“What's your name?” I asked her.
“Georgia,” she said, giving me distrusting eyes. I went straight to the point and pulled out the necklace that I had wiped of his blood.
“Hussain’s dead, he wanted you to have his necklace,” I said to her. She made a small stabbing gasp and shuddered. He must have made quite an impression on her.
“I see,” she spoke as she gently took it from me. I turned and started to walk away immediately after.
“Thank you,” she said. I didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent, it was all too much for me. My friend was gone, the camp was overflowing with people, more and more gnashers advanced on the fences every day, and all the while we were running out of food and ammunition. This camp was a ticking time bomb, and so too was everyone’s sanity.
Gang War - Day 18 - Jess
I had been locked away the same as I had been five days ago, albeit in the same room as Peter. He had told me terrible things. He said his brother died and came back again. That would be crazy enough on its own, but the fact he was not feral or decaying, and had powers of regeneration rivalling lizards’ tails, not just on one limb but every limb… It was a miracle. I was confused and scared, ignorant and oblivious to this new world. He was some sort of mutant, changed by the infection, the same infection that has caused unprecedented damage to humanity. He had to feast on flesh for his powers to work. He had it all, inhuman strength, speed, and an immunity to the infection. I couldn't believe what Peter was telling me. I was also surprised how well I had coped with the death of Mike. Father had entrusted me with protecting him and Lily, I felt like I had failed him. The thought of Terrence literally feasting on the dead made me sick to my stomach, and the sight of it, the image in my head, made me gag. What the hell was going on in the world?
“Jess,” said Peter coming into the room. It was a room stacked full of chairs for the hotel.
“What?” I said. I distrusted him so much, I wanted to trust him, but he was so shady.
“Come. Romano is here,” he said, piquing my interest. Romano was the one he said was scouting the shopping centre where Lily was taken. I left the room and to my pleasant surprise, I found Fay in the corridor. She looked scared and her eyes were fearful and full of sorrow.
“Jess!” She said, relieved to see me again.
“Fay! How are you?” I asked her. It was good to see her after yesterday's terror. She trembled as I touched her.
“It is so good to see you!”
She hugged me back.
“I would have been here if not for him,” I gestured to Peter.
“Do you know about his brother?” I asked her. She looked down to the ground. She knew!
“He is not a bad person Jess,” she said, lightly treading around the issue of cannibalism.
“Terrence is a monster,” I stated loudly, contradicting her, then looking straight to Peter. I’d had enough of this deceit, the last straw would be finding out Lily was not where they said, or worse.
“Have you all gone mad?” I asked them. Terrence’s feasting terrified me, he was an animal, savagely ripping off rotten organs with his jaw, stained red and black. His teeth dripping with the rotten dark blood of the dead. As hard as I tried, I couldn't forget it.
“I already told you everything about my brother,” Peter said.
“Where is he?” I then asked. I would not be within a hundred miles of him. Who knows what dangers he could pose? He was sick, mental, insane, and they were insane for defending him.
“He's with Romano, discussing ways of rescuing your sister, who's alive,” Peter then said with purpose to shut me up. I immediately looked away in disgust, anger and embarrassment. But I shouldn't feel embarrassed for calling him what he is, a little act of charity did not excuse his cannibalistic urges. Peter sighed and walked down the corridor, and I followed him hesitantly. I entered the old security room, and glanced at the cameras showing the cafe and reception. The dead were gone, nothing moved. They must have cleared it out while I was in that storeroom overnight.
“Peter, why is Ian not here to welcome me,” said a tanned short man with leather boots on. His hair was short, sleek and black, and he was sitting down in a chair, his feet up on the table as Terrence stood opposite. He spoke in a South African accent.
“Who is this?” He asked as he saw me.
“Romano, meet Jess, this is the sister of the girl you spoke about,” said Peter. Terrence folded his arms tighter as he saw me. I gave him an uneasy glance.
“Ah, well you will be happy to know she's alive, your sister,” Romano said, smiling.
“She is?” I said, as I made a worried smile and felt joy for the first time in weeks.
“When did you last see her?” I asked in a whimper. This was all I cared about. I began to become emotional.
“Well…” He cocked his head to the side, something was wrong, I thought, then I froze.
“I kidnapped one of their group, threatened him, and he told me everything,” Romano said with a cocky glance to Terrence. I was paralysed with fear. Who were these people? They pretended to be normal survivors but instead were all sinister!
“You didn't kill him?” Peter asked, I silently gasped. Romano pursed his lips and spoke.
“If I had let him live, they would know who was stealing their food, who was skulking about in their hideout. Remember I was trapped in there for five days hiding!” He raised his voice.
“I was knackered, I had to take my chance, he saw me, and I supposed it was a perfect opportunity to get the information we needed,” he reasoned. Romano had killed someone. He was dangerous. As soon as I had Lily we would drive as far away from here as possible, no way would I stay here with these murderers.
“And there was me thinking you had expertly taken one like an assassin and scouted the place out for us. Really you just hid like a coward,” Terrence spoke.
“I could have gone in there and killed them all and taken the girl back,” he then said to his brother.
“We don't know how powerful you are yet, what if you get shot a hundred times, I doubt you'll be able to heal from that!” Peter argued back.
“They are fifteen men strong, their leader of the group is a girl, called Naomi. She is away stealing food from a military camp on the other side of the airport.”
“They have night runs to this camp, and steal from it in the night. Half their numbers help the operation, we should attack when they are smuggling out this camp, when they are least prepared.”
“And when is that?” I asked, jumping into the conversation.
“Tonight,” he simply said with a smile.
“We should strike tonight. From the east entrance, there is one man on guard, it will be so easy.”
“And also,” began Romano. “The leopard jacket man will be there; his name is Jeremy.”
The brothers fell silent, Terrence unfolded his arms, and Peter frowned. This leopard jacket wearing person was important to them.
“Who is this Jeremy to you?” I asked. Peter’s eyes dragged away from Romano, before darting to me, then to the floor, then back to me again.
“Jeremy is the name of the man who killed our sister,” he said, before exhaling. Terrence stepped forward to his brother.
“We will have revenge tonight brother!” He said holding him.
“Yes,” Peter replied with a smile.
Terrence side eyed me and let go of his brother.
“I think Betty needs me,” Peter said, stepping away. “Romano, Ian is on the roof. Come, I will take you to him, he will be happy to see you again.”
Romano leapt up out of his chair and followed him out of the room with a heavy grin, until it was just me and Terrence left in the room. I wandered over to Romano’s bag, and peeked inside. Terrence walked over to a table with the guns. His back was to me, so I checked inside, and found food, scraps of receipts and a crowbar.
“I’m sure you're scared of me,” said Terrence as he configured a rifle.
/> “I wanted to have a moment to explain,” he told me.
“Explain then, because what I saw was pretty fucking mental mate,” I said with a nervous smile. He looked at me with no amusement on his face.
“It was instinct, the meat. I was drawn to it, it made me stronger, more focused, my hunger, my pain abated. I’m not a danger, I wouldn't dream of hurting anyone!”
I said nothing. I was not interested in his reasons.
“In fact, I was scared, this whole time I have been, I didn't want this, the virus, my sister's death. It chose me, out of all of those people to die. It brought me back, not her,” he said, cursing his luck under his breath. .
“I don't understand? Are you saying you died?” I asked him, this was a bad joke. It had to be.
“What did the other side look like?” I joked immediately after.
“I don't know, I woke with no wounds. I was shot in the neck, a spray of bullets went through me, to my neck, my chest, my side, passing right through me and into my sister behind me. She was dead when I woke up. I pulled a bullet out of my side, and the blood on my fingers, it tasted good.”
“I want to vomit,” I spoke my thoughts aloud.
“How do you think I feel?” He replied angrily.
“You're one of them, you're a dead one, but alive,” I said, thinking of the infected outside. He frowned and gazed down, realising what I thought he was, and he didn't like it.
“I’m not one of them. I’m not a monster. Believe me,” he stated adamantly. I glanced away, to the small stock of weapons and the red circle on the map, indicating the location of this other gang. We had all we needed to raid this place, tonight.
“Save my sister, then I will believe you,” I said to him. I got up and left. I needed space away from them. I walked out and into the corridor, up three floors, then tried to open all the doors, but found they were all locked. I leaned against the wall and broke down crying, slumping to a heap of depression. I resolved to stand after staring absently into space for at least half an hour, while curled into a fetal position. My face had streams of dried tears on it, and my nose was blocked. I had to get Lily back. That was my one thought, my one goal. Peter arrived later, finding me still leaning against the wall, covering my face.
“You ready, we’re going now,” he said, and I turned to face him with a cold hearted glare.
“I’m ready,” I said, playing nice with a deadpan look. I was fully concentrated on getting her back, nothing would stand in my way. Back in the security room, I was given a rifle with only two magazines, and was vaguely taught how to reload them by Terrence.
“The dead are more active at night I reckon,” Romano said as he took his weapon in his hands, and placed his mask on.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, as Mark came in with Fay.
“I see them, let's just I hear their footsteps a lot better,” he answered with a coy smile. Mark was a mute since his friend's death. It was his fault the dead got in. He was given a rifle, so too was Romano and Terrence. Peter took the shotgun and he gave the sidearms to Fay to give to the other hotel guests.
“Fay, look after Beatrice, and Ian, wait on the top floor, you have enough food?” Peter asked.
“Yeah, loads,” she replied.
“Let's move then,” Romano said, opening the corridor doors to the reception. I gave Fay a reassuring look, then donned my mask. Terrence followed Romano and so too did I. There was blood on the floor where the bodies had fallen from the attack yesterday. They had been moved. Whether or not Terrence had disposed of them, in his sick and twisted way, I could only guess.
We made the walk over the street outside, as Fay closed the doors to the hotel.
“Don't shoot unless you have to,” muttered Terrence. He was the only one without a mask, as he claimed he was immune. I didn't believe him though, it would be ironic if he fell ill to the mystery disease now. I crossed the street as the rain poured down, and the water swept to the drain where a body had been trapped. It was bloated and half its insides were hanging down to the sewage. We split from the road ahead, as a cat with golden eyes watched us from atop a fence, near a field that Peter gestured to. I followed him.
“The field is a short cut,” he said. Romano took the lead as we broke through the thick branches, coming out onto a rich housing estate. Here I was wary, as not a single soul was in sight, dead or alive. Shadows moved in the windows of gated mansions. One had a car rammed into the entrance where a thick metal gate was sealed shut.
“Some people are in them mansions,” I said to them.
“Rich bastards, we should break in and teach them a lesson in humility,” Romano whispered as the rain continued to pour. We made it to a busy street with shops and a high street, littered with nothing but dust and marks of shoes. The shopping centre was close. We perched over a building near the entrance, and aimed our weapons to the front.
“How are we going to approach this?” Asked Terrence.
“We wait for the truck, then we move in,” said Romano.
“There is a multiple story car park overlooking the back exit where the truck to the camp leaves, I suggest we go there, they don't use the main entrance,” he added, and I looked to the boarded-up entrance. I held my finger to the trigger, and clenched it tight as one of the group came into view from the roof of the shopping complex. He had a mask on and in his hands was a bat stained with blood.
“Mark, you come with me, Romano, you watch the back,” said Peter.
“We should go together to this back entrance and watch the truck leave, then we will know it is safe to attack,” I suggested.
“I agree,” Terrence said. They all looked to Peter, who reluctantly agreed.
As we made our way to the car park, I wondered why he was so eager to attack. It was stupid to attack now, when we knew they split half their manpower to stealing supplies in the middle of the night.
“My brother wants to attack now so he can kill the leopard jacket murderer,” said Terrence as we made our way. “He worries that he will leave with the truck.”
“This man, did he mean to kill your sister, or was she just in the wrong place?” I asked him, wondering at the same time how safe Lily was.
“Oh, he meant to kill her,” he answered. “He meant to get us both, and he got us both.”
I gulped as we continued to the car park, and as evening came quicker than expected.
“He shot at us, I close my eyes I can still hear my sisters screams, seconds later, I’m tasting her blood in my mouth,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. We hustled down together near to row of cars in the car park, covering the stairwell up, and waited for night.
“He stands over us and shoots again, ending her life. He smoked a cigar over our bullet ridden bodies and laughed. I’ll remember his laugh until the day I die, until I step on his neck, as I choke the life from him.”
Revenge - Day 19 - Peter
It had just struck midnight as me, Romano, Mark, Jess and my brother, Terrence, scouted the shopping centre from the fifth floor of the car park. I watched for the truck that Romano said always left at midnight. I gave him an angry glance as I glanced from the truck garage and back.
“Where is it?” I asked him. I was so impatient, I wanted revenge and I wanted it now.
“Be patient brother,” Terrence said to me. But I couldn't, the man that had killed Abby was in there. She was innocent, and they killed her in cold blood, mere days after the lockdown was implemented, they couldn't wait to start their anarchy, but I’d bring anarchy and chaos to them soon enough. Soon enough, the lights to a big truck flashed on and onto the flooded street. The rain was illuminated in light as it scattered down in its droves, and as the vehicle churned out and onto the main road.
“Just as planned,” muttered Romano. We all spied as it drove past.
“Let's move,” I said.
“Jess, you and Mark take the east entrance, Terrence, you go to the stairs there, be up high on the s
econd floor. I’ll take the back entrance.”
“What about me?” Romano asked.
“You can wait here, if the truck comes back, lay some fire down,” I told him.
“What? That’s stupid, I’ll die, that’s like six people in that truck, I’m dead for sure,” he protested, but I walked off to kill the leopard jacket.
“Save your sister,” I told Jess as I walked by. She didn't respond, she knew what had to be done. I ran into a light jog and made my way to the back entrance, where the truck had left from. I slipped under the shutters and found myself inside the chicken pen. The air was warm, and the smell of bleach was strong. I traversed the storage room, and heard the footsteps and whistling of one of their group. Peeking around the corner, I saw they had their back to me. Without warning, I took the shot, blowing him away, then I marched up to his whimpering broken body, crawling on the shiny bloody floor, and blew a hole right in his head. My adrenaline was so high, I felt a rush like no other surge through me! That was for my sister, I thought, then I went on, in search of others I could punish. I would take no prisoners, no mercy, they were evil, stealing from an army camp, from the people who are supposed to protect you! Killing my sister! My innocent sister! They deserved nothing less than what they gave her, death. I stumbled upon another, and fired all my magazine at them, but not one of my bullets hit. They hid behind a garbage bin. How fitting, as they were nothing but garbage themselves.
“Stop, what do you want?” Called a woman's voice, as she groaned in pain. One of my stray bullets must have hit, good, I hoped it hurt.
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