The World's Last Breaths: Final Winter, Animal Kingdom, and The Peeling

by Iain Rob Wright

  “I don’t think I can go on,” said Grace, her face pale from blood loss. The wolf bite and many of her other wounds were torn open and bleeding again.

  Joe stroked her sweat-soaked brown hair out of her face, but several strands remained matted to her glistening forehead. “We need to get out of here,” he said. “Before anything else happens. I know that you’re in pain, but I can’t just leave you here to die. Me and Danny need you.”

  She looked into his eyes, but seemed to find it difficult to focus. “You need me?”

  Joe nodded.

  Grace forced a smile. It seemed to hurt her. “I don’t think anyone has ever needed me for anything.”

  “Well, Danny and I do, and right now we need you to keep moving with us. Once we get out of here we can find you a doctor, get you your pills. Please…”

  Grace put an arm around his neck. Joe took it as a signal to lift her up and he did so as carefully as possible. It still caused her a great deal of agony.

  “I…I can’t, Joe.”

  Joe placed his hands on either side of her face and forced her to look at him. “You can! You have to!”

  “I can’t. I’m too weak.”

  “You’re not weak. You’ve held it together better than anyone else since this entire fuckfest began. If I didn’t have you to help me with Danny these last few days, I would have lost it. You’ve had enough strength for the both of us, so don’t tell me you’re too weak.”

  Grace went to answer him, but broke out in sobs. Joe could see how beaten she was. He wasn’t sure if he could help her. But if she was going to give up on him, then there was something he needed to do first.

  He kissed her – the first woman he’d kissed in years. It was long and passionate. Grace pulled away, but not before kissing him back for several long and delightful seconds. She was out of breath when she spoke. “What was that for?”

  “For being the first person I’ve cared about other than Danny in a long long time.”

  Grace’s face scrunched up and Joe thought he had made her feel uncomfortable. Then she spoke: “Do you smell that?”

  Joe shook his head, confused. “Smell what?”

  “Burning?”

  Joe lifted his nose in the air and tugged in a deep breath of air. He smelt it. Something was on fire.

  “You smell it now?”

  Joe nodded. “I think it’s coming from the building.”

  “Maybe Victor dropped one of the firebombs?”

  “Or maybe he started the fire because he knew he was done for.” Joe put an arm on her back and took Danny’s hand. “Let’s go.”

  Together the three of them crept back along the wall of the building. At the end Joe peeked around the edge. Nero, the silverback was standing there, still leading his army, but he seemed calmer, almost relaxed.

  He’s celebrating. The battle is won and he’s celebrating.

  “Look,” said Danny, pointing up at something.

  “Danny! Get the hell back!”

  Danny got back behind the wall. “I was just showing you the fire.”

  Joe looked back around the wall and up at the second floor. Sure enough, there were several probing licks of flame coming from one of the windows. Joe couldn’t be sure but he assumed it was the window of the seminar room. It would not be long before the whole building went up.

  “They’re distracted,” Grace said.

  Joe watched the animals and saw that she was right. “They seem nervous of the fire. Maybe our plan was a good one. Is there any petrol left?”

  Grace nodded. “I left the can back there. It’s still pretty full.”

  “Okay,” said Joe. “Wait here with Danny. If anything comes, call out and I’ll be right back.”

  Joe sped off back towards the loading bay. He quickly found the petrol can and matches besides the smoking remains of the dead wolf. He picked the canister up, pleased to find it was almost full, and then hurried back inside the warehouse. He eventually settled next to a crate of magazines and brochures for the zoo’s souvenir shop.

  A half-minute later, Joe had soaked the magazines with petrol and had spilled a generous amount on the floor in narrow rivulets, hoping to channel any flames towards other areas of the warehouse.

  He lit a match.

  Then he ran.

  The flames shot up behind him, the heat pulsating against his back as he sped out of the warehouse. The popping sounds of burning plastic filled his ears until he finally made it back to the far corner of the wall where Danny and Grace were waiting for him.

  Joe smiled at them both. “I think I just bought us a diversion.”

  37

  The building took no time at all to burn and within ten minutes the whole structure was ablaze. Joe wondered about Shirley and Victor. If either of them were still alive then they would be trapped inside. He hoped they made it to a fire exit, but Joe knew, deep down, that no one was left alive. The battle had been lost well before he’d started the fire in the warehouse. In fact, he had only been helping along the fire that had already ignited on the second floor. Everyone left inside would be dead for sure.

  Except Randall.

  The thought knocked Joe back a step as he realised something that should have been clear to him. Randall had been missing. Despite his broken ankle, the man had escaped.

  Joe’s eyes went wide. “I have to go back inside.”

  Are you crazy?” Grace shook her head. “No way.”

  “But Randall is still inside. I can’t just leave him to burn.”

  “He’d do the same to you in a heartbeat.”

  “Exactly,” said Joe, already turning and leaving. “That’s the reason why I have to go inside. I’d rather risk death than be like him.”

  Joe rushed towards the loading bay. When he reached the entranceway he stopped. The flames were everywhere, fierce and consuming. The smell of combusting chemicals filled the air.

  “There’s no way,” said Grace. “You wouldn’t even get inside.”

  She was right. The steel shutter had dropped halfway down and was twisted and molten amidst the flames that licked at its edges. Joe couldn’t go inside to help Randall even if he wanted to.

  Grace pulled him away. “Come on. He made his own bed, let him burn in it.”

  Joe looked into the fire a moment longer and thought about what it would be like to burn to death. To feel the very skin peel from your bones as the blood in your veins boiled. Randall was human waste, but no man deserved a death like that. Wherever he was, Joe hoped he made it out of the building.

  After that I don’t care what happens to the bastard.

  Joe allowed Grace to pull him away from the flames, and when she did he realised that the delicate skin of his cheeks was throbbing and tender from the heat. “Let’s get away before this building comes down on top of us,” he said.

  At the far end of the wall, Joe once again looked around at the animals. They were disorganised now and anxious. A great white horse began rearing up and kicking out wildly at a grouping of warthogs that blocked its path. Even after several days of this, Joe could still not get used to the sight of so many different animals grouped together. As always, they were accompanied by the silverback gorilla, Nero. The huge human-like beast was furious at the disorganisation and Joe watched with awe as the gorilla swung a huge arm out and struck a male lion in the face. The big cat cowered and backed away fearfully.

  “He’s lost control.”

  “Who has?”

  Joe looked at Grace. “The silverback. He can’t override the animal’s fear of fire. They’re retreating.”

  Grace was excited, but couldn’t completely release the worry from her face. “But we used fire against them before and they came back.”

  “I’m sure they’re just fleeing temporarily like before. The silverback will regain control of them eventually, which is why we need to move now while we still have the chance.”

  Joe looked up at the flames on the second floor. They were not as violen
t as those in the warehouse, but they had started to take a real hold now and leapt from several windows, arcing several feet into the blackening sky.

  Joe finally left the safety of the wall and crouched down as he moved forward. Grace and Danny did the same and the three of them waddled along like they were playing soldiers. The path led off to the front of the building, but the area there was still thick with animals. To the right was a landscaped plot of grass that shadowed the public walkway. The area was lined with trees and foliage.

  Joe hustled everyone along. “Get beyond the bushes and keep low. There’s an aviary at the end of this path and I’m pretty sure the car park was past there.”

  The three of them kept low and dragged themselves through the bushes and shrubs. Joe kept glimpsing animals through the gaps in the greenery. He hoped they couldn’t see him.

  Or smell me. Don’t most animals have super smell?

  Joe hurried everyone along, fingernails clawing at the moist dirt as he clambered forward. It didn’t take long before they reached the end of the grass bank and the path beside it. Joe checked out his surroundings. Despite the presence of many dead bodies – some of them children – there didn’t seem to be any danger nearby, but of course he couldn’t be sure.

  Up ahead was the aviary, as he had expected. It was a long building, lined on one side with mesh fences that fastened to the brickwork at the top. There was no movement inside the cages.

  “Keep going, but be careful,” said Joe.

  Grace moved ahead and Danny crouched along between them. Joe left the cover of the bushes and felt rain on his face – just a drizzle at the moment, but something about the wet smell of the air suggested it would get heavier.

  They approached the aviary. Joe was shocked by what they found inside. The varied collection of exotic birds and other rare specimens had been reduced to feathers and bloody pulp. Every single bird had been torn to shreds and partially devoured. Joe saw why: at the back of each of the cages the zookeeper’s entrances were left ajar. Something had entered each enclosure and systematically butchered every bird inside.

  One of those bloody wolves probably. Least they got what they deserved in the end.

  “What happened, Dad?”

  Joe shook his head. “I don’t know. I think the birds were all normal, so they got attacked like we did. They couldn’t protect themselves.”

  Danny moved away from his father and over to the cages. He reached out one of his little arms toward the dead animals and seemed like he was going to cry, but instead he spoke. “Mrs. Shirley told me the other day that animals don’t go to heaven, but I think she’s wrong. If you never done nothing wrong to no one then I think God looks after you, so I think they’re all in a better place now where they can fly around as much as they want and eat lots of worms.”

  Joe was surprised by his son’s compassion and philosophical contemplation. He hadn’t known that Danny possessed such a capacity for emotion, and he instantly felt guilty about it.

  He put an arm around his son. “You okay, Danny?”

  Danny turned to him and there were shallow tears in his eyes. “Everything is so horrible. I miss Mom, but I know she probably ended up like the birds.” He wiped at his eyes. “I’m just glad I’ll see her again in Heaven one day, but until then I have to be down here with all of this horribleness.”

  “Things are going to get better, buddy. We’re going to go someplace safe and all this horribleness will go away.”

  Danny looked at him. “I don’t believe you, but I don’t want to stay here either.”

  “Then let’s go.” Joe held out his hand and Danny took it. The two of them turned around and were faced by Grace. She didn’t look happy. “What is it?” Joe asked her.

  Grace pointed back the way they had come from. Some of the animals had noticed their escape and were running up to engage them. Leading the pack was a cheetah.

  “Run!” Joe shouted.

  Chapter 39

  The three of them sprinted and Joe felt his knees crying out as his strides struck down at a speed they weren’t used to. If not for the head start, the animals would already have been on them.

  Aren’t cheetahs the fastest goddamn animal on the planet? And here’s me trying to outrun one.

  Danny held the lead, his young legs combatting fatigue much better than the two adults. Grace was falling back, too weak from blood loss to keep up. Joe kept looking back over his shoulder, hoping she would increase her speed, but she never did.

  He was forced to stop and wait for her. “Danny, keep running,” he shouted. “Don’t stop until you reach the car park. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Danny skidded to a stop. “Dad, no!”

  Joe shouted louder at his son and felt awful. “DANNY! GO NOW!”

  Danny kept on running and Joe turned around just as Grace came hurtling towards him. “What the hell are you doing,” she cried. “Move it.”

  “They’re too quick. They’re going to get you.”

  “Then let them. You and Danny need to get out of here.”

  “Not without you.”

  Grace looked at him. She seemed so sad that it hurt his heart to look at her. She kissed him quickly on the mouth then pulled away, holding up her arm in front of her – the one the wolf had savaged. It was bleeding badly and Joe noticed that it gushed in a slow, pulsing rhythm.

  Matching her heartbeat.

  “I’m bleeding to death, Joe. I’m barely conscious as it is, and if you don’t get going, right now, you’ll die.”

  Joe looked up at the approaching animals. The cheetah was still in the lead, but had slowed down, stalking them like a house cat stalks a mouse. It would only be moments before it pounced.

  “I can’t just leave you.”

  Grace was crying and Joe realised he was too. “You never left me, Joe. In fact, you were the only person to ever stick by me.” She wiped at her eyes and a thick streak of blood stained her face. She fell down onto one knee. “But I’m already dead.”

  “Grace.”

  “Just go!” She was meant to shout it, he could tell, but she was far too weak now. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “I’m happy to die if it means saving you and Danny. Then it will mean something. Not if you don’t move this second, though.”

  Joe nodded, his tears falling thick and fast. He looked around and saw Danny way up ahead. If he left now there was every chance they would escape. If he stayed here then Danny would end up alone. Or worse.

  So he kissed her.

  And then he ran.

  Light droplets of rain began to fall from the saddening grey sky, matching the heavy sorrow that filled his heart. He never looked back once. The sound of Grace screaming in agony as her tender flesh was hooked away by vicious claws and teeth was enough to haunt him forever. He could not have coped with the visual. What made it so much worse was how long the screams lasted. In fact, they never stopped. Joe just ran and ran until he couldn’t hear them anymore, trying to ignore the sight of the torn and rotting bodies that littered his path like fleshy paving stones. Joe knew that Grace’s beautiful body would soon be joining them.

  Danny waited for him at the zoo’s entrance. He was leaning up against a steel gate, trying to catch his breath while wearing the kind of mortified look that was entirely unnatural on such a young face – a grief that was far beyond his years. Joe reached him and took a quick second to catch his own breath, enjoying the sensual feeling of the rain hitting his face, and then wrapped his arms around his quivering son. But they couldn’t stop and enjoy the human contact. The chase was still on. They had to keep moving.

  Joe noticed that the gate was fixed to a swinging mechanism on a set of hinges. He grabbed one of the iron bars and pulled, surprised to find that the gate moved towards him easily. It swung shut against the other side of the entranceway and hit against a metal stopper built into a high brick balustrade. Joe looked around for something to lock the gate with and couldn’t believe his luck when he saw a large ste
el padlock hanging open on the gate’s catch. He ran over and pulled it out, then lined up the metal loop of the gate with the metal loop of the frame.

  The padlock clicked shut and the gate was secure. Beyond it, the animals were resuming their pursuit, finished with the succulent flesh of Grace’s body. Joe kicked at the gate and screamed. “We’re done! You hear me? You can rot in this godforsaken hellhole. You’re welcome to it.”

  Lightening illuminated the sky, just as the cheetah hit the fence at full speed. It bounced off onto its back, stunned. The gate held firm. Other animals bumped against it, too, but it was no use. The thick iron was designed to stop animals escaping.

  And that’s exactly what it was doing.

  Joe took his son and walked away, pulling his car keys from his pocket – glad to finally be about to use them. “Can you remember where we left the car, Danny?”

  Danny slapped a hand against his rain-soaked forehead. “Please tell me we haven’t lost the car.”

  Joe laughed and patted his son on the rump. “Cheeky sod! We haven’t lost it. We just need to have a quick look around.”

  Joe began to worry slightly that the zoo’s gate would not hold, or that some of the animals would manage to vault the high walls on either side of it.

  He trotted around the car park, somewhere between a walk and a run, trying to think back to last week when he’d parked the car. Things had been so different then. Getting out of the car with Danny about to visit the zoo was a joyful and exciting experience. Getting into the car and finally leaving the zoo would be an experience that would change them both forever. He just hoped Danny was young enough to place it all behind him.

  “There it is, Dad!”

  Danny was pointing north-west towards CAR PARK D. Joe followed his finger and spotted exactly what he wanted. Lying amongst the blood-stained wrecks of family cars and tour buses was a dark blue Ford Focus that was undoubtedly his.

  “Come on!” said Joe.

  The two of them, father and son, sprinted through the increasing storm, heading for the car as though it was the saviour of the earth. Just to be sure that he wasn’t dreaming, Joe pressed the lock button on the key fob and almost jumped for joy when the car’s break lights flashed. The doors were unlocked.