Run (9 page)

The water on my face feels amazing. It is cold, but who cares. We are all taking turns to shower. I am the last in my group and I'm faintly worried that the water will run out. So I'm enjoying every second of the water as it pours out from the rain shower.

Of course, no one had thought to bring soap or shampoo, and the bottles displayed on the shelf have turned out to be empty.

So I desperately try to comb out the tangles from my waist-long hair. It is so grimy and there are knots that just won't untangle. Oh well. At least it is clean. It feels good to be clean.

I step out of the shower and pick up the towel lying on the floor. There has only been one towel hanging decoratively in each toilet. Being the last one to shower definitely has its disadvantages. I stare at the wet, grimy towel. Dry myself with a dirty towel that's been used by four other kids? Or stay wet? I choose to stay wet. I rinse my underwear in the sink and put them back on. I put on my spare set of clothes.

The face that stares back in the mirror looks haunted. There are huge bags under my eyes. I wish – for the hundredth time – that I could remember what happened to me. I'm sure there is something I am supposed to do.

I sigh and open the door and find Jae in the room. He is on the bed telling three kids a funny story. They are laughing.

I flop face down next to him. The bed feels heavenly. I feel him shift and his hands are on my back gently massaging me.

“What do we do, Jae?” I say.

“We'll figure something out, pussy willow.”

What? What did he call me?

I turn around and look at him, affronted. “Hey! That was rude.”

“No, it's not! Pussy willow is the name of a very special plant,” he says.

“Well, it sounds rude,” I say. I bite my lip to stifle a giggle but I fail and let out a very loud, very piggy-sounding snort instead. The kids burst into laughter. I can't help but laugh too, rolling up into a ball and clutching my stomach.

“How would you like it if I called you a pussy willow?” I say. “Next time you call me that, I'll push you into a pool.”

Jae's eyes widen. He shakes me by my shoulders. “Zee! You're a genius!”

I look around. “Huh? What did I do? Er, I mean… Darn right, I'm a genius.”

He shoots me a grin that makes my heart beat faster.

“We lure them into the pool.”

So the plan is set. We all gather around the pool downstairs. It is a small kidney-shaped pool, more for relaxing than for doing actual laps. It would have been beautiful, I muse, had it been completed. Only the bottom had been tiled. The workers never got round to putting tiles onto the sides of the pool.

The boys have found some construction planks and made a wobbly bridge across the pool. The plan: Someone is to stand in the middle of the pool and make loads of noise. The Eaters will come, walk towards the noise, and fall into the pool. Again, good idea in theory. In reality, not such a good idea, because that someone is going to be me.

I have to be the bait. And if something goes wrong, I'll end up being eaten. Not a very nice mental image. Or, I could walk onto the plank, and it breaks, and I die. Then my remains get eaten.

Jae comes up to me and gives me a hug. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” I insist. I don't know why, but I know that this is something I have to do.

Kyl and Brion have gone to the main road to see if they can spot any of the Eaters. They are supposed to target a lone Eater and lure him here quietly. They have been gone for more than two hours. I am beginning to get worried.

Eryn is pacing. She runs over to me. “Do you think they are okay?”

“I'm sure they are,” I say, even though I don't know for sure. I give her a hug.

“Someone is coming. Shh!” Dyanne warns. She and Shulin are standing watch from a balcony on the second floor.

“I see Brion running. Kyl is right behind him. Oh no,” says Shulin.

Oh no? Why oh no?

“There are so many of them!” Dyanne shouts from above.

“How many?” Jae asks.

“More than 10,” she says.

To Eryn, she orders, “Get back to the apartment and make sure the little ones stay there. Lock the door, and no matter what, do not open it! Understand?”

“But Brion…” Eryn begins.

“Brion will be fine. I promise,” I tell Eryn. “Go!”

She runs off just when Brion and Kyl come tearing into the pool area.

“Okay, everyone, stand by!” Kyl shouts. “Zee, there's a group approaching. Go for it! And good luck! Be careful out there!”

I nod. Maybe this is a bad idea. I walk out onto the middle of the bridge and crouch down to keep my balance. Well, it's way too late to back out now.

The first Eater shuffles in just as Kyl, Brion and Jae arm themselves with planks. They stand close by, not making a sound. These Eaters are moving much faster and seem more alert than the last group we encountered back at the house.

“Over here, you smelly worthless thing. OVER HERE!” I shout.

They turn to me and start moving towards me faster than I expected. They're so close I can smell them. Their shuffling gets faster and they approach me from the front. My heart thuds in my chest.

“You cannot get me! You cannot get me!” I taunt them.

Their grunts and animal growls are giving me the creeps. There are both men and women, but the only way I can tell them apart is from their clothes. There is nothing recognisably human about them. The skin on their faces is raw and bloody. And they have no hair. I try to see if there is any spark of life or humanity in their eyes, but honestly, I see none.

“Hey, you! Over here!” I continue to shout.

They follow the sound of my voice and inch towards the pool. Come on, come on. Just a few more steps.

“Hey, you! Your mama so fat, when she sits around the house, she sits
around
the house!” I say. It is a lame joke, but I can't think of anything else to say.

Behind me, Jae snorts with laughter. The Eaters at the front shift their attention towards him. I turn and glare at him and gesture at him to be quiet.

“Hey! Over here, you uglies! Your mama so fat, when she fell in love, she broke it!” I shout, desperate to turn their attention away from Jae and the others.

“Your mama so fat, when she laughs, the people in Indonesia feel an earthquake.”

Much to my relief, they turn towards me and the first ones tumble into the pool. One by one, they follow, falling in a heap at the bottom of the pool. I heave a sigh of relief.

I take a step back. I feel for the plank without looking. Ah, there it is.

But I trip and fall.

“Zee!” I hear Jae shout softly. “Be careful.”

I manage to grab the plank with one hand and struggle to pull myself up. The Eaters that have fallen are getting closer and closer.

This can't be the end, can it?

I push that thought out of my mind and muster all the strength I can gather. I feel a hand brush my leg and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from screaming. I give one last pull and yank my body back onto the plank. I stare at the woman Eater below. She hisses at me. She has no teeth.

Not daring to stand up, I crawl on all fours along the plank till I reach the other side of the pool where Jae is waiting. He rubs my back reassuringly.

The Eaters are all reaching out of the pool, desperately trying to clamber out. I make eye contact with one of them and gasp. His eyes are blank, but they are green. And familiar. I backpedal slowly.

“Which one are we going to take?” Kyl asks.

“That one,” I say straightaway, pointing to the Eater with the green eyes.

“Okay,” Kyl says. “Jae and I will do this. The rest of you, go back upstairs and keep watch. Just in case there are more Eaters.”

No, no, no! Not Jae. What if he gets hurt? What if he gets eaten? What if he dies? I am gripped with a sudden panic. What if I lose Jae?

“No,” I say. “I'm going to help.”

“Don't worry,” Jae says. “We've got it figured out. We don't even have to touch them.”

He and Kyl have fashioned a hooking device out of wood and ropes. They plan to hook an Eater by the neck. Hook an Eater by the neck? I am reminded of an old nursery song…
Eeny meeny minee mo, catch a spider by the toe
. Hook an Eater by the neck.
If he cries, let him go… Eeny meeny minee mo.

No. Stop it, Zee. Stop it! I feel I am going crazy.

A voice snaps me back to reality. “Zee? Zee, are you listening to me?”

I shake my head and look at Jae. He is looking at me with a rather amused look on his face.

“Huuuh?” I say.

“I said is that okay with you?”

“Oh.” I hesitate. If Jae can't do this, no one else can. So reluctantly, I nod my head slowly in agreement.

“B-But be careful, okay!” I stammer. “Don't die! Promise me you won't die!”

Jae chuckles softly. “I promise I won't die.”

I reach out and touch his face. He places his hand over mine and stares into my eyes.

“Be safe, all right?” I whisper, pulling my hand out of his grip.

He nods, looking serious and a little scared. “Don't worry. I can take care of myself.”

I throw my arms around him and I feel him stiffen before relaxing and hugging me back.

“I'll be fine,” he tells me.

I run up the stairs, back to the apartment on the eighth floor. When Eryn sees me and Brion, she yelps with joy, hugging each of us in turn. She hugs Dyanne and Shulin too. I rush to the balcony to look down into the pool area.

My breath catches in my throat as I watch Jae and Kyl approach the pool. Jae draws the lasso back and hooks one of them – the green-eyed one – around his neck. He gives the rope one quick yank and the Eater comes out.

He lunges at Jae and Jae stumbles back, a little surprised. My eyes go wide and I swear my heart stops beating.

Kyl swings from behind, hitting the back of the Eater's knees. The Eater keels over. Not wasting a second, Kyl jumps up immediately and secures his hands behind him. Jae then takes his rope and binds the Eater's legs together. I see him hesitate for a second, probably wondering whether he should release the noose around the Eater's neck. He doesn't.

Mission completed. He looks up at us and gives us two thumbs up.

Behind him, in the pool, the grunts of the other Eaters get louder. I retreat into the apartment, where the sound is muted.

I heave a sigh of relief when they come back. Jae grins at me, pleased with himself.

“I got him! Be careful though, he's a lunger.”

I frown. A lunger?

“Come and see. We've put him in the gym next to the pool.”

Dyanne and Shulin insist on staying with the kids, so only Brion, Eryn and I go down.

As soon as I enter the gym, the Eater snarls at me and lunges forward, trying to grab me. I jump a mile in the air and back away. He can't reach me though. He is secured to one of the gym machines by the noose around his neck.

Jae laughs. “I told you he is a lunger.”

I give Jae a weird look and think he has the strangest sense of humour. I stare at the Eater. His eye sockets are torn and bloody and he's missing an ear. There are pockets of pus and blisters on his face and there is a long gash down the side of his face.

His face is the colour of rotting tofu and there are maggots crawling out of his nose. It makes me want to gag. His hair is lank and probably tick-infested. Long greasy strands hang around his face. His arms are covered in bruises and cuts. But that isn't the worst part. The worst part is his smell. I have to breathe through my mouth and I can taste it. God, I want to throw up.

Brion comes in, followed by Eryn. The moment she does, the Eater starts going crazy. Growling and hissing and trying to get free, he lunges in Eryn's direction. She screams, trying to get as far away as possible. I hear a crack and suddenly his hands are free. His thumbs hang loosely from his hands. He has broken his thumbs to escape the rope binding his wrists.

He lunges forward again and tries to grab Eryn. But he is held back by the noose.

Brion is hugging Eryn, who is screaming.

I walk over to her and take her hand. “Shh, it's okay. It can't get you.”

She nods, swallows and takes a deep breath.

An idea forms in my head. I take Eryn by the hand and walk silently to the other side of the gym. The Eater's head swivels as we walk. I leave Eryn in the corner and walk away from her.

The Eater ignores me and continues lunging in Eryn's direction.

“He can smell her,” I say. “That's how they hunt younger children.”

Eryn yelps and runs out of the gym. Brion follows close behind. I look at Kyl and Jae. This new development is highly worrying. If they can smell children, we are not safe.

I hand Kyl a small tin of sardines I had taken from our stash. He pulls the tab and opens it. He puts it on the floor and kicks it in the Eater's direction.

We watch as the Eater follows the sound of the tin. He reaches for it, but can't find it. Jae inches over quietly, picks up the tin, and places it in the Eater's hand. His hand brushes the Eater's and he shudders.

The Eater sniffs at the tin, then flings it across the room. We all glance at each other in confusion. He sniffs the place on his hand where Jae has touched him. A rotten-looking tongue pokes out of his mouth. He licks his own hand.

I look at Jae and gasp. “He's going to…”

“Eat himself,” Jae continues.

The Eater sniffs his hand again and sinks his teeth into his own hand.

I let out a gasp and look at Jae. I start shaking.

“Stop him!” I yell at Jae. “Why is he doing that?!”

The Eater takes another bite of his arm. His blood drips down his arm and he slurps it up greedily. I feel sick. I can't watch this anymore. I stumble out of the room and slump down against the wall.

I put my head in between my knees. Calm down, Zee. Calm down. Slowly, slowly, I count my heartbeats. I get to 140 beats per minute before I manage to stand up. Jae and Kyl have shut the gym door behind them. They wedge it tight with a plank. Both look exhausted. We go back upstairs silently. Every step seems harder to take than the last.

We walk into the living room where the kids are looking at us hopefully. Brion and Eryn look grim. They haven't told the others anything.

“So, did he eat? What did he say?” Dyanne asks.

Kyl shakes his head.

“Well, what happened?” Dyanne demands.

Kyl takes a big breath. “He didn't eat. It doesn't look like they can be saved. I… I think they have to be killed.”

I notice that he doesn't tell them what happened with Eryn. He doesn't want to scare them. I look at Eryn and Brion and shake my head. They understand. We mustn't tell the kids. Why scare them more than they already are?

“Are you sure?” a little girl asks sadly.

“Yes,” I reply. “We are sure.”

“Can't we let him go?” she continues.

“I don't think so, Emma.” Jae says. He looks a bit uncomfortable. “I'm sorry. He started… eating himself.”

Horrified gasps fill the room.

“They're attracted to smell. He ate the part where I touched him,” Jae continues. “He totally ignored the real food.”

“So they crave only human flesh?” Dyanne deduces. “Great, just great!”

“What about those in the pool?” Emma asks.

“We have to destroy them,” Kyl says. “Tomorrow.”

Brion closes the sliding door leading to the balcony and draws the curtains. That way, no one can see or hear the Eaters. We all know that come morning, we will have to kill them and none of us can feel good about that. We file silently into the bedrooms and huddle up on the giant beds, grateful we are not alone.