Shawcross put a finger to his lips and shushed him. “I’m sure if we keep a low profile, we’ll be quite safe. We’re prepared to deal with the odd one that finds its way up here. We just have to make sure that we do not attract them in large groups. Being quiet is key.”
Annaliese looked further into the distance. The fires that had been burning in the nearby villages for weeks had finally died out. It somehow made things feel even more final. Like the candle of civilisation had finally blown out. It was a lonely thought.
“They must have wandered back from the towns,” Annaliese said.
“Probably,” Shawcross agreed. “There’s obviously nothing left to keep them there so they’ve dispersed. A depressing thought indeed.”
“They’re all dead,” Mike commented.
Annaliese turned to look at him. “What?”
“Look, they’re all slow and clumsy. None of the fast ones are with them. Where are they?”
Annaliese saw that he was right. “Perhaps the infection has killed them all. Now all that is left is the dead ones.”
“It certainly smells like it,” said Mike, wrinkling his nose. “So, if there are only the dead ones left, maybe, eventually, they will die-off, too?”
“Perhaps,” said Shawcross. “But we still need to be careful. The dead are slower than the infected, but they don’t give up. I would like to think that we can liberate Ripley Hall at some point, but I think it would be best that we continue to lay low for now. No unnecessary risks. No commotion.”
Annaliese nodded. “If we’re smart, we may just make it through this.”
Eve came running up from the direction of the amusement park. She was panting by the time she reached them.
Shawcross looked at the girl and ran a hand through his slick ginger hair. “Eve, sweetheart. Whatever is the matter?”
“The supplies,” she said, gasping. “I’ve checked half a dozen places and they’re all gone.”
“Gone?”
Annaliese exchanged a knowing glance with Mike.
“You must be mistaken,” Shawcross told Eve.
Eve shook her head. “We have no food.”
“Actually,” Annaliese said. “The reason Mike and I have just come from the zoo is that we’ve discovered supplies missing there, too. I think we might have a thief.”
Shawcross’s eyes narrowed and his lips went thin. “Get everyone together,” he ordered. Now!”
***
It took less than ten minutes to get everybody together; not including Renee and Nick who had been locked in the cellar for the last several days.
“We have one very serious problem here, people,” Shawcross said, standing in front of the basketball midway game that was now being used to store firewood for the approaching months of winter.
The group stared at one another blankly, some of them wondering what was going on; some of them, like Eve and Mike, already knowing.
“There is a thief amongst us,” Shawcross almost shouted the word thief. “A dirty scoundrel.”
The group were silent, concerned.
“Who is it?” Shawcross demanded.
More silence.
“Own up now, or so help me God.”
“Well, don’t look at me,” said Alan.
Michelle folded her arms. “Me, either.”
“Well, somebody is responsible.”
“Maybe it’s the monkey,” Cassie said.
Shawcross looked at the girl and cocked his head. “What?”
“The monkey,” she repeated. “Maybe it’s been raiding our supplies at night, trying to survive.”
“Makes sense,” Jan said, rubbing at his beard.
Annaliese objected. “Lily isn’t taking our supplies.”
“How can you be so sure?” Shawcross asked.
“Well, firstly because an orang-utan would have no need for the weapons and medicines that we stashed along with the food and blankets. She could potentially take things she could eat, but I don’t see her taking the lengths of pipe and rope we put in the bins. But that’s not the main reason I know it’s not her.”
Shawcross raised an eyebrow.
“I know, because I have been leaving food out for her at night and by morning it’s all been gone. She’s living somewhere in the woods nearby.”