Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (13 page)

Chapter Eleven

The alarm woke everyone.

Nick leapt to his feet in an instant.  His heart
beat like the footsteps of a thousand sprinters.  He spun around on the
spot, disorientated and confused.

“What’s happening?” Eve cried out from the floor.

“I don’t know.  Something tripped the
alarms.”  Nick grabbed his coat up of the floor and put it on quickly.

“But I thought Dash turned them off,” said Pauline,
hurrying to her feet along with Eve.

Nick looked over and saw that Dash, Jan, and Renee were
still huddled in the corner by the doors.  They seemed just as confused as
everybody else.  But that didn’t mean they knew nothing.  He marched
over to the prisoners and pointed his finger at them.  “Did you do this?”

Dash shook his head.  “Do what, man?  Why
would we set off the alarms?”

“I can’t imagine why you do most of the things you
do.  Why is it going off again?  I thought you disconnected it?”

“Nah, man.  I just smashed up the console and shut
off the intruder alert.  The alarm is still intact.  I just cut the
link between the broken window and the siren.  It was an ancient piece of
shit.  Piece of cake.”

Nick shook his head in despair.  “So what set it
off again?”

Dave came storming out of the ‘STAFF ONLY’ door,
shouting and cursing.  “What’s going on?  Why is the alarm going off
again?  And why is all the power off?”

“There’s your answer,” Dash said to Nick.  “If the
power went out then the security system probably went over to a battery system
or something.  It tripped the alarm all over again.”

“So what do we do?” Nick demanded.

“Disconnect the battery power and the whole system will
be dead.”

“Well, we need to do it quickly before any infected
people find their way to us.”

“Nick?”  Eve tapped him on the shoulder. 

“Not now, Eve.”

“Nick!”

He shot her an irritated glance.  “What?”

“I think that ship might have sailed.”

Nick spun around to see what she was talking
about.  It soon became very clear. 

Standing at the many windows of the café, peering in
with their bloodshot, swollen eyes were dozens and dozens of infected people.

Carl shook his head frantically.  “We…are…screwed.”

All at once, the infected mob burst in through the
windows.  Their bodies hit the ground clumsily, embedding themselves with
shards of glass.  But they got back to their feet quickly. 

It felt like the room was closing in. 

“Everybody get out of here!” Nick screamed at the top of
his lungs.  “Run for it.”

Everybody bolted, but there was no way out of the
restaurant – all the doors and windows were blocked by the infected – so they
made instinctively for the only barrier they could find: the fast food service
counter. 

“Into the kitchen,” yelled Carl.  “There’s a fire
exit at the back.”

The infected screeched as they gave chase, clambering up
and over the counter in a flood of limbs.  Nick and the others rounded the
L-shaped corridor of the kitchen and wasted no time in gathering up against the
fire exit that Carl had promised them was there.  Jan leapt into the air
and kicked the push-bar that crossed the door’s centre and it flew open with a
clatter.  The air rushed in from outside; it was crisp and cold.

“Everyone outside,” Dave ordered.

Jan stood in the doorway, holding it open and ushering
everyone out.  Nick waited whilst the women funnelled through, ready to
shoot out right after them. 

But it was then that he realised someone was missing.

“Shit!” he said.  “I have to go get Margaret. 
She’ll still be in the staffroom.”

“Leave her,” Dave said.  “You’ve got no way to
reach her.”

Nick stood still, tempted to fight his way back through
the kitchen and into the restaurant.  But the infected were
everywhere.  In fact, they were rounding the corner right now and closing
in on the fire exit.

Jan grabbed a hold of Nick and pulled him through the
doorway.  Dave immediately slammed the door shut behind them.  The
infected mob clattered against the other side, beating at it furiously.

It had been close, but they had all made it out, with
only milliseconds to spare.  Nick let his shoulders drop as he looked back
at the locked door. 
Everyone except Margaret.  We left the poor
woman to die.

I’m sorry. 

Everyone was huddled at the back of the steep hill,
behind the café.  They were currently hidden from the car park, and from
the lethal monsters that were loitering there.

“We have to go,” said Dave, “before they realise that
we’re back here.”

Nick shook his head.  “We can’t just leave Margaret
behind.  She might still be alive in there.”

Dave shrugged.  “You do whatever you have to, but
the rest of us are getting out of here.”

Eve gave Nick a pleading look.  “We have to get out
of here before they find us.  You can’t help her.”

“You go with everyone else,” he told her.  “I’ll
catch up with you.”

Eve shook her head vigorously.  “No way.  You
have to come with us.”

“I will.  Just get going.”  She went to argue
with him but he didn’t let her.  “Just go!”

Everyone clambered up the hill, struggling through the
undergrowth and heading back towards the woods they’d arrived from
yesterday.  Nick watched them go, but was surprised to see that Jan was
still standing there beside him.

“What the hell are you doing?  Get out of here.”

“I figured you could use a hand.”

“I don’t want your help.”

“Well, maybe the old dear inside does.  You selfish
enough to turn me away when a woman’s life is at stake?”

Nick huffed.  “Fine, let’s just do this.”

He pressed his back against the building.  There
was no way inside the fire exit, but he knew that the staffroom had a
window.  If he could find it, he might be able to get Margaret out.

Jan followed Nick as he moved cautiously around the
building.  The keening pitch of the security alarm was deafening, which
made it impossible to hear what was around the next corner.

I could be walking right into a whole bunch of them.

He stopped at the edge of the building’s rear wall and
prepared himself to peek around the corner.

“Be careful,” said Jan.  “Those things see you and
they come at you like heat-seeking missiles.”

“I know.  I’ve seen enough of them.”

Slowly, inch-by-inch, he leaned around the corner,
searching for the nearest threat.  He soon pulled his head back and
cursed.  “Damn it!  There must be at least a dozen of them around
there.”

Jan scratched his beard.  “I have an idea.”

Nick sighed.  “What?”

Jan looked upwards at the building’s roof.  “It’s a
single story.  With a boost I should be able to get up there; create a
distraction for you.”

“But, then, how do you get down again without them
getting you?”

He shrugged.  “One thing at a time, brother. 
You in?”

Nick thought about it and then nodded.
 “Okay.  Let’s do it.”  He threaded his fingers together and
made a platform for Jan to step on, before hoisting the large man
upwards.  “Jesus Christ, you weigh the same as an elephant.”

  Jan dangled for a second and then heaved himself
up in a finely executed pull-up.  At the top, he straightened up and
brushed the dust from his knees.  “Only two things to do in prison,” he
said, looking down at Nick from the roof.  “Educate one’s mind and
exercise one’s body.  You ready?  I’ll try and get them to follow me
around to the other end of the building so that you can get the old dear free
and clear.”

Nick nodded, but kept a serious look on his face. 
“You know we’re still going to have that conversation about what happened to
Cassie?”

“Looking forward it,” said Jan as he raced off to the
opposite side of the roof.

Nick waited and listened for the distraction.

“COME ON, YOU STINKING ARSEHOLES.  COME GET IT!”

Nick decided that was his cue.  He peeked back
around the corner to see that the infected gathered there had turned around and
were now racing to the other side of the building.  The coast was clear.

He hurried around the next wall, peering inside each
window as he passed.  After looking into the kitchen, and then into the
manager’s office, he found the window that led to the staffroom. 

There was no sign of Margaret.

Damn it.

He tapped on the glass lightly.  “Margaret! 
Margaret, are you in there?”

She appeared from her hiding place behind the room’s
sofa and Nick sighed relief.  She trotted up to the window and seemed glad
to see him.

“They’re inside,” she said to him through the
glass.  “I can hear them.”

“I know.  Just open the window and I’ll get you out
of here.”

The old lady was white as a sheet, but she did as she
was told.  She fiddled with the window latch and managed to get her
gnarled fingertips beneath the window frame.  She slid it upwards.

Nick put his arms out to her.  “Come on, let’s get
you out of here.”

It was clearly a struggle for Margaret to get herself up
and over the window ledge but, given the gravity of the situation, she managed
to bundle herself over into his waiting arms.  He set her down on the
ground and examined her.  She seemed okay. 

Jan continued to heckle the infected from the
rooftop.  The coast was still clear.

Nick grabbed Margaret’s arm and hurried her around to
the back of the building.  It was still clear of infected, although he
could hear them banging on the fire escape from inside the kitchen.  Not
wanting to stick around, he headed for the woods at the base of the hill and
slid between the trees. 

When they were sufficiently away from the café and the
car park, Nick brought them both to a stop to catch their breath.

Jan was still shouting and cajoling from the rooftops
and keeping the danger contained to the front of the restaurant. Nick wasn’t
sure he would’ve gotten Margaret out without the prisoner’s help, but after
what Jan may have done to Cassie last night, he still considered just leaving
him there to meet his fate.  It would have been wrong, though.  Jan
had helped rescue Margaret.  They owed him now.

He placed a hand on Margaret’s shoulder.  “I need
to find a way to get Jan off the roof in one piece.  Can you wait here?”

“Of course, just make sure you come back in one piece.”

Nick patted her shoulder gently and then headed back
through the trees.  The building came back into view quickly.  He
could still see Jan standing on top of the roof, waving his meaty arms above
his head and hollering at the baying mob below.  Jan probably didn’t even
know that Nick and Margaret had gotten clear.

With the alarm still wailing, Nick could think of no
subtle way to get the other man’s attention, so he just put two fingers in his
mouth and wolf-whistled.  Luckily, Jan heard it and turned around.

Nick crouched in the bushes and waved.  Jan gave
him a thumbs-up, along with a questioning look.  Nick gave a thumbs-up
back to let him know that Margaret was safe.

Now we just have to find a way to get you down from
there.

Jan shrugged and peered around the roof.  The
expression on his face was an obvious,
now what?
  Nick had to admit
to himself that he had no clue.  Getting the man off the roof safely was
not going to be easy.

He crept forward out of the bushes and headed back to
the rear of the building.  He thought about climbing onto the roof and
joining Jan up there, but there was no way he could make it up on his
own.  The only way he could help Jan get down was if he distracted the mob
of infected people the same way Jan had for him.

But how do I do that and not die?

He headed around the side of the building, back to the
open staffroom window.  He checked to see that no infected people had
found their way inside and then climbed through.

The only weapon inside was an abandoned umbrella propped
up beside a dusty television.  It was not even worth taking.  He
would have to remain unarmed. 

Great!  Maybe I can box my way out of this.

The alarm was muffled from inside the staffroom and Nick
could just about make out the shuffling of infected people in the corridor
beyond.  It was apparent that if he opened the door, he would be
face-to-face with a whole bunch of them.

So what the hell do I do?

Suddenly, he had an idea. 

He looked up at the suspended ceiling.

Maybe if I can get up there…

Nick hopped up on the sofa and balanced on the
backrest.  From there he was able to reach up and push against one of the
ceiling tiles.  It was made of fragile fibreboard and was light enough to push
aside with just one hand.  The tiles would not be strong enough to hold
his weight, but the metal railings holding them in place might be. 

Either that or I’ll fall to my death.

He leapt up and grabbed at one of the rails.  It
bent beneath his weight but held firm after a couple of inches.  Kicking
at the wall for leverage, he managed to clamber his way up into the ceiling
space.  Fortunately, the staffroom and offices were made from cheap
partition walls and the space above allowed unrestricted access from one end of
the building to the other.

It was a struggle to move along the railings, and the
exertion quickly made him huff and puff, but he kept going.  Inch by inch,
he shuffled through the crawlspace.

After several feet, he pulled aside a tile and peeked
through the gap.  In the corridor below were half a dozen infected
people.  They milled about like birds searching for insects, all twitchy
movements and sudden flinches.  They barely even resembled human beings
any more.