Amy still seemed concerned though. “I’m sorry for leaving you like that, Steve. Mum and Dad would kill me if anything happened to you.”
“Well you could thank me by staying in this queue so that I can go.”
She was taken aback by my obvious ploy and quickly got angry again. “Steve, you annoying little—”
Mark put his hand up and she stopped talking. “If you’re both looking for supplies I think my dad has some stuff that he stashed away over at my house. I’ll give some to you so that you won’t have to queue up here anymore. Anyway by the time you get your turn all the essentials will have been bought out already.”
Amy grinned and hugged him. “Oh you’re a lifesaver, Mark! Okay, Steve, let’s meet back here later and I’ll bring the groceries since Mark’s already got them.”
I started to smile as well. “So this means I can go then?”
“Yes, off you go. Let’s meet back here in a couple of hours,” Amy said as Mark put his arms around her and they kissed.
Not wanting to witness any more of their spectacle nor of the crowd I immediately bolted and headed for Ray’s house. Since it was just another half a mile it wasn’t much of a sprint to get there and I arrived within a few minutes. The streets were mostly deserted as most everyone was just staying put, anxiously waiting for word from the government as to what to do next.
When I did get to my best mate’s house I noticed that his dad was putting a number of boxes into the boot of his car. Mrs. Lin was helping her husband with the stack of containers just beside the front door.
“Hello, Mr. Lin. Hi, Mrs. Lin,” I said to them as I stood in front of the door. “Is everything okay?”
Ray’s dad just grunted in reply since he didn’t speak a whole lot of English while his mum looked somewhat stressed but she smiled politely at me as she took another box in her arms. “Hi there, Steve. Ray’s inside but we’re all a bit busy, I’m afraid,” she said.
I looked down. “Oh, I’m sorry for bothering you then.”
“Not at all, you can come in, Ray’s over in the kitchen. There’s food on the table if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you.”
As I went inside I noticed that they had somehow packed up most of their belongings and almost everything was in boxes. Ray was indeed in the kitchen as he was boxing up a stack of tinned meat.
He looked up at me and paused for a bit. “I thought you’d be back home packing just like everyone else.”
I shrugged as I walked up beside him. “I would be doing that if my dad hadn’t left the car on the motorway. Now they just wanted me to buy some groceries at the corner shop. I think we’ll be hunkering down until the government brings in some transportation. At least that’s what we’ve been told.”
“Well, my parents have decided to leave right away. That’s why we’re packing everything we can into the car.”
“Good luck with that. I heard all of the motorways into and out of the city are jam packed with cars.”
Ray sighed. “That’s what I told them but my dad insisted we pack anyway. It seems he thinks that this is Hong Kong all over again.”
“What do you mean?”
“My dad thinks that if we leave to go somewhere else then it will be okay again but what he doesn’t get is that there’s nowhere to run to.”
I started to scratch my head. “What do you mean there’s nowhere to run to? Isn’t the government going to evacuate us somewhere?”
Ray looked down at the kitchen floor. I’d never seen him this serious before. “All the stuff I read on the Internet just before it went out paints a pretty terrible picture. A lot of people are saying that the world is ending and others have said that the old pagan gods have returned. If this is happening everywhere then there’s nowhere to go that’s safe.”
“But that’s impossible! Why would the government tell us all to get ready to evacuate then?”
“Because that’s what governments are supposed to do,” Ray said. “They like to tell people that everything is under control in order to stop widespread panic but I can assure you that the MPs and the generals in the army must be in a state of fear as well. What’s happened in Ireland is probably going to happen here.”
I placed my hands on the kitchen table. “Okay, you said that it’s the Fomorians that are going to attack, right? But I thought they were from Ireland like you said so why would they be heading east over to us then?”
“I don’t know. Maybe something is making them attack us or maybe they want something that’s here. I can only speculate since we aren’t talking to them.”
“Wait a minute, tell me again about the myths we learned in class. How did these Fomorians get defeated back in the olden days?”
“Well, from what I re-read again, it says that the other Celtic gods fought them in a mighty battle and defeated them and these new gods took over Ireland.”
“Right then,” I said. “So the solution to the problem is to summon the new gods and have them defeat these Fomorians all over again.”
“And how are you going to do that, Steve?”
I rolled my eyes. “How in the bloody hell should I know! You’re the one who studied all of this so why don’t you contact the government and tell them how to defeat these monsters.”
“Right, as if they’re going to listen to me.”
“Or maybe they’re working on it right now and all will be well by tomorrow,” I said.
“Or they muck it all up and make everything even worse and we all end up dead.”
“You’re such an optimist, Ray.”
“If summoning the good gods were that easy then why is it only the evil gods that have manifested themselves all over the world?”
“You’re asking me?”
“No, it was a rhetorical question. You’re too much of a knob to know the answer.”
“Alright, Einstein, why don’t you tell me what the answer is then? Come on, don’t be shy.”
“I wish I knew.”
I laughed. “So you don’t know the answer to your own rhetorical question either then. Look who the real knob is, knob.”
“Or maybe that Amicus Tarr guy knows the answer.”
“That old wizard again? Surely you don’t believe everything he says, do you?”
“Why not? He’s been right about everything so far.”
“Alright then,” I said. “If he’s been right about everything then why hasn’t the government gone over to his place and asked him about what’s going on?”
“Maybe they did. Maybe that’s why he shut down his website.”
“As you said, you’re just guessing. As for me I was warned about—” I stopped in mid-sentence as I quickly recalled what Ms. Faulkner said to me when I was in the queue by the corner shop.
Ray looked over at me. “You’ve gotten quiet all of a sudden. What is it?”
“Ms. Faulkner,” I said. “I met her in the queue and she said something weird.”
“What about her? What queue?”
“The queue over at the corner shop. My parents sent me and Amy out to buy some supplies and while I was standing in line Ms. Faulkner was there too and she said something strange to me before she went into hysterics.”
“What did she say?”
“I don’t bloody remember now! Wait…I think she was telling me to beware of the exiled one. When you mentioned that wizard I remember you said something about him being an exiled magician or something like that.”
“Yeah, that’s what it said on his website, it was titled The Exiled Wizard. Why would Ms. Faulkner tell you that?”
“I don’t know, she just turned and had a mental look in her eyes, like she was foretelling the future or something.”
“Bollocks. You’re just lying now.”
“I’m not! She really did tell me this and she grabbed me; we were so close I could smell her breath. The other people around us broke it up and she got taken away by her sister.”
Ray giggled. “Ms. Faulkner
, the old widow’s sister went mental on you? What else did she say?”
“She also said to me that I would be going to the land of the dead and that the Fomorians wouldn’t be too happy with me.”
“Good lord, she said that to you? Did she think you’re going to die then?”
“I don’t know…I hope not!”
“Don’t take what she said seriously. Just the ravings of a senile old spinster.”
“Yeah, I’d like to think so,” I said. “But there was just something about it all…it felt like she wasn’t really talking to me but rather it was somebody else who was doing the talking.”
“You mean, you think she was possessed or something?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“Bloody mental. Do you think it might have something to do with all this?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know but I would rather think that she was just mad. If she was truly possessed then I’m in a whole lot of trouble.”
Ray nodded. “Well, I’m sure it’s nothing. Just don’t think about it.”
I remembered the money I had and so I took out a small wad of cash from my pocket and showed it to him. “Oh, here’s the twenty quid I owe you for installing the cheat on your gaming account.”
But instead of taking the money from my hand he just looked away. “Keep the money. I can ask my parents to open another account when all this is over.”
For the next few hours we didn’t really talk much as I started to help Ray pack up the other boxes. His parents came back inside after they had stuffed their car with just about everything. When I realized that it was getting late I decided to get going but I just didn’t have the heart to say anything to Ray; he felt the same way, as we both thought we might never see each other again after this visit, so I just waved at him as I left. Mrs. Lin wanted to give me some groceries when she heard that I was supposed to be out on an errand but I politely refused since I knew my sister’s boyfriend would be providing some stuff for us anyway. My last impression of Ray that day was that he seemed quite sad to see me go and wished that we could somehow stop everything and just muck about for old times’ sake. But in the end it was all too emotional for me so I just walked away and headed back home.
By the time I reached the corner shop it was pretty much empty. There were still a few people milling about and talking to each other but the store itself was closed with a large “Sold Out” sign taped on the door. Amy and Mark were standing across the other side of the street so I crossed over.
Amy seemed pretty upset when I finally got there. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for almost half an hour. Mum and Dad will be upset.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m sorry, Ray got into a bit of a problem so I had to help him out.”
Amy pointed at a paper bag sitting on the ground beside her. “There are the groceries Mark’s dad had so pick them up and let’s get moving.”
I bent down and picked up the bag while Amy turned and hugged Mark one more time and they soon started to kiss again. Not wanting to waste one more moment, I started walking back towards our house. When Amy noticed I was already a hundred feet away she finally let go of her boyfriend and ran after me.
When we got back to our street we saw Mum and Dad outside of the house waiting for us. Mum’s arms were on her hips while Dad had crossed his. They didn’t seem particularly happy but they cheered up a bit as we got closer and they noticed that I was indeed carrying some groceries.
Dad took the groceries from my arms and headed towards the kitchen. “Well it’s about time you two got back; we were starting to get a little bit worried.”
“Steve almost went over to his friend’s house but I made sure he stayed in the queue with me,” Amy said while looking at me. I stuck out my tongue at her in response.
Mum went ahead and hugged me before placing her hand on Amy’s cheek as the three of us went inside. “I’ll draw up a bath for you, Steve. Thank God the water’s still running,” she said as she started to walk upstairs.
Dad started to unpack the paper bag, placing a four-pack of beer, two packets of crisps, and half a dozen candy bars on the kitchen worktop. “What in the hell did you two buy?”
Amy looked at me with flushed cheeks.
I merely shrugged as I looked back at my dad with a straight face. “That was all they had left by the time we got to the front of the queue. Sorry, Dad.”
Dad looked up to see if Mum was listening and we both turned our heads too. She was not apparently so he quickly took the cardboard pack of four beers and hid it behind the kitchen trash bin. “Don’t tell your mum about this,” he said softly.
That night it was all pretty quiet. There was an occasional radio update but everything else that had to do with communications just wasn’t working. We all ate a quiet dinner, with biscuits and pasta in place of bread. There were still people milling about outside and my parents joined them as they all discussed what the devil was going on. I knew it would be pointless so I just went back to my room and started playing some shooters and simulations on my gaming console.
As I was going through a particularly brutal level there was a knock on the door and Amy came in. She sat down on the side of my bed and waited until I was able to pause the game.
“Steve,” she said softly. “I’m going to go out tonight to see Mark again. Could you cover for me again please?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You do realize that there’s supposed to be a curfew on?”
“Yes, I know that but I got a text from him and he really wants to see me. I’m so sick of staying here anyway. There’s nothing to do and no one to talk to.”
“You can talk to Mum and Dad, they’re just outside, talking to the neighbors.”
“Oh you know what I mean, Steve! I want to talk to people our age, not with them.”
“Well what do you want me to say?”
“Say anything you like. I just wanted you to know where I would be going so you wouldn’t worry.”
“I’m not the one who’s going to be worried. It will be Mum and Dad.”
Amy sighed. “Look, I’ll wait until they go to bed and then sneak out. They don’t check on me anyway—they haven’t done that since I was just a small child. I’m just telling you in case they get unhinged if they find out that I’m gone. Just reassure them is all I ask.”
“Then you’re going to get me into trouble if they realize that I knew and never told them about it.”
She drew in a deep breath. “If they get mad at you then I’ll take full responsibility. Can I ask you this one favor, please?”
I snorted in disgust. “Fine, but you’ll owe me again.”
For the first time today Amy smiled as she gave me a hug. “Oh thank you, Steve. I promise you won’t regret this,” she said before getting up and leaving my room.
But the next day I did indeed regret it as they began the evacuation and Amy was nowhere to be found.
Chapter 4
A strange mist began to roll in all around the neighborhood not long after the Fomorians attacked. I stayed in the house for a few more hours while I contemplated what I would do next. Avoiding the windows, I crept about until I got to the kitchen and then reached into the cupboard to get at the packets of biscuits that I knew were still in there. As I sat down behind the worktop I ate a few biscuits before placing the half-eaten packet into the pocket of my hoodie in case I got hungry later. Distant sounds of screams, gunfire and explosions could be heard every now and then. I finally decided that I needed to leave the house and perhaps head over to Ray’s place since Amy’s boyfriend was also living nearby; if I could find any of them then perhaps it could still somehow brighten this horrible day.
Just before leaving I took stock of what I had. I took Dad’s hand torch from the garage with me just in case I needed some illumination later. Remembering what Ray said to me I checked my mobile phone and sure enough the address of that wizard Amicus Tarr was in my phone’s inbox. Since I didn’t know where else
to go other than to Ray’s house, this would give me an additional goal just in case I didn’t find anybody. The last thing I took with me was my pocketknife. I secretly bought a knife from one of my classmates last year and I never told Mum or Dad but I always kept it hidden in my room. Now that the world was at an end I figured it was now or never when it came to having a weapon so I placed it in my right trouser pocket. I didn’t know what good it would do against these Fomorians but I figured having a weapon was better than having nothing.
It was late afternoon by the time I slipped out of the front door and into the street. The strange mist had settled all over the place and I could barely see out into the distance as I sneaked around the shrubbery at the front of our house. The bodies of the soldiers and a few other people were still lying on the street along with an upturned Land Rover. I had thought about perhaps going over to the corpses and maybe taking one of their guns but I had decided against it. For one thing I had no clue how to use a military rifle and my dad had warned me numerous times about playing with firearms so I just nixed the idea. Also, there was that unpleasant fact that some of the dead were my neighbors so I just didn’t have the stomach to scavenge around. Since there were shrubs and trees lining the pavement on our street I decided to make my way towards Ray’s place by dashing from cover to cover. In between running I kept my eyes and ears peeled in case any more of those creatures were about but so far the entire area seemed deserted; it was as if the Fomorians had fully ransacked the neighborhood and had moved on to other choice pickings.
As I continued onto the next street I began to notice quite a few more bodies and overturned cars all over the place. A loud bang sounded just as I was about to cross an intersection near the corner shop, instantly startling me. Thinking that it might have been a Fomorian nearby or something even worse, I quickly looked around and noticed that the front door of the corner shop was slightly ajar so I sprinted towards it and pushed it open before diving inside.
The interior of the shop was dark and the whole place was ransacked. There were upturned shelves and the floor was covered with trash. Since I was near the entrance I couldn’t see anything past the counter. Just as I turned my attention back outside, looking out from the slightly opened door, I heard some scuttling noises coming from right behind me. Taking out the torch from my hoodie’s side pocket, I turned it on and aimed the light into the darkened interior. All I could see were empty and trashed display shelves but I caught sight of something small moving near the edge of one of the corner aisles. As I focused the light on it I nearly dropped the torch due to the sudden terror of seeing something that wasn’t supposed to be real.
Pagan Apocalypse Page 4
