Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (10 page)

“
Alleged
crimes,” Anna corrected him. 
“How do I know he even did anything?”  Alistair scowled at her and shook
his head disapprovingly.  Anna gave up.  Even her own people were
against her and perhaps they were right.  Did she really want to start
making enemies?  “Okay,” she shouted over the rail.  “You can come
up.  We’ll get a rope.”

“Thank you,” said the swordsman, already tying a
mooring rope around one of the pier’s thick struts.  “You lot aren’t as
dumb as I thought.” 

Anna ignored the insult and stepped back from the
railing.  She felt wrong about what they were doing.  She didn’t want
to give up an unconscious man without knowing for sure what the situation
was.  Regardless of whether Alistair was a coward or just being pragmatic,
she was irritated that he was at odds with her.  She’d survived alongside
the man for close to a year; she would have liked him to have her back.

Alistair took a rope from old man Bob and secured it
to the railing before tossing it over.  Down below, the three strangers
secured it to the moorings of their yacht, and then started to shimmy up the
rope, one at a time.  The swordsman went first, climbing awkwardly with
one hand.  When he hopped over the railing, his heavy boots planted down
on the deck with a resounding
thud!

“Pleasure to meet you,” Anna said with sharp
politeness.  “What’s your name?”

“Call me whatever makes you happy.”

“You are speaking to Roman,” said the older man with
long grey hair, hopping the railing.  Anna’s breath caught in her
throat. 
Roman!  Roman, Roman, Roman.

“Good to meet you,” said Roman, extending his right
hand.  “I’m sorry for the acrimony.  That was not my
intention.”  His speech had returned back to the chivalrous tones of some
deluded knight.

Begrudgingly, Anna shook the man’s hand.  It felt
rough and scarred.  “My name is Anna.  This is Alistair, Jim, Chris,
Samantha, and Bob.”

“And I’m Poppy,” said Poppy, hiding behind Anna
nervously.

Roman looked at the girl and smiled.  “Well, it’s
nice to see such a little miss.  Not many around nowadays.  I am very
pleased to meet you.”

“Me too,” said the large man who came over the railing
last.  He grinned at Poppy with crooked teeth.  “Such a young girl.”

Poppy shook hands with all three of the new men before
giggling coyly at their apparent leader.  “What happened to your hand?”

Roman didn’t seem offended by the question.  In
fact, he smiled warmly.  “I lost it a long time ago in an accident, long
before the bad men started walking around.  They say two hands are better
than one, but I tell them that one hand is still better than none.”

Anna placed a hand on Poppy’s shoulder and manoeuvred
the girl behind her.  It wouldn’t do to have her becoming too enamoured
with the strangers. 

The two men accompanying Roman were complete
opposites.  One man was fat, sweaty, and unwashed, with random zits
covering a balding pate; the other was thin and older with a full head of grey
hair falling all the way to his shoulders.  His beard was clean and fluffy
and gave him a wizened and friendly appearance.  He introduced his name as
‘Fox.’  Instantly, Anna began to think of him as
Grey Fox.
 
The larger man introduced himself as ‘Birch.’

“Take me to the man you’re holding,” Roman
demanded.  Anna shook her head in dismay and did nothing.  Alistair
took the three strangers and led them away.

Old man Bob, the resident elderly person of the pier
at the ripe old age of sixty-four and a retired bus driver, stayed behind with
Anna and Poppy whilst the other members of the group broke away to follow after
the three guests.  He was staring at Anna with his rheumy, grey
eyes.  “You all right, duck?” he asked her in his usual Yorkshire way.

  Anna sighed.  “I don’t know.  I think
I’m being stupid.”

“Why’s that?”

“I have a problem handing over that injured man.”

“They said he was a terrorist or something – a
bad egg.”

“If he’s a bad egg,” said Poppy.  “We should give
him up.  The new people will be angry with us otherwise.”

“Exactly,” said Anna.  “I shouldn’t have a
problem with this, but it just feels wrong somehow.  I don’t trust anyone
anymore.  I’ve been burned too many times before.”

Bob smiled.  Several of his teeth were missing
and his dentures had gone bad with no fluid to sterilise them.  “Not a bad
way to be nowadays, duck.  I think all of us survived by having a touch of
the cynic about us.  Doesn’t pay to be too trusting, but hopefully, if we
play ball with these new fellas, we might be able to tag along with all those
boats.  They seem to have their act together.”

Anna stared out at the fleet.  The numerous boats
sat beneath the grey sky and bobbed up and down like writhing insects. 
She wasn’t sure they were any better off out on the sea.  It seemed
unnatural to live away from land.  “Would you enjoy being cooped up on a
boat all the time?” she asked Bob.

The old man shrugged.  “I think enjoyment went
down the swanny along with everything else.  Just being safe and sound is
good enough for me.  Unless you know a bookies that’s still open.”

“We’re safe here,” said Poppy.  “But it’s
boring.”

Bob smiled at the girl and tussled her hair.  “We
are very safe, little lass, but we’d be even safer out on the sea. 
Zombies don’t have a cat in hell’s chance of getting at us there, unless they
learn how to doggy paddle.”

Poppy’s face screwed up in conflict.  “I don’t
know which I want most.  I like it here, but I want to go new places.”

Anna cuddled her.  “We’ll all have a chat with
the new men and sort something out.” 
New men.  Why does that
thought fill me with dread?  We haven’t seen anyone in months and now a
thousand-odd people turn up right on our doorstep.  I didn’t even know
there was that many still left alive.

Anna had met so many desperate, struggling people in
the first chaotic months when the infection hit that it had sullied her opinion
of the human race forever.  When law and order evaporated, those left
alive had stolen, fought, bullied, and even murdered for their own gain. 
Women had wandered the streets raped and bloody.  After leaving the
amusement park with Rene, Anna had watched entire cities topple as much to
desperation as to the dead.  She was eternally grateful that she had
become part of the little community at the pier.  It was the only place
she knew where people hadn’t resorted to stabbing and killing each other over
bottles of water. 
We’re a family – a dysfunctional, messed-up
family, but a family all the same.  Maybe I’m wrong not to trust them
more. 

Muffled shouting erupted from the diner. 

Alistair had taken the visitors into the diner several
minutes ago, but now they were shouting.  Anna felt herself grow
pale. 
I knew this was going to go bad. 
She took Poppy by the
hand and hurried towards the diner.  Bob limped along behind them, trying
to keep up.  Once Anna reached the American-style eatery, she wasted no
time stepping inside. 

Roman had his spear against Alistair’s throat and had
shoved him backwards over one of the tables.  His two companions were
standing rigidly either side of him, their hands curled into fists.

“What the hell are you doing?” Anna demanded.

The man released Alistair and spun around. 
Alistair slumped to the floor, his blustery face as red as a blood-soaked
rose.  “Where is he?” Roman demanded, raising his spear so that it pointed
right at Anna’s face.

Anna frowned in confusion.  She glanced across at
the table where her patient had earlier been lying.  There was no sign of
him now, save for some blood spots and a scrap of dirty bandage.

“Where is he?” Roman demanded again.

“I don’t know,” said Anna.  “He…he was here.”

“Well, he ain’t here now, luv.”

“No shit.”

Alistair straightened up off the floor, his legs
wobbling.  “H-he must have gotten up and escaped.”

“Escaped?” said Anna.  “He wasn’t our
prisoner.  If he wanted to leave then good luck to him.”

Roman snarled at her.  He held the tip of his
spear right up against her chest and spat a word at her.  “Bitch!”

Anna bristled.  “What did you just call me?”

“Calm down there, chuck,” old man
Bob
pleaded.  “No need for talk like that.”

Anna’s lip turned into a snarl.  “You better get
that thing out of my face before I break it off and whip you with it.”

Roman glared at her for what seemed like minutes, but
in fact must have been only seconds.  Eventually he lowered his spear and
grinned at her.  There was no humour in the expression, though.  “I
don’t know what game you muppets are trying to play, but there’s a very
powerful man sailing just a mile away from here, and if he doesn’t get what he
wants then bad things are going to start happening, you get me?  I never
came here to have a barny with you, I honestly didn’t, but I’m following the
orders of a geezer that don’t give a shit either way.”

“That’s what the Nazis used to say,” said Bob. 
“Just following orders.”

Roman nodded.  “And, like me, they had a gaffer
with a nasty temper.  I’m going to give you people a chance to save your
arses.  I’m going to camp here ‘til morning.  You have until then to
produce the man I’m looking for.  Otherwise I’m going to have to go back
with bad news, and the captain won’t like that.  Tell you the truth, I
don’t even like the prick very much, but I do appreciate that he has the power
to shag things right up for you lot.  So be smart.  Use
your
fucking loafs.”

Roman marched out of the diner with Fox and Birch
close behind him.  Anna took in a deep breath and held it while Alistair
gritted his teeth, bright red and seething.  It was then that Anna noticed
that the ‘cripple’ wasn’t the only one who was missing. 
Where did Rene
go?

T
he adults were tense.  They
were all frowning and fidgeting.  Anna kept chewing her nails and Alistair
kept huffing and puffing. 

It was all because of the new men
;
the one with the silly name and his two friends.
  He
don’t
look like a Roman to me.
  After the argument, the three men from the
boat had said that they were not leaving.  They were going to stay at the
camp until the man with the
poorly
belly showed up
again.  Anna said the injured man had run away, but the Roman said that
Anna was playing games.  Then Anna told him to leave and when he refused
she had got angry.  Eventually, Poppy had decided to leave the adults to
themselves.  She was tired of all the shouting

She passed the time inside the games pavilion. 
It was a building shaped like a big tent at the very end of the pier and was
full of arcade machines and indoor funfair rides.  Poppy wished the
machines still worked, but she knew none of them ever would again.  They
had died along with everything else.  Funfair rides were just like the
Roman coliseums now: dusty and broken.  
Does anything last forever?

Poppy sat down on a pretend motorbike fixed in front
of a big television screen and imagined she was tearing down a road someplace,
the sun shining down on her and mountains up ahead.  She imagined she was
heading away from the sea, away from the salty air that made her lips sore and
her nose red.  There were so many places out in the world and she wanted
to visit them all.  She wanted to ride a motorbike for real and parachute
off a cliff. 
I want to leave this pier.  I wish Garfield would
take me.

With a sigh, she slipped her leg off the motorbike and
hopped back down to the floor.  As she landed, she thought she saw
movement – a shadow flickering past a group of penny pusher machines in
the middle of the pavilion.

“Hello?  Is somebody there?” 
Maybe it’s
Rene.  He was missing earlier when everybody was arguing. 
“Hello?”
she repeated.  “Is anybody there?”

There was no answer. 

She must have been seeing things.  The pier could
be so lonely sometimes that her mind would wander all over the place.  She
would often get spooked when she was all on her own. 
It’s
stupid.  Grown-ups never get scared.

She strolled over to the basketball machine.  It
was one of the few games that could still be played.  The ball return
didn’t work without electricity, but you could reach over and grab the
basketballs directly from the pit inside.  The act of throwing a ball into
a net was as fun as ever; it broke the monotony for a while.  Sometimes
Garfield would come and play with her, or they would remove one of the balls
and play catch or football somewhere else.  The basketballs weren’t proper
ones, so they didn’t bounce very well, but they were easy to throw and kick.

Poppy arched back and let off a shot.  The ball
hit the backboard and teased around the basket.  Eventually it tilted and
fell through the metal rung.  Poppy had gotten pretty good at making
baskets.

“Good shot,” said a voice behind her.

She spun around, her heart drumming against her
ribs.  It was one of the new men; the big fat one who said his name was
Birch. 

“You scared me,” she said.

The man grinned.  He was ugly with lots of spots
and a
bald head
.  “Sorry, sweetheart.  I was
just checking out where you people live.  It’s quite a place.  Lots
of space and things to do.”

Poppy shook her head.  “It’s boring.”

The man looked surprised.  “Really?  Where
would you rather be?”

Poppy shrugged.  She picked up another basketball
and threw it.  It went straight through the hoop this time with a
satisfying
swish
.  “Anywhere,” she said.  “I’m just tired of
being stuck here.”

The man came closer.  “Maybe you could come with
me.  We go sailing everywhere out there on the sea.  The things we
see….  Every day is someplace new.”

Poppy tried to imagine.  “Really?  You go
exploring?”

“We do. 
Different countries,
different islands.
  It’s beautiful…and so much
fun
.” 
He stared into space dreamily and grinned.  The man didn’t seem so scary
anymore.

“Maybe Anna and Garfield will come,” said Poppy.

“Whoever you want.”  He reached for her, but just
as he did, someone shouted out from over by the pavilion’s entrance.

It was Anna’s voice.  “Poppy?  Are you in
here?”

Poppy ran to her, darting between the various games in
her way.  “I’m here,” she said.  “I was just playing basketball and
speaking with Mr Birch.”

Anna put her arms around Poppy and peered into the
pavilion.  “Mr Birch?  What is he doing here with you?”

Birch appeared from around the side of a change
machine.  “I was just checking out your digs and I stumbled upon the
girl.  She’s very sweet.”

Poppy nodded to confirm the story.  Anna seemed
angry but she didn’t understand why.

Anna folded her arms.  “Perhaps you should stay
where we tell you to, Mr Birch.  It’s rude to make yourself at home on
somebody else’s property.”

Birch grinned.  A pimple on his chin seemed to
stretch wider and burst.  “Oh, I didn’t realise this was
your
property.  I assumed you were just squatting here.  You’ll have to
tell me more about how your family built the pier.  I’m sure it’s
fascinating.”

Anna glared.  “You know what I mean.  We
claimed this place.  It’s ours.  Whoever used to own it is long
dead.”

“You assume.”

“I know so, and if not then they are very welcome to
come along and join us.  Perhaps you should show a little more politeness,
Mr Birch.”

“As should you.  A guest should be made to feel
welcome.”  He glanced at Poppy and then
back
at
Anna.  “You should offer whatever comforts you can provide.”

“Does that stand for uninvited guests as well?”

Birch bellowed, his fat belly rumbling with laughter
as he strolled towards Anna.  He shoved his way past her and headed back
out to the deck, but before he left he said, “Even more so, my sweets. 
Even more so.”

Anna grabbed Poppy by her shoulders and knelt down to
face her.  “You stay away from that man, you hear me?”

Poppy scrunched up her face.  “He was saying we
could go with him.  They go everywhere on the sea.  They go
exploring.”

Anna shook her and it hurt.  “Poppy, listen to
me.  Do not go near that man.  In fact, I am telling you to stay with
me until the new men leave.  You told Garfield you would listen to me, so
do you promise?”

Poppy rolled her eyes.

“Do.  You.  Promise?”

Poppy huffed.  “Fine.  Yes, I promise.”

“Good.  Now come on.  We should get
something to eat before bed.”

Poppy went along reluctantly.

They ended up having fish.  No surprise
there.  Poppy wondered if the people on the boats ate nothing but
fish. 
I bet they don’t.  I bet they find all sorts of good stuff
on their travels.  I bet they have sweets…and chocolate!

After dinner, everybody retired for the evening. 
It was winter and the nights got cold, so nobody wanted to hang around
outside.  Anna slept inside the gift shop and told Poppy that she had to
do the same until Garfield came back, so she went and fetched a blanket from a
pile on one the shelves and made herself a bed below a display of blow-up
whales and sharks.  The animals had all deflated a long time ago and now
just looked like puddles of blue and grey plastic.  The only light inside
the shop was from a fat wax candle.  There were lots of candles stored
around the pier – one of the knickknack shops had sold them in all shapes
and sizes – but the group decided only to start using them when the
nights began to arrive early.  Hopefully there would be enough to last a long
time. 
I hate the dark.  I’m such a baby.

Through the gift shop’s window, Poppy could see out
across the sea.  Some of the boats were all lit up, with real lights
– electric lights.  She wondered how that was possible.  Did
they use petrol?  Or did they have batteries?  It almost seemed like
magic now, so long had it been since she’d seen anything with power. 
I
wonder if they have toys and games, like I used to have at home.  I wonder
if they watch cartoons and listen to music, like that silly woman who wore a
telephone on her head and sang all those catchy tunes…I can’t remember her name
anymore.  I wonder if people will ever get to be silly like that again,
instead of serious all the time. 

Thinking made Poppy sad, so she took one last look at
the lights across the sea and closed her eyes. 
Maybe tomorrow we can
talk about joining the men on the boats.  We could all leave here.

Sleep didn’t come easily that night.  She
listened to Anna’s snoring for what seemed like hours while she lay awake
wondering where Garfield was and what he would bring back upon his
return. 
I heard him talking about guns.  I don’t want him to
bring guns.  Guns are dangerous.  Why can’t they bring back something
nice, like a puppy, or a bicycle, or a bow and arrow…or a guitar…or…a…

Poppy must have been half-asleep when the hand on her
arm caused her to flinch and sit upright.  She peered around in the
darkness, wondering what had just happened, wondering if she had merely woken
from a nasty dream. 
I don’t think I was having a nightmare...

But then Birch whispered in her ear.  “Come with
me, sweets.  I want to show you something.”

“Mr Birch?” she whispered.

“
Sshhh
,” he
said.  “Just come with me.”

Poppy was confused that the man would wake her in the
middle of the night.  Maybe he wanted to give her a gift, or talk to her
more about living on the sea. 
Maybe he has sweets!

Poppy knew she shouldn’t go with the man – Anna
would be really mad – but if she was quiet, she could be back in bed
without Anna ever knowing. 
I’ll just be quick and see what Mr Birch
wants, then come right back.

Carefully, Poppy crawled out from beneath her blanket
and shivered as the cold air got at her.  Birch wrapped his arm around her
shoulders and she felt a little warmer.  His hand was hot and sweaty
against her skin.  She wanted to look around for her cardigan but he never
gave her time.  “Come on,” he whispered, “and keep quiet.” he added. 
“The secret is just for you, so we can’t wake anybody else, okay?”  Poppy
nodded.  They stepped outside onto the moonlit deck and she asked where
they were going.  “Just to the end of the pier,” he told her.  “I
want to get some sea air.” 

The end of the pier was where the games pavilion was
located.  It was far away, a five-minute walk.  “Okay,” she said,
confused.  “What do you want to show me when we get there?”

“You’ll see.”

“I hate surprises.”

“You’ll like this one.”

Mr Birch led Poppy along the pier.  They walked
in silence, yet there was a subtle smile on the man’s face, as if he wanted to
laugh but dared not.  Poppy sometimes wore that same expression when she
was playing hide and seek and trying not to be discovered – the urge to
laugh would always take over her and Garfield would find her in an instant.

“Here we go,” said Birch, moving over to the railing
at the end of the pier and waiting for her to join him.  

“Can I see what you want to show me now, please?”

“Not yet, it’s still a surprise.”

“Oh,
pleeease
?” Poppy hopped
up and down.

Birch shushed her.  “Quiet!  You don’t want
the others to hear us.  It’ll ruin our fun.”

Poppy frowned.  “I don’t see what fun we’re
having yet.”

Birch grinned at her.  His teeth were a little
crooked and the moonlight shone off them in all directions.  He stepped up
against her and started to rub her shoulders.  It felt nice, but
weird.  She barely knew this man and he was touching her.  Not even
Garfield ever touched her like this.  “What are you doing?”

“Just being a friend.  Doesn’t that feel good?”

“Sort of.  It feels weird.”

Birch rubbed deeper, his thumbs and fingers probing
over her neck, shoulders, and chest.  “People used to make each other feel
good all the time back before things got so hard.  It only feels weird
because nobody ever taught you about making another person feel good.  Do
you want to learn?”

Poppy chewed at her lip.  She suddenly felt very
alone with this man, yet he wanted to teach her things – and treat her
like an adult.  “I guess so,” she eventually said.

Birch smiled and leaned closer.  He planted a
soft kiss on her cheek and Poppy could smell the sweat on him.  “Good
girl,” he whispered.  “Now, you rub me.”

Poppy reached forward.  Her hands were
trembling.  When her fingertips were only inches away from his neck, Birch
grabbed her wrists.  “No,” he said.  “That’s not where you rub a
man.”  He kept a firm hold on her wrist and began to move her hand
downwards, towards his…