The Fifth: Darkness series

by K. D Rawlingson

  I was going to have to start a new scale ranging from bad to what? What came after bad?

  personally, I was at the stage: My world has ended how am I managing to keep it together.

  It looked like that same sentiment could be used everywhere. How many people had this virus killed? Thousands? Millions? I pondered the thought as I drove through the final village before I reached Applewood.

  As I re-entered the country lanes the smell of death slowly faded and I was able to remove my scarf and open my window. I didn't have long until I reached the outskirts of Applewood. I wondered what I was going to find there? Was it the same there were they gathering their dead and burning them on street corners too?

  When I had left home, it had been in a panic, I had been so worried about just getting the hell away and protecting Thomas that I hadn't really started noticing things until we were well away from the biker gang in my street. Were they still there? Had they stayed or looted the area and left? I had seen body upon body driving home in search of Alice but so far, I had yet to see an actual living person. Was she still alive? Was I being totally crazy coming out the safety of Susanne and Eric's house to look for a crazy old bat who might well be dead, hoping she could answer some crazy arse questions I had going on in my head? What did it matter anyway? Did I really need to listen to some mad old lady? I was starting to talk myself out of going any further and had been so lost in my thoughts that I only just saw the rabbit that sprinted from the bushes and ran across the road in front of me. I swerved to miss it just in the nick of time, bloody lucky, stupid animal but it brought me out my thoughts away from the incessant questions.

  I knew where I was Ryan, Thomas and I would come not far from here to take Bert for a walk. God knows how I hadn't crashed as I'd been so lost in my head. I was now only a couple of minute outside of the village I lived in. I saw the slight slip road I had taken hundreds of times before that lead to a little car park and pulled into it. I stopped the car and got out needing some fresh air and to get my shit together. I was very lucky to not have had an accident then. I needed to remember I was on my own not something I could easily forget with the gut-wrenching pain I carried with me, but I was on my own in a whole different way I had no help, no police, no ambulance if society had crumbled as much as I had thought it had then I really was on my own.

  I needed to start being smart, thinking through my decisions, like was it really a good idea to just drive into the village?

  How many people still had working cars? Would they want mine? or was I just being totally dramatic? Yes, I had seen some bad stuff on the telly, the power had gone out, a virus was rampaging throughout the world which was leading to burning bodies in the street, a biker gang was roaming the streets shooting guns. Oh, and I've killed 3 people in the last two weeks. No definitely not being dramatic. Listing it like that it was pretty fucking obvious that Armageddon was a good bloody description of what was going on.

  Weirdly thinking of the world ending gave me back my resolve of gaining answers to my many questions. If I had to live in whatever it was I was living in, I couldn't do it without knowing what the hell was going on. With my mind set, I now had two choices.

  Why did it always seem like it two choices why couldn't I ever have a third. Sighing I got back to the problem at hand, I could either drive the car, take my chances that it hadn't become a sort after commodity and reasoned if I got into any kind of trouble I would be able to make a quick escape. I would also be able to get to the hospital and my home a lot quicker. I could be back at Susanne and Eric's in a couple of hours

  Or my second option, cars had become a sort after commodity, it would raise attention to my presence and make the likely hood of trouble all the more plausible. It was just coming up to two o'clock so I had at least six hours of light and could walk to find Alice and get back to my home in that time. I was in no rush as Bert and the horses were fine, I could park the car a little way in the woods under the cover of some bushes and have a better chance of keeping the jeep, I had supplies to last two maybe three days if needed in my backpack.

  The more I thought about it the more I thought my second option was safer. I got back in the jeep and drove it a bit further into the woods where I knew there was a load of bushes near a picnic area next to some benches. I had a fair idea it would hide the jeep from the road but if you drove into the woods and up to the picnic area the jeep would be visible but it was better than leaving it in the car park or on the side of the road. I knew if I walked through the woods a little, you could cross a field and it would bring to the edge of Applewood, that was the way I was going to go. Applewood wasn't very big in comparison with a normal sized English town but as it was the closest village to the main town of Ashbane, Over the years Applewood had started to grow in size. We had a little town in the village centre with a pub, a cafe, a bakery and few other shops, we had a mini supermarket to get your basic groceries. We had a primary School, the medical centre, a church and the community centre Ryan had been building. New housing estates had been built at the edge of the village and it meant Apple Wood probably now housed quite a few thousand people but it always felt like a few hundred everybody knew everybody you could walk the whole place in a day. I was hoping that was an advantage now I was on foot. I had wanted to go home first but now I was on foot I had to rethink my plans. The way I was going would bring me out to the west of town. Typically, I lived to the east and the hospital was more west than east so it would make sense to head there first then go home. Also, if Alice wasn't there maybe I could stay at home and try again in the morning. Walking in the woods with the sun shining down I could almost forget that there was a shit storm of trouble going on in the world, if it wasn't for the insistent questions going around and around in my head it was like they were on a loop now and more question kept being added to the loop making me feel like my brain was going to explode. I had tried everything I could think off to lock them away but nothing had worked. Making my way out of the woods and into a field. I got my first glimpse of Apple Wood in nearly two weeks, I had mixed feelings going back home with no Ryan or Thomas I wasn't sure it would even feel like home anymore. Remarkably the closer I got to the edge of the field all the questions in my head quieted and fell silent. I started to become more alert as if I was expecting to be attacked at any moment which let's face it with my luck lately it was a real possibility, the thought made me check for my knives to make sure they were still in place and to give me a boost of confidence. The edge of the field ended and a newly built housing estate been begun. I ran from hiding spot to hiding spot behind anything bigger enough to hide my presents, the village looked a mess houses were smashed up windows broken I saw two houses with fires blazing inside them on one street with nothing and no one about to stop it. Still, I didn't stop. I saw car after car on my way but only a few looked drivable though so I gave myself a little pat on the back for stashing the jeep up. I saw one car that looked to have bullet holes covering it like someone had gone to town on it with a bloody machine gun. It made me all the more weary and anxious.

  Several streets had piled up their dead like I had seen in Cherry wood and the other villages I had gone through, seeing the bodies sacked up here hit more than the other places I’d seen it in. I had to stop as my brain was whizzing. In the past I would have described myself as a little bit of a recluse, I didn't have any real close friends, had gone to work, come home and looked after Ryan and Thomas each night. Ryan had been the one to have the social life, have friends. If it wasn't for Ryan and Thomas, I often wondered if I would be a full on shut in. Ryan would get me go with him every now and then on nights out using the excuse of work and I needed to come and support him. I knew it was a ploy to get me to let my hair down, I would go and I would be polite and friendly, have a good time I even used to go out for the odd girl’s night but over the last year or so I had fallen into the pattern of making excuses and reasons why I was too busy and eventually the invitations stopped.

&nb
sp; Ryan had been telling me my intimacy issues were getting worse but I had chosen to ignore him thinking I was fine. Mine and Ryan's relationship was fine, I was close with Sol and loved my Thomas with every fibre of my being I spoke with Claire, Sol's ex every other month she was a friend. I chatted with the girls at work and a few of the mums at school. Why did I need to worry about anybody outside my little bubble?

  But knowing people you saw every day even if it was just a quick hi, nod of the head or good morning were lying dead not 20 feet away something inside me shifted. I'm not totally sure what it was and didn't have the time to figure it out now. I felt too exposed hiding behind a tiny bush on the edge of the greenery the kids would play on.

  After regaining my composure and taking a few deep breaths, I let the images of the dead go and ran the rest of the way to the medical centre it was only 3 more roads from where I was hiding.

  It felt like it had taken me ages to get there when I finally arrived, I had felt like a paranoid crank hiding, ducking and diving behind every inanimate object that was big enough to conceal me but after what I'd seen and done over the last few weeks I was in no hurry to have a repeat of any of it and the best way was to stay hidden.

  Applewood medical centre wasn't very big and only had one main entrance. Making sure the coast was clear, I approached the door keeping watch for anyone approaching and noticed that the glass had been broken in the door. To gain access usually you had to press a button and the doors would open automatically. Knowing the power was out I tried to just push the door instead but it was still locked. I thought about shouting out asking if anybody was here, but instantly thought better of it what if there was somebody inside and it wasn't a nice friendly doctor or Alice?

  It was clear the centre was no longer in use. With all the dead bodies I had seen I was sure the virus had surpassed the point where a little medical centre was any good plus I didn't know if Alice had even survived? She had already told me of one doctor dying had another replaced him or had it closed shortly after his death. With nothing left to lose I climbed in through the broken glass panel and crept inside, once on the other side I checked my weapons were still in place. The centre looked a state I was only by the doorway but it looked to me like the place had been ransacked. I couldn't hear anything so hopefully, anything of any value like the drugs and medical supplies had already been taken and nobody would be back but I couldn't count on that so I moved as quickly as I could and made my way to the reception desk.

  Obviously, Alice wasn't here but maybe I could find some paperwork with her address listed. If I found that I could go directly to her house and see if she was there. The reception was located just past the waiting area at the front of the building so I wouldn't have to go far, the magazine rack in the waiting area was sprawled across the floor and was littered with paper, chairs were upside down, a glass cabinet standing next to a wall was smashed with glass all over the floor, its contents gone probably stolen.

  It looked like the place hadn't been used in a while but whether that was from lack of power or people I didn't know. I had been here a couple of times in the past when Thomas had the chicken pox or when he was unwell with the flu and of course when I'd been taken here after I had clasped when I'd heard about Ryan so, I knew the general layout but apart from those few visits I had very little need of this place.

  I hoped that the employee's information was stored with the patient information because if not I had no idea where to look and I wanted to be in and out as quick as possible, having to sort through the whole centre would take quite a bit of time. I reached the front desk and hopped over to the other side. Every filling cabinet, draw, and cupboard had been opened. The cupboards were empty a few packets of bandages were left in one of the draws. The files were everywhere, people’s personal information scattered across the floor for anybody to see, not that many people were about to actually read it but still what had gone on here?

  Picking up a few bits of paper I skimmed a few lines here and there to see if I could find anything on Alice but most of it was a load of gobbled goop I couldn't understand as I wasn't a doctor or medical staff and the stuff I could read and understand had absolutely no use to me. There was a door to my left that led to another office looking room it had a fridge in the corner and a table in the middle that was laying upside down, it was probably the staff room. This room looked much like the reception, paper was strung all over the place, nothing was left in any of the cupboards. Walking to the fridge I opened it, I don't know what I was hoping to find in there but I found myself sighing when I saw it empty and closed the door.

  What had happened here? At first I had just presumed the place had been looted for the medicine it held after all if there was a crazy virus spreading through the streets where better to loot first then a medical centre but as I stood here looking about it felt like more than that, if I had to bet I would say someone had been looking for something, the paperwork I saw laying everywhere hadn't just been taken out and dumped on the ground, every file lay opened, looked through, like someone had been in search for something, but what? A cure maybe? A loved one’s records? The reasons were endless as no trace had been left behind from whoever had been here. I would just have to put it on the list of shit Sadie doesn't know and carry on my search for something to link Alice with an address so I could find her.

  I quietly looked around the other rooms, the centre was all on one floor so my search to determine if I was alone ended quite quickly each room had been empty apart from beds or half ripped out useless medical equipment, only the reception and the office to the back held any real paperwork.

  A white clock on the wall ticked loudly letting me know it was nearly half-past 12, I had a fair few hours of light left, was on my own here and felt fairly safe so decided to give myself a little while to search through the paperwork to see if I could find anything.

  I spent hours going through all the different files, nothing was still in order so that meant every piece of paper I came across needed to be read, it was giving me a headache. Needing to stretch my legs I got up and went back into the reception area, I had sat crossed legged and was now paying the price with pin and needles shooting from my toes to my feet and up my leg I hopped up and down like a crazy person trying to get the blood back down to my toes as fast as possible when the feeling finally stopped and I could stand normally.

  I glanced at clock and it read 6:51pm. My god was it really that late. I had known I had spent a while reading but I hadn't realised it had gotten that late and I'd only looked through about a quarter of the way through all the paperwork and files. There was no way I was getting through the rest of this today. That meant coming back tomorrow, still, if I got here early hopefully I could find something before tomorrow ended and I would be one step closer to finally having some questions answered. In the meantime, I could take a load with me and go through it tonight. If I was really lucky I wouldn't even have to come back here tomorrow. I was busy filling my bag with pieces of paper when I heard something. I froze and tried to listen if something was out there or whether it was my mind playing tricks on me when I heard it again, it sounded like a cough, then I heard mumbling noises. Was somebody coming here? I had to move now but with only one entrance I was stuck.

  The voices as I could now identify the mumbling as voices were getting closer. I wondered for a second if whoever it was, was friendly but was jolted out my thoughts with what sounded like another cough and more talking.

  “How much do you think we’re get for…”

  “Shhhhh Glen, stop fucking talking. Boss said the fucking little bitch is in here and we don't want her to hear us, yet...”

  The way the man had said yet lingered with a promise that soon whoever it was they were looking for would know they were they there and that person wouldn't like it. Surely that person wasn't me but I was the only one here.

  My mind raced, I needed a way out and fast, tiptoeing I crept back into the office and prayed that the window
wasn't locked as I approached it.

  Who the hell was the boss? It sounded like he had put a price on someone’s head. He had said bitch so that meant it was a woman they were looking for.

  The window was a sash window; therefore, the lock was more like a nut and screw; once the nut was loose enough you could move the screw locking the window in place and open it.

  I tried to unscrew the nut only it was on really tight and my hands were all slippery from the sweat, as my seconds dwindled away I became more and more panicked I couldn't let them find me. I heard glass crunch under a foot and had thought my time had run out they were in and going past the cabinet I had spotted in the waiting area.

  "For fuck sake Glen. Why did the boss send me with such a fat bastard suck that fat fucking gut of yours in and get in there so I can get in."

  Thankfully they must still be by the front entrance, I had forgotten about the glass out there. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath while wiping my hands on my jeans to dry them off I was going to try one more time if I couldn’t open it by hand I was going to smash it and run. Grabbing the nut as tightly as I could I twisted, praying at the same time it would release its grip so I could get out. The nut suddenly started unwinding I knew I only had seconds to spare before they were both through the door and making their way towards me. As quietly as I could I lifted the sash window up and threw my bag out. Not a second later I heard a smash of the entrance door as it hit the wall. Whoever the other one was must have got tired of waiting for Glen to get through the door and kicked it in. As I threw myself out the window I heard the other man say something like