“He couldn’t really let go,” Helena said. “He couldn’t face that he wouldn’t have a job for awhile.”
“He said it was all he’d known, and that he needed to get through this whole ordeal his own way.” Gerry smiled. “He said a story like this was the story that would cement his career as a true journalist, one to be respected.”
“Hardly.” Winter scoffed. She was angry he had found Connor, and angry that David had let the story drop. The whole appeal had been promising, according to Violet, but it hadn’t gone anywhere. Then Winter remembered how Violet had convinced her it was a good idea, and when it hadn’t been Violet had apologised. Had she done it on purpose? Had her plan been to put Winter in a bad light once more?
“Where did he go?”
“I think he got out,” William said. “I think he got to the docks by bribing the government.”
“We heard him telling the government he could help boost morale with his reporting in Paris, and he was on the Jeep and out of there in an instant.” Helena shrugged.
“Of course he would do something like that,” Winter said. “Selfish man.”
“You knew him well?” Laura asked.
“He was responsible for half of the shit he wrote about me. He always managed to wrap me around his finger. He could really twist my words.”
She shook her head. She didn’t like that David Herald, of all people, had escaped London without a glance back. Of all people, David Herald deserved to fight for his freedom.
“We bumped into Laura and Oliver a little while later,” Connor said. “The two of them were hiding out in the shopping centre, where we got all of this stuff from.”
“I was glad when they found us.” Oliver muttered.
“We didn’t think we’d get out of London, if we’re being honest,” Laura said. “I know we’re not out now, but we’re close.”
“You can almost taste the finish line, can’t ya?” Gerry grinned.
Winter nodded.
“So what about Violet?” Connor asked. “Is she still alive?”
Winter explained everything. She explained how she had left Violet’s by the help of a boy named Zach. She explained how the three of them developed their relationship, and how happy she felt knowing she had them by her side. Then she explained how she started to grow suspicious of Violet, how Violet had convinced Winter the David Herald story was a good idea. Winter explained that Violet would not let her go back to find Connor, and that soon Violet and Zach believed him to be dead. She explained that deranged people in a leisure centre had almost killed them, and she also explained how she started to drift away from both Violet and Zach when Violet started using sex as a weapon. Winter felt somewhat stupid after her explanation, but nevertheless Connor sympathised.
“I didn’t really like Violet,” he said. “She seemed so obnoxious. She was horrible.”
“I didn’t mind her. I thought she was just a hurting girl who needed a fresh start in life, but then she screwed me over.”
“Girls, wha’ are they good for?” Gerry swigged his beer and received a look off Helena that told him to be careful what he was saying. Gerry winked back at her.
“So where are they now?”
Winter hadn’t told Connor about saving the kids. She thought it was something she should tell him when they were alone, not in front of the others.
“Violet escaped when me and Zach were fighting off the zombies,” Winter said. “Then Zach ran and left me.”
“Why didn’t you follow them?” Oliver quizzed.
“I had been hit to the floor. I was dazed. I hardly remember getting here. By the time I got out onto the main road Violet was gone and Zach was following.”
Oliver just lifted his head, with the air of someone who wasn’t interested and didn’t believe a word she said. Winter decided she did not like him. He seemed rude and unfriendly. She had had enough of people like that when her life had been with the rich.
“Do you like drink, Winter?” Helena asked, sensing that the conversation had taken an odd turn.
“What kind of drink?”
William rustled one bag that clinked. He smiled at Winter as she looked at the bag, which was full and lumpy.
“Is that bag full of alcohol?” Winter gasped.
“Yep,” William said proudly. “We took it all from behind the counter. Thought nobody would want that now.”
“I’m sure a lot of people would want that now.” Connor laughed.
“We had another bag but we drank it,” Laura said. “Literally.”
Winter laughed. “And what drink do you have?”
“Ah, that’s the game!” William smiled. “It’s a lucky dip. Whatever you pick out, you have to drink.”
“That sounds exciting.”
“You can forget stuff just for that little bit,” Connor said.
“First, we need to get more firewood so we can start making breakfast,” Oliver said, breaking the happy family moment. “Connor, I believe it was your round.”
“Ah yes,” Connor sighed, sitting up in his chair.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Winter asked. Again, William and Gerry wolf whistled.
“You’ve got nothing on your feet!” Connor said. “You’re going to injure them even more. Why don’t you stay here and relax?”
“Are you sure?” Winter felt slightly deflated. She thought Connor wanted to see her more now that they had been reunited after so long.
“I’m sure.” Connor smiled, standing up. He picked up a bag that went around his chest, with a pouch across his stomach allowing him to store any wood he found. “Relax. You need it.”
She watched him leave across the park, climb the wall and disappear out of sight. She sat in the chair alone while the others talked about breakfast and plans they had for leaving soon.
“We can’t go with the government.” Gerry urged. “Don’t trust ‘em.”
“Why not?” Winter asked, before she could stop herself.
“I just think if they really wanted this to end, they would put more people on evacuation teams.” Gerry shrugged. He stubbed out his cigarette and drank the rest of his beer. “Especially those big evacuation ships. There’s no way we’ll all get out on those small boats they run every hour.”
Winter nodded. He did have a point. However, she thought it must be hard for such official people to deal with such a big outbreak, when they were just people in the same boat as everyone else. Nobody knew this was coming. Nobody had really been prepared.
Winter looked down at her feet, only now realising that she had cut them pretty badly in those woods. She felt them stinging as she looked at dried blood covering almost half of her foot, the rest covered in mud.
“You haven’t got any spare shoes, have you?”
Oliver looked at her and grinned, one that wasn’t friendly but was somewhat malicious, almost as if he enjoyed her being so vulnerable. He seemed to be x-raying her, spotting her weak spots and sizing her up. Winter stared at him until he looked away, still grinning. She even thought she saw him chuckle.
“I do,” Helena said, standing up. “Come with me to the tent.”
Winter did as she was told. She walked past Gerry and William who smiled at her, but glancing back she saw them admiring the way she walked. Winter felt slightly flattered. Even when she felt so disgusting she was still eye catching, at least to two young men.
Climbing into the tent, Winter saw just how much these people had. There were more bags inside, propped up against the back of the tent. Winter thought they must have been used as pillows. Girl’s perfume lay scattered on the ground and make up stains had been left on the side of the walls. Helena caught her looking and grinned.
“Put two girls in a tent and you’ll get a beauty salon.” Helena laughed. Winter smiled. Neither Helena nor Laura struck her as glamour girls. But she supposed being in the company of boys, all of which were not the least bit ugly, she couldn’t fault the girls for trying.
“He really likes you, you know,” Helena said as she rummaged through a bag. “Connor. He’s been speaking about you since I met him.”
“Has he?” Winter asked, trying to come across as casual.
“Don’t be so coy.” Helena winked. “You clearly like him, too.”
“He’s an attractive lad.” Winter shrugged.
“And you’re an attractive young lady.” Helena smiled. She handed over a pair of slightly worn trainers. “They’re nothing special, but they’ll do, I hope.”
Helena again turned to the bag and extracted a rolled up pair of socks, so clean Winter wouldn’t have been surprised if they announced they had washing machine facilities with them. “Don’t want to catch athletes foot, do you?”
“Lovely.” Winter grinned.
“You’ll be staying in here with us. Apparently this is a four man tent, but we’re women and we like our space. There’s enough room for you, though.”
“Thank you,” Winter smiled. “I don’t mean to intrude.”
“Don’t be so silly. Connor most certainly doesn’t see you as an intruder.” Helena grinned.
Once again, Winter blushed, and she thought about how safe she would feel if she managed to stay with these people until Paris. When one door closes, another opens, as they said.
* * *
Connor climbed a steep incline of hill, no longer covered with grass but instead covered with burnt trees, burnt out tents and the odd spill of blood. They hadn’t been around to witness it, but had arrived to see it smoking. Gerry had said it would have been a campsite for people who were attacked by the dead, and thought the only way to escape infection was to burn everything, including themselves.
Connor came to a stop next to a pile of wood, which he had been using as his source. He placed a foot on a log and drew out a walkie-talkie from his pocket. Casting his eyes around, he made sure there was no one around. The coast was clear. As clear as it would be.
Tracing a hand over a triangular carving in the bark of a tree in front of him, he pressed in the button and began to talk.
“I’ve got her. She’s arrived. Alone.”
Chapter Twenty
The door slammed shut at number fifteen, Mouscallous Street, just outside Shepherd’s Bush Green. The young woman behind the door rested her head against the black paint, feeling the cold of a long, dreaded hallway that was made of tile and stone. Light seemed to struggle to penetrate the grubby dark that hung inside it.
Her bare feet padded over the tiled floor. The tiles were old fashioned, with swirling diamond patterns. They were dusty and cold, and to her they needed to be cleaned.
There was a door on her left. A grand, wooden door that looked like it would leave you with multiple splinters if you were to touch it. She pushed it open with the tip of her fingers, listening to the unwelcoming screech of its hinges, and found herself in a wide drawing room, full of leather sofas, a dark green carpet, and bookcases piled high with hard backed books. The smell of old seeped through her nostrils.
She could hear the boy upstairs, consoling two children who had somehow followed them here. She cursed it all. It was unfair that they were burdened with them. Everything was just so unfair.
Turning out of the drawing room, she walked down the hallway and past an umbrella stand that was empty, except for discarded papers. She considered them with interest, wondering what these papers could possibly offer her, before walking to a cupboard under the stairs. She looked around the hallway with its tall ceilings and tiled walls and its empty feeling. She felt like she was trespassing, as though someone or something had a hold over their rightful property. Pulling open the squealing door, she saw the room was empty except for a lone, wooden chair and a few drawings and carvings etched into the walls. It was a fearsome sight. It seemed foreboding. Wooden panels on one side of the wall looked damp, and they were beginning to rot. She shivered, blamed it on the chill in the air, and shut the door, promising to never open it again.
She pushed open another wooden door at the end of the hallway, this time catching her skin. She looked at her fingers to see they had bled. She cursed under her breath and walked into a long kitchen. The blinds were drawn on a window and the door was boarded shut. Pots and pans were left in a lonely looking sink, and a table in the middle of the room held papers a few weeks old.