Alex Knightly - Sudden Darkness - A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller

Annie sighed. And now their morale was worse than it had ever been. Terry hadn’t said a word since he caught back up with them and Annie was still numb with shock at the sight of that body at his feet. She didn’t know why it was more shocking to her than the fact that Clive had killed three men the night before. Maybe it was because those men had shot at Clive or because they hadn’t actually seen the bodies.

She grimaced. Whatever she was feeling, she had no doubt that it was ten times worse for Terry. He was already starting to fall behind again. She squeezed her brakes—carefully, because it was obvious they hadn’t been tuned up in a very long time.

“What do you want?”

She shrugged, trying to overcome her dread. They hadn’t stuck around to talk about what happened, nor had any of them wanted to. What were four people on bikes going to do against a community out for blood?

“I would have done the same thing,” she said. She’d been thinking about little else ever since that gunshot rang out behind her.

“You don’t have to say things like that to make me feel better.”

“I’m not.” She sighed. “Maybe I am. Look, it’s true. I may not like you after some of the things you’ve said, but I can see it’s getting to you. And we’re all in this together. I just want you to know anyone else would have done the same in your shoes.”

He snorted. “Of course it’s getting to me.” He turned to her. His eyes were red and raw. “I killed someone.” He laughed humourlessly. “And I don’t even remember doing it.”

What would I have done?

Annie looked up the street. Clive and Olivia were about fifty yards ahead of them, and the gap was gradually increasing as she matched Terry’s slower pace. They were nowhere near where they needed to be, even at a conservative estimate. They weren’t even close to the outskirts of London. At this rate, it might be a week before they got to the farm, not a few days like she’d originally thought. And that was assuming they didn’t get even more fatigued or meet any more delays.

“They surrounded me.”

“I know.”

“I wouldn’t… I didn’t… It just went off.”

She sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was stop, but he didn’t seem in any fit state to continue cycling. “Let’s find a safe place to stop and eat lunch.”

Terry shrugged.

“You need to eat. You’ve had a shock.” All she could think about was Dan and the farm, but she made herself catch up with Clive. “Let’s stop for a bit, eh? There’s a green up there.”

“Yes, I’m hungry,” Olivia said quietly.

They reached the park and wheeled their bikes in with them. They sat in a tight circle on the grass, avoiding each others’ eyes.

Annie looked around at the others. Three strangers she’d never spoken to before all this happened. Now she felt like she needed them more than she’d ever needed anyone.

They ate quickly and without talking. Baked beans and breakfast bars were hardly gourmet, but they were fuel. With any luck, it would help them cycle faster and for longer. That was all that mattered now.

One by one they finished eating and stood up. Still, no-one said anything. It was like there was nothing left to say.

Far from feeling rejuvenated from their brief rest, it felt even harder to go on than ever. Annie looked around, dismayed to see her own hopelessness reflected in the others’ faces.

With a colossal effort, she pushed past them. She couldn’t deal with her own emotions let alone anyone else’s.

Some time later, the urban sprawl finally gave way to greenery. It was a golf course, but that didn’t matter. It was a break from the constant threat of someone jumping out from an alleyway and surprising them.

“We could camp there,” Terry said sounding hopeful. The effort was taking more out of him than all the rest of them—that much was obvious.

“Too exposed. We need to get further away.” She looked around dubiously. The sky was so grey that she was struggling to get a sense of the time. They had set out with the mission of getting seventy miles, but now that seemed unlikely. How many hours of daylight did they have left?

Terry shrugged.

Annie sighed and looked away. Traffic had thinned considerably compared to the street outside their block, but there were still cars on the road. She looked around. Where had the people from those cars gone? Had they walked back to London? They hadn’t met anyone coming in the opposite direction.

She started looking at the cars as they passed them. What had happened to the occupants? It was cold out.

Then it struck her.

Some of the cars had steamed up windows.

Still.

Three days later.

Was it possible there were still people alive in there? But why? Why hadn’t they gotten out of there before?

Annie wavered.

She’d passed four or five cars with fogged windows since she noticed it. Shouldn’t she at least check to see if…

“Annie? What is it?”

She wobbled on the bike. What was the point? Did she have to make herself responsible for everyone between here and York? There was no way she could do that. It felt wrong to just cycle on by, but what choice did she have?

“Annie?”

She blinked hard. Her palms were sweating. She shook her head. What was the sense in telling him and making him feel as crap and helpless as she did? Because what did it matter what she found in that car when she knew in her heart that she was going to cycle away regardless. There was no sense in finding out. They couldn’t stop. Not when they were already behind.

Home. That was her goal. Home and Dan. She had to get there. Everything would be easier if they could just get to the farmhouse. She looked at the others.

“Nothing. Just thinking, that’s all.”

Clive fell back and rode alongside her. “You sure?”

She forced a smile. “Yes.”

He’d been through enough. They all had.

Hours had passed. Well, it seemed like that. She’d lost all sense of time now. Exhaustion was setting in. And cold. She hadn’t expected to get cold when they were cycling. But they were all too tired to push harder and the road had been slightly inclined for quite a while.

All that would have been fine—she would have kept pushing.

But the light was fading.

She wished it was summer, when there’d be more hours of daylight to keep going. The prospect of going by bicycle light was not one they could even consider: those lights were nowhere near bright enough to guide them. It wasn’t just the road they needed to see. There could be anything out there, even now that they’d reached the motorway. It wasn’t any safer—it just presented a different set of challenges. Nighttime brought out the worst in people. They’d only be safe when they reached the farm.

Maybe.

She shivered. That was definitely something she didn’t even want to consider. The prospect of the farmhouse at the end of all this was the only thing keeping her going.

Clive gave a short sharp whistle and the others circled around him. “There’s not much light left. We ought to find a place to stop.”

It was exactly what Annie had been thinking, but she couldn’t help but be annoyed. They had so far to go. “Can’t we just keep going for another while?”

Maybe they still needed to get into the rhythm. On long cycle trips in the past, she’d averaged seventy miles in a day with less effort than she had expended that day. Maybe when they’d eaten some of their supplies…