Page 4

It was the rain that saved me. Even as I sprinted for the station, the thing behind me came running hard, too, and faster than I was running. I felt its fingers brush my hair, and ducked forward desperately, knowing that in one more second it would be on me. But the pavement was slick with water, and it must have slipped. I heard it falling, and a snap of breaking bone. I did not pause to see what happened to it; I leaned into the wall of rain and ran.

I still don’t know what had made me imagine that the railway station might be a refuge or a way out. A lot of people evidently had made the same decision, and they were wandering about as I ran into the hall, wet through and breathless. None of them seemed to be aware of what was going on around them, just drifting aimlessly. I ran towards the nearest of them, a heavily muscled bald man with a goatee, and was about to gasp out an entreaty for help when he turned his face towards me. His eyes were blank, devoid of all expression, and blood was slowly trickling down the corner of his mouth. Somehow, he seemed not to have noticed me – none of them had apparently noticed me. Perhaps it was the gloom in the hall; the electricity was out. I jumped behind a pillar and watched as one of them crawled past me towards the ticket booths, the stumps of his legs oozing blood so that he left a trail behind him, like a snail’s.

Looking around desperately, I saw a door with a red cross in a circle on it. It was a desperate chance but I had no other. I flung myself at the door, grasping at it with my wet fingers. Magically, it wasn’t locked – I’d almost taken it for granted that it would be – and I almost fell backwards into the gloom.

It was only after finding and lighting this candle that I could see where I was and then I discovered that I was in this dispensary. It’s small, little more than a table, chairs, some small cupboards, mostly empty, and a sink in the corner. I checked to make sure I was alone – I’m rapidly learning to check that I’m alone at all times – and then decided to take off my wet clothes to squeeze them out and dry them as best I could. It was when I removed my jeans that I discovered that I was sore in my right calf, and there it was – just above and to the right of the Achilles tendon – that I found a shallow wound. It was red and lacerated, but not bleeding, and not very large; about two centimetres long and half a centimetre wide. Nothing, really. I don’t even know what made it. It might simply have been contact with the ground or the car fender when the thing jumped me.

But, still, one can’t be too careful, which is why I’ve washed it, and my legs and feet, with the soap and water. Gritting my teeth against the stinging pain, I’ve scrubbed the wound with a soft brush as well, and sprinkled an antiseptic powder over it. I’ve thought about bandaging it but a bandage will just slow me down if I have to move fast, so I’ll leave it unbandaged. It’s still covered by the denims, after all. I’ve looked for an ampoule of tetanus vaccine, too, but can’t find any.

The candle won’t last much longer; it wasn’t much more than a stub to start with. I’ve looked all over this little room but found no other. I don’t know if the electricity will be back, but I doubt it. This...thing, whatever it is that’s happening, it’s big – big – and I think I may be one of the few hereabouts still unaffected.

Unaffected – what have I just written? Of course I’m affected. Crouching hiding in this room, with all my worldly possessions comprising the clothes I’m wearing and this diary and pen, how can I say I’m not affected? But I know I’m not affected, not really. I’m not like them. I won’t be like them!

Get a grip, girl, don’t let your mind wander.

I can’t stay here forever. I can’t even stay here much longer. If nothing else, I have to find something to eat and drink, and I have to get away from this town. I have to get to somewhere I can find people like me.

The candle is almost done. I have to hold the page almost to the flame to write. I’ll wait till it’s completely dark outside and then I’ll try and get away along the railway tracks. I don’t think they’re moving along the railway tracks. It’s a chance I’ll have to take.

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