by RR Haywood
‘Of course, Nick told me they talk about it sometimes.’
‘Imagine Dave turned. Imagine Dave as one of them.’
‘Howie…I mean Mr Howie would never let it happen.’
‘How would he stop it? None of them could stop Dave.’
‘Meredith would,’ she lets the smile show again but knows she’s lost the argument.
‘She’d try,’ Maddox allows the point, ‘but we can’t base our sole chance of survival on a dog. It has to be this way. I’m sorry, Lilly.’
Eight
‘Fucking hell!’
The voice has me on my feet before my eyes have opened and already moving towards the door that Dave has reached. Sounds of movement from within the armoury as everyone wakes up to rush into the middle room.
It hits me within a few steps and causes instant stinging in my eyes and I’m bent double almost gagging.
‘What the fuck?’ Nick exclaims and turns away.
‘What?’ Clarence lumbers into the room wearing just underpants and holding a broom with a double handed grip like an axe with the bristly end inches above his head, ‘holy shit…oh my god…’ he drops the broom and staggers backwards.
‘We’re so fucked,’ Cookey drops to his knees, ‘this is it…the end…’
‘We’re done for Cookey,’ Nick sags against the wall with his hands clutching his head.
‘I know, Nick,’ Cookey wails, ‘been nice knowing you.’
‘You too, buddy.’
‘Buddy? Did you just call me buddy?’ Cookey looks up with a confused look.
‘Can’t hear you,’ Nick grunts, ‘my senses are shutting down…I’m fading…I can’t take it…’
‘Hold in there….buddy,’ Cookey says, ‘Mr Howie…make it go away!’
‘Fuck that…every man for himself.’
‘What about me?’ Paula asks from the doorway of the room she shared with Roy.
‘Who said that?’ Cookey cries out, ‘can’t see you…can’t hear…’
‘Oh grow up,’ she says with a sigh, ‘it’s just dog shit.’
‘It’s not dog shit,’ Nick wails, ‘it’s toxic waste…’
‘Infected toxic waste,’ Cookey adds, ‘Blowers…come out and smell this.’
‘Fuck off,’ Blowers muffled voice rings out.
‘Blowers, really…it’s really bad…come and smell it.’
‘I don’t want to smell it. Fuck off.’
‘Mr Howie, make Blowers come and smell it,’ Cookey half laughs as he gags and moves quickly away from the nearest dollop of liquid shit plastered across the floor.
‘Who…’ Clarence coughs and takes a breath from the safety of his hand plastered over his own mouth, ‘who shut the bloody dog in?’
‘Door was open,’ I turn away and let the tears drip from my eyes.
‘Someone closed it,’ Clarence says needlessly, ‘and that person will be in here cleaning this shit up…how has she done so much?’
‘She ate a lot,’ Nick replies, ‘we were feeding her beans and canned meat.’
‘And tuna,’ Cookey adds.
‘And canned sausages and she was drinking tea from a bowl,’ Blowers calls out.
‘You can’t be part of this conversation,’ Cookey yells, ‘only the truest people who have experienced the smell can be part of this conversation.’
‘Fuck off.’
‘She needs proper dog food,’ Paula states and retreats a few steps as her initial bravery wears off.
‘Fuck! That is bad,’ Blowers gets to the doorway and starts chuckling at the sight of the ground covered in thick puddles of shit, ‘she looks happy though,’ he nods to the far corner and the sight of Meredith flat on her back with her four legs in the air and her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She senses the attention and gently wags her tail as her back legs twitch.
‘You can be part of the conversation now,’ Cookey nods solemnly.
‘Mr Howie, I saw Cookey close the door before he went to sleep,’ Blowers says.
‘I did not! I didn’t…really I didn’t…’
‘I saw it too,’ Nick holds a hand up.
‘Liars! You’re all liars…’
‘Fuck this,’ I can’t help but laugh at the sight and absurdity of it all, ‘I’m getting out…last one in here cleans it up.’
The stupid words spark an all-out run for the door as we hop and jump the patches of shit as the three lads descend into the inevitable scrap. Clarence uses the broom end to hook Blowers and yank him back with a yelp. Roy is out of the room and rushing ahead. Dave walks calmly safe in the knowledge no one would dare touch him. In underpants and Paula in shorts and a t shirt we fight, push, pull and gag our way towards the door and as one we burst out into the warm but clean air of the fort.
‘Fresh air!’ Cookey sinks to his knees in a dramatic gesture with his arms held up to the sky.
‘Cookey was the last one out,’ Blowers laughs.
‘Confirmed,’ Nick says.
‘Was not…it was…er…’
‘Yeah go on,’ Blowers laughs as Dave strolls out last.
‘Um…Dave…’ Cookey mutters.
‘Mr Howie…’
‘You telling Dave to clean the shit up then?’ Nick laughs.
‘Like fuck am I,’ Cookey says.
‘Mr Howie…’
‘Dave, you got to clear the shit up,’ I say with tears falling down my face half from the putrid smell and half from laughing so much.
‘Mr Howie!’
Roy’s voice snaps my glance up and out. I go quiet. We all go quiet. Silence amongst us as Cookey gets slowly to his feet.
Without a word uttered we range out into a line with hands at our sides and a total lack of humour.
Weapons pointed at us. Assault rifles. Shotguns. Pistols. Rifles. Maddox’s crews all holding weapons in steady hands and not a smile or a smirk amongst them. Dead silence in the fort and my eyes sweep across the long line as I take in the double ranks. The front rank kneeling and the second rank stood over them.
It hits me in the blink of an eye. Images and thoughts surge through my brain as I take in the sight.
‘Easy now,’ I say calmly, ‘lower the weapons.’ Not a flicker of movement from them.
‘LOWER YOUR WEAPONS,’ Dave’s voice booms with such ferocity it makes nearly every single one of them twitch and I’m surprised they didn’t start firing.
‘Dave, not now…stand down,’ I drop my head and speak the words softly, ‘and don’t attack them for fuck’s sake,’ I add hastily at the thought of Dave attacking a double rank of armed people wearing just his underpants. He’d probably still win.
A low growl signals the arrival of Meredith and I turn to see Nick grabbing her quickly.
‘Maddox?’
‘Here,’ he walks into view from the left side but stops short of moving into the way of the pointed guns.
‘Lani turned?’
‘No. She’s fine.’
‘So she healed then.’
‘She has, Mr Howie,’ that he uses my formal name gives me some hope out of this.
‘And what?’
‘We took her blood and put it into an old man dying of a heart condition. He didn’t turn and he is getting better from…’
‘Do what?’
He takes a step forward, ‘a patient in the hospital. He was dying. He was dosed high on Morphine. The doctors said he was ready to go any minute. We injected him to see if Lani was a carrier. His heart is getting better now.’
‘So…’ I look towards the weapons, ‘that calls for this does it?’
‘I don’t like having guns pointed at me,’ Clarence says clearly, ‘brings back bad memories. Get them to lower their weapons.’
‘No,’ Maddox says the word respectfully but the firmness of his tone is unmistakable. ‘I’ll explain why we’re…’
‘Lani’s blood saved the old man,’ I cut him off, ‘but you don’t know if he will turn or get better…either way you’re figuring
that she…and possible me, Cookey and Blowers have something in us that is either dangerous or a cure for old men with bad hearts. That it?’
‘Pretty much, Mr Howie,’ he nods.
‘So you figured we were a risk to the fort and everyone in here.’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re a prick,’ the words come out a snarl, ‘a fucking prick. We wouldn’t ever do anything to harm this fort…Cookey…what do we do if one of us turns?’
‘Shoot them in the head, Mr Howie,’ his reply is instant.
‘Nick, what would you do if I turned?’
‘I’d shoot you in the head, Mr Howie.’
‘Dave wouldn’t,’ Maddox replies, ‘Dave would never hurt you.’
‘Dave. What would you do if I turned and got shot in the head?...Actually, don’t fucking answer that!’
‘Okay, Mr Howie.’
‘You’re too dangerous,’ Maddox says in an almost apologetic tone of voice, ‘all of you.’
‘Where’s Mo Mo and Jagger?’ I realise the two lads aren’t with us as I spin round to look.
‘With us. We got them out,’ Maddox says, ‘they didn’t want to go but…’
‘Where are they?’
‘Safe.’
‘Who closed the door?’ I ask, ‘the dog has shit all over the bloody floor.’
‘We saw that,’ Maddox says.
‘And you didn’t clear it up?’ I ask him reproachfully, ‘that’s cold, mate.’
‘Sorry,’ he shrugs.
‘No need for all this,’ I motion my head towards the unwavering weapons, ‘we would have just stayed here and done tests and stuff.’
‘I’m sorry. But when I realised Lani was infected we couldn’t take the risk of any of you turning. And you wouldn’t stay here either. You’d find a reason to go and find Marcy.’
‘Yeah,’ I nod glumly, ‘probably.’
‘Maddox,’ Paula steps to my side, ‘is Lani okay?’
‘She’s fine. She’s awake and still in the hospital.’
‘And she knows what’s going on?’ Paula asks.
‘She does.’
‘And she accepted it?’ Paula casts a quick confused look at me before looking back to Maddox.
‘No. She tried to leave.’
‘How did you stop her?’ I ask quickly.
‘She’s not hurt.’
‘How? How did you stop her?’
‘She was sedated by the doctors.’
‘They wouldn’t get close to her,’ I reply in a quiet voice that should be setting alarms off, ‘Lani would destroy everyone in that place if they tried to touch her.’
‘She was tazered,’ he says honestly, ‘and then sedated.’
‘STAND DOWN,’ I turn and shout the order as the team behind me make motion forward. Guns bristle with motion as Maddox waves them to stay still.
‘You tazered Lani?’ I ask him, ‘she’s gonna go fucking nuts, mate.’
‘Probably.’
‘And me,’ I add without taking my eyes from him, ‘know that.’
‘Hence all this,’ Maddox holds a hand out to the ranks of weapons, ‘we need your guns please.’
‘Come and get them,’ Blowers says.
‘Pass them out…disassembled.’
‘What’s that then?’ Cookey asks quietly.
‘Taken apart you thick twat,’ Blowers whispers back.
‘Oh right…nah you can fuck off,’ Cookey says.
‘If you turn,’ Maddox raises his voice but without any inflection of anger, ‘you will kill everyone here…’
‘We won’t turn,’ I say simply.
‘That’s not a chance I am willing to take.’
‘Okay,’ I hold my hands up, ‘me, Cookey and Blowers will stay here, the rest haven’t been cut or bitten so…’
Maddox smiles broadly with a slow shake of his head, ‘yeah and I’m going to let Clarence, Dave and Roy walk about here?’
‘What about me?’ Paula says quickly, ‘I’m dangerous too.’
‘He didn’t say you, Nick,’ Cookey points out, ‘Maddox thinks you’re a pussy.’
‘I do not think that,’ Maddox says.
‘He does,’ Cookey whispers, ‘he told me earlier.’
‘Weapons. Taken apart and thrown outside part by part.’
‘After we get Lani back,’ I say.
‘Lani is staying in the hospital.’
‘Good luck getting the weapons then mate…’ I look up at the sky, ‘it’s evening right? Be getting dark soon.’ I look over at the youths holding the weapons, ‘those guns will be getting heavy about now…how many can you keep watching us?’
‘I like the dark,’ Dave says and his voice, so devoid of expression, is chilling in delivery.
‘You’ve got one door,’ Maddox says, ‘we’ve got lots of weapons and lots of people to hold them. Listen, this doesn't have to be this way. Let us get some tests done and work out where we go from here…’
‘I know where you’re going, dickhead,’ Cookey says.
‘Where’s that then?’ Nick asks, ‘where’s he going?’
‘I dunno, just sounded cool,’ Cookey says, ‘what was that word again?’
‘What word?’ Nick asks.
‘The taken apart word.’
‘Disassembled,’ Nick replies.
‘Dis a what?’
‘Disassembled.’
‘How do you spell it?’
‘Fuck knows, I can’t spell.’
‘Paula…’
‘Not now, Cookey.’
‘Paula, how do you spell dissatakenapart word that Nick just said?’
‘Really?’ She turns to face him, ‘now? You want to know right now?’
I have to suppress the smile as the lads do what they do best and show utter disdain for the threat by making jokes and pissing about.
‘Maddox,’ Cookey calls out, ‘how do you spell that word?’
‘Weapons,’ Maddox refuses to take the bait.
‘Ooh he’s a smart one,’ Nick chuckles.
‘He’s a clever bugger that one,’ Blowers says.
‘Too sharp for toffee,’ Cookey says with a nod.
‘Toffee?’ Blowers asks, ‘what the fuck has it got to do with toffee?’
‘I like toffee,’ Roy says, ‘gets stuck in my teeth though.’
‘All old people like toffee,’ Cookey says.
‘I’m not old,’ Roy points out.
‘Are you over thirty?’ Cookey asks.
‘Thirty nine.’
‘Ancient then.’
‘Weapons…pass them out dissa…take them apart and…’
‘AH,’ Blowers laughs, ‘almost had him.’
‘Say it,’ Cookey urges, ‘say the word.’
‘Don’t piss him off,’ Nick says, ‘he’ll get his mates to shoot us.’
Maddox bursts out with laughter that is genuine and warm, he trails off shaking his head, ‘okay…but Lani stays with us until they get passed out.’
‘How do you know how many we had?’ I ask.
‘Dave always has two,’ Clarence says.
‘And you do,’ I look at Clarence.
‘Ssshhh,’ the big man replies with a mock wink.
‘I had two,’ Blowers says.
‘Did you?’ Cookey says, ‘fucking hell, Blowers. I only had one.’
‘I had three,’ Nick says.
‘We need mops, buckets and a hose,’ Paula says, ‘I am not going back into that room until it’s been cleaned.’
‘And coffee,’ I add, ‘we need coffee and some food.’
‘And cigarettes,’ Nick says.
‘And a ladder...what?’ Cookey asks innocently, ‘might have worked.’
‘You’ll get everything you need,’ Maddox says, ‘I want you to know I am doing this for the safety of everyone and this is my decision to do it this way.’
‘Fair enough,’ I turn away, ‘everyone back in the room with the stinky dog shit…um…just one thing, Maddox,’ I turn back
as my team stop knowing exactly what I’m going to say, ‘if Lani is hurt or injured in any way I will…’
‘You’ll get what you need,’ Maddox repeats and suddenly the fury is in my eyes and I know he feels it. He doesn't show it but the look in my eyes silences the fort and I sweep that gaze across every child holding a weapon pointing at me.
‘Boss,’ Clarence whispers.
‘On you,’ I cast a final look at Maddox as I turn away.
‘On me,’ he says as we file back into the room.
Nine
‘Close the door,’ I hold my hand up to silence everyone as we file back into the main room of the old armoury.
‘Good God it stinks to high heaven,’ Paula screws her face up at the piles of dog shit rapidly drying out on the ground.
‘We got anything to clean this mess up?’ I ask while scanning round, ‘find a plastic bag and some toilet roll.’
‘That’s just going to smear it everywhere,’ Paula says, ‘we need mops and buckets of soapy water.’
‘They won’t give it to us,’ I walk over to the table and grab one of the unused yellow bin liners that Lilly brought in earlier.
‘Toilet roll,’ Blowers holds one up and drops down to start cleaning the closest pile of dog mess.
‘Maddox is switched on,’ I drop down next to the mess and take the toilet roll from Blowers and start unwinding a long section, ‘they came in to get Mo Mo and Jagger out so they saw the mess in here. He’ll use it as a bargaining tool to get the weapons.’
‘Are we handing them over?’ Nick asks.
‘Not a chance,’ Clarence shakes his head.
‘Jesus,’ I twist my head away while grabbing handfuls of liquid shit through the thin toilet roll, ‘how many rolls have we got?’
‘One more after that,’ Blowers replies.
‘Rags? Anything else we can use?’
‘Fuckers!’ Cookey exclaims, ‘they’ve taken our clean clothes…they were piled up in the corner.’