‘You think you can make it to the mill?’
‘Absolutely. Make sure you don’t mistake me for one of those things and club me with your big stick.’
‘Don’t you worry about that,’ Adam said.
‘Let’s do this then.’ Ethan picked up his bag and wandered to the others.
Salty led the group at walking pace at first, and then broke into a light jog. The dead close by seemed oblivious to them, not breaking their endless march. As they approached the sawmill, they saw another, smaller building peeked out from behind it. The mill was open-plan; there were two ramps positioned on either end, leading up to the twin saw and workshop. Three roamers were currently inside of it, bumping around against the abandoned machinery and drying yard.
Salty immediately veered away towards the second building. When they were half way there, Kristin felt the earth give way under her left foot. It got caught in a gopher hole and when she tried to run on, she twisted it. Already off-balance, the weight of the two backpacks sent her crashing to the ground. She screamed, alerting Vincent. He turned around and went back for her, watching his own step to make sure he didn’t take a tumble with Emily in his arms.
Kristin shook herself and sat up. She flexed her ankle once she’d pulled it free, and pain instantly shot up her leg muscles.
‘Kristin?’ Vincent said. ‘Emily, you’re gonna have to go down so I can help Mommy.’
The little girl shook her head and clung tighter to her dad, wrapping her legs around his midriff.
‘I’ve got her, Mr. Graham.’ Adam handed his branch to Ethan and ran over to aid Kristin. He grabbed one of her bags, and Vincent scooped up the other one. Kristin winced as Adam helped to support her weight.
‘It’s my ankle,’ she said. ‘I think it’s sprained.’
‘Can you walk with my help?’ Adam said.
‘Just about, I think.’
‘Erm,’ Ethan said, drawing their attention to the dead that were nearby. The commotion from the fall had piqued their interest and several of them had changed course and were now stumbling towards the nearest source of food.
‘Come on, let’s go,’ Salty said, waving them on. He and Raine had opened up a gap between the others in order to reach the second building, and they needed to catch up fast.
Vincent carried on with Emily, keeping a close eye on Kristin and Adam, who were struggling on the best they could. Ethan brought up the rear on his own, holding the branch out in front of him like it was a poisonous snake.
As Salty had feared, the double doors to the barn building were secured by a latch and bolt. He raised his hatchet and began to hack at the wood that the latch was screwed to.
Raine braced herself for the two rotting wanderers, who were attracted by the sound of the splintering wood and the clanging of metal on metal.
The creature closest to them was making for the back of the line. It used to be a woman, and she still didn’t seem particularly old on account of her cropped shirt and hot pants. The shorts had once been bright pink, but had since become caked in dirt and blood. Her blonde hair drooped forward, covering her face. A large clump was missing at the front. It looked like it had been torn out, right down to her inflamed scalp.
Salty looked up from the lock and noticed it was almost upon them. ‘Deal with it,’ he said.
Kristin pulled the Beretta and brought it up to her eye. Adam pushed her arm away before she could pull the trigger.
‘Remember what he said, Mrs. Graham.’
Ethan fought against his instinct to take flight. He closed his eyes, trying to psych himself up to swing, to deliver the killer blow to the creature’s head. As he stepped towards it, he saw the metal feet from the wood chipper jutting out from the ground directly behind the creature, so he rotated the branch, wielding it like a spear and pushing it out in front of him to jab his slobbering attacker in the chest. He forced it back. A second prod sent it toppling over the frame of the chipper and onto its back.
The creature groaned as it tried to get up, but it lacked the coordination to reach its feet again, and just flailed about in the dirt instead. Ethan smiled in relief and stepped back in line.
Before the other rotters could reach them, the latch and bolt finally separated from the shattered wood and the doors swung open. Salty held them just long enough to bundle everyone inside, then slammed them shut. There were two brackets on the inside. Raine gave up her branch, jamming it in between. Even though the dead immediately pressed themselves up against the doors, it was going to take at least forty to break it down.
The survivors tried to forget about the dead outside and faced the darkness of their hiding place. A small window on the first floor allowed a moderate amount of moonlight to seep in. While others listened intently for signs of movement, Kristin unzipped her bag and fumbled around until her fingers ran over what felt like three candles and a matchbook. Still hopping to keep the weight off her injured ankle, she passed a candle to Adam and Salty and lit the other herself.
As far as she could see, they were alone. The first floor was relatively bare. At the far end were what looked like a set of cupboards and an office desk and chair.
Salty struck a match to light his candle and moved towards the wooden staircase situated near the room’s centre.
‘I’m gonna see if it’s clear up there,’ he whispered. ‘If it is, we should bed down. Those goons outside are less likely to wander off if we stay down here.’
‘Be careful,’ Kristin said.
She heard Emily sobbing next to her. Vincent stroked her hair and whispered a calming, ‘Shh, shh’ in her ear.
‘It’s OK, sweetie,’ Kristin said, squeezing one of her delicate arms.
‘Her abscess is getting worse,’ Vincent said.
‘How many antibiotics do we have left?’
‘Seven. Breaking them in half makes fourteen. Twice a day, that’s a week’s worth,’ he said.
One of the dead outside slammed hard against the doors, causing them to buckle slightly. The impact shoved Vincent forward. Emily squealed and he held her head, forcing her to look at him. ‘Don’t worry. They know we’re in here, but they can’t get in. We’re safe right now.’
‘Will they go away?’ Emily said.
‘If we’re really, really quiet.’ As soon as she heard that, she immediately stopped sobbing and rubbed the tears from her eyes. One side of her face had swelled to such an extent that she looked like she’d been physically abused.
The floorboards creaked above them, and Salty came halfway down the stairs. ‘It’s clear. Come up.’
Adam and Raine helped Kristin climb the steps and set her down on a dirty mattress in the corner. It had sheets and a pillow, and there was even a TV opposite. Raine explored the other side of the room by candlelight. The smell she was inhaling was unmistakable – stale urine. At first, she thought someone had pissed over the wall, but then she discovered a bathroom cubicle. It had all of the necessary plumbing, but it no longer worked and had been used several times. There was also a basin fixed to the wall. The scorched ceramic surface inside had turned black, as if something giving off intense heat had been left to burn there. A bar of soap riddled with pubic hairs sat on the flat edge at the back of it.
‘Hopefully, those things will have moved on by sun up. Then we search for a ride and get the hell outta Dodge,’ Salty said.
‘And go where?’ Raine said.
‘I might know a place,’ Salty replied. ‘Somewhere safe.’
‘Where’s that exactly?’
He removed his cap, revealing thin layers of wispy red hair at the front and sides of his pale head. ‘No offence, ma’am, but I’d rather keep that to myself for now.’
‘Fair enough.’ Raine set her pack down a good way away from the stinking cubicle, put her back against the wall and slid down to sit on her butt.
Salty examined the rest of the barn conversion’s second floor and then made for the stairs again. As he passed Ethan, the young man removed
his hoodie and laid it down on the floor to cushion himself. Salty stood and stared at him, examining every inch of his face.
‘Can I help you?’ Ethan said, looking puzzled.
Salty took another moment to regard him. ‘Don’t I know you from some place?’ he said. ‘’Cause I’m startin’ to think that I do.’
Ethan shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Do you know me from some place?’
Salty shook his head and put his baseball cap back on. ‘I guess not.’
‘OK!’ Ethan replied.
Salty wandered over to the mattress, where Vincent was trying to get Emily off to sleep. ‘I know this ain’t the best time to be bringing this up, but we gonna have to deal with that tooth – and sooner rather than later.
‘What do you mean by “deal with it”?’ Kristin said.
‘Well, if that critter stays where it is, your daughter could have much more to worry about than a bad toothache,’ he said. ‘The infection has already spread to her jaw by the looks of the swelling. If it gets into her neck or brain, we could be lookin’ at septicaemia or even meningitis. Now, I don’t know whether you’ve taken a look around this place, but we don’t exactly have the kind of equipment to treat something like that, and it would certainly be more than the immune system of a little girl low on food and water could cope with.’
‘OK, you’ve made your point. We’ll deal with it,’ Vincent said. ‘Just let her get some rest first.’
‘Soon as it’s light and we can see what we’re doin’.’
Vincent nodded, cupping a hand on Emily’s forehead to check her temperature again.
‘I’m gonna take a look-see downstairs. Might be something we can use.’ Salty held his candle out to aid his descent down the dark steps to the ground floor, careful not to make any noise that would alert the creatures lurking on the other side of the doors.
Kristin watched Raine closely. Her black skin blended in with the shadows. She tilted her head back against the wall, staring off into space. Kristin rose from the mattress, elevating her injured leg as she did so.
‘Where are you going?’ Vincent said.
‘To talk to Raine. I won’t be long.’
‘You should rest.’
‘You’re right; I should.’ Kristin stood up and hobbled across the room. She smiled at Raine, but she got a glare in return. Kristin could almost see the rage burning behind her eyes. ‘Mind if I sit? I’m not too fancy on my feet right now.’
Raine granted permission by glancing down to the empty space next to her.
Kristin winced as she slid down the wall, then adjusted her position until her leg was as comfortable as was possible. ‘Are you alright?’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ Raine snapped.
‘Easy – I thought we were on the same side back at camp. If it weren’t for you, those soldiers would be loading our bodies into a mass grave.’
‘You’re optimistic. We’d be lucky if they just torched us.’
‘You suspected, didn’t you? Even before Ethan?’
‘I know how they operate,’ Raine said.
Kristin glanced over to Ethan. He was wringing his hands as he muttered something indiscernible under his breath. ‘So what’s his story?’ she asked.
‘Not sure yet, but I’m going to find out,’ Raine said.
‘What about this Salty guy? Can he be trusted?’
‘I told you, I don’t trust anyone,’ Raine said. ‘It’s the only way to be sure.’ The harsh lines of her features seemed to soften when she realised what she’d said. ‘No offence.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I know how things are now.’ Kristin felt a sharp surge of pain through her ankle and gasped.
‘We should take a look at that.’
‘I’m fine, really.’
Raine’s stare intensified again. ‘You don’t look fine. Let me look.’
Salty shifted his weight backwards as he crept up to the cupboard door, half-expecting something to burst out of it and grab him by the throat. He snatched at the handles and flipped the doors wide, pushing the candle flame towards the darkened shelves. A collection of cables weaved between large machine batteries like colourful electric eels. The rest of the contents consisted of machine parts – some he recognised, some he didn’t.
He closed the cupboard and tip-toed over to the office desk, where he noticed a dark red stain that had soaked deep into the cushion attached to the back of the chair. He sifted through the files on top of the desk, but there was nothing of interest in them. They were full of accounts, employee details, and an accident report book. When he turned his attention to the draw underneath the desk top, it wouldn’t slide open. There was a small keyhole in the middle of it, but no key in sight.
Salty had no desire to go fumbling around in the dark for it, so he snatched at the drawer’s handle… and again. On the second attempt it shot open, rattling the legs of the desk against the hard floor. He held his breath and heard a murmur outside. It was the right pitch to be female. A thud on the wall next to him indicated that the creature had collided with the exterior. He froze and listened as its dragging footsteps moved to the other end of the building.
The candle flame revealed that the items inside the drawer weren’t worth the risk. A few pens and pencils, some paperclips, a ball of string and a carton of salt were all that was on offer.
As Raine slid her shoe from her injured foot, Kristin had to grit her teeth just to stop herself from crying out. She peeled her sock away from her ankle and pressed her thumb into the badly swollen flesh. ‘It’s not great,’ Raine said. ‘You could do with staying off it for at least a week.’
‘Too bad we don’t even have twelve hours.’
‘That’s one thing me and the new guy agree on. It’s a safe haven for now, but it could quickly turn into a death trap if we overstay our welcome. I’m not comfortable with how close we are to the military patrols.’
‘Preaching to the converted on that score,’ Kristen said.
‘Just as well I’ve got a roll of bandages in my pack.’
‘Really?’
‘I brought the essentials.’ As promised, Raine retrieved a roll of thick white gauze from her bag.
‘Always prepared, huh?’
‘Not always, but it’s probably better than some of the shit you packed,’ Raine said.
Kristin giggled, and then remembered where they were. ‘Thank you.’ She saw the hint of a smile curl the woman’s lips.
Kristin watched her husband getting Emily off to sleep while Raine started to wrap her ankle. He leaned over her, singing something to her in a whisper. Emily sung along too. Kristin recognised it as the tune from her daughter’s favourite cartoon. The child gazed up at Vincent in wonder. ‘We didn’t have her until late in life because Vince and I only found each other eleven years ago. Both divorcees, but Em was the first child for both of us. I used to worry – y’know, about carrying in my forties, all the risks involved with that. He kept telling me it would be OK. He’d wanted kids for the longest time. I knew it, even though he never said it. Just look at how he is with her. She worships the ground he walks on.’
‘Does that make you jealous?’ Raine said, tugging on the slack of the bandage.
‘I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly cut out to be a mom. I guess I just wasn’t born that way.’
‘Doesn’t mean you love your daughter any less.’
‘No, but I sometimes wish I could be more like him.’
Raine stopped the bandaging as a question crossed her mind, one she couldn’t help but ask. ‘Even now?’
Kristin looked away from her family, as if snatched from a wonderful dream. ‘No. Not now.’
They heard the creak of Salty’s steps on the staircase. He appeared clutching the spoils of his search to his chest. ‘Looks like they’re thinning out down there. They’ll be all but gone by mornin’,’ he said. ‘But until then, we need to keep watch. The windows up here give us pretty much a panoramic view. We
can keep an eye on the door from the top of the stairs.’
‘I’ll take first watch,’ Raine said. ‘I’ll just finish up on her ankle.’
‘Fine by me,’ Salty said. He walked over to his backpack near the basin and settled down. ‘Wake me in a couple of hours and I’ll take over.’
Raine wrapped the gauze one more time and tied it off. ‘There. Should give you a little more support.’
‘That’s great.’
‘It will have to do. Go on. Try and get some sleep with your family. I’ll wake you if anything happens.’
3
Emily blinked before she opened her eyes. Her parents were lying next to her; both of them were still. Her face hurt a little and her cheek felt puffier than ever. The shadows on the dusty second floor seemed to close in on her the more she concentrated on them. A figure was moving around near the window, and Emily’s first thought was to shake her father awake so he could hold her and tell her not to be scared.
Instead, she hesitated, watching from the mattress as the figure stepped into the light. It was Raine, making sure the coast was clear. Salty lay curled up in a ball under the basin, snoring like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Emily sat up and looked around. Ethan was still in the same position, his back against the wall. His eyes were open but didn’t seem to be focussing on anything in particular. ‘Hey,’ she whispered.
He snapped out of his trance, startled by her voice. ‘Hey! You scared me.’
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to.’
‘That’s OK. How’s your tooth?’
‘It still hurts. My daddy says if I keep taking the pills, my face will go down eventually and then it won’t hurt so much.’
‘A wise man, your daddy,’ Ethan said.
‘Don’t you want to go to sleep?’
Ethan pushed his fingers through the curls in his hair to scratch his scalp. ‘Sleeping’s not really my thing.’
‘Everyone needs to sleep, silly.’
‘Me, not so much anymore.’
Everything Dies [Season One] Page 7