and didn’t need
anyone’s help or support. Skip forward a year and a change had taken place. It
wasn’t like Lou had become a beacon of light, but she had mellowed a little.
She moaned more about the hardships we faced, which reminded us that she was
human. Not so long ago, she would have bottled things up until she burst.
Lou picked up a small stone from
beside her and lobbed it at Mel’s head. Mel ducked out of the way.
“I’ve been thinking of learning an
instrument,” said Charlie. Before setting out he had taken off his lab coat in
favour of a green raincoat. His curly hair was so long now that it reached down
to the hood.
Gregor turned to look at him, but he
didn’t say anything. The gigantic butcher had hardly said a word in the hours
since we had left camp.
“Yeah,” Charlie carried on. “Always
fancied myself as a bit of a drummer.”
He mimed playing drums with his right
arm, and then looked down at the stump of his left arm, twisting his face in
exaggerated confusion. The he stopped and looked around expectantly, waiting
for laughs that didn’t come. Mel gave chuckle out of pity. Lou shook her head,
turned away from him and massaged her feet. Only Ben laughed properly.
“Tough audience,” said Charlie.
“Guess I can delete drumming and stand-up comedy from my CV.”
“Cross science off too,” said Lou.
“Sorry?”
“What good have you actually done us?
I mean, you’ve been holed up in your lab doing God knows what, and there’s feck
all to show for it.”
“Now now,” I said.
We hadn’t been in the best of moods
since we had left camp, but the last hour had been particularly tough. We had
reached a grouping of hills fifty feet tall. It was possible to walk around
them but it would have added hours to the journey, so we decided to tackle them
head on. My calves burned after scaling the hills. Looking at the rest of the
group, it seemed like they all felt it too. The going was particular rough on
Charlie, who had to stop in what seemed like every few minutes to catch his breath.
The path ran straight once we cleared
the hills. There was a single-lane road close to us which led to the nearby
towns of Larkton and Grey Fume. Larkton had been a town of thirty-thousand
people. It was famous for being the home of Larkton cheese, a mild cheddar that
was shipped across the country. Grey Fume, before the outbreak, was a grim
place where few people settled. It had a population that was overwhelmingly
old, with most of the adults nearing retirement age and their children leaving
for the cities as soon as they got the chance.
As we got nearer to the towns we
began to see more infected. Ragged groups of dead bodies walking across the
fields and roads, loose flesh hanging off their frail figures. We avoided them
for the most part and only killed those who got too close, but as sightings of
them grew, I became uneasy.
We came to a stone bridge. It hung
over a brook that trickled for miles through the countryside, eventually
joining a river. I stopped and leaned against the grey stone. Charlie, seeing
his chance, sat on the wall and took deep breaths. Lou shifted her rucksack on
her back. She held a quarter of our provisions in her bag, and I wondered what
else she had packed. Had she brought her book with her? Walking in the
countryside used to be a calming experience, but I wouldn’t have blamed Lou if
she needed her anxiety book.
I took a bottle of water out of my
jacket pocket. The liquid had a pale yellow tint to it, but we had boiled all
of our water, so I knew it was safe to drink.
“This is going to be trouble. We’re
getting closer to Grey Fume than I’d like, and the infected are making me
twitchy.”
“We could take a diversion. Cut a
route a few miles wide and skip the towns,” said Mel. She had been quiet so
far, only talking to share words of encouragement with Ben. The boy seemed to
prefer Charlie’s
anyone’s help or support. Skip forward a year and a change had taken place. It
wasn’t like Lou had become a beacon of light, but she had mellowed a little.
She moaned more about the hardships we faced, which reminded us that she was
human. Not so long ago, she would have bottled things up until she burst.
Lou picked up a small stone from
beside her and lobbed it at Mel’s head. Mel ducked out of the way.
“I’ve been thinking of learning an
instrument,” said Charlie. Before setting out he had taken off his lab coat in
favour of a green raincoat. His curly hair was so long now that it reached down
to the hood.
Gregor turned to look at him, but he
didn’t say anything. The gigantic butcher had hardly said a word in the hours
since we had left camp.
“Yeah,” Charlie carried on. “Always
fancied myself as a bit of a drummer.”
He mimed playing drums with his right
arm, and then looked down at the stump of his left arm, twisting his face in
exaggerated confusion. The he stopped and looked around expectantly, waiting
for laughs that didn’t come. Mel gave chuckle out of pity. Lou shook her head,
turned away from him and massaged her feet. Only Ben laughed properly.
“Tough audience,” said Charlie.
“Guess I can delete drumming and stand-up comedy from my CV.”
“Cross science off too,” said Lou.
“Sorry?”
“What good have you actually done us?
I mean, you’ve been holed up in your lab doing God knows what, and there’s feck
all to show for it.”
“Now now,” I said.
We hadn’t been in the best of moods
since we had left camp, but the last hour had been particularly tough. We had
reached a grouping of hills fifty feet tall. It was possible to walk around
them but it would have added hours to the journey, so we decided to tackle them
head on. My calves burned after scaling the hills. Looking at the rest of the
group, it seemed like they all felt it too. The going was particular rough on
Charlie, who had to stop in what seemed like every few minutes to catch his breath.
The path ran straight once we cleared
the hills. There was a single-lane road close to us which led to the nearby
towns of Larkton and Grey Fume. Larkton had been a town of thirty-thousand
people. It was famous for being the home of Larkton cheese, a mild cheddar that
was shipped across the country. Grey Fume, before the outbreak, was a grim
place where few people settled. It had a population that was overwhelmingly
old, with most of the adults nearing retirement age and their children leaving
for the cities as soon as they got the chance.
As we got nearer to the towns we
began to see more infected. Ragged groups of dead bodies walking across the
fields and roads, loose flesh hanging off their frail figures. We avoided them
for the most part and only killed those who got too close, but as sightings of
them grew, I became uneasy.
We came to a stone bridge. It hung
over a brook that trickled for miles through the countryside, eventually
joining a river. I stopped and leaned against the grey stone. Charlie, seeing
his chance, sat on the wall and took deep breaths. Lou shifted her rucksack on
her back. She held a quarter of our provisions in her bag, and I wondered what
else she had packed. Had she brought her book with her? Walking in the
countryside used to be a calming experience, but I wouldn’t have blamed Lou if
she needed her anxiety book.
I took a bottle of water out of my
jacket pocket. The liquid had a pale yellow tint to it, but we had boiled all
of our water, so I knew it was safe to drink.
“This is going to be trouble. We’re
getting closer to Grey Fume than I’d like, and the infected are making me
twitchy.”
“We could take a diversion. Cut a
route a few miles wide and skip the towns,” said Mel. She had been quiet so
far, only talking to share words of encouragement with Ben. The boy seemed to
prefer Charlie’s
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