Day 453 of the Apocalypse
1st May 2036
HOLY SHIT.
They did it. I can’t believe they did it.
I was working a late shift with Mum the other night, down at the clinic they set up in the old bookshop, when Dad crashed in. Literally: crashed in. He was moving so fast he didn’t stop in time, barrelling into the stand beside Mum. Rubbing alcohol and needles scattered everywhere and Mum’s patient – Ashley – squealed in shock, squeezing my hand a little too hard.He told us the village hall was on fire!
We all ran down to the hall, grabbing old buckets and trugs as we went.
The village hall was ablaze unlike anything I had ever seen. The roof had caved in fire was spilling out of the windows and bricks were cracking under the heat. It was burning too fiercely for us to actually do anything. That’s when we heard… one of the council members who’d escaped told us Toby was inside.
When all this first started, I won’t lie: I was scared. But we muddled through, we carried on. I’ve never been full-blown, shitting-yourself, heart-stopping terrified before today. I thought he was gone. I thought I’d lost my big brother. It was horrible.
I didn’t think. I know it was stupid, but all I could think about was Toby. I would have run into the fire if Aiden hadn’t seen me, pulled me back. I think I hit him several times, probably swore at him too, but he wouldn’t let me go.
It didn’t take long for Toby to find us. I was screaming my head off, bit of a give-away. The second I saw him it was like I could breathe again. Aiden finally let me go and Toby hugged me instead. He was hot and smelled like soot and smoke, but was otherwise ok. He told me everyone had got out, but I didn’t care about everyone. I just cared about him.
When I next see Ricky and his friends, I’m gonna deck them so hard they be unconscious for weeks, because there is no doubt who started this fire. It ran too hot and too long to just be a normal blaze. I could practically smell the petrol coming off the fumes. Petrol only found in the cars dumped by Ricky and his crew’s den.
I’m gonna kill him myself.