She ran her hands through her curly hair, fluffing it up. She placed stuff into bags, zipping them up. She sat on a suitcase, unlocking her phone. She bopped her head as she played her playlist.
A woman shouted up to the stairs to her with a vaguely English accent, "Orla! What time you setting off?!"
"In an hour mum!"
"You sure you don't want me to drive you?!"
Orla smiled, walking out into the hallway, "mum, I will be back in less than a week."
Her mother stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding her arms out in an almost shrugging motion, "well sorry but I want to spend my daughter's last hours with her. Jesus, you've only just started packing. You've had days to prepare! How will you cope without me?"
Orla stuck her tongue out, rolling her eyes and groaning, "okay mum, well I'm doing it now."
Down the stairs, her mother sat on the sofa, staring at a photo on a cabinet. Orla - lacking the highlights in her hair - standing with both her mother and father, her mother's hair still brunette but significantly longer; her father tall, tanned and dark haired.
Orla's mother stayed quiet, letting out a soft sigh.
Orla walked downstairs, dragging the suitcases. Her mother shook her head, "Jesus. Orla, they packed less supplies for D-Day."
Orla scoffed, "sorry but my hair looks lush and it's staying that way this full trip."
She dragged the suitcases to the front door, "right mom, I'm off! Love you!"
Her mother sighed softly before shouting back, "alright darl!" She became quiet again, "love you..."
Present
Lily walked over to the door leading out to the train, she positioned her hand over the latch. Everybody stood silently behind her.
Amber shook her head, "Lily... you shouldn't."
Mia walked up to Lily, "I'll open it," she moved her hand to the latch, "maybe someone sur- ah! Fuck!"
She flinched, stepping back, "it's hot as hell!"
Lily shook her head, taking her jacket off and holding it over her hand, she pushed the latch open, the door scraping as it turned.
Everyone stood silently behind her. The door opened. Silence. Darkness. The faint crackling of fire and a soft glow spanning the length of the tunnel. Dust from within the tunnel flowed out, sitting on Lily's face and shoulders.
Josh stepped forward, turning his phone flashlight on, "maybe... maybe someone survived."
The smell of burning flesh invaded everybody's noses. An older woman - not a teacher or student - stepped through the door, "my husband is still in here!"
Everybody approached the doorway. Josh turned his phone torch on, the light softly illuminating the dust flooding the tunnel.
Amber stepped onto the train, the structure barely in tact. She looked down and saw - buried in ash and dust - two of her former classmates and a service worker wearing a high-vis jacket.
Orla ran through the door, patting around in the tunnel, "Amelia! Holy fuck... they're- they're dead. All of them."
A man shouted, "Sarah, où es-tu? Je suis là!"
Silence. Everybody in the train tunnel dead and those out being too terrified to make a sound.
A few overlapping voices began questioning and communicating,
"What happened?"
"I don't know"
"Quiero ir a casa..."
"Is this what happened in Asia?"
"Is this an attack?"
"Est-ce que quelqu'un sait qui nous pouvons appeler?"
"Is England still safe?"
Amber looked around, approached the compartment door, the frame crushed and mangled. There they were, laying scattered behind the door. Everybody from the second school bus and a few other passengers, all laying scattered, their bodies burnt and covered with ash.
Amber looked down, sighing, "Aurora... Christ," she turned, calling for the others, "they're- they're dead, guys." Her voice broke as the surviving students peered into the door, "all of them..."
Paisley slowly approached, breathing heavily, "they're just... they're all just dead. Holy shit I just spoke to Sam twenty minutes ago." She fell silent, falling against the side of the train and vomiting.
Amber hugged her, "just let it out... okay, we need to go. Just when you're done, we need to go. I promise, we'll get home, okay? We'll get home, get our exam results and just... figure something out."
Paisley sniffled, "we almost died... we were like- twenty seconds away from dying. Amelia almost made it out! She... she was right there."
A tear fell down Amber's cheek, "f- agh, we need to go now. This smoke is bad for you, we'll... we'll go back to the tunnel and wait for help."
YOU ARE READING
Hiraeth: Cities To Embers
Science Fiction'It came from outer space' or 'it was a bioweapon gone awry' The day a commercial airliner departs from London and a group of school students return from a trip to Paris, is also the day a disaster of biblical proportions begins to wipe out both hum...
