"So what's the time in England?!"
"Like noon."
"Why?"
"The fuck do you mean why?"
"I don't get it"
"What?!"
Lily cringed, whispering to Amelia, "our classmates are just a little bit thick aren't they?"
Amelia nodded, texting Chester. He was on the bus behind them.
'chester! u alright?'
'Ye am fine. Ellie Stone is just banging on about snogging some rando French kid pure vile'
'dont even talk to me i watched it happen. send me the pics u got in paris when u can'
'Was he fit'
'actually ye he didnt have a perm which for me adds three points immediately'
Lily looked down at her phone, her brow furrowed. Amelia looked over, "what's up?"
Lily shook her head, "uh, my dad is just being all cryptic again. It's Spanish aswell, I think he forgot to take his pills."
"So what's he saying... in Spanish?"
"Oh, just something about ignoring people and us going to the channel tunnel. My Spanish is a bit rusty, I haven't been to my pueblo since... 2016? Anyway, he's never been down here so I guess the tunnel just freaks him out. For our year 7 Paris trip, he was asking if you can see the fish, this, that and the other."
Lily furrowed her brow, "he's not responding."
Amelia looked over, "how's your service? The weather is abysmal."
"No, I still have two bars."
"Hm. Me too. Wait, where is your dad? Is he back from his trip to Russia?"
"No. Right now he should be in... Irkutsk I think it's called? Big city."
"Yeah. I only know like five cities in Russia"
"Well it's not near Moscow or owt, it's pretty far East"
A voice bellowed throughout the bus, "hey! Who wants to sign my petition?! We'll make the tunnel roof glass right. Then you can see the fish!"
Another person then shouted, "there's no water in the channel tunnel you know Boris said no!"
"Who's talking shit about Boris?!"
A teacher shouted, "quiet! Now!"
Amelia stretched, "I am pure tired you know."
Lily's eyes widened, "don't fall asleep. You know that won't blow over well someone here sees that."
Amelia slouched back, "at this point I seriously could not care less. My back is hurting like hell and I need a full English or I'll pass away."
Amelia yawned, her consciousness fading. Lily whispered rather loudly, "wake the fuck up."
A loud bang. Lights flickered. Amelia shot up, "what the hell?!"
Lily, "Christ. Didn't think you'd wake up, you little rat bastard."
Amelia stretched, "what's going on? How long was I out?"
Lily shrugged, "like an hour. There's just been a proper loud shaking, apparently some attack happened in Asia earlier and I think that's why they stopped us all... or something."
"Attack?! What does that mean?"
"Nobody knows. Massive explosions in Australia and Japan, but that's all we've heard. We're deeper in the tunnel so we've got no service and the wifi is out."
Amelia sat up, "oh... okay then."
They looked up, the bus driver got out and went off to speak to someone.
A girl popped up over the chair from behind. Auburn hair reaching down to her elbows, up in a ponytail. "An attack in Asia? I saw something in America. Some kind of gas attack? I think?"
Lily turned to her, "wait, Mia, what have you heard?!"
Mia's eyes turned to a squint, "bunch of people died at the World Cup"
Amelia rubbed her left eye, "the World Cup is in Australia this year, right?"
Mia whispered, "do you think... it's gonna happen again? But here?"
Lily scoffed, "what? An attack over here?"
Mia shrugged, "maybe... we're being held hostage. Maybe... this is a new thing."
A girl leaned over from across the aisle, pink highlights in her long curly black hair, "Mia?"
Mia turned to her, "Oh, Orla? Yeah, what is it?"
Orla sighed, "has your service gone out too?"
Mia nodded, "uh... yeah..."
The bus driver stood up, speaking to all the students and staff on board, "right! Everyone listen up! We dunno what's gone on, but I've just been told that something major has happened. I can't get in touch with anyone back in Calais and I can't with anyone in Folkestone. Nobody from the train engine has come to talk to us, so there might be something going on. Please everyone stay calm, don't cause a fuss. Whatever's going on, I'll need a bus that won't be putting me off."
The lights in the tunnel began flickering, prompting everyone to look out the windows of the bus.
The tunnel grew dark, the only lights being the bus's headlights and the faint glow of everybody's phones.
Chapter 1: END
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...
