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

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing if it’s clear,” she said, reaching back into the car to take the keys before thinking better of it. She wasn’t a hundred percent confident she could get the car started again and she had no tools with her.

She stayed close to the car, not trusting them not to take off without her.

She climbed up on the bonnet, where she had a clear view through the bare branches down to the motorway entrance below. She listened. It was hard to hear anything over the drone of the old engine, but she thought she could make out the V12 engine somewhere in the distance.

Bad.

She didn’t want to risk turning off the Renault to get a better idea of how far away it was.

Cars were strewn everywhere on the motorway, about one or two every fifty yards.

“What are you doing up there?”

She sighed and jumped back down. “What are you going to do, shoot me?” Her stomach growled as she got back in the car. “I haven’t eaten in days. Have you got food?”

“What, now?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to faint while I’m driving.”

Grumbling, one of the men rummaged in the bag at his feet and handed her a tin of beans. She snatched it from his hand.

“You’re welcome,” he snapped.

“You tried to strangle me. Anyway, this is useless without an opener.”

One appeared through the gap between the seats and she took it and tried to use it. Her hands were shaking too hard.

She didn’t miss the looks that passed between them. She’d never felt so helpless before; not since Max was taken away. What was she doing with these people? What was wrong with her that she had no choice but to stick with them?

Assholes, she thought. I’ll show them. She tried to blink away tears of frustration before anyone saw them.

“Give it here,” the woman beside her said. “And please be quick. Those men might be looking for us.”

Si shook her head. “If they were going to the motorway they’d have used the last entrance; the one by the garage. They won’t see us up here.”

“Even so,” the woman said, handing her the open tin. “We have a long way to go before dark.”

“Where?” Si asked, curious even though she all she wanted was to put the can to her mouth and down its contents in one go.

“York.”

York? Si screamed silently in her mind. She had no idea where that was but she knew it wasn’t close. How the hell was she going to get back from there on her own? She’d assumed they were headed somewhere nearby.

She didn’t say anything. She was too hungry. She took the can and drunk it back, chewing occasionally but mainly just swallowing, beans, sauce and all.

When she’d finished and wiped her mouth on her sleeve, she realised they were all watching her and waiting for her to finish.

All Si could think was York?

“You seem a little upset,” the older woman said vacantly, like she was commenting on the weather.

Si had seen the old guy slip her a pill. Maybe that was it. She spun around.

“Can I have some of what you gave her?” Anything to stop the manic thoughts from swirling around in her head. They were even worse now she’d satisfied her hunger.

“Not while you’re driving,” he said sternly. “And I don’t have many left. I’d planned to look for a pharmacy in Wesleygate. We can’t go back there now.”

“No, we can’t,” Si said. There was no point. In order to find Max and not get herself killed in the process, she’d have to take those men by surprise. They’d be on high alert now.

“Let’s get on the road,” the woman beside her said. “Do you know of any small towns where we might find a pharmacy?”

Si stared at the trees. Only one place came to mind. She’d been there only once, but it had stuck with her. It was a quiet spot, almost like someone had taken it straight from the seventies and teleported it to the present. Well, that was what she’d thought anyway. It was cutesy and old-fashioned; all local shops and no big chains. An orderly sort of place.

“Well?”

“Thorndale,” she said. “I don’t know where it is though. All I can remember is that it was a long drive from the garage.”

“Great.”

“Anything else? Did you take the motorway?”

She closed her eyes. In a weird way, this was helping take her attention away from her thoughts. “Yes.”

“And you’re sure the town was called Thorndale?”

“Certain.” She smiled. She remembered Max laughing at the way the customer had pronounced it. She was sure alright. Her smile vanished. Wasn’t she betraying him by going along with them?

“I can take over the driving now.”

“No you won’t.” She put the car into reverse and manoeuvred out of the little lay-by. She couldn’t hear a thing now—they’d lost their pursuers. She’d lost any link to Max. “It’s my car. I’m driving.”

It was further away than she’d thought, but she found it easily enough. And once she got the right motorway exit, it wasn’t far to the village itself. She was relieved to see it was just as peaceful and quiet as she remembered—and also that there was not one, but two, pharmacies on the main street.

It didn’t take them long to scope out the whole town, turn, and return to the square. It was a small place, and there were only a handful of cars sitting unnaturally in the middle street as if time had been frozen. They were easily avoided.

Si stopped the car with a squeal of brakes. “Well?” She looked in the rearview mirror.

“It looks deserted.”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“Olivia and I will go. The rest of you… sit tight.”

“What is it, Clive? You don’t sound so sure.”

“It’s nothing. It just seems a little too deserted.”

“What do you think… You’re the only one who’s been here before. I don’t know your name.”

“It’s Si. And yeah, I was only here once, but it was pretty quiet then too.”

“Si, you stay here with Annie. Terry, you watch from outside in case there’s trouble. Come on now, let’s move. No sense in hanging around longer than we need to. Those men are still out there somewhere even if we can’t hear them anymore.”

Si stared out the window. There was no sign that the pharmacy had been looted. It wasn’t just the pharmacy, either. None of the other shops looked like they’d been touched. She frowned. She could see in through the windows and there were no security shutters or anything. She turned to say it to the others, but they were already gone.

Never mind, she thought.

She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and tried to think of what she was going to do once she was able to take one of their guns.

Time passed slowly. Si struggled to focus. She watched the street in front of her. There wasn’t a single person around. Even the birds had disappeared. The sky was blue and cloudless for the most part and there wasn’t a sound to be heard over the idling engine.

It wasn’t peaceful. It was strange. Kind of creepy.

Was it like this before?

She couldn’t remember. She’d driven to the address Max had given her and picked him up in the van. That was all.

“Look…” Annie sighed heavily. “I know you were trying to set up the guys who took your boss. But you almost killed us.”

Si shrugged. “I know. I’m sorry. I was only thinking about trapping them and getting them to tell me where he was, you know? It was the only way I could think of making them talk. You arrived at the worst time.”