17.

NOW

Diana listened intently to Eric’s instructions, committing everything to her memory. In her mind, though, she was still having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that Eric had become infected. At this precise moment in time Greg’s blood was working its way into his bloodstream devouring the red and white blood cells. In spite of how young and fit Eric was, his immune system had no defence against the ferocious assault from this malignant disease.

‘Okay, so this is a road flare. Police keep some spare in case they happen to witness an accident on the road and need to warn other motorists while they await assistance.’

Diana stared at the tube.

‘Road flares burn for about 10-60 minutes. To use it first you have to remove the cap to expose the surface. I can’t actually do this right now because once it’s lit that’s it. Remove the cap to expose the end of the flare. Do this by twisting gently. The end of the flare will have an ignition surface. Light this end. Hold as far away from you as possible. Keep your hand in the middle away from the end you’ll be lighting. That’s fairly obvious but important nonetheless. Then rub the end of the flare briskly against the surface on the cap. The flare will spray and ignite molten material from its end. If you are wearing clothing it may get damaged. Keep burning flare pointed downward to avoid burning residues dripping on your hand.’

Nodding, Diana said, ‘Okay.’

‘Anything you don’t understand say now. Please.’

Diana prudently asked if Eric could go through it one more time, to make certain she’d absorbed all the pertinent information.

‘How ‘bout now?’

Diana nodded. ‘Yeah. Just needed to make sure, that’s all.’

‘That’s fine,’ Eric said, staring at her face, seeing every intricate feature and placing the memory in the forefront of his mind. ‘Its better you ask until you are certain, as opposed to guessing and getting it wrong. You do that and all this trouble and effort will be for nothing. Is there anything else you wanna know now?’ He hoped she would say yes to make this moment in time last longer. However, he knew deep down that he was being selfish.

‘No,’ Diana said. ‘That’s it, I think.’

It hurt when Eric swallowed; his Adam’s apple stretching the taut skin around his neck. ‘Then... it’s time.’

***

Eric handed Diana his mobile phone. Then he stooped down and gave Tulisa a hug. He whispered into her ear, ‘You’re an angel. So is Jack and your mum. I’m sorry for upsetting you or your mum or Jack. And I’m sorry I won’t be there to see the fog lift and see the world and everything and everyone I ever loved.’

Tulisa’s eyes swam with tears. ‘Jack’s say’s you will see the world and everything and everyone you have ever loved. He said your greatest deed is in the sacrifice you are about to make. He says he doesn’t blame you for what happened to his father, although it did upset him to see it. For that monstrous entity was not the man whom he loved and whom loved him. You gave his father eternal peace. When you reach the pinnacle of what you are about to do you will see Jack and everyone and everything you ever loved. There will be no more pain, misery and suffering.’ Her body quaked with emotion. ‘I love you, Eric. You saved me and my mum. Now, it is only right that you shall be saved, as well.’

Eric smiled benignly. ‘Thank you.’

He rose and faced Diana. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. They held each other and felt the other’s breath breathing life into them.

‘A person is at their best when they are at their worst,’ Diana breathed, and let go.

‘It’s amazing,’ Eric said, beginning to turn and ascend the steep hill.’

‘What is?’ Diana asked.

‘Amidst all the darkness, I see only the light. Amidst all the death, I see only the life.’

With that he ambled into the thicket, swallowed by the pitch darkness never to be seen by a living person ever again...

***

Tulisa and Diana watched PCSO Eric Leibert ascend the rise, leaden with Greg Zane’s shotgun, two bottles of alcohol a box of matches and a petrol can.

After witnessing the many sacrifices of the young, inexperienced policeman who couldn’t have possibly done any more to save them, Diana’s anxiety had abated somewhat.

She checked her pocket for the box of matches Eric had handed her and the can of petrol. The third and final one sat idly at pump number 8. Diana had already taken the cap off so that she wouldn’t be wasting any unnecessary time later on. Tulisa already had mounted Jack’s bicycle. Now mother and daughter squinted through the dark at the hill Eric was currently climbing. When a silhouette in the shape and size of a man reached the apex and flashed his torchlight they knew it was time.

Taking a deep breath, not deliberating on future events, Diana strode alongside Tulisa as the young girl peddled forward towards the school.

The hairs on the nape of Diana’s neck bristled. She realised with cold reality that this was the first time she’d been alone since the disappearance of Tulisa. Eric had been with her all the way until now. And in order to save them from becoming infected and getting out of this hellhole, it was entirely in her hands.

Tulisa had said she was so brave because she lived with a survivor. Nevertheless, raising a child on your lonesome hadn’t been as daunting as what they were about to do.

A distant rustling of cedars and pines reached them from the fringe of the environing woods. The natural sounded comforted Diana as her heart mimicked the sound racing horses.

‘How is it that the filling station works if the power is off?’ Diana heard herself ask.

‘Jack says the electric is back on. The fog is dissipating slowly. The infected are getting slower, lethargic because of the decomposition setting into their rigid bodies. But they are lying in wait for the military so they can attack and pass on the disease. They want to spread it so that it can no longer be contained within one place. That’s why we have to act in haste.’

‘You’re talking like a grown-up,’ Diana pointed out.

‘I’m just repeating what Jack is telling me to tell you, word for word, so you’ll be able to understand.’

Diana blinked once, fascinated.

The road ahead curved to the left sheltered by the dense foliage on either side of the road.

‘Mum,’ Tulisa whispered.

Diana glanced at Tulisa, not wanting to take her eyes off the wrought-iron fencing of the school yard to her immediate right. The building was no more than thirty yards ahead. ‘What?’

‘Jack says whatever happens from here on in he’ll be with you every step of the way.’

‘Okay. Thanks,’ Diana said, absent-mindedly.

Jack advised Tulisa not to make a sound, never mind speak again.

The entrance gates stood ajar. The padlock and chain had been unfastened and left on the floor. Diana couldn’t enter by simply ambling in she had to sidle in sideways, watching she didn’t step on the chain and alert anyone inside she was intruding.

Tulisa exchanged a single nod of approval and then watched her mum crouch and hurry on tiptoes to entrance.

Diana spilled petrol on the doors and step. Then she righted the bottle and hurried around the side of the building pouring more fluid. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the rear entrance doors standing open. Telling herself, to be strong and brave, Diana splashed the hallway and the rug and then poured more petrol on the step outside.

From somewhere deep inside the confines of the school, she heard distinct grunts and groans. She stood transfixed by the opening, ice-cold fear rushing through her veins. More grunts and groans and then... footfalls. Faint at first, then growing louder as they neared, echoing the sound of frantic heart.

Shuddering, Diana whirled around and ran around the other side of the building splashing the rest of the liquid contents around the building. Without stopping or slowing down she hurled the empty can overhead in the direction of the school and fumbled in her pocket.

The box of matches fell from her grasp only for Diana to snatch them out of the air with her left hand. She yanked them open instead of sliding the cover off and four sprung out and onto the floor. Walking backwards blindingly, she ran a matchstick across the coarse strip. The matchstick snapped. In her haste she’d been took forceful. She glanced over head and moved to the right so she was heading towards the gates that now stood wide open. Tulisa had pulled them open seeing her mother running full pelt.

Then a sudden, anomalous calm overcame Diana when she would have at least expected it. Her hands stopped trembling, as though another invisible hand steadied her. She withdrew a match, struck it across the coarse strip which felt like sandpaper. Then she ran forward and tossed the flaming matchstick on the spillage at the front of the school building.

In the seconds before the school building caught into a conflagration, the chasing mass of footfalls that belonged to the infected revealed themselves. Two children and two adults. Devastated at the arsenic deed, Diana gasped and started trembling again. Had it not been for the sound of her little girl’s voice screaming over the raging inferno, Diana would have remained that way until she besieged by the bodies of seething beasts.

‘MUM! RUN! GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE! NOW!’ Tulisa’s throat burned. She had been on the verge of screaming once more before the unthinkable occurred and reduced her to a heartbroken bag of bones, when Diana snapped out of her trancelike state and sprinted for the wrought-iron gate.

Diana slammed the gate shut and bellowed, ‘Tulisa, get on ya bike and ride!’

Tulisa did not hesitate. She pedalled manically like Mark Cavendish seeing the finishing line on the Tour de France. Diana held the gate closed while the infected reached through the gaps and snatched at her hair and face, doing their utmost to seize her or draw blood. Screaming with a concoction of panic and exertion, Diana ducked, bobbed and avoided their assault as long as she could. Then fell to the pavement, arse first and with all her remaining strength, instinctively kicked the gate open. The heavy iron gate slammed into the faces of the infected sending them stumbling backwards, falling clumsily over each other.

Seizing her one opportunity, Diana shot up, pinned her head back and ran. The gentle breeze gusted in her face; billowing her mane of hair. As she was about to round the meandering bend, she glimpsed over her shoulder. The rotted, emaciated things, frames barely held together by sinew and cartilage trundled in her wake.

Grateful that she never knew the people before the infection, Diana stood aghast at the human fireballs wrenching open the wrought-iron gate and pouring out of the school. She kept running, albeit not quite so fast, mesmerised by the hellish scene being played out behind her.

The adrenaline coursing through her engorged veins gave Diana speed and agility she had no idea she possessed. She didn’t. It wasn’t as though she could switch it on and off whenever she felt like. Nevertheless, the concoction of emotions that had overflowed had given her this ability, temporarily. Prudently, Diana chose not to waste it. She set her sights to tunnel vision and sprinted, using Tulisa as her target.