The Other Life (16 page)

Joshua and I stormed into the room. The smell of decay made me retch. My gaze swept over two rotting bodies. Maggots covered them, digging their fat, round bodies into the fleshy skin. If
we’d found them sooner…

No time for this.

For them it was too late. The other survivors could still be saved.

It was Dad!

After 2,403 minutes, our search was over.

I rushed towards him. We’d really found him. My heart pounded as I shook his shoulder. His eyes fluttered open, but it took a moment before they focused on me.

“Sherry?” he croaked.

I gave him a weak smile. Relief. I wound my arm around his back. “Can you walk?”

He stared at me as if he couldn’t believe I was there. As if he was scared of it.

“Hurry up!” Joshua hissed.

I straightened up and helped Dad to his feet. He leaned heavily on me and I could barely support him. His right leg was covered in blood and a long gash ran across his upper thigh. The entire
trouser leg had been ripped off. The skin was swollen and glaring red.

Joshua tried to wake a middle-aged man who lay on his back, mumbling incoherently. His face and chest were covered with wounds, blood and pus oozing from them. A few maggots had started feeding
on him. Joshua gave up after a moment and wrapped his arm around a young woman with black hair who sat next to the man. She was thin and weak, but I couldn’t make out any serious
injuries.

Beside them, another man, maybe in his early thirties, rocked back and forth on his heels, his eyes wide and terrified. His brown hair was plastered to his forehead. He was able to stand and
walk alone. Thank God – neither Joshua nor I could have helped him.

I followed Joshua, the woman and the man out of the room. Dad tried to use his injured leg, but he winced every time. His skin felt impossibly hot. A fever. Or something worse. I couldn’t
think about that possibility now.

Footsteps rang out. Something was running in our direction. I accelerated my pace. Dad gasped for air, but I couldn’t slow down.

Joshua began shooting behind him while he led the woman through the corridor. We were heading in the opposite direction from where we’d come.

I looked over my shoulder. Only three Weepers were following us. They were closing in fast, running upright like humans. But the noises coming from them weren’t human at all. Their roars
sent shivers down my back. I pointed my pistol, fired, and hit one of them in the stomach. It whined and fell to its knees, clutching its middle. Blood ran over its hands. I looked away. I hated
doing this, hated this new world for forcing me to kill something. Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t bother wiping them off, didn’t even dare look at my hands for fear of seeing
blood on them.

We got to the window at the end of the corridor. It led out to a platform and another fire ladder. Joshua opened the window and gestured for the man to go first. The roars were nearer now. I
didn’t dare check how close the Weepers were.

I helped Dad onto the narrow platform, holding his arm the entire time in case he lost his balance. Heavy raindrops lashed us, soaking our clothes. We were four floors up. Joshua was still
shooting bullet after bullet while I helped the woman out. She swayed and grabbed onto the railing.

The platform didn’t provide enough room for all of us. The brown-haired man stepped onto the ladder and began his descent. I followed. Dad was above me and grimaced with every step. He
kept skidding on the slippery metal. The woman was a few steps above him – she wasn’t faring much better. If they fell, they’d take me down with them.

Joshua stopped shooting and began climbing down the ladder.

“Are they gone?” I called up to him.

“Yes, but there’ll be more,” he shouted over the wind. It had picked up and blew my hair against my face, obstructing my view and catching in my mouth.

A snarl sounded beneath me. My eyes darted down.

Two Weepers waited for us on the ground.

“Sherry, pay attention!”

I sat up with a start, the gun almost slipping from my grasp.

Dad pointed ahead. “There. Do you see them?”

A few quails were searching the clearing for food. I gave a nod.

“Take aim, make sure your hand isn’t shaking, then pull the trigger.”

I’d heard those instructions dozens of times, memorized them.

It was easy. Just a few actions.

And yet I couldn’t move.

The quails moved towards the shrubbery. So unsuspecting.

“Sherry, fire. They’ll be gone soon.”

I raised my gun. Took aim. Just a small twitch of my finger, then the quail would be dead.

It looked up as if it could see me, but we were too well hidden.

Run. Just run, you stupid chicken.

“Sherry!”

I flinched. A shot rang out, tearing through the silence.

Startled quails scuttled into the bushes.

“You missed them on purpose, didn’t you?” Dad looked at me, a smile in his eyes.

Misty brown eyes locked on mine, pus-like liquid welling from its tear ducts and smudging its papery skin. Its face showed no emotions, only hunger and greed. There was nothing
human about it. One of the Weepers snarled and flung itself at the ladder. The vibrations went right through me. My fingers clawed at the rain-slicked handrails. The second beast followed. Another
jolt went through the fire ladder.

Too much.

The ladder tipped, its metal supports breaking from the wall.

“Hold on!” Joshua screamed. I hooked my arm around the handrail. My temples began to pound.

Tremors jolted the ladder. God, what could we do?

A scream tore through the rain. The man! His grip on the handrail loosened, his panicked eyes on the Weepers beneath him.

“No!” The cry rang in my ears.

It was too late. He fell down the ladder and landed on the concrete with a sickening crack. He lay sprawled out on the ground, his eyes wide and lifeless. A puddle of blood spread around his
head. Purple on grey. My muscles slackened and my grasp on the handrail loosened.

Be strong.

My fingers closed around the metal. I aimed my pistol at the Weepers, then shot twice. They ducked and the bullets missed.

Damn, they were fast!

The woman above Dad began to scream. I grabbed the rail and leaned back to get a better view, but raindrops blurred my vision. I aimed again. A bullet hit one Weeper in the neck, sending scraps
of skin flying. The tendons shining through its white skin tensed briefly, its hunched back warping even more, before its muscles slackened. With a shriek, it fell to the ground beside the human
body.

The other Weeper had almost reached me. Its smell definitely had. Bitingly mouldy. Like a dirty, soggy washrag that hadn’t been cleaned in months.

“Sherry, get out of the way. I can’t shoot!” Joshua shouted.

Where should I go? Panic clawed at me, threatened to choke me. I shot a few more times at the Weeper. One bullet grazed its hairy arm, but didn’t stop it. A snarl erupted from its chapped
grey lips. The skin around its mouth tore further with every growl.

“Sherry! You’re in the way!” Joshua sounded scared.

The pistol slipped from my hand. My horrified gaze followed its fall as it crashed to the ground. Merciless claws grasped my ankle, wrenching and twisting. I clutched the handrail.

Sharp nails pierced my skin. My ankle screamed. Hot, searing pain. I cried out. I’d die. I’d end up like the man, cracked open and sprawled out on the concrete.

“Sherry!” Dad screamed, Joshua too, and the woman was still shrieking.

Shrieks and screams and snarls and growls. And white hot agony.

I kicked out at the beast with my free foot. My sneaker made contact with its hairy face, tearing off a huge strip of skin. Almost human, except for the empty eyes. Spit was dripping out of its
mouth and mixed with its tears. I kicked again and it roared, but it didn’t let go.

Dad bent down and grabbed my arm to pull me up, but he was too weak. The beast still tried to drag me down.

“Use the other gun!” Joshua ordered.

I looked around in panic, kicking and struggling. The beast pulled back its lips, revealing yellow teeth. My next kick hit against its forehead and its grip loosened. I fumbled for the gun in my
waistband, but my fingers only brushed against the cool steel. The ladder tipped. My feet slipped from the wet steps and I fell. My hand shot out, gripping. Stabbing pain shot through my arm, up my
shoulder and down my back. The Weeper pulled at my leg. My fingers started to slip.

Three gunshots rang out in close proximity and a steely grip wound itself around my wrist.

Two bullets hit the beast in the head. It let go of my ankle and crumpled to the ground. I gasped for breath and looked up.

A tanned, strong hand held onto my wrist. Pink nails with white new moons.

Joshua.

He must have climbed past Dad and the woman. I regained my footing and grabbed the handrail with both hands. Our eyes met. There was something fierce in his. I managed to give him a smile.

I took a moment to compose myself before I dared to climb down the remaining steps. I gave the bodies a wide berth. They lay in a puddle of blood that the still-pouring rain was slowly washing
away.

“Here.” Joshua handed me the pistol I’d dropped. “Come on.” He led the woman away from the office building, half dragging her. I slung my arm around Dad’s
middle and helped him walk after them. He looked very pale, but he had a shaky smile on his face. “Thank you for saving me,” he whispered in my ear.

“No need to thank me.” I kissed his cheek.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the Lincoln came into view. Joshua helped the others into the back seat before we both got in. When the engine roared into life, I slumped against the seat, only
to freeze a moment later. Two Weepers were heading our way. Both were naked except for the hair covering almost every centimetre of their bodies. They snarled as they lifted their heads to sniff
the air like dogs. Joshua pressed his foot on the gas and the Lincoln shot forward. He rolled down his window, pushed his head out and fired. We were speeding towards them at a crazy pace, Joshua
barely paying attention to the wheel. The Weepers whirled around and scurried away.

“Joshua?” I dug my hands into the seat, balancing my pistol on my lap.

The woman on the back seat started shrieking again.

“Joshua? What are you doing?” I screamed.

“Hunting them.”

“Stop it!”

He ignored me and shot at the backs of the Weepers. They ran into a narrow alley that we couldn’t enter with the Lincoln. He braked hard and before the car had stopped, he ripped the door
open and leaped out. What the hell?

I skipped out of the car too and ran after him. He was fast and my foot was white hot agony. Had he lost his mind?

“Joshua!”

He threw a glance over his shoulder and jerked to a halt. His eyes flitted between me and where the Weepers had just rounded the corner of a warehouse.

I reached him before he could make up his mind to run after them. My hand clasped his. “You can’t just leave! We need you. My father and that woman need you!” Tears blurred my
vision.

He stared at me unblinkingly, his shoulders slumping. “You don’t understand.”

“Because you never explain anything to me!”

He shook his head. “Let’s get back to the car. I’ve lost them anyway.”

I didn’t let go of his hand. “Maybe it would help you to talk with someone,” I said.

“Not here. In the car.” He slid into the driver’s seat. I took my place beside him. The woman had pulled her legs up against her chest and was rocking back and forth.

Dad’s eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow. I put my arm between the front seats and shook him gently. His eyes opened a slit and the corners of his mouth lifted, but then, as if
smiling cost him too much strength, they dropped.

“How are Mom and the others? Have you seen them?”

I had to strain my ears to hear him.

“They’re alright. They’re somewhere safe.”

He gave the hint of a nod and closed his eyes. The engine came to life and the car shot forward. Within a minute, we’d left the harbour behind us.