“I don’t understand.”
“Listen, they’re the youngest, you’re my second in command. I’m trusting you with their lives. If I don’t make it back, drive off. Try to find somewhere safe.”
“No! No, I’m not going to leave you.”
“I don’t like this any more than you do, but we can’t head out in the dark. This is the only option we have. Now, do as I say.” She hugged him tightly, and as she pulled back, she could see tears glistening on his cheeks in the moonlight.
The others began to appear in the doorway and, despite everything he was feeling, everything he wanted to say, Aiden collected the younger ones and ushered them across to the Vauxhall Corsa. They all began to cry as they climbed in. There was a grim air of finality about what was happening.
The engine started, and the car slowly exited the car park. “What’s going on?” Candice asked as she and the others stood shell-shocked on the steps.
“Okay, we’ve got a big problem. There’s an army heading this way. If it was daytime, I’d say we run as fast as we can for as long as we can. But at night, we can’t risk that. If we came across just one infected, it would all be over before we knew it.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
“Well, if anybody here prays, that would be a start.”
chapter 33
It felt like they had been hiding behind the trees for an age. Maybe it had all been in Aiden’s overactive imagination, maybe this army had been nothing more than a trick of the light. Then Robyn saw it. A giant shadowy black mass creeping along the road towards them.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Remember what I said. We only run if there are no other options, and if you have to use your spears, make sure your strike counts. Whatever else happens, we can’t get captured by these people.”
“I’m scared,” Tess said.
“We’re all scared, Tess,” Candice replied, “but Robyn won’t let anything happen to us.”
No pressure then. The huge army moved closer and closer, and Robyn could feel her heart beginning to pound. Her palms suddenly felt sweaty, and her chest was tight. Could eighteen-year-olds suffer heart attacks?
“Stop right there!” shouted Robyn.
The vast procession came to an immediate halt and murmurs quickly circulated around the part of the crowd that was within earshot. It was a woman who spoke for them. “Please! We mean you no harm. We just want to pass through.”
“You need to turn around,” Robyn shouted.
“We can’t.”
“You can, and you will.”
“If we turn around, we will all die.”
“If you take another step forward, you’ll all die. It’s your choice.” Robyn gulped. As the moon shone over the road, she could see the horde was even bigger than she had first thought. The woman’s words seemed sincere, but it could just as easily have been a ruse, and the last thing Robyn was prepared to do was risk her own group’s safety because of a sob story.
“Please let us talk about this. I’m sure we can come to an understanding. We only want to get to Torridon,” the woman said, looking towards the trees in Robyn’s direction.
“Torridon is exactly where I don’t need you to be. This is your final warning.”
Hushed whispers fluttered on the breeze and Robyn could see silhouettes leaning into the woman who had spoken. They hadn’t bought it, any second the massive army was going to rush towards the trees.
Suddenly a small figure broke away from the crowd and began to walk up the road. The woman who had been speaking called after her desperately. “Sammy, come back!”
“Please,” the little girl shouted. “We’ve been thrown out of our homes. A lot of our friends have died. We’ve had to leave all our possessions. We have no food or water, and if we go back … if we go back…” The girl started to cry. “They’ve killed my sister and my brother, and they’ll kill us.”
There was a long silence. “Shit. These people are just like us,” Robyn whispered. She cast another eye over the shadowy mass of figures and saw two friendly looking dogs near the front. They don’t look like they belong to an army of bandits.
“What should we do?” Candice asked.
Robyn exhaled a long deep breath. “Is it true what she said? Were you forced out of your homes?” Robyn shouted.
“Yes,” the spokeswoman replied.
“How?”
“First, they came from the sea with infected and tried to kill us all. When that didn’t work, they invaded.”
Robyn stepped out from the trees. If it was a trap, she’d know soon enough. The others gradually emerged too. Robyn slowly crossed towards the little girl then headed towards the leader of the massive crowd. “That happened to Sally and Max. We found them a few days back, just wandering. Sounds like their pirates paid you a visit. Look, I don’t know how this will work, but we’re stopping at this hotel.”
“Ah! That is where we were heading. How many of you are there?”
“Twelve.”
“And you were going to kill us all,” said a man standing by the side of the leader.
“It was worth a punt. How many of you are there?”
“About five hundred.”
“Yeah, we might have struggled with that many.” The one called Sammy, who had pleaded with Robyn, returned to join them, still wiping her eyes. “Brave little girl you’ve got there.”
“She’s not mine,” the man replied. “Her brother and sister are back there.”
“Oh.”
“What are you doing out here?” the woman asked as the procession began to move forward once more and the remaining youngsters hiding in the trees came out to join their leader.
“We’re looking for somewhere,” Robyn replied.
“What kind of somewhere?”
“A place that we heard about on the road, a place called Safe Haven.”
“I am sorry to tell you that Safe Haven is what we have left behind. It has fallen,” the woman replied.
“No!” Robyn said, stopping again. “It can’t have done. We came all this way. We were told they’d take us in, that they’d help us.”
“We are not really in any position to help anyone at the moment, but we will be again, soon enough.”
“No offence, but if you’ve got no home, no food, no water and just sticks and rocks to fight with, you’re not really going to be able to help anyone,” Robyn replied.
“That is not all we have.”
“Oh. What else have you got?”
“We’ve got each other.”
✽ ✽ ✽
They carried on walking for a while as the enormity of the situation slowly sank in. Robyn had hoped that Safe Haven would be the answer to all their problems; in reality, they were just as desperate as her own group.
“So, what’s your name?” Robyn asked.
“I am Talikha.”
“Talikha? I like that. They call me—” she was about to say Robyn but suddenly changed her mind “—Sam.”
“Sam? I’m Sammy,” the little girl said, suddenly perking up.
“Well, Sam’s not my real name. This lot decided to start calling me it on account of my swords. Short for Samurai. They got tired of saying that, though, so they shortened it to Sam.”
“Oh,” Sammy replied, disappointed.
“Is it much farther, Sam?” another woman asked.
“Not much. We’ll get water and rest, and then tomorrow we might come up with a fresh plan,” Robyn replied, and no sooner had she spoken than Tess began to cry. She placed an arm around the younger girl’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Tess. We’ll figure something out.”
They made the rest of the short journey in silence, and as they reached the entrance to the car park of the monumental hotel, Robyn stopped.
“What is it?” asked the man who had spoken to her earlier.
Robyn put her thumb and middle finger in her mouth and whistled loudly. There was a short pause, and then a young boy shouted, “Sam, is th
at you?”
“Yep, it’s me. We’ve got some guests.”
A car engine started, and a Vauxhall Corsa appeared out of the entrance to a farmer’s field twenty metres ahead. It clumsily negotiated the turn, headed towards them and then steered left into the car park. The overhead light was on in the car. “The rest of your army?” Talikha asked.
“Yeah. Aiden’s thirteen. He’s second in command and the one who spotted you. We headed out to try to change your mind about coming this way, and if we didn’t come back within an hour, he was going to take the youngest ones and try to find somewhere else.”
“You look after them all by yourself?” Talikha asked.
“There were more of us. I had a friend… She—” Robyn broke off. She’d shared enough for one day.
Talikha knew not to press any harder. The massive crowd followed the car into the hotel grounds. The half-moon cast a spotlight on the Highlands’ stage, and the hotel was the star attraction, once the venue for the upper classes, dignitaries and royalty, now a doss house for five hundred plus refugees.
“You said you had water?” one of the women said. “None of us have had a drink in hours.”
“Aiden!” Robyn called the young boy over as the rest of them climbed out of the vehicle. “Show this lady where the stream is.”
“Stream?” the woman asked. “Isn’t that a little risky?”
Robyn pointed to the silhouette of a foreboding black mountain. “It flows from there. We’ve been drinking it, and it tastes good. Nobody’s had the runs or anything.”
“It’s still a little dangerous to drink it without boiling.”
“I checked it out this afternoon. I went halfway up. There wasn’t a sign of anything to worry about, and it’s not really like we’ve got a lot of choices. Every pot and pan in the place has been taken. Virtually everything’s gone.”
“Regrettably, that will have been our people,” Talikha said.
“And now the ones who have taken over your town are reaping all the benefits while we sleep on hard floors and drink stream water.”
“So it would seem.”
“I’m hungry,” Tess said.
“I know, I’m hungry too. We can’t do anything about it right now, but first thing tomorrow we’ll try to catch some fish or something. How does that sound?” Robyn asked.
“Like I’ll be hungry again tomorrow.”
Tess didn’t mean it to sound funny, but the adults couldn’t help but laugh.
Robyn stopped at the door as others began to file into the magnificent building. “I’m going to take the first watch,” she said. “I’ll make sure that if we get any visitors, at least there’ll be some advanced warning.”
“Humphrey and I will keep you company,” Talikha said, gently stroking the head of the Labrador Retriever standing by her side.
“Okay,” Robyn said. “My spidey sense is telling me this night’s still got more surprises in store for us.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Talikha and Robyn sat on the wall next to one another. The two dogs that had been introduced to Robyn as Humphrey and Meg continued sniffing at the air, listening, watching for anything that signalled danger.
“So are both of these yours?” Robyn asked.
“No, just this one,” Talikha replied, stroking Humphrey’s head. “Meg’s owner is ... with my husband, back there.”
“Shit! I’m sorry. Look, who knows, they might be okay.”
“You are right. Of course, you are right.” She said the words but neither woman believed them.
“For what it’s worth, I got separated from my family too, so I know how it feels.”
Talikha looked across at her. “It’s funny. I thought I wanted to be alone tonight, but sitting here with you is making me feel a little better.”
“Not me,” Robyn said, standing up. “I swear I’m getting piles plonked on that bloody wall.”
Talikha laughed and stood up too. “Actually, now that you mention it.”
They continued their vigil standing, staring down the road into the never-ending night. “Have you thought about tomorrow?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, y’know, we’ve got no food. I’m so hungry I could eat a scabby horse. We can’t stay here with nothing to chew on but fresh air.”
Talikha thought for a moment. “We have a number of people among us who can fish and forage. We can go out in groups for safety and collect as much food as we can.”
“You really think you can gather enough oyster mushrooms and berries and catch enough fish to feed five hundred people?”
“We won’t know until we try, will we?”
Robyn laughed. “I suppose.”
“What is funny?”
“Sorry … nothing. You remind me of someone, that’s all.”
Talikha shrugged. “I would like to stay here a little while longer. This is where I was told to come.”
“You still think they’re alive.”
“Thinking and hoping are two different things, but I don’t want to give up on hope just yet.”
They both stamped their feet and moved around in order to warm up a little after being perched on the cold wall for so long. Robyn reached into her pocket and pulled out the watch that Candice had lent her. “Another hour and we can grab a kip ourselves,” Robyn said.
“I might stay up. I don’t know if I can sleep tonight,” Talikha replied.
“I know what you mean, but if I don’t get my beauty sleep, I’m not nice to be around.”
Talikha giggled, and Humphrey licked Robyn’s hand. “I don’t believe that for a second. Humphrey is an excellent judge of character; he would not slobber over anybody’s hand.”
Robyn looked at the saliva casting a sheen over her fingers. “Yeah, thanks for that, Humphrey, I feel really honoured,” she said, wiping it off on her jeans.
Talikha laughed again. “You’ll get used to that.”
“That’s something to look forward to.”
Both dogs suddenly sat bolt upright. Their eyes fixed on something beyond the night, and their ears stood to attention. Talikha picked up her makeshift spear and Robyn reached over her shoulder to place her fingers on the grip of one of her swords. They both peered down the road but didn’t see or hear anything for some time, until…
“It’s a car,” Talikha said.
“It’s two cars,” Robyn replied.
“This is either going to be very good or very bad.”
“Come on, let’s head to the entrance, we can see if they drive by, and if they don’t, we can wake the others.”
The two women and two dogs ran over to the grand entrance of the hotel and crouched down taking watch at a porch window. The vehicle lights got brighter until, finally, they turned into the car park.
Robyn jumped to her feet, starting to head into the hotel to wake the others.
“Wait!” Talikha said, grabbing her arm.
Robyn crouched back down, a little irritated. “We should be waking people. If we need to put up a fight—”
The vehicles, one Land Rover, one vintage VW campervan, came to a halt in the sprawling car park. Two figures immediately climbed out of the smaller vehicle.
Robyn turned to Talikha, and the younger woman could see tears of joy were running down her face. “It is him. It is my Raj.” She stood up and sprinted out of the building; Humphrey ran by her side, letting out two joyous yelps.
Robyn remained there in shock as Meg burst from the doorway next, she moved across the car park like a puppy. She stood on her hind legs, extending her paws onto an older looking woman’s shoulders.
Even though these people were strangers, Robyn was suddenly overcome with emotion. Other figures slowly emerged from the vehicles and into the headlights to greet their friends. A German Shepherd jumped down from the campervan to go say hello to his pals, and more figures just stood on the edge of the light, watching the scene unfold.
Robyn suddenly jumped as Sammy and her broth
er ran straight past her and into the night. The two small figures launched themselves at one of the men who immediately fell to his knees and squeezed them both tight. A smile crept onto Robyn’s face. Despite all the trouble that still lay ahead of them, it was heart-warming to see such closeness, such happiness. Then, just as quickly, the smile disappeared. A silhouette walked up to Sammy. The figure’s shape was so familiar.
Robyn headed out from the entrance porch, slowing her pace as she reached the edge of the headlights’ beams before stopping completely. For a few seconds, she just stood there staring. The figure talking to Sammy’s brother suddenly turned to look at Robyn then burst out crying. It was only then that Robyn realised her eyes were not lying to her and tears started to pour down her face too.
“Wren?”
“Bobbi?”
They ran towards each other like children in a playground; whatever was going on around them, whatever had happened that day didn’t matter anymore. This was everything. The two sisters locked in an embrace, making it impossible to see where one ended and the other began. Their cold cheeks pressed against each other, immediately creating a warmth that neither had felt in the longest time.
They could have stayed like that forever, but Robyn opened her eyes and saw an old man just a few feet away from them. Tears were running down his face too as he shared the moment.
“Robyn?” It was a desperate, disbelieving question. The silent salty streams became torrents as he walked towards the two girls, fully understanding for the first time what his eyes were seeing.
“Grandad?” Robyn reluctantly broke her embrace with Wren and ran towards the old man. “Grandad!”
The tears were infectious as they spread around the assembled group like whooping cough. It was several minutes before the old man and Wren pulled themselves together enough to walk hand in hand with Robyn back to the others.
The old man’s voice quivered as he spoke. “Friends, I’d like you to meet my other granddaughter, Robyn.”
The End of Everything (Book 7): The End of Everything Page 24
