by Jason Ayres
“We could go back in and try and retrieve our luggage,” suggested Kaylee.
“I think we should leave it behind,” said Charlie. “It’s bound to be chaos in there and there’s no knowing how long it might take. Right now it’s not snowing, and we’ve got a few hours’ daylight left. Every minute we delay increases the risk that things are going to get worse. It will only take one idiot on the M25 to cause a pile-up and then we’ll really be stuck.”
“What about the car?” asked Kaylee. “Will it be able to handle the snow?”
“I’m not taking any chances,” said Charlie. “I’m switching it over to manual.” Charlie didn’t trust the driverless car enough to give it autonomous control in such conditions.
He switched the radio off so he could concentrate, and started the engine. Immediately the autopilot began warning him about the conditions. It could detect not only the temperature but also the snow piled up around the car.
He switched the autopilot off and reversed the car ever so gently out of the parking space. The wheels spun and the car slid sideways as he carried out the manoeuvre, but he just about managed to get it out of the space without hitting anything. He pulled forward very cautiously towards the car park exit at no more than five miles per hour.
Once they were out of the car park it got a little easier, but with several other cars sliding around, things were pretty scary. Only when they got out of the airport and back onto the main road did things improve slightly. The cars driving through the snow before them had made two sets of tracks that Charlie remained glued to.
“We could do with some snow chains really,” remarked Charlie. “But we don’t have time to go and look for any.”
“So where are we headed?” asked Kaylee.
“There’s only two ways out from here – either we try and go through the Channel Tunnel, or we go for one of the ports. The Channel Tunnel is nearer, but more of a risk, I think.”
“I agree,” said Kaylee. “I can’t see the trains running much longer if the snow keeps coming down at this rate, and imagine getting stuck in the Chunnel if the tracks are blocked on the other side. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
“At least the weather can’t stop the ferries running. Unless the sea freezes over of course,” said Charlie.
“Things aren’t going to get that bad,” said Kaylee. “Not yet, anyway. It would take an awfully prolonged spell of sub-zero temperatures to cause the English Channel to freeze. Not that it’s impossible if the weather stays like this all winter. We might be able to walk to France in February.”
“Well, we can’t wait that long – not with baby on the way,” said Charlie. “We’ll head for one of the ports.”
“Which one?” asked Kaylee.
“Portsmouth is probably the closest – but I think we are better off heading for Folkestone or Dover. It’s motorway all the way through Kent from here, whereas we’d have to take smaller roads to get to Portsmouth. There’s too much risk of getting stuck.”
He switched the radio back on so they could listen to traffic updates, and proceeded along the snowy tracks of the M23 at a steady 20mph.
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Back at The Red Lion, Lauren was feeling quite relaxed. She’d got a roaring fire going and had made the place quite cosy. Quite a lot of shoppers had come in from the street to warm up, mingling with the football fans already there for the 12.45pm Premiership game between Southampton and Manchester United.
The match was over now, and the sports news channel was showing a bleak outlook for the rest of the weekend’s football programme. The Southampton game had kicked off before the worst of the snow had hit the south coast.
The away team had travelled down the previous night and stayed in a local hotel. They had no problem getting to the ground, which was more than could be said for the away fans. Most of them were stranded at various places on the M6 or on trains that had ground to a halt. With hardly any away fans to cheer them on, they had lost 2-0.
The last ten minutes were played in a blizzard, and the away team manager could be seen gesticulating furiously at the referee to abandon the match. But they played out the full ninety minutes. As it turned out, not only was it the final Premiership fixture to be played that weekend, but also it was the last of the whole year.
Lauren looked up at the screen where the fixture lists were scrolling across the bottom. Almost every match had “P-P” where the score would normally be. It seemed the only match left on was Exeter vs Plymouth.
“This used to happen all the time when I was a lad,” remarked Andy, inevitably sitting on his usual stool at the bar. “They used to have to get the pools panel to determine the results.”
“What’s the pools panel?” enquired Lauren.
“Before your time, love,” said Andy. “Can I have another pint?”
“Already?” asked Lauren. “I only just gave you one.”
“Well I’ve got nothing else to do, have I?” said Andy. “Saturday afternoon and there’s no racing, no football. It’s a disgrace.”
“Well, in that case, you won’t mind if I switch it over to one of the music channels, will you? There’s not much point watching any more of this, is there?”
Before Andy could answer, the door opened, and another two refugees from the blizzard-stricken High Street staggered in.
“Close that bloody door, will you?” shouted a twenty-stone man in a Manchester United replica shirt who was playing the fruit machine by the door. “You’re letting all the cold air in.”
“I tell you what, Andy. Do you want to earn yourself a free pint?” enquired Lauren.
“What do you think?” replied Andy.
“Good, well, go out the back and fill up the wheelbarrow with logs and bring them back in here. I want to keep that fire topped up.”
“You’re the boss,” he said.
Lauren’s watch bleeped. She glanced at it to see Kent’s name flashing. He was due to fly back the next day. No doubt he was messaging yet again to find out what the previous day’s takings were. She opened the message:
“Stuck in Cyprus. No flights back. Can you handle things for a few more days?”
Why not? thought Lauren. Andy had called her the boss. She liked the sound of that. She texted him back.
“All under control – no worries.”
The reply came back almost instantly: “Nice one. PS: What were yesterday’s takings?”
Predictable as ever, she thought.
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Josh and Alice’s journey had also hit a brick wall. The train they’d boarded at Reading had got slower and slower until eventually it ground to a halt somewhere between Liskeard and Bodmin. They hadn’t moved now for at least a quarter of an hour. The snow had been coming down thickly for at least the past hour, but had now stopped again.
There seemed to be hardly anybody on the train. Josh and Alice had the carriage completely to themselves.
The electronic board was still scrolling across above the centre of the aisle.
“This train is for Penzance,” it stated. “Calling at Bodmin, Par, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, St Erth and Penzance.”
“It looks pretty thick out there,” said Alice. “How long do you think it will be before we get moving again?”
Before Josh could answer, an announcement came over the speaker.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise for the continued delay. This is due to heavy snow on the tracks. We hope to be moving again as soon as possible. The buffet car is open if you should wish to avail yourself of any hot drinks or refreshments.”
“It looks like we could be here some time,” remarked Josh. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Shall we?”
“Definitely,” she replied.
They headed for the buffet car. There was no need for any hurry. Within another hour night had fallen, the temperatures plummeted, and with it the growing realisation that they were not going to be goi
ng anywhere tonight.
Chapter Fourteen
Charlie was exhausted. He had been driving most of the night to get to the port.
It had taken them until 4am to reach Dover. The snow had continued to fall off and on all night. They had crawled around the M25, almost getting stuck completely at one point where a lorry had jackknifed, blocking two lanes. Eventually they made it to the M20, which was just about passable, and made their way slowly onwards.
Around midnight, Kaylee had suggested that they stop at some services near Ashford, and get a hotel for the night but Charlie was determined to press on. They had been listening to the radio ever since leaving Gatwick and there were some real horror stories beginning to emerge.
As far as they could tell, Scotland and the North of England were more or less completely cut off. Figures such as 18 inches of snow were being quoted, with drifts of over a metre. Electricity lines had been brought down in several areas, leading to power cuts, and there were numerous reports of fallen trees.
“We have to keep going,” Charlie had said. “If we stop now, we might never get started again.”
And so they had struggled painfully on to the end of the M20. The last few miles were the toughest of all, made worse by the very real possibility that they might run out of fuel.
Charlie was glad he’d chosen a hybrid car rather than a purely electrical one. If it hadn’t been for the full tank of petrol he’d put in, they would never have made it. Even so, all those miles crawling along in first and second gear had left the needle hovering dangerously close to empty.
When they got in sight of the port they joined a long queue of cars waiting to board the ferry. Clearly a lot of other people had had the same idea as them. The first sailing of the day wasn’t due to leave until 6.40am, so he switched the engine off and took the opportunity to grab a couple of hours’ sleep.
Kaylee was already asleep: the long day had taken its toll on the pregnant girl.
He was awoken a couple of hours later by a horn beeping behind him. They were on the move again. He switched on the engine and began the crawl towards the ferry terminal. Progress was slow and it became clear quite quickly that they were not going to make it onto the first ferry.
Then came the moment Charlie had feared. About a quarter of a mile from the ferry, the engine died. They were out of fuel.
“What now?” asked Kaylee.
“We’ve no other option,” replied Charlie. “We abandon the car and walk.”
“We can’t just leave it here, can we?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not. We must have passed a hundred abandoned cars since we left Gatwick. What’s the worst that could happen? They tow it away? That’s if they can even get a tow truck down here, which I doubt.”
“We can still get on the ferry, though?” she asked.
“I would think so. We’ll just become foot passengers. I bet you’re glad we didn’t bring the luggage now.”
They got out of the car and walked away to a furious cacophony of beeping. The man in the car behind them rolled down his window and shouted.
“You can’t just leave that there, mate! Oi! I’m talking to you!”
“Just keep walking,” said Charlie.
The man let out a torrent of further abuse and threats, but it was clear he wasn’t going to leave the comfort of his car to “land one” on Charlie as he’d put it. Soon they were out of earshot.
Progress on foot was slow. It took them half an hour to reach the passenger terminal, and when they did they were relieved to see that the ferries to Calais were still running. They’d missed the first two, but Charlie managed to get them tickets for the 10.15am crossing.
“What are we going to do when we get to the other side?” asked Kaylee.
“We keep going by any means we can,” said Charlie. “We have to keep moving and stay south of the worst of the snow.”
They were relieved that there was no delay to the boarding of their ferry. By 10.30am it was sailing out of Dover and their adventure southwards across Europe had begun.
They went up on deck to take a last look at England. The landscape behind them was covered in snow as far as they could see, and the cliffs of Dover had never looked so white. Charlie wondered how long it would be until they would see them again.
They did not linger long on deck in the freezing cold air. He squeezed Kaylee’s hand and they went inside for some much-needed breakfast. They were on their way.
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Josh and Alice had spent an uncomfortable night in the railway carriage. The guard had come through to inform them that the train wouldn’t be moving until the morning, but as compensation the buffet car was going to provide free refreshments.
Fortunately the heating was still working so it wasn’t cold in the carriage, but even so, attempting to sleep on the train’s seats wasn’t exactly easy.
When daylight had come, Josh had looked out of the ice-covered windows at the landscape beyond. A lot more snow had fallen overnight. It was a complete white-out in all directions. If the train wasn’t going anywhere last night, it certainly wasn’t going anywhere now.
He walked to the end of the carriage and peered through the glass into the next one. There was no sign of the guard, or anyone else. He wondered if they ought to leave the train. It wasn’t a difficult decision.
As he was weighing up the options all the lights in the train suddenly went off, as did the electronic board that had still futilely been claiming that the train was bound for Penzance. That sealed it: they had to leave.
He woke Alice who had been sleeping fitfully across two seats. “Come on,” he said. “We’re getting out of here.”
He hoped they were not too far from civilisation. Neither of them was really dressed for the occasion and he didn’t want them to be exposed to the elements for any longer than was necessary. He tried the button to release the carriage door. Nothing happened. They were electronically controlled.
He looked further along the carriage. There was a red handle on one of the windows marked “Emergency Exit – Pull Handle Down”. Below this was a warning sign stating, “Penalty for improper use – £500”.
“Well, I think this qualifies as an emergency, don’t you?” he said to Alice. “I don’t think the guard is going to come running to fine us, if he’s even still on the train.”
“Absolutely,” she replied.
Josh pulled down the handle and opened the window. He clambered through and jumped down straight into the snow. It must have been at least six inches deep. He reached up and helped her through.
When he saw how much snow had drifted up against the wheels of the train, he knew they’d made the right decision. Now they had another decision to make.
He looked along the tracks. There was no sign of a station in either direction. They had travelled quite some distance since they’d left Liskeard, but it was impossible to judge how far away the next station was. In the distance he could hear what sounded like the sound of traffic on a main road. So the roads were still passable, it seemed.
“We’ve got two options,” he said. “Either we walk along the tracks to the next station, or we try and find the main road. What do you think?”
“Well, I can’t see that there are going to be trains anytime soon, so I think the road is our best bet,” said Alice.
“That’s what I think, too,” he said.
With great difficulty they scrambled up the embankment which was piled up with drifting snow and out onto a field. They could clearly hear the beeping of horns in the distance.
Out on the field the snow was not so bad. There was nothing for it to drift against there, and they were able to walk reasonably comfortably in it.
Hand-in-hand they walked towards some low hills, in the hope of finding the road on the other side. It was beginning to snow again.
Chapter Fifteen
It had been fortunate indeed for the two travelling couples that they had been in the ve
ry south of the country when the snow struck. By lunchtime on Sunday, virtually everywhere else had ground to a halt.
Dan had not gone out at all on Saturday. He’d sat in the house all day, eating, drinking and watching porn. Now he was hungry. It was dark and gloomy in his dismal little room, and it stank of sweat and flatulence. He hauled himself out of bed and flicked the light on. Nothing happened.
“Bloody bulb,” he muttered.
But it wasn’t the bulb, as he soon discovered when he reached the kitchen and attempted to put the kettle on. It was a power cut.
He cursed and looked in the fridge. It was more or less bare. He’d fried up a whole pack of bacon and a packet of sausages for his tea the previous evening.
The remaining contents of the fridge were pretty unappealing. A few mushrooms which had gone brown, two eggs past their use-by date, and a single cheese triangle were all that remained.
He peeled the wrapper off the cheese triangle and shoved the whole thing into his mouth. It barely touched the sides on the way down. He’d have to go out. He opened the blinds on the kitchen window and was shocked to see how much more snow had fallen overnight. He went back upstairs and dug out the warmest clothes he could find.
As soon as he got outside, it was clear that driving was out of the question, so he decided to walk into town. He could get some food from there – either that or go to J’s diner for a fry-up.
It was tough going walking through the snow. Despite having three layers of clothing on, he could still feel the chill. He hadn’t owned any wellies for years, so had opted to wear a pair of trainers. They weren’t particularly useful in several inches of freshly fallen soft snow.
It normally took him about five minutes to get into the town centre, but today it was more like half an hour. He saw only a few people on his way.
At the end of his street, a family of five were packing up a Range Rover with suitcases and boxes of food. He vaguely recognised the man loading the cases into the boot and stopped to talk to him. He was aged around 40, slightly balding, and putting on weight in the middle. Dan had seen him in the pub a few times.
