Fighting Darkness: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Fighting to Survive Book 2)

by Alex Knightly

  He was so wrapped up in what-ifs that he didn’t hear Josh come in behind him. “What’s going on? Why are you just standing there?”

  “She’s gone, Josh. Look.”

  His brother frowned. “How? She’d have broken her neck if she fell the wrong way.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she’s done it before. It’s her house. The neighbour might—”

  The door slammed shut, tearing him from his thoughts. Pete stared at it. Had it been a gust of wind?

  He hurried over to it, hoping that was all it was. He twisted the handle and was horrified when the door didn’t budge.

  “Josh,” he groaned. “I think she’s locked us in.”

  Si

  Si had changed her mind at the last minute. What had she been thinking to begin with? Sure, she’d be out of sight in the attic, but that was about the only benefit of hiding up there. Anything could have happened. The thing that decided it for her was putting herself in their shoes. If she was them, she’d have set the house on fire and waited. They’d said they wanted her to come with them, but she didn’t know whether that was a lie to get her to open the door and make things easier for them. For all she knew, they were there to kill her.

  It didn’t matter. She’d thought of another plan when she saw her mother’s bedroom window and recalled her disappointment that she couldn’t get out that way. So what if she wouldn’t jump down there? They didn’t know that. They worked for Harry. They’d probably do all sorts of reckless things she’d never even dream of doing. She had set it all up as quickly as she could.

  It had still been risky. What if they’d seen her rushing in to close the door. Or if she hadn’t been able to get the door locked before they realised what was happening? Or if they hadn’t fallen for her trap?

  She smiled to herself. She’d have shot them if she had to. In the legs so they’d still be able to answer her questions.

  Anyway, she’d done it and she hadn’t needed to waste any precious bullets. Now she sat a few steps down from the top of the stairs, waiting to see what happened. Those were solid doors and good locks. Her mother had had them replaced only about five years ago after a particularly bad incident with the boyfriend she’d been with before she met Graham. For once, she was grateful for her mother’s awful taste in men.

  She waited. And waited. It had seemed so black and white in her head. If they had guns, they’d try and shoot the lock. She came to her senses then. What exactly was she doing, sitting around waiting for them to get out? They could just jump out the window, land in the back yard and come back up. Si clenched her fists until her knuckles went pale. Or they could hold out, knowing that she probably expected them to try and shoot the lock but knowing if they waited, she might open the door and then they could shoot her.

  It was horrible. It made her head hurt. Each possibility was even more gruesome than the next.

  It became clear then what she needed to do. And once it did, she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. There was no reason for her to stick around here. She could go. She didn’t need to wait for them to get out and try to get at her again.

  The weight slammed back down on her shoulders just as quickly as it had started to lift. She couldn’t just leave, could she? All she had was the name of a large town five miles away. Maybe they knew exactly where Max was being kept. But she couldn’t just open the door.

  She smiled as an idea struck her then. She couldn’t stop them from jumping out the window but she didn’t need to. All she had to do was barricade the kitchen door. There was no way for them to get back around to the front. She turned to go down the stairs, praying Graham still had that toolbox he’d had when he moved in.

  She froze.

  Something had creaked downstairs.

  Si backed up the stairs feeling like a cornered animal. No. How was this happening? Just when she’d figured it out. She’d have gotten the truth out of them.

  But now someone else was coming in. It was infuriating. She knew it was someone else because she could still hear them muttered in her mother’s room. It was frustrating beyond words. She wasn’t the cleverest person or the strongest, but it would have worked, she knew it. It would have led her to Max, but now that had been ruined just like her plan at the garage had been ruined.

  She raised her gun, in no mood to deal with whoever it was that had just ruined her plan.

  Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she thought. You’re the one with the gun. Even if they’re armed, you can surprise them.

  That was it. She’d go back up and lean over the wall that blocked the landing from the stairs. Then she’d shoot them in the head before they even saw her. That might make the men locked in her mother’s bedroom more willing to talk—it was perfect!

  She moved quickly, annoyed that she was already out of breath. It was the nerves and stress of it. What next? Would more of them come?

  She didn’t have to wait long. The stairs creaked. Someone heavy. She leant over, not daring to breathe as she scoped out the new arrival. Was this Harry himself? If it was she’d relish…

  Si gasped as it dawned on her who she was looking at. She’d recognise him anywhere.

  “Max!”

  He looked up. His face had been contorted with rage but that disappeared now. “Si. Oh god, I thought something awful must have happened you when I saw the broken window.”

  She ran to him, almost tripping over her own feet. Then she remembered. They still had work to do. She frowned. No, that wasn’t right, was it? She didn’t need to make them talk now. But they were still a threat.

  She pointed at the door behind her. “There are two of them,” she whispered. “I’ve locked them in there. I don’t know what to…” she shook her head, still trying to make sense of it. She didn’t need them now. She didn’t need to be here. They could just walk out…

  Max was twisting the key in the lock before she knew what was happening. By the time she moved to try and stop him, he’d already thrown open the door, stomped inside and grabbed an alarmed-looking lad by the throat. They were younger than she’d realised.

  “Max!” she hissed. “Max!”

  She wasn’t worried about him. He was huge and she’d never seen him this angry. But there were two of them and she still didn’t know if they were armed. She glanced down and remembered. That didn’t matter now, did it? She had a gun and even if they had weapons, they weren’t in their hands. She had this under control. She raised her gun and pointed it at the other lad, the one Max wasn’t trying to choke. He stood there shellshocked for a few moments and then seemed to jolt into action, dashing towards her.

  “Don’t move!” she snapped. “Stay right where you are.”

  She couldn’t hear what Max was saying. He was right in the lad’s face, muttering something.

  “Leave it, Max. I’ve got you covered. He’s not worth it.”

  But he wouldn’t listen. “They would have hurt you. Or worse, they would have brought you to Harry. That’s unforgivable in my book.”

  Si shook her head. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. Max had a point. They just seemed so…

  “Good god,” said a dry voice behind her.

  Si turned. She had never been so happy to see Clive though her happiness soon turned to confusion. What the hell was he doing here?

  Annie

  Annie looked in horror at the scene in front of them. She still hadn’t made sense of it. She’d come in here with the sinking feeling that it was all too late for Si. This wasn’t what she’d expected.

  Clive had dashed over to Max and was pulling him away from the young man he was trying to strangle. The other boy looked as if he was about to cry. Si had her gun pointed straight at his face. Annie moved over to her slowly, afraid of what a sudden movement might do.

  “Are you okay? It’s Annie.” It seemed silly to say that, but Si looked so shell-shocked that it was quite possible she hadn’t even seen Annie.

  “Yeah.”

  Annie drew he
r own weapon. She was a mental and physical wreck, but she guessed she was in a far better state than Si. “Let me. You go and sit down. You’ve been through enough.”

  No, I need to. I have to cover Max.”

  “I’ve got this,” Annie said gently. “Put the gun down, okay? See? I’ve got mine aimed at him.”

  She finally managed to convince the girl to lower it. She stepped forward, getting closer to the guy. He was crying by now.

  “Make him stop. Please. He’s going to kill Pete.”

  “So? You would’ve killed her. That’s what you came here to do, isn’t it?”

  He closed his eyes. “No. We had to… we had to…” he dipped his head, sobbing big fat ugly tears. Snot oozed from his nose. Annie had to fight the urge to recoil. She looked over at the others. Clive had his hand on Max’s shoulder, trying to coax the big man away. He seemed to have loosened his grip.

  “Leave it, Max. Leave it. It’s not worth it.”

  “Of course it’s worth it. They came after her. Who else is going to make them pay?”

  “Jesus Christ,” the other one sobbed.

  Annie rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t start crying again. No-one is going to feel sorry for you. You made your bed when you decided to come here.”

  “Harry made us,” he wailed. “He gave us no choice. I’m not like him. I worked in investment banking before the EMP strike. It’s my brother who’s—”

  “Wait,” she snapped. “So you lot know it was an EMP strike. How? It doesn’t seem like the type of thing criminals read up on.”

  His face screwed up even more. “I’m not a criminal.”

  “It sure looks like it from where I’m standing.”

  “I’m not. I just told you… fine… think what you want. I heard it from a guy I sat near at work who used to go on about doomsday and EMPs. I was bored so I started looking into it. I’m the one who told Harry. Not that I got any credit for it.”

  “You told Harry? Why the hell would you do that?”

  “No, wait. I don’t mean I told him directly. I told my brother and he went running to Harry.” He looked up. “He’s an idiot sometimes but he’s not a bad lad. That’s why he never got deep into it with Harry. That’s the real reason.” His face scrunched up. “Tell them to leave him alone. Please. They’re going to kill him if they don’t stop.”

  Annie looked over. “They’ve stopped,” she said faintly, wondering why she was consoling a little thug who wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt Si if they hadn’t got there when they did.

  “You’re the mechanic, aren’t you,” coughed the lad Max had almost strangled.

  Max scowled.

  “You are. Listen. We were locked up in the shed next to you.”

  Annie shook her head. “What? Bullshit. You came for her.”

  “Yeah, only ‘cause Harry made us.”

  Max groaned. “I think they’re telling the truth. I could hear two lads whining on the other side of the wall when I was locked up. Before Harry told me he had Si.”

  Si seemed to wake up when she heard this. “He said he had me? Oh god, Max. He didn’t.”

  “I know that now, don’t I? But these two. Yeah, they were kept apart from the others.”

  Clive sighed. “How many of you are there?”

  “Lots.”

  “No,” he said wearily. “Here. Now.”

  “Just the two of us. Harry sent us because he wanted her alive.”

  “Josh!”

  Si seemed to shrink into herself.

  “It’s okay, love,” Max muttered. “You had them cornered.”

  “I’m just being straight with you. We were only doing what we needed to do. Harry locked me up and told me I needed to create a radio system for him. We stole a load of books from the library but I couldn’t do it. I studied chemistry, not electronics. Anyway, we tried our best to stall and make Harry think we were making progress. Until a few days ago when he dragged us in and told us to hunt her down.”

  “He’s telling the truth,” the other one said. Annie could see the family resemblance now. “We only did it because we had no choice. We had nowhere to go. Look, you need to get out of here. Harry’s the one who gave us this address. If we don’t come back he’s going to send someone else.”

  “Oh, so now you’re full of concern for us?”

  “We did what we had to do.”

  Annie looked at Clive, who was in the process of frisking one of the boys. “He’s right, Clive. We can’t afford to stick around here. We’ve had a lucky break. We don’t need to go up against Harry. Let’s keep it that way and get back to the farm.”

  “I’ll say,” said the well-spoken one who Clive was now patting down.

  “Nobody asked you.”

  “I’m just saying. You don’t want to go up against him.”

  “Shut it, will you Josh?” There was a slight croak to his brother’s voice. Annie was surprised he’d gotten away with such minimal damage given the mood Max had been in at the time. He turned to the rest of them. “We did what we had to. We had no choice. And you lot aren’t angels either. The only reason we were sent after you is because you killed Mo and you tried to kill Zane.”

  “Yeah, they chased us down and tried to kill us. There’s a difference. It was justified.”

  “Really? How do you explain the way she tried to torture information out of Zane when he was lying shot on the ground?”

  “She was trying to find me, you moron,” Max snapped.

  “They’re unarmed,” Clive announced.

  “Brilliant.” Annie sighed heavily. “Come on. Let’s get back to the farm.”

  “Wait! You can’t just leave us here.”

  She laughed in surprise. “What do you think we’re going to do? Take you with us?”

  He looked at her as though she’d just given him an invitation. “Yes? Please? Harry’ll kill us if we stay here. I know we’ve messed up. But we’re hard workers… well, I’m a hard worker. And I studied chemistry. You said you had a farm? I can help with fertiliser and fuel.”

  Max coughed. “Fuel? What would you know? If it’s got four wheels then I know everything there is to know about it.”

  “Biodiesel,” the young guy said. “And not just that. Fermentation. I can help. Please. I don’t even need a bed. I’ll sleep on the ground outside if I have a place to go that’s safely away from Harry.”

  “Why didn’t you just leave? Why not just drive until you got far enough away?”

  “We have nowhere to go. I know a lot of people in London but that’s going to be worse than here.”

  “It was chaos when we left.” She shook her head. Why was she even humouring him? “You just tried to kidnap Si. Do you seriously think I’m going to let you anywhere near my home?”

  The two lads exchanged glances.

  “At least put a bullet in our heads before you go. Because when Harry gets his hands on us…”

  “Enough,” Annie snapped. “Come on,” she said to Clive and the others. “We have enough to deal with in Miles bloody Sanderson without having to worry about these two turning on us on a whim. I can’t believe we even wasted—”

  “Miles Sanderson?” the lad nearest Annie said, somewhat incredulously. “As in, the banker?”

  Annie frowned. This was too much. First the guy knew about EMPs. Now it was the neighbour?

  “I work in the City, like I told you. He’s the MD of my division.”

  Annie looked at Clive, her mind racing. Did this change things? She didn’t want to think about it, but she had no choice. They’d talked about playing the long game. This was the test.

  “How well do you know him?”

  Clive

  Clive could see where this was going. They could discuss it for hours and not get anywhere.

  They didn’t have hours.

  They possibly didn’t even have minutes and there was no easy answer.

  “Let’s go outside and discuss this. Max, would you mind keeping an eye on these two?�
�

  The big man nodded. Clive, Annie and Si moved out of the room.

  “I’m so… I can’t believe you guys came after me.”

  He waved away her embarrassment. “We can talk about that later. We need to decide what we’re doing with those two.”

  “I know,” Annie said gravely. “It was clear-cut until he mentioned Sanderson.”

  “There’s no way he could have known?”

  Her eyes widened. “No. Of course not. It would have to have been one big conspiracy going back years. I can’t think why anyone would even bother.”

  “That’s what I thought. I wanted to see if you agreed. Si?”

  She stared at him blankly. She was probably shell-shocked. Whatever he and Annie had gone through, at least they hadn’t been alone. Si had.

  “Si, what do you think? How would you feel if those lads came with us?”

  She stared at him as if she hadn’t understood. He was about to repeat the question when she started to speak. “Why are you asking me? I left. I’m the reason you’re down here in this mess.”

  “Forget about that for now. You need to tell me if you have a problem with them coming back to the farm.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s your home now,” Annie said, with a surprising amount of feeling.

  “No, I mean why would we bring them?”

  Clive looked at Annie. They needed to get Si back to the farm as soon as they could. “Because they know the neighbour. The one we’ve been having trouble with. They might be useful in that sense.”

  Si shrugged. “I don’t know. They seem kind of pathetic. I was scared, but when they actually got in it was easy to lock them in the room. They didn’t jump out the window and come back in like they could have. They’re not exactly professional assassins.”

  Luckily for you, Clive just about stopped himself from saying. She didn’t need to hear a thing like that right now.