Pathogen - Chapter 19

Although the door lay open before the three friends, they did not immediately set foot in the abandoned house. The unexpected shotgun blast had rendered Grace stunned and ill tempered. She clutched at her ears as she wished the ringing would subside.

“What the actual fuck, Cliff!?” she shouted at her friend.

Cliff gestured to the door with the shotgun, “You couldn’t get the door open, Gray. I opened it for you.”

Grace wasn’t amused, and informed Cliff of her annoyance. “You could have at least warned me,” she shrieked.

“I did,” Cliff insisted, “I told you to step back so I could open the door.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going to shoot the fucking door!”

“But you got out of the way,” Cliff protested, “You must have known I was about to do it.”

Screaming full into Cliff’s face, Grace explained, “I thought you were going to kick in the door!”

“Oh. Yeah, that would have made sense,” Cliff mulled it over from Grace’s perspective, “Sorry about that.”

“You’re sorry?” Grace yelled, “You’re fucking sorry?”

“Sure am,” Cliff nodded, “I didn’t mean to hurt your ears or anything.”

With a wordless shout of frustration, Grace stormed off. Kicking the ajar door wide open, she slammed the door into the wall. The door gouged a chunk out of the plaster wall and came to a rest.

Aaron bent down to inspect the damaged door. Relying on a single locking doorknob, the door didn’t have a deadbolt. So when Cliff shot open the door, he had taken the knob with it. A stray pellet had lodged itself in the door, but otherwise the damage was confined to a neat, if irregular, circle.

“I don’t think this door is going to close,” Aaron assessed, “You’ve got it right messed up now.”

“Really?” Cliff asked incredulously as he bent down to check the damage himself, “Son of a bitch, you’re right. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Is this place going to be safe now? I mean, the door won’t close anymore,” Aaron asked.

“Sure,” Cliff nodded, “There’s no way a zombie’s getting up here. But just in case, we’ll find something to barricade the door with too. Can’t be too safe.”

“It’s going to be awfully drafty,” Aaron pointed out.

“Look, I already apologised to Grace, are you looking for one too?” Cliff asked.

“No,” Aaron shook his head, “Let’s just get inside already though. I’m still freezing my nuts off.”

Suddenly realising how cold he was himself, Cliff nodded to Aaron. Together they stepped inside, Cliff towing their supplies behind him. With all the windows being shuttered, it was incredibly dark indoors. They could only make out dim outlines in this first room. Opposite them was the doorway to the kitchen, with Grace’s form silhouetted in the window pane of the back door. On the far side of the living room were stairs running up with a ratty old couch lying against them. The fireplace lay cold and dormant in the corner.

“It’s pretty dark in here,” Aaron shivered, “Cold too.”

“No shit,” Grace shot back from the kitchen, “Way to state the obvious.”

“I don’t suppose we brought a flashlight,” Aaron asked Cliff.

“I didn’t think to,” Cliff shook his head, “I don’t know why. This place hasn’t had lights for years.”

“Hold on a second,” Grace announced as she walked towards them, “I have an idea.”

She stopped in front of them, and the two boys stared intently at her, waiting to see how she was going to make light. She rummaged through her pockets for a moment, but it was too dark to make out the object she had retrieved. Without warning, a bright light flashed straight in Aaron and Cliff’s face. With a shout of surprise, they reeled backwards and were temporarily blinded.

Grinning like a madwoman, Grace lowered her smartphone. The display was very bright and had caused her friends’ bewilderment. Now she switched on her flashlight app and lit up the whole room.

“What the hell, Gray?” Cliff rubbed his eyes, “Why didn’t you warn us?”

“I did warn you,” Grace smiled, “Just like you warned me you were going to shoot the door. I gave you a vague direction, then blindsided you.”

“Okay,” Cliff chuckled as he tried to blink away the spots still shining in his eyes, “But we’re even now, right?”

“Not even close,” Grace shook her head, still grinning widely.

“Aw, man,” Aaron complained, “Think of the collateral damage. I didn’t do nothing, but you blinded me too.”

Grace shrugged, still enjoying herself. Sweeping the phone’s light across the room, she took in her surroundings while Aaron and Cliff were regaining their night vision. The floor was made up of uneven floorboards, almost hidden away by loose refuse. Discarded beer cans, snack wrappers, and other waste littered the room. The paint on the walls was peeling, and covered in stains of an ambiguous origin. Above the couch the bannister for the stairs had broken away, no doubt the result of drunken horseplay.

Screwing her face up, Grace asked, “Did you guys really used to come out here to party?”

“Yeah,” Aaron answered her, “Best place to go get drunk, until you’re old enough to go to the bars anyway.”

“It’s a fucking mess,” Grace insisted.

Aaron pushed past her and flopped on the couch. “Now who’s stating the obvious?” he asked as he stretched out, “This is where teenagers come to hang out. They’re not exactly known for their housekeeping.”

“Dude,” Grace pointed out, “You’re dripping on the couch.”

With a groan, Aaron sat up. “What’s it matter anyway? It’s not like the old lighthouse keeper’s ghost is going to come and haunt us for messing up his couch.”

“One of us is going to have to sleep there, and I don’t want to have to sleep in a puddle. So get off the fucking couch,” Grace demanded.

“There isn’t a lighthouse keeper’s ghost, is there?” Cliff asked, “Because the last thing we need is more dead people showing up, but that can walk through walls.”

“No way, dude,” Aaron laughed, “But I’m going to be a ghost soon if I can’t get warm. How about we start a fire?”

Grace eyed the fireplace suspiciously, “I wonder when the last time they had the chimney swept was.”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe this time called the 1800’s?” Aaron shot back, “You know, back when chimney sweeping urchins were in vogue.”

“You still have to get your chimney swept, dumbass,” Grace glowered at Aaron.

“Yeah,” Cliff agreed, “They still do that.”

“What, really? What the hell for?” Aaron asked incredulously.

“So you don’t burn your fucking house down, numbskull,” Grace answered. “If you don’t get your chimney swept it’s a crazy fire hazard. Why the hell do you think they do it?”

“I don’t know,” Aaron was abashed, “I thought it was just an Oliver Twist thing. Like, English people are so snooty that even the insides of their chimneys have to be kept clean.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Grace moaned.

“The cold is restricting the blood flow to my brain,” Aaron explained, “Where are we on that fire, anyway?”

“I don’t think we can make a fire,” Cliff answered.

“What? Why not? There’s tonnes of firewood outside! Come on, man, I’m freezing here.” Aaron continued to complain.

“What I meant,” Cliff explained, “Is that we don’t have any lighters or matches. We literally can’t make fire.”

“Shit,” Aaron declared as he hung his head in defeat.

“Maybe there’s blankets somewhere around here,” Grace thought aloud as she looked around. “In the bedroom, I bet. Is that upstairs?”

“Oh, great idea,” Aaron perked up immediately and bounded up the stairs.

Cliff and Grace watched Aaron take the stairs two at a time. However, Aaron thought there were fewer steps than there actually were. He caught his foot on the step and fell flat on his face with a loud thud.

Trying not to laugh, Cliff called upstairs, “You okay, buddy?”

Before Aaron had a chance to answer, all three friends could hear a dog begin to bark. Aaron cautiously got to his feet and looked down the hall. It was too dark to see, but he remembered the door the bedroom being at the end of the hall. Something was scratching on the door, and the dog was frantically barking from within.

“Hey, I think there’s a dog trapped up here,” Aaron called downstairs, “I’m going to let it out.”

“Woah, hold up,” Grace called out as she hefted her rifle, “What if it’s an attack dog or something?”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Aaron laughed, “Nobody lives here anymore, why would they keep a guard dog here?”

Grace and Cliff hurried upstairs to stop him, but Aaron had already turned the doorknob. He pushed it open and was almost immediately set upon by the dog. It bowled him over and started licking his face

Laughing, Aaron rolled with the dog on the floor. “Who’s a good boy?” he asked.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Grace shined her light on the dog. “Holy shit,” she declared.

“Scruffy!” Cliff called out.

“Scruffy?” Aaron asked as he looked up the dog. Now that he could see, it was plain that this was Steve’s dog. “Holy shit, you magnificent bastard! How’d you get here?”

Grace shined her light into the bedroom. “I suppose we have her to thank for that,” she gulped.

Standing in the doorway was a girl they’d never met before. She was dirty and dishevelled, and looked like she’d been through hell to get here. Grace’s eyes were drawn to her hands, however. She was clutching a wood splitting axe, and was staring intently at the intruders.