Word count: 4207
I felt like a sitting duck inside the house. The predator was out there ready to attack and all they could do was be all lovey dovey. I just wanted to go to the hospital but I had to give Ella and Jack some time to hug or whatever the heck couples do when the world is ending. I shook my head at them, Jack's eyes came into contact with mine and I quickly looked away.
"I think you need a shower," Jack said in a very monotone voice.
I looked at him feeling slightly offended but as I did a piece of my hair dropped in front of my eyes and I could see the usual brown colour had shrivelled up with clumps of blood embedded into the strands. I nodded my head and made my way steadily up the stairs. Tracing my fingers up the sides of the walls as I did so, trying my hardest to get a feel of the place I've called home for sixteen years. I couldn't imagine leaving but what would happen if we went to the hospital and no one was there? What if Logan had other plans about where to go? We couldn't come back here if I wanted to, not as long as those things were still outside, it just wasn't safe.
The truth was that the chances of this thing ending were very slim and I didn't want to get my hopes up. It had all happened too quickly for the government to even think up a cure it seemed, or maybe they knew and kept it secret... even so, it was obvious they hadn't figured out what was going on and that's why they didn't make it public. They didn't expect this, they had no idea what would happen and you can't stop something that you don't understand.
I tried to look on the bright side; at least I didn't have to go to school now! No exams or jobs. No, just killing creatures daily and the fear of starvation or being eaten alive, my brain reminded me. I shook the thought away.
I went straight into the bathroom and turned the shower on full, steam blew around the room from the warm water. I rubbed my skin raw, the water splashing off me like fire as the blood diluted and washed down the plug hole. I leant against the plastic shower pane, watching the patter of red mix with the clear water, clumps of bright red fell out of my hair. I tried to forget it was blood, an actual person's blood that covered me all over. It didn't work, all I could think of was Miss. Bailey in my kitchen. Only one floor away, her blood still on the floor and trailing down the cupboard. Never again would she see the light of day. Or her family, not that she had much of one anymore. She had kids who live far away, she's a widow. But someone, out there, is missing a mother, maybe even a sister, an auntie. She could've meant something to someone and she's gone and I had ended it.
The hot air didn't seem to evaporate, instead, the steam began to suffocate me. It was hard to breathe, my chest caved in and I dropped to the shower floor. My hands shook in front of my face, I saw flashes of blood but when I blinked my palms were clear. I rubbed my face, trying to erase the images speeding around my head. I protectively pulled my knees up to my chest, the water still pelting against me like hail.
A bang downstairs jolted me back to reality. I straightened myself up and managed to turn the shower off. The cold seeped into my bones but, despite it, I wasn't trembling as much as I had been.
I made my way into my bedroom and breathed in the light lavender scent that still lingered in the air from the freshly washed sheets. I would miss my room, all the memories, the pictures that hung all over the walls. I tugged the towel tighter around myself as I walked over and flicked on my fairy lights, the familiar glow made me feel like I was okay - even though I knew I wasn't. I pulled on some fresh clothes and felt much more comfortable than I did before since I was finally clean, I took note of how much nicer I smelt.
I glanced around the room. The light washed over all the pictures. I wished I could take them with me, but the middle one stuck out to me most. My favourite: it was of Ella, my old friends and I at Alton Towers when I was tall enough to go on all the rides. I had the biggest smile on my little face, all my friends did actually. I tugged it off the wall and touched the picture softly, remembering the day when everything was okay. I stopped looking at the picture as I saw a tear drop had splattered on it and blinked away my blurry vision. I folded it up and put it into my jeans pocket, I had to have at least one memory. I wiped my eyes dry and took in a shaky breath, glancing at my room.
I rushed down the stairs but stopped myself from feeling the old wallpaper on the way. I looked to see that Jack and Ella were still where I had left them, in the exact same position. I cleared my throat and they turned my way.
"Are we going yet?" I questioned Ella, biting my lip and avoiding eye contact with Jack.
"Your hair's still wet," Jack cut in before Ella could speak, pointing at my soaking hair.
"Um, but the hospital?" I said it like it was a question but there was really no need for it, we needed to go to the hospital and honestly I would go out with soaking hair and risk a possible cold if it meant getting to my family sooner.
"What about the hospital?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow at Ella who told him about it. Shouldn't he have already gathered that our parents weren't here? Hadn't Ella told him our mum was deathly ill and in the hospital?
"We need to get started with our plan then." Jack nodded, putting a finger to his lip in thought. He looked directly at me. "You go and dry your hair, eat and then we'll go get your parents."
"And Logan," I added with a mumble but he wasn't listening, he was already talking to Ella about how he had the car and how we could be there shortly. He saw I was still standing by and waved a hand at me indicating for me to move on. I hated doing what he said but one thing to know about Jack was there was no arguing with him and drying my hair like he suggested just brought me one step closer to him driving us to the hospital.
In the kitchen, I saw the body had been moved but a trail of blood was still left behind, it extended to the back door. I breathed out a sigh of relief, I didn't think I could face it again. The memories were bad enough.
I searched the room but couldn't find the hairdryer even though I remembered leaving it on the side when I used it last, I bet Ella had moved it. I sighed and reached for something that would keep my hair out of my eyes and the wetness from running down my face. I grabbed my cap. It would have to do and at the very least it'd be useful in the summer - if I survived until the summer. It was January, I hoped it would become summer soon because rain was inevitable. Heck, even snow was a possibility. If it rained we'd get cold, if we get cold we risk hypothermia, if we get hypothermia we become weak and would most definitely die. I realised I was being quite morbid and stopped my thoughts there. I had watched too many horror films and they were messing with my brain.
I stalked over to the cupboard, bent down and began to empty the cupboards. Organising the piles of food between tinned foods, snacks and 'need to eat because they will go out of date soon's. I heard light footsteps, that could only possibly belong to Ella, close by. I looked up to see her staring down at me. Shortly after she bent down to my level. Quiet filled the room as I concentrated.
"How are you so organised?" She asked me after a moment of me sorting out cereal into food bags.
"I'm trying to not think about what's outside," I replied grimly as I put the last of the food in the bag. There wasn't much food, maybe two weeks worth, we hadn't had time to go shopping yet and we don't usually buy in tons of Christmas food like most families as we're usually away for the holidays.
"I think I have something to help," Ella announced and jumped up from the floor, I began to twiddle the food bags between my fingers as she left the room to get whatever it was she thought would help.
"You're back quick." I noticed as I heard someone at the door, except it wasn't Ella.
"What are you doing?" Jack's gruff voice sounded sharp.
"Jus-Just you know, getting food," I stuttered. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"Going somewhere nice?"
"Out there." I gulped. "I thought we made that part clear."
"Not forever, we'll be coming back here after." But it's not safe here, we need to find people and then get to a place with lots of food and high walls.
"Why?" I questioned as I stood up.
"Didn't you see the news? The guy said we shouldn't go out." He got up close to my face, so close a little spit was spattering onto my face which was disgusting. I put my hand on his chest to push him away from me, the distance still short enough to feel his hot breath on my face.
"You know that them things will come in and won't hesitate to eat you." I pointed towards the spot where the infected had previously been, my voice wobbled. "You can either go out there and survive with us or rot in this house. Either way, I'm leaving."
I backed away when I felt a sudden sharp pain tingle up the side of my face and I fell to the floor. I cupped my cheek and stared up at Jack who was breathing heavily, his hand becoming bright red.
"Don't boss me about, you're nothing but a little girl!" He spat.
We both heard a step creak above us, Jack leant down and whispered to me, "and if you dare tell Ella what happened here, well let's just say I can make you both suffer more pain than what you're in now." He slowly ran his thumb across my sore face, my breath hitched. "Got it?"
I nodded and he dropped his hand away from me, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Here we go, took me ages to find them but- Remi what happened?" I looked up to see Ella dropping two backpacks on the ground and rushing over to help me up. As I stood up Jack never once stopped holding eye contact with me, his eyes were narrowed slits. He was challenging me to say something that I would regret.
"I fell backwards," I lied, Jacks lips curved into a half smile.
"Your cheek is bright red!" Ella continued, grabbing hold of my cheek too roughly as she examined it.
"I hit it on the floor," I said and she let go.
I knelt down and turn back to the cupboard I was emptying previously. I stared at nothing in particular and, after a moment, the silence was broken by Ella returning to her backpacks and picking them up.
"Thought we could use these to carry the food in," she said and tossed me one, it landed just shy of my knee. I didn't attempt to put stuff in the bag, I didn't know what Jack would say if I did. Although, I was sure he wouldn't try and hit me again or raise his voice with Ella in the room.
"What are you on about?" Jack asked sweetly, making me feel sick. "We can't leave, you're not well." Even though Ella was up on her feet and moving about she looked pale, she was used to hangovers but that didn't mean she stopped getting the physical effects of one.
"I promised Remi we'd find Logan after going to the hospital," Ella explained as she began to shove food into one of the bags. "Thought we'd need some food for the journey."
Jack didn't reply and Ella finally sensed the tension, she looked to me and I hid my face with my cap. She then turned to Jack who stood firmly in his place.
"We can hardly stay here."
"You can't move around much yet," Jack stressed and rolled his eyes. It seemed like he was scared of going outside and was making up any excuse not to leave. It was odd to see him scared, which was probably why he was trying so hard so conceal it. Ella stared at him, he sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Fine, but Ella you do need to rest up. If Remi is so determined to go then she can just get into the car with me and then we'll come back for you."
I sucked in the air sharply, was he being serious? He couldn't possibly believe that I would get into the car with him after everything that had happened barely two minutes ago?
"I'm not leaving Ella," I mumbled but what I meant by this was 'I'm not getting into the car with you.' If I'd have said the latter I was sure conflict would have been the outcome.
"Jack honestly I'm fine, I know you're worried but there's nothing to be worried about," Ella told him comfortingly.
If anyone could get through to him it was Ella and I was so glad she was there to talk some sense into him. Although for all I cared he could stay there and starve just so long as we got the car, which may sound harsh but honestly it'd just be karma catching up to him.
"Okay. Okay, but if something happens to you I won't forgive myself," Jack said, realising he had lost the discussion and not looking too happy about it. "Get some stuff packed and we'll get going."
He sulked off into the living room whilst me and Ella finished up.
We shuffled our backpacks on and walked into the living room to see Jack peering out the window.
"Infected surrounding my car," he informed us.
"We might need weapons," Ella said and rushed over to Jack, she also looked out the window. "Definitely need weapons."
"Any ideas?" Jack asked.
"Knives work," I suggested almost instantly, not thinking about the cons of using that type of weapon to kill things but more remembering what damage they could do.
"That's all you can come up with?" He scoffed like a knife was the most insignificant object imaginable. It wasn't my fault I never went to zombie fighting school, I don't exactly know what weapon a professional would choice in our position. The only thing I could think of were guns but we weren't in America, we didn't have a gun shop nearby that we could just slip into and pick up an AK-47 or a Scorpion or just some type of sub-machine gun that would kill any of those things that we came into contact with. All I could suggest was something that I knew would kill those things.
"What weapon then?" I asked.
"A bat, an axe, anything really," Ella suggested, grabbing the keys for the shed.
The people I had seen in the back garden earlier had gone, the body of the man that was being eaten had become nothing more than a skeleton. I tried not to look at it too closely, fearing the little food I'd eaten last night would come back up. I also noted a body in the bushes and suspected that was where Jack had hidden Miss. Bailey, although I didn't bother to look.
"Bat, shovel, axe, mini fork," Jack said as he chucked multiple items out of the shed. "Choice your weapons," he said as he picked up a tool that had a long handle and sharp metal end to use, smiling to himself. "Let's go kill those hoe's with a garden hoe." He chuckled as he pointed his tool into the air. I didn't laugh but Ella did as she reached down and grabbed the axe. That just left me with a fork so tiny I might as well have just used a knife as the handle length would be similar anyway, a bat that I'd have to put a lot of force into if I wanted to kill something or the shovel that was pretty sharp at the end. Of course, I chose the shovel, feeling like I had been cheated out of the best weapon.
The others walked into the living room but I stayed back, I saw a knife that had been left on the drying rack. I studied it for a second, the long sharp edge. I remembered Miss. Bailey. I thought about what Jack had said to me when I had suggested knives but as I picked up the knife it felt right in my hand. I rummaged through the drawers until I found a hair band, something mum stocked up on even though none of used them. I used the band to tie the knife to the belt hole in my jeans - maybe it'd come in handy.
The fresh morning air softly hit my skin, making me feel refreshed. It must've been about 7am but the sky was still a dark hue. The sun was nowhere to be seen but luckily enough the street lights were still lit. A parade of car alarms sounded in the distance, filling the air with a continuous noise and drowning out the sounds of everything else nearby.
Jack signalled something with his hands before he raced ahead and took out the first infected, is that what I should call them? Zombie sounds too strange, too fictional. Blood splattered onto his car, he knocked down another, pushed the body aside and jumped into the front seat. Leaving Ella and I to deal with the other two.
I held my shovel tightly in my hand, the wood felt rough and scratchy but I tried not to think about it. I'd already killed one, I could take down one more. Aim for the head. The infected was inching closer, surprisingly fast, so I held the shovel sideways and ran towards it. Using our momentum, I pushed it into the car. Whilst it was dazed, I quickly moved the weapon to one hand and pushed upwards, hard enough for me to feel the skull cave under the violent action. I moved backwards, feeling my grip on the weapon loosen and it took all my strength to not drop it on the floor there and then. That was two, I had killed two ill people. But if I hadn't they'd have killed me.
I grabbed onto the door handle of Jacks BMW but before I pulled on it I looked up to see how Ella was doing. She was frozen solid. Her weapon was hanging loosely by her side, she was unmoving, looking through the infected that was coming towards her. The infected, on the other hand, was staring straight at Ella, he too was unmoving. Or maybe everything just seemed still at the time.
All too soon time went back into motion. I let go of the handle forcefully and, without thinking, I dragged my shovel on the ground. The sudden noise filled the air and I caught the attention of the infected, it looked at me rather than Ella. I pretended the shovel was a bat and the head of the infected a rounders ball. I was decent at rounders and so, when it limped towards me hastily, I managed to smack the metal head of the shovel directly at the creature, sending it flying backwards.
"Car," I gasped to Ella, who finally seemed to come back down to earth. We jumped into the car quickly as the one I had hit began to stand back up, a gurgling sound coming from its throat.
"That was too close," Ella breathed out.
"Just another reason you should stay in the house where it's safe," Jack replied.
I could see the same discussion from the house arising again but before it could get too far a bang sounded from all around the car. The one I had knocked down was coughing up blood onto my window, whilst a few more from the alley had come into the light and were banging their bodies into the doors.
"Shit!" Jack hissed and put the car into gear before speeding away.
The closer we got into town the more people we saw, the roads got more blocked with cars. We came to a stop behind a line of other cars. Horns filled the air and people were stood outside of their cars, yelling at someone in the distance. Jack got out of the car, he tried to look over the vehicles but a van was blocking most of the view.
"I'm not dealing with this." Jack slammed the door shut and pressed his foot on the accelerator, he eased onto the pavement. "Hold on!" He told us, though I didn't know exactly what to hold on to so I just gripped tightly onto my seat belt. We drove onto the pavement and it became increasingly clear what was causing all the traffic. Police vans were lined up on the road, one had its rear end on the pavement and in our path. Policemen were pushing people back who were trying to get over their vans, one saw us on the pavement and began yelling at us to move, they waved us backwards. I saw Jack's knuckles turn white as he gripped onto the steering wheel, I was pushed backwards as the car sped up. Tree branches began to scratch my window.
"Jack watch out!" Ella screeched as we smashed into the back end of the police van, my nails pierced into my palms. The seatbelt dug into my chest as I was thrown forward into my seat before the car skidded on the new stretch of road.
The hospital was in sight but something was horribly wrong. The sky was blackening with the amount of smoke coming from the building. As the yelling from behind us faded, it was replaced by the sounds of screams.
We pulled into the road the hospital was on, only to see the hospital was in fact on fire. Bright amber flames fell onto the plants dotted around outside. All levels of the building were engulfed in flames, I felt the heat even from where I sat.
Staff were running out, patients were hobbling. Family members trying to hold up their loved ones but many were bleeding. There must've been hundreds of people running out of the gates and around the car. Some people closer to the hospital were trying to roll onto the floor to put out the roaring flames that were slowly burning them alive. Men in SWAT uniforms were drenching the hospital in a liquid that seemed to make the fire more alive. Other people in the same attire held guns, they were pointing at people as they ran and sprayed shots across the hospital car park.
Ella reached over Jack and then I heard the locking system kick in. I grabbed the handle and tried to pull it open, it was tightly shut. I banged my shoulder against the door but still it wouldn't budge.
"There's no way I'm letting you run around out there," she said.
"But mum and dad!" I cried out.
"You're no use to them trampled," Jack said annoyed.
"Ella!" I pleaded, hoping that somehow I could get through to her. We needed to find our parents. Even if it meant risking death, I knew they'd do the same for us. They had to be in there or at least in the car park somewhere. If only I could pick out faces through the soot that filled the air. It was getting thicker the longer we stayed there and more people began to fade out of sight.
"No. Let's just go," her voice was flat and there was no challenge for an argument evident; it was final and there was no way to get her to change her mind.
People banged on the car for us to stop, people that looked ill and pale. Jack barely acknowledged them as he drove forward. I watched out the window as we left the hospital behind, as we left my parents behind. An explosion sounded and debris floated towards the car, I put my head in my hands to cover my ears.