pocket looking for a pound coin to put in the slot and release the trolley from its chain gang brothers. “Here you go.”
“I don’t think it’s Lori,” Erin wrestled a trolley free and started pushing it in what I presumed was the right direction. There was a whine of white noise from the walkie talkie and we both jumped.
“Sorry,” Lori’s voice was faint. “I dropped it.”
We reached the butcher’s section of the food hall and proceeded to fill the trolley with meat. Lots of meat. Chickens, ducks, mince, pork chops, beef joints and then, to top it all off, the head of a pig staring blankly as our trolley’s figurehead. It seemed strangely ominous.
“What if the tiger smells the meat and comes after us?” Erin wrestled the trolley into the lift and pressed the button to get us moving again.
“Best we don’t think about it,” I stepped inside and the doors slid shut. “And anyway, we haven’t covered Ray or Jacob yet. Both of them could be our man.”
“Ray’s the type if you ask me. Not even supposed to be here. I’m the one who decides what shifts to put him on and I can promise you he is not supposed to be here. But Jacob? No.”
“Jacob? Afraid so. Found this in his car,” I briefly brandished the claw in front of an aghast Erin.
“His car? He doesn’t-”
The radio spluttered once more into life. They’d caught sight of it. On the second floor. Where we were headed. This was really not good.
“And don’t even get me started on where the fuck Ray fits into all this. Especially the fact that-”
I was interrupted by the doors of the lift sliding open. We stared out. Nothing stared back. Yet.
I dragged the trolley pig-first into the corridor as Erin spoke to Jacob on the walkie talkie. It was around on the second floor. They didn’t know where.
“Listen, Erin,” I said as I took the radio from her. “Go back up and join them. I’ll find Ray and we’ll do this together.”
“Okay,” she said. Her face was pale and her makeup had begun seriously to falter. “Good luck.”
I grabbed the handle of the trolley and began wheeling it slowly down towards the dead end that housed the caretaker’s office. The steps echoed and I could feel my heart beating heavy in my chest. I tried not to think about it but there wasn’t really any way I was going to be able to get it out of my head.
The door was in sight. I could do this, I thought, looking over my shoulder to make sure there was nothing there. There wasn’t, but I was sure I’d heard something. I stood still and listened.
Nothing. Just the sound of water dripping somewhere far away and something else. What was it? I couldn’t quite work it out. The noise was familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I held my breath and listened harder. A burst of white noise cracked the silence, blaring out from the walkie talkie.
“Clint!” it was Jacob, there was panic in his voice.
There was that noise again. What was that-
~*~
Chapter 12
R ay’s face was upside down.
Oh, hang on a second, no. That’s wrong. He was leaning over me and I was on the floor. I turned my head and could see the grain of the wood on his leg.
“You must have balls of steel to wander about with that thing on the loose and your condition.”
I yawned. “Piss off, peg leg.”
Ray laughed and helped me to my feet. “Fair enough. So, what the hell is going on with all this then?”
“You know how when you go to the zoo there’s big signs saying ‘don’t feed the tigers’?”
He nodded.
“Well we’re going to feed the tiger.”
And then I explained the rest of what was a remarkably simple plan.
“Okay then,” he said. “Worth a shot, I suppose. Let’s give it a go.”
The walkie talkie fizzed back into life. “Clint?”
It was Jacob.
“Here.”
“Good.”
“You okay up there?”
“Yeah, it’s up on three with us at the moment. The girls are safe in the security office. I’m going
“I don’t think it’s Lori,” Erin wrestled a trolley free and started pushing it in what I presumed was the right direction. There was a whine of white noise from the walkie talkie and we both jumped.
“Sorry,” Lori’s voice was faint. “I dropped it.”
We reached the butcher’s section of the food hall and proceeded to fill the trolley with meat. Lots of meat. Chickens, ducks, mince, pork chops, beef joints and then, to top it all off, the head of a pig staring blankly as our trolley’s figurehead. It seemed strangely ominous.
“What if the tiger smells the meat and comes after us?” Erin wrestled the trolley into the lift and pressed the button to get us moving again.
“Best we don’t think about it,” I stepped inside and the doors slid shut. “And anyway, we haven’t covered Ray or Jacob yet. Both of them could be our man.”
“Ray’s the type if you ask me. Not even supposed to be here. I’m the one who decides what shifts to put him on and I can promise you he is not supposed to be here. But Jacob? No.”
“Jacob? Afraid so. Found this in his car,” I briefly brandished the claw in front of an aghast Erin.
“His car? He doesn’t-”
The radio spluttered once more into life. They’d caught sight of it. On the second floor. Where we were headed. This was really not good.
“And don’t even get me started on where the fuck Ray fits into all this. Especially the fact that-”
I was interrupted by the doors of the lift sliding open. We stared out. Nothing stared back. Yet.
I dragged the trolley pig-first into the corridor as Erin spoke to Jacob on the walkie talkie. It was around on the second floor. They didn’t know where.
“Listen, Erin,” I said as I took the radio from her. “Go back up and join them. I’ll find Ray and we’ll do this together.”
“Okay,” she said. Her face was pale and her makeup had begun seriously to falter. “Good luck.”
I grabbed the handle of the trolley and began wheeling it slowly down towards the dead end that housed the caretaker’s office. The steps echoed and I could feel my heart beating heavy in my chest. I tried not to think about it but there wasn’t really any way I was going to be able to get it out of my head.
The door was in sight. I could do this, I thought, looking over my shoulder to make sure there was nothing there. There wasn’t, but I was sure I’d heard something. I stood still and listened.
Nothing. Just the sound of water dripping somewhere far away and something else. What was it? I couldn’t quite work it out. The noise was familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I held my breath and listened harder. A burst of white noise cracked the silence, blaring out from the walkie talkie.
“Clint!” it was Jacob, there was panic in his voice.
There was that noise again. What was that-
~*~
Chapter 12
R ay’s face was upside down.
Oh, hang on a second, no. That’s wrong. He was leaning over me and I was on the floor. I turned my head and could see the grain of the wood on his leg.
“You must have balls of steel to wander about with that thing on the loose and your condition.”
I yawned. “Piss off, peg leg.”
Ray laughed and helped me to my feet. “Fair enough. So, what the hell is going on with all this then?”
“You know how when you go to the zoo there’s big signs saying ‘don’t feed the tigers’?”
He nodded.
“Well we’re going to feed the tiger.”
And then I explained the rest of what was a remarkably simple plan.
“Okay then,” he said. “Worth a shot, I suppose. Let’s give it a go.”
The walkie talkie fizzed back into life. “Clint?”
It was Jacob.
“Here.”
“Good.”
“You okay up there?”
“Yeah, it’s up on three with us at the moment. The girls are safe in the security office. I’m going
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