Beyond, as the crow flies to the south, is the edge of the forest. To their right is the river that leads off Kielder lake. Jake down at the sailing club was fond of boasting that it was the biggest man-made lake in Europe. Now it sits as a silent expanse of black glass in the far distance whipped by the wind into wavelets and spattered with rain. Another gust of wind blows, and icy water spatters against Freddie’s cheeks. He welcomes the chill against his burning cheeks, and takes another drag of cold air.
“Have you noticed how the howling has stopped?”
“Yeah.”
“Last time they seemed further away.”
Freddie disagrees. To him they had sounded even closer, but he won’t contradict Judy—he needs her to stay calm. He nods. “Could be.”
She sighs, blowing out a great breath, shoulders sag. “I can see the edge of the forest.” She jabs a hand to where the line of trees comes to an abrupt halt. Beyond that a large swathe of land has been logged, and stumpy orange-brown trunks litter the area. In the distance is movement, slabs of grey rolling along the winding hillside roads.
“What if they follow us?”
The prospect of the creatures following them out of the forest isn’t something that Freddie has considered. His whole thought process, all his energy, has been geared towards reaching the edge; that is their escape point—that is safety. “They won’t.” He snaps back. Instant regret. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to snap. What I meant to say was that-” She’s not listening.
Judy bites at her bottom lip, oblivious to his apology. He follows her gaze. The trees seem to undulate, their trunks fluid, until Freddie realises that the movement doesn’t belong to the woods. Figures step out from behind the trunks, naked bodies, that blend with the brown of the trees and the forest floor. He swallows hard as his eyes flit from face, to face, chests to navels to naked thighs, genitals, and buttocks. He swallows again as he recognises their faces. The small one behind the leader is Rachel Kendrick. He quickly shifts his eyes from her naked teenaged body, to the large male standing out in the open. Max Anderson. He remembers him as a friendly, bespectacled studious type, obviously in love with his new wife. He’d even attended their evening wedding reception. He scans the others. Another child—this one a male—Jake Ashton’s boy. And Lois Maybank! But it can’t be! He’d shot her through the neck, and this creature’s throat, though still smeared with blood, seems undamaged. He’d seen the wound, the gaping hole left by the bullet, bullets that were meant to expand and explode inside rats and mammals. How could she still be alive? Ridiculously, her hair, though matted, is still hanging in a side plait, a pink bow dangling at her ear. Some of the others he doesn’t recognise, their features too corrupted to tell. Others, all males, though grotesque with blood-pooled eyes, elongated jaws and inch-long incisors were unfamiliar to him. Perhaps the policemen PC Latimer had claimed were attacked in the woods? He attempts to swallow again. Fails. His mouth is completely dry. There must be at least thirty of them, all staring back at him with blood-filled eyes, jaws opening and snapping shut. His gut twists. Hayley’s fingernails dig into his forearm.
The biggest, the one at the front, Max Anderson, tips his head back. In that second, Freddie realises that he is sounding a charge. “Run!” He screams and grabs Hayley’s arm, ignoring Judy in his periphery. “Down the hill!” She scrambles as he yanks her.
Max Anderson howls. The noise bellows from his chest, carrying across the air, filling Freddie’s ears. All other sound disappears. There are no thoughts.
He charges down the hill. Behind him, the air fills with the thunder of yaps, yowls, and thuds as feet crash over the forest floor. His pulse thuds in his head, his breath rasps, Hayley gains on him. Judy screams.
Freddie turns to the scream. Judy is surrounded, forced to the floor by the creatures, her arms visible as she punches out. The largest male lunges down and her screams stop. As he turns back in horror, sprinting harder, a clawed hand slashes down at her belly.
Pain sears his shoulder and old wounds open as claws rip down his back. He powers forward. No thoughts pass, only the desperate need to gain distance between himself and the creature at his heels. Below him, Hayley jumps down to the river’s bank and wades into the water.
Breath blows hot on Freddie’s cheek. Teeth gnash, brushing against his skin. His nostrils fill with the stench of stagnant water.
He stumbles, his foot catching on a root and he’s airborne. Arms flailing, he lands with a thud. A dull and heavy pain breaks through his body and somewhere at the edge of his awareness Hayley screams. Then he’s being dragged. Ice cold water laps over his face and he splutters, scrabbles against the ground. Cold wraps around his feet, legs, belly, and his mouth fills as he’s pulled deeper into the water. A hand cups beneath his chin, lifting his head to the surface, he gasps, pulls air into his lungs, catches sight of the bank. The creatures stare at him, their yowls and yaps filling the air as he finds his feet next to Hayley.
One moves forward, steps a toe in the water and jumps back. Incredulous, Freddie scans the figures along the bank. They stand in a huddle, some run backwards and forwards, others twist in circles yapping and snarling. Hayley pulls at Freddie’s arm, taking him deeper into the river. The water rises to his thighs. A female runs across the pebbles, staring straight at him, knocks into another and is shoved. She turns, gnashes her teeth. In the next second, the larger female attacks, biting down on the smaller one, scratching at her arms, ripping gashes in her back. The smaller female, retreats, makes herself small, then scurries to the back of the group.
“They’re not coming in.”
Unable to take his eyes from the chaotic group, and the large male that stands at its centre, steadfast as the others yap, snarl, and run along the bank. Freddie stands with the river’s force pushing against his leg.
“Freddie! Come on.” Hayley tugs at his arm again.
He breaks away from Max’s blood-filled eyes and scans the river and its banks. Only fifteen feet stand between them and the ravenous horde of monsters. Another ten feet to the other bank.
“Which way?”
“If we follow the river we can get out of the forest. If we go back upriver then we can get back to the lake and the village.”
A howl erupts from the large male and the hairs on Freddie’s arm prickle, painful on his cooling skin. The water pushes against his legs, his toes already becoming numb.
“If we follow the river out of here, we’ll be safe.”
The figures on the bank cluster around the male then, as a pack, run back up the steep bank and disappear into the forest. Only two remain.
“Come on, Hayley.” Freddie takes first steps down the river. The creatures keep pace.
“They’re following us.”
Freddie turns, wades back up river for ten feet. Again, the creatures remain parallel.
“Jesus!
Hayley ducks down in the water, springs back up and lobs a stone at the two wolfmen waiting on the bank. “Fuck off!” The stone lands with a thud, several feet away from their target. The larger male barks and darts towards the river, then pulls back.
“Damned monsters, why can’t they just fuck off!”
Freddie puts an arm around Hayley’s shoulder as the creatures continue to yap and snarl and run backwards and forwards along the bank.
“They’re fucking demented.” Her voice cracks. “Fuck … Off!” She screams and this time grabs a handful of stones from the river bed, lobbing them in rapid succession as hard as she can at the hideous creatures. One hits home, bouncing off the smaller male’s temple. He growls at her, gnashing his teeth. Bone white incisors snap open and closed.
“Hayley, listen. The river will take us out of the forest. We follow it as far as we can.” He turns back to follow the flow of the river, his arm tucked through Hayley’s and they wade together towards the forest boundary.
The scene playing out on the screen is terrifying, but utterly fascinating. Marta kneads Blake’s shoulder as the dra
ma plays out. It is like watching one of those found footage horror films, only far more absorbing. This is real. This is happening within the forest, the now black and utterly terrifying forest, that surrounds her as she watchs. Another bottle of wine sits on the desk, half empty, but Marta is stone cold sober. Blake’s hand squeezes her arse cheeks as he leans forward, his running commentary barely noticed as Marta continues to watch. In the room three more screens have been set up to relay back the live feed from the drones. Two had followed the pack and the other bikers as they made their bid for freedom. Marta’s pulse throbs with a dull, but rapid thud at the base of her neck; she’d watched with fascination as the two females fought. What was truly fascinating was the way in which the creatures were now working together. The female had howled, although the audio wasn’t very clear, the howl was audible and obvious from the way the female, which she had identified as Lois Maybank, had tipped her head back. Even more interesting was the other female. She and Lois obviously had some sort of rivalry.
Marta had barely been able to watch as the heavier set blonde had dragged the biker into the ferns, but instead of tearing him apart, eviscerating him as she’d expected, the woman had bitten his shoulder then dragged him away. She’d ordered the drone to follow them and to her surprise the woman hadn’t killed him. The creature had watched the man buck and twist, his face contorted in agony, and then guarded him when the others arrived. That too was a twist Marta hadn’t expected. Lois had howled and less than ten minutes later a whole horde had arrived. That group had then followed the survivors to the river. Max had appeared. Circled the well-endowed blonde and the infected biker. Both had snapped and snarled. The woman had been fierce, taking great swipes from Max that had sliced the flesh of her stomach, but hadn’t backed down. She’d torn into him, then run back to the still writhing biker, hovered over him, pulled him into her arms, and gnashed her teeth at Max. What she’d watched, she felt sure, was the woman claiming a new mate. Certainly, the woman hadn’t gone on with the rest of the pack.
“Blake. I want these two targeting for tracking.” She points at the screen. His attention is on the scene at the river.
“Why?”
“Because I think they’re forming a new pack.”
He grunts, his attention absorbed by the other drama.
“It’s fascinating, Blake. We could develop entire squads of … dog soldiers.”
He grunts again and taps at the screen. “We may have a problem.”
Irked at his indifference, she snaps. “What?”
“They’re afraid of water.”
His words are sandpaper. “Shit!”
18
The sun is in its final decline as Freddie and Hayley reach the edge of the forest. Still parallel, along the bank, are the two creatures. Twice they have disappeared. Twice Freddie has let his hopes that they have finally given up hunting them rise. Twice he has been disappointed. Now as he stares at the point where the river leaves the forest he is crushed. The river narrows before disappearing underground. In itself, this is a disaster, the creatures would attack as soon as he and Hayley set foot on dry land. Worse is the fence of narrow rods that lies across it.
“It’s a dead end.”
“What’s the fence for?”
Freddie takes another step forward. The creatures move closer. The narrow rods are threaded with wire.
“It doesn’t look like the one Conrad Shelby described. He said that had thick panels twenty feet high.” Hayley takes a step forward, peering over Freddie’s shoulder. The creatures yelp with excitement. One rushes towards the fence.
“Maybe he exaggerated. He’s known to be a bit of a bullshitter.”
“Conrad? He’s alright. A bit posh-”
Hayley’s defence of Conrad comes to an abrupt halt as the creature reaches out to touch the ‘fence’ and is instantly thrown back, landing in the trickling water. It lies unconscious, water lapping at its head, as the other stares.
“It’s not moving. What should we do?”
“Do? Bloody nothing. I’m not going to help it! It’s not some injured animal you’ve found at the roadside.”
Hayley is silent and he regrets his barbed response. He gets it though - that reflex - to help something that is hurt.
“It’s an electric fence.”
“Maybe for the sheep?”
“Sheep?”
“Yeah, to keep them in.”
“It looks new.”
They both stare at the fence as the creature on the bank runs in circles whilst the other lays deathly quiet in the water.
Freddie watches its ribcage, waiting for the rise and fall. It remains still. “It’s dead.”
“Yes!” Hayley fist-pumps the air then tugs at Freddie’s sleeve. “If we can’t get back this way, then we’ll have to go up river.”
“But the dam’s that way.”
“Yes, and the river, and the village. If we can’t get out, Freddie, we need to get back.”
He grunts. It would be a long and freezing journey back, but at least they could share what they’d discovered with PC Latimer and the others.
As the minutes pass to hours, the ache in Javeen’s limbs and joints becomes unbearable as she sits cramped next to Andy in the tiny cupboard. Footsteps have come dangerously close to their hiding place numerous times and, each time, Javeen has steeled herself to jump up and wrestle whoever is on the other side to the floor. As time passes the voices in the room grow fewer and eventually only one pair of shoes can be heard tapping about the floor. When the door of the lab opens and clicks shut for a final time, Javeen is woken from her half-sleep by Andy. He nudges her arm.
“Wake up Sleeping Beauty.”
She makes a soft grunt. “Have they gone?”
“Sounds like it.” He stands and slowly pulls the lever of the cupboard down, easing the door open.
“Oh, no!” The door opens to a dark room. Outside the sun is making its final descent behind the trees. Only their outlines, black and jagged, are visible. The sky is a ribbon of pale orange topped by a bright, but darkening blue, and the first stars are visible.
“Looks like we’re stuck here for the night.”
“Hell!”
“Well, there’s no way I’m risking going out in the dark.”
Javeen’s heart sinks and she lets out a dissatisfied, bordering on angry, sigh.
“It’s not my fault!”
“No, of course it’s not.” She can’t help the terseness in her voice. “I’m just gutted that we couldn’t get back.” The strain of the day bubbles to the surface and tears prick at her eyes. Failure overwhelms her. “I wanted to get back to the village. Now they’re all down there—just sitting ducks for those monsters.”
“What could you have done, Jav? I mean seriously, what could you have done? This situation needs some serious military intervention, and from what we’ve heard, that’s the last thing that is going to happen.”
Javeen swallows, sickness swirling in her belly. He’s right. Absolutely right.
“They’ve fenced us in with them, Jav. Fenced us in to protect them, not us.
“They don’t care who dies in the process.”
The burning sensation bites again at her back as bile swirls. She glances across the greyed-out and darkening room to the bank of cages. A green light shines at the side of the one with the girl. She snorts in her drugged sleep. Javeen grimaces. “Poor thing.”
“Poor thing?”
“It’s not her fault is it. She can’t help being like that.”
“A monster?”
“Yes, a monster.” She takes another step closer. The girl shifts in her sleep but doesn’t wake. “I think I recognise her.”
Andy steps beside her, peering into the cage. “Me too. Is it Wendy, Zena’s daughter?”
“I think so. Zena and Alex were in the convoy that followed Conrad to the blockade. They have three girls.”
“She’s only eight.”
“Was. You can’t think
of them as human any more, Jav. She would kill you in an instant if she had the chance.” He points to the clear plastic container now sitting on the desk. “That could be her dinner.”
Inside is a mass of reddish-brown flesh, a mixture, as far as Javeen can tell, of heart, intestines, kidneys, and liver. “Gross! What the hell is that from?”
“Too small to be human-”
“Surely to God, they wouldn’t feed her human meat!”
“Who knows. If they’re willing to fence us in here, then maybe so.”
Javeen’s scalp creeps. Holy Mother of God, save them. Her knees tremble as she realises that perhaps, for real, that is exactly what the fence is intended for. Outside a howl carries to the windows and vibrates in the room. Javeen’s heart thumps and the aroma of her own fear, harsh and sour, rises to her nostrils. “I know we’re stuck here for the night, but there is no way on God’s earth that I’m having a sleepover with a werewolf!”
The journey back up the river had led Freddie and Hayley to the dam. They’d managed to clamber up its concrete sides then down into the lake. The creature that had followed them had disappeared with the dark and there had been no sight of it since. Even with the moon at its brightest, Freddie hadn’t been able to discern movement along the shore. Exhausted, but too afraid to make their way to the village, they’d decided to wade along the lake’s shore towards the marina and then swim out to one of the boats anchored at a safe distance from land, inaccessible to the monsters that prowled the forest. The boat has a cabin in its hull and was stocked with a few packets of biscuits, squash, and a six-pack of bottled water.
Caged: An Apocalyptic Horror Series (The Wolfmen of Kielder Book 2) Page 10