Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (26 page)

“Well, I’m not sure that-”

“I’m happy to vote,” said Mike.

“Me too,” said Alan.

Greg and Michelle also both agreed.

“There we have it,” Annaliese said.  “Our first vote is
to vote.  The second is whether or not we light a signal fire, or whether
we dig in and make sure we’re set up to survive here.”

“I vote we stay and prepare,” said Mike.

“All those in favour?” Annaliese asked.

“Everyone’s hands went up, except for Shawcross’s.”

Annaliese grinned.  “Motion carried.”

“Fine,” said Shawcross, stomping across the room.  “You
all just made a very bad decision, but it was yours to make.  Just
remember that I was against it.”  Then he slammed the door and was gone.

“He going to be alright, you think?” Mike asked her.

Annaliese shrugged her shoulders.  “I’m sure he
will.  He just needs to get used to the fact that he’s not the manager of
anything anymore.  Like you said, we all need to adapt.”

Mike put his fist in the air.  “FREEDOM!”

She laughed and punched him on the arm.

Then they all heard something that made their blood
freeze.  The frenzied screeching of the infected.  It sounded like
hundreds of them. 

And they were close.

Annaliese and the others funnelled
out through the building’s entrance and spread out into the courtyard. 
The screeching of the infected was not coming from the park, that much was
clear, but it was nearby.

“Come on,” she said, rushing off towards the edge of the park,
to the area near the cable car station that led to the
Rainforest Café
below.  “I think it’s coming from over there.”

“Then we should probably run the opposite way,” said
Greg.  His sleeves were rolled up, showing how skinny his arms were.

“We need to know if we’re in danger,” said Mike.  “We
need to check it out.”

Nobody seemed to like the idea, but nor did anybody
argue.  If they had to make a run for it, their chances would be better
knowing what they were running
from
.

Annaliese started making her way through the zoo.
 Everybody else followed.  It became clearer and clearer that the
infected were nearby, but it was also recognisable that they were not within
the grounds of the park.

“It’s coming from down the hill,” said Shawcross.

Annaliese nodded in agreement.  She altered her course
slightly so that she was heading for the cable car station directly.  From
there she would be able to look down at the guest parking area and the
Rainforest
Café.

Sure enough, when she reached the station and looked down
the hill, she saw hundreds upon hundreds of infected people.  But, amidst
them all, she saw something else that she could barely believe.

No way!

“There’re uninfected people down there.  Look, there’s
a man standing on top of the café…and there, look, another!”

Annaliese watched as a man in a long black coat crept around
the building below with an old lady in tow.  The man on the roof seemed to
be running some kind of distraction for them by screaming, shouting, and waving
his arms like a maniac.

“They’re screwed,” said Greg.  “There’s no way they’ll
be able to escape all of those infected.  They’re going to get totally
surrounded and torn apart.”

She waved a hand dismissively.  “Just wait,” she
said.  “They’re running some kind of plan.  The man on the roof has
them all corralled at the front of the building, while the other two are
running around the back into the woods.”

“Well, how are they going to get the man down off the roof?”
Greg asked.  “There’s no way.”

Annaliese had no idea, but Greg’s eagerness to count the
strangers out was beginning to get on her nerves.  The only thing that was
clear was that the strangers down below were working together and watching each
other’s back.

Probably the only reason they’re still alive.

“Maybe, we can run a distraction of our own,” Mike
suggested, a couple feet to her left.  “Try and draw the infected away
from them.”

“No way!” Shawcross objected from a few feet away. 
“You’ll get us killed.”

Mike shrugged and looked to Annaliese for her opinion.

He respects my opinion more than Shawcross’s.

Unfortunately, she had to agree with Shawcross, however much
she did not want to.  “We can’t risk it,” she told Mike.  “We’ll just
end up bringing the infected up here.”

He didn’t put up any argument.  He just sighed and let
his gaze drift back down to the struggling survivors.  “Man…that sucks.”

Annaliese watched the stranger in the long black coat enter
the woods with the old woman.  He reappeared a moment later without
her.  He seemed to exchange a few words with the man on the roof, and then
climbed through a window at the side of the building.  The man on the roof
continued keeping the infected bunched together at the front.

Time went by and nothing happened.  Annaliese stood
silently by, gazing down at the scene below.  Her skin felt tight around
her bones and her heart beat too fast.

Then something began to happen.

“The infected people are heading into the café,” she
said.  “Look!” 

The infected were shuffling into the café, clambering
through the broken windows.  After a while, the man stranded on the roof
was able to head to the back of the building without any of the infected paying
attention.  Annaliese watched in amazement as the other man, the one in
the black coat, exited the building from a side window and then raced around
the back to join his colleague, who was now jumping down off the roof to join
him.  Within seconds, both men had disappeared into the treeline.

“They did it,” said Mike.  “Good for them!”

“But where are they heading next?” Shawcross enquired.

“Hopefully, they’ll make it up here,” said Alan, rubbing a
hand against his moustache.  “They’ll be safe with us.”

“If they don’t end up leading all of those infected up the
hill with them,” said Annaliese.  “We discussed this and I’m not sure
having people joining us is a good idea.”

There was silence in the group as they digested the
possibilities.  The truth was that none of them could know for sure what
was best.  The other group of survivors could have knowledge they didn’t,
medical supplies, weapons.  But they could also be dangerous, insane, or
infected.  One thing was certain, though: if the other survivors tried to
make it up the hill, no one could exactly stop them.

“You know what this means?” said Greg.

“What?”

“It means that we’re surrounded.  There’re infected
people down there in the hundreds.  There’s another few dozen trapped
inside Ripley Hall.  It’s pretty clear that there’s no rescue out there to
be had.  If there was, then what are those people down there doing running
for their lives?”

It was a grim realisation, made even grimmer when Annaliese
spotted another group of survivors running out of the woods below, like ants
disturbed from cracks in the mud.  This new group of people, running
frantically across the car park, contained the two men and the old lady from
the café.  They were all being chased by two infected people that came out
the woods right behind them.  The horde from inside the café also spotted
them running and had now piled back outside.  The group of survivors had
nowhere to run.  They had no hope.

No hope at all.

But then the group below seemed to have an idea.  They
altered the angle of their run and began heading for the base of the
hill.  They seemed to have a destination in mind.

The cable cars.

They sprinted for the station at the foot of the hill and
actually seemed like they were going to make it.  The only problem was
that they were leaving the old woman behind.  As they leapt inside two of
the cable cars, sliding the doors shut, the old woman fell beneath the tide of
infected people and disappeared.

“Jesus!” said Mike.  “Poor old girl.”

Annaliese shook her head in horror as she watched the horde
of infected surround the two cable cars and begin to rock them violently.

“They’re going to get ripped apart,” Greg said.  “Those
cable cars won’t hold for long.”

Annaliese glanced around.  The upper cable car station
was several meters in front of her, adjacent to a large cement platform. 
The control booth was a small shed, made from concrete and sporting a long
glass window.  Without telling the others what she was doing, she ran
towards it.

Mike was the only one who followed her.  All of the
others stood, staring down the hill in astonishment at what they were seeing.

“What are you doing?” Mike asked, entering the station
behind her.  There were two dormant cable cars, the opposite numbers to
the ones at the bottom of the hill.  There was also a small console set
into a steel podium at the far side of the platform.  She hurried over to
it.

“The park still has power,” she said to Mike.  “If we
switch on the cable cars then those people will climb to the top of the hill.”

“To safety,” said Mike.

“Exactly.”  Annaliese eyed a small silver key that was
inserted into the console.  Next to it was a green, circular button that
said START.

“You said it would be a bad idea to let people up here.”

Annaliese nodded.  “I did say that, didn’t I?”

She turned the key and the cable motors came to
life.   The carriages began to rattle on their moorings.

“You sure about this?” Mike asked her.  “These people
could be dangerous.  They could bring the monsters up here with them.”

Annaliese looked Mike in the eyes.  “If we leave them
down there to die, then we become the monsters.”

She pressed the green button on the console that said START.

PART THREE: DEATH

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nick craned his neck, trying to get
the best look possible at the figure atop the hill.  Ominously, the
silhouetted stranger stood rooted to the spot, staring down at them as they got
closer and closer.

“What do you see?” Jan asked him.

“Not sure.  There’s someone waiting at the top for us,
but I can’t make them out.  The sun is in my eyes.”

“I hope they’re friendly,” Cassie said, staring down at her
feet as she sat on the cable car’s bench.

“Me too.  But, given what we’ve been through, they
can’t be any
less
friendly than we’re used to.  They saved us by
turning on the cables.”

The car continued to climb.  The one with Dave and the
others inside was right behind.  Nick suddenly started to feel like a fish
on a hook.  If the people on the hill meant harm, then there was nothing
they could do to escape.  They were being reeled in; five hundred feet
above the ground and about to encounter a group of strangers in a world that
had become very unfamiliar, very dangerous.

“We’re almost there,” Jan said.  He was wrenching his
large hands nervously.

Nick didn’t say anything.  He was too tense.  In
the world that existed only a few days ago, meeting a stranger was no big
deal.  Now it was monumental.

The cable car levelled out at the top of the hill and
entered the upper station.  There was a man and woman standing there on
the platform, anticipating their approach.  They seemed cautious.

Nick’s cable car rounded the apex and began heading back on
itself.  For a moment, it felt like their hosts were going to send them
all the way back down again, but then he realised that they were just waiting
for Dave’s cable car to ascend onto the platform, too.  When both cars
were in the station, the motors stopped abruptly.

“Stay where you are,” said the woman on the platform. 
Nick saw that she was rugged, yet attractive; probably in her thirties.
 She wore a thick shirt and wellington boots, and was appraising them from
behind some sort of control column.

He put his hands in the air and stood in the open doorway of
the cable car.  “We’re not dangerous.”

“Nor are we,” said the man who stood beside the woman. 
“Unless we have to be.”

Nick knew the man wasn’t making a threat.  He was just
being cautious and making it clear that the newcomers were expected to play
nice.

And I intend to play nice.  I just want to find
somewhere safe and think about my son and wife.

The door to the other cable car opened.  Dave stepped
out.

“Hey,” said the woman on the platform.  “Stay where you
are.”

Dave carried on approaching, despite the order not to. 
He waved a hand and laughed heartily.  “Don’t be afraid, sweetheart. 
We’re grateful for your rescue.  My name is Dave and-”

“I said stay where you are!”

Dave took the hint this time and stayed still.  He
placed his hands out in front of him.  “Alright, luv, whatever you say.”

The woman placed her hands on her hips.  “I’m nobody’s
luv
. 
And you haven’t been rescued,
yet
.  That will be decided in the
next thirty seconds.”

Dave is going to ruin this for us all
, Nick thought
as he watched the woman bristle and take offence.

Several other people appeared on the platform and Nick
counted that their hosts numbered at least six.  All of the strangers
carried makeshift weapons. 

About the same size as our group.

A ginger-haired man approached the woman in wellington boots
and seemed furious with her.  “What the hell have you done, Anna?” he
shouted.  “We have no idea who these people are.”

“We’re not dangerous,” Nick assured them.

“Be quiet!” ordered the ginger man.

“There’s no need for rudeness,” Dave said.

The ginger man stepped forwards, getting up close to
Dave.  There was a brief stare-off between them.  “I don’t think
you’re in any position to discuss etiquette with me, sir.  You have
arrived on my property and
I
will decide how things proceed from here.”

“You own this place?” Dave asked, seemingly impressed.

“I am Mr Shawcross, the manager of Ripley Hall.”

Dave huffed.  “You’re just an employee.  You don’t
own this place any more than I do.”

Jan leaned close to Nick.  “What is he doing? 
He’s going to get us all kicked right back down this hill.”

Nick stepped out of the cable car and took a few steps
forward.  “Look,” he said.  “My companion is being a little rude, but
I promise you that we will respect whatever you say.  We just want to find
somewhere safe.  Things have gotten really bad down below. 
Everywhere is in chaos.”

The woman in wellingtons stared at him.  “You’ve seen
the towns?  Is there any order left at all?”

“None.  People are infected with some disease and
there’s nothing but chaos everywhere.  That’s not the worst of it, though.
 The dead-”

“Are walking,” the woman finished.  “We know. 
We’ve had our fair share of encounters.”

Nick deflated.  He hadn’t wanted to hear that. 
“So it’s not safe here, either?”

The woman shrugged.  “It’s…secure, for now.”

“Great,” said Dave, rubbing his hands together.  “Then
we’re lucky to have found you.”

The woman glowered at Dave and took a few, measured breaths. 
“You seem to have a problem controlling your mouth,
sweetheart
! 
Now, I want you to take a long look at what you’re facing.  All of my
people have weapons and know how to use them.  None of your people have
anything except a bad attitude.  I’m going to give you one last chance to
make a good impression on me, or we’re going to send you back down that hill
before you have chance to open your mouths again.”

Dave’s face scrunched up in a scowl.  He went to speak,
but Nick cut him off.

“We apologise,” he said.  “My name is Nick Adams. 
I was a phone salesman a few days ago.  I had a wife and a son and a
mortgage.  Now, all I have are the people I’m with, and my faith in human
nature.  We’re all desperate and afraid, but I promise you that we’re good
people.  Even Dave here, once you get to know him.”

The woman studied Dave and then took a long, appraising look
at Nick.  Eventually, she said, “My name is Annaliese.  You can call
me Anna.”

“What are you doing?” the ginger man shouted.

“Making the best of a bad situation,” she replied. 
“They’re here now.  We can’t exactly send them back down the hill, can
we?”

“Thank you,” Nick said.

“Just don’t make me regret saving your arses,” she told
him.  “I don’t make a habit of trusting people.”

“Me either, but I’m glad you’ve made an exception.  Is
it okay if we all get out now?”

She nodded.

Everyone got out of the cable cars and formed a huddle on
the platform.  As soon as they did, the ginger man spotted Jan and Renee.

“Those two are convicts!” he shouted.

“Easy there, brother,” Jan said.  “Me and Renee are
cool.”

“Like hell you are!  You need to leave.”

“Where exactly do you expect us to go?”

“I don’t care, but you’re not staying here.”

Nick stood in front of Jan and Renee and shook his
head.  “They’re good people.  They were sprung loose when things got
crazy and they’ve more than proven their courage since they joined up with
us.  In fact, Jan has already risked his life for other people and saved
my life personally.”

“None of that means anything to us,” said the ginger
man.  “Criminals are not to be trusted.”

“Come on,” Nick pleaded.  “Have some mercy.”  He
stared at Annaliese, hoping that she would continue to show compassion.

“I’m sorry,” she said.  “I won’t feel safe with a
couple of criminals amongst us.”

Nick couldn’t believe it.  “Then what are you
suggesting?”

“Lock us up,” Jan interrupted.

Annaliese frowned.  “What do you mean,
lock you up
?”

“I mean, that if you feel criminals should be locked up,
then put Renee and me somewhere secure and we’ll stay there and behave, as long
as you feed us.  But please don’t turn everyone away because of mistakes I
made years ago.”

Annaliese seemed to consider things.  “Okay,” she
eventually said.  “We’ll find some place to put you.  But if you try
anything, we’ll put you down like dogs.”

Jan raised an eyebrow.  “Damn, lady.  You sure
you’ve never spent time inside, yourself?”

She shook her head.  “Nope.  I’m just a pissed-off
vet with no more fucks left to give.”

“Then I think we understand one another,” said Nick.

“This is a bad idea,” said the ginger man.  “They could
all
be criminals for all we know.”

“Perhaps,” she admitted.  “But, right now, we’re all
trying to stay alive against the same threat.  I think it’s in our best
interests to trust one another.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” said Jan. 

She nodded.  “But sometimes friends become enemies,
too, so don’t cross me.”

“Well, then,” Dave said, obviously feeling confident to
start speaking again.  “Are you going to show us around? Now that it’s
been decided we’re staying.”

The ginger man sighed.  “Fine.  I’ll give you all
a tour and find somewhere for your illicit companions to stay.”

Annaliese shrugged her shoulders apologetically towards
Nick.  “This friendly soul is Shawcross, by the way.”

Shawcross raised an eyebrow at them all.  “I wish I
could say the pleasure was all mine.  Welcome to Ripley Heights.”