Stay Safe

 

Jenny watched as Toby stepped through the security gate and lowered the makeshift drawbridge.  She scanned the surrounding countryside looking for signs of the others.  It was a Tuesday after all, they always attacked on a Tuesday.  Toby slipped through the perimeter gate and headed off to where the electric fence had been damaged.  Her radio crackled into life.

“Shouldn’t take too much to fix this” Toby’s voice sounded hollow, like he was in a box.  “Let me know if you see anything, I reckon I can outrun them in time”

As Jenny scanned the trees for a sign of movement, she felt her heart racing in her chest.  The area around the compound had been cleared to give them a better view, but in all honesty did anyone really know what they were doing.  This was the twenty first century and they were holed up in a compound designed on a fourteenth century fort.  The moat had been her idea after she saw how the attackers seemed to hate the water, like it would burn them, but once they figured out how the drawbridge worked it wouldn’t hold them back for long.

The radio crackled into life again, “I see movement my side, I think they’re coming” Theresa’s voice sounded urgent.

Toby’s voice cut through “Nearly done, keep your eyes peeled girls I’ll be back before breakfast” Why did he have to be so cocky.

Then they came.  Swarming out of the trees like locusts, crossing the distance between them and Toby in no time, Toby had left it too late.  Jenny watched as he bolted towards the gate, but a rock flew through the air and caught him on the side of his head, he went down with a thud and they were on top of him.  Jenny held her breath and watched as they dragged him away.  One of the mob looked up at the tower, they locked eyes and Jenny saw for a second the pain behind the mask.

How could the vaccine have changed them so much?  It had seemed such a godsend at first, the vaccine would solve everything, and everyone could go outside again.  Then the truth about the whole thing came out.  Now five years after the outbreak the recoverers live in compounds and the vaxers attack every week scavenging and plundering.  Jenny raced down the steps and across the courtyard.

“It’s now or never, we have to take one and find out what’s happening to them” Theresa was already through the gate and over the drawbridge.  Jenny felt the cold steel of her revolver in her hand as she rushed to join her friend.  The thought of Toby driving her forward, they needed to know how the vaccine had changed them. The sound of the gunshot hit her before she realised what she had done. Then Theresa was dragging the body of a vaxer through the gate, Jenny hoped it was worth it, they had to do something to stay safe.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Edinburgh Magic

 Lucy stepped off the train onto the crowded platform.  The last five hours from London had been fairly uneventful. She had occupied her time sleeping, listening to a podcast and watching the rain run down the window as they crossed the border.  She took a deep breath and made her way towards the stairs, dragging her little suitcase along behind her. As she emerged from the station and stepped onto Princes Street, she looked up at the grey Edinburgh sky, she was home, but was it the right decision? Probably not the best time of the year to be here she thought. Edinburgh in August was full of tourists. The fringe festival was in full swing and most of the locals had already left for quieter places. But she hadn’t really been thinking straight. Her mind drifted back to her argument with Martin a few days ago. Stupid unfaithful Martin, with his stupid hair and his stupid Brummie accent. His latest indescretion was the last straw as far as she was concerned. A blonde by the n...
Read more

Colourful apocolypse

Emric crawled out of his sleeping compartment and rubbed his eyes. The warm yellow light in the pod gradually brightened, a new day dawned. But this wasn’t just any day, this was a special day. Depending on who you believed, today could be the last day he ever needed to crawl out of bed. Emric considered a shower, but was there any point. He would either need a shower after work or he wouldn’t. Time would tell, as it usually does. He threw on his work suit, more of an overall really, but they frowned on words like that these days. It was something to do with making you feel more important. It was why his title was officially Waste Management Engineer. As he stood on the veranda of his neat little home, the sun was making its first and, some said, last appearance over the horizon. Peeping over the treetops, like a naughty schoolboy, hiding from a teacher. ‘Emric, well met my friend.’ Alarius called to him from his garden next door. ‘Today is the day, I hope you have prepared everything....
Read more

Diamonds are a girls best friend

 Amelia Devereaux stood in front of the Picasso studying it hard. The lines were perfect, the colours looked good, the whole thing looked genuine. But it wasn’t, it was a fake. Amelia knew this because the original was currently in a private collection in Paris. She should know, she had stolen it last summer and sold it on. She walked past a Cezanne and a Dali, both fakes, and pondered on whether there were any genuine paintings left on public display. All over the world people were putting art in galleries, and people like her were stealing it. What a world we live in, she thought to herself. As she left the cubist room and made her way down the corridor, she passed a room on the left with a rope barrier was stretched across the entrance. ‘New Exhibit Coming Soon’ a sign announced. Amelia gazed into the room with a professional eye. A thought was forming in her head, just a tiny glimmer of something, she would let it grow, it felt promising. ‘Tony, I need this fixed. In three ...
Read more