The Collapse

by E S Richards

  Chapter 9

  Amy winced as she watched her son slam his palms against his ears again, desperately trying to stop the blanket of screams that tore through the air. They crept down alleyways, trying to avoid the main roads where cars still constantly exploded from the fuel heating up inside of them. Amy knew while there was still so much fire around the gasoline would continue to burn and the flames didn’t look like dying out any time soon.

  There was still another couple of hours before nighttime set in, but already the sky was becoming clouded with gray smoke. An unnatural darkness was slowly forming and Amy knew she wanted to be safely inside before it got any worse. James’s safety was at the forefront of her mind and she desperately wanted to get them into familiar surroundings so she could hatch a plan for the pair of them.

  The new house Amy had bought in South Haven was quite a bit smaller than the one she had shared with Len in Chicago. But it was quaint, cozy and just how she wanted it. Nestled against the lake Amy could imagine she was looking out to sea, dreaming of being on a tropical island with a tall drink in her hand.

  James loved it too. He had swapped a large back garden for a beach and Amy regarded that as an even trade. He had spent hours every evening paddling in the lake after school, the extreme temperatures making the water warm enough even as the sun started to set. Amy even found him a second-hand surfboard to lounge on; not that there were any waves or any real use for it, but James liked to float around in the shallows even so.

  Thankfully as Amy steered her son left and down one final alleyway, the sounds of terror started to fade into the background. They were by no means gone and Amy didn’t think she would ever forget them, but away from the main roads seemed to be a lot quieter.

  She wondered if she could find a news source at home, some possible explanation for what was happening. The domino effect on the cars had been insane, the fire spreading between each one so quickly. Amy was glad she didn’t drive any longer; she couldn’t imagine what would have happened if she’d been in a car on her way to collect James.

  “Look, Mom!”

  Amy followed her son’s pointed finger in the direction of their home, built at the end of an identical row. Somehow there wasn’t any fire there, despite South Haven being in bits just ten minutes away. The fire crews will put it all out, Amy told herself; she didn’t want to think about the deadly flames reaching her home.

  Walking along the quiet street Amy looked into the windows of her neighbors’ houses. The first she passed housed an elderly couple who sometimes stepped in to watch James if Amy had to run out of the house for an hour or two in the evenings. She noticed them immediately, sitting on their couch staring into space. Tilly, the older woman, noticed Amy as she walked past and nudged her husband, causing him to rise from the couch and leave the room. The next thing Amy knew Reg was opening his front door, beckoning for Amy to come in.

  James ran over without care or abandon, although Amy followed more cautiously. She wasn’t sure why; Tilly and Reg were good people. She wouldn’t exactly call them her friends, but they were like an estranged aunt and uncle you saw only twice a year.

  “Amy, what’re you doing outside?” Reg shook his head softly with concern, “Surely you know it’s not safe?”

  “Don’t worry Reg,” Amy took James by the shoulders and held him in front of her just outside the old couple’s house. “We’re heading inside now. Don’t suppose you know what’s going on?”

  “Oh… you… don’t know?” Reg looked genuinely surprised and Amy took a step forward, finally following the old man into the house.

  “Are you alright dear?” Tilly asked as the three of them joined her in the front room, “You shouldn’t be outside in this you know, it’s not safe.”

  “She doesn’t know what’s happened Tilly,” Reg sat back down beside his wife, “she doesn’t have a clue.”

  “Really?” Tilly sounded equally surprised and Amy started to fidget, wishing one of them would just tell her what had happened without fussing so much over her.

  James had moved over to the large fish tank occupying one wall of the room, gleefully watching the tropical animals swim from one end to the other, although the light and filter in the tank had both stopped working. Amy perched on the armchair opposite Tilly and Reg, indicating with her face that she was waiting for an explanation.

  “The reporter said,” Tilly started before furrowing her brow, “what was it again, Reg?”

  “A mass ejection.”

  “Ah yes that’s right, my memory isn’t what it used to be, now is it? Anyway, yes this mass ejection was some sort of reaction on the sun, pointed in the direction of us! Earth! The television cut out halfway through but they said it would cause blackouts and all sorts of things. We’ve been warned to stay inside so that the government can do their job fixing it. What’s it like out there? Has anything else happened?”

  Amy was stunned for a moment. The news report Tilly and Reg had heard didn’t sound like it covered half of what was happening outside. Blackouts were the least of the town’s worries, it was a battle to stay alive let alone see in the dark.

  “Is it everywhere then?” Amy asked, ignoring Tilly’s own question to her. She wanted all the information possible and a part of her didn’t want to scare the old couple with the truth that the chaos was much worse than they believed.

  “Oh yes I think so,” Tilly nodded, looking to Reg for support once more.

  “Aye,” he returned his wife’s nod and took her hand softly. “All over the country I think, maybe even the world.”

  “Wow,” was all Amy could think to say, her mind running at the thought of the whole country going up in flames. It terrified her more than she cared to admit. She couldn’t predict how other places would react to the “mass ejection” as Reg put it. The cars in South Haven had exploded, but would that be the same everywhere else? What would happen in the even larger towns or the capital cities? Would planes start blowing up like the cars had? Would they start dropping out of the sky? What would happen to Chicago?

  Len sprung to her mind immediately. Even though she ended their marriage and deliberately moved away from her ex-husband, there was a part of her that would always love him. Plus he was the father of her child and some of Amy's heart threatened to break at the thought of James growing up without a father.

  Len wasn’t the most resourceful man, nor was he one for thinking on his feet. Amy could only hope he had been somewhere safe when everything started to go wrong, she dreaded to think what would have happened if Len got caught up in the middle of it all.

  “… Amy?”

  Blinking rapidly Amy realized that she had zoned out for a while, not responding until Reg said her name for a third time.

  “Are you sure you’re alright, dear?” Tilly said with a frown, “Is it really bad outside?”

  Amy paused, uncertain whether to tell the old couple the truth or not. She didn’t want to panic them even more, but on the other hand she didn’t want to leave them unprepared. Tilly and Reg reminded her of her parents to some extent. They were both now living in a retirement home in Florida. She’d spoken to them about a week ago, but Amy had no idea of knowing what would be happening that far down south.

  “There’s quite a few fires that’ve started,” Amy said carefully, choosing to tred between the complete truth and a total lie. “All the power is out as well like you said; cars have stopped working and everyone seems pretty panicked.”

  “Oh dear,” Tilly gripped Reg’s hand a little tighter. “Well at least you’re back home now,” she forced a smile onto her face, “if we stay inside everything will sort itself out I’m sure.”

  “Yeah,” Amy faked a smile, wishing she could share in Tilly’s naivety. “We better be getting home actually, could use a shower and a change of clothes.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Tilly pushed herself up from her seat on the couch and shuffled over toward Amy. “You take care of yourself, and feel free to come back
round at any time.”

  The old woman leaned down and wrapped her arms around Amy, squeezing her in a gentle hug. Amy returned the gesture, slightly caught off guard by the display of emotion. She wondered if she would ever see the old couple again. After everything she had seen so far Amy knew she couldn’t predict how anything would play out.

  “You too,” she smiled as she stood up, reaching over to tap James on the back and get his attention. “Probably best to stay inside like you say, you’ll both be safe here.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Reg said with a smile, helping his wife lower herself back onto the couch beside him. “See you soon; bye James!”

  “Bye bye,” James waved as Amy escorted him out of the room, the boy somehow seeming to have already forgotten the horrors they’d witnessed less than an hour earlier.

  Amy couldn’t forget it though, despite how much she tried. She knew the destruction would reach their street eventually. They wouldn’t be able to stay there for long. But she needed to act calm in front of James, she needed him to believe they were just going home as normal and that everything was going to be okay. Inside however she was planning, working out their next move and their route out of the chaos.

  As they walked along the rest of the street Amy refrained from looking into any other windows. She didn’t want to be delayed any longer, the screams from the center of South Haven still not completely out of earshot.

  “Take your shoes off,” she said out of habit as she opened the front door, their house still perfectly intact and unharmed like every other one in the row. James obliged, kicking his sneakers off and running into their front room.

  Amy smiled after him. He was such a sweet boy and she desperately hoped he was going to remain that way. She didn’t want him to become scarred because of what he experienced, far too much had already happened for an eight year old to understand.

  “Mom! It’s not working!”

  Amy followed her son into their front room to find him clutching the television remote, pointing it at the screen and pressing buttons to no avail.

  “The power’s out, James,” Amy spoke softly, prying the remote from her son’s hand. “Why don’t you do some drawing or something?”

  James pouted, clearly unimpressed by Amy’s alternative activity, but walked across the room to his collection of colored pencils anyway. Amy slumped down on the couch, her mind unable to so quickly switch off from what she had seen.

  The sights kept replaying in front of her eyes: the old woman trapped underneath the wheels of the truck, the way Amy had held her hand as the life slowly faded from her. The father and daughter killed instantly in a car crash, nothing anyone could do to save either of their lives.

  The awful moment when James was swept away from her in the crowd, the feeling of not knowing where her son was in all the chaos and fear. Then all the cars exploding. It was such a harrowing experience Amy was certain it was burnt into her memories forever. The sight of body parts flying into the air, people being killed instantly, burnt alive.

  Amy shuddered and pulled a blanket off of the back of the couch and around her shoulders. She wasn’t cold, not in any way, but it provided her with a source of comfort. Just for a second, she wanted to feel like everything was okay. Then she would start preparing for what was to come. She would come up with a plan and take James somewhere safe to wait for everything to blow over. She would protect him until her dying breath, but just for one second she wanted to feel like someone was holding her.

  ***

  A tugging on her arm startled Amy awake. She couldn’t believe that she’d fallen asleep. Glancing outside, she saw it was almost completely dark out. How long had she slept for? How could she have let that happen in such a time of stress?

  “Mom,” James whispered from beside her, his hand still on the sleeve of her shirt. “I think there’s someone in the house…”

  Chapter 10

  Amy snapped back to panic mode immediately, focusing all of her senses on her surroundings. Looking at her son she saw a real pang of fear in his eyes. He wasn’t making this up; there was someone in their home with them.

  Amy’s mind ran through the possibilities. Could it be Tilly and Reg, come to check on them for some reason? She dismissed the thought straight away; there was no chance the elderly couple would be leaving their home. Amy could see how frightened they both were, even if they had tried their best to hide it.

  Her next thought was it was some kind of police officer or emergency support crew, sent out to check on the residents in their homes. The idea wasn’t even fully formed before Amy dismissed that as well; with all the chaos that was going on in the center there was no way resources would be spared simply to check up on people at home.

  That only left one option. Someone had broken in and almost certainly not with good intentions.

  Amy stroked James’s hair and pressed a finger to her lips to indicate silence as she quickly tried to decide what to do. Did whoever had broken in already know she and her son were inside? Either way the outcome didn’t look good and Amy was on edge about what they would do when they found her. In the state South Haven was already in, even the slightest hiccup in someone’s plan could send him or her over the edge.

  “Where?” Amy eventually whispered to her little boy. She had yet to hear anyone in the house but the look on James’s face made her positive he was telling the truth.

  James didn’t say anything in response, just pointed to the ceiling above his head. Upstairs, Amy deduced, an almost perfectly timed creak in the floorboards confirming her son’s theory. Someone was definitely inside, but whether they knew Amy and James were there too remained a mystery.

  Hide? Or confront the intruders?

  If Amy was alone she knew exactly what she would do. But she had her son to look after now and she wasn’t willing to risk his safety for anything. Hiding was her only option.

  As quietly as she could manage Amy pushed herself up from the couch where she’d fallen asleep, wincing as the fabric rustled beneath her. James was quiet as a mouse, standing stock-still and clinging onto Amy’s hand like a vice. Her mind led her to only one place, the wicker cupboard next to the living room door where she stored old blankets and board games. It would be a squeeze, but she’d have to make it work.

  Holding her breath Amy tugged open the cupboard door, revealing the mess of blankets she had thrown in haphazardly when they’d first moved to South Haven. Her heart sank as she realized how small the cupboard truly was. Even with all the contents removed it’d be a struggle to hide them both inside.

  James appeared to understand what Amy was thinking as she looked into the cupboard, squeezing her hand harder and shaking his head from side to side.

  “Baby,” Amy whispered under her breath, “you need to hide.”

  James opened his mouth to speak when another creak sounded from above them, trapping whatever words he had planned to say in his throat. Amy gave her son a desperate look, pleading with her eyes for him to hide inside the cupboard.

  “I’ll stay in here,” she whispered again, sparing a glance over her shoulder to the stairs just visible outside the living room door. “I won’t let you out of my sight, I promise.”

  “Okay,” James whimpered eventually, letting go of his mother’s hand and stepping forward toward the cupboard. Amy worked quickly and quietly, securing her son in a cocoon of blankets and shutting the door. If you looked closely you could still see him through the cracks in the wicker, but it was going to have to do.

  Now the only issue was where Amy would go. She didn’t want to draw any attention to where James was hiding, but couldn’t bear to leave the room now that he was shut into the cupboard. Running a hand through her hair, Amy walked toward the window, sparing a glance at the outside world. In fright she immediately dropped to the floor, seeing two men stood outside her house, crowbars in each of their hands. Her heart pounded in her chest as she wondered whether they had seen her and whether they were with whoever
was upstairs.

  Crawling along the floor Amy returned to the wicker cupboard, pressing her face against the door.

  “James,” she tried to hide the fear now present in her own voice. “I’m going to have to hide somewhere else, okay? Stay here and don’t make a sound, but scream if you need me.”

  She waited for a reply from her young son, silence greeting her ears instead.

  “I love you,” Amy spoke quietly, forcing herself to crawl away from the cupboard. In desperation she tugged on a beanbag that lay on the ground in front of the television and positioned it in front of the cupboard, hiding her son more from view. It broke her heart to have to leave him, but she had to protect herself, too. As much as nothing could happen to her son, she also needed to be around to take care of him.

  Amy quickly mentally mapped around the small two-bedroom house that she and James shared. There weren’t many options when it came to hiding places; she and James had played hide-and-seek enough times, but always out by the lake where he had trees to hide behind and sand between his toes. And never when he was in danger.