Winter Smith (Book 1): London's Burning (20 page)

              “She fucking loved it!” The chef belly laughed. “She got a lot more fun from me than she did with a fucking scrote like you.”

              “You raped her!” The man in the suit shouted. His voice was wavering with emotion. Winter wanted to help this man. “She never wanted you! You forced her!”

              The chef moved in a flash. He had the man in the suit pinned against the wall in an instant.

              “She didn’t say that when she was fucking me,” the man snarled. “She wanted every bit of me like I wanted her. It all went on under your spotty nose, mate. She wanted a
man.
She got a man.”

              “A man would never take another man’s wife!”

              The chef kicked the man in the stomach and he hunched over. Winter could see him tightening his grip on the knife, getting ready for the blow.

              “You ain’t a man.” The chef laughed. “Look at you. You’re pathetic.”

              The chef aimed a kick at the man in the suit and Winter heard the sickening crunch of a bone breaking. The man in the suit screamed, falling to the ground. He rolled over, and Winter saw wet blood running from a broken nose.

              “You’re useless to everyone,” The chef put one foot on either side of the man in the suit, keeping him in one place. “She’d do better with you dead.”

              The chef began to stamp on the man repeatedly, ignoring his shouts and screams of protest. Winter was frozen. She was watching a man being killed. How was she supposed to act?

              She hurried from behind the bin, screaming wildly, knowing full well this was a bad idea.

              The chef paused at the girl’s voice, possibly thinking it was the wife of the man he had been having an affair with. When he saw it was just some girl, her dress covered in blood, he resumed his kicking.

              Winter ran forwards and jumped at the chef, pushing him to the ground. She fell on top of him in a heap, unable to find level ground so she could stand up. She grabbed the hand with the knife and wrestled it from his grasp. It slid across the floor and she hurried forwards, grabbing it and pointing it at the chef.

              “You let him go or I will call the police,” Winter said, her hand shaking, giving away how scared she was.

              “Who the fuck are you?” The chef asked. He didn’t seem scared. He was much bigger than Winter. She was nothing.

              “It doesn’t matter, does it? Get away from here.”

              “Why don’t you move along little girl and forget you saw anything?” The chef grinned.

              “Let him go,”

              “You’ll make me do something I don’t regret, little girl,” the chef said, edging closer to Winter. “If you don’t, move, along.”

              He was in front of her now. Winter was trapped between man and wall. She noticed the man in the suit was sitting up; she had to distract the chef.

              “Let me go,” Winter said calmly. “If you let me go, I will go.”

              “No, you smell divine,” the chef said, pressing himself against Winter. Effortlessly, he hit the knife from her hand. She could smell meat on him, blood of a dead animal. “Why don’t you and I have a little fun, girly?”

              Winter didn’t say anything, suddenly paralyzed with fear. She could feel his breath on her neck as he inspected her body, running a hand down her back, towards her bum.

              “So pert and tight,” the man commented.

              He pinned Winter’s arms to the wall and she felt one hand fumble with the zipper of his trousers. She screamed, loudly, until her throat hurt. The man began to laugh, then suddenly there was a deafening bang, the man juddered, his body falling against Winter’s before leaning backwards, falling to the floor.

              Something wet had sprayed over Winter and she realised it was blood. His blood dripped down the wall behind her. He lay with a wound in his neck, his eyes staring upwards.

              The man in the suit fled.

              Winter stayed where she was. Somebody has just saved her life, or had taken a bad aim. There was no one on either side of the alleyway, nobody in any windows. Yet someone was watching her, just out of sight.

              Winter picked up the knife she had dropped. For good measure she lifted it and stabbed the chef straight in the chest, leaving the handle sticking out.

              With shaking hands and a feeling of nausea, Winter hurried back to Violet’s, aware her dress was bloodier than before, aware she had just witnessed a man’s death in front of her eyes, aware that she was almost raped, aware that everything in the alleyway had brought up the images of when she was fourteen all over again.

              She found herself at Violet’s in no time. She leant against the wall, arranging her hair, wiping loose blood off her skin. She took in a few breaths until her nerves steadied and then knocked on the door.

              A different woman answered the door, plump and kind looking. She saw Winter’s appearance and looked a little startled, but said nothing.

              Winter headed for the steps, hurrying up them, pumping the blood in her system.

              She knocked on Violet’s door and waited a few seconds before it opened.

              “What the fuck happened to you?” Violet asked.

Chapter Nine

              Winter explained everything to Violet as quickly as she could inside the little coatroom. Violet listened to everything, finding it interesting to say the least.

              “You do get some weirdoes here,” Violet said. “Although, I guess now people are a little frightened, aren’t they? They seem to think now they have to deal with all of their problems.”

              “Somebody shot him. And let me leave.”

              “Well be thankful someone saved your life!”

              “I just wish I knew who it was.” Winter said. She hadn’t mentioned that the chef had almost raped her. Instead she said that he had turned his back to beat up the man in the suit once more when she stabbed him. His blood was still on her hands.

              “I wish you had kept the fucking knife,” Violet laughed. “We could use every weapon we can get.”

              “Connor will be back tomorrow. It’ll all be okay.”

              “Thinking about that, do you think he’ll remember where I live? He was tired when we walked here. What if he’s forgotten?”

              Winter felt dread weigh inside her, mixing with all of her other emotions nobody every wanted.

              “Don’t say that,”

              Violet led Winter back into the main room. Ashley was sitting in a wheelchair, while the boys were all dressed up.

              “How are you?” Ashley asked Winter. To Violet, it would have sounded casual, but after the conversation Winter and Ashley had had today, Winter understood the question fully.

              “I’m fine,” Winter nodded, deciding it was best to lie.

              “How long until they arrive, Violet?” Ashley asked, biting her lip.

              “About twenty minutes, mum,” Violet said.

              “Are you coming with us, Violet?” Ben asked, jumping up with a teddy bear in his hand.

              “No, not on the same coach, but I’ll be right behind you.”

              Violet caught her mother’s eye and they looked at each other for a minute, both saying what they couldn’t say in front of the boys. Winter felt a little awkward, feeling as though she was interrupting what could be a loving family moment.

              “Violet,” Winter heard Ashley say. Her tone was low, and Winter realised this was supposed to be between mother and daughter. She strolled away from the area, towards the kitchen, but she could still hear every word. “You’ve been a fantastic daughter. You’ve been so helpful, and so kind.”

              “You’re going to be alright, mum,” Violet said. Her voice shook. Winter glanced over and saw Violet looked close to tears. “They’ll take care of you there.”

              “Now that I’m gone, don’t be afraid to go ahead and do what you want to do, Violet. Don’t give up. Get a better life for yourself.”

              “I can’t, mum,” Violet whispered. “When I get to Paris, I need to take care of you and the boys. I can’t leave them alone.”

              “I don’t expect you to. But I don’t expect you to do what you’re doing now in Paris. I don’t want my daughter to be so vulnerable.”

              Winter heard Violet sniff and thought the tears must have begun to flow.

              “Mum, you’re going to be alright. Everything is going to be fine.”

              “Don’t make yourself small, Violet,” Ashley whispered. “Do what you want to do, and do it well.”

              “I’ll try, mum.”

              There was a sound of something smashing outside. Winter, stood near the window, glanced through it to see what it was.

              Nothing.

              Then something else smashed. A window, glass scattering over stone floor.

              “What’s happening?” Violet asked.

              Winter craned her neck so she could see what was possible from the flat’s window.

              “I can’t really see-”

              There was a scream from outside. Violet ran to the window as her brothers cried out.

              From an apartment window above a shop, a man leapt out of the window into the street below. At the same time, an old woman opened her front door to put out milk bottles. She was pounced on in seconds, her neck being ripped open and blood pouring to the floor. Her eyes looked at Winter’s before they started to turn red, her skin flaking.

              “No…” Violet breathed. “No, no, this can’t be happening.”

              The woman fell to the floor, screaming in pain. The man who had bitten her was stumbling through the street, his skin decaying and his eyes searching for his next victim.

              “What is it? What is it?” One of the brothers cried, running towards the window.

              Violet spun around, knocking Winter slightly off balance as she did so.

              “Go back to mum,” Violet told the boys, moving them away from the window. “It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong.”

              Violet’s eyes looked into her mother’s. Their eyes were so similar, and both of their understanding fear was reflected.

              “Get back inside,” Winter said to herself.

              She watched a woman open her front door to see what was happening outside. A few others were beginning to appear on the street. It was too late. The man launched himself on three people, successfully biting them, drawing blood. These people fell to their knees, where they screamed in pain and twisted on the floor. The old woman was standing up now, running with surprising speed to the nearest open door and pushing her way through.

              The street was beginning to flood with blood before Winter’s very eyes.

              “Violet, we can’t stay here,” Winter said. “Violet, look.”

              Violet joined Winter at the window again. They watched as those bitten began rising, looking like they had been dead for years rather than a minute. The hisses of zombies began echoing throughout the street, drawing the attention of those still alive.

              There was a commotion outside Violet’s flat. The thin walls made footsteps in the hallway echo loudly around them.

              “Oh fuck,” Violet whispered.

              She darted towards the front door, telling the boys to stay where they were.

              Winter looked at Ashley.

              “Follow her,” Ashley said. “Boys, come here.”

              Winter ran after Violet, catching the front door in mid swing before it closed. Violet stood in the hallway, shouting at the small group of people passing.

              “Stay inside, don’t you fucking dare go downstairs. They can’t get in if we stay in here. Fucking lock yourself in your room!”

              The people looked shocked, but turned back. However, the stairwell was full of people scurrying down the old steps, carrying bags they had packed a long time ago.

              “Idiots,” Violet cried to herself. “They’re all fucking idiots.”

              Violet set off down the steps, joining the throng of people clearly panicked.