by Ryan Casey
Holly
The second Holly stepped inside the supermarket, she knew the world had changed already.
The supermarket was busy in the early hours, for one. And there was a strange feel to the place. Never underestimate just how creepy a supermarket was when the barrage of artificial lighting was out, and it was filled with desperate people.
She looked around. Held her breath. Tried to get her thoughts in order—tried to get a plan together of the foods she needed to gather, the supplies she needed to gather.
“Where do we start, genius?” Benny said, a smirk on his face. Holly had to admire his ability to switch off from the severity of a situation, even when it was as dire as this one was.
Holly took a few deep breaths, composed herself. She ran through her mind all the things that Dad taught her. He was a former military man, after all. Didn’t spend long in the military, but did one tour of Afghanistan that he didn’t like to talk about too much. Mum always used to go on at him to be more open; to let the thoughts and emotions bubble to the surface, because that was the only way he was ever going to heal.
But Dad kept himself bottled up. He kept the truth of what happened hidden.
Except for all the things he taught her about survival.
“We need a bag, for a start,” Holly said.
Benny smirked. “A bag?”
“Most people assume camouflage is the best colour to go for. But the truth is, camo is a double-edged sword. Because camouflage has military connotations, so it’s more likely someone will try to rob you.”
“Wow,” Harriet said. “I’ll give it to you. You seem to know your stuff.”
Holly nodded. “The best colour to go for is black or dark blue. Something that doesn’t stand out for any reason.”
“And when we find those, what’re we supposed to fill our rucksacks with?”
Holly ran through the best foods they were to target. Tinned foods. Cheeses. Protein bars. It was a waste of time going for the fresh meat because it’d be worthless in no time. But things like jerky and dried meats were handy.
Also, things like noodles, rice, pasta—anything that could be done in water was going to be extremely helpful.
“So basically the diet Benny was on beforehand,” Kumal said.
Benny frowned. “Alright, Asian Jamie Oliver. Never seen you cook anything that doesn’t come out of a packet.”
Holly went on to explain the other things that’d be worth looking for to add to their “bug out bags,” as Dad would’ve called them. Little things like purification tablets, which they could use on any water, and a metal water bottle that they could drink rainwater from. Portable stoves. Underwear. First aid kits, hand sanitisers, and baby wipes. Even just simple pans and matches. Because sure, as nice a thought as it was that they might find a nice house somewhere to shack down in while they rode this out, Holly was thinking long term. And she was thinking wilderness survival.
As scary as it was, anyway.
“Right,” Holly said. “The main thing is, don’t overcomplicate things. Food. Meds. Water. The rest, we can work towards.”
“And what about when it runs out?” Gina asked.
Holly could see the fear on her face. She felt it too, of course. But there was something different inside her. A new emotion, one she hadn’t felt in a long time. It must’ve been the same emotion that sparked when she involved and plunged herself into her hobbies. That focus. That drive.
“Don’t worry about that just yet,” Holly said. “After all, we’ve got to get through the first few days, first. Right?”
She said it with the intention of reassuring Gina. It didn’t seem to put her at ease.
They went off their different ways, with different tasks allocated between them. Holly and Benny were searching for the food. Gina and Harriet were on water and some clothing. And Kumal was looking for tools like matches and first aid on his own. He was a practical guy who listened. She wasn’t concerned he might screw up in any way.
She went off, Benny by her side. Even though she knew she was one step ahead of the crowd, she was amazed just how many people were going for the short term options. The fruits, the meats, things like that. And sure, things like baked beans and canned tuna had been mostly wiped out already.
But there were other beans like chickpeas and lentils that people seemed less enthusiastic about taking. Stuff like peanut butter, and tinned sardines, all pretty much untouched for now. Funny, really. End of the world as we know it and people are still getting hung up on their dietary preferences.
“I guess this is the end of my bulking routine, then,” Benny said.
Holly frowned as she packed a few items into her newly acquired black bag. Sure, they were technically looting… but that was just the way it had to be right now. She’d happily repay what she owed when the power came back on—if the power came back on. “Bulking routine? You had a bulking routine?”
“Well, yeah,” Benny said, tensing his bicep. “Can’t you tell?”
“Still waiting to see evidence of that bulking. But anyway. There’s no reason why your bulking should have to end. Protein powders are going to be pretty handy going forward.”
Benny’s eyes lit up. “Oh shit. Good point. We’re all going to be bulking at this rate.”
Holly smiled.
“I’m sorry about your dad,” Benny said.
Holly stopped, then. She felt frozen in time by Benny’s words. “What about him?”
He brushed his hands through his hair. “I heard what happened. Down at the ballet hall. That’s pretty sucky.”
“Yeah, well,” Holly said. “He has a few issues. But he’s working through them. Wherever he is.”
“You’ll find him again. I know you say this is the end or some shit. And sure, I’m ready to roll with that idea—knowing what this government’s like. But I still believe that, like, people find each other. When they care enough, they find each other. It’s like a magnet.”
Holly frowned.
“What?” Benny said.
“Sorry,” Holly said. “It’s just for a minute there, it sounded like you were trying to say something philosophical.”
“How did it go?”
“Like a chimp just discovered English,” she said.
Benny laughed. And she laughed too. And at this moment, she started to see hope. At this moment, despite their surroundings, despite the chaos, she started to believe that maybe, just maybe, there was a future in this world as long as they stuck together.
They got together. Gina had done well, as had Harriet and Kumal. Kumal had even thrown in a few candles and some duct tape, which showed good intuition—intuition that was going to take them far.
“So what now?” Kumal asked.
Holly went to speak.
But then she stopped.
She stopped when she saw who was standing at the opposite end of the supermarket aisle to them.
“Oh shit,” Benny said. “Not this arsehole.”
But it wasn’t just any arsehole. It was Colin from the first year of college, and his two goons, Dave and Frank.
And they were standing in their way.
“Nice looking stuff you’ve got there, weirdos,” Colin said. “How about you let us take a look?”
In the light of the moon, Holly saw something that made her stomach turn.
The glint of a knife in Colin’s hand, as he walked towards them…
Mike
It was at least another half hour before Alison finally stepped out of her house.
Mike looked around as she stood there in the light of the moon. He could see from the tears on her face that she’d been crying, but she’d attempted to wipe them away; to make it look like she hadn’t been emotional at all.
But of course she’d been emotional. She’d just found her mum, dead. Mike knew what it was like to lose someone. Grief was a process that didn’t just fix overnight.
“Surprised you’re still here,” Alison said, walking to Mike
’s side.
Mike held his ground. To be honest, even he was surprised he’d stayed here too, Arya by his side. He was convinced that he was just going to leave this place and separate from Alison as soon as she got home. Then he could focus on going back home himself—on finding Holly and making sure she was okay.
But he was still here.
Something had kept him here.
He took a deep breath, shrugged. “I guess I figured you wouldn’t want to be alone after what you just found.”
Alison covered her face with her hands, let out a sigh that sounded like it’d been building for quite some time. “Mum hadn’t been well for a long time. I’d kind of prepared myself, you know? Readied myself for the worst. But you can never really prepare yourself for something like this. It’s… it’s not like an exam that you can just revise for. It’s life.”
Mike nodded. He heard what Alison was saying, loud and clear. “It doesn’t get easier,” he said. “I’d love to say it does, but it doesn’t. Only… you find new ways of managing it. New ways of dealing with the emotions.”
“I’m guessing yours is drink?”
He shot a glance at Alison, then. He hadn’t been expecting that. It’d come out of nowhere.
But at the same time… hell, could he really argue with what she’d said? Drink was his coping mechanism. The sooner he saw that, the sooner he recognised it, the sooner he could start dealing with it—or so people said.
She shook her head then, and cuddled up to Arya, who seemed to be taking to Alison remarkably swiftly. “You don’t have to answer that question,” she said. “Sometimes it’s enough to look in someone’s eyes and know the answer.”
Mike thought about the ways Holly had looked at him after how he’d behaved since Caitlin’s death. He knew that look all too well.
“My mum. She was my rock after I separated with Hassan. Things went south soon after we split. I lost my focus on the job. Loneliness was driving me mad. I had no choice but to go back home, you know? But when I got back there, well, I kind of got into bad habits. Lazy habits. I regressed to bloody teenage behaviours. Really, my job was all I had. But even that was going downhill. That’s why arresting you for what you’d done… well, that gave me a sense of purpose, I guess.”
A pause. Mike felt like Alison had those words on her chest for a long time, and that now, finally, everything was unloading.
“So I guess you’ll still be wanting to go separate ways, hmm?”
Mike looked around at Alison. And as much as the thought of spending time with someone else for any extended period made him recoil… he just couldn’t get past the sense that separating from her would be a bad idea. “I don’t think you’ll make it on your own.”
She puffed out her lips, let out a little chuckle. She was obviously still in shock about her mum. “Aren’t you full of yourself?”
“I’m just saying. I—”
“You know stuff. I get it. I’m just worried I’d be cramping your style. And besides. You said you didn’t like dogs.”
Mike stood up from the ground and sighed. He thought about agreeing with Alison; thought about telling her that it’d probably be for the best if they did split up, go their separate ways.
But it soon became clear to Mike, that wasn’t going to be the way this went down.
“We should go together,” he said.
“What?”
“We should go together.”
“I’m sorry,” Alison said. “You were mumbling then. I didn’t quite hear you.”
Mike frowned. “If the blackout’s as bad as I think it is, it isn’t safe to be split up and separated. We should be gathering supplies together. We should be looking for safe places to shelter together, whether that’s my place which is a bit more out in the country, or… or somewhere else.”
He saw Alison tilt her head, saw her considering it. “Then that’s what we should do, right?”
Mike looked along the street. He looked at the fallen telegraph poles which had sizzled with electricity when the blast struck. He looked at the cars, some of them smashed into one another, most of them abandoned. He looked at the movement in the houses, as people hid inside wondering when the light was going to come back.
And he looked right down the street, right in the direction of his home, right to where his daughter just had to be.
“I’ve made some errors of judgement in my past,” Mike said. “One of them earlier on, when you pulled me over. But that’s not going to happen again. Not in this world. Because there’s no room for failure. Not anymore.”
“Enough with the grand speeches,” Alison said. “What exactly are you saying?”
Mike turned around. Took a deep breath. Tightened his grip on Arya’s lead. “It’s time to go find my daughter,” he said. “Together. Are you in?”
Alison half-smiled. Nodded. “I am. There’s just… there’s something I need to do first.”
Mike looked beyond her to where she’d turned.
And he saw a shovel resting against the wall beside the front door.
“It’s not fair to leave her in there. It’s not fair to just leave her lying there at the top of the stairs like that. After—after everything she did for me.”
Mike wanted to tell Alison there wasn’t enough time. That they had to get moving. Because every moment counted right now.
But instead, he found himself sighing, then walking towards Alison’s front door.
“Come on,” he said, as he followed Alison, shovel in hand. “Let’s get this done with.”
Holly
Colin walked towards Holly and her friends, knife in hand.
There’s something worth knowing about Colin, for the sake of this altercation. Something that takes us out of the perspective of Holly and into the mind of Colin himself. Because little to Holly’s knowledge, Colin had spent the best part of four years developing a bigger and bigger crush on her. He’s had a thing for her ever since he first met her, even though she’s in the year below. He visited her ballet hall to watch her dance, unbeknownst to her. He even wrote letters to her, which of course he dropped off anonymously. Once, he even sent her a threatening letter, just to see if he could provoke some kind of reaction out of her—some kind of strong, intense feeling.
When she hadn’t even batted an eyelid, Colin wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
And then Holly started hanging around with Benny and things changed all over again.
Because Colin had never liked Benny. He thought he was a weirdo, and weirdos deserved to be called out for what they were.
It wasn’t bullying. It was just natural selection. It was just life.
But seeing this loser with Holly—the girl he’d fancied for so long—it made Colin’s blood boil.
Right now, he was feeling different. Mostly because the power had gone, and there was talk that it wasn’t going to be coming back on anytime soon.
And the lack of power had him feeling… different.
Like anything was possible.
Anything.
But Holly didn’t know any of this.
All she knew was this creep and his two mates were walking towards her.
And that the main creep—Colin—had a knife in his hand.
“Looks like you’ve got a nice bit of kit there, Belly,” Colin said, using the nickname he’d always given Benny—even though Benny had shed a hell of a lot of pounds in the last year or so. “Why don’t you pour it out on the floor for us, let us all take a look? No need to be greedy now.”
“Colin, don’t be a prick,” Holly said.
She wasn’t sure where the courage to say those words came from. But she could tell from the way Colin’s gaze snapped towards her, the way he glared at her, that he didn’t like them one bit. It was like they showed him up somehow. Like he wasn’t expecting to be challenged.
“I’m not being a prick,” he said. “I’d say you and your weirdo mates are being pricks. Aren’t they a bit old to be hanging around wit
h a kid like you, anyway?”
“A kid like her?” Harriet said. “You’ve spent the last few years wanking over her. You’re our age. What does that make you?”
Holly felt a few things when Harriet said that. Surprised that she’d jumped to her defence at once. And also pretty pleased. Maybe Harriet wasn’t so bad after all.
Colin’s friends smirked when Harriet said that, too. And Colin saw their reaction and he clearly didn’t like it, his cheeks flushing. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not an idiot,” Harriet said. “None of us are. Well, except Holly if she didn’t realise how much you’ve been lusting over her for ages.”
Oh. Back to normal Harriet now. Thanks for that.
More laughs from Colin’s friends. Even Gina looked like she was trying to stifle a laugh right now.
And all this time, Colin just stood there, cheeks flushing, knife in his shaking hand.
All this time, he looked into Holly’s eyes, and Holly got the sense that maybe what Harriet said wasn’t so untrue after all.
“Just get the hell out of our way, Colin,” Kumal said.
“Hey. You don’t get to give orders.”
“Why? Because I’m Asian?”
“Don’t play the race card with me.”
“Oh yeah. My bad. I forgot you were an incredibly tolerant person. Exactly why you Tipp-Exed “Paki bastard” onto Mr Yassin’s briefcase in school that day, right?”
A slight look of pride on Colin’s face, which was actually kind of disgusting. “Nobody ever proved that was me.”
“Do a DNA sample on that bottle of Tipp-Ex. Probably covered in your jizz after your wanking over Holly.”
Something happened then. Something which caused a shift.
And it was something so simple as a laugh.
A laugh from the wrong person at the wrong time.
Benny.
The second he laughed, Colin turned to him.
He clearly didn’t like the piss being taken out of him. But that look in his eyes right now… it was like this was the final straw. Like this was the thing that truly snapped him.