As the Light Dies (89 page)

He could
n’
t believe that h
e’
d just fired a live cartridge in to a crowd of people. Vomit rose up his throat, his heart raced, he felt faint and his legs felt weak.

He looked up in to the wave of hatred rushing up the snowbound steps. There was no telling what damage h
e’
d done there was no obvious change in the rolling mass of infected people, but he knew for certain that his baby had caused at least one infected to slow down, most likely permanently!

The thought made his head swirl for a second before suddenly he came to. His senses came rushing back as he watched the infected coming up the steps. He saw their wounds and their discoloured skin, and he heard there gurgles and he remembered Iain and Samantha.

He remembered what had happened to them, what these freaks had done to them and most likely countless others. He remembered the countless screams h
e’
d heard since the darkness fell. He remembered Gavi
n’
s story about the bus driver and Dea
n’
s story about his workmate.

He thought about his no
w
e
x
neighbours and then he thought about Sarah and how he did
n’
t think sh
e’
d see her parents again, his sister and her boyfriend, and then he thought
,
one down isn’t fucking nearly enough
!
Then he turned and ran.

Dean and Gavin reached the very top of the snowbound steps with David close behind them. Ann was already moving across the deserted car park at the top, holding Sara
h’
s hand.

“
Keep going
,”
called Dean
,“
w
e’
re right behind you
.
”

Dean knew exactly where Ann was heading. They were on higher ground now and once they crossed the car park the
y’
d join a road that ran almost parallel to the High Street below.

The
y’
d follow it a short distance until they came to an old cobbled road on their left that branched off and lead back down to the High Street. Part way down the cobbled hill there was a pedestrian walkway on the right that fed in to the upper floor of the Eastgate Shopping Centre passing over a road below. David panted heavily keeping pace with the brothers as they ran after Ann and Sarah. Sam bounded along beside them pausing occasionally to look back. Dean was glad Sam had
n’
t stopped and erupted in to hysterical barking yet; it meant that the infected had
n’
t reached the top of the steps -  yet!

The three men joined the road moments behind Ann and Sarah. David called out to Sarah
,“
Keep running Sarah, keep going
I’
m right behind you ok, do
n’
t stop
.
”

Sarah responded with a whimper that sounded like a
n“
ok
!
”

Then Sa
m’
s whine rose up to a high pitched howl. Dean and Gavin both knew what it meant and tried to put on a new burst of speed. David stuttered attempting to say something but could
n’
t manage as he struggled for breath
.
“Just run!”
said Dean, and he did.

The sound from the infected grew louder and clearer as they reached the top of the steps and began to spread out across the car park.

The sound of them drawing closer sent shivers racing down spines and Dean called ahead again out of reflex
,“
Ann, do
n’
t let up ok. Just run. Get to the Eastgate Centre anyway you can
.
”

A wheez
y“
Yep
,”
was all she could manage in response, but it was enough.

Sa
m’
s growl was permanent now, and every time he looked back he let out a long tormented howl that seemed to get harsher and higher pitched every time. He sounded like he was in pain.

Dean knew by Sa
m’
s reactions that things were
n’
t good, and that the infected were gaining. But he was grateful that he was
n’
t trying to hold his ground yet. The fact that he was
n’
t told Dean that they still had a little distance between themselves and the infected. Distance they had to keep. Distance he hoped would be enough for them to get to safety.

David was gasping for air trying to keep pace with the others. His windpipe was in agony as he sucked in the frozen air, and his heart beat at a thunderous pace as he pushed on, running as fast as his body would let him. He kept thinking about Sarah. How h
e’
d keep her safe at all costs. No matter what. Nothing else mattered.

His eyes stayed focused on her just ahead of him the whole time while his mind whirled as he tried to figure out what the next step was going to be. How they were going to survive?

One singular gurgle started to stand apart from the others!

One’s getting close
,
thought Dean. Then sure enough Sam spun around and dug in to the snow with all four paws. His hackles were up on end all the way along his back, and he started barking wildly! Dea
n’
s heart missed a beat, he knew Sam did
n’
t have a chance against the horde chasing them. He had even less of a chance with his muzzle on.

“SAM RUN!”
he yelled. Then David slid to a stop, he knew all too well what the do
g’
s actions meant. He spun around priming the shotgun by pumping the chunky wooden grip under the long barrel and fired aimlessly in to crowd of murderous silhouettes without a second thought.

The muzzle flare stretched out from the end of the barrel again, lighting up dozens of mutilated faces bearing down on them.

Sam was barking so loud that his whole body shook.

Suddenly a figure lunged through the murkiness towards them.

David skipped back a step pumping the shotgun and fired again swinging the barrel towards the lunging figure while Sam held his ground barking like crazy. The figure belly flopped on the ground a fraction of a second after its insides erupted out through its back, and it slid through the black snow and came to a stop right in front of David. He stepped back staring at the figure. A short thin man, missing most of his fingers, one ear and a lot of his neck. And now all of his stomach.

Davi
d’
s stomach turned to lead as he realised h
e’
d actually killed a person. Infected or not!

He stood motionless just staring at the fallen man by his feet. He could hear Dean calling for him and Sam going ballistic but he could
n’
t move.

I’ve seen them kill. I’ve seen them ‘eat’ a person
!
he tried to reason with himself.

Survival of the fittest
,
he told himself
.
That’s what it is now. Kill or be killed
!

But he still did
n’
t move. Despite the calls from the others for him to run, despit
e
everything
,
he just could
n’
t let himself off with what h
e’
d just done.

Suddenly Sam was beside him. He rubbed his muzzle against Davi
d’
s thigh pushing against him, pushing him back away from the body. Back towards the others. Then he whined, spun around and started barking at the fallen body. David took a step back knowing he had to move, and fast, if he wanted to protect Sarah. This one was obviously much faster than the others, ahead of the wave. Looking up he saw the wave of mottled figures rushing towards him like an enormous black squall
.“
Sam
,”
he said, taking another step back. He primed the gun again out of instinct and took another step back. Then his heart completely stopped!

He nearly died of shock right where he stood. The man h
e’
d killed pulled his arms in by his sides and started to push himself up off the ground and he looked straight at David!

Gobsmacked and with no time to think about what was happening David raised the gun and fired at near point blank range hitting the man in the chest and flipped him over on to his back as his lungs and most of his ribcage spewed out behind him.

David watched astonished and unable to believe what his eyes saw as the man who was now missing most of his torso thrashed his arms around on the ground still making that awful sound. He started rocking from side to side. His legs were dead to him now, connected to what was left of his upper body by thin tethers of flesh that remained down either side of the shotgun blasts. He quickly gained enough momentum to roll back on to his front. Once over he started to crawl towards David and Sam. David spun on his heels gasping Sa
m’
s name in an attempt to call him, and he put every bit of energy he had left in to a sprint. He forced his shaky legs to work faster than before, faster than ever before! And Sam bounded along by his side practically pushing him along as the mottled tide closed in behind them....

Leann fastened the waist strap securing her rucksack in place. It felt good. It was tight and snug. She looked across at Collin as he folded down the blade of a blue ice-axe that h
e’
d fastened to the strap on his rucksack. He flicked his head up and looked up at her with wide eyes.

“What
!
What is it
?”
she said.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything they heard footfalls racing along the aisle towards them.

“GUNSHOT!”
yelled Andy
.
“
C’mon, hurry!”

Collin handed Leann an ice-axe with a blade and handle that matched her neon pink hair and they both took off after him, sprinting along the empty shopping centre aisles until they managed to catch up with him half way across the overpass. He was jumping from side to side, peering out, looking for any sign of life.

“I’
m sure it was a gunshot
,”
he said seeing them.

“
I thought I heard shouting for a second
,”
he told them
.“I’
m sure I did. Then there was a barking dog, and I mean really barking. The thing was going crazy! So I listened and the
n
BANG
!
I heard the shot. It was a shotgun,
I’
m certain of it
!
”

“
Yea, I thought I heard shouting
.”
said Collin approaching.

Andy crossed back over to the other side that looked out of town and passed the supermarket.

It was bleak, dirty and still.

Visibility came and went like before and he made good use of the lightning scanning as much of the terrain as he could with each new flash. Wind rushed passed the overpass moaning at them as they peered through the dirty glass. The supermarket car park was deserted. The abandoned cars sat idle slowly being buried under a thick blanket of black snow. Some of the smaller cars even looked like molehills from their perch. Open doors and bonnets swung in the wind, one bonnet slammed shut and another was forced back and slammed against the windscreen shattered the glass.

“
Maybe it was just one of the bonnets that you heard
,”
said Leann.

Andy shook his head
.“
No. I heard a gunshot, one of my foster dads used to shoot at the weekends when I was little. I know a shotgun when I hear one
.
”

Leann nodded.

Collin asked
,“
Do you think they got away
?
”

“
No idea
,”
said Andy
.“
I hope so
.
”

“
Me too
,”
said Leann, as she fiddled with her axe. She was trying to get it to sit right as it hung from her waist strap.

“
In one way its good
,”
said Andy
.“
It lets us know that other people are surviving out there, or at least trying to
.
”

Leann nodded
.“
Maybe i
t’
s the army
?”
she said, and before anyone answered all of them heard the next gunshot. There was no mistaking what it was.

Andy stood bolt upright and held a finger up in the air signalling to the others to be quiet.

They heard shouting.

It was faint. Not too far away but it was muffled by the wind.

Andy took off again, sprinting across the overpass and along the dark aisles towards the other side of the shopping centre. Leann and Collin followed close behind.

Andy ran passed the Starbuck
s’
outlet the
y’
d made their home on the corner of the joining aisles and turned right and headed straight towards M&S at the end of the aisle.

He called back to the other two as they neared the end
.“I’
m sure it came from this direction
.”
Outside the upper ground entrance to Marks & Spence
r’
s there was a glass bodied lift and a wide stairway split by a wooden banister that lead down to the ground floor where there was an entrance that fed out on to the upper end of the High Street.

The entry doors and the wall they were embedded in were constructed from lightly tinted glass, and from the upper level balcony they commanded a wide view along Inverness High Street. The glass continued all the way up in to a neat point at the tip of the narrowly pitched roof, high above their heads. Andy had covered over most of the glass around the lower level, but the view from the balcony was clear. The three of them looked out from the upper level, straining to see any movement through the relentless snow, and they listened hard. Andy moved around the balcony trying to gain a better view along the High Street.

A slapping noise caught his attention. He looked around and saw that the canopy over the Turkish kebab shop just opposite was flapping in the wind. The weight of the snow had burst through.

Collin looked too and seeing the place automatically brought back a fond memory for him, one he had of a time when he and his granddad had both had the house special burger, the burger was so big that his granddad could
n’
t open his mouth wide enough to take a full bite. A faint smile crossed Colli
n’
s face when shouting from outside shook him from his memory.

“LOOK, LOOK!”
shouted Andy pointing through the glass.

Collin and Leann both stared trying to see what had his attention. He was pointing away from the High Street and up towards Stephens Brae, a steep little cobbled road that led off from the High Street. Leann saw what it was before Collin and gasped!

“What
!
What is it
?”
he said.

“
Look at the overpass that crosses over to Stephens Brae
,”
she said, and Andy took off again sprinting back along the aisle the
y’
d come down.

“C’
mon
,”
he called as he disappeared.

Collin did
n’
t budge. He wanted to see what they saw.

Just another second
,
he thought desperate to see what they had.

“C’
mon
!”
said Leann. She hesitated when he did
n’
t leave straight away. Then when he still did
n’
t move when she called him, she reached out and grabbed his collar.

As she pulled him away from the glass Collin caught a glimpse of a faint silhouette swimming at the very edge of his vision near the end of the overpass.

There was a definite outline of a person, and they had a child with them!

He turned with Leann and they both raced after Andy....