Alice could see a bruise forming and a few speckles of blood congealing on his forearm. But the mark was clearly a bite.
“Hey, he only bit you, man,” said Gawk. “You see him smashing the shit out that guy? I’m just glad we took off. Hey, I just realized we got the beers and pizza for free. I never paid for it.”
“Too busy running away like a damn frightened turkey, that’s why,” said BugFace.
“I was not,” said Gawk, but he was grinning and didn’t sound very convincing.
BugFace turned to Alice, looked her up and down, and seemed to notice how exhausted she looked. He grabbed a chair from the stack leaning against the opposite wall and walked towards her.
Oh, thank God, she thought. I can sit down. But BugFace plopped the chair down a few feet away and slumped onto it himself, facing her.
“We got good news and bad news,” he said. “Which you want first, little miss?”
Alice stared at him, unable to hide her distaste. She said nothing. The cloth they had gagged her with muffled nearly everything anyway.
“Not feeling talkative today, hmm?” said BugFace. “Well that don’t matter.”
Gawk walked across the room and stood behind BugFace. “We’ve got a meeting place and time,” he said. “Your good old daddy finally came through, after nearly three weeks.”
It’s been three weeks? Alice thought. So long.
“Hey, I was going to tell her that,” said BugFace, his expression changing to exaggerated hurt.
“Then tell her, dumbass,” said Gawk.
“Well, like he said, your da is coming up with the money at last. Problem is, there’s all sorts of shit going on out there at the moment. Riots or something. So we have to be careful, see.”
Gawk kicked the chair but not hard enough to move BugFace. “She don’t give no shit about us being careful, you ass.”
BugFace turned to Gawk, frowning. “Course she does. She wants to get out of here, and soon as her da coughs up we let her go, right?” He rubbed his bruised arm. “Fucking shit, that guy bit me hard. I reckon that’s gonna scar, you know?”
Gawk chuckled. “It won’t. It wasn’t a really hard bite, like a coyote or something.”
“Hurt like one,” said BugFace.
The two men watched Alice, waiting for a response. Then something must have clicked in BugFace’s mind, because his expression changed to surprise. “Oh, we forgot to bring her anything,” he said. “Must be all starving and shit.”
But Gawk just shrugged. “I’ll bring her some water and a burger tonight when I drop by. Gotta come round here anyway, to pick the truck up.”
BugFace nodded. “Hear that, little miss? My boy here will bring you summit to eat, later.” He got up, picked up the chair and was about to put it back over near the wall, but he turned to her, squinting with suspicion. “If I give you this to sit on, you gonna promise none of that shit from the other day? No stupid pranks? No Great Escapes?”
Alice nodded. It was all she could manage.
Two minutes later, as the feeling started to return in her arms, she fell asleep in the chair.
When she awoke, it was again to more noise. It was much later, she thought. She didn’t feel as tired as she had and the thin strip of light across the bottom of the door was gone.
Night-time, she thought. Has to be night.
There was movement in whatever room was beyond the door. She’d only caught glimpses, when the men entered, and thought it was another much larger room but in a similar state of disrepair to the one she was in.
Has to be a disused tenement building somewhere, or an old warehouse, she thought. But she’d given up trying to figure it out. She’d been over every possibility, over the last few weeks, and none of the options seemed likely.
A bumping noise came from the other side of the door – and then she heard voices. It was the two men again. They were talking in low whispers, but their voices were distinct enough that she could make out who was saying what.
“Shit, you don’t look well at all, man,” said Gawk.
“Don’t feel none too good,” said BugFace. “Feel like my eyes are burning or something, and my head is thumping and thumping. And I took a shit and it came out all black and nasty.”
“Oh man, I didn’t need to know that,” complained Gawk.
“Just saying, is all,” said BugFace.
“What you gonna do?” asked Gawk “I reckon you need a doctor or something.”
“I ain’t going to no doctor,” said BugFace.
More bumping. Something being dragged across the floor. One of the men mumbled something but Alice couldn’t make out the words.
“I can’t go on my own,” said Gawk. “I need you there.”
“I can’t go nowhere like this,” said BugFace. “I don’t feel good at all. I think I’ll just lay down on this couch for a bit and catch some winks.”
“You should go to a doc,” said Gawk.
“Nah,” said BugFace. “It’ll pass. It’s just some bug.”
“Woah, you think it’s catching?” asked Gawk, and Alice almost smiled at image of the younger man backing away from his friend. “I don’t want none of that black shit comin’ out my ass.”
“I don’t think so,” said BugFace. “I ain’t sneezing, am I?”
“Suppose not,” said Gawk.
Silence for a minute.
“Okay I’ll just go myself then,” said Gawk. “I still don’t think I should be on my own to do this. What if he has the cops with him or something?”
“Just do like I said and watch at a good distance for a while,” said BugFace. “Then, when you reckon you know there ain’t no cops, you go in and do the deal.”
“Okay,” said Gawk. “I guess so.”
“Hey, don’t worry, man,” said BugFace. “It’s not like you got her with you. You can always run if it gets shitty.”
A few minutes later Alice heard another door shutting, and then, a while later, she thought she could hear snoring.
She slept again.
When she woke, the line of light at the bottom of the door was missing. Night-time still – or again. It was difficult to tell. Time seemed to have turned into something that didn’t pass for Alice anymore. The only thing that reminded her was the rumbling of her empty stomach.
They didn’t come back and give you anything to eat, she thought. Bastards forgot you. She looked back at the rope that was keeping her in one place and, with a half-hearted effort, she pulled it and began to rub it against the column. It would give eventually, she thought, if she went at it for long enough. The rough stone would wear away at the rope, even though it was made of some kind of nylon that bit into her wrists if she pulled it tight for too long.
The scabs on your wrists haven’t healed from the first time yet, she thought. They still sting, even though it’s been a few days and they’ve scabbed over. A few minutes of effort and they will be hurting like hell again.
Dad will come through, she thought. He’ll pay up, and they’ll let you go. They don’t seem the type to kill you, anyway. Or Dad will have the police involved already, and they’ll catch the idiots.
Then BugFace and Gawk can go get bullied in prison. See how they like confinement.
But three weeks – that was a long time to be sitting in this nasty, stinking, run-down room. Three weeks. Why hadn’t her dad done something already? The two idiots who’d kidnapped her – goddamn that spiked margarita – were asking for fifty thousand dollars, and if they knew just how wealthy her father was they’d ask for much, much more. It was a trifle to her family. He should have paid up and had her out of there by now.
There was a noise from beyond the door. A grunt or a snore, or something like that. She jumped, thinking that the two bozos hadn’t been in the building and that she was alone, but there was definitely movement out there now. No voices, though.
Probably BugFace, still asleep in there, she thought. I hope whatever he’s got kills him. Hope it hurts his gu
ts like hell.
Something moved again – maybe a sofa, or a large chair, some big piece of furniture? Then another groan. Moaning.
Asshole makes weird noises in his sleep, she thought.
There was a cracking noise as something wooden broke, followed by another moan, but this time it was louder and nearer to the door. Alice froze for a moment, every one of her nerves yelling that this was different – something had changed, and her current predicament, though bad enough in her opinion, had just stepped up a notch.
A thud. A fist on the door at the end of the room.
Alice started rubbing the rope against the column, not caring whether the welts from her first almost successful escape attempt cracked open again. There was something altogether not nice about the noises coming from the other side of the door.
But what was it? she wondered as she smelt the first waft of nylon heating up, the first tendrils of plastic melting from friction. That wasn’t a normal noise in the other room. She rubbed the rope harder, knowing that she would have to keep it up for a couple of hours before the rope wore away enough to snap. Was it an animal of some kind? Had to be. Both of the guys had a key to the door of the room they locked her in. If it was one of them they’d just open it, surely?
But they weren’t there, then, she thought. Neither of them. At first she had been convinced BugFace was still asleep on the other side of the door, still feeling crappy maybe, but not now. Something else was in there.
So this place has to be out in the sticks after all – out in the middle of nowhere, definitely. Some animal, maybe a dog, has got in. No, not a dog. That isn’t the sound of a dog. But what else? A bear? Maybe. No. No bears near here.
A loud, heavy slam made her nearly jump out of her skin and she pumped her hands furiously.
Whatever it is can’t get through, can it? That door looks pretty solid, but it’s only made of wood. If I was trying to get out I reckon I’d be able to kick through it, after a few good attempts, so whatever is on the other side could get in.
She was panicking now, and she could feel the welts on her wrists, which had previously started to heal, split open once more. Fresh, burning pain assaulted her, but she grimaced and carried on pulling at the rope, rubbing it up and down as quickly as she could. The smell of wearing nylon rope was strong now.
Then the top half of the wooden door collapsed inwards, and the bottom half swung round, slamming into the wall with enough force to send chips of plaster from the cracked surface scattering across the floor.
And BugFace fell into the room.
He lurched forward, falling over the collapsing door as it swung outwards. He tripped and fell, his head slamming into the concrete floor while his arms did nothing to stop him, and something flashed across Alice’s mind at that moment, even though it was brief and soon replaced by panicked fear. Instinct. If someone fell, then instinct would have them raise their arms, surely? But BugFace just tumbled forward, limbs flailing. He did nothing to break his fall.
Alice cringed as his face slammed into the hard floor and looked away when she saw his nose flatten and vanish beyond recognition. A splatter of dark, congealed blood splashed across the floor.
He’ll be out cold, she thought, knocked out. That would knock anyone out. And, for a moment, she forgot about the rope and just sat there, shocked, watching the figure lying on the floor twenty feet away.
The head moved, twisting to look up at her. She heard a cracking noise and watched, horrified as most of BugFace’s teeth fell out of his mouth onto the floor, along with a larger lump of…something.
Was that part of his jaw attached to some of his teeth? What is that?
Alice screamed briefly, but the sound was muffled by the cloth in her mouth. A lack of breath cut her short and she heaved in a deep breath and continued to rub the rope against the column.
BugFace threw his right arm around and pushed hard on the ground, struggling to stand up. His blood-washed eyes stared forward at Alice as she struggled in her chair.
And then he was up, crawling towards her, then standing, lurching forward, almost falling. Alice lifted both feet up, her legs the only limbs that she had free, and caught BugFace’s fall on the flats of her shoes. Another spurt of blackened blood came gushing from the hole in his mouth, splattering across the floor but thankfully missing Alice.
With a yell of exertion, Alice pushed, but BugFace’s weight was too much and he leaned forward, crushing her knees against her chest, one hand raking at her hair, catching in it and pulling hard. She screamed again and kicked out, this time finding more strength from somewhere – from desperation. BugFace staggered backwards, and his legs followed him but couldn’t keep up – or they weren’t trying to keep up. He fell again, slamming into the ground over in the corner of the room. Alice heard yet another cracking noise as something else – something bony – broke.
There was noise from outside the room, beyond the door, and for the first time since being locked in the room Alice was able to look out through the hole that BugFace had caused when he forced himself in. There was no direct view of another door, but she could clearly see daylight and dirt ground. Someone was unlocking another door out there, the unmistakable sound of a key clicking inside a lock.
Someone on their way in. Help was coming, she hoped, unless Gawk was just as crazy as BugFace.
As she watched BugFace rising from the ground again, she felt her stomach lurch.
Oh God, not now, not while the gag is on.
She was going to be sick, she knew it. Spasms of pain erupted in her abdomen and then further up, and a dizzying sickness swept over her, sweating breaking out on her forehead, but she swallowed and forced it back down as she raised her feet once more and waited for BugFace to reach her. He was on his feet again now, wavering, tottering like he was struggling to stay up, like he had forgotten how to walk.
It was the first moment since he came bursting into her prison room that Alice was able to get a good look at him. His skin was much paler – almost grey now – and his eyes were bloodshot to the point of being black. Spidering black tendrils covered the areas of skin that were exposed.
Then several things happened at once. Outside, in the other room, the door finally rattled open and she heard a rough coughing sound and someone – she presumed Gawk – entered. He was cursing and muttering, but she couldn’t hear him until he shouted, “Hey, Don. Where the fuck are you? Man, the guy didn’t show up. There’s some crazy shit out there, man. Rioting and all… What the hell—”
BugFace finally regained his balance and staggered towards Alice, both arms raised, hands grasping, reaching for her. But she was ready this time and less surprised, and she waited, winding up, until he was just inches away. Then she kicked out hard, both feet smacking into his already crushed face as he leaned forward. Her right foot glanced off his cheek, turning him to face away from her, but the second, her stronger left foot, caught him smack in the centre. His head jerked back and something else snapped. She hoped it would be his neck but couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. The result was the good enough. He faltered for a moment, wavered, unbalanced, and then staggered backwards. He was half falling, half stumbling, but not going down.
Then, as he reached the back wall and bounced off it, Gawk entered the room.
“What the fuck you do to the door?” blurted Gawk. He leaned in, frowning at Alice, but noticed she was still tied to the column. He turned, looking confused, just in time to see BugFace falling towards him, hand grabbing his collar.
Gawk shrieked, pushed, and kicked out, taking a step back, but BugFace had hold of his leg and he fell backwards. Alice watched from twenty feet away, her heart thumping in her chest and threatening to leap out at any moment.
BugFace stumbled out of the room, following Gawk as the younger man hurried away across the floor.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You look like hell,” Gawk shouted. “What happened to your face? Hey, dude, stop that! Fucking get off, you idio
t!”
Then Alice heard a crunch. A wet crunch, and then a long, loud scream erupted from the other room. She heard banging, a struggle. Gawk tried to scream once more, but it came out garbled. No, not garbled. That was gargling, like he was drowning.
She glanced down at the rope, and saw that in the struggle she had somehow managed to wear it almost halfway through.
It will still take ages to wear away, she thought, and tried to concentrate on that. She needed to keep her mind on the rope – and her freedom – instead of listening to whatever that cracking noise was. What on Earth was BugFace doing to him? Holy shit, is he murdering him? Alice thought. Murdering him right here, just in the other room. And if I don’t get out of here, don’t get free, he is going to murder me. Whatever is wrong with the man, whatever disease or illness that is – was it rabies? Human rabies? – he’s going to finish off Gawk and then he’ll come and kill me.
Cracking, More cracking, and then a wet ripping sound, and then no more screaming. Gawk fell silent.
For what seemed like minutes, maybe hours, her heart thump, thump, thumped as she struggled to free herself. It was almost silent in the room next door, apart from a very faint sound that she was trying not to think about. It sounded like someone with no table manners eating their lunch, their mouth open. Smacking, slurping and crunching.
That is not what you can hear, Alice thought. It’s not. It’s just not. Can’t be. Couldn’t…people don’t do things like that…unless. Was he on meth? Maybe that’s it. People on meth can do crazy stuff like that. She’d heard that, on the news, hadn’t she? But even then they couldn’t do what you’re thinking he’s doing.
The noises stopped about twenty minutes later, and Alice heard a shuffling sound once more. The rope was nowhere near worn through, even though she hadn’t stopped worrying away at it the whole time.
She watched, feeling the sharp sting of tears blurring her vision, as BugFace reappeared in the doorway. His face was now almost completely covered in blood, and there was something dangling from his mouth. But she couldn’t focus, couldn’t make it out. As he moved closer, she lifted her feet up once more, pulling her knees in tight and preparing to whack him with her biggest kick yet. She had to get him down again, had to stop him.
All Things Zombie: Chronology of the Apocalypse Page 8