Swarm (Book 3) (7 page)

Laura slumped down on the bed. This was the only good thing left – to take the weight out of her muscles, to let her body sink and contour with the mattress. In the darkness of her room it became clear. All the world had left to offer her was to leave her alone, to forget her for a few moments.

Something was going on outside – the weather was fucked up. Perhaps the world was ending. Good timing, she thought, everything was ruined anyway. She thought about John, Duke and Dreadlocks. That bastard Robert. Why did he do it? John should be with her right now… holding her, helping her.

Duke…

Duke would have been cautiously excited, he would have somehow seen a great tactical advantage in her ability to make the zombies freak out. It
was
an advantage, she supposed.

Elena would have been the careful one. She would have wanted Laura locked up. She would have made Laura wear a mask, in case her condition was contagious. Not that Elena wouldn’t have had compassion for her, but she would have been practical about it.

Jess?
Jess probably would have been very scared of her.

Dreadlocks?
He would have probably performed an exorcism. Laura laughed out loud, and for a moment felt a little better.

Who was left? No one. What about the guys before? Mary and Tyler. Suzy.

Mary and Tyler would have been brave, she knew that much. They had all been very brave. Fuck, Tyler had even saved her life.

But Robert had wiped everyone out, and poor Poppy before that. If only she had killed him slower. If only she had stabbed him in the throat. Or she could have taken the chainsaw, cut off his limbs.

A truth sunk into her. They couldn’t be saved. They were dead. And she would never find Stacy’s sister. She had failed. Lying there, it was painfully clear she didn’t have a chance. Even the idea of getting out of bed seemed impossible.

She closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said, quietly.

Was this feeling in her mind forever? What even was it? She put her hands on her head.

“Shit!”

She brought her knees up to her chest and began to punch her skull. She grabbed fistfuls of hair and pulled. Eventually it hurt too much. This was stupid.

This fucking… thing… always there. But it
was
a part of her; she should be able to see it – somehow. If she just cleared her head of all distraction, totally emptied her mind… Her eyes closed. Time passed. First in little bits, then in clumps. Every time it felt like she was getting somewhere. Thoughts would rise up to distract her.

Is it working?

I’m doing it!

My mind is empty.

This isn’t going to work.

Am I doing it?

But slowly things changed. The feeling of chaos seemed to develop a greater substance, to gain edges, as if it were some shape emerging from a fog.

Laura tried not to force it, to just let it come. A faint tingling came over her. Barely perceptible, perhaps nothing more than her imagination. Then she felt movement, as if she were accelerating towards something. A rushing noise roared in her ears, making her jump. In the darkness, something hurtled towards her. Her eyes opened and she gasped as her body exploded with warmth. She sat bolt upright. Her chest felt tight. Everything was coming at her at once. The walls, the sheets — painfully soft. The ceiling. The door. The corridor outside.

The corridor outside…
wait. Where was she? In the room?

The corridor outside…
she was there too. The wallpaper… the carpet… she could feel the textures. The colours. She leapt out of bed and moved toward the door. Something made her turn around, instantly she became mesmerised by the window. Just a small square in the wall, full of rain. But it led to… so much. Earth. Grass. Air.

She slowly walked towards it. Her throat grew tight. A huge smile spread across her face. This glass portal, with so much life in it. A kind of beauty she had never experienced, yet it felt more innate and familiar than anything else in the world.

Tears rolled down her face as she came closer and closer. The light shone intensely. An outpouring of grey and white. More and more steps. She felt the earth, heavy and solid and life-giving. She felt the rain, wet and freezing. It seemed impossible that it could all exist at once. She became a part of it.

She came to the glass, she felt herself pour into the landscape. The colours. The textures. The patterns. She was within it all. Everything showed itself to her. Everything merged into one endless experience. She felt unity, connectedness.

But something was wrong.

Something stuck out. In amongst all of this, was a rogue element. At first it was too hard to see, to focus down on such a small part. But she strained and searched to ignore everything around. She began to see and feel it.

Figures had appeared in front of her. She saw them clearly now. Just over the hill, behind the trees, a crowd of figures standing in the rain.

Dread gripped her. To their side sat Stacy. Sitting on the ground, pulling at the grass, her hair wet and stuck to her face. Stacy stopped. And Laura could not look away as Stacy lifted her head and stared deep into Laura. And Laura stared deep into her. And she saw an abyss. A swirling emptiness that went on forever. And Stacy continued to stare at her, expressionless.

Laura wretched herself away from the window. She ran to the door, yanked it open and moved along the corridor to Zack’s room. It was locked. She pounded with her fist.

“Zack! Zack open the door!”

The door opened and Zack looked at her, clearly worried.

“Zack… Stacy’s coming. She’s coming. We have to… We have to do something, cause she’s outside, over the hill,” said Laura.

“Th-The girl… you were on about?”

“She’s coming here, I think. She hates me. And she’ll attack us with the zombies. And… and… I don’t know… what are we going to do?” Laura’s voice wobbled slightly.

“Well… does she know we’re here?”

“Yeah.”

“Where is she?”

“Over the hill,” Laura pointed.

“So… we should go then. If she’s coming here.”

Laura was silent, her eyes staring at Zack. A long moment passed.

“Laura…” said Zack.

“I’m supposed to catch her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s… because she can bring… her sister can bring my friends back…”

Zack stood up. “I think we should go. Let’s go.”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on… please.”

“But…But what if I should?”

“No… please… I’ve got Macy… and Stones… and she’s just gonna trap us here. Let’s just get out of here. Let’s go.”

Laura was silent for a while. “Okay,” she said finally.

She followed them as they went along the landing, down the stairs and into the front room.

“You got the car keys?” asked Zack.

Laura patted her pockets. “No.”

“Go get them.”

“I…er…” said Laura.

“Where did you have them?”

“In my pocket,” said Laura.

“What were you wearing…? Wait…” Zack ran off towards the kitchen, now entering the laundry room. A few seconds later he came back. “Someone’s moved them.”

“What?” said Laura.

“They were there, the other keys.”

“Oh… Macy did you… did you take any keys?” Laura asked.

“No.” Macy said; her voice betrayed fear, her face confusion.

“Are you sure. Are you
totally
sure?” said Laura.

She looked at Zack, “Yes.”

“They can’t just be gone,” said Zack.

Laura held her head, “Could it be… could it be Stones?”

“Not… h-he doesn’t do that,” said Zack.

“We just… we must have just…” Laura said, leaving the room and running upstairs. She went into the bedroom, searching in and around the bed. A few moments later Zack came up.

“Did you find them?” he asked.

Laura stopped looking and slammed her fist against the mattress.

Zack spoke again, “I remember leaving them on the washing machine, with my wallet. I put my clothes in the machine and I left it on top.”

“I think it’s her,” said Laura.

“What?”

Laura got up and turned to face him. “I think it’s her. Stacy. I think she’s got them.”

“How?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know…”

“No… no. They’re here.” Zack turned and left.

Laura sat on the bed. She could hear Stones barking, and Zack shouting. She thought about her options. She could run, go by foot. Or she could stay, and fight. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Come on Laura,” she whispered.

Macy ran into the room, “Zack’s having a fit,” she shouted.

Laura stood and followed Macy downstairs, her chest felt tingly and tight. She found Zack on the floor, his body in spasm. Macy knelt down and held his head. Laura stood still, staring, as Stones circled, barking at Zack and jumping back and forth.

Laura felt helpless. The only one with direction was Stacy. She was in control. She was above the turmoil. Laura moved away from the group slightly, then turned and headed up the stairs.

“Laura!” she heard Macy shout.

She went back into her room and closed the curtains. She lay down on the bed. If the zombies were coming, then she would take them out one by one. That was the only way. She closed her eyes.

Out of nowhere, a terrible pain entered Laura’s head. Her hands shot upwards to her skull. Red flashes flew across the darkness of her eyelids. Laura felt Stacy’s evil – weighing down on her, crushing her. She felt her own force – a gathering energy, drawing from every inch of her body, focusing in her chest as it built up. Higher. Higher. Higher.

With a cry, she pushed back. Everything became simple. No choices. Only this. Her against Stacy. Her body began to shudder. Her hands gripped the sheets, scrunching them up. Her knees came up to her chest.

The soft bed exploded into hardness, she realised that she had fallen off, and hit the floor. She snatched glimpses of the carpet, of the walls and the ceiling.

…

Stacy had never felt this sick, but that made her happy. Feeling bad felt good. If she could feel bad she could do anything. Her hands were sweating and felt really weird, she rubbed them on the grass – it only helped a bit. Laura’s magic was trying to get in her head.

Stacy felt more sickness, in her tummy, in her throat. The zombies were close. Stacy decided she had had enough. She stopped her magic. It didn’t matter anyway, the zombies were close and everything was ready.

Laura gasped as she was delivered back into the room. No more pain. She sat bolt upright, realising for the first time that she had rolled to the other side of the room. She got up and sprinted out of the bedroom, along the landing, down the stairs and into the living room. A crowd of zombies stood outside, spanning the length of the glass wall – discoloured faces, staring eyes.

Zack came running in from the kitchen, with a knife in his hand, and Macy by his side. They both stared at her, seemingly waiting for her to do something. Laura knew that it was all on her.

“W-we need to stay inside,” stammered Laura.

Zack began speaking to her but she ignored him. She slowly walked towards the glass wall. Her gaze focused on a man, elderly, more frail than the others. A familiar sensation began in her, one of empathy, understanding, and connection.

The man began to head butt the glass. Laura moved her attention to the next figure.

…

Stacy jumped off the bull’s muscular back. She smiled to herself, this was it and she was so excited. She entered the code into the door.

…

Bang!

Zack turned to see the front doors flung open. A huge bull burst into the living room. Stones ran to the kitchen whilst Laura bolted for the stairs. A half second later Macy and Zack followed her. It hurtled towards them. Its horns grazed Zack as he dodged its charge, and clamoured up the steps. The staircase doubled back on itself, and Zack made it around the bend. The bull, thundering up after him, missed the bend and head-butted the wall. It jumped and knocked its horns against the banister, trying to fit its hulking body around the tight space.

Zack, Laura and Macy reached the landing and ran along the corridor. They burst into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Laura grabbed Zack’s head and put her face close to his.

“You have to kill it,” said Laura. “Kill it! Kill it!”

“I… I…” Zack looked around the room.

Laura pulled Macy into the en suite bathroom and closed the door behind her. Zack tried to open it, but it was locked.

“Laura!” he hit the door with his fist.

“Kill it!” She shouted from the other side.

Thud!

Zack span around. The door had been knocked off its hinges. The bull charged at him. He stumbled back and fell on the bed, covering his face and raising his legs. He felt the horns stab into his body. One of them spiked through his trouser leg, jerking him up. He flew through the air and landed on the floor. He saw a small gap between a desk and the wall, and crawled into it. The desk next to him shuddered. He turned to see the bull ramming its head at him, its horns preventing it from getting into the tiny space. Wide bloodshot eyes stared at him. Thick nostrils snorted warm air against his skin. Zack threw a few panicked punches. It smashed itself forwards. Again. Again. Again.

He raised his arms to cover his body and squirmed further back. Make-up fell from the top of the desk; a hairspray can bounced off his head.

Zack picked the can up and fumbled with it. Where was the trigger? Where was the fucking button?
Wait!
The cap was still on. He pulled it off, held his finger on the release catch and sprayed directly into the bull’s eye.

A deep groan erupted from it and it moved back, shaking its head from side to side. It opened its eyes again and charged. Zack pressed further into the gap. The bull’s left horn speared towards his face. He ducked away and instinctively raised his hands. The horn scratched his palm slightly, but did no damage. Once again, the bull could not get to him. He lifted the hairspray to its face and sprayed. It shook its head and bucked wildly.

…

Stacy felt frustration really deep in her tummy. This animal was so clumsy and so hard to control. She couldn’t even get it to stand still. The zombies were so much better. She screwed up her face and pushed all of herself into its brain, throwing herself over its panic and grasping hold of it. Eventually she managed to stop it jumping around like such a silly thing. And now, with all her concentration, she forced it toward the part of the desk without draws, the part where it was just two thin legs.

…

The bull had its back to Zack. It hooked its horn around a desk leg and began to yank it. The whole thing skidded away, leaving Zack totally exposed. He got up, ran to the window and pushed it open, creating a gap just above the level of his chest. He fell through it head first and landed on the slopped roof outside, hitting the wet, glistening tiles. He heard a large thud, and looked up to see the bull glaring down at him through the glass. It bumped a single horn against the window, then turned and charged away.

…

Laura was in the bath, with the shower curtain pulled right across. This was her place to concentrate. She had focused. She had drowned out her surroundings. She couldn’t see the undead, but she could feel them entering the building. One by one, she got into their heads and flicked that switch. One by one she took them away from Stacy.

Boom!

The door flew open. Horns thrashed at the shower curtain. Laura’s psychic fight collapsed.

The bull leapt into the bath. Its front foot crashed down clumsily onto Laura’s leg. She cried out in pain. Her vision filled with flashes of plastic shower curtain. She stood up, only to be knocked back against the wall. She fell under the legs and horns. She couldn’t feel pain – only how her whole body shook.

Again she stood; again she was knocked back down.

…

Zack climbed back through the window. He could see the bull through the open bathroom door, and Macy running towards him. He ran and picked up the hairspray can again. He pushed Macy to the side, pulled a lighter out of his pocket and headed to the bull. It was in the bath, thrusting its horns into the shower curtain, which had come off the rail.

Zack started spraying, pulling the lighter up and flicking the sparker.

The spray burst into flame. Zack aimed at the base of the tail. The bull let out a tremendous roar. Its hulking frame began to turn, its body rising and falling as it slipped, its legs scraping against porcelain.

Zack waited for it to face him, and then grabbed its horn while pointing the flame directly into its left eye. It stumbled back and made a strange sitting motion. It seemed stunned. A fearful stillness replaced its aggression.

“Zack!” he heard Laura shout.

Zack sprayed the flame at its other eye. It tried to scramble away, falling further back into the bath and pushing back against the wall tiles. Laura dragged herself out of the way and fell onto the bathroom floor. She got back up and ran. Zack turned and went with her.

“Where… where do we go? Laura shouted.

A loud moan filled the air. Zack turned to see a man rushing down the hallway towards them. Laura held up her hand. Its body shape changed, as it came out of its sprint and stumbled to a stop. It stared for a few seconds, then started to slam its head against the wall.

“We’ve gotta get Stones,” said Zack.

“… No… leave it.”

“No!” shouted Zack, grabbing Laura and pushing her towards the zombie.

She stumbled forwards, turned and looked at him – her expression full of anger. Then, without speaking, she turned back to the zombie, leaving bloody head prints on the wall. She walked towards it and dodged around. Zack followed, pulling Macy by the hand.

…

The bull was useless now. In pain, and really, really sad. Stacy couldn’t control it, even if she wanted to. She let it return to itself, feeling a slither of guilt for how the animal had ended up. She quickly pushed that away. It was Laura that had done it! She was the one that was horrible. Stacy moved her attention to the zombies. The whole time, she had let them do what they wanted because all her focus had been taken by the bull.

She could see how Laura had got to them. How she had given them their choice back. Some were still left. But instead of wanting to fight on, Stacy felt afraid. Laura wasn’t supposed to have powers like this. Filled with a crushing bitterness, Stacy turned and ran back into the night.

…

Laura came to the stairs. She didn’t know what her plan was, but she had to get down there. Through the gaps in the banister, she saw a woman charging up, her legs making massive lunges as she ascended the steps, her centre of gravity so low that her hands touched the carpet.

Laura focused on her. The woman stopped at the bend of the staircase. She shot a glance at Laura, then looked down the staircase. A slight pause, then she leapt, throwing herself down like a rag doll. Laura chased after, rolling the steps under her feet and coming into the living room.

The room was full of zombies. One choking itself. Two fighting over Zack’s knife-on-a-stick. Many others hitting their heads against walls, or sprinting in random directions, or lying on the floor – motionless.

“Stones!” Zack shouted.

Laura glanced around, waiting for one of them to rush towards her.

“Stones!”

Stones came running from the kitchen. Zack turned towards the exit and began to sprint. Stones caught up with him, remaining at his side and barking frantically.

They came to the front entrance. A man stood bent over, his head wedged between the double doors, his arm outstretched and holding one of the handles. Again, again, again, he smashed the door against his head.

Zack grabbed his shirt from behind, and in one movement span and threw him out of the way.