And there was the fact that her phone was still showing No Service, too.

  Even for emergency calls—several of which she had already attempted and had failed.

  But screw it. Nothing was going to stop her trying Mr Rawlinson again.

  She tapped on Mr Rawlinson’s name—the school number he’d gave her and the other parents—and she hoped for a miracle.

  She thought about Sam. She thought about her anxiety. She thought about all the horrors that she’d been through in her life, and she hoped that once, just once, she’d catch a break. Just fucking once.

  She hoped.

  She prayed.

  She waited.

  And then…

  The line went dead.

  She squeezed her phone tight, resisting the urge to slam it against the ground. Even out of battery, she wanted this thing with her.

  She looked down at Terrance again. Bleeding out. Heart stopped. No longer breathing. She couldn’t stop shaking. She could barely breathe. He was too heavy for her to move. And that broke her, too. She couldn’t even move him out of the car park.

  She looked up for help. For someone to come to his aid. To try and help him.

  But there weren’t as many people here anymore.

  And the people who were… they were keeping their heads down.

  Trying not to draw attention to themselves.

  All preoccupied in their own worlds.

  She felt lost. A cloud, hanging over her. This was a nightmare. A bad dream. It had to be.

  Terrance couldn’t be dead.

  He couldn’t be gone.

  She couldn’t just be out here like this.

  Alone.

  But…

  She looked up and saw the rammed car park of the supermarket, and she realised now that she didn’t have any real choice about what she could do. If she wanted to grow into this world, she was going to have to get some supplies. She was going to have to step up to the plate. She could still remember some of the things Terrance had told her about—essentials that were outside of the box and that would keep her alive.

  Terrance might have been wrong. She might have been sceptical about his claims.

  But right now, she had to listen to him.

  To honour his legacy.

  She couldn’t let the shock get the better of her.

  The pain and the growing grief get the better of her.

  There would be time for that.

  But right now…

  She had to act.

  She looked at Beast and she swallowed a lump in her throat. Those guys had even taken his dog food and snacks. It wasn’t on. Beast would not be happy about that one bit.

  But she was going to have to do something about it.

  She couldn’t just stand here. She couldn’t just do nothing.

  She needed to do something.

  And she needed to do it right now.

  Even though anxiety was crippling her.

  Even though Terrance was lying there in front of her.

  Even though it felt like her whole world was falling apart at the seams.

  Even though she was shaking, she stood upright. She turned around and faced the supermarket, head on. It was much busier now. Terrance and her really had got here at a perfect time, it seemed.

  But again. No use in being defeatist. She’d been strong before. She could be strong again, if she really believed in herself. It wouldn’t be easy… but it was possible.

  But then another idea dawned on her. It was a dark idea, one she wasn’t entirely comfortable with. But it was something that had been nagging at her subconscious for a long time.

  And as she looked around at the mass of cars, she knew there was another way to get supplies. A way that didn’t involve going into the supermarket at all.

  A way she’d already seen once already.

  Those men had done it to her. Stolen from her.

  So what was stopping her doing it to others?

  Doing it to someone else?

  Would it be wrong to do that, if they’d stolen those items in the first place?

  Or was she just thinking ahead of the crowd?

  Surviving any way she could?

  She swallowed a thick lump in her throat and looked down at Beast. She took a deep breath, right into her belly. She wasn’t comfortable with what she was going to do. But she was going to have to do some uncomfortable things if she wanted to survive. She saw that clearly now.

  That’s what this was. As crazy as it seemed… this was survival.

  “Come on, Beast,” she said, tugging at his lead. “Let’s… let’s go do what we have to do.”

  Lily was under no illusions now.

  If she wanted to survive, she had to steal.

  There was no other way around it.

  She wasn’t going back into that store.

  She wasn’t risking it again.

  She was going to get what she needed.

  And then she was going to get the hell out of here.

  She took a breath and scanned the car park for an opportunity, as pre-emptive guilt spiralled around her stomach…

  NINETEEN

  LILY

  DAY ONE: 12:30 P.M.

  Lily looked at the blockade of cars on the road up ahead and she knew this was her opportunity.

  The best opportunity she was going to get.

  She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit.

  But there was nothing she could do about it.

  There was only one thing she could do.

  The clouds had thickened overhead. Specks of rain were falling down from those clouds, which Beast wasn’t too pleased about. For such a big Rottweiler, he was an absolute softie where… well, anything was concerned. But rain especially. He hated the rain. Never liked going out when it was raining. Which Lily sort of appreciated, in a way. It spared her from having to go out, too. Gave her a break from her anxiety.

  He’d have to be brave now. Both of them would have to be brave now.

  She’d walked away from the supermarket and moved on to the road leading out of the supermarket, towards the dual carriageway. She thought about scanning the car park at first, but she’d had a change of heart. It was too risky. She was stunned to find that the dual carriageway outside was already packed full of cars, all trying to go their own individual ways. Again, seeing the cars stacked up like this just brought the urgency of the situation home once again. Whether for good reason or not, word about the severity of the CME was spreading, and people were willingly choosing to ignore the “STAY HOME, STAY CALM” message being sent out by the government. That message had already become irrelevant. People were taking matters into their own hands. And it wasn’t going to get any better any time soon, from what she could see.

  It was like when news of fuel shortages leaked. No matter how much people were reassured that they would be fine… they still queued for hours in hope of grabbing what they believed might just be their final load of petrol.

  Tease of a shortage, create an even bigger demand.

  It’s classic business.

  She listened to the honking of horns and the chattering of people up ahead. Those horns and that chatter had replaced the rumble of engines, and the whir of trains or the hum of planes above. She saw a lot of people standing outside their cars, holding their phones to their ears. Still trying. Still not quite getting the message that their signal wasn’t going to be coming back any time soon. They were away from their cars. Some of the cars were packed with supplies. Lily could see that much from this distance. That wasn’t a surprise.

  And… good. That was an opportunity for her.

  She scanned the area. At first, she was hoping that she could perhaps get away with just taking one or two items. Just a couple of things to get her by. But now she was leaning towards something else entirely. These cars, there were so many of them. And there were so many opportunities to go into one of them.

  Perhaps she wouldn’t just take one or two things after all. Perhaps she’d take a whole car.

  There was nothing morally wrong about that in this new world, right?

  Right?

  No. It wasn’t right. It was wrong. So wrong.

  But where was “morally right” going to get anyone now?

  She thought about Terrance. She felt so guilty. She’d left him in the car park. It wasn’t right. He didn’t deserve that. He deserved a burial. He deserved a funeral. Any family, and friends, they needed notifying. Informing. He didn’t deserve to be left behind.

  But what could she do?

  What the hell could she do?

  She couldn’t call anyone.

  She couldn’t drag him off the road.

  And no one was coming to her aid.

  She felt that guilt. Deep down. And she felt guilt over what she was going to have to do, too. What was going to follow.

  She just had to keep trying to convince herself that she was doing the only thing she could do, and maybe she’d just about believe it.

  She stayed at the side of the road and kept on watching. She didn’t want to steal from a family. That felt especially wrong. Maybe just one or two guys on their own, like the ones who’d taken her stuff away from her. Not that she was tarring everyone with the same brush… but it just felt a little more morally digestible than stealing from a family.

  She kept still, kept on watching, Beast by her side. Her heart started racing. She was running out of time. She had to act. Fast. The longer she waited around, the more her nerves were going to grow and the more she was going to lose her nerve.

  But she just didn’t see any opportunities.

  Any at all.

  And then, just when she was losing hope, she saw it.

  There was a Vauxhall Corsa abandoned at the side of the road. A man was standing a few hundred feet away from it, brushing his hands through his hair, trying and trying on his phone.

  Lily’s chest tightened. She didn’t like what she was doing, but she could see an opportunity opening up—as well as supplies all stacked up in the back window of the car.

  A bloke.

  A lone bloke.

  He looked well put-together. Like he had a bit of money.

  He looked like he was going to be able to look after himself.

  Like he was going to be okay.

  Which made it slightly better.

  She could use whatever of those supplies she needed. Then, along the way, she could pick up some of the supplies Terrance had told her about.

  For the first time since Terrance’s death, she could see a real, actionable plan opening up in front of her.

  And as uncomfortable as it made her… she was ready to make her move.

  “Come on, Beast,” she muttered.

  She ran alongside the cars, trying to keep as low a profile as she could. She kept on looking to her left, making sure the man was still facing the other way, still occupied by his phone.

  Twenty metres.

  She took deep breaths, trying to get her body under control. And as bad as this was, Lily actually felt a twinge of adrenaline inside. Because this was unlike anything she’d ever done. This was really pushing herself out of her comfort zone. This was living.

  It was wrong. So fucking wrong. And she was still in shock. Everything that had happened to Terrance still hadn’t anywhere near sunk in. And when it did, it was going to hit her hard.

  But for now, she could only focus on what was ahead of her.

  Ten metres.

  She gripped tighter onto Beast’s lead. They were so close now. The man was still facing the other way.

  Five metres…

  And then she stopped.

  The man turned around and started making his way back to his car.

  Lily couldn’t move. She knew the man had seen her, and that he was onto her.

  Her whole body felt like he was crumbling.

  She was in trouble. Big trouble.

  She had no idea what he was going to do with her.

  She had no idea what he was capable of.

  She tried to prepare her excuse, figure out something to say—just anything that would get her out of this mess.

  But something strange happened.

  The man walked right past her.

  He got back in his car without even glancing at her.

  She calmed herself, taking deep, steady breaths, as clammy as the air was. She brushed her hair back. She’d been close. She’d lost. But she hadn’t been caught, and that was something. That was what mattered more than anything.

  She felt a loss of hope seeping in. She really wasn’t going to find a car that she was going to be able to take. She might as well give up. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d hoped.

  Then, she saw something else.

  There was a car not far away. A large people carrier, packed with supplies.

  It was empty.

  A man was taking his two children out for a wee at the side of the road.

  Lily’s gut churned. She couldn’t take this car. She couldn’t do it, morally.

  But this was everyone for themselves, wasn’t it?

  This was survival.

  She thought about Alex.

  She thought about her boy.

  She thought about him, as her heart raced harder, and her stomach turned completely.

  She cleared her throat and felt the guilt clinging to her skin before she’d even done a thing.

  Then, she tightened her grip on Beast’s lead.

  She didn’t want to do this.

  She didn’t think it was right doing this.

  She felt selfish. A terrible person.

  She felt lost, and she felt distracted, and she felt messed up.

  But right now, she was alone, and she was without a choice.

  “Come on,” she muttered. “I’m sorry.”

  And then, making sure the family were still preoccupied, she made her way to the unoccupied car and prepared herself to do the worst thing she’d ever done.

  TWENTY

  DANIEL

  DAY ONE: 12:30 P.M.

  Daniel held on to Kayla’s hand and looked away as she peed at the side of the road.

  This wasn’t supposed to be how his week with the kids went down. Not even remotely.

  He very rarely got to see them these days, not since he split up with Denise. It wasn’t fair. Of course, he’d seen them regularly at first, but he’d been working on a big contract with work and his private life had been severely strained. Work stress took it out of him. It damaged things at home. With the kids. Caused serious stress. But what the hell was he supposed to do? Work was work. He didn’t have the luxury of being his own boss. So he had to do what he could.

  He’d fought with Denise about it. She told him he needed to get his priorities straight, and he did, he knew that. But, again, it wasn’t just as simple as just telling work he couldn’t fulfil his duties anymore. The things he was working on, they were potentially life-changing stuff. He had a dream that one day, when all his big jobs were behind him, he’d be able to figure things out with Denise, more for the sake of the kids than anything. He didn’t want to be one of those dads who only saw his kids on the basis of a calendar drawn up in some court room. He wanted to be an integral part of their lives. And the way he saw it, the best way of being a part of your children’s life is as a family unit. Mum. Dad. Together. In sickness and in health, right?

  Should probably have thought about that before fucking his work colleague on the kitchen table, admittedly.

  That was probably a bit of a misstep.

  “Daddy, why’s that lady going to our car?”

  Daniel didn’t hear Mike too well at first. He was too busy making sure Kayla didn’t piss on his shoes or something. They were new shoes. Italian leather. He’d spent quite a bit of money on them. And as much as he loved his kids, he wasn’t the sort of father who just allowed them to, well, piss on his shoes, to be frank.

  It was weird. This whole thing. First he’d had the message. The one that flashed up on his phone. Then he’d seen that same message on his television. The message ordering him to stay calm, to stay at home, and all that stuff about a CME.

  But Daniel knew how CMEs worked. And he knew that if they were a big enough deal that the government were sending out messages about them, then they were big as shit.

  It was odd that this was the first he’d heard of it. The first anyone had heard of it. Made him wonder just how long this had all been covered up.

  Or whether it really was a last-minute realisation, bringing the government to a standstill.

  Bringing the world to a standstill.

  So he’d done the natural thing; the only thing that a father and his two kids could possibly do.

  He’d got them into the car and told them they were going on a little adventure.

  What else was he supposed to do?

  Daniel kept on holding Kayla’s hand, his arm going weak. She always insisted he held her hand when she was peeing at the side of the car, in case “a bad man came for her.” Must’ve seen something on telly to put an idea like that in her head.

  He knew a few things about survival. Perks of having a military father. He’d stocked up the car with supplies from a few shops along the way. Now all it took was getting to Denise’s place and taking them all up to his caravan in the Lake District. It was safer up there. Away from the masses, nearer to nature. Far, far better to be living life in the wild than in the suburbs when shit hits the fan. He was just disappointed he wasn’t already out in the wild when the shit hit in the first place.

  And, who knows? Maybe a crisis would be good for them. Maybe it would bring them all closer again. All together again. Denise probably wasn’t going to be keen on the idea. But she’d see sense. She had to.

  If this really was as bad as he was beginning to fear it was, then there wasn’t any room for messing about.

  “Daddy, look!”

  “Can you just give us a minute, Mike? I’m a little occupied here, kiddo.”

  “But she’s getting into our car!”

  Daniel didn’t process what his son was saying at first. It just didn’t register. Didn’t click.