As the Light Dies (26 page)

Collin was nodding trying to think about what she was saying trying to make sense of it while trying to understand why she was saying it to hi
m
.

“I’
ve only just turned it back on, and
I’
ve got this weird video that was actually on the news, it sounds pretty bad. Check it out
.
”

She pressed the screen sliding her finger along the scroll bar at the bottom until she got to the start of the downloaded video and she let it play.

The camera was being held by a reporter, as he drove along some deserted looking town centre. He was on his own. They caught a glimpse of him as he manoeuvred the camera. All they saw was his thick black hair, the rest of his face was wrapped up behind a dark red scarf.

He just finished saying something as the video started playing like h
e’
d already started talking before he pressed the record button
.“
I think he missed his own introduction
,”
said Leann.

It was hard to see much of the town, the ash was so thick, but it was definitely deserted.

A deep roar of thunder grumbled overhead and the reporter flinched and swore.

“
Fucking thunder
!”
he said
.“I’
ve been in the van keeping it running for three days now.
I’
ve seen too many people switch off or stall and then tha
t’
s it they ca
n’
t get started again no matter what they do, and
I’
m scared that if I leave the van someone else will take it. So i
t’
s become my home for the last few days.

All the electrics on the van are dead but at least i
t’
s still running, thank God for diesel huh, but God knows for how long. I emptied our last jerry can in to the tank last night so when that runs out tha
t’
s it because the petrol station pumps are all dead and I do
n’
t know where to even look for a manual pump
.”
He slowed down and stopped at what looked like it might be the centre of town.

He panned round with the camera.

Collin and Leann could just make out roads leading off straight ahead and to either side, it looked like he was in the middle of the town square, in the middle of a cross roads maybe.

“
I
t’
s like this everywhere
,”
he said
,“
every single shop whatever it sells has been broken in to and looted, or just plain vandalised
!”
The camera zoomed down one of the streets and gradually as it tried to focus through the murky ash Collin and Leann saw that all the windows were broken. At least the ones that were visible. Giant shards of glass hung from the frames like teeth, shelves and stalls were poking through some of the broken windows and debris littered the street in front of the shops slowly being buried by the ash and snow. A TV faced them with a shattered screen filling up with dirty snow. Everywhere the camera looked it looked like some kind of nightmarish shadow land.

“I’
ve seen some of the looting going on. If you can call it that!

The violence
I’
ve seen is unbelievable. I
t’
s horrible to watch. Terrible! The closest thing I can relate it to is dog fighting, i
t’
s just raw, i
t’
s animalistic, savage!

I
t’
s slowly gotten worse. The longer that this whole thing goes on for, the settling ash, the dirty snow whatever it really is, it just gets worse and worse
!
”

The camera zoomed back suddenly and Collin and Leann saw inside the cab, the top of the steering wheel here and some of the dashboard there as the reporter turned the steering wheel and started moving again, heading left along a different route
.“I’
ll head back to the hospital and try and get a view for you
,”
he continued
.“
Maybe I can pick up Rick this time. Ric
k’
s my cameraman, he was admitted yesterday after he started to get really sick.

When I took him in things at the hospital were terrible. People were having to be sedated and restrained all over the place because of their delirious outbreaks. Even doctors were tied down on hospital beds, and there were beds lined along every single wall I saw and everyone of them had someone tied down on top of it. It was a horrible sight, just horrible! People were shouting and swearing, or screaming while others were coughing their guts up, just like Rick.

There up was puke and snot everywhere. It was all over the floors, over chairs, down the walls, and tha
t’
s if i
t’
s even puke. I
t’
s as black as ink!

I wanted to tell Rick to try and just see it through, stay with me in the van you know, but h
e’
d gotten too bad. The poor guy could
n’
t breathe; he could
n’
t eat, could
n’
t even drink. He tried but whatever he tried, it just came right back out again and then his breathing would get worse.

I had to let him stay there, I had to. I had to make him stay
!
”

He carried on driving along the street, bobbing up and down as he drove over the thick ashy snow. Canopies jutting out over shop fronts looked like they were about to burst through with the weight of the dirty snow on top of them.

Collin looked up for a second and said
,“
Do you think i
t’
s a hoax? Someone just trying to scare people
?
”

“
Pretty sick joke if he is
,”
said Leann
.“
People will panic watching this, especially with it being shown on the news
.
”

“
Yea, I suppose
,”
said Collin hoping Leann would
n’
t be able to see his red cheeks in the candlelight.

As the reporter drove, they saw the carnage. Broken windows everywhere and debris littered the streets thrown mindlessly out of shops and houses and cars. A shiver ran down Colli
n’
s spine
.“
It looks just like the kiosk
,”
he said.

“
Really!”
said Leann
.“
God, poor Lara, must have been petrified eh
?
”

Collin nodded. The screen started to blink off and on for a moment and they both thought the iPad was about to die as the view changed but it settled again and the reporter left the town. He drove down a narrow country road enclosed by tall black trees on both sides. At a glance the scene on the screen looked like some obscure artis
t’
s bizarre creation, a cloud of charcoal dust framed within charcoal sticks.

“I’
m coming up to the hospital now
,”
said the reporter
.“
This road leads straight to it. Hopefully w
e’
ll be able to see it in a minute. If not, I bet w
e’
ll be able to hear it
.
”

He turned the camera to face in to the woods as he bobbed along. They were pitch black like the haunted woods in a fairytale.

“
Fuck going down there
,”
said Leann and Collin nodded.

“
This is a spruce forest
,”
said the reporter
,“
it should be evergreen. The whole area should be green and bursting with foliage but the ash has killed everything; every tree or plant, or shrub, whatever. If i
t’
s growing out of the ground i
t’
s dying even if it is
n’
t meant to be, and i
t’
s because of the ash!

It was Rick that noticed it first, the
y’
re not that colour because of the ash settling on them, they are actually dying off, the
y’
re all brittle. They just crumble to dust in your hand. Once we started to take notice of it we realised everything is dying, the ash is like a cancer. You can try to brush the ash off and no matter how gentle you are branches and big ones too, just break off and crumble in your hand
.
”

The van bounced over some large drifts causing the guy to nearly drop the camera, the view flashed across the inside of the van for a second almost making Leann flinch.

“
I can tell you that it feels really weird being here right now, it does
n’
t feel right somehow, i
t’
s almost like I can feel a change happening. Apart from Rick and the doctors at the hospital yesterday, the ones that were
n’
t restrained, I have
n’
t come across another normal person, I mean someone tha
t’
s not ill or coming down with the ash sickness. The
y’
re either laying around puking up that black gunk or covered from head to toe with ash smashing things up making this weird gurgling noise! I
t’
s just nuts
!
”

He carried on driving slowly down the road. Collin almost felt edgy, he wanted the guy to stop and turn back, and then the van did stop.

The reporter got out and started walking along in front of the van leaving it to idle as he set out on foot
.“
I know by the sight of that tree there that I should be able to see the hospital from here if we get a break in the ash
.”
He pointed at a tree that had been snapped off roughly eight feet up leaving giant splinters poking straight up at the heavens
.“I’
ll walk a bit further and see if we get lucky
,”
he said
.“
I came up this morning to see Rick and the sight was, it was, uh
.”
His voice sounded like it was starting to break up with emotion
.“
It was terrible
,”
he managed
.“
I could
n’
t go in. I just could
n’
t. It was
n’
t safe to, so I went straight back to the hotel and emptied our rooms. I threw everything we have in to the van and then I started to film. I thought that I should try and get word out about wha
t’
s happening here, spread the word you know. Let people know wha
t’
s really going on! I had to, in case no one else is, or can. Plus I do
n’
t think that anyone will believe me without the film for proof, they probably still wo
n’
t. But
I’
ve got to try. I have to try and warn people
!
”

Leann asked Collin
,“
What do you think he means
?
”

“
I do
n’
t know
,”
said Collin.

“
I wonder why he could
n’
t go in
,”
Leann finished and the reporter stopped.

They could hear his heavy breathing and the faint chug, chug, chug of the van behind him. There was a faint bang in the distance. A thud! The reporter flinched, he panned the camera around and zoomed in to the vast expanse of dirty snow filling the air like heavy fog. It was almost dizzying to watch without anything solid to focus on as he searched ahead using the camera like a telescope. After a moment when he did
n’
t find anything he zoomed back out again and said
,“
W
e’
re close
,”
and he kept on walking
.“
After what I saw earlier
,”
he said
,“
and heard I do
n’
t want to be seen. Yo
u’
ll know what I mean in a minute
.
”

Lightning sped across the sky and for a second Collin and Leann both saw the outline of a large gothic like building up ahead
.“
There it is
,”
he said
,“
w
e’
re close, but the ash is too thick.
I’
m gonna have to get closer. Maybe too close
!”
He paused for a second thinking about what to do. He looked back at his little van, it was nearly out of sight drifting in and out of view through the murkiness. Another lightning bolt ran across the sky, he span around just in time to catch the illuminated outline of the hospital again as it faded back in to the dirty snow, hidden.