Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (17 page)

H
ugo’s stomach was in knots. 
He’d been waiting on the aft deck of the
Kirkland
in the rain for almost
three hours now, waiting for someone to take him to see the captain.  The
entire time, his daughters had been alone, back on the yacht with only Houdini
to look after them.  It was the first time he’d left them in almost a
year, but the frigate was not a place for young girls and he preferred not to
bring them along.  It turned out to be a good judgement call.

Hugo was disgusted by what he saw aboard the
Kirkland
. 
The civilians were dirty and unwashed, while the officers were arrogant and
rude.  They’d dismissed Hugo more than once and were less than helpful
when he told them he wanted to report a crime.  One or two of the officers
had straight-out laughed at him.  At least the officers were clean,
though.  The crew and civilians seemed to take no notice of their hygiene
as they ran about completing their tasks.  Their clothing was soiled and
their hair was lank and greasy.  It appeared that running a frigate was
endless, sweaty work. 
I am fortunate to have my own yacht.  The
rules of hygiene still very much apply on the
éternuer
.

Hugo’s hair and face were drenched, but he could not
tell if it was from the light rain or the spray brought up by the
Kirkland
’s
imposing prow.  He was beginning to shiver.  An officer strolled by
and Hugo reached out to grab him.  “I need to see Mr Raymeady.”

The man curled his lip up at Hugo and said, “The
captain
is busy.  If you would like to have a message sent to him, then you can
write a note and give it to one of the stewards when they do their
rounds.  He may then summon you if he wishes.”

Hugo sniffed at that.  The stewards were meant to
meet with the boats of the fleet once a day, but it was lucky if you saw them
once a month.  Their little Kodiak speedboat was more often filled with
giggling women than messages from the fleet. 
Young men are as
irresponsible today as they ever were.

The officer shrugged free of Hugo’s grasp and marched
away.  Hugo was so frustrated that he was close to tears.  A terrible
crime had been committed, yet nobody wished to hear about it.  It made him
worry for his daughters; it was not good to raise them in a world where crime
was not taken seriously.  The fleet had always made him feel safe, but
today that feeling of security was ebbing away, one rude dismissal at a time.

There was some hustle and bustle up ahead and Hugo
looked across at the ship’s big equipment hanger.  There was a man coming
out, stomping about angrily, while other men hurriedly moved aside.  Hugo
knew at once who the angry man was. 
The Roman.

Hugo had heard many tales about the man named
Roman.  The other sailors said he had received the nickname because of the
spear and sword he carried
;
while others said that he
was an Italian known for his cruelty and arrogance.  Some people even said
he’d survived a zombie bite by cutting off his infected hand.  One thing
that Hugo knew for sure was that the man spoke directly with the captain. 
I could give my report to the Roman.  He will see that it reaches the
captain’s ears. 

So long as he doesn’t just swat me aside like a
fly.  I hear he is a very unfriendly man. 

Hugo swallowed and set off towards Roman.  The
man had headed starboard and was leant over the edge, staring out towards the
distant pier.

“
Erm
…excuse me,
monsieur.
” 
Damn it.
  Hugo’s French crept back in when he was nervous. 
Roman didn’t acknowledge him, just kept his gaze on the distant pier. 
“I-I am sorry to interrupt your thinking, but I need a man who will listen to
me.”

“That’s not me,” Roman said.  He spoke in a tone
that should have been enough to frighten Hugo away, but Hugo wanted to get back
to his daughters, and he could not do that until someone heeded his words.

“I must report a crime.  You are the mighty Roman,
yes?  You are the captain’s good man, no?”

Roman turned and snarled at Hugo.  The sword on
his belt suddenly looked very heavy. 
And sharp!
  “I am
nobody’s man,” he growled.  “I do as I wish and the captain does as he
wishes.  Do not combine my actions with his.”

Hugo took a step back, but did not retreat.  “My
apologies,
monsieur.”  Damn it. 
“I must report a crime.”

“Tell it to somebody else.”

“A murder.  A body dumped in the sea.”

At last the man seemed interested.  He turned
around and gave his full attention.  Hugo had been right to seek out him
out.  Roman was one of the captain’s men, and despite his rude demeanour,
he was obligated to heed reports of serious crimes.  “What are you talking
about?” he said.  “What body?”

“Out at sea, this dawn passed.  I saw a yacht
returning from the pier.  There were two men, but one went overboard, I
believe already dead.”

Roman shrugged as if he was unconvinced. 
But
at least he is listening.
  “How do you know it was a body being
dumped?”

Hugo couldn’t help but laugh.  “We live in a
world seized by the dead, and you ask me how I know a body when I see
one.  I know death well, as do we all.  The man on the yacht was
sinking a body beneath the ocean, this I saw.”

Roman glanced back out at the pier and dropped his
head so that his chin hung against his chest.  When he spoke again, he
spoke sadly.  “If you know death so well, then you should understand it
has no meaning anymore.  One corpse is literally a drop in the
ocean.  It’s not worth noticing, let alone reporting.  I suggest you
go back to your boat, old man, and concentrate on not joining the dead
yourself.  Count yourself lucky to be alive.”

Was that a threat?

“
Monsieur
, if we start ignoring murder then
this was all for nothing.  Even those of us lucky enough to be alive are
in fact truly dead.  We are human beings and we must care about each other
if we have any chance of truly being alive.  We must be as one.”

Roman laughed.  For a moment he almost seemed to
drop his defences.  A slim smile appeared on his face, but it quickly
faded away, replaced by a hard, impassive stare.  “Go back to your boat,
and stop telling tales.  It’s likely to get you killed.”

A threat indeed.

Hugo nodded.  He had told the closest person he
could find to the captain, and still his words were disregarded. 
I
have done all I can.  Now I must return to my daughters and think on
this.  Things are not as I believed them to be.  There is no law and
order here.  The men and women here are empty.

“Thank you for your time,
monsieur
.”  Hugo
left Roman at the gunwale and headed back towards the rigging, which would lead
him back down to his yacht.  His daughters had been alone far too long
already.  He felt naked without them by his side. 
I even miss my
little Houdini.  I hope he’s been looking after them and not leaving foul
messes everywhere.

“Excuse me.”

Hugo turned around to see a tall blonde officer
striding towards him.  He smiled wearily at the man.  “Yes, can I
help you?”

“Perhaps.  I am Petty Officer Dunn.  I’ve
noticed you came aboard some hours ago.  Was there something you needed
help with?  I saw you talking to Roman.”

Hugo nodded.  “Yes, a most unhelpful man, I am
afraid.”

The officer laughed.  “You’re not wrong. 
What was it you were looking for help with?”

“I wanted to report a crime, a murder.  Although
Roman told me not to speak of such things any longer.”

Dunn shook his head and pouted.  “How very wrong
of him.  Come, would you like a cup of tea?  You can give your report
to me.  It sounds very serious and I would most like to hear it.  A
murder, you say?  Heaven’s above.”

Hugo smiled and sighed a breath of relief. 
Finally, someone was willing to take him seriously.  “I would love a cup
of tea,” he said.  “Please, lead the way.”

Officer Dunn gave Hugo a warm smile and did just
that.  They sat and drank hot tea while the officer took careful notes of
everything Hugo was saying.

P
oppy wished Garfield was home more
than ever.  She felt guilty over what had happened.  It was all her
fault.  She shouldn’t have gone with Birch in the night.  She
should’ve known better.  Garfield had given her magazines to teach her how
to be a grown-up woman, but it was obvious now that she was still just a kid
– and part of her was glad about it.  She didn’t understand
grown-ups yet.  Their constant fighting and shouting scared her. If that
was
what adults did, she would stay a child for as long as
possible.

“We’re going to have dinner in an hour,” Anna called
up to her.  Poppy had been sitting on the roof of the
Sea Grill
restaurant
for the last few hours, once again watching the horizon for Garfield’s
return.  It would probably be several more days, but Poppy intended to sit
on the rooftops until she spotted him upon the edge of the village. 
He
might not love me, but I love him.  I need to tell him how sorry I am for
all the trouble I caused.
  She was passing the time by drawing. 
She could often get lost amidst her pencils and crayons, stroking and shading
the images in her mind until they came to life on the page.

“Did you hear me?” Anna shouted up again. 
Alistair was beside her.  His face was bloated and purple where bad Mr
Birch had beaten him up.  Both of them were wearing thick winter coats,
but Poppy had not noticed how cold it had gotten.

“I heard you,” said Poppy.  “Can I stay here for
a little while longer?”

Anna sighed.  “It’s getting dark and I don’t want
you hanging around on your own.  We need to stick together after what
happened last night.  First thing tomorrow morning we’re all going to make
a plan, but right now we need to look after each other.”

Poppy nodded.  She didn’t want to be alone, and
neither did she want to disobey Anna after what had happened.  She and
Alistair had fought to protect her and both were battered and bruised as a
result.  Poppy felt an awful feeling in her tummy when she thought about
how she was responsible.  “I…I just want to wait for Garfield, but…I’ll
come.”

“No,” said Alistair.  “You stay there,
Poppy.  I’ll come and sit with you while dinner cooks.”

Anna looked at Alistair.  “You sure?  How on
Earth do you plan on getting up there?”

“I’ll find a way.  You go get yourself in the
warm, Anna, I’ll bring the urchin along later.”

Anna patted Alistair on the back and smiled. 
“Okay, I have to check on Tim first, anyway.  His bandages need changing. 
Don’t be too long.”  She looked up at Poppy on the roof.  “And you
behave up there, Poppy.”

Poppy nodded.

After Anna had left, Alistair put his hands on his
hips and stared up at the roof, clucking his tongue.  “Now, how the hell
do I get my fat arse up there
, huh
?”

Poppy giggled.  “There’s a big metal bin around
the back.  I climb up on there.”

Alistair nodded.  “Right-o.  I’ll be up in a
jiffy.”

Poppy sat and waited while Alistair disappeared behind
the
Sea Grill
.  A few moments passed and then she could hear his
huffs and puffs as he climbed up on top of the bin.

“Do you need help?” she called out.

There was another huff and a puff and Alistair’s head
appeared above the roof.  His cheeks had gone bright red.  Poppy went
over and offered him her hand.  Together they managed to get his bulk up
onto the roof.  The wooden timbers creaked, but they held.

“Getting down is harder,” she said.

Alistair keeled over.  “Christ.  I may just
have to live up here, then.”

“Thanks for keeping me company.”

Alistair ruffled her hair and sat down on the
rooftop.  “You’re very welcome.  Can’t leave you to mope around up
here on your own.”

Poppy sat down beside him and began gathering up her
pencils and crayons.  “I’m sorry I caused trouble.”

“Don’t you go apologising for what those men
did.  You did nothing wrong.”

“Doesn’t feel that way.”

Alistair smiled at her.  “That’s because good
people feel guilty about bad men’s sins.  It’s good that you’re sorry
about the things that happened, but don’t you go blaming yourself.  We’re
a family here and we look after each other.  I don’t think we really
realised it until last night.  I guess I was so wrapped up in surviving,
that I forgot to take a step back and realise how lucky we all are to have each
other.”

“You’re usually so mean to me.”

Alistair sighed and shrugged at her.  “Tell you
the truth, I’m not very good with kids.  I suppose I always saw them as
useless.  What happened last night made me realise how precious you are,
though.  There’s nothing wrong with being a kid.  I’m sorry I didn’t
realise it sooner.”

“You and Anna stuck up for me.”

“We stuck up for our little girl, and we’d do it
again.  Don’t you worry about ever being alone, because you have us and we
have you.”

“I miss Garfield.”

Alistair nodded and stared out at the horizon. 
“I know you do, lass.  I miss him, too.”

Poppy was surprised.  “You miss Garfield?”

“You’re not the only one who gets on with him, you
know.  He’s as much a part of the group as anyone else.  I play cards
with Garfield most nights when he’s back, while you’re sleeping.”

“I…I didn’t know.”

Alistair chuckled and slapped her on the back. 
It hurt her a little bit.  “That’s because you think Garfield belongs to
you.  He doesn’t.  He wants you to grow up and be your own
person.  You’re a part of this entire group.  We all love you in our
own way.”

Poppy nodded.  “I don’t think I want to grow up
anymore.”

“None of us do.  You have some time yet,
though.  What’s that you have?”

Poppy looked down to see what he was talking
about.  When she saw her drawing spread out on the roof, she quickly
snatched it up and blushed.  “It’s not finished.”

Alistair grinned.  “Don’t be shy, lass.  We
all know you’re handy with a pencil.  Let me see what you’ve drawn.”

Poppy rumpled the drawing in her hands, but slowly
straightened it out and showed Alistair.  He smiled as he examined
it.  “It’s-”

“I can see what it is,” he said.  “It’s
beautiful.  You really do have quite the talent, young lady.  One day
you’ll be famous.”

Poppy blushed and folded the picture away in the
breast pocket of her cardigan.  The she shuffled around to face the other
way, towards the sea.  It was growing dark, but the big grey boat
illuminated the horizon with a hundred blinking lights.  Lots of smaller
ships twinkled all around it.  “Do you think they’re going to come back?”

“I’d say so.  We still have their man.”

“Why don’t we just hand Tim over to them?  We
only just met him and he’s making people come after us.”

“That’s not how we do things, Poppy.  Anna and
Rene want to ask Tim some more questions about the man in the big ship first.”

“He’s a bad man?”

“Might just be the worst.”

“Even more reason to give him what he wants.”

“We do that, sweetheart, and we might as well walk
into the sea.  We can’t give in to threats and violence.  Garfield
has gone away to find guns so that we don’t have to.  We’re not going to
give Tim up, it would be wrong, but he’s decided to go on his own.  It was
his choice.  He wants to do what’s right.  We will do what is right,
too, because that’s what’s…
right.
”

“Garfield told me that people used to be bad a lot in
the old days.  I remember my old house used to have an alarm that my dad
would set every night because of bad people.”

Alistair rubbed a hand over his thigh and
nodded.  “There have always been bad people, Poppy.  That’s why we
need to look after each other, and why we won’t bend to people who threaten
us.  We do it once and we’ll forever be in danger.  Bullies prey on
the weak.  We will never be weak.”

“Those men last night scared me.  I don’t want to
see any more of them.  I want Garfield and the others to come back.”

Alistair wrapped his arm around her.  “Garfield
will come back soon.  That man loves you too much to be gone for long.”

Poppy glanced at Alistair.  “He loves me?”

“Of course he does.  He’d die for you, you silly
thing.”

Poppy smiled.  “He’s never told me that he loves
me.”

“People find it hard to say what they feel.  Take
me
, for instance, I shouted and raved at Garfield when he was taking
half the camp with him on his foraging expedition, but my real concern was that
I just didn’t want them all to leave.  They’ll be back soon.  Then
Garfield will give you a great big hug and give you presents.”

Poppy grinned.  “I hope so.  That would be
nice.”  She peered out at the sea.  The big boat was moving. 
“Hey…look.”

Alistair placed a hand over his eyes and
squinted.  “What?”

“Something’s moving.  See?”

On the side of the big grey boat, a big piece of metal
started to move.  It was like a big long pipe pointing at the sky. 
Slowly it lowered so that it was pointed directly towards the pier. 
What’s
it doing?

There was a sudden explosion and several little puffs
of fire burst out the end of the big long pipe. 
Bam
bam
bam
bam
bam
….

Poppy grinned wide.  
It looks like fireworks.