Dark Sky

23 - Ghost Town

Chapter Twenty Three

The Land Rover was navigated carefully around the debris that littered the road. Ryan and Carl had returned to Thrayston to find medical supplies for the injured man they had found last night.

He had miraculously survived the night, but only just, and Floyd had sent them out first thing back to Thrayston. They came here because the village had a pharmacy and they knew it was still standing, it was just a matter of whether it had been looted yet.

The morning was cold, only just above freezing point and Ryan had been surprised to see vapour escaping their lungs as they breathed. It was like winter had begun in August and that secretly worried Ryan, if it was this cold now what would it be like when actual winter arrived.

There had been a discussion before they had left about collecting firewood for the open fire in the house before it got too cold and they all froze to death in their sleep. It wasn't that cold yet but it wouldn't be long.

Ryan silently remembered the winter of two years ago as he navigated the Land Rover through the deserted village. Temperatures had plummeted to -19 at the same time his boiler had packed up. The two weeks it had taken to get it fixed had been the coldest of his life and he remembered waking to ice on the inside of the windows. Now they would probably never have the luxury of boilers again and it would get much colder than that in the coming weeks. He shivered at the thought and made a note to himself to go on the hunt for gas heaters and gas bottles as soon as he had the opportunity.

He brought the Land Rover to a halt outside Thrayston's only pharmacy and cut the engine. The building was missing almost the entire front wall and most of its roof, the inside looking like it had been ransacked. They couldn't be sure that it had been ransacked knowing it was more than likely all bomb damage. They exited their vehicle and made their way towards the opening.

Carl looked around nervously as they approached the building feeling a bit uneasy at the eerie silence that engulfed the village.

"It's very quiet." He observed looking down the street towards the town hall.

"Everywhere is quiet these days," Ryan pointed out with a smile.

"Where is everyone?" Carl questioned with an eyebrow raised. "We just drove through the village where people know us and nothing."

Carl was right, Ryan thought to himself. The sound of the Land Rover must have drawn attention in the quiet that blanketed the village. Someone must have seen them. But why had the people they had known, not acknowledged their arrival?

"We'll get the supplies and have a look around." Ryan decided.

"We need to get the supplies back as soon as we can," Carl reminded him of the injured man waiting for them.

"We'll be quick," Ryan promised, "something don't add up here."

Carl frowned, he didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Ryan admitted, "I just got a feeling."

The pair stepped through the gaping hole in the front of the pharmacy and entered the wreck of the shop. The main area that had once had glass displays of medical products and a waiting area now lay in ruins. The glass displays smashed and every piece of furniture flung over and broken. Had it have not been for the absents of actually medical supplies it could have been put down entirely to the bombs.

"Shit!" Ryan cursed looking around at the mess. "Someone has beaten us to it. The place has been looted already."

"Is everything gone?" Carl couldn't see anything of any use anywhere.