Jake rushed into the shade of the trees and looked around him. Here, it was eerily quiet. He certainly couldn’t see anyone else around him, and the gunfire sounded distant now. He collapsed against the trunk of a tree, wishing he had some water. His shirt stuck to him with sweat. He was exhausted, dehydrated and confused. He had no idea what to do next or if there was any hope of him getting out alive. At that moment, his friends, Aby and the concept of safety felt a million miles away.
He was alone.
Nineteen
Aby
Having made it out of the town square alive with Perry, Megan and a few others, Aby let herself take a breath. She felt like she hadn’t had a chance to draw air in hours. While others were left behind, fighting a battle they’d never win, Aby was grateful that Perry had suggested they leave when they did. Soon enough the barricade would be destroyed and there would be nothing left to fight for anyway.
The town was chaos as they snuck through it to find shelter in the woods. Perry had quickly realised that the prisoners were coming in from the other side of town, but the woods seemed abandoned. Aby hoped that some of the other townsfolk would have the sense to head to the edge of town rather than staying in their houses. They had to keep moving or they were going to end up dead.
Aby sorely wished she could find Jake somewhere along the way, but she knew how unlikely it was. She was kidding herself if she thought he was still alive. He’d been in the centre of town, after all, so he was likely caught in the middle of the attack. Aby wiped silent tears from her face. Without him, she wasn’t sure it was worth carrying on, and yet her feet kept moving. She didn’t much care what happened to her now, but there were still others to protect. Maybe helping them escape would make her forgivable for the things she’d done on the battlefield. Maybe then she could redeem herself and die in peace and be with Jake.
Her throat was dry. The heat of the day was making it impossible to stay hydrated, but they were all thirsty, hungry and exhausted. Aby wished she could rewind to earlier that day when she’d arrived at the town, full of hope and fear all at once. She’d thought back then that maybe this crazy place might be a safe haven. Now it was the residence of her worst nightmares. Did trouble follow her wherever she went? Was she the bad luck charm ruining everyone’s lives whenever she crossed paths with them?
“You okay?” Perry asked her. She shook her head.
“No.”
Perry drew in a deep breath. “Me neither.”
Aby realized that she wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone in the battle. Abigail and John were nowhere to be seen, nor was Steve or the woman who’d let Megan stay with her for a short time. The man who Jake had tried to fetch a nurse for was left behind, clinging on with rasping breaths, but Aby knew he'd be dead by now, like so many others. She’d never seen so many bodies in her life. She’d never believed before that humans were capable of such horrible things without any real cause.
She was so damn wrong.
They stopped in the woods then and Perry looked around at the stragglers left alive from the battle. Their numbers were frighteningly low, but there was determination in his eyes. He drew a breath.
“Okay. There are still people in the town. Our friends and family are still trapped out there. We’re the lucky ones to have made it this far...but there aren’t many of us left.”
Aby tried to count how many were in the group. Fifteen? Twenty at most? It had never been a big town, but if they were the only ones left, that meant hundreds of lives had been lost. It was too terrible to even think about.
“This might be our only chance to get away,” Megan said meekly. “There’s so many of them...the longer we wait around, the more likely they are to regroup and come after us.”
“They’ve done it before,” Aaron said, stepping out of the group to speak. His teenaged face was covered in blood, though it didn’t seem to be his own. Aby somehow thought he’d be spared of the horrors of the battle, but the prisoners carely didn’t care about age, gender or race. They just wanted to kill, wanted to see people suffer. By the way Aaron was shaking, it seemed he was badly affected by what had happened. “They won’t stop until they kill us all. I saw it happen back home...my friends...my neighbors...my family...they just don’t care. They have no moral compass. They have no reason to spare us. Hell, some of them are turning on each other too…we have to get out of here.”
Perry put a hand on the young boy’s shoulder. “You can leave if you want to. No one will judge you...and you certainly don’t owe us anything. But there’s no guarantees of safety anymore, kid. Without people to have your back, this world is going to be a scary place. It’s like you said...they don’t care what happens to who. But you care, don’t you? You care whether the good ones survive, right?”
“I...of course I do!”
Perry’s expression darkened. “And you want revenge for what they did to your family...right?”
Aby’s mouth fell open in shock. She couldn’t believe that Perry was trying to encourage this kid to join the fight by guilting him. She was suddenly ashamed of Perry. But she understood what he was doing. He knew that Aaron would never make it alone anyway. His thinking was simple...better that he die trying to be heroic than whimpering in the dark alone. They needed all the help they could get, even from a teenage boy if that was what it took. It didn’t make it right, but she understood. And she knew that in his shoes, she might do the same.
“You with us, kid?” Perry pushed. Aaron blinked several times before he nodded. Perry shook his hand.
“Good lad. You’re a good lad. Now, we need a plan. How are we going to get back into the town unnoticed? And how do we know where to find the survivors?”
No one seemed to have much to offer to the conversation. Aby cleared her throat.
“I don’t think we can go back in yet,” she said quietly. As much as she wanted to find Jake, she knew it would be a suicide mission. “If I thought there was a chance we could save people...I’d say we should go back in. But we don’t have many weapons now. We have even less people. If we go back, we’re most likely just handing our lives over as well as the ones trapped there. We’re going to stick out like sore thumbs...half of us are women and the mob is from an all men’s prison. They’re going to kill us the first chance they get.”
Perry sighed. “I know. But if we leave and don’t try...we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives. I want to find my daughter. I know she might be dead...but if there’s a chance she isn’t then I want to save her.”
Aby couldn’t say what she was thinking aloud. Perry would be furious if he knew that she was thinking there was no way his daughter was still alive. At least, she wouldn’t be for long. She’s accepted that she’d lost Jake the second they started to run. He needed to come to terms with the fact that the life he’d known and spent so long building was over.
“Maybe we should wait a while and see what happens,” Megan said softly. “I don’t feel comfortable rushing in without a plan...I want to help, but I think Aby is right. We can’t risk losing everyone.”
Perry threw his hands up in frustration. “You two don’t get it...big city living hasn’t prepared you for this one bit. I’d do anything for these people, okay? If you can’t handle that then maybe you should leave already.”
“Perry, we want to help,” Aby told him. “We just don’t want everyone to die in the process. If it’s a choice between saving this group and everyone dying...well, how can it even be a choice?”
Perry crossed his arms across his chest. “So you wouldn’t even go back for Jake?”
Aby wavered. If she thought there was a glimmer of hope...then maybe she would. Maybe she’d risk everything to go and find him. But she’d already told herself that he was lost to her. He’d nearly slipped through her fingers so many times already. They’d run out of luck. They must have.
But when she heard the crunch of leaves behind them, her heart froze. She felt something like hope rise in her chest. And when
she turned, she saw the only face she wanted to see.
Jake looked war-worn, but he was very much alive. Unharmed. Still breathing. He offered her a tiny smile. She ran to him and threw her arms around him, her heart swelling with joy she didn’t know was possible. He rubbed her back gently as she held him.
“I thought you were gone for good this time,” she croaked. He kissed her cheek.
“I’d never leave you, Aby. If we go...we go together.”
And that was the moment that Aby made up her mind of what to do. She had to help out. She had to help the others feel the same relief, the same love, the same happiness she’d felt as Jake returned to her against all the odds. She didn’t mind dying if they died together. She wanted everyone to have the gift she’d been given...even if it was her last one.
“Okay, Perry,” she said. “I’ll follow your lead. Whatever you want. Wherever you want to go...I’ll be behind you.”
Megan chewed her lip at Aby’s announcement, but said nothing. She felt a little bad, knowing that Megan was counting on her to talk sense into Perry, but their new life was completely nonsensical anyway. Aby had been given a sign. A sign that there was always some hope. And if Perry wanted to believe his family was alive, then she wanted to believe that they could save them. Together.
“Anyone who doesn’t want to come...I wish you luck,” Perry said. “The rest of you...let’s start this rescue mission.”
Jake squeezed Aby’s hand briefly and then followed Perry as he marched bravely back toward the town. Megan hesitated for a moment before following, Aaron walking close beside her. One by one, every single one of them turned back toward the danger of the town. Aby now understood why a town like Dent shouldn’t be allowed to be destroyed. Those people were brave enough to do anything to protect their people, even dying. Now, Aby wished she’d got there sooner. She wished she could’ve saved them all.
She wished she could truly be one of them.
But their suicide mission turned ugly fast. On the edge of town, they caught sight of Abigail and John rushing toward Perry’s family home. Perry looked ecstatic to see them alive and Aby felt hope in her heart.
Until she saw the mob following them.
There must’ve been at least twenty prisoners with bats and guns advancing on the house. Aby held her breath as they shrunk back into the trees. She couldn’t be certain that Abigail and John had been found, and they didn’t want to give away their own location unnecessarily. As Perry tried to rush for his daughter, Jake restrained him to hold him back.
“Don’t,” he hissed. “There’s too many of them.”
The silence was almost too much to bear. Even the gunfire in the distance had quietened down. Aby hoped it was a sign of victory and not defeat, but given that there were a whole gang of yobs approaching Abigail and John’s hiding place, she very much doubted it. Her heart was racing as half of the group disappeared inside.
Her heart sank as they dragged Abigail out of the house kicking and screaming. Perry’s eyes widened, but he stayed glued to the ground in shock. Aby could see that he knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything to save her. She was dead meat.
John was pulled from the house too. He was begging loudly for his life, listing all of the reasons that they shouldn’t be killed.
“Spare her, take me!” he cried. The group of yobs laughed at him and kicked him to the ground. Aby wanted to close her eyes so she didn’t have to watch, but somehow, her eyes stayed glued on the scene.
She covered her mouth in horror as the gang began to kick their victims hard. They raised baseball bats above their heads and brought them down hard on Abigail’s face, then John’s. Perry crumpled to the ground, covering his mouth so that no one could hear his muffled cries. Aby wanted to do something to comfort him, but she couldn’t. He’d never be the same again, that was for sure.
“We need to move while they’re distracted,” Jake hissed, “I’m sorry, Perry, I really am...but if we’re still here by the time they’re done, we’ll be next.”
Perry nodded. “I know...I’m sorry. This was a mistake...my poor Abigail…”
Aby’s heart hurt for him. “I’m sorry, Perry. Let’s go. We can still get out…”
Aby turned around to point back into the forest, already plotting a route in her head, but her heart stopped when she saw men flooding through the trees. She cursed under her breath.
“Our escape route is blocked…we can’t get out and we can’t stay here...”
“We should go to a basement,” Megan said suddenly. “The lady who I was staying with...she had a basement. There are supplies down there is we have to lay low...it’s got to be safer than up here.”
Perry was too distraught to comment so Jake nodded, taking leadership. “Okay, Megan, lead the way...and hurry. We don’t want to get caught.”
Megan took a deep breath and then scurried out from the shelter of the trees. The yob were too busy cheering and mauling Abigail and John’s bodies to notice as the rest of the group followed.
But there were plenty of other enemies to watch out for. A gunshot rang through the air and Aby heard someone fall down behind her. She pushed harder to run as fast as she could. She hadn’t come all this way just to die.
The house where Megan had been staying was clearly ransacked already. The owner of the house lay lifeless on the lawn, her face buried in the grass and flies circling her body. Aby tried not to think about it as she dove indoors, checking behind her to usher the others in. They were being chased down and some of the others hadn’t made it, but Aaron made it in last, filling Aby with relief. She shut the door behind her and locked it, hoping it would buy them some time.
But to her surprise, Megan continued running through the house and opened the back door. There, she revealed the basement door, which was entirely separate to the house, like a small building leading downward beneath the garden. She threw the door open.
“Everyone in!”
Aby obeyed the command. For once, she was glad Megan was taking some responsibility.
Megan closed the door behind her and they were thrown into pitch black. As she stumbled down into the darkness of the basement, she fumbled for Jake. He took her hand and held it tight. Outside, the war was still raging, but for a moment, they could breathe. For a moment, they were safe.
But how long would that possibly last?
Twenty
Jake
Even the sound of Jake’s breathing sounded loud to him. He knew the basement was a pretty good hiding place in theory. It was almost soundproof and he suspected that their enemies would be focussing on searching the houses first. There was even some food in the basement if they ended up having to stay a while, and staying down there gave them time to form a sensible plan.
But he couldn’t help feeling like every noise they made brought them closer to being found. The sound of Perry quietly crying to himself over the loss of his daughter made Jake want to tell him to shut up. Of course he sympathized, but if they were found because of him, they’d all be dead.
It was his anxiety talking. He’d never dream of telling Perry to shut up. But it felt to him like they’d finally ran out of luck. They’d survived this long on their instincts alone, and somehow they’d managed not to get themselves killed. Now, he wasn’t sure that tactic would work any longer.
Perry took another shuddering deep breath and in the darkness of the basement, Jake saw Megan pat his arm.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” she whispered to him. “I’m sorry.”
Perry nodded with a loud sniff. Or maybe it wasn’t loud, but it seemed like it to Jake. “Abigail was everything to me...she was the only light in the darkness of my life. I used to work in the mines, you know. I’d head down every single day and feel like I was never going to see daylight again. It was cold and dark and claustrophobic...kind of like this basement I guess. But when my wife had Abigail...it gave me a reason to want to come back to the surface every day. It gave me a reason not to give up.”
“That’s really nice,” Megan said kindly. “And I know that if she was here...she’d want you to keep going for her sake.”
Jake was glad Megan had tried to give Perry some comfort, but it was difficult to focus on anything but how loud their voices were. How were they not more frightened about what was coming? Did they not have any regard for the others in the basement and how their voices might get them killed?
Perry sighed. “It doesn’t matter in the end, does it? We’re all going to wind up dead.”
It finally clicked for Jake. None of them expected to survive. He felt a sinking feeling in his chest. If everyone lost hope then there was no way they were going to make it through. Jake wasn’t feeling particularly optimistic himself, but he was holding on to the idea that they’d have one last stroke of luck. One last opportunity to get away with their lives.
“We won’t die if we plan ahead,” Aby said, voicing Jake’s thoughts. “We just need to be prepared.”
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Megan said quietly. “What’s the point in fighting? All it’s brought us is pain. Maybe we’re just not meant to make it through this.”
Jake felt a pang of sorrow for Megan. Did she really believe she had nothing to live for? She’d only just escaped an abusive partner, and now she was thinking of giving up on life entirely? She had so much ahead of her. Jake knew he had to say something.
“We’re made it this far,” he said commandingly. “That’s got to mean something, right?”
“It means we got damn lucky,” Perry muttered. “You do what you want. The only thing I want to do now is go and find Abigail.”
The End of the World Series | Book 2 | Survive The Onslaught Page 11
