As the Light Dies

by M. D. Woodham

  As her scream tapered off as the last of the air in her lungs left her she slid down the wall as far away from eager hands as she could knowing she was prolonging the inevitable, but still she hoped Jeff would burst through any second. Her scream was nothing but vapours now as she curled up on the corner, she felt her crotch dampen, she just let go; nothing mattered now.Nothing!

  She tucked her chin in to her chest making herself as small as possible. Something touched her hood, she tightened up even more clenching as tight as her muscles would let her before cramping up. She felt bodies jostle and move around, she heard grunting and shuffling scraping feet as they moved and pushed towards her. Fighting among themselves to be the first to reach her.

  She felt them clawing at her suit, almost tapping it with their brittle claw like hands. From inside she imagined that it was heavy rain and her mind suddenly whisked her away to safety, and with her eyes closed as tightly as possible she found herself inside on old memory standing beside her dad. She was holding his hand, it was twice the size of hers and it was rough and calloused from work but it was warm, and it was safe. They were standing on the shores of Loch Ness in the pelting rain watching for the monster. They’d stood there for over an hour watching the troubled waters as the heavy rain fell from dark skies. Her dad hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint to her nine year old self. He’d stood beside her the whole time, as long as she’d wanted to while she was certain that she was going to be the first one to see the monster in recent years, she was going to be the first on the scene and she was going to report everything.

  Even then she wanted to be a reporter and her dad knew it, but didn’t live long enough to see her dream come true. A fresh tear traced her already damp cheek and she was back in the hangar the dream shattered - probably forever.

  She dared to open her eyes and she saw a pair of orange legs pushing through the middle of the charred trunks around her, knocking them out of the way, working towards her. Then as she watched feeling a tiny seed of hope sprout within her more orange legs came in from the back of the charred forest around her. Her heart flipped. She sucked air between her teeth and looked up.

  She slapped away the burnt hands clawing and trying to grab a hold of her hood and her shoulders, and shoved two back as they leaned in towards her. The bright orange trousers grew nearer, they were working fast.I’m getting out, she thought,I’m going to make it.

  She slapped away more hands, faster now and then watched as the blackened monsters descending on her were hauled back out of the way and she saw Jeff blurry through her tears. She smiled and said,“Jeff you’ll get bitten.”

  He’s risking that to save me, she thought.After all the shit I put him through. Oh, thank God.

  She saw his mouth moving but couldn’t hear him over the gurgles.

  “What?”she said. But nothing changed, his mouth still moved and she still couldn’t hear him. She blinked her eyes frantically, trying to clear away the tears so that she could see him properly and her heart stopped.

  Jeff wasn’t talking to her. His mouth was moving but no words came out, instead he let out that ungodly dry clicking gurgle sound as he stared down at her with jet black eyes. A horrible hurtful look of victory passed over his wounded face as others rushed up behind him, fresh infected, quick and strong but he was in front, he was first in line and he was on her in an instant....

  CHAPTER 17

  Dean passed under the fiberglass flumes with Sam by his side as the chutes looped around each other overhead where they protruded from the leisure centre. Dean and the other two hadn’t found any sign of the missing men in the leisure centre anywhere. So Dean, sticking to his word had donned his outside gear again exchanging his tight fitting swim goggles for a pair of industrial eye protectors from the cleaning store, refitted Sam’s dust muzzle and left the leisure centre to see if he could find any sign of the men outside. So far he’d found nothing¸ and deep down he doubted he was going to, but he had to try. He had absolutely no idea why any of them would have abandoned the place, leaving it vulnerable to anyone that came along.

  He searched for tracks and anything that looked out of place or even recently moved. He checked maintenance hatches, tugged on padlocks and the likes, and so far everything was in order. None of the hatches were open,or had been in a while, and all the padlocks were still covered with dirty snow undisturbed until he made sure they were still locked.

  Lightning flickered across the sky illuminating the flumes turning them in to giant muted strobe lights for a second. Thunder followed almost on top of the lightning, so loud it made Dean’s shoulders twitch. Sam looked up feeling him tense up.“Ok boy,”he said assuring him, he felt sorry for Sam, he wasn’t great with thunder at the best of times and he looked sad wearing the muzzle, the thing looked so cumbersome and awkward.

  Better to be safe than sorry though, he thought and carried on. The thickness of the black snow came and went, at times when the visibility improved Dean could see maybe ten or fifteen feet in front of him, it was dark and hazy but he could still see, but then in the blink of an eye he couldn’t see his own outstretched hand.

  As they carried on around the building Dean caught sight of the tall conifer hedge opposite them thanks to the lightning. The tall hedge enclosed the outdoor playing fields. He hadn’t thought to check them before now and he wondered,What the hell would they be doing over there?

  He thought for a second, then said aloud to himself,“What the hell! It’s best to be sure”

  The view was gone in an instant but Dean could make his way across and back again with his eyes shut he’d done it so many times.“C’mon boy,”he said calling Sam and slowly the two of them crossed over the dune like black drifts towards the playing field. The tall conifers swam in to view through the murkiness as he came close and he noticed something odd about them.

  “That’s strange!”He said looking at them. All the conifers were dead and the ground was littered with layers of broken off brittle branches that must have broken under the weight of the snow or the force of the wind. They were black and brittle like they’d been burned to a crisp, instead of their usual supple and flexible dark green. Dean reached out and brushed his hand along the hedge and watched curiously as hundreds of the tiny branches just snapped off and fell to the ground at the slightest touch. The entire hedge was the same!

  The ash must be killing them! he thought.

  “C’mon boy,”he said, and Sam followed him along the line of dead trees towards the entrance in to the playing fields. Dean walked fast not wanting to be outside any longer than he had to be until he came to the cutaway between the dead trees that gave way to the entry gate that was closed and locked. Dean rattled the gate and called out and received no answer.

  He sighed and said,“Where the hell are they boy?”then,“Ok c’mon Sam, let’s go and check the athletics field round the back and that’ll be us finished, after that we’ll get back inside ok?”

  Sam whined enthusiastically and cocked his head and they headed back following their own tracks back to the leisure centre.

  Back beside the main building again they followed the dry stone wall that lead round from the back of the building and then all the way along the front of the leisure centre. Dean followed it along the length of the building knowing it would lead them to the edge of the athletics track and the gate. As they traced the wall struggling against the wind and the driving black snow and his thoughts turned back to his family.

  He was worried about his parents, it was getting colder and he knew how the cold affected his dad with his arthritis. He expected that his mum would be having to do everything by now.Probably had been for a week or two,he thought feeling guilty for not really knowing. One thing he knew for certain though was that she’d really be struggling to keep the place ticking over in these strange conditions. She’d be outside all the time, constantly checking on the chickens and the ducks cleaning their pens, feeding them and trying to keep them warm, and she’d be havin
g to do the same for dad as well, he thought as the bastard cold crippled him.

  As small as they thought the croft was with only four acres it was getting too big for them, dad’s arthritis was bad at the best of times but the cold made it ten times worse and he’d become a total cripple all through the winter by no fault of his own, leaving mum to keep everything in order through the harshest time of the year.

  God I hope they’re ok,he thought as he thought about Gavin. Dean wondered if he’d made it home yet, or even if he needed to. Maybe he’s there right now trying to figure out the gas stove, he thought. Turning it this way and that, getting frustrated completely ignoring the instructions. Dean smiled at the thought, but his smile faded fast as his thoughts turned to where Gavin could be if he wasn’t home. He could be stranded in the back of beyond in a broken down bus freezing to death or getting lost trying to make it back home, it didn’t bear thinking about. Dean’s hand slid off the end of the wall startling him from his thoughts, and his hand landed on the tall chain link fence that enclosed the athletics field at the back of the leisure centre.“Ah, here we go boy,”he said and Sam let out a triumphantWOOF.

  Dean searched the fence with both hands feeling for the gate, first he found one of the thick hinges and from there he quickly found the latch and the padlock. He tried the latch just in case but it was locked. Sam rubbed against his legs eager to carryon.“Hang on boy,”he said as he fished his keys out of his pocket and started to fumble with the key ring. The keys felt tiny and they were difficult to handle through his gloves, and zero visibility didn’t help matters. He persevered not really wanting to take his gloves off and he started trying keys.... Five down and still no luck; he was struggling to push the sixth in to the lock when Sam let out a deep growl!

  “Whoa boy, what’s up?”asked Dean almost jumping. Sam continued to growl ignoring him and he steadily built up in pitch until he let out a bark, and then another.

  “Hey boy!”said Dean, and then Sam went in to a barking frenzy. Dean could feel Sam beside him; he was tense flexing all of his muscles and he flinched with every bark putting in so much effort.

  Dean tried to look in to the direction Sam was facing but it was no use, he couldn’t see a thing.

  “Hey boy, whoa, c’mon what’s up?”said Dean.

  Sam carried on barking making Dean felt a little uneasy. Sam never behaved like this!

  Something must be up, he thought and then Sam stopped barking and went back to his deep powerful growl. Dean knelt down slightly and stroked Sam’s back.“What is it boy?”he asked.

  Sam nudged him with his muzzle, barked at him twice agitatedly before looking back around and starting to growl again. Dean knew Sam had sensed something that he didn’t like and he wasn’t going to calm any time soon, once again he tried to see what had Sam on guard but all he could see was a wall of dirty snow. Dean decided to call out.“Hello? Hello is anyone there?”

  There was no answer, but he did hear something, it was the sound of someone stepping in the snow, at least that’s what he thought he heard, that dull crunch when you step in fresh snow.“Who’s there?”he called but still got no answer. Sam let out a couple more barks breaking up his growl, then he started to scratch at the snow in front of him like he was marking his turf. He was on high alert, his barks were raw and frantic. Dean fumbled quickly with his keys trying to open the padlock, he didn’t like this. He tried one he was certain was the one before it didn’t work.

  “Shit!”he cursed.“C’mon.C’mon.”

  Sam had him spooked now and he didn’t want to be this side of the fence anymore. Sam was barking defensively now and he kept trying to claw off his muzzle, whining when it wouldn’t budge. Dean let another key slide down the key ring when it didn’t work and fumbled with the next one. He heard that sound of crunching snow again, it sounded close, a chill ran down his spine and Sam launched in to his most violent outburst yet, hopping madly up and down on his front legs literally howling.

  “Bingo!” said Dean as the padlock sprang open. He unhitched it and slid back the latch. The gate was hard to open because of the snow built up around the bottom, he used his foot to scrape away the snow as fast as he could sure that he could hear clear footsteps coming towards him through the snow. He heaved the gate open far enough for him to squeeze through and he grabbed Sam’s collar and hauled him through with him still hopping and barking like a wild dog. Dean slammed the gate, latched it and quickly looped the padlock back through and clasped it locked.

  He couldn’t get his hands away from the gate fast enough and as soon as the padlock clicked shut he snatched his hands away and hopped back from the gate feeling another shiver race down his back. He heard that crunch in the snow again between Sam’s barks. Sam heard it too and burst out barking again and jumped up against the fence going crazy.

  “Sam, it’s ok boy, it’s ok,”said Dean trying to calm him, but it had no effect so he pulled him off the gate and away from the fence stroking his back.“It’s ok boy,”he said,“the gate is locked. No-one’s getting in, ok boy. Were safe in here.”

  Sam heard him and stopped barking, but Dean could feel that he was still tense.

  “C’mon boy, let’s check out the athletics stadium and get back inside, eh?”

  Sam whined not wanting to budge, so Dean had to pull him further away from the gate and gradually he calmed down enough for Dean to let go of him. He stopped growling and started trotting along by Dean’s side and they started making their way across the athletics track. He still let out the occasional growl looking back from time to time, but nothing came of it.

  They traced their way around the perimeter of the athletics field calling out now and then but never getting an answer. Occasionally the ash thinned out just enough and Dean could look around but nothing showed up, there were no signs that anyone had passed this way. They pushed on until they started approaching the tiered spectator seating banking. Dean didn’t hold any hope that he was going to find the men or any clues to their whereabouts here, but he’d be able to say he hadn’t left any stone unturned.Not one!

  They reached the spectator seating and Dean saw that the equipment store housed underneath was closed and locked. He gave the padlock a reassuring tug as he passed just in case.... it was locked. They walked along the front of the seating until they reached the first set of access steps that led up to the back row and Dean stepped in. The lower half of the bank of folding seats was buried under a layer of discoloured snow. He scanned the rows of seats. No-one was here and nothing was out of place. There was nothing to suggest anyone had been here recently.No surprise he thought and sighed as Sam took off up the steps in front of him sniffing between the rows.

  “Go get em boy,”said Dean just like he did when he picked up the scent of some critter in the woods when they were out walking and he followed him up getting out of the bitter wind for a minute.

  The untouched dirty snow crunched under his feet, it sounded loud within the seating canopy, and it reminded him of the gate.

  That was definitely someone walking around,he thought. Though why they didn’t answer baffled him. He made his way to the top where it was still mostly clear of dirty snow and started walking along the back row towards the opposite side following Sam. As he reached the halfway mark he unfolded a seat brushed it clean out of habit and sat down.

  He felt secure high up and out of the way as he watched the blackened snow rush pass the huge mouth of the canopy, and the lightning as it illuminated the oval field beyond and the blocky leisure centre across the other side. He had no choice but to listen to the howling wind as it blasted the alloy canopy peppering it with the polluted snow and howling around its unyielding edges.

  Cool air rushed up through the empty bleacher seating to meet him as he sat hunched over with his elbows on his knees watching and listening. He checked on Sam, he seemed content for now sniffing about the place until thunder crashed in the heavens making him yelp and then growl. Dean actually thought for a second t
hat it felt like it actually made the seating canopy rumble.

  He thought about the situation and how none of it made any sense. The mass power cuts, the wide spread illness, even death! The violence and hysteria reported on TV!Everythinghad started falling apart so quickly, it almost felt like he had been asleep for a week, not ten hours or so. He thought about Brian, Jonathan and Gary. Did they have to evacuate for some reason, had he passed by them unknowingly in this weird shitty weather? Maybe they’d even been ordered out.

  What else could’ve happened, he wondered.What else could he do?

  He thought for a moment and before long his mind wondered back to his parents and his brother. Once things were sorted out here, however things turned out, they were his main priority, his family and until then he hoped they were all holding up ok. Sam started barking again. Dean looked up with a jolt looking for him, he couldn’t see Sam anywhere, there was no sign of him.

  Dean called out,“Sam!Sam boy where are you? C’mon boy, come back Sam.”

  The barking continued but still no sign of Sam!

  “SHIT!” he cursed and stood up looking around, he couldn’t see him, so he started running back along the row of seats and then back down the steps sure that Sam’s barking was coming from that general direction, out in the athletics field somewhere. He slid and slipped the whole way down calling out for Sam worried something was up. As he reached the bottom of the steps he missed a step. He reached out quickly to grab one of the seat backs to save himself but his hand slid clean of the cold plastic and he fell down the last few steps slamming his hip in to the hard concrete at the bottom.

  “SHIT!” he cursed getting back up rubbing his hip and Sam shot passed him running full pelt along the front of the seating enclosure towards the other end barking like a mad dog.

  “SAM!”Dean yelled after him, but with no effect. Sam carried on and in the space of two seconds he disappeared out of sight. Dean chased after him as fast as he could, forced to limp from the pain in his hip and slowed by the poor visibility. The last thing he wanted to do was run in to something and injure himself even more. He tried listening to Sam’s barks as he ran trying to home in on them, and that’s when he heard the distinct metallic rattle of the chain link fence.