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

by Alex Knightly

  Clive smiled. “Olivia took such pride in the garden when we still had our house in Hampstead. She’ll be thrilled to help, I’m sure. I’d like to see the village all the same. See what—and who—is close by.”

  Dan nodded. It hadn’t escaped him that the village was only three miles away. It was funny, he had thought this place was so isolated when he first saw it. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that they’d been living in Manchester before they moved here. “We’ll stop just after that clump of weeds up ahead, the one that’s about twenty feet from the peak—if you can call it that.”

  Neither said anything. They slowed down after that, and soon they were crawling forward on their hands and knees to reach the top. It was far more unpleasant than the last time he’d been up here because it had rained in the meantime and the ground was muddy and soft.

  “I’d say about here will do,” he murmured, careful to keep his voice down. He was furthest ahead and could glimpse the neighbouring farmhouse now. He could see people moving about in the yard, but without the binoculars he couldn’t tell what they were doing. They’d left Si down in the yard with the second pair to keep watch. He hadn’t commented on what had happened the last time she was supposed to keep watch.

  If he had, he might not have been able to hide his resentment for the girl and that was a sticking point between him and Annie. How was he supposed to tolerate her when it was her fault his wife had been dragged down south in the middle of all this? He’d been terrified something was going to happen to her. Now he was supposed to just accept the girl? Hardly.

  What he resented most was the resentment itself. He wasn’t like this usually. People knew him as the happy chap, the bloke who kept his head down and got on with it regardless of the circumstances. He didn’t know how to handle this new bitter Dan. He looked at Josh, who was staring through the binoculars.

  Please let there be something in this plan. Doing nothing is driving me mad.

  “Brandon,” Josh muttered, smiling to himself.

  “Eh? Someone you know?”

  “Uh-huh.” It was obvious he was deep in concentration. Dan wasn’t really surprised: from this distance, it was possible to see people but he hadn’t tried to identify anyone’s faces.

  A few more minutes went by. Dan glanced behind him. Si was still down there with the binoculars. Annie was showing Max the shed and Pete was with them. They’d whispered about that the night before when they went to bed, about keeping the brothers separate wherever possible. Dan couldn’t see them causing trouble and trying to take over, but then again he hadn’t foreseen the attack. Things were different now. Anything seemed possible.

  Josh lowered the binoculars and scooted backwards on his hands and knees. Dan followed. “Well?”

  “It’s better than I thought,” he whispered. “Brandon Gates is there. And Nigel Barnes. I worked with Nigel on a project. He likes me, I think.”

  Clive nodded. “That’s good. Let’s go back down and chat more. I want to be absolutely sure this is—”

  “No,” Josh said. There was a wild look in his eyes. “I don’t see the point in waiting.”

  “Well you’ve got to. You can’t just go in there without considering all the risks.”

  “Don’t worry,” Josh said. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’ve already thought this through. I spent nearly a week cooped up in a shed being told I had to do something I didn’t know how to do. Well this is different. This is something I can actually do and I don’t see the point in delaying so we can get bogged down in bureaucracy.”

  Dan laughed. “Come on, mate. This isn’t like a multi-national. All Clive means is we need to agree the plan first.”

  “I know what he means. And I disagree. There’s no point in overthinking it when I know what to do. I’ll leave you notes when I can. Probably in trees or under rocks, it depends on what I’m able to get away with.”

  “That’s a good idea, but we need a better…”

  Dan trailed off. Josh had been slowly edging away from them. He only realised it now when the lad jumped to his feet and hurried off back down the hill.

  “Josh,” he hissed.

  But it was no use. He was already too far away and Dan didn’t want to raise his voice too much and catch the neighbours’ attention. He took off down the hill after Josh, confident that he could catch the lad. He knew the hill better, of course. He thought about signalling for Si to go after him but made a split-second decision not to do that. Josh was obviously clever enough to avoid going over the hill where they might see his approach and know that he’d come from Dan’s farm. That was a good thing. The last thing he wanted was Si chasing him in view of that house. Whatever about this new development, Josh’s idea was a good one. Dan had to catch him.

  But he couldn’t. That two second head-start had proven valuable to Josh. He didn’t stop when he got to the base of the hill, instead peeling off to the right towards the road. Dan stopped following him when he climbed over the fence and disappeared. It would ruin everything if the neighbours saw Dan chasing him.

  Clive reached him then. “That bloody fool.”

  “I know. The clever little sod. If I had any idea he was going to do that I’d have restrained him. It’s a decent plan, but we needed to talk about it more.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Clive cursed under his breath. “We can’t stop him now, Dan. They might be watching. We’ve got to leave him to it and trust he knows how to handle himself.”

  Dan shook his head. “This is crazy. He’s just a kid.”

  “I wouldn’t say that. He’s right. He’s done a lot more than a lot of people his age in getting to uni and getting a good job at a prestigious company.”

  “You agree with him then?”

  “No, of course I don’t. He ought to have waited like we asked him to. The bloody fool. But we don’t have a choice. Let’s hope he doesn’t screw up.”

  Josh

  Josh stopped to catch his breath. This was harder than he thought. He was covered in mud and his hands were now too filthy to wipe his eyes. He had no idea how far he’d come. It wasn’t far, he knew that much. The hedge was shorter on this side than he’d thought, so he couldn’t just run on the other side of it, he was forced to crouch down and try to move forward in an awkward position.

  It’ll be worth it.

  He ploughed on, horrified when he came to another hedge that ran perpendicular to the road. He didn’t risk peeping over it to see how close he was to Miles’s house and it was too thick to be able to see through it. For all he knew, they had binoculars. In fact, he thought that was probably likely. Miles seemed the sort to be prepared like that. He frowned. That was the thing, though. The others’ description of the house, from the little they’d seen of it, sounded nothing like Miles. He was ostentatious in every way, as if his whole image depended on people seeing him consuming the best of everything. He didn’t send his assistants out to get coffee in the Starbucks downstairs. No, it had to be from the little artisan place around the corner, no matter the weather.

  He shook his head. That didn’t matter now. What mattered was getting to the other side of the house so he could approach as if he’d just come from the motorway.

  He’d been forming the plan ever since Annie mentioned Miles’s name. He had to use this to his advantage. He was sick of being stuck trying to do something he’d never be able to do. Josh hated that. He was a high achiever. He liked to succeed.

  And he was going to succeed at this. A little mud was a small price to pay. He’d seen the way the others looked at Pete and their mother. He was going to have to compensate for that.

  What better way than ridding them of the problem that had been plaguing them. It didn’t matter that it was all just petty nonsense. Josh had gone along with it; agreed with them. It was an opportunity to prove himself.

  That being said, another plan had begun to take root in his mind. Josh was a strategist. He hadn’t just lucked into a good degree and a go
od job. He’d planned it. And he’d worked his arse off to make sure he succeeded. Part of that was being clear about his priorities.

  He thought about his current situation in that context as he moved through the mud at an almost glacial pace. It started to rain again. He didn’t care. If anything, that could work in his favour. He needed to turn up at that farmhouse as bedraggled as possible. After all, if they were going to believe he’d come nearly two hundred miles, he was going to have to look the part.

  He smiled to himself as he stopped and assessed the hedge that was blocking his way into the next field along. His priority was his mother and his brother. The others? Not so much. He was glad he’d met them, but he wasn’t stupid. The only reason they’d agreed to take him and Pete with them was the fact that he knew Miles. And that was fair enough.

  But it wasn’t enough to create any great sense of loyalty on Josh’s part.

  Hours must have passed. Josh didn’t know. He wasn’t keeping track except to try and find the sun every now and then to make sure he still had a few hours of daylight left. It was hard in weather like this when the sky was dark grey and hardly any light was getting through. He didn’t want to risk sticking his head up to see where he was. For all he knew, he was right beside Miles’s house. He wished now that he’d kept track somehow, perhaps by measuring his slow, crawling movements against his usual pace. Or maybe that would have been a waste of time. He didn’t know.

  He was hungry and thirsty. Good. He needed to be.

  He was starting to doubt himself. It was all well and good turning up looking like he’d been dragged through a hedge and claiming that he’d heard Miles had a house up here. How was he going to explain it if they questioned him, though? Now that he’d had time alone to think about it, it didn’t make sense. How could he have found the place? It wasn’t like he could have texted any of the others to get it.

  He grimaced. That was the thing. He didn’t know how they’d come to be here. For all he knew, Miles was the only one who knew the address. Therefore if he rocked up claiming someone had told him, they’d be immediately suspicious.

  No, he thought. There are ten of them. That means two cars. Unless… The second car could have followed Miles’s.

  Around and around these thoughts went in his mind.

  It wasn’t like he regretted leaving when he did. He didn’t. No amount of sitting around that stuffy little farmhouse would have given him more useful information. There would have been no sense in it. What was the point in listening to their opinions when he was going to go through with his plan anyway?

  His only regret was not speaking to Pete and his mother before he went. He hadn’t planned it when they left the house. He’d just seen Nigel and known it was the right time to move. If he’d talked to them, he would have assured them that he was doing this for them. He’d have asked them to sit tight and not worry too much about what was going on. Josh was going to fix things so they worked out the best for his family. That was what he’d been doing in that banking job, saving money towards a deposit on a nice house. Times had changed, but his goal hadn’t. His mum would get her nice safe house one way or another.

  Josh closed his eyes and tried to recall everything he’d seen when he’d looked through those binoculars earlier that day. He knew two of them and recognised most of the others. Even with Brandon and Nigel, he didn’t know them well enough to be certain they’d welcome him with open arms based on a vague made-up story. These people were mercenaries. And he didn’t have anything they needed. He realised he’d need to change his plan. It was going to take longer than he’d thought, but this was for the best. This way was far more robust than his initial plan.

  He kept going for another few hundred yards until he knew with certainty that he’d passed Miles’s house. He kept going until he found a gate. Instead of shaking himself off and starting to walk along the road, he climbed over the hedge on the other side, trying his best to ignore the prickling brambles cutting into him as he tried to get a good foothold.

  If anyone could see him, hopping from fence to hedge to hedge, they’d surely think he’d gone mad. And maybe he had. But in Josh’s mind, this new plan was far superior. It wasn’t for the faint-hearted, sure, but that was okay. Josh wasn’t faint-hearted. His brother thought differently, but what did Pete know? In a way his brother was innocent: he saw people as one-dimensional. You were a banker or you were a criminal. You were a suit or a tough guy.

  Josh had seen enough to know that it didn’t work like that, that people were far more complex than just a label.

  He smiled to himself. Pete’s mind was going to be blown if Josh managed to pull this off.

  Pete

  “My poor boy,” Linda muttered. “You lot have driven him away. I knew something like this would happen.”

  Pete closed his eyes. He wasn’t used to hearing her talk about Josh in this way. “Mum, you’ve got to calm down. Nobody drove him away. He’s been scheming this all the way. Don’t you remember? When he insisted on hiding in the back? He’s clever. Nobody made him do anything.”

  It was hard to put any enthusiasm into those words when Pete felt just as betrayed as she did. Why hadn’t Josh told him he was planning to go right away? Pete could have gone with him. He could have helped. Instead, Josh had kept him in the dark as if he was a stranger, as if he meant as little to Josh as the others did.

  It stung.

  “They did,” she snapped. “I don’t know why you can’t see it. How could he just leave us like that?”

  “It was his choice.”

  “Was it? He wouldn’t leave without telling me.”

  Pete frowned. She was right about that. What if it was true? What if the others had strong-armed him into going?

  But Josh had wanted to go. There was no denying that. It had all been his idea.

  “Mum,” he said slowly. “Why don’t you have a fag? Outside,” he added.

  “You’re trying to get rid of me.”

  “I’m not! I’m just trying to help you calm down.”

  “That’s right,” Clive said quietly. “I really need you to focus, Linda. We have to think of an alternative plan.”

  “What? You don’t trust my Josh? Is that what you’re saying?”

  Pete shook his head. Of all the things to say to her, Clive had picked the exact wrong one. The only worse sin in his mother’s eyes would be referring to Pete as a criminal. He got up. “Come on, Mum. You’ll feel better.” He picked up the box that was never far from her hands and was surprised by the way it rattled when he shook it. There were only two or three cigarettes left in there. With all the chaos, he’d never thought to ask her how many she had left. Or to get more for her. “Is this your last box?”

  “No, love. I have another one in the other room.”

  Shit, he thought. She’s going to be like a bag of cats once those run out. Where the hell was he going to find more?

  He looked up and found Si watching him. “We’re going to the village later. We can try and find some there.”

  “Actually,” Clive said. “It’s getting a little late for that now. We’ll go in the morning. I want plenty of time to look around without getting stuck there when it’s dark. It’ll be best to cycle since the cars will only draw attention to us. Now there are only two bikes, so we won’t all be able to go. But we’ll try and find your cigarettes.”

  Pete grimaced. He was starting to feel like the four walls of this place were closing in on him. “I’m going for a walk.” He pushed away from the table.

  “Wait a minute. We have things we need to discuss. As a group.”

  “I need some air.”

  “I’ll open a window.”

  “Just leave him be,” his mother snapped. “The lad wants to go for a walk. Let him go for a walk.”

  Clive sighed, but none of the others said anything. Pete sat back down, red-faced and furious. Back in that house, this had seemed like the perfect way out of Hadstow. So why did it feel so much like a
prison?

  “Right. We’ve got to start a watch. Up the top of the hill. Josh said he’d send us notes when he could, but we never had a chance to agree on a location. Unfortunately he’s taken the binoculars with him, but at least we have one set left.”

  “Bloody hell,” Dan groaned. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that. This could all have been easier if we’d only agreed on a drop spot for notes.”

  “It is what it is. We’ll need to watch until he does. Let’s hope it’s soon.”

  “It’s not so bad,” Max said. “There are nine of us.”

  “Seven if you exclude Terry and Olivia.”

  Terry shook his head. “You don’t have to exclude me. I’m happy to do my share.”

  “No,” Olivia said. Pete reckoned it was the first time he’d ever heard her speak. “No, that won’t help your recovery.”

  “Right then. That’s seven of us. We’ll head up there in twos.”

  “I’ll go first,” Pete said, anxious to get out. “Me and Mum’ll go together.”

  He didn’t really want to be stuck with her, but at the same time he wanted to keep her away from the others.

  “Perfect,” Annie said, though there was a tightness in her expression. “Dan and I will come and relieve you after an hour or two.”

  “Wait,” his mother said. “There are seven of us and we’re going in twos. I have trouble with my back. Maybe someone else can go with you, Pete.”

  He grimaced. It was too late to back out now: she’d know he didn’t want her alone with the others. Maybe she knew already and she was trying to push him into admitting it.

  “I’ll come with you,” Clive said.

  Great, Pete thought. An hour or two stuck with a copper worrying about whether my mum goes off the rails when I’m gone.

  It hadn’t been so bad, Pete reflected later when it was dark and he was lying on the couch in the living room. It had been freezing cold even in the big coat Dan lent him, but it hadn’t been as awful as he’d expected. Clive had laid it out straight almost from the moment they got to the top of the hill and lay down to take turns watching the neighbours through binoculars. He didn’t care what Pete had done in the past as long as he was willing to knuckle down and work hard to make the farm a safe, productive place. Pete had found himself agreeing that yes, he was willing to do whatever it took.