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

by Alex Knightly

  Si got out of the car and approached the Ford from the other side.

  “Turn the engine off and get out of the car,” Annie said calmly. “Hand me the keys and move around to the front.”

  They did as they were told, getting out slowly.

  “That’s it. Move around.” Annie threw the keys to Si.

  Clive’s heart hammered as he watched. He’d been in situations like this with double or triple the support, but they had to work with what was available to them. He was ready to reach for his weapon if he needed to. He hoped he wouldn’t.

  He stared at the boot of the car, willing it not to open. Anything could happen if it did. He was fast, but all bets were off if there was a man with a gun in the boot of that car.

  Si checked the inside first, just like he’d told her. It was far easier to make sure there was nobody hiding in the footwells and just as essential. Next she moved around to the back.

  His heart hammered. The biggest danger was there was somebody waiting in there with a gun, ready to shoot her in the stomach. Even if by some fluke he missed a major organ at that range, it would still likely be fatal. She shoved in the key, turned it, and leapt out of the way just like he’d told her to.

  Good.

  “Boot’s clear,” she called a moment later, after throwing out the bags that were inside. Thankfully they were small enough that there was no question of there being anybody inside them. As preposterous as that seemed, Clive had heard of cases where people had done just that. There seemed to be no end to the level of creativity shown by some of these criminal types, which was exactly the reason for all of these precautionary measures.

  He listened. He couldn’t hear another engine, not even in the distance.

  Si came over and popped her head in the passenger window. “You happy? Will I tell Annie?”

  Clive took a deep breath trying to think of everything that could go wrong. As the only police officer in the group, it felt like the responsibility was solely on him to get this right. He adjusted his position and looked out the windscreen. Annie seemed to have the trio in hand and Max was watching the other side of the forecourt.

  Don’t be complacent.

  He blinked. They were all exhausted. There was so much room for error that it seemed inevitable that they’d missed something.

  “Check underneath for anything that shouldn’t be there.”

  She nodded, looking in no way surprised even though he hadn’t mentioned that before when they were planning what to do. She came back a moment later. “Nothing unusual.”

  He nodded. He hadn’t expected there to be. After all, if they had anyone with any level of electronics expertise they wouldn’t have needed Josh.

  The thought of him made Clive wonder again what Harry was playing at. Josh was obviously intelligent and he wasn’t shy about talking about his degree in chemistry. It seemed strange that Harry hadn’t made the leap and tried to strong-arm him into manufacturing drugs. That would be the most logical step for a man who’d been involved in the drug trade before the darkness.

  “Are we going then?” Si asked.

  “Yes,” Clive said, alarmed by how easily he’d lost concentration. “Yes. All clear. Let’s move.”

  It was darker than it should have been because of the rain clouds overhead, which looked like they might burst at any moment. He really hoped they wouldn’t. They had enough to contend with without poor visibility adding an extra complication. He had a gut feeling that these lads were genuine—he wouldn’t have agreed to bring them otherwise—but that didn’t matter. Decades in the police meant he didn’t trust anyone until he was a hundred percent certain about them.

  Annie jumped back in the car and a moment later they were speeding out of the service area.

  “Did you tell them to follow?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Any backchat?”

  “No. They seemed to understand.”

  “Hmm.” Clive nodded. That could be either a good or a bad thing, he knew. They’d soon see.

  “Keep going,” Annie said as they pulled off at the exit they’d taken the last time. “Don’t even slow down until we get to the roundabout at the top.”

  Clive nodded. He was well aware of the plan. He glanced in the rearview mirror. He could see the Ford but not Max’s car.

  “Let me,” Annie said. “You keep your eyes on the road. This light is a pain to drive in.” She leaned into the gap between their seats. “Yeah, I see them both.”

  “Okay.” He focused all his attention on the road. Annie had unwrapped a breakfast bar and given it to him, but little snacks had stopped impacting his hunger levels days ago. He was used to meat and two veg and he wouldn’t feel satisfied until he’d had a big proper dinner. A sugary lump of nuts and raisins didn’t do much to satisfy his hunger, but he was grateful for it all the same. Now he wished he’d had another as his stomach started to growl.

  He powered up the slip road with Annie watching behind them.

  “They’re off. And Si’s car.”

  “Okay,” he said again, huffing out a breath as he did. He was beginning to wonder if this was necessary, but of course it was. Safety was everything. They couldn’t be too careful.

  He took the first exit at the roundabout. They were in unfamiliar territory now.

  “Tell me as soon as they’ve both followed,” he said, slowing down a little. They didn’t want to go too far when there was no need.

  He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye.

  Clive looked around, more watchful now. Anyone could be lurking around here and he didn’t like it one bit. He preferred familiar territory to the unknown.

  “Almost…”

  He held his breath.

  “Now. They’re both in.”

  He took his foot off the accelerator and tapped the brake, not wanting to slow down too suddenly. He glanced in his rearview mirror.

  Instead of coming to a complete stop, he pulled on the handbrake when he’d slowed to about thirty and jerked the steering wheel at the same time. He braked when they’d spun 180 degrees. The car jolted to a stop facing the other cars. Max had carried out the same manoeuvre, but stopped the Renault at a slant, forty-five degrees across the road.

  Clive cut the engine. He’d have preferred to keep it running, but he needed to be able to hear what was going on around them.

  Annie

  Annie felt herself start to drift off. She couldn’t help it. It didn’t matter that it was cold and uncomfortable in the car: her body was running on empty.

  She jolted awake. She’d always loved that sensation of teetering on the brink of sleep on a lazy weekend afternoon, but this was no time to be relaxed. They all needed to keep their wits about them.

  “Not long,” Clive said. “Let’s give it five minutes to make sure there’s nobody on our trail.”

  The passenger door of the Ford opened and Josh got out. Annie reached for her gun.

  “Leave it.”

  She nodded, though the unsettled feeling remained.

  “What’s going on?” Josh said when Clive rolled down the window. “Why are we just sitting here?”

  Clive shook his head.

  “Oh, come on. We went along with you searching our car. That’s fair enough. But this? Why are we sitting here?”

  Annie watched him closely. All of a sudden this felt like too much. She knew that was because she was tired and irritated. All she wanted to do was get back to Dan.

  “Just wait.” Clive rolled up his window again and they watched Josh walk back to his car.

  “Should we go?”

  He nodded. “Soon. Let’s wait a little longer. Just on the off-chance that they have this all choreographed.”

  She stared at the Ford. The occupants were fidgety and restless: that much was clear from twenty feet away. She didn’t blame them, she supposed. It could be eagerness to get to safety as much as it could be nerves about a plan they’d set in motion when they left Si’s house th
at morning. There was no way to tell.

  “Do you really think they planned something after they left us?”

  “That’s impossible to know.”

  “Well what does your gut say?”

  He sighed. “I stopped listening to my gut a long time ago. All my gut wants is a long bath and a deep sleep in a proper bed.”

  “I know what you mean. I’d happily sleep for a week.” She groaned. She was doing it again; assuming that they were home and dry. They were close, but they weren’t there yet.

  “We’ll give it ten more minutes.”

  It felt like a lot more than ten minutes had passed by the time Clive started the engine and held his hand out the window, indicating that the others should wait for him to pass.

  “No sign of Harry, then.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  She shrugged. “A bit, I suppose. I guess he could think Pete and Josh have Si and they’re on the way back with her.”

  “Yes. We got lucky. He’ll no doubt come sniffing after us again.”

  “Yes,” she said, feeling uneasy at the thought. “Shouldn’t we have tried to snuff him out when we had the chance?”

  Clive laughed. “Are you mad? That’s something we want to avoid at all costs. It’s not worth the risk. Let him come after us. The trail runs cold at that service station and none of us are going to be fool enough to venture down there. There’s no need.” He braked sharply.

  “What’s wrong?” she hissed.

  “Nothing.” He reached for the door handle. “You should drive. You know these roads better.”

  She moved across the gap between the seats and adjusted the driver’s seat as he moved around the front of the car and got in the passenger side. “Ready?”

  “Let’s go.”

  The closer they got, the harder it was for Annie to contain her excitement. It was only minutes now until she’d be home. At last. She’d only been home for two days before Si had disappeared and she’d been forced to leave again.

  “I’m not leaving the farm again. Not for anyone.”

  Clive sighed. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “I only hope this nonsense with the neighbours has stopped.”

  “As do I. It’ll blow over. Perhaps us having those two.” He jerked his thumb behind, to indicate the car behind them. “Will intimidate them a little. Not to mention Max. He’s quite a force to be reckoned with when he gets going.”

  “He is,” she murmured. “Hard to believe he didn’t put up a fight when they took him.”

  “It’s not really. Si was there. If he’d done anything stupid, they might have stuck around and found her. Remarkable really. That willingness to suffer for someone else.”

  She glanced at him. He looked almost wistful. She sort of felt the same. She imagined that was what it was like to have a child. Someone you always put first without even thinking. That wasn’t a good position to be in now, of course.

  Her stomach jolted as she realised that something was very wrong up ahead. She slammed on the brakes before she was even consciously aware of what it was. Her fatigued brain and eyes made the connection only when they were cast forward by the sudden stop.

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. What is it?”

  “Looks like trees down. Shit.”

  “No,” Clive said sharply. “Look at the edges. They’re too straight. Someone cut those trees down and put them over the road.”

  She looked at him in horror. Her heart was still hammering. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Pete’s face clearly, far too close. Thankfully he’d avoided crashing into the back of her when they stopped so suddenly—goodness knew how. All the colour had drained from his face and his mouth was a perfect circle of shock. Beside him in the front seat, his mother looked as though she’d turned to stone. She couldn’t see Si’s car, but she hadn’t heard anything to suggest they’d crashed into the back of the Ford. Plus, Max was driving so he’d no doubt handled the situation better than any of them.

  She could see it clearly now. It was two huge trees crossed over each other. They blocked the whole road. They hadn’t fallen from the fields on either side of the road because there were no roots attached, just clean edges where they’d been cut.

  She looked around. There was no sign of anyone nearby, but that was no solace: the hedges were high and anyone could have been hiding behind them. “No prizes for guessing who’s behind this. It had to be the neighbours. Their house is only two hundred yards further down the road and nobody else lives nearby.” She took a deep breath through her nose and held it for a beat before exhaling slowly and deliberately. What would have happened if she hadn’t seen it in time? At the speed she’d been going, they might have rolled the car. She shivered. Anyone could have been out there watching them. “Come on. We’ve got to move them out of the way. Fast.”

  Clive put a hand on her arm. “Wait. Maybe that’s what they want us to do. Is there another way around?”

  “There is, but it’s a thirty minute diversion. We’re literally a minute from the house.”

  “Even so…”

  She started when someone rapped hard on her window. Relief filled her when she saw Max’s face. She rolled down the window, hands still shaking. It wasn’t so much the blockade itself that troubled her, as their reason for doing it. Why bother? What did they stand to gain from it?

  “Is this yours?”

  “No. No it’s not. Dan wouldn’t do something like this. The nasty neighbours.”

  Max grimaced. “Let’s make this quick then.” He was gone a moment later, signalling for the lads in the car behind to get out and help.

  Annie looked at Clive, the gravity of the situation slowly hitting her. “We’ve got to move them. If we turn back and go around the long way, what kind of message does that send?”

  “The kind of message where we’re still alive.”

  She winced. “No,” she said slowly. “They could have waited until we got back and come and killed us in the night if they wanted.” The thought made her feel sick. She’d assumed Dan was safe, but she had no way of knowing that.

  “True,” he said. “You help them and I’ll cover you. It looks like Max has left Si at the back to keep watch too.”

  She jumped out of the car with as much energy as she could muster. Pete and Max were already moving the top tree. It was huge. Even with all three of them helping, they still struggled.

  She looked around. Was somebody watching, sniggering to themselves? Were these people really that low? What could they possibly have to gain by doing this?

  “Easy now,” Max said. “No need to overdo it. Let’s push it into the ditch. No need for any dramatic camber tosses.”

  It didn’t take them long once they’d organised. They were soon returning for the second tree.

  “Where’s your brother?” Annie said, panting. “It’d be a lot easier with another pair of hands.”

  Max snorted. “Doesn’t he like heavy lifting?”

  “No,” Pete said, sounding as strained as she felt. “It’s something else. We’ll tell you after. Just… can we not talk about it now?”

  She shrugged. Josh’s ability or inability to help wasn’t foremost on her mind right then. They’d manage.

  “Fuck,” she muttered when they’d moved the second tree out of the way. “What was the point in that? A child could build a better roadblock than that.”

  “Let’s get moving. We can talk about it later. Do we have far to go?”

  “No,” she said. “It’s less than half a mile away.”

  There was still no sign of anyone as she got back in the car. Clive eased back in when everyone else had returned to their cars and Annie had the car in gear.

  “Go,” he said.

  She was already flooring the accelerator. She had no desire to hang around there any longer than she needed to.

  Dan

  Dan sat up quickly. He’d been dozing on the couc
h, but something had made Toby growl. Not again, he thought. He couldn’t handle it. He hated sitting around and waiting for more bad things to happen when there wasn’t a thing they could do to stop them.

  He’d never felt so powerless before. He couldn’t stop thinking about how easily it could have been Toby, and not one of the ewes. If anything happened to that dog—and Dan couldn’t be sure those twisted bastards wouldn’t harm Toby if they got the chance—Annie would never forgive him.

  Annie.

  She’d been gone for days; so long that he hadn’t even considered the possibility that it was her and not the neighbours back to stir up more havoc. All the same, he grabbed the shotgun from where he’d propped it against the wall.

  “Terry,” he hissed. “Terry.” The other man’s chin had drooped to his chest in the armchair opposite. Olivia had retired for the evening a couple of hours earlier, having changed Terry’s bandages and run out of other things to do.

  “Terry! Wake up!”

  “Huh… eh…”

  “I heard something outside. I’m sure of it. Come on. It might be the others, but let’s remain cautious.”

  Terry was on his feet in an instant, swaying back and forth somewhat unsteadily. Dan didn’t blame him. They’d polished off nearly a whole bottle of whisky between the two of them.

  He cringed. He had needed to loosen up and let go for a bit, but drinking had been a mistake. He wasn’t as sharp as usual. Then again, he hadn’t felt sharp for a long time. Dan liked to be a hundred percent sure of what he was doing. He didn’t function well at times like this, when the world was full of uncertainty.

  Just as he was creeping through the house to the back door, there was a sharp rap on the front door.

  “Dan! Dan it’s me!”

  Relief flooded him like a balm. “My god.” It was only now he realised he’d started to believe she was never going to make it back. “Annie!”