further.
‘Yeah,’ Liam gloats, ‘might have a go on her, you get me?’
‘Whatever,’ Zayden’s voice, sulkier, harder.
‘You’s don’t mind yeah? We’s bro’s yeah? We share, you get me?’ He asks, goading Zayden with a malicious grin that goes unseen.
‘Said whatever.’
‘You go first if you want…or we can spit roast her…’
‘Sam,’ Pea shoots her hand out, grasping her friend by the wrist, ‘stop it…Sam!’
Lilly blinks and moves purposefully away to distance herself from the voices of the young men. She goes through the ruined doorway into the next room with the broken outer wall and stares through the gap to the blue sea outside. The humidity is crushing. Intense. The filth is worse. The stench. Her eyes fill with tears but she blinks them away, clenching her jaw and making fists at her sides while Pea hisses at Sam and drags her into the room with Lilly.
‘This is shit,’ Sam growls, her voice low but ready to climb up, ‘I mean fucking shit. How dare they…’
‘I know I know,’ Pea says quickly, quietly, trying to calm her friend, ‘they’ve got guns, Sam. Machine guns. There are children here…’
‘I’ve got a bloody gun too.’
‘Sam, no. They’re boys boasting, that’s all,’ Pea says, knowing they are not just boys boasting.
‘Lilly,’ Sam reaches out to grasp the girl and pull her in close, ‘you’ve got to take the gun…’
‘No, gosh no,’ Lilly says, ‘If they see it…’
‘They won’t. Just take it…’
‘He keeps staring at my bum,’ Lilly whispers, ‘He’ll see it.’ So wide eyed and innocent Sam and Pea could either cry or laugh but crying isn’t an option.
‘Come here,’ Sam sighs, pulling Lilly into a hug, ‘you have to stay close to us, okay?’
‘You must,’ Pea whispers, ‘at all times.’
‘I’ll try.’
‘You’ll do more than try, young lady,’ Pea whispers firmly, thinking of her own daughter.
That mothers tone hits hard. The brick gets heavier. Harder. Twisting more, ‘I’ll be fine. I will…gosh it’s hot today.’
Pea goes to tell her not to change the subject but stops herself. These are hard times. Dangerous times and Lilly is switched on. Instead she turns away, full of the sadness of everything and feeling that sadness only increase at the sight of the body. ‘Oh Christ,’ she groans.
‘What?’ Sam asks, looking in the same direction. She closes her eyes at the sight. Hardening her resolve.
‘Oh dear,’ Lilly sighs a long breath. Lani dead. Lani still clutching a blackened knife with her guts strewn out now half cooked. The once beautiful silky black hair all gone. The skin blistered deep red. The skull showing in places. They take in the utter viciousness of the final act and as one they slowly look up to the wall above the corpse.
‘He is coming,’ Sam reads the words in a low whisper.
If anything, the sight of the body and the words serve to harden Lilly. The reminder of Nick and Mr Howie. Of everything those people have done and everything they have been through. There is a bigger game going on here. Something bigger than all of them. Nick said they’d killed tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. He’d said they’d fought every day and every day the infection sent more against them and every day the infection lost.
A surge of guilt at feeling self-pity when Nick didn’t say goodbye and the realisation that he is part of something so much bigger than any of this. His life is in danger every second of every day. He fights to keep his group alive so they can defeat these things and give everyone else a chance to live. What did Lenski say Maddox had told them? Be seen somewhere else. That was it.
They went out knowing the infection is hunting them. They went to draw it away. Almost sacrificial in mission and intent.
Suddenly the bragging sulky tones of two teenage boys seem insignificant and trite. What Nick is doing is big and important.
‘Who is coming?’ Pea
‘Yeah,’ Liam gloats, ‘might have a go on her, you get me?’
‘Whatever,’ Zayden’s voice, sulkier, harder.
‘You’s don’t mind yeah? We’s bro’s yeah? We share, you get me?’ He asks, goading Zayden with a malicious grin that goes unseen.
‘Said whatever.’
‘You go first if you want…or we can spit roast her…’
‘Sam,’ Pea shoots her hand out, grasping her friend by the wrist, ‘stop it…Sam!’
Lilly blinks and moves purposefully away to distance herself from the voices of the young men. She goes through the ruined doorway into the next room with the broken outer wall and stares through the gap to the blue sea outside. The humidity is crushing. Intense. The filth is worse. The stench. Her eyes fill with tears but she blinks them away, clenching her jaw and making fists at her sides while Pea hisses at Sam and drags her into the room with Lilly.
‘This is shit,’ Sam growls, her voice low but ready to climb up, ‘I mean fucking shit. How dare they…’
‘I know I know,’ Pea says quickly, quietly, trying to calm her friend, ‘they’ve got guns, Sam. Machine guns. There are children here…’
‘I’ve got a bloody gun too.’
‘Sam, no. They’re boys boasting, that’s all,’ Pea says, knowing they are not just boys boasting.
‘Lilly,’ Sam reaches out to grasp the girl and pull her in close, ‘you’ve got to take the gun…’
‘No, gosh no,’ Lilly says, ‘If they see it…’
‘They won’t. Just take it…’
‘He keeps staring at my bum,’ Lilly whispers, ‘He’ll see it.’ So wide eyed and innocent Sam and Pea could either cry or laugh but crying isn’t an option.
‘Come here,’ Sam sighs, pulling Lilly into a hug, ‘you have to stay close to us, okay?’
‘You must,’ Pea whispers, ‘at all times.’
‘I’ll try.’
‘You’ll do more than try, young lady,’ Pea whispers firmly, thinking of her own daughter.
That mothers tone hits hard. The brick gets heavier. Harder. Twisting more, ‘I’ll be fine. I will…gosh it’s hot today.’
Pea goes to tell her not to change the subject but stops herself. These are hard times. Dangerous times and Lilly is switched on. Instead she turns away, full of the sadness of everything and feeling that sadness only increase at the sight of the body. ‘Oh Christ,’ she groans.
‘What?’ Sam asks, looking in the same direction. She closes her eyes at the sight. Hardening her resolve.
‘Oh dear,’ Lilly sighs a long breath. Lani dead. Lani still clutching a blackened knife with her guts strewn out now half cooked. The once beautiful silky black hair all gone. The skin blistered deep red. The skull showing in places. They take in the utter viciousness of the final act and as one they slowly look up to the wall above the corpse.
‘He is coming,’ Sam reads the words in a low whisper.
If anything, the sight of the body and the words serve to harden Lilly. The reminder of Nick and Mr Howie. Of everything those people have done and everything they have been through. There is a bigger game going on here. Something bigger than all of them. Nick said they’d killed tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. He’d said they’d fought every day and every day the infection sent more against them and every day the infection lost.
A surge of guilt at feeling self-pity when Nick didn’t say goodbye and the realisation that he is part of something so much bigger than any of this. His life is in danger every second of every day. He fights to keep his group alive so they can defeat these things and give everyone else a chance to live. What did Lenski say Maddox had told them? Be seen somewhere else. That was it.
They went out knowing the infection is hunting them. They went to draw it away. Almost sacrificial in mission and intent.
Suddenly the bragging sulky tones of two teenage boys seem insignificant and trite. What Nick is doing is big and important.
‘Who is coming?’ Pea
Similar Books
