“I understand,” I reply, as I realize that I am to be left alone.
“And that goes for you too, Craig,” he adds, turning to address the boy who stands next to me. “I’m very sorry, you were Adam’s friend growing up and we love you like a son. Almost like a son. Anyway, the point is, family’s family and Sharon and Jessie and I have to stick together. We can’t take you either.”
“Sure,” he says, although he sounds a little scared. “I get it.”
“Maybe you think I’m being selfish,” Donald says as his wife heads out of the room and goes upstairs, no doubt to pack some possessions for the journey, “but like I told you, it’s about family. We’re going to struggle as it is, and I can’t put my wife and daughter in jeopardy just because I try to help other people. They have to be my priority.”
“You don’t have to explain,” I tell him. “It’s entirely understandable.”
“You’re welcome to sit around here,” he replies. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before we’re back, but at least here you’ll have a roof over your heads. Just don’t cause any damage to the place, ’cause we fully intend to return eventually. Maybe that’ll be in days, or weeks, or months or… Well, like I said, we plan on coming back, so I’d thank you to not do anything that messes the farm up.”
“Of course,” I say. “That’s very kind of you.”
“We aim to be gone within the hour,” he adds, stepping past me and heading toward the door. “Jessie, get some things together.”
“Tell them to give me their batteries,” she replies, barely even looking up from her phone. “Tell them, Dad!”
He ignores her and instead makes his way upstairs.
“I can give you both a ride,” Dean says, turning first to Craig and then to me. “If you don’t want to come to London, I can drop you off somewhere along the way. I can’t just leave you here, it wouldn’t be right.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I reply, “but I think I shall remain here, if it’s all the same to you.”
“But—”
“I saw enough when I was back at my flat,” I add. “I saw what people are capable of, and how they’re acting. The idea of going to a city and seeing more of that… Well, I think I’d prefer to stay here and see what I can manage. I’m no spring chicken, that’s true, but I know a few tricks.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Good luck,” I continue. “I mean that, and I think you’ll need it. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting old, but I think I prefer the solitude of this place right now. I have no desire whatsoever to rush headlong back into the company of others.”
“I’m going to stay too,” Craig says suddenly.
I turn to him.
“I feel the same,” he continues. “I don’t know what it’s like in London right now, but I don’t think I want to find out. I’ve seen enough movies and read enough books to know that people tend to go crazy sometimes. I’d rather stay here and wait it all out.” He glances at me. “If you don’t mind the company.”
“Of course not,” I reply cautiously, “but… are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” he tells me. “We can survive here, at least for a while. I’d rather try that than go rushing headfirst into some kind of dystopian nightmare in the city.”
I pause for a moment, wondering whether I should dissuade him from this idea, before telling myself that I should let the young man make his own decisions. Taking my jacket from the back of the chair, I slip it on in an attempt to keep myself warm, and then I hear Donald and Sharon coming downstairs.
Half an hour later, they’re all gone, leaving me alone at the farm with just Craig for company.
Twenty-One
“I got rid of the mosquito larvae from the water,” Craig says a few hours later, as he comes back into the house. “It’s getting too dark out there to do a lot more tonight.”
“Very good,” I reply, as I light another candle. “Very good indeed. Tomorrow, as they say, is another day. We can start taking stock and working out how best to proceed.” I force a smile, hoping to appear optimistic even though I fear we face an uphill battle.
“Then there are the boxes in the barn,” he points out. “Donald wanted to destroy them, but I persuaded him that it’d be too risky, that maybe the creature would get out. I’m thinking that maybe we should bury them.”
“That’s something we can discuss tomorrow,” I tell him.
“There’s no point being awake at night,” he continues. “I figure I’m going to start going to bed when it gets dark and waking up when it gets light. That’s the best use of resources.”
“I agree,” I tell him. “I shall retire soon and see you in the morning.”
He heads through to the other room, and I’m left standing alone at the kitchen window. As I look out across the yard, I can’t help wondering where Dean and the others are now. I can’t say that I believe in any higher power, but I very much hope that – if there is one – then he or she is going to set the world straight soon. Perhaps the lights will magically come back on, and the water too, and we shall miraculously find that things are going back to normal.
Reaching into my pocket, I take out my mobile telephone and switch it on. I suppose I can afford to check occasionally, just in case the signal returns. After a moment, however, I find that the screen remains dark. I press the button on the side again, but there’s still no sign of life. Turning the telephone over, I find that the panel on the back is slightly loose. When I pull the panel away, I find to my surprise that the battery is missing.
There’s just enough moonlight in my room for me to be able to see the guitars as I slip the bin bags away. Both guitars – mine and Sarah’s – are badly damaged, but I feel it might be possible to repair them.
Of course, right now, I cannot even play. I spend a short while trying to straighten the damaged neck, but it’s clear that this is a job that will take quite some time. If I cannibalize parts from one guitar and then switch them around, then with a little luck it’s possible that I might end up with something that can at least be played. The sound will not be pretty, but that’s better than nothing.
Sighing, I lean back and close my eyes.
Suddenly I feel a tremendous rushing sensation in my chest. I lean forward and open my eyes, but I find that I’m now in the forest on a gray morning. Frantically getting to my feet, I look around and tell myself that I must be dreaming, but a moment later I hear an agonized scream coming from nearby. I turn again, and this time I see Adam standing nearby, beating the creature with the branch.
“Hey!” I shout. “Get back!”
I take a step forward, determined to pull him away and save his life, but then I stumble as I feel a sudden rush of fear. Stopping, I find that my hands are trembling wildly, and the creature’s cries seem to be somehow entering my body and filling me with the most astonishing sense of pure terror. It’s as if I’m about to die, as if I’m the one who’s being beaten, and I can’t shake the sensation at all.
I try to cry out, but then I see the creature burst into thousands of tiny black teeth, and I watch as those teeth cut through Adam. It’s his moment of death all over again, and there’s nothing I can do to help him. Even as I tell myself that this is all a dream, I feel the horror and hopelessness once again rushing through my body, and then I realize that the earlier fear has been replaced by something else.