Aftermath

59

Michael was waiting for them at the entrance to the car park.

“Where the hell have you been?” Kieran asked.

Michael answered with his own question. “Who’s missing?”

“Hollis is dead,” Lorna replied. “Shot.”

“And Jas?”

“He’s dead too, presumably. We lost him in all those bodies.”

Michael nodded.

“Did you have something to do with that?” Howard asked. “What did you do?”

“It wasn’t just about him, you know,” he explained. “All I did was open up the station. I saw hundreds of them trapped there when I first came to this place. Figured I should let them out before we leave.”

“If we leave,” Kieran said.

“I just wanted your friend Jas to get an idea of what he would really be up against if he stayed here.”

Lorna shook her head and started to climb, not sure whether she believed Michael. She took Caron’s hand and led her up the corkscrew-shaped road. What they were going to do when they reached the roof, however, she had no idea.

0em" w"0em" width="2em" align="justify">They climbed over a plum-colored Mini which had crashed into a barrier, then stopped on the third floor of five and peered down into the streets below. The town was steadily filling with fire, building after building being eaten up by the heat and light. But somehow the position didn’t look as bad from up here as it had down at ground level. The fire hadn’t made as much progress as they’d feared. Michael was relieved; they’d have a good few hours before they’d need to move again.

Howard peered over the edge and looked directly down. Closer to the entrance to the car park he could see the station which Michael had opened up. Even now there was a massive column of bodies trying to escape. They played a bizarre game of follow-the-leader as they spilled out onto the street and walked toward the red-hot devastation in the distance.

And then, just for a second, he thought he caught a glimpse of Jas, still fighting in the midst of the chaos. It was impossible to be sure from up here, such was the extent of the dead masses which filled the street outside the car park. Was it really him, or had it just been more corpses reacting to each other? It was gone again in just a few seconds.

In the distance Kieran could see the farthest advanced of the bodies burning up, and he watched them with an unexpected mix of emotions: relief, first and foremost, that the time of the dead was finally coming to an end. These were undoubtedly their final days, their final hours perhaps. He also felt an undeniable sense of achievement that he’d made it through to see this moment—that he’d survived when so many millions of others hadn’t. And, strangely, he also felt pleased that, one way or another, everyone’s suffering would soon be over—living and dead alike. He understood why Michael had done what he’d done.

The others had left him behind. Kieran looked around, then started to run again, half the climb still to complete. His lungs felt as if they were full of smoke, and every step took a massive amount of effort. His thighs burned but he kept on moving, refusing to stop.

He eventually reached the roof and crossed the tarmac to stand with the others who were looking out over the burning town. Heavy palls of black smoke continued to rise up from the area along the sea front which was on fire. The dark, billowing clouds were blowing this way, almost blocking out the sun. From up here the world looked decidedly apocalyptic—like Judgment Day. What am I thinking? he asked himself wryly. This can’t be Armageddon. The world ended months ago.

“You lot took your time,” a voice said. Kieran spun around, his heart thumping, and found himself face-to-face with a familiar, scruffy-looking figure with a duffel bag over one shoulder and a newspaper tucked under his arm.

“Fuck me,” he gasped. “Hello, Driver.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Lorna demanded.

“What do you think I’m doing here? I heard there might still be people around who needed a lift.”

“But what about the others? Didn’t they get to the island?”

“I presume. I volunteered to stay back here.”

“You volunteered? Why?”

“Because I knew there’d be more of you to come. There’s times recently when you’ve been almost as slippery as me,” he said, pointing at Harte. “I thought if anyone could get away from that castle again, it’d be you.”

“But why here?”

“Harry said it’d be the safest bet. He said you’d probably end up back here looking for the helicopter, and he was right.”

“So where is it?”

“What, the helicopter?”

“Yes, the helicopter. What did you think I meant?”

“Oh, it’s still on the island as far as I’m aware.”

“So what are we going to do? Are you planning to bus us all over there?”

“Something like that. I’ve got another way out.”

Caron walked toward Driver, her mind a whirlpool of conflicting emotions.

“I could kiss you…” she said.

“Maybe later,” he said, quietly pleased, as he led them back toward ground level.