Boone’s radio came to life with the sound of gunfire, shouts and screams. “She’s not here! We got the guy in charge of the place, here for questioning. Over.”

  “Tell them we’re coming,” said Forbes to the sergeant, who relayed the message. He then, together with a platoon’s worth of soldiers left the military truck and made his way through the sea of vehicles in the carpark, walking through the open gate and up the trail, stepping over freshly created bodies with holes in the side of their skulls.

  Ignoring the aches and pains across his body, Forbes marched across the small wooden bridge and through the already open wooden gates, paying no heed to the fires burning on either side of him in the forest, or the people trying to run deeper into the wilderness.

  Boone led the way to the front of the largest building on the plateau, where a group of soldiers had an older, portly man on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, his red face glistening with sweat as he grimaced.

  One of the soldiers stood back, nodding towards the man. “Name’s Ron. He says he’s in charge, and—”

  “I don’t know where they are!” said Ron, holding his chest. “They should be in their tents!”

  Forbes stepped closer to him. “There was a child with them. A little girl. Did you see her?”

  Ron looked up at the older man, somewhat confused. “I don’t know. They had a bunch of children! But if they’re—”

  Forbes managed to stand back before the side of Ron’s head exploded and the contents dribbled down the side of his back, his body slumping backwards. The scientist looked out at the landscape of an endless wall of bark and branches. “They couldn’t have gone far.”

  The soldier nodded then moved off, beckoning others towards him. Forbes looked at Boone. “They will try to find transport. I want teams on any homes and back roads.”

  The sergeant nodded and followed the other soldiers, while Forbes looked down at the dead older man, frowned and started back down the track to the car park.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  GREG

  Greg stood at the stern, as the boat cut through the waves and looked out into the night, the ocean a dark pit compared to the lighter sky. He allowed the infrequent spray to cover his face, enjoying the saltiness and abrasive icy water, and thought about Mavis.

  “Have a cuppa ready for me,” he voiced under his breath, his words being taken by the wind buffeting him.

  He spotted the even darker bumpiness of the horizon, before he caught the shout from the bridge above him.

  “Island spotted,” shouted Baldwin who then ducked back inside the large cabin, closing the hatch behind her.

  “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya,” said Greg without turning around. He hadn’t told anyone, but his wrist above the severed hand was imbued with a combination of colours. Pink, purple with streaks of red. And was sending pain up his arm and into his shoulder should it touch anything. The wound wasn’t fully healing, and he knew if it didn’t, then infection would kill him. Taking his hand was always a gamble. But had saved the others, and given him more time, so he had no regrets. But this mission was going to be a mess. He could feel it. Trying to evacuate thirty plus brainwashed women from an island, which would contain at least half that in guards, without any clear map of the landscape, was not an op he would be happy to be part of in his younger days, although he had been in tougher scrapes.

  He turned and headed inside, moving past those seated in the living quarters, and then up the stairs to the bridge, where Aaron was piloting while Lauren helped with navigation, keeping an eye on the depth. Behind them, seated at a table were Groves, Jenn and the women from the camp. While Barb was standing near one of the windows.

  “Getting shallower, but still not an issue,” said the colonel.

  Greg looked out through the windows to the rocky island and faint impressions of a building almost lost within the gloom.

  “You see that bay?” said Barb to Aaron. “That’s where the abandoned… jetty is. Head towards that. Be careful of the rocks…”

  “Come over here,” said her mother. “You done your bit, now let them do the rest.”

  Greg noticed Barb appeared to not want to move from her spot near the windows.

  “Barb!”

  The younger woman flinched, turned, walked and sat near her mother as the engine purred within the hull, two decks below, and the boat swayed a little as Aaron reduced power, steering it towards the thin strip of planks and posts that jutted out between a scattering of rocks. “How’s the depth?”

  “Umm… okay,” replied Lauren, observing the red section on the graph moving higher on the small neon screen. “We should be good.”

  Aaron clicked on his radio. “Nell? Moor us. Over.”

  Greg watched Baldwin skirt around the edge of the boat, across the stern, picking up a rope, then jump the few feet to the wooden dock, wrapping it around a piling.

  “Dropping anchor,” said Aaron, who then flicked a small switch up on his console.

  Greg stood closer to the window, trying to make out any detail in the darkness of the island. “No welcoming party, so far.”

  “She told you,” said Olive. “Barb says, no one uses this part of the island. They use the larger docks on the other side.”

  Greg ignored the comment and looked at the others, focusing on the general. “You ready?”

  She nodded then made her way downstairs to the large living quarters, and stood near the hatch. “Lauren, Aaron, Groves, Greg and Heather. Your team, find the vaccine, then get back here. If we need help we’ll break radio silence and let you know. The rest of us, we take out the guards then get the women back here.” She looked at Olive. “You stay here with Kelly. Keep your eyes open, in case you are spotted by a patrol. If you are, you’re going to have to find a way to keep them occupied. If you leave, we have no other way of getting off the island.”

  “You think I would leave my kid here?” said Olive.

  Greg looked across the room. “Remember the longer it takes us to get this done, the greater the chance they will call in reinforcements. It’s 2:40 a.m. You all should be back here by 4 a.m.” Everyone nodded and began moving outside.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  LIZ

  Liz pushed her cane forward. Another awkward step.The ground was becoming firmer, making it easier for her to balance, but the effort had made the blister on her hand rip. She had no idea what it looked like, but the soreness was becoming sharper, as were the pains across her hips. And despite all the effort she was putting into her climb, she was moving slower than before. She knew what that meant. Those lower down the mountain were going to catch her, and her children and husband.

  She stopped.

  Tia looked back at her. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

  She smiled, her expression barely being visible in the darkness. Up ahead, Joe, staggered down the muddy path towards her.

  “You okay?” he said.

  “We need to talk.”

  He looked past her. She knew what he could see. A group of dancing points of light, jostling, some miles down the slopes. He looked back at her. “I’ll carry you.”

  He took a step towards her, but she held up her free hand. “No. That’s defeating the object. We need to split into two groups. It’s our only chance.” He began to speak but she continued. “You will go three times as fast, if—”

  He held both sides of her face, making sure she could see his eyes. “We go together.”

  Anger was welling up inside her. There was no time for his sentimentality. She was not going to get her children or him killed. “Joe, listen—”

  “What’s that?” said Maggie. They all looked at her, as she strode towards the slither of vertical shadow and the rectangular shape at its zenith.

  Joe walked up to it, flicking his flashlight on, pointing it at the ground so there was just enough leftover light to highlight the etched words across the old sign. “Stone Falls two point four miles north. Pine Rush one point two miles west. Altitude 965 feet.” He looked back at his wife. “We can make it to Pine Rush. There’ll be a vehicle there.”

  She wasn’t fully convinced but the alternative was worse. She nodded and they all moved off, following the path to the left.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  LAUREN

  Lauren and the group of four others moved quickly through the thick undergrowth within the woods, the trunks and branches being so thick that she had to rely upon a pocket compass to keep her heading true. At least it meant there was no chance of them being seen if they couldn’t see themselves too.

  The lighter sky started to become more apparent above them. They were coming to the end of the forest. They slowed and crouch walked the remaining few yards to where the bushes and shrubs became grass, all belonging to a large four-story house at the top of a slope. Above the silhouette of its roof, the sky was aglow.

  “Must be light coming from the facility,” said Lauren. “It’s in the middle of the island, a few more houses beyond this one.”

  Aaron scanned the back of the property with a small set of binoculars. “The windows are all dark. Think it’s empty.”

  “At least we don’t have to worry about the undead,” said Heather.

  Aaron moved in front of Lauren, taking the lead. “We’ll skirt around the houses, keeping to the trees but close to the road.”

  He set off and they plunged back into another wall of forest, trying not to snap too many of the twigs and branches that pressed against their limbs. The location of the former care home soon came into view as the ground became more of an incline. Its luminescence now obvious above it.

  “That’s a lot of light,” said Aaron to Lauren. They could also all hear sounds floating on the night air.

  She nodded in reply, not wanting to acknowledge what it meant. It was too late to turn back now.

  She looked at her watch. It had already taken them around thirty minutes just to get this far. They were behind schedule. “Everyone stay real close together. We don’t know how far out they—”

  The ground suddenly shook, making them all instinctively duck inside whatever group of leaves was closest. Lauren wasn’t the only one who knew what the tremor meant, and looked up just as the dark rectangular shadow momentarily blotted out what light there was from the sky above.

  “That’s military!” said Groves.

  “Yup,” said Greg. “Means this just got a hundred times harder to pull off.” He looked at Lauren. “We going ahead with this?”

  “Yes. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CLARA

  Clara hid her hand in her pocket. Trying to hide the shaking which had become more pronounced the closer she got to their destination.

  What was worse, was the scene in front of her was wrong. A cityscape of tents covered the grounds surrounding the large house, which were alive with light and human shaped shadows shifting across their fabric walls. She, with the six others, were at the edge, peering over a fence, which bordered the eastern side. Even the greenhouse, some hundred yards off to her left was illuminated, with uniformed men and women busily doing something within the iron and glass structure.

  “How the fuck are we meant to get through all that!” said Marge, to the youngest of the group, Barb.

  “I… didn’t know they were here! There’s another way in. A sewage tunnel that leads to the basement. That’s why I took you this way.”

  Flashes of skin and tissue being ripped kept forcing their way into Clara’s vision. Every instinct she had was telling her to turn around and run. She would rather die than go back into that room. She closed her eyes, steadying her nerves and thought about the women still inside, then looked at Barb. “Show us.”

  They headed along the fence, the heavily overgrown path dipping into a small gully, which was interrupted by a stream of water, glistening in the moonlight. Barb pointed to the group’s left without speaking, then pulled away some of the branches, uncovering a narrow concrete pipe, around four-feet in diameter.

  Before anyone could voice concern, she pulled back some cobwebs and weeds then pushed into the void. Baldwin was next, then Grace, Jenn, Marge, Clara with Lucas keeping a watch at their rear, making sure no one else was lurking in the shadows behind them.

  The coolness of the water around Clara’s knees cleared her head a little, waking her thoughts, allowing her to remember the layout of the building. Pushing her drenched knees one in front of the other, her hands sliding amongst the muck, she concentrated on the task at hand. Luckily, it wasn’t too long before Baldwin said they had reached the end, and with everyone else, Clara stood up in a small concrete room, which smelled of damp and rotting leaves.

  The marine switched on a flashlight and moved it around the wall, until the beam came upon a set of rusting metal steps which led up to an equally failing door.

  “Up there…” said Barb.

  Baldwin nodded and quickly got to the top, trying then pulling the door open. The hum of machinery immediately spilled from the gap, but there was only darkness in the room beyond. The marine stepped out into it, keeping her light to the ground, using the leftover light to give her impressions of the large metal pipes, valves and cabling which ran along the walls.

  “That’s the door to the ground floor,” said Barb, pointing at one of three doors at the end of the room. “From there you’ll need to take the door directly left. That’s the staff staircase to the other floors where everyone is sleeping.”

  Jenn nodded, looking at the others. “Lucas. I need you to stay here and secure this exit. We’ll bring the women through here.” He looked at Marge before agreeing, pulling his rifle from his shoulder.

  They approached the door.

  “I’ll go first and check to make sure it’s clear,” said Aaron. “If it goes wrong then—”

  Clara’s vision became a whiteout so extreme she felt that the ceiling had been removed and only pure white sunlight was streaming in. It took a moment for her to realise she was also mostly deaf and only muffled sounds and bangs were making it to her brain.

  Something heavy hit her back, pushing her forward. She threw her arms out to defend herself. Perhaps she was also shouting at her assailant, she couldn’t tell, for any other thoughts were terminated by another solid hit to the side of her head.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  MAGGIE

  Rain pulled on Maggie’s hand, wanting to be let free. To investigate whatever was calling to him in the darkness. She gave a light tug on the cable which was being used as a lead, and he responded by easing up a little. She looked to her right, at the five others then back to the street beyond the row of bushes they were all crouched behind.

  “I don’t see any movement,” said Joe to her far left.

  Opposite their position which was at the edge of the woods, was a sequence of one and two-story buildings, with corresponding parking lots in front or to their sides. The signs out front hinted at them being motels, but one had the appearance of a grander resort.

  Rain tugged again, making Maggie have to hold the lead firmer. “I… think there’s something over there,” she said.

  “Maybe the dead,” said Aiden, next to her. “Good thing we took one of those pills.”

  “Yes…”

  Liz had given all the adults one of the strange purple pills, and as far as Maggie knew, everyone had taken it. But she hadn’t. Despite the promise of what it offered, she wasn’t about to take an experimental drug. She would take her chances with the world as it is.

  Joe gestured to the closest of the lots, and the cars and pickups within it. He looked back down the line. “Aiden, you’re with me, we’ll check out those vehicles. See if any of them have keys, if not we’ll go into the buildings. Everyone else, stay here and keep watch as best you can… Remember we don’t know how effective the pills will be.”

  The two men rose. Maggie offered the lead to the American. “Here. Take him. If there’s anything there, he’ll know before you will.”

  She was sure she caught a frown in the darkness, but Aiden took the lead regardless, and with Joe, both men jogged across the two-lane road to the first of the large expanses of concrete, then split up. Rain appeared to want to pull Aiden to the left, towards the main building, but he resisted, pulling the dog with him to the next vehicle. For a moment, the shadows in front of her reclaimed a memory of Sam as a teenager, being pulled by Rain as a puppy. The images filled her with momentary joy before crushing grief replaced them, and she let out an almost unnoticeable sound of anguish, a suppressed scream, before regaining control of her emotions.

  The two men seemingly had given up on the vehicles and were now moving out of sight as their shadows merged with the darkness covering the buildings.

  She shifted her position, glancing at the absolute void behind them. Anything could be in there, within the wall of trees. It gave her scant relief knowing they had just come from there. For most of the journey she felt as if she was being watched, but having Rain with her put her a little at ease. Now the dog was with someone else, and she was fully alone.

  Ember’s baby murmured, drawing Maggie’s attention. “How is she?”

  “Hungry. I need to feed her soon… if we find somewhere to rest.”

  “I’m sure they’ll find—”

  As if answering her question, one of the men, Joe, by how he moved, came from the entrance of the building, walking towards the nearest vehicle, where he tried and failed to open its door, then moved onto the next.

  “He’s found some keys,” said Mathew, beside Ember.

  Standing beside a pickup, Joe opened the door and immediately started waving towards the group. The kids were first to get to their feet, Tia helping her mother up, the others making their way across the road onto the lot, but Maggie began to slow. She was sure she could hear barking coming from the building. She stopped near the back of the pickup as the others got in.