Chapter 4: Chapter three

CHAPTER 3

‘…Reports in of further deaths around the South of England, evacuations are still underway and yet very little information is still being released..’

Bodies were being pressed so closely up against my own that I was finding it hard to breathe, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the lack of air or the mess which had suddenly become my life. Only hours ago I’d been walking to school, worrying about the rain and the impending Psychology lesson. Now, I was stood in a crowded pub with my family, surrounded by people frantically crying on phones trying contact people they loved. All I could understand was that some kind of virus was spreading around my home and I had no idea how safe we were.

I was terrified.

Not just for me or my family, but for my friends. For the people I loved, for the families of the people around me. I was scared for the mailman who sent me a smile every morning, scared for the boy in my maths class who I’d been so sure would become the next Einstein. The world as I knew it was crumbling yet I still had no idea why or even if it was as bad as people were making out. I knew nothing, and it was frustrating me to the point of tears. The sound of the TV humming in the background was the only thing I could focus on, the room descending into a hush as new reports came in sparsely.

‘...We can report so far that around fifty people have been killed by this mystery virus; the names of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The whole of the South East of England has been completely closed off and all evacuees are being brought to the North of England though the reasons are still unclear. More reports as they come in’.

‘Why is nobody fucking explaining anything!’ an angry and clearly drunk man growled as he slammed his drink onto the bar. His words brought on a sea of anger as further people began to yell over one another, cursing whoever they could. I wasn’t surprised when I felt myself being yanked out of the front doors along with my brothers, I was surprised however when I noticed the darkening of the sky as I was pushed into the open air – my father caught me looking.

‘It’s half seven’ he muttered, massaging his forehead.

‘What’s going on?’ My mother breathed quietly to my father, leaning her head on his shoulder. Selfishly, I lifted Joel into my arms again to have someone to hold onto. It only took a few minutes before he was asleep, cradled with his head resting on the inside of my elbow, snoring softly. I wished I could join him.

‘Car?’ Lucas asked, frowning like my father.

‘Car’ my mother repeated, glancing towards Dad. He nodded with a small and quite obviously false smile, signalling for us to follow him.

***

I couldn’t figure out how, but somehow I’d managed to fall asleep in the cold, cramped backseat of the car with my head on Lucas’ shoulder and my feet leaning on the back of my mothers’ seat. It wasn’t a surprise to me then when I awoke with horrible cramps all over my body, the pain only intensified  by the fact I was jolted awake to the sound of a crashing noise outside the car. It almost sounded as though the crashing was coming from the car itself.

‘Could you open the door, please!’ a masculine voice penetrated my ears as a pair of fists started hammering on my father’s window. He woke with a start only seconds after me which triggered us all to jolt into life in unison, blearily making eye contact with one another. It was only Lucas who looked as though he was already alert and I wondered if he’d slept at all.

‘Let me in, please sir!’ the shouting continued as a young man with dark hair continued to slam his fists against the glass.

‘Stop, I have kids in here!’ my father yelled out the window, his fist clenched threateningly. Surely, the young guy stopped hitting the window and seemed to stop and compose himself for a minute before guiltily rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, looking as though he couldn’t quite believe his actions.

‘I have money, sir, a lift would be appr-'

‘No room’ my father growled, shoving his keys in the ignition.

‘Fuck, sir… I'm sorry for making you jump but you can't leave me here to die!' He groaned quietly into his hands, crouching to the floor as if he was having trouble standing, wavering slightly on his feet.

‘Dad?’ I whispered quietly, not sure what I even wanted to say. My mother was leaning over to try and push her foot on the accelerator but Dad pushed her foot easily to the side and spoke loud enough for the guy to hear.

‘What do you mean, ‘leave you to die’? He asked authoratively in his ‘doctor voice’.

‘Have you been living under a rock?’ the guy asked in a genuinely curious voice, moving back into a standing position ‘it’s a matter of time, you need to leave this place’.

‘All the drama is down south, we’re fine’ my Dad narrowed his eyes towards the stranger.

‘You’re wrong’ the guy quickly responded, shaking his dark hair out of his young face which exposed the fact he looked barely older than Lucas and was noticeably handsome, ‘All that shit is moving up here, I promise you. I got on the internet on my phone for a few minutes, a news reporter was someplace in Letchworth and something just… attacked him. It’s spreading, please, I'm just asking you to give me a chance’. He was speaking much more sincerely now and his initial panic had passed, putting me much more at ease.

‘You’re lying’ Lucas growled, leaning forward in his seat, ‘How do we know you aren’t some murderer out for the car, or the money, or even my fucking sist-‘

‘Come on, I swear!’ he cried, looking frustrated, ‘Scouts honour or whatever the code is, haven’t you seen the news?’

‘Can you show me the footage you saw?’ Dad asked calmly, his voice smooth.

‘If I can get a ride with you an-‘

‘Show me’ he said again, this time his voice had a very dangerous undertone which I’d only heard once; when I snuck into the house in the early hours of the morning. Granted, he had not been pleased. Stealing a glance towards Joel, I sighed in relief at the realisation he’d fallen straight back asleep; the boy could sleep through a hurricane.

‘Here’ the guy muttered, handing Dad his phone, ‘I managed to save it, my battery is practically dead though’. His phone looked high-tech with an unusually large screen which just made it easier for my mum, Lucas and I to crane our necks until we could see.

A fuzzy image of a man in a grey suit blurrily appeared on the screen, pixelated with distorted sound. The image was moving slowly, lagging horribly but it was still easy to make out what was happening. I couldn’t decipher his words but he was talking directly to the camera, gesturing to a woman who was frantically crying. The sound on the phone began to amplify as shrieks muffled his voice, getting louder and louder as a blurred shadow began to get closer and closer to the reporter. Before I even had time to exhale, the blurred figure was on top of him, sending the camera to the floor as it began to focus on the scene unfolding. Our father pulled the phone away from my eyes just a little too late. I’d already seen the camera focus on a middle aged woman’s disfigured and bloody face, as she closed in on the reporter. I’d already seen her arms flailing wildly as she went careering into him. I’d already seen her teeth sink into his neck, ripping out his flesh until he lay limp on the ground and stared towards the camera, towards me.

I’d already seen too much.

Everybody else seemed to be choking on the silence in the same way I was. Nobody spoke a word till the guy outside began to talk again, his voice much calmer than before.

‘Sorry you had to find out like this'.

‘What’s your name?’ Dad asked him quietly through the window.

‘Keith’ he replied, hope giving his eyes a glint of light.

‘What do you know?’

‘A bit’ he replied, ‘I can tell you everything I know, I just need a ride. All my relatives are abroad, I'm just trying to stay alive for them’ he said, locking eyes with me, a tense gaze I couldn't seem to break.

‘Get in’.

’What?’ Lucas and I cried in unison. There was definitely some kind of inhuman, insane nightmare happening only hours away from us and our Dad was willing to let some smooth talking stranger into our car?

‘Trust him’ Mum spoke, nodding to us through the rear view mirror. It was hard to trust her own words though, when she looked just as unsure as we felt.

‘There’s no room’ Lucas spoke determinedly, making brief eye contact with Keith who now looked completely gutted. His expression actually made my stomach lurch a little, there was no obvious reason why we should just leave him at the side of the road. He seemed lost, like a puppy who needed to find his way home. He was in the same position as us, wasn’t he? Just a young guy who wanted to keep safe. There was something about the way his emerald eyes pierced mine as he looked my way, not breaking contact for what seemed like forever. He had that look of familiarity about him and in the strangest moment of deja vu, I felt like I knew him.

‘Joel can sit on my lap’ I suggested, hoping I wouldn’t regret it.

‘Harley!’ Lucas snapped, a look in his eyes which said I was betraying him. I didn’t have the energy to fight or feel guilty though, I knew we were doing the right thing and after a few seconds, Lucas’ face fell as he realised the same thing.

‘You can sit next to me, but if you have whatever that... thing.. is, I’m kicking you straight out of the car’ he muttered grudgingly.

‘Sure’ Keith laughed. The sound of locks clicking broke the quiet as I tried to shift Joel onto my lap without waking him. Luck was on my side as he only stirred, and Keith slipped into his old seat.

‘You’ll tell us what you know while I drive’ Dad said as his pushed on the accelerator.

***

We learned that Keith was a nineteen year old school dropout who worked in Sainsbury’s by night. He’d apparently heard news stories in the staff room and spent the next morning and night walking through various towns, trying to find any information he could, believing truth in the rumours. He apologised for acting crazily outside the car, but said he was sleep deprived and irate – nobody else would help him and it had been totally out of character to batter a car to get somebody's attention - he managed to make me laugh as he joked about it though, setting my mind more at ease. Through his story, I realised how drawn I was to this stranger with his wicked smile, truthful words and quick wit but I still wanted the answers he hadn’t yet given to us and I still felt intimidated and worried by his presence. He was a stranger and right now, strangers were daunting, no amount of humour would change that.

‘You said you knew what was happening? My mother questioned, craning her neck to send him a half-smile.

‘I do’ he sighed, ‘Sorry, I’m ranting. I don’t know much more than anyone else, but you guys have hit unlucky, you’re being kept out of the loop’.

‘Tell me about it’ Lucas muttered.

‘I’ve heard a few different stories but the one that cropped up the most allegedly started in a lab as the cure for an illness; probably AIDS or cancer or something. The scientists managed to keep it quiet for months, working behind everyone’s backs to make some kind of chemical cure. They tested it on animals with no luck, so I heard they roped in some test subjects to try it on and all hell broke loose’.

‘How so?’ I asked quietly.

‘Well, this was all happening in some containment centre in London so they thought they were pretty safe. Apparently though, they got everything all messed up. They injected the subjects with their cure and that’s when it all went manic. They went crazy, biting and clawing at the scientists until they were dead. By this point, a bunch of people ran in to help but it was too late’.

‘They all died?’ Dad asked, his eyes still on the road.

‘Well, the scientists did. The people who came to help started messing with the bodies, shaking them and trying to wake them up, basically. I guess they thought that was the end of it, but a week later, this week, those guys weren’t themselves anymore’.

‘Did they get the virus?’ Lucas frowned, ‘I thought they only handled the bodies?’

‘They did’ Keith began solemnly, ‘But they must have handled them a little too much cause one of the guys went crazy and killed his wife and the other one went mad and killed his children too. Pretty soon, this was happening all over, most of the cases started cropping up yesterday’.

‘Shit’ Mum breathed, ‘Shit’.

‘How do you know all this?’ My father asked, clearly still seeming reluctant to believe any of it.

‘My friend was killed by it, he was on the phone to me at the time’ Keith’s voice cracked as he spoke, attempting to cough back grief which I was sure he didn't want us to see. Lucas surprised me and awkwardly patted Keith on the shoulder, receiving a gracious nod back before he continued, ‘I tried to warn people but not many believed me. I guess they must now though. The scientist story, it’s just a rumour but it’s the rumour I’ve heard the most. I guess nobody really knows how it started but it has to be something like that’.

‘But illnesses and viruses, they make people weak’ I said slowly, trying to collect my thoughts as the words left my mouth, ‘That video... the woman was going crazy, acting like a cannibal’ I trailed off, my mind frenzied with the images again, causing my heart to beat erratically.

‘That’s what I don’t understand’ Dad said, his voice strained, ‘It can’t just be a ‘virus’ or ‘infection’, from what we’ve been told and based on that video, I can only gather that... well honestly, I don’t even know. All I can see is that it affects the brain in a way I’ve never seen before but we’ll know nothing for sure until we speak to someone in authority. Until then we won’t panic, we won’t worry, we just keep driving’.

It was hard to concentrate on his words when I could feel my heart hammering in my chest, constricting my breathing till I was sure I would die on the spot. I couldn’t comprehend any of what he was saying, what Keith had said, it was just words, and I just couldn’t feasibly imagine what he was saying actually happening.

‘Are we safe?’ I asked anyone who would answer me. My mother and father both said ‘yes’ at the same time Lucas and Keith said ‘no’, all sounding sure with their answer.

‘Perfect’ I muttered before closing my eyes and inhaling the scent from Joel’s hair. It was the only familiar thing I could feel at the moment, everything else seemed so foreign, so daunting. There was something going on outside our little bubble which was the car, something I wasn’t fully understanding and I was sure I wouldn’t ever fully understand. These things weren’t meant to happen, it was like being trapped in a storybook without actually knowing what the hell was going on, a twisted fairy-tale without an ending.

The man from earlier had mentioned Rabies - I vaguely remembered crossing it in my biology class but honestly, I really didn’t think I’d need the information. I guess now I did, now maybe I needed all the useless information I’d picked up along the paths of my life. Why hadn’t I bloody listened? Why had I spent my stupid Science lessons scribbling on pieces of paper with Aaron Warper and Skylar?

‘That guy from the town said he thought it could be rabies?’ I suggested, hoping someone would say something reassuring for my own selfish benefit. Sure enough, my father cut in, the doctor within him quick to respond.

‘From what Keith has told us, rabies is impossible. It’s zoonotic, passed on through animals to human – there’s no way any sane scientist would think the cure to cancer lies in a rat’.

‘He’s right’ Keith responded, ‘it’s not rare and there are cures. Just doesn’t make sense. We won’t know what’s happening until we find out why it’s happening’.

‘I guess not’ I sighed, ‘So what is it? Maybe the person on the video had nothing to do with this virus, maybe she was just crazy’ I shivered, remembering the teeth sinking into the reporter’s flesh. It had to be staged -the only reason I hadn’t started screaming when he showed us was because in mere seconds, I’d managed to convince myself it was set up, unreal. The logical part of my mind told me that had to be the case and that surely I would wake up soon, but my heart and sweating palms told a different story. The battles going on within my mind were beginning to irritate me now, not knowing was the worst part.

‘No, that girl seemed possessed’ Lucas spoke, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair, ‘Like she was enraged or something. Maybe it really is a virus that messes with the brain, alters the way you think?’

‘Never seen anything like it’ our father sighed heavily, his voice quiet, ‘but let’s just drop it for now, I don’t want Joel waking up to this crap and your mother has fallen back asleep somehow. Let’s just thank God that we’re going to be safe and pray for our friends back home’.

Our friends back home.

I couldn’t believe that most of my friends were still more than likely trapped back home, in the middle of whatever madness was going on down there or still caught in the traffic which had thinned only slightly since yesterday. I didn’t know the scale of what was happening nor did I know exactly where it was happening but I just prayed with all my heart that they were safe. What would have happened if I’d taken that lift from Skylar? Would we be safe?

Would my family be safe?

Was Skylar still breathing?

It was then that the tears started to fall from my eyes, heavy and belated. Lucas wrapped his arm around me as best he could with Joel heavy in my arms as my father whispered quiet reassurance to me from the driver’s seat, but none of their words calmed me down In the slightest. It was only Keith’s words that sent my heart beating that little bit slower.

‘I have change in my pocket, the next pay phone we see, you could try and ring your friends’.

He didn’t believe they were alive, I could tell. But this stranger was helping, and in that moment, I loved him for that.

‘Thanks’ I whispered.