Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (31 page)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Nick couldn’t open his eyes
immediately.  He had to flutter them for a few seconds before he could see
properly.  His head hurt badly, specifically his jaw.  He tried to
open his mouth but found the pain too much.

“I’d try not to speak if I were you,” Jan said.  He was
sitting in a wooden chair against the wall.  Renee was right beside
him.  Candles lit the corners of the room.

Nick looked around and saw that he was in the cellar of the
restaurant. 
The prison. 
It was musky and damp and a chill
crept in through a steel hatchway at the back of the room, up a small flight of
stairs.

“What am I…?” Nick winced as the pain exploded in his jaw,
but fought past it.  “What am I doing here?”

“I think you know,” said Jan.  “You did a stupid thing,
brother.”

Nick rubbed at his jaw and cleared a wad of phlegm from his
throat.  He had to think for a second before he was fully caught up on the
situation he had just woken up into.  “Dave…?  I had nothing to do
with that.”

Jan huffed.  “Really?  How much chance do you
think there is of that plea being accepted?  We were all together in the
restaurant; everyone except for Dave and you.”

Nick sighed and let his head drop.  “I can’t explain
it, but it’s true.

“Look,” said Jan.  “I hope there
is
another
explanation.  You seemed like an alright guy up until this point but, if
you did kill Dave, then you deserve everything you get.”

Nick spat on the floor and began laughing.  He was
already tired of being accused of something he didn’t do.  “Am I really
being judged by a bank robber?”

Jan smiled.  “
Attempted
bank robber.  I
never was any good at it.  It’s a whole lot different than murder,
anyway.  I may have been guilty of a lot of things, but you’ve committed a
mortal sin.”

Nick hissed.  “Just fuck off, Jan.  I can do
without your bullshit.  I’m innocent.”

Jan stood up, his tall frame stretching almost to the low
ceilings of the dim cellar.  “Like I said, I hope that’s true,
brother.  Perhaps time will tell.”

“I’ll be ready and waiting for your apology,” said
Nick.  I was big enough to give you one when I judged you wrong.”

Jan nodded, but didn’t say anything.  At the stairs
leading upwards he turned back and looked at Renee.  “You coming,
brother?”

Renee shook his head.

Jan shrugged.  “Fair enough.  Come find me when
you’re done.  Wouldn’t feel right without you following me around
everywhere.”

Renee nodded to Jan and then let his gaze fall on
Nick. 

Jan left the room.

“So, what the hell do you want?” Nick demanded of
Renee.  “It’s not like you’re here for the conversation.  You don’t
even talk.”

“
Don’t
talk is not the same as
can’t
talk,
Nick.”

Nick almost fell off his chair.  “Jeez!  You can
speak.  What…why?”

“People take speech for granted, Nick.  It is what
separates us from the animals, and yet we treat our words with
disinterest.  We ignore their power.”

Hearing Renee talk was surreal.  The man had a softly
spoken Nigerian accent. 

“I don’t get it,” Nick said.  “You’ve been able to talk
all along but you haven’t.  Why?”

“Because more can be learned from listening, my
friend.  God told this to me.”

“God did?”

“Yes.  I was once a very bad man, Nick.  I was a
charlatan, a trickster.  I would use my words to fool people into giving
me their money.  I took people’s savings, I took people’s lives.  And
then I went to prison and my life changed.”

“You found God?”

“No, Nick.  God found me.”

Nick grunted.  Religion wasn’t his thing, but he played
along.  “How did he find you?”

“An old lady came to visit me in prison.  I had taken
her life savings by pretending to be from the gas board.  After checking
her home, I convinced her that her boiler was dangerous and that she needed a
new one immediately.  She handed over her cheque book and I emptied her
account.  When she came to see me, she asked me why I did what I
did.  I said, I did not know.  But she told me the reason why. 
She told me that I was afraid.  I was afraid of how hard life could be, so
I took the easy way to avoid having to ever be responsible for anything. 
She told me that deep down I felt worthless and that she felt sorry for me. 
Then she told me that she forgave me.”

Nick sighed.  “More fool her.”

Renee carried on, undeterred.  “I asked this lady how
she could forgive such a wicked man as I.  Her reply was that God had
given me great weakness so that I might one day find great strength.  She
told me to seek him out and find my place.  Only then would I stop being
afraid.  And so I did as the old lady asked.  I sought out the Lord.”

  I learned of his ways, read his many teachings. 
I soon realised that words were precious and that I must use them no longer if
I was to make my penance – if I was to find my great strength.”

“But why not speak?”

Renee smiled at Nick.  “For many reasons, my
friend.  So that I could listen, learn, but mostly as punishment. 
Punishment for my sins so that I might learn about suffering and understand
it.  Only then could I defeat my fears.  I decided that the next time
I spoke it must be with purpose and a desire to do good.  Only then could
I hope to redeem myself.”

“You sound crazy,” Nick said.  “Like one of those Southern
Baptist Evangelists in America.”

“Perhaps.  But this is a crazy world we are living in,
no?  Is it not crazier to be sane with all that we have seen?”

Nick shrugged his shoulders.  Philosophy wasn’t of
great interest to him.  “So why are you talking to me now?  What good
can you do me?”

“I can tell you that I believe you did not kill that man,
Dave.”

Nick sighed.  It was actually a relief to hear that at
least one person believed him, even if it was Renee.

“Deep down, I do not believe that Jan condemns you
either.  But he is afraid.  He values his place here and would not
want to lose it.  He will go along with the group consensus…up to a
point.”

“Why not you?” Nick asked, shifting in his seat. 

“Because my mind is clear.  I have sat and observed for
many days.  While the rest of you have bickered, I have watched.  I
see a man’s intentions better than most, and yours are not of murder.”

“No, they’re not,” Nick agreed.  “But then who is
responsible?  Everyone was together.”

Renee shook his head and then got up off his chair.  “I
do not know.  Whoever it is, they are benefitting from you being blamed,
and by Dave being dead.”

Nick closed his eyes to think, but found a blank
sheet.  “There’s nothing to gain.  We’re all in the same messed up
situation.”

Renee smiled at Nick.  “You are naïve, my friend. 
There is always power to be gained, and there are always men who wish to take
it.”

Nick’s eyes opened wider.  “Shawcross.”

Renee nodded thoughtfully.  He rolled at a wedding band
on his finger that Nick had not noticed before.  “Shawcross is a weak man
with selfish intentions.  I have seen this with my own eyes.  Now
that the man, Dave, is gone and the most popular male of the group is out of
the way, he will be able to assume authority easily.”

“Most popular?  You mean me?”

“Indeed.  People respect you, Nick.  You have a
level head, no?  But the thought of you committing murder has damaged the
group badly, made them feel lost and insecure.  This is the time to
establish a permanent hierarchy – while the populace is desperate and weak.”

Nick shook his head and cracked his knuckles.  “I don’t
see the point.  What is there to be in control of?”

Renee smiled knowingly.  “At the moment, nothing. 
Later, however, there will be life itself at stake.  To be the man who
controls who gets food and who doesn’t is an envious position.  To decide
who lives and dies is to be God.  The one true Lord does not look kindly
on such ambitions.  That is why he has told me to help you.”

“Help me?”

“Yes.  I will remain here with you.  Whoever
killed Dave will likely prefer you out of the way, too.  I will make sure
that does not happen.”

Nick thought the whole thing ridiculous, but Renee seemed
deeply serious.  But, with all that had happened, it was probably better
to be overly cautious than foolhardy.

“Okay,” Nick finally said.  “Thank you.”

“You are a good man, Nick.  I hope that is proven.”

“Me too.  But what if it’s not?”

Renee tilted his head.  “Then you and I should get
comfortable here as we may never leave.”

Suddenly the door at the top of the stairs opened.  Eve
came down, holding a plastic tray in front of her.

“I brought you some food,” she said.  She sounded
upset, close to tears.

Nick walked over to her.  “I didn’t do it, Eve. 
You know me.”

She handed him the tray.  There was a pint of coke on
it along with the browning leaves of a salad.  “Do I?  I thought I
did.”

Nick put the tray on the floor and looked her dead in the
eyes.  “Yes, you do, Eve.  You know me better than anybody else left
on Earth.  I didn’t do this.”

Eve stared down at the floor.  “I don’t know what to
think, right now.  Dave was a pig, but he didn’t deserve to die.”

Nick nodded.  “I agree.”

Eve turned around and started back up the stairs.

“Eve,” he shouted after her, but she ignored him and exited
through the door.  He listened to the lock turn behind her.

He went and sat back down, looked over at Renee.  “I
guess you really are all I have.”

Renee nodded solemnly.  “Things change, my
friend.  You just need to be patient.  God will shine his light of
truth on those who are guilty.”

Nick stared down at the wilting salad on the floor and
wrinkled his nose.  “I just hope the truth comes out before I starve to
death.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

It had been almost a week since
Dave’s death.  Anna had dragged the man to the morgue herself.  She
still couldn’t get over the fact that Nick had murdered him.  In fact,
there was a part of her that didn’t believe it all.  He just didn’t seem
the type.  She was a person of logic, however, and the only logic
available said that Nick had murdered Dave in cold blood.

“You okay, Anna?” Mike asked her as they fed the Clydesdale
horses.  The new born foal she’d delivered at the start of everything was
healthy and doing well.  The mother seemed to enjoy nursing.

“I’m just thinking,” she said.  “Not about anything
important, so never mind.”

Mike rubbed his hands together, clearing them of food
particles.  “I’m out of food.  Do we have any more nearby?”

Annaliese nodded.  “There’s one of Shawcross’s
emergency stashes over there.  I’ve been using it for feed and veterinary
drugs.  It won’t be long until we have to go trekking through the woods to
find that greenhouse, though.  What we have won’t last forever.”

Mike nodded.  “I’ll go see what we have.  I’d
rather feed mommy horse here a little more to keep her strength up.”

“Good idea.  The stash is inside that green bin.” 
She pointed to a large, round receptacle made from plastic.  She had
helped Shawcross empty it, before storing additional supplies in there. 
There were dozens of similar stashes all over Ripley Heights.

Mike went over and pulled the lid off the bin.  He
reached down inside, but ended up pulling his hand away empty, with a confused
look on his face.  “Um, Anna?”

Anna was already looking at him so she frowned.  “What
is it?”

“You sure this is the stash?”

“Positive.  I used it just yesterday.  It was
full.”

“Not anymore, it’s not,” Mike said.  “Come look.”

Annaliese hurried over to the bin and looked inside. 
There was nothing, other than a few discarded medical supplies; bandages and a
spare feeding bottle for the foal.

“What the?  This was chock-a-block with stuff
yesterday.  There were weapons and water bottles.”

Mike chewed the inside of his cheek making his face look
lopsided.  “So, what then?  Did somebody move it?”

Annaliese thought about it.  “Or perhaps somebody stole
it.”

“Who would be that much of an arsehole?”

Annaliese scratched at her chin and stared down at the empty
space where the supplies should have been.  “I’m not about to start
accusing people just yet.  It could be anyone.  Let’s just go tell
the others.”

Mike sighed.  “Shawcross is going to flip his lid.”

“I know.  Can’t say I’d blame him, if it turns out that
we have a thief.”

Mike took Annaliese by her hand and began walking her away
from the zoo.  “Well, the only person I trust for sure is you.”

Annaliese laughed.  “You don’t know it wasn’t me. 
I could be the thief.”

Mike shook his head.  “You care too much about other
people.”

“Me?  I don’t care.  People do nothing but
disappoint me.”

“And yet you never stop trying to help.  That’s why I
know it wasn’t you.  That’s why I’ve fallen in love with you the last
couple weeks.”

Annaliese stopped and looked at him.  She found it
difficult to look him in the eye, but she made herself do it anyway.  “You
love me?  Don’t be so silly.”

“I’m not being silly.  This last week you and I have
barely been apart.  I’ve gotten to know you well.  There’s no point
hiding how I feel about you.  Like I said, life’s too short.”

“You don’t know me well.  None of us are really
ourselves with all that’s happened.”

“I think the opposite.  I think it takes a situation
like this to show who people truly are.  All of our bullshit – the vanity,
the ego – is stripped away.  The only thing left is who we really are deep
down.”

Annaliese stared at Mike for a while, trying to find the
right words.  “Mike, I…”

“Can’t say you love me back.  That’s okay,” he
said.  “I have time.  Not much, maybe, but a little bit at least.”

Annaliese shook her head and giggled.  “You’re always
so dramatic.  Come on, let’s go find Shawcross and give him the bad news.”

They headed out of the zoo and found Shawcross over by the
cable car station.  He had his hands cupped above his eyes and was staring
down at the car park below.

“What are you doing?” Mike asked.

Shawcross spun around and studied them.  “They’re
back,” he said grimly.  “Look.”

Annaliese peered down the side of the hill and saw that a
few dozen infected people had found their way back to the car park that
surrounded the
Rainforest Cafe
.  More were wandering in from the
distance.

“Oh, shit!” Mike said.  “There’s almost a hundred of
them down there.”

Shawcross put a finger to his lips and shushed him. 
“I’m sure if we keep a low profile, we’ll be quite safe.  We’re prepared
to deal with the odd one that finds its way up here.  We just have to make
sure that we do not attract them in large groups.  Being quiet is key.”

Annaliese looked further into the distance.  The fires
that had been burning in the nearby villages for weeks had finally died
out.  It somehow made things feel even more final.  Like the candle
of civilisation had finally blown out.  It was a lonely thought.

“They must have wandered back from the towns,” Annaliese
said.

“Probably,” Shawcross agreed.  “There’s obviously
nothing left to keep them there so they’ve dispersed.  A depressing
thought indeed.”

“They’re all dead,” Mike commented.

Annaliese turned to look at him.  “What?”

“Look, they’re all slow and clumsy.  None of the fast
ones are with them.  Where are they?”

Annaliese saw that he was right.  “Perhaps the
infection has killed them all.  Now all that is left is the dead ones.”

“It certainly smells like it,” said Mike, wrinkling his
nose.  “So, if there are only the dead ones left, maybe, eventually, they
will die-off, too?”

“Perhaps,” said Shawcross.  “But we still need to be
careful.  The dead are slower than the infected, but they don’t give
up.  I would like to think that we can liberate Ripley Hall at some point,
but I think it would be best that we continue to lay low for now.  No
unnecessary risks.  No commotion.”

Annaliese nodded.  “If we’re smart, we may just make it
through this.”

Eve came running up from the direction of the amusement
park.  She was panting by the time she reached them.

Shawcross looked at the girl and ran a hand through his
slick ginger hair.  “Eve, sweetheart.  Whatever is the matter?”

“The supplies,” she said, gasping.  “I’ve checked half
a dozen places and they’re all gone.”

“Gone?”

Annaliese exchanged a knowing glance with Mike.

“You must be mistaken,” Shawcross told Eve.

Eve shook her head.  “We have no food.”

“Actually,” Annaliese said.  “The reason Mike and I
have just come from the zoo is that we’ve discovered supplies missing there,
too.  I think we might have a thief.”

Shawcross’s eyes narrowed and his lips went thin.  “Get
everyone together,” he ordered.  Now!”

***

It took less than ten minutes to get
everybody together; not including Renee and Nick who had been locked in the cellar
for the last several days.

“We have one very serious problem here, people,” Shawcross
said, standing in front of the basketball midway game that was now being used
to store firewood for the approaching months of winter.

The group stared at one another blankly, some of them
wondering what was going on; some of them, like Eve and Mike, already knowing.

“There is a thief amongst us,” Shawcross almost shouted the
word
thief
.  “A dirty scoundrel.”

The group were silent, concerned.

“Who is it?” Shawcross demanded.

More silence.

“Own up now, or so help me God.”

“Well, don’t look at me,” said Alan.

Michelle folded her arms.  “Me, either.”

“Well, somebody is responsible.”

“Maybe it’s the monkey,” Cassie said.

Shawcross looked at the girl and cocked his head.  “What?”

“The monkey,” she repeated.  “Maybe it’s been raiding
our supplies at night, trying to survive.”

“Makes sense,” Jan said, rubbing at his beard.

Annaliese objected.  “Lily isn’t taking our supplies.”

“How can you be so sure?” Shawcross asked.

“Well, firstly because an orang-utan would have no need for
the weapons and medicines that we stashed along with the food and
blankets.  She could potentially take things she could eat, but I don’t
see her taking the lengths of pipe and rope we put in the bins.  But
that’s not the main reason I know it’s not her.”

Shawcross raised an eyebrow.

“I know, because I have been leaving food out for her at
night and by morning it’s all been gone.  She’s living somewhere in the
woods nearby.”

Shawcross went bright red.  “You’ve been giving our
supplies away to a goddamn monkey?”

“No,” Annaliese said calmly.  “I’ve been giving a few
supplies to an intelligent primate; a Sumatran Orang-utan to be precise. 
One of very few left alive – even before the world went to shit.  She has
as much right to survive as the rest of us.”

“Nonsense!  You’re a thief.”

“Hey!” Mike shouted.  “Let’s take it down a notch with
the witch hunt, yeah?  Annaliese is a vet and took an oath to help animals
in need”

“Actually, vets don’t take an oath,” Annaliese whispered to
him.  “But thanks.”

“Furthermore,” Mike continued.  “Annaliese is pretty
much the only person who can help any of us if we get sick or injured, so I’d
say that we best be nice to her, or else we’re all screwed.”

Shawcross folded his arms.  “So we should just let her
do whatever the hell she likes, regardless of the rest of us?”

“Hell yes, because, may I remind you, we were all stuck in a
kitchen when she found us.  Without her we might still be stuck there or,
most likely, dead.  She risked her life for us on more than one occasion,
so how dare you attack her like this.”

“I don’t mind feeding the monkey,” said Cassie.

Mike shrugged.  “Me either.  I couldn’t watch it
suffer and starve.”

“She’s an
ape
,” Annaliese corrected.  “But I’m
glad you don’t mind feeding her because I would carry on doing it anyway.”

“I mind,” said Michelle.  “What if we end up
starving?  It’s just an animal.  We’re people.”

“Exactly,” said Shawcross.  “We’ll be using animals for
meat soon enough, so what’s the point in feeding them?”

Annaliese shook her head.  This was pointless.  If
they were happy letting a rare species die then why even bother wasting the
breath to argue.  If that was how they felt then the world would
eventually become a bleak and meaningless landscape, devoid of any
beauty.  Annaliese would rather die than live in a world like that. 
She turned around to leave the group, not wanting to discuss it further.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Shawcross
shouted after her.

“To find your thief,” she said.  “Then maybe you’ll
stop blaming an innocent animal.”

“If I find out that you’re behind this, Anna…”

“You’ll what?” Mike finished for him.  Then he turned
around and followed after her.  The feeling of having someone on her side,
ready to fight for her, was unfamiliar.  It warmed her belly.  It’d
been a long time since somebody had supported her like that.  She just
hoped that Mike wouldn’t go down in flames by trying to protect her.  She
would rather him save his own life than risk it by trying to save hers.

Why am I worrying about life and death?  I should
listen to Mike and concentrate on living.

“So, you’re really sure that Lily didn’t take the supplies?”
Mike asked as he caught up with her by the
Magic Carpet
carousel.

“Yes.  She’s been taking the scraps I’ve been leaving
her and can probably live off some of the local vegetation, too.  There’s
no way she could have carried off all the supplies we left, anyway; not in a
single night.  No, whoever is responsible for the missing supplies is much
more calculating than an orang-utan.”

“You’re right.  Whoever is taking the extra food is
making a conscious decision to screw the rest of us over.”

Annaliese went and took a seat on one of the park
benches.  In front of them was the cable car station.  Far off, the
sun had begun to dip beneath the horizon.  Evening would be upon them
soon.

Another night in the dark with nothing to do but think.

“You know what’s crazy?” Annaliese said.

Mike sat down beside her, put his hand on her knee. 
“What?”

“That people scare me more than the undead do.”

“The
undead
?  Are we actually calling them that
now?”    

“May as well call a spade a spade.”

Mike chuckled.  “I suppose so.  I know what you
mean, though.  I can’t believe that Dave was murdered and now someone is
stealing.  You’d think that with all that’s happened, people would finally
want to stick together.”

Annaliese let out a sigh.  “Looks like the opposite is
happening.  Life is still about survival of the fittest – everyone out for
themselves.”

“So…who do you think took the supplies?”

Annaliese chewed her lip and thought about it.

Do I really have any idea?  The only person I really
trust is the man sitting beside me.  Until recently I may have included
Nick in the list of people I could count on, but…

“Do you really think that Nick killed Dave?” she asked.

Mike shrugged.  “Couldn’t have been anybody else. 
Trust the evidence
.  Didn’t they use to say that on some TV show?”

Annaliese huffed and tapped her fingers together on her
lap.  “I don’t know.  I’ve forgotten what watching television is
like.”  She leant back on the bench and felt her spine creak.  “So,
you think Nick did it, then?”