As the Light Dies

by M. D. Woodham

  Gavin snapped his head around tracing their enclosing walls and saw that the jagged glass along the top of the wall encased the entire yard. He went quiet feeling stupid for not checking and waited by his brother ready to take the chairs from him when he passed them over.

  Ann watched them as she waited nervously. She could hear the infected giving the kitchen door hell.They’d be through any second,she thought. She crossed her fingers on both of her hands willing Dean to hurry. Dean moved around gently on top of the wall trying to get his foot through the plastic spindles in the chair backs. He was starting to think he was going to have to drop back down and utilise the broken table somehow. Maybe break off a leg and use that to hook through the chairs and lift them over. All he was doing was pushing them further away, because his foot wouldn’t fit through the gap between the spindles.

  He was extremely aware of the screeching gurgles and the constant banging against the door a few yards back when suddenly by chance the toe of his boot slipped through a gap in the spindles. He hoisted them up with his leg and grabbed them off his foot before he could drop them and swung them over the wall. Gavin took a hold of them, and as he opened his mouth to say something to his brother the back door to the restaurant kitchens crashed open! Dean jolted upright hearing the noise and felt sharp edges beneath him. He ignored them and looked back towards the kitchen yard. He could only see hazy movement through the ash but the sound alone let him know where they were and that there were lots of them!

  The infected on their trail now numbered in the thirties, maybe more!

  All the noise had drawn others as they called and screeched with their infected, broken vocal cords and crashed around. Dean dropped down beside his brother and Gavin said,“Shit Dean! It sounds like there’s a fucking army of them over there!”

  Dean nodded,“I couldn’t see much but it sounds that way huh? We better hurry, they’ll only keep drawing more attention.”

  They hurried across the bleak overgrown yard to the last wall. The polluted snow settled in what looked like large humps all over the yard where the weight of the snow bent over the unkept tall grass. Beside the opposite wall, Gavin levelled the plastic chairs against the wall ready for Ann to climb over, and then he froze.

  They all did!

  There was a noise close by, far too close for comfort for what it was!

  It was a familiar noise. One they all recognised. Even Ann!

  Sam was quick to react, he’d spun around with a growl in his throat a fraction of a second before any of them heard the sound, and he placed himself between them and the tall blocky man now standing in the building’s back doorway behind them.

  Sam’s hair stood on end as he crouched ready to pounce letting out a deep growl.

  The sound that had stopped them dead in their tracks was one that both brothers had imitated a thousand times or more when they were boys.

  Pointed straight at them was a twelve gauge pump action shotgun that had just been primed!

  They all stared at the threatening black hole at the end of the long barrel - gobsmacked!

  The guy holding the gun filled the doorway. He was dressed from head to toe in grey and white winter camouflage gear and wore a full facial paint balling mask that hid his face.

  “What the fuck are you doing in my yard?”he barked in a deep voice.

  Each of them raised both hands with their palms facing out in surrender, and for a moment none of them could speak. Sam was the only one making any noise with his evenly pitched growl.

  Something clattered to the ground in the yard thrown mindlessly by an infected person and the calls grew louder, closer!

  All of them apart from the gunman flinched and Dean spoke up, he knew the infected were in another yard because the backyard to the restaurant was bare.

  They’re moving closer,he thought and right now he and the others weren’t going anywhere.

  “We’re just trying to get to the Eastgate Centre,”he said.

  “Why?”barked the gunman.

  “We’re hoping that there’s been a rescue centre set up there and that someone there can tell us what’s going on, you know. Like what’s happening to people, and even the dogs.”

  “You weren’t sneaking around the back here to try and break in and loot my place then?”

  The three of them shook their heads. Dean said,“No,not at all.”

  “That was a pretty nifty move you pulled getting over my wall, looked like you done it before. It looked like maybe it was planned.”

  “No,”said Dean,“not at all, I promise. After we find the rescue centre and find out what’s going on, me and my brother are gonna head home to our folks, and we’re gonna drop our friend back home with her family on our way. All we want to do is find out what’s going on and then go home. See how our folks are holding up and stay there till this whole thing blows over.”

  The gunman didn’t respond, he just stared at them.

  Dean tried again, almost pleading,“We were going down the street but it was blocked to us, so we hid, but then we were found and we had to fight and we escaped in to one of the backyards further along and started hopping the walls and that’s why we passed through your yard, honest.”

  The guy glanced towards the noises and then looked back at Dean.“What’s your name?”he said.“I’m Dean, and that’s....”

  “Who’s the woman?”

  “That’s what I was just....”The man grunted and shifted the barrel a little towards Dean. Sam barked and inched a little closer to the guy.“Sam, whoa boy. It’s ok. Stay there boy,”said Dean.“I’m sorry,”he said pressing out his palms desperate and very aware of the sound of the infected growing nearer every second.

  “That’s Ann,”he blurted,“she’s a work colleague of mine from the leisure centre, there was another with us but he didn’t make it, and that’s my brother Gavin. Me and Gavin are gonna drop her home on our way to our parents. We don’t mean you any harm, and we weren’t going to break in. We don’t even know what building we’re behind.”

  The man sized them all up for a moment thinking, he saw Deans messy meat cleaver looped through his belt.“That don’t look very harmless,”he said nodding towards it.

  “It just saved our lives,”said Dean,“I picked it up a minute ago while we were being chased through the kitchens in the restaurant up the top of the street.”

  “Looting were you?”

  “No!I told you we were hiding.”

  “Didn’t do a very good job did you.”

  “Three infected dogs found us. They must’ve caught our scent.”said Dean.

  The calls were much louder now. They were too loud. They were getting too close!

  Something else crashed nearby as it was thrown or kicked out of the way, then a window shattered, and a large one by the sound of it, and the calls all roared in unison!

  The man backed up a step in to his doorway, he glanced back the way they’d come looking towards the noise.“They’re getting close,”he said.“Better get inside.”

  He inched further back as the noise intensified.“C’mon!” he said lowering the barrel of the shotgun and he nodded towards the door as he backed up. The three of them glanced at each other.

  Dean nodded at the other two as a discoloured hand reached up over the broken bottles. They’d reached the yard next door. Sharp jagged edges pierced right through the palm of the hand as it gripped the wall. It didn’t flinch or pull back, it just seemed to get a better grip, using its pierced hand like a hook. It was joined by another hand and then another beside that one.

  “I’m going!”said the gunman disappearing back inside.

  “I will be closing the door.”he urged.

  Dean reached out and grabbed Sam by his collar,“C’mon,”he said and led the way inside. The others hesitantly followed, and they all disappeared through the door.

  The door closed quietly behind them, it closed with a firmka-chunk, followed by the sound of multiple locks being locked and several bolts sl
iding in to position locking the door firmly in place....

  CHAPTER 30

  Andy, Collin and Leann sat in silence in the deserted coffee shop camp trying to justify what had just happened in their heads, and they were having trouble doing so.

  After an extended silence Andy looked up from his chair and said,“It just shows, even the uninfected can’t be trusted. Little arseholes, it didn’t have to end that way,nothing like it.”

  “Why would they want to hurt us?”said Leann leaning forwards on the edge of her sofa.“We were going to take them in and help them.”

  “Like I said,”said Andy,“they were fucking arseholes. I knew they were opportunistic pricks but I thought it’d work out for us all you know. After a few harsh words said and all that. It’s not like we were all gonna be cooped up in here in each other’s way. The place is big enough for an army to stay in. They gotthemselveskilled, it wasn’t any of our faults, so don’t feel guilty either of you. They meant to do us harm. They would’ve done if they’d gotten in.”

  Leann and Collin nodded.

  Andy continued,“It’s a good job you saw what you did and hesitated Collin, or God knows what would have happened. Who knows what the hell they were thinking of doing?”

  When Andy finished they sat in silence again for a little while mulling things over until eventually Andy stood up.“I really do think our best bet is to stay put for as long as we can. Just think about it for a bit,”he said and started to wander off, down one of the aisles.

  “Where are you going?”called Leann.

  He called back over his shoulder without looking around,“Just gonna take a look around, make sure we’re still secure.”

  “Oh, ok,”said Leann and she shuffled in to the corner of her sofa and pulled her feet in tight and hugged her knees. She looked over at Collin. He was sitting hunched over the edge of his sofa, elbows on knees and head in hands staring at the floor deep in thought. She didn’t disturb him. She left him to his thoughts and buried herself in hers. She thought about her mum, she worried about her more than ever, not only did she have to contend with those infected freaks out there, but there were dangerous people out there as well, using the conditions to their advantage. Leann hoped with all her being that her mum was safe, locked away in their little flat and keeping a low profile....

  CHAPTER 31

  Lisa Smith lay awkwardly on a line of chairs pulled together forming a makeshift bed, using curtains for blankets. She was in the headmaster’s room, she was meant to be sleeping but there was little chance of that happening despite being up since the previous morning. Her mind raced around and around with all that was going on.

  Soon after the school day had started the previous morning it was decided that it would be best that the school be closed early due to a number of reasons. A: The worsening conditions outside. B: The fact that only five staff had made it i, and only three of those were teachers C: The increasingly alarming news reports regarding the bizarre ash cloud that was apparently coming their way.

  Mr Bill Harkness the headmaster started trying to contact the parents who had braved the extreme wintery conditions to bring their children in to Duckworth Primary that morning before venturing off to their places of work and for once in his career he was grateful that the number of pupils that had made it in was minimal.

  While he busied himself with the task of reaching the parents, the teachers gathered the twenty five children who had made it in and moved them all in to one classroom and instead of giving lessons they treated it like one of the last days of term and let the children play games or draw and paint instead. Lisa was the only non-teaching member of staff to make it in. She was the cook. Bill asked her just to cook the kids usual favourite of chips with the choice of burgers or pizza so that if any children were still waiting to be picked up come lunch time they would still get a hot lunch and she gladly set to work.

  Initially after the first hour or so when Bill started making calls, parents began arriving to collect their little bundles of joy, and gradually as the number of children diminished Bill let two of the teachers head for home, leaving the school’s first year teacher who was fresh out of university Mandy Slater to hold the fort. Despite her inexperience Mr Harkness thought it was the most logical decision with the worsening weather and the threat of the ash cloud bearing down on them seeing as she lived close by, within walking distance if need be, whereas the other two didn’t. They lived miles away in the country, and besideshewas here as well. Once a teacher, always a teacher he reasoned.Just like riding a bike, he thought.

  As lunch time approached the trickle of vacating pupils slowed down. Some of the calls Bill made were repeatedly going unanswered. When he did get an answer he discovered that the parent he was trying to reach hadn’t reached their place of work.

  He repeatedly tried their home numbers and their mobiles, but couldn’t raise a reply on either, which as time passed and conditions steadily worsened began to worry him!

  Lisa’s hard work in the kitchen paid off. The junk food was a hit, keeping the kids happy with smiling faces all round, but Lisa could see the worry on both Bill and Mandy’s faces and wondered if they saw the same in hers. She knew Bill was having a hard time reaching parents and she could see the conditions through the window. She heard the news reports on the kitchen radio. The combination of the two wasn’t good.

  After lunch the remaining children went back to their activities and Lisa was left in silence to clear up. She turned up the crackly radio while she worked and listened as the frequent news reports told her things were getting steadily worse out there. She took a minute to herself and went to the window and looked out. The scene made her feel like she was trying to look through a dark grey filter over the glass, a canvas even that had been coloured with charcoal and placed over the window.

  The snow was heavy again, and as it mixed with the ash high up in the atmosphere it fell like fat lumps of soot; dark and dirty. She thought about her daughter Leann toiling away across town at the supermarket. She imagined how busy she must be down there with everyone stocking up on supplies, and she knew she’d be getting no thanks for her efforts. But then Lisa smiled to herself and said out loud,“Yep,my girl will be fit to drop tonight,”then she chuckled and went back to clearing up. A little while later, after she’d cleared away the dining hall and cleaned the kitchens, just as she was finishing mopping the vast floor, the power went out!

  “Ah shit!” she said feeling a little claustrophobic. She waited for the pale blue backup lighting to come on....it didn’t!

  Kids aint gonna like this, she thought as she wheeled the mop and bucket over beside the wall out of the way and left the dining hall to track down Bill.

  The second she opened the doors from the dining hall lightning flashed outside so close that Lisa had to squint her eyes and her imagination tried to convince her that there’d be a hole outside burned in to the playground’s unforgiving concrete surface. It was followed by the loudest thunder clap she’d ever heard and she flinched. She waited for a moment for the ringing in her ears to clear and she heard the children deeper in the school whimpering and crying unsure of the situation. Some of them whooped and cheered but most didn’t.

  Lisa listened to the children and followed their sounds through the darkened school.

  She met Mr Harkness in the hallway as he was leaving the classroom. He flinched not expecting her.

  “God you made me jump,”he said.

  “What’s happening Mr Harkness?”she asked.

  Closing the door behind him he looked at her.“Just Bill, please,”he said.

  Lisa nodded.

  “I don’t know,”he said,“I can’t reach most of their parents, nearly all of them in fact!”He nodded back towards the classroom door.“And the ones I have managed to reach, I reached hours ago.”

  He rubbed his weary eyes with both hands and Lisa said,“I’ve been listening to the news on the kitchen radio and it sounds....”Bill held up his hand to stop
her.“I know,”he said,“I’ve been monitoring things in my office between trying to reach the parents. Things are going the same way as they did in Norway and the rest of Western Europe. As soon as the ash arrives everything falls apart, literally.”He shrugged his shoulders looking at her with tired eyes.

  Lisa nodded.

  Bill asked if she’d spoken to Leann recently.“No,”she said shaking her head,“there’s no point in me calling. They’ll be absolutely run off their feet down there. I texted her a while ago but now my phone....”

  “No signal huh,”Bill finished for her. She nodded.

  “Me too,”he said,“and I don’t think the landlines are going to be much use now either. I’m just going to my office now to check things and try a few numbers again. Come with me if you want. You can try the supermarket if you’d like, and then at least you’ll know she’s ok no matter how run off their feet they are.”

  Lisa nodded gratefully and followed Bill a short distance down the dark hallways to his office. As they walked Bill said,“I’m glad I bumped in to you actually, I want to move the rest of the children in to the library. I think it’ll be warmer in there with it having a carpet and the books lining the walls aiding the insulation you know.”

  Lisa nodded, a wave of worry passed over her hearing Bill talk like this, it sounded like he was expecting them to be here for a while longer. He continued,“I’d like it if you’d help me carry some of the gym mats through there with me so some of them can lie down if they want, maybe even sleep if they can.”

  Lisa was very worried now!

  “What about the power, do you have to go and switch on a backup generator or something?”she said and Bill shook his head.

  “No,”he said,“believe it or not but the only person that can do that is Joe the janitor, and obviously he hasn’t made it in.”

  “Oh!”said Lisa, and they carried on in silence.

  As they reached Bill’s office he held the door for her and said,“I might need you to rustle up some dinner for them as well, if you wouldn’t mind staying back a little longer that is? I’ll make sure you’re paid for your time.”