Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(35)

“What a racket,” she muttered.

The shrill call of the alarm set all of their nerves on edge – everyone was visibly close to panic. If what Jan had said was right, it could spell big trouble for them all.

We’re sitting ducks…

The alarm stopped suddenly.

There was total silence.

A moment later, Dash appeared at the broken window. He held what looked like a frying pan in his hand. He used the hard metal edge to knock loose the remaining shards of glass from the frame, making it safe to climb through. “Come on in, gangsters,” he said.

“Something tells me you’ve done this before,” Nick commented.

“I don’t know what you mean, blud. I’m just a man that knows a few things.”

“Well, you did good,” said Dave. “Is there any way you can get the doors open as well?”


Dash shook his head. “No can do. Any keys would be in the safe and my skills don’t go that far.”

“Okay,” said Dave. “Then pass us out one of those plastic chairs to help us climb over.

Dash disappeared back inside and then reappeared at the window with a chair. He passed it out to Dave who set it down on the pavement.

“Okay,” Dave said. “Ladies first.”

They sent in Margaret to start; Nick helping her up and then Dash helping her down onto his shoulder from the other side. Eve was next and hopped through relatively easily, followed by Pauline who stumbled and half-fell inside. Cassie went next and then the men followed. Nick went in after Carl, who went in after Renee. Dave and Jan came in last. Jan was so tall he could have stepped over without the chair.

Inside, the room was shadowy, but not completely dark. The chairs and tables were neatly stacked and the floors were mostly clear. The café was still operational by the looks of things.

“Wonder why there’s no one here,” said Pauline.

“Makes sense,” said Nick, “when you think about the time this all started. My wife and son were sick before dawn. I’d imagine some people probably took longer, but it’s safe to assume that the situation was pretty bad everywhere by 8AM. This café probably doesn’t open until nine or ten, so the staff wouldn’t have even started their commute by the time the shit hit the fan. I think most people were either getting up for work or already on their way when they got attacked. We all saw the roads this morning. It happened all at once. It caught everybody by surprise.”

“I think we can all count ourselves pretty lucky,” said Dave. “All of us managed to escape the situation before it got real bad.”

“We owe you big time,” Carl said to Dave. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t picked me up.”

Dave puffed up his chest proudly. “Don’t mention it.”

“Do you think the power is still on?” Cassie asked.

Nick shrugged his shoulders. “No reason it shouldn’t be.” He headed over to the wall and followed it along until he reached a door reading: STAFF ONLY. Beside it was a little incision in the wall. He sighed. “The lights are operated by one of those little fish key thingies.”

“Anybody got a hair clip?” Jan asked.

Pauline pulled one from her hair and handed it over. Jan took it to where Nick was standing and jammed it into the small hole. He fiddled the piece of plastic-coated steel for a few seconds and then…

An audible click!

The lights came on and everybody cheered.

“Excellent,” said Dave. “Now, let’s hunt down a phone.”

“There’s one through that door,” said Dash. “It leads to an office and a staffroom. I saw it when I broke in.”

“Excellent,” Dave said again. “I’ll go see if I can reach somebody.”

Nick plonked himself down at one of the small restaurant tables and slouched forward on his elbows. His left arm cried out in pain from his wounds, but it still felt good to be sitting indoors again. He had been beginning to feel like a nomad, trekking through the woods without direction. It was good to finally stop for a while and take stock of things.

Pauline took a seat next to him. “Hope that alarm didn’t bring any attention to us. I don’t think I can face being attacked again.”

Nick looked out across the empty car park. “It doesn’t seem to have brought anything. We should be okay. We might even be able to stay here until the authorities get a handle of things.”

“You think they will?”

Nick wanted to be optimistic, but couldn’t find the energy to kid himself. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t know what there is for them to get a handle on. If those sick people can’t be helped…well, let’s just say that would be a lot of funerals to arrange. I have some of my own to attend to as soon as this is over.”

Pauline had an expression that suggested she was trying to hold back tears. “How could something like this happen, Nick?”

“Aliens,” said Carl from nearby.

Nick frowned. “Huh?”

“Maybe it was aliens,” Carl repeated. “As good a theory as any. I read once on the Internet that they have this big hole in the desert in America that’s filled with all sorts of things we don’t know about. I bet it was aliens.”