Дэвид Муди - Strangers

‘That you had a physical encounter this morning with a man who was infected and who’s now dead,’ Sergeant Ross said. ‘Dez is right, we hardly know you.’

‘An’ you arrested him,’ Dez continued, grabbing the sergeant’s arm. ‘You wouldn’t a done that if you never had good reason. He was there when them others died. Jackie told me. It’s him… he’s the one.’

More definite movement now. Whether their actions were subconscious or not, they were all trying to put distance between themselves and Scott. Or was it distance between themselves and each other?

‘You’ve got this all wrong,’ Scott started to say before Dez cut across him.

‘That’s what a carrier would say. Ain’t that what a carrier would say? It wouldn’t wanna get caught out. It wants to hide and keep killing.’

Scott shook his head. ‘Are you completely fucking stupid? We’re talking about a parasite, not a murderer. It’s not killing or even thinking about killing, it’s feeding .’

‘Same difference.’

‘No, it isn’t. If I’d had contact and I’d been carrying it, wouldn’t I be dead now? I’d either be dead or trying to fuck someone. I wouldn’t be sitting here talking like this with you, you bloody moron.’

A moment of silence. ‘He’s right,’ the doctor said. ‘We need to take a step back and calm down, not let our emotions get the better of us.’

‘It’s like The Thing , ain’t it?’ said Dez, relaxing slightly. ‘Remember that?’

Scott, Sergeant Ross and Dr Kerr just looked at him. ‘Bloody idiot,’ the sergeant said. ‘Don’t you know when to give up?’

‘I’m serious. Did you see that film, The Thing ?’

‘Long time ago. Why?’

‘Because this is like that, isn’t it? All those people trapped together. One of them’s an alien, but they don’t know which one. They might not even know it themselves. You see it, Doc?’

‘No. Doesn’t sound like my kind of film.’

‘There’s this bit when they’re trying to work out which one of them it is,’ he continued, oblivious to how infuriating he’d become. ‘They figure out a test, an’ they all sit round in a circle while everyone has it done.’

‘I remember,’ Scott said. ‘Can’t remember what happens though.’

‘What do you think happens? The bloody monster doesn’t wanna be found out. It goes apeshit.’

‘How exactly is this helping, Desmond?’ Dr Kerr asked.

Dez paused. His face dropped. ‘Sorry. Bit nervous. All I was thinkin’ was why ain’t they doin’ sumthin’ like that?’

‘It’s a fair point. Maybe they will. Maybe they just haven’t worked out the test yet?’

‘Should be pretty easy though, shouldn’t it?’ Sergeant Ross said. ‘All they have to do is look at the last body. The carrier’s DNA will be on them somewhere. Or in them.’

‘Sounds too easy,’ Scott said. ‘So why aren’t they doing it? Because you’re right, if they can work out who the carrier is, they should be able to check us all then isolate that person.’

‘Maybe it’s not that straightforward,’ the doctor said, struggling to keep up with the increasingly surreal situation. ‘There could be any number of reasons why. Maybe they’re waiting for an exchange. Maybe they can only stop it when the parasite’s in the process of passing from host to host?’

‘You think that might be the case?’

‘It would explain why they over-reacted when your daughter was with that lad,’ he said, looking at Scott. ‘If I’m completely honest, I don’t know what to think anymore.’

‘It’s all down to perspective, isn’t it?’ Sergeant Ross said. ‘We look at things from our point of view, don’t we?’

‘I don’t follow,’ Dez said. ‘Don’t talk in riddles.’

The sergeant’s shoulders slumped forward, like he was carrying an immense weight. ‘Something Mr Griffiths here said a few minutes ago that we all just glossed over. Who says they’re planning to let us go? We’ve assumed they’d shut us all away in here to keep the parasite out, but maybe the opposite’s true? What if they’ve got us rounded up because they’re trying to keep it in ? Who says our safety matters to them? We might just be bait. Expendable.’

‘You think it’s like a worm or sumthin’?’ Dez asked. ‘You think you can see it? You ever seen Rabid ? Wait, no, not Rabid … Shivers . It’s about this sex slug. Goes crazy in a block of flats in Canada in the seventies an’…’

They were all looking at him again. ‘Shut up,’ Scott said, and this time he did. There followed an awkward moment of quiet, only disturbed by the low hubbub of conversation elsewhere.

‘It would make a good weapon, wouldn’t it?’ Sergeant Ross said.

‘Come on, Dan,’ Dr Kerr sighed. ‘Are you serious? Now who’s scaremongering?’

‘I’m serious. Think about it. All those invasions they’ve spent billions of pounds of our money on over the years… this thing would make wars like that a hell of a lot easier and cheaper. Just drop the parasite in and let it do what it apparently does. If the area can be contained, it’ll just keep killing and being passed on from person to person until there’s only the final carrier left.’

‘Stupid idea,’ the doctor scoffed.

Scott didn’t agree. ‘No more stupid than anything else I’ve heard. I think you might be onto something. That’d explain why we’ve got the army here and not the NHS or Environmental Health.’

‘So what are we going to do?’ Dr Kerr asked. ‘Do we just sit here and wait for this thing to show itself. If it’s in here with us, surely it’s only a matter of time before it needs a new host? There’s never been any longer than a couple of days before kills… maybe that’s how long each new body can sustain it for.’

Sergeant Ross looked around the crowded leisure centre. Some people appeared to be getting used to their incarceration, accepting everything they were being told with blissful ignorance. They were reasonably comfortable, well fed and watered… Others clearly remained unconvinced, defending the independence of their own little areas of space, perhaps only deciding not to fight or protest for fear of the heavy-handed military response they’d already seen demonstrated.

‘Way I see it is this,’ he said. ‘We don’t have much in the way of options right now. This place is probably surrounded. We certainly are, anyway. Stay alert and keep your wits about you. Stay close to your families and make sure they don’t mix with anyone you don’t know. Hold onto your own, lads. Don’t let anyone else get too close. Bottom line is this – if this parasite or whatever is being passed from person to person, and all the people of Thussock are in here with us, then it’s only gonna be a matter of time before it shows itself.’

Phoebe was standing up, looking out over the heads of the unsettled crowd, still desperately searching for her father. He had to be here somewhere, didn’t he? Michelle pulled her down but she shook her mother off. ‘I’m going to go and find him,’ Phoebe said.

‘You can’t, love. You have to stay here with us. It’s not safe.’

‘But what about Dad? He’s on his own.’

‘After what happened at the house he could be anywhere. If he was here he’d have found us, wouldn’t he? He’s probably left town. He’ll be in touch soon, I’m sure he will.’

‘He wouldn’t have left, not with all this going on.’

‘Listen to your mother and shut up,’ Scott said, his voice detached and unemotional. Michelle pulled Phoebe closer and held her as she cried. She watched Scott, and she wished she could tell him exactly what she was thinking like she’d tried this morning. She wished she could be honest with him and tell him to fuck off and leave them alone, to take a frigging hike and never come back again… but she knew she couldn’t. Not yet. She knew him better than he ever gave her credit for. She knew he had a better understanding of what was happening in Thussock than he was letting on. She and Jackie had watched him and Dez and the others talking, watched how they grouped together in a secretive huddle and spoke in whispers the way men do. They know, she thought.