The Spread: A Highland Horror by Iain Rob Wright

Author:Iain Rob Wright [Wright, Iain Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ulcerated Press
Published: 2025-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

Aaron was running on empty, so once the meeting in the command tent finished, he went to take a nap in the tiny shelter he shared with Cameron. It took all of two minutes to fall asleep.

He awoke a few hours later to an uproar.

Cameron lay on the opposite side of their small tent, snoring his head off as usual. Aaron decided not to wake him, so he carefully climbed off of his cot bed and crept over to the tent’s zipper. Shuffling into his shoes, he opened the flap and stepped out onto the flattened grass. He expected to see the moon, but it was still daytime. The sky was overcast and grey. He checked his watch: 5 PM.

I only slept for two hours.

What’s going on?

Without the nylon tent around him, the uproar grew louder. He saw no obvious cause. The last twelve hours had been insane: first the bird attack, then the arrival of a shiny blue alien named ‘Helper’. Aaron hadn’t even started processing Ed’s death, or that he was to blame for it.

What’s all this shouting about? Are we being attacked?

Or did we let an alien spy into our camp and now we’re paying for it? Is Helper our enemy? If so, I need to take back his name.

Aaron hadn’t changed his mind about wanting to leave Culdrake. The prospect of heading towards something felt infinitely better than staying in one place without a reason or cause. He was prepared to die out on the road more than he was prepared to die here, miles from everything he knew. With so few choices left to make, it was important he at least got to choose his own ending.

He didn’t want to hide behind this fence any more.

The uproar came from the camp’s entrance, which suggested something might be happening out in the glen. But the closer he got, the more he realised people were not, in fact, alarmed, but were instead shouting out in excitement. Something had got everyone riled up in a good way.

Aaron picked up his pace and headed for the main gate. There, he noticed a crowd gathered. He didn’t see anybody he knew particularly well, so he didn’t ask what was happening. Instead, he ducked and dodged until he got close enough to see for himself.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “Is this real?”

Outside the gate, hiking across the glen, was a group of survivors – maybe more than twenty in total. They appeared healthy. Dressed in colourful outdoor gear, they moved slowly but steadily, stepping around the barbed wire buried in the grass. Between them, they dragged several large sacks of supplies. Many carried folded tents on their backs.

The main gate opened. Commander Fox stepped out to meet the newcomers. He never allowed anybody inside without checking them out first, but it had been several weeks since any survivors had arrived at Culdrake. Most people had assumed there was no one left.

It appeared that assumption was wrong.

A small group of armed soldiers headed out with Commander Fox, but everybody else stayed behind the fence.

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