After The Zombies | Novel | Not Human

  Not Human

  Amanda Steel

  Copyright © 2019 Amanda Steel

  Chapter One

  Grace lay on the basement floor, attempting to rein in her breathing so that Luke would believe she was asleep, when he finished checking everything was locked for the night. His security obsession seemed like overkill since they might just be in the most secure place in Wolverhampton, possibly even in the whole of the UK — with the exception of any secure government facilities. There was no need for him to check the locks. Neither of them ventured outside at all, so the locks on the reinforced metals doors and shuttered windows remained intact. Finally, he locked the basement door, as if that would keep out anything that could break through metal, from being able to reach the basement. Luke had become the king of overkill and paranoia, ever since the two of them locked themselves away in the house — which had belonged to someone Grace knew from her time living on the streets. He wasn’t the most law-abiding citizen, hence his paranoia leading to the extra security measures on his house. She killed him three months earlier; when she and Luke arrived looking for a safe place.

  It hadn't been him. That's how Grace needed to think, to help her deal with everything she had done to survive. Grace was getting claustrophobic, even during the day when she and Luke spent time upstairs in the rest of the house.

  'Grace,' Luke whispered.

  Grace's eyes remained shut, but Luke whispered her name again, knowing she was awake from the sound of her breathing.

  'What?' Grace snapped.

  'I just miss you,' he responded wistfully, before gathering up his sleeping bag from the corner and taking it to the other side of the basement.

  'I miss you too,' Grace whispered.

  'Did you say something?' Luke asked.

  Grace shook her head, despite knowing Luke wouldn't see her in the dark from where he stood.

  'Luke,' Grace said.

  'Yes,' he replied hesitantly. The silence serving as a reminder of all the previous silences between them, which always led to or followed an argument. He wasn't even sure why they were arguing most of the time. He used to have a shared understanding with Grace, but lately he couldn't work her out at all.

  'Why?'

  'Why what, Gracie? Luke stepped towards her, but stopped in the middle of the basement, almost toppling over as his body seemed insistent on trying to go in two directions at once.

  'When Mark was dying, you knew, right? But you didn't say anything.'

  Luke suddenly understood the reason for Grace keeping her distance; for the arguments, the cold shoulder and the pained expression she wore whenever she thought he wasn't looking.

  'You want me to tell you why I didn't say anything?'

  'We could have gotten him to a hospital; we could have saved him,' her voice began to shake.

  'Gracie, sweetheart,' Luke said, wanting to go to her and take her in his arms, but afraid of her rejecting him again.

  'I would have chosen you. Mark didn't need to die,' she told him,

  'You think...I can't believe you...' Luke struggled to get the words out.

  'Then why?' Grace asked. Her voice broke.

  Luke could tell by the quiet sniffles and the change in her breathing that she was crying. He dropped the sleeping bag and rushed to her side, wrapping his arms around her. She didn't push him away, but she sat with her arms against her chest — creating a barrier between their bodies.

  'Gracie, I do love you, but I didn't let Mark die because of that.'

  'Then why?' Grace pleaded, wanting to understand so that she could stop feeling so distant from Luke.

  'It was too dangerous. Mark knew that too. Neither of us needed to read minds to know that we both wanted to protect you.'

  'Oh God, it really is my fault.' Grace wept as she freed her hands, holding tightly onto Luke's arms, as if afraid her confession would make him pull away.

  'No Gracie, it wasn't your fault either. They're the ones to blame. The people who made those things, to control them or whatever other reasons they had,' Luke stated, referring to the government experiments gone wrong.

  'I'm sorry I've been a bitch to you all this time,' Grace announced.

  Luke kissed the top of her forehead while gently smoothing out her hair.

  'It’s okay, sweetheart. We should have talked things through when we first got here.'

  Grace and Luke looked at each other. Even in the dark, Luke could make out the pain etched across Grace's face. He didn't know what was worse, being distant from her with no idea what she was thinking or feeling, or knowing that she was hurting and he could do nothing about it.

  'Can you stay here with me and hold me?' Grace requested. 'I just need to be close to you.'

  'Of course, whatever you need,' Luke promised. He thought about going back for his sleeping bag, but the other side of the basement suddenly seemed so far away. He unzipped Grace's sleeping bag and pulled it over the both of them, then moved closer to her, so that their bodies could feed off each other's warmth.

  'Are you warm enough? I could get my sleeping bag too,' he offered, not really wanting to leave her.

  'I'm okay,' Grace mumbled, resting her head on Luke's chest.

  Luke closed his eyes. He was drifting off when Grace said his name as a question.

  'Yes,' he said, sleepily.

  'What do you imagine it’s like out there now?'

  'I don't know,' he responded.

  During the three months they both spent locked away in the house, there had been a few occasions when they had heard what could have been either humans or the infected making attempts to get inside, but nothing more. The Internet, radio and television were all still out, so it seemed obvious things weren't back to normal.

  Grace let out a small sigh, before asking, 'how much food do we have left?'

  'There will be enough, or we’ll come up with something,' Luke replied, knowing they only had a few weeks’ worth of food at the most and very little water, from the bath and jugs they filled on their first day in the house.

  'It’s okay,' Grace insisted. 'You can tell me how bad it really is. We're not going to be able to wait it out in here, are we?'

  'Probably not,' Luke admitted. He hated lying to her, but telling the truth didn't feel any better either. 'I'll look after you though,' he promised.

  Grace fell silent before she eventually drifted off to sleep. She was in the middle of a nightmare, in which she was watching the infected tear Luke to pieces. She stood watching, unable to move to help him. His eyes fixated on her with a look of betrayal etched across his face. Grace knew she would be next, then she felt someone shaking her awake.

  'Luke?'

  'Ssh,' Luke wrapped his arm around Grace's waist as he whispered, 'I heard a noise.'

  'What kind of noise?'

  'Shouting and a kind of rumbling, like tanks, maybe.'

  'Shit.' Grace pulled away from Luke and was on her feet, fumbling for the torch. She switched it on, then frantically changed into her clothes.

  'Grace, they might not come here.' Even as the words left Luke's mouth, he knew how weak they sounded. He got to his feet and changed out of his pyjamas, back into his clothes. He no longer cared about being momentarily naked in front of Grace. This wasn't the time for either of them to be self-conscious.

  An explosion sounded from above them. The basement seemed to shake.

  They're trying to blow us up?' Grace questioned, grabbing her escape bag which contained a few bottles of water, some food and a change of clothing. Luke grabbed his own bag, then took Grace's hand leading her to the basement door and up the stairs towards the back garden.

  They both ran. Grace only looked b
ack for a moment, just in time to see most of the house above the basement crumbling. Whoever it was had only targeted the house they had been in. They probably knew who she was. She knew it wasn't the time to point this out to Luke as she continued to run with him — away from the sounds of more explosions and men, most likely soldiers. They were calling out to each other.

  Grace felt that she couldn't run anymore, but Luke kept a tight hold on her arm and all she could do was try to keep up with him. They eventually made it to a secluded woodland area, then Luke stopped. Grace slumped down against a tree, panting and realising how little exercise she'd had in the previous months.

  'I'm sorry, Grace. We can't stay here. Ten minutes, then we have to keep moving.'

  She sensed the seriousness of the situation, looked up at him, biting her lip as she tried to ignore the burning sensation in her thighs and wished she had spent more time on keeping up her fitness levels while she had the chance.

  'Okay, make it five minutes, just in case.'

  'Are you sure?'

  'Yeah, we shouldn't stay here too long. We'll find a place, somewhere far away.'

  When the five-minute break finished, Luke helped Grace to her feet. They began to run at a steady pace.

  After more than six miles of running through uneven woodlands and cobbled side roads, Grace wondered how she could keep going — but knew she had no choice.

  'Are you okay' Luke asked, noticing how unsteady on her feet Grace appeared to be and realising she might drop at any second.

  'Fine,' was all she could manage as a response.

  Luke led Grace onto a main road. She began to protest, knowing they should stick to more secluded areas.

  'Trust me,' Luke began.

  'That sentence had better not finish with, I'm a doctor,' Grace managed to say between her bouts of heavy breathing.

  Luke managed a small smile in her direction. 'There,' he pointed to a green car in the distance.

  Grace didn't dare to hope that it would be in working order. After what felt like forever, they reached the car. Grace stumbled into the front passenger seat, as her legs gave up on her. Luke sat in the driver's seat, repeatedly trying to start the car.

  'Fuck,' he shouted.

  'Yeah, that sums it up, Grace replied. The tone of her voice suggested she was referring to more than just the car refusing to start.

  Luke looked at her, then followed her gaze to the crowd staggering towards them.

  'Infected?' He already knew the answer. They were easy to recognise, even at that distance. Their drunken movements gave them away.

  'I guess it's too much to hope that they all just came from a booze up at a nice little country pub,' Grace commented, wishing that was the case

  'You can't run anymore,' Luke insisted, while continuing his attempts to start the car.

  'I'm not so keen on dying either. I still have a few more miles in my legs,' Grace insisted. She got out of the car and fell onto the gravel.

  'You were saying,' Luke couldn't resist commenting.

  'Not really the time,' Grace said. 'Go, I'll only slow you down. Maybe I'll even kill a few before they tear me apart like I'm a piece of tear and share garlic bread.'

  'What? No, I won't leave you.' Luke grabbed at Grace, forcing her to her feet and leading her towards the boot. He ushered her inside, then climbed in after her, shutting them both in the boot.

  'Now what?' Grace asked, knowing they couldn't spend the rest of their lives shut up inside the car.

  'I don't know,' Luke admitted. 'I didn't plan that far ahead, but I couldn't leave you. I never will.'

  'So now we're going to die together, how romantic,' Grace commented not meaning to sound so harsh, but feeling guilty that Luke would risk throwing his life away for her.

  'It beats dying alone,' he whispered.

  Chapter Two

  Grace and Luke had no notion of how long they were hiding in the boot before they heard voices.

  'Soldiers?' Grace asked in a low voice.

  'Doesn't sound like it,' Luke whispered back.

  'What then? The infected can't talk.' Then Grace remembered Yasmin and Gregg — realising anything might have happened while she and Luke were locked away from the rest of the world for three months. Maybe they could even have entire conversations and pass for human now. The thought unsettled her as the voices grew closer.

  A banging sound against the boot made Grace jolt. She smacked her head into Luke's chest. The boot opened gradually.

  'Are you two going to stay in there all day?' The voice was male.

  Grace looked up to see a tall man with short brown hair. He looked like he worked out a lot, but Grace doubted gyms were even a thing anymore.

  'Well?' A brunette stepped forward. She wore denim hot pants and a figure-hugging top, which only covered part of her skinny body.

  Grace wondered if supermodels were a thing anymore. The idea of this Barbie doll wannabe modelling clothes to a horde of the infected, made her snigger involuntarily.

  'What's so funny?' It was clear that Barbie had an attitude problem.

  'Back off and let them get out,' a second man said.

  He shared some facial features with the first guy, but was a smaller version of him. Almost like the before and after versions in an advertisement for a protein shake, Grace noted and sniggered again.

  'What is wrong with you?' Luke questioned.

  'Sorry, just nerves I guess,' she whispered back.

  Luke climbed out of the boot, then offered his hand to Grace. Once they were out he tugged at her arm, silently urging her behind him.

  'We're not going to hurt you,' the shorter guy said.

  'For all we know you could be infected,' Luke accused, his eyes examining each of them for any signs they weren't completely human.

  'What? How can we talk if we're infected?' Muscles asked.

  We've seen infected who can talk. It's a possibility,' Grace reasoned.

  'Not like proper sentences and all that,' Barbie spoke up.

  Grace and Luke exchanged glances before Grace laughed again. Luke only smiled slightly, understanding the joke, but knowing it wasn't the right time to be laughing at the people they had just met.

  'Giggles,' the smaller man began, while looking at Grace, 'you and your boyfriend need to strip right now.'

  Grace's laughter stopped abruptly and Muscles pulled out a gun — aiming it in her direction.

  'Shit,' Luke muttered wishing he had his own gun to hand, but knowing any sudden movements to retrieve it from his bag would get himself and Grace shot.

  'Are you at least going to buy me dinner first?' Grace made an attempt at lightening the situation. It was either that or start giggling inappropriately again. She reasoned with herself, she had been shut away from the rest of whatever the world had become — meeting new people was proving to be more than she was used to. On top of that, they were asking her to remove her clothes. Luke stepped in front of her.

  'It's okay, Grace,' he whispered, as he began to remove his clothing. Grace slowly did the same, with Luke's body partially blocking the three strangers’ view of her naked body.

  'You. Move out of the way,' Muscles ordered.

  'Why? So you can have a good gawp at her, is that how you get your kicks?' Luke accused.

  'Hardly,' Barbie answered on his behalf. 'We want to make sure you're not going to lead them to us.'

  'Lead who to you?' Grace asked, stepping in front of Luke, completely naked as Muscles waved his gun in Luke's Direction.

  'The guys in the army costumes. I doubt they're really the army, not anymore, but they seem intent on either killing everyone or turning them into test subjects,' Muscles explained.

  'Can we at least know your names?' Luke asked, hoping this would distract Muscles and his friends long enough not to kill him and Grace.

  The smaller man seemed to consider Luke's request, before nodding.

  'I'm Alan,' the bigger guy told them, 'this is my brother Ethan and our girl Do
nna.'

  Grace wondered what he meant by their girl, but despite her recent lack of people skills, she knew enough not to question what it meant for Donna to be Ethan and Alan's girl.

  'I'm Grace, and this is Luke. He might be useful to you. He's a doctor and I'm immune.' She hoped her words would be enough to deter them from killing her and Luke.

  'Immune from what?' Donna asked, while standing in front of Grace and examining every part of her body.

  'Not immune to the embarrassment of someone I don't know looking into my every nook and cranny,' she said, sniggering slightly at her own joke. Maybe the zombie invasion, before getting tricked into thinking she was insane, followed by more zombies had sent her crazy for real, Grace contemplated to herself.

  'Believe me when I say, I don't want to be looking at your nooks and crannies any more than you want me to look at them, but we don't want a repeat of last time.'

  'What happened last time?' Grace asked, noticing Alan and Ethan examining Luke, with looks of concentration etched across their faces.

  'You answer my question first,' Donna insisted. 'Immune to what?'

  'Zombie bites. I don't turn, and as long as they don't tear me to pieces, I won't die from a bite either. Having my blood in your system also lets me communicate with you telepathically. We found that handy as you can imagine, even though it only works one way,' Grace babbled, hoping this information would make them useful and worth keeping alive.

  ‘Relax, we're not planning on killing you,' Ethan called over to her. 'You don't need to make up these insane stories. We need people, there were ten of us and now there's only us three. Safety in numbers. If we can make sure you're not being tracked, you can join us.'

  Grace looked over at Luke. He stared at her as if silently warning her not to say anything else or argue with Ethan about joining them. Grace wondered if she and Luke had a choice. Safety in numbers did make sense though. With the infected, the government and the army, or whoever they were — all trying to kill or infect them — a little back up would benefit her and Luke.

  'How are we being tracked?' Luke asked.

  'You're not,' Ethan announced, picking up Luke's clothes and handing them to him.