Дэвид Муди - Strangers

The stand-off was unbearable, the pressure increasing by the second.

‘No reaction, Sir,’ a mask-muffled trooper shouted.

‘Clear,’ another soldier confirmed, and all of the faceless, suited figures stood down. Scott pushed his way through them to get to Tammy who’d dropped to her knees now, sobbing. He picked her up and no matter how much she hated him and how sick he was of her, they walked back to Michelle together.

The waiting was endless, unbearable. It was late now, dark outside. Their interminable incarceration had lasted most of the day and showed no signs of ending anytime soon. Frustrations were beginning to show. There were occasional glimpses of trouble, only for those involved to immediately separate when military interest was aroused. Much of the bad feeling seemed to be down to the dwindling level of supplies. What had appeared to be a virtual mountain of cardboard when Scott and Michelle had first arrived had been reduced to a few remaining boxes. There was a sudden change in mood when a door opened and the stocks were replenished. The smell of hot food temporarily soothed the tensions within the leisure centre.

There was an initial crush but the ever-present threat of military intervention kept things moving with civility. Scott fetched enough for him and his family. He found himself sitting close to Dez, Sergeant Ross and Dr Kerr as they ate.

‘Can’t say they ain’t lookin’ after us,’ Dez said.

‘They can stick their fucking food,’ Scott said, poking with a plastic spoon at his dish filled with some kind of meat stew. His stomach was churning. ‘I’d rather be hungry and out of here.’

‘I don’t think you would,’ Dr Kerr said. ‘They’re keeping us safe until they’ve got this thing under control.’

‘Like hell.’

‘Much as I hate to admit it,’ Sergeant Ross said, ‘I think you’re right, Doc.’

‘I know I’m right.’

‘I’m not so sure,’ Scott said.

‘Why not?’ Sergeant Ross asked.

‘Think about it… why are they really keeping us here? Why would they want the whole of Thussock locked up in one room?’

‘To keep us safe,’ Dez quickly volunteered. Scott looked at him in disbelief.

‘You’re so bloody naïve. It’s never about us, it’s always about them . If the doctor’s right and there is some kind of fucking weird, previously unheard of, sex-starved parasite-thing running loose around here, where do you think it is? Do you think there are even more soldiers outside trying to hunt it down?’

‘There are. I seen them in the fields.’

‘Yes, but the bloody fields are empty. If this is a parasite, then it’s almost certainly going to be in here, isn’t it? It’s where the people are, not where they aren’t . Those soldiers out there weren’t looking for the parasite, they were looking for us , the people of Thussock. They want us where they can keep tabs on us.’

‘He’s got a point,’ Dr Kerr agreed.

‘Wait… didn’t someone say you seen an attack this mornin’?’ Dez said to Scott. ‘Can’t you find who it was? Point her out or sumthin’?’

‘I’ve looked and I haven’t seen her. Anyway, who says she’s still the carrier? She might have had her wicked way with someone else. It could be any one of us by now. Could be you, Dez.’

His words had a noticeable effect on the others. They all stopped to consider the implications of what he’d just said.

‘So it has to be about finding the carrier and isolating them now, doesn’t it?’ Sergeant Ross said. ‘That’s what all this is about. They’re waiting for them to show themselves.’

‘So can’t we jus’ find them?’ Dez suggested. ‘Dob them in?’

‘And how are you going to do that?’ Scott sighed. ‘Fuck’s sake, if it was that easy, don’t you think they’d have already done it? They don’t know, that’s why we’re all left hanging.’

‘This is all well and good,’ the doctor said, ‘but what if it’s someone we know? What if it is one of us or worse still, one of our families? You were the one who had a close encounter this morning, Scott. How do you know your wife wasn’t infected?’

‘Because I dragged the dirty fucker off her and kicked the shit out of him before he could get near her. And I saw him infect someone else, that’s how.’

‘And are you sure you weren’t infected?’

‘I’m sure I didn’t get fucked, if that’s what you mean.’

‘But we don’t know for sure that this thing is only transmitted sexually, do we?’

‘No, but the only contact I had with Jeremy was to drag him away from the house and punch him in the face. I didn’t share a drink with him, didn’t kiss him…’

‘And was this morning the first time you’d seen him?’

Scott paused. ‘No. He came around last night. He had dinner with us. I swear, everything was normal back then. He’d only changed this morning. His behaviour was completely different…’

‘I don’t think you’re infected, Scott,’ Dr Kerr said, sensing the other man’s patience was wearing thin. ‘For the record, I don’t think your wife is either. But you can see the point I’m making here, can’t you? We just don’t know. We don’t even know if there’s just one of these things or whether there are more…’

‘Jesus,’ Scott said under his breath. He hadn’t thought of that.

‘Think about it… there are hundreds of people in here, how do we know how it’ll react to these numbers? Maybe it behaves differently in crowds… maybe it divides or reproduces…’

‘I’m getting out of here,’ Dez said, suddenly agitated.

‘How?’ Sergeant Ross sighed. ‘Don’t be an idiot, Dez.’

‘I’m not an idiot. I jus’ think…’

‘But you don’t think, do you? Never have.’

‘There’s no need for—’

‘There’s no need for what? Fuck’s sake, do you understand what’s happening here? They’re playing it all light and friendly, giving us food and water and trying to make it like everything’s going to be all right, but our lives might be on the line here. Scott and the doctor might be right. Your life, Jackie’s life, your kids’ lives… Do you think they’re going to let any of us go until this thing gets found and neutralized?’

‘Who says they’re gonna let us go anyway?’ Scott said, fuelling the flames.

Dez was beginning to panic. ‘I’m not stayin’ here. You can all piss off. There’s no way I…’ His voice trailed away. They were all looking at him. Staring at him. ‘What?’

‘Calm down, Dez,’ Sergeant Ross said, wishing he was in uniform. ‘You’re making me nervous.’

‘Calm down! You’re tellin’ me to calm down at a time like this…’

All still looking at him. All uneasy. All starting to think the same thing. Scott vocalised their concerns. ‘Is it him?’

‘It ain’t me,’ Dez said quickly, almost laughing at the preposterousness of it all, then almost pissing himself with fear when it dawned on him they were deadly serious. How could they think it was him? ‘Come on, Doc… Sarge… you both know me. You know it ain’t me…’ The longer they watched him, the more he began questioning himself. He tried to remember where he’d been recently, who he’d been with, how they’d behaved… then common-sense kicked back in. ‘You’ve both known me for years,’ he said with a little more certainty in his voice. ‘If there’s anyone you wanna worry about, it’s him.’ He turned and looked directly at Scott.

All eyes shifting. Slow, subtle, shuffled movements away from the others. The doctor shook his head, exasperated.

‘Bullshit,’ Scott protested. ‘I already told you—’