by Ryan Casey
“You might not engage in conflicts. But they do. And trust me. When they decide to ‘engage,’ you’ll know about it.”
The way Andy spoke about this group made my skin crawl. “We cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we’re safe in here.”
“That’s what you think, is it? You really think because you’ve got some walls and fences around you that you’re safe?”
“We’re safer than we would be out there.”
“Then maybe you should just stay cooped up in here then. But they will come. They’ll pick you off, slowly at first. They’ll worm their way inside, like a virus. If they haven’t already. And before you know it, you’ll be dead before it even strikes you that something’s wrong. Very wrong.”
I thought about the crops dying. The animals dropping dead. Weird little incidents like that. Could it be related? Or was I just being paranoid?
“The fact is, whether you help me or not, you’ve got something real nasty coming your way. I just hope you’re armed and ready for when that day does come. ’Cause you might not ‘engage in conflict,’ but the rest of the world does. And that means if we’re gonna go out there—if you’re gonna help me get back home, and if you wanna see your wife again—we’re gonna have to be ready.”
I rubbed my hands through my hair. My heart pounded. “I have a daughter here.”
“Then the best way you can keep her safe is by helping me.”
“So I’m supposed to bring the whole group along with me?”
“No. That’d be madness. That’s just feeding those savage bastards. You take me back home and we’ll make sure we get your family and friends to us. But we have to clear the path, first. And there’s only one way to do that.”
A bitter taste crossed my lips. I felt the weight of a big decision—a momentous decision—mounting up inside me.
“So will you help me?” Andy asked.
I thought about the comfort of Heathlock.
I thought about the father role I played. And how different that was to the violent man—the monster—being outside would turn me into.
And then I thought about my wife, Kerry, and I knew I couldn’t just leave her out there.
“I’ll help you,” I said.
Andy smiled. “Good. Then we’d better get—”
He didn’t finish what he was saying.
Outside, I heard a scream.
Chapter Ten
I ran out of the cell where Andy was being kept the moment I heard the scream.
I wasn’t sure where it came from, not at first. Definitely outside somewhere. Maybe I was just being paranoid. After all, Andy and I had been discussing some pretty creepy stuff.
But what if?
What if Andy was right?
What if the virus of the enemy had already intercepted us, and was working its way through us piece by piece?
My heart pounded as I raced down the corridor. I couldn’t see what’d happened from my current position. I heard shouting behind me from Andy’s cell, and I knew he was just eager to get out. He sounded terrified. Terrified about what that scream might be. About what was coming.
As my stomach hardened with fear, I slowed down. I reached for the handle of the door. I was over-reacting. I was just being paranoid. Me and a few others were going to lead Andy back to his camp. When we got there, I was going to be reunited with Kerry. We were going to find a safe new place for everyone to live. And the enemies he spoke about, the cannibals he feared who had butchered his friends, they would be long gone.
“Pull yourself together, Will. Pull yourself together.”
I closed my eyes, held my breath and opened the door.
I didn’t see anything abnormal outside. Not at first.
But then I realised there were people gathered around the gate. People looking shocked. Distressed. Like they’d found something. Something terrible. Something I didn’t want to face.
I walked slowly down the hill. To my right, in the distance over by my cell block, I heard the dogs barking. The wind was strong and cold against my skin. I felt like all my senses were enhancing because something was off. Something just wasn’t right. Not at all.
I wanted to turn around, bury my head in the sand and pretend I hadn’t even encountered Andy. Because as good as his news was, and as much as I wanted to be reunited with Kerry, the thought of going outside made me feel sick.
The thought of going to that fence and finding whatever was there made me want to throw up.
But still, I walked.
The closer I got, the more certain I became that I should just turn away. I saw a woman crying. A blonde woman, Elaine. She was on her knees. Her face was covered in tears.
I remembered something, then. Something I’d heard the other day. Stu. Elaine’s husband. He’d gone out on a scouting mission and he’d gone missing.
Judging by the tears pouring down Elaine’s cheeks, this had to be something to do with Stu.
I approached a little quicker then. Not that I was relieved in any way that this wasn’t related to the cannibals that Andy had told me about. It was wrong to be relieved about what was clearly some bad news.
But there would be an explanation for this. Maybe Stu had been found dead. Maybe he was wounded.
Whatever the case, it meant we wouldn’t have to embroil ourselves in war, and I wouldn’t have to face up to becoming the monster I was so desperately trying to avoid.
For the sake of my daughter.
For the sake of myself.
But when I approached Elaine, battling my way through the crowd of disconcerted citizens, I fast realised that there was no normal explanation for what was on the ground.
There was no denying the magnitude of what was in front of me.
Just ahead of me, there was a little torn up carrier bag. In that carrier bag, as I got closer, I could see things. Things poking out.
Red things.
The smell hit me first. A dire, rotting smell, like meat going off.
I realised that was exactly what this was.
There was a little plastic container of flesh inside the carrier bag. On top of it, there was a note.
I squinted when I got closer to it, so I could read it properly.
This is Stuart, he was yummy, give us supplies or we cook another part of him and mix him with another of you, maybe we’ll eat his arse flesh next, nice big piece of rump :)
I almost puked in my mouth when I read those words. And as I tried to process them, a realisation circled me. A realisation that Andy was right. We might not want to fight—or I might not want to fight, rather. I wanted to just get to my wife, get to the new camp and leave things at that.
But it was looking like we didn’t have a choice.
“What are we gonna do about this?”
I looked around and saw Kesha beside me. Elaine was in hysterics, being comforted by Amwar.
I saw people looking at me, looking at Kesha, like we were the leaders. Like we had some kind of answers.
“Those bastards,” Kesha said. “They aren’t getting their hands on a bit of our supplies.”
“Maybe it’d be best if we did hand some stuff over.”
Kesha narrowed her eyes, her cheeks blushing. “Are you out of your mind?”
“I’m just saying—”
“They screw with us, we screw them back. Get to the armoury. It’s time we brought out the weapons. We’ve got a few hunting rifles. We can take them on.”
“Kesha,” I said, reaching out a hand to pull her back.
“I’m going after them for this.”
“You can’t just go charging out there.”
“Then what do we do?” she said. “Sit around here waiting for them to do something else?”
“They took Stu when he was out scouting,” I said, still not quite believing we’d been so suddenly embroiled in this nightmare. “If they took Stu when he was scouting then that means they’re watching us. And they could take any one of us when we’re out there,
too.”
“So what do you suggest?”
I didn’t know what to suggest. Part of me wanted to batten down the hatches, but that meant Kerry would still be out there, alone, thinking Olivia and me were gone.
But another part of me wanted to go out there, and get to her, as quickly as I possibly could.
“We figure out a plan,” I said. “We try to avoid the cannibals. We do everything we can to get to Andy’s camp. We just need to think.”
Kesha shook her head, smiling. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“What you have to become in order to survive.”
I mulled over Kesha’s words, just for a few seconds. And as the panic and the chaos built up around me, I saw a path opening up clearly.
Whatever we did, however we went about it, we were leaving Heathlock.
War or peace, we were embarking on a journey into the unknown.
“I need to speak with Ol—”
I didn’t finish what I was saying.
I didn’t finish because I heard a yelp of pain.
I heard blasts. And it took me a few seconds to realise they were gunshots.
Gunshots coming from outside the fences.
When I turned around, I saw what was happening.
The crowd I was in were being shot at. People I knew, people I’d eaten with, had conversations with, were falling all around me in a bloody mess.
Sam, the gate guard, had tumbled from her post above the fence, her neck snapped in a devastating position upon contact with the ground.
Her copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People was bathed in blood from her mouth.
Then I looked up and I saw them.
The guy leading them had some kind of hunting rifle. He was well built. Quite muscular.
His body was covered in blood.
And his face was covered in scars. Burns.
There were others with him, too. Five. Ten. Fifteen. Maybe more.
All of those had weapons of their own. Knives. Bows and arrows. Batons.
And all of those were walking alongside him.
Getting closer.
“They’re here,” Kesha mumbled, amidst the chaos.
Kesha was right.
They were here.
Chapter Eleven
I saw the group heading in my direction and I knew I had to act fast.
The cool air felt practically winter-ish as they got closer. All around me, I could hear the screaming. The cries of the citizens of Heathlock, panicked after the assault by the man with the gun. All around, people lay. People I’d known. People I’d had conversations with. People who seemed so safe, not even that long ago.
But the illusion of safety had been shattered. It’d been broken to pieces.
The group that Andy warned me about were here. The group he warned would arrive at some stage.
I’d denied it. I’d really believed that Heathlock could avoid engaging in any kind of conflict or showdown.
How wrong I was.
“Close the gates,” I shouted.
Kesha turned and glared at me. We were beside the gates now, out of the line of fire. I could hear footsteps getting closer though. Soon, the rival group would be behind our walls. They would be amongst our people.
And as strong as we were, strength in numbers working in our favour, I wasn’t sure we had what it took to take on these people.
They were savages. Every ounce of their humanity was gone.
They had fear in their favour.
“We can’t just close the gates,” Kesha said.
“If we don’t, then they get inside our walls and they finish our people.”
“What happened to going out there after your wife?”
“I still will. But things have changed. We’ve got other things to worry about right now.”
Another blast of gunfire rattled past us. I heard a few shouts, like it’d made contact with a few more of our people. The cries of pain made my stomach turn as they echoed around my skull. So many reminders of the horrors of outside. So many reminders of what people became when they were outside the walls for too long.
And so many reminders of what I’d have to become if I wanted to survive outside those walls.
Olivia didn’t deserve to see that.
“Olivia.”
I ran away from the gates.
“Will? Where the hell are you—”
“I need to make sure Olivia’s safe.”
“She’s in the safest place for her right now.”
“Just close the gates. Make sure those people don’t get inside, no matter what. Do what you have to do.”
Kesha would understand what I meant by that last line. And I felt such a hypocrite for even saying it. Because I was basically saying, feel free to kill if you feel you have to.
Feel free to do the thing I’m too cowardly to do, if it might protect our people.
I ran past the bodies of the fallen. The air smelled of metal. The hot metal of gunfire, and the metallic stench of blood. I tried not to look into the eyes of the dying and the dead. I couldn’t bear to. Because looking into those eyes, I saw those normal people. People like me. Kesha. Olivia.
I kept on running up the hill towards my cell block, not even thinking to turn around. I didn’t want to see how close the rival group were. I didn’t want to know that they were closing in. I heard the bullets and heard more cries, and I knew that something was going on down there.
I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to face it.
I just wanted to get to Olivia.
I heard barking as I passed the cell blocks. I stopped in my tracks. Bouncer. Of course! How the hell had I allowed myself to forget Bouncer? He was always by my side so much that perhaps I’d just assumed he was still there.
But right now, he was behind the gates in the kennel with the other dogs, jumping up against the bars.
“Come on, Bouncer,” I said.
He jumped up at the fence and tried to lick my face.
Behind, I heard more gunshots, more cries.
I did look back this time. It was a mistake, but I couldn’t help myself.
And when I looked, my stomach turned and I almost vomited.
The first of the attacking group were right at the gates. They’d made their way through. They were inside.
I saw Kesha at the forefront, fighting back against them with the long blade in her hand. I didn’t want to see her make contact with her enemy. I didn’t want to face what Kesha—the Kesha I was close with, the Kesha I cared about—could turn into when she felt she had to. Because it just reminded me not only that the violence she showed was the new normal, but also reminded me of what I was now incapable of.
I tried to open the gate to the kennels where Bouncer was, but it was jammed. Shit. This happened a lot. The metal caught and it took a good minute or so shaking it to pull it free.
I heard more shouts behind. The enemy was approaching.
I struggled more with the gate. And as more of those enemies got behind our lines, the urgency of priority hit me like a bullet to the chest.
Bouncer or Olivia?
Bouncer or Olivia?
I felt a tear roll down my cheek even just for thinking that thought. It was Sophie’s Choice, and I didn’t want to make that choice.
I looked into Bouncer’s big brown eyes and for a moment, all the background noise just slipped away. The sounds didn’t matter. The violence didn’t matter. All that mattered was Bouncer.
I saw him like he was a puppy again. That puppy who had fallen ill, then bounced right through it.
“I’m sorry, boy,” I said, yanking on the gate again.
It didn’t budge.
“I’m sorry.”
I pulled on the gate.
This time, it opened.
I felt the relief pour through my body after my moment of agonising grief. I ran into the kennels, unclipped Bouncer and grabbed his lead, and then I ran out and made my
way towards the cell block where Olivia was.
Down the hill, I saw more blood.
I saw more fighting.
I saw more violence.
I knew I should be there. I knew I should be standing beside my people, fighting.
But then I took a deep breath and made my way into the cell block.
I had to make sure Olivia was okay.
I rushed down the cell block, Bouncer by my side. A cloud of fog had descended on my thoughts. I picked up my pace, as people peeked from behind the doors. When I reached Olivia’s room, I turned the handle without even calling her name, which was some little element of privacy we’d both agreed on.
When I stepped inside the room, déjà vu hit me.
Terror surrounded me.
Olivia wasn’t in her room again.
Olivia was gone.
Chapter Twelve
I felt dread take over me as I stared into Olivia’s vacant room.
“Olivia!”
I rushed over to her bed. Threw off the quilt and the sheets, even though it was pretty obvious she wasn’t underneath them. I checked underneath the bed. I checked the wardrobe. I checked every corner of the room.
But it was no use.
She was gone.
I fell to my knees and covered my face. Bouncer licked at my cheeks as he perched beside me, his breath stinky. I didn’t stop him, though. I just crouched there and let him comfort me. I didn’t care about a thing. Nothing mattered.
Just Olivia.
Olivia was gone. And I wasn’t sure I had the strength in me to keep on going like this.
I let in a sudden gasp of air. I was being ridiculous. I couldn’t just give up on Olivia. She might not be here but she was somewhere. She wouldn’t go far. Not too far. Even the other day, when I’d been convinced she’d gone outside, she’d just gone over to…
Kesha’s.
Shit.
Kesha’s.
I heard shouts outside. They seemed to be getting closer to this cell block. Kesha’s cell block was at the other side of Heathlock. Andy was being held in the cells over there, too.
Andy knew where my wife was. He knew how to get back to her.
Which meant I needed to get to him too.