Ape hoisted her onto his large flabby back.
‘Five people left in the entire world and you try and kill one of them. Well thank you, you monstrously stupid morons.’
I wish the car hadn’t packed up on us because the burns on my legs are drying out my skin and making them feel like they’re cracking every time I take a step. But I don’t want
to tell anyone because they’ll think I’m just as big a whinger as Carrie is.
Meeting – and running down – Carrie has confirmed Johnson’s theory that the only people left are the ones in detention. It can’t be a coincidence and we have decided that
we have to track down the others. I’m not sure what good it will ultimately do – they’ll be just as scared and shaken as we are – but someone, somewhere will know why this
has happened. So the more people we find, the more chance we have of finding an answer. I hope.
‘You could’ve killed me!’ Carrie says for what must be the hundredth time.
‘There’s still time,’ offers the Ape, which makes me laugh to myself. He sees this and under the low glow of the half-moon our eyes meet, and for that split second we somehow
connect with each other. Just a mutual something or other, but for one single split second I am glad of him and he seems glad of me.
‘I bet you told him to run me over, Reva, because that’s exactly what you’re like. You’re evil and a bitch.’ Carrie still won’t get off my case, but no one is
listening to her. It’s not as if her hating me is all that important any more. Although if there are only a few people left in the world it would be nice if one of them rose above their petty
vendettas.
Billie is carrying the Ape’s weapon and she keeps scanning the dark evening because I know deep down she still believes there are monsters out there.
‘Where were you going?’ Johnson asks Carrie. He has salvaged as much of the supplies from the boot of the Fiat as he could manage. His long sinewy arms are laden with plastic
bags.
‘To the next village.’
‘Same idea we had.’
‘Aren’t you the smart one.’
The world might have disappeared, but apparently Carrie isn’t going to let that soften her or turn her into a better person.
‘Any idea what’s happened to everyone?’ Johnson asks.
‘Why would I know any better than you?’
‘You’ve been crying,’ I tell her, the dark tracks on her face obvious. ‘Maybe you learned something that upset you.’
‘I haven’t been crying,’ she denies.
‘Your mascara says otherwise,’ Billie says, backing me up.
Carrie looks away as the Ape strides on with her clinging on to his back. Even a queen bitch with no heart or soul is going to struggle when she suddenly finds herself alone in a completely
empty world.
Johnson draws alongside me and lowers his voice so no one else can hear. ‘What do you really think has happened?’
I’m caught off guard by the fact that he wants to talk intimately with me. I stammer a little. ‘Well, uh, well – I just don’t know. How about you?’
Johnson takes a moment to weigh up his answer. ‘Still working on it.’ I know he won’t show it but he’s as scared as I am. ‘But I’ve got a feeling it’s
not going to be good.’
We walk past a row of silent empty houses that stand on the edge of town. On the street opposite is a half-built block of retirement flats. All they ever do in this town is
build blocks of retirement flats. I think they’re banking on old people living longer and longer. Which doesn’t look like the case now.
The Ape scans the rooftops, eyes piercing the gloom.
‘What are you looking for?’ I ask him.
‘Vampires like heights,’ he says as if he’s an expert.
‘I don’t think there’ll be vampires,’ I tell him.
‘You didn’t think there would be zombies.’
‘Yeah and we
didn’t
find one.’
‘We almost did,’ he says simply.
I watch Johnson walking ahead of me, carrying the heavy bags of supplies. He moves easily and
‘Five people left in the entire world and you try and kill one of them. Well thank you, you monstrously stupid morons.’
I wish the car hadn’t packed up on us because the burns on my legs are drying out my skin and making them feel like they’re cracking every time I take a step. But I don’t want
to tell anyone because they’ll think I’m just as big a whinger as Carrie is.
Meeting – and running down – Carrie has confirmed Johnson’s theory that the only people left are the ones in detention. It can’t be a coincidence and we have decided that
we have to track down the others. I’m not sure what good it will ultimately do – they’ll be just as scared and shaken as we are – but someone, somewhere will know why this
has happened. So the more people we find, the more chance we have of finding an answer. I hope.
‘You could’ve killed me!’ Carrie says for what must be the hundredth time.
‘There’s still time,’ offers the Ape, which makes me laugh to myself. He sees this and under the low glow of the half-moon our eyes meet, and for that split second we somehow
connect with each other. Just a mutual something or other, but for one single split second I am glad of him and he seems glad of me.
‘I bet you told him to run me over, Reva, because that’s exactly what you’re like. You’re evil and a bitch.’ Carrie still won’t get off my case, but no one is
listening to her. It’s not as if her hating me is all that important any more. Although if there are only a few people left in the world it would be nice if one of them rose above their petty
vendettas.
Billie is carrying the Ape’s weapon and she keeps scanning the dark evening because I know deep down she still believes there are monsters out there.
‘Where were you going?’ Johnson asks Carrie. He has salvaged as much of the supplies from the boot of the Fiat as he could manage. His long sinewy arms are laden with plastic
bags.
‘To the next village.’
‘Same idea we had.’
‘Aren’t you the smart one.’
The world might have disappeared, but apparently Carrie isn’t going to let that soften her or turn her into a better person.
‘Any idea what’s happened to everyone?’ Johnson asks.
‘Why would I know any better than you?’
‘You’ve been crying,’ I tell her, the dark tracks on her face obvious. ‘Maybe you learned something that upset you.’
‘I haven’t been crying,’ she denies.
‘Your mascara says otherwise,’ Billie says, backing me up.
Carrie looks away as the Ape strides on with her clinging on to his back. Even a queen bitch with no heart or soul is going to struggle when she suddenly finds herself alone in a completely
empty world.
Johnson draws alongside me and lowers his voice so no one else can hear. ‘What do you really think has happened?’
I’m caught off guard by the fact that he wants to talk intimately with me. I stammer a little. ‘Well, uh, well – I just don’t know. How about you?’
Johnson takes a moment to weigh up his answer. ‘Still working on it.’ I know he won’t show it but he’s as scared as I am. ‘But I’ve got a feeling it’s
not going to be good.’
We walk past a row of silent empty houses that stand on the edge of town. On the street opposite is a half-built block of retirement flats. All they ever do in this town is
build blocks of retirement flats. I think they’re banking on old people living longer and longer. Which doesn’t look like the case now.
The Ape scans the rooftops, eyes piercing the gloom.
‘What are you looking for?’ I ask him.
‘Vampires like heights,’ he says as if he’s an expert.
‘I don’t think there’ll be vampires,’ I tell him.
‘You didn’t think there would be zombies.’
‘Yeah and we
didn’t
find one.’
‘We almost did,’ he says simply.
I watch Johnson walking ahead of me, carrying the heavy bags of supplies. He moves easily and
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