‘You wanna get out – stretch your legs?’ Kaleb said.
‘Yeah – you?’
‘Let’s go.’
A couple of cars ahead, three people stood outside arguing with each other. One of the two men leaned against what looked to be his van. The graphics along the van’s side weren’t flashy, but they certainly were to the point, Tony – Painter and Decorator. Kind of like, Magnum – Private Investigator. His belly hung out from his paint-speckled t-shirt, and his biceps bulged tight around his sleeves. The other man, a younger office worker, was engaged in a fierce debate with the woman standing between them. She had groomed her long chestnut hair to perfection; her trouser-suit did not display a single, visible crease.
As Kaleb and Josie reached them, Kaleb noticed that the woman was clutching a large folder to her chest. ‘You think that would be a good thing? Being herded into little box rooms, with God knows who beside you?’ the woman said.
‘Oh, that’s just crap.’ The office junior waved his hands in front of his face, giving her a typical hysterical woman look that infuriated her.
‘I suppose you think they’ll be building another Wembley Stadium instead. If they do exist, they would have been constructed in a matter of weeks.’
‘She’s right, mate.’ Tony decided to chip in. ‘Because it was such a big secret, it would have made things harder to organise.’
‘Exactly, and what do you think they are going to do with us if the shit really hits the fan? Do you think they are going to keep us fed and clothed, relocate us to new homes – all of us?’ The woman almost leant into the second man in order to elicit a response.
He didn’t take kindly to the challenge and began to laugh. ‘Will you listen to yourselves? You’re just like the nuts I’ve seen on the telly. You know, Fahrenheit 451 is a good book, but that’s all it is. We don’t live in that world, well, I certainly don’t. I’m sure all this apocalypse crap is getting you excited.’ He continued to shake his head, looking down the line of traffic to where his wife peered out from the window of their car.
‘Fine, stick your head back up your arse then. As for me, I’m going to get my cat and I’m heading for the Pennines.’ The woman turned her back on them and strutted defiantly to her car.
‘I do see her point, you know. Those things don’t sound right to me,’ Tony said. He then noticed Kaleb and Josie’s presence. He stepped forward, as if he felt that Josie was going to fall flat on her face in front of him. She heard the nervous shuffle of his feet and knew instantly what it meant.
‘What were you talking about?’ she asked.
‘The government shelters,’ the second man replied. It was still only rumour, but most had all but accepted it was going to happen now.
‘There’s a rumour that half the cabinet have gone missing. For all we know, they could be in their shelter already,’ Tony said.
‘For all we know, they may not have been seen for a couple of days because they are desperately trying to manage this bloody public hysteria.’ The second man’s agitation had seeped into his every word and mannerism.
Tony wasn’t impressed by his tone. He glanced down the line towards the second man’s family car, loaded with belongings. ‘Well, you’re out in this madness too, same as us.’
‘I’m returning from a holiday with my wife and kids, and when I eventually get home, I’m staying put until told otherwise,’ the man replied bluntly.
‘You do what you want, mate. I’m not waiting till I’m told.’
A younger couple approached from behind Kaleb and Josie. The woman was crying and telling her boyfriend to stay away from her, swinging out at him every time he tried to grab her by the arm.
‘The truth is no one knows what this red gas is, or what it’s going to do. Not even the scientists can come up with anything other than unfounded sensationalism,’ the second man said.
As the couple passed by, the young man made an awkward attempt to spin his girlfriend around to face him, but she pushed away on her heels to wriggle from his grasp. It sent her backing into Josie, shoving Josie forward and into the second man. He reacted just in time to catch her. As she gripped onto him for support, she felt another bombardment of images start to invade her darkness.
The man was together with his family, but somewhere else entirely. Their car sat in another traffic jam on a much bigger road, maybe one closer to London. The man and his wife were outside of the car, arguing furiously while the kids huddled together on the back seat. They were all drenched from head to toe in a red liquid. It covered the car too, and all the other cars around them. The substance covered everything, and a current of it ran through the cracks in the road like treacle. In unison, the kids stopped crying and the couple ended their argument. The whole family stared up ahead, beyond the car roofs to watch a searing bolt of light scream down from the sky. The impact rumbled and shook the ground beneath their feet. Within seconds, a blue napalm wave rose hundreds of feet into the air. The wave started to pile forward, engulfing everything in its path. No sooner had the wave revealed its terrible purpose it was on top of the man and his family. They barely had time to call out as they melted in the blue hell along with their vehicle.
Darkness fell upon Josie again. The horrible sound of their crackling flesh was only a memory. She could feel Kaleb’s arms around her, pulling her back to her feet. Tony, the second man and the young couple looked on, taken aback by her sudden blackout.
‘It’s okay, folks, she’ll be fine in a while,’ Kaleb said.
Before they got clear, Josie managed to reach out and catch hold of the second man’s wrist. Her voice was weak but she needed to get it out. ‘You and your family really should go to the shelters,’ she said.
Kaleb took her back to the car, placing her carefully in the back seat. ‘There you go, just rest for a second.’ By the time he’d brushed the sections of her hair away from her eyes, she was out cold. He sank back into the driver’s seat and ran a hand through his own hair to try to relieve some of the tension. The madness in front of them seemed immovable. The world was dying, and they were stuck in traffic. Kaleb knew they would have to find another way through. He tried to block out the chorus of horns outside so he could think straight.
3
Marston Vale Community Forest, Bedfordshire
The winged beast had carried Jerrico and the others far away from Walton, through the night and the heavy rain. They were helpless in its talons, unable to move and unaware of one another. Its huge mass obscured their view, and in the moments they chose to open their eyes, all they could see were the intricate scales of its chest, expanding and contracting with each hissing breath. The beating of its wings overrode the rest of the sounds in the world. Brief waves of coldness from the altitude came as a welcome relief from the overwhelming body heat of their captor.
It seemed like an age before the beast swooped low, releasing them to the ground in Marston Vale forest. As all four rolled to a stop in the long grass, they could hear jet engines tearing through the skies in pursuit of their decoy. No one moved until the last roars of the fighter planes had faded into the wind. Above, the burning cloak across the sky had faded considerably. Morning was coming. Another half an hour or so and the clouds would take the shade of the dawn.
Jerrico mustered enough energy to crawl over to where Kate had come to rest. Her eyes were open but she wasn’t moving. ‘Kate?’
She turned to him and crawled into his arms. He felt the emotional numbness already written over her face and in the rigidity of her body. She was in shock; too much, too fast. ‘What was that?’ she whispered.
‘That, lady, was one of your boyfriend’s hissy fits,’ Vladimir said, as he lifted himself from the damp earth. He got up onto his knees and glared at Jerrico. ‘You ever fuck off and leave us again, the next time I come for you, it will be to put a bullet through your sick brain, comprende?’
‘I don’t remember selling my soul to anyone,’ Jerrico replied.
‘You s
elfish prick,’ Martha spat. ‘You know what? If Vladimir or Cradleworth don’t kill you, I will.’ She’d had just about as much as she could bear of his disregard for everyone around him. ‘It’s about time you woke up to what’s going on. Do you think you’re the only one with unfinished business? You almost ruined everything. I hope she’s worth it.’ Martha jumped to her feet and stormed off into the trees.
Vladimir stood for a moment, still staring down at Jerrico and shaking his head. ‘Get up. We need to find the quickest way back to the road,’ he said.
They crossed half a mile of woodland before they reached Bedford Road. In early morning light, the rainwater reflected like a white sheet across the tarmac. Under normal circumstances, they would not have crossed paths with a soul at this time, but they had left normal circumstances far behind them. Every five minutes they stumbled upon someone walking in the opposite direction, remaining silent as they passed. Some came in twos and threes but most were alone. Their clothes looked strange and they all had something in common – something behind their evasive eyes.
Martha was the first to piece it together. They were all homeless people, without access to a vehicle. It wasn’t long before the cars came too, speeding by on the wet road with increasing regularity, until there was no room ahead for the drivers to put their peddles to the floor.
Vladimir walked on in front, quite a distance from the others. He was afraid of what he would do if he so much as looked in Jerrico’s direction. That arrogant piece of shit. Vladimir ran his sleeve across his nose, which was running with the cold and rain. A muffled sound came from inside his jacket. He pulled out his mobile phone and held the display to his face, Dmitri calling…He hit the green receive button, not expecting to hear Dmitri’s voice on the other end. ‘Vladi?’
‘Yes, my friend,’ he replied.
‘You’re still alive!’
‘If you could call it that.’
‘Vladi?’
‘What is it?’
‘She’s coming for you. Just her – she’s coming for you.’ The line went dead before Vladimir could speak again. He sensed the bitterness in Dmitri’s voice, along with the sorrow. Yes, Vladimir was sure of it. Sasakia had detected her mole and would shortly put him to the sword. How could she know, Vladimir thought. Maybe his childhood fears were true; maybe she did converse with the devil. It was easier to believe now that the devil had a face.
‘Hey.’ Martha appeared behind him. ‘Can I borrow that?’ She pointed towards his slinky black phone.
‘No – no you can’t.’
‘You worried about your phone bill?’
Vladimir didn’t answer.
‘Look, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. I—’
‘I said, no!’
Martha backed off, shaking her head.
‘Someone may be tracing it, okay?’ he said by way of explanation.
‘Is there anything I should know?’ she asked.
Vladimir smiled. ‘Hey, it’s the apocalypse. Who gives a shit.’ He sped up to walk clear of her again.
Behind them, Jerrico walked alongside Kate. Although she had accepted his long jacket and wrapped it around herself like a cloak, something about her body language told him no, she didn’t want to be touched – not by him. He could tell she was still shivering underneath it. He so wanted to put his arm around her.
‘Are you tired?’ Jerrico asked. He could hardly tell in the dull morning light that she had shaken her head. ‘You sure you don’t need to rest. I can tell the others if—’
‘No…I’m fine.’ Kate’s voice quivered in the cold, just as it had when he’d called her from Northampton train station.
Jerrico couldn’t contain himself any longer. There was something he’d wanted to ask ever since they were dropped into the forest. Besides, he couldn’t distance her from him any more than she already was. ‘Did he hurt you?’ he said angrily.
‘No…how could he? He was using me to get to you,’ she said.
‘Thanks,’ Jerrico said. A wave of guilt ran through him.
‘For what?’
‘Doing what you did back there – having to choose. I know that must have been impossible.’
‘That wasn’t Phillip.’ She shivered again, increasing the pace of her steps to get ahead of him.
‘Wait.’ Jerrico broke into a jog to catch up.
‘I need to find a way to get home. I have to know what happened to the rest of my family.’
But you can’t go home – home’s gone, he thought. He stopped jogging and allowed her to carry on in front. There was no way she could go back. As much as she might wish for it, no one could ever go back.
4
It was another twenty minutes before they saw anything other than trees and road – a small petrol station with a telephone box a few yards ahead. It was far too early for it to be open. Jerrico wondered why Vladimir even bothered to walk through the station’s forecourt to the serving kiosk.
The Russian scanned the edges of the ceiling inside and out for security cameras. In Russia, many of the older ones didn’t have much in the way of security, but this one did. Shaking his head, he walked back to Jerrico and Kate. ‘I need a piss,’ he said. ‘Where’s Martha?’
Jerrico pointed beyond the petrol station to a phone box about a hundred yards down the road.
‘Okay, keep your eyes on her. I’m going to fucking burst.’ With that, Vladimir hurried off into the tree line, taking each step as if the ground were on fire.
The traffic thinned out a little, but the number of people hiking along the pavements increased. An old, crazy-haired woman staggered past Martha as she dropped her last coin into the phone slot and dialled the number. She noticed the woman out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at her. The skin on the woman’s face was dark and crusty. If Martha came across her on a dark night, she might suspect the woman had crawled up out of the ground. She dropped one of her sagging eyebrows to wink, then smirked. It was unnerving in its inappropriateness. The international dial tone soon distracted Martha again as her call connected. She’d decided to call Drake first. Somehow, she had a feeling that everyone she wanted to speak to would be there. It rang and rang – nothing.
‘Hey, this is Drake. You know what to do.’ The beep of his answering machine followed his uncommitted voice-message.
‘Drake, pick up if you’re there…Okay, it’s better if I don’t tell you where I am. I wanted to let you know that I’m safe, and I wanted to speak to guess who. You keeping an eye on them for me?’ She glanced up to see the others heading towards her. ‘I better go. Just tell Davy I said hi, and expect another call as soon as I can get my hands on more money. Watch your back. I can’t explain right now but something is happening—’ Martha was cut down in mid sentence by the dreaded beeps. ‘Shit!’ She slammed down the receiver and started to rummage around in her pockets. She found a few American coins but they were useless here. She’d found the English money on the floor of the white manor’s study, taken it for this very reason, not knowing exactly how much it was. Martha left the classically styled phone box, walking back to Jerrico. ‘You got any change? I need to make another call back home.’ Jerrico reached into the pockets of his jeans, producing a couple of crumpled twenty-pound notes from them.
‘Sorry, this is all I have,’ he replied.
‘What about her? Could you ask?’ She gestured towards Kate, who walked on ahead and past the phone box.
‘It’s not a good time right now.’
‘Can you at least ask – it’s important.’
He paused for a moment, watching Kate moving further away. ‘I’ll ask her. If she doesn’t have any, I’ll get some change for you as soon as we see an open shop, okay?’
Martha nodded.
Kate didn’t have any money, and although they continued to walk, they didn’t come across a shop of any description. All that they passed on the long stretch of road was more traffic, more lost souls, cradling everything they owned, hoping t
o find a place free from the red omen haunting their every step.
Daddy Had an Accident
1
Tonwell, Hertfordshire
Time was of the essence if they were to find another route through to Tylers Green, but Josie was still weak and dazed. She needed a place to lie down for a while. In truth, so did Kaleb. The noise and the fumes of the traffic made his head hurt – a dull, progressive throb.
He pulled off the A602 so they could spend an hour or so in a hotel. Tonwell was a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it village, where a space aged concrete water tower dominated the skyline. It looked bizarre, silhouetted against the clouds like a giant ice cream cone.
The hotel was called, The Sunlodge. In the seventies, the classic building housed a repertory theatre. The married couple who now owned it had fallen in love with the place, and used every spare penny to purchase the building and fund the conversion, leaving certain fixtures of the old theatre as they were – the ticket kiosk was now the reception desk. The Sunlodge was all the better for it, standing head and shoulders above the sterile, generic hotels across the country. Mr and Mrs Hatchet were proud of their creation, and provided their customers with a regular home from home.
Once checked in, Kaleb told Mr Hatchet that Josie was feeling unwell and needed a place to put her head down for a couple of hours. The old man insisted that paying for half a night would be enough. Kaleb tried to pass the notes over the counter for the full amount but Mr Hatchet would not have it. As optimistic as Kaleb was, his gift always showed him that kindness was thin on the ground. The Hatchets, however, had enough for everyone – he couldn’t see any signs they were religious, but it was certainly a moral code they seemed to follow.
2
Infanticide (Fallen Gods Saga Book 2) Page 9