Blood on the Floor: An Undead Adventure (25 page)

‘And?’

Subi shrugs, her thin shoulders rising to fall. ‘We hid but…we heard them.’

‘What? Heard what?’

‘About the fort.’

‘Yes. What about the fort? What fort?’

‘The man said they were going to it…to the fort…’ Subi explains.

‘Said they had army there,’ Rajesh cuts in. ‘People and…doctors…I heard them. I was hiding…’

‘Well where is it?’ Heather asks but the children stay silent. Nervously glancing up to her then over to Paco who walks on and only looks at Heather. ‘Did they say where it is?’

Subi shakes her head. Rajesh drops his eyes while Amna picks her nose.

‘Stop her doing that,’ Heather says quickly. ‘Why didn’t you talk to them?’

‘Scared,’ Subi says quietly.

A fort. What fort? What people? Christ they need to be away from this town before the night comes. ‘Walk faster,’ she says, giving voice to the thoughts in her head. ‘It’ll be night soon. Paco? What’s up? Oh you want my hand, okay…you okay? Let me take the top off your neck now. God it smells of that place. You do too,’ she sniffs him close and shows a look of yuck. ‘Are you hungry? We’ll get some food soon.’

Subi glances at her brother then back to the huge man that stays silent as the woman fusses and talks softly to him. They hold hands but she’s got rubber gloves on. She looks away when Heather scans the area, dropping her gaze and wishing they could go back to the supermarket. It stank but it was safe and she did her best but the maggots kept coming. She threw them out every night before they went to sleep but there was always more in the morning. Rajesh scratches the itch in his scalp then the itches on his legs and arms. Subi knocks his hand away, squinting her eyes at him to stop it.

They walk in silence, rushed and hurried along at Heather constantly telling them to speed up. Amna walks steadily at first, staring round in interest at a world she hasn’t seen for so many days but her legs grow tired from being unused for too long. She starts dropping back, tugging on Subi’s hand to slow down.

‘Keep walking,’ Subi urges her, pulling her gently to catch up.

‘What’s wrong?’ Heather asks, turning to stare back.

‘She’s tired,’ Subi says, polite and formal.

‘We need to go faster,’ Heather says, frustrated at the lack of pace and the ever growing need to leave the streets and town behind. She checks the sky, seeing the deeper shades of blue.

‘She can’t,’ Subi says.

‘Carry her then,’ Heather says, breaking her contact with Paco to turn a full circle.

Subi hefts her sister up and walks on. Her own legs are tired too. She feels drained, weak and exhausted. Fear and worry add to the problems but she goes on without complaint. Leaning slightly to the side to compensate for the bulk of her sister held tight to her hip.

This is no good. They’re not going fast enough and it’s later than she thought too. The sky is darkening far sooner than she expected. The urgency grows. The need to move and find shelter. She looks back with irritation at Subi struggling to carry Amna and Rajesh running to catch up. They look exhausted but they need to go faster.

‘Can he carry Amna?’

‘No,’ Heather’s tone is fast, too fast and it brings an instant sting to Subi’s cheeks. ‘No he can’t,’ Heather adds, her tone softer. ‘Give her to me, now come on, we have to be quick.’ She takes the girl in her arms, recoiling at the stench and feel of her greasy clothes. She pushes on with fast strides as the shadows start to lengthen and grow. Down a residential street full of houses and not one of them looks safe. Broken windows and doors. Bodies in the streets. Blood stains everywhere. They turn a corner into another one with half the row burnt to the ground from being hit by the lightning in the storm. Trees uprooted and blown through more slate roofs that sag to crumble inwards. Debris everywhere and the smells of burnt chemicals add to the already offensive stenches wafting up her nose.

‘Tired,’ Rajesh stumbles. His big sister takes his hand to pull him on, running to catch Heather and Paco striding ahead. Why can’t the big man carry Rajesh? They could go faster.

The next street is no better and they rush down the middle breathing hard with sweat shining on filthy faces. Rajesh and Subi gasp and feel their legs hurting from the pace but they keep on, rushing to close the gap that extends when they drop back too far.

‘Christ,’ Heather mutters, her eyes glaring at the sky and the inky blackness starting to show. Keep going. Find the edge of the town and get into the countryside. She spots the man before Paco. A shift in movement ahead of something flitting in the lee of a house.

‘Paco there,’ she snaps, her tone telegraphing the need for him to tense and lift his head. He spots the infected running out and bursts away with a snarl to charge down the road.

‘You two, up against that wall…quickly…stay behind me and don’t move…’ she pushes Amna’s head into her neck, turning the girl away from seeing. ‘Don’t look…you two don’t look. Come here,’ she reaches down to draw Rajesh in to her legs then twists to get Subi’s head turned. ‘Don’t watch.’

Subi does watch. She stares round Heather’s legs to the big man running at the infected who charges towards them with his hands clawed and ready to bite. She sees his eyes and the way he moves and knows they should have stayed in the supermarket. She’s seen them kill. One bite, one drop of blood and you die. That’s all it takes.

Paco slams him down as easily as the others he’s killed. A solid charge into the infected that takes him off his feet to drop and get stamped only to be lifted and put back down again but harder. His skull pops, his neck breaks and it’s done. Over in a few seconds.

‘PACO!’ Heather screams at the woman raging down the path of a house halfway between Heather and Paco who spins, locks on and goes from static to sprinting in the blink of an eye. Heather forces the children back, clutching Amna tight as the woman comes on. Her eyes flick from the infected to Paco who closes the distance to snatch a hand out which grips the infected woman’s head and sends her lurching back into his arms that twist and snap as his foot drives down into her knees.

Done. Two killed. Paco stands tall, his arms wide and his stance held ready. He looks down to the first one killed then to the woman. He stares round, daring anything else to come before turning and walking back to Heather. Subi watches his manner change. The wildness of him morphing as his arms relax, his fists unclench and his eyes soften as he stares fixed at Heather.

‘You okay?’ Heather asks, moving out to meet him. ‘Did they get you? No…I can’t see anything…show me your hands. Both hands. Good, well done,’ she smiles at him. Not a smile but a wide grin so full of life and warmth. Her hand goes out to touch his cheek, the back of her fingers brushing down to rest on his shoulder. ‘We’ll get some food soon I promise…and you kept your sunglasses on,’ she adds in a chuckle.

Subi takes her brothers hand who finally opens his eyes after being told not to look. He sees the two new bodies and feels Subi pull him as Heather and the big man start walking away. Subi doesn’t say a word but stares between them. The way that man moved. So fast. He was so fast and he killed them. She saw it. She saw it happen. They pass the body of the woman and she looks down seeing the open red but now lifeless eyes staring up from a neck twisted to be broken. ‘Come on,’ she pulls her brother’s arm to catch up.

Twenty Six

They found the edge of the town but that wasn’t enough. They got onto a country lane but that still wasn’t enough. They walked and walked as the sky grew darker but that wasn’t enough.

Subi knew they couldn’t go on any further. It was getting harder and harder to find the strength to pull her brother along. She was exhausted, drained and feeling sick. Her brother moaned then went quiet which worried her all the more.

‘Perfect,’ she hears Heather mumbling quietly from ahead and rushes once again to catch up.

‘In here,’ Heather pushes the five bar gate open, ushering Subi and Rajesh through while trying to lift Amna higher in her arms. The girl weighs a ton and is hot too. Her body warmth making Heather grow uncomfortably hot and sweaty. She closes the gate and leads them across the paddock to the stable block on the far side. She spotted the end barn from the road and the hose reel on the side told her there was running water.

She finally lowers Amna down at the barn and sags with relief as the bag slides off her back. Her own legs tingle from work and her back aches from the weight she’s carried. She groans inwardly on seeing the clasp and padlock on the barn door and wastes more time finding a length of metal to wedge down to try and prise the clasp off. Subi watches that too, wondering why she doesn’t ask the man to do it. His muscles are huge. He could it easily.

‘Paco,’ Heather gives up, waving for him to go closer. She guides his hands onto the length of metal in a way that makes Subi think maybe Paco is blind, but then he got those two things in the street. ‘Hold here, now pull, got it? Pull down…hard…like this…’ Heather strains to pull at the lever. ‘Pull…pull, Paco…go on now…hard…like this,’ she shows him again, straining to pull on the metal. ‘Pull…pull….hard…’

Paco pulls with ease. The clasp pops to fall off as Heather beams and rubs his arm. ‘Well done,’ she says, grinning widely at him.

Paco has learning difficulties. Subi can see it now. Her mother said people with learning difficulties need lots of patience and kindness.

‘He’s Paco Maguire,’ Rajesh announces, making Heather spin round to face him.

‘He isn’t,’ Heather say quickly.

Subi blinks. Paco Maguire. That’s Paco Maguire. From the movies. She goes closer, staring up at the man standing so relaxed with his arms hanging loose at his sides. She’d seen the bandage on his neck and arms but knew there was a familiarity about him.

‘It is,’ Rajesh persists. ‘He was in the movie and…’

‘It’s not…it isn’t,’ Heather says.

Rajesh goes closer to stare up, ‘you’re Paco Maguire…’

‘He is not,’ Heather snaps. ‘Move away, don’t touch him…you mustn’t touch him…don’t go near him…’

‘But…’

‘No. Don’t touch him. Don’t go near him. Don’t speak to him.’

‘But he’s…’

‘I said no. Do not touch him. Do not go near him. Do you understand?’

‘Rajesh,’ Subi pulls her brother away, alarmed at the tone of the woman standing in front of Paco.

‘Right,’ Heather says with the determined air of someone who has purpose and objective. She pulls the barn door open to look inside. ‘That’ll do…nice and dry…loads of straw…Rajesh, can you use that brush and clear the straw away from the floor here so I can make a fire.’ She drops down to open her bag, drawing two bottles of water out. ‘Subi, make sure Amna drinks water, Rajesh, you get some water too. Subi, make sure you have some. Paco, you have this one. Hands up…now remember what I said. Hold it carefully…no don’t squeeze. That’s it…up to your mouth and…okay? Got it?’ She turns away to start pulling the contents of her bag onto the hardstanding in front of the barn. Subi, give me your bag. Did Amna drink some water?’

‘Yes.’

‘Make sure Rajesh has some…that’s enough Rajesh, come and get some water. I’ll get the hose out and see if it’s…’ she trails off as she searches for the tap that is found, twisted and thanked when it releases a flow of water from the end of the hose. She turns the flow and starts pulling end of the hose to lie at the edge of the grass in front of the barn. ‘Finished?’ She spots Paco holding the bottle in front of his mouth but no longer drinking. ‘Okay, had enough? Want some more? No…okay. Subi, did you drink some water?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, we need a fire, we need to get you three washed and your new clothes need to be hosed and washed….everything needs to be washed. We’ve got food and…’ she pauses to drink water while thinking of what needs to be done first. ‘Ah that was nice,’ she feels the water going down into her tummy and turns round while wondering where to wash the children and Paco. ‘Shit,’ she curses on the spot. ‘I’ve done it again…’ she stares at the bottle then back at Paco. ‘I drank from your bottle again,’ she tells him then smiles in memory of the old man telling them off. ‘Go on, sod off,’ she mimics to herself. Ah well. It’s done now and she didn’t turn the last time. She puts the bottle back in his hands. ‘Do not touch this bottle…see it…’ She makes a point of showing it to Rajesh, Subi and Amna. ‘Do not touch it. Do not touch Paco. Do not go near him. Do not touch anything he touches. Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ Subi nods quickly.

‘Rajesh?’

‘Yes.’

‘Amna? Subi, make sure your sister doesn’t go near Paco.’

‘Yes, Heather.’

‘Good. Right, er….fire first. We’ll get that going then clean Amna. Paco you might as well sit down. Paco, sit down…sitting...good, now you stay there.’

She finds the lighter, straw and gets the flames going just inside the door of the barn. Lopped and chopped branches found stacked at the back are carried round and snapped to build it up enough to give light. She checks the view to the gate knowing someone would have to actually come into the field to see the barn.

Packs of wipes are pulled out and made ready. She gets a bottle of shower gel ready with bandages, sprays, anti-bac and antiseptic. With the fire going she gets the children to sit down while she takes the new clothes from the Berghaus bag which get jet sprayed, hosed, scrubbed with shower gel and anti-bac then spun round.

‘Wring,’ Heather hands the first garment over that is taken and squeezed to death by Paco now happy to do as told seeing as his hands are not on her neck. She washes, he wrings. The clothes are spread out to dry. The weather is still warm so it won’t take long.

‘Okay, Amna, you come with me…’ the silent girl gets attacked with wipes first. Her hands and face scrubbed and rubbed with wipe after wipe being cast aside filthy and black. ‘We’ve got to wash your hair…it’s so matted and greasy…it’ll be cold but, now bend forward and let it hang down. Subi? Will your sister be okay? Do you want to help?’

Amna doesn’t moan once. The water is cold but it’s nice and she stands quietly, falling asleep on her feet as Heather and Subi hose her head off then work their fingers through the strands with shampoo taken from a travel bottle.

‘We’ve got to get that dress off,’ Heather says quietly. ‘Is that okay, Subi?’

‘Yes,’ Subi says as meek and as politely formal as ever. Heather glances at her, pondering the good manners.

‘You do it,’ Heather says after that moment of thought. It’s one thing stripping to clean Paco but children are different. ‘Wash her body with the soap…okay?’

‘Yes, Heather,’ Subi nods. Her eyes wide and watchful.

‘Rajesh, you come here and we’ll start with the wipes while your sister cleans Amna. Subi, can you wash Rajesh after or can he do it himself?’

‘I can do it,’ Subi replies.

‘Do it myself,’ Rajesh cuts in.

‘Good, now stand still. My word you are so filthy. Look at this wipe…it’s black…actually black. You’re worse than Paco when I had to wash him…’

‘Is he Paco Maguire?’ Rajesh asks, turning his head from the wipe scrubbing his skin.

Heather freezes, biting her lip for a second. ‘No…no it’s not Paco Maguire. His name is Paco but er…’

‘He looks like Paco Maguire,’ Rajesh says, his big dark eyes staring at Heather.

‘Stunt double,’ Heather makes it up on the spot. ‘He was Paco Maguire’s stunt double…’

‘But he’s called…’

‘And he has the same name,’ Heather announces.

‘Does he have learning difficulties?’ Subi asks, midway through washing her still uncomplaining sister who hasn’t been cleaned or washed for almost two weeks.

‘Er…kind of,’ Heather says, continuing to destroy the layers of grime on Rajesh. Change the subject. Think of something. ‘Where are you from?’

‘Boroughfare,’ Subi replies.

‘Boroughfare? Where’s that? Oh you mean where I found you? Was that Boroughfare?’

‘Yes, Heather.’

‘Oh…I meant…you know, that was a bad question. I didn’t mean where you are from,’ she talks while working, discarding wipes as fast as she can pluck them out and wipe. ‘I meant…well your names and…

‘We’re Indian,’ Subi says.

‘Ah,’ Heather replies. ‘I see.’

‘Dad said we’re British,’ Rajesh says, sputtering as the wipe goes in his mouth.

‘We are British but we’re from India,’ Subi says.

‘I’m from here,’ Rajesh says.

‘We’re both,’ Subi says.

‘Subi? Amna all done? Good, see if her clothes are dry…if not then get her sitting by the fire, she’ll be warm enough for…’

‘Dad said we’re British,’ Rajesh cuts in.

‘You are British,’ Heather says.

‘But Subi said we’re Indian but Dad said we’re British and…’

‘You’re both,’ Heather shrugs. ‘Everyone is from somewhere. It doesn’t matter…right, you strip off and Subi will wash you. Are the clothes dry yet?’

‘Almost dry, Heather.’

‘I’ve got a top Amna can wrap round.’

She checks the fire, checks Amna and wraps a top over her back and smiles grimly at the little girl falling asleep next to the fire. She checks Paco. Squatting down in front of him to see if he wants water or not. She frets and worries. She wanted this night to just be them and the fire.

‘It’s cold,’ Rajesh complains, shivering audibly.

‘Amna didn’t complain,’ Subi points out.

‘Yeah but…’

‘Rajesh, you need to be washed,’ Heather moves away from Paco to check the clothes and moves them closer to the fire.

‘He’s done, Heather,’ Subi calls out as Rajesh stands with his hands covering his groin.

‘Go sit by the fire, put this round you,’ she hands the boy the last top from her bag. ‘Subi, you get washed and we’ll have some food.’

‘Er…’

‘What?’ Heather asks, seeing the girl freeze with the hose in her hand. She looks at Heather then at Paco, her whole manner showing how worried she is. ‘What?’ Heather asks again.

‘But,’ Subi winces, frowning deeply.

‘What?’ Heather asks, turning to look at Paco then back to the girl. ‘Oh…oh I see…you don’t want to…okay, well just go round the corner then. But make sure you wash properly…and wash your hair…’ She sees the look of relief on Subi’s face. An older girl with a sense of shame at being naked. Wise girl.

By the time Subi is finished the clothes are dry and ready to be put on. Amna sleeps on as she’s dressed by her sister until the three sit quietly next to the firelight watching Heather and Paco outside. They watch as Heather makes him stand, lift his arms and pulls his top off to clean his upper body with wipes before removing his bandages and checking each wound with soft gentle fingers. Gels and sprays are applied. She tuts and fusses all the time, speaking softly with hands that linger on his skin. Rajesh flinches at the sight of his neck reflected by the moon and the glow from the fire. The ragged flesh torn and hanging that is healing so fast. They see as Heather checks it, cooing and marvelling softly as he watches her every move. He is Paco Maguire. Rajesh knows he is. The muscles, the height, the way he stands. He is Paco Maguire. Subi watches Heather, the kindness and almost maternal love she shows for him. How she dresses his wounds and leads him round the corner to the running water and Heather chuckling as she cleans him and leads him back by the hand. Finally she brings him in and gets him to sit on the other side of the fire with his back leaning against a bale of straw.

It’s clean here. Subi inhales deeply, smelling the wood smoke and the warm currents of air that come into the barn. The smell of the straw and the shower gel on her skin. She pulls a strand of raven black hair round to smell, marvelling at the way it feels and the scents within the strands. Heather is strange, she speaks bluntly but they’re safe here and away from the supermarket. There’s no maggots or flies either.

Rajesh just watches Paco Maguire in awe. It is Paco Maguire. He knows it is. He used to watch the movies with his dad while Subi and his mother tutted at their love of action films.

Amna just sleeps, fidgeting and shifting to lean harder against her sister while breathing clean air in a warm barn.

‘Food,’ Heather sighs her hundredth sigh and starts bringing tins into the barn that get opened and handed round. Fruit, rice pudding, tuna, plum tomatoes, ravioli and macaroni cheese. ‘Come on, eat up,’ she says simply, placing tins down in front of the children with spoons handed out. ‘Subi, you feed Amna.’

‘She’s asleep, Heather.’