Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel(95)

The basketball hit the backboard and bounced away. Eve leant over the shelf and retrieved it from the floor. “Good try,” she said.

Annaliese grinned. Throwing the ball had been fun and she wanted to try again until she at least made a successful basket. “What’s this all about?” she said.

“It’s about fun,” said Nick. “I think we all need a break from supplies and defences and rations. Time to kick back for an afternoon and try to remember what life is all about.”

Mike walked forward and motioned to receive the ball. “I’ve just been saying the exact same thing. How bout we get into teams to make this a bit more interesting?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Nick.

Everyone else agreed.

Annaliese and Mike joined up with Alan and Michelle in a team against Nick, Eve, Cassie, and Pauline. They took turns making baskets, but it wasn’t long before Nick’s team were several points ahead.

“Were you a professional basketball player in your old life?” Annaliese asked Nick. “You never miss a basket.”

“I used to play a lot as a teenager,” he said. “It’s like riding a bike.”

Mike wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. “Well, I think we should remix the teams. You lot are whipping our arses.”

“What is going on here?”

Annaliese looked up to see Dave marching towards them with Jan and Renee right behind him.

“Nothing,” Nick said. “We’re just having a bit of fun.”

“Fun? Fun? We have things to do. We all need to be working?”

Eve picked up the ball and looked at him. “Says who?”

“Says me!”

She rolled her eyes. “And who the hell are you?”

Dave bristled. “Apparently, I am the only one looking out for this group.”

Nick spoke next and was immediately met with a glare from Dave. “Look, you’re not in charge of everyone, Dave, and neither was Shawcross. You had your little coup d’état in the restaurant, but the rest of us are going to do what we want to do, not what you tell us to.”

“We’ll end up dead with that kind of attitude. There is danger all around us and you’re playing…basketball!”

Annaliese sighed. She knew Dave had a point, but Nick was right as well. They all needed to let off steam or they were going to end up having nervous breakdowns. “We’re just taking a break,” she said. “We’ll be back to work soon.”

“Now!” said Dave. “You all need to do the jobs assigned to you now.”

Everyone just stood and stared at Dave. Annaliese couldn’t believe the gall of the man. What made him think he had any right to order them about?

I’m sure he’s just doing what he thinks is right, but jeez, take a chill-pill.

After a while, Dave shook his head and almost spat at the floor with rage. He was bright red. “Nick, are you going to back me up here? You know, that since I picked you all up, I have only had this group’s interests at heart.”


Nick sighed and stared down at the ground. Then he began shaking his head. “You know what? I don’t know what your motivation is, Dave, but I do know that we are all getting pretty sick and tired of you assuming that you have any right over the rest of us.”

“Nick, you need to understand-”

“We’re playing basketball, Dave. Either join us, or go away.”

Dave’s eyes narrowed and he glared at Nick as though he was trying to burn a hole through his forehead. Then he spun around in a huff and marched away.

Annaliese took a deep breath and let it out through her nostrils. “I think you just made an enemy there,” she said to Nick.

Nick grabbed the basketball and began bouncing it. “I’m a big boy,” he said. “I can handle Dave.”

He threw the ball through the air and made another perfect basket. Nobody picked it up again, though. Suddenly, they didn’t feel like playing games anymore.





Chapter Thirty-Three

The evening was tense, particularly between Dave and Nick. Nick had felt the man’s angry gaze fall upon him several times throughout the night, and he was getting quite sick of it.

Guy needs to let it go.

The whole group were now in the restaurant, including Jan and Renee. They were all eating burgers and fries that Pauline and Michelle had prepared in the kitchen. They had done so by lighting a fire in a large pan and using an improvised spit to roast the meat. They boiled water for the fries. The food was horrible, but made everybody’s hunger go away. Seeing how much food they had consumed for just one meal made it dauntingly obvious that their supplies would not last forever. The bleak knowledge seemed to add to the tension already in the air.

Shawcross sat alone in a corner, eating his meal with his head down. He was a broken man, obviously unused to violence, and the ease with which it had stripped him of his self-respect. Nick felt guilty for having been the one to punch the man, but Shawcross had certainly brought it on himself.

He would have killed Dave if I hadn’t done something. The more time that goes by, the closer we become to those things at the bottom of the hill.

After they had finished playing basketball earlier, everyone had got back to work with their various tasks. Nick had returned to the restaurant to clear the air with Shawcross, but the man had been nowhere in sight. He’d only reappeared an hour ago. He told no one where he had been.