As the Light Dies (17 page)

It really is a sad scene here
!
”

He had to dive out of the way again and the cameraman clearly had to make a move to as something else came flying at them and the view on the TV went spinning.

Dean stared on astonished.

The camera steadied again and panned round so low that Dean thought the cameraman must be kneeling or lying on the ground. The car park was a mess, cars with broken windows and flat tyres littered the car park. People ran off on foot laden down with goods, some were attacked, rugby tackled to the ground and set up on by several others and their items stolen from them. People were screaming and shouting, arguing and fighting. One guys shopping bags burst and as he bent down to try and pick up what h
e’
d dropped, he was overrun in seconds by others taking what h
e’
d dropped. He was forced back by the sheer number of people, helpless.

Across the car park a woman was screaming like a banshee being held from behind by a man as another emptied the back seat of her car while a toddler strapped in to its car seat screamed for its mummy!

“
Jesus Christ
!”
said Dean
,“
this is just plain wrong. What the hel
l’
s happening
?
”

The camera panned back towards the supermarket, the police were
n’
t having any effect, and another officer was down. They were
n’
t doing anything now, they were just targets. Two policemen had resorted to holding up shopping baskets as shields after their riot shields gave in. More and more people seemed to appear from within the shop with armfuls of whatever they could find, some stopped briefly and threw things at the police before carrying on and taking their chances outside.

“
They have
n’
t got a chance
,”
said a voice from behind the camera as the image started zooming in on something.

At first the zoom was so strong all Dean could see was a red and white blur moving around on screen
.“
Oh my God
!”
came the voice from behind the camera.

Camerama
n
, thought Dean, and the camera slowly zoomed back out a little gaining focus and revealing the image.

Dean gasped!

The red and white turned out to be a tracksuit worn by one of several men as they violently kicked a person lying on the floor down one of the aisles.

“HOLY SHIT! They’re killing someone!
”
gasped Dean and then Shelly reappeared on to the screen looking faint, almost close to tears. Dean knew she had seen the footage as well, he knew how she felt. He felt horrified and terrified, and worse of all he felt helpless. But what could he or she do
.
There was a group of police officers just feet from that poor person. Surely they would see them any second
,
Dean told himself
.
The cameraman will tell them or something, he has too
,
he thought
.
And when he does the police will make a beeline straight for them and stop that brutal attack
,
he thought and hoped.

“
Breaking news there live from Aberdeen. Some horrific scenes
I’
m sure yo
u’
ll agree
,”
said Shelly
.“
That was Daniel Barker reporting. Sadly reports of violence are on the increase up and down the country. Government officials are saying that people are panicking unnecessarily and uncontrollably. They say that while it is true that the tragic death toll continues to rise overwhelming the NHS, government scientists are working hard
,
around the cloc
k
to find the cause so they can create a vaccine, but until they can, everybody is being urged to stay inside at all times and that anyone who absolutely must go outside must wear a mask at all times to prevent the potentially harmful ash particles from entering their lungs. Furthermore while mass power cuts spread across the country affecting all and any electrical powered device scientists are working hard to find out how this is happening so that they can hopefully work around the problem and get things working again and kick start the aid programme again. Until either solution it found it is absolutel
y
imperativ
e
that we all remain calm throughout this dreadful phenomenon that we are currently witnessing. We must all look out for each other and help each other through this
.
”

Dean could see that Shell
y’
s eyes were glistening, he felt sorry for her. He knew she would
n’
t be able to wipe her eyes behind that full facial hood she was wearing, and with that thought he realised that no one was wearing anything to protect against the ash in Aberdeen!

Idiots will all be choked up in hospital in a few hours
!
he thought.

He glanced at the laptop, it was on but flickering badly he did
n’
t even try logging on to the internet but on the home screen he looked at the time display, it was five past six in the evening.

I really did sleep in didn’t
I
, he said to himself as he set and wound his watch. Then he tried the TV volume again, still no luck so he turned it off hoping that h
e’
d be able to turn it back on later. Then he went in to the hall and said to Sam
,“C‘
mon boy, yo
u’
ll be well overdue your visit outside
,”
and he let Sam out in to the back garden so that he could keep an eye on him but before he let Sam out he tied his scarf around his snout to save him breathing in the ash.

“
Be quick
,”
he said
,“
i
t’
s not gonna be good for you out there boy
.
”

Sam barked his response like he understood every word Dean said and ran out as Dean opened the door. Dean closed the door quickly to stop too much ash getting in and set about spreading an old newspaper on the floor by the back door and grabbed the old towel he used for drying Sam from the cupboard beside the front door and then pulled on one of the paper dust masks he had. When h
e’
d finished Sam was already padding back up the steps to the back door, Dean let him in on to the newspaper where Sam stood perfectly still letting Dean gently brush him down.

“
Good boy Sam, good boy, now le
t’
s get something to eat, and decide what to do
.
”

Sam barked twice in approval.

After rustling up something to eat for himself and serving up a bowl of meaty dog food for Sam by candlelight Dean dared to try the TV again, and it worked but now the volume was on so low Dean could only just hear it. He sat in front of the fuzzy TV flicking through the channels intent on learning as much as he possibly could about the situation while he could, only a few channels were still broadcasting and three of them were broadcasting the same footage but news was news and he learned that the site in Norway was still erupting at a tremendous rate. Several drones had been sent out to gather footage after a failed attempt by the coastguard. They managed to feed back vital info before they died and crashed as each of their electrical systems failed and they fell from the skies like dead birds. The crater was estimated at a colossal one hundred miles plus, around and the coverage of the ash cloud was now reaching far across Russia! Germany was buried and France had been all but swallowed!

The North Sea had totally disappeared as the enormous ash cloud made its way across the whole of the UK and continued spreading out across the North Atlantic Ocean!

Dean sat back in his chair shocked. He was worried and he was scared. He looked at the house phone again, he tried it again just in case but it was dead, no dialling tone, nothing! He hung up frustrated. Wher
e’
s Gavin he wondered? Wha
t’
s he doing? Ho
w’
s he doing?

At least I gave him the dust mask
s
he thought.

Then he thought about their mum and dad, twenty miles north in their little old converted farm house
.
”Oh God I hope they’re ok,”
he said, and tried the house phone again just in case, but nothing had changed
.“
Damn it
!”
he said slamming the phone back down. There was no way for him to get in contact with them now.

Should have called before I went to be
d
, he thought
.
Dad’s arthritis is bound to be playing havoc and Mums asthma won’t like this ash
.

“
SHIT!”
he said again
,“
shit, shit, shit
!
”

He paced the living room
.
At least they’re at home
,
he thought. Poor Gavin on the other hand could be stranded anywhere out there in his bus, and he would
n’
t have a clue where he was!

A few minutes passed and he turned his thoughts to work.

He wondered if he should try and go in or just stay home. What if my team struggle in just to find no- one there and the place all locked up, he thought. They all knew Dean did
n’
t take time off, not ever, so the
y’
d expect him to be there. It was likely the
y’
d try their best to make it in as well.

Or maybe the place has been turned in to a rescue centre.

It’s plenty big enough. There were toilets, there were more than enough showers, there were cooking facilities and first aid rooms. The leisure centre was probably the best candidate in Invernes
s
he thought.

He thought for a moment trying to figure out what best to do and the TV went out with a soft pop
!
Great
,
he thought and he decided to go in.

He reasoned with himself that it would
n’
t take him long to get there and back again if he was
n’
t needed. H
e’
d have his keys just in case no- one was there and he needed to get in for whatever reason, even if it was just to get in out of the weather for five minutes before heading back home again. He set to packing a bag throwing a super fast packed lunch together in case he was needed. He did
n’
t want to eat food that was there to feed people in a rescue situation if the centre had been converted. An extra bottle of water went in the bag, spare masks even some spare socks and gloves so he had a dry pair if needed, and then he looked out his handy tool, and finally his swimming goggles. After a quick double check he set about rigging up a dust mask for Sam. He was
n’
t leaving him behind and he did
n’
t want him breathing in the ash.

Dean dug out an old muzzle h
e’
d used when Sam was a pup to stop him chewing up the house, and he set to work. He stapled a knee support bandage around the inside of the muzzle then doubled it back again on the outside, and then lengthened the straps to fit. When he was finished he held it up for Sam to see
.“
What you think boy
?
”

Sam let out a whine and buried his nose under his front paws.

Dean laughed
.“C’
mon boy i
t’
ll be better than breathing in that ash shit, i
t’
ll only be while w
e’
re outside, ok
,
I promise.”

Sam unburied his nose and looked up at Dean and letting out a playful growl and barked twice.

“
Yea, yea
,”
said Dean laughing
.“
I promise
.
”

By seven
o’
clock Dean was ready to leave, h
e’
d double checked and rechecked the rucksack, packing anything extra that he could think of given the situation outside. He left out some candles and a note for Gavin in the kitchen telling him that h
e’
d gone in to work and taken Sam with him and told him how to work the camping stove h
e’
d left out. Then he fitted Sa
m’
s dust muzzle. Sam whined with embarrassment making Dean laugh again
.“
Right boy
,”
he said
,“
you look great. Are you ready
?
”
Woof, woof
!