As the Light Dies (50 page)

“NO!”
he said
.
“Back up. Back up!”
he said diverting them back up towards the main deck.

“Holy shit!”
said Ken seeing the silhouettes coming up behind Steve, they heard him and instantly picked up their pace. Steve wanted so much to grab Ken by his collar and scream at him to shut the fuck up but luckily for Ken there was no time. Instead he ignored him and kept on running full pelt praying he did
n’
t run in to anything.

They ran along the deck towards the base of the accommodation module, they heard the two groups join up behind them, the strange calls intensified like they were shouting at each other.

Steve and the others darted behind some wooden crates. Steve looked back across the deck trying to see if the rabid figures were locked on to them. At first he did
n’
t see anything through the ashy fog.... When he did he saw that they were coming straight for them.

Before he even had time to mutter a curse to himself, Ken blurted
,
“OH, GOD! OH GOD, THEY’VE SEEN US. THEY’RE COMING!”

“Ken! Shut you’re fucking mouth,”
snapped Katie
.“
We ca
n’
t hide with you shouting out all the time
!”
she said saving Steve the job. They jumped up again and legged it further along the base of the accommodation module. Steve had
n’
t a clue what to do next. The rig was overrun!

They ran through the ash dodging obstacles at the last second hidden in the ash until Steve came to a shuddering stop
.“
What the hell...
.”
started Ken and was cut short by Steve who just needed to look at him. Then he pointed forwards and Ken saw three horribly mauled figures doing horrible things to a fresh victim just ahead of them. He clamped his mouth shut and had to try his best to swallow another cough. He watched mesmerised as they stretched and tore the scalp away from a blonde woma
n’
s forehead using her long blonde hair for leverage to expose the fractured skull beneath. Bile rose up his throat and he felt weak and dizzy. There was a fire extinguisher beside them, blood and flesh clung to its base. Katie saw it too
.
They’re not stupi
d
, she thought, and asked
,“
What do we do now
?
”

Steve was looking all over for a way out of their situation when Ken surprised them both and said
,“
UP
!”
and he started to climb up over the safety barrier along their walkway and grabbed on to the bottom edge of the walkway above them that they could see was clear and started climbing.

Steve was shocked that Ken had actually come up with something useful, he gave Katie a foot up behind Ken, then followed. They climbed as fast and as quietly they could. The frantic feral group chasing them were there in a second and mistook the group of three feasting figures for them instead, and ran right by Stev
e’
s dangling legs as he struggled to pull himself clear.

Steve pulled his legs up and rolled away from the edge and Katie helped him on to his feet. He nodded his thanks at her and held a finger over his lips for Ke
n’
s benefit. He nodded. They stood in place for a minute and watched as just below them dozens of figures fought over the dead woman. They were
n’
t kind to each other. Seven or eight of them were knocked over the safety barrier in to the sea while others were pulled to pieces in the frenzy to get at the dead woma
n’
s flesh.

It was an unbelievable sight both sickening and terrifying to watch. The sheer ferocity of their attacks was horrific, even against each other, but Steve noted that they did
n’
t actually bite each other in their attacks. He looked around and suddenly realised where they were.

God, why the hell didn’t I think to come here first
,
he thought.

He shot an excited glance at Katie
.“
What
?”
she mimed shrugging her shoulders.

He leaned towards her and whispered
,“
I think w
e’
re near the lifeboats
!
”

Kati
e’
s eyebro
w’
s rose and Ke
n’
s eyes nearly popped out on stalks.

“
You thinking what I am
?”
said Steve grinning.

Katie nodded and said
,“
Sure am
.
”

They started walking along the walkway being careful not to draw any unwanted attention to themselves, they did
n’
t know if they could climb and the sight of the bloody fire extinguisher by the dead woman was evidence enough that they were thinkers despite their lack of vocal ability.

The sounds rising up through the grating were sickening, each of them could easily imagine what the sounds were as the poor woman was consumed just feet below them. Ken could
n’
t help himself imagining himself pulling the skin off a roast chicken for Sunday dinner, that was at first, before his imagination turned things around and showed him bony black jittery hands pulling and tearing skin from someon
e’
s genitals, peeling back the stretchy skin revealing fresh pink tissue beneath. He felt queasy and faint. He tried to think about riding his motorbike to get rid of the images but it only half worked, one second he was revving the guts out of his bike, the next he was holding pieces of raw flesh in his hands, human flesh.

Steve kept on seeing those first figures h
e’
d seen when the transformers blew as one man devoured another ma
n’
s genital area while another turned their victi
m’
s brain in to mulch
.
And they’d still been aliv
e
, he remembered
,
still alive while two former colleagues did that to him
.
A shiver ran down his spine and he tried to focus his mind on finding the lifeboats and getting home, getting back to his family, his urge to protect them was overwhelming. All of a sudden Ken coughed violently coughing up big globules of phlegm that flew from his mouth and caught on the steel railing where it clung on. It was enough to get Steve gagging. The figures below heard and looked up, they saw them and started belching out their morbid calls as they reached up managing to poke their fingers through the grating they stood on. The sight of them all reaching up as if to catch them with their mouths wide open, eager to taste them made Steve weak at the knees for a moment, he felt like h
e
wa
s
falling in to them as they waited for him with open arms.

“FUCKING HELL, KEN!”
he yelled staring at him.

“I’
m sorry, I could
n’
t hel...
.”
he burst out coughing again before he could finish and doubled over
.“C’
mon
,”
said Steve and he started along the platform as hundreds of mangled black fingers reached up through the steel gating like black coral searching for its prey. Human prey.

Steve led as the infected climbed over each other beneath them trying to reach up through the grating for them.

“
OH GOD
!”
said Ken.

“
For fuck sake Ken
!”
Steve snapped glaring at him close to losing it with him.

“
Ok. Ok
I’
m sorry
,”
he said as Katie called out
,“
Steve! The
y’
r
e
climbin
g
over each other, and some of them are reaching around the edge of the walkway
.
LOOK!”

Steve glanced back and saw what she meant
.“
Did
n’
t take them long to work that out did it
?”
he said
,“C’
mon keep moving
.
”

He led on walking briskly along the platform until they came to a corner that turned around the side of the rig. Steve peeked around checking the way was clear before leading on, while the group of infected underneath them followed their every move. The group was growing all the time as other infected people from across the rig heard the calls and followed. Katie looked back as she turned the corner and saw the first of them clamber up on to their walkway just like they had.

“
The
y’
ve started coming over
,”
she called.

“
Ok,
c’
mon
,”
said Steve upping the pace, he did
n’
t want to run too fast in case they ran headlong into another group and could
n’
t stop in time, so they jogged, faster than a brisk walk, slower than a run. Steve was ready to fight knowing that their chances of going back were disappearing fast. They carried on for what felt like forever to Ken and Steve was beginning to wonder if he was right about the lifeboats after all when a large black form appeared through the ash ahead of them against the side of the rig. They were on it in seconds before they could do anything about it.

Katie gasped and reached out to grab Steve as Ken tripped and stumbled unable to skid on the grating, and as they came up to it the form turned out to be an open door.

“God!”
Katie sighed with a nervous chuckle and Steve looked inside. The door gave on to a corridor lined on either side by staff bunks. They only glimpsed down the corridor as they passed checking that the mouth of the corridor was clear for them to pass and that no infected people were about to jump out at them, they did
n’
t have time for anything else but it was clear that someone was trapped inside one of the bunks. Dark figures pounded against one of the doors down the other end moaning and gurgling! Steve urged them onwards
.“
We ca
n’
t stop
,”
he said as a woman cried out from down the hall. He glanced at the other two nodded in the direction they were headed and pushed on.

Katie felt horrible as she hurried along after Steve, she could
n’
t believe that she was leaving someone behind: a woman. It did
n’
t matter if it was a man or a woman, the fact was that she knew it was a woman and that she was trapped behind a door screaming and sh
e’
d left her behind.

Steve did
n’
t think about it, he could
n’
t, before he could help anyone else he had to help himself and the other two. He had to be safe before he could save anyone else and right no
w
non
e
of them were safe. His eyes hurt trying to see through the ash, it was gritty and the wind was cold and dried them out. He strained hard but could
n’
t see anything further than a couple of feet ahead, all there was to see was a wall of ash in all directions until without warning he did see something.

“YES!”
he said slowing down quickly, the others saw as well and relief flowed over them.

They were right next to a row of freefall lifeboats suspended from the side of the rig right beside them, they were almost completely hidden by the ash and Steve knew that if they had
n’
t been looking for them the
y’
d have most likely passed right by them.

There were six of the big orange fiberglass capsules in the line with a thick layer of ash lying over them. Steve ran to the closest one, the
y’
d passed two or three already before they knew where they were. He climbed up to its hatch practically jumping to the top of the ladder in one go and he spun the hatch open
.“C’
mon guys
,”
he said dropping back down to help them up. Katie went first climbing quickly but she hesitated at the top
.
“What’s wrong?”
said Steve.

Katie leaned back on the entry ladder and stuck her head inside
.“
Just checking
,”
she said, and then she jumped in. Steve sighed nervously as Ken dropped in right behind her chomping at the bit to get inside, half a second later and he would have been pushing her in. Steve followed and stole a glance back before he closed the hatch.

The walkway they had just come along was alive with a bunch of murderous fingers poking up through the grid repeatedly clutching over and over again and they called out their awkward gurgle louder than ever as if they knew they were about to lose them. He looked back down the walkway thinking about the screaming woman wondering if he could risk it now they had somewhere to run to. But then through the swirling black snow somewhere along the platform he heard footfalls slapping against the grating, getting louder, closer! H
e’
d seen enough, he dropped down inside the big orange capsule slammed the hatch and locked it tight....