by Ryan Casey
“Are they gone?” Jenny asked.
Again, Jack didn’t respond.
He squeezed his hand around the handle. Took a few calming breaths that did absolutely nothing to help. What he would do for a cigarette.
He counted down from three.
Three.
Two.
One.
And he pulled open the door.
What he saw outside in the darkness creeped him out more than anything else he’d seen this weird day.
TEN
“What… But how did they…?”
Jenny’s voice trailed off as she stood beside Jack and stared out into the darkness. Sam lingered just behind her, curiosity on his little tear-drenched face.
Her trailing voice echoed Jack’s thoughts exactly.
Echoed his complete and utter bewilderment.
He took a step outside. Felt the bones of a bird crack underfoot, so quiet around that it echoed. The air was thick with the smell of sweat, of the coppery tang of blood.
The field and the surrounding areas were completely empty.
“But they were all around us,” Jenny said, as Jack hesitantly stepped a little further out into the complete darkness. He got a whiff of charred grass cooling down. “They… they can’t have just gone.”
“Maybe they turn invisible,” Sam said.
“Don’t be stupid,” Jenny snapped.
Jack stepped further away from the barn. His kids followed. He squinted. Looked all around—at the black silhouettes of trees, and at the flickering lights in a couple of the houses just over in the suburbs. But mostly, he listened to the silence. No engines. No screaming. No footsteps.
Nothing.
“Have the bad people all gone now?”
Jack gulped. Gulped down an acidic bout of sick that must’ve been creeping its way up his throat when he’d stared death in the face just moments ago. When he’d wrapped his arms around his children and prepared to leave this plane of existence forever, reunited with them.
He looked up at the sky. Looked at the stars, just about poking through the clouds. He saw his breath frosting up. Felt a shiver come over him, even though he was drenched in sweat.
“I don’t think we can say they’ve gone,” Jack said. “People don’t just… just disappear like that.”
“My dad disappeared,” Sam said.
Jack felt a knot tighten in his stomach. He turned and looked at Sam. His muscles felt like jelly as they stood there in the silent night sky.
Sam looked at his feet. Kicked at some dirt. “He just disappeared one night, Mummy said.”
“Mummy just said that as a story, dummy,” Jenny said, rolling her eyes.
And then she looked at Jack. Half-smiled. Nodded.
Jack half-smiled and nodded back at her. What was that in her eyes? Recognition? Knowledge? Understanding?
He cleared his throat. Whatever it was, he didn’t have time for it. “Come on,” he said, walking back over the dead birds and towards the barn. “We need to get some rest.”
“But what if the bad people come back?” Sam asked. “They know where we are so what if they come back?”
Jack walked through the barn door. Turned around. Looked at his kids, black silhouettes in the darkness outside. “If they come back, they come back. That’s the world we’re living in right now. But I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll just have a few hours’ sleep and then we’ll… we’ll move on tomorrow.”
“Move on where?” Jenny asked.
It’s the same question Jack asked himself. Move on where, exactly? Simon was dead. Candice was gone. Mobile networks were down, so he had no idea where to go.
It was just him and his children.
He wasn’t ready for the responsibility of being a dad. He’d find a safe place. A shelter. Someone to adopt them. Someone who could do a better job than he could. Because he wasn’t cut out to be a dad. Wasn’t cut out to look after anyone. Way he’d always been.
“Come inside,” he said. “Before the boogeyman gets you.”
Sam flinched. Turned around. Stared into the dark.
Jenny shook her head. “Not the real boogeyman, idiot. He’s joking.”
Sam kept his eyes on the outside and walked backwards into the barn.
Jack took a look outside. Took a breath of the cool night air. Listened and squinted, just to make sure it was absolutely silent still.
And then he closed the door, the horse-shit stench and the darkness surrounding him.
Home sweet home.
***
Jack didn’t think he’d got any sleep until a sudden bang woke him.
He opened his eyes. Looked around, squinted into the darkness, disoriented as to where he was, to how he’d got here.
And then the smell of the horse shit, the grubby feel of the dried blood on his hands. He remembered exactly where he was.
He squinted over at the barn door. There was a little gap in it, the night sky just about visible through it. He stomach dropped. He reached over for Sam and Jenny. Reached over to make sure they were close. If something had got inside the barn, he wanted them ready to run. Ready to…
When he went to hold his kids, he realised one of them was missing.
Sam was still there, fast asleep. But the little spot next to him where Jenny had been sleeping was vacant.
Shit. Jenny was gone. Something had taken her.
He stood up. Then looked back down at Sam, unsure of what to do, unsure of whether to wake him and take him with him or make him stay here in the safety of the barn. But shit—was this place safe? If something had come in here and taken Jenny, then how safe was it?
He crouched back down. Lifted Sam up to his feet. He struggled a little at first, but Jack shushed him and held his hand. “It’s your sister. We need to find her. Stay close. Stay quiet.”
They walked towards the crack in the barn door. Walked towards it, and Jack pushed his face close to it so he could see outside. Still quiet. Still totally empty.
He pushed it open, very gently. Pushed it only enough so Sam and he could get outside.
He looked around. Scanned the area. Silence. Stillness, but for the dark branches of trees swaying in the breeze. No sign of Jenny. Shit.
He walked a few steps. Crept over the fallen birds. Looked at the hedge at the side of the field, at the houses in the distance. “Jenny!” he whispered. Or at least attempted to whisper—it came out much louder than he’d intended, and he saw a small animal skip past up ahead.
At least he hoped it was a small animal and nothing else.
After a few metres that felt like miles, he stopped walking. There was nothing he could do for Jenny. He had to accept that. She’d gone. She’d been taken.
Shit. What kind of a shitty father was he? Well, this kind of a shitty father. This was exactly who he was. Too pragmatic. Too uncommitted. No wonder Candice’s parents used to despise him.
He felt a tap on his right arm. Looked down and saw Sam staring back at the barn, at the side of the barn.
He looked up. Followed where Sam was looking.
And then he saw movement.
He turned slowly. Turned, pushed Sam behind him, as this movement continued in the darkness. His heart picked up again. The wind got stronger, the entrance to the barn seeming further away as this movement crept closer.
And then a light flickered on just up ahead from where the movement was coming from.
“Look what I found!”
Jack was frozen to the spot. He didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know whether to be furious or relieved.
Jenny was standing by the barn entrance. She was holding something in front of her—a lantern-style torch, which emitted a blue light.
She smiled at him, her bloodstained elephant pyjamas illuminated in the glow, her smile wide and innocent.
And then something threw itself at her and knocked her to the ground.
ELEVEN
Jack threw himself towards Jenny without even thinki
ng.
She was on the ground. On the ground, the torch knocked out of her hand by whatever it was that flew at her. Jack ran across the grass. The bones of birds’ wings cracked underfoot. He could hear Sam shouting something behind him, but he was completely focused on Jenny.
Completely focused on getting the thing on top of her away from her.
He crouched down. Saw that it was a guy with dark hair. Way too tough for Jenny to fight off. Shit—judging by his muscles poking under his torn black t-shirt, hard for Jack to fight off too.
Jack grabbed him by his arms. Braced for the guy to pull back. Got a whiff of sweat, of blood.
The guy just collapsed back, away from Jenny, the second Jack grabbed and pulled him.
The shifting of weight took Jack by surprise. He almost lost his footing. The dark-haired guy, slaver all over his mouth, fell back into the tall grass. Clawed his shaking hand up at Jack, gasping and shaking, his eyes wandering all over the place.
Jack picked up the torch. Picked up the torch and kept his eye on this guy on the ground. He was clearly struggling. Gasping. His face was purple.
“What’s wrong with him?” Sam asked.
“It,” Jack said. “It’s… it’s not a ‘him’ anymore. It’s an ‘it’.”
Jack moved the torch closer to it. As he did, this guy’s spindly fingers clawed towards it. Clawed at it, its eyes focusing on it, like a moth fluttering around a candle.
Jack pulled the light further away. Saw the guy’s eyes drift again. Heard the gasping start.
“Come on kids,” he said. He backed away. Looked around the dark field, a few lights on in the distant suburbs. No birdsong. No shouting in the streets. No sirens. Nothing.
And those runners from before. The way they’d disappeared the moment the sun set.
And this guy on the floor. Clawing towards the light.
“I think it’s the sunlight,” Jack said.
“What about the sunlight?” Sam asked, sounding a little bored with Jack’s direction of the conversation.
Jack started to speak. He started to explain.
And then he shook his head and looked right at Jenny. “You shouldn’t have gone running off.”
She frowned. “I was just… I just needed a toilet.”
“Well you almost got yourself killed. Why not just go in the barn anyway?”
“I didn’t want to wake you. And I found the torch—”
“You don’t run away again.”
“What? Like you did?”
The words froze Jack on the spot. He felt like a fire was burning inside. In the glow of the torchlight, Jenny’s cheeks started to go red, her eyes wandering. Sam just looked from his sister to Jack and back again, bewildered by the whole situation.
“What…” Jack started, but he couldn’t think what to say. Felt like he had a vice grip around his throat, tightening and tightening. He gulped. Swallowed a huge lump in his throat. “We… Come on. We need to leave.”
Jenny nodded.
But she knew. She knew he was her dad.
Somehow, she knew.
“Why are we leaving now?” Sam asked. “It’s still nighttime. And I’m hungry.”
Jack crouched down. Placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “There’s… there’s something that’s changed. The night, I think… I think the nighttime might be safer now. Which means we need to find somewhere safe to get you in time for morning.”
He stood up. Started walking, torchlight in hand.
“Are you going to leave us again?” Jenny asked.
Another stab in Jack’s heart.
“What do you mean, Jen?” Sam asked.
“No,” Jack said. He said it loud. Turned around to face his kids. Hadn’t totally intended to say something so decisive, but he didn’t want Sam to know who he was too. He had to keep this with Jenny. Jenny alone.
Maybe Jenny would tell Sam who he was in due course.
But hopefully he’d be the other side of the country by then.
Jack scratched the back of his neck. Looked at his phone, which was on very low battery. Four a.m. Two hours until sunrise.
“We need to find somewhere safe to stay during the day. Somewhere to get some sleep.”
He started walking across the field, away from the barn, in the direction of the suburbs.
“Why not the barn?” Sam asked.
“It’s not safe, idiot,” Jen said. “The bad people. They know where we are.”
“My hand hurts,” Sam said.
“We’ll sort your hand out, kid. We’re heading towards a chemist, so hopefully we’ll be able to find something in there.”
Sam jogged up beside Jack. Reached out, took his hand.
“You’re cool,” he said.
Jack felt warm inside. Squeezed Sam’s hand. “You’re cool too, kid. You’re cool too.”
He looked over his shoulder. Saw Jenny lingering behind, wide-eyed, watching them both closely.
He thought he saw jealousy in her eyes.
He thought he saw a longing, too.
TWELVE
“How much longer? My belly’s rumbling.”
They walked down the side of Lightfoot Lane. All the street lamps were out. The trees either side of the road, like great natural walls guarding them, looked like they had lives of their own. Every now and then, there was a rustling in the trees, a whispering in the distance.
Jack was thankful for his short-sightedness after all. Kept the monsters of the night hidden. The monsters he knew were there.
“Not long now,” Jack said. His feet were sore already. Damned Converse. Shouldn’t have worn these. Getting a rub on the little left toe and the heel. Should’ve worn something more appropriate.
Then again, he could hardly have prepared for the world to fall to pieces.
“You’ve been saying that for ages,” Jenny said.
Jack ignored her.
Jenny was proving problematic. She’d taken on a sudden snarky tone since Jack had told her off outside the barn for going walkies in the dark. She knew he was her dad. She must’ve known all along, but his telling her off tipped her over the edge.
Shit. She always was a bright kid, Candice used to tell him.
“Yeah well I mean it this time,” Jack said. Truth was, he was feeling hungry too. Hungry and tired. Hardly got any sleep last night. All because of this hunch that the crazies, runners, glass-eyes—whatever they were—were more responsive to sunlight.
A switch in body clock was something he was going to have to get used to. Something they were all going to have to get used to.
And by the looks of things, he was right. The streets were silent. More birds lined the road. Hedgehogs, too—a surprising number of them lying dead at the sides of the roads. They passed houses. Houses, where curtains twitched, where terrified people peeked out of their windows.
“Why is no one else outside?” Sam asked.
“They will be,” Jack said. “Most people don’t know what we know yet. But there will be some.”
“Probably murderers,” Jenny mumbled.
Again, Jack didn’t argue with her. But not because he was just trying not to rise to her attempts to provoke Sam.
Because he genuinely worried about the type of people who might be out after dark.
They walked a little further down Lightfoot Lane. Passed houses, suburbs, all empty of life, all quiet. On his right, he saw a detached house where one of his best friends, Andy, used to live. The front door was open. Blood stained the windows, like it stained so many houses. The garden looked charred.
A part of him wanted to go inside and check it out, but not with his kids with him. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to see what was through that door anyway.
He tried not to picture Andy struggling against the onslaught of the runners. If he thought about all the people he cared about losing the battle, he’d go insane.
He looked at his phone. 17% battery now. 4.45 a.m, which gave them just over an hour of darkness left. He wa
s feeling tired already. Confident of getting some sleep.
He knew it’d be a different matter altogether when he heard the gasps, the screams, the footsteps outside.
They reached the end of the road. They were all slowing down now. Garstang Road, the A6 and the main road in Preston, was empty but for a few stray cars speeding past the abandoned ones. Takeaway cartons scraped along in the breeze. Strange sight. It reminded him of a time when he was younger when he’d passed his A Level results. Went to a house party, then went running down this street in the middle of it with a friend, Toby. Pretended the world was all theirs.
Now, it kind of was.
“Chemist’s just up here,” Jack said. The lights were out on the green pharmacy sign, but the shutters were up. The place was dark inside. Hopefully empty. He needed a bandage. Something to wrap up Sam’s hand. And some damned plasters for his own rubbed feet too. They wouldn’t go amiss.
“This is all like an Xbox game Simon used to play,” Sam said. He had a little smile on his face, like he still wasn’t in touch with the world around him despite all the horrors he’d already seen. “Dead Island.”
“That game was dumb,” Jenny said.
“Oh everything’s dumb to you. At least I did better in my Maths test than you.”
Jenny blushed.
Jack couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s not a game though, kid,” Jack said. “That’s something you’ll have to bear in mind now. This is real life. And it’s scary.”
They reached the door of the chemist’s. Jack looked up and down the surrounding streets, empty but for the slight blur of people rushing between houses down Beech Drive.
He tried the door. Locked, as expected.
But the lock looked flimsy. Weak. Not great for a chemist’s, that was for sure.
“Well that was a good idea,” Jenny said.
Jack smiled at her. “Any hair clips?”
She frowned. Fumbled around in her pyjama pocket. Pulled out a little pink hair clip.
Jack took it off her. Kept on smiling. Folded the hairclip back. “Watch and learn.”
He inched the hairclip into the lock. Twisted it.