Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel Read Free Page A

almost made it worth not having him around, but not
really.  She liked having him near, even if he was grumpy all the
time.  Grumpy Garfield I call him, but really I think he’s brave.
    Poppy shuffled around 180-degrees until she was facing
away from the village and towards the sea beyond the pier.  Some of the
group sat at the edges of the deck, holding fishing rods out over the
railings.  There was a fishing tackle shop on the pier and almost every
person in the group had a rod or two.  Poppy liked some of the fish they
caught, but there were so many different kinds that she never knew what she
would get one day to the next.  Sometimes they caught big fat fish with
white meat that tasted good, but other times they would catch thin, ugly fish
with red meat that tasted yucky.  Her favourite food back home –
back when she had a mummy and daddy – had been macaroni and cheese, with
a glass of fizzy apple juice.  She hadn’t tasted cheese in such a long
time and all she ever drank was water.  It made her sad to think about.
    So she thought of something else.
    She thought about getting older and becoming an
adult.  She could go foraging with Garfield and Kirk then (although she
didn’t really like Kirk.  He was always making fun of her).  She
wasn’t allowed to leave the pier because she was still just a kid, but from up
on the rooftops of the various buildings she could see for miles around. 
She could see the hills and the roads, and an old railway that cut through them
both.  There was a whole world out there waiting to be explored –
one she could barely even remember.  She just wished she’d taken the time
to appreciate the things she used to have, because now they were all gone
forever. 
    She used to moan and complain about having to get up
for school, but now she would give anything to be surrounded by other children
her own age.  She would love to sit and listen to old Mr Stead prattle on
about the Ancient Romans and how they changed the world with their roads and
sewers.  There was so much she could have learned back then, but now her
entire world was on this pier at the edge of the sea.  I hate it.
    Being stuck in one place made her feel panicky, like
she couldn’t breathe.  One day, when she was older, she would leave the
pier and find all of the things she’d forgotten.  She’d learn about all
the things the world used to care about.  Then, one day, she would teach
it to kids the same way Mr Stead had once taught it to her.  I’m going
to teach them about how the Romans built the aqueducts and had lots of baths.
    “You up on that roof again, lass?  You’re going
to break your bleedin’ neck one o’ these days, huh .”
    Poppy looked down to see Alistair standing on the deck
below.  He had his hands on his hips and his fat belly was hanging over
his belt the way it always did.  Everyone else in the group was skinny,
except for Alistair.
    “What do you want?” Poppy asked him.
    “What do I want?  Nothing, lass, but it’s about
time you started helping out around here instead of farting around on the
rooftops all the time, huh .”
    “I’m just a kid.”
    “No such thing anymore.  You’re either useful or
you’re not.  No mummy and daddies to look after kiddies these days. 
You have to be useful, whether you’re nine years old or ninety.”
    Poppy rolled her eyes.  She’d never liked
Alistair, not since she’d first met him.  He was always nagging at
her.  “Garfield says I’m just a kid and I shouldn’t grow up too
soon.  I asked to go foraging with him, but he said no.”
    Alistair sniffed a wad of snot back through his
nose.  His dirty brown hair fluttered in the breeze.  “He should’ve
let you go with him, if you ask me.  Better than having you
hanging around doing nothing like a chimp with a hairdryer, huh . 
The time for child’s play died along with everything else.  You need to
start making yourself useful.”
    “I will …” said