Coldbrook (Hammer)(117)

And he could not help thinking of Jonah as one of them. Much as he and the old man had never really been friends, the idea of such an ignominious end for Jonah broke Vic’s heart.

The phone was answered.

‘Vic?’

‘Holly?’ he gasped, feeling a surge of emotion. ‘Jesus, Holly!’

‘Vic! You’re okay, you and Olivia and Lucy?’

‘We’re fine, all fine. We’re flying from Baltimore back to—’

‘What are you doing there?’

‘Long story. But you! Jonah said you went through. Did you? What happened? And where is he?’

‘Right here with me,’ Holly said. She sounded close enough to touch, and an unbidden image flashed across Vic’s mind – Holly naked in his small room down in Coldbrook, smiling contentedly, skin flushed and hair awry. He blinked hard and looked at Lucy, mouthing Jonah’s okay. She nodded and smiled.

‘I haven’t been able to reach him,’ he said. ‘I thought he was—’

‘What’s it like out there, Vic?’ Holly asked. He wasn’t sure how to answer. Wasn’t sure he wanted to.

‘It’s bad,’ he said. Across from him, Jayne averted her eyes and Sean looked out of the helicopter window. Dawn had smeared itself across the landscape, and the sun was trying to break through clouds of smoke heavy in the air. Somewhere to the south of them, a city burned. ‘And it’s spreading.’

‘How far?’

‘Everywhere,’ he said.

‘Washington? New York? What about south, how far south?’

‘Everywhere, Holly. South America. Europe. It’s . . .’ He heard her repeating this information, and even below the helicopter’s thudding rotors he heard Jonah’s voice.

‘Pass it over,’ Jonah said in the background, then he was on the line. ‘Vic. It’s good to hear you. But Europe?’

‘We think so.’

‘Where are you now?’

‘We’re airborne from Baltimore back to Cincinnati.’

‘Is Baltimore okay? What the hell were you doing there?’

‘No, it’s f*cked,’ Vic said. Marc was leaning back over the seats with his hand held out, gesturing with his fingers: Pass the phone. ‘Jonah, Marc wants to talk,’ Vic said. ‘But you’re okay down there?’

‘Yes,’ Jonah said, but everything about the tone of his voice said No! ‘Sitting here right now with my other.’

‘Your what?’ Vic said, confused.

‘From over there. My opposite, from through the breach. It’s seriously f*cked there, too.’

‘Oh, Jesus.’ Vic stared at Jayne where she leaned against Sean. Her eyes were drooping, and her skin looked incredibly pale. It wasn’t just the early-morning light. ‘Jonah, we went to Baltimore to get someone who’s immune.’

‘Immune?’ Jonah said. Behind his voice Vic heard others, a babble of excitement. One was Holly’s; he didn’t recognise anyone else’s.

‘Here. Marc.’ Vic passed him the phone and sat back down.

‘Are we going to see Uncle Jonah?’ Olivia asked, and Vic shook his head, stroking her chin when she pouted in disappointment.

Marc talked briefly into the phone, then snapped it shut.

‘That was quick,’ Lucy said.

‘Yeah.’

‘So who was that?’ Sean asked.

‘Friends of ours,’ Vic said. He didn’t think explaining would be for the best. We made a hole into another reality and the zombie plague came through and I let it out and now it’s spread everywhere and . . .

‘Glad they’re safe,’ Sean said.

‘Me too.’

Marc was talking to Gary, headphones pulled back so they could communicate directly. Gary was shaking his head slowly, tapping a couple of dials on the control display before him. Marc became more animated, glancing back into the cabin. He was looking at where Jayne and Sean sat with their backs to him, and Vic knew what was being discussed even before Marc addressed them.

‘Change of plan,’ Marc said.

‘We’re going to Coldbrook,’ Vic said. ‘Good idea.’

‘Hope so.’ Marc gave him a piercing glare, then turned around again.

‘Why are we going back there?’ Lucy asked. ‘I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to see.’