Aftermath

can cut them off.”
    “What’s the point?” Bayliss said.
    “What?”
    “Why bother?”
    “Because they’ve got our supplies.”
    “Then we’ll get more.”
    “Are you fucking stupid? I thought he was the dumb one,” Jas said, pointing at Ainsworth, who stared back at him, doing all he could to stop his bottom lip from quivering. All he could think about was Lorna, and how empty and foolish he felt at having let her take advantage of him like that.
    But the worst part of all , he thought sadly, is that I’d let it happen again in a heartbeat. I’d give anything to be close to her like that again. All the pain and the grief I’ve had since from Jas was worth it for that one kiss …
    Melanie jogged over.
    “Can’t find any of them,” she said. “They’ve all cleared out. Looks like Kieran’s gone too.”
    “Bastard,” Jas yelled, kicking the ground with frustration. “That little shit has sold me out.”
    “But if they didn’t get out over the wall,” Bayliss said, “and we know they didn’t all get out in the truck, then they must still be here.”
    “Check the caravans again,” Jas ordered.
    “What for? We’ve checked them already.”
    “Just fucking do it!”
    They grudgingly headed over to the caravans and split up, happy to put some distance between themselves and Jas. Ainsworth checked the caravan he’d been guarding once more, staring at the bed where Lorna had been lying and wishing he could turn the clock back so that none of this had happened. And not just tonight, either. He wanted to go further back … back to when he’d first arrived here. Maybe he’d have chosen his friends differently if he had his time again.
    “Anything?” Jas said, standing in the doorway behind him.
    “Nothing,” he replied dejectedly, trying to get back out. Jas was blocking the door, and Ainsworth was relieved when he moved on to the next caravan. He sat down on the step, held his head in his hands, and listened as J yelled at the others when they also reported back that they’d found nothing.

 
     
    44
     
    Michael led the others deeper into the cavernous spaces underground. After several minutes of slow, shuffling movement, all of those corpses which still had a degree of mobility had been herded back in the direction from which the living had just come, back toward the gift shop and the interior of the castle, leaving just those which could no longer move.
    The progress of Michael and the rest of the small group was painfully slow, such was the level of decay which had suddenly begun to accumulate around them. The farther they traveled from the center of the castle, the fewer complete bodies they found. With each footstep Michael took, it seemed, so the condition of the dead around him was rapidly worsening. It was now like the mile or so of compacted decay he’d earlier had to walk through with Harry and Harte, although this was somehow worse because of the increasingly close confines and the complete absence of fresh air. Caron had vomited as a result of the inescapable stench. She’d seen more than her fair share of gore over the last few months, but this had proved too much for her. Howard and Kieran now helped her along between them, one on either arm, or one in front and one behind if the way forward became too restrictive. The air was filled with the fetid stink of the gases produced by the putrefaction of the dead. Just don’t anyone dare light a match , Michael thought. The whole fucking place could go up .
    “Dead end,” he announced as his outstretched hands made contact with another cold, rock-carved wall.
    “Maybe we should just turn back,” Howard suggested for about the hundredth time.
    “Bit late for that now,” Michael replied. “Besides, if Jackson got in this way, then we must be able to get out.”
    He looked around, his feet slipping in the decay. He felt disorientated. Problem was, everything looked the same down here, particularly with such limited light from so few torches remaining. Kieran, he noticed, had switched his off now, perhaps figuring he’d still have a chance if they hadn’t escaped by the time everyone else’s batteries died. Michael didn’t want to be stuck down here without any light. Actually, he didn’t want to be stuck down here at all. There had to be a way out.
    He shuffled back toward the others, scraping his feet along the floor to feel his way, moving inch by slow inch through the slurry. And then it occurred to him that