I Dream of Zombies (7 page)

“Ooo-kay,” Tommy
answered, giving her an odd look and overtaking her to walk ahead.

At the makeshift bar, Marla sat down on a stool while
he took a couple of beers out of the fridge. He clicked the tops off and set one down in front of her. From the other one he took a gulp. “Guess my customers won’t mind.”

Marla took a
swig and blew out a breath before starting to talk. She was not sure how to say it, so straight up seemed the best way. “We just went to the supermarket off Beryl Street. Everything was fine. Everything looked totally normal,” she burst out, not stopping for breath. “Then we saw red liquid on the floor. I thought it was wine. Then we saw a woman who looked really ill. She had collapsed on the ground and was being sick. Then we saw another woman on the ground, but she was dead, and another man who looked so ill that he was as pale as a corpse was eating her.”

Tommy burst out laughing.

Marla stared at him.

“Don’t give me that look like you’re going to kill me,” he said, putting his beer down. “Are
you annoyed at me or something? Is this because Ellen started crying?”

“No, you fucking idiot!
I just told you that some guy smashed open a woman’s stomach and was eating her organs. There was blood all over the floor. Then he saw me and that scared the hell out of me, because his eyes were empty. He had no expression – at all. And I mean nothing. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was really, really white...”

“Bloody hell!” exclaimed Tommy, realising from her face that she really wasn’t kidding.
“Psycho! Did you ring the police? Did the staff stop him from leaving?”

“Yes, I rang them from the car. I said I would go down their police station and make a statement. But, listen, he wasn’t just a psycho. There was something wrong. His ear was missing and the side of his head
was all bloody. Like really caved in, total mess. The skin was flaking off. If I didn’t know better and that it’s impossible, I would have said he was a corpse. He looked like one. And when he saw us, he got up and tried to attack us...”

“Hell, but you’re okay?”

Marla nodded. “Yeah, he was weaker than I thought. He seemed to have less power than I was expecting and he was slower. To me, his reactions were so weird, so off. He reacted too slowly. But he was eating the woman, I tell you. He had ripped her open – with what, I don’t know – and he was eating her organs. What kind of a man does that? And the worst thing is that it makes me think of my dream, because in it a creature who looked like him was trying to bite me.”

“Shit,” said Tommy, swigging his beer. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Neither would I, if I was you, I guess. We just ran. I pushed him over with the trolley and we legged it out of there. I screamed at the staff to run and that the guy had murdered a woman. I don’t know if everyone got out. I sat in the car and rang the police, and people were racing out of that building like it was on fire.”

“No wonder Ellen’s crying,”
he remarked. “Poor kid.”

“I was
terrified, Tommy. You know me, I don’t scare easily, but there was something wrong with this guy. I know it sounds mental to say he was dead, but he was like a corpse, but alive. As for that woman on the floor, she should have been dead – the middle of her body was ripped wide open. She couldn’t possibly be alive, but her body was twitching, like she wanted to get up.”

“Maybe
it was just nerve reaction...”

Marla to
ok another drink. “Do you have another?” she asked, putting it down.

“Sure.” Tommy got up and grabbed two more.
“I’m happy to drink with you, but if I do, I shouldn’t really be serving people.”

“I don’t want you to open this
shop,” Marla insisted. “I’m scared there are more people out there like that.”

Tommy stroked the side of her arm, but she pulled away and swigged her beer, before wiping the back of her mouth and staring up at the ceiling. Breathing in, she let out a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry this happened to you, Marla, really I am. Do you want me to drive you down to the police station?”

She nodded. “What do you think is going on?”

“I don’t know. This flu thing must be some virus, but as for the guy in the supermarket, I don’t think that’s related. There’s the ill chick on the ground and then this guy murdered the woman. Don’t know how, but I think he’ll turn out to be some deranged bloke who has done it before. As for him being a corpse, of course he isn’t, but he might have looked like one.”

“The news!”
gasped Marla.

“Eh?”

“Can you turn on the news?”

“Sure, but let’s go
up to the flat,” Tommy suggested. “I want to check my laptop. Maybe there’s something on the internet.”

“Yeah, that’s a better idea,” Marla agreed, picking up her beer. “Mind if I take another one.”

“Help yourself. That fridge is always full.”

“Drink a lot, do you?”

“Nope, that’s why it’s always full,” Tommy answered with a cheeky smile. “You okay, honestly?”

“I’ll live,” she replied.

They headed up the stairs of the flat. The door of the bedroom in which Marla and Ellen were staying was closed. Marla stopped in front of it and knocked. “You okay, hunny?”

“Yeah, I’m alright,” a
muffled voice called back. “I just need some peace and quiet for a bit.”

“That’s fine. If you want anything I’ll just be in the lounge here.”

“Thanks.”

“She feeling alright?” asked Tommy when Marla entered the room.

She nodded and sat down on the sofa, slotting the bottle between her knees. Tommy walked over with his laptop and sat down alongside her.

“Anything?”
Marla enquired.

“Hold ya horses! I’m j
ust starting her up.”

“Your laptop is a girl?”
she asked.

Tommy grinned. “Of course. I’m not gonna let a guy sit on my lap
now, am I?”

Marla shook her head, but
could not resist a faint smile.

“There. Looks like I cheered you up already.
I’m checking the UK news site I always use. Main headlines, nothing. Local news, nothing. Perhaps they haven’t got the story yet,” he added, looking up.

Marla drank her beer
and raised an eyebrow. “Maybe… maybe not.”

“You don’t trust them at all, do you?”

“Nope, not after what happened to me when I was serving my country and all that.”

“Someone made a mistake
back then,” Tommy stated.

“Yeah, a big one,” Marla replied. “
Anyway, that’s history. I think I want to get out of London before the weekend. Like I said before, I want to see my mum. I’m even more certain now that there’s a virus and something is wrong. People are getting sick. What if the virus is making people kill like that? What if it makes you violent? We’re in the capital – I’d rather be somewhere with fewer people.”

“Why? What odds does it make?”

“Dunno. Less people seems easier to handle to me. I was never that keen on crowds either. And masses of people with a virus that makes them rip each other’s bodies apart, sorry, but... hey... on cue! I’m sticking with your dog!”

Tommy turned and grinned as Bob padded over to the lady in the room and
gazed up at her with his big browns. Marla smiled and patted his head before tickling him under the chin. He stared back lovingly. Lucky mutt, thought Tommy, as he went back to his laptop. “Nothing interesting in the global news, but there’s been some more outbreaks of flu...”

“Where?” asked Marla, turning away from Bob, who proceeded to lick her hand and wag his tail to
regain her attention.

“Various places – France, Italy, Portugal. A
ll in Europe. That’s it. They are suspecting bird flu again...”

“Bird fucking flu my ass!” exclaimed Marla. “This is something else. I know it. It’s like my
nightmares.”

“You can’t compare real life to a dream,” Tommy answered, and then shut up quick when he saw the look on her face. “
Hmm, I’ll just check my email.”

“Yeah, you do that. I sometimes think
your dog has more brains,” she retorted.

“You’ve only just met him.”

“Well, I’m a quick judge of character and I can tell he’s...”

“Hey, my mate’s sent me some email
, saying ‘Urgent – watch this – man in supermarket’. I’m opening it.”

Marla sat back quietly and waited while stroking Bob, who now had his head resting on her knee. T
he beer had to find an alternative place.

“Fucking hell!” breathed Tommy, falling back in his seat. “What the..? No... What the..? No...”

“Believe me now that something crazy is going on?” asked Marla, feeling slightly superior.

“Jeez. I’m going to rewind it. I can’t believe... no... no... fuck... no... what the..?”

Marla got up.

“Where you going?” asked Tommy.

“To make a sandwich. Want one?”

He shook his head. “Not after that. Stuff it.”

***

There was a knock, which caused both girls to look up at the same time. “Come in,” Marla shouted out. The door opened and Tommy walked in, carrying his laptop. “Marla, you should take a look at this,” he suggested as he sat down on the edge of the bed. The sisters looked over his shoulders.

“Look, I’m not going to open it, but that video of the supermarket is all over the internet. It’s had millions of views already,” he
told them.

“And it
still hasn’t been reported on TV yet?” asked Ellen.

Tommy
shook his head. “I’ve checked everywhere. Nothing. The government hasn’t made any announcement. I read about there being some official scientific meeting or something. Weird thing is that foreign governments are saying stuff.”

“Like what?” Marla enquired.

“Like one is announcing that following a spate of murders in one town, it has been sealed off. No one can enter or leave it. Basic lockdown.”

“I didn’t think they could do that,” said Ellen.

“Well, they have. That’s in one town, but they have reports of ‘flu’ outbreaks all over the place.”

Ellen sucked in her breath. “Oh
, my God.”

Tommy nodded. “Nothing from America, Australia, New Zealand, Easte
rn Europe or Norway, etcetera though. Nothing at all.”

“I guess that will be coming,” Marla speculated, before lying on her back on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts racing. “
I’m going to drive up to visit Mum today. Last I heard, our brother was travelling in Thailand. He was heading to Oz afterwards. Hopefully, he’s fine. She might have heard something. I need to email him.”

“Do it now,” advised Tommy. “Who knows what’s going to happen. I’d email now.”

“You’re right,” said Marla. “I’ll pack my laptop and message him from my mum’s. You wanna come meet her for old time’s sake? She lives in Four Lanes in Cornwall. It normally takes me about five hours or so to drive it.”

Tommy closed his laptop and thought about it. “I’ll stay here. I need to get my
shit together, sort out some orders and this place... just in case.”

“Just in case,” echoed Ellen.
“I wonder what that really is.”

“That’s the q
uestion on my mind,” said Marla, “but there’s no time to waste. I’m going to make a coffee, pack my stuff and drive to Mum’s. We’ll get there before dark easily.”

“Great,” Ellen answered. “And a coffee sounds good too.”

Marla parked the jeep alongside the pavement outside a small, granite-brick cottage at the end of the main road. Ivy curled up the walls and over the white-painted door. The small front garden was neatly trimmed and full of colourful roses while an apple tree sat proudly. Opening the rusty gate, Ellen led the way up the short path, consisting of four round paving slabs with animals carved into them. Grinning, she rapped the cat-headed knocker and waited. Marla glanced up and down the peaceful village. Not a soul stirred, as was usual at this time of the night in this place that consisted of only four lanes at the top of a very steep hill. Even the bus service retired for the day at 6 p.m.

The door creaked open and a short, grey haired woman peered up at them. She was wearing a blue floral dress,
a light blue cardigan and a pair of bright pink, fluffy slippers. Her face soon lit up with a huge toothy grin. “It’s lovely to see my two girls,” Hilda exclaimed warmly. She leaned forward to hug them, almost standing on tiptoe to make up for her lesser height.

“How are you, Mum?” asked Marla, following
her inside the house.

“Fine, fine, can’t complain,” she
said. “I’ll put the kettle on. What would you girls like? Ellen, I got some juice too. I know how you love your juice.”

“Can I have a coffee, Mum,” Ellen
answered. “I’ve gotten a taste for it lately.”

“Whatever you like
, petal,” Hilda replied, disappearing off into the kitchen.

The sisters
kicked off their shoes and placed them next to their mother’s before dumping their luggage on the floor in the corner.

“It’s nice to
be home,” said Ellen. “Touch of normality, at last.”

Marla nodded. “I know what you mean.”

They wandered into the kitchen and sat down on two of the three chairs at the breakfast bar while they watched their mother prepare their drinks. “What have you been up to?” Marla asked her.

“Oh, the usual things,” Hilda replied. “I did a bit of gardening this morning
as young Billy, Maureen’s son, came over to mow the lawn and then I watched a movie.”

“Do you get bored here on your ow
n with Chris away?”

“No, it’s quiet, yes, but your brother has been emailing me to tell me what he’s up to. Having a whale of a time from what he tells me.

“Emailing? Are you using email, Mum?” asked Ellen, throwing a grin at her sister.

“Yes, I am. I’m not old and past it yet, you know,” Hilda joked as she set the steaming coffees down on the breakfast bar. “I have one of those computer things now. The library had a course on
using them and Deirdre from the Women’s Institute thought it a great way for us all to keep in touch. Do you have emails, girls?”

“Of course, Mum! Everyone has email.”

“You didn’t tell me. I’d have forwarded you all the photos that Chris sends me. But let’s go into the lounge and sit down. It’s much more comfortable. I’ve set up the spare room, so one of you can sleep there and one on the sofa in the lounge. Your choice,” said Hilda, walking out the door.

“I’m easy,” said Marla, following close behind.

“Bugsy the bed,” remarked Ellen.

Marla
turned and nudged her arm. “I could have guessed!”

“I have a bad back.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

“So, what brought on this visit?” asked Hilda when they were all seated comfort
ably on the plush brown sofa. “It was very late notice.”

“Sorry,” Marla began.

“Oh, I don’t mind, it’s lovely to see you, but I was just surprised.”

“I missed you,” said Ellen
, making up an excuse. “And I asked Marla to drive me. I’m too skint to get the train at the moment.”

“That’s a shame. But your job is going alright?”

“Yes, yes, I love it,” Ellen replied, smiling broadly. Her eyes lit up thinking about it. “I love teaching and the kids are so cool. I’m teaching primary school classes, and many of the children are bright and the ones that aren’t really try. I think I only have one naughty boy!”

“Well, that’s good. Lucky you’re not teaching teenagers,” said Hilda. “Ah, teenage girls...”

Marla laughed. “Guess we were hell on legs.”

“Something like that. Why do you think I have
all these white hairs? They skipped the grey stage.”

“I thought that was only after Chris came along,” said Ellen with a cheeky smile.

“Now you might be right there... but no, he’s a good boy, Chris. I’m surprised he went travelling though. I thought he would be too shy for that kind of thing, but his friend, Alan, is very friendly and I think he convinced him. I’m glad he’s seeing the world. That’s something I wish I’d done when I was young.”

“You still could,” Marla
suggested.

“Oh no, I’m
far too old now. A trip to the seaside is good enough for me.”

“I was wondering,” as
ked Marla, changing the subject, “do you know of anyone who has come down with the flu here? We’ve kind of got an outbreak of it in London.”

“Yes, I saw that on the news. They think it’s
that avian flu again. I guess it will only be the older people at risk,” Hilda replied. “You know, the very young, like babies, and the very old.”

“Well, we’re okay,” said Ellen, smiling.

“But no, come to think of it, I can’t think of anyone. I’d have noticed too, it being summer and all.”

“Well, that’s good. I was worried,” said Marla.

“Ah, don’t worry about me,” Hilda answered, getting up. “I get my regular flu jabs now. That’s one great thing about being an OAP – no winter flu – and then there’s my free bus pass. Now that’s living the dream!”

Ellen giggled.

“Would you girls like a sandwich and some cake, or I could cook something?”

“No, I’m fine, don’t worry,” said Marla. “Just a bit of cake would be great. It’s getting quite late.”

“Me, too,” Ellen agreed. “Cake with my coffee. Do you need any help?”

“No. You tw
o sit there and make yourself at home. You’ve had a long drive. What is it? Four hours?”

“
Five and a bit,” said Marla. “I’ll probably sleep like a log tonight.”

“Always do down here
. I don’t know why you live in London. Too many people and everyone is always in such a rush. They’d sooner knock you over than say hello. I’ll be back in a mo.”

“Well, she seems fine,” said Ellen
once Hilda had left the room.

Marla let out a breath of air. “Thank God. I was starting to really worry. That’s so funny she’s using email.”

“Yeah, I wanna see those pictures of Chris. Maybe he did the best thing in leaving the country right now.”

“Think so. Wish I was in Thailand.”

“Bit hot though.”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Marla, getting up and looking out of the window.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing in particular. Just trying to remind myself what normal looks like.”

Ellen smiled. “How long do you want to stay?”

“Maybe we should check the news tomorrow and head back late evening.”

“So soon?”

“Did you want to stay longer?”

“Well, yes, as we’re here,” Ellen replied. “It’ll be nice.”

“Okay. I haven’t really figured out what to do. My main thought was to come here and see Mum, but I don’t have a clue what to do after that. Head back, I guess.
I said to Tommy about taking off on Friday, but I’m not sure where we should go. I was thinking of coming here, but we’ve come early as he wasn’t ready. We could come back, but Tommy may want to see his family first and they’re up north. So then we’d have to split up. Also, I haven’t rung in to see if there was any work for me. But then they haven’t called either...”

“You mean t
he agency?”

Marla nodded.
“Yep.”

“My work isn’t expecting me. I took the week off and...”

“Here you go,” said Hilda, re-entering the room carrying three small plates in one hand and an assortment of cakes on a plate in the other. “Fancy watching a movie?”

“Sounds great,” Ellen answered with a smile. “But I think I’m going to get fat just from looking at those.”