He led her into the mist, turning at intervals until the others were completely invisible. She did not ask where he was taking her but followed with blind faith. Perhaps a part of her knew what was happening.
There was no way to shield her from the sound. It exploded around the field and afterwards he heard birds squawking as they flapped their wings and rose into the air.
He waited a few minutes before leading her back to the others. They were waiting for them, ready to go. Sol was nowhere to be seen but he could see where the dry grass had been hastily cleaned. Kris accepted Sol’s absence as she had accepted everything else that had happened since Sandra’s death, as if she hadn’t even noticed it.
They set off again and moved much more quickly without Sol slowing them down. As he thought it Ben felt a stab of guilt but it was for the best; the sun was rapidly losing strength and according to Daniel they were still several hours away from their destination. They might not make it before dark as it was, if they still had Sol with them they wouldn’t stand a chance.
They stopped just once more before reaching their destination. At the edge of the field there was a copse where they found berries growing. It wasn’t much and what was there was half-rotten but none of them had eaten since the early hours of the morning and their food stores had gone down with the boat. They ate while they filled their pockets and there was a moment of strange normality about it. They left with their stomachs groaning but they were happy and ready for what lay ahead.
9
The cobbled lane had been invaded on each side by long green weeds that climbed through the gates and fences. Between the stones yellow dandelions bunched together, impossibly growing through ancient mortar. It was dark but the moon offered enough light for them to see by. Beyond the overgrown gardens there were crumbling houses that had been old before the vamps came. Little cottages with faded wooden shutters, it wasn’t even possible to guess what colour they had been. Some of them didn’t look any bigger than the long boats.
Ben walked at the back of the group behind Kris. Now that Sandra had gone the others didn’t seem to care what happened to her but he remembered his promise. They walked along the narrow path towards wherever Daniel was leading them. The cold night air had a bite to it and he hoped that wherever they were going it would be inside.
A church stood at the end of the lane in what once would have been a clearing. Now the land had begun to reclaim the space and soon it would succeed in doing so. They walked towards the church. It was mostly intact save for a few broken windows. A heavy door barred their way.
“Is it safe?” said Aaron.
“Safer than out here,” said Daniel in his gruff way. They were all tired and in pain, two of them still needed medical help and they were a long way from home. Aaron stared at Daniel until he relented. “Alright, I’ll go and have a look. You’ll not be any safer out here though.”
“Thank you,” said Aaron.
Daniel pushed open the door. It creaked loudly in the otherwise silent village. He looked back at them briefly and then slipped into the darkness. Once, before vamps had existed, people had believed they were scared of churches or crosses. A stupid idea really but he shuddered to think how many people had probably died putting it to the test.
They waited for Daniel to return. A long time seemed to pass. Somewhere an owl hooted and a twig snapped, it might have been a vamp but it was more likely to be a fox or some other animal grown brave since humans had left the village. Animals had done well out of the situation; the vamps had no interest in them and there weren’t enough humans to be a threat. Even so Ben reached for his gun. The sudden movement jarred his shoulder and reminded him that he was still in pain.
He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Aaron looking at him. “It’s okay,” he whispered. He was holding his own gun. Ben nodded but hoped Aaron wouldn’t wander off to investigate the noise.
Aaron stayed where he was and before too much longer the church door opened again and Daniel came out. “It’s all clear,” he said and held the door open for them to enter one by one. Aaron brought up the rear and Ben thought he heard him say something to Daniel as he closed the door behind them.
Inside the chapel it was cold and dark. The grey stones seemed to retain the cold and project it inwards. Ben followed Anthony limping to the front where they found candles and matches to light them. Aaron and Daniel appeared at the other end, delayed by whatever secret conference they had been having.
Ben sat down on a hard, cold bench near Kris. He suddenly felt exhausted and the pain in his ankle and arm flared up again promising him that rest would not be as simple as closing his eyes and drifting off. Aaron came and sat next to him so he didn’t even get the chance to try.
“How you holding up?”
He tried to shrug but his shoulder had started to stiffen and it came out more like a grimace.
“Let’s take a look,” said Aaron, pealing back the remains of his shirt. “A flesh wound,” he said. “You should be fine.”
Ben nodded. He wasn’t really listening. Whether Aaron thought he was going to be fine or not didn’t matter. What were they going to do if he wasn’t; shoot him. “What’s going on here?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“This place, you knew it was here, didn’t you? Have you been here before?”
Aaron shook his head and Ben thought he was telling the truth.
“Daniel then?”
Aaron said nothing.
“He has, hasn’t he?”
“Not for a long time. Not since before.”
’Before’, it didn’t need an explanation, everyone’s before was the same now: before the vamps, before the end of the world. Except Ben didn’t really think of it like that, he was younger, maybe that was it, but to him it seemed more like the start of the world.
“So you knew we were going to be attacked?”
“Not like that. Normally they just try to talk us into going back with them, we refuse and they leave us to it.”
“You’ve done this before?”
“Not exactly. A few trial runs as far as Reading, nothing very exciting.”
That made sense, really it would have been foolish to begin an expedition of this scale without testing the water. Which was of course what he had done. And he would find himself permanently on the back foot because of it.
A gust of cold wind passed them and he shivered despite himself. “Are you sure this place is safe?”
“As safe as you can get on dry land.” He stood up and looked about to clap Ben on the shoulder but, perhaps remembering his injury, thought better of it. “Try to get some rest,” he said. “We need to make an early start tomorrow.”
He nodded. “What’s the plan?”
But Aaron just smiled and then walked away.
He spent the night on the floor. At first he tried to sleep on the pew but found it too narrow. He kept dreaming of falling. The floor was colder but at least he could spread out how he wanted.
That night he woke only once, to the sound of sobbing coming from the far side of the room. At first he thought it had to be Kris but when he opened his eyes he saw her asleep on the floor nearby. When he looked up he saw Daniel at the foot of the steps beneath the stage sobbing into his hands.
Ben closed his eyes and tried to forget that he’d seen it but the image wouldn’t leave him. He dreamed of a crying mountain, the tears running down its slopes and washing the world away.