Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(10)

His wife was standing so close that he could smell her fetid saliva. Her hands immediately went for his throat, choking him with a strength he didn’t know she possessed. He tried to fight her off, to force her backwards as she tried to bite at his face, but she was unrelenting. Each snap of her jaws sent hot dribbles of bloody phlegm down his neck. His vision began to crackle with spots and stars as his oxygen supply was suddenly cut off. He twisted in the vice-like grip of her hands and lifted up his knee to create space between them. Just when he was sure he was about to lose consciousness, Nick threaded both of his arms between his wife’s elbows and forced them out and away from him. He succeeded in breaking Deana’s hold, but the sudden intake of desperate breath left him momentarily paralysed.

Deana was back on him before he even had chance to move. All Nick had time to do was deliver a swift kick that caught his wife just above the knees. She fell to the floor, snarling. He took his chance and made a run for it.

Heading down the corridor at full pelt, Nick could hear his crazed wife right behind him, chasing him down like a predator. He took the steps downwards, three at a time, half-running, half-tumbling. Deana gained on him as she leapt down the stairs behind him without any fear for her own safety.

She collided with him at the bottom, clinging to his shoulders like a piggybacking child. Nick felt her teeth clamp down and grab a hold of him. He anticipated the sharp burn of his skin being shorn away, but was relieved to find that Deana had only sunk her teeth into the thick woollen collar of his coat.

He barrelled into the wall, crushing Deana like the meat in a sandwich. Her jaws tore loose from his collar and he was suddenly free of her weight. He made for the porch again, so quickly that his foot struck the lip of the doorway and he went crashing to the stone floor.

Wind knocked out of him, Nick looked up to see Deana coming at him like a hungry vulture. She let out another one of those high-pitched screeches and leapt into the porch. Nick kicked out with both legs, catching her in the stomach and forcing her back into the hallway.

Before Deana had chance to regain her balance and come at him again, he leapt up and slammed the porch’s interior door shut. Just like before, Deana crashed into the other side and shoved her face up against the glass, snarling like a demon. Nick stared back at her in horror, gasping for breath, and barely recognising the woman he had married. No longer was she his beautiful, exotic wife of seven years. She was a flesh-craving ghoul.

“I’m sorry, my love,” he said to her through the blood-smeared glass. “I’m going to find help right now. I’ll sort this all out, I promise. I love you.”

Nick’s world was falling apart, his nightmares becoming real. He unlocked the front door to his house and stepped out into the cold, grey, approaching dawn.





Chapter four


The first thing Nick noticed when he stepped out of his front door was the orange glow on the horizon. The sun was beginning its journey past the horizon and the darkened houses of the street were slowly being coloured-in by the muted pastels of dawn.

The start of another autumn morning on the worst day of my life.

The second thing he noticed was that the quiet cul-de-sac in which he lived was unusually active for so early in the morning. Several of his neighbour’s houses were lit up bright, their windows glowing. Silhouetted figures flitted back and forth inside, moving in and out of sight.

There was also a lot of noise.

Nick wasted no time in heading past his wife’s compact, blue Peugeot parked on the driveway and making for his own car parked on the curb. He pressed the fob on his keychain and the lights flashed, the locks disengaged. He was just about to head around to the driver’s side when he heard a commotion across the road.

“Help me! Somebody, please!”

Nick glanced across the road to see a woman racing across one of the lawns. He recognised her as the middle-aged blonde that lived opposite. He’d rarely spoken to her, but he was pretty certain her name was Lara.

Now she was running towards him with the looming spectre of a man – possibly her husband – close behind her.

Nick stood still and watched in confusion. “What’s wrong, Lara?” he asked her once she got close enough. “Are you okay?”

But it was clear the woman was not okay. Her eyes were wide and bloated with fear. A ragged gash ruined the left side of her face. It looked like a bite mark.

“My…my husband. He’s trying to kill me. Please, you have to help m-”

Lara’s husband barrelled into the back of her, crushing her up against Nick’s car. From across the roof of the vehicle, Nick watched in stunned silence as a domestic disturbance commenced right in front of him.

He’s going to bloody well kill her if he’s not careful.

Nick had seen enough and raced around the car, ready to intervene. Lara’s husband had pinned her to the floor and was clawing at her neck and face. She screamed and writhed, batting away the attacks as best she could. But it was a battle she was losing. He husband was twice the size.

Nick thrust out both his arms and managed to shove Lara’s husband off of her. “What the hell are you playing at?” he demanded of the man. “You ought to be bleedin’ locked up.”

The man came at Nick without a word, squashing him against his car. The bodywork crumpled under the impact. Nick shook his head and tried to get to grips with the situation. The man was bigger than him by about half a foot and the extra leverage was all it took for his arms to give way. With each passing second, the crazed man managed to bring his snarling face a little bit closer.