Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(71)

Chapter Twenty-Two


It took more than thirty minutes for Annaliese to help Clark carry Charlotte’s body into the ground floor office. What made it more difficult was that blood spilled from the girl’s body whenever they tilted her slightly. It had been a challenge not to get covered in it.

Is the blood infected?

Now she and Clark were in the middle of disposing of Tom’s body. The security guard was far heavier than Charlotte had been and both Annaliese and Clark were sweating buckets.

“Did you know him?” Clark asked, nodding to Tom as he hugged the man around the waist.

Annaliese shook her head. “Never met him. I wonder what happened to him, though. I wonder how he got infected inside here all alone.”

“Maybe he came to work already infected.”

Annaliese reaffirmed her grip on Tom’s legs as she felt him slipping. They were almost back at the office with the corpse now and it was going to be a relief to finally set it down. “I don’t know how it’s even possible for a virus to infect the entire world over night. It should be impossible.”

Clark kicked a chair out of his path and shuffled backwards into the office. He began to pivot around to find a space to set Tom’s body down. “Maybe whoever is to blame coordinated several outbreaks of the virus at once. Maybe a bunch of terrorists synchronised their watches before tipping the biological motherload into the local water supplies.”

Annaliese bent her knees. She and Clark set Tom down on the ground beside a large photocopying unit. She thought about the theory that terrorists were responsible. “You know, that sounds pretty plausible. If this was terrorists then it would make sense to release it simultaneously in multiple locations. I just can’t believe that anyone would be so insane. Surely no one is that much of a monster.”

Clark huffed. “The only difference between Adolf Hitler and an ordinary lowlife on the street is power. When people get the power to destroy their enemies and further their own agendas, then that’s exactly what they do. If any terrorists had the ability to wipe out the western world then I bet all of them would press that little red button in a heartbeat.”

“We don’t know that this is exclusive to the western world.”

“No, we don’t. But maybe time will tell.”

“You’re quite the theorist for such a young guy.”

Clark sighed. “I’m studying History part-time – not that I expect to go to classes ever again. You can learn a lot about mankind from its past. People aren’t that different now than they’ve ever been. Same nature, same behaviour; it’s just the technology that changes.”

“I wouldn’t know,” she said. “I’ve always been more of an animal person than a people person.”

“Well, then you’re in luck, because it looks like the human race has been turned into a bunch of animals.”

She looked at Clark and tried to figure out his condition. He seemed to have snapped out of his shocked daze and was now more than happy to have an engaging conversation with her; but he was being very negative.

“How are you doing, Clark?” she asked him.

“How do you think?”

“I know, I know. We’re all doing shit. But do you need anything? Are you going to be okay?”

Clark turned away, as if unable to look at her. “I really loved her. She didn’t know that, but I did. She was way too beautiful for me. I felt lucky when we were together.”

“You’re going to get through this, Clark. We’re all going to stick together and come though the other side, okay?”

Clark turned back around and nodded at her. “Thanks. I’ll be alright. I think I just need to be on my own for a while. Would you mind leaving me alone? I want to say goodbye to her in private.”

Annaliese looked down at Charlotte’s body where they had positioned her under a desk. It almost looked like she was playing hide and seek with them. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll leave you to it. Just stay back from the window in case there’re any infected people that have made it out from the manor.”

“Will do. And thanks again, Anna. Me and Charlotte would still be cooped up in that hotel room if you hadn’t rescued us.”

“No problem.” She stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her. Mike was in the corridor and approached her as she headed back to the staffroom.

“Hey,” he said. “I was just coming to find you. Everything okay?”


Annaliese nodded. “As well as can be expected. I’ve left Clark to himself for a while. He’s not doing well, but I think he’ll be okay. He’s still talking and that’s the main thing, but he’s in a lot of pain right now.”

Mike nodded. “Not surprised. He’s what, twenty maybe? That’s pretty young to be stuck in a situation like this. Losing Charlotte probably left him feeling pretty alone. But, hey, what can you do?”

“Nothing, I guess. We’re all lucky just to be alive. I suppose we should try and find the positive in that.”

Mike held open the door to the staffroom and let Annaliese pass by in front of him. The pool table was now home to a modest collection of snack food and some bottled water.

“I’ve been checking around for rations,” Mike explained. “Found some odds and ends in people’s desks upstairs, but that’s pretty much it right there. We’ve got the vending machines in here to go through as well, so we should be good for a day or two.”