenaline or a primal thing. Yes, a primal urge for survival integrated in his DNA.
Deciding where to escape to weighed on Harry’s mind. It was more difficult than deciding whether to buy Coke or Diet Coke. It was more difficult than deciding whether he should watch another episode of a tv program, than tea or coffee, than bare or bareback.
He had to let the children of tomorrow, future leaders, start to choose. Because eventually they’ll have to decide the fate of their own family’s lives.
‘Kids let’s play a game. James, let the kitten go,’ Harry said. James released the kitten and it skirted under the bed and peeked out. Harry knelt on the floor beside the bed. The dead in the house had returned to the bedroom door. Time was short. Both kids sat on the edge of the bed in awe. Sam urgently needed clean trousers, otherwise he’d end up with a rash from the urine.
‘Church or fire station?’ Harry asked. They looked at each other and giggled. Sam was becoming more open with Harry and was acting normally. Harry was unsure how to deal with a kid with learning disabilities. He had nothing against them, but he knew they could be difficult to manage. James held his hand up to Harry. Harry jumped.
One of the dead had fallen down the staircase. Waves of groans carried through the street. It was unnerving.
‘James, go ahead.’
‘Fire, fire struck,’ James said, bearing a wide grin. One of his teeth was stained. Sam please concur.
‘Sam.’ Sam shuffled closer to James. The kitten happily bounced around Harry’s legs and then pounced to the bed and clawed at the string on their pyjama bottoms. ‘Your turn.’ Sam shook his head. Please answer kid your life may depend on it.
He felt sorry for Sam. Why was he so shy? Were his parents abusive? Who the heck were his parents?
Harry was thinking when a stone hit the window. He quickly walked to the window and a face popped up and startled him. The kids jumped back. Little James slid onto the floor and under the bed with the kitten meowing as he followed. Sam did the same.
The lady was pale and young. She must have climbed the gutter to the window frame. Harry pushed the window open, after assessing her on his life scale, she was alive.
The young girl rolled through the window. Her clothes and backpack wet as she rustled onto the floor. Harry looked outside, a group of undead eyes gazed back, they had gathered around the front garden. He shut the window.
The weather had deteriorated to post thunderstorm rain. It wasn’t unusual for the island.
The girl panted and lay on the carpet. Harry knelt next to her patted her shoulder. She didn’t mind. She rubbed her ribs; it was probably bruising from the window frame because Harry couldn’t see blood.
‘Fire station,’ Sam shouted peering from under the bed. James and the kitten shuffled out from under the bed frame, the quilt hung over them. Harry heard and nodded to Sam with a relief grin. That was a load off. No more decisions until rescue arrived.
The lady was dressed in cross country hiking gear with a small backpack. Her boots looked new. She had her eyes shut and took slow breaths.
‘Where did you come from?’ Harry asked. He looked into her thick hazel eyes, her skin was velvet, youthful. It was a vulnerable time for Harry. He wondered if it was safe to be around a female. Even with the dead roaming the streets, Harry wanted to lock the kids in the closet and fuck the lasses brains out. Maybe even use Molly’s sex toy on her for revenge. The fantasy was becoming too real and Harry refocused.
‘I live next door and I heard a kid screaming. I had to help. Have you seen what’s going on outside?’ she said smiling. Harry returned the smile. He had seen this from the start, the motorway and the hospital. He admired her courage and patted her again in appreciation.
She shot him down with a stern look that said don’t look at me like that. He stepped back to the bed, mindful not to stand on the kids or kitten. She stood up unsteadily. She was fit and his height. Her breasts were plump and…Harry refocused.
‘We’re heading to the fire station,’ Harry said. ‘We’ve voted and it’s the safest place for us. I saw this days ago at the hospital before the police and the town hall covered it up. They can’t control this it’s everywhere. Not just in Beach Town. It’s London and Europe, they’re falling to the undead.’
She sat on the side of the bed and unclipped the backpack and placed it down. Sam had crawled out from under the bed and retreated to the closet.
The dead weren’t banging on the bedroom door anymore.
‘You voted with children? The fire station isn’t safe,’ she said. ‘The church or the police station will be. If this is an international crisis what can we do? she said. Harry didn’t have a response formulated. She crossed her arms. Twenties, no wrinkles or decayed teeth yet.
‘It’s the plan and it’s final, you can join us or stay here
and wait for rescue,’ Harry said, she blushed. ‘How come I’ve never seen you if you live on this street?’
The kitten bounced around her feet, playing with strands of cotton from the bed sheet. She looked down at it pitifully. He could see her holding onto an invisible coil of sanity.
‘If you think so, I’m with you.’ Harry was surprised. Two was company and three a crowd. A crowd that he felt obligated to protect, a group he didn’t want to get killed.
‘Good, how can we get to the fire station? he asked. He hadn’t a clue how they were all going to sneak through back gardens.
She slipped off the bed and walked over to the window. She pointed and Harry walked over to look. She pointed towards the silver Toyota Yaris outside.
‘That’s mine,’ she said. ‘I have the keys. We can use it.’
‘We can’t drive through them,’ Harry said. His hand stung and he clenched the wound.
‘I’ve got a windup car that makes noise, when I wind it up and throw it they follow it. That was at home. If I throw it away from the house, we can get to the car and escape.’
‘Fool proof,’ Harry said. It was ridiculously simple, Harry hoped it worked.
‘You want my help? I can’t sleep here with them things trying to get in and you and two kids I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We do it and we have a chance to survive till the sun rises.’ She was firm, the children watched in amazement. James probably wondered why a strange lady was telling his daddy what to do. Molly never did. Maybe that was one of the problem with the marriage, Harry had been too hard on her.
‘Let’s get ready,’ Harry told her and returned to the bed. First things first, change Sam’s clothes, there had to be something they could wear lying about.
Fear might stop Harry on his journey, ‘kids, get ready for a game.’
That’s what it was for them now, a game of hide and seek, of run or die For Harry, a horror game.
CHAPTER 19
The Plan
The strange woman who struggled in the window hadn’t introduced herself yet. She hadn’t shown caring love to the children either or taken a liking to the kitten. Every time the kitten meowed she shoved it away with her foot and it would be jumping and scratching at loose fabric or anything it could get its paws on.
Poor James looked depressed. Sam, whoever’s kid he was, he didn’t look like miss Penny, but he did have the crooked nose of Henry, looked down in the dumps.
Harry had no idea if taking the kitten would get them all killed. To break the news to James that he couldn’t take it would break his heart. Harry hadn’t seen him bond with an animal before. He should have bought a kitten for James to grow up with. Kids with pets appeared robust and mind strong, leaders by the age of ten and in government by twenty, according to the ‘benefits of animals on humans’, a study he read a while back. The kitten could stay if James held him close. Harry would have to find a bag to put the cat in. He was carrying James out of there himself. Sam too.
Harry had managed to find some spare clothes for the kids, and he let the girl change Sam whilst he changed James. He found them in the corner in a bag. Molly had brought spare clothes and shoes, but it didn’t get her off easily.
The woman rooted through her bag and pulled out the wind-up car she mentioned. The kids waited to be picked up. Harry was ready. He had put the kitten in the bag the clothes were in. He secretly named the kitten cinnamon, after his favourite cake topping. What he wouldn’t give for a few cinnamon biscuits dipped in hot cacao and steaming with whipped cream. Perfect weather for it too. Wrap up warm with James and Molly on the sofa and watch a movie. Complain ab…. his thought was interrupted.
‘Ready, let’s go,’ she said standing at the bedroom door. She had her backpack on, the toy in one hand and the door handle in the other. Harry looked around the bedroom. Nothing important left. He picked James up who held the bag tight and then Sam who was a little heavier, his shoulders tensed under them. His hand wound stung.
It sounded like a lone zombie roamed the landing. He had left the note from Molly. He dumped the note into the trash after reading it. He was glad to see the crumpled words go where they belonged.
‘Shut your eyes kids,’ Harry said. ‘James keep hold of that cat and don’t let go. If you let go we can’t go back for him.’ James sighed in agreement and they closed their eyes. The adrenaline coursed through his body. He was a warrior, there was no danger.
‘What’s your name? I don’t want to do this not knowing who helped me save my son,’ he asked. She looked into his eyes but remained silent. She turned the door handle and opened the door. The zombie dived in for her and she booted it back. The beast stumbled backwards through the banister before crashing down the staircase. It was dark and the house eerie.
The kids cried. The kitten meowed. The danger was real.
‘Keep your eyes closed,’ James told the kitten. Harry waited for the girl to lead the way.
She took the lead down the landing and the staircase. There was no light and it sounded clear. Harry was close behind. If she turned around he’d be hit accidentally. She wound up the toy car and approached the front door. She looked back to Harry and nodded before opening the front door. Two large zombies waited at the porch; she tossed the toy far into the darkness. Moments passed before it rang out.
Sam cried. Harry couldn’t help, his hands were tied.
She shunted the dead back and they turned and headed for the ringing toy. Harry saw the street of the undead surrounding the toy car. She led them into the night and down the garden to the pavement.
An explosion rippled through the street; flames erupted from Harry’s next-door neighbour. Flames extended to the electric lines and the streetlamps went out. The house began to crumble, the roof caved in and the zombies nearest set alight.
Shambling corpses vanished into the dark. The moon was obscured by clouds.
Harry looked to the car; she was already opening the doors, but more dead wandered their way.
A man ran out from the burning building, he was on fire and screamed before running into the dead and disappearing into the black road. Harry didn’t see them eat him and he didn’t want to.
She kicked a zombie back and shoved her backpack in the car.
Harry walked to the car. He was grabbed from behind and he dropped the kids. James dropped the kitten.
If Harry was to die like this he had to give the kid something to love after he’s gone. Harry tossed the terrorised kitten to his son. The woman ran to the kids as Harry fought off the beast. She took them to the car and locked them inside.
The dead swarmed Harry and encircled him. He couldn’t fight them all off bare handed. One scratched his thigh, Harry heard a chattering mouth and watched as a crawling zombie bit into his calf. The girl appeared like superwoman and booted the zombies back.
Harry could feel the heat from the house fire. He fell to the floor.
Harry came to, his mind whirly and disorientated.
She shoved the zombies back. The toy was no longer ringing, and Harry saw shadows approaching from all directions. It was like a nightmare, she was the saviour, an angel.
The world was sharp contrast and time froze. Harry looked to James who watched from the car window. James was safe, Harry could die now.
Harry felt the wound bleeding. Inner flesh was exposed. The zombies ignored him and tried to claw at the girl. He crawled along the wet pavement towards the car. The gravel stung his hand wound.
Harry opened the car door and pulled himself into the driver’s seat. The kids were distraught. He closed the door; the keys were on the passenger seat. In the side mirror Harry saw smouldering corpses falling from the windows of the burning house.
The dead hadn’t followed him. They hadn’t attempted to enter the car. It was harsh but the children were more important. Not a nameless woman. Harry grabbed the keys and start the car. Blood pooled around the pedals. Harry’s head was fuzzy.
Harry regained consciousness again. The g
irl jumped in the passenger seat; blood splattered over her dark green waterproof coat.
He was losing blood too fast. Something dark and inhuman was happening in the world. Harry didn’t know why he wanted to leave her; he just did.
Harry hit the accelerator and the car moved slowly down the road. The closer to the junction they got the less zombies there were. Harry turned left, the pavements crawling with the undead. They passed the first street on the left; they passed the church and zombies were attempting to get in the doors. Harry clicked the fog lights on. The fire station was in the distance on the right surrounded by fields. Lights were on inside. Harry increased speed and drove around two zombies in the road.
The mysterious young woman wasn’t talkative. The kids checked on the kitten.
Harry saw the fire station on the right and pulled the car into the car park, there was one car parked up. The station entrance was clear. In the rear-view Harry watched the night carnage. Zombies were unaware of them.
He panicked; the disease could take him any minute. It wasn’t safe to be around the kids.
‘Let’s get inside quickly,’ she said. She got out and got the kids out. Harry turned the car off and pocketed the keys before limping from the driver’s seat to the concrete.
They had little time to discuss anything. The pain was like bee stings. He limped to the station entrance, a big sign above the door read: Beach Town Fire Department. They were waiting in the entrance. An empty receptionist desk, waiting seats and an empty water fountain were the only things there. There were two doors, one behind the desk and one to the right. The floor was shining, the janitor must have been here as recently as last night. The stone walls were decorated with health and safety signs and pictures of Beach Town and fire chiefs. A gold-plated plaque was placed above the doorway behind the desk. It read: changing room.
Beach Town: Apocalypse Page 14