He looked around searching for what could have made the noise. It almost sounded deliberate if that was even possible.
He looked through to reception and then across the foyer, as much as he could see of it.
But he couldn’t see anything, and when he looked outside all he saw was a blur of trillions of snowflakes pelting the windows giving Dean the impression that he was moving through the snow.
Just the wind, he thought and he started back up the ramp towards the reception.
He stood by the front desk and looked around, could see the entire area now, but couldn’t see anything strange or out of place.
Stupid wind, he told himself relaxing his tense shoulders. He pulled up his sleeve to check his watch when the bang came again! It was louder this time, close by!
Dean flinched and backed up a little watching the front doors, certain that’s where the noise came from! He watched straining his eyes against the bright swirling snow when suddenly he saw a figure outside!....It was gone in the blink of an eye, engulfed by snow.
The bang came again and the doors rattled!
He saw the figure again just briefly before the snow ate it up again.
Someone was struggling with the doors, trying to get in pushing and pulling the doors as they reappeared and disappeared masked by the snow. The doors rattled furiously!
When the doors didn’t give the figure leaned back and seemed to concentrate on the lock for a moment. It was then that Dean relaxed, the centre had been subject to various break-ins and attacks of vandalism during his time here so he was always wary when it came to stranger in the grounds at strange times. But seeing the figure concentrate on the lock Dean felt certain that it was someone with a key! Dean called out walking over.
“Hello, is any....”he got a response, instantly cutting him off.
“Fucking doors are frozen Dean!”
Dean knew who it was straight away, it was Brian Stephenson one of the better managers in his opinion.
“Hey Brian,”Dean called out.“Hang on a sec ok.”
Dean heard a mumble as he set his carry tray full of cleaning products down on top of the reception desk and started rummaging through it.
A few seconds later he took out a small can of lock de-icer and headed over to the doors.
The doors rattled again.“Fucking stupid things,” cursed Brian putting a smile on Dean’s face.
“How you doing Brian?”he asked.
“I’m gonna fucking crack out here!”
Dean laughed.“Hang on, I’m spraying de-icer in to the lock, give it time to work.”
“Cool, whatever just get the stupid things open, it’s like Siberia out here.”
Dean sprayed the keyhole, gave it a moment then sprayed some more and tried his key inside.
It didn’t want to budge!
“Try your side at the same time Brian,”he called through the doors.“Turn your key with me.”
“Yea, yea ok,”yelled Brian, and together they worked at turning their keys in the locks, it wasn’t working! Dean rattled the doors from the inside and tried to force his key in the lock. None of it did any good so he reached for the aerosol again to give it another spray when suddenly he heard the familiar ka’chunk as the lock finally giving way.
“Thank fuck,” said Brian, but the doors still didn’t open, they were frozen together.
Together they worked the doors, one pushed while the other pulled and so on until eventually the doors snapped apart and one opened just that little bit further, enough for Brian to squeeze inside.
“Holy shit,it’s cold out there,”said Brian brushing and shaking the snow off.“I take it I’m the first one in then?”he said rubbing his hands together trying to get some warmth back in them.
“Yep,”said Dean,“I bet there’s a few that won’t make it in today huh. Looks pretty bad out there.”
Brian made his way behind the front desk nodding and started switching on the computers.
“Yea I think you’re right, I don’t think many will make it in. It was hell getting in, hence why I’m late, I passed a broken down snowplough on my way in and the damn roads were easier to drive on once I passed him believe it or not. There’s a good layer of snow over the ice, giving better grip you know, instead of where it’s been ploughed off. There’s lots of cars in ditches or on the curb though. People just don’t know how to drive in these conditions. I had to take it real steady but here I am.”
Brian stopped short pausing for a moment as he looked at the computer.
“Damn,”he said,“Alex sent an email he won’t make it in, he’s completely snowed in....”
Dean cut in,“Yea I decided to let the others go early because the snow was getting pretty bad, the drifts in the car park would have blocked them in you know. The place was already....”
“That’s cool,”said Brian cutting back in.“I bet you guys have the place is spotless.”
“Yea, coz it was quiet yesterday as well it didn’t take long before we’d finished cleaning up, so we laid all the martial arts and gymnastics mats down and mopped them on both sides, then before I let them go we cleared all the entry and exit ways again and lay grit but it looks like that’s going to be a constant battle with the struggle we just had eh.”
“You’re right there,”said Brian finally lowering his hood and pulling off his hat exposing his shaved head.“It’ll keep whoever makes it in busy eh. You guys shouldn’t have bothered cleaning the mats though. The day shift can do it, especially when it’s like this, you lot do enough without doing that shit as well,evenif it was quiet. If it’s the same tonight just chill out for a bit, ok. Enjoy it, it’s not often you get the chance.”
“Ah well, it keeps our hand in,”said Dean checking the time, it was twenty past six.
Brian saw him check the time.“You all set to head?”he asked.
“Pretty much. I’ve been round and sprayed the locks, although fat lot of good it’s done!”He nodded towards the front doors. Brian nodded back grinning and Dean said,“They probably need doing again. The fire exits could all be opened as of ten minutes ago.”
“Ok,”said Brian,“now go and grab your gear and go home, everything sounds good to me. You never know, you might even get a night off. God knows if there’s even gonna be a backshift! That weather gets worse by the second, and that weird ash cloud is due to reach us soon!”
Dean asked,“Do you think the ash will get here like the news is saying?”
“I think it’salreadyhere Dean! You’ll see what I mean when you get outside!”
Dean grabbed his gear from his locker, pulled on his gloves and hat ready for his walk and grabbed a handful of disposable dust masks from the box on the reception desk as he passed. Brian apologised again for holding him back and thanked him for the work he and the guys had done as he opened the sticky front door for him.
“Get outa here,”he said,“and take it easy getting home, it’s pretty rough out there.”
Dean nodded, patted Brian on the shoulder and left.
The cold wind nipped his skin instantly and the snow pelted him as though he wasn’t welcome outside. He pulled his scarf up a little higher and tucked his head down and started walking.
He couldn’t believe how deep the snow actually was, looking out at it and thinking it was deep and actually being out in it, trying to walk through it were two totally different things, he traipsed through it shocked at its depth.
Not gonna be many cars in here for a while, he thought, and little did he know how right he was!
The path at the back of the car park came out on to the main western road out of Inverness that lead down the side of Loch Ness, there was only one set of vehicle tracks on the road, they were on the left so the vehicle had been heading in to town.
Dean could tell that the vehicle had been a 4x4 by the shape and width of the chunky tyre marks.
Dean walked on and it felt like forever for him to reach the canal bridge that was in reality only twenty yards or
so along the road. The deep snow made it hard going and the driving freezing wind was against him blinding him with the blizzard.
When he finally crossed over the bridge and started traipsing along the snow bound towpath he tried a quick look up, but it was useless, the blizzard was too thick for him to see any further than his outstretched hand. He carried onslowly,he didn’t want to wander too close to the edge of the bank, he knew the canal was frozen over, had been for two weeks now and it was hard to make out where the bank ended and the canal started with the snow covering everything.
After a while of traipsing along, he felt like his cheeks were about to crack so he turned his back in to the wind taking a brief break. He risked a look up hoping that with the wind behind him he’d see a little better than before. He was awestruck and understood in an instant what Brian had meant.
The entire eastern skyline was dark grey, practically black!
Angry dark swirls moved around within the vast cloud!
“Holy shit!” Dean said out loud barely believing his eyes.
The news was right, it is coming for us, he thought. Then his view closed in again and a gust of icy wind slapped his face forcing him to bury his face deep in to his scarf again. He pushed on again but after a few steps he tried looking up again out of curiosity, he couldn’t help it now that he’d seen what was coming.
Shielding his eyes from the wind he could just see the cloud, the edge between the darkness of the ash and the early morning winter sun looked like an enormous cloud of bonfire smoke closing in over the top of the city or night catching up with day.
Bizarre, he thought before he had to bury his face again, as the wind whipped his face and dried his eyes. He started walking again thinking it best to get home as soon as he could.
He carried on constantly buffeted and chilled by the wind hating every step, he couldn’t bear the wind, he never had liked it, cold and hot were ok but cooler was better and he loved the rain, but the wind. He detested it.
Then after walking for another ten minutes or so determined not to stop again, he was stopped in his tracks by a fallen branch as thick as his waist that was lying across the towpath. He looked it up and down before attempting to step over and saw that the end of the branch with all its tiny offshoots had broken through the ice over the canal.
He pushed the branch with his foot and watched broken slabs of ice bob up and down around the sunken end as he rocked it. The ice was so thick that it made Dean think of ice breakers at work in the Arctic biting their way through ice sheets miles across.
A gust of wind buffeted him hard from the side while he was standing on one leg knocking him off balance. He tried to counteract the wind by leaning in to it but he put himself further off balance and his other leg slipped out from under him and he fell!
He reached out blindly with both hands as he belly flopped on to the ground winding himself and he started to slide....he was sliding down the bank!
“Shit!”he yelped as he reached out clawing at the snow franticly trying to stop himself sliding towards the shattered canal. Images of him sliding in to the canal and disappearing under the broken ice filled his mind fuelling his panic, then he caught on to something with his left hand, it was part of the branch, he grabbed hold as tight as he could but he was still moving. The branch was moving with him, sliding further in to the canal!
Dean kicked his legs trying to dig the toes of his boots in to the snow but it was having no effect, he was sure he was speeding up. He was certain his feet were starting to get wet, he was sure of it! His mind raced showing him images of his feet disappearing below the icy water....“SHIT, SHIT, SHIT.” he cursed kicking his feet and scratching at the snow still holding on to the branch too scared to let go. The branch ground to a halt giving him hope.
He latched on to it with both hands and pulled himself up as fast as he could struggling against the snow and the branch became unhitched again.
“Fuck!” he cursed through gritted teeth as he pulled as hard and as fast as he could. Frantically trying to work faster than the sliding branch.
It was working. He was making ground. He was sure he was. He was sure he could feel the ground starting to level out beneath him!
He pulled and tugged and kicked and scraped his way back up the bank, then certain he was level enough he took his chance and let go of the branch and rolled away.
He wasn’t sliding anymore, he was safe. Lying on his side gasping for breath with adrenalin rushing through him he looked back and at the thick branch and watched it slide down in to the frozen canal and lodge itself under the still solid ice around the break.
He lay there for a minute getting his breathing back under control still recovering from hitting the ground before getting back up cursing himself for getting in to a panic. He knew that was the worst thing to do in any situation, but then again if he hadn’t worked fast he might be swimming right now he told himself. He brushed himself down and checked his feet. They were still dry.
He carried on, and by the time he reached the narrow path between the fenced in Academy football and rugby playing fields it felt like he’d walked twice, or even three times the usual distance.
The path took him up a long gradual incline passed the Academy and a small cluster of shops at the top that were still in darkness including the corner shop that opened at six.
Someone’s late for work, he thought as ha carried on.
He passed under the road through the short subway coming out on Kinmylies way which his house backed on to from the other side.
Nearly there, he thought eager to get home and start thawing out.
He walked along the houses to the small access lane he passed through noticing how many of the houses were in darkness.
Normally at this hour they were all lit up as people went through their morning routines getting ready for work. He passed between them down the narrow access lane that lead on to a pathway that in turn lead on to the next cul-de-sac and his back gate.
The gate in to the back garden was a bad idea. There was a mound of snow, probably nearly two feet deep drifted up against it and Dean knew the gate was too weak to try and force open.
The perks of buying a cheap house, he thought.
The fact that it had been cheap meant that Dean was constantly broke, fixing this and replacing that. But the views over Inverness were amazing and were the sole reason he’d taken a gamble with it.
He left the gate well alone and trotted round to the front of the street.
He saw neighbours trying to clear snow from their doorsteps and driveways and clearing snow from their buried cars and the thought of a warm bed felt more enticing than ever.
Dean reached for the front door handle and the door swung open.
Gavin stood there smiling through a mouthful of toast and before Dean could even get in he was eagerly met by Sam, his five year old German Shepherd who jumped up and tried to lick his face off like he hadn’t seen him for weeks. Laughing Dean patted Sam and pushed his way inside.
“Morning,”said Gavin through a mouthful of toast as Dean shed his hat and jacket.
“You’re pretty late eh, it hard going?”his brother asked as he pulled off the rest of his gear while making a fuss of Sam.“It’s only hard if you make it hard.”
“You’re just making excuses for being a slowcoach,”Gavin quipped.
“Nah Brian was late in. I can’t leave without handing over, youknowthat.”
“Yea, yea whatever.”
“Yea,and I nearly fell in to the damn canal,”said Dean moving to the kitchen to burn some toast of his own.
“Really?”asked Gavin.“How? What happened?”
“Yea, I slid stepping over a fallen branch. The wind knocked me off balance so be careful along the towpath ok?”
“Yea, damn right I will be,”said Gavin nodding. Dean could hear the TV on in the lounge and to his surprise it sounded like Gavin had the news on.Wonders will never cease, he thought.
Gavin w
as a bit of a black sheep of the family, constantly having to be retold, re-shown or reminded about things constantly, even things that he already knew.
He hadn’t held a job for more than two years, not that he’d been sacked or anything and he wasn’t a slacker, he just got bored or found anothernextbig thing to hanker after and moved on, then ended up getting laid off when the work dried up, then he’d struggle for weeks, sometimes even months before finding another job. Currently he was training to be a bus driver having just left a job at the leisure centre on the night shift cleaning crew that Dean managed and helped him in to.
Gavin had only been there five months before moving on to go and drive buses two weeks ago. Before any of that he’d tried his hand working down south labouring on various building sites until the market fell through and he found himself at a loose end unable to find a job and unable to pay the high rent. Big brother Dean had come to the rescue, putting in a good word for him at work and giving him the spare room for a while.
Dean was just about to ask Gavin if he’d seen the ash cloud when Gavin called through from the lounge.“Hey Dean. You hear this?”
Dean wandered through to the lounge where Gavin was sat on the old brown leather sofa with a pile of badly hand written route notes and directions spread out on the floor in front of him watching the newly wall mounted TV that had been bought mostly to shut Gavin up with his constant complaining about the old TV being too small.
A blonde curly haired woman filled the left side of the screen, the bar along the bottom of the screen said her name was Shelly Connor. To Shelly’s right, behind her were a group of men in orange boiler suits busy moving big steel tables about the place and setting them down in some kind of order. They all seemed to be inside a giant corrugated shed of some kind.
“Hello I’m coming to you live from a disused air hangar in St Tarves on the east coast of Scotland,”she said,“where as you can see behind me scientists are currently setting up a research lab in preparation to start researching fallout from the Norwegian ash cloud that’s entered our air space. The ash cloud has continued to grow in size as the eruption site continues to spew thousands of tonnes of ash and debris in to the atmosphere since the sudden unexpected eruption three days ago. The ash has caused absolute pandemonium across much of Europe causing mass power outages and sadly many fatalities. The loss of power has all but stopped the crucial aid programme put in place to set up rescue centres and help with the evacuation process, and of course supply the desperately needed food, water and medical supplies. The break down in aid and the rising fatality rate is known to be causing widespread panic resulting in mass looting and in cases extreme violence. The cause of the power outages is still as yet unclear. Some are saying that it is directly linked to the ash having abizarre effecton all electrical currents as it settles but this theory has not yet been proven. Scientists here think that it’s most likely a case of so much ash settling on power lines that the sheer weight is bringing them down and thereby restricting power supply to the affected areas, although this does not explain the loss of power to the military and supply vehicles.”Shelly turned as an orange boiler suit filled the right of the screen blotting out the men in the background. The man wearing it had hair to match.
As the Light Dies Page 6
