The Alpha Plague (7 page)

Ian, the office pedant, had gone as far as to suggest
no shoes
went against health and safety. Ian could go fuck himself. The look Rhys gave him at the time conveyed that thought. The jobsworth never brought it up again.

The sound of running water helped coax the tension from Rhys’ body. Just one morning in the office wound him up tighter than a guitar string.

The air always seemed fresher in the square. Rhys filled his lungs and the warmth of the strong sun sank into his skin.

Rhys looked at the people on the benches. From where he sat, he had a clear view of the entire square. It always filled up when the sun came out. As the only open space in Summit City, it provided an escape from the labyrinthine maze of alleyways and roads. A large patch of grass would have topped it off perfectly, but Summit City was a pure concrete jungle.
 

As always, Rhys faced The Alpha Tower. The matte black windows had a heavy tint to them that stopped anyone seeing in. From how dark they looked, it probably stopped anyone seeing out too. One day, Rhys would find out what went on in there. Something utterly unremarkable, no doubt—either that or the person who told him would be duty bound to kill him afterwards. A smile twitched at the sides of Rhys’ mouth. Like there would be anything that exciting in Summit City.

Rhys lifted his small rucksack onto the wall beside him and unzipped it. He removed the photo of Flynn from the back pocket; it was the one he’d had on his desk earlier. He stared at his boy’s dark brown eyes. He never went anywhere without the photo. “I love you, mate; don’t forget that.”

Rhys removed a lump of tree bark next. It had been painted in the way only a child knew how. The layers of paint, laid one on top of the other, had turned it a muddy purple. The varnish added a contradictory smooth finish to the rough item. The bark served as the perfect paperweight, so he laid the photo down next to him and placed the bark on top of it.
 

When he pulled his clear lunchbox from his bag, he popped the lid and peered inside. Sometimes, a morning spent in transit could make his lunch look like it had been through the spin drier. Today, his ham, cheese, and tomato sandwiches had remained in tact.

The second he took his first bite—the bread slightly soggy from the tomato that had been in it all morning—Rhys’ phone buzzed in his pocket. He put his sandwich down. If it was the guy about his bloody car again… no way would he let that angry idiot ruin his lunch break.

It was a text message though; the notification on the screen sent a pang through his chest. The angry idiot would have been miles better. Before he clicked ‘open’, he stared at the heart next to her name. He should really change that in his list of contacts.
 

He pressed his thumb against the print scanner on the screen and his pulse raced before he’d even read the message.

I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier, but you can’t see Flynn this weekend. Something’s come up.

Something’s come up! Something always fucking comes up. The mouthful of sandwich suddenly tasted bitter. He typed his reply.
What do you mean, ‘Something’s come up’?

Before he’d put the phone back in his pocket, it buzzed again.
He wants to go to the zoo.
 

Perfect, I’ll take him to the zoo then.

No, sorry, Clive has already booked the tickets, and he’s sooooooo excited to go with him. :)
 

Like a fucking smiley face made everything okay. And of course he was excited; he was six years old and someone had promised to take him to the zoo. Unless she meant Clive; if she did, Rhys couldn’t give a shit about Clive’s excitement to go to the zoo.

The brief interaction had turned Rhys’ stomach to acid. With his phone in his hand, he looked at the water next to him. If he threw it in, it would only make his life harder in the long run, but it would stop that bitch from intruding with bad news any fucking time she wanted. A look down at the picture of his boy and he took deep breaths.
 

After a minute or two, Rhys replied.
Please tell Flynn I love him. I think about him every day and I’m so proud of him.
There’s no way Larissa would reply, and very little chance she would even tell Flynn, but he couldn’t do anything else. He had to keep his head. He had to do the right thing. Until the custody case had been settled, Larissa played the drum and he danced like a monkey for peanuts. In the past, the state would have helped him with his legal costs, and a decision would have been made by now. Then a newly elected government decided legal aid should be withdrawn from child custody cases. Poor families clearly didn’t deserve justice. Now he had to rely on a shit lawyer who seemed utterly disinterested in his plight. Something as simple as giving a father access to his son, and he had to go skint forever to achieve it. No matter what happened though, he wouldn’t give up the fight for his boy.

***

Bile boiled in Rhys’ stomach and the few mouthfuls of sandwich he’d already eaten rose up his throat. Not only had that bitch ruined his weekend, but she’d ruined his lunch too. After he put his sandwiches back in his bag, Rhys picked his phone up again. His hands shook as he opened his emails and started a new message.
 

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: Flynn - What else?

Dear Shannon,
 

Please find below the latest interaction between myself and Flynn’s mother. She’s cancelled on me AGAIN! That’s FOUR times in the past three months. I’m only allowed to see him once a fortnight as it is! You said I have to play by her rules until we sort this, but I’m finding it damn hard. I should be seeing him more already, but nothing’s happening.
 

Please push this case through quicker. I’m desperate to see my boy more often!!!!!

Beneath the message, he cut and pasted the conversation between Larissa and himself before he hit send.
 

Before he’d returned the phone to his pocket, it buzzed with a reply.
 

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Subject: RE: Flynn - What else?

SHANNON IS OUT OF THE OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY THE 24
^th
. IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT NEEDS URGENT ATTENTION…

Bile lifted into Rhys’ throat and he couldn’t read beyond that point. It seemed like his solicitor spent more time on holiday than she did at work. Although, with the money she charged, she could probably afford holidays every two fucking weeks. An image of her as she drank cocktails by the pool made Rhys’ blood boil. Before he could launch his phone, he shoved it back into his pocket and looked at the photo of his boy again.

Chapter Six

Frank watched the screen until the lift reached the penthouse.

“Now open the doors.” Although the voice of his captor had moved farther away, Frank had no doubt that the gun remained trained on him.

Frank input the command and hit ‘enter’. The doors to the lift opened.

The family stumbled out and looked around. The sterile environment clearly confused them. Then they saw the scientists… A door separated the family and the diseased. The little girl screamed. The boy looked up from his phone. As one, the family stepped back into the lift and the dad pressed the buttons. The lift stayed where it was.

“They look hungry,” the voice said. “Now let them out.”

“What?” Frank asked.

“Do I need to hit you again?”

When Frank hesitated, the man said, “Think of your family. My men haven’t had sex in a long time. Abstinence keeps them sharp, although I am prepared to let them indulge if I need to.”

Frank typed. He had to work by touch because his vision had blurred through his tears. ‘Enter’.

The final set of doors between the infected and the family slid open. The scientists charged forward.

The dad stepped out and held his arm up in front of him… one last noble act as the protector of a wife and children.

Alice bit a huge chunk from it as she drove him backwards into the lift.

The family screamed.

Wilfred and John crashed into the lift seconds later.

The screams soon stopped.

With the diseased and the yet to reanimate family all bundled in the lift, the man said, “Close the doors.”

Chunky sick rushed up into Frank’s throat, and he vomited on the floor next to him. After he’d wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, he quickly typed and pressed ‘enter’. The doors closed.

“Now send them to the foyer. Once you’ve done that, we’re getting out of here. Both of us can make it out.” The whistle of a launched object culminated in keys landing on the desk next to Frank. “We’ll both have time to escape. You’ll have time to get to your family.”

Frank pulled his car keys close. He looked up at the ceiling and drew a deep breath. Thank fuck! He’d virtually left his seat by the time he’d finished his final command. ‘Enter’.

Frank jumped from his seat, and the chair scooted out behind him. The man with the gun had already left.

After he threw the door wide, Frank headed for the car park. Good job the man had given him his own keys so he could escape. Fuck knows how he would have found someone else’s car.

The thought of the lift on its way to the foyer spurred him on. He had to get out before they did.

His lungs burned as he ran.

The taste of sick and blood lined his mouth.

He burst outside.
 

The car park for The Alpha Tower had been built on the other side of the road.

As he weaved in and out of the traffic to the sound of horns and fury, he got his car keys ready.

When he pressed the button to unlock the car, his hazard lights blinked once.

In one fluid movement, he opened the driver’s side door, slid into the driver’s seat, and put the keys in the ignition.

Tyres screeched and Frank watched the black Mercedes with tinted windows flash past. It ploughed through the exit barrier. The wooden arm splintered on impact.

Frank turned the key.

Then he saw the wire hooked into his ignition.
 

“Fuck!”

The flash blinded him.

The roar deafened him.

The heat burned him.

***

Rhys couldn’t be sure how long he’d sat there and stared at the photo of his boy; time suddenly didn’t matter.
 

The explosion near The Alpha Tower shook the ground and sent ripples through the water in the fountain. Screams filled the air as panic ignited in the busy square. Rhys stared in the direction of the sound.

About fifty metres away, at the edge of the square, a thick mushroom cloud of smoke rose up into the sky. It came from the direction of The Alpha Tower’s car park.
 

Rhys looked around and saw most people had gotten to their feet. When he saw Jake, the young lad from the post room, the boy’s eyes widened and he mouthed, ‘What the fuck?’

Chapter Seven

Rhys stood slack-jawed and watched the smoke as it rose into the sky. Streaks of flames pushed it higher and bridged the gap between the noxious emissions and the recently exploded car that had created them.

A crowd formed closer to the explosion and blocked Rhys’ view of the car. Some onlookers still yelled and screamed, but for most part, the panic had abated.

Jake from the post room jogged over. “What’s happening, man?”

Rhys watched the crowd grow larger near the car and shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s calmed down pretty quickly though, so maybe there’s a perfectly rational reason for it happening.”

“A reason for a car exploding?”

It did sound a bit far fetched.

Most of the people in the square had stood up. Some even climbed up onto the benches. But like Rhys and Jake, very few went any farther forwards.

“How the fuck does a car just blow up?”

Before Rhys could respond, the screeching of car tyres grabbed his attention. A sleek black car with tinted windows accelerated away from the square. Rhys couldn’t see inside. When he saw Jake watch the car too, he said, “Who do you think’s in it?”

With a slack jaw, the slightly gormless teen watched the car speed off. “Dunno, but whoever it is, they clearly want to get away from here.”

Another scream called out across the square. Its shrill pitch lifted a line of hairs on the back of Rhys’ neck.

“It’s coming from The Alpha Tower,” Jake said.

When someone else by The Alpha Tower screamed, Rhys stood up on the wall that surrounded the fountain.
 

A second later, Jake joined him. “What the fuck?”

Despite the distance, Rhys saw it too—or rather, her. “She can’t be any older than six,” he said as he looked at the doll that hung from the little girl’s grip. “Where are the guards on the door?”

Jake looked at him. “Huh?”

“The Alpha Tower security’s so tight, there’s no way she should be able to just walk out like that.”

“I don’t think that’s our biggest worry, bruv. Look at her.”

The slant of the girl’s shoulders made it look like they’d been put on wrong. Each movement twitched and jerked as if a spate of erratic electrical impulses controlled her. Blood surrounded her mouth. Her thin lips drew back; she hissed and snapped at the air around her. Two thick trails of blood ran from her eyes down her cheeks. The crowd backed away. “Why isn’t someone helping?” Rhys said. “She’s just a kid. She needs help.”

With a tug on Rhys’ sleeve, Jake jumped down from the wall. “Come on then, let’s go and see what’s going on.”

When Jake pulled on his arm again, Rhys followed him off the wall and toward The Alpha Tower at a jog.