Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(77)

“Of course they can. We’re just talking here, Anna. No need to get upset. I’m sure we’ll come up with the best decision available.”

Annaliese rolled her eyes at his patronising tone. “I’m not upset, so don’t worry yourself. As for coming up with a plan, I think the best option would be to vote.”

“Well, I’m not sure that-”

“I’m happy to vote,” said Mike.

“Me too,” said Alan.

Greg and Michelle also both agreed.

“There we have it,” Annaliese said. “Our first vote is to vote. The second is whether or not we light a signal fire, or whether we dig in and make sure we’re set up to survive here.”

“I vote we stay and prepare,” said Mike.

“All those in favour?” Annaliese asked.

“Everyone’s hands went up, except for Shawcross’s.”

Annaliese grinned. “Motion carried.”

“Fine,” said Shawcross, stomping across the room. “You all just made a very bad decision, but it was yours to make. Just remember that I was against it.” Then he slammed the door and was gone.

“He going to be alright, you think?” Mike asked her.

Annaliese shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sure he will. He just needs to get used to the fact that he’s not the manager of anything anymore. Like you said, we all need to adapt.”

Mike put his fist in the air. “FREEDOM!”

She laughed and punched him on the arm.

Then they all heard something that made their blood freeze. The frenzied screeching of the infected. It sounded like hundreds of them.

And they were close.





Chapter Twenty-Five


Annaliese and the others funnelled out through the building’s entrance and spread out into the courtyard. The screeching of the infected was not coming from the park, that much was clear, but it was nearby.

“Come on,” she said, rushing off towards the edge of the park, to the area near the cable car station that led to the Rainforest Café below. “I think it’s coming from over there.”

“Then we should probably run the opposite way,” said Greg. His sleeves were rolled up, showing how skinny his arms were.

“We need to know if we’re in danger,” said Mike. “We need to check it out.”


Nobody seemed to like the idea, but nor did anybody argue. If they had to make a run for it, their chances would be better knowing what they were running from.

Annaliese started making her way through the zoo. Everybody else followed. It became clearer and clearer that the infected were nearby, but it was also recognisable that they were not within the grounds of the park.

“It’s coming from down the hill,” said Shawcross.

Annaliese nodded in agreement. She altered her course slightly so that she was heading for the cable car station directly. From there she would be able to look down at the guest parking area and the Rainforest Café.

Sure enough, when she reached the station and looked down the hill, she saw hundreds upon hundreds of infected people. But, amidst them all, she saw something else that she could barely believe.

No way!

“There’re uninfected people down there. Look, there’s a man standing on top of the café…and there, look, another!”

Annaliese watched as a man in a long black coat crept around the building below with an old lady in tow. The man on the roof seemed to be running some kind of distraction for them by screaming, shouting, and waving his arms like a maniac.

“They’re screwed,” said Greg. “There’s no way they’ll be able to escape all of those infected. They’re going to get totally surrounded and torn apart.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Just wait,” she said. “They’re running some kind of plan. The man on the roof has them all corralled at the front of the building, while the other two are running around the back into the woods.”

“Well, how are they going to get the man down off the roof?” Greg asked. “There’s no way.”

Annaliese had no idea, but Greg’s eagerness to count the strangers out was beginning to get on her nerves. The only thing that was clear was that the strangers down below were working together and watching each other’s back.

Probably the only reason they’re still alive.

“Maybe, we can run a distraction of our own,” Mike suggested, a couple feet to her left. “Try and draw the infected away from them.”

“No way!” Shawcross objected from a few feet away. “You’ll get us killed.”

Mike shrugged and looked to Annaliese for her opinion.

He respects my opinion more than Shawcross’s.

Unfortunately, she had to agree with Shawcross, however much she did not want to. “We can’t risk it,” she told Mike. “We’ll just end up bringing the infected up here.”

He didn’t put up any argument. He just sighed and let his gaze drift back down to the struggling survivors. “Man…that sucks.”

Annaliese watched the stranger in the long black coat enter the woods with the old woman. He reappeared a moment later without her. He seemed to exchange a few words with the man on the roof, and then climbed through a window at the side of the building. The man on the roof continued keeping the infected bunched together at the front.