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

Mo stood up suddenly. “We tried to find them but none of us knew the area.”

“You lost them, in other words,” Harry snapped. “Like I just said.”

Zane tugged on Mo’s arm and pulled him back down before he could interrupt again. “Sorry, boss,” he muttered. “But it’s only temporary. We’ll find them. I only came back because you told us to check in.”

Harry sighed and shook his head. “Did you at least get anything on the mechanic?”

“It was too late. The whole place was torched. They must’ve doused it with petrol.”

“Why? Why would anyone do that?”

Zane shook his head looking wrong-footed for once. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I’ll go now.”

“No,” Harry snapped. “What’s the use? They’re well gone by now. You need to find me another mechanic. Now.”

“Wait a minute,” someone piped up. It was one of the new blokes, though he was older than Pete. He lived in the next estate over; the same one as Mo. “Is that the one by the exit as you come off for Wesleygate?

No-one answered at first. The lad asked again.

“Yes it is,” Zane said through gritted teeth. “Though I dunno why it matters. We just told you the place burnt down.”

“Let him speak. Billy, isn’t it?”

The lad nodded hesitantly, as if he was trying to coax the words out. It wasn’t surprising given the audience. “I know that place. I’ve been in there for a service. Old bloke. Scrapyard beside it?”

“You go to Wesleygate to get your car serviced?” someone piped up.

Billy flushed. “It’s cheaper than around here,” he said with a shrug. “And the bloke seems decent.”

“Shut up!” Zane hissed. “The pair of you.” He stood and stalked over to Billy. “So you know him, do you? How come you never said ’til now?”

“I dunno…I…you…” he stammered, reddening even deeper. “You…never…”

“Pull yourself together,” Harry snarled. “You’re a grown man. Now.” He picked up the patio chair beside Billy’s and sat right in front of him, so close Billy had to move his legs to an unnatural angle to stop their knees from touching. “Tell me everything you know about the mechanic.”

Billy shook his head, looking everywhere but at Harry. “I don’t know nothing besides what I just said. I know him to see, is all. I’ve been in there two maybe three times. In. Out. That’s it.”

“So you don’t know where he lives.”

“No,” Billy said quietly. “He never said. We just pass the time of day is all. Talk about the weather, that sort of thing. It’s mainly the girl who does my car, and she’s a surly little bitch who barely speaks.”

At that moment, it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. It was deathly quiet.

“Girl,” Harry said quietly. “What girl?”

Billy looked around desperately as if he was waiting for someone else to intervene. No-one else did. If Billy had had any sense at all he’d have stayed quiet. But then, Pete thought bitterly, the same could have been said for him. If he hadn’t gone running to Harry none of this mess would have happened.

“The girl. The girl who works for him. You know, with the purple hair.”

“No, I don’t know. How would I know? Tell me about her.”

Billy shook his head. “I don’t know. She keeps herself to herself. I tried chatting to her, you know, but she wouldn’t have a bar of it.”

Some of the others laughed at this, but fell silent when Harry glared at them.

“Age?”

“Eighteen. Maybe younger.”

“Who is she, Billy? His missus?”

“Naw,” Billy said immediately, sounding certain for the first time. “Definitely not. His daughter, maybe, from the way he was with her. All proud, like.”

Harry turned to Zane. “Did he mention a daughter?”

“He hasn’t mentioned anything . He won’t talk to me. He won’t work.”

“You’re the one who found him!”

“Don’t you think I know that? I didn’t know he was a stubborn old git.” His eyes narrowed. “But we can work with this. I’ll find her, Harry.”

Harry shook his head.

“I’ll find her, I said. I’ll go now.”

“Fine. Go.” He jabbed a slim finger into Zane’s chest. “But you come back with the girl or a new mechanic, do you hear? You’ve wasted enough of my time as it is.” He turned away and looked around at the others. “Ian.”

The older man beside Pete nodded. “Let the other lads focus on cars. I don’t want the army knocking on my door. Get out there and find me somewhere secluded; somewhere that’s big enough to stash cars and machinery and that has plenty of space for people to sleep.”

Pete stared at Harry. He was talking about kidnapping people as if it was completely normal. It was all Pete’s fault.

“Pete,” Harry said. “Go with him.”

He looked up dazed.

“You heard me. Go with Ian. We can’t stay here forever. We need to organise. Did you hear that lads?”

The others mumbled and nodded.

“Good. Get out. You all have work to do.”

Pete’s first reaction was pride: he was back in Harry’s good books. That feeling soon turned to shame. Had he not seen enough to turn him off this life for good? He felt sick to his stomach.

“Davy,” Harry said, coughing. “Go after Zane and his lot. I want another car on the road just in case…” he stopped and the room fell silent. “Freeman, didn’t I tell you to do something?”

Pete’s heart hammered as he dashed out the door after Ian.

Clive watched the girl. He’d been so busy congratulating himself on securing several months’ worth of pills for Olivia that it had taken him a while to notice the atmosphere in the car.

He hadn’t seen her this jumpy, not even when they were bumping across that vacant land at the back of the scrapyard.

“What is it?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

She glanced back at him over her shoulder and shook her head. He wished she’d keep her eyes on the road—it was narrow and winding and needed all of one’s concentration, but he didn’t say anything.

“It’s nothing,” she said.

“It can’t be nothing. You’re gripping that wheel like you’re trying to squeeze the life out of it.”

She sighed heavily. “That place gave me the creeps. Thorndale. It was so deserted, but then I smelled coal.”

“Lucky people. If I’d had a fireplace in the flat I’d never have left,” Terry said.

“I’m not talking about how lucky they are,” she snapped. “I’m saying it’s weird. There were obviously people there, so why didn’t they try and stop us?”

“Maybe they were afraid to.”

She laughed wildly. “Afraid? Afraid of a scrawny teenager and a bunch of old people who’d look more at home in a nursing home?”

“Thanks a lot,” Terry mumbled, looking daggers at the back of her head. The car had none of the modern comforts like headrests or power steering.

Clive couldn’t help but laugh, even though it was uncomfortable to imagine them from an outsider’s perspective. Was that how they really looked?

It was Annie who spoke. “That’s no good. We’re going to have to make ourselves seem more formidable.”

“How are we gonna do that? Do you want me to take off my t-shirt and draw a six-pack on with false tan?”

Annie wrinkled her nose, though the smile in her eyes was evident. “Please don’t.”

“Well, how then?”

“I don’t know. We need to look less like targets; Si said we look like easy targets.”

“That’s because she’s young. Anyone over the age of twenty-five is going to seem ancient to her.”

“I’m right here,” Si interrupted, her face thunderous. “And can you lot stop joking around? There was something weird about that place.”