Aer

35

'Jack!' A voice comes through to his radio 'We're a minute out, come out to the road, we're only down to two fire crackers'.

Seán's voice sounds exhausted, as if every breath hurts. Jack and his group ready themselves, they're all good runners, fit and able. But it's a whole other story when three hundred Freaks are running after you.

In the distance they can see the group coming over the hill, following them is the start of the horde, then it seems as if the Freaks are never-ending.

They set off their last few firecrackers and disperse into the woods. Jack throws his firecracker, gaining the attention of the horde.

'We've got this,' he says as they get closer.

Their skin flaps as they run, their arms flail as they try to outrun each other. Jack takes a deep breath and turns on his radio 'We're coming Lily'.

Their feet hit the hard ground, it feels as if they've been running for years. There's no end to the running, no end to the screams of the Freaks behind them.

Jack knows they're close to the grave, he can't give up just yet. He looks at the others and he can tell by their faces that they feel the same.

The entrance to the grave comes into sight. They throw the last of their firecrackers to bring the horde off the road. They reach the mobile home and take cover in there with the explosives team.

Daisy takes a deep breath as the horde is veered off the road, it's as if they know this track already. She looks at Lily, who smiles slightly at her before putting her gas mask on.

'Shoot now,' they shoot the flare guns but nothing comes out.
'Lily!' Daisy watches as the horde runs towards the mobile home.

'It's okay,' Lily jumps down from the mobile home.

She takes out her pistol and shoots into the air, the horde diverts their attention onto her and follows her.

She shoots again before jumping into the grave, she watches as the sea of them crowd into the grave.

She looks up at Daisy, she takes off her mask and smiles at her one last time.

She feels the pressure fill her brain, her eyes begin to bulge as the blood rushes to her brain.

'No!' Daisy screams as the grave lights up on fire, she blocks her ears as the ground vibrates. She jumps off the mobile home and gets inside for cover before the blast reaches her.

Everyone is silent.

A moment that should feel triumphant feels like it's the end of the world. Nobody looks at each other, they all stare into space.

'More may come,' Angel says, there's no tone in her voice 'We have to go'.

'This is just the start,' Daisy says, she sits in Lily's tent with Aaron later that day 'We've taken the horde from the cult, they're going to want revenge, and you have to be ready to deal with that'.
'I'll have you with me,' he says.
'No,' she says quietly 'I have my own revenge I need to take care of, I will help you until it's time for me to go'.

'What happens next?'.
'Go back to your bunker, bring your people,' she says 'You get the town, we get the other one, that's the deal'.

'And what about the cult?'.
'As I said you've to be ready to deal with that'.
'My group will work with yours'.

Daisy stands up, she knows how much Charlie hated Aaron and wanted him dead, she can't forget what he had done to Alex 'We'll see, you're still the reason Charlie and I were stranded above ground, you're the reason Alex is dead. Go back to your bunker, we'll be in contact'.

She leaves the tent and tells some of the boys to escort Aaron and his group out of the camp.

If she allowed it Aaron would leech himself onto them for protection and safety but she's not allowing that to happen.

She enters her tent, it's quiet and empty, she misses his presence.

The cult's not her problem anymore.

Daisy's going to do everything in her power to track down the soldiers that killed Charlie and kill every last one of them for killing the father of her child.