"Yeah. Of course. I'd feel better if you came with me. I'm not going to pretend I'm not a bit nervous. And, I promise we'll do whatever we can to get you home too … as soon as we can."
They all acknowledged that Brian needed a doctor. If he stayed at the farm with his infection untreated for much longer, he was in danger of becoming seriously ill.
And so, they agreed that they would leave.
Lisa looked at Lynda, who'd been very quiet throughout.
The older woman spoke quietly, but there was determination in her tone.
"I'm going to stay here. With Matthew and … John … until it's all over. Besides, I haven't heard from the kids. I need to be here if they call or try to come home."
Lisa nodded. "I get that. But, as long as you're sure you'll be ok here … alone?"
"I'm sure. I want to stay. You can take John's old X-Trail, though. I don't need it … now."
Lynda's eyes filled with tears, and she got up from the table.
Lisa stood up and put an arm around her shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise we'll bring it back … after."
"The only thing is," Lynda almost whispered. "John still has the keys."
She choked on a sob and left the room.
"We're gonna have to move both bodies." Anita was pacing up and down and chewing her thumbnail.
Lisa looked at her.
Anita continued. "We can't leave her here alone with a couple of mangled corpses outside her front door."
Lisa reluctantly agreed. "I suppose … who knows how long this will go on before anyone comes to move them? What if her kids come back and see their Dad … well, you know?"
Anita started rummaging in the cupboard under the sink. "Let's do this and get the hell out of here!"
Armed with rubber gloves from the kitchen cupboard, the two women stepped outside, closing the door behind them.
Lisa sighed. It was a beautiful morning: fresh and clear, beneath a blue and cloudless sky. Birds were singing, oblivious to the National Emergency. If there hadn't been a couple of mutilated bodies lying in the yard, you would never have known that anything was wrong.
But it was wrong … very wrong! A plume of black smoke billowed into the sky from the direction of the city. Flies were buzzing around the bodies. Close up, in the light of day, the scene was horrific. The smell of death, sweet and putrid. Lisa's heart was thumping, her chest tightening. She took a couple of puffs from her inhaler.
Anita knelt by John's side and started groping around in his tattered, soiled clothes. She retched as she wriggled her fingers inside his trouser pockets. Lisa took a deep breath and crouched down to help her. There was nothing there. He was wearing the remains of a checked flannel shirt but no jacket.
"They're not here," Lisa said. "They must be inside."
She stood up, spitting as bitter saliva pooled in her mouth.
They went into the boot room.
The floor was covered with blood and torn flesh, and it was hard not to slip in the sticky mess. A heavy waterproof jacket was lying on the floor, along with John's discarded boots. Lisa went through the pockets of the jacket.
"Got them!" She jangled the keys triumphantly.
She turned to Anita, who was examining something in the corner of the room, beside some shelving.
"What is it?" Lisa asked.
"Look at this," Anita said, stepping aside to reveal a large shotgun leaning against the wall. Lisa looked at the gun. She was horrified. Not by the weapon, but by the realisation that her heart had leapt when she saw it … leapt with excitement because this was going to make any killing they had to do so much easier. What was happening to her?
"Come on. We can use this," Anita picked it up. It looked heavy. She held it awkwardly by the barrel.
"Do you know how to work it?" Lisa asked.
"It can't be that hard. Point and fire. I used one in Tomb Raider once. I don't know how to load it though."
"Tomb Raider?"
"The game. You know?"
"This isn't a game, Anita."
Anita rolled her eyes and huffed.
Lisa went back out to the bodies.
Anita leant the gun against the wall by the front door of the house and Lisa put the car keys on the window sill.
They looked at the bodies.
"Let's get this over with," Anita said.
Since the start, this was by far the worst thing they'd had to do. All the other awful things they'd seen and done since the previous afternoon had happened when they were in shock, fuelled by fear and adrenaline. Their memories were a blur of hazy images and sensations. Now, every gory and disgusting detail was on full display in the bright morning sunshine. Lisa was about five-four, and just under nine stone. She tried to keep fit but her desk job made this a challenge at times and her strength was limited.
Anita was tall, around five-ten, and lean and muscular, but it took a lot of effort from both of them to drag John's heavy carcass into the boot room. He was a dead weight and the parts of him that were loose snagged on the cobblestones, leaving gory blobs behind in the dark, red-brown smear that trailed behind him. The boy was a bit easier, lighter and somehow more compact.
With both corpses inside the boot room, they closed the door, taking care to check that it was secure. The smell was going to get bad as the day warmed up.
Back inside, they prepared for
