And then before he knew it, he was being thrown into the boot.

  He still couldn’t really understand why what had happened had actually happened. It’d all gone to shit pretty quickly back at Dan’s cottage. He could sense it. Dan. Getting ideas about his station. Like he always did. None of the others saw it, but he did. The rest of them just bought it up. Dan’s big, clever act. It got on his nerves. Really got on his frigging nerves. Because, sure, Dan knew a thing or two. But when it actually came to preparing for whatever was headed their way? The message they’d received was clear. They needed to be at home. And they certainly didn’t need to be a million miles away from anywhere populated right now. That was madness. Suicide.

  Dan might be smart. But he was cosplaying at being some sort of survivalist. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of people about who actually knew what they were doing. How they were going to go about surviving this whole mess. For as long as it lasted, anyway.

  ’Cause there was that factor, too. Who was to say this wouldn’t all be sorted in a few days? Dan spoke as if it was the end times. Like he was some sort of misery tour guide, and everything was going to shit forever.

  When in fact, more likely, shit was going to be back to normal in the space of a few days. Or a week or two. Dan might think he was an expert. But he wasn’t.

  He felt bad for Bethany. Maybe he should have told her what he had planned. Instead, he’d taken her car for himself. He’d explain himself to her, when all this settled down. Which it would. ’Course it would. He didn’t for a minute think that this was some kind of eternal condition.

  The government would get hold of things. Someone would get hold of things.

  But then he’d been caught. And he’d been stuffed in the boot of Bethany’s car. And he couldn’t seem to even open the boot from inside. Things had got very real, very fast.

  And in the deep darkness, a possibility began to rear its daunting head.

  What if Dan was right?

  What if people really were losing control, already? In fear. In anticipation of what was coming.

  What if he was wrong, and Dan was right?

  He took a deep breath of the stuffy air. He’d been locked inside Bethany’s car boot for a good… God, he didn’t even know anymore. All he knew was that he was totally engulfed in sweat, and could taste vomit lingering at the back of his throat. And that they’d been driving for quite some time.

  The driving was fine, in all truth. It was when they stopped driving that things got difficult.

  Because it was when they stopped driving that they dragged him out of the boot and gave him another beating…

  They wanted to know where Olly had got all the supplies he’d stolen. But the last thing he wanted to do was rat out Dan, Bethany and Susan. God, he’d been a dick. He should never have left them. But he’d been afraid. He knew Dan better than any of the others, and he knew he wasn’t the reliable guy he pretended to be.

  Dan might be good at feigning confidence and order, but deep down, under the mask, he was just as lost and afraid as everyone else.

  If he could just get out of this boot, then everything could be okay.

  If he could just find a way out, then maybe he could start attempting to make amends, somehow…

  The car came to a halt. Olly flew forward, slammed forward and hurt his already sore back. It reminded him of the kicks he’d taken, of the punches he’d taken, and he knew that if the car was coming to a halt those very things would be coming all over again…

  He held his breath. He didn’t want to cave. He’d let his friends and girlfriend down already, he didn’t want to have to make things even shittier for them. He’d betrayed them. He couldn’t betray them again. They weren’t going to forgive him for what he’d done last time. But if there was any slim chance they might, that was going to be extinguished the second he stabbed them in the back again.

  That wasn’t going to happen.

  It couldn’t happen.

  He was going to fight back. Even if fighting back meant being defensive then so be it. He wasn’t going to cave. He was going to hold his ground. He was⁠—

  The boot opened up, and light burst in.

  He squinted. He couldn’t see a thing. And right away, the first thing that happened to him knocked him off balance.

  He took a punch to the face.

  His head spun. He tasted fresh blood, which covered up the dried blood that was still wedged between his teeth. The metallic tang got stronger, and then another punch followed, and then another…

  And before he knew it, he was being dragged out of the boot, pulled onto the ground.

  “So, Olly-boy,” Jacob said, standing over him. He pressed down on his shoulders. “Are you gonna spill the beans yet, or am I gonna have to ask really nicely again?”

  Olly wanted to spill the beans. He didn’t want to have to go through what he’d been through before, so many times, all over again.

  But he gritted his teeth and shot a glare right up at Jacob. “Not a chance.”

  Jacob grinned, his big face wide and gleeful. “That’s a shame. A real shame. I thought we were getting along great, too. Really great.”

  He pulled a long, sharp pair of scissors out of his back pocket.

  “But hey. If you want to play it that way, then…”

  Olly clenched his eyes shut as Jacob’s friends pulled down his arm. They pressed it hard against the ground. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen next, but he could take a wild guess.

  Jacob wrapped the scissors around Olly’s little finger. He was so close to his face that Jacob could smell his nasty breath lingering on his face. This man was a nutter. An absolute fucking nutter.

  “This is what you’re going to do. You’re going to tell us where you got that nice little supply of shit from, okay? And you’re not gonna bullshit me. ’Cause I know when I’m being bullshitted. And I know you didn’t put this together yourself, you dumb little shit.”

  He tightened the scissors so hard around Olly’s little finger that he started bleeding.

  “So, you talk. You talk, or one by one, we’re gonna take your fingers away. I’ll start with the little pinky here, which you’ve already lost, by the way.”

  He tightened the scissors even more.

  “Then I’ll move on to the pinky on your other hand. And then we’ll rotate like that, one to the next, okay? How does that sound? Does that sound better than just showing a bit of honesty and decency here, hmm?”

  Olly clenched his eyes tightly shut. He could take it. He could take whatever these men threw at him.

  But the CME…

  If the shit about the CME was true, then what use was he going to be without fingers?

  The scissors compressed even tighter around his little finger.

  They wouldn’t, would they?

  This was all just posturing. This couldn’t be real. Couldn’t be happening.

  People weren’t this bad, were they?

  Especially not already?

  “Don’t be the big man. Be the honest man. Because you’ve seen what being the big man does to you. You’ve seen how far it gets you.”

  Scissors so tight that his finger felt like it was going to be burst.

  “Tell us where you got your shit.”

  Tighter.

  “Tell us where you got it!”

  Olly saw Dan in his mind.

  He saw Susan.

  He saw Bethany…

  Then, he felt tears rolling down his face.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “What was that?”

  He opened his eyes, and he let his grief and his guilt pour out.

  “Speak up, lad. What did you just say?”

  He wanted to be the hero. He wanted to take them to the store they’d been to. He wanted to admit he’d stolen them. He wanted all this to end.

  But at the same time… he didn’t want to go through this alone.

  He was selfish.

  He was a coward.

  He’d regretted leaving Dan’s cottage the moment he had.

  He’d made a mistake.

  A big mistake.

  And as much as he hated to admit it—as much as he hated to admit that Dan was always right… Dan would know what to do right now.

  He sniffed. Then he took a deep breath.

  “I can take you there.”

  “What?”

  “I can take you there. I can take you to… to the cottage. That my friends and I were staying at. There’s lots there. Enough to last a while. I can take you there. Just… my finger. Please.”

  Jacob kept then scissors wrapped around Olly’s finger. And for a moment, Olly was convinced Jacob was going to just chop it off anyway.

  Then he loosened his grip and smiled. “Good,” he said.

  His friends let go of his arm. A few more punches, then they dragged him into the front of the car.

  “Then we’d better get some fuel in this car then go on a little journey, hadn’t we?”

  FORTY-EIGHT

  BETHANY

  DAY TWO: 3:00 P.M

  Bethany crouched in the grass and kept her eyes on the trap.

  And she still couldn’t believe this entire thing was even happening.

  It was mid-afternoon and the weather had taken a turn for the better. The grass she was crouching in was still damp, but she didn’t mind. It felt like it was cleansing her after being caught up in the fire earlier. Damn, that fire felt like a lifetime ago already…

  But the good thing was, Dan was still here. They were all still okay.

  “You sure this is gonna work?” she asked.

  Dan rolled his eyes as he crouched in the grass beside her. It felt good to have him by her side. At least he was okay. Still a little dizzy from time to time, what with the bang to his head. But he was okay. He was getting by. That was the important thing.

  He was clearly upset about what had happened to the cottage. The way the bulk of it had burned to the ground.

  So, they’d had to set off walking. Her, Dan, Susan. And at first, Dan was quiet. She even saw tears in his eyes for a spell. Tears in his red, bloodshot eyes.

  But as the journey went on… Dan seemed to be stepping back from the fantasy he’d been living before. It was weird. It was as if he’d got caught up in the whole CME shit. But after the attack on the cottage… it was as if he was beginning to realise that he was just as clueless as the rest of them. Which was scary, in truth. Knowing that Dan had some knowledge was helpful. Especially in the darker moments.

  But it seemed like he was just going with things, now.

  The confrontation had clearly shaken him up. Seeing how those people acted. The way they’d attacked the cottage. He kept going on about how he knew people would be at each other’s throats. But how he didn’t expect that to be the case so soon.

  He had a theory. Those who were stuck inside their homes, staying in the cities, they were likely to be the less knowledgeable. The less resourceful.

  The ones they were bumping into?

  They were the ones who had knowledge. And some courage.

  It wasn’t that there were suddenly a bunch more bad people about.

  It was just that the bulk of people up this way—who had travelled out of the towns and the cities—saw the importance of finding somewhere good to stay, with good supplies.

  And feared the significance of the impending CME.

  And were willing to go to any lengths to secure their own safety.

  He looked at her and smiled as they crouched there in the woods. “You’ve known me for… how long? And still you’re questioning whether I know what I’m doing?”

  Bethany raised her hands. “I’m just saying. I don’t want to be sitting in the damp grass watching some half-assed trap if it isn’t going to work, that’s all.”

  Dan shook his head. “Half-assed? I find that insulting.”

  He described the trap he’d made to her. It was a simple ground snare. You get a long piece of wire or cord and wrap one end around a tree, tie a noose around the other and prop it up with two sticks. A perfect way to catch a small animal. Dan told her to always watch her step and be aware of any footmarks or trails. He swore he could see footprints, but honestly, Bethany couldn’t see a thing.

  There were other methods, apparently. Spring snares, which pulls the animal into the air when it forces itself against the noose. Then there were deadfall traps, like rock propped up by sticks with bait in the middle.

  All of it made Bethany a little queasy, in truth.

  But Dan seemed pretty focused. She had to give him that.

  “It should be perfect for catching a small animal. And I know it’s a grim thought, but the truth is, supplies are going to run out eventually. Those who know how to catch things are going to be a whole number of steps ahead of the rest of the world.”

  “You still think things are going to go seriously south, don’t you?”

  Dan shrugged. “I haven’t seen any evidence suggesting otherwise.”

  “But in the cities⁠—”

  “The cities aren’t going to be a great place to be, Bethany.”

  Bethany sighed. She knew Dan was probably right. But it still felt so unnatural, being out here when she knew the message everyone had received—whether through phone or TV—told them to stay indoors, wait in their homes for help, et cetera.

  “I know it’s tough. Especially after everything that happened with you and Stephen, and then the whole thing with your little brother all those years ago. But we’re going to get through this. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, we’re taking life into our own hands and we’re seizing this opportunity. An opportunity to survive.”

  Bethany smirked. “You’re full of it, aren’t you?”

  Dan shrugged. “I’m just an optimist, that’s all.”

  “What if⁠—”

  “Ssh.”

  “What?”

  “Did you hear that?”

  Bethany looked ahead.

  She saw the movement tugging at the trap.

  She looked at Dan. “It worked?”

  Dan rolled his eyes. “Ye of little faith.”

  They walked slowly towards the trap. Bethany felt nerves building up inside. She didn’t want to catch anything. First, because she didn’t really believe she had to. She still believed things would be back online and back to normal in no time. But also because if she was wrong… she didn’t want to have to face up to the harsh reality of the new world, either.

  But she couldn’t deny the adrenaline rush she was experiencing right now, either.

  They reached the trap. Bethany held her breath, braced herself for what she was about to find.

  When she got there, her heart sank.

  There was a little rabbit caught up in the trap. The thought of doing anything to it—harming it—made her want to break down.

  “I know it’s not going to be easy,” Dan said. “But we need to be prepared.”

  He walked over to it, knife in hand. He looked just as mortified as Bethany did.

  “Let it go.”

  “You what?”

  “I know we’re going to need food at some stage. But not right now. Not so early into all this crap.”

  Dan sighed as the rabbit struggled. “I thought you were starting to see how things had to be done.”

  “And I am. I will. In time. Just not now. Not now.”

  Dan shook his head.

  He walked over to the rabbit, knife in hand.

  “Dan,” Bethany started.

  But then Dan cut the rabbit free, let it bounce off into the wild.

  “Today was just hunting practice. Eventually, we’ll have to do the real thing. But you’re right. Not today.”

  Bethany smiled, relieved at Dan’s display of compassion.

  Then she heard a scream.

  They looked at one another, wide-eyed.

  “Susan,” they both said.

  They ran through the woods, over towards the road. Dan had his knife in hand. Bethany didn’t know what she was going to run into. She didn’t know what to expect anymore.

  She just knew she had to be prepared for anything.

  She had to be ready.

  When they got to the side of the road, what Bethany saw there wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting.

  So much so that she had to blink a few times just to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.

  There were four men in the middle of the road.

  Four men she recognised.

  There was someone kneeling in front of them. Someone badly beaten, bruised and cut.

  “Olly,” Bethany said.

  “Well, well,” the man in the middle said, grin on his face as he looked Susan up and down. “No fucking way. You’re Olly-boy’s friends?”

  Bethany didn’t know what to do.

  What to say.

  But she knew this guy.

  She’d seen him before.

  Just hours ago.

  He was the one called Jacob.

  The one who’d blown a hole in the side of the cottage.

  And now he was here.

  And he had Olly.

  FORTY-NINE

  BETHANY

  DAY TWO: 3:30 P.M

  Bethany stared at the men who had Olly captive, and she held her breath and tried to figure out what the hell to do.

  And, again, how the hell this could even be happening at all.

  She was beginning to realise now though that there was no point continuing to question how this stuff could be happening. It was. The message sent out to try and calm people had done exactly the opposite. It’d sent them mad. Completely fucking mad.

  And she was seeing more evidence of this.

  Right in front of her.

  She wasn’t sure where they’d just appeared from. But it looked like they may have been following them. For some time? That was hard to tell, too.

  The clouds had covered the sun. The road was quiet. Susan was standing there, all alone. Dan was by Bethany’s side.

  And Olly…

  She couldn’t hate Olly. He had turned his back on them all. He’d pulled a proper dick move. He’d driven away, in her car—stolen her car. And she knew she should hate him for it. Dan should hate him for it. Susan should hate him for it. All of them should.