One of Them (Year of the Zombie Book 11) Read online

  The man swallowed another mouthful of food with a loud gulp. He set his spoon down and looked Andria dead in the eye. ‘Do you remember me?’ She looked at him with no recollection of ever seeing him before. He asked again, ‘Do you know my name?’ She still didn't answer. ‘I know your name. Andria Walker.’ That meant nothing. He could have gone through her belongings, those that she carried with her. ‘You really don’t remember, me do you?’ Again, she just sat there looking at him. ‘My dad’s name was Hank Greary. You cared for him...’ It clicked into place. The son of a man who used to be under Andria’s care, back when she was working in the care home. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw you - and saw the state of you.’ He paused a moment. ‘I’m sorry about your family.’

  ‘My family is fine,’ Andria snapped.

  ‘Oh, so that wasn’t their graves you were standing over? That wasn’t their blood splashed over your clothes?’ Andria looked down at the clothes she was wearing. A jumper and jeans. The blood had dried brown. ‘I’m not sure what happened. Not sure I want to know. There’s enough horror out there. I just knew I wanted to help you...’

  ‘So you kidnapped me.’

  ‘You’re not exactly a kid.’

  Silence.

  ‘You were crying so loudly. You’re lucky I heard you while I was out there looking for more food. Could have been a lot worse. Could have been one of them...’

  Andria didn’t say anything but part of her wished it had been one of them. At least it would have been over by now. She could have laid with her family, no care in the world.

  ‘...I knew I didn’t have time to convince you to come back with me. I hadn’t long since snuck past some of them, out in the woods, and I knew they would have been close behind. Did what I had to do to ensure you’d come and, honestly, I’m sorry if I hurt you. Didn’t mean to.’ He paused a moment, perhaps hoping Andria would say that it was okay and that she forgave him, but there was nothing. ‘Anyway, my name is Bob. I mean, my name is Robert but my friends call me Bob.’

  ‘If you were trying to help me yesterday than why was I restrained?’

  ‘Didn’t know how’d you wake up. Could have woken up like one of them, or even just angry. Had to protect myself.’ He paused a moment. ‘Not restrained now, are you?’

  Andria looked down again. No restraints.

  ‘So I’m free to go?’

  ‘You can’t go.’

  ‘So I am a prisoner.’

  ‘You’re not a prisoner. You’re a guest. You can’t go because there is nowhere left to go out there.’

  ‘I have other family. My mother, June. And my brother Russ.’

  ‘Dead.’

  Silence.

  Bob explained, ‘Everyone is dead now. It’s just you and me and them.’

  ‘That’s not true.’

  ‘You’re the only person I saw out there.’

  ‘There are others.’

  ‘There aren’t. Did you see them?’

  Andria had seen no one. The caravan park had been evacuated. Only her family had stayed behind, grouping together there as they’d figured it had been the safest place to wait for the real help to come. They had been wrong though, and it had cost them their lives. Well, everyone but Andria. She was the unlucky one who got to stay behind and ensure the family were buried. Make sure they didn’t join the ranks of them.

  ‘You were always so kind to my dad. It will be nice to look after you. I mean we always tipped you at Christmas, in a little card, but it’ll be nice to properly repay your kindness to my old father.’

  ‘I’m not staying here.’

  Bob tried to hide his obvious frustration. He asked, ‘Where are you going to go? Everyone you know is dead and if you leave here, you’ll die too.’

  Silence.

  ‘If you’re not going to eat, at least let me show you around?’

  A NEW HOME

  Bob looked proud of himself as he showed Andria around. A self-satisfied grin on his face which, somehow, made Andria feel a little more uncomfortable. He opened the next door and let her see the kitchen. The room was near enough bare other than a stack of tins in the corner. Tinned sweetcorn, tinned peas, tinned carrots, tinned soups, tinned beans... All with a long shelf-life.

  ‘I mean, I know it’s not perfect. We’re going to need food, but it is a start. There’s enough to last us a while.’ He paused a moment as Andria looked around the kitchen, scanning the various cans with a quick glance. ‘I try and go out once a week. No more than that though as I don’t want to be followed back, you know?’ When she didn’t answer again, he carried on explaining how he survived in this world. ‘Most of the nearby occupants have left, or they’ve joined them. Means that there is some food foraging to be had in the houses out there without having to travel for miles. Sadly the good food has already gone off but - yeah - tins. Lots of tins to help ourselves to. Not that I expect you to go out there, of course. You’re my guest. I’ll get the food in, you can just make sure the door is open for when I get back.’ Bob stepped from the room and waited for Andria to follow before closing the door. ‘I do ask that you keep the doors shut if you’re not staying in the room. No reason other than I prefer it like that. Makes things look tidier, you know?’ He started down the hallway towards the next room, but suddenly stopped in his tracks. ‘Oh, just a thought, there is some electricity thanks to the generator but, for obvious reasons, I prefer to keep it off at night. If you need to get around, there are boxes of candles. You can light one, keep it lit for as long as you need it, then put it out. Okay?’ Andria didn’t answer again. In her head, she was just waiting to find an opportunity to get away from him. Get out there and get back to her own home. ‘Found the candles in one of my neighbour’s homes. They had a stack of them. Not sure why. We rarely have power-cuts around here so it seems a little pointless, you know?’ He shrugged. ‘Still, what they did with their money was no business of mine. If they wanted to buy a ton of candles... so be it.’ He shrugged again and carried on down the corridor to the next door.

  The living room.

  The windows were boarded up with planks of wood. It wasn’t a good job. It was a quick job done out of necessity. Everything else in the room was normal enough; a television, a settee, a coffee table, a bookcase filled with books.

  ‘This is the day room,’ Bob said as he held the door open for Andria to step in. She didn’t though. She waited in the doorway.

  ‘What happened to your dad?’ she asked carefully, so as not to cause upset on the off-chance it was a sensitive subject.

  ‘Dead.’

  Silence.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Andria didn’t like Bob because of where she found herself now. Truth be told, she couldn’t remember him visiting the care home but she definitely remembered his father. He had been a quiet man who mostly kept himself to himself. ‘Did he...?’

  ‘He died before they came,’ Bob said quietly, anticipating the rest of her question. ‘A blessing, I guess.’

  ‘What about other family members? Is there anyone else?’ Andria pushed him to answer. She hoped that, like her, he was alone. He looked down at the floor, avoiding eye-contact. Andria kept pushing, ‘I don’t remember Hank having any visitors other than you...’

  Bob looked up. The sadness in his eyes was obvious, yet it was tinged with hope. ‘So you do remember me?’

  ‘Why would I not? You were there pretty much every week.’

  Bob smiled. ‘I was.’

  ‘Yes, I remember.’

  ‘Dad was good to me. I wanted to be good to him when he needed me.’ He smiled. ‘You know I was there when he died, right? I was right there with him.’ Bob almost seemed proud of the fact. ‘He didn’t die alone.’

  ‘That’s good.’ She paused for a moment before asking, ‘But if...’ She stopped herself from finishing the sentence.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I don’t want to upset you. Forget I said anything.’

  ‘Please don’t do that. Talk to me. We’re friends,’ Bob said. The way he said friends sent a shiver down Andria’s spine. She reluctantly carried on with what she was saying.

  ‘How come you’re doing all this?’ she asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘How come you’re still fighting? You know, before you found me, I was contemplating ending my own life. I’d rather go out on my terms. I just wondered, with things the way they are, why would you want to carry on fighting?’ She figured that if she could convince him that there was nothing left to live for then maybe he’d let her go so that he could end his own, miserable life.

  ‘Because I promised my dad that I wouldn’t give up.’

  ‘What? I thought you said he died before they came?’

  ‘He did but... but what you don’t know about me is I had a wife and kid. She left me and took my boy. I’m not allowed to see them anymore. I don’t even know where they live - if they’re even still alive. Before things went to hell, Dad told me not to let what happened with my partner and kid stop me from finding someone else to be happy with. You know, someone new. He said there is someone out there for all of us, it was just that Hazel clearly wasn’t the one for me. Keep looking, he said. He said that if I don’t give up, I’ll find her and then, with her, I’d have the happiness I desperately wanted.’ Andria noticed Bob’s eyes well up as he recalled the conversation with his dad. ‘The last thing he said to me was, don’t give up.’ Andria didn’t say anything, she just hoped that he would suddenly turn to her and tell her she could go. Then, as she walked away from the house, she hoped she’d hear the sound of a single gunshot as he repainted the living room wall with his sick and twisted brains. ‘The very last thing he said to me. Dad didn’t want me to give up, so I’m not going to. I mean, I know the world has c
hanged and so has the game but does that really mean we can’t find happiness?’

  ‘There’s no happiness out there.’

  ‘There is. We just need to look for it.’

  ‘There’s nothing. A few of us and hundreds and thousands of them.’

  ‘That’s what I was doing when we met out near your caravan...’

  Andria looked at him, unsure of what he was getting at.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I was looking for my happiness.’

  REVELATION

  Andria didn’t need Bob to say it. She knew what he was referring to. He was looking for his happiness. He was looking for what his dad had promised him on his death bed. He was looking for that someone who was out there, someone willing to love him as he could love her. And, in that single moment, Andria knew she wouldn’t be leaving the house. At least, not with his blessing.

  ‘I found you just as you were about to kill yourself,’ Bob said. ‘You were going to take your life and I found you and stepped in before you could. That was fate. This... us... it was meant to be.’

  ‘You’re wrong.’

  ‘No, I’m not. It’s you and me. It’s us versus them now. The world might have gone to shit, but it’s you and me now. We can still be happy.’

  ‘You’re insane,’ Andria said, and she took a step back, only stopping when her back hit the wall. ‘There is no us. We are not a couple.’

  ‘Not yet, no, but in time we could be.’

  ‘You need to understand this, I’m not staying here. I have family waiting for me. My mum. My brother. I’m leaving this place and I’m going to find them.’

  ‘You said you wanted to kill yourself...’

  ‘I was going to. That’s what I wanted to do... And then I remembered my mum and my brother and that they might still be out there somewhere. I need to find them...’

  ‘You don’t need to put yourself in danger by going to look for them. I told you, they’re dead. Everyone is dead. It’s just you and me and them.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Out there when I’ve been looking for food, not once have I seen anyone else. You were the only person I found...’

  ‘When it all started, there was a broadcast telling people where to go. A safe zone apparently. Rob and I didn’t want to go. We were worried that, if we did, we’d be separated from the kids even if they had managed to get to us. But things are different now. I need to go to the safe zone and see if my...’

  Bob cut her off again and said, ‘I’ve told you, they’re dead. Everyone is dead. The safe zone was overrun and...’

  ‘You don’t know that! You’ll just say anything to get me to stay.’

  ‘I can’t let you go out there knowing what is waiting for you.’

  ‘I’m not staying here.’

  ‘If you go out there, you will die. Just like everyone else. You’ll become one of them and that will be it. Do you really want to end up like that?’ He didn’t wait for her to answer before continuing, ‘You stay here with me and you’ll be protected and...’

  ‘I have to go and find...’

  ‘If there is anyone out there - which there isn’t - they’ll find us. They’ll find us and they’ll take us to wherever they’re taking survivors but, I’m telling you—’

  ‘I’m not staying here.’

  ‘Give it a week. The last time I went out there, the place was swarming...’

  ‘Of course it was,’ Andria interrupted him.

  ‘Please don’t interrupt me. I really don’t like being interrupted.’

  ‘I’m not staying here. You have to hear me. I’m not staying...’

  ‘YES YOU ARE!’ Bob suddenly shouted, his face instantly flushing red and the veins on the side of his temple sticking out. Andria stopped talking, worried that if she carried on, he’d lash out in a further demonstration of his increasing anger. He took a couple of deep breaths as he visibly tried to calm himself down. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.’

  ‘No, I’m sorry,’ Andria said, hoping to help calm his temper. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I just miss my family, that’s all.’

  ‘I’m sorry they’re dead.’ He paused momentarily to compose himself before continuing. ‘Let me show you the rest of the house.’ He moved away from the living room, then stopped and turned back to face her. ‘It will be dark in a couple of hours. Just stay here the night and tomorrow, if you still want to leave, I’ll walk you to wherever you want to be taken. That’s my offer...’

  ‘I don’t need you to walk me anywhere.’

  ‘It’s not up for debate. I’m not leaving you out there by yourself. I brought you here, and for that I am sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing. I’ll take you where you need to be and then I’ll leave you alone. Unless...’ Andria waited with trepidation for him to finish his sentence. ‘Unless they’re all dead and there is no one out there. Then maybe you’ll want to come back here with me?’

  ‘I just need to see...’

  ‘And I’ll take you there, I promise. But only if you still want to leave in the morning. If you do, we’ll leave really early so we have a full day of travel. Okay?’

  Andria nodded.

  ‘That’s a fair compromise, yes?’

  She nodded again, not willing to upset him further.

  ‘Thank you.’ He smiled and then said, ‘You know, I’m not the monster you perceive me to be.’

  Andria lied, ‘I don’t think of you as a monster. I just want to find my mum and brother.’

  ‘You look at me like I am a monster.’

  ‘I just don’t feel settled. You took me from my home...’

  Bob looked at the floor, embarrassed. He shuffled his feet. ‘I didn’t know what else to do. They were on my tail and I knew I wouldn’t have had time to explain before we were surrounded. I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.’

  Andria didn’t say anything although she wanted to scream at him, how is knocking someone out and kidnapping them doing the right thing?!

  ‘Like I said,’ Bob continued, ‘if you want to leave tomorrow morning, then that’s not a problem. We’ll walk out the front door together.’

  Andria smiled nervously. Part of her wondered whether it was a trick, but she hoped it wasn’t. She wanted to believe him. ‘Okay,’ she said.

  SHATTERED DREAMS

  This is the way it had happened, not that Andria wanted to relive it again. She had been watering her tomato plants. The sun had been shining high. The sky was blue. It was the perfect day to be outside, enjoying herself. She knew that Rob was about to step out of the caravan and she knew what he was going to say. She knew it all word for word.

  The news is going mental.

  Rob stepped out of the caravan. He said, ‘The news is going mental.’

  What do you mean?

  ‘What do you mean?’ the Dream-Andria asked.

  She remembered thinking at the team that he meant there had been another terrorist attack. Every other month someone was shooting up a group of tourists or school kids, blaming some religious cause or another. And if they weren’t shooting they were blowing shit up. That was the world we live in now. She was right though. It was some kind of terrorist attack, just not like anything they had seen before.

  People going crazy in towns.

  ‘People going crazy in towns.’

  ‘Towns? Or town?’

  ‘Our fucking town, the next town, the town further than that... all over the shop. People going fucking insane, biting other people.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘They’ve been telling people to stay in,’ he continued. ‘If you have to go out, they’re saying to avoid built-up areas.’

  ‘Well... why? What’s happening?’

  ‘They have no idea - people just tearing the world up for seemingly no reason. They’re thinking it might be a gas attack across multiple towns but truth is, no one really knows.’

  ‘So what are we supposed to do?’

  This was where the car came screeching around the corner, kicking up dirt and dust behind as it did so. This was where Andria and Rob would turn to see what the commotion was. Their children. Somehow together despite not living together, or even that close to one another. She knew how the story ended but she never knew how it had started. How had they come to be travelling together? What had happened? Or rather, what had happened to cause...