‘We’re going to have to leave with what we’ve got, aren’t we?’
‘I think we’ll be lucky to get that much out.’
‘So what are we going to do?’
Michael shrugged his shoulders.
‘Get out with nothing and start again somewhere else, I suppose,’ he sighed. ‘Do what we did when we arrived here. Find somewhere that looks half-decent, get ourselves settled and then get out and get supplies.’
‘But won’t the same thing happen again?’
‘Probably.’
That wasn’t the answer Emma had wanted to hear. It was what she’d expected him to say, but she had still been hoping for a little more encouragement.
‘So how do we get out? Have you thought about that?’
Michael shrugged his shoulders again.
‘We’ll just have to make a run for it. Get Carl up and about, get loaded up with stuff and then go for it. We’ll have to fight our way through.’
‘Think we can do it?’
A third nonchalant shrug. A few moments of awkward silence followed.
‘Are there still as many outside?’ Emma wondered.
‘Can’t tell,’ he replied. ‘Probably. I’ve seen a few of them walking away, but there are just as many still coming in over the bridge.’
‘They can’t get inside, can they?’
‘We’d have to be unlucky. It’s locked tight down there but…’
‘But what? They can’t get in, can they?’ she interrupted, again looking for reassurance from Michael…
‘But there are thousands of them,’ he continued. ‘Their sheer mass could do some damage.’
‘I don’t think they’ll be able to force their way in.’
‘Neither do I. But then again this time yesterday I never thought they’d get through the barrier…’
‘But they didn’t get through, we let them in.’
‘Doesn’t matter, does it? Fact is they’re through. And it wouldn’t matter how they got inside if they managed to get in here. Wouldn’t matter if they put a window through or if we let them in through the front door. Fact is we’d be completely fucked whatever.’
‘When are we going to do this, Mike?’
‘As soon as we can. We’re kidding ourselves if we think it’s going to get any better for us tonight. We’re not going to gain anything by waiting.’
45
It’s half past nine and I’m feeling much better.
I know there’s no way out of here, but I still feel better because I know that something’s going to happen. We’re not going to sit here like fucking prisoners for the rest of our days. Something’s going to happen tonight.
When I was running back to the house I was faster than the lot of them. I could outrun them. They’re nothing, just bags of skin and bone. They don’t have any strength and there isn’t a single one of them that can hurt me.
I keep seeing Sarah and Gemma’s faces and I can hear Sarah telling me what to do. She’s telling me that she wants me to make a go of this. She’s telling me that she wants me to get off my backside and make a stand.
I can hear Emma and Michael talking about getting away again.
The only way we can do it is if we fight.
When I’m ready I’m going to show every last one of those bastards outside who’s in charge. They’re weak and they’re sick and I’m strong.
I’m going to take them out.
One at a time.
46
Quarter to ten.
Michael was sitting in a chair in the corner of the bedroom with his eyes closed. He was tired and he needed to rest but there was no way he could sleep, not even for a second.
Emma sat on the edge of the bed where Carl still lay. She had taken care to position herself so that even though it was dark, she could still clearly see both men. She watched them anxiously in the dull light, waiting either for Michael to open his eyes and decide that they should move or for Carl to return to full consciousness. She was a little less worried about Carl now. He seemed much calmer. He was generally still and quiet, but his face now seemed relatively untroubled, almost to the point of appearing relaxed.
