Adrian Smith - The Rule of Three

“Jack?” Emma broke into his thoughts.

“Sorry. Coming.” He caught up to her.

“Daydreamer, huh?”

“Yeah. I just had this weird feeling that we are being herded.”

“Herded?”

“I could see the creatures. They’ve been following us the whole time.”

Emma paused and glanced around. “We’d better hurry then.”

Jack peered through the scope on his rifle and scanned the yard of the boating company. Next to the shed were three large speed boats and a tractor. All painted bright red like the shed. Apart from the birds and the insects, nothing moved. He strained his ears, trying to judge where the howls were coming from, but the noise echoed around and bounced off the river, making it nearly impossible to discern a direction.

“What do you guys think?” Jack whispered. “We’re going to make a bit of noise, so we need to do this fast.”

“What’s the plan?” Sarah said.

“I’ll drive the tractor and back it up to the trailer. Get George inside. You and Emma hook it on and I’ll drive it into the river. I’m not going to bother backing it. Just straight in. As soon as we are in, start the boat and unhook it from the trailer. If all goes well, we’ll be motoring downriver to Hamilton in a few minutes.”

“Keys?” Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. “They’re not going to be just hanging in the ignition.”

Jack grinned. “The tractor ones are there. As for the boat, there should be a switch and an ignition button.”

“Shouldn’t we check before charging in?” Sarah asked.

A high-pitched shriek rang out over the yard. Jack shuddered. He swung his carbine up and searched for its source. Perched on the roof of the engineering business next door were five creatures.

“Go! Now!”

Jack slung the rifle over his shoulder and sprinted for the tractor. He was halfway there when movement blurred in his peripheral vision. Creatures were pouring out from behind every building, howling and spitting, jumping up and down at the sight of their prey.

“Run for the river!” Jack screamed. He swung around and squeezed the trigger. The rifle bucked to life. Jack wedged it into his shoulder and sprayed bullets at the oncoming mass of creatures. He couldn’t even begin to count them. There had to be one hundred or more. Emma ran to join him, swinging the bachi hoe. She was overrun in seconds, her screams piercing through his brain.

Jack risked a look over his shoulder. Sarah and George were still metres from the river with the beasts closing in fast. Jack spread his feet and held his finger down on the trigger, desperate to save them.

His weapon clicked empty as the first creature reached him. Jack swung the rifle at it like a baseball player and grinned as the stock smashed into his head. He dropped to one knee and swung again before the rifle was ripped out of his grasp.

Several beasts pinned him down but did not attack. Jack frowned. What were they doing?

He turned his head and bit his lip, watching as Sarah and George were similarly caught and held.

Then, through the forest of clawed limbs that had him pinned, Jack saw it. A creature like the others, but taller and broader. It had strange, bark-like skin, and bones protruded from its shoulders. It turned, as if sensing Jack’s attention, and grinned.

The beast above Jack squirted a hot, stinging liquid into his face. Jack gasped and fought the waves of nausea that followed. It felt like an invisible hand was reaching inside his skull and squeezing his brain. Jack’s last thought as he drifted into unconsciousness was:

Run, Dee! Run!

Dee peered out through the ventilation grating. The late afternoon sunlight shone through the beech trees bordering the back yard and dappled the lawn. She held her breath. Several of the creatures were moving around the yard, sniffing at the air. She stepped backwards a couple of feet, deeper into the shadows, fearful they would see her. The creatures took their time, sniffing, moving, pausing, sniffing. As they moved, popping sounds emanated from their bodies. She could see their veins through their translucent dark skin. Willing them to move on, she watched, terrified. Finally, they hopped on top of the fence and, shrieking, bounded off.

Letting out a breath, Dee nearly choked on the stench of sewage as she inhaled again. She had been down here in the basement for two days now and, after discovering the creatures had a heightened sense of smell, she had decided to really confuse them. The sewage took some getting used to, but anything was better than experiencing the same fate as Rachel, Machete, Broomstick and the two soldiers.

Dee took stock of her situation. She had about three weeks’ worth of food, maybe the same of water, and one weapon.

Thank God Jack bought me the katana in Japan that I’d been obsessing about. But will it be of any use against these nightmares?

She tried to remain calm, but her worry for her husband of three years was taking its toll. Not for the first time, she wondered whether to head on to the cabin without him or not. She remembered their first year together.

Nights spent in, cuddling on the couch, sharing their favourite movies and TV shows.

Talking late into the night about anything and everything.

Weekends spent in the wilderness exploring, sharing a love of nature. Learning, teaching each other.

Teaching what it meant to care for someone deeply. Learning tolerance of others and their situations.

Dee had thought it too late, too much of a princess fantasy to find that “one”, but she had.

She had fought her demons, her insecurities, every day with Jack. Her anxiety got the better of her some days, causing her to stay inside, hiding from the world. Cocooning herself away.

One night, after a few drinks, Dee had opened up to Jack, poured her heart out. She had told him about all her demons. Jack had cried, pouring out his own heart and releasing his own.

That had been that golden moment, that moment told in all the fairy tales.

She knew that was it. Jack was “The One.”

A popping sound caused Dee to look back out into the yard. One of the creatures was back. A straggler, maybe? It was staring straight into her neighbour’s house, sniffing the air. The sound of its sucker mouth smacked, making her shiver.

She prayed that her elderly neighbour, Faye, was hidden. In her nineties, the woman never ceased to amaze Dee with her virility by still playing tennis and tending her garden.

The virus had taken over so fast, and with so much fury, that no one had had a chance. Before the phones had died, Dee had called Faye, telling her to hide with her, to wait for Jack. Faye had refused, saying that her family were on their way. They were going together to the evac centre at Claudelands. But after five days, nothing. No sign of anyone. Dee now wished she had insisted having seen what was going on out there for herself and barely escaping with her life.

The creature was still there, sniffing. It suddenly burst over the fence with incredible speed, shrieking. Dee heard the crash of glass breaking. Her heart sank.

Against her better judgement, she grabbed the only weapon she had — the katana — and dashed outside. She leapt over the short boundary fence.

Dee could see the smashed window. A horrifying noise came from inside the house. Peering in, she saw the creature standing over Faye’s torn body, one of her arms clamped in its claws. Blood and gore dripping from its strange sucker mouth, it let out another shriek. More shrieks answered from close by, maybe a few houses down.

With blinding speed, the creature leapt at Dee.