Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (5 page)

Nick stopped the car and put on the handbrake.  He
watched the biker trundle along at a snail’s pace, kicking the bike along
manually and trying to manoeuvre it through the twisted wreckage.  Just
when it looked like he might actually get clear onto the highway, a female
police officer ran at him from behind the lorry.  She tackled him clean
off his bike and dragged him to the ground.  Seconds later the
motorcyclist was screaming as more people appeared from the wreckage and started
tearing him apart.

Nick took a breath and tried to keep his focus despite the
fact that his heart felt as if it was about to beat out of his chest.  He
backed up the car as much as possible before coming up against the other
vehicles queued up behind him.  Then he performed a U-turn into the
opposite lane and began heading the other way.  The duel carriageway was
the quickest way to the hospital by far, but he had no choice now but to take
the back roads.  The main roads and highways were quickly becoming too dangerous,
littered with pile-ups and bewildered pedestrians.

Not to mention the other people trying to rip them apart
.

He pulled off the main road onto a country lane that he knew
would eventually bring him out near the hospital.  The housing estates and
shops gave way to woodland and private cottages.  These properties seemed
undisturbed compared to the chaos of Nick’s own neighbourhood.  The
middle-class families that lived here were likely still sleeping soundly, while
everywhere else had spun into madness.

The lane became clear up ahead and Nick stamped on the
accelerator to pick up speed.  He kept the car close to the verge, not
wanting to collide with anybody coming the other way.  Overhanging
branches whipped against his wing mirrors.

Nick took the opportunity to check on Lara.  He glanced
back.  “I’m heading for the hospital, okay?  I need to get help for
my wife.  Your husband will need help, too.  Not to mention you could
probably use a doctor yourself.”

Lara did not answer him.  She just moaned something
that could have been an affirmative response.  Blood leaked from all over
her body and she slumped on the back seat.

A van pulled out of a nearby brickyard and Nick had to slow
down to avoid crashing into it.  Unbelievably, the driver nodded a polite
‘thank you’ as he passed by.  The man would get the shock of his life when
he entered the main roads and saw all the chaos and bloodshed.  Part of
Nick thought about warning the man but, by that time, the van had already
driven too far in the opposite direction.

Up ahead, the country road widened into a crossroad
intersection.  Nick slowed down again as he spotted a pair of crunched-up
saloons.  The two vehicles appeared to have smashed into each other
head-on at speed, reducing them to shattered wrecks of jagged metal and torn
rubber, rather than the luxury automobiles they were designed to be.  The
two cars were blocking the centre of the road, but there was still room to get
around them if care was taken. 

Nick pulled the engine down into second gear and kept his
speed below twenty.  The last thing he needed was to add his own vehicle
to the wreckage and having to walk to the hospital.

A shuffling behind him made him look around at the
backseat.  Lara was lying face down now and having some kind of seizure. 
Her blood coated everything and the smell of it filled the car.  He was
pretty sure she was dying.

He brought the car to a crawl and swivelled around. 
“Hey,” he shouted back to her.  “Hey, Lara, are you okay?  I’m going
to get you some help, but you need to stay with me until I get there.  You
need to stay awake a little while longer.”

Lara managed to lift her head slowly and glance at
him.  Her seizures stopped. 

Satisfied that his passenger was still conscious for the
time being, Nick turned back to face the road.  He got the car moving
faster again, picking up speed cautiously as he approached the wreckage
ahead.  The two smashed-up saloons were close enough now to see that both
were unoccupied.  Seemingly the drivers involved had managed to walk away
from the accident in better shape than their vehicles – luckily for them.

A groan made Nick turn around again.  “Everything is
going to be alright,” he told Lara.  “Just hold-”

Lara lunged forward, diving through the gap between the
front passenger seat and the driver’s seat.  Nick was taken by surprise
and both of his feet slipped from the pedals as he found himself shoved forward
against the steering wheel.  Lara climbed onto his back.  She clawed
at his coat and yanked at the wool of his collar with her teeth.

In the close-confines of the car, Nick was unable to fight
back.  He could not turn around and shove Lara off of him.  The car
was still moving forward, but losing speed as the engine idled.  Nick was grateful
he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt as he would have been held in place,
helpless.  It also made leaning down and shoving open the driver’s side
door that much easier.  It was his only chance of escape. 

The road zipped by as Nick leaned down, the rough gravel
only inches from his face.  Against all instinct, he kicked out with his
legs and managed to launch himself out of the car.  He hit the road
clumsily, cracking his elbow and grazing his face against the unforgiving
surface. He tumbled and rolled for what seemed like forever, every split-second
filled with agony.

Eventually, he came to a stop by the side of the road. 
He lay there, disorientated and staring up at the sky.  His vision was
muddled, but as he craned his neck he watched his car carry on without
him.  It was doing no more than fifteen miles an hour now, but it had been
fast enough that the fall had hurt him badly.

The near-new Alfa Romeo collided with the smashed-up saloons
in the middle of the road and seemed to hop slightly upon impact.  It came
to a sudden stop, letting out one last grumbling whine as the bonnet popped
free and exposed the turbo-charged engine.

Nick blinked his eyes, trying to clear away the dizziness
and flecks of gravel. 
There goes my
No Claims
bonus.

Wearily, he rose to his feet.  His right cheek felt
like it was on fire and, as he prodded his face, he discovered that a patch of
skin the size of his palm had been shorn clean off.  The wound stung
ferociously and was accompanied by a tingling throb in his elbow.  If he
hadn’t been wearing his thick woollen coat, things might have been even worse.

Nick looked around with no clue what to do next.  His
car was banged-up, but probably still drivable.  Most of the damage was to
the bodywork.  The problem, though, was that he felt so shaken-up that he
didn’t feel safe getting back behind the wheel.  At least, not just
yet. 

Not to mention my sick neighbour in the back seat who was
trying to bite me.

He needed to find a place to sit while his nerves calmed
down.  The hollow feeling in his legs and stomach was most likely the
cumulative shock of the morning’s events finally catching up with him, mixed
with the most current event of being in a car accident.  The urge to vomit
and the overwhelming desire to faint fought an ongoing tug-of-war over his
existence.  If he didn’t do something soon, the likelihood of both
happening at once would be a good bet.

The country road was deserted, surrounded on both sides by
fields.  There was, however, a small garden centre fifty yards ahead. 
There was a good chance someone might be there – someone who could sit Nick
down and help him make sense of everything.

He started to drag his feet forward, the loose gravel of the
road crunching with every step he took.  To get to where he was going, he
would have to pass by the three wrecked vehicles in the centre of the
road.  It was then that he started to worry about Lara.  Would she
come at him again as he passed by? 

Is she one of them now?

Them?  Who are
them
?

Nick was in a constant state of confusion as to whether
people needed help or if they were totally beyond it.  Every time he tried
to assist someone they ended up attacking him.  Even his own wife and
child had seemingly wanted him dead.  It hurt his head to even think about.

Is their condition reversible, temporary, or what?

Why was Lara okay at first, but then ended up trying to
attack me, too?

He stepped carefully as he approached his car.  He
could see that Lara was still inside and still moving about.  She was
hanging, partially, out of the driver’s side door.  The airbags had
deployed and were squashing her torso up against the seat.  She was
scrabbling at the gravel road and reaching out towards Nick with a hungry
expression, but seemed unable to free herself completely from the car. 

Once he got closer he could see the reason why.  Lara’s
legs were tangled up in the seatbelt.  The more she tried to crawl away,
the tighter the strap became around her ankles.  She wasn’t going
anywhere.  Still, Nick trod carefully, steering clear of her clawed
fingernails and bleeding jaws.

She looks like an animal.

Before he was totally away from the wreckage, Nick stopped
and examined his injured neighbour closely.  He wasn’t sure why he said
it, but he asked, “Can you hear me, Lara?” followed by, “Are you okay?” 
Both were stupid questions, he knew, but he just couldn’t fathom that a woman
he was speaking to only half-an-hour before was now completely out of her
mind. 

But, of course, Lara gave no response to his questions.
 She just kept trying to get at him like a dog pawing for a morsel of meat
lost beneath the fridge.

Nick shook his head, wishing he could understand what was
happening; wishing he could do something. 

What is making you want to attack me?  It makes no
sense.  I tried to help you.

He decided to leave his concerns behind for the
moment.  His primary focus was finding somewhere safe to rest up for a
while.  Lara would have to stay where she was for the time being.

The garden centre up ahead seemed deserted, but there were a
couple of cars sat on its pebbled car park.  Nick wondered if they
belonged to the owners, or perhaps the cleaners.  Either way, when they
saw the state of him, they would surely take pity and offer assistance. 
They could try and phone for help, too; 999 might be back up and running by
now.

He climbed a nearby embankment and crossed over onto the
pebbled parking area.  The main entrance was up ahead: a pair of automatic
glass doors with pot plants on either side.  He was surprised when the
doors opened for him.  Considering the early hour – 7:15 according to his
watch – Nick had assumed the centre would be closed.  He wasn’t about to
complain, though, so he stepped through the doors gratefully and looked around.

The first part of the garden centre seemed to consist of indoor
planting, incense burners, and wind chimes.  Nick almost jumped out of his
skin when he brushed past a set of aluminium pipes that immediately began
tinkling. 

Jesus!

The smell inside the building was one of musky perfumes
mixed with the assorted earthen scents of soil and plants.  In contrast to
the many heady odours picked up by his nose, his ears detected nothing except
the fading
clinks
of the aluminium wind chime.

“Hello,” he called out.  “Hello, is anybody here?”

Nick considered that someone
must
be there as the
electric doors had allowed him access.  It would be crazy to leave a place
like this unlocked and unmanned. 

Up ahead was an alcove with a banner above that read:
AQUARIUM.  Nick headed inside and looked around.  The space was full
of wall-to-wall blue-lit fish tanks, all of them containing either exotic or
mundane species.  Nick had once kept tropical fish himself and instantly
recognised the tiny plecs that inhabited one particular tank.  He also
knew that they would eventually grow a dozen-times larger in the right
environment.  There were also brightly-coloured bettas, fat-bellied
mollies, and a playful batch of weather loaches mixed with African dwarf
frogs.  Then he spotted the girl in the corner, peeking out from a storage
closet beside a large tank of Discus fish.  As soon as he set eyes on her,
she fled back into the cupboard, pulling the door closed behind her.

“Hey,” he shouted after her.  “I need help.  I’ve
been in an accident.”

The girl said nothing.  The door remained closed. 

“Please,” he said.  “I’ve been through hell and I just
need some help.”

“Go away!”

“Why?” he asked.  “What’s wrong?”

“Go away,” the girl repeated from inside the cupboard. 
“Before they hear you.”

Nick raised an eyebrow.  “Before
who
hears me?”

“The owners.  They’ve gone…mad.”

Nick shook his head. 
Not here as well.

“There’s no one around,” he said.  “They’ve gone. 
You can come out.”

“No.  They’re out there somewhere and I’m not coming
out.  No way.”

Nick contemplated going over to the cupboard and yanking the
girl out by force, but decided that would be an unkind thing to do and
counterproductive to his situation.  No, his only option was to keep
speaking and try to reason with her.

There was breathing.  Nearby.  

Nick sensed a presence behind him.  He heard the
panting breaths of a stranger right at his back.  Before he even had
chance to turn around someone pummelled him in the spine and sent him reeling
forward onto his hands and knees.  He twisted around onto his rump and saw
a hunched-over old man in an olive-coloured cardigan.  The woollen garment
was covered by flakes of scalp and grey dandruff. 

The old man was insane, just like all the others.

Nick scampered back to his feet just in time to dodge an
attack from the old man.  He quickly ran to the corner of the aquarium and
tried to find an escape.  But there was none.  He found himself
cornered between an opened-top terrarium of Musk turtles and a tank of blue
lobsters.