The End of Everything Box Set, Vol. 1 [Books 1-3]

by Artinian, Christopher

  “How’s that?”

  “Do you think those boneheads will have thought about getting supplies together, or the water going off? Do you think they’ll have planned beyond closing the curtains and keeping the fridge cool as long as they can so their beer doesn’t get warm?”

  Robyn fell silent, for the first time acknowledging that her desire to see Carl Donovan was based on nothing more than physical attraction. “So if the water’s gone off, I’m guessing we’re going to have to fill the cistern from the bath.”

  Wren laughed. “Yeah, good one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’ve got like one flush in the upstairs and downstairs toilet, and then that’s it. We’re going to have to use a bucket and tip it outside.”

  “Gross. No way! You can do that. I’m not taking a piss or a dump in a bucket and tipping it outside. Eugh!”

  “You need to start thinking, Robyn. What would you rather have? Water to drink or water to flush the toilet?”

  “We’ve got loads of water. We’ve got a bath full. We’ve got all the stuff downstairs. We’ve got all the stuff at Catriona’s place, not to mention when it rains again.”

  “And how are we going to gather the rainwater? Do you honestly believe having creature comforts is more important than drinking water?”

  “Creature comforts! You make it sound like using the toilet is a luxury.”

  “Today, it is a luxury. Yesterday it wasn’t, maybe, but today it is.”

  Tears appeared in Robyn’s eyes. “I can’t take much more of this.”

  “What? Reality?”

  “Just get out of my room. I want to be alone.”

  “Gladly,” Wren replied, marching out and closing the door behind her. She went straight into her bedroom and flopped onto the bed. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the holdall on top of her wardrobe. If something happened and they had to get out of the house quickly, they would not last long without supplies. As fast as she flopped down onto the bed, she sprang up again and reached up for her holdall. She took it downstairs and into the kitchen, where she started to fill it with food, medical supplies, a couple of good knives and screwdrivers, water and a few odds and ends. She took the holdall into the garden and placed it inside the shed, right by the door, just in case.

  She started heading back into the house, then looked at the javelin leaning up against the outside wall. She picked it up, and after just one training session, felt much more comfortable with it. She spun it around her head before bringing it down on top of some imaginary foe. She swished and swooshed and thrust and batted, making short work of the half dozen creatures that were running towards her in her mind’s eye.

  A small smile crept across her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she was taking charge of things again.

  Wren was ripped from her peaceful moment by the sound of a loud engine, followed by a second, and then an almost deafening crunch of metal against cement.

  It was the street. Something was happening out on the street. She ran into the house, dropping the javelin in the doorway before leaping up the stairs. She burst into Robyn’s room; her sister was glued to the window.

  “What was that?” Wren asked.

  “They’re blockading the end of the street,” she replied with an excited look on her face.

  “Who is?”

  “The Donovans, The Barkers, and another family from further down the street. They’ve pulled four transits across the entrance. Wall to wall. They’ve backed them into one another too, so there’s no gap. The rest of them are throwing wheelie bins and all sorts on to build a barrier.”

  Wren squeezed in next to Robyn to look up the street. Two creatures appeared and charged forward, battering their bodies against the side of the engine compartment of the middle van. At the same time, a garden bench crunched down on the metal bonnet, hiding the attacking dead from Wren and Robyn’s view. They saw the heads of more beasts, but those were hidden as quickly as the first by a hail of debris, sacks of garden rubbish, an old wardrobe. The barrier was constructed in no time at all, leaving the creatures invisible on the other side.

  “See! I told you. Now what are we going to look like to them for not helping?”

  Wren gave her sister a long look. “What is it you think they’ve done?”

  “They’ve blockaded the street. They’ve made us safe.”

  “They’ve made a load of noise. Now every creature out there knows there’s a buffet waiting on our street. We’ll be under constant attack.”

  “But the barrier. They can’t get through. Look at it,” Robyn said, pointing. “It’s getting higher and wider by the second.”

  The two of them watched as Carl Donovan and one of his brothers carried more black sacks out of one of the houses and threw them onto the barricade.

  “I still say we were safer when nothing knew we were here, and we had more than one escape route.”

  “Yeah, well, I think it’s a great idea.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “Y’know what. Screw this,” Robyn said, turning and heading out. Wren heard her feet pound down the stairs and the front door slam, before watching her sister run towards the barrier and the throng of activity. Robyn went straight up to Carl Donovan and the two of them disappeared into a house, reappearing a moment later carrying a pine TV cabinet. After a few minutes of frantic to-ing and fro-ing, carrying and heaving, everything began to calm down. Wren continued watching, and her heart sank when she saw Robyn pointing in the direction of the house.

  She kept a vigil at the window, and to her relief, as the crowd began to dissipate, Robyn headed back towards the house alone. Wren went downstairs and met her as she entered. “Why did you point towards the house?”

  “What?”

  “Why did you point over here when you were talking earlier?”

  “I was just saying you were back here. You had hurt your back, otherwise, you’d have come to help. Don’t worry! I’m not going to give away any big secrets like you’re mistrustful, paranoid and you think you’re better than everybody else. As if that’s much of a secret. They’ve been working on checking the whole street. After yesterday, they kept eyes on the turned, and where they went. They’ve got walkie-talkies to stay in touch with each other. When they’d figured out the street was clear, they rallied together and came up with a plan to blockade it.” Wren remained silent. “You don’t like the fact that you were wrong and I was right. I told you we should have made contact instead of hiding away here by ourselves.”

  “I still say it was a mistake, but what’s done is done.”

  “Whatever.”

  “I was thinking we should probably have cereal for tea before the milk goes off.”

  “Ooh, sounds awesome, but we’ve been invited to go over and eat across at the Donovans. They’re having the other families around to have a big barbecue.”

  “You aren’t serious.”

  “Donnie and Jan said it was sensible to use up all the meat now the fridges and freezers had all stopped working. They said it would be a good way for everybody to get to know each other too.”

  “Who are Donnie and Jan? And why are you even entertaining such a stupid idea?”

  “Donnie and Jan are Carl’s mum and dad, and it’s not a stupid idea. It’s very sensible. It’s feeding people while avoiding waste, and it would make sense to get to know everyone. There is going to be a guard posted at the barricade twenty-four-seven, so you don’t need to freak about that either. They invited you too, by the way.”

  “I’ll pass.”

  “There’s a surprise. You’d only spoil it if you went. There’ll be booze there and little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes can’t take her drink, so everybody but you would be enjoying themselves. Probably just as well you stay here. You’d only bring everyone down. And I could do with getting hammered. Our parents died yesterday, and to you, it’s like it never happened. Getting pished would help me forget that for just a little while. It would h
elp me forget that my world has collapsed and I’m stuck with you.” Robyn pulled off her T-shirt and walked out of the kitchen. “I’m going to get changed,” she shouted behind her as she ran up the stairs.

  Wren slumped into a chair. Why was her sister so cruel? She was grieving, but everyone grieved in different ways, at different speeds. Staying busy helped Wren occupy her mind while she actually came to grips with what had happened.

  Wren remained seated as her sister re-entered the kitchen diner. She had changed into a new pair of jeans and a new top, she had applied make-up and looked more like she was going for a night out on the town than someone who was living through the apocalypse.

  “Don’t wait up,” Robyn said as she headed out and slammed the door behind her.

  Wren continued to sit there as tears began to roll down her face. She had suffered insults and barbs all through growing up—not just from Robyn, but from kids at school too. When they had been too much for her to handle, her mum and dad had always made things better. But now, for the first time in her life, she realised just how alone she was, and it hurt. After a few more minutes, she dabbed the tears from her face with the bottom of her t-shirt and stood up. This would do her no good. Let the idiots have their end of the world barbecue party. Wren had eaten plenty of meals alone.

  She poured herself a big bowl of the sweetest, unhealthiest cereal she could see. She drowned it in milk, which, although not cold, was still marginally cooler than room temperature, and she began to shovel it into her mouth.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Robyn began to regret leaving Wren by herself soon after joining the rest of them at the party. More people had appeared as the two younger Donovan brothers had gone door to door announcing the barbecue. In total there were around thirty people in the enclosed back garden of the Donovan’s. They had the same, six-foot panelled fencing that her dad had installed, and as she stood in Carl’s bedroom looking out of the window, she could see it backed onto a small piece of waste ground before the dual carriageway. It seemed as safe as anywhere.

  “So, what do you think?” Carl asked, nodding to the glass in her hand.

  “Strong,” she said, taking another sip.

  “Yeah. Dad makes it himself. Gets the job done.”

  “Totally.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said, “We’re safe. There’s no danger anything is going to get past that barricade, and even if they did, there are a lot of us to fight. Anyway, those things aren’t so tough.”

  “Really? You’ve dealt with one?”

  “You could say that,” Carl said, with a cheesy grin on his face.

  “What happened?”

  “It was yesterday afternoon. That’s when dad had the idea about the walkie-talkies. After the crash, when those things finally cleared off, I took one of the radios down to the Barker’s.”

  “Where’d you get the radios from?”

  “What?”

  “Where did you get the radios?”

  “They’re my kid brother’s, but that’s beside the point. I dropped one off and on my way back, there was one just stood there in the middle of the road, just watching me.”

  “So, they’re toy radios?”

  Carl looked irritated. “They’re not toys. They work. Anyway, I’m telling you. This thing was just looking at me. “And I was just stood there looking at it. Dad gave me a crowbar to take with me and I stood there with it in my hand, getting an idea for its weight, just getting a feel for it, cos I knew this thing was about to come for me.” He took another long drink from his bottle. “Anyway, then it started towards me, putting its arms out and moaning. Before I knew what was happening, it was nearly on top of me, but I booted it away and it went flying. So, before it got up, I ran across and just smacked it over and over with the crowbar until it stopped moving. By the time I was done, there was blood everywhere. Blood on my hands, blood all over my face, everywhere,” he said, smiling.

  “Wow. You’re really brave.”

  “Nothing to it. Like I say. They’re not that scary if you know how to look after yourself. If anything happens, you just stick by me,” he said, winking.

  “Erm, I think they’re dishing up down there,” she said.

  “Sweet. We’ll get a bit to eat and then we can come back up here, play a bit of music and have a bit of a laugh.”

  “Erm, yeah,” Robyn said, taking a long drink from her bottle. “That sounds awesome.”

  chapter 9

  Wren was lying in bed awake when she heard the front door bang closed. She hit the light button on her watch to see it was only ten-thirty. More clattering came from below, and she picked up the kitchen knife and torch that were sitting on her bedside table. Wren stood at her bedroom door for a few seconds then ran out of the door and down the stairs as fast as she could. She arrived in the kitchen, putting the torch on full beam, and saw Robyn face down on the floor.

  “What the—” she put the knife down and helped her to her feet. “Are you drunk?”

  “No, I’m not drunk! It’s pitch black in here and I forgot a torch. I walked into one of the kitchen chairs and went flying.

  “Ouch. Are you okay?”

  “No,” she said, pulling the chair upright and sitting down. “No, I’m not.”

  Wren put the torch down on the kitchen table and angled it away so there was enough light for them to see each other, without blinding them. “What’s wrong?”

  “You were right and I was wrong.”

  “About what?”

  “I was wrong to leave you here by yourself for a start. And I was wrong to think those idiots know what they’re doing.”

  “They’ve done a decent job with the blockade. I was watching it until it went dark. You can’t see anything on the other side, so nothing on the other side can see us. They can’t climb over it, so we’re safe at the moment,” Wren reassured her.

  “Yeah, but if something does happen…that’s when it will all go to shit. Carl told me he killed one of those things.”

  “Oh?”

  “He was lying through his teeth. You and I have been up close with them. What he described was nothing like what we’d seen.”

  “So why did he say it?”

  “Jesus, Wren, you really are naive. He was trying to get in my pants.”

  “I thought you liked him?”

  “Yeah, well that lasted for about two minutes after I started talking to him. I don’t mind them dumb, I don’t mind them being cocksure of themselves, but I can’t abide liars. Listen, I think you were right. I think this was a bad idea. The blockade.”

  “You’re starting to worry me, Bobbi. What’s changed? Did something happen over there?”

  “Look, they’re just…. It was like…”

  “Tell me. What happened?”

  “Carl’s dad started talking about how he would sort out a roster for guarding the barricade and how he and John Barker would go house to house and make an inventory of everybody’s supplies so they could be distributed fairly. It’s like he’s declared himself King of the Street. I can see things turning bad.”

  “Turning bad? So, everything’s peachy right now?”

  “You know what I mean. There’s something else too. The Forth Road Bridge is a no go. There were pile-ups and the whole area is teeming with those things.”

  “How do you know?”

  “The Barkers were there; they were going to head north.”

  “We’ll figure it out. Look, let’s get to bed, and get a good night’s sleep we’ll talk about this in the morning.”

  “Okay,” Robyn replied, standing up. She gave Wren a hug. “Thanks for not saying, I told you so.”

  “Not my style. I’m more the silent gloating type.”

  Robyn laughed. “Bitch.”

  “Cow.”

  “Night night.”

  “Night, Bobbi.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Just after five-thirty a.m. the next morning, Wren stepped into the back garden with her javelin. She be
gan by doing a number of bending and stretching exercises and was just about to begin practising her technique once again when she paused. A sound drifted into the air. It was not the usual sound of birds singing at this time of morning; in fact, the birds were noticeable by their absence. It was a steady chorus of low growls. Not just from two or three creatures, either. It was a full choir.

  She heard the door open behind her and she swung round sharply. “It’s just me,” Robyn said, putting her hands up.

  Half a smile crept onto Wren’s face before her attention drifted back to the growls. “Can you hear them?”

  Robyn lifted her head to listen. “Is that at the barricade?”

  “I’m pretty sure.”

  “Shit!”

  “Yeah!”

  “I mean. There’s no danger of them getting in or anything...is there?”

  “I hope not.”

  “Me too.”

  “What are you doing up, anyway?”

  “I thought about what you said. I thought about a lot. I want to train with you.”

  “You?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Want to train?”

  “Yeah.”

  “With me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Oh god! If you’re going to be such a snarky bitch about it, forget it,” Robyn said, turning around to head back inside.

  “No…no. Don’t go. I’m just...surprised. After yesterday I didn’t think you wanted anything to do with this,” she said, gesturing towards the overalls hanging on the washing line for target practice.

  “After last night I realised there weren’t going to be any knights in shining armour. I realised that nobody was coming to rescue us, and I realised that I couldn’t leave everything to my kid sister. I’d have to take responsibility too.”

  “Erm, wow!”

  “Wow, what?”

  “I just didn’t expect that.”

  “Look. Can I train with you? Or are you going to make a big thing out of this?”

  “I’d love us to train together.”

  “Okay, so how do we do this?”