The Night Shift - Chapter Five

Marcus

Marcus could feel the sweat on his brow beneath his bulky black helmet. This wasn't new, Marcus sometimes got anxious at moments of high stress. Things like busy nights at work or multiple upcoming university assignments could have this effect. Tonight, however, was a whole other kind of stress. Tonight Marcus was trying to cope with the snarling demonic creatures that were wandering onto the road to try and grab at him.

A few minutes ago Marcus had been waving his manager Jasmine goodbye as he packed his gear away into his moped. Not long after that he'd put his helmet on and headed across town towards Riccarton, where his flat was located. He lived close to the mall there which was annoying during school days but after a night of work it was a welcome comfort.

However as he'd begun drawing nearer the mall he had noticed figures on the sidewalk and even the road limping about. Every single one had bared its teeth as he passed and turned to lunge at him; their bodies appeared human at first but they were diseased and monstrous. So far his little 50cc moped had managed to stay ahead of them but the roads were starting to get bottlenecked by these things. As Marcus had neared the mall their numbers had increased significantly to the point that he had to divert his route down back streets to get back on target.

As he turned back onto Riccarton road and passed three more creatures Marcus saw a car flash past in the opposite direction. The man inside seemed barely older than Marcus and was clearly hysterical, his eyes not fixed on the road but darting about as he screamed inside his vehicle. Caught in the undercarriage of the car was a creature, a lot of its flesh peeled away by the force of the car but still it writhed and hissed. Marcus kept his gaze on the car for a little longer until he heard an audible bang and saw the car crash into a fence. Already creatures limped towards the sound and Marcus knew there was nothing that could be done.

A sudden vibration caused Marcus to swerve out of surprise; his cellphone was in the pocket of his puffer jacket and he must have just gotten a message. Cautiously, keeping his gaze fixed on the road, he fished out the phone and glanced at what the message had to say. It was from Sasha, the manager of the cinema he worked at as well as a close family friend. Sasha's text read, 'Everyone meet at Northlands Mall. It's a government meeting point for evacuation. Bring family.' Clearly a chain message meant for everyone at work. Maybe he should turn back while he still could, although Northlands was far away and Riccarton mall was right before him. He could probably just evacuate there and meet up with Sasha at a camp or something later on.

He was brought to a complete stop as the skyline ruptured before his eyes. A blast of heat and noise swept over him as the vast mass of Riccarton Mall exploded. A fireball roared into the air and smaller explosions sounded as wood and metal cracked and crunched from the intense heat, crumbling down into the carcass of the mall. Smoke now filled the air in the distance, engulfing the building in twisting grey and black. A large portion of the structure disappeared amongst the blaze in an instant.

"Fuck me," Marcus whispered under his breath.

Without a second of hesitation Marcus turned his moped around in a complete arc and headed back in the direction of Northlands. He had no idea if that was standing either but he knew how much fuel he had in his tank and figured he could take a few trips to known evac points if he had to. He hoped Northlands was safe though. He thought of his friends and of Sasha who would all be heading there now. Unless they’re all dead, he reminded himself.

Another vibration snapped Marcus out of his negative thoughts and back into the present. Fishing in his jacket pocket again he pulled out his phone; it was Sasha calling him. Marcus let out a short laugh despite himself- she was still alive! Now he knew, he knew there was hope.

Looking up from his phone brought a pale hand into perspective inches from his face. He swerved violently to the side, narrowly avoiding the clawing hand, then his moped tipped and swung out from underneath him. Marcus hit the ground and rolled, carried by the momentum, finally coming to a stop just short of the curb. He tried to focus on the sights around him but his head was heavy and he closed his eyes for a second.

When he opened them again Marcus could make out the branches of a tree rustling before the night sky through his cracked visor. With a grunt of pain he slowly sat up and eased his helmet off, exposing his black ‘emo-fringed’ hair. He throws the helmet in the direction of the creature that had lunged at him and was now advancing. The creature took the full force of the helmet and was knocked to the ground, disoriented. Marcus looked around but couldn’t see his moped.

He ran his hands down his legs, wincing as he reached the spot on his left leg where skin had been torn off in the crash. With a shaky breath Marcus forced himself to his feet and almost fell straight back down. He coughed a couple of times, tentatively touching the area near his wound. It stung a lot but he could tell it wasn't serious. He felt like he was thinking clearly but then, if he was concussed, there was no real way he could judge his current situation perfectly.

Scanning the ground about him everything seemed to pitch towards him, as if he were falling or the ground rushing to meet him. The ringing in his ears only made the sound of nearby creatures worse and louder, as if they were bearing down on him. He tried to focus but the nearest one was still trying to get up after being downed by his helmet. Finally Marcus saw his phone lying a few feet away, shattered into so many pieces. No way was he going to be able to get in touch with Sasha now.

He realised that he needed to get moving or he would be swarmed eventually as that driver had back on Riccarton road. He moved towards where his moped would have spun but could see now that it had slid under the chassis of a parked car; it would take far too much effort to get it out and the creatures would be well and truly upon him by then. But what could he do? Northlands was a long journey to make on foot, even if it was possible that he could move fairly quietly and through back roads.

A sudden crack made him look long up the road to see a group of four guys laughing as they bludgeoned a creature with pool cues. They were really beating the thing to death despite its struggles. Some of them were carrying beer bottles and were visibly fairly intoxicated and aggressive. However they were strong, maybe rugby players or construction workers. It didn't really matter, they presented an opportunity for safe passage to Northlands. Marcus was still hesitant though, he didn't know these guys and they did seem wildly aggressive.

A snarl from the creature made him turn back to stare at it, only to see it slowly jerk to its feet. He turned away to run and saw someone squinting from behind the curtains of an old rickety house. As they realised Marcus was staring at them, they moved their head back inside as quickly as they could. Marcus assessed the house; it looked very brittle but would withhold long enough for Marcus to catch his breath. It could be a welcome reprieve but he had no idea if the person inside was hostile or not.

But the creature was on its feet now and Marcus knew it'd be a waste of time to hide in a place that would fall in a few minutes flat. Nor did he think that making his own way alone was a particularly safe move, all it would take was something coming out of a shadow and grabbing him for it to be all over. No, Marcus thought, much safer to try my luck with the pissheads.

Marcus jogged over to the group of guys in the distance, one of whom had just unzipped his fly and was pissing on the body of the creature they'd just mutilated. The guy pissing wore a red singlet with cargo shorts and a red rugby cap on top of his shaved head. He was slightly overweight and unshaven and he smelled as bad as he looked.

A man who wore a duffel vest over a corduroy short sleeved shirt noticed Marcus approaching first. The guy was of a strong build but Marcus could see signs where the weekly beers were starting to show. The man had thick mutton chops the same colour as Marcus’. Mutton chops started gesticulating and pointing at Marcus with his pool cue.

"Fresh meat boys! We got ourselves another!" Mutton Chops was practically frothing with delight.

Marcus stopped running and halted in his tracks as Mutton Chops levelled the pool cue in his direction. The two didn't break eye contact for what seemed like forever, the malice in that man's eyes made Marcus shudder.

"Hold up Craig," One of the men said, stepping forward calmly. "That’s no biter, biters don't run like this fucker just did."

The man speaking wore a casual dress shirt with nice jeans and a watch that looked new. He was clean shaven and had long hair that he kept pushed back with product quite clearly. He stepped forward with a casual ease that immediately set him apart from the rest of his crew, he had no trace of fear nor bloodlust. The way he'd called off Craig like a dog meant that Marcus immediately placed him as the leader of this ragtag band of guys.

"Tom bring him over here for me," the leader called over his shoulder.

A large muscular dark skinned man broke away from the group, hefting his pool cue on his shoulder and sizing Marcus up. Tom was easily the biggest of the group, but he seemed reserved and quiet. His shaved head contrasted his thick beard that covered most of his face. He grinned at Marcus, his yellow teeth failing to fill Marcus with the confidence of finding a friend. Suddenly Tom lunged forward, grabbed Marcus by the back of the neck and pulled him towards the leader.

"Hey, hey!" Marcus yelled in protest. "Fuck off man, I didn't do a damn thing!"

Tom threw Marcus at the leader's feet, and then began patting down Marcus's pockets until the leader waved him away. The leader returned Marcus's gaze for a long time before grinning and running the edge of his pool cue along Marcus's chin.

"Hi there," the leader exclaimed with a grin. "Sorry about the rough handling, some crazy motherfuckers out there tonight. Some bitch tried to gouge Davie's eyes out earlier; isn't that right Davie?"

"Craziest fucking bitch I ever saw man," The pissing man returned, giving a final shake and zipping up his fly.

"Damn straight," The leader retorted, shaking his head in disgust. "So what about it? You gonna gouge my eyes man?"

"Only if you keep up with the fucking sob story," Marcus replied coolly.

The group immediately changed, pool cues were clenched and the guys stepped forward to defend their leader's pride. However he shooed them away, pointing at the creature that had caused Marcus to crash. It was now closing in on the group and behind it more were appearing out of the shadows.

"Craig put that fucker down," the leader ordered.

Craig nodded and hefted his pool cue like a spear. He crept towards the creature circling it to get its full attention. He even started whistling to antagonise it enough that it would lunge forward for an attack. Fully anticipating the sudden movement, Craig plunged his pool cue forward and stabbed the creature through the eye with enough force to make the beast shudder and collapse forward. Craig pulled out his pool cue and gave the body a merciless kick before walking back to the group.

"That’s how you do it" the leader smirked, "It's gotta be clean through, something like you fuck up their brain and that's it. They're back to being dead."

"How do you know all this?" Marcus asked, staring at the prone creature's body.

The leader opened his mouth to reply and then stopped, staring off to the side, lost completely in thought. Finally he shook his head and grinned, offering Marcus a hand up. Marcus took the outstretched hand and stepped back up.

"The name's Jackson," the leader said, an empty smile flashing across his face. "What are you out here for...?"

"Marcus, my name's Marcus."

"Well Marcus? What's the big plan?" Jackson threw his arms back, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm going to Northlands-"

"Bad move," Davie sniggered.

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked, concern creeping into his voice.

"None of them so called 'evac points' is safe," Davie chastised. "They're just one big feeding ground for the biters. Even that cordon in the city gonna get bit eventually."

"But Sasha told me to get to Northlands," Marcus said, desperate now, "She said they were evacuating!"

"Who the fuck is Sasha?" Jackson retorted.

"My manager. We work at the cinema in Northlands, I was going to meet her there and then we could evacuate."

"You work at the cinema?" Jackson frowned.

"Yeah so?"

Jackson exchanged a glance with his crew before grinning at Marcus. There was something in the way he looked at Marcus now, as if he'd found a hundred dollar bill. Just looking at Jackson Marcus knew he'd fucked up.

"Marcus...me and the boys were thinking we might give you a hand after all. Seems to me that it's a dangerous night, it ain't safe to go alone brother."

But not a single word was genuine, Marcus knew that. He could tell from the way they were all staring at him now, with that same look. There was a look of hunger in their eyes, an unstoppable desire to consume and take as they pleased. Marcus fearfully realised that he might very well be leading death by the hand to his friends.

Written by Ciaran Findlay

Edited by Nicole Campbell and Blair Findlay