Bulldog: Too Many Monsters - Chapter 2
Bulldog 1: Too Many Monsters
Chapter 2: Runaway
“Ladies and gentlemen of this great nation, we are under attack. I will repeat that for clarity. The United Kingdom is under attack from an outside force. Their origin that was currently unknown. The military has been all but decimated in surprise attacks that have been reported across the country. We are asking for you to stay in place, shelter, and barricade your homes. If you are confronted by this invading force, resist if you can. If you are unable and found by the enemy, place your hands clear in the air above your head and surrender. May God protect us all.”
The TV went dead. The signal cancelled and the static hiss sat lingering in the air like some poisonous intoxicant that froze me in place. Liz was sitting in the kitchen; I could hear her clacking away on the computer when the internet cut-off. Her confusion turned to horror when I explained what was just played across the news. I wished I had gone with her. She raced out the door despite me pleading with her to stay.
Her father lived a couple of miles from our flat and she was determined to check he was safe. I stayed in the safety of our home and watched her run across the block and away, out of sight. That was the last time I saw her. I tried to call Mum and Dad, but the line was dead. Everything was dead. The internet, the TV and radio. Whoever was attacking our nation had done so without even as much as a whiff of difficulty. I gathered up my coat and the last of my money that I kept in the safe upstairs.
“Why didn’t I go with her” I repeated as I packed my bag with some food and clothes.
I grabbed a kitchen knife off the counter, the lighter from the draw and a bottle of water for any long stays without access. I was preparing myself for Armageddon, they made it sound like Armageddon, as I attempted to make footing for my parents’ home. It was closer than Liz’s dads, I should have told her we would get Sam, my younger brother, from my parents and then all gone to check on her dad. Strength in numbers and all that.
“Fuck, why didn’t I go with her.”
Before I left I put a note on the counter telling Liz where I had gone. Walking through the neighbourhood, it was mirroring the horror films I loved, or did love, watching on a Friday night with Liz hiding behind a blanket next to me. Cars smashed into walls where people had panicked and caused accidents. Glass coated the streets and screams; shouts and wails could be heard in almost every direction. I watched, twitching away as strangers ran past me. Some would ask for help that I would deny. Others seemed to have a plan and ran in different directions to me. When I arrived at Mum’s door, she was looking out the front road facing window. I waved at her to let me in, and she rushed to the door.
“Oh god sweetie, come in,” she begged, red-faced and clearly terrified.
“You okay Mum? Where’s Dad and Sammy?” I asked, trying to rush together some plan.
“Sammy is packing his things; your father is in the bedroom. He took a turn and his hearts giving him trouble.”
“Fuck, sorry,” I said, rushing upstairs to find Dad.
He was laid out, barely breathing and sweating, as if the tropics had been magically relocated to the room he shared with Mum. I lifted his wrist to check his pulse and knew it right then. Dad was a goner. I listened to his laboured breathing, the wheeze that followed every exhale and did all I could to keep Mum from coming in the room.
“Sammy? Sammy!” I yelled through the house.
Running into the room, my baby brother’s footsteps sounded louder than usual. His backpack was thrown across his shoulders and the world was crumbling away in the back of his eyes. I could see a fear in them that ripped at my soul. I was meant to protect him, and I could do nothing but make him scared right then.
“Sammy, I need you to get Mum out of the house and into Dad’s car,” I instructed him, keeping my voice as level as possible.
“Why? What’s your plan?” Sammy replied, standing in the doorway.
“Dad isn’t coming with us. He needs to stay here and rest. We will come back for him later when we are safe.”
Sammy stared down at Dad breathing laboured efforts and still flooding the pillow with a pool of sweat, his body already giving up on its existence.
“He’s dying, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” I answered with that unwanted truth.
I needed him to be bright and alert, doubting Dads survival would be a hindrance considering the country was under attack and Mum was getting on in years. Her mind already wandered and with our next move likely being critical for our survival, we need her as focused as possible.
“I will get Mum in the car, but if she asks, what do I tell her?”
I looked down at Dad, his eyes flickering inside the lids. Breaths audibly slowing.
“Tell her Dad is going to catch us up.”
“Okay,” Sammy replied, taking his leave, and heading to get Mum out of the picture.
I kissed Dad on the forehead and begged him for forgiveness. I left a water bottle and a screwdriver from my bag by his bedside table. I don’t know what he could do with the tool but leaving him defenceless if he woke up, felt exceptionally crueller. When I finally found my way downstairs, I saw Mum sitting peacefully in the front seat of Dad’s old car. She was tapping away on her phone, struggling to understand why she didn’t have any signal. Sammy was loading bags into the boot; he had been packing up the food and grabbed what looked like photo albums.
“You ready to go?” I asked Sammy as he slammed the boot closed.
“Yeah all set”
Just as he answered, and I flashed a painted-on smile at Mum, one of the loudest noises I have ever heard erupted near the home. Fire and shrapnel fell from the sky around us and the air grew thick with black smoke. Screams burst into a harrowing orchestra from a nearby home. Looking up, I could establish why. In the roof dispersing the slate tiles and wooden beams, a crater smouldering and burning had torn their home apart. Another colossal boom erupted. This time the missile screeched ear-piercingly close by overhead and slammed into the wood behind Mum’s house.
“Get in the car now!” I shouted across at Sammy, who stood staring with frozen fear at the burning trees.
“SAMMY!”
He snapped back into reality and jumped into the car behind Mum, still looking over his shoulder at the neighbour’s burning domicile.
“What’s happening?” Mum asked, tapping on the window, and waving me inside the car.
I ran and jumped in the driver's seat, snatched the keys out of Sam’s dangling palm and roared the old beaten-up ride into life. Mum was becoming upset, but I couldn’t help now. Sammy did all he could, but the poor lad was in shock himself. I span the car out of the drive and picked a location to head off in.
Smoke was everywhere, and the fire raged next door. It was all I could do to get us away from the area. I was suddenly very aware of the petrol tank, running low but likely enough to get us thirty or forty miles away. Assuming anywhere was safe, that could be enough.
“Please be enough.”
