As the Light Dies (67 page)

Andy sat on a bench on the ground floor of the Eastgate Shopping Centre surrounded by deserted cafes as he trawled through all the newspapers and magazines he could find, gathering up as much information about the current situation that he could. It was hard to read much of anything without any form of light, but with his eyes fully adjusted he found that there was just enough ambient light for him to pick up the basics of what was going on, or at least what the press thought was going on. Leann and Collin had left him to it having sifted through several magazines and newspapers themselves and found that the stories were all very much the same, only written and laid out differently. Every one of them just as unhelpful as the last. All they found was hype and speculation. And Leann gave herself a headache trying to read with next to no light.

They wandered around the ground floor and found a sandwich bar that had been left open. Desperate for some real food they made some sandwiches figuring the
y’
d pay for it when everything settled back down again, but once the
y’
d made them they found that the
y’
d lost their appetites. They persevered knowing that they needed to eat but Leann could
n’
t finish hers so wrapped it in foil to finish later. Collin finished his, but only because he forced himself to eat it, he knew he needed the energy. Andy urged them to eat what they could of the fresh food before it started going off and they were forced on to the pre-packaged stuff. He told them that he wanted to keep as many options open to them as possible, saying that they did
n’
t know how long they might be stuck in the shopping centre. Leann did
n’
t like what he had to say about having to stay in the Eastgate Centre, she needed to get home and back to her mum, but she did
n’
t challenge him, she was too tired to and she knew that they were
n’
t about to leave anytime soon, not for the next ten or twelve hours at least.

After eating, Collin and Leann sat on a sofa that curled around one of the buildings large support pillars and compared what the
y’
d both read about the situation. They were disappointed that they could
n’
t find any reports about any kind of infection, or peopl
e’
s skin tone changing or losing their voice, and there was nothing about anyone turning murderous
,
or even Cannibal
!

“
I have to get home to my mum
,”
Leann told Collin
,“
sh
e’
ll be worried sick
.
”

Collin nodded.

“
I just hope she does
n’
t try to come looking for me, not with those freaks out there
.
”

“
I know what you mean
,”
said Collin
,“
I feel the same way about my grandparents
.”
He paused for a moment thinking and then said
,“
Tha
t’
s if the
y’
re still there
.
”

“DON’T say that Collin
!
God tha
t’
s a horrible thing to say
.
”

“
I know, but we have to be real. There...
.
“

“
I know
,”
said Leann
,
“I know, ok
!
Le
t’
s just leave it at that
!
”

Collin nodded and they both sat back in silence for a while, drifting off in to their own thoughts. Leann thought about her mum
,
She’s probably pacing up and down the kitchen right now
,
she thought picturing her, while Collin saw his grandparents in his min
d’
s eye. He saw his Gran having to persuade his granddad every five minutes not to leave the house to come looking for him, telling him it was too dangerous and too far. And she was right he thought, with those infected people out there he would
n’
t stand a chance. No one would!

He had to fight to stop his vivid imagination wandering off and going too far with the situation. It frightened him and a tear ran down his cheek. He tried to concentrate on nothing else but the pile of graphic novels that h
e’
d planned on buying with his Christmas money h
e’
d most likely get from his grandparents, but it was no use, he could
n’
t think about anything else but them, worried about him. He got up feeling the urge to move and started walking.

“
You ok
?”
asked Leann.

“
Yea
,”
he said as he walked off, towards the window.

Andy heard movement and looked up to see Collin walking away.

“
Wha
t’
s up
?”
he asked Leann nodding towards Collin.

“
He got upset talking about his grandparents
,”
she said.

Andy nodded and said
,“
You too by the look of things
!”
seeing the red patches around her eyes.

“
Ar
e
yo
u
ok
?”
he asked.

Leann nodded and rubbed her eyes wiping away any tears as quickly as she could.

“
Yea,
I’
m ok and
I’
m sure my mu
m’
s fine as well
.
”

Andy nodded and went back trawling the news articles letting them both have their space. By the window Collin peered across at the crashed bus, but he did
n’
t really see it. He was lost in thought, trying to convince himself that his grandparents would be ok and that despite their worry for him, were both safe and warm at home waiting for him. He tried to picture his granddad sitting back in his chair reading one of his books while his Gran attempted to knit some new multi-coloured creation in between trips to the kitchen to stir a pan of soup she was making.

After a few minutes Leann stood up and walked over to Collin, she wanted to make sure he was ok. As she moved closer she could see his shoulders rise and fall with his heavy breathing.

Still upset
,
she thought and she had second thoughts wondering if she should leave him a little longer or not when lightning lit up the crashed bus outside where it was embedded in the side of the smashed bus stop that jutted out at all angles around the base of the leaning street lamp. She flinched a little as she raised her arm reaching for Colli
n’
s shoulder and just as she laid her finger tips on the fabric of his jacket over his shoulder something crashed against the window from outside!

Collin bit down on his lower lip making it bleed as he jumped back banging in to Leann nearly falling over her. Leann stumbled back and started screaming!

Andy dropped the paper he was reading and jumped up looking for them, he saw them both by the window and gasped when he saw the horribly mauled figure pressed up against the window as it started slapping the glass! He started running towards them.

Collin realised that the figure was
n’
t going to break through the glass and stopped where he was.

He stared at the figure in disbelief as Leann continued to back up behind him utterly terrified. She fell backwards tripping over her own feet as her legs turned to jelly with the shock. Andy quickly helped her up as he passed and walked her to the nearest seat as quickly as he could and sat her down. He held both her shoulders firmly feeling her shake and he said
,“
Leann i
t’
s ok. I
t’
s ok its outside, it ca
n’
t get in ok, just stay here and
I’
ll be back in a minute, OK
!
”

She nodded unable to talk.

“
Good
,”
he said then turned and ran over to Collin.

“Holy shit!”
he said coming up beside Collin
.“
I
t’
s the fucking bus driver
!
”

Collin nodded, he was speechless. The bus driver the
y’
d given up for dead opened its mouth and began to choke, then click and then gurgle as if finding its voice for the first time staring at them both with black eyes.

“
We better get back up stairs and out of sight
,”
said Andy
,“
or w
e’
ll have them all plastered along these windows like we did next door
.”
He was almost unable to look at the bus driver. He had to keep looking away because it scared him to look at him, seeing a man like this was
n’
t right. The man should
n’
t be up and walking around, not with the wounds he had. It was unnatural!

Collin thought the exact same as Andy but h
e
couldn’
t
take his eye
s
of
f
the driver.

The man had a name badge pinned to a piece of tattered shirt that still clung to him that they had
n’
t seen before. His name was Davie and h
e’
d practically been taken apart!

Davi
e’
s face, if tha
t’
s what it was that clung to his lopsided head was nothing but a mess of shredded tissue that clung to facial bone that was barely concealed beneath what was left of Davi
e’
s flesh. White bone and gristle bulged through the thin tissue almost visible around his two black eyes. His left jaw was completely exposed giving the impression that he was smiling at them with one side of his face. Where Davi
e’
s right ear shoul
d’
ve been there was a small black hole that glistened as it dribbled black blood down the side of his neck and over partly visible muscles where his flesh had been torn away. At the base of his neck on the left side there was a deep jagged gouge.

Dog bite
!
thought Andy
,
no wonder his head’s lopsided
.

Davie tried to gurgle at them as he slapped the glass, smearing it with his infected blood. The damage to his throat only really let him utter the odd sound, mostly he just clicked and even the clicks were broken and fractured.

“
Thank God he ca
n’
t call loud enough to alert the others
,”
said Andy as Davie punched the glass with his left hand and they both saw how little there was left of it after feeding the dog. His right hand was
n’
t much better but it still had three half digits. Then he slammed his face against the glass making the men flinch. He hit the glass so hard that he snapped his upper gum and knocked two of his teeth out.

“Whoa Shit!”
said Collin and bit down on his own teeth pressing his tongue against the inside of his upper teeth as Davie leaned against the window and lay there staring at them, longing for their flesh. He opened his mouth as if to show them his broken gum and clicked at them. They saw his wounded throat bobbing up and down trying to work and little globules of black goo flew at the glass and stuck there as he tried to call out!

“
How the hell can this be happening
?”
said Collin
,“
I mean how can he still be alive, the arteries in his neck have been torn to shreds. He shoul
d’
ve bled to death
!
”

“
God only knows
,”
said Andy shaking his head
.“C’
mon le
t’
s get upstairs, away from the windows before he draws more attention from the others. He might not be able to call out like the others but the others will hear him banging.
C’
mon
.
”

They both turned and left Davie slapping and punching the glass behind them and went to Leann. Her legs were still like jelly from the shock and would
n’
t take her weight steadily, so they helped her up on to her feet taking an arm each and carried her up the dead escalator to the next level and out of sight.