“Fucking thing stinks.”
Larissa didn’t reply. Instead, she focused on the road ahead as she tore through the small town’s tight streets.
As she negotiated their escape route with sharp turns Rhys snapped one way and then the other. He had to hold the phone with both hands to steady it enough for him to hit redial. He lifted the phone to his ear and the purr of a ring tone made him straighten in his seat.
“It’s ringing .”
Larissa eased off slightly and looked across at him.
At that precise moment a diseased sprung from the darkness to be lit up by the car’s headlights. Rhys pulled his legs up in the chair and Larissa screamed as they crashed straight into it. The thud struck through the car like a sledgehammer blow and the diseased man spun away into the darkness on Larissa’s side of the car.
With the phone to his ear still Rhys nodded ahead. “Keep your eyes on the road!”
Although Larissa replied Rhys didn’t hear it because Vicky answered the phone at that moment.
“Hello.”
“Vicky? Where the fuck are you?”
She breathed heavily down the phone and lowered her voice. “I’m trying to get away from Brendan. I can’t see him, but I know he hasn’t given up on our trail. The guy’s a psychopath.”
The scream of the diseased near Vicky roared so loudly it sent needles of pain into Rhys’ eardrum. He had to pull the phone away from his face. When he put it back he listened to the chaos that clearly surrounded her.
“Is it bad where you are too?” he asked.
For a moment Vicky didn’t reply. After several heavy breaths she finally said, “London’s fallen, Rhys. It’s fucked. When I was waiting for you in the police car I saw a helicopter fly over with a cage of those creatures. I think they’ve dropped the diseased into London. Flynn and I are going to have to turn around and head back toward Summit City.”
“Flynn’s okay is he?”
Larissa slowed down some more.
“He’s fine.”
A look across at his ex-wife and Rhys nodded at her.
“Let me speak to him,” Larissa said as she reached for the phone. The car swerved and she almost lost control.
Rhys pulled away. “Focuson driving, Larissa. Vicky, we need to think of somewhere we can meet.”
“I agree. We need to go south to get away from London. How about Biggin Hill Airport? There’s an old industrial estate next to it. I can’t imagine there’ll be many of the diseased there.”
More screams hurt Rhys’ ear.
“Okay,” Rhys said, “we can get to Biggin Hill Airport. Can you meet us there in an hour?”
Vicky fought for breath and then finally said, “Yes, I can.”
“Can we speak to Flynn?”
Although Vicky didn’t reply Rhys heard her pass the phone to his son.
“Dad?”
“Flynn, are you okay, mate?”
“I’m scared , Dad.”
“It’ll be okay. Just do what Vicky says and you’ll be okay.”
“Like fuck will he be okay,” Larissa said and ripped the phone from Rhys’ hand. “Flynn, baby.”
Despite the short distance between them Rhys heard the beeps before she’d said anything.
Larissa looked at the phone. “The connection dropped.”
Chapter Sixteen
About twelve hours ago
They hadn’t discussed what would happen next and they hadn’t discussed what Vicky should do at this point either. She’d make sure the fake guards had a minute before the real guards turned up so they could let Brendan in. She’d distract the real guards if necessary, and then she’d … what the fuck would she do?
Still in the foyer of the Alpha Tower Vicky looked around. Surely someone had rumbled her. What if Brendan didn’t destroy the CCTV footage like he’d promised? Someone would see her in the foyer, aimless with a stupid clipboard. They’d be bound to review the footage from the day.
Vicky hunched down again with her clipboard and wrote more nonsense on the form. She’d have to replace it with a legit one later. If they asked to see her paper trail
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