As the Light Dies (21 page)

“Jesus its dark in here,”
Thom whispered and And
y’
s left hand bumped off the toilet door handle and he grabbed it.

“
Ok
,”
he said
,“I’
ve got the handle for the toilet. Here goes
.
”

“
Ok
,”
said Thom.

“
Ok
,”
added Collin, and Andy balled his free hand in to a tight fist not sure what to expect after their brief meeting with the less than friendly strangers outside.

He pressed down quickly on the handle and pulled the door open.

The small claustrophobic looking toilet was empty. He closed the door.

“
One down, two to go
,”
he said
.“
W
e’
ll try the staffroom first, and then w
e’
ll hit the store room.
C’
mon
.
”

Using his hands to follow the wall Andy led the three of them towards the staffroom trying not to trip or stumble over any of the debris. The other two watched their step as well, setting their feet down carefully and making sure it was on the level before putting all their weight on to it and moving on, they all had to go by feel because the corridor was as dark as a coffin.

They reached the staffroom door. Andy found the handle.

“
Just opening the staffroom door
,”
he said, and he pushed the door open, just a little at first trying to see inside but it did
n’
t work, it was black.

He called in
.“
Hello is anyone there? W
e’
re here to help
.
”

Nothing but silence met their ears.

He pushed the door open all the way pushing back debris that had fallen behind it. Andy walked in keeping one hand against the wall at first to keep his bearings. His feet came in to contact with something solid on the ground, he tried to push it away but it was too heavy. He walked around it warning the others.

After the
y’
d all been in the staffroom for a few moments their sight started improving a little thanks to the tiny letter box shaped window at the back of the room. They were amazed at what they saw!

The place had been turned completely upside down! The staffroom table was broken in two straight down the middle. Cupboard doors hung from their hinges. A smashed up chair missing three legs, lay on top of the work top, shattered bowls and plates lay in the sink, and anything else that was
n’
t screwed down was either in bits or on the floor.

“What in God’s name!”
said Thom.

“
I know
,”
said Andy shaking his head, almost stuck for words
.“C’
mon
,”
he said
,“
ther
e’
s no- one here, lets head down to the store room
.
”

The three men backed up. Andy took the lead again leaving Collin in the middle now and they traced their way back along the pitch black corridor until they came to the door that led in to the stores
.
“Quiet!”
said Andy stopping dead as he rested his hand on the handle.

Standing as still and quietly as they could, they listened. Thom had that horrible creeping feeling that someone was behind him, creeping up behind him in the darkness and he had to fight the urge to spin around with his arm up and look stupid. Collin felt terrible, standing there in the dark, in the quiet. He could
n’
t believe what had happened in the time it took from him hearing that first scream and breaking glass to the three of them getting here, so much had happened, so much damage and chaos. And where was the attendant. His mind raced thinking about the petrol station attendant that they still had
n’
t found.

If only I’d been quicker
,
he thought
,
If only I’d come across to help.

All any of them heard was the wind rushing passed outside.

“
Thought I heard something
,”
said Andy
,“I’
m sure I did. Hump
h
.
Oh well here goes.
C’
mon
.
”

He opened the door and called out
.“
Hello, is anyone here
?”
There was no reply.

They moved in and just as the door closed behind them after Thom let it go, they all heard a scraping scratching sound. Thom flinched
,
“SHIT!”
he yelped. Andy spun round to see what was wrong with him.

Thom saw Andy spin around and thought h
e’
d seen something and had turned to run.

Collin stood hunched between them not sure whether to run or jump or what the hell to do.

Thom jumped backwards and crashed in to the closed door behind him
.“
Oh
,
SHIT!”
he yelped panicking. He fumbled for the handle and when he did
n’
t put his hand right on it he really started to panic, and he started thrashing with both hands and cried out
,“
SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! I ca
n’
t find th
e
handle. I ca
n’
t find the fucking handle
!
”

“
What the hell
?”
said Andy.

Thom heard him and thought that he saw something in the darkness behind them.

“
I ca
n’
t find the fucking handle! I
t’
s fucking gone, i
t’
s fucking GONE
!”
he yelped.

He just could
n’
t find the damn door handle. Andy thought he knew what was happening. He reached over and grabbed Tho
m’
s shoulder. He knew Thom was already on edge, especially after their encounter outside. He knew it was only a matter of time before he got spooked, and he wa
s
spooked!

Thom felt someone touch his shoulder and flinched away not realising it was Andy.

“ARHH SHIT!”
he yelped crying out with fear.

Andy grabbed a firm hold of Tho
m’
s shoulder and pulled him back having to dodge Tho
m’
s swiping arms.

“WHO
A
THOM!”
he yelled
.
“
Calm down man. What the hel
l’
s wrong with you? Everythin
g’
s OK
.
”

“
What
!”
said Thom
,“
But you, you turned to run. I thought that noise was someone, uh, one of them. I thought that we were making a run for it when you spun around, but I could
n’
t get the door open
!
”

Thom was panting hard, still hunched, still uncertain and ready to take off.

They heard the screechy scratching sound again and Andy felt Thom try to pull away from him
.“
THOM! Cool it
,”
said Andy
,“
I did
n’
t run you idiot.
I’
ve only moved three feet, and that was to stop you wearing your fingers to the bone on the damn door. All I did was turn around to see what you were making all the fuss about, and when I did, you just flipped
.
”

Collin was trying hard not to chuckle mostly from nervousness.

Thom was
n’
t sure what to say.

“
But that noise
,”
he said.

Andy said
,“
That noise is just the bush outside rubbing against the building in the wind
.
”

As Andy said it Collin chuckled nervously behind his mask unable to hold it in any longer, he could imagine Thom was staring at him right now less than impressed.

“
Oh, right
,”
said Thom
.“
Stupid fucking bush
!
”

Andy laughed then as well then said
,“
Ok, le
t’
s get this finished
,”
and he turned around to start searching again.

Thom was glad they were in the dark, he could feel his face burning bright red with embarrassment.

From what little they could see or feel the room seemed to be relatively untouched. Nothing had been disturbed or was out of place
.“
I think i
t’
s safe to say i
t’
s clear in here
,”
said Andy.

Thom looked at him and said
,“
Yea, it...
.
”

Suddenly a deafeningly loud ear splitting whine filled the room!

All three of them flinched and jumped swearing at the noise
.“
What the fuc
k’
s that
?”
yelped Thom. His heart was pounding like a drum. Collin practically banged his chin off his knee he hunched down so low and Andy turned from side to side trying to get a fix on where the noise was coming from holding both arms out in front of him defensively. The noise was so loud it was painful. The whine came in short sharp bursts getting louder with every burst
.“
Wher
e’
s it coming from
?”
shouted Thom holding his hands over his ears
,“
what is it
?
”

Colli
n’
s eyes darted in every direction trying to look everywhere at once, but there was nothing there but empty darkness!

Thom backed up against Andy without realising and nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone behind him. When they hit each other, the noise spiked reaching an incredibly high pitch that hurt everyon
e’
s ears despite Thom and Collin covering theirs with their hands.

All of a sudden Mad Maggi
e’
s voice boomed coming out of nowhere, from everywhere! It sounded all around them at the same time. Collin nearly bit his tongue when he heard her and Thom tripped over a wooden pallet.

“
Hello
?”
she said
.“
Andy, Thom! Are you there? Is everything ok
?
”

It was incredibly loud and the whining was threatening to spike again.

“
What the hell
?”
said Thom looking around, then Andy realised what was happening and he said, shouting to be heard
,“
I
t’
s the fucking radios
!
”

“
The radios
!”
said Thom.

“
Yes! The
y’
re reacting against each other, w
e’
ve gotta turn one off
.
”

Andy felt for his one that hung from his belt, grabbed it and clicked it off and the head splitting noise stopped immediately while Thom still fumbled for his one.

“
Shit
!”
he said
,“
I ca
n’
t believe that just happened
!
”

“
The
y’
re probably playing up with the ash
,”
said Andy
,“
You do
n’
t have to turn yours off now
,”
he said
,“
just answer Maggie
.
”

“
Uh, yea, ok
,”
said Thom still trying to grab a hold of his radio.

“
Hell
o”
Maggi
e”
started again
.“
Hello, Andy, Thom are you there
?
”