M. Marshall - The End Is Nigh

“There isn’t time for this. Go now. I won’t be long.” I turned away from him then my job was done where he was concerned. He was more than capable of looking after himself now. The drugged up, slow-witted Liam I had met last week had gone. My daughter, however, was unable to get herself out and that was my primary concern.

I virtually skidded into the doorway of Emma’s dorm to find her sitting on the bed with her son, frantically I looked around her.

“Where’s Rosa?” I had to stop myself from screaming the question; I needed to keep calm, the last thing I needed was to draw unwanted attention. I allowed a smile to creep onto my face as I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands.

“Oh, she was so tired after playing this afternoon that she fell asleep in the nursery so I just wrapped her up in a blanket and Lynda said she would watch over her. We didn’t like to move her; she looks so peaceful when she sleeps, don’t you think?” She barely looked up from the book she had been reading to her son.

I smelled a rat. Had she suspected my plan to leave? She must have told Lynda. If she had, we were buggered.

“Oh, that was kind of you both. Have you still got the bag with her stuff in? I’ll just pop along and collect her now.” I spoke through gritted teeth. I fought the urge to throttle her, both Rosa and I were now in a situation I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get us out of.

“I thought you were going to walk Shadow? Where is he?” She looked at me then her eyes narrowed and suddenly I knew I had confided in the wrong person. She wasn’t my friend at all. She knew exactly what I had been planning and wasn’t happy about it. I needed to tread carefully with my next move.

“Alright, I can collect the bag later, no big deal. See you tomorrow.” I left her and walked straight to the canteen area next door to the playroom. As I drew nearer I could see Debbie sitting outside the nursery on a chair. She stood when she saw me and walked over.

“That was quicker than expected. Everything alright?” She weighed me up. Did she know something too? Either way, she now knew I was out of the room. When she went to check on Liam and he was gone that would mean our getaway time would have gone from two hours to about two minutes. I still needed to get Rosa past Lynda before that could even start.

“Everything is amazing”, I gushed. “I just didn’t want to be late putting Rosa to bed, but I hear that I was a little late for that anyway.” Just as I finished speaking Lynda stuck her head out of the door.

“We’re in here Elizabeth. Rosa is fast asleep. Why don’t you come in for a chat.” Thinking on my feet to distract Debbie I turned to her.

“Debbie, would you grab us both a cup of tea from the canteen? You are joining us aren’t you?” Debbie smiled and turned towards the tea urn; she had taken the bait. Years of working in Government had given me specific people skills. I knew that making her feel as important as Lynda would guarantee that she would stay to hear our conversation.

I walked into the nursery past Lynda and straight to Rosa’s side. I wasted no time in picking her up and placed her sleeping weight on my shoulder. True to form, this kid slept through anything. Liam and Shadow should have already left. I was going to be here a while. Lynda eyed me suspiciously from the doorway.

“You could have let her sleep.”

“Ha, you don’t know her like I do. She sleeps through anything, and I need to get her into a proper bed, can’t have her catching a cold.” We stood there with so much not being said; it was Lynda who broke the silence.

“If you want to leave you are welcome to, we don’t keep people against their will here, as you know.”

“I know.” I needed to act like this was all a misunderstanding until I could get out of this room.

“We only ask that you leave Rosa here with us so that she can get the care that she needs.” I stared blankly at her, confused. What the fuck was this psycho talking about? The way she was looking at Rosa made me feel uncomfortable. Instinctively I moved a hand over her head and was shocked to feel the amount of heat coming from her.

“What’s wrong with her? Why is she so hot?” As I said this Debbie walked in with the tea, she put it down on a table by the door and walked over to where I stood holding my child.

“She’s sick? Did you give her any untreated water before she arrived?” Debbie looked genuinely concerned. Lynda hadn’t moved and didn’t seem surprised to hear of Rosa’s condition.

“You know Elizabeth; Rosa is very important to us here. She will be instrumental in the new world. Our children are the future of this country. We can make sure that she has the best possible care, perhaps we already have the right medicine available for her downstairs.” My stomach turned. Had this twisted bitch poisoned my daughter?

“What have you done to her?” My head started to thump as blood rushed from every part of my body and I went dizzy.

“I don’t know what you mean. Here let me take her down to the medical suite for you.” She walked forward and held out her hands to take Rosa from me. “You can see her again when she is feeling better.”

There was no way I was giving this psychopath my baby. She moved away from the door and I saw my opportunity. I dashed for the exit. Debbie who had been stood in between us sidestepped out of our way and looked on at Lynda with her mouth open. Apparently, she wasn’t involved in this little plot and was equally appalled.

“I’m leaving. If anything happens to her Lynda, I will come back here and by God, I will kill every one of you in this fucking hole.”

I walked over to the door Lynda grabbed the back of my top. I swung around and snatched up a cup of the hot tea in my free hand and threw it in her face. Then I began to run. Rosa woke up and started screaming. I ran back the way I came; past the dorm where Emma had watched me holding her perfectly healthy son. I didn’t stop until I saw the red EXIT sign on the fire door ahead of us. I squinted up into the dark tunnel trying to see if I could make out a figure crouching in the dark. It was empty. Liam had left and taken Shadow with him; I couldn’t blame him I told him to.

I pushed open the heavy door to the outside world. I could hear footsteps getting louder pounding towards us up the concrete of the tunnel. I slammed it behind me and threw Rosa further up onto my shoulder. She cried for me to stop but I couldn’t. Instead, I ran for the nearest tree line. My shoes sank into the mud and with every new step, my legs were caked in more of it. It was slowing me down.

I heard the door I had just closed open behind me. Lynda hurtled towards us. I was blinded by a white light coming straight at me from the opposite direction. Not knowing what it was I dove to the floor and covered Rosa’s body with mine.

“Get up here!” It was Liam. He threw something at me and it landed in the mud in front of Rosa’ head. It was my flare gun. Without hesitation, I picked up the gun, aimed and pulled the trigger. The flare flashed and I heard a scream. Lynda held her burning face in her hands as two others from the Bunker ran out of the exit into the night.

I threw my head from left to right to search for Liam. Shadow’s bark came from directly behind me and I turned to see Liam who hung out of the door of the SUV with his arms outstretched. They had found the car we had arrived in. That must have been how he’d got the flare gun. I had left it in the car when we entered the bunker. I cried out, picked myself up out of the mud and scooped up Rosa. I threw her in to Liam across the passenger seat. Rosa cried, heaving for breath between her screaming sobs. We were both covered from head to toe in cold, wet mud. Scrabbling into the car to join them I felt the SUV moving underneath me.