The Undead Day Twenty (15 page)

‘I don’t have a job. It’s the apocalypse.’

‘And and…your girlfriend just dumped you,’ Paula adds, nodding eagerly.

‘I don’t have a girlfriend.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I meant…’

‘You don’t have a girlfriend?’

‘No, I meant…’

‘You don’t have a girlfriend?’

‘I meant…’

‘Did you really just say that?’

‘Fuck’s sake…’

‘What the hell am I then?’

‘I meant before. I meant…’

‘Oh we just have sex do we? Fuck buddies are we?’

‘Awkward,’ Cookey mutters.

‘Is that it? Fuck buddies? Just a fling? Just a fling am I?’

‘No…I meant before.’

‘Before what? Paula said your girlfriend just dumped you and you said…
I don’t have a girlfriend cos I’m Howie and I’m single and like to shag everyone…’

‘What?’

‘You are not bloody single.’

‘Okay! I am not single. I have a girlfriend…’

‘You did, Pal. I’m dumping you. Be single and shag everyone.’

‘What? Grow up…I said…’

‘Grow up? Grow up?’

‘Stop repeating everything I said…’

‘Now, Mr Howie…’

‘I can’t,’ Howie says, flinging his hands up. ‘I’m more worried I upset you now. I never meant I don’t have a girl…’

‘Get angry…’

‘I can’t…I…’

‘Go on…wind yourself up with something.’

‘Argh I can’t…I didn’t mean I didn’t have a girlfriend. I meant before, like before all this happened…’

‘Yeah forget that. Get angry and do the…’

‘Now, Mr Howie.’

‘Fuck’s sake…
Reggie, I can’t…’

‘You must. Marcy…you must provoke him.’

‘Er…sex is shit,’ she blurts.

‘Eh?’ Howie says, the hurt and shock clear on his face.

‘Oh no, honey. It’s not. It’s beautiful,’ Marcy adds quickly.

‘What the…’

‘NOW…make Howie angry…’

‘I can’t,’ Marcy says, flapping her hands at her sides.

Good lord, if you want something done properly…Reginald smiles at Heather and Paco standing at the bottom of the steps. His hand comes up, motioning for them to wait a minute. His fingers press the button to open the radio channel. He draws breath and he speaks.
‘Howie, you failed that girl in the square.’

‘No,’ Paula gasps to the intakes of breath going through the group.

‘
You failed her. She died because you were too slow…
’

‘Hey,’ Howie says, stepping back with his hands moving towards his radio.

‘She screamed for help…where were you?’

‘Please…’ Howie whispers.

‘STOP IT,’ Marcy shouts.

‘Where were you, Howie? You were crying on the floor weeping while she was tortured. A little girl, Howie. You heard her. You cried while she was…’

‘Stop,’ Howie backs away, his face changing with each step.

‘She cried for her mother. Where were you? Where were you, Howie?’

‘No…Stop it…’ Howie swallows, breathing harder, his heart thumping stronger in his chest. Paula turns towards the house. Blowers too. Charlie’s mouth opens to tell Reginald to stop.

‘She cried for her mother while you wept and you failed because the infection is stronger…’

In that instant the whole of them know a mistake has been made. Howie changes. He becomes. His eyes darken to blaze with energy. A split second of life that passes normally until the energy comes but it comes provoked by a woman who took life and made them suffer and for that Howie knows no mercy. He explodes out, moving faster than any man has a right to move. As one they run in. As one they go to stop him knowing he will tear Reginald limb from limb because the monster inside has been fully unleashed. Every one of them fills with incandescent rage that surges through guts and muscles that makes hearts thunder in chests and eyes grow wild with fury but towards Howie they go. A mistake made. A provocation too great. A monster let loose that will destroy everything if it is not stopped but not just one. Two monsters unleashed. Two that turn with utter violence to charge towards the house.

Reginald feels it and it’s good. Very good. His dark eyes furtive, cunning and filling with the rage surging up. It’s stronger than yesterday. Far stronger. He braces against the tide and focusses on Paco and Heather at the base of the stairs. Paco instantly tense, his hands balling into hard fists. Heather staggers back as though gut punched but comes back snarling with her eyes blazing.

It thunders inside Mo. An instant change of absolute pure hatred and blind pulsing anger that demands to be spent. A hand on his throat. His feet leave the floor. Dave in his face glaring deep into his eyes. Dave dragging Mo at his side towards the door. Dave seeing everything. Dave knowing everything. Mo sees it. With that rage inside. With that pulsing sickening surge he sees Dave as never before. He sees Dave standing beside Howie at the bitter end while everyone else lies dead. He sees Dave’s coldness of life and thoughts and lack of love for anything apart from one man that will fix this.

‘Swallow it,’ Dave’s voice passing through Mo. Dave’s voice demanding a thing be done. ‘Swallow it. We are not them. We stand apart. Swallow it…’

Mo swallows it because Dave demands this be done. Anger does not aid them unless anger is needed. They are control. They are cold. They are dispassionate. They stand apart and not with the others. This is what Dave meant. Dave sees the control coming back in Mo and with the smallest of motions from one arm he rights Mo to walk at his side instead of being dragged. Mo lands on his feet and in that first step he gains control to view the world as Dave views it. At what is a threat and what is not. As every person as a piece on a board from a game to which they know all the moves. He will kill them all if that’s what it takes. He will stand by Dave apart from the others because that is what they are and that is what Dave demands.

Howie will kill Reginald. Marcy will kill Reginald. Two monsters. Two demons that have to be stopped. The rest feel the both of them, as organic and as natural as before.

Paula screams out, running in. Blowers goes hard, screaming Howie’s name. Nick, Cookey, Charlie, Blinky, Roy, Reginald…the whole of them running to stop the two reaching Reginald.

As Howie goes so does one other. One other that is faster than he. One other that has only instinct and purity of heart and knows pack does not fight pack unless for the dominance of leading and only the small man that trains the pup could challenge the pack leader.

That one other stops him. She launches from the ground to slam into his side to take him off his feet. She clamps her jaws on his shirt and yanks him side to side, tearing the material but with enough force to rag Howie across the ground. The man is fast. The man reacts to fight her but she is instinct. She is power and control of motion. She twitches to grip his trouser leg to spin him round as he rages to gain traction. She grips his boot, ragging hard with enough power to lift Howie from the ground.

Mo and Dave run in. Streaking like the wind over the fallen bodies. Running without expression to view it all and see everything. They see Meredith take Howie down. They see Meredith grip his shirt then his trousers then his boot to keep Howie from reaching Reginald. They see the dog holding the line against a demon that was never expected to be released. They see Clarence diving forward to pin Howie. They see Paula slamming into Marcy’s side to take the woman down. They see Cookey and Nick behind Blowers. They see Blinky run past them, faster and harder than they to dive in with Clarence to pin Howie. They see Charlie impact into Marcy as she flails against Paula. They see Roy diving after the lads. They see these things and negate each as a threat. Each is a piece on a board from a game to which they know the moves.

Mo sees this. He sees this all in the blink of an eye. He sees Maddox moving backwards with a look of absolute fear in his face. He feels every single one of the others apart from Maddox. He feels the essence of all of them apart from that man who is lifting a rifle in fear of a thing he is seeing that he cannot comprehend. He sees Maddox’s right hand move towards the trigger of that rifle and veers off.
A threat is anything that poses risk to Mr Howie.
His right hand blurs. His upper body twists. His pistol gripped in his hand as Maddox runs away from a thing everyone else is running towards.
We negate that threat.
As Maddox lifts the rifle so Mo takes him from the side. Slamming him down and away with his pistol rammed in Maddox’s face. Maddox goes down hard. The assault rifle yanked from his hands so hard it snaps the buckle fastening it to the weapon. Speed, impact and overwhelming shock see Maddox staring up into the cold eyes of Mo holding his pistol at Maddox’s forehead with a hard kneecap pushing into his throat.

As Maddox is taken down so Dave turns in a circle with his pistols held out either side. Mo draws his other to aim up the driveway then round to the house as he detects Dave aiming at Heather and Paco running from the house.

‘SAFE DAVE SAFE DAVE,’ he shouts, digging his knee in harder to choke Maddox.

Dave eases the pressure already applied to the triggers but holds the aim true and straight.

‘ENOUGH,’ Paula screams out again. Her heart thundering as Marcy fights to get on her feet. ‘ENOUGH…Marcy, Marcy you have to stop him…Marcy…Marcy listen to me!’

‘Can’t hold him,’ Clarence roars, staggered at the strength of the man winning against the weight of him, Roy, Blowers, Nick, Cookey, Roy and Blinky. Still Howie fights. Still he rises for nothing will hold him back. Nothing will stop him. He is death. He is power that rises to fight back against the darkness.

‘Marcy please,’ Paula begs through the rage still inside her. Tears coursing down her face. ‘Marcy…stop him…please…Marcy…’

‘PAULA…’ Clarence bellows. ‘DO SOMETHING…’

‘Get her over there,’ Paula grunts the words out to Charlie. The pair of them fighting Marcy to drag her screaming towards Howie. Marcy fights back. Her mind gone. Her senses vanished.

‘Help us…’ Paula flails from a hand striking her face. Her eyes find Heather. ‘Help us damn you…’

Heather goes in. She goes fast with Paco at her side. Dave and Mo move back, pistols still drawn to assess every moving creature within sight.

‘Hold her,’ a female voice followed by a sensation of utter strength from two hands that grip Marcy to lift her up off the floor. Paco holds her with ease. His red eyes staring into her soul. His arms stretched in front. Marcy held tight, unable to move.

‘Listen to me…’ Paula grabs her face, forcing her to look. ‘Howie will kill him…stop him…you have to stop him…’

The fight drains. The fury sinks to the realisation of what has been caused. Marcy nods, small and scared at first but firmer and deeper as her sense comes back.

‘Let her go,’ Paula says.

‘Let go, Paco.’

Paco lets go. Marcy drops inches to the floor to be held by Charlie, Paula and Heather. She turns to go before balance is gained and trips to stumble across the ground to the pile of bodies holding him down. She goes to his head and drops flat to place her hands on his face. He headbutts up, slamming into her mouth. She shakes it off, spits blood and goes back down as the mound lifts from the strength in him.

‘I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU…’

‘Stop,’ a simple word spoken simply. Her hands in his hair. Her voice in his ear. ‘Howie…stop…’

He cannot stop. He will not stop. He will kill and kill until there is nothing left alive.

‘Howie…stop now…you have to stop. I love you. I love you. Stop now. I love you…’

He will not stop. He will never stop. Reginald watches on. His body trembling from the surge of emotions but still his mind takes it in and works furiously to understand what he is seeing.

‘Stop. Howie, stop…Reggie didn’t mean it…he needed to make you angry. Stop, Howie…’

Her voice in his ear.

Stop now. Howie, you have to stop now.

Her voice in his head.

Soothing.

The darkness recedes. A tide pulling back but one that will remain watchful and ready to come again.

He feels the others there. He feels the essence of them and in turn they feel that acceptance flow into him. The hive mind as they knew it descends. Meredith urging him to stop.
Pack don’t fight pack. Pack don’t fight pack.
Clarence’s strength. Blowers’ pure loyalty. Cookey’s love. Nick’s integrity. Charlie’s intelligence and passion. Blinky’s bravey. Roy’s terrified spirit that summons the strength to keep going. Paula’s leadership. Marcy’s love. Lilly’s immense brutality to protect those she loves. Dave and Mo with them but not part of them. Two more. Two more that are new. Heather who watches on, feeling them as they feel her. Paco. They feel him too. His absolute devotion to Heather and hers to him. They are as one but within the whole. They sense Paco as a soul repairing. They feel the frustration of his own limits.

Howie opens his eyes to feel Marcy’s tears streaming down to land on his cheeks. Her face flushed red. Sweat on her skin.He rises as they draw back to twist and take her into his arms. She falls into him. None of them could know what would happen. Paula places her hand on Marcy. Clarence reaches forward, drawing the two of them in.