Chapter 8: Chapter seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sandler Young

For three years I’d run the country better than any other Prime minister previous to me. Forget David Cameron, Thatcher and Brown, I was voted ‘the Prime Minister most likely to pull the country out of financial turmoil’, I was the one who was going to ‘make a difference’ and without sounding big headed, I made that difference. Poverty levels dropped, banks began to gain back more and more control and soon the money was flooding back into our system.

The election was going to be soon – I was ready to be re-elected as the man of the people, the man who would make this country great again.

Now look at it.

I would forever be the man who ruled when first England fell, then Scotland, then Wales and then maybe, just maybe everywhere else. I would always be the man who ignored the scientists pleas, who ignored the research results being shoved my way. I would always, always be the monster who allowed people to do what they did in those labs, always be the monster who prevented my two daughters from growing up in a country where they could step outside and play safely.

Everyone will spit my name out of their mouths with distaste, wondering where the government was when everything crumbled, wondering why they were told nothing until it was too late. ‘Prime Minister’ the MP’s would say, my assistants would say, ‘We need to brief the country, the infection is loose, sir, the virus is loose’.

I ignored them, buried my awful, big head in the sand and just watched everything burn in front of my eyes. Then, finally, I allowed the press releases and told the country only a fraction of what I really knew. Even now, if everyone knew the full story, the government would never gain back it’s credibility. I had to keep it quiet, I had to.

I had no choice.

So why can I see all this blood on my hands? The death toll is rising second by second, even as I prepare to evacuate I can taste the horrible, horrible tension in the air. Accusing stares from women who don’t know where their children are, men who are aching to hit me because their wives won’t return their calls.

I’m doing all I can now though. The two TV stations up and running are telling people the only symptoms we know, Labs in England are carrying out hundreds and hundreds of tests, looking for a cure. I’m praying, praying for everyone.

It’s not enough though. My country needed me months ago when all this started and I wasn’t there, when they were just living their lives.

And now what?

Even I don’t know.

So how the hell must they feel?

Harley Sawyer

‘Do you want some tinned tomatoes? I’m not sure there’s much else here’.

Keith and I glanced towards Matt who was animatedly searching through several cupboards.

‘Thanks’ I smiled warmly before looking back at Keith who was staring at the curtained windows. Lucas and Lauren were sat in the living room discussing some sort of plan; it seemed they were a good team. The rest of us gathered in the small Kitchen, Keith and I sat at a wooden table while Matt attempted to cook with the old-style stove which fit in perfectly with the dated décor of the rest of the house.

‘I never asked where you live’ Keith tore his eyes from the window to look at me, his face taking on a guilty expression which made me smile.

‘It wasn’t exactly at the top of your list. Stevenage, about as far down south as you can go from here. How about you?’

‘A little further down south as well, small town. Not much ever really happens there’. He looked wistful, as though he missed quiet life. I couldn’t blame him, I only felt the same.

‘Do you really paint?’ I asked, suddenly remembering.

‘Yeah’ he looked embarrassed now, his cheeks tinted the slightest shade of redand he wouldn’t meet my eyes, ‘Just casual stuff, nothing serious. It’s all crap anyway’.

‘You’ll have to show me’ I replied with a smile, wishing I had enough talent to be able to paint. After this, I decided, I would learn. I’d learn to paint, learn to draw. I’d learn everything that I’d been putting off my whole life. Maybe I'd even ask Keith to teach me when we got out of here, maybe he'd even want to,

I just hoped we would get out.

'Your arm is bleeding' my arm was suddenly in the possession of Keith's hand as he inspected a cut I didn't even know I had. I shivered as the slightest hint of electricity shot through my body at his touch, his concern making me laugh quietly.

'What's up?'

'Nothing, nothing' I couldn't help but break out into a small smile, 'You're just nice, is all. It's a nice change of scenery'. He laughed at my words, pulling a plaster from nowhere to stick to my arm.

'Well thank you. I'm going to throw it out there and say that you're rather nice too, you probably woke up one morning expecting a nice day and fell into whatever this is'. It took me a moment to notice that he was looking at me intently, a small smile playing on his lips. I felt strange under his gaze, as though I couldn't quite compete with what was around me and I couldn't ignore the unusual atmosphere which made my stomach flip a little.

'Something like that' I muttered, 'Brings a whole new meaning to 'moody mondays'.

Keith laughed again suddenly, pulling his arm back, 'Tell me about it'.

‘Hey’ Lucas walked into the kitchen, followed by Lauren who immediately walked over to the counter and wrapped her arms around Matt’s waist, talking quietly to him. Suddenly, I felt protective and stood up to wrap my own arms around my brother who grabbed me in his shivering arms.

‘Get your stuff together, we’re leaving’ Lucas spoke softly, squeezing my shoulder.

‘Leaving?’ my voice came out in barely a whisper, thinking only of the trouble we’d gone to getting into this house, fighting our way in. I pulled myself from his grasp.

‘We need to find Mum and Dad, we need to save our little brother’.

‘They’re dead’ Lauren’s words pierced my heart but I knew she was wrong, I’d known since the second she said the country would fall - my parents were strong, smart. They would have figured out what was going on, what was happening. If only my ridiculous phone would get back it’s reception, if that annoying automated woman on the end of the line who drawls that ‘The person you are calling is not available..’ would let me through, we could speak to them, find out where they were. It was a matter of time.

‘When do we leave?’ I asked, knowing deep down that I wanted to follow Lucas out that door to wherever my baby brother was, wherever my parents were. God, I was terrified, the child within me screamed to lock the door and crouch in the corner of the sofa till everything blew over but realism tugged at my heart. Our food was running out after only hours, every minute that passed was a minute that my whole family could die and I’d never even get to say goodbye; staying wasn’t an option and I’d known it ever since we picked that flimsy lock. Besides, what life would I even have without my family? The risk was more than worth it, even with death literally just outside the door.

‘We’ll leave in about an hour, I’m gonna go hook up that TV to the mains and see what I can find. You two just need to grab the food Dad gave us and shove it in your bag, Keith, we should keep the yellow one empty’.

‘On it’ Keith stood from his chair and moved back into the living room. One question still lingered on my mind though; an obvious one.

‘There are five of us, how do we get out of here quietly?’

‘Three of us’ Lucas said quietly, glancing quickly over to Lauren and Matt who both nodded.

‘What?’ I asked in further disbelief, ‘You’re staying?’

‘No’ Matt visibly squeezed Lauren’s hand, ‘But we’re going in a different direction. We‘re heading straight for the coast, getting out of here for good’.

‘You can’t!’ My voice was shrill, shocked. I couldn’t believe that after this miracle within a disaster, that we’d run into each other and team up to support eachother, that  they’d just leave. ‘Mine and Lucas’ parents are only staying a few miles away, we’ll go to them and then come with you, we need each other!’

‘We can’t afford to waste time’ Lauren said in a whisper.

‘You’re not wasting time!’ I spat, alive with instant rage. Why the hell were people assuming my parents and my little brother were dead, one of those horrible creatures outside the window? They were so wrong and in only a couple of hours they would see that, if they’d just stick with us.

‘I’m sorry’ Lauren apologised, looking guilty, ‘But we don’t even know each other, we’re as good as strangers. If everything wasn’t all upside down then we wouldn’t even have met. I wish you the best, and I really hope you find your parents but you don’t need us’.

But I had the most horrible feeling that we did need them. They were so savvy, so .. safe.

‘What if we do?’ I choked with unshed tears, feeling like everyone was abandoning us.

‘You won’t’ With that, Lauren walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, ‘You’re just scared, you really don’t need our help. You have a brother who would take a bullet for you and a friend who helped get you here, we’re just a couple of nobodies who you’ll forget in a week anyway’. She laughed openly, letting go of herself completely, ‘Look, people die all the time, look at it that way. This is just another disease that speeds up the process. Stay strong and don’t look backwards, life will go on after this, trust me, trust us’.

Though I barely knew this girl and I usually stayed reserved when it came to meeting new people, somehow Lauren with her gun and her careless nature had managed to inspire me in a way that no one had in many, many miles. With her only feet away from me, I felt braver, as though she was a protective wall which was crazy because I’d only just met her. It was true though, something drew me to her like a moth to a flame. So far, I’d been wild, terrified and a liability – yet in the last few hours, I felt revitalised, like I had a mission and I would not rest until we found what we were looking for. Somehow, I’d replaced that fire which I’d lost through fear and I owed the last few hours for it, bigtime.

I’d been weak – I usually prided myself on being strong. With my brother and Keith, who was the most unlikely friend and ally, everything would work out. It had to. She made total sense, the world was still turning, there were still people breathing. Still people running.

‘Thank you’.

She looked taken aback, like I’d surprised her.

‘What for?’

‘A much needed slap in the face’.

**********

‘More to the left’

‘To the left!’

‘A little to the right’

‘Stop!’ Lucas bellowed eventually, rearing his head from behind the TV, ‘Keith, help me out here’.

‘Charming’ I muttered, training my eyes on the grainy TV screen. We’d managed to scramble round the living room and find the leads to the TV which had been ripped out in obvious haste. We were in the process of moving the aerial to sharpen the indistinguishable mash of colours on the screen.

‘I’ll find the remote’ Matt stood from his seat and began searching the room, quickly retrieving a small blue object which he pointed towards the box.

‘To the right a little more’.

‘I’ll take it off mute’.

‘To the left!’

Suddenly, sound blared from what seemed like all angles as the sound of a male’s voice screamed from the TV.

‘Turn that off!’ Lauren sounded panicked as she dove towards the TV, hitting several buttons till the noise subsided. It was hard to ignore the amplifying growls from outside the window, as fists began to hammer on the walls.

‘Shit, shit’ Now Matt looked scared as his locked eyes with Lauren, a silent message passing between the two.

‘Can they get in?’ I breathed, trying to stay calm. ‘Don’t be a liability, don’t be a liability’ was all I repeated through my mind, reminding myself of the pact I had made to be brave only half an hour ago.

‘Definitely, hurry with the TV, we don’t have long’.

The tension is the air was suffocating, it sounded as though the walls were caving in around us as the boys frantically worked with the TV, cursing the whole time.

‘Stop!’ Matt said, pointing forwards, ‘We have it, leave it now. ITV news, leave it on this’.

Silently, we all backed down onto the sofa, perched and waiting for the sound to rise once again. A man whom I recognised as the usual presenter was sat behind his news desk alone, looking dishevelled and sweaty as he spoke. Visibly nervous, the cracks in the voice became more and more obvious as Matt fiddled with the volume.

‘..-ay in your houses and lock the doors, coming into direct contact with their blood will prove fatal. Scientists in recent hours have found that the disease or infection is passed through saliva, blood and other bodily fluids which is why those infected bite their victims much like an animal would. Again, I cannot stress that all parties must stay indoors with all doors locked until further action is taken by the British Armed Forces. The infected are relentless and will not respond or sympathise so do not waste time trying to coax or persuade them. Scientists believe this is a direct infection or the brain and must be treated with extreme caution as not much is known as of yet’.

Like my Dad had said.

‘Blood and saliva’ Lucas whispered into the silence, ‘At least it isn’t airborne’.

‘Quiet, he’s talking again’.

‘..nforcements are being brought into the UK as I speak; the majority of the South has been overrun with thousands believed to be infected while the disease has also begun to rage further up the UK as well. Tests have been carried out on some of the captured infected to determine what we call the ‘turning’ or ‘morphing’ process in which a normal person becomes infected. When a person has been infected with the virus, scientists state that the infection itself may not present itself in obvious form until the human starts biting and becomes enraged. The turning process, though we are unsure, can take days to fully take effect’.

‘I’m confused’ I muttered.

‘Sh!’

‘..ome signs or symptoms include the darkening of blood in the veins which is generally the earliest sign, dilating of pupils, dizziness, vomiting dark red or even black blood and unbearable migraines and blackouts of vision. Scientists are still attempting to determine the later symptoms but stress that if a person shows these symptoms whom has recently been in contact with an infected, that they more than likely have the virus and to act immediately’.

‘Wait, I’m still confused. If the turning process takes days, why are the infected chasing us now? England was fine yesterday morning’ I spoke, not understanding at all.

‘Looks like they just kept this thing very well hidden’ Lucas muttered angrily.

‘Who?’

‘The government. I bet they’ve kept this under wraps for months, where are they now? Off on their private jets I reckon, safe from harm, letting us fend for ourselves’.

‘Agreed’ Lauren muttered, her eyes dark, ‘Nobody in here has had any headaches, have they? No vomiting, or dark blood? Not to scare you, but I will shoot you’.

I believed her. As she spoke, I tried to ignore the migraine which was slamming itself between my eyes and round my head, blotting out the bubbling within my stomach which was threatening to spill over any second. I felt as though I was going to throw up but I had harboured that feeling for hours, through fear. The headache was only because of how loud the TV had been along with that very same fear and I put the dizziness down to the TV screen; I hadn’t seen one in days.

‘Harley?’ Lauren looked suspicious as she took a step towards me.

‘Back off’ Keith took a warning step towards Lauren who now looked hurt, ‘I’m not bloody implying anything, she’s just looked pale for a while, are you okay?’ she directed her question at me, looking concerned but with an undertone of dark fear which I tried to ignore.

‘I’m fine’. It was a lie, the bubbling within my stomach was fierce and it took all my willpower not to throw up on the spot. What if they jumped to the wrong conclusion and assumed I was infected? Would they stick by me? Would they let me explain that I was actually fine? The only reason I was going to be sick was because of the looks they were giving me.

‘Harley?’ Lucas’ voice sounded miles away, his hand extending towards me made my heart slam unsteadily. I began to sweat, something was wrong.

So sick, I felt awful.

Such bad, bad timing.

‘Harley?’ He sounded frantic now. Such a liability, even when I tried not to be. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself running towards the kitchen where I instinctively moved towards the sink, emptying the contents of my stomach, being sick until my throat burned. Without any kind of thought, I ran the tap at full blast as I did, only turning it off when I was sure I had finished and the turning acid in my stomach resided into a dull ache where I stood, panting with exhaustion.

‘She’s got it!’ Matt’s voice was unmistakable, accusing and fearful. I wanted to explain but my throat screamed to be quiet.

‘Slow down’ Lauren was holding her gun by her side, looking wistful, terrified, ‘Harley, did you get bitten? Did they cut you or something?’

‘What? No!’ I cried against the protest of my throat.

‘Leave her alone for Christ sake’ Lucas was suddenly at my side but the fear in his own eyes was enough to make me want to scream in pure frustration. Why couldn’t I have lost control of my stomach before that stupid TV announcement?

It was their fault; accusing stares could make anyone’s stomach do backflips.

‘Harley’ Lauren began, the gun tight in her grasp, ‘You need to be honest. At any point, could you have gotten infected? Did one of them even touch you? Do you have any open cuts?’

‘No!’ I protested, getting angry.

‘We’ve been with her the whole time’ Keith took a step forward in a threatening manner, ‘I was with her when we saw the first infected, I was with her when we ran and I’m with her now. They haven’t touched any of us’.

‘Explain this then’.

‘I can’t!’ I protested, desperately wanting to punch somebody now. Why couldn’t they believe me? If the tables had been turned and either Matt or Lauren had been ill, I would’ve trusted them immediately without thought; the favour wasn’t returned. Maybe that was my mistake though, my naivity. My bad sense.

‘My baby sister has been through a lot’ Lucas said with a voice filled with venom, a voice I heard rarely. He was angry, very angry, ‘I don’t know how I haven’t been sick yet, I really don’t. If you want to blame someone, pick somebody else because Harley has done nothing wrong’.

The atmosphere couldn’t have even been cut with a knife, nor a ten inch butchers blade. The silence was that of what I assumed to be guilt and confusion – I hoped anyway, they deserved it for their doubt. A clatter sounded as Lauren’s gun dropped to the floor and I saw her lose control for the first time since we’d met.

‘I’m sorry’ she began to sob instantly, the pained expression on her face revealing stress so deep that I wondered how I could have believed she was fine. Idolising her was ridiculous, she was as vulnerable as the rest of us.

‘Me too’ Matt looked guilty as he cradled Lauren, brushing her hair with his fingers, ‘I think we’re all a bit paranoid at the moment, we’re just trying to stay alive, we have too much to live for’.

I couldn’t be angry – I would have been stupid not to be suspicious in the same situation. They had each other, each other was who they were there to protect. I was a stranger, one they shouldn’t hesitate to kill. In this new world, we all needed to be careful. I knew that from this moment, trust would not come easily any more; it was not worth being killed by somebody for being blindly ignorant.

‘It’s alright’ I wiped the sweat from my forehead, smiling weakly to the two boys who had defended me so readily, ‘I get it. We need to leave soon, what hotel did Dad say they were staying at?’

‘Clayton Inn’. Lucas sounded out of it, as though he was surprised by my words.

‘I left that yellow bag in the kitchen, lets go now’.

I was in control.

Even though my heart was beating a mile a minute, I was sweating so much that my hair was becoming slick and all my senses screamed to stop talking and let somebody else take the lead, I carried on. Maybe it was the fact I was quickly realising the true severity of our situation, maybe I was simply gaining strength from a situation I’d never faced before or maybe it was the fact I could have had a bullet put through my head by sheer accident, but I was taking control despite the insane pull to be led.

Maybe it would be the last time, but at least I tried.

I would always have that.

******

The guys nodded to each other as Lauren pulled me into a brisk hug – it was a goodbye but not an easy one for some reason, we were merely aqquaintances but I didn’t know how many more people we would be able to meet again in a long time.

‘Stay alive’ Lauren saluted us as Matt laughed and they disappeared into the kitchen, surely waving us away for the first and last time.

We’d never see them again.

‘Alright, it’s 5;30 in the afternoon which means we’ve been away from Mum and Dad for the whole of the night and most of the day’ Lucas tugged a hand through his hair, deep creases of stress apparent on his forehead, ‘They have Joel so they wouldn’t take any major risks’.

‘Dad would’ I muttered, hoping he hadn’t decided to go it alone to find us.

‘Yeah’ Lucas whispered, glancing towards Keith who was stood, listening intently, ‘But it’s more likely they’re still holed up in the hotel, they had most of the food so it’s not as if they had any reason to leave’.

‘I hope so’ tears filled my eyes again; they had to be fine because quite simply, I couldn’t live without them. It was hard in this situation not to think back to the times when Mum and I would go late night shopping after her shift at work, making fun of all the winter clothes and trying on things far too big for us. It was equally hard not to remember the times my Dad took me to his work, proudly showing me off to all his friends and work mates. It just about killed me, grasping air in this small house where I expected to find Joel sat on my lap, reading stories about pigs and sheep till he fell asleep, snoring quietly into my shoulder.

They were fine, because my brain could not catch up with the fact I might lose them.

I wouldn’t let that happen, ever.

Ten minutes later and we were perched at the window, eyeing up the car in the driveway which had been abandoned carelessly. Keith noticed the keys in the ignition which seemed far too good to be true; it probably meant somebody got in the car, got it running then had a pretty good reason to get back out again. The door was hanging slightly open and it was impossible to ignore the scarlet stains which were dotted along the metal.

‘I don’t know where the infected are but I haven’t seen one in hours’ I told the guys, ‘If we make a dash for it now, we could get in there and get out of here’.

‘I like it’ Keith grinned, sending me a nod. Lucas looked unsure, but nodded as well.

‘They must be close. Harley, if they come, run back in the house, we’ll leave the door open but do not wait for me. I told Dad I’d protect you and I’ve done a lousy job so far’.

‘Oh, don’t be stupid’ I scolded him, ‘All you’ve done is look after me, I’m trying to return the favour’.

‘Aw, she wants to look after me’ Lucas cooed, laughing with Keith who looked towards me sympathetically, slapping my brother around the head.

‘Ha ha’ my deadpan voice wiped the smile off Lucas’ face as he laughed softly, ‘It’s not your job to look after me, you’re my baby sister and all I’ve done is screw up. I told Dad we should all split up, I left you alone in a hotel room and now we’re sat here and you feel like you need to make the plans. What sort of crap brother am I?’

‘You’re not crap’ I sighed, wanting to say something right for once, ‘All you do is look after me, I just want to feel like I’m doing something to help us instead of just tagging along and being a burden’.

‘You aren’t’ it was Keith now, lifting my chin so I’d look at him, ‘I’ve known you for only a couple of days now and I’ve never met a person with the same fire in their heart as you. The only reason you’re leaving this place is to save your family and try and fix everything; that takes a lot of courage so don’t doubt yourself like this again. Don’t bully yourself because you’re scared, we all are’.

‘Thank you’ It was all I could manage to say, I didn’t want to start crying and I knew I would if I looked into those eyes again, ‘Now lets go’.

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Hope you like; all comments & votes are much appreciated haha. This story really is just getting started so Im sorry if it might seem a little boring or cliche at the moment but it'll all kickstart soon.

Va va voom.

Thankyou <3