Free Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella by Iain Rob Wright Page A

kid. “How you feeling?”
    Minty sat up and took the water. He rolled his shoulders and winced. “It hurts, but... I’m better. I think I can get up.”
    Finn nodded.
    “Are you still leaving?” asked Katie.
    “Yes. I have something I need to do.”
    “He’s going to kill someone,” said Minty.
    Katie didn’t seem upset by the statement. Why would she be with all that had happened? Spending the night in his presence without being abused had obviously gained her trust. Yet, Finn felt the need to explain himself. “The man murdered my sister.”
    “I’m sorry,” said Katie. “But why bother going after him? He’ll die soon, anyway.”
    “I made a promise to my ma I would punish the man who took our Marie. He doesn’t deserve a single extra minute of life, so I will end him before death claims the rest of us.”
    Katie was silent for a moment but eventually knelt and gathered the rucksacks and supplies.
    “What are you doing?” Finn asked.
    “I’m getting ready to leave. You saved me by dealing with Edward, so I’ll help you.”
    Finn huffed. “You’re going to help me kill a man?”
    She stood up and shook her head. “No, I’m just going to help you do what you need to do to find him. I’ll leave the rest up to you.”
    “You both should stay here. It's safer.”
    “Maybe,” Katie agreed, “but I don’t want to wait here until the end comes. I’d rather be doing something. If I sit around here, I'll go insane. The dog needs to go the toilet anyway, so I'm going to have to go out sometime.”
    Finn ran a hand through his dusty hair and tried to remember the last time he washed it. Such things were so unimportant now. “It’s dangerous out there.”
    “I know. I want to come anyway.”
    “Me too,” said Minty, sliding gingerly off the bed.
    Finn grabbed a rucksack up off the floor and slung it over his shoulder. “Fine, but understand that I’m not responsible for you. It’s not my job. Come along if you want, but it’s every man for himself.”
    Nobody argued.
    So they got going.
    Finn and Katie wore the rucksacks while Finn also carried Edward’s gun. He had considered arming the three of them, but decided that a woman and child weren’t the best people to operate deadly weapons. It wasn’t sexism, merely that Finn possessed experience with handguns, and they did not. He still remembered the old Browning 9mm that belonged to his dad. Finn fired it to kill the man who used to be his family’s milkman when it turned out he was an informant for the British. It wasn’t an easy kill—the man had once gifted Finn’s ma a carton of eggs and jugs of milk when times were tough. As far as traitors went, the milkman was a decent enough fellow.
    Out on the road, the silence smothered them. The dust and dirt on the ground prevented even their footsteps from making a noise which made the lack of sound deafening. That was why it was such a sudden shock when a scream broke out. Finn raised his weapon when two women broke out of the bushes and into their path. A miracle he stopped himself pulling the trigger on instinct.
    Wonder Mutt barked madly, his confidence today was twice what it was yesterday.
    The woman who came out first was bleeding profusely, her dirty clothes glistening crimson. The woman behind her held a long chef’s knife and had a look of madness upon her face. She didn’t seem to notice Finn stood there with a gun pointed.
    “Please,” the injured woman begged when she saw Finn. “Help me.”
    The mad woman turned and saw them too and had enough control of herself to stop what she was doing. Her expression softened, and she didn’t seem quite so mad anymore. “Oh, hello,” she said, oddly calm.
    “What are you doing?” Finn asked her, lowering his weapon only slightly.
    “Trying to kill my whore of a sister. Can I help you with something?”
    Katie stepped up beside Finn. “Why are you trying to kill your sister?”
    “Because she fucked my husband. A lot, from what