E Virus: The Diary of a Modern Day Girl (The Beginning of the End) (3 page)

All I needed to do was slip out the factory and into the office, grab my keys and go.

I picked up my abandoned heels and started to walk slowly to the other side of the factory, never taking my eyes of Diane. She carried on eating paying me no attention at all.

I paid close attention to the floor. I was completely bare foot and the last thing I needed was a loose nail jabbing me in the foot.

I maneuvered around the machinery, crouching down so I couldn’t be seen. Every so often I’d stop, just to check she was still there.

Before long I was near
the factory entrance and on the home straight. I looked up again to make sure Diane was still preoccupied with the remains of our once lovable caretaker.

She was still next to John however her focus was now on me. I froze. She tilted her head and looked at me curiously.

I didn’t give her a chance to figure out what was going on. Jumping over the last pieces of machinery, I ran through the corridor and upstairs to Joyce.

“We need to go NOW” I hissed.

“What’s going on Love, you look a bit peachy?” she asked surprised.

“I don’t have time to explain, and I don’t really know what’s happening, it’s not safe Joyce we need to go!” I was pretty much pulling her out of the door at this point.

Before she had time to protest we heard a thud against the glass in the office. It was coming from the staircase where Diane was.

Diane
was stood at the window which overlooks the factory, smearing her blood soaked hands over the glass. She looked like she was trying to bite her way through the door. When she realised this wasn’t working, she started banging her head against the glass instead.

We stood watching her for a few seconds, until cracks started to appear within the glass.

“Let’s go!” I pulled at Joyce one last time and we both ran out the building and towards our cars as fast as we could.

As soon as we got to the cars she looked at me. “I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is. It’s here. I want you to get in your car now and drive home. Don’t stop for anyone just get there. I’ll do the same.”

I wasn’t going to argue with her, I’ve never seen her speak so forcefully.

Her
toned softened “I don’t want anything to happen to you chicken, just promise me you’ll stay safe and do as I say. Text me when you get home so I know your safe”

I nodded, with that we both got into our cars and went our separate ways.

As I drove home, the scene before me was unreal. As I was driving through villages, people were running into the road, breaking into shops and screaming and shouting.

I did as Joyce said; I didn’t stop for anyone at all. I had to swerve countless times to avoid pedestrians running out in front of my car.

Once or twice I had to stop the car completely as people banged on the bonnet of my car screaming to be let in.

I threw my car into reverse and drove around them. It was complete madness outside; I knew I couldn’t trust anyone. I just needed to get home.

I finally pulled up in the car park to our apartment block. I decided to park in the space nearest to the apartments. I figured it would come in useful for a quick getaway if necessary. It wasn't my official allocated space, but I didn't care. I'm sure the couple whose space this was, were already long gone.

I looked all around me; my heart was still beating out my chest. The whole complex seemed quiet. Luckily most of the people who lived here, were all professionals of some sort. Most would still be at work, those who weren't must have already left to find family members, or anyone who was of importance to them.

I didn't stay long enough to find out; I sat there a few seconds, too terrified to move. I took a deep breath and threw my door open. I tried to launch myself out the car and to the entrance door, which was literally a few yards away. I pushed off from my steering wheel, about to make a run for it, only to be violently pulled back into my seat.

Perfect. I was trapped. My heart stopped. I thought that was the end for me. I couldn't even let out a scream, the fear was paralysing.

I sat waiting to feel cold hands tearing at my clothes, gripping onto me before hungrily biting down on my shoulders and neck. Succumbing me to the virus that had already taken millions.

I waited a couple of seconds, but nothing happened. “What the hell is going on?” I asked myself.

I looked down, and I realised. I hadn't taken my seatbelt off. A gush of relief ran through me. I couldn't help but laugh to myself. I quickly undid the belt and grabbed my keys. My mind was starting to think rationally again. I found the door key and made my way swiftly, into the entrance.

My apartment was the first door at the top of the staircase. I couldn't hear a thing from any of the other homes so I started to make my way up the stairs. All of a sudden, I started to hear rustling coming from the corridor below. On any other day I would have completely ignored it. It was normal; people come in and out all the time. But right now, nothing was normal. I picked up my pace and let myself in.

As soon as I got through the door, I turned and slammed it shut, as fast as I could. For the first time since living there, I used the second deadlock on the door. I was safe for now.

I looked around the flat. Everything was how I left it. I looked up, and there in the doorway was my fiancé Nick. He looked at me and smiled. That cheesy grin I first fell in love with. Of course he had seen from the window, my whole seatbelt fiasco. He had seen my struggle and my pathetic dash for safety.

I could feel my cheeks blushing. "Do not say a word!" I told him grinning. "I wouldn't dream of it baby" was his cool response. "I'm just glad your home safe."

I looked up at him and smiled. Even in my highest heels he still towered over me. At 6 ft 2 he towered over most people. His broad shoulders accentuated his slim yet muscly physique. His dark hair perfectly contrasted against his bright blue eyes. Just looking at him made me knees go week, even after the 3 years we had been together.

I practically fell into his arms; he pulled me close and kissed my forehead. For a few seconds I forgot about what was going on around us, I was just relieved he was ok, and that he was here with me.

I walked through into our living room and looked around. Sat there on the sofa, I saw Lola and her husband Andy. They looked slightly shaken up, but Lola’s face was masked by the same false Cheshire cat smile, I had seen many times before.

Now although Lola has been a friend for some time, well more of an acquaintance, she really wasn't my favourite person in the world.

From the outside she was a pretty girl, she came across very conservative but had a nice slim, slender figure. She had very light blonde hair, and very pale skin. She was a typical dainty English rose type.

For as pleasant as she looked from the outside, on the inside, I always said she made Quasimodo look like a beauty queen. She had no common sense whatsoever. She also managed in the past, to piss off a lot of my close friends with her shameful behaviour.

She was very too faced. She turned up her nose at everyone, and had a holier than thou attitude. I've often thought in a past life she must have been one of those strict catholic nuns, the ones you used to often see in old fashioned schools.

She had an opinion on everything, but made out she had a perfect life. The reality was far from. She was extremely possessive of her husband Andy, she had him completely whipped. I have to admit we all felt sorry for the poor guy.

She spent most of her time pouting in front of the mirror, looking at herself in different angles, there was no one she could possibly love more than she did herself. We called her Duckface when she wasn't around, although, truth be told she looked more of a cross between a duck and a chipmunk with the false smile she always gave off. What I would do to wipe that smile of her face, it wound me up no end.

Her husband Andy on the other hand, was very down to earth. He had a calm and gentle manner, nothing seemed to faze him. Like I said, we all felt sorry for him. His wife was extremely high maintenance and very controlling. You could tell she wore the trousers in the relationship. I wish he had the courage to grow some balls and put her in her place. You could tell he wasn't happy. We all figured he just stayed with her to keep the peace. Although, collectively we thought he would be much better off on his own.

As a couple, they didn’t really look right together. Andy was very fit and active. He loved all outdoor sports, especially rock climbing and sea fishing. Andy and Nick often went on fishing and camping trips together; it’s how they became so close.

Andy wasn’t as broad as Nick was; he was slightly shorter at 5ft 11. Like Nick, he had dark hair, but was always clean shaven.

I wasn't exactly pleased to see them, but there was nothing I could do about it now. As much as I wanted to throw Duckface out and see her savaged by the virus that was infecting everyone else, I just wasn't that heartless. I certainly didn't want to see Andy have to face it alone out there; we were all much safer inside.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, secretly hoping they had just come round for a quick brew, before going back to their own house. They did nothing but brag about it, so why couldn’t they stay there.

"I saw what was happening in the news, and I had just had to come and make sure you guys were ok" said Lola in her all too familiar patronising tone.

I wasn't born yesterday. She doesn't give a crap about anyone else, unless it was for her own personal gain. My guess is that she knew she was a sitting duck (literally) in her specially made glass fronted house, and knew there was safety in numbers so decided to come to us for safety.

"How nice of you, but yes we're fine now" came my equally sarcy reply.

Ignoring my less than friendly response she carried on. "Well, now we're all together, and safe, thank god! I think we should all stick together. Besides when it comes down to it, I don’t think I feel completely safe on my own"

There it is! The real reason she came. She was too scared to deal with this herself, so came running to us for help. It didn’t go unnoticed that she had not acknowledged Andy in any of this. But that didn’t matter to her. Like with everything in life, it was all about her.

"Great, so I guess we're stuck with them now." I hissed to Nick, when we were finally alone in the kitchen. He just shrugged "yeah, it's not ideal but not a fat lot we can do about it now. Never should have let them in"

I just nodded. I knew he shared the same opinion as me when it came to Duckface. She really was that irritating. But he was right. Not a fat lot we can do about it, but make the most of a bad situation.

I suddenly remembered I hadn’t text Joyce. I grabbed my phone from my bag and quickly typed her message:

Hi, made it home safe! Nicks here as well as some irritating house guests. U ok? Xx

I quickly sent the message, I kept checking my phone eagerly awaiting a reply. I never received a response.

Getting back to the matter at hand, we needed a way to keep the infected out and ourselves in. I told Nick, Andy and Duckface what happened on the factory floor and recounted my journey home.

We decided the first thing we needed to do, was barricade the door. If one thing was for sure, it wasn’t just the infected we needed to defend ourselves from, it was the panicked looters and rioters that could prove to be an issue as well.

Luckily our flat had a little entrance cove, similar to a porch. This had another door on the right which opens to the main hallway of the flat. We decided to grab what we could and fill the entrance completely from top to bottom, so that in case the door locks were compromised, there was no way that anyone or anything was getting in.

We started scouring the flat trying to find anything we didn't need to block off the entranceway. We dismantled wardrobes, tables, and chairs and propped them up alongside the ironing board, a sofa and anything else we could get our hands on.

Once the barricade was up and we were confident nothing was getting in uninvited, my mind drifted to the other issues at hand.

We didn't know how long this pandemic was going to last. I had seen on the news how quickly it spread, but knew very little about the virus itself. I had one encounter with the infected, and I wasn't in a rush to repeat that.

A couple hours later, I was exhausted. I felt safe enough in the apartment; I just wanted to go to bed. I was sick of making small talk with Duckface, and had stopped listening to her hours ago. Nick and I purposely left the guest room bed in tact when barricading the door, so we offered this to them.

We took ourselves off to bed and settled down for the night, not knowing what we were in for the next day.

“What are we going to do?” I asked him once we were alone “We can’t stay in here forever”

He pulled me in close “I don’t know baby, I don’t know of anywhere we can go just yet. Don’t worry about it, you’re safe now, just try and go to sleep”

I turned into him and buried my head into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me tighter, and eventually I drifted off.

I woke up at 8am the next morning. It was a rough night; the apartment was boiling, so we were forced to open the windows. The air outside felt thick and heavy. It smelt like bonfire night, it was as if a raging fire was burning just a couple miles away. There probably was. Screams and cries for help could be heard in all directions, making sleep a near impossible task.

I'm not too sure what time I finally drifted off, Nick held me tightly all night. If he hadn't, I don't think I would have slept at all. Even before any of this happened the safest place for me was in his arms. I would always say to him "I don't care where we are or what we're doing, as long we’re together, I'm happy"

I know, you’re probably all reaching for your sick buckets right about now, but it's true. Even more so now. It is the only place I truly feel at ease.

Nick was still asleep and I couldn't hear the other two stirring. I decided to take a look out the bedroom window and see for myself, what destruction, if any, last night’s events had left.

As a safety precaution we closed all curtains and blinds throughout the apartment when we were barricading the door. We didn't want to alert anyone to our presence, either dead or alive. We knew there would be other survivors out there, but the risk was too great. We needed to look after ourselves. We already had limited supplies and we needed them to last as long as possible. Any other mouths to feed would just be a burden. We didn't have anything to offer.

As I got closer to the curtains, I froze on the spot, trying to listen out for any movement both inside and out. When I was confident no sound could be heard, I leaned against the wall. Pulling the curtain back a few inches I peered out the side of the window, making sure I couldn't be seen from the outside.

The sight before me was surreal. Shopping trolleys littered the pavement, obviously from the nearby shops. Rubbish was strewn everywhere, floating in the wind. Pools of blood could be seen dotting the roads and gardens, however, more disturbingly, the owners of said blood were nowhere to be seen.