Biting Back (Book 1): Four Women of the Apocalypse Page 3

  She called Michael again, this time he picked up.

  “Michael?! Is that you? Michael?” There was just a grunt in reply. “Michael, please just answer me, are you okay?” she shouted down the phone.

  “I can’t come home Susan.” The words sounded forced and weak. “I have this fever. I don’t think I have much longer. I have locked myself in the car. If the worst happens, at least I won’t be able to harm anyone else. Susan, I love you. You know that don’t you?”

  Tears coursed down her cheeks, as Susan softly said “Tell me where you are Michael. Please?”

  “NO! You were right, love. That guy I helped probably gave it to me, or maybe he didn’t. I could have caught it at the hospital, I don’t know, but I do know that I don’t want you to see me like one of those things, Susan. Just let me go.” He sighed deeply. “I will see you in a much better place. I love you so much” The phone went dead.

  Gilly came into the kitchen, and saw Susan crouched on the floor with her arms around her legs, crying.

  No words were needed between these friends. She sat on the floor beside Susan and simply held her. Eventually the sobbing eased. Susan told Gilly about her conversation with Michael.

  After several deep breaths, Gilly heard the words she was expecting from Susan: “I’m going to get him, I’ve got to find him!” She knew that it would be fruitless to argue so she simply and softly said, “When do we leave?”

  The dogs were safe in the shed with plenty of food and water, a pet flap in the door to let them out when they needed to toilet.

  The women had bags ready with water and energy bars. It struck Susan that she would need something to protect herself with, and had precious little to work with in this regard. She had never really given much thought to using weapons before. She ended up taking the fireplace poker, and Gilly took a knife from the kitchen.

  The small road was still and quiet as the women got in and started the little car. Susan knew that Michael was somewhere between the hospital and the house. She would search until she found him.

  Gilly was quiet, continuously looking around her for any threat. Nothing showed itself to her and she started to relax. Everything actually looked pretty normal. If she let herself, she could just imagine that they were going into town to get some shopping and have a cup of tea in the café across the road, like they had done so often before. But one look at Susan’s face put a sharp end to that daydream. Her friends face was pale and pinched, her lips pursed so tightly that her mouth was just a thin line across her face. She was way past being anxious. Susan was a great friend, and Gilly was still trying to come to terms with how sick she was. She was going to miss the hell out of her when the time came. She’d always felt it was so unfair that this disease was taking her away. She had shed many tears at the simple sadness of losing such a good friend. Catching her thoughts made Gilly start, but now the game had changed, hadn’t it? Nothing was making any sense anymore. She didn’t know that the sickness in Susan was the very thing that was making her strong.

  Susan knew she had nothing left to lose, and after all these months she could shed her fear for herself, and this was utterly liberating.

  “HOLD ON!” A cry from Susan made Gilly jump, and before she could look around, there was a huge bang and the car jolted sharply to the right. Susan was pumping the brakes to bring the car back under control.

  “What in the fuck was that?” Gilly shouted as the car slid to a stop on the opposite side of the road.

  Susan was breathing fast and gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles looked like they were going to bust through her skin. “We hit something. Oh my God! We hit someone. I think it was a person, Gilly! Shit. I’ve hit someone! Was it a kid?”

  Gilly could hear the panic rising in Susan’s voice. “Okay, sis, relax. I will check it out! Stay here.”

  Gilly got out of the car and turned back towards a small lump in the road. It was impossible to see what it was from this distance, but she let out a breath when she saw it was covered in black fur. Okay, so not a person, she thought. But even so, she knew she would have to check it out. She drew closer and could make out the sound of panting and a soft whine coming from the black dog. Oh no she thought, poor thing! She slowly put her hand out to touch the dog’s head. It was lying on its side, panting rapidly, and Gilly could see blood seeping through its fur, starting to pool on the road surface near its head. She crouched down and saw that the dog had something pink lying beside it. Oh my god, what is that? Is that a puppy? Gilly thought. She lifted the dog’s paw and jumped back when she saw that it was not a puppy at all, but a human hand. Complete with nail varnish and rings on the fingers! Feeling the bile rise, she turned away and threw up the small amount of food in her stomach. She stood up and turned back to the dog that now had his head up and was staring at her with pure white eyes.

  “Ohh...fuck no!” she shouted out and ran back to the car.

  Susan was still sitting the same way, gripping the wheel and shaking like a leaf. “What did I do?” she asked Gilly tightly.

  “Just drive, Susan! Get us away from here now!” As they left tyre marks on the road, Gilly filled Susan in on her findings. Had they looked behind them, they would have seen the dog try to raise itself up on broken limbs to follow the enticing smell of fresh meat.

  The car screamed down the road, calling for a gear change that Susan was incapable of making. As they made their way through the town, the car quietened down with the reduced speed needed to get past the unbelievable carnage left on the roads. They faced bizarre scenes that needed to be navigated, abandoned cars, debris, even a pram, all left in the road. Windows of shops were broken, but there was no sign of life anywhere. Where is everyone? Susan thought as she made her way slowly through the street. Rounding the corner, she stopped wondering, as she saw ahead a rather efficient road-block stopping her progress. Three vans completely blocked the road. Susan jammed on the brakes and looked in her rear-view mirror only to see another van pull up behind her. She was boxed in now, no way out.

  Shit. Without trying to move her lips, Susan said “hah you got your knihe? Gilly? Get your knihe out” She saw Gilly hide the knife in her pocket. She reached down to get the poker from the foot well. The door of the van behind her opened and a man got out and sauntered up to Susan’s door. She saw in her side mirror that he had a big build and carried a baseball bat. Not exactly a good sign, but at least there is no barbed wire wrapped around it! she thought.

  Gilly had started to breathe rapidly and was looking briskly around her. “Just stay calm sis. We’ll be okay” Susan whispered, but Gilly was not calming down. Now she was whimpering, as she saw a man round the blockade in front of them, the same man she had seen the day before with the nasty scar down his face.

  “That’s the guy from yesterday! Susan! Get us out of here! Please!” But Susan couldn’t get the car out of the tight spot, it was impossible. The women looked at each other. A long look that spoke volumes; they grasped at each other’s hands. They both knew that this was not going to go well. A moment of love, respect, and sisterhood passed between them that needed no words. Taking a deep breath, Susan opened the door and got out to face the big man approaching.

  “Can you let us pass? Please? I need to find my husband.”

  With a sideways smile, the man walked right up to Susan, causing her to look up into his face. “Why? What’s so important about finding him? Won’t I do?” he grinned down on her.

  “Look...please? We have nothing. Just let us go, will you? If you want the car you can have it! We just need to get going. Please?”

  “Nothing? I wouldn’t say that exactly, now would I? For a start off, you can give me that poker you have on the seat of your car there. Oh, and tell your little friend in there to get out, too, would ya?” He raised his bat up to rest on his shoulder, not only to intimidate but to also show the blood stains decorating the large end. He looked over Susan’s head as Gilly got out of the passenger side and slid his gaze over t
o the man standing by the barricade. “Hey boss! You want to come and check out the stock here?” he shouted, giving a leering look up and down Susan’s body. She knew that from his look that ‘the stock’ was not referring to the car. She felt cold inside as he pulled the poker out of her hand.

  The scarred man slowly made his way to the car.

  Gilly stood straight and faced him as he approached. Susan had an idea what her friend was about to do, and knowing that this was a bad idea, a very bad idea, she forced out: “Gilly, don’t…” But Gilly walked up to the man, took out the knife from her pocket, and pointed it at him, the tip shaking.

  The man stopped walking, and with a smile, he put both of his hands in the air. “Woah there! What’s that for? I haven’t done anything to you! Why the hostility?”

  The man next to Susan started to laugh, and shouted out, “Hey JC! Looks like your reputation has spread already, eh?”

  JC did not even glance away from Gilly and her knife. He made a mock lunge towards her, and as she extended her arm, he grabbed it with ease and squeezed her wrist so tightly that she could not control her hand, and the knife dropped to the ground. He didn’t release his grip on her but drew her closer into him and brought his other arm around to embrace her, pinning her to him. He leant down, put his nose to her hair, and took in a long breath. Inhaling deeply, he murmured, “Mmm...you smell so good! I tell you what, I have a place nearby that you and I are going to go to, and you will be safe, and you will be fed, and you will be grateful. Whaddya say? Hmmm?”

  “Fuck you!” Gilly shouted into his chest. JC liked his women with some fight in them, and his smile grew. “You know what Francie?” he looked over to the man by Susan, “I think I’m gonna ‘try before I buy’ with this one!” and started laughing.

  Susan had seen enough. She was still facing Francie, and his distraction with his boss gave her the perfect opportunity to take one step back and kick out with all her might into his groin. He blew out, and his eyes bulged, as he doubled up and cupped his hands over his throbbing balls. A whimper keened from him as his voice had stopped working. Susan grabbed her poker from his loosened fingers and ran at JC.

  Seeing the events unfold didn’t really faze JC. He simply turned to Susan’s approach and held Gilly in front of him as a shield. Unused to any violence, Susan stalled, and was unsure of what her next move should be. “Let her go!” she shouted.

  Smirking, he simply said, “Nope” and Susan saw his eyes settle over her shoulder and felt the blow from an open hand across the back of her head. The strength of the hit took her off her feet and she dropped the poker as she landed on the road surface, scraping her hands on the rough covering. She turned her head to see the man called Francie still cupping his testicles with one hand and advancing towards her. He stopped short and looked at her closely.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? Where’s all your hair? You sick or something?” Susan lifted her hand to her scalp and felt the headscarf had fallen off.

  Without another word, Francie looked over to JC and said “Nuh uh. Not taking this one. She’s broken. She will probably spread whatever it is she has, anyways.” JC looked down at Susan dispassionately and simply said, “Do what you want with her. I’m going to try this one out.”

  Susan, lying on the ground locked eyes with Gilly, and once more a look of pure sadness and love passed between them.

  “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

  “Don’t be. Love you, sis,” Gilly mouthed back as she was dragged away. The last thing Susan saw was her own poker arcing down towards her face.

  The light was blinding her, even with only one eye that would open. Susan was lying outside and could feel the breeze on her head. She lifted her hand to her face and could feel the dent in her skull. an obvious fracture there, and the bleeding had been profuse. The blood had flowed over her so freely that now, having dried, her eye was welded shut with it. She slowly started to raise herself from the road, trying to remember what had happened. Slowly opening her eye again, she squinted around herself to try and gauge where she was. Rubbing the dried blood from her other eye, she felt the skin the blood had held release. She opened her eye slowly, and now with better focus, she could see that she was on the side of the road where they had been stopped. She had obviously been dumped like garbage after being given what was thought a killing blow.

  Gilly!! Her head swung from side to side to see if she could see her friend. Thudding raged with every movement she made. Wincing with the pain, she could actually make out the outline of her car! My car? Why is my car still here? She thought. On hands and knees, she crawled over to her vehicle now left at the side of the road. Maybe she could find Gilly and still get to Michael? Reaching the front bumper, she used her hands to crawl up into a crouching stance. She checked inside the car and was amazed to see her keys still in the ignition. Automatically, she pulled them out and put them in her pocket. A noise took her attention towards the rear of the car, and she looked through to see the back window was broken, and shards of glass were glistening all over the back seat and shelf. A rope led in from outside and wrapped around the passenger seat. What the hell is that? she thought. The rope moved, making her jump. She moved slowly down the side of the car and dropped to her knees.

  Susan gave up, at the sight of her closest friend, her sister, tied at the other end of the rope. She was naked from the waist down and both ankles were bound together. The clothes on her top half were shredded and shorn off in places, showing more of the raw, grazed flesh underneath. Being dragged over the harsh road surface, not much of her face was left intact, but Susan could see the beautiful dark hair, now with clumps missing, but the remainder still remarkably held in its elastic band. Her arms were splayed out behind her, and at her left elbow, one of the infected picked at what was left of Gilly’s bicep. The picture told Susan exactly what had happened to her friend.

  Susan’s world was closing in on her. She slid down the side of the car and let the darkness envelope her. She was brought back to her senses when she heard the scraping of movement from the back of the car. The infected, smelling a fresher meal, had started to rise and move towards Susan. The pure white eyes, she figured, must cause problems with their sight, as in its haste to get to her, it tripped over the body it was just eating. With a loud thud, the infected landed just beside Susan, its face turned towards her, and started snapping its teeth together.

  Susan had never really lost her temper in her entire lifetime. She’d been blessed with a very clement existence.

  Until now.

  She completely lost any decorum, inhibition, or reticence within her, letting the white-hot fury explode behind her eyes. She saw her friend lying there, saw what had been done to her. The waste of her life. Her beautiful life. Susan let it go. She let everything go. The cancer, the waste of the treatment time she could have spent feeling well and with her family. The unfairness that she had this bastard disease, and yet these men, the ones who would do things like this, leading charmed lives.

  Susan didn’t feel the skull crack under her foot.

  She didn’t see the grey chunks of brain break off and mix with the spinal fluid and blood to spread out from the mess that was once someone’s face.

  The next conscious thought Susan had found her wandering away past the blockade of vans in the road. Her pulse, still racing pounded in her ears. She didn’t want to think. She didn’t want to rationalise what she had seen and done. She just walked. She kept quiet and hid from any of the infected, and continued to put one foot in front of the other.

  The day was moving into early evening, and ahead, Susan found what she had been looking for. Michael’s car was on the side of the road. A gasp escaped her dry lips. She half-stumbled and ran to her end goal. She made her way towards the driver’s door, and crouched to look inside.

  Michael was seated in the driving seat, and still wearing his seatbelt. His head was forwards with his chin resting down on his chest. His chest wasn’t moving. “Pleas
e, please…” Susan whimpered. She tried the door, but it was locked. Remembering their last conversation, she recalled that Michael had said he was locking himself inside. She gently tapped on the window. No movement came in response. She fished her keys out of her pocket, and pushed the button to open the doors on the remote control fob. The ‘thwunk’ of the locking mechanism releasing sounded. As she reached down to open the door, Michael’s head started to move. Susan’s pulse rose and she whispered Michael’s name.

  He turned slowly towards the window, but his milky white eyes could not make out much. The smell of meat nearby caused him to clack his teeth together, spit fell down his chin.

  Susan rested her head against the cold glass of the window. Michael, her Michael. No. She couldn’t do this. First Gilly, now Michael.

  She turned away and sat on the road, her back resting on the door. She wept and wept until she had no tears left to fall. She looked up and saw the sky turning a beautiful shade of lilac, and the hint of stars starting to display their shimmering beauty.

  Digging in her back pocket, Susan retrieved her mobile phone. She brought up her text message screen and started typing.

  Twenty minutes, and many more tears later, she pressed the send button to each of her sons.

  She stood up and walked around to the passenger side of the car. Reaching down, she opened the door. Immediately, Michael turned his head around at the noise. She slid into the seat and shut and locked the door. “Michael, I have found you at last,” she said as she slowly reached down and pushed his seat belt release button.

  Michael reached over for their last embrace.

  - Nicky -

  Nicky was feeling so floaty. She smiled groggily and wondered at the way the lights bounced daintily around her. The distant noises of the hospital filtered through her drugged mind, giving an almost musical lilt in her head.

  As her pre-med coursed around her body, greyness started to blur her vista. A nurse, smiling and saying something that Nicky couldn’t quite follow, drifted in and out of her vision.The tiles on the ceiling were all of a sudden the funniest things she had ever seen, and she got caught up in a hysterical bout of laughter. With tears still rolling from her eyes, she drifted off to sleep.