The End of Everything Box Set, Vol. 1 [Books 1-3]

by Artinian, Christopher

  Robyn shot her head up to see Wren running back down the steps. She had placed a decorative planter in front of the door in an attempt to make the chasing creatures tumble. The first beast looked like it had been a heavyweight boxer in its previous life, and rather that the plastic plant pot tripping him up, it just disintegrated as he ploughed through it, making brightly coloured pansies and a shower of soil spray through the air. A fragment of thick plastic rocketed towards Wren, hitting her hard just above the achilles tendon. Her leg buckled and she went sprawling onto the ground. The muscle-bound creature was almost on her as her body came to a skidding stop.

  Robyn felt the van’s suspension rise, and saw Jeb running towards Wren, but it would be all over by the time he got there. “Get back in the van!” Robyn shouted, as more creatures emerged from the surgery door. She took an arrow, lined up her shot and fired. While it was still sailing towards its target, she grabbed another, placing it in the nocking point, drawing the string back and aiming in one fluid movement. She fired again, just as the first arrow burrowed straight through the chest of the heavyweight. It was not a kill shot, but the force of entry jolted the beast from its stride, making it lose its footing.

  Wren was back on her feet and running towards the van again, just as the muscular creature slapped down hard on the tarmac where, a second before, her own body had been. An arrow whistled over the top of her head, and for the first time, she noticed where they were coming from. Her sister seemed to bounce up and down as Jeb climbed back into the van. She was stood there in black leather trousers and a green t-shirt like some modern-day William Tell, releasing arrow after arrow. Wren dared not look round. Whatever had hit above her achilles tendon had hurt, and a sharp pain had bounced up her leg like a lightning bolt, but there had been no lasting damage.

  She heard the pounding feet and even more growls rising into the air; she looked below her sister to Jeb’s worried face as it stared beyond Wren to what was behind her. That look told her everything. This was like that point in the last twenty metres of a race when she had to go beyond the limits of her body. She focussed past Jeb to the dark interior of the van and put her head down squeezing every last joule of energy from her muscles.

  “Run,” screamed Jeb, feeling utterly helpless as he watched the shockingly fast, monstrous army charge after Wren. Despite the odd one falling, causing a mini pile-up as Robyn’s arrows found their targets, a number of creatures were just a little more than an arm’s reach away. Jeb’s breathing became heavier, and suddenly, his heart began to sound like a Dave Grohl drum solo in his chest. He fumbled in his pocket for his nitroglycerine spray.

  It had only been a matter of seconds since Wren had opened the door, but now Robyn was sure all the creatures had left the building and were in pursuit. She just had one job, remove the beasts that presented the biggest threat, and in that frozen second in time where she saw the desperate look on her sister’s face as she tried to make it into the back of the van, there was just one monster that threatened that. This one was the difference between life and death for Wren; its elastic arm reached longer than Robyn thought possible, and its fingers were mere millimetres away from grabbing Wren’s ponytail. Its mouth seemed to grimace, making an inhuman smile as it felt the brush of the wind from Wren’s bobbing hair against its fingertips.

  This was madness. It was just days before that Robyn had first picked up the bow, and now, her sister’s very survival came down to this one pin prick in time. A trip, a mis-step, a jolt from inside the van, and Robyn’s aim would be off; the arrow might even hit her sister instead of the creature.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Wren could feel a presence. She could feel a dark, invisible hand reaching towards her, trying to take her. She could sense the cold, demonic tendrils closing in, waiting for that the perfect time to strike, waiting for that one pace slower than the last; that one thing that made Wren human; a mistake, a simple error of judgement. Then it happened. Wren drew in a sharp breath as she felt a vice tighten around the tip of her ponytail. This was it. They had her. It was all over.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Robyn released the string and watched as the arrow flew. She looked at her sister’s face and knew everything depended on this one shot. If Robyn had not aimed true, then it was all over; her sister would be dead and she would be broken.

  The steel arrowhead disappeared just above the bridge of the beast’s nose. It collapsed in a skidding heap, causing the creature behind it to go cascading as well. Wren did not look back, but knew her sister had saved her. She bounded the last strides before diving through the gap and into the dim interior of the van. She heard the metallic clunk as the door slammed shut. Her body skidded over the wood before coming to an abrupt stop. Wren did not miss a beat. She reached for her javelin and sprang back to her feet as the first bodies battered against the doors of the van.

  Robyn steadied herself as the vehicle started to move up and down and sway. More creatures joined the throng already at the back doors. They hammered on the metal sides and clawed, desperately reaching upwards toward Robyn.

  Wren began to thrust the javelin through one of the holes, stabbing creature after creature in the head. She stayed well back as the odd beast sent its arm wandering into the dark interior of the van. Jeb stood by her side; he used the last remnants of his heart spray in a desperate attempt to stave off a panic induced angina attack. A layer of perspiration had formed on his brow, and revulsion gurgled at the back of his throat as he saw the metal spike thrust through the eye socket of one of the creatures before it jerked out again, covered in a sloppy goo.

  Robyn stood with her feet wide apart, desperate to maintain balance as the van continued to jolt and jut around. She watched as the monsters below fell in front of the doors, but then looked around the rest of the van. More beasts had assembled at the sides, uninterested in the contents of the vehicle, only interested in her, the cherry on top. Eager hands reached up, fingernails scraping paint. These creatures were out of Wren’s line of site; she would have to deal with them herself.

  Robyn took a breath and stepped across to the left-hand side, pulling an arrow from her quiver, drawing back the string and firing. It seemed strange. These things were just a matter of a couple of feet underneath her. Some of their fingertips were almost within reach of Robyn’s boots, but she lined up and aimed the same as she would if she was firing towards the other end of the car park. She caught movement in the corner of her eye and noticed more beasts emerging, coming to explore, seeing if there was any greater possibility to feed.

  She spun around to check the other side, and now the group had diminished. Robyn’s brow furrowed; where had they g—

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Wren and Jeb were knocked from their feet by the force of the creatures hurling themselves against the passenger side of the van. The pair of them collapsed against the wooden lining with such force that one of the boards snapped against Jeb’s shoulder. He let out a cry which went unheard as the shriek from Robyn drowned out all other sounds.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The bow flew out of Robyn’s hand and she watched the three quivers of arrows she had placed at her feet roll off the edge of the van as her body slammed down hard on the roof. She splayed her fingers out and slapped her palms down hard, hoping she could create enough suction to stop herself sliding off the smooth surface as it tilted. Robyn pressed her face against the cold metal, and the pounding hands of the creatures deafened her. She screamed again as the van tipped further still, and her boots slid over the edge into the waiting, grabbing hands of two of the hellish beasts.

  chapter 17

  Jeb and Wren bounced against the wooden panelling on the other side of the van as the vehicle righted itself. Wren scrambled back to her feet, but Jeb was a little dazed as his head had banged hard against the solid surface. She grabbed her javelin and ran to the back doors to see no creatures, no invading arms.

  “Hey! Hey!” she shouted, thrusting the javelin through the gap
and hitting the metallic edges like she was ringing a dinner bell. “Hey!” she shouted again, but it was no good. The creatures had just one prize in view now as nearly all of them assembled on the passenger side of the van, clambering, pushing, reaching.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Robyn dared not stand. The van was still rocking wildly and she felt that any second it would tip again. She still had a single quiver of arrows on her shoulder, but what good were they without a bow to fire them?

  “I’ve lost my bow!” she yelled. When the van had righted itself, she had wriggled free of the grabbing hands that had closed around her feet and twisted her body so her head was now pointing in the direction of the back doors and her feet towards the windscreen. She hoped the leather of her trousers would make her stick to the surface as she edged forward. Robyn stopped just short of the back of the van and shouted again: “I’ve lost my bow!”

  She heard nothing but the ever-loudening growl of the creatures and the shrieking and crunching of metal as the van’s springs and suspension were tested time and time again by the rutting horde.

  Robyn put her face down against the roof once more. “I’ve lost my bow,” she whispered.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “Bobbi?” shouted Wren, moving as close to the back doors as she dared. “Bobbi?”

  “Sis!? I’ve lost my bow,” Robyn shouted.

  “Oh crap!”

  “Yeah!”

  The van lifted off its left wheels for two seconds again, and both girls let out a scream before it settled back to the rocking boat motion.

  “Can you see it?”

  “What?” Robyn asked.

  “Can you see the bow?”

  “Erm...hang on.”

  Wren and Jeb looked up to the roof of the van as they heard slow movement. A few seconds passed. “Yeah! It’s with the arrows, near the driver’s door,” she said as the van jerked violently again. “Aaarrrggghhh! This is going to tip soon and it will all be over.”

  “I know!” Wren shouted.

  “Well? You’re the clever one. What have you got?”

  Wren moved closer to the rear of the van, nearer to the windows than she had dared to go before. When nothing came through the gap, she edged farther still, putting one hand against the side to steady herself as the vehicle bounced on its suspension. Wren angled her head and could just see the shadows of the heaving horde at the side of the van, desperately reaching upwards. For the time being, she and Jeb had been forgotten.

  She looked across to the surgery and the open door. If the van tipped, it was all over for her sister, and it would just be a matter of time until the creatures got to them too. She turned around to look at Jeb who still seemed to be in a state of bewilderment, his heart spray clutched in his hand. “I’m going to make a run for it. Shut this door behind me,” Wren said, placing her hand on the plastic lever.

  “Wait,” cried Jeb. “You can’t! It’s suicide!!”

  “Doing nothing is suicide. Now come here and get ready.” The van juddered again. Wren took Jeb’s hand and turned him towards the door, then pulled the handle and burst from the back of the van, literally hitting the ground running. Jeb saw a group of creatures immediately turn and storm after her. Panicked, he pulled the door closed with a heavy clunk. He watched through one of the holes he had cut in the back doors like a frightened child peeking through the letterbox of a haunted house.

  The violent movement of the van came to a halt, and Robyn looked up. All the creatures were now in pursuit of Wren as she charged across the car park. Desperately, wanting respite, but knowing she was the only one who could save them now, Robyn ran across the roof and slid down the front of the van, landing solidly on the tarmac. She grabbed the bow and picked up the arrows, throwing the straps to the quivers over her shoulder. She took one of the arrows and married the nock to the nocking point, aimed and fired with no hesitation. The arrow entered the base of the skull of the slowest creature, knocking it forward off its feet, and leaving it still on the ground.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Wren could hear the feet of the monstrous horde pounding after her. She felt the vibration against the ground, but blocked it all out. She had one goal and one hope: reach the open door without getting shredded. The hope was that her sister understood what needed to be done. She approached the wide steps to the grand wooden entrance, and bounded up them in two leaps, doing her best to bring herself to a dead stop on the welcome mat inside. Without even looking at what tide of horror was rushing towards her, she slammed the heavy wooden door shut, engaged the lock, and jammed the bolt across. At the same time, cacophonous bangs began to beat upon the thick wood as the creatures flung their bodies against the sealed entrance.

  Wren jumped back from the door, keeping a close eye on it as she retreated further into the surgery. It was only then that she heard the low gurgling growl coming from behind her, and froze.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Robyn continued firing. More of the creatures fell, but now they had all reached their destination and there were no laggers to pick off one by one. She tapped gently on the van door, but it remained closed. “Jeb, it’s me,” she said. When it still did not open, she climbed onto the bumper bar and looked through the hole. Jeb was stood about half way back, clutching the wooden spear he had made in his hands. “It’s me, open the door.” She jumped down again and looked back towards the front door of the surgery. Robyn heard the rear door of the van open, and drew an arrow. “Get ready,” she said.

  “For what?” Jeb asked.

  “For this,” Robyn replied, firing the arrow and watching as it split through the skull of one of the creatures trying to break through the door. She drew another and fired again, but the shot missed, as her target had now turned and was running towards her along with a dozen more salivating beasts. Robyn took another arrow and fired, taking out the leader of the group heading towards her and making two more stumble. She climbed into the van and pulled the door closed, sliding the arrows off her shoulder and placing down the bow. In the dim light, she could make out the shape of Wren’s javelin on the floor. She picked it up as the first beasts threw themselves at the doors of the van with a thunderous crash.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Knowing all she had was the Swiss army knife in her pocket, there was a huge part of Wren that did not want to turn around. A relieved breath left her as she saw the source of the growl. A few days earlier, when she and Robyn had been trapped in this building, Wren had devised an escape involving a barricade and two freestanding, but weighted down, filing cabinets. The writhing horde of creatures that had been pursuing Wren must have toppled the heavy cabinet onto one of their own. It could not see Wren from its position, but it could hear her, it could sense her; and despite it appearing crippled now, its sole objective was to reach her, no matter how futile that aim was.

  She walked up to it, forgetting the percussive symphony of chaos that was playing out on the door. Wren stood there looking down at the pathetic beast. Its arms and head seemed to be functioning as normal as it snapped and snarled and reached and grabbed, but she could see its spine badly disfigured beneath the tight t-shirt it wore. More than likely it was paralysed from the waist down. She brought the knife out of her pocket and extended the blade. As she looked at it in her hand, she pictured the kill in her head. She pictured the red ooze squelching up over her fingers, and suddenly, she felt a sick. Wren folded the blade, and headed to the kitchen to find a more suitable weapon.

  She returned a moment later with a bread knife, stamped her left foot down on the beast’s right arm, and plunged the blade straight through its temple. Its malevolent pupils instantly became the smallest of lifeless dots and its body flopped to the floor. Wren withdrew the knife, wiped it on the beast’s clothing, and headed up to the next floor.

  She remembered back to a few days earlier when she had been in the supplies room. The window was directly over the front door. Wren headed across the landing and into the office with countless boxes tha
t the two girls had already rifled through on their previous visit. She could see a number of the beasts had already made their way back across to the van, but as she pulled the old-fashioned window up and leaned out, there were still at least a dozen or more of the creatures hammering away against the front door.

  “Hey!” she shouted. “That’s right. Up here, you ugly bastards!” The loud taunt echoed around the car park and the beasts that had run towards the van turned and headed back towards the building. “You’re pretty dim, aren’t you?” she yelled, disappearing from the window. She headed to the office next door, where filing cabinets lined the walls. Wren grabbed the nearest one and tried to walk it out of the room, but loaded, it was far too heavy. She opened the drawers and flung all the patient files over the floor. When the steel cabinet was empty, she trundled with it to the room next door. Even free from its load, it was not easy to angle and lift onto the window sill. The cabinet was neck-height to Wren, and solidly built—not one of the cheap-o ones her dad had bought for his study. She stood there for a few seconds holding the base of it in her hands as the top overhung the window ledge. She looked back to the van to see her sister stepping out and firing an arrow.

  Wren pushed and watched as the grey hunk of steel disappeared out of the window. She strode forward and leant out, watching it land on the throng of beasts below. One of them went down like Wile E Coyote in a Roadrunner cartoon; another got hit on the shoulder and side of the head, collapsing backwards, while still more fell, only to struggle back to their feet. Their ferocious eyes burned into Wren’s soul as she looked down at them. They reached up as their angry song grew ever louder. Wren went back through to the other office and emptied a second cabinet, then a third, then a fourth.