Black Death (TNN)

Step into the Past

"Well, you've had a good run," Reece
said dryly. Carly scratched her head sheepishly. The two of them were standing on the side of a road just outside London. The car they had fled in was smoking slightly. Carly had hit a street lamp. "I would have liked to drive too," muttered Max,

"Another time, Buddy."

A little further along the roadside were Beth and Sorscha. The blonde was holding her wife's hair because she was throwing up after the wild ride.

"So what's the plan?" asked Reece.

"We're going to the Isle of Sheppey and warn the people there, that a madwoman with an army behind her is on her way there," said Sorscha, she and Beth joining the rest of the group.

"But first, we have to get through London," Carly stated. "And we all know the cities aren't safe."

" We won't make it through the city in one day either. We have to find somewhere to stay for the night," said Beth.

"There is a place where we can spend the night. It's in the centre of London and is reasonably safe," explained Carly.

And so the group set off. The assumption that the city was not safe was confirmed more and more the further they travelled. In the countryside, the Walkers had become a rarely sighting. But here in the city, they seemed to be lurking around every corner.

Max was fascinated by his surroundings. So this was a city. He couldn't believe that there were people used to live. The tall buildings had been almost completely taken over by nature after all this time. But they were still impressive. Big Ben still towered high above the city. His father explained to him what it was.

Sorscha stopped her walke briefly when she saw the initials RC on a wall of a house. She prepared herself for where they were going. They were walking into the past. A past that Sorscha wanted to forget.

Beth stopped in the deserted car park, in front of them was a building. Most of the windows had been smashed, and half of the roof seemed to have given way. But otherwise, the building was still intact. There was a sign above the entrance. Which could still be read, even after all these years. "The Knight Nursery..." the blonde mumbled softly.

Sorscha's chest felt tight as she climbed through the broken window. She helped Beth climb through it as well. The others were already inside. Beth saw the look on Sorscha's face.

Without saying anything, the Irish woman walked down the corridor of the old building. Beth wanted to follow her, but a hand on her shoulder held her back. It was Reece. "Leave her alone, I think she needs some time to herself. Come on."

Reece led the way, also feeling a strange mixture of nostalgia and sadness. As he stood in front of the office, he took a deep breath before opening the door. Carly only looked into the office briefly. She too had a different destination in mind. She walked on while Reece, Max, and Beth entered the office.

Carly wanted to go to the staff room, where the lockers were. Maybe some of her old things were still there. On the way there, she passed one of the classrooms. Sorscha was standing in the middle of the room. She just stared into space.

Reece lifted an office chair from the floor and sat down. The desk was still there, papers were scattered on the floor.

"What room is that?" Max asked.

"This is your mum's office."

The boy immediately took a closer look around. So this was the place where his father had met his mother. Beth had no connection to this place, but she could well imagine how Sorscha must be feeling right now. "I'll go and check on Sorscha," she said as she left the room.

Max sat down on the desk. Reece noticed the safe, which was still under the desk. He remembered the combination and opened it.

Something sparkling immediately caught his eye, and he carefully took it out. It was a medal from 1999, engraved with a name.

Autumn Knight
1st place school wrestling

Reece ran his finger over the piece of metal. Something else caught his eye, a photo was also in the safe.

Beth was leaning on the doorway. She saw Sorscha standing in the centre of the room, holding a small red toy car. The blonde approached cautiously.

" The last time I was here... The apocalypse had just started... I was working with Charlie here that day... we were talking about what we were going to do over the weekend... the next thing I saw her, I put a bullet in her head..."

Beth placed her hand on her wife's cheek.

Carly put the combination into her locker, and the locker door opened. On the inside of the door was a photo. She took it carefully in her hand. It was a selfie of her and Charlotte.

Carly pocketed it. Her old report book was still in the locker, too.

Carly was the last to enter the office. Reece smiled slightly at her. "Look what I've found."

The others also stood close to Reece to see what he had there. He placed it on the office table. It was an old photo from the last office party.

"Wow, Reece, you haven't aged well," Sorscha said dryly.

"At least I still have both eyes."

Beth looked at the picture critically and then at her wife. " Seeing you with both eyes is really weird."

"Why does Carly have such a high ponytail?" asked Max.

"That's how it was worn back then!" Carly immediately defended herself.

Reece then pointed to a woman standing next to him in the picture. "That's your mum." The boy looked at the picture in disbelief.

Now that he saw her, he realised how much he looked like her. It was so unreal to finally have a picture of the woman from so many stories. But then the boy put his finger on another woman standing close to his mother and next to a man with black hair. "Who is that?"

" Autumn and Winter. Your aunt and uncle. " Reece said, breathing deeply.

" Don't forget Char and the mean redhead. " Carly spoke, her eyes were slightly teared.

"Mean redhead?"

"Mia, and believe me, she lived up to her name," Reece explained.

Sorscha sighed loudly, an infinite amount of guilt was rising in her. But Carly suddenly put her hand on her arm. "It's okay... I don't blame you."

"How about you tell us something about back then, because I can't believe you were all kindergarten teachers," said Beth.

And so began the story from a long time ago. Everyone told something about back then and what they had experienced. Stories were shared long into the night.

As morning dawned, everyone left the building with a lighter heart. Part of the past could finally be closed. And even though they had lost many friends and loved ones. The memories of them lived on. Reece had taken the picture with him. For Max, so he had a picture of his mum. But he had left his sister's medal behind.

Some things are best left, where they were left.