Once she had secured the bags to her person she turned for the stairs coming face to face with a small child but this one was not a human child anymore but one of the turned, the child had once been a boy his hair long, straggly and grimy with the years of hiding in a gloomy and dirty place, a large chunk of flesh was missing and infected on his neck which showed her he had been bitten and turned. It took her by surprise as she hadn’t seen an infected child for a long while, most of them once infected died they didn’t stay on in this hell hole of a world for long, it was as if god called them back to him, not letting them suffer for too long. She held her blade up ready to strike but as she went to attack something from behind howled and crashed into her sending her flying off her feet, her blade skittered off in one direction and she let out a cry of frustration. Turning she found what could have been the child’s father looming over her his mouth pooling with saliva, his eyes wild with the rage and a stench that let her know they had been hiding here a long time. Without thinking she kicked the man in the stomach and rushed him, he howled in rage but before he could attack her she rammed him into the railings of the mezzanine, they snapped and buckled before she watched him topple down the stairs in a crumpled broken heap. The child behind her cried out after their older creature father and snarled snapping its jaws at Monique, Monique darted away hoping to not have to kill the child, yes it was turned but it was still a kid, she rushed to where her blade had fallen and snatched it up just as the child charged and pounced, without meaning to she turned and hit the child with the blade but in doing so she sliced its head clean off which flew into the air and into a mirror at the opposite end, the mirror already broken smashed fully and made an awfully loud noise as the glass shattered all over the now bodiless head.
For a moment she stood there stunned that she had killed the child, although now it meant that the poor thing was put out of its misery.
“In here”, was all she heard as the scavengers located where the noise had come from.
Ducking down she ran to the back behind a till and waited as she heard footsteps come further into the shop.
“Shit look at this a creature, fell from up there”, the male said.
“That didn’t make that noise though, that noise was like glass breaking…up there look”, she couldn’t see what they were looking at but she heard their feet climb the small staircase.
“Shit that things head is clean off”, she hated the way that the guy had called the child a thing, that thing had once been someone’s son.
Keeping low she looked up to see their torch light looking at the now severed head and broken glass, “That creature didn’t do this, a human did it”.
“But who all the others are hold up at the old McBurgers”.
The woman shrugged, “I think a trespasser and they are probably still here”, she snarled indicating to the guy to check the left side and she check the right side.
Monique’s heart jumped in her throat, licking her dry lips she readied her blade, then an idea came to her and maybe a stupid one at that, she picked up a bottle and launched it over the railings and left it to clatter down the stairs, the attention of the scavengers was immediately grabbed and they both dived for the staircase running down trying to find who or what made the noise. Wasting no time Monique jumped up and began to search for a door that would lead to a stock room, all these shops would have stock rooms and she knew that they should lead to some sort of loading bay area that she might be able to slip out of unnoticed. Then there was the truck, would they have spotted it and have it surrounded? She had no idea and would just have to wait until that moment in time arrived, feeling her pocket and the heavy weight of the truck keys she just hoped she would be in it soon enough.
Searching the walls and feeling her way around a corner she found what she was looking for and slowly opened it, the stench of decay hit her nostrils at once along with the force of bodies cramming against the door to open it. Cursing she turned and ran back out in the store almost colliding with the woman scavenger.
“What do we have here then?” the woman sniggered curling her lips up into a sneer, she wore stained and dried bloodied track suit trousers and matching top, her dark hair scruffy and stinking from not being washed for so long, her yellow teeth sending out her vile breath in the air almost masking the scent of infection behind her.
Monique stood her ground hoping the creatures behind her would choose to eat the vile woman and not her but with those things they didn’t distinguish between the good, the bad or the ugly, they just bit. “Look I don’t mean any harm I just came here for baby milk”.
“Baby milk huh well sorry but that’s not yours for the taking”, she hissed.
Monique clenched her fists, holding her blade so tight in her hand she thought she might snap the handle, vile woman willing to deny a small baby food, she needed killing and Monique knew how, “Well I don’t care who’s it is, it’s mine now”.
“What’d you say to me?”
“I said it’s mine”, Monique hissed at the woman hearing the rasping breath’s behind her, then she lashed out grabbing the vile woman by the grease filled pudding that was her hair and threw her into the out stretched arms of the nearest creature, the woman screamed a high pitched gargle but Monique was already passing her and the creatures by, the silly boy who came up to rescue his scavenger woman too was taken by a creature hiding in wait, his throat torn out in a bone spluttering crunch. Monique didn’t care for the humans that were now being devoured, she ran and closed the door to the stock room keeping the monsters out, she checked the room over and found nothing hiding in the shadows which was a godsend other than a couple of dead elder creatures whose bodies had finally given up the ghost.
Using her torch she lit up the room and searched the place, she found more baby milk lining rows of stock shelves but she couldn’t carry anymore on her, if only she could find a way to get the truck into the loading bay and pile it all in but she knew it was too risky, the other scavengers would be on her in a heartbeat and with the head scavenger or something making an appearance sooner or later she wanted to be out of here before then. Maybe in the spring she could gather a small army to come and take out the vile idiots who roamed the halls of the shopping centre. She paused as her beam of light danced over an old lift door, its shutter like appearance made her wince as she opened it up to take a look as the metal groaned, peering inside she spotted a small hatch in the ceiling, maybe she could climb up there and locate a ladder that would get her down to the loading bay, it would mean passing the old rickety lift in the shaft but it wasn’t like it was going anywhere.
Dashing into the stock room she grabbed an old stool and dragged it into the lift, as she climbed upon it and tampered with the old hatch the lift made a moaning sound and shuddered, pausing for a moment she waited for the groaning to pass before trying again, standing on her tip toes and teasing the metal away from the latch, with a final stretch she pulled it down but the hinges were rusted and snapped as the hatch swung down and falling off just missing her head by inches and slamming into the floor. Monique held her breath for a moment and didn’t move not wanting to send the old lift into a freefall as she had no idea how far down the shaft went. Nothing, the lift didn’t move, sighing she then reached up but she was just too short, making a leap of faith she jumped up her hands connecting with the ridge and she swung but the movement was too much for the old lift and a strangled metal on metal scream echoed from above as the cables struggled and snapped. Monique froze as time slowed down as she watched the snapping cables from above, they snaked around in the shaft smacking against the walls and the metal that housed the lift, with a sudden jolt the lift moved, then shuddered, then stopped…Then fell…The air rushed out of her lungs as the lift began to freefall down the shaft, she let out a scream of panic as the fall took hold before it was rudely stopped with a harsh impact, she fell from the hatch onto the floor winding herself and falling heavily onto one of the bags full of the milk. Feel
ing a wetness around her she panicked as she thought it was blood, her blood from the fall until she realised it was just water, freezing cold and stagnant water.
Standing up the lift bobbed like a boat in a storm and she gently made her way over to the shuttered door, opening it she cursed as a ripple of a howl tore through the air around her followed by a clinking noise. Flashing her torch around she spotted the owner of the howl and felt some sort of relief flow through her veins, it was an old creature and it had been chained up to an old network of pipes which had burst at the top which explained the flood of water down here, this was the Babycare shops small loading bay and at the end of it she could see some shutters which would lead out onto the larger loading bay and to the exit. She was so close she could taste it.
Sloshing in the water that came up to her waist she marched up to the creature which looked slightly bloated and ballooned by all the water which was surrounding it, feeling no remorse she stabbed the thing in the head and let in fall in a heap under the water out of sight. Carrying on with her sloshing march she made it to the shutters and pushed against them, other than a metal whining noise they didn’t move, kneeling down into the cold water she felt for the bottom of the shutters and tried pulling them up but to no avail, they had been secured down most likely from the other side. Next to the shutters was a small entry door and she made her way to it but that two was locked by a key she didn’t have and it didn’t matter how much she pushed and kicked on the door that too wouldn’t budge. Feeling deflated she knew she would have to try and go back up the way she had come, try and find a maintenance ladder and climb up.
Stepping forward she nearly screamed in fright at the sight of a huge rat that scurried out of an old air vent which was close to the ground and judging by the width of the metal grate over it she might be able to fit inside and crawl out to the other side. Chasing the rat of so that it scurried off to where the lift was housed she bent down and focused her torch light inside examining it for any more vermin but luckily that huge rat had been the only one. The front of the vent had a large rat sized hole but it was too small for her frame so she would have to try and take the vent cover off. The only problem she found with this idea was that the small tunnel like structure was filled with water nearly to the top, which meant she was going to get wet.
Taking hold of the grate she pulled it off the rusted screws snapping under the force, the water sloshed around as she knelt down to look inside, it didn’t look too appealing and the water smelt stagnant but knowing there was no other way she began to crawl through hoping the tins in her bag where tightly sealed so as not to contaminate the baby milk. Halfway through the vent the water rose right to the top leaving only a few centimetres of breathing space, angling her neck she left just her mouth kissing the air and felt her way along, Why water? Why do I always end up in flipping water? She felt her body go numb from the cold water and knew if she didn’t hurry hypothermia could kick in. She felt her heart screaming at her at to hurry up as she didn’t want to die down here in the freezing darkness, all alone. She grunted as she hit the end of the vent, she could feel a slight cold air pushing through the top of the vent to where she was breathing, she felt the metal grate and tried to push it with her numb hands but she couldn’t get them to work properly as they were so cold. Turning her body she tried kicking it with her legs but the water slowed her movements down so she just padded against it. She felt the darkness try to take her and stars blurred her vision but she held on, she needed to get the milk to Charlie.
~
The snow was starting to fall down in thick flurries as I trailed the scavengers dragging the poor girl into the centre of Tunbridge Wells, she had given up the fight hours ago and had stopped the kicking and screaming. Every now and then the girl would try and use the strange power she had to knock the guy that was carrying her off his feet but after a swift run and beating for the poor girl she had been captured yet again. I had tried to run in and intervene but the girl spotting me in the shadows signalled not to, she changed her tune wanting to go to where ever they were taking her and she wanted me to go to. I felt a bit uneasy at the thought of following this girl into the unknown but something deep inside me was leading me on, telling me I had to help her but to wait for the opportune moment. I felt a little tired after the full day of trailing these people and I was hungry but soon they began to slow their pace as they reached the town centre and coming into view was an old shopping centre but what made a strangled cry rise up in my throat was the truck that was parked right outside, I had seen it before, it’s what Callum and Monique used for their supply runs, surely they hadn’t come this far out to search for supplies? Not now, not here?
The red truck hadn’t been there long judging by the melting snow dripping over the bonnet where the engine was still warm. Sighing I thought back to the old truck Callum had until Amanda hide it or lost it or whatever she done to it…I pushed the thought of Amanda away.
I kept close keeping to the shadows and ducking behind the snow covered remains of the town, the snow was really starting to settle in. I watched as the main guy Lucas went to inspect the truck, he tried the handle but it was locked tight, he looked inside finding nothing of use he turned to one of his people who smashed one of the windows on the driver’s side, unlocking the door he climbed in and took the handbrake off and with the help of some of the others that were with them they pushed the truck round the corner and into a large multi-story car park, pulling the shutters down and leaving me out in the cold. I stood for a moment trying to collect my barring’s, if Callum or Monique or even Ollie were here they were now in big trouble and not only did I have to help the girl I now had to make sure they were safe.
Trying to find an alternate way in I spotted an old coffee shop, I didn’t know if the coffee shop was connected to the actual blueprint of the shopping centre but I had to try and find a different way in so I wasn’t spotted, I needed to play this carefully if I was going to help them. The front of the coffee shop was boarded up like so many places, using my hidden strength I pulled the planks of wood that had been nailed to the door frame off and placed them inside the shop front. There was nothing inside that I needed to be worried about, sending out my sensors I felt nothing and no one. My footsteps crunched over broken glass and splashed in small puddles that had sprung up from a leak in the ceiling, I searched a few of the cupboards just in case, I found an old tub of coffee and sharp knife that might come in handy for something. A small staircase led up to the first floor but I was more interested in an old wooden door that lay quietly in wait for me behind the old wood and glass counter top where once upon a time glorious and delicious pastries and cakes would have been sold, I could taste the thought of chocolate cake on my tongue and smell the coffee beans in the air.
Licking my lips I slowly walked along behind the counter towards the door, the paint was peeling off and a rather inconspicuous draft came from the bottom and the sides, there were no noises I thought to worry about and I couldn’t sense anything behind it either. I grabbed the handle and tried to open it but it was locked examining the lock I could see it was rusted and might snap under pressure, using the knife I found I wedged it between the lock and the frame and pushed, at first I felt no give so I pushed a little harder until I heard a satisfying crunch and the lock broke. The knife was now a little bent to one side but might still come in handy for something.
Pushing the door slowly open I made my way into the darkened shopping centre, the air was stale and there were drips of water that leaked down from the ceiling. Shops had been smashed open where people had looted all that there was to take inside, the only one that looked to be rather untouched was an old book shop but I guess scavengers had no need to read, their stupidity being their only form of entertainment. Closing the door behind me I let my feelers run free, I could sense a few people around the perimeter and a rather large cluster of people near the top and at the centre that had to be Lucas and his gang. There was a lone person at
one end of the centre deep below the lower levels and a few dotted around patrolling.
Taking off at a small walk I made my way through the dim light and towards the centre, I had to find that girl and knowing these demented people she would be with them to be on display that she had been caught and brought back to them. I reached a part where escalators went up to the upper and lower floors, kneeling down and walking up them I came to a restaurant floor. There were many makeshift camps up here made from old tents, sleeping bags, there were clothes hanging up to dry, human waste in buckets and old scraps of food. Inside the actual old food places were what I presumed to be the ones in charge their tents much grander and the objects placed around them were more expensive taste. I noticed though how there were no children around, no child like toys or objects, just the vile waste of men and women that no one else wanted, the scum.
Keeping low I made my way through the camp to where everyone was congregating, I made it to an old window to the old McBurgers and looked through, inside I could see the girl forced to kneel down on the floor and grovel to them all for forgiveness, the man Lucas lifted a whip and brought it down on her exposed back slapping hard, she let out small cries of pain and whimpers.
“Repent for your sins, for leaving our blessed home and leaving us with no protection or power. God will punish you and be it by my hand”, Lucas cried out snapping the whip home and making the poor girl tumble to her knees bleeding.
This was no normal scavenger hiding hole, these people belonged to a cult. Now that I really looked I could see symbols and shapes drawn all over the walls and floors, what had appeared to be rubbish on the floor was actually bits of paper with symbols drawn on and scattered around in strategic places. They believed the poor girl was something to do with god, that god had created her to protect them.
Alone (Book 2): Lone Page 5