“I
t’s possible. It can’t be more than a mile from start to finish,” said Parker.
“Are you sure
, Christina? I wouldn’t want to get down there and find ourselves popping up in the middle of the plaza,” Tom said.
“I’m sure as I can be. Look
, I agree I think it’s worth a shot.” Christina looked past the conference centre to the city centre. The sun made the Thames look like a stream of shining silver.
“Right, let’s convene back downstairs and see what the rest have managed to get together. No point putting it off,” said Tom. “If everyone else is ready
, we should just go.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, Tom, where are we going to?” said Christin
a.
“Well
, that part of the plan is still a work in motion,” he replied. “Everyone has their own ideas. I think we’re going to play it by ear. If the streets are clear, then I think a lot of people are just going to go home. Husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends; it’s been days now since we had contact. I thought I’d probably try to head home if I can. How about you?”
“Yeah, home I guess.” Christin
a said no more and looked at the city.
“You think there’ll be a home to go to?”
asked Parker. “I don’t want to be the messenger of doom, but, like you said, we’ve had no contact for days. The airport over there is empty; shutdown for all we know. Can you see any traffic on the roads out there? Any boats moving down the river? I think we need to have a plan B.”
“Go on.” Tom sat down on the gravel roof, sheltering from the hot sun against a sm
all ventilation shaft. Christina and Parker sat down next to him.
“Well
, it looks clear over there, but for how long? As soon as we appear, then the infected will come looking for us. It might be a rat, it might be a bird, it might be a person; a dead fucking person. I don’t know about the rest of the country, but I think we agreed on one thing last night; that London is a dead city. I know we want to get home and see our families. I know I do. But if we splinter off, go our own ways, we’ll get picked off. We’ll all be dead by sundown.”
In the distance
, Tom could see the arches of Wembley. He had always wanted to go there and see a cup final; he didn’t even care who was playing, he just wanted to go. Would he be able to now? Were football and sport and everything else that mattered just history now? Was his home, history? Were his parents walking around with their swollen tongues hanging out as they tried to digest their neighbour?
He tried to convince himself that what was happening in the city was isolated and that outside of his world
, life was going on as normal. Kids were going to school, builders were having their bacon and eggs, and the world was spinning as it had done for millennia.
“He’s right,” said Christina
. “We have to plan further than the next five minutes or we’re screwed.”
“So let’s talk to the others. I hear what you’re saying but I’m not sure they’ll go along with it. Jackson told me he hasn’t spent this much time apart from his wife, Mary, in fifteen years.
Caterina’s worried about her baby. Benzo’s worried about his dad. Trying to get everyone to stick together might be difficult.” Tom picked up a loose stone and threw it over the roof.
“As you said, let’s talk to them,” said Parker. “They listen to you
, and Brad - although I wonder why sometimes. If you two say it’s a good idea we’ll probably get everyone on side.”
Tom nodded. They listened to him for some reason. Brad he could understand; he was physically imposing, he was confident, bold, arrogant; everything that Tom wasn’t. He wondered if it might be because he was the newcomer. A strange face meant he didn’t
carry any baggage. Tom hadn’t played any part of the office politics and had no favourites. He was impartial, whereas, Brad came with baggage. For some reason that seemed to mean people listened to him.
“I think the city is dead,” said Tom. “Maybe there
are one or two others out there, maybe even a small group like us, but it’s over. I know in my heart that my parents are probably dead. The infection spread so quick I would be amazed if they got out in time. We have to get out of the city. That’s what plan B is Parker. We get out of the tunnel and find a car, a bus, a truck, a boat; anything that moves. We get out of the city. And if we get out of the city and find the country is infected, then we get out of the country.
“You know how many people there are in this city? At last count about six point five million. If
around ten per cent of those lived, and I seriously doubt those odds, then that’s still over six million dead; which means there are going to be about six million fucking zombies after us.”
Christin
a shivered. “My staff all left when this started. It seems an age ago now. I assume they got home safe and are probably laughing at me, just watching the news from their sofas, laughing at stupid Christina who stayed behind in the office. Truth is, I think they’re all probably dead now.
“Quite frankly I’m amazed we’re not dead yet. If the infection isn’t
restricted to humans, then...you said your friend Freddy got bitten by a rat? Well we’re going to need to keep our wits about us. That means looking out for one another. I should’ve helped my staff, my friends, but I didn’t. I let them go. I didn’t try.
“
I’m with you guys. I’ll come with you. I’ve got money, too. I’m not bragging, but it can help and it might come in handy; who knows what’s out there. Talk to your friends downstairs. I think you’ll find they’ll come, too.”
They all stood up and Parke
r held out his hand to Christina. “Thanks.”
“Good to have you on board. It’s nice to have
a level head around,” said Tom. They went back down to the sixteenth floor.
* * * *
Troy and Michelle had gathered enough bags for everyone and they were being stuffed with the last pieces of food that they could find. Brad and Reggie returned with various bottles of chemicals, lighters, and torches. Caterina and Jenny had collected a pile of saucepans and pots, kitchen knives and bottles, large enough to wield against any attacker. Jackson and Reggie stuffed cloths into the empty wine bottles and doused them with chemicals that would burn.
“Don’t light them until we have to though,” said Jackson. “Not until the last minute when we’re down in the tunnel.”
Brad was on his own, filling up plastic bottles with tap water. They had gone up to the eighteenth and thankfully, Reggie’s storage cupboard was on the opposite side to where he had left Amber and Chloe. He hadn’t wanted to kill Reggie, but he would do what was necessary. Brad was angry with himself. He should’ve got rid of them straight away. He had not moved the bodies and in doing so, was leaving himself open to trouble. He was going to have to go back up there and clean up. Now there were people crawling over the building and that would be difficult. Maybe they would leave before anyone would find them. Jackson was not helping, organising his ridiculous little search parties for Amber. Maybe the old man had a crush on her. Jenny kept looking at him oddly, too. There was no way she could know, but she had asked him the other night about Amber. If she started talking, it could be trouble.
Damn it! It was just the stress of the situation
. Normally, he could deal with this efficiently and cleanly. He was going to have to move things along. If he could cajole everyone into leaving now, convince them that they had to leave, then the search parties would be called off. Nobody would want to put themselves at risk just to look for that stupid blonde slut.
“Hey, Tom, good plan
, buddy, I hear you. Stick together, safety in numbers and all that.” Brad strode into the office and deposited the water bottles on the floor by the pile of bags.
“
Well, it wasn’t exactly my idea, it was a joint effort,” said Tom.
“Say, did anyone find Amber yet?” said Brad loud enough for everyone to hear.
“No, we’ve still got a few people looking,” said Jackson tying together a bundle of candles.
“Well
, I hate to say it, but we should call it quits. We’re ready to leave and it’s time to rock and roll,” said Brad.
“But what about Amber?” said
Jenny. “We can’t just leave her.”
“Hey, nobody wants to leave the girl
, but she’s made her own decisions,” said Brad. “She’s a big girl and she has obviously decided she can take care of herself. You know I wasn’t going to say anything, but I just saw a rat in the kitchen. Now it didn’t bite me, I shooed it off, but, you know...”
“Shit,” said Tom. “Jackson, he’s right, we should get moving.”
“This is
bull!” said Jenny. The room was shocked into silence. “I don’t know what game he’s playing, but he’s up to something. Brad was the last person with Amber and now she’s disappeared and all of a sudden, he’s in a rush to leave.”
“Hey
, you fat fucker, why don’t you go clean the kitchen and let the rat take a chunk out of you. Maybe you’d like it. Probably be the best action you’ve had in years.” Brad rolled his sleeves up and eyeballed Jenny.
“I’m not scared of you,
Bradley
,” said Jenny looking up at him.
“So Amber disappears and it’s my fault. What about Philip? Anyone know where that creep is?”
“Hey, that’s true,” said Troy, “we don’t know anything about the man. If anything’s happened to Amber, it wouldn’t be because of Brad.”
“What the fuck are you saying? My husband isn’t perfect
, but he wouldn’t have touched her.” Kate threw down the torch she was fitting with batteries and stood up.
“
Come on, this isn’t helping. We’re on the same side. Everyone, just calm down, please,” said Jackson. “Brad, you need to back off.”
“Me back off?” Brad walked over to Jackson. “Where’s Jill?
Anyone? When was the last time anyone saw Jill?”
Nobody said anything.
“What are you implying?” Jackson said. He looked bewildered. “I don’t know where she is.”
“I’ll bet you don’t
, you fucking perv. Last time I saw Jill was last night, and you two were thick as thieves. Then this morning, she’s disappeared too?” Brad turned away and talked to the group. “All I’m saying, people, is that wild accusations are not helping. Who knows where Amber is? Or Jill? To be honest, I don’t give a flying fuck. All I know is, I’m not waiting to end up like Freddy. I’m getting out of here.”
“Al
l right, all right,” said Tom. He slammed his hand down on a desk. “Brad, Jenny, everyone, just take a break, please. Whilst I agree it is a shitty thing to do, the facts are, we don’t know where Amber and Jill are. We can’t spend any more time looking for them. We do have to leave. If Brad saw a rat in there, then we need to hurry. If they’re inside the building, we don’t have long.”
“There’s only one rat in this office,” said Jenny turning away and picking up a bag. She began filling it with matches and knives.
“Fifteen minutes,” said Tom. “Jackson, can you get everyone back here now. I’m going to go get Benzo and Jessica. Kate, maybe you can write a message for Amber and Jill. We can pin it to the door in case they come back. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
He
left and the others resumed their jobs in silence. They were worried about Amber and Jill, but were more worried about getting out before the infection got in. Brad picked up the water bottles and grabbed a satchel from beside Jenny.
“Watch your back,
bitch
,” he whispered in her ear. She turned nervously and he took the satchel away, grinning as he left.
* * * *
“It doesn’t seem real, does it?” said Benzo. “On any other day, this would be perfect; just sitting out here on the terrace with a drink, deals being done, and people just chilling out in the warm sun under a blue sky. Perfect.”
“Yeah
, except today the tables and chairs are in the corner over there with all the shrubs, and the deals are as dead as the people making them,” said Jessica. Benzo dug his hands deeper into his pockets.
“Well
, I guess we’re still going to try the tunnel option then,” said Jessica. She looked out over the plaza at the hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies; countless corpses crushed into the plaza, up against the buildings and towers, trying to fight past each other to the living.
“You think it’s like this everywhere?” said
Benzo.
“Yep.”
A bang from behind surprised them and they whirled around to see Tom walking through the café. He joined them by the wall. From the roof, the dead seemed less real and less threatening; from here he could smell them. He could smell death and decay, the rotting atoms being sucked up his nose; he could taste death in his mouth. The stench was overpowering and Tom had to fight the urge to retch.
“We’re leaving,” he said.
“Hey, Tom, I was wondering, if we all go down there into the foyer together, it’s going to get them all...excited,” said Benzo.
“Probably so,” said Tom.
“Well, I’m worried that if we give them enough encouragement, then one big push might be enough for them to get in. Those glass doors have held so far, but I wouldn’t want to bet my life on them.”