Chloe Zombie Apocalypse series (Book 3): Chloe (A New World) (7 page)

C
hloë stared
at the tunnel entrance and made her final steps towards it.

It was pitch black now. The air was chilly, not helped by Chloë’s lack of coat—or food, for that matter. The woods were silent. Empty. So much so that it made her feel uneasy. It never used to be this empty. No matter what, there was always something or somebody waiting to step around the corner and attack you. The smell of rot, the taste of smoke from a rival camp, all of it was all just a part of everyday life.

Not anymore.

Everything was quiet.

Everything was different.

She held on tight to Kesha. Stumbled towards the tunnel entrance. There were no monsters around it anymore. All of them had gone away to… well, wherever. As she walked towards it, she felt every footstep getting heavier. She felt herself getting less and less sure of what she was going to do, about what she had to do.

But she knew the truth.

She needed to get Kesha back onto the island where people would look out for her. Maybe not the right people. But they’d wanted her alive for some reason. Garth hadn’t just shot her like he’d shot everyone else. That had to be something.

Besides, Chloë had to see her dad. She had to see him and she had to know. For sure.

She’d heard the gunshots when she ran away. She knew what they meant.

But she’d never seen him dead.

She remembered the last time she’d thought he was dead. All those months convinced he wasn’t out there, a small niggling voice within telling her he was, she was going to see him again, one way or another.

She could hear that voice again now.

She just wasn’t sure whether to believe it.

She walked over to the tunnel entrance. Put Kesha onto her back, lightly held her little hands together with her teeth. Only way she had of carrying her down.

She looked back at the woods she’d walked through. The moonlight above, peeking through the clouds every now and then, lit up her surroundings. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She felt herself turning back into that warrior she knew she still hid deep down.

Just not now.

“I’m sorry,” Chloë said, shuffling down the ladder. Descending or climbing a ladder wasn’t easy with one hand. But she’d trained herself to get used to just that one arm. She’d done a decent job with it so far, she knew that much. She’d learned to use a few weapons. Learned how to climb.

But it would never be perfect.

It would never be easy.

“Sorry for… for all of this.”

Kesha had been so quiet for a while. Not totally silent. Still making little babyish noises from time to time. She’d been good. Considering she must be starving and terrified and freezing, she’d been good.

“You’ll be back with Mummy soon,” Chloë said.

It was at that point that Chloë stopped. Thinking about it, she’d never met Kesha’s mum. Which wasn’t so weird. Lots of kids were orphans these days. Just like…

The realisation kicked her in the gut.

She was about to think: just like herself.

She shook off the thought. Carried on down the ladder. Because she wasn’t an orphan. She
had
been. She knew what it felt like to be one back when her mum died. When her dad seemed so, so far away. After all the bad things people did to her. But she wasn’t one. Not now. Not anymore.

Which was why she had to find Dad.

She had to find him again because he was the only thing stopping her from being an orphan.

She knew what kind of person she turned into when she was an orphan.

She dropped to the bottom of the tunnel floor. Heard her footsteps echo as she landed. It was cold down here. Cold and damp. A bitter smell to the air. The sound of dripping way into the distance.

Chloë faced the darkness and she held her breath. Even though she knew she was doing the right thing, she still couldn’t bring herself to make that first step. Because she’d seen terrible things on Bardsey Island. She’d seen the place she called home the last few months fall apart.

She’d seen what people did to people there.

And yet she wanted to go back?

Her shoulders slumped. She knew why she had to go back. She had to go back because she didn’t have a choice.

She started to walk.

The walk stretched on. Seemed even longer than it did when she’d walked through here in the first place. The further she got into the tunnel, the more trapped she felt. Because this wasn’t like the darkness up in the woods. This was something else entirely. Like another world. If you sat down in here and didn’t say anything to anyone, didn’t think a thing, that must be what it’s like to be dead.

Like Elizabeth.

Like Mum.

Like Dad.

No.

Not like Dad.

Dad was okay. She was going to find Dad and she was going to get back to him. She was going to…

Her thoughts froze when she saw the lights ahead.

She couldn’t believe them. Couldn’t believe she could actually see lights. Not at first. She wondered if maybe they were just a sign that she was getting closer. But it didn’t seem like she’d been walking for long. No, not long enough at all.

And then, far down the tunnel, she heard voices echoing.

Footsteps getting closer towards her.

Chloë froze. Her heart raced. She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know where to turn. Did she keep walking? Did she hand over Kesha? Did she leave Kesha behind and run?

She remembered the look in Margery’s eyes. Remembered the look in Dad’s eyes.

Both of them telling her to go.

To take Kesha.

To keep her safe.

The lights got closer.

The footsteps and the voices echoed nearer.

She knew what she had to do.

There was only one thing she could do right now and as much as she didn’t want to do it, she knew she had to.

She turned. Ran away. Ran up the tunnel. Ran back towards the woods. She didn’t know where she was going to go. She didn’t know where she was going to run to. Just that she had to. She had to get away. She had to keep Kesha safe. She had to—

She heard something else up ahead.

She didn’t see any light. Didn’t see a thing in that darkness.

But when she stopped to figure out what she’d heard, she didn’t need light to know what was ahead.

There was groaning.

Groaning, at the opposite end of the tunnel.

Groaning, getting closer towards her.

Groaning, trapping her inside here as the lights edged ever closer.

C
hloë heard
the footsteps of the monsters stepping closer towards her up ahead.

And she heard the footsteps of the people behind getting ever closer.

She was stuck in the middle of them. Stuck underground. Trapped.

She took a step back. Pulled Kesha closer. Her mind spun a million thoughts all within the space of a second. Part of her told her to run back. To shout to the people heading her way that there were monsters in here and that she had Kesha in her arm, and maybe then they wouldn’t shoot her.

But another part of her heard those approaching footsteps and saw those lights and she thought back to the way those people had been shooting each other back on Bardsey Island. The way they were trying to fight their way into the High Lord’s palace on top of the hill. The way they’d shot at the babies.

Shot her dad.

She realised right then at that moment that she didn’t want to give Kesha back. Because it wasn’t safe for Kesha with those people. Wasn’t safe for her at all.

She ran towards the monsters. She didn’t know how far ahead they were. She could smell them getting nearer
,
though. That smell that she’d almost forgotten when she’d been living on the island, that awful sourness in the air that always reminded her of the blood, of the sight of people eating each other, the sounds of teeth snapping together, ripping flesh from bones.

And yet she ran towards them.

She ran towards them because it was all she could think to do.

Because she knew she just had to get away from those people now. Something inside her told her that’s what she had to do.

Not just for Kesha. Not really for Kesha at all.

But because she knew that if she gave Kesha up, she’d be all alone.

She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

She rubbed against the side of the tunnel. There had to be somewhere in here. Somewhere to wait. Somewhere to hide. She thought about her knife. She could get that out. Use it on the monsters. But it was dark, so she didn’t know how many of them there was.

She had to hide.

She had to keep running and she had to find somewhere to…

She felt the side of the tunnel dip. Felt something cold and metallic there. A pipe of some kind.

There was a gap.

A tiny gap. Barely big enough for her to squeeze into. Barely big enough for Kesha to squeeze through, let alone herself.

But the footsteps in either direction were getting closer.

She had to do something fast or she’d die.

She had to do something fast or Kesha would die in her arm.

She pushed Kesha in between the pipes. She didn’t know where she was pushing her to, and for a horrified moment, Chloë wondered if maybe she was making a mistake. If maybe Kesha would get stuck in there, stuck in between the pipes in the darkness, never able to get out.

But then she felt a wall at the back of the pipes. A little alcove.

She put Kesha down, pulled out her arm and started to squeeze through.

The squeeze was tight. She had to hold her breath completely. The metal scraped against her ribs. If she’d been as skinny as she was when she was out surviving all alone, she might’ve been able to make it easily. But not anymore. It was tough. Tight.

She was going to get trapped.

She was going to be ripped in half.

She heard the echoing groans just feet away. It made her feel cold all over. The sloshing footsteps got nearer to her. The lights behind didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

The monster.

It was getting closer.

It was going to get her.

She pushed some more. Pushed against the pipes. Tried to force her way between them. She swore she felt a rib crack, felt a splitting pain.

But still she kept on—

Something grabbed her right arm.

And then it pushed against her with its dead weight.

A rotting smell surrounded Chloë.

She reached for her knife. Reached for her knife but she couldn’t grab it. She was trapped in here. Her hand was stuck.

The monster snarled. Its teeth clicked just a few inches from Chloë’s neck.

She squeezed her eyes together. Waited. “Sorry Kesha. So sorry.”

And then she heard a blast.

She felt the cold fluid cover her face. Felt the monster’s body go limp, fall against her.

Knock her through the pipes, into that alcove.

She didn’t realise what’d happened, not at first.

Not until she felt the warmth of baby Kesha by her side.

She held on to Kesha. Held on as the lights got closer. The people were so close now. Up ahead, Chloë saw the darkened silhouettes of the monsters wading past her. She held on to Kesha. Squeezed her, tight.
Please don’t cry. Please don’t make them look our way. Please.

She watched the people step into view. Although they had torches, although their gunfire filled the tunnel, she couldn’t see their faces properly. She didn’t want to.

She just wanted to stay here and stay quiet. She didn’t want any attention. None at all.

She just wanted—

Kesha wailed.

Chloë’s body tightened. The gunshots. They’d stopped. Silence filled the tunnel.

She put a hand over her mouth to stop her crying some more.

She felt bad as she sat there with her hand over her mouth, with Kesha struggling underneath.

But she saw the people ahead of her standing still. Shining their lights all around the tunnel. Everywhere but here.

Please. Please everywhere but here. Everywhere but…

A light shone right at Chloë.

She knew this was it. She knew it was over.

“Come on. Better get moving if we wanna find her.”

The light shifted away.

A group—a large group—walked over the fallen corpses of the dead and kept pressing forward.

Chloë kept still for a few seconds. Kept her hand over Kesha’s mouth. She tried to shift her head away, but she could still breathe through her nose so she was okay.

She waited until she was absolutely sure enough time had passed, until she was absolutely sure she couldn’t hear a thing, before squeezing back out between those pipes, stepping out into the tunnel.

She looked back down the tunnel. Back where she’d been heading earlier. Back to Bardsey Island. But she’d seen those people. She’d seen how dangerous they looked.

She knew they were looking for “her.”

And she’d seen something else, too. Something in the hands of one of the people.

A shoe.

Her shoe.

The one she’d lost back at the cabin.

She felt a sickening feeling building in her gut. And as much as she wanted to go back to Bardsey Island, as much as she wanted to give Kesha away to someone who could look after her properly, as much as she wanted to see her dad one final time, Chloë knew she couldn’t.

She couldn’t. Because those bad people wanted Kesha for some reason.

And Dad had told her to run.

The last thing he’d ever told her.

So Chloë turned around. Looked back down the length of the tunnel. Looked into the darkness, past the fallen corpses of the monsters, past the narrow walls, past the blood.

She adjusted her grip on Kesha. Made sure she was holding tight.

She walked back towards the tunnel exit, towards the woods, towards the unknown.

T
he night was cold
, long, and Chloë was exhausted.

She walked. Walked through the trees. Walked through smelly piles of mud. The rain lashed down from above, drenching her and Kesha, making it nigh on impossible to ever truly warm up. Chloë’s stomach kept on roaring. And judging from Kesha’s crying, she was hungry too.

But there was no food. There was no escape.

Only walking.

Chloë yawned. Her eyes stung. She felt like she was walking through a dream. And she knew she should find a place to rest. She’d done so much running, been through so much exhaustion, she’d collapse and maybe die if she didn’t rest. Didn’t help that Kesha was weighing down her only arm either.

But she didn’t sleep. She didn’t rest.

Because she couldn’t let her mind settle. Whenever she let her mind settle, she was only reminded of just how alone she was out here.

Kesha kept on wailing by her side. Lightning sparkled above. Wind roared through the trees, blasting sheets of rain down onto the pair of them.

“What do you want?” Chloë asked.

Kesha scrunched up her eyes. Reached out her little hands. Kept on wailing.

“What the fuck do you fucking want?”

Chloë heard her voice echo through the silent woods. She thought letting her temper out would make her feel better, more at ease. But it didn’t. It just made her feel worse.

And it definitely didn’t help solve Kesha’s crying.

She looked around at the trees. Looked around, Kesha’s cries ringing in her ears. How was she supposed to know what to do with a kid? How was she supposed to look after a baby? She was just a kid herself. Sure, she wasn’t like other kids her age. Dad always told her she was more grown up than the other girls, even before the monsters started walking the earth.

But she wasn’t a mum. She didn’t know what to do with babies. How to look after them.

She didn’t know where to start.

She realised at that moment what she had to do. What she had to try. She had to keep walking. She’d got this far. Sooner or later she was bound to bump into a camp. And when she did, she could leave Kesha with them. At least she’d be safe amongst new people. Safer than out here anyway.

And Chloë?

She didn’t want to think about herself. Didn’t want to think how lonely she’d be when she finally gave Kesha up. How alone she’d be, all over again.

She just had to find that camp.

She walked further through the mud. The trees around her seemed to thicken. She found herself bumping into more of them, struggling to keep her footing. Eventually, she fell down right by the side of a tree where the ground had stayed pretty dry. She held on to Kesha. Closed her eyes. Felt the rain against her face.

When she opened her eyes again, it was light.

She jolted upright. Tasted sick in her mouth. She still felt damp from last night’s storm. Her teeth chattered with a shiver.

But she’d fallen to sleep. She’d actually fallen to sleep.

She looked around for Kesha. Had a horrible image that maybe she’d gone away. Maybe she’d crawled off again. And she wondered if it’d be such a bad thing. At least then Kesha was out of her hands.

No. She couldn’t think that way. She had to find somewhere safe to take Kesha. She had to make sure she was okay.

Kesha was on the ground by her side. She was rolled up into a little ball. Her eyes were closed. The closer Chloë moved towards her, the more she thought she heard her little chest rising and falling.

She sat beside her. Stroked her soft face. She was a good kid. She’d cried, sure, but she was a good kid. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve to be out here in these woods surviving with Chloë. She knew she’d need food soon, or she’d probably die. She wasn’t sure. She didn’t really know how babies worked.

But as Chloë looked at Kesha, as she stroked her face, she felt the reality building up inside. The reality of what she had to do. Because this couldn’t work. The two of them, it couldn’t work.

She knew what she had to do. Especially now Kesha was sleeping.

She didn’t want to do it. Not at all. Didn’t feel comfortable about it.

But she had to.

Because Kesha wasn’t Chloë’s to look after.

Kesha wasn’t Chloe’s responsibility.

Chloë had no one.

So Chloë picked Kesha up. Held her in her arms. Kesha kept her eyes closed. Kept on sleeping.

“Come on,” Chloë whispered. She sniffed up, first signs of a building cold in her blocked nose. “We’ll get you somewhere safe.”

She walked ahead.

Walked ahead knowing exactly what she had to do.

If she couldn’t find a safe place to leave Kesha with other people, then she’d just have to do her best at finding a safe place without people.

Somewhere Kesha would be found.

Hopefully.

And then she had to go.