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

He didn’t seem to have heard her.

“Oh my God,” Annie gasped when she reached them. “Terry!”

He didn’t respond. He was clutching his chest.

Si scrambled to her feet and ran blindly back to the car wash, where the door of the Renault was still closed.

“Olivia!” she cried. “Olivia, we need you!”

The woman looked at her with glassy eyes. Clive had given her more pills when they realised the Jaguar was chasing them.

“Come on,” Si said, tugging on her arm. “Please. Terry’s been shot.”

Olivia didn’t respond. Si gave up. There wasn’t time. She ran back to where the four men lay. Clive had taken their weapons and was waddling over to where Annie knelt, desperately trying to stem the blood.

Si faltered.

There was nothing she could do. There was two of them. Clive was a policeman—he must have known some first aid.

She stared down at the familiar faces lying on the ground. She felt nothing. She looked up. She didn’t want to bother Clive—he had more important things to do. Now she wished she’d thought to ask him for one of the guns.

Her heart sank. What if they were all dead? Red rage descended over her at the thought of them getting away easily.

She clenched her fists and hunkered down beside the older man. He’d been shot in the throat. Now she was closer, she could hear a faint gurgling sound that meant he was breathing.

It had been the plan all along. Clive had explained it patiently—they had to shoot to kill. It was the safest option. It was too risky to try and aim for an arm or a leg with all that adrenaline flooding their bodies. They’d likely miss and they might not have an opportunity to fire again.

She looked down at him feeling no pity, just loathing. It was his own fault he was in this situation.

He didn’t seem to have noticed her presence.

Bile rose up in her stomach. She unclenched her fist and slapped him across the face. He moved like a rag doll, putting up no resistance whatsoever.

“Where is he?” she shouted. “What did you do with him?”

The gurgling sound intensified. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like he was smiling and she was sure he hadn’t been before. His fingers jerked towards her and she shifted away before he could reach her.

Was he trying to say something? It was impossible to tell. The sound of blood sucking in and out of the wound in his neck made her feel sick. She moved to the next man.

He was silent. She felt for a pulse and couldn’t find one. She paused at the sight of the heavy gold bracelet at his wrist—it was engraved in fancy script. Could she use it to track him down? She dismissed that thought immediately. Too slow now there was no way of searching online. And she didn’t want to know his name. To her, these people were no better than animals after the way they’d treated Max.

Shaking her head, Si made herself get up and move to the other two. They were a short distance away from the others. She ignored the third and moved straight to the forth, who was lying on his front. Judging by the trails of blood at his feet, he had attempted to drag himself back to the car.

She kicked his shoulder and rolled him on to his front. His t-shirt was covered in blood, which was coming from a wound in his chest. But he was alive. He looked up at her.

“It’s you,” he gasped. “Oh god, it’s you.”

“What? What does that mean?” He couldn’t have seen her at the garage. She’d been careful to hide and they wouldn’t have just driven off without her.

“Just put me out of my misery, yeah?”

She hunkered down in front of him. “Where’s Max?”

His pained gasps paused and he frowned. “Max?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I saw you take him.”

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head before wincing and becoming still again. “I don’t know anyone called Max.”

She closed her eyes. She had come so close—she wasn’t going to fail now. Covering her hand with the thick sleeve of her jacket, she jammed two fingers into the open wound on his chest.

He screamed and tried to wriggle away from her, but he was too weakened by his injury.

“Where is he? Tell me. Where’s Max. He’s a mechanic. That’s why they took him.”

“I don’t know,” he screamed, eyes closed and face contorted in a look of horror she knew she’d never forget. “I don’t know! Zane told me to come. Harry wasn’t happy with—”

“Who’s Zane? Who’s Harry?”

He shook his head. “Over there. Zane’s over…”

“Well then who’s Harry?” she dug her fingers in even deeper, wincing at the thought of what she was doing but driven by a loyalty deeper than any sense of revulsion. “Who? Tell me.”

“I don’t… I’m just… Harry Harman. He’s…”

“He’s what?”

Before he could finish, he jerked and froze, like he was possessed. Si gagged and pulled her hand away. She jumped to her feet and shrugged out of her jacket, wanting it off her despite the chill in the air.

He was dead, she knew. She didn’t have to feel for a pulse.

Harry Harman.

She moved over to the last guy, intending to find out where this Harry Harman was based, but he was dead too.

Dead end.

She moved over to the others feeling suddenly numb. At some point, Clive or Annie must have run back to the car to get the bag of medical supplies, because there were swabs and wipes lying on the tarmac beside them.

“How is he?” she asked. She felt woozy from the adrenaline leaving her system.

“Not good,” Annie said, without looking up.

Si looked around. There was still no sign of Olivia. She bit the inside of her cheek. Her eyes landed on the shop. All the glass in the door was broken and she could see even from outside that the place had been torn apart. There was junk everywhere. Various bits of newspapers and magazines were blowing around outside.

She pictured Graham. Alcohol wasn’t his only vice; not by far. But it was the worst. He was into prescription drugs too, and the rest. She liked it best when he took Xanax, because it gave him that dreamy, faraway look that meant he was at peace with the world for once.

Except for that time he’d taken a few pills and forgotten about his jobcentre appointment a few hours later. It had been Si who’d made cup after cup of coffee and made him drink it. Not because she cared about him, but because she knew he’d be unbearable if he lost his dole.

She started to run towards the shop, praying there was something in there that might cut through Olivia’s haze.

Clive gripped the wheel and tried not to look in the rearview mirror. They’d done all they could. He thought about asking Olivia how she was doing, but decided against it.

She’d gagged as she drank the stale coffee, but it was doing the trick. He didn’t expect she would have been allowed to work in a hospital or drive a car in the state she was in, but she was better than she had been before.

Even in this state, Olivia was a better prospect for Terry than him and Annie together.

He shook his head. Thank goodness they’d stopped at the pharmacy. If they hadn’t…

He blinked and reminded himself to keep his eyes on the road. Anne and Si were in the old Renault up ahead. He had insisted on taking the Jaguar even though he saw the haunted look in Si’s eyes when he said it. It was essential. They couldn’t all crowd into the same car with Terry in this state. At least now, Olivia had some space to work on him.

Of course, it had been a risk to move him and it would have been better for her to work on him where he lay, but it was getting dark. They had had to move.

Clive wasn’t a religious man, but he said a quiet prayer in his head now. Terry had to pull through. He must have known the risks going into this. That made it even worse.