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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"So, what about the other arrest? What was so bad about that?" Raven spoke softly into the silence.
Esther jumped; not realising that the others had quietened too. They'd been waiting for Esther to speak. She'd spaced out, again.
Ivory rushed to Esther's rescue.
"One word. Cybercrime."
"No." Raven gasped.
"Oh, yes," Lyria responded; tilting back her head as she laughed. Tendrils of blonde curls melted over Lyria's shoulders.
Esther had jokingly dared Katherin to hack into the National Intelligence Agency over coffee. It was their morning ritual on Saturdays. They would spend the morning at the local café; eating cake, drinking coffee and setting challenges for each other on that day. Katherin's challenge for Esther was to finish off an entire mug of coffee. Esther didn't like coffee. She hadn't been able to finish it.
Katherin had blown on the steam of her hot chocolate; smiling into her lap. There was an alert on Katherin's phone. She'd turned it face down. It had been a message from her social care worker, not that it was relevant to the story.
After they returned home, though? That was relevant.
Katherin had locked herself in her study. Two hours and a couple of hundred internet searches later, she had done it. They were in. The government's secrets were at their fingertips.
"So, what did you read?" Raven asked.
"Nothing," Esther replied softly. "We cleared our search history and shut down the laptop. No, don't look at me like that. What else were we supposed to do? She hacked into the National Intelligence Agency, for heaven's sake!"
"Well, I think you should have snooped. We could have been prepared for the situation we're in right now," Lyria responded with a small smile.
Esther opened her mouth indignantly; not realising the underlying humour in Lyria's voice. How dare she? Katherin had been arrested for days, just because of Esther's stupid dare. If Ivory hadn't paid the bail, Katherin would be sitting in the jail cell. The zombies would have found her. They would have torn her apart, just like they'd torn apart Rebeka.
"Baby, chill. She's joking," Katherin's chuckle broke through the tense silence.
The others craned their necks in surprise; turning towards Ivory's open door. Katherin leant against the frame. Mud caked her clothes from head to toe; her previously maroon shirt discoloured brown. Muddy fingerprint smudges were clearly visible on Katherin's circular glasses. She'd clearly needed to adjust them but hadn't had the opportunity to clean her hands.
Esther would have to find Katherin's cleaning cloth. They might have left it at home; or even worse, the cloth was pressed into the pocket of Katherin's muddy jeans.
Esther ran to Katherin; pressing her head into the crook of Katherin's neck. The stench of swear assaulted Esther's senses. She tried not to gag. It would be rude, right? Katherin had just risked her life to give Esther a chance of survival. Esther could cope with a little bit of sweat.
"Can you two move over?" Raven asked awkwardly; her eyes tilted to the floor as she spoke. "I - uh – I want to see Jaxx."
Katherin laughed; pulling Esther to her chest and out of the doorway. They watched as Raven disappeared into the darkness.
Her footsteps echoed as she descended the stairs. Jaxx would be standing by the entranceway. The one he'd broken apart for them to enter through. He'd stand and wait until he was certain that no zombies, or survivors, had followed them to their refuge. Katherin found his patience, his dedication to keeping everyone safe, unnerving. There was a reason why his superiors had named him 'the perfect soldier'.
"Gwynth is bringing up the food to your apartment Ivory if that's okay." Katherin turned her attention to the remaining group. "Morgana is getting changed. She didn't want to be seen in her muddy clothes. She should be here soon, though."
Ivory nodded; a small smile blossoming onto her features. "Of course, it's okay. You didn't have any trouble?"
Katherin shook her head. Esther knew she was lying. It was easy to spot. Her hands were shaking. Dried blood was caked underneath Katherin's fingernails. Esther had sworn that she'd felt a knife in her girlfriend's back pocket. Something had gone wrong in their search for food. Esther would have to ask Gwynth. It was possible that she would cave under pressure. Besides, they were connected. They shared the same genes, the same birthdate, the same blood. Gwynth couldn't keep a secret from Esther for long.
"Do you have my laptop in your bag?"
Esther nodded. At least Katherin was talking to her. Too often, she turned silent in traumatic events. The doctors said it was a coping mechanism. Esther didn't understand. Talking is part of the healing process. It's necessary to survive.
"Yes. Why?" Esther responded softly.
"I think we need to hack into the National Intelligence Agency. Again."
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Hi everyone!
How did you like today's chapter? I updated this a little late as I suffered from a little bit of writer's block in how to connect this chapter from the previous chapter's excitement.
I also made the mistake of letting my friends choose the two crimes that Katherin had been arrested for. It meant that I had to do a LOT of google searching to make this chapter work. I think my friends just like to make writing chapters difficult for me.
For those of you that are writers: do you let your friends/family give input into your plot?
