Extinct (AM13 Outbreak Series), page 10
What a fucking mess!
“Are you okay here?” Andy asks, evidently awkward. I nod, unable to make my mouth talk out loud. “I’m going to keep us secure, then keep watch or…whatever.” He coughs over his words, but I’m no longer paying much attention to him. My brain is doing the usual dash over the day before it’ll allow itself to shut down. I hear the door click behind him, but I don’t bother to watch him go.
I think about how we’re going to have to make sure we move extremely quickly tomorrow. We need to get there right away—I can’t stand another night of this. Hopefully with a full night’s sleep, we won’t have any of the same problems in the morning. As I look over the map once more, trying to work out how far we have to go, I realise that my eyes are dizzy, my brain is swirling. I must be more tired than I thought I was!
I start to drift; my eyes start to close…
Buzz!
A fly starts humming around me, darting in and out of my ear. I swat it away angrily, but it doesn’t seem to want to leave me alone. Every time I almost fall asleep, it buzzes again. I hit myself trying to kill it, more times than I can count. Rage builds up and up until I grab a toy fire engine off the floor and smash it as hard as I can against the nearest wall, blowing it to smithereens.
Despite this, Melody doesn’t even stir.
***
I look up at the ceiling, noticing that it’s later and much darker than the last time I was aware. I try to move my stiff body, but it takes a while. Clearly sleeping sat up on a hardwood floor isn’t good for comfort. I stand up, stretching wildly, before padding across the room. I gaze down at Melody—her sleeping face is so adorable, so innocent. It makes me regret my earlier foul mood. She didn’t deserve any of it. She’s done nothing to deserve any of this.
I lean in closer to get a better look, and as I do my view of her alters slightly. There is now something…irresistible about her skin. I sniff the air curiously then find my tongue licking her cheek.
I pull back, disgusted with myself.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
And yet…
I bite my own finger to stop myself doing what I really want to, but I taste rotten, revolting, nothing like she would.
I lean in again, unable to resist. It’s as if something else has taken hold of me and is controlling my body. My mouth starts to salivate, my teeth start to gnash, I almost don’t even care this time when my face reaches forward to take the much needed bite…
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
I jump up with a start, panting heavily. My heart is thumping painfully in my chest. I spin around to see Melody, safe and sound in her bed and my body sags with relief.
“It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean anything,” I mumble to myself as I crash down the stairs. “It was just a dream, none of that really happened.” As much as I tell myself that, I don’t know if I really believe it. The memory of her flesh, the smell, the texture, it’s just too real.
I just need to put some distance between myself and that poor young girl. That dream was obviously just a manifestation of my deepest fears, but since I’ve had the cure, there’s no chance in that actually happening to me. I’m going to be okay; I just need to keep that at the forefront of my mind.
I step over the rotting bodies once more, this time not even noticing the smell of them and I find a bottle of—what I assume is—water and I gulp it down quickly, easing my sawdust throat. The liquid doesn’t feel like it should, but I don’t care. To be honest, nothing has been the same since all of this happened so I try not to take any notice, or read too deeply into it.
I certainly don’t allow myself to think that it has anything to do with the disgusting bite on my arm.
I take a quick glance at it, before forcing myself to look away. It’s absolutely gross. The blood coagulating underneath it is black and totally reeks of something I can’t even describe—I wonder if that will change when the cure gets to it.
Oh God, when the hell is this cure going to get to it?
I quickly tug the top of my trousers down, wanting to see the damage that’s been done to my hip. It’s bloody, bruised and extremely sore, but it’s clearly just a scratch. I should probably try and clean it up at some point, to stop it from getting septic or infected by something else, but right now that feels like far too much effort.
I lift my leg up, also wanting to see that wound too—now that I’ve started seeing the damage that’s been done to me, I might as well see it all—but I can’t manage to get it too far off the ground. The material surrounding the bite has been torn away, so I can see a large gash, but thankfully it doesn’t look quite as bad as my arm. It looks like it could actually heal over time.
It’s a wonder anyone can bear to be around me while I’m like this. I don’t know if I’d be able to stand it if it was anyone else.
It’s a shame that the stuff won’t seal up the gaping gap left on my arm, get it all done at once. I don’t know how I’m going to sort that injury out. It’s just so deep and huge. That’s going to have to be dealt with when things are more back to normal. Assuming that happens, of course. There’s got to be some sort of doctor or nurse left. It’d be absolutely devastating if everyone with medical knowledge was gone.
Maybe Michael might have a clue? Who knows? I’ll be sure to ask him when we eventually find him.
As I slump over the kitchen counter in this strange house, I look around, noticing how intact everything still is. I know this isn’t my books—or any zombie apocalypse fantasy for that matter—but you always just assume everything will completely go to shit. You just picture chaos ensuing immediately, everything just falling apart. Outside it has, but here, in this house—aside from the dead bodies—it’s as if nothing had ever happened.
Of course, the UK has crumbled under the strain of the virus to an extent, but seeing this here makes me feel like it isn’t completely unfixable. I guess because there was the Lockdown, then we were taken to that island, there hasn’t been too much time for looting, vandalism, the sort of nightmares you’d expect. Although things have been tough, it’s important to remember that it could have always gone another way and been much, much worse.
My eyes start to shut of their own accord as I lay the majority of my body weight on that granite counter, but each time they do, horrific, unwelcome images flash up behind my eyelids, making me jump every single time. I see myself—completely zombified, flesh—tearing and ripping, bodies—dead and absolutely everywhere. I want to keep awake, to avoid all of this, sleep is clearly not good for me right now, but of course my body has other ideas and it shuts down regardless of what I want.
***
“Georgie?” I feel someone shaking my aching body and I jolt awake.
“Wh—what?” I cry out, rubbing drool from my chin.
A blush instantly fills my cheek as I see Andy standing there, staring at me as if I look dreadful—which to be fair, I probably do. I open and close my mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say, but for some annoying reason my mind stays blank.
“What are you doing?” he finally asks, incredulous. “Is Melody all right?”
Melody.
“Um…yeah, yeah. She’s fine. Asleep,” I stammer like an idiot, whilst trying to nod like I know what I’m on about.
“So, why are you…never mind.” He shakes his head, seemingly knowing that there’s no point in asking that question.
I let out a deep breath that I hadn’t even realised I was holding in.
“How are you doing?” He eyes me, actually looking concerned as he speaks. I watch his gaze flicker over my arm and I hide it behind my back instinctively. I don’t want anyone’s sympathy—particularly not his. Just the fact that he’s not being his usual gruff, unpleasant self is off-putting enough. If he starts to be nice to me, I might just cry.
“Ye—yeah. I’m doing okay.” I look away, unable to make any sort of eye contact.
“Okay well, just let me know if…there’s anything I can do, or whatever.” He coughs awkwardly, obviously as uncomfortable with this conversation as I am. Then I realise, the last time we were alone, I was wrapped in his arms as we waited for Tom and Dr. Jones.
My heart starts to thump once more. I wonder if he’s thinking about it too.
“She’s a good kid.” He blows out some air as he speaks.
Obviously not then! Just me.
“Erm…yeah.” I mean, I guess. I have no idea—no one to compare her to.
“I’m a dad, you know?” he says, gazing wistfully away—almost as if he isn’t aware that he’s talking.
“Oh?”
Oh God, is that really the best I can come up with?
“Yeah.” He carries on now speaking more directly, but still not looking at me. “I was out on duty during the Lockdown—delivering meals, that sort of thing. My boys stayed home with their mother.” I gulp, suddenly desperately sure that I don’t want to hear the rest of this story. “I wanted to help, to contribute. I only went back for them when the decision was made to go to that island. Between you and me, the people in charge then were definitely not Government officials, but everyone else was following orders, so I did too. No one else had any answers.”
He sighs deeply and stares at the ground. I reach out to rub his back, but pull away at the last minute, thinking the action might be inappropriate.
“When I got there, they were gone—the door was open, there was a couple of infected inside, but not them. I assumed they were already at the airport, but I couldn’t find them. Nor did I see them at the camp, so when the chance to come back to the UK on the mission arose, I took it. I was desperate to find them—I still am. A part of me thinks that there’s still hope because I haven’t seen them yet. How stupid is that?”
“No, not at all!” I cry out automatically. I wonder if I’d be the same in his position, I don’t know how easily I’d accept defeat in that situation. For a second, my thoughts wander to my parents again, but Andy starts talking, taking me right away from them.
“Anyway, that’s why I couldn’t leave Melody with Tom.” He finally looks at me, this time trying to gauge my reaction at the mention of Tom. I try my best to give my expression straight, but I can feel my cheeks heating up, completely giving me away. “I know he’s your…friend, but I don’t trust him.”
“Why?” I snap, despite myself. “Because of what happened?”
“What, because he refused to kill people?” Andy yells indignantly.
I glare at Andy, refusing to back down. I don’t think Tom was wrong to let those people live—look what happened to his friend after he shot people. He ended up killing himself! If I were a more ghastly person I’d ask him what he would have expected to happen if he found his wife and child alive. But I’m not horrid, so I don’t.
“No, not because of that,” he finally continues. “I knew Tom a bit from before.”
“Were you in the army pre-all of this, then?” I finally catch on to the fact that he’s been performing army duties since the Lockdown. I never really bothered to ask him anything about himself before now.
“I was TA.” The confusion must be obvious on my face. “Territorial Army—reserves, not full time. I met Tom a couple of times through that. Since we came back here for that mission, he’s been…different. You met him before, in the camp, didn’t you? Don’t you think he’s changed?”
I stay silent, refusing to make eye contact. I do think that, I’ve thought that since I first saw him, but I don’t think it’ll do any of us any good to think along those lines. After all, I’ve left Billie with him. I’ve spent all this time trusting him.
I don’t want to be proven wrong.
“I hope I’m mistaken. I mean, maybe it’s just all of this that’s changed him.”
I nod, praying that he’s incorrect too, that we both are.
“We’ve all changed,” I murmur. Even he must have. No one could go through all that we’ve been through with this damn virus, and still be completely unfazed, exactly the same person.
“I suppose you’re right.”
We stare at each other for a moment and a surge of feelings run through me. This is the first time I’ve been able to see Andy in a more humanised light. I’ve always had a negative opinion of him, derived from the conditions I met him under. I can even feel my body language softening under this new revelation.
For a brief moment, I almost bring up Jasmine—desperate to know the truth, but then he glances away and the moment is broken.
I lose my nerve.
***
As the morning comes, and the light bursts into the room, I wake up in an uncomfortable angle on the sofa with Andy on the floor next to me. I immediately rush back up to the room where Melody is sleeping, refusing to look at the rotten bodies on the floor as I go. A horrible feeling inside of me is making me believe that I may have tasted them last night, but I know that’s just the exhaustion and the nightmares talking. There’s no way that could have happened—I’ve had the cure and anyway Andy was around me pretty much the whole time I was downstairs.
There’s just no way I would have done anything like that—infected or not.
Plus, I highly doubt even zombies eat rotten meat like that!
Anyway, that’s not worth thinking of. It’s time to leave, to move on to the next part of this journey. I just want to get the hell out of here. I want to find Michael.
I want all of this to be over.
“Melody,” I whisper. “It’s time to wake up, we have to go.”
I watch her stir. She’s clearly not slept in such a comfortable bed in such a long time, and she doesn’t want to wake up. I don’t blame her, I completely understand, but we really have to make a move before I go stir crazy. I need to get out of this house—the desire to go is more intense than anything I’ve ever felt before.
“Come on!” I start to shake her, but she simply bats my hand away.
I walk downstairs, past Andy who’s also still asleep, and out to the garden area, just to gulp in some breaths of air, just to get outside for a second to take stock of our situation. I glance across the expanse of land this house has at its disposal and I wonder what led the people inside to die. It seems fairly isolated, with a large view, so I can’t imagine the infected being that much of a problem—even when the numbers of them roaming the streets were at their highest.
It must have been suicide. I can understand that.
I consider for a second if there are any infected left. Tom and Andy have both said that the army have been working towards killing them off, getting rid of the virus completely. Tom had also told me that the infected were slowly dying out of their own accord too, saving them a lot of work. Maybe the race of the zombies is becoming extinct, just as quickly as it rose. It’s just as possible as any other theory. I mean, we’ve been here for a few hours and haven’t seen any yet, which just a few months ago would have been impossible.
I then start to wonder if things are running this smoothly—if it can really be considered that—in the rest of the world. I wonder if anyone knows what’s happening everywhere else, or if each country lost contact with every other—purely concerned with their own safety.
Suddenly, a hand wraps around my leg, interrupting my pondering, making me jump into the air, letting out a small shriek as I do.
“Oh God, Melody!” I exclaim. “You scared me then.”
“Sorry,” she mumbles, sleepily. “Sorry it took me so long to wake up.”
I look at her closely, seeing her bloodshot eyes and how much all of this has truly mentally drained her. Of course it has, her mother has gone—I don’t know what she knows about all of that, but I hope she doesn’t know the horrific truth—and on top of that, her father was shot. Right in front of her too. She probably doesn’t even know why any of that happened. I can only begin to imagine what effect that’s having on her. All-in-all, she’s actually doing pretty well!
“It’s okay.” I sigh. “We just need to get going, to see this Michael. It’s important, so really we need to get there very quickly. Let’s go and get Andy and make a move.”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
This time, we make absolutely sure that we’re heading in the right direction before we move. We can’t afford any more errors—it’s literally a case of life and death. The longer we waste, the more people die. It’s a ridiculous amount of pressure that I’m trying very hard not to focus on.
When I think back to how useless I’ve been throughout this nightmare, how withdrawn I was before all of this, it seems absolutely insane I’m here in this position, a major part of an extremely important mission. Every time my brain goes there I start to feel a little dizzy, overwhelmed by everything.
I know I should try and take this one step at a time, to keep myself focused, but every time I’m not concentrating on it, my brain jumps to the bigger picture and anxiety tickles it’s way inside of me all over again.
For some reason, I have charge of the map—it’s almost as if Andy trusts me with this rather than himself. A fact I find highly implausible! Maybe it’s because he knows he is much more qualified for childcare than I am. Despite that, I do my part willingly. I decide to keep my eyes trained on it as much as possible. I want to do this right; I don’t want any fuck ups to be my fault. Not this late in the day, not when the chance of the few of us left surviving rests on this.
Although I’m trying my best to do a good job, I still feel overly nauseous, disorientated, unsure of myself. On top of this, every time the wind blows in a certain direction, I get a tempting whiff of something that I’ve never smelled before. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I know it’s meat. I’m well aware that it’s Andy and Melody, but luckily it isn’t so strong that I have any desire to act upon it. A fact that must be down to the cure.
