When Lisa was sure the girl was safely ensconced in the bandstand, she steered the boat back towards the other side. She had to believe her plan would work, and she knew Anita was more than capable of executing her part in it, but she felt sick with anxiety as she left her friend alone on the other side. Although she didn't need to, she took a couple of comfort puffs from her inhaler.
She manoeuvred the boat as close to the river's edge as she could without risking any unwelcome guests inviting themselves on board, then she climbed onto the roof and started shouting.
"Hey! Over here! Over here! Come over here, you buggers!"
She picked up the metal ladle and saucepan that she had placed there in advance, and started banging them together.
The entire horde stirred as one. Heads raised and turned in her direction. They began to move, slowly at first, but quickly gathering momentum. Within a few minutes, a sea of bodies was surging towards the river. They were so close that she could smell them. The stench of hundreds of rotting bodies was overpowering. She coughed and retched and pulled her bandana over her nose and mouth to try and block it out.
But it was working. They started to fall in and more importantly to move away from the area around the lock and the bridge above it.
When the lock was clear, she glanced across the river to see Anita darting from one point of cover to another. She lost sight of the girl when she reached the main bridge that would bring her back over to the side Lisa was on.
It felt like a lifetime, waiting there, engine running, banging on the frying pan. The steady stream of infected had grown into a torrent. More and more of them appeared, coming out of buildings and emerging from side streets and corners.
Ten minutes passed. She had no idea how Anita was doing. She couldn't see the lock from her position. She could only just see the exit to the canal. She stared at the surface of the water in front of it, willing some turbulence to appear that would indicate that the lock was emptying.
Twenty minutes passed. She began to worry. What had she been thinking? She'd sent Anita out there on her own. She had no idea what to do next.
When thirty minutes had elapsed, she was on the verge of tears. Fear, guilt and sheer frustration threatened to overwhelm her. Then, a figure appeared on the footbridge waving frantically.
It was Anita. She'd done it!
As quickly as she had appeared, Anita disappeared again. In a fraction of a second, Lisa's emotions had lurched from despair to elation. Her adrenaline surging again, she steered the boat in a wide curve until she was facing the lock.
There was no sign of Anita, but the gates were open. As quickly as she could, she steered the boat under the bridge and into the lock, immediately cutting the engine again. Once the boat was in position, Anita bounded from behind a hedge and, working quickly and efficiently, closed the bottom gates.
The lock filled painfully slowly.
Anita was looking anxiously towards the theatre. Lisa couldn't see, but she knew they were coming. She could hear the wall of moaning getting louder and louder. She could smell them again.
She waited.
The lock continued to fill.
Anita was twitching, dancing impatiently from one foot to the other.
The horde reached the side of the lock. They flooded into the space, pushing and clamouring to reach the boat, tipping over the edge into the water in waves. The water was a frenzy of thrashing infected.
Then the lock was full.
Anita started to open the gates.
Because the lock was so wide, Lisa could see she only needed to open one.
She called to her. "One! Just one! I can get through. Get back on!"
She was focusing her attention on steering the boat through the narrow opening when she heard Anita cry out. A group of infected had reached the girl. She was battling to clear her path back to the boat, swinging her axe like a mad woman, screaming and yelling, hacking and slicing. The wet thump of the metal making contact with flesh was sickening. Anita was grunting with effort. Gore sprayed and splinters of bone flew through the air.
The boat drifted into the basin.
"Nita! Nita! Now! Jump on! Jump on!" Lisa called in desperation.
Anita shook her head and pointed to the end of the basin.
"It's no good! Meet me at the other side!" she shouted. Then she sprinted down the footpath pursued by the infected.
Lisa steered in the same direction. The boat was slow. Anita was ahead of her. Now most of the horde had reached the basin and others were still appearing from all directions. There were hundreds of them. The entire basin was surrounded. There was nowhere for Anita to go. No way she could reach the boat.
The image that haunted Lisa for days to come was of Anita stopping and looking over at her, then shaking her head. She raised her hand and reached across the water for a moment, as if to try and touch the woman that had become her world over the past ten days, then she turned and faced the horde.
Lisa watched, helpless and open mouthed with dismay and horror, as the girl raised her axe and thrashed her way into the infected. Almost immediately, they completely engulfed her. She disappeared into their midst. Lisa strained to keep track of her amongst the throng … to pick out a flash of her bright pink headscarf, or the glint of metal from her axe. Nothing!
