Clearing my throat I respond. ‘Aye, lad.’
‘You around the East office?’
I sit up straight, alert and ready.
‘About thirty minutes away. Why?’
‘Ru and his girl are here with me. You want to come meet us?’
I go still at that information.
‘His girl?’
Why has he never mentioned this? In fact, in all the time I have followed my leader, he has never once shown a slight interest in anyone else. It had lasted for so long that the other Skulls assumed that he wasn’t sexually attracted to people andwanted to be left alone. That’s the impression he gave off whenever any woman or man who wasn’t scared of him seemed to show any interest. If I’ve heard Vish right, though, then Ru has a secret he has been hiding from us.
‘Aye.’ Vish’s crackled voice confirms that I indeed did hear him right, and a sliver of jealousy runs through my body in response.
I clench and unclench my fist, embracing the pressure and resistance.
Although I’m a little gutted that he decided not to tell me about finding someone a small part of me can’t blame him. I’ve spent the last couple of months wallowing in my own self-pity. Absorbed by my own grief for a woman I knew for no more than an hour. That hour was the best hour of my life and one that will stay with me forever.
Now Ru has the opportunity to experience the happiness I had with my girl with his own and I am ecstatic for him.
Holding down the switch on the handheld radio, I speak into it.
‘I’m on my way.’
It doesn’t take me long to head through the abandoned buildings and into the unfinished office block we occasionally use when needed.
The air is crisper now that the sun has set behind the buildings, the white glow of the moon guiding me where I need to be. It’s hard to remember a time of street lights and busy neon signs.
I was an angry teenager when the outbreak happened, not one for hanging around the fancy shops in cities. My home was further afield, down the local woods with some mates. Now I rarely step foot in a woodland, not in the adventurous way I would when I was a daring teen, anyway.
Mask fully in place, I glance around the building's windows, lingering on a couple that have the glass broken. The curtains inside sway with the breeze.
Breaths slow and steady, I wait.
I watch.
My sixth sense has never failed me before, not when I was younger and not since. Something outside of the office block feels… off. But as I look around, searching for any signs of suspicious activity I find nothing.
I huff a breath from my nostrils, deciding to give it some time before I go back out and step through the revolving doors. The ground floor is empty, as to be expected. It would be a bad move to set up camp on a floor surrounded by head-to-toe glass windows, ones that can easily be seen through by any passing crazies who still dare to roam the city.
Taking the fire exit steps, I quickly climb to the second floor, rounding the corner to take in one of my best friends, Vish.
‘Hey man,’ calling out, I feel the wide grin plastered across my face as I take in the surroundings and head towards his perch on the floor.
‘You alright, man.’ Vish responds in a thick Glaswegian accent, making a move to get to his feet.
We embrace, slapping each other’s backs and he returns to his resting spot. His long limbs splay out across the floor as he stretches, a pop of a muscle accompanying his movement. The old fucker. All of this sleeping on the floor is eventually going to catch up to us — having luxury mattresses back at the stadium to sleep on probably isn’t helping either.
Next to him is an unlit stove and a couple of empty food cans. A few of them piled together compared to the rest.
Vish notices my gaze and lets out an audible sigh. His expression strained as he looks over the cans.
‘She was starving,’ he rakes a brown palm across his dark cropped hair, shaking his head. ‘They are upstairs, having well… you don’t need me to finish my sentence.’ He angles his head towards the audible moans and squeaking furniture from the floor above.
I chuckle, genuine amusement washing away my bad mood.
