Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(48)

“Excuse me,” she said. “Perhaps you should take that back inside. The park will be opening up soon. You should probably call it a night.”

The couple continued necking.

Annaliese spoke louder. “Hey! Time to wrap it up, you two. Party’s over.”

Finally, she got a response. The male ceased his fevered nuzzling of the woman’s neck and turned sideways to look at her.

Annaliese went weak from the knees upwards. The sudden fright sent a shockwave of adrenaline though her veins.

What the hell?

The man’s face was smeared with blood. A sliver of what looked like flesh hung from his cracked and splintered teeth. The young woman he was with slumped to the ground as he released her, her neck torn open and gushing fluids.

Holy shit!

Annaliese took a step backwards, shaking her head and fighting the urge to vomit. Vet or no vet, she had never seen such a horrific sight in all her life. It was like a scene from a Clive Barker novel.

“Back the hell away,” she shouted at the approaching man. “Stay back.”

The man kept coming.

She was forced backwards as he came at her with outstretched arms. Her heel caught on a root and she went stumbling down onto her rump. Shooting pains ran up her spine, emanating from her coccyx.

She saw stars.

The man was on her immediately. He fell down on top of her and started clawing at her shirt. She fought back with her arms and knees, trying to push herself free. But the man was too heavy; all her effort was focused just on keeping his jaws away from her neck. It was crazy, but it seemed like the man was trying to bite her, just like he had the dead woman lying on the ground.

Annaliese was trapped.

She let loose a scream, crying out for help. Her arms began to ache and the man on top of her seemed to get heavier and heavier. She pushed with all her might, but it was no use. The man was too strong.

“Jesus, somebody help me! Help!”

“Anna?”

Annaliese craned her neck back and saw Bradley racing towards her.

“Bradley, help me. Get this psycho off.”

Bradley tackled the man and threw him to the ground. Annaliese clambered back to her feet, panting and whining with fright. Bradley cradled her in his arms.

The crazy man rose back to his feet, undeterred by being thrown to the floor. Bloody tears poured from his eyes and coloured his cheeks red.

Bradley placed himself in front of Annaliese protectively. “What the hell is with this guy?”

“I don’t know. But that woman over there is dead. He ripped her goddamn throat out with his teeth.”

“Pissing hell!”

The man stumbled towards them, quick and determined. Blood continued pouring from his eyes as though a faucet had been turned on in his brain.

Bradley wound up a punch and let fly. His fist connected hard with the man’s jaw and made a sickening thup sound.

But the man kept coming.

Annaliese was pretty sure the punch would have floored all but a professional boxer, but the man in front of them was still undeterred. He lurched forward and managed to grab a hold of Bradley’s collar. The two of them collapsed to the floor in a heap.

“Argh!”

Bradley yelled out in agony as the psychopathic man clamped his teeth down on his hand, grinding and sawing at his middle and ring fingers.

“Help me,” he screamed.

Annaliese had to act fast. She hunted around for something to use. Her eyes fell upon a small picket sign. The rectangle of cardboard read KEEP OFF THE GRASS and was set into the ground by a short metal spike. She yanked it free from the ground and pulled the cardboard away from the spike.

Bradley continued to yell out as he struggled with his attacker, blood pouring from his trapped and ruined hand.

She pointed the spike at the crazy man. Her hands were shaking like loose leaves in the wind. “Let go of him right now,” she said, “or I’ll drive this right through your goddamn eyeball! You’ll get one hell of a lobotomy.”

The man ignored her and continued ripping and tearing at Bradley’s fingers, almost seeming to moan in ecstasy as more and more blood spilled from the wound.

“I’m warning you!” she said.

“Just get him off me,” Bradley yelled. “Stab him!”

Annaliese saw no other option. The man had received his warning and wasn’t going to stop. It was as if some wild fever had taken over him, removing any powers of rationality. The man was a vicious animal.

I warned you!

She leapt forward with the metal spike and drove it into the man’s shoulder. It sunk easily into the soft flesh and sinewy muscle between the trapezius muscle and collarbone, causing what should have been agonising pain.

But the man did not flinch.

Impossible. No one can ignore that amount of trauma.

Annaliese could not believe what was happening. She stood there, stunned and disbelieving. Bradley’s screams became a faraway echo in her mind as she thought back to all of the emotional horror she had endured the last few years and how it had all led up to this final surreal nightmare that topped them all in one fell swoop.

Maybe I finally found my way to Hell.

Then she was back again, her moment of panic gone as quickly as it had arrived. Fear was just a response. It could be contained, even utilised.

Make it work for you, Anna.

She rushed forward and yanked free the spike from the man’s shoulder, releasing a jet of blood into the air as the wound unplugged. At that same moment Bradley’s fingers finally came free, the gristle and cartilage finally giving up their battle to stay connected to his body. Bradley wailed like a clowder of cats as his two fingers disappeared and were devoured by his tormentor.