Safe Haven, page 11
***
It felt like some bizarre torture for Jules. She kept looking back to see the hellish faces of the undead masses behind her. All it would take was one mechanical malfunction, one hole in the road or a spilt patch of oil that Mike hadn't seen and that would be it. The pair would become a small feast for their army of pursuers.
Mike angled his head around. "Hold on Jules, I think we've taken them far enough."
Jules took tight hold of the thick fabric belt around his waist and closed her eyes. Nothing happened for a second, then she felt the powerful bike begin to accelerate, the engine throbbed and roared and the warm streams of sunlight began to run cool with the increasing wind that washed over them. She waited a short time and then looked back, desperately needing to see distance between her and the RAMs. The creatures were still in pursuit, but with each second they became smaller and smaller until the bike ran over the brow of a hill and they were out of sight.
She turned her head forward and breathed in the cold rushing air. It invigorated her, and for the first time in what seemed like hours, she allowed herself a small smile. The pair carried on for another ten minutes before Jules tugged on Mike's shoulder. He leaned his head back to listen.
"I need to pee," she shouted in his ear.
"Can't you wait a bit?" he shouted back, clearly irritated.
"I've needed to pee for the last half hour and unless you want a wet bum, I think we should stop."
Mike immediately slowed the bike down to a stop and pushed down the kickstand. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No thanks, I know how to take a piss."
"I meant to stand guard," replied Mike.
Jules smiled, "I'll be fine." She jogged to the side of the road, undoing her belt as she went. A second later she was out of sight, down the side of an embankment.
Mike stood on the deserted highway looking one way then the other. He realised up until this point he hadn't actually thought about the next step, all he had concentrated on was getting the RAMs as far out of the town as possible. His gaze slowly turned to the spectacular Highland landscape and for a short while he allowed his thoughts to be lost in it before they turned to Emma and Lucy. He knew the pair of them were more than capable of getting everybody back to Lonbaig, and some of Jules's people seemed quite able, but what then? Forgetting the long term, forgetting the big picture of how to plan to avert this kind of disaster again, what about the short term?
He looked towards the embankment where Jules had disappeared and realised it had actually been a few minutes since she had gone.
"Jules?" he called. There was no reply. "Jules?" he shouted a little louder this time, but still with no response.
Mike looked towards the bike and then slowly headed towards the spot where she had disappeared. He reached round, pulling the shotgun from his rucksack and aimed it ahead of him as he descended the grassy bank.
Jules quickly stepped out from behind a clump of bushes, making Mike's heart jump.
"Fuck me!" he said taking in a sharp breath and lowering the shotgun simultaneously.
"It's sweet of you to offer, but you're not really my type." she said smiling.
"What took you so long, I was getting worried?"
"I'm sorry if I don't piss fast enough for you. Fuckin’ hell, I bet you're a joy to live with," she said, readjusting her belt and heading back to the bike.
Mike muttered something under his breath and shook his head as he followed her back to the road.
"So what's the next part of the plan?" she asked as the pair shared a small bottle of water from Mike's rucksack.
"I think we should keep heading south until we find a turn that can get us onto a route which will get us back in the direction we need to be going without running into the RAMs again."
"Genius plan, you've really thought this through haven't you? Any idea which route or shall we just play eeny meeny miny moe?"
"Hey look, I'm sorry. If some complete fuckwit hadn't blown a hole in the front of your shop, we wouldn't be in this mess would we?" He fired the words with venom, and then immediately backed off realising that she was probably scared and had just as much to lose as he did. "Look. We've done what needed to be done. We gave our people a fighting chance. I didn't really have time to think about the next step, but I'll figure it out, okay?"
Jules handed the bottle to Mike and moved a step closer to him. "I've got a mouth on me, and sometimes I take my problems out on the wrong people. What you did was the right move. Like you said, it gave our people a chance."
"Come on then, we've got a way to go yet."
The pair climbed on and Mike started the engine. The wheels screeched as it set off, and in no time the place they had stopped was just a spot in the distance.
*
The convoy had passed through a number of villages but hadn't slowed down. There had been no need. Although the raid from the previous day had begun on the coast, it was clear that the villages they now travelled through had been attacked, maybe two days before at the most. If there were any survivors they would be in hiding at the sound of engines, fearing the prospect of further horror, further devastation.
Sarah shivered as she saw four crows picking at the face of a dead body up ahead. The birds launched into the air as the sound of the engines approached, a temporary interruption to their feast. As the transit moved past the dead man, Sarah looked down and felt sick to her stomach as she saw dark crimson hollows where the man's eyes used to be. One of the crows stood on a gate watching her as she went past. She looked up at it to see a gooey strand of something red hanging from its beak before she looked away and began to shake.
Emma had been concentrating on the road, knowing she would see nothing good if she looked elsewhere. She glanced across at Sarah and extended her hand. Sarah grasped it and wrapped her other hand around it too. "It probably makes sense to keep your eyes shut when we're going through the villages, at least until you get used to this sort of stuff."
Sarah's hands continued to shake as she looked across towards Emma. "I really hope I never get used to this," she replied, her voice quaking, tears forming in her eyes.
"I hope one day all of this will be just a nightmarish memory for us, a snapshot from the end of what we remembered as life." Emma retracted her hand as she took hold of the wheel to steer round a sharp bend.
"I don't want to be weak. I don't want to be scared, and I didn't think I was, but..."
"Sarah!" Emma cut her off. "Don't you dare say you're weak. Nobody else would have saved the kids from your school. Yesterday, when the raiders came, you could have hidden, you could be back home with them right now, but you did the brave thing and you came to help us. There is a big difference between being weak and being scared. Bravery is doing something in spite of your fear, weakness is letting your fear rule you. A few weeks ago, I was letting my fear govern my actions, so I know what I'm talking about here. You've got real guts, so don't put yourself down." She took her eyes off the road to look across at her passenger. A smile passed between them.
"So how did you become like you are now?"
"Being thrown into the lion's den," she replied. "When choice is taken out of the matter, you either survive or you die." She thought for a couple of moments before continuing. "That and watching Mike. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here, not just because of what he did, but what he showed us and what he stood for...stands for. My brother's got some serious issues, I know that, but he's also the best person I know."
***
"Juliet?" yelled Fry as he slammed the front door behind him. He stopped in the hallway waiting for a response, but none came. "Juliet?" he shouted again as he began to march up the stairs.
The property was decorated in a manner that suggested old people had lived there before. The red floral patterned carpet that led up the staircase was clearly good quality (if not a little garish), but he would get it changed soon enough. He would make this place a palace for his beloved queen. He burst through the bedroom door expecting to see her waiting for him. She had a voracious sexual appetite and it was not unusual for him to come home to find her lying naked in bed waiting for his arrival. The room was empty. He turned to leave, but paused as he noticed the wardrobe door slightly ajar and a drawer from the bedside cabinet open. He walked across and looked inside the wardrobe, then in the drawer. Nothing seemed amiss, but it was unusual for Juliet who was so fastidious with regards to tidiness.
"Juliet?" he shouted again as he left the bedroom. He started down the stairs. "I hope you haven't broken the present I got you already?"
He flashed his yellow teeth and brushed his wet pink tongue over his lips in twisted anticipation of what sight he might find down in the cellar. His feet thudded across the kitchen floor and to the cellar door. He turned the handle and found no lantern on the hook, a sure sign that his beloved was downstairs playing. He took out the lighter from his pocket and flicked it on so he could see just enough to make it to the bottom of the staircase without stumbling.
"Can't you hear me down h..." he began as he opened the second cellar door.
His heart turned to stone as he entered.
The candles flickered wildly as they approached the end of their wicks, but the lanterns threw out enough light to illuminate the gory scene. He went across to the collapsed figure on the floor and knelt down, pulling Juliet's still, warm body to him. She had been stripped of everything but her panties, a final humiliation. He looked down at her once beautiful black face to see a hole and teeth where there had once been skin. He moved his hand up to touch it and then higher to the screwdriver handle that still protruded from her temple.
No tears came to his eyes because Fry couldn't feel pain in that way—but a boiling, bubbling mass churned in his stomach.
He placed Juliet back down on the stone floor and stood up. He walked to the empty restraints and turned, resting his back against the cellar wall. In the space of a few seconds, all his plans had been turned on their head.
His body began trembling, then the tremble became a shake, and finally a convulsion, "Y'FUCKIN’ BITCH!!!! I'M GONNA FIND YOU. YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT AWAY. YOU'LL NEVER FUCKING GET AWAY!!!!!"
His shouts echoed back at him, the volume and aggression of his words made him lose his voice temporarily and for a while his ears rang. His face and eyes twitched. He had never felt loss like this, he had never felt anger so powerful. Nothing else mattered to him.
Then he heard it. The quietest of floorboard creaks from above. He sprinted to the bottom of the cellar stairs before pounding up them three at a time. The darkness was no obstacle, and whoever had made that fateful sound was now running along the hallway towards the door. Fry burst through the cellar door, into the hall and like a bullet, headed for Lorelei who was fumbling it open.
A crack of daylight widened, and she could smell freedom before feeling her head and body smash into the thick wood as Fry tackled her. All her breath left her, and she let out a desperate scream. Fry punched her in the stomach and Lorelei collapsed to her knees. Then with no more compassion than he would have for a sack of coal, he dragged her by her hair through the house and back down to the cellar. Her legs and arms flailed as she tried to make a break for freedom, but she was a pathetic fly in the web of a venomous spider. As the tears rolled down her face, she knew her fate had been sealed.
***
There were two ways into Lonbaig; "Dead Man's Pass", which was a long snaking road up an alarmingly steep hillside and was completely impassable in icy conditions. The other way was the long way round which would add forty miles onto their journey. Emma had decided to take the more direct route. Before they had begun the ascent, she had halted the convoy and explained the perils of taking the pass, but the drivers were spurred on by the fact that an end to their journey was at hand.
Sarah remained silent as the engine whirred and whined up the tarmac incline. She glanced to the side and quickly turned back to the front when she saw the sheer drop down a rocky face. She knew her fear would do nothing but distract Emma from her concentration, so she remained silent. She looked in the mirror several times to see one of the vehicles behind going perilously close to the edge and she wondered how near their own wheels were to the crumbling verge.
Emma steered the van around another corner and was glad there was only Sarah in the vehicle to hear her small whimper of concern as she jammed on the brakes. The other vehicles all came to a halt too. Most had remained in either first or second gear for the majority of the journey so far, but at least there had been some momentum. Now, though, the occupants were jolted still, the scenic beauty of the panorama below lost on them.
"Get out this side," said Emma, climbing out of the driver's side.
A question hovered on Sarah's lips, but Emma had vanished before she could ask it. She did as she was told and climbed across to the driver's seat and out. As she hit the ground, she saw Emma talking to Andy who had already got out of the vehicle behind. Andy and George, the older man who had helped Jules earlier on walked with Emma to the corner. George rubbed his fingers across his whiskered chin.
"I've only ever come up here in a car before. The larger lorries have to go the long way round, but the owners of the pub have a box van, and they manage it," said Emma.
"We can't go back. There's nowhere to turn and reversing would be suicide," said Andy, not handling the stress as well as his companion.
"There's no need to panic." George assured all of them. He was a man in his mid-sixties and had a weathered face like he had worked outside most of his life. His eyes were warm and there was wisdom behind them. "This is doable, it's just a bit tricky that's all."
Before anyone else could speak, George went to Emma's van and jumped in the driver's seat. He started the engine and Andy, Emma and Sarah shot nervous glances towards one another. The way they saw it, there was no way for anything bigger than a mini to make this bend in one piece. George gestured for them to get out of the way and they headed back to Andy's van and stood there with their arms folded, trying to suppress the butterflies in their stomach.
The van was just a few inches from the rock face. Emma had manoeuvred it as best she could to get round the bend, but had fallen short. George reversed, all the time shifting the steering wheel to the left. There was a gap of just a few feet behind and to the side of the van as the audience of three held their breath as the tyres went within centimetres of the crumbling edge. Andy signalled wildly with his hands, but George did not see him, his concentration was aimed elsewhere. Just when it looked like the van would roll over the edge, it started moving forward again, this time, George heaved the steering wheel to the right. This continued for over a minute until, the van was around the tight bend and on a straight piece of road heading up the hill.
George pulled on the hand brake, climbed out and walked back down to the three figures who were stood in awe. "It's probably best if I hang back to make sure everybody can get round the corner," he said matter-of-factly.
"That was amazing," said Emma, who was still trying to get her heartbeat back to normal.
George ignored the compliment. He was more interested in just getting the job done. “I'll hop on board the last vehicle. If you come to any more corners like this, don't try and take them, just get word back to me and I'll do it."
With that, he climbed into the van he and Andy had been travelling in and began to negotiate the same bend.
Half an hour later, the convoy had crossed over the high peak and had begun to descend the other side, which was much straighter and less treacherous. Although they hadn't encountered another bend as dangerous as that sheer one, there had been some tricky corners and both Emma and Sarah breathed a huge sigh of relief as they began their descent.
The relief was short lived though as they drove past the first house on the outskirts to the village. The outbuilding next to it had been burnt to cinders. How the house had avoided a similar fate was baffling to them. Emma brought the van to a stop and pulled on the handbrake. She was about to get out when Sarah grabbed her arm.
"I think we should get people settled first, don't you? We can take stock later."
The words danced in the air for a moment. Emma knew what Sarah meant. Take stock...take stock of the dead. Take stock of just how brutal mankind could still be despite everything it had suffered through together as a species. Emma didn't say anything, she just gave a nod and released the handbrake so they could continue their journey down to Lonbaig village.
As they entered, Lonbaig possessed the same ransacked look as the other villages they had driven through. Doors were left ajar, windows were broken, belongings were strewn along pathways and verges. A body laid battered and bloody against a painted garden gate. They both recognised it as Douglas Mackinnon, the owner of the post office. Emma remembered Isobel, his wife had been in the Home and Garden Depot with them. She didn't know if she was already aware of her husband's demise, but if she wasn't, she would be soon.
"Oh God!" said Sarah as she tore her eyes away from the motionless body.
"I don't think God's been listening for some time," Emma replied as the trailing path of devastation continued. She speeded up as they passed more bodies lying at the side of the road. "This is going to be hard for us, but it's going to be even harder for the people who've lost someone."
The familiar sign for the caravan park came into view, and Emma turned the van onto the tree bordered drive. The road opened out into an expansive area containing static and mobile caravans. The devastation here was not as prolific. There were no bodies and no belongings strewn everywhere. The raiders had clearly been here as the odd broken window and smashed door testified, but...it was almost as if someone had begun to tidy up.
She pulled up and got out, heading straight for one of the statics while the rest of the vehicles pulled in. Sarah got out and followed her into the nicely decorated mobile home. Emma headed straight back out sweeping past Sarah.
"Hello!" she yelled over the sound of the other approaching engines. "It's Emma. Emma Fletcher, Sue's granddaughter." No one shouted a reply, and no one materialised. "It's safe to come out. The raiders have gone. They're not coming back."
It felt like some bizarre torture for Jules. She kept looking back to see the hellish faces of the undead masses behind her. All it would take was one mechanical malfunction, one hole in the road or a spilt patch of oil that Mike hadn't seen and that would be it. The pair would become a small feast for their army of pursuers.
Mike angled his head around. "Hold on Jules, I think we've taken them far enough."
Jules took tight hold of the thick fabric belt around his waist and closed her eyes. Nothing happened for a second, then she felt the powerful bike begin to accelerate, the engine throbbed and roared and the warm streams of sunlight began to run cool with the increasing wind that washed over them. She waited a short time and then looked back, desperately needing to see distance between her and the RAMs. The creatures were still in pursuit, but with each second they became smaller and smaller until the bike ran over the brow of a hill and they were out of sight.
She turned her head forward and breathed in the cold rushing air. It invigorated her, and for the first time in what seemed like hours, she allowed herself a small smile. The pair carried on for another ten minutes before Jules tugged on Mike's shoulder. He leaned his head back to listen.
"I need to pee," she shouted in his ear.
"Can't you wait a bit?" he shouted back, clearly irritated.
"I've needed to pee for the last half hour and unless you want a wet bum, I think we should stop."
Mike immediately slowed the bike down to a stop and pushed down the kickstand. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No thanks, I know how to take a piss."
"I meant to stand guard," replied Mike.
Jules smiled, "I'll be fine." She jogged to the side of the road, undoing her belt as she went. A second later she was out of sight, down the side of an embankment.
Mike stood on the deserted highway looking one way then the other. He realised up until this point he hadn't actually thought about the next step, all he had concentrated on was getting the RAMs as far out of the town as possible. His gaze slowly turned to the spectacular Highland landscape and for a short while he allowed his thoughts to be lost in it before they turned to Emma and Lucy. He knew the pair of them were more than capable of getting everybody back to Lonbaig, and some of Jules's people seemed quite able, but what then? Forgetting the long term, forgetting the big picture of how to plan to avert this kind of disaster again, what about the short term?
He looked towards the embankment where Jules had disappeared and realised it had actually been a few minutes since she had gone.
"Jules?" he called. There was no reply. "Jules?" he shouted a little louder this time, but still with no response.
Mike looked towards the bike and then slowly headed towards the spot where she had disappeared. He reached round, pulling the shotgun from his rucksack and aimed it ahead of him as he descended the grassy bank.
Jules quickly stepped out from behind a clump of bushes, making Mike's heart jump.
"Fuck me!" he said taking in a sharp breath and lowering the shotgun simultaneously.
"It's sweet of you to offer, but you're not really my type." she said smiling.
"What took you so long, I was getting worried?"
"I'm sorry if I don't piss fast enough for you. Fuckin’ hell, I bet you're a joy to live with," she said, readjusting her belt and heading back to the bike.
Mike muttered something under his breath and shook his head as he followed her back to the road.
"So what's the next part of the plan?" she asked as the pair shared a small bottle of water from Mike's rucksack.
"I think we should keep heading south until we find a turn that can get us onto a route which will get us back in the direction we need to be going without running into the RAMs again."
"Genius plan, you've really thought this through haven't you? Any idea which route or shall we just play eeny meeny miny moe?"
"Hey look, I'm sorry. If some complete fuckwit hadn't blown a hole in the front of your shop, we wouldn't be in this mess would we?" He fired the words with venom, and then immediately backed off realising that she was probably scared and had just as much to lose as he did. "Look. We've done what needed to be done. We gave our people a fighting chance. I didn't really have time to think about the next step, but I'll figure it out, okay?"
Jules handed the bottle to Mike and moved a step closer to him. "I've got a mouth on me, and sometimes I take my problems out on the wrong people. What you did was the right move. Like you said, it gave our people a chance."
"Come on then, we've got a way to go yet."
The pair climbed on and Mike started the engine. The wheels screeched as it set off, and in no time the place they had stopped was just a spot in the distance.
*
The convoy had passed through a number of villages but hadn't slowed down. There had been no need. Although the raid from the previous day had begun on the coast, it was clear that the villages they now travelled through had been attacked, maybe two days before at the most. If there were any survivors they would be in hiding at the sound of engines, fearing the prospect of further horror, further devastation.
Sarah shivered as she saw four crows picking at the face of a dead body up ahead. The birds launched into the air as the sound of the engines approached, a temporary interruption to their feast. As the transit moved past the dead man, Sarah looked down and felt sick to her stomach as she saw dark crimson hollows where the man's eyes used to be. One of the crows stood on a gate watching her as she went past. She looked up at it to see a gooey strand of something red hanging from its beak before she looked away and began to shake.
Emma had been concentrating on the road, knowing she would see nothing good if she looked elsewhere. She glanced across at Sarah and extended her hand. Sarah grasped it and wrapped her other hand around it too. "It probably makes sense to keep your eyes shut when we're going through the villages, at least until you get used to this sort of stuff."
Sarah's hands continued to shake as she looked across towards Emma. "I really hope I never get used to this," she replied, her voice quaking, tears forming in her eyes.
"I hope one day all of this will be just a nightmarish memory for us, a snapshot from the end of what we remembered as life." Emma retracted her hand as she took hold of the wheel to steer round a sharp bend.
"I don't want to be weak. I don't want to be scared, and I didn't think I was, but..."
"Sarah!" Emma cut her off. "Don't you dare say you're weak. Nobody else would have saved the kids from your school. Yesterday, when the raiders came, you could have hidden, you could be back home with them right now, but you did the brave thing and you came to help us. There is a big difference between being weak and being scared. Bravery is doing something in spite of your fear, weakness is letting your fear rule you. A few weeks ago, I was letting my fear govern my actions, so I know what I'm talking about here. You've got real guts, so don't put yourself down." She took her eyes off the road to look across at her passenger. A smile passed between them.
"So how did you become like you are now?"
"Being thrown into the lion's den," she replied. "When choice is taken out of the matter, you either survive or you die." She thought for a couple of moments before continuing. "That and watching Mike. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here, not just because of what he did, but what he showed us and what he stood for...stands for. My brother's got some serious issues, I know that, but he's also the best person I know."
***
"Juliet?" yelled Fry as he slammed the front door behind him. He stopped in the hallway waiting for a response, but none came. "Juliet?" he shouted again as he began to march up the stairs.
The property was decorated in a manner that suggested old people had lived there before. The red floral patterned carpet that led up the staircase was clearly good quality (if not a little garish), but he would get it changed soon enough. He would make this place a palace for his beloved queen. He burst through the bedroom door expecting to see her waiting for him. She had a voracious sexual appetite and it was not unusual for him to come home to find her lying naked in bed waiting for his arrival. The room was empty. He turned to leave, but paused as he noticed the wardrobe door slightly ajar and a drawer from the bedside cabinet open. He walked across and looked inside the wardrobe, then in the drawer. Nothing seemed amiss, but it was unusual for Juliet who was so fastidious with regards to tidiness.
"Juliet?" he shouted again as he left the bedroom. He started down the stairs. "I hope you haven't broken the present I got you already?"
He flashed his yellow teeth and brushed his wet pink tongue over his lips in twisted anticipation of what sight he might find down in the cellar. His feet thudded across the kitchen floor and to the cellar door. He turned the handle and found no lantern on the hook, a sure sign that his beloved was downstairs playing. He took out the lighter from his pocket and flicked it on so he could see just enough to make it to the bottom of the staircase without stumbling.
"Can't you hear me down h..." he began as he opened the second cellar door.
His heart turned to stone as he entered.
The candles flickered wildly as they approached the end of their wicks, but the lanterns threw out enough light to illuminate the gory scene. He went across to the collapsed figure on the floor and knelt down, pulling Juliet's still, warm body to him. She had been stripped of everything but her panties, a final humiliation. He looked down at her once beautiful black face to see a hole and teeth where there had once been skin. He moved his hand up to touch it and then higher to the screwdriver handle that still protruded from her temple.
No tears came to his eyes because Fry couldn't feel pain in that way—but a boiling, bubbling mass churned in his stomach.
He placed Juliet back down on the stone floor and stood up. He walked to the empty restraints and turned, resting his back against the cellar wall. In the space of a few seconds, all his plans had been turned on their head.
His body began trembling, then the tremble became a shake, and finally a convulsion, "Y'FUCKIN’ BITCH!!!! I'M GONNA FIND YOU. YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT AWAY. YOU'LL NEVER FUCKING GET AWAY!!!!!"
His shouts echoed back at him, the volume and aggression of his words made him lose his voice temporarily and for a while his ears rang. His face and eyes twitched. He had never felt loss like this, he had never felt anger so powerful. Nothing else mattered to him.
Then he heard it. The quietest of floorboard creaks from above. He sprinted to the bottom of the cellar stairs before pounding up them three at a time. The darkness was no obstacle, and whoever had made that fateful sound was now running along the hallway towards the door. Fry burst through the cellar door, into the hall and like a bullet, headed for Lorelei who was fumbling it open.
A crack of daylight widened, and she could smell freedom before feeling her head and body smash into the thick wood as Fry tackled her. All her breath left her, and she let out a desperate scream. Fry punched her in the stomach and Lorelei collapsed to her knees. Then with no more compassion than he would have for a sack of coal, he dragged her by her hair through the house and back down to the cellar. Her legs and arms flailed as she tried to make a break for freedom, but she was a pathetic fly in the web of a venomous spider. As the tears rolled down her face, she knew her fate had been sealed.
***
There were two ways into Lonbaig; "Dead Man's Pass", which was a long snaking road up an alarmingly steep hillside and was completely impassable in icy conditions. The other way was the long way round which would add forty miles onto their journey. Emma had decided to take the more direct route. Before they had begun the ascent, she had halted the convoy and explained the perils of taking the pass, but the drivers were spurred on by the fact that an end to their journey was at hand.
Sarah remained silent as the engine whirred and whined up the tarmac incline. She glanced to the side and quickly turned back to the front when she saw the sheer drop down a rocky face. She knew her fear would do nothing but distract Emma from her concentration, so she remained silent. She looked in the mirror several times to see one of the vehicles behind going perilously close to the edge and she wondered how near their own wheels were to the crumbling verge.
Emma steered the van around another corner and was glad there was only Sarah in the vehicle to hear her small whimper of concern as she jammed on the brakes. The other vehicles all came to a halt too. Most had remained in either first or second gear for the majority of the journey so far, but at least there had been some momentum. Now, though, the occupants were jolted still, the scenic beauty of the panorama below lost on them.
"Get out this side," said Emma, climbing out of the driver's side.
A question hovered on Sarah's lips, but Emma had vanished before she could ask it. She did as she was told and climbed across to the driver's seat and out. As she hit the ground, she saw Emma talking to Andy who had already got out of the vehicle behind. Andy and George, the older man who had helped Jules earlier on walked with Emma to the corner. George rubbed his fingers across his whiskered chin.
"I've only ever come up here in a car before. The larger lorries have to go the long way round, but the owners of the pub have a box van, and they manage it," said Emma.
"We can't go back. There's nowhere to turn and reversing would be suicide," said Andy, not handling the stress as well as his companion.
"There's no need to panic." George assured all of them. He was a man in his mid-sixties and had a weathered face like he had worked outside most of his life. His eyes were warm and there was wisdom behind them. "This is doable, it's just a bit tricky that's all."
Before anyone else could speak, George went to Emma's van and jumped in the driver's seat. He started the engine and Andy, Emma and Sarah shot nervous glances towards one another. The way they saw it, there was no way for anything bigger than a mini to make this bend in one piece. George gestured for them to get out of the way and they headed back to Andy's van and stood there with their arms folded, trying to suppress the butterflies in their stomach.
The van was just a few inches from the rock face. Emma had manoeuvred it as best she could to get round the bend, but had fallen short. George reversed, all the time shifting the steering wheel to the left. There was a gap of just a few feet behind and to the side of the van as the audience of three held their breath as the tyres went within centimetres of the crumbling edge. Andy signalled wildly with his hands, but George did not see him, his concentration was aimed elsewhere. Just when it looked like the van would roll over the edge, it started moving forward again, this time, George heaved the steering wheel to the right. This continued for over a minute until, the van was around the tight bend and on a straight piece of road heading up the hill.
George pulled on the hand brake, climbed out and walked back down to the three figures who were stood in awe. "It's probably best if I hang back to make sure everybody can get round the corner," he said matter-of-factly.
"That was amazing," said Emma, who was still trying to get her heartbeat back to normal.
George ignored the compliment. He was more interested in just getting the job done. “I'll hop on board the last vehicle. If you come to any more corners like this, don't try and take them, just get word back to me and I'll do it."
With that, he climbed into the van he and Andy had been travelling in and began to negotiate the same bend.
Half an hour later, the convoy had crossed over the high peak and had begun to descend the other side, which was much straighter and less treacherous. Although they hadn't encountered another bend as dangerous as that sheer one, there had been some tricky corners and both Emma and Sarah breathed a huge sigh of relief as they began their descent.
The relief was short lived though as they drove past the first house on the outskirts to the village. The outbuilding next to it had been burnt to cinders. How the house had avoided a similar fate was baffling to them. Emma brought the van to a stop and pulled on the handbrake. She was about to get out when Sarah grabbed her arm.
"I think we should get people settled first, don't you? We can take stock later."
The words danced in the air for a moment. Emma knew what Sarah meant. Take stock...take stock of the dead. Take stock of just how brutal mankind could still be despite everything it had suffered through together as a species. Emma didn't say anything, she just gave a nod and released the handbrake so they could continue their journey down to Lonbaig village.
As they entered, Lonbaig possessed the same ransacked look as the other villages they had driven through. Doors were left ajar, windows were broken, belongings were strewn along pathways and verges. A body laid battered and bloody against a painted garden gate. They both recognised it as Douglas Mackinnon, the owner of the post office. Emma remembered Isobel, his wife had been in the Home and Garden Depot with them. She didn't know if she was already aware of her husband's demise, but if she wasn't, she would be soon.
"Oh God!" said Sarah as she tore her eyes away from the motionless body.
"I don't think God's been listening for some time," Emma replied as the trailing path of devastation continued. She speeded up as they passed more bodies lying at the side of the road. "This is going to be hard for us, but it's going to be even harder for the people who've lost someone."
The familiar sign for the caravan park came into view, and Emma turned the van onto the tree bordered drive. The road opened out into an expansive area containing static and mobile caravans. The devastation here was not as prolific. There were no bodies and no belongings strewn everywhere. The raiders had clearly been here as the odd broken window and smashed door testified, but...it was almost as if someone had begun to tidy up.
She pulled up and got out, heading straight for one of the statics while the rest of the vehicles pulled in. Sarah got out and followed her into the nicely decorated mobile home. Emma headed straight back out sweeping past Sarah.
"Hello!" she yelled over the sound of the other approaching engines. "It's Emma. Emma Fletcher, Sue's granddaughter." No one shouted a reply, and no one materialised. "It's safe to come out. The raiders have gone. They're not coming back."
