She tailed off, slumping forward, her head drooping into her hand, as if vocalizing the thought had proved too much for her. After a moment, however, she continued, ‘I know good people get sick and die, or have accidents, but this is just … just
wrong
. It makes people into something disgusting, something to be feared. It
uses
people, and it … it …’ She tailed off, unable to find the words to fully express the horror and revulsion she felt.
Sam had never had kids, had never even
thought
about having kids, but right now he wanted to put a fatherly arm round Jin, to give her the comfort and reassurance she so obviously needed. He thought about doing it and then decided that maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea. After what had happened to her with those three guys, she had (not surprisingly) become both jumpy and withdrawn, and was now no doubt wary and suspicious of people’s motives towards her, especially motives that involved any kind of physical proximity. He didn’t want to make things worse by doing something she might take the wrong way. So he just sat, a foot or so between them, and tried, stumblingly, to put his reassurance into words.
‘I guess what you gotta remember is that those things … the infected, I mean … are not the people they once were. Those people are gone, dead … and whatever makes us
us
–’ he tapped his chest to emphasize his point – ‘by which I mean our soul, or our essence, or whatever … has shipped out, passed on, gone to wherever we go to when we die. And the things that are left … the bodies … they’re just puppets for the virus. They ain’t people. They’re just things. They don’t feel love or pain. They don’t find things funny or beautiful or ugly. They’re just … hunger. That’s all they are. Just hunger and primitive instinct. And if your papa becomes one of them … well, that ain’t your papa any more. That’s just something that’s using your papa’s skin like … like a set of clothes. Your papa’s somewhere else. Somewhere good.’
Sam got the feeling that he hadn’t expressed himself too well. He wanted to ask Jin if she understood what he was trying to say. But before he could, she said, ‘I used to believe in goodness. I used to believe that although there was bad in the world, there was a God up in heaven who would eventually make things right, would eventually reward us. But now I feel stupid for being so … so naïve. I mean, what kind of God would allow such suffering? I know I’m being selfish. I know it’s easy to keep believing in God when the bad stuff is happening to someone else. But … but it’s still how I feel, and I can’t help that. I used to have faith, and now it’s gone …’
She began to sob again, long and hard this time. Helplessly Sam watched her, wanting to tell her not to cry, that everything would be all right, but knowing how false that would sound. Eventually he mumbled, ‘Hey, you want a hug?’ And then he added hastily, ‘No pressure. It’s just … well, it’s hard to stand by and watch someone cry and not do anything about it, y’know.’
For a moment she didn’t respond, then she nodded and leaned towards him. Sam put his arm round her shoulders, aware of how sparrow-like and delicate she was. He felt furious and sickened at the thought of the three guys in the police station taking advantage of her physical frailty, and at the thought of how terrified and helpless she must have been.
For a while they just sat there, Jin weeping, Sam wishing he could protect her from stuff that had already happened.
Eventually her sobs subsided and she became quieter, calmer. Sam was beginning to wonder whether she’d cried herself to sleep when she said, ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get over what those men did to me.’
Not wishing to offer hollow platitudes, Sam said, ‘Maybe you won’t ever forget it, but one day you’ll learn to live with it. These things just take time.’
‘You don’t know what it was like,’ Jin said, a hint of sharpness creeping into her voice.
Sam shook his head. ‘That’s true. But I’ve read about women who’ve been through the same thing. And they all say there comes a time when you decide that you’re not gonna let the bad guys ruin your life any more, that you’re not gonna let them win. ’Cos they’re not worth it, and you are.’
‘They laughed when they were doing … what they did to me,’ whispered Jin. ‘They made me feel like nothing.’
‘Try not to think about how they made you feel,’ Sam said. ‘Try not to believe it. It’s
those
guys who’re nothin’, not you. What they think don’t count.’
Jin lapsed into silence again. Then she whispered almost guiltily, ‘I’m glad they’re dead.’
‘I’m glad too,’ said Sam. ‘People like that don’t deserve to live.’
‘Problem is,’ said Jin. ‘They’re not
really
dead, are they?’
‘They looked pretty dead to me,’ Sam said softly. ‘But if you mean you’re worried they’ll come back—’
‘No, that’s not it.’ She sighed and said, ‘I mean there’s plenty more like them out there. Bad people. People who don’t care how much they hurt other people. Who even
enjoy
hurting other people.’
‘Yeah, they’re out there,’ Sam said. ‘I’m not gonna insult you by saying they ain’t. But what you gotta remember is that there’s plenty good people too. A whole lot
more
good people than bad, in fact. Whatever we’ve seen these past couple days, there’s still plenty of love out there in the world.’
‘Not here, though,’ she whispered.
‘Hey, thanks,’ said Sam with a smile.
‘No, I don’t mean that. I mean … love seems to be abandoning Banoi, and fear and hate is taking over.’
‘Yeah,’ said Sam softly. ‘That’s how it looks, all right.’
They sat in companionable silence for another thirty seconds or so, listening to the carefree chirrup of unseen night-bugs.
Then Sam asked, ‘So, you coming with us tomorrow?’
There had been a kind of unspoken understanding that, after calling at the lab, all five of them would be heading over to the prison island with Mowen the following morning. But Sam had wondered earlier whether Jin was happy just to go along with the plan. Banoi was her home, after all. She had more of a stake in this place than the rest of them did.
She shrugged. ‘I guess.’
‘You thought about what you might do … after?’
She gave a small grunt. It might have been a humourless laugh, but it could just as easily have been prompted by a stab of pain in her belly. ‘How can I? Everything I have –
had
– is here. Out there –’ she waved a hand to indicate the wider world – ‘I might as well just not exist.’
‘Well, like I say,’ mumbled Sam, ‘you ain’t alone. We’ll look out for you – me, Xian Mei, Purna, even Logan. You need a place to stay, money, we’ll fix you up, you don’t have to worry about that.’
‘Thanks,’ said Jin. ‘I appreciate it.’ She yawned. ‘I suppose I ought to try and get some sleep.’
‘You and me both,’ said Sam. ‘Another long day tomorrow.’
They stood up. Before heading inside, Jin put a hand on Sam’s arm. ‘Thanks for not lying to me,’ she said.
‘Lying to you?’
‘By telling me that everything will be all right. Because things are a long way from all right, aren’t they? If this infection spreads, things may never be all right again.’
Sam looked at her for a long moment, his face grim.
‘Ain’t
that
the truth,’ he muttered finally.
‘SOMETHING’S
WRONG
.’
Logan looked at Purna in surprise. ‘You got spidey senses or something? Looks quiet enough to me.’
‘That’s what I mean,’ said Purna. ‘Where are the guards?’
From the far side of the clearing they all stared across at the high-security fence and the blocky grey buildings beyond it.
‘Maybe they’re on a break?’ suggested Xian Mei unconvincingly.
Purna shot her a withering look. ‘All at the same time?’
‘OK, people,’ Logan said almost wearily, ‘lock and load.’
Guns at the ready, the six of them moved across the clearing, scanning the surrounding jungle for anything unusual.
Purna’s verdict was not based purely on the lack of guards. She had tried calling West that morning, without success. It had been decided before they had set out for Mowen’s village yesterday that if West’s overnight attempts to develop a vaccine proved unsuccessful, Mowen would take Purna, Sam and the rest straight over to the prison island without them first making a pointless detour back to the research facility.
However, West’s unavailability had meant they had
had
to come here first, after all; if it was even
possible
that a vaccine had been developed then they couldn’t afford not to. Purna knew she would be angry if it turned out they had had a wasted journey, but it probably wasn’t West’s fault. The communications network had not exactly been reliable these past couple of days, and although the phone at the research facility had
seemed
just to ring out over and over again without reply, that didn’t necessarily mean nobody could be bothered to pick up.
They were about five metres away from the security fence when Sam said, ‘Aw, shit.’
‘What is it, big guy?’ asked Logan.
‘Purna’s right. We got trouble.’
Moving up to the fence, he pointed through the vertical metal slats to a patch of grass several metres away. Lying in the grass, among several pools of blood, was an AK 47.
‘Must’ve been a prison breakout,’ said Logan.
‘Where do you think they are now?’
‘Inside, I guess.’
‘Maybe they wandered off into the jungle,’ said Xian Mei, looking around nervously.
Purna shook her head. ‘The infected don’t climb, and there’s no other way out.’
‘So what’s our next move?’ asked Sam. ‘We go in there after them?’
‘Don’t see that we’ve got much choice,’ Purna replied. ‘But we’re not going in there after
them
. We’re going in there looking for the vaccine.’
‘If there is one,’ Xian Mei whispered, as if to herself.
Purna pulled a face, as if that was a possibility she didn’t want to consider.
‘We also need to look for survivors,’ said Logan. ‘Could be they’ve locked themselves in somewhere the infected can’t get to them.’
Purna nodded.
‘So how we gonna do this?’ asked Sam. ‘Who’s going in?’
After some discussion, it was decided that Purna, Sam, Logan and Xian Mei would check out the facility while Mowen and Jin would wait outside the perimeter fence with the backpacks of provisions they had all brought along with them.
‘Keep your rifle ready, just in case,’ Purna advised Mowen.
He looked at her as if she had insulted him. ‘I always ready.’
‘And look after Jin,’ added Sam, glancing at the girl.
Mowen nodded.
Without guards to warn them off, scaling the security fence was relatively easy. They all climbed over at the same time, while Mowen covered them in case of a sudden unexpected appearance by one or more of the infected. Purna was the first to reach the top of the fence and to land, cat-like, on the ground inside the compound. Seconds later they were all inside, moving forward quickly but warily in a tight formation, checking in every direction as they did so.
The first door they came to was slightly ajar and had a bloody handprint smeared across it, close to the ground, as if someone had tripped and had put out a hand to break their fall. There was more blood on the grass around the door, and a
lot
more just inside the building. From the streaks and spatters on the walls and floor, it looked as though a struggle had taken place, during which the wounded victim had been dragged at least several metres. After the long bloody smear, however, there was nothing but a trail of red spots meandering up the corridor.
Purna stared at the marks for a few seconds, then said, ‘Looks as though someone was attacked outside and then the fight spilled over into here.’ She pointed at the spots. ‘I’m guessing the victim was infected himself and after lying around for a while, eventually stood up and wandered off down the corridor in search of food.’
‘If everyone’s infected, how many people are we talking about?’ asked Xian Mei.
‘Couple of dozen,’ Purna estimated.
‘That’s six each,’ said Logan. ‘No problem.’
‘That depends whether they come one at a time or all together,’ said Sam.
The words were barely out of his mouth when a trio of dark shapes appeared at the end of the corridor. One of the shapes let out a hideous caterwauling screech and then all three started to run towards them.
Sam barely had time to register that one was a security guard and the other two were Kuruni tribesmen before the shooting began. The corridor reverberated to the deafening rattle of rifle fire, the attacking zombies throwing up their arms in a jerky macabre dance as they were ripped apart.
Within seconds it was over and the infected were lying in a torn heap, blood and lumps of matter trickling down the pock-marked walls.
‘Jeez,’ said Logan, a slight tremor in his voice, ‘that was—’
‘Look out!’ screamed Xian Mei.
Sam and Logan jerked up their guns in unison. Almost too late Sam realized there had not been three of the infected in the group that had attacked them, but four. The one at the back, a small Kuruni child no older than five or six, had managed to sneak in under the radar. It had evidently escaped unharmed from the hail of bullets, not only because it had been shielded by the three adults but also because most of them had passed over its head.
It came at them now, though, fast as a panther cub but far more deadly. It leaped over the mound of dead zombies and was almost upon them before they could react. Purna raised her rifle and fired just as the child launched itself through the air. The shot ripped the left half of its head and face away in a welter of blood and brains. The impact spun the child round in mid-air, Logan and Xian Mei jumping back as its body hit the wall close to them with a wet smack and slithered to the ground.
‘Stay alert,’ Purna snapped, barely giving the crumpled body of the child a second glance. ‘Don’t let your guard down for a moment.’
The rest of them nodded and they moved forward, Sam holding his breath against the rank smell as they cautiously stepped over the slowly spreading pool of blood seeping from under the tangled bodies of the four zombies. He had thought the research facility was cramped before, but now it seemed positively claustrophobic. The ceilings were too low and there were too many intersections; the grey walls seemed to suck in light despite the stark glare of the overheads, and to cast too many shadows.