Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (15 page)

Turn on each other?

Nick took one last, regretful look at Eve and began to
wish that he had left her in the cupboard he had found her in.  He had not
rescued
her.  He had doomed her.  She looked back at him,
terrified, and seemed to be doing some last chance reflection herself.

Then she began to move.

In fact, Eve’s entire cable car had started to
move.  As Nick steadied himself against the walls of his own cabin, he
realised that he was moving, too.  The cable cars were working, moving up
the suspension lines and scaling the hill.

“What’s happening?” Cassie asked.  Tears streamed
down her cheeks.  “Why are we moving?”

“Someone has switched on the cable cars.”  It was
the only thing that made sense. 

One of the cable car’s windows was pressed in and about to
come lose completely, but it would all be okay now.  They were moving
away, rising up in the air where the mob could not reach them.

All, except one.

The large Asian man was hanging from the door and had
managed to get one of his arms through the gap.  He was clawing at them
and trying to make his way inside as his legs dangled in mid-air.

The car continued climbing upwards, but their passenger
held on.

Nick kicked at the Asian man’s arm, but the blow did not
seem to register.  He just snarled and clawed even more furiously as he
tried to get at the passengers inside the car.

“Screw this,” said Jan.  He took two steps
backwards, against the opposite wall, and then leapt forward, delivering a
hefty kick to the centre of the cabin’s metal door.  Its rusty hinges gave
way and the entire sheet of metal, along with its infected hanger-on, went
plummeting to the ground below.  Nick peered out the gap.  The Asian
man hit the muddy ground fifty feet below them and shattered.  It looked
as though every bone in his body had snapped off in the wrong direction. 
Despite that, the man was still moving around and trying to get up.

“They don’t give up, do they?” Nick commented, more to
himself than the others.  “It’s like they don’t feel pain.”

“Everything feels pain, man,” said Dash, standing up
beside him.

Nick shook his head.  For some reason, the infected
did not.  They didn’t feel anything except rage and hunger.  They
were animals, monsters.  Demons.  Nick finally accepted that the
infected were beyond saving and that life was now purely about survival. 
He knew that understanding that would lead to a big change for all of
them.  No one would make it through the days ahead intact as the people
they were before.  They would be forced to adapt.  Or they would die.

Nick finally accepted that James and Deana were gone.

And his entire life along with them. 

I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Guess I’m going to find out.

Nick gazed down at the treetops passing by beneath the
cable car as they ascended the hill.  The woods were getting thicker the
higher up they got.  Once the snarling mob at the bottom of the hill was
out of sight, the view was actually quite breathtaking.  The woods seemed
to go on forever; their autumn-coloured leaves were never-ending swirls of
orange and red.  One hundred feet above the ground and things were once
again peaceful.

Nick was yanked backwards and thrown violently to the
floor of the cable car.  He shook his head, dazed and confused.
 “What the hell?”

Jan and Dash were standing over him.

I knew I couldn’t trust them.  Now I’m going to
pay for it.
 

Jan smashed Dash in the ribs with his fist, like a
heavyweight boxer, knocking the wind out of the smaller man and doubling him
over.  Then he shoved Dash backwards, right through the open doorway.

Hundreds of feet in the air.

Nick leapt to his feet as Dash’s screams faded towards
the ground below.  The sound of him hitting the treetops and smashing
through the branches was sickening.  It wasn’t even clear if the snapping
sounds were from tree limbs or Dash’s bones. 

“What the hell did you just do?” Nick cried out.

“Saved your life,” said Jan calmly.  “Dash was just
about to send you on your merry way, before I decided that he was the one who
ought to go.  Just ask Cassie.”

Nick stared at Cassie, who was sitting nervously on the
cabin’s bench.  She nodded to him.  “He’s telling the truth. 
Dash gave Jan a wink behind your back.  He was about to push you out until
Jan pulled you out of the way.”

“What?  But why?  Why would he want to kill
me?”

Jan huffed, as if the answer were obvious. 
“Because he tried to take liberties with Cassie last night and you weren’t
going to let it go.  In fact, he was planning to get rid of Dave, too –
Carl as well, if need be, but that kind of resolved itself when Kathryn
reappeared.”

Nick sat down on the bench beside Cassie, feeling unsafe
to be anywhere near the open door after what had just happened.  “I don’t
understand,” he said.  “Weren’t you his friend?”

“Dash?  That gangbanging piece of shit?”  Jan
shook his head.  “No way.  I just got stuck with him when the prison
guards were killed and our transport was sprung.”  He pointed at Renee who
was silent as always.  “Renee’s not a problem, but Dash was a
degenerate.  I seen him do some real nasty shit the last forty-eight
hours.  Me and Renee were already looking to ditch him when we ran into
you and Eve in the woods.”

Nick looked at Cassie and frowned.  “So, Jan
didn’t, you know…hurt you?”

She shook her head solemnly.  “No.  Carl and I
were fooling around in the kitchen.  He was on top of me when something
hit him from behind.  It was Dash.  He came at me and tore off my
shirt.  Then Jan came and stopped him.”

Jan shrugged.  “Renee saw Dash get up in the night
and go into the kitchen.  He shook me awake.  We knew he’d be up to
no good, so I went after him.  Turns out I was right.  I caught him
red-handed and told him to go back to the restaurant before I beat the hell out
of him.  Usually he’s not the type of guy to back down, but I think he
understood I wasn’t playing around.  Then you turned up, brother, and got
the wrong idea.”

Nick looked at Cassie.  “Why didn’t you tell me at
the time?”

“Jan told me he would deal with Dash, but I had to keep
quiet, otherwise Dash would hurt more people.”

“If everyone found out about it, Dash would have
kicked-off.  He’s a loose cannon.  When I got back after my
conversation with you, he wanted to know what was up and why you had got
involved.  I told him that you wanted answers.  Dash wasn’t happy
being told what he could and couldn’t do, so he told me he was going to take
you out, along with Dave and Carl, then hole up with all the women at the
restaurant.”

“You told him you’d help,” Nick surmised, flabbergasted
by what he was hearing.

Jan nodded.  “I did, yeah, but I planned to take
him out first, or at least try to ditch him.  Then the alarm woke everyone
up and things kind of took on a life of their own.  It wasn’t until we
stated climbing this hill that an opportunity presented itself.  Dash gave
me a wink, letting me know he was about to take you out.  So I took him
out first.  You can thank me later.”

“I’ll thank you now,” said Nick.  “I owe you.”

“Don’t sweat it.”

“No,” said Nick.  “I judged you wrong.  I
treated you like a criminal and that was unfair.”

“Not really.  I
am
a criminal.  In fact
I was a pretty rotten piece of shit for a long time.  Even my own son,
Damien, didn’t want to know me after a while.  He headed up north to set
up a furniture business with a guy he met in a pub.  Not seen him in
years.  I think losing the respect of my son was what made me want to sort
myself out - and that’s exactly what I did.  One day I’ll find my boy and
make things better.  Tell him I’m proud of him for finding his own way and
not ending up like his old man.”  For a second, Jan seemed to get teary,
but he scratched at his beard, blinked, and then seemed okay again.  “No,
brother, I can honestly say that after eight years inside, my intentions have
been pure for at least the last five.  I’m not the same man I was when
they put me inside.  But that’s a story for a different day.”

“Well, I hope one day you get to tell me all about it,”
said Nick, standing up and moving over to the open door again.  He kept
safely to one side and peered out at the tree canopy below.  It was so
thick now that it was like a bed of leaves beneath them.  Whatever fate
had befallen Dash had been obscured by the thick foliage, and that was probably
for the best.  Nick had seen enough death for one morning.

The cable car reached the final third of its ascent and
he squinted up at the approaching summit and the concrete platform that topped
it.  It was hard to be sure, but he thought he could see someone standing
there, ready to receive them.  That person must have been the one who had started
the cable cars.

That person was their saviour.

But who the hell are they?
he thought as the
cable car neared the top of the hill.

28 hours earlier…

Annaliese washed her hands in the steel
sink and watched the blood drain away with the cold water.  The birth had
been a success.  Rita, one of the zoo’s Clydesdale horses, had delivered a
healthy 80lb foal and seemed to be recovering well.  Annaliese had
provided very little assistance and had only been there to oversee the
pregnancy and guide the birth.  Now that it was over she was looking
forward to getting back home and resuming the sleep she had been woken from at
3AM.

“That went really well, I thought,” said Bradley, Ripley
Height’s resident veterinary nurse.  It was he who had called Annaliese at
home when Rita had gone into labour.  Despite the lack of complications
with the delivery, the young man had gone very pale.  It was likely his
first delivery.  Everyone felt woozy the first time.

Annaliese smiled at Bradley, while also stifling a
yawn.  “Yes, it was completely by the book.  Good stuff.  You
just need to make sure that Rita allows her foal to suckle, but other than
that, nature should take care of itself.”

Bradley back at her – in fact he was beaming.  He
looked cute, like a boy with a new bike.  “It was pretty bloody amazing,
to tell the truth,” he said enthusiastically.  “I’ve…I’ve never seen
anything like it.”

“You’ll see many more births, trust me,” she said.  “In
fact, assisting a birth is one of the few parts of the job that never gets
old.  Bringing new life into the world is a gift; something that should
never be taken for granted.”

Bradley nodded thoughtfully.  “A gift, yeah.  I
know exactly what you mean.  So, are you off back home now?”

She pulled her green woollen cardigan from a nearby clothes
peg and wrapped it around herself.  “Too blooming right I am.  I’m
exhausted.  I’d only been in bed a few hours when I got your call.”

“One of the downsides of being a vet on call, huh?”

“The worst one,” she said.  “I need my sleep. 
Always have.”

“Sorry I had to wake you.  I couldn’t have done it
without you, though.  You were amazing.”

“It’s no problem.”  She gave her hands one last rinse
in the sink and wiped them dry on a towel.  “I’ll be back here on
Wednesday to do my monthly check-ups.  Will you be here?”

“I’ll be around.  As usual.”

Annaliese nodded.  She respected the fact that Bradley
lived on the park grounds and pretty much worked seven days a week – he was
young, eager to gain experience, and truly loved his work – but she thought
he’d be better off having some semblance of a life, too.  He was a young,
average-looking bloke with a good job.  There was more to the world than a
modest zoo on top of a hill.

“You should get out more,” she said.  “You’ll end up
working yourself to death before you’re thirty.  You need to find a
balance between work and life. 
Turn off your mind, relax, and float
downstream.
”

Bradley raised any eyebrow.  “Did you come up with that
yourself?”

“No, John Lennon did, but if you can’t trust the Beatles,
who can you trust?  Just don’t work yourself to death.”

He shrugged.  “I enjoy it.  Tell you the truth, I
sometimes like spending time with the animals more than I do people.  Sad,
huh?”

“A little bit; but I know what you mean.”  She really
did understand the peaceful tranquillity that being around animals brought, and
how it was the total opposite of the stress and anxiety that being around
people caused.  “But that’s a dangerous road,” she added.  “You’ll
end up a hermit.  Get yourself out on the town.  Grab a drink and a
girl, and be irresponsible for a night.”

“You fancy going with me?” he asked.

Annaliese spluttered at the unexpected question. 
“Me?  I’m almost ten years older than you are.  You can find far
better company than me.”

“I don’t think so.  I’d like to get to know you
better.”

Annaliese was surprised.  She had no idea that Bradley
thought of her in such a way.  She didn’t know what to say, or even how
she felt about the suggestion.  It had been years since she’d dated
anybody.

For good reason.

I’m damaged goods. 

“I…I’ll think about it, Bradley,” she said.  “See you
Wednesday.”

He seemed a little disappointed, but not devoid of all
hope.  In all honesty, she was not turning him down, just stalling for
time while she considered her options.  She never did anything without
weighing up the pros and cons first.  It was too easy in life to make
mistakes and fill your head with regrets.  She often thought fast, but she
always thought smart.

She headed out of the stable’s washroom and stepped into the
concrete corridor which led past the four stalls housing the zoo’s
Clydesdales.  The reek of oiled leather and musky smells filled the
air. 

Rita was lain down in the first stall, cleaning her mewing
foal with her coarse tongue.  The stallion, Cassius, was in the booth next
to her, sniffing at the air with interest.

The proud father.

At the end of the corridor, she turned the deadbolt on the
block’s exit door and stepped outside.  The cold atmosphere of dawn
pinched at her cheeks and slapped away some of her tiredness.  It didn’t
stop her from letting out a long, drawn-out yawn, or rubbing at the fuzziness
behind her eyelids.

She glanced at her watch: it was 6AM.  The birth had
been a long one, even if not particularly complicated.  She hoped she
wasn’t too tired to drive.  Rush hour would be approaching soon and she
was feeling like a zombie, dead on her feet. 

Let’s just be honest.  I’m hungover.

What Annaliese had not told Bradley was the reason she had
gotten so little sleep in the first place.  She had passed out drunk at
1AM, alone in her flat, not even making it to her bed from the couch.  It
was the same way she ended most evenings, but they didn’t usually result in her
being called out two hours later to attend a birth.

Why am I such a mess?

Huh, like I don’t know the answer to that question.

Still, it’s been three years…

It was her own fault.  Annaliese had been a vet for seven
years now and should have been used to being on call.  It was part of her
vocation.  No different to a plumber getting shit on his hands.  Just
one of the downsides.  All jobs had them.

She gave her shoulders a vigorous rub and got going. 
The sun was balancing on the horizon, chasing away the darkness with its amber
glow.  The various enclosures of the petting zoo were filled with sleeping
animals that would soon awaken, or nocturnal species that were preparing for
slumber.  The silence of the night would soon give way to the snuffling of
pigs and the bleating of goats.  Not to mention the motorised whirring of
the fairground rides that littered the park and would be operating soon. 

Up ahead were the zoo’s only truly exotic inhabitants: a
small family of orang-utans that had been donated to the park several years ago
by a failing Scottish zoo.  It was a mystery why the owners had ever
accepted to house the pair of primates when all they were prepared for at the
time were the various domestic animals at the petting zoo.  Annaliese
imagined they saw it as a lucrative tourist attraction to compliment the park’s
various rides and amusements.  It was an immoral way to view such
magnificent creatures, but at least time and money had been spent ensuring the orang-utans
were given a suitable habitat.  Their half-acre plot at Ripley Heights put
their former Scottish habitat to shame.  Eventually the two primates had
even been content enough to breed.  They had a one-year old infant male
with them now.

They’re a little family
, she thought with a degree of
melancholy that could even have been jealousy.

Jealous of an orang-utan.  That’s a new low.

She decided to stop for a moment and take in the beauty of
the animals before she reached her car and headed home.  The female, Lily,
was currently awake.  She was cradling her sleeping infant on the large,
grassy mound that sloped down on all sides into a dug-out moat.  It was
landscaped in such a way as to prevent escape.  The walls around the moat
were a good fifteen feet high from inside the enclosure.  At the rear of
the space was a green-painted bungalow that offered the primates a warmer
refuge during winter and was also an ingress point for the zoo’s staff to enter
the enclosure.

Annaliese waved at Lily and was moved when the female
orang-utan waved right back at her.  It wasn’t so much a surprise, as Lily
was often receptive to humans, happy to interact, but it was still a
heart-warming experience to be looked upon and acknowledged by such a
magnificent being.

She scanned the enclosure for Lily’s mate, Brick, and found
him sprawled out in the habitat’s mangrove tree.  He was sleeping soundly
and every few seconds one of his limp legs would flinch and jump.  His
snores filled the air.

Lily gave Annaliese a bemused look as she held her baby that
seemed to suggest she was thinking,
men, huh?

Annalise grinned. 
I hear ya.

Her Prius was located in the staff car park that was up top,
rather than the public one down below by the
Rainforest Café
.  She
hated the narrow, two mile road that would take her down the hill and back to
the lower altitudes of the nearby villages.  She wanted to get going
sooner rather than later to tackle it.  The longer she waited the more
tired she would become.

As she headed towards the upper car park, which was located
behind the park’s Jacobean manor house, Ripley Hall, Annaliese spotted a pair
of young lovers amongst the sycamore trees on the lawn.  They had
obviously spilled out of the manor after some boozy function or wedding party. 

Half the money that the park made was from hiring out the
many rooms and facilities of Ripley Hall and its grounds.  There was a lot
of profit to be made by supplying yuppies with ample amounts of booze and a
warm bed for the night.  From what Annaliese gathered from members of the
house-staff, most of the bosses who hired the property out for their functions
were only interested in playing away from home with whatever colleague had been
catching their eye most recently.  Most of the snooty soirees eventually
devolved into the kind of drunken debauchery that would have been right at home
in ancient Rome.  It made Annaliese feel embarrassed.  Embarrassed
for those people and their lack of priorities.

People like these two, snogging each other’s faces off in
the freezing cold.

Annaliese cleared her throat loudly as she neared the two
lovers on the lawn.  There was no way to avoid them on her way to her car,
and she was damned if she was going to be the one who felt uncomfortable. 
Let them be the ones to feel awkward.

But the young lovers ignored Annaliese’s approach.  The
male of the pair was really going for it; nuzzling at the woman’s neck with
animalistic passion.  She could hear the wet, slopping sounds from several
feet away.

Charming.  I’d say go get a room, but you already
have one.  So maybe you should go use it!

Annaliese had seen quite enough.  She didn’t mind a bit
of passion, but she wasn’t about to accept their rudeness of ignoring her
presence.

“Excuse me,” she said.  “Perhaps you should take that
back inside.  The park will be opening up soon.  You should probably
call it a night.”

The couple continued necking.

Annaliese spoke louder.  “Hey!  Time to wrap it
up, you two.  Party’s over.”

Finally, she got a response.  The male ceased his
fevered nuzzling of the woman’s neck and turned sideways to look at her.

Annaliese went weak from the knees upwards.  The sudden
fright sent a shockwave of adrenaline though her veins.

What the hell?

The man’s face was smeared with blood.  A sliver of
what looked like flesh hung from his cracked and splintered teeth.  The
young woman he was with slumped to the ground as he released her, her neck torn
open and gushing fluids.

Holy shit!

Annaliese took a step backwards, shaking her head and
fighting the urge to vomit.  Vet or no vet, she had never seen such a
horrific sight in all her life.  It was like a scene from a Clive Barker
novel.

“Back the hell away,” she shouted at the approaching
man.  “Stay back.”

The man kept coming.

She was forced backwards as he came at her with outstretched
arms.  Her heel caught on a root and she went stumbling down onto her
rump.  Shooting pains ran up her spine, emanating from her coccyx.

She saw stars.

The man was on her immediately.  He fell down on top of
her and started clawing at her shirt.  She fought back with her arms and
knees, trying to push herself free.  But the man was too heavy; all her
effort was focused just on keeping his jaws away from her neck.  It was
crazy, but it seemed like the man was trying to bite her, just like he had the
dead woman lying on the ground.

Annaliese was trapped. 

She let loose a scream, crying out for help.  Her arms
began to ache and the man on top of her seemed to get heavier and
heavier.  She pushed with all her might, but it was no use.  The man
was too strong.

“Jesus, somebody help me!  Help!”

“Anna?”

Annaliese craned her neck back and saw Bradley racing
towards her.

“Bradley, help me.  Get this psycho off.”

Bradley tackled the man and threw him to the ground. 
Annaliese clambered back to her feet, panting and whining with fright. 
Bradley cradled her in his arms.

 The crazy man rose back to his feet, undeterred by
being thrown to the floor.  Bloody tears poured from his eyes and coloured
his cheeks red.

Bradley placed himself in front of Annaliese protectively.
 “What the hell is with this guy?”