by Ryan Casey
Anna shook her head. “Don’t do that. Just… don’t.”
Riley smiled at her. She smiled back. Well, as close as Anna got to a smile anyway. He took it as a smile, which was near enough.
“I’ll start moving things onto the boat. You… Yeah.” Pedro tilted his head over at Claudia and Chloë. “Take as much time as you need.”
Riley and Anna took another look around the docklands. The place was usually filled with boats. It was a large, rectangular area, lined with restaurants and pubs. A cinema and a McDonalds. A nice, family place. Fitting conclusion to their time in Preston.
“Will you miss it?” Anna asked.
“Miss what?”
Anna raised her arms. “This. Preston. Best city in Europe. Oh no, wait. Best bus station in Europe. Only—”
“—A better bus station got built in Turkey. Yeah, I’ve told people the great myth of the Preston bus station many a time, don’t you worry.”
“So will you miss it?”
Riley looked around. Seagulls flew over by the high-rise office blocks of BetterLives. “I dunno. I’ve always liked Preston, I guess. But I always fancied myself as a traveler, too. Maybe it always was going to take an apocalypse to get me off my arse and seeing the world. You?”
Anna shrugged. “Been looking for an excuse to get away from here for years. Let’s hope the world stays shit for a good while yet. What about friends? Family?”
Riley thought about his mum and dad. Wondered how they’d be getting on at the other side of the Atlantic ocean. Wondered whether the rest of the world was coping any better or any worse. And then he looked around at Claudia and Chloë as they walked away from the fire holding an urn each. Looked at Pedro as he threw tins and weapons from the army vehicle into the narrowboat. “I guess you…”
“Don’t you fucking dare say something cheesy like, ‘you’re my family now.’ Just don’t. Or you’re staying here.”
Riley laughed. Anna laughed with him.
“You guys ready?” Pedro called. He revved up the engine and the boat coughed up water.
Riley held his hand out to Anna. “Shall we?”
Anna cringed at his hand then took hold of it. “Such a living cliché, Riley. Such a living cliché.”
The pair of them walked over to the narrowboat. Claudia and Chloë followed.
“What about the vehicle?” Anna asked. “Could come in handy some stage.”
Pedro puffed out his lips. “Ahh, I’ll miss her. Served us well. But I guess we leave her for somebody else to find. Hope they treat her well. We’ve got a new ride now. A ride with beds and a little kitchen area. That’s what you kids say, eh? ‘Ride’?” He winked at Chloë. “Right, ready or not, here we go.”
The engine of the boat kicked to life. For a few painful seconds, it did not seem like it was going to move. But then, as Riley stared at the water, he saw that they were getting further and further away from the docks. Further and further away from land.
All of the group cheered and high-fived one another as the narrowboat sailed down the docks, away from the high-rise city buildings and towards the river. They passed creatures. Most didn’t even noticed their quiet vehicle. Some staggered into the water and fell into the unknown. Riley pictured Ted here with them, asking one of his inquisitive little questions. Do those creatures drown? I guess they’d find out.
Claudia and Chloë held the urns in their hands as they got further away from land and towards the river. “You ready, Riley? Go on, Chloë. You give Riley that urn.”
Riley smiled at Chloë as he took the urn containing Ted’s ashes from her. He held it in his hands. It was lighter than he expected. Especially for Ted. He giggled to himself. Ted wouldn’t like that one.
“Three, two, one…”
Claudia threw Elizabeth’s ashes out to sea. Riley followed, throwing Ted’s out. He smiled as he watched the dust hit the water. Ted always loved the cinema at Preston docks. Fitting that he got his send-off here.
“Goodbye, Ted,” Riley said, as the boat crept out of the mouth of the docks and into the River Ribble. “Goodbye.”
He took a few calming breaths then turned around to Anna.
“So. Where next?”
WHAT NEXT, INDEED?
It really sucks finishing a series, right? Fear not — Riley’s journey has only just begun. If you want to be notified as soon as Season Two of Dead Days launches in 2014, sign up at the following link. You will not only be notified of the new season of Dead Days, but I will throw in a book of your choice completely free! Call it a 'thank you' for sticking with this series:
http://ryancaseybooks.com/fanclub
Otherwise, I have another few books available for you across several genres. If you are interested in twisted supernatural horror, you may be a fan of The Watching trilogy. Or if you are more of a crime-thriller type and you enjoyed the setting of Preston, then Dying Eyes may well be for you. Check these books and plenty more out at http://ryancaseybooks.com/books
If you enjoyed reading the series, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. It doesn’t matter if it’s only a few words, it would be greatly appreciated.
Other Books by Ryan Casey
This is Ryan Casey’s entire book library at the time of publication, but more books are coming out all the time. Find out EVERY time Ryan releases a new book by heading to ryancaseybooks.com/fanclub and signing up for his notifications NOW.
DYING EYES
DEAD DAYS: COMPLETE SEASON ONE (SAVE 45%!)
—Or—
Try Dead Days out with:
DEAD DAYS: EPISODE 1 (FREE!)
KILLING FREEDOM
THE WATCHING TRILOGY (SAVE 33%!)
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Try it out with:
THE PAINTING
WHAT WE SAW
SOMETHING IN THE CELLAR
SILHOUETTE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ryan Casey is the author of several novels, novellas and short stories.
Casey lives in the United Kingdom and enjoys American serial television, is a slave to Pitchfork's Best New Music section, and wastes far too much of his life playing Football Manager games.
He posts a weekly blog at RyanCaseyBooks.com, discussing writing, publishing, and whatever the hell else he feels like.
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