Katherin Hassan-Clarke and Esther Quinn, young lovers living on the coast of Riga, Latvia, face the terrifying realisation that their home is no longer safe when a deadly zombie pathogen ravages Eastern Europe. Fleeing their home before they are for...
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Will we need long sleeves? Do we even have two long sleeve shirts? It doesn't matter. Esther can have mine.
Katherin stuffed a black long-sleeved shirt into a backpack. She dipped her hands into the wardrobe again; flicking through the racks of garments.
They had recently cleaned out their old clothes, thinking they hadn't needed them. It had taken a whole day. They filled trash bags full of clothes and tipped them into the donations bin. Thinking that their clothes would help those who needed them. How wrong they were.
Their clothes were probably still in the donations bin. No one would be using them now.
Monday was supposed to be their date day. It would mark their second anniversary and their first year of living together. They'd spent all of Sunday night watching movies on Netflix.
Then, on Monday morning, they'd sleep in until midday. Katherin had submitted her unavailability. She wouldn't have to go to work, not today. They'd spent the morning in the local café. Drinking hot chocolate and devouring freshly baked croissants.
The café was famous for their custard almond croissants. Katherin had never convinced Esther to try them. She loved the chocolate ones.
At midday, they would have driven to the local shopping centre for burgers. Katherin would have the grilled chicken and smashed avocado. Esther would have the children's meal; a small beef burger with an apple juice popper and chips.
Once they finished, Katherin would wait outside the dressing room as Esther tried on clothes from the children's section. The adult sectioned clothes didn't fit. Esther's frame was too slim. So, they'd agree to buy ten shirts. Esther wouldn't be able to make up her mind. They'd end up buying thirteen.
In a matter of months, the shirts would fall apart, and they'd repeat the process. Katherin would sit outside the dressing room. Esther would try on shirt after shirt; stepping out of the dressing room to do a twirl. Katherin would applaud, just as she was supposed to. The elderly would glare. Katherin would smile at them. Esther didn't like when she made a scene.
"Katherin. What's wrong?" Esther laughed uneasily. The door creaked as she pushed it open and entered the small bedroom. It was hardly wide enough for their double bed, let alone the other furniture. But Esther insisted on the décor. It made their bedroom less gloomy.
She didn't like the door, though. At one point, she had insisted that they pull it off the frame. The noise irritated her. But nothing was ever done to fix it. Esther didn't know how to oil the hinges of the door. Katherin liked the noise. It made her sleep better at night. They'd hear if someone entered the room. It was worth the few extra minutes to fall asleep, just to know they were safe. Especially now.
Esther wrapped her fingers around Katherin's wrist and pulled her from the wardrobe. They embraced. Katherin's arms clenched around Esther's neck tightly. It hurt, but Esther didn't dare shake her off. Something was wrong. Katherin was acting strangely? What was the cause this time?
So much happened in the last few months.
The abandonment of citizens by their government. People disappearing off the grid. Katherin running out of medication to monitor her diabetes. No response from either of their parents; not that it was a surprise. They'd ceased all communication with them when they came out.
Their friends were in danger. Some of them had ventured outside. Poor Lyria. Something terrible was out there.
"Raven and Jaxx are running out of food, and they haven't drunk water for two days. Lyria's parents are dead, and her sister is too. I haven't had my medication in three weeks. If we don't do something, I'll die. You know that. We decided. Everyone is meeting at the port tonight. We'll take Ttod's boat and disappear."
Esther froze. She wasn't ready, not yet.
They had only just gotten into their routine. The carrots hadn't grown yet. If they left now, they wouldn't be able to harvest them. Esther had been looking forward to it. She didn't want to risk it. Not when they were fine where they were right now.
If they left, one of them could die. They might never return to their apartment, the home they'd bought together. Not with each other, anyway. Esther knew that when it came down to it, she would be the person that survived. She didn't want that. If tonight didn't go to plan, Katherin would willingly leave herself behind as bait. She wouldn't let her friends die. Katherin wouldn't let Esther be the victim. It was selfish, but Esther would rather her friends starve to death than risk losing her other half.
"Okay." Esther nodded. She took a deep breath. Nothing would happen, not to them. Plenty of people had survived. They'd taken pictures of what was outside. Many of the surviving forums had labelled the predators 'zombies', due to their likeness to the fictional undead seen in many video games, tv shows and novels. Esther understood the name, once she watched the videos. Dead littered the streets with torn open stomachs.
Undeniably from human teeth. Those who had seen zombies said that they were identical to human beings. As if they had been converted. No one knew what caused them; a government experiment went wrong? Esther thought it was plausible.
It was horrific, but it wouldn't happen to them. Not to their group. Katherin knew what she was doing. Esther had to trust that. They were going to leave tonight.
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Hi everyone!
Was this chapter too long? I have been breaking the chapters of KEPLER-168F (my other novel - check it out!) into multiple pasts as some were exceeding 4000 words. I'm always trying to be mindful of people who read on their mobile phone. It can be incredibly difficult to read knowing that you have 30 pages until the next part!
