As the Light Dies (51 page)

“
Whoa guys, holy shit! Calm down i
t’
s us, i
t’
s me and Thom
,”
said Andy and immediately Leann and Collin stopped screaming and trying to fight them off. They both stood up slowly, still too scared to be embarrassed.

“
Jesus guys, what the hel
l’
s wrong? I thought yo
u’
d both already gone home
,”
said Andy stepping back to give them both room. Thom stepped back as well and straightened himself out after their collision and used his lighter to find the candle that had blown out and relit it.

Leann looked at Collin first
.“
You ok
?”
she asked.

“
Yea
,”
he said nodding and Leann looked at the two men.

“
Yo
u’
re not going to believe me, well
,
us
.
I mean, i
t’
s terrible. I
t’
s horrible. I just ca
n’
t believe it! I ca
n’
t believe what
I’
ve just seen...
.”
she burst in to tears before she could say anymore! Her body heaved frantically.

“
Whoa Leann i
t’
s ok
,”
said Andy putting an arm around her
.“
Wha
t’
s happened
?
”

Leann went to say something but just could
n’
t, her sobs took over and she pulled in to And
y’
s shoulder. After a second Andy looked up at Collin standing there looking like a rabbit caught in headlights. Andy nodded at him and asked him what happened. Collin stood motionless not quite sure what to say or where to start, he could
n’
t believe what h
e’
d seen either
,
didn’t want to believe it.
“
Well, he started
,“I’
m not sure what or how to say this but here goes
.
”

“
I was on my way out when I Saw Leann. She was hiding down between the kid
s’
ride-on toys and the photo booth
.”
Andy raised his eyebrows
!“
She was telling me to stay away from the front doors and the windows you know
.”
Andy nodded slowly
.“
I was just about to walk over to check on her when I thought I saw someone at the front doors. I looked, but I thought it was just movement in the ash, the wind or something but then I thought I saw a person lying on the ground. So I went over to see what it was in case I could help you know...
.”
he faltered for a moment remembering what had happened. Then he took a deep breath and blurted
,“
They were dead! It was Maggie. Sh
e’
s dead
!
”
“WHAT! Maggie’s dead!”
Andy gasped.

Thom flinched at the news and ran both hands over his smooth head, twice frowning!

“And Jimmy. Jimmy’s dead as well!”
Collin managed as he continued
.“
I, I think it was the truck driver. He was at the windows banging trying to get in
.
”

“WHAT
!
What the hell do you mean
?”
asked Andy.

“
He was eating them
!”
said Collin.

“RUBBISH!”
said Thom
.“C’
mon, w
e’
d better go and look for ourselves Andy, h
e’
s delusional, they both are
.
”

Andy was nodding. He said
,“
I think yo
u’
re right
.
”

“NO
!
You ca
n’
t
,”
pleaded Leann through her tears
.“
I
t’
s not safe! H
e’
ll break through the glass and come in after us. I managed to block the doors at the last second, but h
e’
s strong, it wo
n’
t take him long to break through! He was slamming the glass trying to break in just now because he saw us, and ther
e’
s more of them now, they want us like in that video me and Collin watched on my iPad
.
”

“Eh!”
said Collin looking up at her surprised.

“
Yea, I looked back as we were running just now and there were several of them, maybe four of them banging against the windows, and they looked like the dark people on that video
!
”

“Oh, shit!”
said Collin remembering the footage.

Andy stepped away from the wall letting Leann go
.“
Right
,”
he said
,“
w
e’
re going out there to see wha
t’
s going on, we ca
n’
t just stay in here when yo
u’
re telling us that people are badly hurt out there
.
”

“They’re dead
!
Not hurt
,”
said Leann
,“
yo
u’
ll just stir them up whoever they are and the
y’
ll break through the glass and come after us
!
”

“
Look Leann
,”
said Andy
,“
either way
I’
ve gotta go out and see for myself.
I’
ve got to go and assess the situation. Yo
u’
re saying that you saw more people at the windows when you ran away
.
”

She nodded.

“
What if they need help? Tha
t’
s probably why they were banging on the windows. They need our help
.
”

Leann understood where he was coming from and part of her worried he might be right, about the people banging on the windows at least
.
What if those people at the windows were just trying to find help
,
she wondered and she felt a pang of guilt
.
What if they needed us to help them to get inside and away from danger and we just ran away
,
she wondered.

As for what went before, Andy and Thom were just going to have to see it for themselves. Collin felt bad as well hearing And
y’
s logical take on it but he knew what he saw, and afte
r
wha
t
h
e’
d just seen, he was
n’
t rushing back out, not yet at least. He wanted to tell them more but he could
n’
t, he just could
n’
t bear to think about the things h
e’
d just seen, never mind try and explain or talk about them. Plus he knew that for them to ever believe him, or Leann the
y’
d have to see it for themselves.

Andy and Thom approached the swing door. Just before they got there Andy turned back and said
,“
You two wait here, or in the canteen. Do
n’
t go anywhere else o
k
!”

Collin and Leann nodded and Andy pushed open the door and looked out.

The shop floor was quiet. He looked over towards the front of the supermarket and scanned the glass shop front, as much of it as he could see, there was no one there. No figures looking in or pounding at the windows, no shadows, nothing!

“
I
t’
s clear
,”
he told Thom and moved out with Thom close behind mumbling something along the lines o
f
‘I told you so!’

“
Be careful
,”
said Leann as the door swung shut behind them before either of them answered.

Leann slid down on to the floor and crossed her legs
.“I’
m gonna wait here for them
,”
she told Collin
,“I’
m not going anywhere
.
”

Collin nodded
,“
Me neither
,”
he said and he leaned against the wall opposite her replaying in his head what had just happened over and over trying to make sense of it, needing to understand it, even though he doubted he ever would.

Andy and Thom walked quietly towards the front of the supermarket constantly scanning the place as they walked
.“
What do you think
?”
said Thom.

“
Fuck knows
,”
said Andy
,“
somethin
g’
s definitely spooked them though. Hopefully w
e’
ll find ou
t
wha
t
shortly
.
”

Thom nodded.

As they walked a little further Andy saw that the ki
d’
s ride-on Noddy car was out of place.

“
She really did hide
,”
he said pointing towards it. Thom looked.

“
Hmm
,”
he said nodding not sure what to make of it.

As they walked towards the front of the supermarket they came level with the row of absent tills and Andy came to a stop
.“
Wha
t’
s up
?”
said Thom.

“
Nothing,
I’
m just looking. Making sure
,”
he said, and when he did
n’
t see anything he said
,“C’
mon
,”
and they carried on and started walking along the front of the shop between the quiet tills and the glass front. There was no sign of anyone or anything through the glass; just dirty black snow relentlessly covering everything in sight. Occasionally they looked down in to the deserted supermarket just to make sure no-one was still hanging around. All they saw was the flicker from the faint glow from the jam jar lanterns spread out here and there.

“
Should we call out for Maggie and Jimmy
?”
asked Thom.

“
Not yet, I know their stor
y’
s fucked up, and
I
d
o
think that the ash and the shadows played a trick on them. But I do
n’
t want to draw attention to ourselves just yet. You saw the state of them, they definitely saw something that got them worried, and Lean
n’
s not the type to daydream you know. Sh
e’
s got her feet firmly on the ground that one
.
”

Thom was nodding in agreement, he knew Andy was right and he carried on glancing up and down the shop front as they walked looking for anything out of the ordinary and after a few minutes he stopped dead!

“LOOK!”
he said pointing as something caught his eye through the glass up ahead
.
“Look! Look
!
Jesus Christ
!”
he blurted pointing and jabbing his finger at the air.

“What!”
said Andy
,“
what is it
?”
He was staring trying to work out what Thom was pointing at but he could
n’
t see a single thing out of place, and then he did
.“C’
mon
,”
he said, and he started walking towards it. Just ahead of them there was a dark patch almost like a shadow along the bottom edge of the glass. As they got closer it began to look like some kind of shallow hump.

Thom reached it first and knelt down beside the window trying to get a better look.