by Aline Riva
Tara's eyes widened in alarm.
“On your own? Have you forgotten how dangerous it is up there on the surface?”
“No, Tara, I haven't forgotten - I just want to do this alone.”
“You want to leave me here and just go off, after all we've been through together?”
David ran his fingers through his hair, meeting her gaze as he felt caught between yelling and asking her to understand – so instead, he did neither. Seeing such hostility in her gaze made his own tension rise – it was their first time they had clashed, and over something he had never expected to be an issue to begin with...
“I'm going to find my family and I'm doing it alone!” he said firmly, “I don't care what you think about that, Tara! I have a past – deal with it!”
Then as he saw deep hurt register in her eyes he got up and left the room, as she called his name and he heard the door opening once again, and this time she sounded angry. With the world falling apart thanks to the undead on its surface, a dose of jealousy had been the last thing he had ever expected to be the cause of a possible loss of his current relationship, but as Tara caught his wrist and gave it a tug and he turned around and met her gaze, the hurt and anger he saw in her eyes came as a shock.
“You'd risk your life to go off and find her?” she said bitterly, “Alone? Without me? What have I been to you these past few months, what did I ever mean to you before the Arctic? Was I just a fling? Because I could have sworn I saw love in your eyes. Or maybe I was looking too hard for something that was never there to begin with!”
He stared at her as he shook off her grip.
“Just when I thought I knew you...Maybe I never did...”
Now his mind was made up as he took a step back from her, giving her his final reply as his raised voice echoed about the corridor.
“I'm leaving today,” he said sharply, “I have a family out there and I need to find them now - because no one knows if they're coming back from the Arctic and this is something I have to do before I leave. I don't care if you don't understand! You're not stopping me!”
Chapter 2: Homeward Bound
It was good to see blue sky again. Out here, above surface, the breeze blew sweet and carried to a trace of the stink of the undead upon it as David paused to look about the empty landscape where fields rolled for miles and beyond it, woodland stood shady like a distant border to frame the entrance to the base - a dark building of grey brick, a single level structure above ground that led to so many floors below. The place was complete with doors tough enough to withstand a nuclear blast and those doors were shut now, keeping those below ground safe from any passing undead that might wander by.
As he paused by the armoured truck on loan from the Captain that would easily cut through a horde if the need arose, he listened as he looked across the fields, hearing birds sing, the breeze blowing softly. The sun was mellow in a late August sky and at that moment the world seemed deceptively calm and still, so ordinary – something that was rare these days, when nothing could ever truly be ordinary again.
Then he thought about below surface and Tara's reaction to his decision and he opened up the door of the truck, got in and slammed it shut, a trace of his anger remaining as he recalled how she had done her best to stop him leaving. He started the engine, it fired into life and then he set off along the straight, empty road that cut a path through the fields, heading straight to the woodland where the trees parted and the road carried on, leading to the motorway.
As he drove the world was blue sky, mellow sun and fields in a blur of green splashed with patches of parched yellow ground from the heat of the season. It all stretched on for miles either side of him as he headed for the end of the stretch of road, where it led to the wider road cutting through the forest. Here the route looked from a distance to be part in shade as the tall trees stretched their heavy boughs close to the roadside as above, branches leant over as if the trees were reaching out overhead to touch one another. The way was dappled by light from the sun high in a noon sky and he saw no hint of movement that suggested any trouble as he drove into the part-gloom, his thoughts still on Tara and her lack of understanding.
Then as he cleared the woodland and reached the motorway, he took the turn that would lead him eventually to a village - the place he had once lived, where he had shared a home with his former wife Marie and their son Jack, who was now sixteen. He had left when Jack was thirteen, after they had broken up after many years of slowly growing apart. It had not been an easy decision – perhaps the hardest choice he had ever made - but she had resented his long hours when he had decided to become a teacher, she had resented the long commute he took every day, she had resented.... just about everything.
That resentment that killed his marriage made him think again of Tara as he wondered if he had made the same mistake twice – falling for women who refused to allow room for him to make his own choices in life. If he had made the wrong choice, he didn't plan on making that mistake ever again, twice was enough... If Tara couldn't understand why he needed to look for his family, that really was something to worry about, because she ought to know how much they meant to him. The past few months had been all about survival. But fate had led him to the base so close to his former home and nothing on earth could have stopped him from doing this – he had to know they were okay, or not. He simply needed to find out... Maybe Tara didn't understand because she didn't have a family. Or maybe she was just plain selfish. Either way, she was gone from his thoughts as he turned off the motorway and headed for the road that led to the village, his hopes high that he would find them or at least learn good news, because they were tough, they were survivors...he couldn't allow himself to think any less... He held that thought as he drove along, his sights set on the horizon.
Tara's thoughts were still with David as she walked down the corridor and drew near to the door that led the living quarters of Rick and Lois. She was sure if David had approached the situation differently, perhaps the issue with Flossie could have been handled better. She had been prepared to leave the matter to David, but after the way he had left so abruptly, thinking on the way he had made his choice without as much as considering her, Tara had decided to take the matter into her own hands, and if David didn't like it she really didn't care, because surely the Arctic ought to be priority now – not chasing off after his former spouse...She knew Rick's brush with death had affected him deeply, had made him think about everything that had ever mattered to him, she had seen him weep over Rick after the fight with Mortiz - but all the same, she saw no reason why he needed to take such a step back into his past, at a time when the world as it used to be was gone...Surely, it was too late for him to look back to a time that existed only as a memory...
She reached the door, knocked and Lois opened it with a worried expression on her face that quickly turned to one of hostility.
“I know all about the plan to use Flossie as a weapon and it's not happening!” she said sharply, “You can tell David -”
“I can't tell him anything. He's off the base. I'm not sure when he's coming back. That's why I'm here. So, are you going to talk to me, Lois? Because I don't think Flossie should be used as a weapon either.”
Lois felt all hostility fade away as Tara spoke her mind, and then she stepped back to allow her to enter the room.
“Where is Flossie?” Tara asked as Lois closed the door behind her and she cast a glance about the comfortable living area.
“Rick took her for a walk down to level six, the research area. She likes the back room where they leave out cadaver parts for her... the parts they don't need for experimentation. They often have brains. She treats it like an all you can eat buffet.”
Lois smiled. Tara forced a smile too, not wanting to think about the mutant child tucking into fresh brains with such great delight.
“I'm glad you agree with me,” Lois added as she sat down on the sofa, “We need someone on our side – how anyone could even think of takin
g Flossie to the Arctic is beyond me!”
Tara sat down beside her, drawing in a slow breath as she steadied herself for a difficult conversation.
“When I said I was against her being used as a weapon I didn't mean she couldn't help us – maybe there's a compromise here. What about if you and Rick came with us but maybe stayed back at the base?”
Lois felt deep mistrust as she shook her head.
“You just said to me you were against Flossie being used -”
“I said, no one will use her! If you and Rick came with us -”
“No,” Lois said emphatically, “Rick is still recovering.”
“But we're planning to secure a military base, an Arctic station! We'll need someone there to communicate back with the UK to relay how the mission progresses. If you and Rick took on that role you'd both be warm and safe and guarded – and you'd know where Flossie was at all times! David would never let any harm come to her, you must realise that?”
Lois blinked away tears that stung at her eyes and she felt utterly trapped as she thought of the choice Tara had put to her.
“Even if I said yes – which I'm not – Rick is too weak to go to the Arctic! I know he wants that more than anything but Tara, he's so fragile!”
“I know that, but you'd be safe at the station -”
“No!” Lois said firmly, her defences up once more.
Tara instantly knew her attempt to succeed where David had failed had fallen flat.
“Just hear me out, even if you're determined to refuse...Flossie could lead us to Justin and his army of undead, she could track those corpses at a safe distance, she could link with the mutant lions and command them like she did back at Fearland! David would keep her safe. He may not be my favourite person right now, but believe me, he wouldn't let Flossie down!”
Lois blinked, her eyes grew wider, bringing to mind the day David had given them all nicknames back at Fearland on meeting Emma, and he had called her a slow loris.
“Wait...” Lois said, “You've fallen out with him? You've had a bust up with David? That's why you're here, to try and succeed where he failed? What are we to you, what does Flossie mean, is she some kind of pawn in your game?”
Tara's heart sank as she realised she had said way too much and all that remained now was to be clear on the matter.
“No, it's not like that...I suggested a compromise before he left -”
“And he walked away so you thought you'd get your own back by being the one to get Flossie to the Arctic? Because he got a no, you thought that I might say yes to you?”
Tara looked away for a moment as her red hair briefly shielded her face from the accusing glare of Lois, then she looked back at her and nodded.
“Sorry. But I would have thought this Arctic mission was more important than him going off to check on his ex wife -”
“This is about his ex?” Lois said angrily as she got up from the sofa.
Tara got up too, facing Lois as rage blazed in her eyes.
“How could you be so selfish?” Lois said bitterly, then as she thought on all that had happened she struggled to hold back tears as her anger rose higher, “You're playing games with our lives because David's gone to find his ex? You really don't know what's important, do you, Tara?”
“I know this mission matters, it could change the world!”
Lois lashed out in a blur, her open hand striking Tara's cheek, sending her staggering back as she clutched at her face. For a moment her own hand balled into a fist, but as she met her tearful gaze, all she could do was stand there, doing nothing, letting her rant as she knew in that moment every word Lois had spoken had been true.
“It's not about the Arctic, Tara! This is about you and David and you being jealous! Is that all that matters to you? My priorities are very different to yours - I didn't know if Rick was going to make it after he collapsed. That fight with Mortiz almost killed him! Do you really think he can ever be the same again after that? Some days he can't even remember the names of the people he lost in the mall massacre, he remembers their faces, but not their names, that's gone now...and he's so tired all time... sometimes he can barely stand up! How could you even think of using him like that, or Flossie? She's just a child!”
Tears streaked her face as Lois gave a sob.
“I'm sorry,” Tara said quietly, but Lois turned away.
Tara went quickly to the door and left the room, not looking back as she walked away, feeling guilt weigh heavy as every word Lois had uttered rang terribly true. Then another thought dawned on her - one that was also undoubtedly selfish but all the same, worried her deeply: When David found out what she had done to make a bad situation worse, it would only make things worse between the two of them, perhaps even divide them forever...
The drive into the village he used to call home was like something out of a bad dream as David passed broken road signs and mouldering body parts cast aside from an undead feeding frenzy. Flies buzzed about the remains like tiny, horrid dancers dizzily zipping up and down and round and round the hideous lumps of corpse flesh and exposed bones, the buzzing filled the air as he stopped the car to look and wonder who they might have been – maybe someone he had once known...
Not them. Not his wife and son. No, no, Marie was safe and so was Jack.
David kept that thought firmly in his head, playing it on a loop as he fixed his sights to the bridge that led to the once picturesque village, then he moved the vehicle onward, towards the bridge and then over it, past cottages and old houses dotted about behind over grown hedgerows, here there were very few remains of bodies in the streets.
As he took the road that led through the heart of the village he saw shop fronts smashed and windows open, doorways wide and litter blowing about on the late summer breeze as the skies turned down to a sweltering hue of grey that promised a summer storm. Memories hit him sharply as he looked over at a field where his son used to play as a young boy, then he remembered a summer storm when he and Marie had got soaking wet in the warm rain and made love in a corn field...
As the memory of the softness of her touch and the feel of her wet skin on his tugged at his heart, a fear began to rise that maybe they were both lost. Driving around here, it seemed like the coming of the undead had reduced the village to a ghost town, leaving no one alive at all...
He took the turn off down the road past the market square, then turned on to a narrow lane where either side, fields looked darkly golden as the grey skies shaded them and the heat of the afternoon rose sultry. Swallows dipped in the sky, the air here smelled of summer, the end of summer, not the end of life, nothing like the stink of the undead that filled the cities...
Finally, he was down the end of the country lane that led to his former home, a four bedroom Victorian house that used to be full of old English charm. Now it stood empty, the windows were broken, the door was open...
His heart was heavy as he shut off the engine and got out of the truck. He stepped out on to the gravel driveway and the crunch of it under his boots almost felt like home – almost, would have been if not for the mess the place was in...
To think of the days when this had been his home would have been too much. He blocked out the memory of his son running to meet him shouting Daddy, and the memory of his wife's kiss. Instead he remembered Marie had been a strong and fiery woman who would have protected her son with her last breath. She had been a fitness trainer, she was also a licensed gun owner who went over to the old manor on weekends for the clay pigeon shoot. The only military link she had was the fact that he had once been RAF, but she could handle herself. He had to believe that, because this place was in ruins...
He pushed against the unstable, half open door and stepped into the house he had not entered since the day of the blazing row that had seen him pack his bags for the last time...As he thought of that day, of how demanding she had been of his time, of how she had resented his new job taking him away so much when his old one had done the same, he wondered why
two people who loved each other enough to marry and make a child together could have broken up over something that was now, on the scale of things, insignificant. The fucking world as they knew it had come to an end, why hadn't they tried harder to hold on together?
Regret flickered like a flame that refused to go out, much like the feeling that sparked up in his chest as he made his way through the hallway, went into the living room and picked up a picture frame that had been hurled to the floor, the glass was cracked but as he stood there studying the photograph of the two of them on their wedding day, he blinked back tears, then looked to the window, where the breeze sighed through, making a curtain shift like a phantom as overhead thunder rumbled and skies darkened with the nearing storm and he thought of the past and looked out to a once well kept garden that had now rambled to nature.
Then the cold double barrel of a shotgun was pressed to the back of his neck.
“Around here we shoot looters,” a voice hissed low.
He froze for a moment, then slowly raised his hands in surrender, turning around as the gun was drawn back a little.
“You might not want to pull that trigger?” he suggested in a shaken voice.
The woman holding the weapon lowered it, then a look of shock came to her face as she uttered one word in disbelief:
“David?” whispered Marie Harley.
Chapter 3: Reunion
Shock had caused silence to fall between the two of them as David stared at the woman who had just lowered her weapon. She wore dark clothing, her leather trousers clung to her athletic body as tight her vest and her exposed, toned and slightly muscular arms confirmed she was still in great shape...certainly enough to run, or to fight, if need be.
“Where's Jack?”
It was all he could think to say.
She ran her fingers through blonde, bobbed hair that fell to her jawline, fixing him with blue eyes that looked so haunted at the turn of the world's events that for a moment he feared the worst.