Nick put his hand up and increased his pace to a jog. Renee and Jan kept close behind him. “Hey, man, get away from there and stop acting crazy. The whole place is full of infected people.”
Shawcross shrugged. His eyes were droopy and tired. He looked like a mad man and spoke in a faraway, dreamy tone. “It is full of my guests and I would be grateful if you referred to them as such. I should go tend to them, make sure things are in order. Heaven knows what state the house will be in. It’s time to clean up.”
Shawcross turned around and headed up the few final steps to the house. He stood in front of the doors.
Nick ran as fast as he could, closing the distance, hoping to get there before… “Shawcross, just get back from there, please.”
But Shawcross did not turn around. “Do you know what I think, Nicholas?”
“No,” said Nick, skidding on his heels and stopping just feet away from the front doors to the house. He now walked slowly, his hand out in front of him. He did not want to make any sudden moves. “No, Shawcross, I don’t know what you think, but we can talk about it.”
Shawcross shook his head and smiled. He was no longer listening or even looking at them. He was talking to himself. “What I think, is that we are all fucked. And, if that’s the case, I think I’d like to be with my house. It’s where I belong. I’m the manager, you see. Ripley Hall needs its manager.”
Shawcross turned around, inserted his keys, and opened the doors.
“NO!” Nick shouted, sprinting forward to stop the man even though it was already too late.
The dead flooded out like pus from a wound.
They sprawled on top of Shawcross, pinning him to the ground beneath a pile of bodies three-deep. His flesh was mercilessly torn away by a dozen hungry mouths, but Nick did not hear the man scream. Shawcross remained silent as they tore him to pieces, but the look in his eyes was one of sheer terror. It looked like he was afraid of whatever came next.
Hell would be too good for you, Nick thought, before Jan grabbed his collar and shouted, “Run!”
Chapter Forty-One
“He’s dead,” Annaliese said to Michelle. “I’m sorry.”
Alan had bled out pretty quickly. Annaliese suspected that his celiac artery had been severed. Michelle was distraught.
“Help me get her up,” Annaliese said to Pauline. “We need to go help Nick. Who knows what Shawcross will try next.”
Pauline grabbed one of Michelle’s arms, while Annaliese grabbed the other. Eve and Cassie stood nearby.
“Just leave me with him,” Michelle begged.
“No, we’re going to look after you, Michelle.”
She and Pauline half-dragged, half-carried Michelle along as they headed away from the rollercoaster and back towards the restaurant. They could decide how to clean up the mess they were all in later.
If that’s even possible.
There were noises coming from somewhere in the park. The sounds were familiar.
“What is that?” Eve asked.
“I know what it is,” said Cassie. She sounded close to tears and was clutching her knife close to her chest like a talisman. “I know what it is.”
Two seconds later, Annaliese made sense of it, too. It was the moans of the undead.
“The infected are here,” Eve said, terror in her eyes.
“No,” said Cassie. “The infected scream. The dead moan.”
“Who gives a shit?” said Eve. “If they’re here then we’re screwed.”
Annaliese struggled to hold on to Michelle, who had fallen into a catatonic state of shock. “Not necessarily,” she said. “The dead are slow; we might be able to cope with them as long as there’s not too many.”
“We need to find Nick,” said Eve. “He might be in trouble.”
Annaliese nodded and reaffirmed her grip on Michelle. Pauline did the same on the other side. “Okay, let’s get a move on, then.”
They all headed on over to the restaurant, calling out for Nick and Jan along the way; but they found neither and continued onwards, hoping to find them somewhere in the park. The moans of the dead continued in the distance.