by Russ Watts
The building was newly built of brick and mortar, and looked much more solid and dryer than the cottages back at Judgeford. The windows were dark and the curtains drawn. There was no sign of light or life inside and no smoke came from the chimney. The front door was closed and Will half expected a farmer to come out with a shotgun, warning them off his property. Nobody came from the house though and the group stood in front of it with trepidation. They all wanted to go inside, out of the rain that was seeping through their clothes and soaking their skin, yet they were afraid. After what they had seen in Judgeford, they were sceptical about the safety of another house.
Will approached the wooden front door and tried the handle. It was stiff, but it turned and the door evidently wasn’t locked. He knocked quietly on the door and waited. He couldn’t hear anything and turned to the others in the darkness.
“I’m going in. Wait here. I’ll skirt around the house as fast as I can, upstairs and down. If I’m not back in five minutes...don’t wait for me, just move on.” Will pushed the door open and disappeared inside, flashing out of sight like a ghost.
As they waited outside in the yard, nobody spoke. Suzy listened as the rain fell on the gravel and the trees around them. She had tuned the rest of them out. When Will had gone inside the farmhouse, she had thought that someone should offer to go with him; that she should have gone with him. But nobody had spoken up. They had let him go in alone and she felt both guilty and relieved. He had sacrificed Wilfred to save himself and her. Now here he was again, putting himself in danger for the sake of others. She needed to thank him, tell him she was grateful he was here with her. What if he didn’t come out of the house though? Two minutes had already passed and there was no sign of him. Despite the cold temperature and her drenched clothes, she was sweating. A tough upbringing in Brooklyn had been nothing compared to this.
Suddenly Suzy heard a series of low-pitched screeches and looked about for the source of the noise. It didn’t sound like the Deathless and if it had been a person they would’ve heard the footsteps on the gravel. It sounded more like a parrot.
“It’s probably a Kakapo,” said Rasmus. “Nothing to worry about, my dear. It’s a nocturnal bird that was nearly brought to extinction. I’m not sure I have it right though. Josef would know.” Rasmus trailed off, remembering his old friend. Did his body still lie half-eaten in that cold cellar, or had the child consumed him? What if by disturbing the child, Josef’s body had time to reanimate? Rasmus felt queasy and tried to put the thought out of his head. Surely, that was not possible. It was hard to rid his mind of the image though; Josef’s mangled dead body lying there so still.
The front door opened and Suzy flinched as a hand appeared on the frame. A second later, Will appeared.
“It’s safe. There’s no one here.”
Will held the door open and one by one, they filed in. As Suzy passed him, she looked at his eyes, trying to see if he was all right. She wanted him to talk to him, to check how he was feeling, but he didn’t see her. He was lost in thought, his blue eyes scanning the yard for trouble and the dead. Suzy carried on deeper into the house, following Kelly who was leading the way.
At the end, Tug stepped into the house, the last of the group to enter. Will put a hand against the opposite wall and blocked his path. Tug looked at him slowly.
“What?” Tug looked at Will defiantly.
Will stared back. “Thanks for your help back there, Tug.”
Tug smiled and shrugged. “You’re not going to make me feel guilty about Wilfred. He was checking out anyway and he would only slow us down. You did the right thing, letting him go. It’s all about survival now, mate.”
“Survival? What about looking out for each other? What about your ethics, your morals? Who’s next, eh, Tug? You going to cut us all loose if it means saving your own skin?”
“Probably,” nodded Tug. He gripped Will’s arm and he relinquished, letting Tug inside. “So should you. I’m not here to make enemies, Will. This is a survival test now, pure and simple.” Tug walked into the house. “And shut the door.”
Will slammed the front door and closed the latch. It wouldn’t hold up against many if the Deathless found them, but it would give them some time to find another way out. Will rested with his back against the door for a moment. He didn’t want to join the rest while he was still angry. He had been ready to pound Tug into the ground, but he knew he was only half-angry with Tug. He was angry with himself as much. He had left Wilfred to die. He hadn’t even thought about Josef. He had only thought about how he and Suzy were going to get out of there. If they were going to get through this ordeal, he was going to have to stay sharp. Tug had proven adept at handling the situation so far, but Will didn’t trust him. There was no doubt that if it came to it, Tug would put himself before anyone else on this failed expedition. Will wondered how he would react if put into a tight corner. Would he let Kelly or Rasmus die to save himself? Would he let Tricia or Claire die? Suzy?
The house was cold and Will shivered. Further in the house, he could hear talking and he saw a flicker of light from down the long hallway. Tug had probably started a fire already. Will looked through the peephole in the front door and saw nothing in the yard. There was a brisk breeze picking up, throwing rubbish and leaves around, but there was nothing to suggest they had been followed. He hoped that was true. They needed the rest. He seriously doubted they would be found now.
Will walked briskly down the dark hallway to join the others, struggling to comprehend that they might have to find their own way off the island; a task that may well prove to be impossible.
SIX
There was a small fire going in the fireplace and every chair in the room was taken. Tug had found some dry matches on the mantelpiece and started the fire quickly. The solid house had avoided becoming a trap for the damp and the rooms were mostly dry. Luckily, that meant the objects in them weren’t too damaged either and the shelves of books in the sitting room had proven to be very useful kindling. Once Tug had started the fire going, the others had rapidly joined him in trying to dry out.
Tricia, Mark and Rasmus were sitting on a comfortable beige sofa together, while Kelly was helping Claire take her wet jacket off. Claire’s wrist was throbbing, but she didn’t want to complain and kept quiet about it. Suzy and Tug were crouched on the floor with their hands outstretched and wrinkled fingers slowly thawing out. The temperature of the room was slowly lifting and Will walked in.
“You don’t think the smoke will be a problem, Tug?” asked Kelly as she got Claire unwrapped.
Tug shook his head. “On a dark night like this, with the wind as it is, it won’t get noticed. We’ve got good cover around the house with those trees, so I reckon we’re good.”
Kelly dragged a small chair closer to the fire and insisted that Claire sit on it. “Take your shoes off too,” said Kelly. “Everyone, actually. We need to get as dry as possible. If you get the onset of trench foot it’s going to be a big problem.”
“What’s that?” asked Claire.
“It’s when your feet start to rot,” said Tug. “They smell bad at first, and then the skin goes bad. You’ll get blisters and sores which get infected. Eventually, you’ll get gangrene and they have to amputate. So do what she says and get dried out.”
As they all took off their boots and shoes, Will checked the thick, mauve curtains. They were double-lined and shielded the room from the yard well. He was worried the light of the fire might attract the dead, but he doubted the fire would even be noticeable if they were right in the front yard. As far as he could tell, the Deathless were back on the road, or in Judgeford well away from this temporary haven. He dragged a chair closer to the fire and sat down. Wearily, he took of his boots. He wrung his socks out and slumped back in the chair.
Kelly sighed as she unzipped her knee length boots. “So, what now? We need to figure a way off this island.”
Rasmus cleared his throat. “Before you start, Kelly, may I ask for everyone
’s attention?”
Kelly nodded as he stood. Rasmus looked around the room. “I just want to say how thankful I am that all of you, who I consider my friends, are alive. Unfortunately, not all of us who came on this trip are still with us. Both our pilots are dead and so are two of our dear colleagues. I knew Josef Jahn for thirty something years and Wilfred not much less than that. They were good men. I don’t know how I will face their families when we get back to New York, but I will, somehow. They deserve to be remembered. I hope we can all agree that when we get back, we should hold a memorial service for them. I think the museum would be willing to arrange something, wouldn’t you, Kelly?”
“Absolutely,” said Kelly. She had been thinking about it already. They weren’t going to be able to retrieve their colleagues' bodies, but she had no intention of letting them be forgotten.
“Now to the matter at hand,” said Tug, cutting Rasmus short before he could continue his speech. Tug had not known Josef or Wilfred and as much as he felt bad about their passing, he had to keep the group focussed on the future. If he let them drift into melancholy or wallow in pity, they were doomed. Apathy and attitude could be dangerous in life threatening situations like this. If he let them, they would drag him down with them. Tug knew, just knew, that he was going to get off this island alive.
“I think in the short term that we need to use what we have at hand,” said Kelly. “We have two bags with us. What have we got, Tug?”
After all his efforts at salvaging their essentials from the plane wreck, in the rush to escape the attack at Judgeford they had only managed to bring two backpacks with them. Tug grabbed them and poured the contents out over the floor in the centre of the room. He briefly rifled through them, but it did not take long to look through the bags’ meagre contents.
“We’ve got half a dozen power bars, a bottle of perfume, a basic first aid kit and a pen knife here. I don’t know whose bag this is, but we have a couple of paperbacks, a pair of gloves and a couple of sweaters. All in all, not much. We’re going to have to ration what food we have.” Tug looked around at the disconsolate group. “First of all, we need dry clothes. I suggest we have a hunt upstairs in the bedroom and hope the owners didn’t have a chance to take everything with them.”
Mark stood up. “I’ll go look,” he announced.
“Wait!” said Kelly sharply before Mark had even put his hand on the door. “Before anyone else wanders off on their own we need a few ground rules. Firstly, nobody goes anywhere on their own. Even if you need the bathroom, take a buddy. It’s far too risky to be on your own. Secondly, nobody goes outside unnecessarily. If we’re going to start exploring this house we need to make sure we keep ourselves secure. Curtains and blinds must be drawn at all times. No lights, other than this fire. No loud noises or shouting. That means no arguing, boys.”
Will and Tug looked at each other sheepishly and said nothing.
“My only other rule is that we stick together. We’re going to figure this mess out. I intend to get us home, no matter what. I don’t want to lose any more of you. Right, speech over,” said Kelly.
Rasmus joined Mark at the door. “I’ll go up with you, Mark. We’ll bring down what we can.”
“Take care,” said Tricia. As they left, she leant forward, eager to feel the warmth of the fire. “So how are the rescue teams going to find us? Is there some sort of tracking thing on the plane? What if they see the crash and when they don’t see us there think we all died along with the pilots? Should we go back and wait there tomorrow?”
Tug snorted. “Back there? Unless you want to be breakfast, then I would not advise that, darling.”
Will wanted to wipe the smug expression from Tug’s face, but kept his emotions in check. “I hate to say it, but rescue might not be coming. We can’t rely on it at least, so we have to come up with a plan out of here ourselves.”
“Why do you think that?” said Suzy staring into the fire. “The museum isn’t going to forget us and what about the airline? They’ve lost their plane and two pilots.”
“You know where we are,” said Kelly. “The stark reality is that we are in serious trouble. The Grave is a forbidden zone. There’s no access permitted to anyone and if they think we crashed here, we may as well accept it now - the chances of our being found are slim. Even if they look for us, even if they think we’re still alive, they might not let us off the island. This place is contaminated. The Aqua-Gene is everywhere. Everything on this island is a potential contaminant and just by being here, we are considered just as dangerous.”
Claire could feel her stomach tensing as they spoke. She was beginning to piece together exactly where they were and what was going on. She needed to know more though and stayed silent as the others spoke. She noticed Tricia wasn’t saying much either, probably because she was terrified.
“Look, it doesn’t matter what’s out there really. It could be grizzly bears or pirates. At the end of the day, we have to be smart about this,” said Tug. “We need to figure out a way off this island and we need to do it fast. Those power bars will give us some energy for tomorrow morning, but then we are going to struggle to find food. Nobody’s lived on this island for years so we’re not likely to find much food left. Water either.”
“He’s right,” said Rasmus. “It’s not just the bodies we have to be careful about. Other than fresh rainwater, all water has to be considered contaminated. Tins and pre-packed food are probably fine, but anything organic is too risky. Mind you, anything in a tin or a packet is likely to be long out of date. Even animals must be considered dangerous. If they appear normal then there’s no danger as it means they’ve found a fresh water supply. But approach anything with care. Josef, God rest his soul, rushed ahead without thinking. I remember we...”
“Yeah, thanks, Rasmus.” Tug cleared his throat. The old man had his shit together, but if he got back onto the subject of his old friends, they were going to be there all night. “We also need to defend ourselves. We were caught with our pants down back there and some of us paid the price. If we’re going outside, and honestly I don’t think we have much choice, then we need to be able to fight those bastards off. I ain’t taking one of those things on with my bare hands. You should listen to me. Then you might stand a chance. I’m experienced at dealing with survival situations. I’ve been in a few scrapes before and I’ve always gotten through them. I can deal with the dead.”
“So you admit they’re real now then, Tug?” said Will. “I’m sure you said earlier that they were a myth, a legend, didn’t you?”
“So I was wrong, so what? I deal with facts, plain and simple. I know what we’re dealing with now.” Tug kept his back to Will as he spoke.
“And Josef and Wilfred are gone because of it. I’m sure their families will be fine once they know you have all the facts now.” Will’s irritation with Tug was rising every second and it was hard to keep his anger under control. What Will had at first perceived as rational thinking from Tug had just been self-preservation.
“It wasn’t me who fed Wilfred to the dead to save his own neck, mate.” Tug turned and eyeballed Will.
“You are a real piece, you know that?” said Suzy to Tug. She could see the fire in Will’s eyes and wanted to calm them both down. “Look, what’s done is done,” she said. “There’s no use pointing fingers now, Tug.”
“Well you would say that, you’re fucking him, aren’t you?”
Will could take no more and launched himself at Tug, striking him as they collapsed on the floor together. Will had the upper hand and rolled on top of Tug, beating him as Tug tried to protect himself. He managed to land a good right hook on Tug’s jaw and Will took great pleasure in giving Tug a bloody nose.
Claire jumped back onto the sofa beside Tricia as Kelly and Suzy pulled Will off. Kelly stood between them as the two men threatened and cursed at each other.
“For heaven’s sake, what did I just say? Stop it now or I will throw you both outside!” shouted Kelly.
&n
bsp; Tug wiped his face and fresh blood stained his sleeve. He sneered at Will. “You’re an idiot. You’re going to die here, Will. I’m going to live through this. I’m going back home, no matter what.”
“Jesus, Tug, just stop it.” Kelly left Suzy to take care of Will and approached Tug. The flickering flames of the fire flashed in her eyes as she reprimanded him. “You’d better get your head straight, Tug, or by God I will leave you here. You are getting paid to take care of us. If you’re not up to the job, then say so now. If you’ve got a problem with Will then tough, grow up. I am not having any member of my team jeopardise the rest of the group. From now on, you do exactly as I say, or you’re on your own. I am in charge. Are we clear?”
Kelly stood with her face inches away from Tug’s. He tried to stare her down, but eventually he looked away.
“All right, all right, whatever,” Tug said wiping his nose again. The blood in his nose had clotted and he could feel his jaw aching where Will had punched him.
“Christ almighty.” Kelly rubbed her forehead. The pain was throbbing back in and she really just wanted to curl up in front of the fire and sleep. “Right, Tug, I want to you go into the kitchen and find some pots and dishes. Take whatever you can that will fill with water. The rain is clean and we need to collect as much as we can. Take what you find outside and leave it in the yard. Hopefully by morning we will have enough to drink and even take with us. Tricia, do you think you could help him? I don’t want anyone out there alone.”
Tug looked at Kelly and just nodded. He knew it made good sense to collect water, but hated that she was right. “I don’t need a chaperone. I’ll be fine out there. If I see anything, I’ll be back inside in a heartbeat, don’t worry.”