As the Light Dies (24 page)

They heard her and started to inch their way apart making room for Lara. Collin and Thom moved to the right and Andy to the left, all holding on to the door as tightly as they could and Lara appeared from under the door rolling out between them and as soon she was clear they let go of the door and it slammed back down in an instant!

Collin recognised Lara as soon as he saw her from passing her in the supermarket. She looked very young, she was tiny, probably only five foot and stick thin. Andy helped Lara up, sh
e’
d been lucky enough to find one of the bright yellow fluorescent jackets hanging in the ca wash to help keep warm, but underneath it her uniform was ripped and torn and black with ash. Her hands and forearms were cut and bleeding and there was a graze across one cheek.

“
Thank you for coming for me
,”
she said
.
“Thank you so much
.
I was scared those maniacs had gone over to the supermarket after wrecking this place, and I knew that if they did, no- one would be coming over to help me for a while, that is if anyone noticed I was missing. I thought I was gonna be stuck in there for, for, well I thought I was stuck in there for good
.
”

“
Relax, yo
u’
re safe now
,”
said Andy
,“
yo
u’
re out, and those mental cases have all gone, the place is deserted ok
.
”

Lara nodded feverishly as he removed his dust masks. He had three on over the top of each other for extra protection against the ash. He took out the middle one and handed it to Lara.

“
Put this on
,”
he said and he tried the radios just in case, but it was no use they were both dead. They started walking. Lara was shocked at what she saw of the remains of the petrol station. She looked at the chaos amazed until she caught a glimpse of the Range Rover and she looked away.

They left the ruined petrol station behind them and made their way back to the supermarket pushing through the dirty snow against the relentless wind constantly trying to grind them down.

As they walked through the car park weaving around cars and stray shopping trolleys, their view ahead cleared for a moment as a strong gust of wind timed it just right with the fiercely bright lightning and lit their way for a few seconds. They could see the darkened supermarket ahead of them.

“
Emergency generators given up
,”
said Andy as they all noticed how many car bonnets were up with owners hunched under them looking for whatever fault was stopping their car from starting
.“
Batteries have all died
,”
he said, and suddenly remembered the guy that had nearly run them over on their way over to the petrol station.

Andy looked around every time the murkiness cleared enough to see much of anything and eventually he saw the abandoned jeep.

Its bonnet was up like multiple other vehicles but the owner was nowhere to be seen.

I hope it stays that wa
y
, he thought.

They walked passed frantic owners aimlessly pulling and tapping at engine parts in the vain hope the
y’
d tap or pull something and disturb it resulting in their car firing up. Andy tried to tell them as he passed by that the affects of the ash had killed their car batteries just like it was cutting off all other electrical power sources. He tried telling them that they were best off securing their cars and setting of on foot with as much as they could carry and come back for the rest at a later time. Most told him to fuck off if he could
n’
t help, one guy even started shouting at him
,“
Are you a fucking mechanic? Well are you
?
ARE YOU?”

Andy backed off after that and gave up.

“
You just ca
n’
t help some people eh
!”
he said to the others as they pushed on in silence.

All of them were astonished by how many people had brought their children with them.

The whole family had come out for the stocking up of supplies as though it was a normal day at the shops despite any of the advice on the TV or radio to stay inside at all costs
.
Damn idiots
,
thought Andy as little faces peered out at him and the others as they passed by.

Back at the supermarket they made their way straight to the first aid room, they could
n’
t help but hear the arguments going on between the customers. Andy heard old Jimm
y’
s voice in the mix trying to calm the situation
.
Great
!
he thought, knowing h
e’
d have to get involved soon enough.

Maggie saw them and rushed over to the first aid room, she was relieved the
y’
d found Lara and that she was ok. Maggie started to clean the wounds on her hands and face while Lara told them what had happened over at the petrol station.

“
It was horrible
,”
she said
,“
it all happened so fast. To start with,
I’
d noticed that nearly everyone was in a bad mood, you know. They were getting worse as the day went on, almost like they were responding to the ash you know, as it kept falling, getting darker making that horrible ashy fog out there. As it got worse outside everyone seemed to be getting more agitated, more angry with each other, even aggressive!

Anyway, people were shouting from their cars for others to hurry up at the pumps and get out of their way and whatever, that went on for a while. I did
n’
t bother much at first but then the customers started shouting at me. Blaming me for the pumps being slow, you know, but it was
n’
t anything I could have helped, there was nothing I could have done. I carried on as best I could just trying to ignore them you know, but then the card readers on the pumps stopped working and that really stirred things up because it slowed things right down, and everyone had to come in to the kiosk to pay. So then instead of shouting at me from outside on the forecourt, they were inside shouting at me...
.
”

Lara felt a lump rise in her throat as she said it remembering what had happened, and her voice wavered with emotion
.“
It was horrible. I did
n’
t do anything wrong
!
”

“
We know you did
n’
t
,”
said Maggie patting her arm
.“
You did just fine. What happened next
?
”

“
The lights started to flicker, all of them, and that really stirred things up, especially when the forecourt started going dark. They musta gotten worried about not being able to fill up you know, especially the ones further back in the queues. They were really getting mad. Then on top of that I was worried about what would happen when the kiosk ran out of food.

I knew that the store was empty. All that was left in there were pallets of grit salt and screen wash you know, and car air fresheners and the odd set of car floor mats. Anyway, I just tried to stay calm, trying not to stir any one up even further than they already were, you know...
.
”

“
Yo
u’
re a better woman than I am
,”
said Maggie cutting in.

Lara nodded
.“
Well
I’
d tried the phone to call across to the supermarket to tell someone in case I could get some help or something you know, because people are
n’
t so big when ther
e’
s two of you behind the counter
.
”

Everyone nodded.

“
But the phone was dead! So I had no option but to carry on, and it went on like that for ages, gradually getting worse as people got more and more aggressive until eventually two of the pumps completely stopped working
.
Well two at first, and then another two, and another two and then not long after that the whole lot stopped. Every last one! While the pumps were breaking down, there was a guy who was being really mouthy, shouting and swearing at everyone from his fancy Range Rover and that, you know. Well, he pulled out of the queue and drove right up to the front totally jumping ahead of everyone and he just sat there waiting for another guy to pull away from the pump banging on his horn trying to speed him up! You can imagine how that stirred everyone up. Anyway as the guy in front of Mr Range Rover started to pull out after practically getting in to a fight with Mr Range Rover for beeping his horn at him, his car stalled. And it just would
n’
t start again. That was it, tha
t’
s when all hell broke loose
!
”

“
Someone behind the Range Rover wanted to get out after filling up, but they could
n’
t because they were blocked in, and there were others waiting for that space. It was the same all the way back down the queue. Everyone knew that the Range Rover was blocked by another car but because the guy in the Range Rover had given everyone grief on the way in, shouting and blasting his horn, and then jumping the queue. He became a target for everyone.

People were practically screaming at him, telling him to move, you know. But the pumps had died. So I was trying to tell everyone that the pumps were all dead, that no one would be able to get any fuel, that it did
n’
t matter if there was a free pump or not. But no one listened, they just did
n’
t care, they just wanted to argue, and the
n
al
l
the cars started dying!

They just seemed to cut out, all of them, and none of them would start again, and tha
t’
s when people started getting out of their cars, and things just kinda exploded! People started fighting between the cars. The only car still running was the Range Rover, and the guy just kept on blasting his horn over and over, then he started yelling at people, telling them to move the car that was blocking him.

Tha
t’
s when everyone just seemed to turn on him all at once! But the guys in the kiosk directed their anger at me
.”
Leann paused for a second there, fighting to keep control of her emotions before she continued
.“
One guy, the closest to me, leaned right over the counter shouting at me, practically screaming right in to my face and then he just turned and walked out without paying, and then everyone else in the shop started walking out without paying. They just did
n’
t care.

I did
n’
t know what to do, there was so many of them and they were all doing the same thing. It was really scary, so I locked the till and switched off the pumps just in case the power did come back on you know. I looked round and the Range Rover was surrounded with people banging on the windows trying to get at the guy. It was horrible.

While the shop was empty I closed the doors, and people started banging on the window up by the till you know, and tha
t’
s when the lights inside went out, and they did
n’
t come back on.

Then a couple of guys started trying to pry the doors back open.

As they struggled to get them open, they were shouting at me, telling me to open the doors or the
y’
d kick my head in! So I backed up towards the staff door you know.

Then the ones banging on the window by the till grabbed one of the logs from the bundles of fire wood for sale and started bashing the window with it, saying they were gonna drag me out in to the snow and do things to me, you know
.
”

Lar
a’
s voice started to waver a little again as she forced herself to remember.

“
Then the other guys, the ones at the front doors, started ramming a gas canister at the doors, and it actually started to push them open.

I thought one of the guys was about to squeeze through when the glass in the door frames shattered and I just lost it. I screamed like a stupid little girl!

One of the guys at the front doors started knocking all the glass out of the frames and the other one started trying to wedge them open with the gas canister, they were still shouting at me, swearing at me, and I heard more breaking glass. I looked around and saw people up on the bonnet of the Range Rover
!
They were smashing through the windscreen with a fire extinguisher!

I was totally freaking out. I did
n’
t know what to do
!
”