As the Light Dies

by M. D. Woodham

  Ann laughed.“I think so too,”she said. Behind the makeshift beds Dean noticed Ann had placed four office chairs around the Relaxation Suite attendant’s desk. There was an A to Z of the town on the desk along with some notepaper and some pens.

  Ann saw him looking and said,“I found the A to Z in the office and thought we’d use it to plan a route for the morning.”

  “Yea,”said Dean nodding,“great idea.”

  Also on the table was an assortment of crisps and chocolate bars. Keith saw them.

  “Oh cool, how did you get these?”he asked.

  “I improvised.”she said.

  Dean looked at her with raised eyebrows. She flashed him a cheeky grin and shrugged.“Better we use them than they just sit there and go to waste.”

  Dean nodded,“I don’t think management are gonna mind,”he said, then paused. The mention of management made him think of Brian. It made them all think about him. After a brief pause he continued.“God only knows what’s happening out there! Going by what we’re witnessing with the electricity and what we’ve heard about the military faltering and the sickness and even fatalities not to mention what’s happened to those people through there.”He swung a thumb over his shoulder pointing towards the barricade.“I think we’re gonna have to learn how to survive in these conditions, andquick!And that means taking what we can, when we can.”

  “Nah,”said Keith through a mouthful of crisps.“The army will be all over us by tomorrow, and they’ll turn this place in to a rescue centre. There’s an army base just along the road at Fort George....”Ann butted in,“There haven’t been troops stationed there for a long time. It’s just a museum now.”

  Keith swallowed.“Oh!”he said and they all went silent for a moment, before Dean spoke up again.“I think there might be a handful of troops stationed there from time to time, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever the military, or anyone else is doing to rescue people, right now we’re on our own, and it’s down to us to look after ourselves.”The others nodded.

  “We’ll sit around the table and agree on a route to take in the morning, and then tonight we’ll take turns sleeping with someone on watch all the time.”

  Ann nodded as she pulled out a chair, then as she started to sit down she froze mid squat.

  They all froze!

  Above the howling wind and the crashing thunder they all heard that strange shrieking gurgle! It reminded them all what was waiting for them outside hidden in the black snow!

  Keith tensed up and said,“Oh shit.Why do they do that? What’s fucking wrong with them?”

  Dean shushed him and said,“They’ve been affected by the ash somehow! You know that! Now C’mon, let’s plan some routes.”

  “Huh,”said Keith,“plan some routes!They’re fucking coming for us now!”

  “Calm down,”Dean ordered.“Those noises could’ve travelled on the wind. Besides we know they’re already in the building next door. We’re bound to hear them. NowC’monlets plan some routes, with backups so that we’ve got a plan of sorts in place. Then we all need to try and get some rest. Tomorrow could be a long day, and it might start sooner than we think.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Andy sat on a bench on the ground floor of the Eastgate Shopping Centre surrounded by deserted cafes as he trawled through all the newspapers and magazines he could find, gathering up as much information about the current situation that he could. It was hard to read much of anything without any form of light, but with his eyes fully adjusted he found that there was just enough ambient light for him to pick up the basics of what was going on, or at least what the press thought was going on. Leann and Collin had left him to it having sifted through several magazines and newspapers themselves and found that the stories were all very much the same, only written and laid out differently. Every one of them just as unhelpful as the last. All they found was hype and speculation. And Leann gave herself a headache trying to read with next to no light.

  They wandered around the ground floor and found a sandwich bar that had been left open. Desperate for some real food they made some sandwiches figuring they’d pay for it when everything settled back down again, but once they’d made them they found that they’d lost their appetites. They persevered knowing that they needed to eat but Leann couldn’t finish hers so wrapped it in foil to finish later. Collin finished his, but only because he forced himself to eat it, he knew he needed the energy. Andy urged them to eat what they could of the fresh food before it started going off and they were forced on to the pre-packaged stuff. He told them that he wanted to keep as many options open to them as possible, saying that they didn’t know how long they might be stuck in the shopping centre. Leann didn’t like what he had to say about having to stay in the Eastgate Centre, she needed to get home and back to her mum, but she didn’t challenge him, she was too tired to and she knew that they weren’t about to leave anytime soon, not for the next ten or twelve hours at least.

  After eating, Collin and Leann sat on a sofa that curled around one of the buildings large support pillars and compared what they’d both read about the situation. They were disappointed that they couldn’t find any reports about any kind of infection, or people’s skin tone changing or losing their voice, and there was nothing about anyone turning murderous,or even Cannibal!

  “I have to get home to my mum,”Leann told Collin,“she’ll be worried sick.”

  Collin nodded.

  “I just hope she doesn’t try to come looking for me, not with those freaks out there.”

  “I know what you mean,”said Collin,“I feel the same way about my grandparents.”He paused for a moment thinking and then said,“That’s if they’re still there.”

  “DON’T say that Collin!God that’s a horrible thing to say.”

  “I know, but we have to be real. There....“

  “I know,”said Leann,“I know, ok!Let’s just leave it at that!”

  Collin nodded and they both sat back in silence for a while, drifting off in to their own thoughts. Leann thought about her mum,She’s probably pacing up and down the kitchen right now,she thought picturing her, while Collin saw his grandparents in his mind’s eye. He saw his Gran having to persuade his granddad every five minutes not to leave the house to come looking for him, telling him it was too dangerous and too far. And she was right he thought, with those infected people out there he wouldn’t stand a chance. No one would!

  He had to fight to stop his vivid imagination wandering off and going too far with the situation. It frightened him and a tear ran down his cheek. He tried to concentrate on nothing else but the pile of graphic novels that he’d planned on buying with his Christmas money he’d most likely get from his grandparents, but it was no use, he couldn’t think about anything else but them, worried about him. He got up feeling the urge to move and started walking.

  “You ok?”asked Leann.

  “Yea,”he said as he walked off, towards the window.

  Andy heard movement and looked up to see Collin walking away.

  “What’s up?”he asked Leann nodding towards Collin.

  “He got upset talking about his grandparents,”she said.

  Andy nodded and said,“You too by the look of things!”seeing the red patches around her eyes.

  “Areyouok?”he asked.

  Leann nodded and rubbed her eyes wiping away any tears as quickly as she could.

  “Yea, I’m ok and I’m sure my mum’s fine as well.”

  Andy nodded and went back trawling the news articles letting them both have their space. By the window Collin peered across at the crashed bus, but he didn’t really see it. He was lost in thought, trying to convince himself that his grandparents would be ok and that despite their worry for him, were both safe and warm at home waiting for him. He tried to picture his granddad sitting back in his chair reading one of his books while his Gran attempted to knit some new multi-coloured creation in between trips to the kitchen to stir a pan of soup she was making.

  After a few
minutes Leann stood up and walked over to Collin, she wanted to make sure he was ok. As she moved closer she could see his shoulders rise and fall with his heavy breathing.

  Still upset,she thought and she had second thoughts wondering if she should leave him a little longer or not when lightning lit up the crashed bus outside where it was embedded in the side of the smashed bus stop that jutted out at all angles around the base of the leaning street lamp. She flinched a little as she raised her arm reaching for Collin’s shoulder and just as she laid her finger tips on the fabric of his jacket over his shoulder something crashed against the window from outside!

  Collin bit down on his lower lip making it bleed as he jumped back banging in to Leann nearly falling over her. Leann stumbled back and started screaming!

  Andy dropped the paper he was reading and jumped up looking for them, he saw them both by the window and gasped when he saw the horribly mauled figure pressed up against the window as it started slapping the glass! He started running towards them.

  Collin realised that the figure wasn’t going to break through the glass and stopped where he was.

  He stared at the figure in disbelief as Leann continued to back up behind him utterly terrified. She fell backwards tripping over her own feet as her legs turned to jelly with the shock. Andy quickly helped her up as he passed and walked her to the nearest seat as quickly as he could and sat her down. He held both her shoulders firmly feeling her shake and he said,“Leann it’s ok. It’s ok its outside, it can’t get in ok, just stay here and I’ll be back in a minute, OK!”

  She nodded unable to talk.

  “Good,”he said then turned and ran over to Collin.

  “Holy shit!” he said coming up beside Collin.“It’s the fucking bus driver!”

  Collin nodded, he was speechless. The bus driver they’d given up for dead opened its mouth and began to choke, then click and then gurgle as if finding its voice for the first time staring at them both with black eyes.

  “We better get back up stairs and out of sight,”said Andy,“or we’ll have them all plastered along these windows like we did next door.”He was almost unable to look at the bus driver. He had to keep looking away because it scared him to look at him, seeing a man like this wasn’t right. The man shouldn’t be up and walking around, not with the wounds he had. It was unnatural!

  Collin thought the exact same as Andy but hecouldn’ttake his eyesoff the driver.

  The man had a name badge pinned to a piece of tattered shirt that still clung to him that they hadn’t seen before. His name was Davie and he’d practically been taken apart!

  Davie’s face, if that’s what it was that clung to his lopsided head was nothing but a mess of shredded tissue that clung to facial bone that was barely concealed beneath what was left of Davie’s flesh. White bone and gristle bulged through the thin tissue almost visible around his two black eyes. His left jaw was completely exposed giving the impression that he was smiling at them with one side of his face. Where Davie’s right ear should’ve been there was a small black hole that glistened as it dribbled black blood down the side of his neck and over partly visible muscles where his flesh had been torn away. At the base of his neck on the left side there was a deep jagged gouge.

  Dog bite!thought Andy,no wonder his head’s lopsided.

  Davie tried to gurgle at them as he slapped the glass, smearing it with his infected blood. The damage to his throat only really let him utter the odd sound, mostly he just clicked and even the clicks were broken and fractured.

  “Thank God he can’t call loud enough to alert the others,”said Andy as Davie punched the glass with his left hand and they both saw how little there was left of it after feeding the dog. His right hand wasn’t much better but it still had three half digits. Then he slammed his face against the glass making the men flinch. He hit the glass so hard that he snapped his upper gum and knocked two of his teeth out.

  “Whoa Shit!” said Collin and bit down on his own teeth pressing his tongue against the inside of his upper teeth as Davie leaned against the window and lay there staring at them, longing for their flesh. He opened his mouth as if to show them his broken gum and clicked at them. They saw his wounded throat bobbing up and down trying to work and little globules of black goo flew at the glass and stuck there as he tried to call out!

  “How the hell can this be happening?”said Collin,“I mean how can he still be alive, the arteries in his neck have been torn to shreds. He should’ve bled to death!”

  “God only knows,”said Andy shaking his head.“C’mon let’s get upstairs, away from the windows before he draws more attention from the others. He might not be able to call out like the others but the others will hear him banging. C’mon.”

  They both turned and left Davie slapping and punching the glass behind them and went to Leann. Her legs were still like jelly from the shock and wouldn’t take her weight steadily, so they helped her up on to her feet taking an arm each and carried her up the dead escalator to the next level and out of sight.

  Despite her height she was light and easy to carry, and the three of them made it to the top of the escalator in seconds. Collin looked over his shoulder one last time before they moved out of sight. Davie, the now ex bus driver turned dog food turned black-blooded monster, was still there thrashing violently at the window making more noise than ever, even though they were far out of reach and probably out of his view now. Collin hoped it wouldn’t be long before he lost interest and moved on. If he didn’t Collin knew that they’d have problems, and sooner rather than later!

  Andy led the trio through the deserted shopping centre and took them straight to the Starbuck’s cafe on the second floor. It was an ideal spot, the lounge was L shaped and was situated on the corner of a junction between aisles with good views along three of the shopping centre’s main aisles. The counters were closed off and locked but that didn’t matter to them, they weren’t in the mood for coffee. Andy and Collin cleared the space around the edge of the lounge, moving tables and chairs and more of the trough like marble plant pots like the ones they’d used to barricade the doors on to the overpass. Once they’d cleared the area they repositioned three of the cafe’s dark green leather sofas around the edge of the lounge’s boundary and faced them out, giving them each a place to sit or sleep and to keep look out on occasion and check the approaching aisles.

  After sitting and calming back down again and keeping an eye on Leann for a while Andy nominated himself to take the first watch and he left Leann and Collin to settle down while he went walking the dark aisles checking and rechecking all the external windows and doors he could find while listening to the horrible calls constantly rising up from outside.

  He wondered why they were calling out.

  Had those infected freaks found another poor victim? Had they unearthed someone in hiding scared and confused? A shiver ran down his back at the thought and suddenly he was looking straight in to Thom’s pleading eyes hoping and praying for help as infected people started eating him alive! Andy stopped dead in his tracks and fought the image trying to push it from his mind thinking of all manner of things, apart from anything that might have anything to do with Thom.

  He shut his eyes tightly telling himself there was nothing he could possibly have done to save him. Absolutely nothing! If he had tried to drop down the steps to help him then he would have met the same fate.No!he told himself, there was nothing he could have done regardless of how much heor the others wanted to.

  He forced himself onwards and as he walked he tried to occupy his mind by looking at the various shop displays as he passed trying to remember the things he’d bought from them in the past. He tried to remember how much it had cost, how long it had lasted or who he’d bought it for, but it was no good, with every new call that rose up from the darkness outside Thom fought for attention inside his head, staring up at him, pleading for help with those horrified eyes as his flesh was pulled and torn from his body by squared off human teeth as people bit
and snapped their jaws devouring him. Andy moved on fighting his imagination with every call, welcoming the thunder when it came from above and drowned them out.

  Before he realised where he was he came to the barricaded doors they’d come through earlier.

  He stopped beside them and listened before looking through the window, he didn’t want to stir them up again by making himself known to them if they were still there. He listened for the count of three rumbles of thunder and couldn’t hear anything from the other side, the only sounds he could hear were coming from outside. Relieved he looked around the edge of one of the little square shatterproof windows and instantly jumped back from the door!

  There was no movement from the other end, the windows were still intact and the doors still closed but where he’d left the dead body of their infected attacker all that was left was a puddle of black goo- its blood - and leading away from the puddle of blood was a thick drag mark that led straight towards him and the barricaded doors.

  He dared to lean in close and look down. He saw the guy’s feet. A shoe had come off one of them and the foot he saw was shrivelled and black. There was no movement, the feet were motionless!

  He backed up a little and waited, listening. He was astounded that even with his wounds he’d still tried to follow them.This could be a big fucking problem,he thought while he listened and his emotions ran riot. He didn’t know whether he should be glad that he might not have killed someone. Or should he feel extremely guilty that he’d left someone in such a terrible condition crawling around with wounds thathe’dinflicted! After a short while of silence from the other side of the doors he turned to make his way back to their Starbucks camp and he heard a very light scraping noise. He froze and listened but the sound had stopped. He waited again, and when he didn’t hear anything else he dared to look back in to the overpass again as curiosity got the better of him. The man’s feet had moved out of sight!