The Afflicted: A Zombie Novel (19 page)

“You ok
ay?” she murmured.

“Sorry,” he whispered, “
didn’t mean to wake you. You warm enough?”

She rolled over to him as he lay down beside her, her gown
casually falling open exposing her flesh. Goosebumps scattered down her arms. She moaned and her arm draped across his stomach. He took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. The vodka still hadn’t worn off and he felt a little woozy. Amane fumbled for the opening of his gown and felt her way inside to his warm body. She moaned again and slowly rubbed his stomach. Her hand stroked his skin and began to move downward.

Evan rolled over
so his face was only an inch away from hers. He could feel her warm breath and make out her outline from the glow of the moon. He felt inside her gown and ran his hand down the length of her back. She giggled and he brought his hand across her waist up to her firm breasts. Her hand inside his gown had found what she wanted and was toying with him, gently caressing him as he grew harder. She pulled him closer. Subconsciously, they wanted an escape from the life they had come to know, and hate, side by side, these last few days.

Evan
tenderly stroked her breasts as he kissed her passionately, and Amane, already halfway out of her gown, slipped it off, exposing her whole body to him. Evan looked down at her slender body and long slim legs. She slid over on top of him and pushed his gown back so she could see the full length of his body. She tenderly kissed his neck and chest, taking her time as she slowly wound her way down his taut body. She found his burgeoning erection and eagerly enveloped it with her warm mouth. Evan’s heart beat faster as she moved up and down his length, steadily increasing speed. Releasing him, she sat astride his thighs, grasping his throbbing penis in her hand and Evan looked at her beautiful face smiling back at him.

She whispered something quietly, in Japanese. Her breasts moved up a
nd down gently in the moonlight as she breathed heavily, and their eyes locked together. She guided his hardness into her, gasping when he penetrated her. Her hips rose as he held her waist firmly and he slid in as smooth as silk. They revelled in each other.

Evan
grabbed her hands and their fingers entwined. He sat up, nuzzling her neck, her perfect breasts, fondling her pointed nipples, his tongue tasting her soft skin as he rhythmically glided in and out of her. Tenderly he withdrew, and instinctively, she turned over, clambering onto the bed and lay herself before him. With Evan kneeling between her legs, Amane eagerly spread herself further apart for him. He grabbed her small waist, drawing her closer and his erection briefly teased her, hesitating momentarily, before she reached down to guide him in, encouraging him to enter her. Unable to contain himself any longer, he thrust long and hard inside her. She cried out his name as his substantial penis reached deep inside her. She moaned and whimpered in pleasure as he repeatedly slid himself in and out of her. His hands grabbed her hips roughly so he could control his measured, powerful thrusts.

Evan
became more insistent, urgently slamming himself into Amane, over and over, faster and faster. She encouraged his wild lunges and finally she came. Arching her back, she climaxed, crying out his name. Her knees quivered and her body shuddered in ecstasy as her orgasm washed over her, overwhelming her. Her body trembled and her cries echoed around the room until, unable to control himself anymore, he thrust into her with one final surge and Evan came, deep inside her. Amane felt Evan’s huge erection stay long inside her until slowly, it began to ebb away.

H
e carefully slid out of her and they collapsed onto the bed panting. As they lay side by side, Amane reached for Evan and pulled him closer. She traced her finger over his lips and kissed him ardently.

Evan saw her
heavily flushed chest rising and falling. His eyelids felt heavy now as the two exhausted lovers lay side by side. Before they slept, Amane lifted the duvet and they got into the bed, burying them both in the clean cotton sheets. It was not long before sleep took them both. This time Evan slept a long time, his sleep untarnished by the disturbing dreams that had wracked him so recently.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Evan
woke and instantly new Amane wasn’t next to him. It was dawn and the sunlight was cascading gently around the room. Evan got out of bed, and pulling on his dirty clothes from yesterday, pulled back a curtain, peering out of the window. The sun was barely over the horizon. The sky was filled with billowing, ominous dark clouds. Down on the street below, nothing was moving. There were no birds twittering, not even a wind rustling through the trees. Crucially, he could see no zombies, not one. Amane came out of the bathroom.

“Shame we don’t have any clean clothes to put on
, eh?” She sat on the bed and put on her shoes. “There’s no hot water either I’m afraid. We must have used what little was left in the tank last night.”

Evan rubbed his sleepy eyes and prepared himself for a cold shower.
“Have you looked outside? It’s deserted. We should be able get to the harbour and find the ‘Johanna’ easier than I thought.” He was going to see his children later today if things went as planned. He had to concentrate on his objective and think logically.

“Yeah
. I hate to be the harbinger of doom but it almost looks too good to be true,” replied Amane. She pulled open the last tin of food they had and began eating.

“
I’ll get showered and wake myself up. You can wake the neighbours up if you’re ready?” said Evan trudging off to the bathroom. He was so used to looking out for the group that it felt strange now, just the two of them. He had almost forgotten about Sasha and Rob. The cold water invigorated him and he washed away the cobwebs. Today was the day. He just knew he was going to meet his kids again soon. There was just the small matter of finding a boat and navigating it to Tasmania, easy.

He towelled dry and put his clothes back on. They were starchy and smelly but the
re was nothing he could do about it. This was the new reality.

Back in the bedroom, Evan wo
lfed down a tin of beans whilst Amane slung the backpack over her shoulder and stood up, stretching.

“They’re just getting dressed, should be here in a minute.” She yawned
. It was still early and they needed more than one night’s sleep to make up for the energy they had been using lately. A tin of beans would only get you so far.

“
Amane, last night,” began Evan. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to her.

“
It’s okay, Evan, you don’t have to say anything.” Amane fussed herself with the backpack, fidgeting with it until the adjustable compression straps had clicked together.

The door
opened and Rob and Sasha came in, stopping the conversation in its tracks. Rob was rubbing his neck and frowning.

“How’s your back
, mate? Did you take the floor or the bathtub? I’m thinking I should’ve tried the bath. The floor is bloody hard eh?” he said to Evan.

“
Yeah, yeah, it was really hard.” Rob didn’t notice Evan blush as he stretched his back, pretending it hurt. Amane stifled a smile and said nothing.

“Ready when you are
, guys,” said Sasha. Her hands were cut, blistered and sore, but otherwise, she looked immaculate. Amane didn’t know how she did it, given the circumstances.

“Right,
” said Evan, “if you’re coming with us let’s keep this simple. We go as quickly, but as quietly of course, as we can. We’ll go straight over the road to the harbour. We need to find the ‘Johanna.’ There’s only half a dozen boats out there, so it shouldn’t take us too long. Don’t talk unless you have to, okay?”

He began sliding the furniture
from the doorway.

“
You coming too, then Rob?” said Amane, wishing he wasn’t.

“Hell yeah, and leave you
alone? Two’s company and three’s a crowd. Oh, you know what four is? A party!” He nudged Sasha and winked, as she rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Evan
heard the exchange and silently cursed that Rob was coming with them. Still, he couldn’t exactly tell him not to. As long as he kept quiet and did what he was told, there would be no problem.

Evan
opened the door, inch by inch, careful not to make a sound. The corridor was empty and they trod softly down the stairwell. Nothing stirred when they went down the stairs and into the foyer. Evan and Rob cleared the door, dragging the tables and desks out of the way, whilst Amane and Sasha pulled the large plastic plants to one side. Outside was like a ghost town. Evan stepped out first, into the cold street, drawing in a lungful of fresh air. The sun was still low, looping inauspicious shadows over the street. Litter lined the pavements and ash and dust covered the empty cars.

Evan
opened his mouth to tell them that it was safe, when he stopped. A zombie appeared by the corner of the building between him and the marina. There was an aberrant noise made by something out of sight that was intensifying. The zombie, an old woman, just seemed to stare at Evan, strangely making no effort to move.

Rob pushed past Evan and pulled at the nearest car door
of the row of parked cars outside the building. When it didn’t open, he moved to the next one.

“What are you doing?” said Evan
, quietly.

“Getting us some transport, what do you think?” replied Rob. He pulled at the door to a silver BMW and it snapped open.

“Come on girls!” Rob shouted, grinning madly.

“Stop, you idiot! We don’t need a car, that’ll just attract t
oo much attention. I told you, we can make it on foot from here. Bloody fig-jam,” said Evan, approaching the BMW, annoyed by the posturing bravado displayed by Rob so early on in the day.

“Whatever, pussy,” said Rob, shaking his head and slamming the door shut. The ke
ys were hanging in the ignition and the engine started immediately. He positioned the mirror so he could admire himself; his strong jaw and blue eyes had served him well so far. It wouldn’t be long before he got in Sasha’s pants. Or Amane’s, he thought.

Rob
gawped in disbelief and his daydreams evaporated when a hooded figure rose up from the back seat. A blanket slipped off the figure’s head revealing a young girl. Her dead eyes locked on Rob’s in the mirror and the zombie lunged forward, clawed fingers puncturing his neck as it snapped its rotten teeth into his handsome face.

Rob’s body went rigid
as he fought valiantly against the zombie ripping his throat out. His hands gripped the wheel and his foot slammed down on the accelerator as he screamed. The BMW sped forward quickly, speeding up and bearing down on the entrance to the building. Evan jumped out of the way, hitting the pavement, whilst Amane and Sasha, half-in and half-out of the door, scurried back inside. The BMW smashed through the glass doors and crashed to a halt, embedding itself into the wall. Amane and Sasha got out of the way just in time but were showered with glass fragments.

Evan looked up and saw a
thousand zombies suddenly appear from around the corner and rush headlong toward him.

Evan scrambled through the foyer, crunching glass underfoot
, and picked Amane up.

“You two okay?” he said, looking from one to the other. They nodded and then Sasha screamed.

The driver’s door opened and Rob got out of the car, blood pouring down his neck and chest. He reached out to them, pirouetted, and fell onto the floor, lying still. The hooded girl, who proceeded to tear greedily into the back of Rob’s neck, chewing flesh and tissue, slobbering bright red blood down her face, immediately followed him.

“W
e need a new plan,” whispered Amane, watching in disbelief. Sasha bent over and retched. If she had eaten anything, it would have been all over the floor.

“Back inside, h
urry!” Evan pushed the two girls ahead of him, into the corridor they had just left. The swarming zombies outside broke through the mangled frontage of the building easily, just feet behind the trio running back into the corridor. Evan threw the mannequin leg at them in vain and it was instantly swallowed up by the advancing horde. He was not going to be able to beat a thousand zombies to death with it.

They ran up the stai
rwell, headed toward their room, headed anywhere away from the ghouls chasing them. As they ran up the stairs two at a time, they could hear the footsteps echoing behind them. Evan heard George’s words in his head: ‘It’s harder for them to go up, than down.’

“Keep going up!” he shouted to
Amane at the front. “The room’s a dead-end, we’d be trapped!” They ran for their lives.

* * * *

Seven, eight, nine, ten... Evan counted the floors as they ascended each one. Their pace slowed as they climbed. A lack of decent food and dehydration meant they were running out of energy fast. On the tenth floor, which otherwise looked exactly the same as the others, there was a newly installed fire hose. Evan pulled it and laid it out, curling it across the steps. It wouldn’t stop the following zombies but it might slow them down and buy some valuable time. They had no energy for talking and climbed further when Evan was done.

On the fifteenth floor, they paused, unable to carry on. All three sat down, breathless, listening
. The zombies were slow but still coming.

“One minute,” said Evan
wheezing. He spoke with a rasping voice, his throat sore. Amane and Sasha sat down on the floor, getting their breath back, whilst Evan quickly skirted up and down the corridor. All the rooms were empty. There was no other stairwell or fire escape. He tried the lift but there was nothing installed yet. He pulled apart plywood doors revealing smooth walls and a bottomless pit. There was no other way down. Evan punched a door in frustration.

“
We have to keep going.”

Their brief respite over, they carried on. On the next
floor, Evan was confronted with a ghoulish sight. Lying on the top step was a woman, curled up in a ball, her back to them. She was dressed in a blue skirt, navy stockings, heels, and a blood-soaked white blouse. Evan could see scratch marks on her arms plus deep chunks of skin missing where something had taken several bites out of her.

He stepped over her cautiously and told the others to follow him
quickly. She had a badge still pinned to her front that read:

“Stacy – here to help”

“She must have worked here,” said Amane, peering over Evan’s shoulder. Amane felt guilty but she couldn’t help but be disgusted. The woman’s face had been turned inside out. From the blood on her clothes and the stairs, it looked as if she had died painfully and slowly, probably bleeding to death. Upon closer inspection, Amane could see that Stacey’s head was actually separated from her body. Whatever had killed her had ripped her head off and discarded it.

“Be careful,” said Evan. “
There aren’t any blood trails leading up the stairs. So whatever killed her might still be here.”

Sas
ha shivered, turned, and looked up the stairs. “Look’s clear.”

“Let me go first,” sa
id Evan, and Sasha stepped aside; relieved she didn’t have to go up first. Evan had taken no more than one-step when he heard it: a grumbling sound from above somewhere, getting louder, echoing down the stairwell. Evan heard slow footsteps that slipped and scuffed erratically down the stairs. He took a step back.

“Get
back,” he said.

Amane
and Sasha stepped back into the corridor nervously, as a young man appeared on the stairs in front of Evan. He looked like a builder or tradesman of some sort in scruffy trousers and shirt, once stained with paint, now stained crimson. The zombie was still wearing a yellow hard hat. The man’s face was smeared with blood and when he opened his mouth, he showed off sharp, dark red teeth. The zombie practically threw itself down onto Evan who grabbed it as it fell on top of him and they skidded across the floor. Ignoring the girls’ screams, he pushed it up and off him.

Evan picked it up by the shoulders and rammed the
man into the concrete wall head first. He did it twice more and the hard hat fell off. Evan rammed the head again and again into the wall until he succeeded in breaking the man’s skull. The zombie continued to struggle and its arms caught hold of Evan’s legs. Evan kicked out and the zombie lost its hold of him. He kicked the zombie in the face, feeling its nose break on his foot. The head slammed back down onto the plain concrete floor and Evan knelt down. Grabbing the zombie by the hair, he smashed its head over and over and over until its skull finally caved in, spraying the walls with blood. Brain oozed out of the split skull. Whilst it lay there twitching, Evan stood up and brought his boot down hard on its throat, snapping the zombie’s neck. It lay still.

“Come on, let’s move.” Evan glanced at
Amane and Sasha, cowering in a doorway. The zombie dismantled, they stepped over the putrid corpse and followed Evan up the stairs.

* *
* *

Another few floors up and they r
eached the final level. The doors opened out onto the roof. It was surrounded by scaffolding and tarpaulin blowing in the wind. The air was bitter and foul up here. The breeze blew but only brought them more air full of smoke and burning chemicals. They were exhausted. They had gone up about twenty flights. The zombies were slower but they did not run short of breath; they climbed steadily and surely, aware only that they must keep going. Their muscles did not ache and they had no concept of time. Onward and upward, the dead climbed.