‘We have to get to the road,’ I shout over the deafening roar.
We all run, as I realise neither Lucy or Terry have any shoes. I look around for the other women, for anything that can help us, but all I see is Lucy’s silhouette against the flashes of light and thundering explosions as houses, homes with now meaningless histories of their own, seem to implode and crumble around us. Each eruption of those makes us bow down, still running, still determined. I look at her withered frame, her torn skin, and I wonder how she has anything left to give.
I slow them down as we make it to the road and I take hold of Lucy. We all look up, each of us jumping with whatever energy we have left as we try to attract the attention of the military. I grab my flashlight, trying to point the small light towards the cockpit, but they are moving too quickly and are still high in the sky. It doesn’t take much to realise that they aren’t here to rescue us – we are in the middle of a battleground.
Lucy grips my hand tighter and then lets out a scream. I look at her and see that she is staring down the road, her body trembling. I follow her gaze, trying to see what she can see, and that’s when it comes into view. All I can see at first is a shadow but it’s obvious that it’s something tall, even though it seems to be crawling along the floor. It remains in the middle of the road, stalking towards us. It roars and we all scream in a combined chorus of horror as we realise the horror that followed us down the tunnel has found us in the street.
A light suddenly lands next to it, showing a muscular form and razor-like talons. Bullets strike the road all around it and I’m convinced many of them hit their target, but it doesn’t seem bothered. It suddenly jumps off the road and the helicopter pursues it, still firing in its direction as bullets shatter glass and tear through houses.
The helicopter moves lower, low enough for me to see the soldiers inside it. I see that it’s some sort of gunship. The soldiers manning the two large weapons mounted either side pay us no attention. There are two more men in the middle, both looking at large screens while pointing and shouting to the others inside.
Terry suddenly breaks rank and runs towards it, her arms flapping. No one inside notices her but they see something, and the helicopter quickly pulls backwards, the shell casings hitting the floor nearby as they seem to fire everything they have.
It doesn’t look to be enough: their enemy comes out of the shadows, leaps onto the side of the helicopter and rips the door clean off its hinges. I’m not sure if it’s the same beast or a new one but it’s soon inside the cockpit, causing blood to splatter across every window.
Terry is the closest and is first to turn around, as she runs the couple of steps back to us. I know she won’t stop and I quickly grab Lucy and pull her around. She screams in pain and I realise she is wounded. I try to carry her but I’m exhausted and so I’m forced to push her along, even though I know how much I know I’m hurting her. ‘Please keep going,’ I shout to both of them, as another helicopter spirals downwards and I hear the sound of scraping metal on concrete, and I feel the heat of the explosion chasing after us.
As we run I think I can see a shadow in the bushes of the house next door to Carlos’s place, but I keep pushing forward, focused only on the many lights up ahead.
Two army vehicles speed past us, their gun turrets firing shots into the dark night, the soldiers on view wearing night-vision goggles and clearly able to see the threat that I don’t dare think about. We nearly collide with one of them as it screeches to a halt. The doors open and men in dark green uniforms start shouting at us. I don’t know what they’re saying, can’t hear anything in the haze of this battle, but I feel relief when I see hands reaching out and pulling us in, one by one.
I wait until last and only when Lucy is on board do I take hold of the metal railing. I feel the vehicle moving backwards, the engine roaring as the tyres screech, then I look up to see continuous white flashes spraying out from the roof. I feel one of the soldiers take hold of me, his hand grabbing my wrist as he tries to pull me in headfirst, and I start to lose my grip.
I land on the metal floor and I turn and twist, trying to balance myself. I look around and see men packed into whatever space they can fit into, all of them loading weapons and firing out of different holes – still trying to fight an enemy which seems so different, so powerful to anything they have faced before.
Someone looks at me, and then looks at the women. I think he expected the monsters but not us. ‘What are you lot still doing here and where the hell are their clothes?’ he shouts at me and only me, as if the burden of an answer is mine alone. I look at his uniform and see sergeant strips on his arms, as I wish he had come along a few hours earlier.
‘They were trapped,’ I say, looking over at Lucy. ‘I was rescuing them.’
Lucy moves forward, snaking her way through the chaos until she has hold of me, her eyes digging deep into mine. Her body might be battered and bruised but those blue eyes still hold every ounce of the women I love. ‘You found me,’ she says, and then kisses me.
I cry and she cries; we both hold each other so tight, not sure whether we are celebrating or saying goodbye. I want to say that I’m sorry, to make her know how I have battled to find her, but I don’t know where to start; don’t want to waste a precious second on the past.
The sergeant coughs and then nods, a smile forming across his face as he takes hold of a handrail. The entire vehicle suddenly shakes as it turns around and we both fall back onto the cold metal floor, Lucy’s body pressing against mine.
I suddenly hear a scream from above and the boots of the soldier above us disappear as he is pulled from his post. The sergeant starts shouting orders and then shoots at the now vacant hole. He takes one last look at us. ‘And now we’re rescuing you, and let me tell you that success on that front is very unlikely, so you best say your goodbyes now.’
I look at Lucy and she looks at me, and right now I don’t care. I have nothing to say, but I hold her tight, knowing that I will never let her go again.
10. Welcome to the Apocalypse
Friday 26th August – Washington DC
‘I need to call David,’ he says to the men in the suits. He turns his head, carefully examining each of them. One of them nods back at him. It’s clear evidence that this overdressed man – certainly for these times – is real, that he can actually see him through those dark shades. Larry is used to being the invisible one, and when no phone materialises and no one else makes any effort to help him, he resigns himself to the fact that all he can do is keep asking.
They keep pushing him forward. There is a suit on each of his arms and a further three ahead, plus who knows how many behind him. ‘You can make your calls when we get to the bunker,’ one of the men ahead of him shouts back. Larry figures he must be the one in charge because he is the one giving orders into his radio, talking in codes that sound incredibly exciting. He’s also clearly able to hear all of Larry’s cries, pleas and moans. Larry wonders why this man didn’t listen in the first place, when he told them he would come peacefully.