Tag: Horror
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Hi Everyone,
A lot of people have been asking so here is the latest news about the VIROS series.
Book One is in the final editing stages and is inching closer to publication. All things being equal we are looking at a launch just in time for Christmas 2017. I am very excited about this and look forward to giving you all a further update once Book One is published.
Book Two is currently with my wonderful beta readers and is receiving some fantastic feedback. A whole host of new characters appear as Jake, Ellis, Abe, Amber and Vinnie battle their way through a zombie apocalypse.
Book Three is underway and significant progress is being made.
The plan is for Book Two to be released in early 2018 and Book Three will follow by the middle of next year.
I would like to say a great big thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in Project Viros and look forward to sharing more news with you all very soon.
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The Entry Word
©Barnaby Taylor 2016
BOOK ONE: ‘MENAGERIUM JODOCUS’
1. It is the global television coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics that brings about the end of the world. No virus. Outbreak. Meteor hurtling earthward. Planet warming. Planet cooling. Rising tides. Tidal waves. Instead, viewers around the globe are endlessly encouraged to email and text and tweet and share their views on the Games and the athletes and the achievements and as always happens with the excitement of live television too many people get too much wrong too many times simultaneously and so they mistype and misspell and send messages that don’t arrive and texts that aren’t delivered and tweets that are returned and shares that never are but instead of these messages and texts and tweets and shares just disappearing they all align instead into one single endless string and spell out in their global accident the Entry Word.
And that is that.
2. ‘We are here,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft. Not tall or small or large. Just him. Her. Both. Neither. All. Bleary-eyed. Centuries-old and the same tired. Crumpled after arriving. Constipated. Wearing a plain linen suit with a sweat ring beneath each arm. Polyester shirt. Slip-on shoes. Migraine.
‘I suppose you could call us cosmic spam if you felt so inclined but it matters not a jot. Most things matter the small sameness to us. We are endlessly without endless priorities.’
Jodocus does the chat-show circuit all at once, simultaneously appearing on every chair and sofa around the world. Beamed live on every screen.
‘It was you who spelt the Entry Word so don’t blame us for what happens next. With your too-big fingers and too-hasty thumbs all tapping and typing in terrible error. How could you have ever known?’
Jodocus has very big hands in proportion to the rest of his body when he lifts a single finger for emphasis.
‘History is jumble anyway so what’s more confusion.’
Jodocus smiles for the cameras.
‘Only disorder is truly understood and therefore ever-engendered. None look like you have the capacity for real stillness with your fussing and itching and barking like annoying small dogs all less important than they believe.’
Jodocus shakes his head.
‘No interruptions. None. Simple listening will always suffice.’
And though the whole world has a hundred thousand million objections all based on size and creed and history and logic and faith and superstition and other such informations none of these hundred thousand million objections actually formulate properly in the presence of someone so far removed from understanding as to render each and every thought and belief and hope held dear now redundant. Replaced. Deep dark dense dangerous delicate. Unfathomable.
Wonder.
3. Sea levels start to rise. Waves lap. Buildings now bob. Submerged where once they stood tall and proud. Clouds boil black and fearful. Deserts grow tall green grass springing from the dirty sand.
‘Simple tricks,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘Pointless entertainments designed not to prove worth but to simply demonstrate. D-E-M-O-N-STRATE.’
Mere feints and darts. Patients are miraculously healed and tumours disappear. But churches collapse. Ocean liners sink without trace. Airplanes vanish. Technologies begin their fail. Countries start to starve.
‘This is what I mean by disorder,’ smirks Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘In the time we have already spent together I have brought seventy six species of plants and animals back from extinction whilst also removing 0.000002% of the world’s population.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft looks through the camera into the eyes of the world.
‘The question is what next?’
4. ‘I don’t know what I want with you yet,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft to the General Assembly of the United Nations. ‘You brought me here and I haven’t had time to formulate a plan.’
All languages at once are heard true in his ear. Only the world cannot hear each other.
‘You gathered people are right to be afraid because it was a terrible idea to wake me up and get me here from there. A terrible idea.’
The Assembly have no words.
‘I will take petitions like a king from old. You may visit me in my court. I will accept tributes of all and every kind. I will read four letters a day but only if they are handwritten. Be there in person and be prepared to wait for a long time.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft turns to leave.
‘I warn you though,’ he says over his shoulder. ‘I cannot ever be fair.’
5. ‘I bet you don’t even know what I am?’ Jodocus Meaddowcraft continues. ‘Saint? Resurrect? Alien? Visitor? Deity? Destroyer? Saviour? Traveller?’
No one knows what to say to Jodocus Meaddowcraft. Advice is sought but not provided.
‘No whispering,’ whispers Jodocus Meaddowcraft loudly as delegates confer. ‘Do not talk amongst yourselves any longer. Only to me with the conditions I have outlined.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft looks around.
‘This building is about to be off-limits to you all so please get ready to leave straightaway.’
6. There is a multitude of us,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘One after the other and then the next again forever now. More than you can count.’
‘Behold the Unslept’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft, pointing at the screen.
‘See how they play.’ Jodocus laughs. ‘Each one summoned by a mistyped search.’
The Assembly looks and what it sees chilled to the bone. A hundred thousand million figures in perpetual tortured motion; fighting and climbing and dancing and jumping, in gangs and alone, all moving forever. The image is grainy but there was no doubt as to what the world is seeing, the end of itself. They begin materializing. All the shapes and sizes you can imagine. Many you cannot hope to.
7. The next morning. ‘I am obtuse from now forever,’ declares Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘We have seen enough of your foolish world to be anything other than annoyed for having been summoned through your stupidity.’
Jodocus smiles.
‘Furthermore, you will now find it hard to understand me when I speak.’
Another smile.
‘But just before that happens just always know that I only have your worst interests at heart. There can never be doubt with this.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft clicks his fingers.
‘Sense now over gone forever hard speaking me confusion reigns misunderstanding.’
8. ‘Here Bartholomaus Hamson introducing,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘Lieutenant. Sidekick. Limb.’
Bartholomaus Hamson is an ugly brute of a man-monstrosity.
‘Herds Bartholomaus Hamson the Unslept,’ continues Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘Guidance divining crowd control.’
Bartholomaus Hamson offers his sleaziest of smiles.
‘Grin on, fine friend,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘Planet now feeling fear and not happiness.’
Bartholomaus Hamson begins to shuffle inconveniently and though the world could never know this is Bartholomaus Hamson expressing his joy at arriving through spontaneous dance. His dermatitis skin forms new flabs and folds and flakes as Bartholomaus gathers an unseemly pace.
9. Another monster appears. Bulbous. Slime-lined. Mollusc.
‘Einav Dionisii,’ waves Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘Wrong all do. Evil only evil only ever.’
Einav clears his throat and begins to speak like the discord of a rusty orchestra.
‘More more agathokakological, gathered ones. A-G-A-T-H-O-K-A-K-O-L-O-G-I-C-A-L. Mainly leaning one way and then other but balanced overall.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft begs to differ. ‘Balance not. Balance not.’
When Einav Dionisii smiles the world feels a bit more glum.
‘Disagreatum est, felice! Disagreatum.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft doesn’t approve of disagreement and demonstrates his disapproval by deigning to smile.
‘Not cross me, Bulbo! Not no never now!’
10. With a stench from beyond space and time Mally Jaqueminet appears. She is wreathed in rotting weeds.
‘Nihil her thing best,’ says Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘See shining eye danger her facing you. Malingering. Moody. Malevolent. Malicious. Magnificent. Murderous. Mean. Malodorous.’
Mally bows lows to the watching world. Jodocus Meaddowcraft continues.
‘Calamitous. Deadly. Dire. Noxious. Pernicious. Ruinous. Sinister. Threatening. Venomous. Vindictive. Woeful.’
Thesauritical in his approach, Jodocus Meaddowcraft delights in introducing the world to his world.
11. Agatho Wagner is a proud-strutting myriapod full of mathematical magnificence expressed physically as troubling angles and lines. Resplendent. Repugnatorial. Agatho takes the utmost pleasure in obnoxion and fully appreciates the disgust by which he is defined across the planes. Agatho does not ever speak but writes instead long missives in a tiny hand with a fine-feathered quill and leaves them on the floor for you to try and avoid reading. Don’t ever read them on pain of death.
12. Husniya Hindge is twin and has an arm as long as a leg and a leg as long as an arm and no-one can be truly sure of her outlines as Husniya Hindge shimmers psychosuggestively to cause a distinct mental uncertainty among all of those unlucky enough to meet her. Imagine being defined by a vagueness. Then imagine that vagueness being further defined by yet more vagary and bewilderness. Husniya Hindge is also exceedingly open-minded and this only adds to the difficulties she presents to any dimension upon which she materializes.
13. ‘Backwards,’ declares Jodocus Meaddowcraft. ‘Backwards now world-spinning. All progress halt. New histories writing.’
His voice is a terrible one, all wrath and gritty.
‘Not resting us ‘til world back beginning spin at start once more.’
Bartholomaus Hamson, Einav Dionisii, Mally Jaqueminet, Agatho Wagner, and Husniya Hindge agree.
‘My plan,’ crows Jodocus Meaddowcraft to the weary Assembly. ‘My heart-hope all ambition decided.’
Jodocus Meaddowcraft raises himself to a height hitherto not imagined and looms large across the floor of the UN Building.
‘My palace now begone foul fellows flee!!!!’
The delegates scattered with a mixture of fear for the future and relief from the experience.
END OF BOOK ONE
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Calling all readers, writers, editors, agents, authors, publishers, producers, directors, creatives, and absolutely everyone else.
Want to get involved in an exciting new project?
TITLE: VIROS
TAGLINE: Four Kids, One Apocalypse
LOGLINE: In a virus-ravaged world a twelve year-old with special needs must contend with the collapse of civilisation as he looks for his missing mother.
AGE RANGE: 11+
KEY WORDS: Virus; Apocalypse; Zombies: Adventure; Horror; Dystopia; Friendship; Puberty
OVERVIEW: Described as ‘a cross between The Famous Five and The Walking Dead’ VIROS is a post-apocalyptic adventure series that tells the story of Jake, a twelve year old Down’s Boy who wakes one morning to find that not only has three quarters of the world’s population been turned into bloodthirsty ‘viros’ by an unidentified airborne plague but that his mother is missing.
Jake sets off to find her and along the way meets a wonderfully wide range of characters including Ellis, a girl hiding on a roof, and mysterious identical twins, Abe and Amber. Joining forces, the four children make their way across a danger-filled, virus-ravaged landscape.
PROPOSAL: VIROS is currently planned as a series of novels. However, the project is also suitable for development in other forms, including a live-action or film, television or Web series. VIROS is also suitable for converting into a series of graphic novels.
CURRENT STATUS: Book One is currently 40,000 words and has received excellent feedback from a wide range of beta readers. Book Two is 50% complete.
ACTIONS: Book One will be published independently in both paperback and electronic form in Autumn 2017. Book Two will follow in January 2018.
INTERESTED IN GETTING INVOLVED?
CONTACT ME USING THE FORM BELOW.
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I heard a scream and opened my eyes. My head really hurt. I put my hand on the back of my head and I could feel something wet. Blood.
‘Move, Jake! Move!’
‘Get out of there!’
Ellis and Amber were standing in the car park. Ellis was firing her slingshot. Amber was holding a viro at bay with her mop. I started to scramble backwards as the closest three viros came towards me. The low wall was slowing them down and one of them tripped as it tried to climb over. The other two fell on the first and all three tumbled onto the concrete just in front of me. The closest viro was getting onto its hands and knees when I felt someone brush past me. Abe stepped forward and sprayed paint in the viro’s eyes. He looked back at me.
‘Get the girls and head for the gate.’
I stood up and felt dizzy. I thought I was going to faint. Abe stepped back and grabbed me.
‘We haven’t got time for that!’ he said and started dragging me to where Ellis and Amber were waiting. A stone flashed in front of us and hit the viro on the nose. It howled in frustration, put both hands to its face and lost its balance. Another stone bounced off the top of its head. Abe looked at me.
‘Can you run?’ he asked. ‘Can you?’ I nodded.
‘I’m ok,’ I said sheepishly. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
We started to run. Ellis climbed into the wheelbarrow and Amber picked up the handles. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the viros were regrouping. The scent of fresh life was driving them on and they clearly weren’t going to rest until they had caught us. Amber pointed to the entrance.
‘That way,’ she said. ‘Quickly!’
We raced towards the entrance and as we did so I saw that Ellis was trying to catch my eye. I couldn’t look at her. I just couldn’t. This was all my fault. I had been showing off and trying to impress her but instead of being the hero and rescuing everyone I had managed to nearly get everyone killed. Just then she groaned.
‘Oh my God,’ Ellis sighed and pointed at the entrance. A swarm was stumbling and fumbling its way through the gate. There was no way we would get through there. Amber and Abe turned to the right.
‘Follow the fence,’ shouted Abe. ‘We’ll find somewhere to climb over further down.
A row of caravans ran parallel to the fence and we ran through this gap, dodging gas canisters and cables. I kept running and running without looking back but then I heard Ellis cry out. The front wheel of the wheelbarrow hit a brick. Ellis was thrown from the barrow. Luckily, she was able to stand up and start hobbling but everything else we had loaded into the barrow was now scattered on the grass. I started to try and collect our stuff.
“Leave it!’ snapped Amber. ‘It’s too late for that now.’ There was no mistaking the anger in her voice.
‘Up there,’ shouted Abe. He pointed at the toilet block. ‘If we can climb up there we can jump over the fence.’ He looked around. ‘The place is full of them now,’ he said. ‘We’re doomed unless we can get over the fence.’
I looked at Ellis. She nodded.
The toilet block had a low wall at the very back which hid a line of large plastic bins. Abe hopped onto the wall and by stretching his arms up was able to pull himself onto the roof of the toilet block. He leaned over and beckoned.
‘Here,’ he said. ‘One a time.’
Amber and I helped Ellis up onto the wall and with the help of Abe we were able to push her up onto the roof. Amber was next and then me. We looked at the fence. The gap was a fair way but it looked manageable. There was a small copse and long grass on the other side. It looked soft enough to land on. I looked back at the viros as they grimaced and groaned their terrible way towards us. I look at everyone and we all nodded. Ellis took a few steps back and then started to run. She was hobbling badly but picked up enough speed to clear the fence. I heard her scream as she landed on the other side. Amber went next. She cleared the gap and landed with a thud. Abe pointed and I shook my head.
‘You go next,’ I said, ‘and if anything happens to me make sure you look after Ellis.’
Abe smiled.
‘Nothing’s going to happen to you,’ he said and set off to jump. He cleared the gap and then it was only me.
I looked at the gathering swarm and was struck by the very real thought that perhaps I was a hindrance to the others and that maybe they would be better off without me. They wouldn’t keep getting into trouble if I wasn’t with them. Perhaps they stood a far better of chance of surviving if they didn’t always have to take care of me. I thought about Mum. If I carried on like this I was never going to find her. I would be dead before we were reunited. But what if she had already become a viro? If that was the case then I would never be able to find her in these swarms unless … unless, I became a viro too. That way I would surely stand far more chance of being reunited with her. I looked down at the viros and wondered what it felt like to be attacked. How long would I have to wait before I stopped feeling the pain? Would they rip me to shreds or stop biting me once it was obvious I was going to turn?
Abe was now at the fence, waving and urging me to jump. He looked confused. What was I waiting for? I walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. The viros were right beneath me and it wouldn’t take much of a jump to land right in among them. I could probably just step off the roof and it would all be over very quickly.
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Chapter 13
‘Hurry,’ the soldier growled. ‘The swarm is just the other side of those trees.’
I looked to where the soldier was pointing. The still morning air was filled with a horrific howling wail as the viros closed on the station. I was petrified but the soldier seemed very calm. ‘Head on up that path,’ he said ‘and don’t stop until you hit the main road.’ He looked back at the trees. ‘Now hurry!’
I grabbed the handles of the barrow and with Amber in front and Abe behind, we went through the gate and turned right onto the path. Two viros were in right in front of us but the soldier made short work of them with his pistol. They fell to the ground and we started to run. It was heavy going with the barrow but I managed to find a rhythm. Ellis had her catapult loaded and was watching for targets. Amber held her mop in both hands ready to strike. A concentrated burst of gunfire from behind us meant that the first wave of the swarm had hit the station.
‘Move it,’ I yelled to Abe. ‘We’ve got to get out of these gardens.’ He nodded and as I looked behind him I could see that the station was now surrounded. The first soldier was up on the roof firing furiously but it looked hopeless. ‘There’s too many of them,’ I yelled but I knew it was pointless. I saw the soldier look back at us briefly as he removed a grenade from his belt. He threw it into the swarm and I lost sight of him as it exploded. ‘Come on,’ I puffed more to myself than anyone else. ‘We can’t stay any longer.’ I could feel myself getting tired from the effort and I closed my eyes to try and block out the pain. Ellis screamed. I opened my eyes.
Amber was holding a viro at bay with her mop. The viro was tall with thick angry shoulders and looked very strong. Ellis fired her catapult and the stone bounced off of its shoulder. ‘Hold on,’ I shouted to Ellis and charged towards the viro, smashing into its legs with the front of the barrow. I heard a crack. The viro’s right knee buckled and it went down. Amber pulled her mop away and kept going. The viro tried to stand up but couldn’t. Abe ran alongside me.
‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘ I couldn’t get there in time.’
‘We’re in it together forever,’ I said. ‘Now let’s keep going.’
The battle was still going on behind us and as I kept running I heard several loud explosions one after the other. They were followed by another burst of gunfire and then all I could hear was the cruel din of the swarm. I didn’t want to imagine what happened to the soldiers. I really didn’t.
We ran on for a while in silence, expecting to be jumped at any time by swarms of vicious viros. But nothing happened. The streets were deserted. We slowed down to a walk as we crossed the small bridge that spans the River Ouse. Abe looked at me.
‘The sound of the gunfire must have attracted any viros in the area.’ He shuddered. ‘I hate to think what has happened to the soldiers.’ I looked over my shoulder.
‘I know. Hopefully, they got away but I doubt it.’
Abe shook his head.
‘There’s no way they got away. The station would have been overrun.’ Neither of us said anything. I started to feel every guilty.
‘I hope it’s not our fault?’
Ellis looked up at the two of us.
‘They were brave and professional and doing what they had been trained to do,’ she said. ‘They were following orders. You heard them say that evacuation wasn’t possible. That decision was nothing to do with us.’
‘We owe those soldiers our lives,’ said Amber, ‘and the best way that we can repay them is to find your brother and your mum and then get to safety.’ We were approaching the main roundabout at the edge of town. It was brightly lit and very exposed. ‘St. Dunstan’s is second left at the roundabout and then about two miles down the ring road,’ said Amber. ‘It is just past the swimming centre.’ She suddenly stopped talking. ‘We’ve got to get off the road,’ she hissed and pointed.
Approaching the roundabout from the direction of the retail park was another swarm of viros. There were so many bodies tightly packed together that the swarm boiled as it moved, rolling and swaying but moving forward relentlessly like some terrible tidal wave of despair. As the wave poured forward the roundabout filled rapidly and the angry shadows of the swarm beneath the sodium glare of the streetlights made everything look a scene from an old-fashioned horror film.
‘Quick, under the bridge,’ said Amber. ‘We’ll try and get round them by following the footpath on the riverbank.’
There was a small path to the side and we raced down beneath the bridge. The water was dark and loud and flowing fast. The footpath led towards the caravan park. Trees and bushes formed a solid shadowy wall along the left hand side. It was dark and didn’t look like a good idea. I hesitated but Amber raced on ahead, Abe following her. Ellis looked at me.
‘You’re really brave and really strong, Jake. You’ve got me this far and you can get me the rest of the way.’
I picked up the handles.
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Chapter 9
‘Sorry, Amber,’ I said as we left the tunnel. ‘I saw the viro’s shadow as it moved but didn’t warn you in time. I guess I kind of froze.’ I felt terrible.
‘It’s fine,’ Amber said kindly. ‘This is so new and so frightening for all of us that it will take a lot of getting used to.’ Abe agreed.
‘We have a slight advantage,’ he said, ‘because the two of us have been alone for a while now.’
‘What do you mean alone?’ asked Ellis. ‘Even before the outbreak?’
‘Yes,’ said Amber. ‘Our parents were out of the country on business and we were being looked after by our neighbor but she got drunk and hit Abe one day and so we moved back into our own house without telling anyone. We naturally assumed that it would only be for a few days until our parents came back but then all this happened and it is highly likely that they are never coming back.’ Amber paused. No one said anything.
More sadness, I thought. More sadness than we should all have to bear at our young age. Normally, there would be time enough for all that later but now there is no more normally. I looked at the three new friends I had found and felt pleased that we had met, even if it was under such terrible circumstances.
‘I’m glad that we have found each other,’ I said. ‘It really means a lot to me.’ Ellis nodded.
‘Me too. I was stuck on a roof with my family gone and not knowing what to do. First Jake, then you two, I’m really lucky.’
‘I know what you mean,’ said Abe. ‘It feels better for the two of us since we met you.’ Following her very recent close encounter, Amber was understandably keen to get going again.
‘I hate to break up the party,’ she said, ‘but we have a viro-crawling town to cross and little time to do it. Once morning comes again everything is going to be twice as hard as it is now.’
Once out of the tunnel we began to make good progress and the wheelbarrow moved nicely across the pavement. We swung a right at the entrance and headed into the ornamental gardens. Built in 1872, the gardens were designed for relaxed strolls in the sunshine, stopping to smell the flowers in the carefully planted borders or sitting on a bench and watching the world go by. They were never intended for midnight dashes past members of the walking dead but there is a first time for everything and we hurried on. There is a small bridge in the middle of the gardens that marks the very centre of the site and as we crossed that we noticed a commotion in the duck pond to the right of the bridge. We slowed to a careful crawl and took a look. I gasped.
The moon was shining on the pond to reveal a writhing, churning mess of viros who were stuck in the thick mud and unable to escape. They wailed and howled as they slipped and thrashed and struggled. The water wasn’t too deep but the combination of the mud and the churning helpless viros meant that they were trapped. I watch horrified, as if I was witnessing the end of some terrible medieval battle.
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VIROS (Barnaby Taylor, 2017)
Chapter 6
With the hatch in the floor bolted shut, the twins led me and Ellis down a dimly lit service corridor until we came to a large metal door in the wall. The boy pulled the door open and stepped through.
‘After you,’ said the girl to the two of us. Ellis walked slowly through and I followed.
We found ourselves in a small utility room. One wall was lined with metal shelves. There was a steel sink in the corner and above the sink was a first aid box. The girl opened the box and took out a box of bandages. She pointed to a rusty chair by the door.
‘Sit down, ‘ she said to Ellis. ‘I’ll take a look at your ankle.’ Ellis sat down. I suddenly felt very tired and slumped to the floor. The boy handed me a bottle of water. I said thank you with my eyes and took a big swig.
‘Who are you both and why were you following us?’
‘I’m Abraham,’ said the boy, ‘but everyone calls me Abe.’ Abe pointed at the girl. ‘My twin sister’s name is Amber.’
‘And I’m the eldest by three and a half minutes,’ said Amber as she expertly wound a bandage around Ellis’s ankle. ‘We were on our way back here,’ she continued, ‘when we heard the two of you making enough noise to wake the already awake dead.’ She laughed.
‘This tunnel is a favourite short-cut for the infected of this town and had you carried on much further you would have stumbled upon so many of them that you would never have escaped. We were running to warn you.’
‘And also because there was another swarm right behind us,’ laughed Abe. Ellis looked puzzled.
‘But how did you know that this place existed?’ she asked.
‘Our dad owned the construction company that was repairing this tunnel and he told about this secret room. Apparently, it was built just in case anyone got trapped in the tunnel due to a train crash, landslide or other disaster. They could make their way here and wait to be rescued.’ Abe was a cheerful boy and laughed again. ‘Clearly no-one is coming to rescue us any time soon.’
Amber finished with Ellis’s ankle and put the bandages away. Everyone was silent for a minute and then I spoke.
‘We are Jake and Ellis and we met on top of a roof. My mum is missing and we are on our way to find Ellis’s brother, Vinnie who we think is still alive and hiding at St. Dunstan’s School. We have been bumping into these viros all day.’ The twins nodded.
‘Viros,’ said Abe. ‘That’s a cool name for these things.’
‘We went past the school earlier,’ said Amber ‘and there was a group of people on the roof of the gymnasium. We couldn’t stop to help as we were being followed by a very persistent bunch of these things.’
‘We managed to lose them, ‘ continued Abe, ‘and made our way here to wait for nightfall. Once it was dark we sneaked out to try and see if there was anyone else left alive. We were just coming back when we saw the two of you ahead of us.’
‘We had no way of knowing who you were,’ said Amber, ‘so we followed you until we realised that we were being following by a swarm. That’s when we started running.’
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Chapter 5
The railway cutting was now in front of us. Trying to show how brave I was (not) feeling, I went first and dropped down over the edge. I landed softly enough in the thick undergrowth that had grown along the brickwork. I turned back up and Ellis passed me her backpack. She lowered herself over the edge.
‘Ouch!’ she hissed painfully as she landed. ‘I think I’ve just twisted my ankle.’ I looked down to see that she had landed on a broken brick. I put my arm around her shoulder and we staggered onto the track ballast. Ellis sat down and looked at her ankle.
‘It’s really sore,’ she said. ‘I don’t think it’s broken but my ankle doesn’t feel quite right.’ She looked sad again. ‘I’m sorry.’ I sat down next to her and wanted to put my arm around her shoulder but didn’t know whether I should.
‘Don’t say sorry,’ I said. ‘It’s not your fault.’
‘But I’m going to slow us both down,’ said Ellis disappointedly. ‘It’ll take forever to get there now.’
‘We’ll be fine,’ I said even though I knew she was right. ‘If your shortcut works then we’ll find Vinnie before you know it.’ I stood up. ‘Come on, we’d better get going.’ I leaned down and helped Ellis get to her feet.
The tunnel entrance loomed dark and dangerous ahead of us. There was absolutely no way I wanted to go in there but it was too late now. We were here and Ellis needed first aid. I really wanted to find Vinnie now and every second we waited felt like a second too long. I put my arm around Ellis and tried to support her as best I could. We set off into the darkness.
It is amazing how quickly the black of a tunnel can swallow a person and we were only a few steps before it was almost impossible to see where we were going. I kept looking back at the entrance so that I could gauge how far we had gone but it looked like were getting nowhere. Ellis struggled along beside me, limping painfully but bravely not making a noise. It was so dark and so frightening in the tunnel that we were both afraid to speak.
We shuffled forward slowly and it was then that I knew were being followed. To begin with, I thought I heard something slip on the ballast back by the entrance. Ellis felt me getting tense.
‘What’s the matter?’ she hissed in my ear.
‘There’s something following us,’ I hissed back. ‘I just heard it slip.’
‘We’d better hurry then,’ said Ellis and began to limp faster.
Ellis and I started to move a bit faster but it was hard work. Whatever was behind us seemed to be keeping up and I was starting to get really worried. I tightened my grip around Ellis’s shoulder and pulled her along the tunnel. Though I could hear the pain in her breathing she didn’t complain. We struggled on for a couple more minutes and then I could hear the sound of feet scrabbling on the ballast and whatever it was behind us started to run. This was hopeless. Ellis was going as fast she could but that wasn’t fast enough. Whatever was behind seemed to be gaining on us rapidly.
‘Ellis,’ I whispered. ‘We need to get out this tunnel.’ She nodded.
‘But how? Tunnels only have one way in and one way out.’
‘Yes and no,’ I said. ‘I once did a school project on Victorian engineering. Tunnels like this would have a series of ventilation shafts dotted along their length. If we can find an entrance to one then we might be able to get out of here.’
We both started to feel our way along the filthy brick wall of the tunnel, hoping to find a ladder or a doorway. This slowed us down and meant that our pursuers started to gain rapidly on us. My hand found a row of pipes attached horizontally to the wall.
‘Quick,’ I whispered. ‘We’ve got to follow the pipes.’
Decades of grime and dirt and dust made the pipes filthy to the touch but I kept my hand on them and let them lead us deeper into the darkness. As we moved along I could feel the pipes change direction slightly as the wall of the tunnel curved its way deeper into the hillside. It was hard going with one hand on the pipes and the other hand dragging the limping Ellis behind me. I could hear she was really suffering now.
‘I can’t keep going,’ she said between gritted teeth. My ankle is killing me. You go and find the shaft and come back for me later if you can.’
‘No way!’ I said. ‘I’m not leaving you to be eaten alive in a dark dirty tunnel. You saved my life once, now I’m going to save yours.’ I pulled her harder. ‘Now come on.’
As we followed the curve of the tunnel the unmistakable howling of another viro swarm now joined the sound of the scrabbling feet behind us. Ellis started crying with the pain as she pushed herself to run faster and faster. This is hopeless, I thought. Why couldn’t I have woken up a viro like everyone else? Why did I have to survive? I started to get a pain in my side.
‘Stitch,’ I gasped. ‘I’ve got a stitch.’
‘Keep going!’ she screamed. ‘There must be something up ahead of us.’
‘There is,’ said a voice behind us. ‘It’s just up here on the left.’ I half-turned and to my amazement saw two identical-looking children run past us. They disappeared from view and then I heard the sound of someone climbing a metal ladder followed by a clang.
‘Quick,’ said the voice. ‘Get up the ladder before they get hold of us.’
I pushed Ellis in front of me and she started to climb.
‘Too slowly,’ said the voice beside me. ‘She’s climbing too slowly.’ I put my shoulders beneath Ellis’s feet and started to boost her up the ladder. Up above her was a shaft of light and someone was leaning down to help pull her up. With a heave of my shoulder I launched Ellis up through the hole above us. I followed and then the voice behind and we all tumbled into a small circular room. The boy who had been leaning down to help Ellis slammed the metal hatch down over the hole and slid the thick-looking bolt across.
‘That should hold them for a while,’ he said with a sooty smile.
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VIROS (Barnaby Taylor, 2017)
FOUR KIDS. ONE APOCALYPSE.
Chapter 4
A loud silence finally fell upon the road. I shifted uncomfortably and Ellis let go. I carefully stood up and looked around. My legs ached badly. I had pins and needles in my feet. Ellis let go of my hand. We stood side by side and looked around. We were surrounded by piles and piles of broken, battered, bloodied bodies. Each one thrown against and on top of the next in the craziest of positions and angles. We took a moment to look around. Then Ellis spoke.
‘Did you see those soldiers and their guns? I wonder how many other people survived and where they are living?’ I shrugged.
‘I have no idea but I wish we were with them now instead of standing here.’ I really didn’t want to be out alone at night. I wanted to be safe with my mum. Ellis picked up her backpack and loaded her catapult. She put her hand on my shoulder.
‘We had better get moving while we have the chance.’ I nodded and tried to hide my fear. Ellis smiled again but I didn’t want her to see my face so I went to look for my rucksack.
This time we were far more cautious and I walked backwards as Ellis walked forwards. ‘That way,’ she said, ‘we have all angles covered and we will see another swarm of those things long before they see us.’ It was a sensible plan but was very hard for me to do. I was still feeling very anxious after our encounter with the swarms and the soldiers and didn’t fancy any further upset this evening. Everything was becoming too much.
Ellis explained that Vinnie’s school could easily be reached by heading for the railway line near the ring road. We couldn’t really get to the school via the town centre, she argued, because that is where most of the town’s viros have probably gathered. Instead, we should follow the railway line. I was so glad that Ellis had such a sensible-sounding plan that I didn’t think much more about it. I was just happy to get going. After all, she said, it should save us a good couple of hours of walking and that was fine by me.
We approached the railway line under cover of the tall trees of the copse that stood on one side of the ring road. On the far horizon we could see the orange flashes of more gunfire and the sound of the bullets occasionally reached us.
‘That must be some battle over there,’ I whispered. ‘I’m kind of glad we’re caught up in that.’
‘At least it means that someone is fighting back,’ said Ellis. ‘I would hate to think that we were the only people left who hadn’t given up.’
‘Those soldiers didn’t look like they had given up,’ I said. ‘Quite the opposite!’
‘But what if that was all there was left of them?’ continued Ellis. ‘A handful of trucks against the rest of the world.’ She fell silent and I heard doubt in her voice. I wanted to be able to answer her with something positive and encouraging but that’s really hard to do when you are creeping around at night desperately trying not to disturb a town full of bloodthirsty viros.
The railway line runs along a cutting and then into a tunnel that passes under a large hill. It was only as the cutting came into view that I realised what Ellis really meant with her plan. She was actually proposing that we save time by creeping through the tunnel. You must be joking, I said to myself. I pulled her arm.
‘We can’t go through the tunnel,’ I whispered and Ellis could now hear the fear in my voice. ‘That is the craziest idea I have ever heard.’
‘But we must,’ she replied firmly. ‘It’s the only way.’
‘It will be packed full of viros!’ I protested.
‘So is everywhere else,’ Ellis replied and I could hear her resolve once more. ‘This way might actually be viro-free.’
‘I very much doubt it,’ I replied.
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BARNABY TAYLOR 