500 words a day

853 words 17th november 2009

At the gate to Harriet’s parents’ house he paused. The house didn’t look occupied but then it wouldn’t even if they were there. They weren’t that stupid. He knew they would be jumpy so he didn’t want to risk one of them jumping out and stabbing him or whacking him over the head with a baseball bat. The car wasn’t in sight but again, it wouldn’t be.


He decided to check the garage, but it was locked and the window was blocked – could be them could be nothing. He walked round to the fornt of the house and tried the door. It was open. He slowly pushed it in and walked into the hallway, immediately covering his nose as the awful smell hit his nostrils. Decay, could be food or something much worse. He went to the kitchen first, trying not to make a sound, it smelled awful but there was definitely another smell coming form upstairs. He tiptoed up there, trying not to gag and found the source. Harriet’s Mum & Dad with their severed heads posed next to the prostrate bodies on the bedroom floor. Flies were swarming and he had to run down stairs and out the fornt of the house to vomit.


He left immediately heading for Gus’ parents house, which was in the same road as his family home used to be before his parents had moved to Wales.  There were no vehicles in sight, but that didn’t mean much. He decided to be quick and just walked quietly straight up to the fornt door,


Just before he reached it Gus came out, turning his head sharply in his direction and reaching for his pocket.


         ‘Jesus Christ! Fergus!’


         ‘Gus, where’s Harriet?’


         As he said that Harriet came out too holding a huge carving knife.


         ‘Oh my God Fergus,’ she dropped the knife and ran to him wrapping her arms around him. Gus joined her.


         ‘I went to your house first Harry, I’m sorry.’


         ‘Thanks,’ she said looking down at the ground


         ‘What about...’ he pointed towards the house.


         Gus shook his head.


         ‘Fucking bastards!’ Fucking bastards!’ said Fergus. ‘Have you seen anything, anyone round here?’


         They hadn’t. Fergus explained what had happened to him and how he might have been spotted.


         ‘I’m sorry. I don’t know, I haven’t seen anyone, but it’s the cameras, they definitely must have seen me.’


         ‘I’m so glad your here Fergus, We thought we’d never see you ...’ said Harriet.


         ‘It’s my fault,’ said Fergus, ‘I should have come with you; I don’t know I was being stubborn, or some bullshit.’


         ‘Doesn’t matter mate, doesn’t matter,’ said Gus rubbing his head and then grabbing him in a mock head lock. ‘So glad you’re here you know.’


         ‘We need to get the fuck out of here don’t we, like now?’ said Fergus.


         ‘Yeah,’ said Gus and Harriet nodded.


         They decided to take the jeep, just because it felt safer, they could carry more stuff and it could go off road if they needed to.  They took the radio and the code so they knew which channel to listen to. Gus said that the other day they’d managed to get in touch with John for a couple of minutes, not good news though. He had managed to get away with a couple of others but everyone else was dead, gassed in the basement. It was only because they’d been out looking for supplies that they’d survived. He told them he’d heard a broadcast form Germany, only very faint but it sounded as if they were saying something about a safe haven near Berlin, and that’s where they were trying to get to, but since then they hadn’t been able to reach him.


         By now it was pretty obvious that nowhere in the country was safe, but going North was out of the question, most of the troopers were there it seemed, even though they’d soon be everywhere, they felt like they had a chance if they headed south, for the coast, near Brighton maybe and moved up the coast towards Hastings, Folkestone and Dover until they found a decent boat.


         ‘What sort of boat do we need?’ said Fergus.


         Gus shook his head. They both looked a Harriet.


         ‘I don’t know!’ she said.


         ‘Come on Harry, your old man had a big old boat,’ said Fergus.


         ‘I know, but I have no idea.’


         ‘You’ve got more idea than us,’ said Gus.


         ‘Ok, I guess, something biggish that can go across the channel.  We can’t sail, I’ve no idea about that, but if we can find something with a decent engine.’


         ‘Look, I agree sailing is to be avoided at all costs,’ said Fergus ‘but, we need to be prepared. There might not be any fuel or not much fuel os lets get a sail boat with an engine, yeah?’


         So that’s what they looked for. They started at Brighton Marina, but there was nothing worthwhile there.


         ‘Looks like a lot people had the same idea,’ said Gus.


         ‘Probably a lot sooner. I bet these left weeks ago, soon as the power went off,’ said Fergus.








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Steve Wybourn





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