Tabitha

by Hall, Andrew

  ‘Can we get going?’ Jim asked Tabitha, breathing heavily. He looked terrified.

  ‘Sorry?’ Tabitha replied, ears still ringing.

  ‘I said can we get going? Outside?’

  ‘Not yet,’ Tabitha replied, nodding at the doors at the end of the corridor. ‘Only two more rooms to check.’

  ‘They’re toilets,’ said Jim, following her down the corridor.

  ‘Yep.’ Tabitha replied.

  ‘I don’t think they’d keep riot gear in the toilets.’

  ‘No, but there might be something in there we can use. Toilet paper, for a start.’ Jim’s eyes lit up. They’d all been missing toilet paper. It was one little luxury away from a hot shower.

  ‘Alright then, you take the ladies’ and I’ll take the gents’,’ he said. He was looking at the doors like were about to jump out and attack him.

  ‘No, we need to stay together,’ said Tabitha. She thought back to Dev in the pub. She’d only left him alone for a second. That was all it took.

  ‘I know, but that’s the ladies’ toilets,’ said Jim. Tabitha looked at him, smiled. He was serious too.

  ‘I really don’t think anyone’s going to mind Jim, under the circumstances.’ Jim thought about it for a moment.

  ‘…Yep, good point.’

  ‘It’ll be locked,’ said Liv, following Will down the corridor towards the final door.

  ‘And you know that from all the way up here?’ Will replied, grinning.

  ‘Woman’s intuition,’ she said, watching the walls for any movement.

  ‘Bullshit,’ said Will. He tried the door handle, and smiled at Liv victoriously as the door opened up.

  ‘W-Whatever,’ she replied. ‘Let’s just have a look inside so we can go.’ They crept on into the dark room, pointing their rifles at the corners. Watching for movement; listening for claws in the dark.

  ‘I can’t see a b-bloody thing in here,’ said Liv.

  ‘Wait,’ said Will, stopping to inspect something in the blackness. ‘Is that…’

  ‘What?’ said Liv, nervous.

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Will rapped his knuckles against hard plastic; a riot helmet as round and smooth and solid as a bowling ball. ‘I knew they’d be in here,’ he said, hauling the body armour up from the bench. ‘Man’s intuition.’

  ‘You’re unbelievable,’ she replied. ‘This whole trip was a lucky guess. Admit it.’

  ‘Oh absolutely,’ Will replied, grinning in the dark.

  ‘You’re a jammy git,’ she said. ‘We could have been k-killed for nothing coming here.’

  ‘Well, it’d be your fault then for following me in here,’ he teased.

  ‘Of course I’d follow you in here,’ she said sadly. Will was busy rummaging for plastic shields in the dark; he hadn’t heard her. Liv hauled up some body armour from the bench and took it out into the corridor.

  ‘Well that was a wasted journey,’ said Jim, walking back down the corridor with Tabitha.

  ‘Jim, a journey that ends with soft quilted toilet paper is never a wasted one,’ Tabitha replied sagely. ‘I bet your bum’s been crying out for this kind of softness.’

  ‘Well, I won’t deny it,’ he chuckled. ‘But I say we keep it to ourselves,’ he said with a wink.

  ‘Sneaky,’ Tabitha replied, smiling. ‘I like it.’

  ‘So… that thing that happened to you before,’ Jim said carefully, ‘the lightning that came off you in the courtyard… can you do that whenever you want to?’

  ‘I wish,’ Tabitha replied. ‘It’d make things a lot easier. It only seems to happen when I don’t need it.’

  ‘That’s useful,’ Jim chuckled. ‘Still, there’s always the off chance it comes in handy, I suppose.’

  ‘Come down!’ came Will’s voice downstairs. ‘I’ve found it!’

  ‘We found it!’ Liv called after him.

  ‘Hide your toilet paper,’ Jim cautioned Tabitha. They ducked the rolls behind their backs as Will came back upstairs.

  ‘We found the riot gear,’ Will said happily.

  ‘Great,’ Tabitha replied, looking at Jim. Jim nodded.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ said Will.

  ‘Nothing,’ Jim replied. Tabitha shrugged and shook her head to agree.

  ‘Wait, are you hiding something?’ said Will, looking between them with a grin.

  ‘Nope,’ said Tabitha. ‘Didn’t find anything. So where’s the riot gear?’

  ‘Show me what you’re hiding,’ Will chuckled, trying to see behind their backs. A roll dropped out from Jim’s hands and bounced on the tiled floor. Will grabbed it before Jim could stoop down for it.

  ‘Oh my god,’ said Will, feeling the softness of the paper. ‘It’s so smooth.’

  ‘I know,’ said Tabitha.

  ‘Right. Nobody tell Liv,’ Will said quietly. ‘And definitely don’t tell Chris.’ Jim and Tabitha shook their heads.

  ‘Nobody tell me what?’ Liv called up to them, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘…Nothing,’ said Will, hiding the roll behind his back.

  ‘Whatever,’ Liv replied. ‘L-Let’s just get the riot gear and go, shall we? Before we g-get eaten by spiders?’

  ‘Good idea,’ said Jim, watching her disappear downstairs. ‘We need to hide these,’ he muttered.

  ‘There’s a sports bag behind the desk there,’ Will whispered back. ‘You two go on, I’ll be down in a second.’ He jumped over the desk and grabbed the bag.

  ‘Guys!’ Liv called impatiently.

  ‘Coming!’ said Will, stuffing the toilet rolls into the bag. He motioned to Jim and Tabitha to head downstairs.

  ‘Wow,’ said Tabitha, looking at the gear that Liv had carried out of the lock-up. The armour stood in a rank against the wall in the corridor, death-black and beautiful. ‘Wow,’ she repeated.

  ‘I know,’ Liv said happily, setting down a plastic riot shield so she could show off her new police belt. ‘Baton, p-pepper spray and handcuffs,’ she said, doing a little twirl. ‘Everything a girl needs for an ar-armageddon scenario. ’

  ‘There’s no way the spiders are getting through that,’ said Jim, knocking on a plastic breastplate leant against the wall.

  ‘Well, let’s hope not,’ said Will, walking down towards them. ‘And sorry to say, there’s only one way to find out for sure.’

  ‘So let’s f-find out,’ said Liv, pulling on an armoured vest.

  ‘Does anyone else feel awesome?’ said Tabitha, as they headed back through town. They were all dressed head to toe in black riot gear; plastic shields in one hand and their rifles slung across their backs.

  ‘Well, I’d feel m-more awesome if we weren’t carrying an extra suit for the R-Rat,’ Liv replied.

  ‘Agreed,’ said Will. ‘But even if he doesn’t use it, it’s still spare parts for us.’

  ‘We should have come in the car,’ said Jim, lugging the spare boots and leg guards in his arms.

  ‘It would’ve been too dangerous,’ said Tabitha. ‘Too much noise. They’d all be out here waiting for us.’ Will nodded.

  ‘Well, there’s one waiting for us,’ said Liv. She dropped the spare arm guards and reached for her gun. It was harder to move in the riot gear; harder to aim.

  ‘Rifles!’ Will told the others, as the spider scuttled closer. The group fumbled for their guns. Liv’s shot dropped the spider dead on the road, and echoed across the silent town.

  ‘You’re an evil shot,’ said Tabitha, pulling her clear visor up to admire the kill. Liv grinned and blew the gun barrel.

  ‘There’s more,’ said Jim. ‘Behind us.’ Will turned to look round, and dropped the spare vest and the sports bag when he saw them.

  ‘Just leave the spare stuff guys,’ said Will. ‘Run.’

  They raced down the high street, sprinting breathless past dark dead shops. The silver spiders chittered and swarmed down the street behind them, chasing them down.

  ‘Run!’ Will yelled, hanging back to pick off a couple of spiders with his rifl
e. The shots cracked and echoed down the street. Spiders tumbled dead on the pavement. ‘Jim, get a move on! Come on!’ Will yelled. He ran on behind them, firing on another couple of spiders getting too close. Tabitha had to hang back for the others to catch up, surprised at how far ahead she was. Since when could she run like this?

  ‘Will, come on!’ Liv shouted to him down the street. He was still firing on the horde, fending them off. Breathless, Tabitha jogged back down the street to help Jim hurry up. She saw the look in Liv’s eyes then, as she waited for Will to catch up with them. There was more than just concern there. It was something deeper than that.

  ‘I’m coming! Just go!’ Will replied, running on at their backs. ‘Take the next street on the right, it’s quicker!’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Liv called back, her voice shaking as she ran.

  ‘Do it!’ he said, turning to aim his rifle at the spiders gaining fast. ‘Piss off!’ he yelled at the spiders, his body shaking as he rattled crackling shots into the horde.

  Out of town, Will and Tabitha dragged Jim tired and gasping up the hill towards the castle. Liv trailed behind them, picking off the spiders that came scuttling too close.

  ‘I’m running out of bullets!’ she shouted over her shoulder, plugging another spider that came racing towards her out of the creeping horde.

  ‘We’re almost there!’ Will yelled back, pulling Jim on up the steps. ‘Chris! Get the gate! Chris!’ Chris ran down from the castle wall and pulled the iron gate open for them, and stood there watching them while Will and Tabitha helped Jim up the last few steps.

  ‘Help us then!’ Will yelled at him. Shellshocked in the sudden panic, Chris came forward to help Jim inside.

  ‘The dog, Chris!’ Will shouted. ‘Jesus Christ!’ he had to let go of Jim to grab Laika’s collar, and pulled her barking and snarling back into the courtyard before she got out.

  ‘Stop, stop,’ Jim gasped, shaking his arm free from Chris to sit down in the courtyard.

  ‘Jim, keep hold of the dog mate. Stop it running out,’ said Will, panicked. He ran back for the gate. He stopped and looked back. Chris was just standing there with Jim. ‘Fucking do something, Chris!’

  ‘Do what?’ Chris shouted back. Will yelled in a rage and ran back down the steps onto the hill.

  ‘Liv!’ Tabitha yelled, running back down the hill for her. Liv had fallen behind. The spiders were gaining on her faster than she could climb the steps. Tabitha watched in horror as one of the spiders jumped on Liv and knocked her down. Tabitha screamed and leapt down the steps, half-tumbling, and ripped the spider away from Liv where she thrashed on the ground.

  ‘Liv!’

  ‘I’m fine, I’m ok!’ she said, her voice muffled through her visor. There were vicious cuts and scratches down her breastplate, but the claws hadn’t gotten through.

  ‘Go!’ said Tabitha, putting a bullet in the spider as it scuttled back over. ‘Come on!’ she yelled, dragging Liv beside her.

  ‘Is she alright? Is she ok?’ said Will desperately, running down the hill.

  ‘She’s fine, get her back inside!’ Tabitha replied, half-dragging Liv up the steps for Will to help her. Chris opened fire on the spiders from the curtain wall above them. ‘Go!’ she yelled to Will. Tabitha shot another spider that raced up the hillside on their right, and followed on behind Liv and Will as they struggled exhausted up the hill. The spiders crept up the steps below them; a stalking deathly mass.

  ‘Fuck you!’ Tabitha yelled at them, squeezing the trigger on her rifle. She laid into the horde with a rattling thunder of gunshots, blinking at the flurry of bullet cartridges that clacked and spat from her rifle. Dead spiders tumbled away; more crept up towards her. She dropped the empty magazine from her gun and slammed in another with a click. She kicked a spider away and opened fire again, punching blood-burst bullet holes into the chittering swarm. The scuttling spiders shrieked and bled and dropped dead at her feet as she held back the silver tide.

  ‘Tabitha!’ Will yelled back to her, helping Liv through the castle gate. Tabitha ran from the swarm at her heels and sprinted on up the stone steps. Muscles burning, she staggered through the stone arch and back into the courtyard. Will swung the tall barred gate shut after her, slamming the bolt across with a ringing clang. The spiders smashed against the solid bars like a bursting car crash; rabid and shrieking and locked outside.

  ‘We’re all in!’ Liv yelled to Chris. ‘Stop shooting, we’re all in!’ Tabitha backed away from the gate as the spiders’ legs flailed for her through the iron bars. Their bodies were too big to get through. Liv pulled her helmet off and let it drop to the ground with a plastic knock, bending down and gripping her knees to get her breath back.

  ‘You saved my life,’ she said breathlessly, looking up at Tabitha in disbelief. Tabitha pulled her plastic visor up, grinning and high on adrenaline. She felt the deep ancient thrill of cheating death; the best high in the world. Laika whined and wriggled away from Jim to be with her. Her new family stood there exhausted on the courtyard, safe and sound around her. She hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. Her banner rippled in the wind behind them, up on the wall of the keep. The Ghosts. A sudden starving hunger made her dizzy. The next moment, she blacked out and hit the cobbles.

  ‘Take small sips,’ said Will, putting a glass of water in Tabitha’s shaking hands. They’d lain her down on a nest of cushions beside the fireplace in the keep. Laika came straight over once they were inside, and insisted on fussing over Tabitha and lying down beside her.

  ‘Ghosts was actually a good name,’ said Chris, looking at her pale face. ‘She’s the same colour as that bed sheet hanging outside.’

  ‘Chris, why don’t you go upstairs before I actually sh-shoot you?’ said Liv.

  ‘That’s too quick,’ said Tabitha, sipping her water. ‘I wouldn’t get to beat him to death.’

  ‘Wow,’ said Chris, looking around at them. ‘Is that normal, for someone to say things like that?’

  ‘Oh, I’d be holding you down while she did it,’ Liv assured him.

  ‘Chris, go upstairs. Please,’ Will growled.

  ‘Strange that I never got death threats before she came along,’ said Chris, on his way upstairs.

  ‘Well you’re b-being such a dick lately that I’d get used to them, to be honest,’ said Liv, watching him go. The others visibly relaxed once Chris was out of the way, and settled down around the table with exhausted sighs. A tired silence draped itself over the room.

  ‘How are you doing, lass?’ Jim said eventually.

  ‘I’ve never felt like this before,’ Tabitha slurred lethargically, taking a cold sip of water. ‘So drained, I mean.’ She could barely move the glass up to her lips. Laika’s body felt warm against her leg.

  ‘You n-need to eat,’ said Liv, worried. ‘I’ll get you some soup. Or m-maybe something plain, like crackers.’

  ‘I don’t think I could keep them down,’ Tabitha replied, feeling her stomach twist. Or whatever it was her stomach had turned into. ‘I’ll try to eat tomorrow. I just need some rest, really.’

  ‘Ok hun,’ said Liv, setting a fresh glass of water down by the fireplace for her. ‘I think we’re all getting an early night tonight anyway. It’s been a long one.’

  ‘Definitely,’ said Tabitha, groaning as she sat back on the pillows.

  ‘Do you need a cover?’ said Will, bringing another sheet over for her.

  ‘No, thank you,’ said Tabitha, smiling with tired eyes. ‘You’ve all done more than enough for me since I got here. You guys must be sick of looking after me.’

  ‘Not at all,’ Will assured her. ‘You’ve done plenty for us too, don’t forget. And anyway, we’re a family now,’ he said, putting the rolled-up cover down beside her. ‘We look after each other. That’s what families do.’

  24

  Tabitha woke up peacefully. The pale glow of dawn lit the arrow-slit windows and the edges around the keep door. Jim snored upstairs. Laika let out a sleeping sigh as Tabitha
stroked her head. She thought about Mog, and missed him terribly. She imagined him sitting squat and grumpy by the bedroom door, waiting for food. Or curled up sleeping at the end of the bed, a furry philosopher lost in thought. Should she have just abandoned him like that? What else could she do though, walk him around on a lead wherever she went? She smiled at the thought. He’d be better off on his own anyway. Besides, she hadn’t seen any empty cat skins on her travels. He’d be alright. He was a cat. Tabitha’s leg felt white-hot where Laika had been pressed against her all night. She got up carefully to leave Laika where she was. As she headed outside though, her dog was right behind her.

  ‘Morning, dog face,’ she said quietly, letting Laika push past her legs to yawn and stretch outside. Tabitha breathed the dawn air deep. The breeze felt summer-cool on her skin; birds sang to the infant daylight. Laika padded around the courtyard to follow a smell. She didn’t like keeping her dog cooped up in the castle grounds like this, but it wasn’t safe outside the walls. Straight away, Laika went over and squatted down over the dewy grass in the garden.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Tabitha told her. She climbed the steps up onto the curtain wall, and watched the mist clinging to dips in the hills outside town. Birds fluttered between the trees in the park below the walls. She saw dead silver shapes lying there too, shining damp with dew in the rising sun.

  ‘Morning,’ Will called down from the top of the keep. ‘I’ll be down in a tick.’ Tabitha smiled and watched him disappear from the roof. She turned back to the curtain wall and the dead spiders below, and let the sun wake her up a little. The surviving horde was out there beyond the park somewhere; scattered and lurking in town. She got lost in her thoughts for a little while, wondering what might have happened yesterday if things had gone differently. Like if Jim had fallen in town, or if she hadn’t reached Liv in time down there in the park. It didn’t bare thinking about; not with all the grief and guilt already gnawing away inside her for the people she’d lost. Laika got up from her feet to greet Will as he climbed the steps onto the wall; Tabitha was glad for the distraction from her thoughts.