Winter Smith (Book 1): London's Burning (26 page)

              “‘I asked her why she was appealing to the general public of London town, especially now when so many others had lost their loved ones. Why was she different? Winter simply replied, ‘I believe Connor is still alive, and I know he will not give up on me, and I will not give up on him. It’s important he is found alive.’”

              Winter shook her head. “I didn’t say that exactly.”

              “We know this is going to be a report that twists the truth anyway,” Zach said. “He didn’t sound like a very nice man.”

              “He’s not.”

              She crinkled the paper in her hands and carried on reading.

              “‘Connor Getty was last seen in the town of Borehamwood, carrying weapons and standing alone in a blood stained street. The boy of seventeen is said to be of an average height, medium build and has swept back hair. Winter Smith hopes that you, the public, will help him if you see him, or report back on any possible sightings you have.’”

              Winter turned the page, and saw the headline ‘SAVE THE PUBLIC’.

              “‘But Winter isn’t entirely selfish, despite what I have led you all to believe. Speaking out for London City, Winter Smith appealed for more help to those who have lost their loved ones.

              “‘I don’t think the government are doing enough to save London, and they are trailing behind and using the excuses of having less staff, when really they are too frightened to do anything,’ Winter quoted once the cameras had stopped rolling. ‘I really believe that we need to do more to save those who are lost and still alive, reuniting them with people who won’t leave London until they find their families. I am just like you. I’m no better. I know what it feels like to be missing those we have lost.’”

              “You didn’t say anything like that!” Zach exclaimed.

              “‘Before we left, I offered Winter the opportunity of travelling with me and my team. I asked her for her help, and told her that with her on our side we can pioneer a new campaign together to save those who have been lost. Winter politely told me to get out, as she was not wasting any time with me. Maybe she was just untrustworthy of me, which is understandable. Yet I couldn’t help but feel like this interview with Winter was all because she wanted to find her boyfriend, and shame the hard work of the government.’”

              Winter was stunned, ashamed and defeated. David Herald had once again manipulated her words and her appearance to his own liking, to create a story that would sell more. She knew that the story had untied ends, so more stories could be created from it. She knew how David worked.

              “That bastard didn’t even mention Zach almost shooting his brains out,” Violet remarked. “He’s such a dick.”

              “Next time we see him, I’ll make sure I shoot him in the head.”

              “I hope we never see him again,” Winter said. “He’s been doing this to me too many times. I knew he’d do it again.”

              “I’m so sorry, Winter. I should have listened.” Violet sighed.

              “It’s fine.” Winter shook her head. “I’m used to the public thinking I’m just a nuisance. I can get used to it this time around, too.”

              “People are only going to be focussing on what you said about saving their loved ones, anyway. They’re desperate for help.”

              “But I’m not going to be helping with that. That is all in David’s hands. If he doesn’t do anything, then it’s going to look bad on me, isn’t it? I’ve come out as the bad guy in this report. I always do after David Herald has written about me. He’s made it look like I’m challenging the government, and why the fuck would I want to do that? They’re helping.”

              Zach moved away from the window and rummaged through a bag on the floor. He took out a pack of crisps.

              “Anyone want one?”

              Winter and Violet shook their heads.

              “I am really sorry though, Winter. I thought you’d be able to handle it.”

              “I can handle it, Violet.” Winter reassured her. “But I just think now it’s going to be even harder. I’ve come across as a self obsessed girl who only cares about finding her boyfriend. The public aren’t going to like me for that.”

              “There won’t be many people who read this report,” Zach said. “And anyone else has seen the live stream, and saw how genuine you are. It’s not going to be as bad as you think.”

              Winter sighed. She couldn’t be bothered to think about it. She’d been screwed over too many times before.

              “We could break him,” Violet said darkly. “If the public knew that he had hit you, and had known that he had manipulated you, we could really ruin him.”

              “He’s ruined already,” Winter said. “His days with that newspaper are numbered.”

              No more was said on David Herald and his newspaper. All of them silently agreed that the incident needed to be put behind them. There was no use in giving David the satisfaction of knowing he had managed to hurt Winter once more.

              That night, Zach had gone out to a fish and chip shop and ordered them two large portions of chips each. They all agreed they hadn’t had a good meal in awhile.

              “Do you know anywhere where I can have a shower?” Winter asked, as Zach handed Violet two bags of chips.

              “There’s a public swimming baths around the corner,” Zach said. “I think its shut but we can get in and get to work the showers. People have been using it as their showers for awhile.”

              “Why can’t they use their own showers?” Violet asked, ripping off the paper layers of her chips with hungry ambition.

              “Because some people have baths.” Zach shrugged.

              Violet rolled her eyes. She put a chip into her mouth whole and began to chew. Her eyes rolled back and she slowed down her chewing, savouring the taste.

              “I never thought I would appreciate a chip so much.” Violet sighed.

              Winter bit into a chip and felt her taste buds jump with joy. Something so simple could bring a lot of joy to them.

              “So, Winter…” Zach began, a little bit timidly. Winter looked at him. “I already know what happened when you were fourteen, but I only know what happened from the media’s point of view.”

              He said all of this quickly as if he was worried Winter would shout at him. She saw Violet watching her, evidently in the same boat as Zach.

              It was true, of course. Nobody really knew what happened that night except for a tiny bit of truth and a whole load of hearsay printed in the press. Winter had been offered countless times to tell her version of what happened that night, but she had always refused. The matter was still too raw for her.

              “You don’t have to tell us,” Zach said. “You hardly know us, really.”

              Winter swallowed the chip she had and ran a hand through her messy hair. “We’re going to have to get to know each other, though, aren’t we? You can only do that by talking about things.”

              Zach said nothing.

              “I guess I should really tell you what happened. To be honest, I haven’t told anyone but my parents, and they didn’t really help too much with it. It is something I have never gotten over.”

              “I bet. How the hell would you get over something like that?” Violet pondered.

              A flashback of the night transported Winter back to the scene. Her granddad, calling her from down in the cellar. She had just run upstairs, past her grandmother lying on the floor in the hallway, and up the second flight of stairs. She wanted to lock herself away in a bedroom, barricade the doors, but the voice froze her, chilled her to the bone. She had hit him over the head with a cane. His own cane, for goodness sake. Surely he should be out of it by now.

              “Winter?” Violet asked, placing a hand on Winter’s knee.

              Winter flinched and a few chips fell to the floor. Violet brought her hand back as if she had been burnt.

              “Sorry,” Winter muttered. “Sorry.”

              “It’s too hard for you to talk about,” Zach said. “Forget I asked.”

              “It’s fine,” Winter said, but she stopped there. She couldn’t remember what had happened just yet. She wasn’t ready to discuss it.

              “What about your family?” Violet asked of Zach, deciding it was best to fill the silence. “Why did they leave you?”

              Zach joined Winter in reeling himself in and closing all of the doors so a barricade blocked him. He tried to ignore the question, as though he hadn’t heard it.

              “Zach?” Violet asked, knowing full well he had heard her.

              “They just left,” Zach said, looking at the ground. “I don’t know. We were all in the living room, and then…and then I went upstairs to go to the bathroom, and when I came back down outside was horrible. There they were…my parents. They had hopped in a car and taken everything with them. My dad looked at me, shut his door and drove away.”

              Winter tried to imagine it. She couldn’t fathom the thought of a father leaving his son alone in a house, knowing that in seconds the place would be ripped apart by the dead.

              “How did you get away?” Violet asked.

              “I ran.” Zach shrugged. “I wasn’t staying there. If my parents were escaping with their lives then so would I.”

              “Was it hard living with your family?”

              “Not at all! They were very work orientated, and always brought their work home with them. You couldn’t talk to them unless you talked about their work. But we didn’t really argue or hate each other. I don’t know why they left me behind.”

              “What did they work as?”

              Zach went to answer, then thought better of it.

              “It doesn’t matter.”

              “So we’re just three kids on the wrong side of eighteen, living alone without parents.” Violet remarked.

              “Every young person’s dream!” Winter grinned.

              “Except without all of the zombies.”

              “I wonder how many people survived that night at my home.” The thought that David Herald knew her parents were dead had been at the back of her mind since she had taken it in. She wondered if they had escaped the party, or if they had died.

              “I wonder how many people survived in my estate,” Violet said. “It was pretty brutal.”

              “There was no one left when I escaped,” Zach said.

              “I’m not going against the government at all, but you do think they should have seen this coming, don’t you? You also can’t help but wonder why they aren’t doing everything they can to save people.”

              “They’re probably losing just as many of their employees as well as normal people,” Violet said.

              Winter bit her lip. She had never thought how hard it must be to control your country when something this bad was breaking out around the world.

              “There’s no order anymore,” Zach said. “There won’t be order for a long time yet.”

              “What do you mean by that?” Winter asked.

              “Well,” Zach began, thinking of what to say next. “People have lost their homes, so they’ll be angry, demanding they get re-homed and compensated immediately. People have lost their jobs, so how the hell are they supposed to pay for their new homes? Also, they’ll have to work in Paris, where the first language is French, how are people arriving from all over the world supposed to adapt to that?”

              “God, what a depressing view.” Violet muttered.

              “It’s true though!” Zach exclaimed. “Then you’ve got France being a small country, compared to a lot of other countries. Soon, they’ll be rejecting people, and then where are those people going to go?”

              “To sea,”

              “Possibly,” Zach said with a nod of his head. “Then there are rations; food will be in short supply, because so many crops and factories have been destroyed. Electricity, mobiles, Internet, they’re all down, so any chance of contacting lost ones are gone. People will be losing and grieving their family, so that leaves room for anger and hatred towards who ever. Then you have people, like the chef, who are caught out and challenged over something they thought was a secret, causing arguments and tension and murders.”

              “Now you’re writing a plot for
Eastenders
.” Violet scoffed.

              “If
Eastenders
had done a storyline about zombies, I think we would be pretty safe right now.”

              Violet rolled her eyes.

              “It’s going to be hard surviving now.” Zach sighed. “We’ve lost everything, and if we don’t start rebuilding it soon we’ll lose it forever.”

              “Plus, Paris isn’t going to be the safest place eventually.” Violet added.