Chapter 1 – Jack
Cold. It was so cold. We gave up on fires after a while. Anything we could find was either too wet or too precious to burn. The rain usually extinguished our fires anyway, even if we did manage to find a heat source to light one. At least we had each other’s body heat to keep us from freezing, not that it made much of a difference. The nights we spent outside were always like that; bleak, depressing and cold. Always so cold.
They came in the middle of the night, three or four of them I think, we didn’t hang around to count them though. Luckily, I was up to go to the toilet when they arrived, otherwise we never would’ve known. God knows what could have happened then. Grace’s screams still ring in my ears, reminding me of our terror. I was round the corner, about ten metres away from where the rest of us were sleeping, when I saw them coming. I had just finished peeing in the nearest gutter when I saw two dots of white light in the distance. I peered at them, confused. No one had lights, mains electricity had packed up weeks ago and batteries were too precious to waste at night on torches; we just had to do everything either during the day or by moonlight. After a few seconds, I realised they were coming closer and that they were going fast.
“It must be the Snatchers.” I thought out loud. The dots were bigger now, and the fact that they were bobbing up and down told me that the people were running. I had to tell the others. Did I shout to them all, alerting the Snatchers that we were there, or did I go to each of them one by one, letting them get closer but not giving away our position. I was torn between the two options but eventually chose the former; I had wasted too much time deciding to use the second one anyway.
“Guys, get up now!” I shouted, running to them and shaking each of their shoulders in turn to try and rouse them from their sleep.
“Jack?” slurred Oscar, still drowsy but thankfully awake, “What is it, man? It’s pitch black.”
“I know, mate. But listen, we have to go; now.” I said hoping my voice had a sense of urgency to it.
“What?” asked Oscar, more awake now, “Why?”
“Snatchers headed our way.” I replied with a small, vulnerable edge to my voice. I tried to put on a tough front, to be strong for the girls, but secretly, all this stuff scared the hell out of me.
“Jesus.” said Oscar, getting up and starting to fold up his sleeping mat, “You get the girls and I’ll pack our stuff.”
Nodding, I set off, praying that we would all make it.
Robyn and Grace slept on the other side of the alley; it was as close to privacy as we could get without compromising safety. I went to Robyn first and gently shook her awake. Her long, auburn hair fell around her face, framing her delicate features perfectly. Her slim frame was hunched up in a ball, her knees hugged to her chest, for warmth. She mumbled as she stirred, stretching her arms and legs.
“Come on Robyn,” I urged, “We have to go, there are some Snatchers at the top of the street.”
“Oh my God!” she said, her rosebud lips forming an O shape.
“Exactly,” I said, “So you go and help Oscar pack and I’ll wake Grace.”
She nodded, took a deep breath and ran over to Oscar. Meanwhile, I turned to Grace and began to rouse her. Once she was awake, we went over and helped the other two to pack up our bottles, blankets and sleeping mats into the large holdall we had scavenged from the sport shop on the High Street.
Once everything was in there, we zipped it up and Oscar and I slung a handle each over our shoulders. Grace and Robyn went ahead to see how far away they were and to try and think of an escape plan. We lugged it forward, making slow and steady progress towards the girls. They were crouched in a corner, whispering frantically to each other and taking the occasional furtive glance around the wall to check where the Snatchers were. I could see Robyn trying to blink back tears. The stress of the situation was clearly getting to her. Grace, on the other hand, was already crying. I wondered whether I should go and comfort her or leave her with her pride and pretend not to notice. That was the thing about the girls: they were proud and prized their dignity above almost everything.
“Hey, Jack.” said Oscar in a hushed tone, “Listen. I’ve been doing some thinking and things are getting more and more dangerous by the day.”
“I know, mate.” I said, “But what can we do?”
“That’s exactly what I asked myself,” he began. He put his side of the bag on the floor and I copied him, crouching down so I could see more clearly what he was doing, “and that’s exactly why I made these.”
In his hands were two large, wooden clubs with metal handles. They were bulbous and rounded at the wooden end and each one had an initial carved into it. I could see an O on the one in his left hand and a J on the other.
“There’s some for Grace and Robyn as well.” He said, grinning at me, “So, what do you think?”
“You are a bloody genius, Oscar.” I said, grinning madly back at him.
He blushed, although it was hard to notice in the gloom.
“Thanks, man.” he said, humble and modest as ever.
“Don’t mention it.” I replied, taking my club from his grasp. I gave it a practice swing from the waist, testing its weight. It swished through the air, giving me a great sense of power. With these, we were invincible.
“Just in case, yeah?” he added.
“Totally,” I agreed, “Just in case.”
And with that we went to join the girls and give them their weapons.
They straightened up as they saw us approaching. We gave them their clubs, watching with satisfaction the shock on their faces when we told them Oscar had made them himself out of scrap he had found on the streets. Our happiness was short lived however, when the shadows of the Snatchers appeared at the end of the alley that led out to the main road.
“Hide!” I commanded in a whisper.
We scattered in different directions; I took the bag because I was strongest but it slowed me down a lot. I had just managed to dive behind a large wheelie bin when they emerged from the shadows, their torch beams dancing on the cobbles. They crept silently down the alley, stopping only to direct their torches into the furthest crevices of the alley.
I was afraid to breathe, in case it gave me away. I prayed the others had all found safety as luckily as I had. The club in my hand reassured me that I would be able to fight back, if I needed to. I just hoped that I wouldn’t…
