Run (6 page)

Somehow, we manage to round up all the kids to make plans. I guess one good thing has come out of Tattoo Guy's attack – it has galvanised us all into action. Because, like it or not, our cosy hideout has been discovered. Staying is not an option.

Even Dyanne has stopped being sulky and is in take-charge mode. As I look over at her, she is comforting some of the younger children, all the while barking orders to others. I am tasked with the fairly easy job of sorting food into bags – one for each of us to carry.

I listlessly stuff food into bags, in no particular order, and paying no attention to whether the food is being divided equally among the bags. I feel my mind shutting down again, going numb. Please, please let this be some terrible dream, I hope.

I must have fallen asleep – seriously, can you blame me after everything I have gone through in the last few days? – because the next thing I know, I feel someone shaking my shoulders. It is Dyanne and she is yelling something. I am so fatigued I don't even bother to get up. I lie in my nest of cartons, scattered tins and assorted packets of dried food.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?”

“I'm tired. I must have dozed off. Geez, calm down,” I mutter.

“Here we are, working like crazy, and you find the time to take a nap?”

She kicks the bag at my feet and continues barking, “Are you even packing these bags correctly?”

“There is a right way to pack bags?” I ask lamely.

“Of course there is!” she screeches.

She pours out the entire contents of two bags. “You put all the canned food into two bags? Who do you think is strong enough to carry them? Don't you have any brains? Divide the cans equally into all the bags so that we all share the weight. Then divide up all the rest of the dried food. Every bag should contain some biscuits, some instant noodles and some rice. So that if we get separated from one another, we have enough to survive on our own.”

“Oh.” How am I supposed to know that? It isn't every day that I am tasked with packing a survival bag!

Thankfully, Kyl comes to my rescue.

“What's going on in here?” he says.

Dyanne rolls her eyes. “Your little charity project is making a mess of the food. What a waste of time. Some help she's turned out to be!”

She storms out of the pantry, where I am still sprawled pathetically.

“C'mon,” he says gently. “Let's get this done. We're running out of time.”

We work till eight in the evening. It has taken us an entire day to get everything organised. They have obviously done this before. Everyone has done his bit – no fuss, no arguing. The younger kids automatically look up to the older kids for leadership and simply do what they are told to do. I feel a strangepride that they are handling themselves so well.

Each of us has two bags to carry. One for essentials like extra clothes, a set of cutlery, a lighter, a bottle of water, candles and a blanket and another – thanks to me – neatly packed with food. Despite my efforts to stuff each bag with as much food as I can, there is still a fair amount of food left in the pantry – two cartons of sardines and three sacks of rice.

As much as we hate to leave so much food behind, there is no way for us to lug the rice around with us. In the end, we decide to hide the food in a small dried-out fish pond in the front garden. We carefully wrap the food with waterproof garbage bags and cover the whole lot with rocks and soil. When we run out of food, we can come back to this secret stash.

I tap Jae's shoulder. “We should move. Tattoo Guy will be back.”

He nods. “Right… We'll move tomorrow. Promise. Everyone is exhausted. It would make no sense to start off now.”

Also, he doesn't mention the obvious question hanging in the air – where are we going to go?

“Fine,” I say. “Good night.”

We are all feeling too vulnerable to be separated, so we all huddle together on the floor in the living room. Everyone falls asleep quickly – everyone, that is, except me. Maybe my earlier nap has refreshed me, maybe I am nervous. Whatever the reason, my mind keeps churning.

Who am I? What happened to me? Why is this happening to me? How can this be real? Why can't I remember? Did I really get abandoned? I lie down and gaze at the stars outside the window. They glimmer with a hope I do not feel. I try to remember where I came from, who I am – everything – but everything's a blur of confusion. Misery wells up in my chest and, frustrated, I find myself crying. Again.

A scream wakes me up. Eryn points out the window. “Wha-wha-what's tha-that s-s-sound?” she stammers.

We hear strange grunting and groaning sounds coming from outside.

We all run upstairs to get a better view. We spot a group of about 20 adults coming down the street towards our house. They are about 10 houses away. I recognise their strange shambling, shuffling way of moving.

“It's them,” I say simply. “The weird adults we saw.”

“You mean the Eaters?” a little boy next to me asks.

The Eaters? Yes, that's a good word for them.

“Yes, the Eaters,” I say.

“They look funny,” Brion says.

Dyanne is the first to react. She starts giving instructions and I am suddenly glad for her bossiness.

“Everyone, grab your packs! We have to go now! We have to run!”

Everyone rushes around madly, and I take one last look outside. The Eaters are making weird grunting noises and crashing through everything in their path. Most of them are stumbling forward blindly, mindlessly. There are a few that look more alert, who turn their heads from side to side.

I see one woman Eater fall, but none of them bothers to try to help her up. They just walk over her. She screeches in pain. One of the Eaters turns back and starts towards her. He bends over and reaches for her hand. He takes a bite. More follow suit and the screams of the woman Eater get louder. I turn away and shoo the younger kids away from the window. I shudder.

They are getting closer and closer. We hear a dull thud coming from the front door. We all run down the stairs and through the kitchen. We spill out the back door into the garden at the back of the house.

“They are coming!” one of the younger girls screams.

The pounding on the front door gets louder. The strange grunting takes on an urgent quality. A chill runs down my spine. I am terrified. More kids scream.

“What do we do now?” I grab Jae's arm in panic.

“We need to get out of here,” Jae says.

Jae and Kyl run to a small metal gate in the wall surrounding the garden. It leads out to a storm drain running along the back of all the houses on this street. There is a narrow ledge along the drain. We can escape from there!

Brion runs to help them, but the metal gate is jammed. It won't even budge.

Kyl tries to push the gate open but it is wedged firmly in its place. I hear a loud thud and a crash. The front door has fallen. Jae and I hit the gate with Kyl.

“Over. We need to go over the wall,” Brion says.

I look around at the frightened faces. There are 15 of us. How will we get over in time? The wall is so tall, over two metres high. What are we going to do?

“The sofa!” I yell. “Drag the sofa here!”

Jae and Kyl drag the sofa over to the wall. Standing on the back of the sofa, Kyl easily reaches the top of the wall. He clambers up and sits astride the top of the wall. Jae is pushing the little kids up to Kyl, who grabs them by their arms and hauls them over. They all look terrified, but they're being so brave.

I hear a shriek. “They're coming!”

We are not going to be able to get all the kids over the wall in time. Brion and I pound harder against the gate in the wall but to no avail. The grunting noises are getting nearer. They are definitely in the house.

I turn to look back and see that the door leading out to the backyard is open. I see a whole group of Eaters swarm into the kitchen. Dyanne and Brion stand guard over the younger kids, getting ready to defend them.

I run back towards the house. I grab the door handle and slam the door shut. It seems a silly and futile gesture, seeing as the door locks from the inside. I pull back the door with every ounce of strength I can muster.

Dyanne runs to help me. I feel a tug on the other side and the door starts to open.

“Hurry up!” Dyanne shouts to Kyl and Jae. “We can't keep this up much longer!”

The door opens a crack and a hand worms its way into the gap. It is blistered, bloody and totally disgusting. The hand grips the door, yanking and pulling.

“What do we do?!” I gasp at Dyanne.

“Pull on three!” she shouts. “One… two… THREE!”

We pull the door shut. Something falls on the floor at my feet.

I look down. It is a finger. I shudder. Dyanne and I look at each other in disgust as it twitches on the floor.

“Jae! Kyl! Anybody! Help!” I scream.

Brion runs over and grabs the door handle. It seems to work. The door remains closed. The pounding coming from the other side rattles the door. I am so terrified I want to scream.

I look over at the back wall. Jae and Kyl are still hauling kids over. Five kids left. Plus me, Brion and Dyanne. I am relieved to note that Eryn isn't in the garden anymore. She must be on the other side of the wall. Now, four kids left.

Just when I start to think that we just might be able to make it, the pounding stops. Something doesn't feel right. It's too quiet.

Then there is a huge crack and a fist comes through the wooden door, barely missing my head. I scream and let go. Brion and Dyanne desperately hang on to the door handle. I look around, panting in fear.

That familiar tingling feeling creeps up my neck. It takes me a split second to realise that I need to see what's coming. I freeze and concentrate. The tingling stops. No!!

The fist comes through the door again and another surge of fear shoots through me when Dyanne lets the door handle go with a scream. There is only Brion holding the door in place. Skinny geeky Brion is the only thing between us and them. The Eaters.

The tingling sensation starts again, this time, from my forehead and around my eyes. It makes my face itch. I try to breathe. I see the flashing images again and I know what I must do. It will be okay, I think.

I grab Dyanne and push her towards the wall. “Go! I can handle this.”

She hesitates.

“Go! Help the other kids get over!” I shout.

She runs to Jae and the three remaining kids.

“Brion, let go,” I say.

“Wh-what? Are you mad?”

“Just let go, Brion. When I count to three, run to Jae. Get all the kids over and run. I will be okay. I promise,” I say.

“No!”

I ignore him. “One. Two. THREE!”

I practically yank him off and shove him towards the wall. I wait. The door swings open and I am face to face with an Eater.

I don't know why, but I no longer feel fear. Behind me, Dyanne is screaming something. Jae too. I ignore them and try to keep calm. I need to focus on the images flying through my mind. Unlike when I faced Tattoo Guy and could see his thoughts, there are no thoughts I can see. Maybe they have none. But I can see what they intend to do.

The first Eater through the door lunges at my throat, both hands out, Egyptian-mummy style.

I scowl at him. “Oh, no, you don't.”

I swing my arm forward and punch him in the jaw. I hear a crack. There go my knuckles. The Eater flies backwards into several other Eaters and stays down.

My right hand is throbbing. I refuse to look at it, afraid of what I will see. I grab a laundry pole off a nearby stack with my left hand and swing it lightly, testing its weight. As I shift it to my right hand, a pain flares though my arm. I almost drop the stick. I clench my teeth, push the pain into a box and lock it. That's for me to think about later.

Two more Eaters come at me. I brace myself. I let my mind relax and let my instincts take over. My left arm – still slightly wounded – bears the weight of the pole as I swing it sideways and around my head, gaining momentum as it comes back round. I hit them both on their heads and the two Eaters drop like puppets with their strings cut.

Two more rush out. These are women. Or were women. I don't know what they are now. One of them doesn't even have eyes, just gaping sockets. I take her – or it – down first with a quick flick to her knees. She keels over and stays down. I twirl the pole as my body turns and score a hit on the other Eater and she goes down too. It is very strange. They don't look dead, but those that get knocked down don't seem able to get up.

I'm tired, but the adults are relentless. They keep coming. And coming. And coming. The next wave sees three more come at me. These are men and they look bigger. I take a few steps back, luring them into the backyard where I have more space to move.

“Zee!” Jae is shouting.

“Go, I'm fine,” I say. And really, I am.

I know the ending of this story, because I have seen it in my mind. It is a happy ending. For me. Not so much for the Eaters.

I wait as they shamble towards me. I see the one in the front eye me with a sly look. He looks different. Maybe he's not gone totally Eater yet. He stumbles.

“Get him!” Kyl yells from the top of the wall.

I get distracted and glance back at him. Only one child left. Good! After this, just Dyanne and Jae to go. Then me.

The Eater leaps up. He has been pretending to be weak. Dyanne screams. But I wasn't fooled. I knew. I have already planted the pole firmly in the ground. Gripping the pole tightly with both hands for support, I launch both my feet right at his oncoming face. There is a sickening crunch and he, too, crumples to the ground.

The two behind him lumber forward mindlessly. Still holding on to the pole, I take one, two big running steps around it before taking off. I swing around the pole like some amazing acrobat. I allow the momentum to bring me around towards the coming Eaters. I bring my legs in, then kick out. One foot in each face.

“Zee!” Dyanne and Jae yell. They are already both halfway up the wall. Kyl is hauling them both up at once.

I yank the pole out and run towards the wall. Dyanne has already gone over. Jae is, like Kyl, sitting astride the wall, ready to pull me over. I scramble up the sofa and allow them to pull me up.

Reluctantly, I let my pole go. I reach the top and look back. Through the kitchen door, I see an entire horde of Eaters. Confused by the fallen Eaters in their path, they don't seem to know what to do.

Carefully, I stand on top of the wall. This way, I can see over the neighbouring houses.

I feel the blood drain from my face. The entire street leading up to our house is filled with Eaters. They seem to be coming down the road, straight towards us!

“You gotta see this,” I say to Kyl and Jae.

Are all the adults turning into Eaters? Why is this happening? Soon, there'll be so many, we won't be able to fight them off. We'll all get eaten. I shove that thought out of my mind. Shut up! Shut up!

“We have to go!” I scream at Jae and Kyl.

More of the Eaters are taking bites out of the fallen Eaters. Others are shuffling towards us. Kyl climbs down the wall on the other side.

As I'm about to climb down too, Jae loses his balance and falls back into the backyard. He jumps up and tries to grab hold of the top of the wall. He misses.

“Jae!” I scream. I lean over and yank him up, almost tipping over. We fall over the other side ungracefully and I glance at him in relief.

The rest of the group are waiting, lined up on the narrow path along the edge of the big storm drain, not knowing which way to go.

“The Eaters are coming from that way,” I say, pointing to where I have seen them. “We have to go the other way.”

“Go!” Kyl shouts. “Run, run, run!”