Winter Smith (Book 1): London's Burning (22 page)

              She found herself in a small café, white walls and white titles on the floor. Metal tables and chairs were stacked against the wall where another door stood, and Winter noticed the building had also been boarded on the inside, too. Violet crawled through next, and the boy was last in. He shut the wooden sheet behind him, tacking it back onto a nail.

              He awkwardly brushed past Violet and led them up a stairway. They found themselves in an empty room. The floor had no carpet, instead bare floorboards lay, and the odd couple of boxes were stacked at the back of the room. The ceiling sloped upwards, and Winter realised this was the attic. It was cold, a draft coming in from somewhere. The window hadn’t been boarded up in here; a tall rectangle window had a good view of the clock face. A lone sofa sat on the dusty floor in the middle of the room.

              “This is where you’ve been staying?” Violet asked unkindly, as she spotted the sleeping bag in the corner of the room, nestled in with a bag full of supplies.

              “I came from my home in Elstree, and wanted to make my way towards the docks. I’m Zach.”

              “Wrong way,” Violet spat, ignoring the introduction.

              “I know. I took a wrong turning.”

              “Well, I’m glad you did,” Winter said, falling onto the sofa. Her ankle ached and throbbed but she was relieved to be somewhere quiet. “I’m Winter, she’s Violet.”

              Zach smiled at Violet, but she grimaced at him.

              “I’m going to sit downstairs,” Violet said. “This place is depressing.”

              Violet turned back and made her way downstairs again. Winter was sure she heard her cry. Zach looked at her, looking upset and confused.

              “Ignore her,” Winter whispered. “She just lost her whole family. They were supposed to be evacuated tonight at ten.”

              Zach nodded slowly.

              “Thanks for helping us,”

              “It’s okay. I followed you when I saw you at the back of the chef’s kitchens. I didn’t like being alone, and thought if you were lost you’d be glad to have someone to travel with.”

              “You were the one who saved my life?”

              “I saw he was about to…to hurt you, so I needed to do something.” The boy shrugged. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I thought if I injured him you could get away.”

              “Why didn’t you come forward then?”

              “I was too shocked at what I had done,” Zach sighed. “I never meant to kill anyone.”

              “Do you have anything for this ankle?”

              Zach nodded. He hurried over to his sleeping bag and dug in the plastic bag next to it, dragging out a first aid kit. He came towards her with it, and began taking out bandages.

              “Anyway, I thought that if you were alone, you could come with me here,” Zach said as he began applying the bandages. Winter winced. “But then I saw you go into the flats, and I thought you were living there. There was no point if you weren’t moving. As I was leaving I heard the commotion, spotted that man kill that woman, and I knew you’d need to escape.”

              “You came back to save me?” Why had this boy followed her? Why was he set on joining her?

              “Big fan,” he said, not looking at her.

              Winter laughed. “Brilliant.”

              “I didn’t think it was you at first,” Zach said, still avoiding her eyes. “Winter Smith couldn’t be alone travelling through Borehamwood. She would have been saved first, I thought. Then, of course, I spotted the dress, thought it looked too designer. I knew it was you as well by your hair.”

              “Well, thank you,” she said. “You saved my life…twice. Violet will come around, you just have to give her time.”

              Zach nodded. He tightened the bandage and sat back, admiring his work. “I wouldn’t put any weight on it for a few days.”

              “That’s fine by me.”

              “I’m not sure how long we will have here. We’re not that far from that street. It won’t take long for the dead to travel here.”

              “We’ll leave here as soon as possible,” Winter nodded. “We’ll make our way to the Thames.”

              “Do you think we’ll get out of here?”

              Winter didn’t reply straight away.

              “It’s just, I read in the paper that everything is basically collapsing in the UK. The TV signal has been destroyed, so there’s no more television.” Zach explained.

              “We’ll get out of here. We’ll ring the evacuation squad tomorrow, get them to take us out of here.”

              “We can’t do that, either. The telephone lines have gone down, too. There is no signal.”

              Winter couldn’t believe it. Never before had she felt so trapped. Everything that had always been there, everything they had taken for granted, was gone.

              “We’re losing.” Zach sighed. He sat on the sofa next to her. “We’ve got no chance of getting out of this city.”

              “How many people are here? In this little community?”

              Zach bit his lip. “I have no idea. All I know is this building we’re in is empty.”

              “So we could be next door to somebody who is infected right now?” Winter asked. The thought of the occurrence at the diner was fresh in her mind. “That’s how it all starts, Zach. One bite.”

              “I know,” He sighed.

              “Have you got food?”

              Zach jumped up from the sofa and hurried over to his sleeping area. The rustling of a plastic bag filled the dreary attic room. Winter heard his feet on the floorboards; spotted his worn Converse shoes first, and then saw the loaf of bread in his hands.

              “It’s not much…” He said.

              “It will do.”

              Winter allowed Zach to open the loaf. Her mouth watered at the sight of fresh, white bread. He held the loaf towards her, and she took out the first slice.

              “The shop opposite us sells food and weapons,” Zach explained, taking a bite out of the second slice. “We can get some stuff and sort out a way to leave here.”

              “We left someone behind,” Winter sighed.

              Zach looked at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

              “Connor,” She explained. “He left to get weapons. He said he would be back tonight. He never came back.”

              Zach’s mouth slanted. He didn’t meet Winter’s eye. The same thought was shared by both of them.

              “Was he an old friend?”

              “I only really met him a few nights ago. He was a potential boyfriend.”

              “What happened?”

              “Zombies.”

              Zach laughed. It was quick, and if she hadn’t been watching him at the time Winter would have missed it. He looked at the plaster wall in front of them, breathing in, his feet fidgeting.

              “How did you get here alive?”

              Zach shook his head. “I have no idea. Just luck. I think…if I were to be alone any longer…I would probably not survive much longer.”

              “Have you tried ringing evacuation squads?”

              Zach opened his mouth to answer, and then seemed to think better of the decision. He shrunk away from the question, before swallowing.

              “They threw me off the truck,”

              “What?” Winter asked. She wasn’t sure she had heard correctly.

              “They said there was a higher priority.” He said softly. “So they threw me off the truck.”

              “Couldn’t you catch the next one?”

              “They’re pretty hard to find. They’re not as helpful as they make out to be.”

              “They tried to save Violet’s mum,” Winter told him. “They were there, but they came at the wrong time.”

              “How dead was that street an hour before those zombies attacked?”

              Winter looked at Zach. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, licked his lips, but didn’t look at her.

              “What do you mean?”

              Zach’s mouth twitched.

              “I mean, you were out, not even an hour before that street was overrun with those monsters.” Zach said. “Did you see anything odd as you walked back to Violet’s house?”

              “Only the man who tried beating up the other,” Winter said. “But why would I need to see anything odd? They were there.”

              “But don’t you see how slow they are physically? And haven’t you seen how fast an infection takes control and spreads? Where did that infection come from, if there was no zombie in the first place?”

              Winter sat up.

              “They’re not slow, Zach. They run.”

              “When blood is spilt, yes.” He nodded. “But there was no blood spilt until that man became infected. There was no sign of those beasts until that infected person killed. And if that was the case, how did that man become infected?”

              “How did anybody become infected, Zach? How did any of this suddenly happen?”

              “I don’t know. All I’m saying is, we need to start thinking more into this to find the answers.”

              “Tell him to shut the fuck up!” Violet yelled from downstairs.

Chapter Ten

              That night saw Violet bully her way into sleeping in Zach’s sleeping bag, while he searched around for old blankets in boxes piled at the back of the room. Winter insisted on helping, but he told her to remain where she was.

              “You need to rest that ankle if we want to leave here any time soon,” he said.

              He was rooting in a cardboard box labelled displays. Violet was clicking her tongue, rolling her eyes, evidently annoyed with everything Zach did.

              Winter knew she was trying to keep her casual, carefree personality in place. She was trying to appear cocky, rude and arrogant to cover up the pain, guilt and sadness she was feeling after the death of her whole family.

              In seconds, everything Violet had worked hard to get had been ripped away from her.

              “Oh my god, look what I just found.”

              Winter craned around in her seat to see what Zach was holding. She saw in his hands a dusty, purple box. Black, curled letters read ‘OUIJA’.

              “Fuck,” Violet whispered.

              Zach brought the box into the centre of the room so both girls could see it. He dusted it off, so the display was clearer. Symbols of all kinds were dotted around the letters; eyes, triangles, inverted crosses.

              “Is there anything inside?” Violet asked, leaning up from where she was lying down. She was eyeing the board with curiosity.

              Zach braved a glance at her. He looked away quickly, blushing. Winter noticed his hands trembling slightly.

              “Pass it here,” she said.

              Zach passed her the board, and Winter brushed a finger against his hand. He didn’t acknowledge it, but something shifted between them. A developing friendship.

              Winter placed both hands on the corner of the boxes and pulled the lid up.

              Violet and Zach craned their necks to get a good view. Below, wrapped up in plastic cellophane, was a wooden board. The alphabet was written all across it in curled, purple lettering. Near the bottom were the words Hello and Goodbye.

              Winter unwrapped the board, aware that all eyes were on her. A wooden triangle fell out of the wrapping, and Zach flinched away from it.

              Violet scoffed and picked up the planchette.

              She stood above Winter and eyed the board. “Looks cheap. Looks like the wood has been burnt, too.”

              “Oh, no, that’s not a good sign, guys!” Zach gasped. “Oh no, put it away.”

              “You found it.” Winter grinned.

              “No, I’m serious.” Zach urged. “If the board is burnt, it means something has set it alight. A poltergeist or something! An evil spirit is attached to it or something.”

              Violet cackled.

              “Don’t be so ridiculous.” She sat down and glared at Zach. “Are you joining us or what?”

              “No…No, no, no. I can’t do that!”

              “Stand in the corner on your own then,” Violet flicked her hair. “Be an easy target.”

              Zach’s eyes widened behind his black rimmed glasses as he hurried forwards, sitting close to Winter. She could feel his nerves making him tremble even more.

              “What do we do first?” Violet whispered. She was eyeing the board suspiciously, almost as if she thought at any minute it would jump at her. Her finger traced over the wooden planchette in her hand.

              “Place that down,” Winter said. “And ask a question.”

              Violet did as she was told. She placed the planchette delicately on the wooden board, and at its contact the mood in the room changed.

              “If there is anyone here, please spell out your name using this wooden device in front of me,” Violet said. She had one finger placed on the planchette. Winter and Zach quickly did the same. “Please move towards the first letter of your name.”

              There was nothing. No sound at all except for their breathing. Winter met Violet’s eyes and she grinned.

              “Do you want to talk to us? Yes or no?”

              Again, nothing. Zach was shivering next to Winter, breathing in deeply and slowly.

              “Can’t you shut up?” Violet asked.

              Zach said nothing.

              Winter was about to ask another question when the planchette moved an inch.

              “Aah!” The three of them screamed, lifting their fingers off the planchette and moving away from the board. Winter kicked with her good foot and felt the sofa roll away a few feet.