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

by Artinian, Christopher

  “That’s great; so we’re off the hook.”

  “Not by a long way.”

  “How come?”

  “He said there are huge herds of the dead all over the place. He said that he’d already lost forty men and he didn’t want to lose any more. He said it wouldn’t be long before everywhere from Edinburgh to Stirling was a no-go zone, and the joke was on us because life in Loch Uig would be a dream compared to what we’re about to face. Wren, we’re in real trouble.”

  chapter 5

  Wren flopped down into an armchair and just looked towards her sister. “So, we’re trapped, is what you’re saying.”

  “Pretty much,” Robyn replied.

  “We’re back to square one.”

  “Where was square one again? It’s been so long.”

  “Trapped.”

  “Are we having the salmon?”

  “Stuff that. We’re having something out of a tin.” Wren disappeared back into the kitchen and emerged a couple of minutes later with two tins of spaghetti. Each one had the lid removed and a fork standing up in it. She handed one to Robyn and kept the other for herself, immediately starting to shovel in the tomato sauce covered hoops.

  “Oh yeah, this is so much better than salmon,” Robyn said.

  “You’re welcome to go in there and prepare it if you want to.”

  “It was just when you said you were going to make dinner, I didn’t realise putting a fork in an open can of cold spaghetti actually counted as making dinner.”

  “Yeah well, get used to it princess. We don’t have a range anymore.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Robyn replied.

  “We need a plan.”

  “Can we not? Can we just eat in silence and maybe get some sleep before we have to think about this? Please, Wren.”

  “Okay, but first thing tomorrow, we need to come up with something.”

  “Yay, roll on tomorrow,” Robyn replied before scooping another spoonful of spaghetti into her mouth.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The next morning when Robyn woke up, there was no sign of Wren on the couch opposite. It was light outside, but the one clock on the mantlepiece was not working, and she could not even guess what time it was. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Wren?” she called. When there was no response, she walked through to the kitchen. There was no sign of her sister there either.

  Robyn opened the back door and suddenly heard clattering coming from somewhere. She stepped outside and headed towards the noise. The side door of the garage was open, and she walked in to find Wren rummaging through drawers to a workbench.

  “Morning,” Wren said.

  “What time is it?”

  Wren looked at her watch. “Seven.”

  “How long have you been up?”

  “Not sure…a while.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for stuff.”

  “I daren’t ask.”

  “Stuff that might be useful for us.”

  “Found anything good?”

  “A few bits and pieces…torches, batteries, a lighter, a Leatherman, a clawhammer, y’know, stuff.”

  “Uncanny. That was my Christmas list last year, line for line.” Wren just shook her head and continued rummaging. “Are we going to have breakfast?”

  “Yeah, sure. Get started on it, I’ll be in in a minute.”

  Robyn walked back into the kitchen and started looking through the cupboards. “Yesss!” she said, pulling down two unopened boxes of Pop-Tarts.

  A moment later, Wren walked through the door with a reusable carrier full of stuff that she placed down on the counter. “It’s a while since we had those,” she said, smiling.

  “One box for you, one box for me,” Robyn replied.

  “Erm, don’t you think we should share one box and save one box for the road?”

  Robyn lost her happy face in that instant. She let out a long breath. “What do you mean, for the road?”

  “I mean...look, let’s eat first. You didn’t want this conversation last night, but it’s one we’re going to have to have. Let’s do it with a full stomach at least.”

  “No,” Robyn said. “You’re right. Let’s have it now, before you spoil my day. Then at least I’ll still have the Pop-Tarts to cheer me up.”

  “I’m not going to say anything you don’t already know, Bobbi. If that man said this whole area was going to be swimming with those things before long, we need to get out sooner rather than later.”

  “Uh-huh, and how do we do that exactly? I mean, we’re on foot, Wren. If we run into a load of those things and we’ve got nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide; that’s it, game over.”

  “But if we stay around here it’s game over, too. We don’t have the means to survive like we did back at the farm. When we run out of food we need to go looking for it. We don’t have a fresh water supply. We can’t just go from house to house scavenging, hoping we’ll find enough to get us through another day. It will be just a matter of time. We’ll be delaying the inevitable.”

  “So what then? What do we do? Where do we go?”

  “I think we should set off west and try to get north of Stirling as quickly as possible. We go cross country like we did when we set off from Edinburgh. That way we’re less likely to run into those men, and any zombies.”

  “Let me get this straight. The whole area is rancid with those things, and you want to set off towards Stirling anyway?”

  “I know that tone, Bobbi, but we can’t stay here. There might be food for a couple of weeks, maybe more in those cupboards, but what happens when that runs out? And what do we do for water?”

  “Okay. I don’t have any arguments to give you. We’re screwed if we do and screwed if we don’t,” Robyn said, sighing.

  “We’ll have breakfast, get our rucksacks packed and head out.”

  Robyn tore open the packet of strawberry Pop-Tarts and pulled one out, taking a big bite from one corner before handing the box across to her sister. “Here.”

  Wren took a bite from hers. “Do you remember—”

  “Don’t,” Robyn said.

  “Don’t what?”

  “I’m not in the mood to reminisce, Wren. I just want to eat my breakfast in peace before we head out there.”

  Wren looked hurt, and the pair of them ate in silence. Robyn folded the wrapper back around, she had been looking forward to stuffing herself with the whole box, but now, her appetite was well and truly lost. “Come on then,” she said when they had both finished, “let’s get packed.”

  Robyn went through the kitchen cupboards, taking all the food they could carry and eat without cooking, while Wren carefully packed it in the two rucksacks.

  “I don’t think we’re going to get chance to clean and prepare the salmon. Ah well, it was a nice afternoon, anyway,” Wren said, getting no response from her sister.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Within half an hour they had left the house with two full rucksacks containing mainly food, but some weapons, tools, and other assorted knick-knacks that might help them along the way. They had ventured back upstairs to see if there were any garments that might possibly fit them in the bedroom wardrobes, but there weren’t. They literally had the clothes on their backs, and the mood was grim as the sun disappeared behind a large grey cloud.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  They crossed several fields and did their best to keep close to walls and fences for cover. After an hour they stopped for a rest and took a few sips of water.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Robyn said, taking a seat on top of the drystone wall and placing her bow down beside her.

  “You get a bad feeling about everything.”

  “This is different, though.”

  “No it’s not. I know this isn’t ideal, but we stand a better chance out here than we did back there.”

  “It just feels like we’re going in circles. I mean we headed towards Tolsta, only to come back the way we came, but a little further int
o the country.”

  “We got information that made it necessary. These are different times, Bobbi. We can come up with as many plans as we want, but if we don’t react and adjust when we need to, it all means nothing, Look! We headed east; we thought we were going to go to Tolsta. We found a safe place to stay for the night, but that broadcast told us this whole area won’t be safe for much longer. So now, we’ve gone north a bit, and we’re heading west again with a view to getting the hell out of here. We’ve got to move with the information we have at the time.”

  They both put the top back on their bottles and set off once again. There was a loud, and not very distant, crack of thunder. “Oh great,” Robyn said.

  It was only a matter of a few seconds before the rain began to pour. “Over there,” Wren shouted, pointing to an old farm building in the next but one field. The two girls began to run as fast as they could, carrying the rucksacks and their weapons. As they got closer, they saw that half the roof was missing, and the building had been abandoned for years. “We’ll just take cover until this stops.”

  Robyn and Wren opened the half-rotten door and stepped inside. Their screams made the thunder sound quiet as they both ran back out as fast as they could, sharing looks of horror.

  chapter 6

  Robyn and Wren stood there in the rain, looking at each other as the water dripped from their faces.

  “I have to tell you. Two people shagging was the last thing I expected to see when we opened that door,” Robyn said.

  “Give us a minute,” called a voice from inside.

  The door opened again and a young woman who looked about eighteen appeared in the entrance wearing gold trousers, a gold t-shirt and a gold gilet. “Hello,” she said, blushing.

  The two sisters walked in. The young man who seemed the same sort of age, sat with his back against the wall, a very red face, and his knees up to his chest. He wore the same outfit as the young woman.

  “Erm, I’m really sorry about that,” Wren said. “We were just trying to get out of the rain.”

  “I suppose we gave each other quite a fright,” the young woman laughed. “I’m Melissa; this is Matthew,” she said, beckoning the sisters into the ruin a little further,

  “I’m Wren, and this is my sister, Robyn.”

  “We didn’t think there would be anybody here,” Robyn said.

  “Well, no. Why would you?”

  “Erm, We’re really sorry. If we could just wait until the rain stops, we’ll be on our way, and then you can, erm, carry on with your...erm—”

  “Please forgive my sister,” Robyn interrupted. “She got dropped on her head as a child.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible,” Melissa replied.

  “Yeah, sometimes she’s fine, but sometimes…I just have to remind myself, it’s better she’s here with us and like this, than not here at all.” Robyn smiled and stroked her sister’s head, while Wren shot her an angry look and ducked away from her hand.

  “What are you doing out here?” Melissa asked.

  “Just doing our best to avoid running into zombies or bandits,” Robyn replied.

  A slightly confused look came over the young woman’s face, but Matthew rose and walked towards them. The look of frustration and hostility was now just a memory.

  “You’ve seen them. The zombies, I mean…they’re real?” he said with something bordering on excitement.

  Robyn and Wren looked towards each other. “Erm, haven’t you been watching the news for like the last...ever? Yes, the zombies are real,” Robyn replied.

  “I told you,” Matthew said, prodding Melissa in the arm. “I can’t wait to see one. I bet they’re some sight.”

  “You really don’t want to see one,” Wren replied.

  “No, I do. So where are they?” he asked.

  Robyn and Wren looked confused again. “They’re everywhere. They’ve taken over.”

  Now it was Matthew and Melissa’s turn to look confused. “What do you mean, they’re everywhere?” Melissa asked.

  “Seriously, is this a wind-up?” Robyn asked. “How the hell can you not know this?”

  “Please don’t curse,” Melissa said abruptly.

  Robyn’s jaw dropped open a little, and she was about to say something else, but Wren stepped in. “How come you’re both wearing the same clothes?”

  “It’s what we all wear,” Melissa replied.

  “All who?” Wren asked.

  “At the monastery,” she replied.

  “The monastery?” Robyn said.

  “Yes,” Matthew replied. “Now tell me, what do you mean by ‘everywhere?’”

  “You’ve not seen the TV; you’ve not read papers? You haven’t been on the internet?” Wren questioned. “Or into town, for that matter?”

  “We do not communicate with the outside world unless it is completely essential. We have designated traders who go out to buy and sell, but they have sworn oaths not to repeat any of what they see or hear to the rest of us. But two days ago, I overheard my mother and father talking. Our traders had returned, barely escaping with their lives. They had been attacked,” Matthew said.

  “This thing. This…infection, it’s everywhere,” Wren said. “The UK and Ireland were the last survivors; we had it controlled up until a few months ago when there was an outbreak in Portsmouth, and then Leeds. Then everything went to H— everything went downhill. We lived in Edinburgh. Our parents turned into those...things, and we barely escaped with our lives.”

  “Turned into them?” Matthew asked. “How?”

  “If you get bitten or scratched, you turn. You become one of them,” Robyn said.

  “How? How is that possible?” Melissa asked with a horrified look on her face.

  “They carry a virus,” Robyn replied.

  “And you’ve seen these things up close?” Matthew asked.

  “Plenty,” Robyn said.

  “How is it they did not bite you?” he replied.

  “Believe me, they tried. But we learned to fight,” Robyn said, lifting her bow and nodding towards Wren’s spear.

  Matthew and Melissa’s eyes widened. “You killed them?” Matthew asked.

  “Not quite,” Wren replied. “You can’t kill what’s already dead.”

  The rain began to slow down, and all four of them looked outside. “Well, sorry to have surprised you like that,” Robyn said, “looks like we’ll be getting back on the road in a few minutes.”

  “Where will you go?” Melissa asked.

  “West, then north,” Wren replied.

  “Yes, but where in particular?”

  “Wherever is safe. We just want to find a house that’s secure and off the beaten track, something that’s close to its own water supply and where we can grow our own food,” Wren replied.

  “Yeah, that’s all. It’s not like we’re asking for much,” Robyn said with a smirk on her face.

  “You should come back with us,” Matthew said. “You should speak to my father; I don’t think he knows the full extent of what is going on. You can stay with us. There is plenty of room at the monastery. We have food, we have water, we have security.”

  “Very few places are secure these days,” Wren replied.

  “Trust me,” Melissa said, “the monastery is bombproof. Matthew’s father is our leader, an incredibly sage man. We have over two hundred members. It is truly a wondrous place to behold.”

  “Maybe we could take a look,” Robyn said to Wren.

  Wren looked back towards Melissa and Matthew. “We’ll come with you, but only to explain the situation to your dad,” Wren said to Matthew. “Then we need to be getting on our way.”

  The rain came to a complete stop, and Melissa and Matthew collected a sack each from one corner of the ruin and hoisted it over their shoulders. “We were out foraging for food,” Melissa said.

  “Is that what it’s called these days?” Robyn asked with a smile on her face. Wren giggled a little, but Matthew and Melissa just turned bright red.

/>   “Please don’t mention what you saw to Matthew’s father or mother,” Melissa pleaded.

  “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us,” Robyn replied.

  “How far away is your monastery?” Wren asked.

  “About a mile, mile and half,” Matthew replied.

  The four of them emerged into a fresh smelling meadow, with Matthew and Melissa leading the way. Both pairs talked in hushed tones, and Robyn and Wren fell back a little so they could have some privacy to discuss the latest development in their journey.

  “So, what do you think?” Robyn asked Wren.

  “I think their world is about to implode,” Wren replied.

  “No, I mean, these two. Same clothes, no cursing, all that,” Robyn replied. “I mean, do you think it’s some kind of religious cult?”

  “Well, duh! They live in a monastery, dim wit. Of course they’re religious.”

  “Yeah, but is it one of those weird cults?”

  “I don’t know. Shall we ask them?” Wren replied. “Look, they seem nice enough, a bit weird maybe, but completely naive. We’ll just meet them and try and explain the situation to Matthew’s dad. If nothing else, we’ll be able to fill our water bottles up and get a free meal.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Robyn replied.

  The four of them continued across the field and then entered a dense forest.

  Melissa turned back to look towards the two sisters. “This place is bountiful. Last year when a few of us were out foraging, we found enough puffball mushrooms for every dinner plate at the monastery. It was a blessed day,” she said, smiling.

  “Wow! That is just so...amazing,” Robyn said. “Wren, isn’t that amazing?”

  “That is really cool,” Wren said, without the sarcasm of her sister. The two girls caught up to Matthew and Melissa, and they all walked side by side, looking at the ground, careful not to trip over any exposed roots. “So how often do you come out here?”

  “It’s a very big forest, and things grow quickly, but it varies depending on our duties, and on our food supply. Because our traders were not able to sell the produce they went out with this week, we are collecting a little more, but the Lord will provide, as always. When he closes a door, he opens a window,” Melissa said, smiling.