Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(34)

“What can we use?” asked Jan as he looked around. “The whole place is pretty barren.”

“Does anybody have anything hard on them?” Dave asked the group.

Dash grabbed at his crotch. “I do, but I don’t think you can break glass with it.”

“That’s gross,” said Cassie, holding a hand to her mouth.

Dash sucked at his teeth. “Oh, come on, girl, quit playing coy. A fine piece of ass like you must have had her fair share of crotch rockets. If not, then allow me to be the first.”

Jan put one of his meaty palms against his fellow-prisoner’s chest. “Take a cold shower,” he said. “Or someone will cut it off.”

Dash just snickered.

“Okay,” said Dave, clapping his hands together to get everyone’s full attention. “Everybody, spread out and check the sides of the building. We’re looking for a brick or anything else that could help us get inside.”

Everybody set off at once. Nick went to check over by the cable car station with Pauline, who seemed like she could use the company. She looked exhausted.

“How you holding up?” he asked her.

“Well, the only thing keeping me going is the chance that there might be food inside this building. I’m hoping something to eat might stop my stomach from churning so much.”

Nick hadn’t considered the possibility of food, but he realised that he, too, was famished. “I guess we could all do with an energy boost,” he said. “What’s your favourite food?”

Pauline looked at him. “Really?”

“Yeah, why not? Just making conversation. I can’t stand silence. It’s so tense between us all that I feel like somebody might spontaneously combust.”

Her lips cracked a smile for the first time since he had met her. It made her look younger. “I know what you mean,” she said. “Well, I don’t really have a favourite meal, but if I did, I could guarantee you that I wouldn’t find it inside that little burger bar. I like French food; cheese and red wine. Delicious.”

Nick pulled a face. “No thank you. I like a big hunk of meat. Nice fat steak or a pork chop. Caveman-style.”

He suddenly thought about the steak he was supposed to have eaten the night before and felt his stomach roil. The sight of that bloody hunk of meat between his son’s teeth…

Stay focused, Nick. No time to-

Something caught his eye. “Hey, what’s that over there?” He pointed to a pile of debris up ahead. It seemed like it might have what they needed. He and Pauline hurried over and began sifting through the mess.

“They do a really bad job of looking after this place,” Pauline commented as she kicked aside some rotten cardboard.

“I’d guess this place is making a loss. Most places are nowadays.” Nick bent over and moved aside an old wooden pallet, rotten to its core. Spiders and woodlice scurried out from underneath it.

Gross!

But amongst all the insects was exactly what they needed.

Nick picked up the grubby rock and examined it. It was heavy in his hand, but light enough to throw with a decent amount of force. “Perfect,” he said, holding it out so that Pauline could see it.

She nodded and agreed that it was perfect, so they headed back round to the car park. They caught up with Jan and the other two prisoners outside the café’s front entrance. Nick held the rock out to them and smiled.

“Perfect,” said Jan. “Give it here and I’ll get us in.”

Nick handed over the rock and they all stepped away from the windows. Jan wound up like a pitcher and let the rock fly like a baseball.

One of the window panes shattered instantly, showering the ground with shards of glass.

They all cringed as the alarm went off.

It was loud.

Really loud.

Dave and the others came sprinting from around the side of the building. “You stupid shits!” he shouted. “Who told you to do that? You should have waited until I gave the okay.”

Nick bristled and clenched his jaw. “Piss off, Dave.”

Dave fronted up to him. “Piss off? Who the hell do you think you are? You’d still be on the side of the road if it weren’t for me.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Pauline shouted. “We have to get that alarm off before any infected people hear us.”

“She’s right,” said Jan. “Back in one of the towns we passed through, I saw a whole bunch of infected people head right for a church when its bell started ringing. Attracted every one of them in the area. We need to cut the noise, right now, or they’ll be here.”

“Don’t worry. I got this,” said Dash, leaping up onto the ledge of the broken window and disappearing into the shadows inside. Everyone else stood around anxiously, eyeing the treeline. They were all dreading the sudden rush of infected people hammering over the concrete towards them.

The alarm was loud enough to travel for miles.

“This is not good,” said Cassie.

Carl put an arm around her. “It will be okay.”

Dave stomped back and forth furiously, clenching his fists and heaving his gut in and out. Jan and Renee were the calmest, standing beside the broken window and staring patiently inside.

Margaret, Eve, and Pauline stood beside Nick, huddled together, as if merely doing so was enough to keep them safe. He patted Margaret on her back and gave her a reassuring smile.