Duplicity (15 page)

“I think we’re too late to help her.” Derek said, pointing at the sprawled body of an old woman. Two of the creatures were standing on her chest, taking turns in smashing her head against the tiles. Thomas marched over and kicked one of them, grunting in satisfaction as if flew across the floor before crashing into a display of baked beans. The other one snapped up its tiny head, its black eyes glaring at Thomas with pure malice. Derek swung his own brush handle and caught the thing in the side of its skull, launching it into a shelf.

“Is she dead?”

Thomas crouched down and checked the woman’s pulse. He sighed, closed her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, we were too late to save this one.”

“Look at that.” Derek said. “We’re not the only ones fighting back.”

He nodded, watching three employees and a dark haired middle-aged man behind the deli counter fighting off a dozen of the things with assorted pieces of equipment. The man pulled out a metal dish, holding green olives and smashed the dish into the face of one of the creatures running through the cheese display.

“Come on, man. They’re doing just fine.” Thomas saw a young woman slowly backing down the tins aisle, a young girl of about seven or eight was cowering behind the woman’s legs. Three of the creatures were slowly creeping towards the pair. They appeared to be giggling. The noise quickly turned to angry spluttering when the woman threw a tin of fruit towards them. Derek ran past Thomas and used his brush to push all three of the creatures against the shelving. One of them grabbed the end of Derek’s improvised weapon. The man yelled out and bashed it onto the floor.

Thomas kicked one of them as it peered out from under the fixture before rushing over to the woman. “Are you okay?”

She looked into his eyes. “Thank you.” She sobbed. The woman picked up her child and ran down the aisle. She turned towards the entrance then turned back. Thomas saw indecision and terror plastered on her face. She then ran in the opposite direction.

The two men followed her down the aisle. When they reached the end, he saw why she’d gone the other way. There were over a dozen bodies lying on the floor by the entrance. The creatures were all clustered around the corpse’s heads, pushing their sharp claws through every orifice, desperately trying to reach the tissue under the skull.

“That woman and the kid have just gone through a fire door. I reckon we should follow her lead.”

Thomas was about to agree when he heard sobbing behind the customer service desk. That blonde girl that he clocked earlier had wedged her body tight into the corner, behind the desk. Two of the things had also noticed the woman and were walking across the counter towards her.

“Oh shit.” Derek moaned. “We can’t leave her there.”

They both skirted past the things eating their way through the dead people’s faces, they didn’t seem to care that more potential food was passing right by them. Derek reached the counter first and swept the creatures off the counter. Thomas reached over and lifted the woman out.

“What’s happening?” asked the girl, crying.

Thomas dragged her through the foyer and out into the night air.

“What do we do now?”

Thomas looked at Derek then back at the girl. “He then reached into his pocket and found that his wife still hadn’t sent him a text. Thomas looked across the carpark and saw several of the creatures racing along the rooftops. “I need to find out what’s happened to my family.”

The man handed his brush to the girl and ran to his car.

Chapter Seventeen

She pulled the screwdriver slowly out of his neck, grunting in pleasure at the crimson smeared metal shaft. “How do you like those apples? You dirty bald goon. I bet you weren’t expecting that one!” Joanie wiped the blood on the dead man’s shirt the pushed the body to the floor. She resisted the urge to keep on repeatedly ramming her screwdriver into the man’s flesh, as she did with the first Henry that made the stupid decision of attacking her.

Joanie looked down at the corpse, hawked up a gobbet of phlegm and spat it into his face. She then waved at it. “Don’t see you fucking grinning any more, you twat.” Her violent encounter with the last Henry had drained every scrap of emotion from her body. Joanie felt dead inside, as dead as the freaky bastard thing, lying by her feet.

Her only desire was to destroy as many of these fuckers as she could. She stared at her screwdriver, mesmerised at the sight of the remaining drop of red fluid reaching the tip before falling to the ground, leaving the metal shaft, pristine. Joanie would have preferred to buy a large kitchen knife but had no desire to listen to the checkout girl ask her age. Joanie would have probably punched the bitch. It was a little ironic to think that just a few short hours ago, she’d a just loved to have that kind of confrontation.

It had felt so strange, so unreal to be shuffling down the aisle of that supermarket and watching all those old people picking up so much useless shite and popping it into their trolleys. Not of them had any inkling what was happening in the town. Then again, considering the amount of bovine expressions she kept seeing, Joanie doubted that most of the nearly dead knew what planet they were living on.

A very familiar car had pulled into the carpark, just as Joanie was leaving with her single purchase. The bright yellow sports car was an unwelcome reminder of just her previous uncomplicated existence. She’d have done anything to have it all back. That fact that she’d spent years wishing that the apocalypse would befall the human race made her even more distressed.

She stepped back into the alley, allowing the long shadows to engulf her, obscuring Joanie from any watchful eye. There were more of those bastards out there, somewhere. For the moment though, nothing moved. She judged it safe enough to take her phone out of her back pocket. The cupped her hand over the dim illumination and checked her messages.

“You fucking bitch.” She whispered. Tessa had still not replied. God, Joanie was furious. How dare she not text her back. She’d sent her a message over ten minutes ago. She should have answered her by now; that girl was never off her own phone. She pushed the phone back into her pocket. “Just you wait, Tessa.”

The thought of her two friends meeting the same fate as Joanie’s parents abruptly slammed into her mind. “Bloody hell, why did I not think of that earlier?” she then jumped further back into the shadows at the sight of a figure stepping out from behind the back of a green hatchback, it was yet another of those Henry’s. Joanie grinned; she’d enjoy ending this one’s miserable life as well.

The other Henry cautiously walked past the car across the road. It suddenly stopped at the sight of its companion sprawled on the path. Joanie nodded, she just knew that it was a bloody good idea to leave the thing where it fell. The other Henry skidded to a halt, standing on the road’s white lines. He looked across at Joanie’s hiding place. It felt almost as if the Henry could see Joanie. That was impossible though, not unless the bastards could see in the dark. The Henry shook his head and laughed before spinning around and running in the opposite direction.

The girl spun around herself when something behind her landed on a bin bag. “Who’s there?” The shadows covered everything. She saw nothing but blackness. The plastic rustled again. “I’m warning you.” She said, backing out of the alley. The girl yelped when a small black cat darted out and shot between her legs.

There was no sign of that other Henry. That was so not fair. Joanie ran into the middle of the road. There was no way that she intended to let this one get away from her. Joanie yelped again when her phone started to vibrate. She pulled the phone out and almost slammed the bloody thing on the floor when she saw Tessa’s name.

“Where the bloody hell are you?” she snarled. “I sent you a text ages ago.” She pulled the phone away from her ear when the voice on the other end screamed back at her.

“Joanie? Please hurry. You’ve got to help me!”

“How can I do that when I don’t know where the hell you are? Is that Emma there with you?”

The girl replied by crying again. “We’re both at the top of the park. Oh god, you have to hurry up!”

The connection died. Joanie slid her phone back. That was where her quarry had headed. She picked up the pace and run through the empty town, heading for the centre of town. The park was only a few minutes distance from here. Joanie turned into the main high street and skidded to a halt at the sight of another one hanging out of an open window above a sandwich shop.

Was it a different one? Joanie so wished that their supermarket had sold rifles. She ran up to the shop window and looked up at him. It fixed her with both eyes then smiled and waved.

“I’ll give you something to laugh about, you bastard!” She screamed. “Come down here and face me.”

He responded by pulling his head back into the room and shutting the window. Joanie peered inside and saw nothing but an empty counter and a vending machine. “He’s not coming out.” She turned around and ran along the pavement, heading for the park.

She heard the sound of a faint scream originating from her original direction. “What the hell?” Joanie almost doubled back when she caught someone shrieking out her name. There was no mistaking Tessa’s panic filled voice. She reached the end of the street, raced across the road, and saw the huge park gates in the distance. Joanie could just about make out a group of figures fighting.

“Tessa!” Joanie screamed.

Every figure stopped and turned to face Joanie as she sprinted towards them. counted three identical men, standing in front of the bloodied remains of her two friends. “You fucking dirty bastards.” She growled.

Joanie glared at the nearest one as he slowly wiped the back of his hand across his wet, scarlet lips. The man defiantly glared back.

“All right, which one of you fuckers want to die first?”

She didn’t give them time to react. Joanie ran up to the defiant Henry and slammed the screwdriver through his throat. She pulled it out and stuck the shaft into the stomach of another Henry who made the mistake of rushing her. He staggered back towards the open park gates, howling and clutching at his wound.

“How do you like those apples, you bastard?” She shouted.

The next Henry jumped out of her way and dodged Joanie’s thrust. He then slapped the screwdriver out of her outstretched hand. The Henry ran at her, grinning. She jumped back and tripped over Tessa’s corpse, hitting the pavement hard. The Henry followed her down, he pulled her arms apart and pinned her to the ground.

“I’m going to enjoy your brain.” He whispered. The Henry bent over Joanie’s face and thrust his cold tongue inside her ear. “I ate your mother’s brain, Joanie. I found out that the first Henry once fucked the bitch while your dad was working.” The Henry lifted his head and spat at the girl. “How do you like those apples?”

Joanie watched in horror as his features melted away, flowing like hot wax. His mouth yawned open, showing her his new narrow, needle teeth growing through his bloodied gums. She screamed and bucked, trying to get him off her body. The mouth opened ever wider, dislocating his jaw like a snake.

Her strength deserted her; she just couldn’t push him off. Joanie closed her eyes and just hoped that the pain wouldn’t last long. Suddenly, the weight lifted. She snapped open her eyes and saw the concerned face of a handsome older man smiling down at Joanie.

“It looks like we got here just in the nick of time.” He said. “The bastard didn’t hurt you, I hope.”

The girl shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” Shook she smiled back at her saviour before turning her head, looking for the other rescuer. Joanie saw another Henry grinning at her and screamed, launching herself at the man.

The Henry easily dodged her charge and grabbed the girl’s arm, pushing it up her back.

“Easy now, darling. Come on calm it down. The man holding you managed to kill the one with the freaky teeth. He saved your life.”

The Henry behind her sighed. “Have you no more pies to throw at me, Joanie? Have you ever, in your life, thought about the consequences of your actions?” The man released Joanie and pushed her over to the other man. Henry crouched beside Tessa and gently closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you, Tessa.” He looked at Joanie. “The others ransacked my memories, Joanie. They all watched you and your friends insult me on the bus, this morning. They witnessed the years of abuse that I suffered from the people that I work with, including your dear mother. Like you, I have no doubt that they thought it was it was all just hilarious but in the end, that doesn’t matter, even the fact that they hate me and my sister for ruining away from the tribe.” He stood up. “I’m still their family, Joanie.”

“I don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about, you freaky bastard.” She snarled. “So what now, are you going to kill me as well?”

“Don’t be so fucking stupid.” He replied. “As much as I hate to say this, you annoying brat. I need you. We have to stop them from destroying our town.”

“Have you lost your mind, Henry?” William hissed. “We need to call in the police and the fucking army.”

“And tell them what? That a bunch of people who all look like me are eating the local population?”

Joanie watched Henry walk over to one of the dead freaks. He crouched down and turned its head. The thing didn’t look like Henry anymore. Neither did the Henry crouching down. He now wore the uniform of a police officer.

“We’re hunters, William. We can look like anyone.” The illusion shimmered and the familiar face of Henry stared back at him. Henry fell over, gasping and sweating. “I’m so not good at doing the change.” He stared at Joanie. “The others have no problem with it. The police and army would all die and be eaten.”

“And I suppose you know how just us three would be able to defeat them?”

He nodded. “It isn’t the fault of the males, William. They just followed the females, they had no choice; there are only four females in town; if they died the males and the young would just go back home.”

Joanie picked up her screwdriver. “Come on then, let’s get going.”