“I had the situation under control,” Dan said.

  “Under control? Bullshit, mate. Bullshit. I’m sick of this crap.” Yeah. He’d flipped. He’d really fucking cracked.

  “Well, you’d better get used to it because that’s the world we’re going to be living in now.”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  Dan narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know?”

  Olly scratched his head, clearly uneasy. “I mean, you say all this crap about what’s gonna happen. But really you’re just going off what you think’s gonna happen, aren’t you? I mean, there’s no guarantee shit’s gonna be as bad as you say it is. Who made you the authority on all this anyway? You’re no expert. You just think you are ’cause you’ve watched a couple of films and played a few games and read a few shitty books. Maybe we’d be better just heading back to town and⁠—”

  “Heading back to town?” Dan exploded.

  “Dan,” Bethany started.

  “Are you completely insane? I mean, I’m trying to help us all here. I’m trying to do what’s right for all of us. I’ve told you an infinite number of times that heading back to town is not a frigging good idea. And this is what I get? This is how you act?”

  “The government told us to stay home,” Olly said. “I’m starting to think maybe I should be trusting them instead of you. You know. The actual government. Not Dan’s little adventure quest.”

  “Then walk,” Dan said. “Trusting the government. Yeah, that always ends well, doesn’t it? Trusting the government. Your funeral, mate. Seriously. But when have I ever been wrong about something like this before?”

  “Have you ever been wrong about something like this before? Mate, have you ever been in a situation like this before?”

  Dan was speechless for a moment. Bethany got his point. He did tend to be right about stuff in high-tension situations. But this was on another level. To pretend he had any knowledge was mad.

  Olly lowered his head, then. Susan was totally still, clearly caught in the middle of all of this. And Bethany didn’t know how to feel either, in all truth. Part of her agreed with Dan that shit was bad. I mean, someone had just threatened them with a knife. That had to prove something was off. She understood his anger. They’d been through a lot already. Tensions were high. It was probably always going to pop off at some stage.

  But at the same time, part of her agreed with Olly, too. She trusted Dan. But did she feel totally comfortable following his lead? She wasn’t sure. He wasn’t an expert, after all. He might know a thing or two—or think he knew a thing or two. But surely that had its limits.

  Limits that she was beginning to see, rearing their ugly heads.

  “If we’re going to make it through the next fucking day, let alone the next few weeks, we’re going to have to stick together and take a bit of responsibility.”

  He looked right at Bethany when he said that. She didn’t know how to react. What was his problem with her? What’d she done?

  “I mean… seriously,” he said. Still going on. Nothing was stopping him right now. “This is severe. And I know it fucking sucks, but that’s just the way it is. So we can spend time sitting around and hoping the government or whoever will come through, or we can actually pull together and start doing what we should be doing. Taking some damned responsibility. Because if we don’t… and I’m sorry to say this, but if we don’t, and this is really as bad as it could be, we’re going to starve to death. We’re not going to survive. Because, believe me, there’s plenty of people out there who will be willing to do the shit we should be doing. And once they’ve done it… you don’t get a second chance at this. Gone is gone. But I… I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing my best for us. For all of us. ’Cause we’re mates. We’re mates, and I’d do anything for my mates. I’m… I’m just trying my best, guys. I’m just trying my fucking best here.”

  Silence followed. The wind blew a cool breeze through the village. But it was in that silence that Bethany felt the urgency of the situation dwelling on her. And it was in that silence that she felt the solidarity of the group coming together.

  “I’ve got your back,” Bethany said. Surprising herself, somewhat. She didn’t like how he spoke. He came across arrogant, and cocky. But he’d shouldered a lot of this. All of it. He was looking out for them. He cared about them. And he needed some support.

  Dan let go of a breath and smiled. “Thank you.”

  Susan shrugged. “I guess I’m in this crazy ride, too.”

  Dan nodded. Then he looked at Olly.

  Olly glanced around the group. Then he looked at Dan and he shrugged. “Yeah. Whatever.” It wasn’t convincing, though. There was still a tension there.

  “Good,” Dan said. “Then it’s time for Plan B.”

  She wanted to believe that Olly was all in on this.

  But she saw the look in his eyes when Dan turned around.

  The shiftiness. The uncertainty.

  She probably should’ve said something right then.

  If she had, maybe things would’ve worked out differently.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  BETHANY

  DAY ONE: 1:00 P.M

  Bethany stood at the edge of the lake and prepared for Dan’s famous Plan B.

  And she couldn’t deny she was feeling incredibly bloody nervous about it, especially after the goings-down at the shop, earlier, with the shop assistant.

  It was the middle of the afternoon and the day was passing by way too quickly. That looming deadline lingered over her. Forty-eight hours, the message had said. Which meant there was, what… forty-four now? If those four hours had gone by as quickly as they had, then the rest of the day was going to absolutely zoom by too.

  And things weren’t going to get any better. Any easier.

  They were only going to get worse.

  Forty-eight hours. Shit.

  And who was to say those predictions were even strictly accurate?

  Not to mention the six, seven hours sleep that they were at least going to attempt to get. Take away two nights of that, and realistically they only had thirty hours left before… well, before whatever happened.

  The official message said forty-eight hours or so until total power failure. But other flares were already disrupting power, by the looks of things. And how did they know how accurate the government’s timing was, anyway?

  And that’s why they were at the edge of the lake now.

  That’s why Plan B was in action.

  Bethany took deep breaths of the fresh lakeside air as she looked across it. They’d seen a few cars shooting by, but it was still relatively quiet here in comparison to how it could be. She thought about the cities, how frantic it would be. The panic, taking control. She thought about all the mass confusion and hysteria building up and how terrifying it must be to be in the middle of that. She didn’t like busy cities at the best of times. She’d never been more happy to not be in one now.

  She was starting to believe she’d actually made the right choice by coming here. At least Dan knew what he was talking about. He might be a bit mental. But he did seem to know his stuff. That she couldn’t deny.

  “Well, we said we were going to go for a boat ride at some stage,” Dan said, as he unwrapped the rope around the little rental paddle boat they’d found at the side of the lake. “Looks like we’re going in slightly different circumstances.”

  “As long as it gets us fed, that’s all good by me,” Bethany said.

  She caught Dan’s eyes and saw him smiling at her.

  “What?” she said.

  Dan shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “No, seriously. What?”

  “I’m just pleased to see you coming out of your shell. That’s all. Anyway. All aboard. There’s another little town at the other side of the lake. We take the boat over there, gather some stuff then make our way back. It won’t exactly sort us out for the long-term. It’s only a little local shop. But this place is even less populated than where we just came from, so I’m pretty optimistic.”

  “I’m just concerned you actually know how to sail one of these things,” Susan said.

  “Sail?” Dan said. He threw an oar over to her, which she almost dropped. “It’s simple. We use the oars. It isn’t rocket science. We’re not on a bloody cruise ship full of people.”

  “And if the boat sinks?”

  “Well,” Dan said, smirking. “I hope you’re good swimmers. And I hope you don’t mind icy cold water.”

  He splashed some of it up at the rest of the group. Bethany and Susan laughed about it. Olly seemed less certain.

  “You okay, Olly?” Bethany asked.

  She saw him look at her and she remembered the way he’d looked at her earlier when they’d been leaving the shop. That uncertainty to his gaze. Like he was absent somehow. The way he’d stood up to Dan. The way he’d piped up, clearly hoping for some more backing. And how disappointed he looked when they all rallied around Dan again.

  There was still a hint of that disappointment and defeat to his eyes.

  But it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. “Yeah. All good. All ready.”

  She wasn’t convinced. She would be surprised if anyone else was convinced.

  But she had to take him at his word.

  “Now,” Dan said. “I know it might seem like I’m getting ahead of things, but if this CME really is as bad as it could be, we need to start considering our long-term future. Because supplies… well, they’re good. But they run out. We’ll have to think about creating our own.”

  Shit. Bethany hadn’t even thought about that. It wasn’t going to get to that stage, was it?

  “Creating our own, how?” she asked.

  “Agricultural means,” Dan said. “Get a little farm going. Meat, dairy, all that sort of stuff. Growing plants. And hunting, too.”

  “Ugh,” Susan said. “I think you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself, no?”

  “I’m sorry, but it’s something we have to be prepared for. Yeah. It might be a way off. But the sooner we start thinking about it, the better. It never harmed anyone to be more prepared for a situation like this. And we’re in the best place for it, believe me. Couldn’t have picked a better place, to be honest. Besides, when we have a sustainable agricultural setup, we’ll have a currency of our own. We’ll be able to trade between groups. Because money will be worthless in the new world.”

  “Hell,” Bethany said, as she made her way to the boat. “You’re actually loving this, aren’t you?”

  Dan smiled. “I can’t pretend living in a post-apocalyptic world hasn’t always been a dark fantasy of mine. But believe me. I’d much rather be on the PlayStation right now. Because it might be good now, but it’s not going to be a novelty forever. Not when the hunger kicks in. Not when people start getting even more violent. That shop attendant… we were lucky. He was just scared. I talked him down. He realised he was cocking up the second he waved that knife at us. Didn’t get any of his stuff, sure. But he let us go. We were lucky then. We might not be as lucky next time. That’s the world we live in now. The sooner we can get used to it, the better. After you.”

  Bethany stepped onto the boat. She grabbed an oar. “Don’t ever become a nurse. Your bedside manner is appalling.”

  Susan followed.

  Then Olly.

  And before long, they were all on the boat, oars in hand, bobbing on the water.

  “You ready?” Dan said.

  “Here goes nothing,” Susan said.

  “That’s the spirit. Take a deep breath. Lift your oar. And… paddle!”

  She looked at Olly.

  He stared off across the water.

  Wide-eyed.

  Distant.

  Like he was somewhere else entirely.

  And as they glided across the water, despite the constant sickness at the pit of Bethany’s stomach about this whole turn of events, she couldn’t deny that there was something beautiful about this, as the sun shimmered against the surface of the water.

  There was something magical about it.

  If only that magic lasted.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  OLLY

  DAY ONE: 1:00 P.M

  Olly brought the oar right through the water and tried to hold his shit together.

  But he was losing it, and he knew it.

  His true thoughts. They were cracking through the seams.

  His fear. His fear about everything. About all of this. About the way Dan was treating it, like it was some kind of outdoor activity trek.

  When in fact it was real.

  It was really real.

  And they weren’t safe.

  They weren’t even slightly safe.

  It was the middle of the afternoon and already the weight of the situation was proving too heavy for his shoulders to bear. He was usually pretty good staying quiet about shit he wasn’t keen on. Instead of speaking up. He’d spent a whole lifetime doing that. Learned the hard way.

  But in this situation… with the stress of everything, he was finding it very hard to keep everything in.

  The sun split through the clouds and burned the back of his neck. He just wanted to be away from here. People raved about the countryside. They raved about the mountains, the lakes, the beautiful scenery. And sure. It was picturesque. Olly couldn’t deny that.

  But he wasn’t a fan of the countryside or of the great outdoors. He’d much prefer to be back at home in the city, with all the shops and amenities at his fingertips.

  Not here. A million miles from everything. He found it disorienting. He found it unsettling. And that was at the best of times.

  But especially now this disaster had struck… he needed to be back in that kind of comfort zone even more so.

  He needed home.

  Desperately.

  Before he cracked completely.

  He looked around at the vast expanse of water as he pushed the boat along. Beside him, Susan. She was smiling, her hair swaying in the breeze. It was like she was actually enjoying this. And Olly couldn’t understand it. This was anything but enjoyable. They were paddling their way across the water so they could find another shop to raid. And after what had happened at the last one, Olly didn’t exactly have high hopes. But then again, he and Susan always did seem to enjoy different things. He was finding that more the longer they’d been together. It was beginning to feel like they didn’t have much in common at all. When they first met, things were good. They’d clicked hard.

  But the more time they spent together… the more it started to feel like they were just friends instead of a couple.

  And then the more time they spent together, the more it started to feel like they weren’t even friends at all.

  But everyone else seemed so calm about this. Everyone else seemed to have such… faith.

  Faith in Dan.

  Even Susan.

  He gripped onto the oar tightly, so tight that he felt it digging right into his palms. Dan. Everyone had such faith in Dan. Maybe if they actually knew Dan as well as Olly did, they wouldn’t have the same level of faith in him. He and Dan had been friends ever since high school. And honestly, Dan was anything but reliable. He made these seemingly intelligent leaps of judgement time after time… and every single time they ended in tears. He wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. Wasn’t as world wise as he thought he was. He was a fantasist. And he was going to get them all in shit. Deep shit.

  Dan had cost Olly so many times that he was even beginning to question just how much of a friend he was at all. He’d come to the Lakes mainly because Susan wanted to get away from their parents for a while, so he’d reluctantly accepted Dan’s invite up here. He and Dan had been drifting a bit, too. Dan was getting more caught up in his fantasies the older he got.

  But what harm could a few days away be? Maybe it’d be good for them.

  He was regretting that decision to come here more and more with every passing second.

  He looked ahead and he saw Bethany staring back at him.

  His stomach turned. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Bethany. It… confused him, somewhat. There was something invasive about the way she looked into his eyes. Like she could read his thoughts, figure out the workings of his mind.

  And as much as Olly knew that wasn’t true, he knew Bethany was observant. He had a deep, unwavering feeling that she was onto him.

  He didn’t know her well. But sometimes you didn’t have to know someone well. Sometimes, on those rare occasions, you met someone who seemed to understand you at a deeper level, in a way that went beyond forced friendships and such.

  With Bethany, he sensed that difference.

  That observant nature.

  And if she was onto him, it wasn’t going to be good news for anybody.

  Because she was going to see the doubts he was having.

  About everything.

  “There it is,” Dan said.

  He was pointing up ahead, and Olly didn’t understand what he was pointing to at first.

  Not until he saw the boats all docked up at the waterside.

  And then further along the bank, well away from the pier that would usually be packed with a flurry of tourists and holidaymakers, he saw the little shop.

  His chest tightened when he saw it, both with fear and with relief. Because it was good that they were getting closer. He could see that now. It was good that they were closing in on their supplies because they were going to benefit everybody.

  But as the man in the shop earlier said… it really was everyone for themselves now.

  “Woo!” Susan said, splashing an oar against the water. “Let’s hope we have a better time here, huh?”

  She pinched Olly. When he turned to look at her, she was smiling.

  He knew right then that it was too late to convince Susan to go along with his plan. A plan of his own. Not Dan’s “Plan B,” which he knew damned well was destined to fail. She was too caught up in Dan’s bullshit. It depressed Olly. Dan always had a way with women that he didn’t. And he’d even managed to win over his girlfriend, somehow.