The Alpha Plague 3 (19 page)

“We
hope
they haven’t seen us, you mean.”

Larissa turned away from Rhys.

As Rhys lay there he focused on slowing his breaths and watched the first of the diseased appear. He expected bloody eyes to be down at his level and for hundreds of pairs of hands to clasp around his ankles at any moment.

But it didn’t happen.
 

Within what felt like no more than a minute hundreds of feet moved past them at a jog. From where Rhys lay they looked like normal people. Apart from the occasional trainer with blood smeared on it, none of them looked infected. It seemed like a ridiculous predicament to find themselves in. But to be fair to Larissa what other choice did they have but to hide under the car? That, however, didn’t change the fact that they needed to get to the airport soon.

When Rhys felt Larissa shake next to him he rolled over and tapped on her slim shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked in a whisper.

She turned around and her eyes were bloodshot. Her damp face glistened with tears. “We’ve let our boy down. We’ve come this far only to let him down.” Her lip buckled as she shook her head. “I don’t want to imagine a life where I’ll never see him again.”

The flow of diseased that passed the car thickened. They couldn’t lie there and wait it out. If they went that route they’d be waiting all day. A shake of his head and Rhys said, “Me either. It’s not going to happen though. Come on, we can work this out. We can find a way.”

Chapter Thirty

About thirty minutes ago

Brendan’s deep laugh echoed off the walls of the alleyway. “You thought you could get away from
me
?” He continued to laugh, his mania flitting through the changing tone. “From
me
?!”
 

Vicky watched the wounded man for a few more seconds before she shoved Flynn down the alley.

When they got to the wall at the end she kneeled down so she was at eye level with him and gripped both of his slim shoulders. “Now, Flynn, I know this man. I know he’ll never give up. I need to send you over this wall while I deal with him.”

Flynn shook his head and looked from one of her eyes to the other. His breath sped up and he trembled in her grip. “No, I can’t go over there
alone
. Please don’t make me.”

Vicky looked behind to see Brendan and his evil grin as he got closer. She turned back to Flynn. “I
need
you out of the way. If you’re here you’ll take some of my attention away from dealing with him and I may fail. I have a better chance without you around.” Vicky lifted her ear to the air. “I can’t hear any of the diseased over there. There’s also something else I need you to do for me.”

Although he looked at her Flynn didn’t respond.
 

“I need you to wait for five minutes and no longer, okay? If I’m not over this wall in five minutes time you need to head south. Your mum and dad will be at Biggin Hill Airport so you need to go that way.”

A violent tremble ran though the boy and he shook his head. “I don’t know where that is.” His eyes glazed.

“Back past the drawbridge. Back the way we came.”
 

The sound of Brendan’s laugh got closer and he called out. “Little pig, little pig, let me in.”

A chill snapped through Vicky and she lifted Flynn up. The boy felt heavier than he ever had, as if her guilt made him harder to pick up. She lifted him onto her shoulders and walked closer to the wall. “I need you to stand on my shoulders, Flynn.”

The boy shook his entire body rather than just his head. “I can’t. I can’t do this.”
 

A lump, too big to swallow, swelled in Vicky’s throat. She had to fight to get her words out. “You’ll
die
if you don’t.”

So close now Vicky heard the sound of Brendan dragging his foot up the alley. She turned to the large man. Limp or not, the sight of him damn near paralysed her with fear.

“Hurry up, Flynn.” Vicky strained to lift him higher and she felt his little feet find her shoulders. “Now reach up to the top of the wall.”

When she glanced up, brick dust, or something similar, rained down and stung her eyes. She had to blink several times for her vision to clear. As Flynn reached for the top of the wall she grabbed each of his feet and fought the weakness in her arms to push him even higher.

Flynn grabbed the top and pulled himself up. He sat up there for a second and peered over the other side.
 

“How does it look?” Vicky asked. “Any diseased over there?”

But Flynn didn’t look at her. Instead, he focused on Brendan who had moved to within about five metres of the pair.
 

“Flynn! Are there any diseased over there?”

The boy looked back over and shook his head. “No.”

“Good. Now jump and go and hide.” Her words cracked in her throat at the desperation of their lot
.
“I’ll be over in five minutes.”

Flynn lifted his leg over the wall and Vicky watched him through her watery eyes. He still had the police baton in his tiny grip. Tears ran hot streaks down her cheeks as she saw the embodiment of innocence vanish over the top. The boy didn’t stand a chance. Baton or not, he probably wouldn’t be able to beat any of the diseased. But she didn’t have any other choice. The wall stood too high for her to climb and no way could she beat Brendan. At least with the boy over the other side she may be able to do something. Highly unlikely, but some chance was better than none.
 

With Brendan just a few metres away Vicky snapped her telescopic baton open and blinked her tears away. She clenched her jaw and stared at the wall of a man.

Chapter Thirty-One

Rhys laid his cheek against the cold road beneath the car. The diseased shuffled past them on either side, the air thick with their rancid reek. There seemed to be no end to the dense crowd. If they waited too much longer they’d miss Flynn and Vicky completely. Impatience twitched through Rhys and the desire to move sat balled in his leg muscles.
 

After he’d rolled over onto his back Rhys rested his head against the hard road surface and looked up at the underside of the car. A large panel covered the bottom and was dirty from where all the crud on the road had kicked up beneath it.

A deep breath and he let out a long and slow sigh. They’d come all this way to get fucked over at the last minute. Without a plan they’d have to remain stuck beneath the car until the fuckers passed. They’d be there for hours.
 

When Larissa shifted next to Rhys, he looked across to see her pick up a rock about the size of a tennis ball. She motioned for him to move out of her way but he resisted. Her next action could kill them both. When he looked into her green eyes, she glared back at him. It seemed clear that nothing would stop her. Rhys shifted down toward the back of the car.

The smell of the dirty exhaust fought for his attention over the reek of the diseased, and Rhys tried his best to breathe through his mouth. Although better than rot, he’d rather not have either scent around him.
 

Now he’d moved low enough he watched Larissa press her cheek to the ground and look along the bottom of the cars as if to check how level the road was. She clutched the rock in one hand, pulled it back close to her chest, and frowned with concentration.
 

No, surely she won’t
….

But before Rhys could stop her she slid the rock away from her like a curling stone. It missed the first lot of legs immediately next to them and shot beneath the first car.

Rhys’ world slipped into slow motion as he watched it pass beneath three more cars. He flinched every time it narrowly avoided a diseased foot and listened to the dry
whoosh
as it slid along the ground. When it came to the fifth car, it hit its alloy wheel with a bright
ting
. The sound seemed to ring all the way to London.

As one, the diseased halted and Rhys nearly pissed himself.
 

Screams came to life around them and the pack sped up and changed direction as they cut across the car park and headed toward the sound.
 

After about thirty seconds Rhys looked the other way in the direction of the woods. The amount of diseased on that side had thinned considerably. A second later Larissa poked her head out from under the car and commando crawled to the vehicle next to them.

With his heart in his throat and his mouth so dry he nearly heaved, Rhys gulped, rolled over onto his front, and shuffled along the ground after her.
 

Once beneath the next car, another rush of diseased sped past them. Surely they only had a short window before the creatures realised they had nothing to chase after, not that he needed to tell Larissa to hurry.
 

With his veins flooded with adrenaline Rhys watched Larissa repeat the process to get to the next car along. One more and maybe she could run to the woods.
 

Rhys followed, but just as he stuck his head out the foot of a diseased slammed down in front of him. Fear stabbed through his chest and he snapped his head back as the clumsy monster shuffled past.
 

As he lay beneath the car he shook and he waited for the call that would give him away to the other diseased.

But it never came.

Rhys watched the feet that nearly stood on him. They headed toward the sound Larissa’s thrown rock had made.
 

Another check and Rhys saw it was clear. He followed after Larissa again.

Larissa had already moved to the final vehicle in the lot. A Ford truck, it had a little more room beneath it than the other vehicles.

Rhys followed quickly after.
 

When he got across, Rhys looked at the woodland just ten metres away and gasped for breath. Not that the escape had been particularly strenuous, but it had fried his nerves.
 

Larissa studied the underside of the truck and spoke in a whisper. “I refuse to give up on our boy.” As she said this she moved down toward the back of the vehicle.

A round plastic panel held the spare tyre beneath the bottom of the truck. Larissa started to unscrew it.

Rhys shifted so he lay next to her and pushed against the panel. Whatever she’d decided to do she needed help.

The screw came more easily without the weight of the tyre against it, and Larissa spun it free.
 

After she’d pulled the screw away Rhys let the plastic cover slide down and took the weight of the heavy tyre with him. They didn’t need the noise of that to pull the diseased back over to them
 

Larissa moved back and Rhys let the tyre down to the ground, his arms sore from the weight of it. A glance across at the diseased and he saw they’d all stopped near the rock Larissa had thrown. How long could that amuse them for before they worked it out?

When Larissa pulled the tools away from the inside of the wheel they made the slightest
pop
.
 

Rhys held his breath and watched the mob’s feet over by the rock.
 

None of them seemed to hear it.
 

Larissa continued on. She pulled the jack and the tyre iron free and found a screwdriver.
 

When she held it up at Rhys and grinned he didn’t know what to say. Unless it was a sonic screwdriver, what did she hope to do with it?

After she’d gently discarded all of the other bits, Larissa crawled over to the edge of the car by the woodland area. She looked both up and down the road, and then up at the side of the truck.

When she came back in she grabbed Rhys’ arm and spoke in a whisper. “This is our opportunity. There’s no diseased this close to the woods. I need you to trust and follow me, okay?”

If it meant they had a chance to save Flynn, Rhys would crawl through hellfire. He nodded.

Larissa rolled out from under the vehicle and Rhys followed her.
 

Exposed without the truck for cover, Rhys hopped up into a crouch and looked up and down the lot. The outer two rows of cars had no diseased around them anymore. While there had been, and continued to be, plenty of the fuckers in the car park, the road that ran parallel to it was packed dense with bodies. They’d only had to deal with the overflow so far.

Rhys watched as Larissa wedged the screwdriver into the petrol cap cover on the side of the truck. She banged it once with the heel of her hand to force the blade in place. She then pulled on the screwdriver until a slight
ping
rang out. The cap cover snapped open. Rhys flinched in anticipation of an alarm, but none came. They dodged a bullet there. She couldn’t have known that would happen.

The temperature had dropped and fear had Rhys in its icy grip as he looked around. The noise they’d made hadn’t been loud, but it sounded like a gunshot when silence meant the difference between life and death.

When Rhys glanced back at Larissa he watched her unscrew the petrol cap and pull it free. She then pulled her top off so she stood there in just a bra. Despite the tension of the situation Rhys’ eyes wandered to her breasts. Familiar, but completely forbidden, he stared at the body he once knew so well. When he looked back up to see her eyes on him, he winced an apology, but she didn’t seem to care.

She rolled her shirt up and stuffed the arm end into the petrol tank.
 

She fed the rolled up garment in until just a few inches poked out.
 

The smell of petrol fumes wafted out of the tank and Rhys’ mouth watered. A smell he’d never tire of and a damn sight better than the reek of disease.

Larissa opened up the Zippo lighter she’d found in the pocket of the man in the town. She struck the wheel and the flame shimmered in the slight breeze. After she’d checked around she lit the small part of her top that still poked out.
 

Rhys didn’t need to be told what to do next.
 

As one, the pair watched the flame bite into the shirt before they both turned and ran for the woods.