The End of Everything | Book 9 | The End of Everything

by Artinian, Christopher

  The panic and fear knotted up, and Wren pushed it deep down inside. It was what separated her from most people. She used it on the track, she’d used it in a hundred similar situations, and now these creatures had hurt her dog, it wasn’t much of a jump to turn it into something else, something that could be used to her advantage—anger … hatred … malevolence. “BASTARDS!” she yawped as she charged at the advancing pack. A high tackle was no good against the lurching giant that had smashed Wolf away with such little effort. She fired herself at its feet like a human bowling ball. “Ughh!” A pained grunt left her lips as its shin smashed against her ribs. She felt its fingers brush against her back as it desperately tried to reach for her, but it was too late. Its own momentum sent it reeling.

  She felt another hard knock as the beast directly behind it went flying too, but, determined not to lose the advantage, she sprung back to her feet. Another creature leapt at her, and she immediately brought up her baton and smashed it against the side of its head, causing it to stumble then fall to the ground as it lost its footing. She felt a hand grasp her, and she spun around, catching sight of the other two. They were tearing towards Chuck, but that wasn’t her problem for the time being.

  The beast that had hold of her moved its mouth towards her face, its haunting grey eyes and wild flashing pupils doing their best to mesmerise her. Wren was immune, however. She brought her left hand up hard and fast, plunging the spearhead up through the beast’s palate. It dropped to the ground, and Wren spun like a top to face the remaining three creatures as they gathered themselves in unison ready for the next wave of their attack.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Robyn balled her left hand into a fist and brought it around as fiercely as she could. A jolt of pain shot through her knuckles as she made contact with the side of the creature’s head and the fraction of a second that followed dragged out to an eternity as she waited to see if it had gleaned the desired effect. The beast’s head shot to the side with the force of the blow, and its leg shifted as it lost balance, allowing Robyn to shuffle free. Not wasting the advantage, she dived towards the flailing beast, burying her knife into its right eye socket but keeping it there for the tiniest fragment of time as a terrified scream told her that the skirmish was far from over.

  She spun around to see Rosie running towards the hedge and attracting one of the two creatures that had originally been heading in Chuck’s direction. Robyn glanced at Mila who was in mid-kick as a pair of beasts leapt at her at the same time. Crap!

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The three monsters all pounced at once, closing on Wren like a storm wave. She leapt back and to the side, causing two of them to miss her by a few feet and bringing the spearhead around at the third. The sharp wooden point burrowed into the monster’s head, and she whipped it out again just as fast as the other two beasts corrected their trajectory and lunged for her once more. Wren could see Rosie running and one of the infected charging after her. Her heart broke a little. I can’t do anything. Sorry, Rosie. She brought both her weapons up ready; she could feel the sweat pouring down her back and she could see a blur of movement to her left. Oh shit! There are more of them. The two beasts leapt again, and at that precise moment, the blur to her left became more focussed. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Chuck could do nothing to defend Rosie as the first creature ran wide. The other one ploughed towards him like a bullet train. When it was alive, it had been an athletic and voluptuous young woman. During the course of her travels, the running vest she had worn had torn, revealing what was now an unnatural and sickeningly grey chest. He had dealt with a few of these things in the past. He and the theatre group had always preferred avoidance to confrontation unless it was completely necessary. This counted as being completely necessary, but it didn’t make the task any easier. The monster lunged. Its grasping hands clawed through the air zeroing in on him, and despite his considerable girth and strength, the sheer speed and hostility of the attack took him by surprise.

  “Waahh!” His feet left the ground as he and his attacker flew through the air. Chuck felt the wind as the road rushed towards him. As the battling pair crashed down, the claw hammer flew from his hand, and the back of his head smashed against the tarmac. The beast overshot by a foot, and Chuck’s face was buried momentarily in the foul-smelling cleavage of the creature. His stomach turned as the cold dead flesh slapped his face as he jostled to fight his way free. Finally, he pushed out hard, and the beast fell to the side.

  He scrambled to his knees and reached across for the hammer just as the monster lurched at him once more. These things are relentless.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Mila withdrew the nail-covered rolling pin from her first victim’s head just as the second gathered itself off the ground. She missed her swords. There was a fluidity, a grace, almost an art to the use of the swords. These makeshift maces lodged and stuck like glue-covered rounders bats. They halted the flow of movement, but for the time being, they were all she had. She kicked out again as the creature neared her, but this time it did not fall to the ground. It stumbled back a little before correcting itself and charging once more.

  Mila took a deep breath and brought both weapons up and around at the same time. They clapped and lodged in opposite sides of her attacker’s head in perfect synchronicity and the beast folded to the ground in mid lurch. She immediately withdrew both weapons and turned to see Robyn scrambling for her bow and deftly nocking an arrow; she aimed and fired all in a matter of a couple of seconds.

  The arrow whistled through the air towards its target. The beast crumpled sideways as the missile entered the side of its head. Hearing the thud against the road Rosie looked back. It would be a long time before her tears stopped, but the relief she felt in that moment radiated from her face.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The fearsome growl that Wolf let out was like no other he had ever made. He flew through the air like a rocket and knocked one of Wren’s attackers off its feet just as its fingers wisped against her coat. Realising that Wolf had been the blur she had seen, Wren suddenly felt re-energised. She brought the spearhead around, stabbing the second attacker straight through the temple. Not even waiting for the creature to fall, she withdrew the sharp stick and lunged for the fallen beast as Wolf pinned it down. She pushed against the German Shepherd in an effort to make him stand down. She thought he was going to disobey her, but eventually he backed off. The beast instantly attempted to climb to its feet, and Wren raised her pointed weapon once more.

  An arrow cracked through the monster’s skull rendering it still, and Wren paused, still in fight mode. She turned to see her sister with her bow raised. The string was vibrating, and she had the same look of concentration on her face that she had displayed when the conflict first began. They were both out of breath, and the adrenaline was still surging through them, but for the first time since the battle had begun, they shared a smile. Everything had fallen silent, but for Rosie’s crying, and as they looked around, they realised that the immediate threat of attack was over.

  Wren bent down and yanked the arrow out of the creature’s head, wiping it off on its clothes before walking over to Robyn and handing it to her. “Nice shooting, Sis.”

  Robyn took the arrow and placed it in one of the quivers. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll go collect the others,” Chuck said, looking down for a second at the creature he had slain with his hammer. His breathing remained heavy, and his hands were shaking. He had done what he needed to do, but he was not as comfortable with it as Wren, Robyn or Mila.

  “So, are you going to tell us what the hell happened and where the hell Josh is?” Robyn asked, turning to Mila.

  The smile that had almost reached Mila’s lips disappeared deep down inside her once more. She looked at Robyn then Wren. “It is not good.”

  “What? What is it?” Wren asked.

  “Wren, he was a spy. He was with us to get information about your home, about your friends. He is w
ith that army, and now they are going to take Safe Haven.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Wren’s eyes filled with tears and all strength left her. She collapsed to her knees and placed an arm around Wolf. He turned to nuzzle her, and as much as she wanted his comfort, she pushed him away. The blood of the creatures was still on his fur. “I … I told him everything.”

  “What a piece of shit,” Robyn hissed.

  “I’ve killed them. I’ve killed my friends.” She looked up towards her sister. “I’ve killed Grandad.”

  Robyn crouched down and placed an arm around Wren as tears began to flow from them both. “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault, Sis,” Robyn whispered, desperately trying to comfort her.

  Wren shuffled free and climbed to her feet. “What do you mean it’s not my fault? I let my guard down,” she screamed. “All because I wanted to impress some boy, I told him everything about the place. He knows everything, Bobbi. They’ll be massacred.”

  Robyn ran her fingers through her hair, and she stood up too. “Mila, what happened exactly? What did he say?”

  Mila told the two sisters everything that had happened. She repeated what Josh had said almost word for word. By the time she was finished, Chuck had returned to them with all the freshly cleaned arrows in hand. “Aye, turns out he was a right little twat. Just shows you never really know anyone.”

  “So, what, it’s some kind of cult?” Robyn asked.

  “Not too far off a cult from the kind of stuff he was coming out with. But by all accounts, it’s a bloody big one by the sound of it.”

  Wren rubbed the tears from her eyes with the heel of her palm. “And he just expects us to go back and live in the forest?”

  “That’s what he said. He said he was doing us a big favour and that nobody would come looking for us.”

  “I’ve got to do something,” Wren replied distantly.

  “Wren … bitte … please, listen to what Chuck and I are telling you. There is nothing we can do. We should head back to the forest. If nothing else it will give us time to think.”

  “I’ve got to do something,” she said with more purpose this time.

  Mila stepped closer to Wren and lifted the younger girl’s chin to make sure they were looking at each other eye to eye. “Wren. There is nothing to do. We have no vehicle. We have no way of getting a message to your people. It will not take Josh long to get back, and then it’s all over. They could be in Safe Haven by late afternoon if they chose. By this evening, your town could be gone.”

  “I will not stand by and do nothing,” Wren said, sniffing back more tears.

  Mila let out a sigh and stood back, shaking her head. “You are in denial. You feel responsible, ja? This is nobody’s fault but his.”

  “No. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault, but I’m going to put it right.”

  “Sis, you need to listen to Mila. There is literally nothing we can do.”

  “No. I won’t accept that,” she said as she started crying again. Robyn placed her arms around her sister and held her tight. “We need to find a car. One of the houses on the outskirts might have a car or something. If we find a car, at least we can get back and warn them. That would be something, wouldn’t it?”

  Robyn let out a long sigh as she held her sister then looked at Mila, Chuck and Rosie. “It’s worth a try,” she said, kissing her sister on the forehead and wiping away her own tears.

  “Come. Let us see if we can find a vehicle,” Mila said, walking across to place an arm around Wren.

  “I want to get out of here,” Rosie said. “Please, can we go?”

  “Look. This isn’t a very big place and if we can find a car or something we can be out of here a lot sooner,” Robyn said, taking the arrows from Chuck and placing them in her quivers.

  They all began to walk along the road. The odd quivering breath left Wren’s mouth, but that was it. They walked back past the church and the cemetery and around the first bend to a row of picturesque white terraced houses. Wren’s heart suddenly lifted as she saw a silver car parked next to the kerb of one of the properties. She and Wolf ran to it and tried the driver side door. “It’s locked,” she called back to the others as they jogged to catch up with her. She turned to look at the house that it was parked in front of and walked up to the door.

  “Wren! Wait!” Robyn said, grabbing an arrow and nocking it.

  Wren paused until her sister was in position then banged on the knocker three times. When they heard no sounds from within, she tried the handle, and to her delight, the door swung open. She brought her weapons up and stepped inside. Robyn glanced at Mila and Chuck then followed her.

  Chuck let out a long sigh. “What?” Mila asked.

  “They’re going to be disappointed.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s a Nissan Leaf. It’s electric.”

  “Scheisse! But … but there may be some charge left, ja?”

  “I seriously doubt that.”

  A moment later, Wren came charging back out of the house, clicking the key fob. The door mechanism unlocked, and something approaching a smile appeared on her face.

  “It’s one of those new-fangled things without keys. Do you know how to start them?” Robyn asked as she stepped onto the street, first looking at Mila and then Chuck.

  “I was just saying it’s an electric car. Chances are there won’t be any charge left,” Chuck said.

  “But … but it might work, mightn’t it?” Wren asked.

  Chuck walked across and took the key fob. He opened the door and climbed into the driver seat, placing the fob up against the ignition button, which immediately lit up. He pressed it to start and a digital display saying 0 per cent/charge now flashed onto the dashboard display. “I’m sorry,” he said, climbing back out.

  “Well, we need to keep looking then,” she said, marching further down the small street with Wolf walking protectively by her side.

  “Wait up,” Robyn shouted, running after her.

  They rounded the next bend and came to a stop. There was a short bridge reaching over a fast-moving river. Beyond it lay a small green with a war memorial at one end, and beyond that lay more houses, but these were not like the ones they had just left behind, they were blackened shells. “Oh shit!”

  “This must have been caused by the moor fire that Rosie was talking about.”

  Wren dropped her weapons to the ground and held her head in her hands. “SHIIIT!” she cried, staring towards the burnt-out husks. The trees on the other side of the road stood like giant charcoal stork legs. Wolf whined and pressed his head against Wren’s thigh, doing his best to comfort her.

  Chuck and Mila arrived with their weapons raised, fearing Wren’s scream heralded another attack by the infected. When they saw what she saw, they understood.

  “Well, that’s it then, isn’t it?” Chuck said, lowering his hammer.

  Wren turned to look at him. Tears were pouring down her face once again. “It can’t be. There’s got to be a way.”

  “Look, love, I know this isn’t easy for you to hear, but we’re not going to find a working vehicle. It’ll take a minimum of two days on foot to get to where you’re talking about. And that’s me being generous. Trekking through the Highlands isn’t like taking a nice stroll on a country road. It’s—”

  “I know what it is,” Wren snapped. “God! I know better than anybody. But there has to be something. There has to be.” She turned to her sister once more, and the force left her words as more tears than ever streamed down her face. “Oh, Bobbi, there has to be,” she said, burying her head into her sister’s shoulder.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The last thing Josh had expected was a meeting with Olsen. He thought he would be passing on what he had found via his unit commander, but to actually get an audience with the chancellor of their new republic, the founding mother, was a greater honour than he could have imagined. He had quickly changed out of his jeans and T-shirt and was now wearing the uniform he had co
me to love.

  They had set up a temporary base of operations in the small village of Turroon, just to the northeast of Inverness, and the community hall was their current command centre.

  “Take a seat, Josh. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

  She knows my name. Oh my God! She knows my name. “Thank you,” he replied, pulling up one of the orange plastic chairs and sitting back as he watched the throng of activity around the small island of pushed-together tables that had probably once been used for charity jumble sales and village cake bakes.

  Olsen insisted on wearing the same uniform as everyone else. There were no stripes, there was no special insignia to make her stand out, but everyone knew her face, and everyone knew who she was. During the time they had spent on the rigs and various vessels in the North Sea, she had made a point of paying regular visits to them all. She was in her mid-forties and had striking features. Her cornflower-blue eyes and short natural blonde hair enhanced a complexion almost devoid of wrinkles. She was full of energy, full of passion, full of purpose. She had been in the time before but even more so now.

  He didn’t know how long he’d been staring towards her when he finally realised that she was staring back at him. He almost jumped as her eyes seemed to bore holes into his very soul. A small smile turned up one corner of her mouth, and she leaned back from the table, muttered something to her second in command, and walked over to where Josh was sitting.

  She pulled up a chair and sat down, glancing back to the men and women crowded around the maps and charts before turning to Josh.

  “Carlow tells me that you volunteered for the job,” she said, angling her head a little.

  “I … I just want to be of the most use I can be, Chancellor Olsen.”

  She smiled again, this time showing teeth. “I’m still not used to that title, but it’s growing on me.”

  Josh smiled nervously. “It’s well deserved.”

  “Carlow said that you didn’t just volunteer, it was actually your idea in the first place.” The smile was gone from her face, and suddenly butterflies began to flap wildly in Josh’s stomach.