The World After, Book 2 Page 16

  But then… No. I’d heard Mike say the name of this site, too.

  This was the place.

  This was Mike’s camp.

  And it was deserted.

  I made my way slowly towards a caravan right at the back of the camp. On it, the word “WORKERS” was written in what looked like excrement. Beside it, a small gap in the fencing, proving that this place wasn’t quite the impenetrable fortress perhaps I’d imagined it to be.

  I crept my way towards it, my guard still up. The closer I got, the more aware I became of the smell coming from that caravan, and the flies buzzing around it, as the sun descended ever further.

  I wondered then whether this was some kind of trap. Whether Mike’s people were here after all, just leading me to where he wanted me to go, waiting to take me out—or worse, to take me prisoner.

  And then I wondered if maybe Holly and the rest of the people were in danger. Whether he was watching them after all, and they were the targets.

  I turned around, the urgency of the situation building up. “This isn’t right. We have to get out of here. We have to—”

  I didn’t finish my sentence.

  Not when I heard the cries, just outside the camp.

  Not when I heard the screams.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  After I heard the screams, there was nothing else I could do but race out of Mike’s camp in their direction

  I ran as fast as I could. I could hear Callum and David behind me, calling me, telling me to hold back and not be reckless, but that was easy for them to say. Holly. Haz. Lionel. All I could think about was them. All I could think about was what had happened to Hannah, Sue and Aiden. All I could think about was how determined I was to make sure nothing happened like that again—ever.

  I raced up the hill, over towards the rest of the people. I hadn’t heard any more shouts, or any more screams for that matter. I wasn’t sure if it was because those two things had stopped completely or whether they were just blurred in my mind. My senses felt dulled. Nothing seemed right.

  All I could think about was Holly.

  Getting to her.

  Making sure she was safe.

  Keeping my promise.

  When I reached the top of the hill, my legs almost falling from beneath me, I nearly tumbled over when I heard another shout, then another, and then another scream. Before I knew it, Callum and David were at my side, a baseball bat and an axe in their respective hands.

  David pushed me down. “This your making, huh?”

  “No—”

  Callum booted me in my ribs. I gasped for air as I lay there on the ground, both of their weapons pointing at me, as they were convinced they had been double-crossed.

  David glared down at me, anger and grief on his face. “Is this what your plan was all along?”

  “No,” I said, winded. “It’s… You have to get there. We all do. We have to help—”

  “Screw you,” David said. “We’ll finish you later.”

  He booted me in the head, and for a second, everything went totally black.

  I wasn’t sure how long that blackness surrounded me in real time. But when I came around, I could still hear cries and screams. It sounded like, just over the hill, there was some kind of battle going on. Some kind of conflict.

  I thought about Mike. The way he must’ve set us up all along.

  The lack of mercy he’d shown, again and again.

  I struggled to my feet and staggered up the hill. I might be on my own, wounded, unarmed, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to fight for those I cared about.

  I’d punch Mike to death if I had to.

  Or I’d die trying.

  When I got to the top of the hill, I saw something unexpected.

  First, the shock. Some of the people from Callum and David’s group were on the road. They were bleeding. Many of them were dead.

  Including the family who I’d seen when I first got there.

  The mother.

  The girl.

  The boy, still holding onto his football.

  Callum and David were still standing, staring defenceless at the men opposite.

  It was when I saw the men opposite—the ones hacking at the people I’d travelled with—that the reality of the situation really hit me.

  These weren’t Mike’s men.

  They were Phillip’s.

  And Phillip was butchering Callum and David’s people.

  My people.

  I staggered further over the hill, still unsure of what was happening, of why this was happening.

  I looked around the bodies everywhere, with dread, from a distance.

  Then I looked around the people still standing.

  But there was no use.

  There was no sign of Haz.

  There was no sign of Lionel.

  There was no sign of Holly.

  I heard a shout, then. When I looked around again, I saw that Callum had been attacked with an axe and was bleeding. He was totally still.

  David was on his knees.

  Phillip picked up an axe. He rested it on David’s head.

  “Sorry for this,” he said. “Really.”

  Then, he swung the axe, and I turned away.

  I crouched there, heart racing, unable to interpret what I was looking at. Because as the dust settled, I could see Phillip and his people—people I’d eaten with—rounding Callum and David’s remaining people up and ordering them to get on their knees.

  I didn’t know what he planned on doing with them. I didn’t know whether he planned to kill them, or whether he planned on keeping them prisoner.

  All I did know was that all my hope was dead.

  I’d tried to reach out to the outside world. I’d tried to trust. I’d tried to believe that there could be a better world for everyone if we all just pulled together.

  And once again, that faith had been misplaced.

  I wanted to fight. I wanted to stop Phillip, as he led these people—his people, now—in my direction, towards the caravan site.

  I didn’t know where Mike was, where he’d gone. I didn’t know what had provoked his departure.

  I didn’t know where Haz, Holly or Lionel were.

  I didn’t know a thing.

  The only thing I knew?

  I wasn’t strong enough to fight.

  I was too weak.

  My teeth chattering with the shock of what I’d just witnessed, I took a deep breath.

  Then, before Phillip’s people could get to me, I turned away from them and from Mike’s camp, and I walked into the woods.

  Directionless.

  Alone.

  There was nothing left for me anymore.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  I looked at the road ahead, as I emerged out of the woods, and I knew where I had to go now.

  It was late. The middle of the night, in fact. I could barely see a thing. And to be honest, I didn’t care.

  I just wanted to keep on walking. That’s all there was for me now.

  The wind was cold, mingled with specks of icy rain which made me shiver to the touch. But again, it didn’t bother me much, mostly through the total apathy I felt towards it, and towards the entire situation I was in.

  All I cared about was walking.

  All I cared about was keeping on going.

  I looked at the trees around me. I could spend some time in the woods. Hunt. Maybe I’d find a dead animal. Maybe I’d find some water. Maybe I’d be extra lucky and find a camp.

  But then there was the road. Eventually, that road, as long as it was, would take me somewhere. And when I got somewhere… I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

  For now, I just wanted to walk.

  I could taste sick at the back of my throat, and smell my own sweat. My body was cold and shaking. But all the time, I couldn’t get the memories out of my head. The cries. The screams.

  The sounds of my decisions echoing around me once again.

  I’d really belie
ved that I could fix things when it came to Mike. But when I’d got to his camp, he was already gone, and then Phillip had got there and… damn. He’d proven himself just as bad as Mike.

  And there was Holly. Haz. Lionel. Wherever they were right now, it couldn’t be good.

  But they were gone.

  I’d searched for them. Even when Phillip had moved on, I’d searched through that mass of bodies.

  Fortunately I hadn’t found them there.

  But I hadn’t found them anywhere else, either.

  I’d failed them.

  I took a step onto the road, the rain lashing down harder from above. Building bridges with people was pointless. Bonding, connecting, it all just made it more painful when it broke down and failed, like it always inevitably did.

  I was right not to bond, because when I’d bonded, I’d only lost.

  Harriet. Hannah. Holly. So many others. All the people I’d connected with, all the people I’d lost.

  All on me.

  I turned onto the road and looked right down its length. I knew I had two choices. I could turn back. Try and see whether there was the slightest chance of getting back to Phillip’s new camp. Trying to find out whether Holly, Haz and Lionel were out there somewhere, nearby. It was slim. But it was a chance nonetheless.

  Or, I could just walk on. Nobody to worry about. Nobody to care about. Not even myself.

  That way seemed a whole lot more appealing after everything that had happened.

  I looked down at the road. I let the rain cover me, washing me over.

  Turn back or keep going.

  Turn back or keep going?

  But in the end, as I looked up at the road ahead, I knew there was only one option now. I knew there was only one choice.

  I looked over my shoulder at the road back to Phillip’s camp.

  Then, I turned to the road ahead.

  I took a deep breath.

  Swallowed a lump in my throat.

  And then, I walked.

  And I’d keep on walking until there was no more walking to be done, regardless of what that meant for me.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Mike wasn’t sure how long he had been walking, and he wasn’t sure how much further he had to walk.

  All he knew was that he had to keep on going, all because of what the woman in the vehicle had told him.

  It was early morning, the sun just peeking over the horizon of the long road they were walking down. There was frost on the ground, and the coughing of his people reminded him that they were rapidly heading into winter. A winter where they couldn’t be without shelter. A winter where they were going to need all the help they could get.

  Trees lined the road they were on, gradually losing their leaves more and more by the day. There was a quiet anticipation amongst the group. A buzz in the air. After all, what the woman had told him had got him thinking—and got all of them thinking.

  Could it be true?

  Could there really be what she said there was?

  A place like the one she’d described?

  He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. His lips were dry, and he could do with a good meal. But if what the woman had promised him was correct, they’d have all that to look forward to. All of it was waiting for them, right at the end of this road.

  As Mike trekked further onwards, supplies running low, he wasn’t sure whether he could believe what the woman had said. After all, claims like she’d made were surely pretty common.

  But he’d seen what she’d showed him, too. The photographs. The undeniable truth, right ahead of him.

  And what had he done?

  Out of fear, he’d turned her down.

  But that decision weighed on his mind as the day progressed. A longing to hold on to his camp soon changed into a desire to grow even larger.

  And what better way to grow even larger than to find somewhere new?

  A new place to settle in.

  A new place to expand in.

  And eventually, a new place to rule.

  It was a gamble. But he loved a gamble.

  “What’re we going to do when we get there, Mike?”

  Mike turned around. It was Steve beside him.

  He smiled at him, and for a moment, he thought of his home. The place they’d called home for so long. Walter’s Caravan Park. The way he’d made that place a sanctuary, and how big a deal it was that he’d just given it all up.

  But without a gamble, what kind of a leader would he be?

  Without the desire to expand even further, how could he ever hope to conquer even more?

  Mike looked behind Steve at his prisoners, all chained together, all walking along side by side, all in order. He’d cut them free when they got to the new camp. He’d let them integrate with the new people, and assess the situation as he went.

  Or maybe he’d just cut them loose before they got there. Their purpose had expired, now.

  But whatever happened, one thing was for certain.

  He looked at Steve and he smiled.

  “We’re going to go to this military sanctuary in Morecambe. We’re going to blend into this place. We’re going to rise our way up the ranks. And then, one way or another, we’re going to take it, and we’re going to rule.”

  Scott held his breath, hiding behind a tree as Mike’s group passed by.

  He knew where Mike was going.

  He knew where he had to go.

  Chapter Fifty

  I stood behind the trees and watched Mike’s group disappear into the distance, the ramifications of the words they’d just uttered still circling around my head.

  I stared at the road. A safe place in Morecambe. A military sanctuary.

  Sure, the sound of it made me nervous. I’d seen what the military could be capable of.

  But this sounded… official.

  And the woman he’d mentioned. It couldn’t be a coincidence. She was the woman who’d visited our house a few months ago, promising sanctuary for everyone who followed. She was the woman I’d turned down in fear of connecting with people in the outside world, choosing instead to go my own way.

  I felt the wind brush against me, covering me with its cold fingers. I saw I had a choice. A fork in the road that I had to make a decision which way I wanted to go down.

  I could follow Mike. I could hunt him down. And I had no doubt that with the power of surprise on my side, I could kill him.

  I’d get my revenge, and I’d get justice. Justice for the deaths of Hannah, Sue and Aiden.

  But then there was the talk of this sanctuary. If I could get there first, I could warn them. I could tell them who was coming their way, what their plans were, and I could stop them ever setting foot on that ground.

  And even though those options had opened up ahead of me, there was one more, I knew. That was to do with Haz, Holly and Lionel. I’d given up on them. I’d fled. I’d run away, like I was some kind of coward.

  But I saw the error of my ways, now. I saw that I’d only run away because I’d been afraid of finding them in some bad situation.

  I was just afraid of losing somebody else.

  But now I had to be strong.

  I took a deep breath and I stepped out onto the road. I looked down at the direction Mike and his group had gone in; the direction of the sanctuary.

  I knew there was a future that was.

  I knew there was something positive—something hopeful—in that direction.

  But there was something else I had to do.

  I turned away from the direction that Mike had been heading in, and I looked back down the road I’d come down.

  I knew what I had to do.

  “I’m coming for you,” I said, with Haz, Holly and Lionel in mind. “I’m coming for you.”

  I was finding them.

  Alive or dead, I was finding them.

  And I was never going to leave them again.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Phillip looked at the photograph pinned up i
n the reception area of Walter’s Caravan Park and he wasn’t sure what to think about it.

  He sat back in the chair in the middle of this quiet reception. In truth, his arrival at Mike’s campsite hadn’t gone exactly how he’d expected. One one hand, it was empty. Totally deserted. There wasn’t any resistance to his assault on the camp. And that had got alarm bells ringing right away.

  But now, just hours after he’d taken this place, he’d found the photograph. Left there, like it was being pinned up to taunt whoever got here; a reminder of what they’d just missed out on.

  It was a photograph of a woman standing outside what looked to be some kind of street. The street was guarded by tall, metal walls. She was smiling, and there were lots of people behind her too, also smiling. There were people in military uniform. Cars.

  And sure, this could’ve just been any photograph.

  But there was a time stamp on the photograph.

  A date after the end of the world.

  And as far as Phillip knew, there was no way of doctoring time stamps, not in a world where there was no power to do such a thing…

  And even if someone did have the power to edit photographs in such a way, that meant they had some kind of advanced technology. That much he couldn’t deny.

  He looked at the photograph closely. His people were settling into Mike’s camp. Scott was right about one thing—this was a better location than the one he’d left behind. Sure, their old home was good, but this had the benefit of being near woods where they could hunt, and there were lakes and streams nearby for easier water access.

  And yet, the lure of this supposed sanctuary just kept pulling at him, convincing him that it had secrets worth him investigating, even if he admittedly didn’t know where it was or how to get there…

  The door to the main office opened. Anna stepped inside. She was tall and muscular, with a scar on her forehead. She was holding the one gun they had. A rifle they’d stumbled upon in an old military barracks on the way down here. An eerie discovery, but one that would benefit them going forward all the same.