Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella (8 page)

F
inn strode amongst the rubble
. The reeking timbers still gave off tendrils of acrid smoke. The fire had not been so long ago. A day at most—according to Edward.
What the hell had happened here?

Finn stumbled across the first body. A gunshot wound had burrowed into the young man’s chest. “Is this Dominic?”

Minty hurried over, half-tripping on a pile of charred bricks. He looked down at the body and shook his head. “No. That’s Smithy.”

“Who?”

“He’s one of Dominic’s friends.”

Finn frowned. “Would Dominic have a reason to shoot him?”

Minty shrugged. “Not especially.”

Finn ran his hands through a pile of soot and let it flow through his fingers. “What the hell happened here?”

Wonder Mutt circled and took a dump besides a fallen metal staircase.

Katie called out. “There’s another body over here.”

Finn clambered over the rubble to where she was standing. Sure enough, another corpse lay amongst the debris. This body had burned in the fire, unrecognisable. “Is this him, Minty?”

Minty made it over and again shook his head. “No. I can’t tell who it is, but Dominic has a shaved head. This guy has hair—you can see it all matted against his skull.”

Finn nodded. There was indeed a matted crop of black hair fused into the sticky, burned flesh atop the skull. The face was a smooth sheet of seared skin—impossible to tell if the man had been dead before the fire.

“Maybe there was a fight,” said Katie. “Dominic was, what, like a gangster or something?”

“Kind of,” said Minty.

Finn remained silent and continued sifting through the wreckage like a sniffer dog. By the time an hour had passed, he'd found another six bodies. All of them had burned. Minty couldn’t verify one way or another if any of them were Dominic.

“Damn it!” Finn kicked the cracked glass of a ruined vending machine, shattering it completely.

“If he burned to death,” said Katie, “then he got what he deserved. You can stop now.”

“No. I can’t stop without knowing for sure. He might not be here.”

A noise made them turn, made Wonder Mutt bark. He was turning into quite the guard dog.

A length of fragile wood toppled against the wall, tipped over, and broke in half. A scruffy man with tangled dreadlocks stood looking at them. He had his hands above his head. “Oops!”

Finn realised he was pointing the gun at the man, so he lowered it. “Who are you?”

“Just chill, man. I'm Ledley.”

“What are you doing here, Ledley?”

Ledley lowered his arms and let them relax by his side. He kept his distance but dared to take a few steps closer. He stood atop a pallet stacked with melted tins. “You’s looking for the men what did this, yeah?”

“Yes!” said Finn. “Did someone survive? Do you know where they went?”

The man nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then start talking,” said Finn.

Ledley smiled. “Yeah, man, I will, but…”

“But what?”

“Those backpacks look pretty full, and you're even able to take care of a dog—cute by the way. I haven’t eaten in days. A guy on his own can’t get no food. Seems like it all belongs to the mean people of the world now.”

Finn understood what the man was saying. Any remaining food supplies were seized by whoever had the strength and numbers to take it. Someone with a gun, for instance, wielded a lot of power. “I could just shoot you, Ledley. Sorry, but that's the way it is.”

“Yeah, you could, man. Suppose I’m desperate enough to take the risk. Give me a little something to eat and I’ll tell you all I know. Fair deal?”

Finn sighed. “Minty, give him a few tins.”

Ledley’s mouth seemed to water, and he fidgeted anxiously while Minty rooted around in Katie's rucksack. When he handed over the tins and a packet of crisps, Ledley snatched them from him. He looked embarrassed. “Sorry. It’s been a few days, so I've forgotten my manners. Thank you, though. You must be the last kind folks around.”

“You're not kidding,” said Katie

Ledley looked at her. “You had a tough time of it too, miss?”

“Katie, and yes, I certainly have. I met up with Minty and Finn yesterday, and things have finally started looking up. If you can say that with the world about to swallow itself up."

“Well, I'm glad you get to spend the last days with some good people.”

“The only people I’m interested in are the ones who were here two days ago,” said Finn irritably. “Can we focus on that, please?”

Ledley clutched his food like it was a part of him now. He moved over to a pile of rubble and sat on a disembodied shelf that had miraculously survived the inferno. “Of course. I wasn’t lying, I saw them. This was my home for the last month or so. I used to stay at the shelter down the road, but when the big panic started, it kind of fell to pieces. It was a brothel by the time I left—men and women both selling their bodies for whatever they were worth. I know we’re all screwed, but I didn’t want my last weeks to be amongst that, so I wandered about for a while until I found this warehouse. Don’t know what happened to the owners, but they seemed to have taken off. Left me with a warehouse full of munchies and more booze than a man could drink in a lifetime. Considering I’ve been homeless for about six years, it was a fine way to spend the end of the world. Then a bunch of rude boys turn up and claim the place as their own. I was kipping in the offices upstairs at the time, so I made myself scarce and hid beneath a desk.”

“They were here for the booze,” said Finn. “The city is pretty much dry, so alcohol during the last days on earth is about the most valuable thing left.”

Ledley nodded. “True dat. Before the rude boys turned up, I was on the bender to end all benders. It’s why I didn’t make better use of all the food. By the time I sobered up, I hadn’t eaten in days. You don't appreciate what you have till it's gone.”

“So what happened here?” asked Minty. “What happened to Dominic?”

“He the big guy with a bald head and wide shoulders?”

Finn looked at Minty.

Minty nodded. “That's him.”

Ledley sucked at his teeth. “Think it was him what started shooting a gun like it was the Wild West. I snuck out of the office after the shooting started—don’t ask me why—and I looked down from the balcony. Looked like a rival gang or summin’ bowled up, and a turf war broke out. Dunno how it happened exactly, but eventually the place went up in flames. There was an explosion first. I reckon one of the idiots shot the barbeque-gas canisters this place had stacked at the back.”

“You had fuel?” Katie said. “You really did have it all before they came and wrecked it.”

“Yeah. This here was the grandest treasure in the land, ya know. That's why the bad men wanted it. Some t’ings never change. Least the big fella got a bullet for his efforts.”

Finn sighed. So Dominic was dead.

“He still be alive though. I saw two of his boys drag his busted ass out of here.”

Finn stared at the man. “Dominic is alive?”

Ledley nodded. “He took off in that direction. Not much down there except factories, but that’s a’where he went.”

Finn looked off into the distance. The road led into a built-up area with vast factories on either side. Dominic could be anywhere. It was something though. There was still a chance of finding the man.

“You said he had a couple fellas with him?”

Ledley nodded. “Two. Both of ‘em bigger than you. Hope that dog of yours has a mean bite.”

Finn smiled. “Don’t worry about me.” He reached into his backpack and pulled something out. He tossed the bottle of vodka to Ledley. It had been sitting in the evidence room, probably confiscated from a bunch of teenagers back in the normal days. Finn had taken it for the road, but time was short, and he needed to keep his head together. “Enjoy!”

Ledley caught the bottle and turned it over in his hands as if a miracle had created it. “You said alcohol is the most valuable thing in the world, and you’re just giving me a full bottle of vodka?”

Finn shrugged. “You don’t want it?”

“You’d have to kill me to get it back.”

“Then make it last.”

“I’d ask to come with you folks, but I’m guessing I’d have a better time of it if I went the other way.”

“You’d be right,” said Finn. “It was nice meeting you, Ledley. Thanks for the help.”

“And thanks for the liquid gold. You come back this way, I’ll be around.”

Finn nodded and turned to the road. Minty and Katie were soon by his side.

“Another heroic deed for the day,” said Minty.

“I gave a tramp a bottle of vodka. I wouldn’t call that God's work.”

“You sacrificed something of value,” said Katie, “to make someone else happy. Seems pretty heroic to me.”

Finn glared at them both. “Are you two conspiring to annoy me?”

They both laughed. Finn had to turn away to avoid them seeing a smile crack on his own face.

“
D
oes
anyone have a decent guess where Dominic would have gone?” Finn asked as they strolled up the road. He was getting reckless—he should have been keeping to the alleyways and overhangs, but instead he rushed. Who knew how long he had left to accomplish his mission?

The sky remained black above their heads and it was hard to see more than a hundred metres ahead.

“I think I have an idea,” said Katie. She pointed down at a patch of oil on the road. Wonder Mutt sniffed at it with interest.

Finn hurried over but ended up shrugging his shoulders. “An oil slick, so what? I see those everywhere.”

“It’s not oil.”

Finn frowned and squinted at the stain. “No... It’s blood!”

Katie nodded. “Ledley said Dominic got shot, right?”

“He certainly did.” Finn looked along the road until he found another stain and knelt beside it. “It’s a trail. He was bleeding. It’s dry, but he must have stopped to rest somewhere. The fire was yesterday, so he can't have got far.”

“If he isn’t dead already,” said Minty glumly.

“Only one way to find out. Keep your eyes peeled for more blood.”

And so they strolled along in the near-darkness looking for stains on the road. Sure enough, they found that the trail continued. Wonder Mutt even made himself useful by tracking down a few himself. It led down the road for a couple hundred metres before leading up onto a patch of grass and down onto a loading bay for an aluminum sheeting company with a high roof and steel panels over the top windows. The blood trail led right across the pebble car park and up to the shattered front entrance. It was the last factory on the row because the road gave way to a wooded area that likely acted as a green buffer between houses and industry. It made Finn think about Marie and their childhood trips to the forest.

We have picnics in the woods. I don’t want to go to London. Not without you.

Katie put a hand very lightly on Finn's elbow. “Looks like he went inside here.”

Finn clenched his fists, remembering his mission. “And if he’s still here, his life has grown short.”

“Remember your promise,” said Minty, moving in front of the open doorway.

Finn frowned. “What?”

“You promised you wouldn’t kill Dominic.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did! I made you promise you would just hurt him.”

“He murdered my sister! You think I’m going to show the bastard mercy?”

Minty stumbled back under the force of Finn’s anger. He grabbed his wounded collarbone and winced, but kept his eyes on Finn. “You promised.”

Finn stood there, gobsmacked. Was this kid living in fantasy land? Of course he would kill Dominic. What else was he going to do?

“Move out of my way, kid! And keep that bloody mutt with you.” He shoved Minty sideways into the door frame, making him cry out and grab his collarbone again.

“Finn!” Katie called after him. “Just hold on a minute.”

I don’t have time
, he told himself.
The world is ending, and I need to get this done. For Ma. For Marie.

For me.

Before I die, I need to do one bit of good.

But killing a man can’t be good, can it?

Finn glanced back over his shoulder and was glad to see that Katie and Minty remained outside. He didn’t want them getting in his way. Katie tended to Minty as he slumped against the doorway. Finn hadn’t meant to shove the kid so hard, but there was no point worrying about it now.

The front of the building housed offices and a reception room. Finn searched until he found a dark red blotch on the navy carpet. Dominic had been here—might still be here. Finn tightened his grip on his gun.
Would Dominic also be armed?

Probably
.

Maybe Finn wouldn’t make it out of this building alive. As long as he took Dominic down, he could die in peace.

Two other guys to take care of first though.

Now that his goal was within touching distance, Finn regained his caution. He slunk back against the wall and kept low, his gun in front of him and held with both hands. He reached the end of the hallway and—

Dominic could already be gone, or dead.

I could leave now and go home to Ma and Clive.

No. Not until this is done.

—faced a door reading: EMPLOYEES ONLY. He took the handle and turned it. The lock was magnetic, and with the power off it had disengaged. As soon as he entered the following room he heard talking. Rows of monstrous machinery stood before him, inactive like sleeping giants. A huge spool of metal wire sat directly front of Finn, which was why he remained hidden from whoever held a discussion nearby. The voices were heated, one of them punctuated by grunts of pain.

“We need to get… back,” said the person in pain. “God knows what’s happening at the Hobby with me gone.”

Finn moved into a crouch behind the giant spool of wire.
Dominic. It had to be.

“I ain’t arguing, Dom, but your leg is fucked. I reckon we should go get the boys and come back for you. We can try to bring a motor.”

“Nobody is fucking going anywhere without me. Those fucking Beverly Brothers think they can try to take me out? Everyone at the Hobby is probably dead, but I’ll be damned if I let another firm take over my turf. My leg's fucking fine. We’re going to walk out of here and kill any fucker stupid enough to get in our way.”

“All right, boss. I still think you should rest another day though, or let us go get help.”

“I’ve sat around long enough.
Fuck!
”

Finn listened as Dominic attempted to move.

So another gang had made a move on him? That was what had happened back at Latif’s. He was injured and weak.

Prey
.

Just have to take care of his back up first.

Finn edged along behind the spool of wire until he could peek around the edge safely. He took a glimpse, then pulled his head back quickly. The brief view gave him what he needed to see. All three men had handguns. Dominic was limping on a bandaged leg but seemed alert and ready for action.

Finn was outnumbered and outgunned. If he tried to hit them in the open warehouse, they would combine their arms and riddle him with bullets. He needed a plan.

He slunk back out into the office hallway and ran right into Katie. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” he hissed.

“Is Dominic here?” she whispered.

“Yes, and he has backup. I need a plan because I won’t die before I kill that bastard first.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. I just wanted to check on you. I—”

Voices rang out nearby. Dominic and his guys were heading for the door Finn had just exited through.

“Shit, we need to move.” He grabbed Katie by the arm and pulled her along, shoving out at the first door he passed. It was locked.

The voices were full-volume now. Dominic was about to come through the door at the end of the corridor and he'd spot them at once as they floundered in the middle of the hallway.

Finn tried the next door. Locked.

The door at the end of the hallway opened.

Finn tried another door.

It swung open.

He grabbed Katie and threw her inside, closing the door quickly behind them. Katie’s eyes were wide with panic.

Finn clutched his gun against his chest and backed up beside the door. “It’s okay. Stay calm. I don’t think they saw us.”

“Did you see that?” one of the voices asked. “I swear someone went into that office.”

Shit!

“Well, go check it out, you muppet,” came Dominic's voice.

Finn glanced around the room and was dismayed to discover it was a small office with a single desk. The foot-pass was hollow and offered nowhere to hide. The only furniture in the room was waist-high. Screwed. Katie knew it too because she stood rooted to the spot.

Finn pointed to the corner of the room with his gun. “Get down. I’ll handle this.”

“No. No.” Katie was clutching her head and rocking back and forth. She was losing it.

“What are you doing? Get the fuck down.”

Footsteps approached. Stopped outside the door.

Katie stared at Finn with massive, scared eyes. She nodded her head erratically as if encouraging herself. “They’ll kill you and take me. They'll kill you and take me. I won’t be a plaything for another monster. You rescued me once, Finn. I know you can do it again. You'll do it again.”

Before Finn could understand what was happening, Katie spun around and opened the door. She slid out and closed right behind her just as Dominic’s man was about to open it.

Finn gripped his gun tightly, ready to shoot as soon as someone came inside. But nobody did.

“I wasn't snooping around,” said Katie in a terrified voice. “I was only looking for food. Can you spare any?”

There was a moment of silence in the hallway outside, probably while the three men tried to recover from the shock of finding a random woman.

“Hey, sweetheart,” said Dominic finally, the pain in his voice momentarily replaced by lasciviousness. “We have plenty of food back at our gaff. Once we get there, I’ll make sure to fill your gob nice and tight.”

The three men laughed. Katie chuckled too, although she sounded close to madness. “I’ll do anything. I promise.”

What was she doing?

Then Finn realised it. If Dominic’s man had entered the room, Katie and Finn would probably both be dead. At least this way, Finn was still a player in the game.

He could rescue her.
I know you can do it again.

What about Minty though? Was he hiding? If Dominic found him, he would demand to know why he was here, and who had let him out of that room.

Finn didn’t know what to do, and that was why he remained hidden inside the small office until the sound of Dominic and the others faded away. Only then did he step back out into the hallway. He felt lost.

Now his mission wasn't just about killing a man. It was about saving a woman.