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

by Artinian, Christopher

  Wren stepped out into the sunny afternoon. The acrid smoke continued to pour from the vehicle, and she hoped that both the creatures would keep their vigil until it was too late. She looked right, and there at the corner of the building, crouched down, was her sister. They nodded to one another and Robyn made her way out, keeping low for the time being and making sure not to lose sight of what the two beasts were doing.

  Robyn and Wren stood side by side, watching the flames, watching the smoke, watching the creatures. They knew better than most what was about to happen, and they wanted to take the briefest of mental pauses to prepare themselves. Just then there was a hot burst as the diesel tank caught, and it felt like the air combusted around them. The two beasts were knocked from their feet and their clothes were suddenly in flames. Wren and Robyn were far enough away not to be blown off balance, but the wave of heat was stifling and they were forced to duck away and turn their backs until it eased.

  When they turned again, the two creatures had already made good headway towards them, taking them both by surprise. They ran, despite flames catching more of their clothing. By the time they reached Wren and Robyn, they looked like demons from the very depths of Hell. Their hair and skin were burning. Their facial features began to melt, and their clothes melded to their once white skin, charring it black like burnt pork. No human would survive such an inferno, but these things were oblivious to the flaming horror that consumed them; their only goal was to reach their prey.

  Robyn and Wren stood with their feet apart. Their hearts were beating fast and their stomachs were churning wildly in a combination of revulsion and fear, but they knew what they had to do.

  They struck at the same time, driving their javelins upwards. Wren’s went straight through one of the beast’s eyes. Robyn’s weapon went up hard underneath its chin, thrusting through the roof of its mouth. Both creatures fell at the same time, almost as if the whole sequence was choreographed. The two sisters stayed there for a few seconds, looking down at their victims, their weapons still stuck fast. They watched as the creatures burned, before pulling the javelins back out and stepping away. The glass cracked in the van’s rear window, making loud popping noises, and that’s when they remembered that any second now, an army of beasts could be heading towards the rising smoke.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Wren said.

  Robyn ran to collect her bow and quiver of arrows. Wren went to collect her holdall, and on the way back out of the shop, she filled any remaining space with more packs of arrows for Robyn. She was not sure if they would ever come back here, but her sister obviously had a real knack for the bow, and it was a skill Wren intended to nurture. It could feed them, and one day, it might just save their lives.

  They set off at a sprint down the windy lane leading from Anderson’s Archery, but they slowed down, and their heart rates returned to normal when they had taken the first bend back towards their home. They looked behind them to see the smoke still rising high into the sky. “I didn’t think we were going to have to do that again for a while,” Robyn said.

  “Me neither. Still, might be a good thing.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “We’re heading out with Thomas, Brendan, and Kayleigh tomorrow, and we’re the only ones who’ve had any experience with these things. Doesn’t harm to get a bit of practice in,” Wren said, shifting the weight of the holdall to her other shoulder.

  “I thought you said it was a couple of pistol crossbows you’d got in there. Seems heavy for just that.”

  “Erm, yeah, well, I picked up some other stuff too.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like arrows.”

  “Even I know you don’t use arrows in a crossbow dimwit, you use bolts,” Robyn said, with a cocksure laugh.

  “They’re not for me. They’re for you. In case we can’t go back there.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You were amazing with that bow, Bobbi. You have a gift for it. You’re not going to get very far with just one quiver of arrows, are you?”

  Robyn stopped in the road and looked at her sister. “Sometimes you are the biggest pain in the arse anyone could possibly wish to meet, and other times, you are so sweet.”

  “While you think I’m sweet, do you want to take a handle of this holdall? It weighs a ton.”

  Robyn laughed. “Come on then. I thought you heptathletes were wonder women.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t stop this being heavy.”

  They carried the holdall back home. No one and nothing interfered with their journey. They had been invited to Thomas and Isabel’s house for Sunday lunch at precisely three o’clock, so as they headed through their own front door, they had half an hour to get ready and make the short trip down the road.

  The Jack family had taken to the two sisters straight away. So far, the family had not come into direct contact with any of the creatures, but they had heard plenty of rumours. The fact these two girls had escaped Edinburgh by themselves, fought these things and lived to tell the tale told Isabel and Thomas Jack they were special; having been orphaned on top of everything else, at the very least they deserved some kindness. The farmer and his wife had let Robyn and Wren move into one of their holiday lets. Their daughter Kayleigh had even given them a bundle of her clothes, which were perfectly in line with Robyn’s taste.

  The two sisters got dressed, a little disappointed that they could not have the afternoon to themselves. There was a loch in front of their property, which would have been a perfect remedy for the scorching sun.

  Robyn put on a pair of shorts and a vest, revealing more than a little cleavage. Wren dressed in jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

  “How do I look?” Robyn asked.

  “Like you’re a cheap prozzie who’s touting for business. How do I look?”

  “Like an old maid who’ll die alone.”

  “Bitch.”

  “Cow.”

  “Slapper.”

  “Virgin.”

  They laughed. “Seriously, you should cover up a bit. We’re going for Sunday dinner, not to a wet t-shirt competition.”

  “Seriously, I’d say you were like our gran, but even she wasn’t so uptight.”

  “Bobbi, we don’t know if they’re religious or what. They’ve given us a house, they helped us when we needed it, we should show them some respect.”

  “Okay, okay.” She went back to her room and put on a faded denim shirt over the vest. “There. That better?”

  “Much,” Wren said.

  When the two of them arrived, Kayleigh was outside, sat in a deckchair, soaking up the afternoon sun. She was wearing less than Robyn had originally put on. “Dinner’s still going to be about an hour. Take the weight off,” she said, gesturing to the deckchairs.

  “Erm, I’ll go in and see if Isabel needs a hand,” Wren said.

  “Suit yourself,” Kayleigh said, pouring a glass of wine for Robyn and handing it to her.

  “Come keep me company; Brendan doesn’t drink.”

  Robyn removed her over-shirt and sat down in the chair next to Kayleigh. She took the glass and had a sip of her drink. “That’s nice,” she said.

  “Pinot Grigio. Thank god we’d just been shopping. I don’t know what I’m going to do when we run out.”

  “You don’t seem like a doctor,” Robyn said.

  “Well, technically, I’m not. Not yet.”

  “No, I mean you don’t seem like the doctor type.”

  “Yeah, I heard that a lot. Your sister seems intense,” Kayleigh said with a smile.

  “She’s fifteen going on fifty.”

  “And what’s your story?”

  Robyn laughed. “I don’t have one. Classic underachiever. My sister, on the other hand, was due to be in the squad at the next Commonwealth Games,” she said, taking another sip.

  “Yeah, right,” Kayleigh said, laughing.

  “No, seriously. In the heptathlon.”

  Kayleigh rais
ed an eyebrow. “Wow. That’s actually pretty cool. No wonder she’s so zoned in.”

  “Yeah.” The two women drank wine and enjoyed the sun for a while. “So, this builders’ yard we’re heading to tomorrow. Is it in a built-up area?”

  “Don’t have a clue. Why?” replied Kayleigh

  “I just wanted to know what to expect.”

  “I’m grateful I don’t know what to expect. In fact, I might take some of this with me in a sippy cup, so I don’t have to care,” she said, holding the wine up.

  “But, I mean, your dad seems like he can handle himself, so I don’t suppose you need to worry.”

  “My dad is soft. He wouldn’t harm a fly.”

  “That’s not the impression I got when we first got here.”

  “Truth be told, I think he was more scared than you. And as for me, I’ve never shot a gun before in my life.”

  “Erm, okay.”

  “So, tomorrow, if we get into any tight spots, we’re looking at the two zombie slayers to get us out of them,” Kayleigh said, smiling and taking another drink of wine.

  “I’d hardly call us zombie slayers.”

  “Have you both killed zombies?”

  “Well...yeah.”

  “Well then, you’re zombie slayers. Get used to it.”

  “It’s been a strange week.”

  “You can say that again. I hope they hurry up with dinner; I could do with a nap.”

  Robyn looked at the bottle, it was only half empty, and she had been given one of the glasses. “Not much of a drinker?”

  “Au contraire…very much of a drinker,” Kayleigh said, lifting an empty bottle from underneath her chair.

  “Aha. You celebrating or something?” Robyn asked.

  “Or something.” Neither of them spoke for a little while, then Kayleigh continued. “You do realise, this is it for us, don’t you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “For our species. The final credits are rolling. The way this thing has spread? It’s unheard of. Nothing in history has taken a hold like this. The Antonine Plague killed five million in 165 AD. The Plague of Justinian, about four hundred years later, killed five times that amount. The Black Death in 1346 killed two-hundred million, but it took seven years. But this thing? Billions have been killed in what is, relatively speaking, the blink of an eye. It’s nothing short of a miracle that you and I are here talking right this minute, because this is something we don’t come back from. This is the end of everything.”

  chapter 3

  “Iknow it’s five a.m., but you’re very quiet, even for you,” Wren said, placing the bread, jam and a glass of water down in front of her sister. “What’s wrong? You barely spoke all the way through dinner yesterday. Did you have too much to drink?”

  “No. I only had the one glass. I didn’t really want to drink after that.”

  “What is it then?”

  “It doesn’t matter, Wren.”

  “Of course it matters. Our world just got a hell of a lot smaller and if something affects you, then it affects me too.”

  Robyn took a drink of her water and pushed the plate away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “You’re starting to worry me now. Are you okay? What aren’t you telling me?”

  Robyn let out a deep sigh. “I was talking to Kayleigh yesterday. She was saying it’s just a matter of time before we’re all dead—before this thing has infected everyone. She was telling me about pandemics through history and how nothing has ever done this before, not even close. She said this is what wipes us all out.”

  “Bull,” Wren replied.

  “It’s not bull. Think about it. It took everyone else down. Britain and Ireland held out for as long as they could, but then it got here too, and now it’s too late. We’re not going to make it through this.”

  “Bull,” Wren said again. “Look, there will be pockets of survivors everywhere. There will be people in underground bunkers, in remote communities. There’ll be people who’ve taken to the waves. There will be people everywhere trying to last this out, and that’s what we’re going to do. Saying we’re done for is a loser’s attitude. You need to start believing more, Bobbi.”

  “You’re living in dreamland. It doesn’t matter what we do, it doesn’t matter how hard we try; there is so much that is out of our control. We can’t just live with our head in the clouds thinking that whatever happens outside of our own little world doesn’t have any effect on us. This isn’t like training for an event, Wren. You can’t just zone everything else out. This is real life.”

  “You’re right. This is much more important than training for an event, and that’s why I’m taking it more seriously. We can do anything if we put our minds to it. Look at you yesterday. That was amazing. Six months ago, even six weeks ago, you wouldn’t have even thought about doing anything like that. You’d have been too scared of breaking your nails. Now look at you. We set our own goals. We make our own futures.”

  “I’m really beginning to hate that coach of yours.” The two sisters smiled at each other and Wren took a big bite from her jam-covered doorstep slice.

  “Eat something. We don’t know when we’ll next get a chance.”

  “It’s too early.”

  “Remember that at eleven o’clock when you’re starving and we’re shifting bags of concrete.”

  “I hate you sometimes,” Robyn said, pulling her plate back towards her and grabbing her bread.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The two sisters arrived at the farm to see the Land Rover parked outside the front of the cottage with a sheep trailer attached. They went to the farmhouse, leant their javelins against the wall, and knocked on the door before entering.

  “How many times do I have to tell you? You don’t knock, you just come in,” Isabel said.

  “Sorry, force of habit,” Wren replied.

  Thomas and Brendan were finishing their breakfasts, Kayleigh looked decidedly the worse for wear.

  “Are you okay?” Robyn asked.

  “I have the worst head.”

  “Not surprised, after how much you put away yesterday,” Isabel said.

  Thomas stood up. “Right then. No point dillydallying. The sooner we’re off, the sooner we’re back.” He bent down and kissed Isabel on the cheek.

  She pulled him back and held him tightly before doing the same with Brendan, then Wren, Robyn, and finally Kayleigh. The danger of what they were about to do had not been spoken aloud, but they all knew. The world had suddenly become much more savage, and something as innocuous as picking up concrete from a builders merchants’ could end up getting them killed.

  The five of them headed out to the Land Rover. The girls placed their javelins in the trailer, Brendan and Thomas placed their shotguns in the passenger footwell, and they all waved as the car moved off. Isabel smiled, but it was a hollow smile. Inside, she was afraid that this was the last time she would see her family. This was something that had to be done, though. The polytunnels would ensure their future. They would ensure that no matter what climatic problems lay ahead, they would always have a consistent food supply throughout the year, and maybe, just maybe, there could be a future worth living.

  Life was very different in the country; it always had been. Isabel’s sister had moved to the city when she was eighteen. She had married at twenty, and they had lived in the same house for over two decades. They knew the names of their next door neighbours on both sides, but that was it. It was not a particularly big street, but nobody got involved in anybody else’s affairs. There was no sense of community; there was no sense of anything but...self. That’s what it seemed like to Isabel. Living in a city was all about living for yourself. Country living…that was something completely different.

  In the country, everybody seemed to know everybody else’s business; sometimes that was the down side, but it was also often the up side. When times were hard, the community pulled together. When someone needed help, the community always gave it. At Christm
as time, no one was ever left to have it by themselves. The community opened their doors to everybody. The individuals might bicker and argue day in and day out, but they never lost sight of the bigger picture. There was strength in numbers; Isabel felt sure that they stood a much better chance out here of rebuilding some kind of normality.

  Kayleigh’s doomsday thoughts on the subject were well known, but Thomas and Isabel had to be positive. If they were not, if they believed there was no point carrying on, if they thought there could be no future, then why would their children have hope? For the time being, Brendan was certain there was still a point to it all, that something good could come again, and that spark is what kept them going.

  Thomas looked in the rearview mirror towards Robyn and Wren. “Erm...we’re going to have to drive through Tolsta. I hope that’s going to be okay for you girls.”

  “If it’s the only way there, then we don’t have much choice. We left all those things locked inside the doctor’s surgery, so it should be safe enough, but it might be an idea to do a reccy before we head in,” Robyn said. As they got closer to the small village, Robyn felt Wren tense beside her. Sometimes it was easy to forget that it had only been a few days since the worst night of their lives, when they’d nearly died at the hands of a madman.

  The Land Rover slowed as it reached the sign for Tolsta. Thomas brought the car to a stop just before the final bend. He pulled on the handbrake and let out a long nervous breath before reaching across to the glove compartment and pulling out a pair of binoculars. The engine idled for a few seconds before he turned it off.

  “I suppose I’d better go check to make sure it’s all clear,” he said, remaining rooted to his seat.