Vicky made eye contact with the waitress, Sandy—a name she’d chosen to save the customers embarrassment when they couldn’t pronounce her native Chinese name, who nodded at her. Vicky walked over to her table with Brendan behind her, the air in the busy restaurant alive with chattering voices and the chink of cutlery against porcelain plates. In spite of all the terrorist activity, The Jade Garden never suffered for business. It helped that they flew The Union Jack out the front of their restaurant and were always the first to speak out against any acts of violence aimed at the West.
When they sat down by the window, Vicky let some of the tension slide from her body and smiled at the man she loved. “It’s good to see you.”
“And on our anniversary,” Brendan said. “I know it’s not a full year until tomorrow, but it seemed appropriate to celebrate it today.”
As Vicky looked at her love, calmness spread through her. Despite what she’d found out that day, everything would be all right as long as they were together.
“We could have gone anywhere to eat, you know?” Brendan said. “I think it’s the eating out part that’s important for a Wednesday, not where we do it.”
A shrug and Vicky pushed a shot of air through her lips as if to dismiss his concern. “It seems right to spend it in the same place we spend every other Grandma Day.” Because some of the tension had eased from her stomach, Vicky drew a lungful of the restaurant’s air. The smell of fried rice and the sweet Chinese sauces made her mouth water.
When Sandy came over with a bottle of Champagne, Brendan placed his palm across his heart and offered the waitress a warm smile. For such an imposing man he wore his emotions with pride. Unafraid to show he cared, his entire face lit up at the gesture.
“Happy anniversary,” she said, her Chinese accent as strong now as it had been a year ago when they’d started visiting the place.
Brendan dipped a nod at her. “Thank you, Sandy, we really appreciate it.”
After Sandy had filled both glasses, Brendan looked over at Marcus, the owner of the restaurant, and raised his drink.
Marcus returned a warm smile and gentle nod.
“Would you like the usual?” Sandy asked.
Brendan laughed. “I always want to say no, but what I have is so good that I don’t want to try anything else. Vick?”
Although she’d relaxed, Vicky still didn’t fire on all cylinders. What she’d discovered that day had rocked her world and she still reeled from it. She took a second to find her bearings before she forced a smile at Sandy. “I’ll have the usual too, please.”
Sandy bowed at them and walked away.
With her glass still aloft, Vicky smiled at Brendan and started the meal in the same way they started every Wednesday meal. “To Grandma.”
“To Grandma,” Brendan replied.
The Champagne fizzed on Vicky’s tongue and she swallowed the sharp drink. Before she’d put the glass down, Brendan reached across the table and held her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“What? Nothing’s wrong.” Not that she could hide it from Brendan.
A raised eyebrow and Brendan remained silent.
Vicky looked at the table. “I dunno. I suppose the train journey just stressed me out today. With it being nearly a year ago since the attack and all. If you hadn’t insisted I’d taken a cab on that night, I would have been on that train.”
The warmth of Brendan’s strong grip squeezed her hand and Vicky continued. “I just can’t help but think about those poor people on the underground. Not a single one of them survived. I avoided death that day. I shouldn’t be here now.”
“If you should have been one of them you would have been. I know it’s hard to see, but everything happens for a reason, and there’s a reason you’re still here. You have something amazing to offer this world.”
She laughed. “As the building manager for,” she lowered her voice, “The Alpha Tower?” When in a place where anyone could hear the conversation it made sense to keep her voice down. Not that she had much power in her job, but with the secrecy contracts she’d had to sign it made life easier to hide where she worked.
Another squeeze of her hand and Brendan said, “Don’t play yourself down, darling. You have a lot to offer the world. You’re one of life’s good eggs.”
Tears stung Vicky’s eyes. She blinked repeatedly and fanned her face with her hand. “Don’t be kind to me.”
Whenever they held hands, Brendan always stroked the rock on Vicky’s finger. After only six months of knowing her, he’d proposed and she’d said yes. The way he caressed the jewel seemed to show his pride for what it meant rather than the material value of the object. She was his future wife, the most important person in his world. “We need to thank the gods that you didn’t get on that train though.” He laughed. “It’s almost like I knew the attack was going to happen.”
A cold chill snapped through Vicky as if struck by a cool breeze. “I had my doubts about a second date, you know. But after that, I knew I couldn’t let you go. I’d found my guardian angel.”
Brendan glowed and straightened in his seat.
Vicky then sighed. “The journey here was tough. I suppose it doesn’t help when the terrorist attacks continue and no one has been caught for them. Anything could be wired to blow.” After she’d looked around the restaurant at all the other diners, Vicky looked back at Brendan. “Anyone could be a terrorist. There could be one in here right now and we’d be none the wiser.”
Brendan’s shoulders shook when he laughed. “There aren’t any terrorists in here.”
“How do you know?”
He laughed again before his face turned serious. “But that isn’t it, Vick. I know you. We’ve talked about the terrorist attack plenty since it happened. What’s going on? Something’s happened today.”
“How do you do it?”
Brendan shrugged. “Do what?”
With her attention directed down at the table again, Vicky ran circles on the top of it with her finger. “See straight through me. How do you do it?” Before Brendan could reply, Vicky continued. “I found something out at work today … I kind of suspected wrong doings, but nothing on this level. I found out what they do on the top floor of the tower. It’s not fucking good, Brendan.”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I understand. I’m here if you need someone to listen, but I don’t want you to feel like you need to break your secrecy contract.”
Tears stung Vicky’s eyes and her vision blurred. “I want to tell you more than anything, but—”
Brendan stroked her forearm. “It’s okay. Honestly, it’s fine. I understand.”
A shake took a hold of Vicky and her hands trembled as she picked at the loose skin along the side of her thumb. “I want to tell you more than anything, really I do. Shit’s going to hit the fan in a few months, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.”
When Brendan said nothing, Vicky lifted her glass of Champagne, took a huge gulp, and stared past him out of the window. “I feel so fucking powerless.”
Chapter 7
“Come on,” Rhys said as he pulled on Larissa’s hand for what felt like the hundredth time. He held two of the stool legs in his other hand. Once they’d gotten far enough away from the police car and the diseased, Rhys had stopped and pulled the stool apart. Four spears, sharp from where they’d been ripped from the stool, he’d kept two for himself and had given two to Larissa. “We need to run. We need to catch up with them.”
The cycle repeated again as Larissa tried to run for about ten metres before she stopped. “I can’t. It hurts my feet too much. I need shoes before I can even think about running. If we keep this up for much longer I’ll probably step on something and won’t even be able to walk.”
Although Rhys slowed down, he kept the pace brisk. He looked at the woodland area that ran along the side of the wide seven-lane highway, fourteen lanes if you counted the other side of the road. Packed so dense with trees, the area co
uld contain a horde of diseased and they wouldn’t know until the fuckers sprung them. He’d stared into the darkness so many times he started to see movement where there wasn’t any.
About fifteen minutes had passed since they’d left the diseased back at the bloody police car. The summer solstice had happened just a few days ago, so despite it being nearly ten o’clock at night the sun still ran a slight tint through the sky. The air had turned to the grey half-light of dusk and the temperature had dropped.
A glance back toward Summit City and Rhys watched the orange glow on the horizon. They may have been farther away, but it glowed brighter because of the rapidly diminishing light. The molten rubber reek hung as heavy as ever.
“I still can’t believe the city has fallen,” Rhys said. A scan for Building Seventy-two and he laughed. “I could never pick our building out on the skyline before, but I definitely can’t now. At least we’ll never have to go back to that horrible place again. I hope the city burns for a long time. It seems to be pulling the diseased toward it.”
Larissa looked around. “It’s weird how quiet it is. Especially considering how crazy the city was.”
“You know what I think?” Rhys said.
Larissa didn’t respond.
“I think the disease didn’t spread very far from the city. I think a handful got out and Vicky and I saw the worst of it at Flynn’s school. But I reckon they’ve been pulled back in. Maybe attracted to the bright flames on the horizon. There’s only one town and a school within a mile radius of Summit City so there can’t have been that many people to infect. I think we’ll be able to outrun this and get through London before it falls.”
Larissa still didn’t reply to Rhys as a dark frown spread across her face. The mention of Vicky seemed to have soured her already bad mood. Not that Rhys could blame her for her state of mind as things were hardly fucking rosy.
Rhys stopped in the road and turned to Larissa. Around the next bend were the executed police officers he and Vicky had seen. It served as the first sign for him that the virus was more than an accident. Not wanting to mention Vicky again, Rhys said, “You need to be ready for what you’re about to see.”
After she’d raised an eyebrow at him, Larissa sighed. “I’ve seen children biting the throats out of old women today, Rhys. I think I can cope with whatever’s around this corner.”
She had a point. After he’d dipped a sharp nod at her Rhys said, “Fine.” He then raised his two stool legs so he had one in each hand. Spears more than bludgeons, they’d have to do. “I’m hoping there won’t be anything to fight around this corner, but it won’t do any harm to have them ready anyway.”
Larissa’s green eyes narrowed and she raised her spears too.
When they rounded the corner the heavy tang of piss and shit hit them square on. Rhys pressed the back of his hand into his nose as he stumbled backward.
He gagged and his eyes watered as he took in the sight.
Next to him, Larissa stood and watched the scene with cold detachment. The wind had picked up and it tossed her black bobbed hair.
“It’s looks different from when Vicky and I saw it.”
“Different?”
The images were so stark Rhys squinted as he stared at them. “The police …” He looked at a policewoman close to them. A bullet hole in her head, she also had a huge chunk torn from her stomach.
“It looks like something’s tried to eat her,” Larissa said. “Isn’t that what they do?”
“It wasn’t like this when we saw them earlier. And no, they don’t do that. They bite. They infect. But it seems that once you’re infected they leave you alone. This is them …” the word stuck in his throat and his entire being sank “… feeding. They’ve been feeding. I hate to think what we would have found here had the fire not pulled all of the diseased toward the city. It looks like it interrupted some kind of fucked up banquet.”
Only one police car remained at the scene and it now sat as a charred wreck. The road surface around it had turned black from the flames. “Fuck it.”
Larissa looked at Rhys.
“I was hoping we’d find some better means of transport. Vicky sounded like she was running with Flynn, so a car would have caught us up to them much quicker.”
Larissa didn’t respond as she stared at the policewoman on the ground.
The pair moved off again and it took all of Rhys’ will to not look down at the half-eaten woman. He had enough nightmares queued up in his head already, he didn’t need any more.
Rhys may have avoided a glance at the police officer, but he looked at Larissa to see she hadn’t taken her eyes off her.
When she got next to her, Larissa stopped and sat on the road.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Rhys said.
But Larissa didn’t reply. Instead, she pressed the soles of her feet up against the soles of the police officer’s shoes.
The penny suddenly dropped for Rhys. “Are they your size?”
Larissa chewed the inside of her mouth and frowned as she eyed up the shoes. “They’ll do.”
Rhys squatted down next to Larissa and his knees burned from the movement. He could have stayed on his feet, but they needed to move on, and if he helped her, they could get going quicker.
Although a few feet away from the mauled part of her body, Rhys still shook as he touched the woman. What if she reanimated? Then he looked at the bullet hole that had killed her. It may have been small at the front, but a huge pool of blood swelled behind her head. She wasn’t getting up from that. Sweat turned Rhys’ palms damp as he pulled at the laces. He slipped the shoe free and passed it to Larissa.
While Larissa put the shoes on, Rhys said, “We can run quicker than Flynn, and Oscar’s injured so I don’t see him moving too fast. Hopefully we can catch up to them if we increase our pace.”
Although she didn’t look up, Larissa still said, “If we’re heading in the right direction, that is.”
“I think we are.”
“But how can you know that, Rhys? She could have taken him anywhere.”
“Yeah, she could, but I think she’s headed to The Highlands like she said she would. To do that, she’d have to go through London. We need to take the quickest route to London. I think if we’re fast, we can get ahead of the virus and get out of the city before it becomes overrun.”
“It’s nice to have a plan, Rhys, but I still doubt your logic. She could be going anywhere. We’re just pissing in the wind by trying to follow her. Is this another time where we have to have”—she made air quotes— “‘faith’? We need to trust in the force or something? We need to behave like we’re some kind of Jedi masters and follow our hearts on a wild fucking goose chase?”
Tired of her bullshit, Rhys sighed. “And you have a better idea, do you? Or do you just want to spend this entire time criticising me for taking some kind of action?”
After she’d tied her other shoe, Larissa got to her feet and looked up the road in the direction they needed to head. She clearly didn’t have a better solution, so she said, “Come on, let’s get out of here. I don’t like seeing this crap.”
Not an apology, far fucking from it in fact, but it would have to do.
For the next ten minutes or so, the pair ran. The slap of their shoes against the hard road existed as the only sound between them. The aches of the past day caught up with Rhys again and the hard jolts of his feet against the road ran shocks up his back. It twisted the ache at the bottom of his spine from the bike crash.
In the half-mind of running, most of his attention on his breaths, Rhys couldn’t police his thoughts like he could when he walked. Sadness turned his limbs heavy and the tightness in his throat made it hurt to breathe. He spoke between gasps for air. “I can’t … believe … Dave’s gone.”
For the first time since they’d found the bloody police car Larissa’s cold demeanour warmed a little. A sympathetic frown furrowed her brow. She first looked at the woodland area that ran alongside the road
before she said, “It’s sad. I’m sorry for your loss, Rhys.”
“And you yours. I know how much Clive meant to you.”
A sharp nod and Larissa looked in front of her again. Their footsteps synchronised and they pushed on.
The woodland area on their right pulled away when they arrived at the first town. They slowed to a fast walk as they took the place in. Rhys’ eyes stung from where sweat had run into them and a shimmer ran through his heart. “This was when I realised the virus had gotten out of the city. Vicky and I came through here and saw blood on the streets.” As the first garage door came into view Rhys said, “It was that garage—” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
In big red letters in what could have only been blood, read, ‘R - Call Me - 07734 921118 - V.’
Despite his exhaustion and jagged fear, Rhys smiled. “I told you we should head this way. I knew we’d be on the right track if we did.”
“Do you have a phone?”
Rhys’ frame sagged. “No. Do you?”
A shake of her head and Larissa sighed. “We need to get that number down and find one.”
Rhys chewed on his bottom lip as he looked around for something. He then clicked his fingers when he saw a large bush to his right. “I’ve got it.” Rhys walked over to it and pulled ten of its long and waxy green leaves off.
“What are you doing?” Larissa said.
“Ten leaves. I’ll tear slits into them for each number and stack them in the correct order.”
“But there’s eleven numbers.”
“I think I’ll remember the first number’s a zero.”
Larissa didn’t reply.
Night had well and truly settled in by the time Rhys had finished. He slipped the stacked leaves into his pocket in order. “Right,” he said, “all we need now is a phone.”
Dark as it was outside, every window on every house looked even darker. Not a single light had been switched on in the street. Maybe a power cut, maybe just a sign of an abandoned town. Whatever the reason, Rhys’ body wound tight as he stood in the near silence of the place.
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