Decaying Hearts

Chapter 20

   We approached the building in which our unsuspecting enemies resided. It looked like it had once been the public library. The building appeared to be held up by two Greek-like pillars and a large bronze plaque sat above a set of grand oak doors, a book sat delicately engraved into the slab was half covered by rust or moss – I couldn't tell. The building appeared only small and the brick work looked as though one gust of wind would turn the structure to dust. A set of broken stairs led the way to tall looming doors. The mass of weeds peering through the cracks of concrete were visible even from our hidden position between two cars blackened by fire that were once set ablaze. It was hard to imagine that this road was once crisp and perfect, freshly tarmacked and busy with traffic. Yet, it had become a spread of imperfections and the territory of the dead.
    The dark sat as heavy as the silence, with the occasional beam of a flash light sweeping swiftly across the way, checking for the approaching death. With each time the light flickered on we only had a few seconds to observe our surroundings and our enemy. As Lenny had warned, the outline of machine guns sat among a pile of sand bags. I saw them only briefly, but still they were there rising high atop of the slanted roof top. My stomach churned at the thought of the damage that such force could cause. Our mission was suddenly becoming real.
    Lenny signaled as the light went out once again, for Robert to start across the broken tarmac. The light would switch on almost systematically, like a timed machine, forcing him to take shelter behind the closest thing possible, but there was a stretch of road that was almost bare. Robert barely had time to cross before the search light forced its way through the darkness.
    “Hey! What was that?!” A deep voice bellowed as Robert threw himself up the weed smothered stairs. Barely seconds after, the light returned and was just off from revealing Robert to the eyes on the roof.
    “Keep it down will you?! If there is anything out there, you just told it where we are!” A lighter feminine voice said with a slight hiss.
     They paused for just a few moments, listening for any tell take signs of life, or even death. The light jumped across the road like a deer dancing through troubled woods where Robert had crossed only moments before. My heart was racing and palms sweating. I was sure we had been caught; our plans thwarted before we had even passed the threshold.
    “It was probably nothing. Just a bit of litter or a cat… or something.” The woman said unsurely. Her false faltered beneath her nerves.
    “I was sure I saw something.” He huffed.
    The light went out and Jake took to the road. His body was a black silhouette advancing through the darkness like a gracefully warrior of the night, battling across the obstacle course as though it was a simple dance of precision. He had made it across in a matter of seconds, it was unbelievable to watch. He would prove to be a great ally.
    I followed shortly after, making my way across the same strip. Jake had made it look easy, but it was much more challenging than it had appeared. Cars, like most roads, had been left carelessly and randomly with little room too simply slip between them like in a supermarket cark park. But, it wasn’t just the cars I had to worry about. The tarmac seemed to rise and fall without warning until I would come to a hole in the ground. From the clear damage to the surrounding cars turned to the colour of charcoal, with doors hanging limply on weakened hinges or even completely decapitated, I guessed the little town had been victim to the bomb attacks that had taken place once the virus went global. The bombings had been a one last final hope to wipe out the dead that walked the streets. The fact that I was still living in a nightmare was just an inkling to suggest the bombs had failed. All that they achieved was wiping out humanity whilst the dead still walked.
   Once we all had crossed and stood firmly again the wall of the building – Lenny also made the walk through the labyrinth with envious ease, we prepared to enter. The aim was to get   through the building unnoticed for as long as possible, I just wanted Samia to be safe.
    Slowly easing the large oak door open, we scurried through and found cover behind an old tatty sofa. The door closed slowly behind us and as it fell the gold painted letter box clattered angrily, announcing the trespass. The noise seemed to echo painfully throughout the room before us, but nobody came. The room was still.
    My earlier judgement had been correct, the building had once been the town’s library. Large oak book cases stood against the wall, many with broken shelves that fell awkwardly against forgotten books. Some books were still stacked neatly in their places upon shelf after shelf, only slanting on the broken sills, many covered in dust and seemingly untouched. Scattered around the cramped room was also two other torn velvets sofas of a bright yet vulgar mustard-yellow now stained with dust and blood as well as a matching armchair. There was also metal school like chairs stacked clumsily against a wall beside three dark coffee tables piled up on top of each other. The room was cramped and a blanket of dust covered in now-historic furniture.
    At the back of the room, straight ahead of the sofa we hid behind, was a narrow door that hung idly open between two ancient bookcases. Like a small battalion of troops in the warzone, we silently in sync to stand equally at each side. Lenny signalled with hand gestures to give each instruction.
    We briskly moved through the doorway and into a narrow corridor dotted with two doors on each side and one at the very end. Moving quietly down the corridor, voices came from  one room, with its door left slightly ajar, deep in conversation with tones of deep sincerity.
   “I think it’s wrong.” Said a young girls voice, faintly.
   “There’s little room to care whilst trying to survive, Alex.” An older female voice sighed, deeper than the first.
   “But we’re all trying to survive here! Why can’t we just get along? What happened to humanity joining hands when it came to crisis?” The girl, Alex, declared. “I think what they’re about to do I wrong, I should of said something.”
   “You know you couldn’t, Dim would have you out of here in a matter of seconds.” The   other said, a disapproving tut finalised her despair.
   “Well, maybe I’d rather be out there than in here.” Alex said defiantly.
    We heard footsteps approaching from inside the room and so made our way quickly down the corridor. The door behind us, from the room where the two girls had been speaking, began to creek; the threat of exposure was imminent. In a panic, Lenny threw open the door immediately after theirs and we all tumbled haphazardly in to what looked like a makeshift bedroom. It was incredibly small and dark, only lit by a candle placed on an old desk. The desk, suggesting the room may have once been an office of sorts, had been pushed against the wall just beneath a window that looked out in to the street. A dainty pistol, in comparison to the machine guns out front, sat lazily atop of the desk amongst a tattered book, Pride and Prejudice, the spine read – it had been Samia’s favourite.
    A single mattress laid centrally against the wall to our right, surrounded by a mass of clothes tossed carelessly to the carpeted ground. Amongst the mattress was a thin blanket thrown amongst a heap – that suddenly moved. As I watched the body twitch familiarly my insides leaped. This room belonged to Samia.
    I rushed to the side of the mattress and my dear Samia laid there soundlessly asleep. Her mouth hung slightly open as it always did. In the faint glow of the candle light, I could see her long lashes flutter delicately as she dreamed. I longed to brush away hair that had fallen to cover parts of her face. There wasn’t enough time.
    “Samia!” I whispered desperately, shaking her slim frame. She barely noticed. I smiled at how little habits seemed to change. I was happy to see her.
    “Samia, baby. Wake up.” I urged a little louder.
    Her eyes blinked faintly and slowly, her brown eyes dazed. She was so beautiful. Her lips turned into a small smile and my heart pounded. She had to be as pleased to see me as I was for her. Samia had never been a morning person, she had always rose from her slumber bitterly and ruefully; she always had a desire for serenity of sleep. She turned to look at me slowly. Her sleepy gaze searched me, looked over me as though it was the first time she had seen me.
    She screamed. An ear-piercing scream escaped her lips and my hand quickly reached for her mouth. Her head shook vigorously beneath the weight of my hand. Fear seamed to overcome her, her eyes wide and frightfully filled with anxiety. I should have known. I should have known she still hated me.
    I heard footsteps in the corridor and threw myself over the mattress, flattening myself against the floor. Samia’s gaze followed me and I put a finger to my lips just as the door opened – Robert, Jake and Lenny hidden and trapped desperately behind its wooden mask.
    “Sam! Are you okay?! What happened?!” A familiar voice panted, clearly she had ran the corridor to get to her.
    “Fine. I’m fine. Nightmare, just had a nightmare that’s all. It felt so real, that’s all.” Samia’s voice came weak.
    “Can I get you anything for you?”
    “No. Thank you, Colette.” Samia whimpered and coughed slightly, trying to redeem herself and her faltered tone.
     Colette nodded simply, but unsurely before the door shut slightly and revealed my companions who sighed with relief. Samia’s eyes fell wide and her lips trembled as she tried to speak, nerves overwhelmed her. My excitement had rapidly become guilt. She seemed to take a quick deep breath, composing herself, before she turned to look at me angrily.
    “What the hell are you doing here?!” She whispered harshly.
    “You! I’m here for you – to take you somewhere safe!” I said, reaching for her hand. She snatched it away just as quickly.
    “Safe! How would I know I was safe with you?!” Samia’s voice rose slightly, bringing it down quickly again. “After what you did?!”
     “Please, Samia. I didn’t get to explain it to you! It wasn’t me!”
     “You were convicted! Not only that, you confessed! Why would I believe you?”
     “Josh, what is she talking about?” Jake started.
     A dark smile washed over Samia’s face. It was a harsh smile, yet disbelieving, as though she was shocked that my friends didn’t know, that my comrades didn’t know I was a convicted killer. Of course they didn’t know, nobody would welcome a murderer to their group? Especially as criminal was not a part of the admission requirements. I remembered Maria’s words like a slap in the face, do you have a criminal record?
    “They don’t know do they?” Samia huffed, shaking her head with a disbelieving laugh, whilst my friends looked on with confusion and anxiety. My head bowed shamefully as the words tumbled from Samia’s lips, as my past was exposed. “Your friend here, is a convicted killer. He butchered his sister’s boyfriend.”
    “You have got to be kidding me.” Jake whispered to himself whilst Robert’s mouth fell low. Lenny, however, didn’t look surprised – probably just a façade to keep calm whilst out in the field.
    “This guy right here, the on you have put your faith in, your trust in and he has been deceiving you the whole time. ‘Cause that is just what he’s like, he’ll stick around long enough for you to be hooked, pretending to be something he’s not. When the truth is he is just one deceiving bastard amongst many.” She said venomously as Robert rubbed his eye behind his glasses and Lenny looked on impassibly. Jake leaned forward, hands on thighs as though catching his breath from a running sprint. “He’s nothing more than a killer.”
    I snapped.
   “No! That guy you trust took the rap for his little sister!” I yelled louder than I should, risking our position. I turned back to Samia and spoke bitterly, “whilst you was sleeping with my best friend behind my back, I was being punished for a crime I never committed.
    Annie knocked at our door, covered in blood, panicking. I knew almost instantly. Terrified of what would happen to Nathan with no father and no mother if she was uncovered as the killer. So that night, I went to their house, placed strands of my hair, wiped surfaces with and the knife with my fingers so they could place me at the scene at the time. My fingerprints were everywhere so when the forensic teams examined the crime scene there would be overwhelming evidence against me.
   The next day I went to ‘confess’, playing the role of a brother protecting his sister yet being smothered by the guilt of what he had done. I thought, no I was convinced, that you would know from the start that I couldn’t have done it. Knowing what Oscar was like yourself, what Annie had been through, I thought you would know instantly that Annie had finally snapped and I was only taking the blame.”
    Samia stared on speechless along with a star-struck Robert and Jake, but Lenny just smiled as he removed his hat briefly to correct his hair. He probably never even doubted my innocence from the moment she had mentioned the crime, he seemed to have a solid gold intuition; it was never wrong.
    “I… I…” Samia started, but couldn’t seem to find the words. “I didn’t know you knew about that.” Remarkably, I wasn’t even surprised that her dirty affair with my friend would be the only part of the conversation she really cared for. She was more than happy to uncover my secrets, but was clearly unhappy that she had been exposed as a the skank.
    “Of course I did. Mark came to tell me the first time it happened. He was so overwhelmed with the guilt, he travelled the 40 miles to the prison just to tell me the truth.” I spat. “The same cannot be said for you, you deceitful bitch.”
    I looked to my companions and stared. I had forgotten what I was doing here. I knew my plan was to safe my wife, but why? Why did I want to save her? She was convinced I was a blood-lusting killer and she had been sleeping with my best friend. What was I saving, our marriage? Realistically, she had become my ex years ago.
    “This was a mistake.” I said sternly and headed for the door.
    “Wait, Josh.” Samia called behind me, but I no longer cared.
    My companions nodded at me with loyalty and respect, Jake even patted me firmly on the back. I looked back to Sami once more to Samia and I felt… Relieved. I was finally able to move on, to let go of my past that was over long ago. It was like finding closure in the darkest of times and finally finding the light. Samia was my past and in that moment I realised, Isabell was my future and I wanted Rosie to be a part of it.
    “Thanks, Samia.” I said simply, half smiling at her before opening the door – it must have seemed sarcastic.
     As the door opened, a young girl stood at the other side with her hand poised and ready to knock. She looked at me in shock, then to Samia and back. “Shit!” She whispered beneath her breath.
   “Alex, what are you doing?” Samia asked, her tone failing to her hide her annoyance.
   “I heard voices and came to make sure you were okay, but now I know why.” Alex smiled cheekily and Samia rolled her eyes.
    Alex was a familiar-looking young girl around Emma’s age, although they differed dramatically.  Emma was tall and blonde, whilst Alex was petite, only reaching to the middle of my chest in height with a head of ebony hair that cascaded down her back.  Her eyes matched Emma’s, as blue as the ocean yet Alex seemed to have flecks of yellow dotted across her irises. Her skin was faintly tanned with cheeks scattered with faint freckles, whereas Emma was perfect porcelain.
    She shook her head suddenly and her blue eyes turned to a sinking grey. “You guys need to get back, now! Dim is on his way to the school now!”
    Our faces dropped, four mouths seem to scrape against the dirt stained flooring whilst Samia stood silently, knowingly.
    “Why didn’t you say anything?” I demanded. The hairs on the back of my neck grew to stand as the goose bumps spread mercilessly across my frozen body. The icy crawled through me like the blood in my veins.
    Samia remained silent and shrugged her shoulders carelessly. The utter bitch, how I had not seen what she was really like before, I don’t know. Maybe, this world had changed her. After all, it had changed us all. We all adapted to the threats amongst us.
    “You and Dim are perfect for each other.” I said before racing down the corridor with young Alex leading the way.
      “Alex! What are you doing?” Samia and another voice charmed in sync, stopping us in our tracks.    The door across the hall from Samia’ tiny room now hung open. The woman that had barged in to her room, Colette stood expectantly in the door way with her arms folded acros her chest and her body weight tilted to one side. She looked like a mother that caught her son wound in mischief.
    I suddenly remember why both Alex and Colette seemed so familiar. They had been at the school the few days before, they had both held Jake and Howard at gun point. I could see Jake shooting the middle-aged woman with a look as sharp as jagged glass. Up close, you could see the tell-tale signs of faded beauty in Colette’s face that sagged slightly with wrinkles and bags sat densely under her hazel eyes.
    “Doing what’s right.” Alex shrugged and turned back to the rest of the corridor and broke into a run, her feet carrying her as fast as her feet would carry her.
   Colette looked at us and then to Samia with a look I couldn’t understand myself. Maybe, it said Alex is right, as within seconds Colette joined the back of the battalion, shoving a knife into a leather sheath and a pistol in the waistband of her jeans.