The search inside the Surf Club continues ...
VERY STRANGE THINGS:
Chapter 9
Charlie and Joey made their way upstairs, armed with Charlie's gun and two of Leah's largest kitchen knives. Their hearts were beating fast, but by now they had become very accustomed to feeling so on edge. Today had been a day of many frights - and having a regular pulse had been a rare experience.
Charlie ascended in front, with Joey following a few steps behind her. "By the way ... watch what you're doin' with those things, Jo. I don't want a punctured backside."
"Don't worry ... it looks perfect from down here," replied Joey with a grin. "How many rooms are up here?"
"Ehh ... four ... I think. We've already been in one ... and I'm in no hurry to go back in THERE again."
Joey sighed. "Me either."
As they approached the second room, Joey glanced through a small window. It was now very late in the afternoon, and the street outside had been almost completely deserted since morning. Charlie turned the handle cautiously, trying to make as little noise as possible. The handle creaked and squeaked as she moved it.
As the door opened, they looked around quickly for signs of movement. The small room was filled with surf boards and wet-suits, hanging neatly on rails. There were also some snorkels, goggles and body boards. In the far corner sat a full scuba diving kit. No infected.
They closed the door and moved onto the third room. It's door was slightly open. Charlie checked the handle for blood, but could see none. It was a good sign. She pushed it open. It was a kitchen – of sorts. There was a sink, a cooker, a dishwasher and some cupboards. It too was free from infected.
They moved towards the last room. The door was half-way open already. Inside they could see a chest of drawers. As they entered, they saw a bed in the far corner – but no life.
"Alf must stay here sometimes," said Joey. She closed the door behind them, shutting them inside.
They looked around. It was a nice room. Oil portraits of semi-clad women adorned every wall.
"Well ... he's certainly not gay, that's for sure," observed Charlie as she put her gun away. "I've never seen so many pictures of boobs in one room ... in my whole life."
"I always knew Alf and I had something in common," giggled Joey, setting the knives down and walking towards her girlfriend. "We both have an appreciation for the ... umm ... finest parts of a lady." She grinned cheekily and wrapped her arms around Charlie.
They shared a soft, lingering kiss. Memories of their previous night together came flooding back.
Joey broke their lips apart and glanced down at Alf's very comfortable-looking bed.
"Umm ... do you think he'd mind if we ... stayed up here a little while longer?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Charlie giggled and shrugged her shoulders. She looked past Joey at the door, noticing that the key for the room was in the door.
"Go lock it," she said. They kissed again, briefly but excitedly – then gazed into each other's eyes. "Hurry back!"
Joey ran over to the door and turned the key in the lock. Charlie unbuckled her utility belt and set it on the floor as she waited for Joey to return to her. Moments later they were in each other's arms again. They kissed passionately, exploring one another feverishly with their hands. Joey eased them both onto the bed and they lay down. Charlie rolled on top, deepening their kiss. The tip of her tongue trailed along Joey's upper lip, and Joey responded by delving hers gently inside Charlie's mouth.
They made blissful noises as they writhed together in unison - releasing some of the stresses that had built up during their day. The reality of the apocalypse was slowly fading away, and they were slipping into their own little cocoon of existence – protected from all the pain and suffering and danger.
Below the bed, a sleeping figure opened her eyes – awakened by the squeaking springs above her head.
--------x-------
Martha and Hugo had one more room to check – the ladies. It had been the scene of Joey's struggle with the infected woman and they were not looking forward to seeing the bloodied floor again, or what else they might find.
They entered slowly, screwing their faces up at the nastiness of the the sight that greeted them. The ladies room had five cubicles – all together on one side of the room. Martha crouched and looked underneath and along the row. Immediately she noticed blood on the floor of the fourth stall, and she pointed it out to Hugo silently. They tip-toed towards it. Hugo pushed open the door very slowly. The wall and toilet inside was splattered with red stains, many of which were fingerprints.
"This must have been where she was when Joey came in here," said Hugo.
"Okay ... let's check the others ... then get the hell out of here," urged Martha as a shiver ran down her spine. She walked towards the next one. Hugo continued to look around inside the bloodied stall, then stepped inside, placing his foot on the only clean floor tile. He glanced down into the toilet bowl.
"CHRIST!" he exclaimed. "Martha ... come here."
She came back in and followed his gaze downward, turning pale instantly. The urge to throw up overcame her and she put her hand over her mouth to stop herself.
They both turned and walked quickly back into the main room. Martha tried to speak but couldn't yet.
Hugo looked at them all. "We've found the missing finger ... and something else."
--------x--------
The sound of heavy breathing and soft moans filled the air, but were occasionally interspersed with moans of a different kind. Joey's chest hurt a lot, and in the throes of their passionate lovemaking it was very easy for both of them to forget all about her injury – only to be reminded by shooting pains, making Joey cry out. Charlie apologised every time it happened - and Joey kept telling her to shut up and get on with it, in the nicest possible way. A t-shirt and a vest top lay on the floor beside Charlie's utility belt. A pair of green eyes had watched as each one fell from above, blinking slowly and wondering what they were.
Their owner slid out from under the bed, and she yawned from lack of oxygen. She was also very, very hungry. Above her, she could sense the presence of living things and she jumped up onto the bed in search of food.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" screamed Charlie and Joey together, bounding upright in bed.
The smokey grey cat now sitting beside them looked at them, licking her lips innocently. "Miaow."
They collapsed back onto the bed in relief, startling the young feline.
"BLOODY CAT!" cried Joey in frustration. The sudden movement and her sudden outburst hurt her ribs again and she complained loudly.
Charlie giggled and placed her hand tenderly on Joey's bruised body, then soothed it with a gentle kiss.
The cat had a pink collar with an ID tag. Charlie took it between her fingers to read the name inscribed on it. It said 'Ripley.'
"Hi Ripley," she said cheerily, patting her on the head. "Lucky for you I didn't have my gun in my hand. You would have been dog food, my friend."
"CHARLIE? JOEY? ARE YOU OKAY?" shouted Ruby from the bottom of the stairs. Everyone downstairs had thought they'd heard screaming, but couldn't be sure.
They both heard Ruby's call, and scrambled to put on their clothes. Their sudden motion sent the cat running across the room.
Charlie ran over to the door and unlocked it. She stuck her head outside. "YES, WE'RE OKAY. WE'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE. TELL THEM UPSTAIRS IS CLEAR."
Closing the door again, she turned to look at Joey and smiled at her. They felt a lot more relaxed now, even though their fun time together had been interrupted. Charlie returned to the bed and put on her belt. Joey wrapped her arms around her waist and kissed her again.
"I guess you have a little bit of explaining to do when you go down," said Joey.
Charlie frowned at her, unsure what she meant.
"Ruby!" she explained.
Charlie smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She slipped deep into thought for a few moments. "Y'know ... last night I was so worried about how to tell her. But now it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. She's got a lot more things to worry about now than her sister being gay."
Joey considered Charlie's words. She was absolutely right. Ever since the outbreak of the virus, priorities had changed dramatically, and in less than twenty-four hours. "I can tell her with you ... if you like."
Charlie leaned close and kissed her again. "Sure," she replied - smiling warmly at the girl she loved.
They stole one last passionate kiss before leaving the room to go downstairs. Joey made sure she picked up the knives she had brought up there. The cat followed them all the way back to the main room, hoping they would feed her.
Ruby watched them as they entered through the doors and walk towards her. There was something odd about Joey, and Ruby giggled quietly as soon as she realised what it was - then gasped when she realised what it meant. I knew it, she thought to herself. Teasing Joey was going to be so much fun.
Charlie and Joey sat down beside her at the table. They were at the far end of the room, away from the others. They both looked at her. Ruby was grinning widely.
"What?" asked Charlie with a furrowed brow.
Ruby's eyes darted towards her, then to Joey, then to Charlie again – then back to Joey.
She cleared her throat, preparing herself for the ribbing. "Uhh Joey ... why is your t-shirt on inside out?"
Joey looked down at herself. Her mouth fell open. Charlie laughed.
"I may only be fifteen ... but I'm not stupid," she said, unable to make herself stop smiling.
Charlie and Joey looked at one another – unable to think of what to say.
"So ... how long have you two been ... y'know?" She began to make a gesture with her hands, inserting an index finger into the hole of the closed palm of her other hand, but quickly realised how inappropriate it was and changed it immediately to two closed palms, bumping together!
Charlie and Joey giggled.
"SO? How long?" pressed Ruby.
Charlie sighed. "One day."
Ruby's mouth fell open. "Aww guys ... that sucks!" she said sympathetically. "You've only just got together and now all ... THIS ... happens. That is just CRUEL."
They both nodded in agreement with her. It was a fact – sad but true.
"So ... you don't mind?" asked Charlie.
"I always kinda guessed you might be a 'lover of the ladies,' Charlie ... no offence."
Charlie stared at her, unamused. "None taken," she lied. What did she mean by that? And if Ruby knew – why the heck hadn't she realised it herself before now? She was going to make sure she continued that conversation with her sister at some point in the near future.
"GUYS .... we need you over here," interrupted Leah, ushering them to come to their table.
The three of them stood up and moved to join the others.
"Tell them what you told us," Leah said to Hugo and Watson.
Hugo went first. "We found a severed finger in the ladies ... floating inside one of the toilet bowls. There was something else too. I'm not sure what it is. It looks like a large piece of flesh."
"Mmmm lovely," said Joey dryly. "Anyone hungry? I'm hungry! Boy that just .. whets my appetite," she said – rubbing her tummy and licking her lips.
Charlie tried not to laugh at Joey's sardonic sense of humour. She needed to be serious right now.
"There's more," added Watson. "The room at the end of the corridor. It's locked."
"So?" asked Charlie.
"So ... it's locked from inside!" explained Watson. "The key is in the door. I can see it through the keyhole. I think we need to find a way in there, Charlie. Someone is inside ... they may be alive ... or they might be dead ... but we need to find out."
"Awww ... a kitty," said VJ as soon as he saw Ripley, oblivious to the drama going on around him. He rushed over to pick her up and cuddle her.
Charlie, Joey, Watson, Leah, Hugo, Martha and Alf gathered together and walked off in the direction of the locked room. Bill was still fast asleep. Ruby and VJ kept their promise to Charlie and stayed near him.
Watson turned back to speak to the doctor. "Rachel ... there's a computer in the other room. You might be able to access the WHO or CDC websites. Maybe they have more information."
"Great! I'll go there now. Will someone come with me?"
"I'll go," offered Martha.
--------x--------
The group stood outside the locked room. Charlie knelt to look through the keyhole, seeing the key blocking her view inside.
"Alf do you have a spare key to this room?" she asked.
"Sorry, love ... there only is the one."
Charlie thought for a few moments, then looked underneath the door. There was a gap of about half an inch, and the floor beneath was polished wood. "I have an idea," she said. "If we slide something under the door ... some cloth or something ... then we can push the key out from this side. It should fall on the cloth ... and then we can slide it back underneath to this side."
"Charlie ... that's genius," cried Hugo. "I'll be right back."
He ran off to get a large towel from behind the bar, returning with it moments later. He handed it to Charlie.
She slid it evenly beneath the door, spreading it as far and wide as she could. "Now ... all we need is something to push the key with."
Alf reached into his pocked and produced a key similar to the one they were trying to dislodge. He gave it to Charlie. She inserted it slowly and pushed it, hoping that the other key had been left in the right position to be dislodged, otherwise it would not budge. It popped out easily and fell to the ground. The soft thud indicated that it had landed on the towel. Charlie grabbed the corners of it and pulled it slowly towards herself. The key soon appeared, just as she'd planned.
She picked it up and inserted it in the lock, pausing before turning it.
"Okay ... if my guess is right ... whoever locked the door was trying to get away from HER in there," she said, referring to the infected store room resident. "Whatever we find in here ... it might not be a pretty sight! Watson ... bring that big gun over here."
Watson moved forward beside Charlie.
"Alf ... what kind of room is this?" asked Charlie.
"It's ehh ... just a meeting room ... for the surf club committee."
"Okay," said Charlie. "All of you stay out here. Watson and I will check it out."
No one was disappointed to hear her say that.
Charlie turned the key in the lock and opened the door slowly. She took out her gun, ready to use it if she needed. Watson and Charlie edged inside and looked around. They didn't see anything unusual. In the middle of the room was a conference table, and in the far corner was a coffee machine. Watson crept around the side of the room, towards the far side. Suddenly she stopped, staring down at the floor in alarm.
"Charlie!" she called.
Charlie came running over. A man lay face down on the ground in a very large pool of blood. Blotches were visible behind his ears. He was immune. Charlie knelt and touched his skin. It was cold. She tried to locate a pulse on his neck, but could not find one.
"He's dead."
Everyone heard her, and they began to feel very worried. Was it one of their family or friends?
Charlie looked at his hand. His finger was missing. Placing her hand against his shoulder, she prepared herself to roll him over so she could look at his face. She could see that he had a scruffy beard, but it was covered in dried blood. Something told her she knew him from somewhere, but she couldn't think where. She pushed against him, gasping when she recognised his face.
She immediately glanced across at Joey who was standing in the doorway. Joey's mouth fell open. Who had Charlie found?
Charlie stared down at him again. Underneath his body was a bloody mess, and it seemed to have mostly come from his waist area. The crotch of his jeans was soaked in blood, and the button and zip were undone. She gasped again when she saw that he had been bitten down there, and part of his body was missing!
Charlie stood up quickly. Watson looked at her. "Charlie ... is that who I think it is?" she said in a low voice.
"Yes," whispered Charlie. "I have to tell Joey. Find something to cover him over with ... quickly."
Charlie moved towards the door, taking Joey into the corridor and away from the others.
Joey stared at her wide-eyed. "Charlie ... who is it? Tell me." She was convinced now that Charlie's sudden concern for her could only mean that her brother was dead - and that his body now lay right there in the meeting room - but she didn't want to say his name.
Charlie swallowed hard and took a deep breath before she spoke. "It's Robbo."
Joey turned white.
To be continued ...
