The Purple Haze (14 page)

“
What?” he asked.

“
I was just saying, I think it's a good idea to spend the night here,” Mike said, “We’ll figure out what we are doing in the morning.”

It took a second for James to respond but he nodded and said, “Yeah, good idea Mike, yeah.”

The whole group looked at each other and exchanged concerned glances. It was strange to see the man that led them this far, and who had handled himself against the dogs so well, in this state. “Are you all right?” asked Colin

“
Yeah,” James said, “yeah, I think I'm going to get some sleep.”

He stood up and walked away, looking dazed. He moved to the corner of the hall and took off his gun and flak jacket. He laid the jacket down as a pillow and led down, staring straight up at the ceiling. The rest of the group looked at each other not knowing what to think. At this point Dave walked back into the room. He saw the look on everyone's face. “What's the matter?” he said, wondering to himself if they had heard him in the toilet crying.

“
We're going to stay here tonight and try to figure out what to do tomorrow,” said Martin.

“
All right then,” said Dave. He looked over at James, lying there staring up at the ceiling. “What's the matter with him?” he asked quietly.

“
He thought his family would be here,” Martin quietly answered, “it's hit him hard. I just hope he's still got a few bright pennies up there, otherwise he could endanger the rest of us.”

“
Stop what you’re saying!” said Mike, a forceful tone in his voice, “Yes, he's struggling right now, but wouldn't you? He has no idea what's happened to his family.”

“
Neither do the rest of us, but we aren't spacing out like a mental patient,” said Gaz. “He almost got us all killed, shouting off like out there.”

“
Look, he will be all right,” Mike said, the force still in his tone, “just let him sleep for now. After what he's done for us he deserves it.”

Chapter 10

The following morning, Gaz woke up to find James was standing in the corner of the hall. He watched for a moment, waiting for him to move, but he didn't, he just stared into the centre of the hall. He tried to figure out what he might be looking at, but he couldn't see anything of interest. He looked around and saw that the rest of the group was still sleeping. He rubbed his eyes and got to his feet. He stood for a moment, still watching James, but he hadn't moved, he was just looking out from the corner, staring into thin air. He slowly walked over to him.

“
Hey?” he said, sounding a bit cautious. “Are you all right?”

James didn't move his head or his body. He just blinked and replied, “Yeah.”

Gaz didn't know how to respond. He felt uncomfortable around James because James was a police officer with a gun. He had training that he couldn't match up to, but on the other hand, from where he was standing it looked as though the most physically capable member of the group was now losing his mind.

“
Can I get anything for you?” Gaz asked.

Again, James just blinked and answered. “No.”

Gaz took a step back and turned, walking back to the rest of the group. He crouched down next to Martin and carefully shook him. “Martin?” he said, shaking his arm.

Martin stirred and rolled over. He looked up at Gaz. “What is it?”

“
Something is seriously wrong with James. Look at him.” Gaz pointed over to James still standing in the corner. Martin sat up and looked. He could make out James' face in the dim light. He had no expression on his face. He was standing there staring, his posture stooped in a slouch not to dissimilar to that of angst ridden teenagers.

Martin reached over and grabbed Mike's arm. He shook it lightly and Mike sat up with a start, making Gaz and Martin jump and causing the remaining sleepers to wake up. Mike looked around looking panicked, and looked at Martin. “What? What is it?” he asked, the tone in his voice matching the expression on his face.

“
Calm down,” Martin said, “it's nothing bad.”

Mike took a deep breath and looked around. He clocked James in the corner. “What's he doing?” he asked Martin.

“
That's why I woke you. I don't know what's wrong with him.”

Mike got up and walked over to James. “James?” he said, but James didn't answer. “Are you okay?”

“
Yeah, I'm fine,” replied James, not moving a muscle except to speak.

“
You don't look it,” Mike said. He looked at him closely. He couldn't see any marks or wounds on him. Physically he looked fine. “What's wrong?”

“
Nothing,” said James.

“
Then look at me, man!” shouted Mike, shaking James by his arms. James jolted and looked at him, his expression suddenly looking surprised. He looked around the room at the others. They were all looking at him with deeply concerned looks on their faces. He straightened his posture and looked back at Mike.

“
Sorry,” he said, “I'm sorry everyone, I'm okay now.” He stepped around Mike and walked back to the group.

“
What's up, James?” Yvonne asked him.

“
I'm okay, Yvonne.” He looked around at everyone. “Seriously, I'm fine.”

“
You freaked us all out, man,” said Colin

“
Well, I've been thinking.” James said.

“
What about?” asked Martin.

“
I don't want to be here,” James said.

Gaz laughed at this. “Yeah, neither do we, but we've got no choice in the matter.”

“
I know what you're saying, but I can't be here. My family is at home, I've got to get to them.” James knelt by his sleeping area and began checking his equipment.

Mike stepped into James' eye line. “What are talking about?”

“
I'm going to go and find my family,” James said, now putting his flak jacket back on and zipping it up.

“
We can't get through the streets again, you saw what it was like out there,” said Mick.

“
You're not coming with me,” James said. He looked at the group and back at Mike. “I've taken you as far as I can. I don't know where to go from here, and I can't go anywhere without knowing what's happened to my family, and I can move better on my own.”

“
Bullshit, you won't stand a chance out there on your own!” Mike said sternly.

“
You're not going to talk me out of it. You all have a gun, you have ammo and you have food. If I can make it to my house and find my family I’ll be fine. If needs be, I can break in and get provisions from my neighbours' houses if needs be.”

Yvonne stepped forward. She looked at James through welling eyes and spoke through trembling lips. “Don't leave us,” she said, “We need you.”

James smiled and forced a laugh. “No you don't.”

He stood up and moved over to her. He hugged her lightly with one arm, and then walked over to the door. Mike walked quickly after him and stopped him. “Come on, James, you know we can't do this without you,” he paused a second, then realised he was trying to reason with James for his own needs. “I can't do this without you.”

James put a supporting hand on Mike's shoulder. “I saw how you handled yourself against those dogs, you can do this.” James removed his hand and left the hall heading towards the main entrance. He stopped, looked around the room and headed to the office, Mike following like a loyal dog all the way.

“
Think about it, will you?” Mike said, almost sounding desperate.

“
What do you think I was doing in the corner of that room all that time?” James said, looking more and more like the alert and able officer he had done the previous two days. “Do you know what it's like not knowing if your wife and kids are safe? It's killing me, Mike. I've barely slept the past two nights. I need to know.”

Mike didn't know what to say. He felt slightly bad for having practically begged him to stay. James moved to the blinds and slowly pulled them apart. He looked out and saw that the fog had lifted slightly more. He could see some of the creatures out there, staggering aimlessly. He couldn't see many but he knew he would be able to quickly make it past the few that were out there. He let the blinds close again. He turned around and saw Mike still standing there. He side stepped past him into the entrance hall again, and found the rest of the group standing there looking at him. “You'll all be okay,” he said to them.

“
It's you I'm thinking about,” said Martin, “what are you going to do if you find them?”

“
I have enough stuff at my house to hold out for a while,” James answered.

“
And if you don't find them?” Martin asked.

James didn't answer straight away. The possibility of not finding them was not an option to him. It was either find them or die trying. He looked at Martin. “Then I'll figure something out.”

James walked to the door and unlocked it. He opened it slightly. He couldn't see any of the things out there. He plotted his path in his mind and closed the door again. He looked around at the group, all of them still with a look of hope in their eyes that he might stay, but nothing was going to change his mind. Mike walked closer to him.

“
Are you sure we can't convince you to stay?” he asked.

James nodded. “I'm sure, Mike.” James removed his radio from his jacket and handed it to Mike. “It’s better if you keep this.”

Mike looked at the radio in his hand. “How will we keep in touch?” he asked.

“
I think that it's best we don't.” James opened the door and looked out again. His path was still clear. He looked back at the group. “Lock this up after me, won't you?” he said, and he was gone. Mike looked out after him and saw him running back towards the road they had come up the day before, then he turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Mike felt like he had lost someone close to him. He had only known him three days, and the circumstances they had met in were unlike anything ever witnessed in the history of the human race, but he considered him a friend. He closed the door and locked it. He turned to rest of the group and looked at them. He could tell they all felt what he did in one way or another.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed since James had left, and the survivors gathered in the main hall again. Not much had been said, they had just made sure that they had fed and watered themselves so that they at least had the energy to stay awake. They all had the same feeling, and that feeling was hopelessness. It was obvious that no rescue would be coming and that whatever surviving they had to do, they had to do it alone. Having no way of contacting James and no means of going after him now, he might as well have been dead to them. They knew the sooner they all accepted this, the sooner they could get back to trying to make some kind plan.

Looking around at the entrance hall, Mike could see that they were quite well guarded, and the building could be defended in the event of attack. The windows weren't strong enough to withstand multiple creatures bashing them, but as long as they stayed covered there was no reason why the things outside would try and break in. They all had guns, so if the need to arose, everyone could defend themselves in the event of a mass breach and it became every man for himself. They had enough food to last a couple of days, longer if they rationed it, and water as well. Once they had gathered their thoughts and recovered their strength, they could try and come up with some kind of escape route. For the mean time he would let them rest. As a civil servant, it was his responsibility to get them out, and he needed everyone to be able to stand and fight. Dave wouldn't be an issue. They could all pitch in and help him. Mike's own doubts about his own ability to help these people were starting to disperse. Nobody was to be left behind, not while he was in charge.

After another lengthy period of silence, Mike decided the time was right to try and get a plan together to get everyone out of the community centre, and then out of the country in general. It was no use thinking short term, they had to come up with a long term plan and stick to it in order to survive. He herded everyone together in the entrance hall where there were comfy seats, and called a meeting. “We need a plan,” he said. “I'm putting it to everyone in here that the six of us have to escape. Not just this building or the town, but England.” He stopped to observe the reactions of the group, all of whom looked at each other with confused faces. Mike continued. “There is no way of telling if this has spread the whole length of the country, but we need to assume it has, and think only in the long term. If anybody has an idea, I'm happy to hear it.”

The group all looked at each other. Gaz was the first to speak. “What if we stayed here and did supply runs? Those things are pretty slow. We could probably just slip by them.”

“
Yes we could,” Mike answered, “but all's it takes is for one of them to know where we are. If they see us they'll follow us wherever we go, and all that moaning they do will just attract others. Once they are attacking us in mass we won't stand a chance.”

“
He's right,” said Martin. “If we
are
to leave this building, it can only be the once and we can't come back. Mike's right about them. They seem to react to sound pretty well, and with just one of them moaning like that, others are sure to come.”