Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(76)

As if sensing her discomfort, he broke his stare momentarily before continuing with the point he was trying to make. “I mean animals like rats, birds, cats, rabbits, even bears. They are all around us, aren’t they? You can’t go anywhere in the city without a pigeon eyeing you up for food. In America, bears and racoons come right out into the streets and raid people’s bins; so do foxes in this country.”

Annaliese cleared her throat irritably. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that animals adapt. When things change for them, they don’t feel sorry for themselves, they just deal with it.”

“So you’re saying that we need to, what, just deal with it? Like rabbits?”

“Exactly. Are we so arrogant that when our cushy way of life is threatened we’d rather just give up then have to adapt and survive. Every other species on earth has had to do it, because of us, so why can’t we.” Mike cleared his throat and rubbed at his face. “Look, I don’t know what lies ahead of us. I’m guessing it’s not going to be nice, or easy in any way, but I’m not about to lie down and take it without a fight. Whatever has happened is bad – really bad – but it’s only the end of the world if we let it be. People have died, yes, but as long as there’s a few of us left then we owe it to the human race to survive. If we don’t, then there is no more human race.”

Annaliese frowned at him. “You’re not going to shout FREEDOM at me, are you?”


Mike laughed. “I haven’t gone all Braveheart yet, but that’s the mentality we need. And that film just proves my point that when people are up against it, they fight. Maybe this thing isn’t as big as we fear, but we need to prepare ourselves in case it is.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Can we just get out of here for now, though? I don’t want to look at a dead body again for at least the rest of the day.”

“Fair enough. Come on, everyone is still in the staffroom. We were going to start planning what to do next.”

In the staffroom, everyone was gathered around the pool table. Shawcross was starting a meeting. From the way he was gesticulating, the man thought he was Winston Churchill.

Or Hitler.

“The phones are still not working,” he said. “All of the computers in this office are security protected and nobody knows the passwords. Ripley Hall is off limits and we have no idea what the situation is in nearby towns. To say the situation is perilous is an understatement. Our only hope at this point is to secure rescue.”

“How?” Greg asked.

“By following my suggestion of starting a signal fire.”

“Bad idea,” said Annaliese. “I already told you that. What if the fire attracts the infected? Or people that want to take what we have?”

“You may be correct,” Shawcross admitted. “But what other choice do we have, really? We have no food beyond what lies on this table and I’m sure it is only a matter of time until we lose power and perhaps even water. If you don’t agree with a signal fire, then we could head for the staff car park behind the manor house, or even head down the hill via the cable cars. We can cut through the woods right into the nearest town.”

“The towns won’t be safe,” she said.

“Neither is here. We have to leave.”

“Wait a minute,” said Mike. “Isn’t this a theme park?”

“What?”

“This place is a theme park and zoo, right?”

Shawcross shrugged. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that there must be a burger bar or restaurant with supplies to last us a little while longer.”

Annaliese nodded. “He’s right. In fact, I think there’s a couple of them. There’s a burger place in the zoo and a pub and eatery in the theme park. We should explore what we have before we start looking elsewhere.”

“Now, now,” said Shawcross, raising a hand. “Regardless of how many supplies we can find, we will, at some point, run out. We need rescue.”

“What if we don’t run out?” said Annaliese.

Mike folded his arms and looked curious. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the zoo is partly self-sustaining. Bradley was telling me about how the produce much of the animal’s feed in a greenhouse in the woods and that they also have a small plot of vegetable gardens. If we find where those are then we might be able to grow our own food.”

“And we can eat the animals,” said Alan.

Annaliese didn’t like the thought of that, but she knew it made sense. “If things get that desperate then, yes, I suppose so. But even better, the petting zoo has chickens and a pair of cows. We can get eggs and milk.”

“This is absurd,” said Shawcross. “We need rescue, not a bloody community project.”

“Yes, we do need rescue,” Annaliese admitted. “But we won’t get it by throwing our lives away. We can keep a look out for help – we’re five hundred feet in the air – but if help is a far ways off then we need to make preparations now rather than later. We need to prepare for the worst.”

Shawcross shook his head. “You’re wrong. I think-”

Annaliese cut him off. “Maybe I am wrong. But maybe so are you. You’re not in charge here, Shawcross. Not anymore. These people can make their own decisions.”