The Alpha Plague 3 (17 page)

Larissa dropped her head but didn’t reply. Her dark bob fell forward and swayed with her quick steps.

“He listened when I talked about Flynn and he always wanted me to see him when I drove past his school in the morning.”

Larissa flicked her head up and looked at him, her green eyes wide as she said, “You drove past his school?”

“Every day.”

“Why?”

Rhys coughed several times and swallowed against the burn in his throat. “I just wanted to see him. An occasional glance at my boy would be enough to keep me going.”

For a moment Larissa didn’t respond. A deep inhale and she finally turned back and looked at Rhys. A softness sat in her emerald eyes that he hadn’t seen from her in a long time. The tight resentment that pulled crow’s feet to her temples had vanished. “I’m sorry. I’ve put you through a lot of shit and deprived Flynn of the opportunity to have a dad in his life who loves him. I just felt so angry.”

It felt natural to reach across so Rhys grabbed Larissa’s warm hand as they walked. A wall of ice had separated the pair for years. In that moment it melted and took Rhys back to a different time
,
a time when they were happy. The memory of one particular day flooded his mind. “Do you remember when you were pregnant with Flynn?”

Although she didn’t look at him Larissa nodded. “Of
course
.”

“Do you remember that day in April? It was super hot and we went to the park for a walk and to buy ice cream.”

When he looked at her Rhys saw the slightest smile on Larissa’s face. “Yeah I do. I was like a beached whale then and the heat killed me. But I remember we lay on the grass and talked about the future.”

The memory of that day had run through Rhys’ head again and again. “It all seemed so simple then. So perfect. So fucking
hopeful
. We would be the best parents and raise our child to be a genius and a well-balanced individual.” The sadness he usually felt when he talked about Flynn welled up inside of him.
 

“And
I
stopped that happening.”

Rhys frowned and looked across at her. “Huh?”

“Regardless of what went on between us … of how much you fucked up, Flynn still needed his dad in his life and
I
stood in the way of that.”

The fast walk and warm evening made Rhys’ palm sweat, but he kept a hold of Larissa’s hand and squeezed it. “And I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
 

The mention of what he’d done seemed to stir up fire in Larissa who frowned again before she visibly let it go. “It’s in the past. How about we draw a line under it? We’re going to need each other now.”
 

Before Rhys could respond she said, “We never let Flynn forget who his Daddy was. Or should I say, Clive never let Flynn forget. Other than the photo by his bedside Clive would talk about you to Flynn
all
the time. He believed a boy should see his father as a superhero regardless of what had happened. He felt that Flynn should be allowed to make the choice, not us. I even fought Clive about it sometimes. I was hurting so bad and I hated hearing your name. But he always stood up for you even though he knew I’d never feel the way for him that I did for you.”

Rhys gasped.
Did she just … ?

“And you know what?” When she looked at him her eyes were glazed with tears. “Flynn’s still young enough to think that of you.”

Their dark surroundings became even harder for Rhys to see through his tears. He swallowed several times against the burn in his throat and said, “Things
will
be different now, I promise. I’ll be there for Flynn and we’ll get him back.” Rhys thought about the kiss with Vicky. Sure she was hot, but it couldn’t be any more than a kiss. Flynn didn’t need to see his dad with another woman, even if he didn’t plan on a relationship with Larissa.

The conversation had taken Rhys’ attention away from the noises behind. When he tuned into them they sounded twice as loud as before. After a look over his shoulder he squeezed Larissa’s hand again. “Come on. We need to speed up.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

About an hour ago

A loud
bang
coincided with a huge jolt that snapped through the steering wheel and up Vicky’s arms. She hadn’t seen the diseased until that moment. It had come at them from the dark to their right. Flynn screamed next to her, his voice so shrill it hurt her ears. Driven by instinct more than conscious thought Vicky moved to one side as the body of the thing flew over the bonnet. It connected with the windscreen with a wet
crunch
and cracks spread away from the point of impact on the glass. When Vicky looked in her rear view mirror—short of breath from the shock—she saw the broken body of the diseased land on the hard road behind the car like a rag doll.
 

The sound of Flynn’s rapid breaths next to her made Vicky turn to the boy. When she reached across to hold his arm he flinched and withdrew from her touch. “It’s okay, Flynn, they’re diseased, we can’t think of them as people anymore.” Another glance behind and she lowered her voice as she loosened her vice-like grip on the steering wheel. “We can’t afford to.”

Flynn shook and shivered. Panic still had a tight hold on him and he seemed unable to hear Vicky’s words. As a way to get through to him she drew a deep and loud breath, which swelled her stomach. She then exhaled slowly.
 

After she’d done it several times she noticed Flynn’s breaths had also slowed a little. Another glance across and she saw how the car’s dim interior lights glistened off his sweaty face. Wide-eyed and pale the boy looked like he’d calmed down slightly, but he still stared ahead as if lost in shock.

When her own heart settled Vicky checked behind again.

Bright headlights suddenly popped from the darkness and filled the rear view mirror. Vicky swerved in the road and a loud
thud
ran through the car as she mounted the curb. The shock jolted the wheel again and it stung her wrists. She wrestled the car off the pavement with another
clunk.
 

The lights had come from nowhere. One minute she saw the diseased, broken as it lay on the road, the next, full beams stung her eyes.
 

Flynn looked over his shoulder out of the back window. “Who’s
that
?”

“I would imagine it’s the man who was following us earlier.”

“The zombie man?”

Vicky squinted as she looked into the rear view mirror again. He’d left his full beam on. It took a few deep breaths before her heart had settled enough for her to reply. “Yeah.”
 

They’d now completely left the area that surrounded Summit City and had entered one of the first suburbs closest to it. Every house, although detached and big enough to have at least four bedrooms, looked the same as the next one. No personality whatsoever, the place looked like it belonged on an American television show about bored housewives. At least they’d gotten off the straight road that led away from Summit City. It would be easier to lose a tail in the tight streets.

Despite hitting the curb the car still drove straight and everything held together
…
for the time being at least. Another glance behind and Vicky looked at the boy next to her again. “It’s going to be a wild ride from now on. I need you to hold on and be brave.”

Vicky saw him nod in her peripheral vision as she looked ahead again and put her foot down. She reached up and switched the mirror to anti-glare as she pressed the accelerator even harder.
 

The diluted version of Brendan’s headlights remained on her tail. If anything they got closer.
 

All four wheels screeched when Vicky threw the car through a chicane. Flynn hit the passenger door with a
whack.
Without a child safety seat the seatbelt would prove ineffective should they crash and it could kill the boy. She couldn’t think of that. If they didn’t get away from Brendan he
would
kill them. Another check behind showed Brendan as close as ever
,
so close in fact, she couldn’t see the bottom of his headlights anymore.

When they passed beneath a streetlight, Vicky looked behind to see the car Brendan had taken. Some kind of sports car; it was red, loud, and unmistakably fast. No way could they outrun him. They’d have to outsmart him.

A glance down at the speedometer and it showed eighty
-
three miles per hour. The picket fences and driveways flashed past on either side and she could see Flynn as he sat tense and gripped onto his seat.
 

Their car jolted forward with a
crunch
as the sports car rear-ended them. Vicky looked to see Brendan as he leaned close to his windscreen. Wild-eyed; his teeth showed from where he clenched his jaw. This would only end when one of them was dead.
 

The road forked up ahead so Vicky eased off. Not much, just by a few miles per hour so she could draw Brendan in closer. He nudged the back of their car again.
 

Just before he crashed into them for a third time Vicky threw the car left at the last moment. Again, all of the wheels shrieked and the car slid. When she looked across to the right she saw Brendan fly off in the other direction. His brake lights punched through the darkness a second later.
 

The mazy estate had plenty of turns so Vicky took one after the other. The muscles in her arms ached as she negotiated the rat run at high speed. The more complex she could make the route the more likely Brendan would never find them.

When she turned down a dead end road Vicky raced to the end of it, turned the car around, and parked up in a line of other stationary vehicles.

With the engine off she listened to Flynn on the verge of a panic attack. Vicky unclipped his seatbelt and pulled him over so he could sit on her lap. The poor kid shook and cried in her arms. Vicky rocked him back and forth and kissed the back of his head. The sweaty child smelled sweet like a biscuit. “There there
.
It’s okay, Flynn. Everything’s going to be okay. We’ve lost the horrible man now.” The boy’s breaths slowed down a little.

About a minute later Brendan’s sports car shot straight past the end of the road.

Not that anyone would hear them but Vicky spoke in a whisper anyway. “We’ll sit here for a short while. We need to wait for the horrible man to be long gone.”

***

When the clock in the car’s dashboard clicked onto ten forty-five Vicky lifted Flynn back into his seat. Ten minutes had passed since Brendan had shot across the end of their road. “Strap up. We’ve left it long enough now. Let’s go.”

Vicky started the engine and turned the lights on. She pulled out and drove up to the end of the road. When Brendan had shot past his car had headed left, so she turned right. Although residential the huge wide roads allowed her to put her foot down again and the car picked up to sixty miles per hour with ease. Other than a slight wobble in the steering wheel the car showed no signs of damage from where she’d curbed it.
 

As she tore through the streets Vicky couldn’t help but notice the darkness of all of the houses. The occasional streetlight remained on but most of them had been switched off too. Although the estate seemed abandoned, a power cut had to be a more reasonable explanation. How many people were currently asleep in their houses with no idea about what came their way?

When she rounded the next bend she slammed her brakes on and the car screeched to a halt. As she stared up the road her stomach lurched and forced bile up into her throat.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

With heavy gasps between words Rhys said, “I’m worried… we won’t… beat them… to the airport.”

After she’d looked behind Larissa looked at Rhys. The small amount of light cast from the slim moon bounced off her sweaty face. “I agree… I don’t think we can beat them.”

The slaps of Rhys and Larissa’s feet against the hard road called out across the wide-open space. Each heavy footfall jarred Rhys’ entire body. With every minute that passed the sound of the diseased behind them grew louder. After he’d looked at the dark woods on their left again, the tress so densely packed the place feasted on even the idea of light, Rhys said, “I need to know how close they are.”

When he ran for the woods Larissa called after him, “Where are you
going
?”

Exhaustion had turned Rhys’ legs bandy and nausea boiled in his guts, but he pushed on. He had to know.
 

By the time he got to the first tree at the edge of the woodland his face burned and sweat ran into his eyes. When he saw Larissa had chosen to wait for him, her hands on her hips and anxious glances back the way they’d come from, he reached out for a low branch and pulled himself up.
 

Every second counted so Rhys climbed higher. Each time he pushed off with his legs they wobbled and shook, but he had to keep going.
 

Blinded by the dark and surrounded by the dusty smell of sap, Rhys boosted himself up too quickly and smashed his head against a branch above him. His entire world spun and he lost his legs. As he fell away from the tree he reached up and caught a branch.

For a second he held on tight as his pulse pounded. His chest heaved as he fought to breathe and he inhaled the thick reek of the tree.
 

He may have stayed there for longer—God knows he needed the rest—but the roars of the diseased called out to him. A shake of his head banished the dizziness enough for him to push on.
 

Of course both he and Larissa could have climbed a tree to avoid the diseased but that wouldn’t get them to Biggin Hill. If the diseased worked out where they were they could end up in a tree for days. Hell, with the amount of the horrible fuckers on their tail they could be there for days even if they hadn’t been seen. It could take an age for the crowd to thin. If they were to get to Flynn they needed to keep moving and they needed to stay ahead.

After Rhys had climbed another few branches higher the density of the tree thinned and the moonlight cut a slight path through the darkness. With the top of the tree almost within reach he pushed on.