Chapter Twenty-Two
The lobby is silent. I shut the door to the flat behind me, lock it and cautiously look around. I've told Liz to make a safe room like they said on TV and then to shut herself and the kids in it. The living room is the obvious place. She's closed the curtains and they've turned the TV down low. From outside it looks like no-one's in.
I open the front door and cringe as the usual loud creaking sound echoes around the insides of the empty building.
'Is anyone there?' a voice hisses from the darkness upstairs. I freeze and try not to panic. What do I do? I want to keep moving and pretend I didn't hear anything but I can't. My family is in this building and I can't leave them knowing that someone else is in here with them. It could be anyone. They could be waiting for me to leave so they can get to Lizzie and the kids. But why would they have shouted out like that? I let the door go and it creaks again as it swings shut. I take a few slow steps back into the shadows and, for a second, I think about going back into the flat. I know that's not going to achieve anything. I have to go out and get Harry at some point.
'Who's there?' I hiss back, cursing myself for my stupidity. I'm acting like a character in a bad horror movie. You're supposed to run away from the monster, I tell myself, not move towards it.
'Up here,' the voice answers. I look up towards the top of the staircase and the first floor landing. There's a face staring back at me from between the metal struts of the banister. It's one of the men from the flat on the top floor. I don't know whether it's Gary or Chris. I start to cautiously climb the stairs. I'm almost on the landing when the steps beneath my feet become tacky. The floor's covered in sticky puddles of blood. The man from the flat is lying on the ground in front of me, clutching his chest. He grunts and rolls over onto his back. His jeans and T-shirt are soaked through with blood. He turns his head to one side and manages to acknowledge me. He relaxes, relieved that someone's finally with him I suppose. He's in a real mess and I don't know where to start. Is there anything I can do for him or am I too late?
'Thanks, mate,' he gasps, propping himself up onto his elbows. 'I've been stuck here for hours. I heard someone come in a while back and I was trying to get...' He stops speaking and collapses and lies flat on his back again. The effort is too much. His voice gurgles and rasps. There must be blood in his throat. What am I supposed to do? Christ, I haven't got a clue how to try and help him.
'Do you want me to try and get you back upstairs?' I ask uselessly. He shakes his head and swallows to clear his throat.
'No point,' he groans as he tries to prop himself up again. I put my hand on his shoulder to keep him still. 'I want a drink,' he says. 'Can you go up to the flat and get me a beer?'
His eyes flutter for a second and I wonder if he's about to go. I get up quickly and climb the stairs to the top floor flat he shares with the other man. I follow a snail trail of dry blood along the hallway and into the living room of the flat which is otherwise surprisingly clean and well-kept. Don't know why I expected anything else really. There's an upturned table in the middle of the room and next to it a smashed lamp. There's a video camera on a tripod next to a computer and a wide-screen TV. Looks like they enjoyed filming themselves here. There's an expensive looking leather sofa and... and I realise that I'm standing here checking out the flat while one of its occupants lies dying at the bottom of the stairs. Forcing myself to move I go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of beer from the well-stocked fridge. I open it and run back down to the man on the first floor landing.
'Here you go,' I say as I hold the bottle up to his mouth. I'm not sure how much he manages to swallow. Most of it seems to run down his chin. When I move the bottle away I see that its neck is covered in blood from his lips. What am I supposed to do now? I try to move him but it's no good. He moans with pain whenever I touch him. This poor bastard is dying as I'm watching and there's absolutely nothing I can do to help him. There's no point asking who did this to him or if there's anyone I can try and contact - the sudden exit of his lover / friend / business partner early this morning was a clear enough admission of guilt. I feel terrible as I stand next to him, trying to think of an excuse to leave as he lies dying at my feet. But what else can I do?
'I'll go and get help,' I say quietly, crouching down closer to him again, taking care not to get any of his blood on me. 'I'll go and find someone who'll be able to help you.'
He licks his blood-stained lips, swallows and shakes his head.
'Too late now,' he wheezes. Every move this poor sod makes is taking masses of effort and causing him huge amounts of pain. I wish he'd just shut up and lie still but he won't. He has something more to say. Exhausted, he turns his head towards me again and stares straight into my face.
'Just keep still and...' I start to say.
'I tried to get him,' he says breathlessly. 'F*cker had a knife on him just in case. He got me first.'
'What?'
'I tried to get him but he was ready for me...'
'What are you saying? Did he attack you? Was he a Hater?'
He shakes his head.
'You see everything so clearly when it happens to you. I had to kill him. It was him or me. I had to kill him before...'
I stand up and start to move away. Jesus Christ, is this the Hater? He's the one who started the trouble we heard last night. He's the one who lost control. Christ, I'm stood here wasting my time on a f*cking Hater.
He licks his bloody lips again and swallows once more.
'It's them mate,' he mumbles, 'not us. They're the ones who hate. Get yourself ready...'
I don't know what the hell he's talking about now and I don't want to hear any more. I need to get away from this sick piece of filth. I turn my back on him and run downstairs, safe in the knowledge that there's no way he'll be able to reach my family in the condition he's in. I think about finishing him off but that would make me as bad as them and I doubt whether I'd even be able to do it. I glance back and take one last look at the scum on the landing. He hasn't got long left. He'll be dead by the time I get back and it won't be a moment too soon.
I run out to the car and start the engine.