Swarm (Book 3) (5 page)

The zombies walked by the vehicle’s side. Laura kept her eyes forward. Ignoring their groans, their hands thudding against the glass and bodywork.

Just hold on. Keep going. Don’t let the chaos win.

A long bend approached, she watched it unfold. Her way was blocked by two cars, their metal work twisted, mangled and ugly.

She hit the brakes. The zombies crowded around. Her hands fumbled to move the gearstick into reverse, but her foot hit the gas too soon. The engine fell silent. A heaviness took her – clinging to her, pulling at her. The controls of the car no longer made sense.

Her eyes closed. Her breathing slowed. She lifted a hand to cover her face. She told herself to calm down, she would be okay. She would make it. This would get better. Step by step. That was the way. Don’t let it overwhelm her. Everything came from small steps.
Small steps.
She repeated these two words out loud, trying to speak over the darkness in her.

The first step was to open her eyes, she told herself. A deep breath and then she did so, finding herself staring at them. Hatred pulsed through her. Their faces. All different. All the same. The same dumb expression, crammed into a million different skulls.

She tried to look away but found herself transfixed. Something stirred within her. Something unfamiliar. The longer she looked the more she felt a kind of understanding. These figures began to make sense. The way they moved, their expressions.

Laura became drawn to one of them, a man, his face squashed against the glass. Her gaze fell to his eyes, and she started to feel bad. He was just a person, a person that looked very sad. And the longer Laura looked the more it felt as if the man was looking at her with compassion. His teeth were bared still. His face still blank. But it was in the eyes. Laura was sure of it now, something was there.

Her heart skipped a beat as the man’s face changed, taking on a strange mix of realisation and horror. His arms fell by his side. He slowly backed away, his expression full of sorrow.

For a few seconds nothing happened.

A small scream escaped Laura, as the man’s body dropped. His head smashed against the metalwork of the car. Slowly, he got onto his knees. His hand slammed onto the bonnet. He pulled himself to his feet.

Thud —
the man dropped again. Laura watched on, partly with pity, partly with awe.

…

“You been there since… since, er…. It all started?” Zack asked Macy.

She nodded and began to sob.

“It’s okay,” he put his arm around her. She smelt bad and was very thin. “Shhhh. Shhhh.”

A part of him wanted to ask how it had all happened. How did his Mum get infected? But now was not the time.

They sat like that, saying nothing. Macy kept her face buried in his chest.

Eventually Laura pulled up near them.

“That’s Laura. She’s gonna help us,” said Zack.

…

Macy looked out the window. Everything felt like a dream.

She had watched the house disappear behind them and told herself that it was over.

“Shit!” she heard Zack say.

She craned her neck to see. Laura’s car swerved and then so did theirs. There was a loud thud. She caught a blur of movement out the side window — a man falling onto the road as they passed him. She twisted in her seat and watched as he got back up and began to chase.

Now Laura’s vehicle sped up and pulled them faster and faster. They went around a few corners. Soon the man was gone, out of sight forever.

“What happened to Mummy and Daddy?” she asked.

There was a pause before Zack replied, “I have to concentrate… I’ll speak to you when we get there.”

Eventually they arrived back at Zack’s grandparents’ house.

“Macy um… there’s no easy way to say this. I saw Mummy and she was a zombie. And Daddy… I don’t know but… I think that was him… the one in the bathroom making all the noise. And I’m really sorry but Grandad and Granny passed away too. They weren’t zombies, but they died.”

Macy stared at her knees and said nothing.

“I have to go sort it out. Stay here. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He got out of the car and jogged over to Laura’s vehicle, getting inside with her.

“We have to get rid of the bodies,” said Zack as he sat down. “Before we take Macy in.”

Laura let out an exhausted sigh, “Have you told her?”

“Yeah.”

“But how are we going to do it?” Laura said looking at the house.

Zack looked at it with her.

“We have to get them out the house. There’s a river down the hill.”

Laura took a deep breath and sighed again, “Is it safe? Just to walk around. I don’t want to be outside more than I have to.”

“I think it’s okay,” said Zack.

“How close is the river?”

“Five minutes.”

“No… no way. It’s too far from the house.”

“But it has to be out of view, I don’t -”

“What if we put them in the car?” Laura interrupted. “I’ll drive off and dump them somewhere.”

“Is that safe though? Driving to somewhere you don’t know?”

“Yeah, because then if I get chased, I can just get back in the vehicle. If I have to go to the river, then I need to run all the way back to the house. I’ll just load them into the car, drive somewhere out in the open, push them out and drive off…”

Zack thought for a while. “I don’t want her to see it though.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know, like, how do you want to do it then? Can’t you just blindfold her?”

Zack thought for a while. “Yeah… I could… we’ll wrap the bodies up anyway so. I mean, she knows they’re dead. I just don’t want her to see.”

…

Zack moved to the bedroom with Laura. He could feel how Macy had changed him; the euphoria of saving her was locked in his heart. He tied a jumper around his face to make a mask. Just get it done, he told himself. Then he could be with his sister. He owed it to his grandparent’s too. They shouldn’t be left like that. He needed to do this, for them, for Macy. Do it fast. Get it done. Then it would be over. Try not to look at them too much. Not the faces. Definitely not the faces. They were just objects he had to move – that’s what he had to tell himself.

He made his way back out into the landing, moved toward the bathroom door and opened it. A fresh wave of stench rolled out into the hallway. Countless maggots slithered and wriggled on top of their skin.

He stood frozen. Laura had to give him a gentle push, so that she could get through the doorway. He moved a few hesitant steps forward, then a few more. The bin bags in his hand felt ridiculous, as if the mess before them could be cleaned up like some household chore.

“We have to find the plug,” said Laura.

Zack didn’t speak. He didn’t want to taste the air. Laura inched closer. She turned back to Zack and took a bin bag from him. Again, she moved towards the bodies. And again, she changed her mind and took yet another bin bag. She put a bag over each arm and knelt down next to the bath, then turned her head away.

“Hold these on my arms,” she said.

Zack came to her side and gripped the bags so that they wouldn’t slide off. Laura’s hand descended into the liquid, its consistency thick with the discharge of decomposition. Breaking the surface unleashed a heavier, deeper stench. Laura felt around, trying to force her fingers under the buttocks of the man. Finally, she found the plug, and pulled it free.

The water began to gurgle. Zack let go of the bin bags, and Laura was able to slide her arm out of them. They sank into the foul liquid as she ran out of the room. Zack figured she needed air. He waited, watching the water slowly shrink whilst trying not to look too closely at the bodies. His gaze moved to the objects they had left at the side of the bath – a bottle of wine and a few empty pill bottles.

He looked back at the bath. A red line of residue marked the level the water had been at before – a few inches higher than where it was now. As he kept his eyes on it, he began to think the water had stopped draining. A few more moments passed, and he became sure of it.

Laura re-entered the room.

“It’s not draining,” said Zack, opening his lips as little as possible.

Laura looked at the water. For a few seconds she remained still. She turned to Zack and gestured for more bin bags. Zack repeated the process of covering Laura’s arm, and she reached back into the water. A few moments later she pulled her arm back out. Her fingers were clenched inside the bag, making a fist of black plastic. She released her grip and dropped a red, glutinous mass.

The water began to move again.

“How are we going to do this,” Laura said.

Zack shrugged, still afraid to open his mouth.

“They look heavy,” Laura said.

…

Laura walked backwards, descending down the staircase one step at a time. Her fingers gripped the black plastic tightly. Even with so many bin bags covering the body, she could tell that the hard bulge pushing into her stomach was the head, that her fingers were clinging to the arms of the corpse, and that Zack was holding the legs. Laura manoeuvred awkwardly around the 180 degree turn of the staircase, as it doubled back on itself and descended down to the ground floor. Carefully, she made it down the rest of the steps and moved over to the entrance of the house.

“Wait… put it down,” said Zack. They placed the body on the floor. He looked at her, “She’s gonna look, even if I tell her not to,” said Zack.

“If she looks it’s only bin bags.”

“It’s her granny and grandad…”

“She knows they’re dead…” said Laura, “Come on I’m not waiting.”

Zack scowled. He went outside slamming the door behind him.

“Fucking idiot,” Laura muttered.

A few moments later, Zack returned. “Okay,” he said quietly.

They carried the body out the door. Natural light bloomed around them and the rain pattered against the black plastic. Laura glanced over to the other car, where she saw Macy, her hands and face pressed against the glass.

“Put it down,” said Zack.

They did so. Zack pulled the keys from his pocket and opened the boot. They both picked the body up and put it inside.

Stacy smiled. It was perfect. She could see the house – still quite far away, but close enough. This was a good spot, she was behind a tree. Laura wouldn’t be able to see her. She closed her eyes and took control of the dog. It was easy, so easy, to make the dog stand up. Through its eyes she watched the man and listened as he spoke.

“I’m gonna have a shower. You wait in Nana and Papa’s room okay? I’ll be right up. Try and sleep.”

The man went into the kitchen and through a door, closing it behind him. Stacy waited. She could hear him moving around in there, and then a jangling sound and a light thud. This was her chance. The man came back out, wearing only a towel.

“It’s okay Stonesy. It’s okay. We’re gonna be okay. Yes we are. Yes we are. Because you’re a good boy. Huh? Aren’t you? Yes you are. Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?”

She felt the dog get really happy. Controlling him became very hard. The man walked away. Stacy held on hard and stopped the dog from following. Once the man was out of sight, the dog became easy to control again. She made it enter the small room. Inside were a washing machine and a tumble dryer. She stood up on her back legs and looked on top of the washing machine. In front of her was a mobile, a wallet and two sets of keys. She picked up the keys with her mouth.

Perfect.

She took it back into the kitchen and jumped up onto the work surface. It was difficult to open the window. She had to push the button with her paws, which were soft and mushy. She also had to lift the handle, which she did with her mouth. After that, however, it was easy to force it to swing outwards by pushing her head against it. She took the keys and threw them outside. She grinned. It was working. She loved dogs. When Laura came back, she would get her keys as well.

…

“Are you hungry?” said Zack.

“A bit,” said Macy.

Zack knew that when starving people needed to eat, you had to be careful. He had seen it once on a documentary – you had to give tiny portions and build up to regular meals.

“You haven’t eaten, though. Have you? Like, for ages.”

“I ate the dog food.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh… okay, did you eat a lot?”

“Yeah.”

“So… you ate yesterday, or today?”

She nodded her head.

Zack felt pride welling up in him. “Well done… So… you want cereal?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

A little while later they sat together on the sofa. Macy with her cereal, Zack with his arms around her. And that was all. Just sitting. She had always been chatty, hyper. But now she said nothing, and there was only silence. Zack sensed that this was what she wanted.

The rain hit the glass wall. She was warm against him. And that was all that mattered.

Zack didn’t think about the future, about what would happen when they ran out of food. He didn’t think about anything outside of that room. His sister was safe. He loved her. That was all.

Was Macy asleep? He couldn’t see her eyes but he guessed that she was. He stayed completely still, not wanting to disturb her.

After some time he heard the noise of a car arriving. A short while later Laura entered. Macy lifted her head from his chest.

“How did it go?” Zack asked.

“Fine,” she said curtly, walking past him towards the kitchen.

“You, um, you were safe?”

“Yeah… yeah… I’m tired now. I’m going upstairs.”

“Okay…” Zack watched her search the cupboards, find a box of cereal, and then head upstairs. She was clearly unhappy, but she had got it done, that’s what mattered.

…

Stacy, within the dog, followed Laura up the stairs. She watched as Laura went through a door. Under her control, the dog quickly ran along the landing.

Bam!

The door slammed shut in front of her. Anger exploded in her chest. Stupid Laura! Stupid, stupid Laura! She hated her so much. Laura ruined everything. She always ruined everything. Why did she close the door?

I’m going to bite her. I’m going to bite her and hurt her and kill her!

…

Laura sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Outside her room, the dog started to bark. Laura listened for a while and then put her hand over her eyes.

“Oh, please shut up,” she groaned to herself.

She heard the sound of Zack’s voice.

“Stones!” he shouted. “Stones!”

The dog continued to bark. She heard it scratching against her door. She began to wonder if it sensed something about her, if it knew that there was something not right. She made a mental note to be careful around it.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Are you okay?” She heard Zack shout.

“Get your fucking dog away from my room!”

“Okay… Sorry,” he shouted.

The barks slowly became quieter as Stones was dragged away.

Laura put some cereal in her mouth. It didn’t taste good, and when she swallowed, it made her throat feel strange. She put the cereal box on the floor. Something wasn’t right. As impossible as it seemed, considering how little she had eaten recently, she wasn’t hungry. She sighed and lay down flat on the bed.

This was the worst she had ever felt.

She had given up on her friends back in the freezer, and John as well. She had given up on most of it. Whatever was happening to her, it would surely end badly. Everything was fucked, had been since day one. It occurred to her just how amazing it was that she was still alive, that she had got this far.

Her head was so heavy, so full of noise. She just wanted peace. Silence. She just wanted to forget herself for a while.