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CHAPTER ELEVEN


Amy was the first one up in the morning. It was light. She looked at the time on her phone. It was six-fifteen. She hadn’t slept long. The others were still fast asleep. They had been up quite late last night so she let them sleep.

Amy scrambled out of bed and put her slippers on. She began sorting out which clothes to wear. She had brought several things with her because she wasn’t sure what she’d need. In the end, she settled on her jeans again. She recalled Melanie’s revelation the previous night. If she was going out to the shed, she wanted protection from the nettles. If Melanie was right, they had breakfast and lunch sorted. And then some. With a camping stove, they could even boil water for washing in.

She changed out of her pyjamas and into her clothes very quickly and swapped her slippers for her shoes. She sat on the side of the bed, waiting for the others to stir. Normally, she wouldn’t be up this early on a Saturday morning but this weekend was special.

She remembered last night and looked over at the wardrobe. She went over to it. The door was firmly closed. She opened it. Inside there were a few items of men’s clothes on a rail: shirts, jackets, trousers, ties, the usual stuff. She guessed they were Edward’s. She was amazed that she hadn’t looked in the wardrobe before now. In fact, until last night, she hadn’t really noticed it at all. It was just part of the room.

She looked further inside. It was quite spacious. The fact that there were not many clothes in it probably made it look bigger than it was but she couldn’t resist stepping inside it. She moved the clothes to one side and was about to take a step when...

“Ames?” It was Melanie, peeping out of her sleeping bag. “You up already?” She used her hand to stifle a yawn.

Amy turned round and smiled at her friend. “Morning,” she said. She closed the wardrobe and went back over to the bed.

Becky was just starting to stir and, within a few minutes, Kirsty too returned to the land of the living.

The girls got up and started to dress. Becky and Kirsty found their jeans in their luggage and put those on.

“I suggest two of us go out to the shed and see what’s there.” Amy looked at Melanie. “You know where it is, Mel. I’ll go with you.”

“What about us?” Kirsty said.

“You two stay here...”

“With a zombie on the loose?” Becky screamed.

“There is no zom...” Amy remembered her experience during the night. Was it a dream? Or...

“I’ll take my phone,” Melanie said. “If we need any help carrying stuff, I’ll give you a call.”

“Yeah,” Amy added, “You two can play with the dolls.”

Just before she and Melanie went out onto the landing, Amy slipped out her remote control for the camcorder and before she closed the door, she furtively pointed it at the bookcase and pressed the ‘START’ button. She wondered what Kirsty and Becky might get up to while they were alone.

At the bottom of the stairs, Amy glanced at the pile of old newspapers. She might look through them later. She and Melanie went out through the back door and Melanie pointed out the shed.

It was not the stereotypical wooden shed; it was apparently made of metal panelling. It was partially covered with overgrown shrubs but there appeared to be no windows. The door was also made of metal and there was a heavy-duty catch on it but no lock.

They went in and Amy was amazed at what she saw. Although there were no windows, it was quite light inside.

Amy started to rootle through the contents of the shed. There were boxes containing all sorts of stuff: camping equipment, including a portable calor gas stove with gas canisters, lots of tinned food, lots of bottled water, saucepans, cutlery, even several first aid kits. There was everything you could need in an emergency.

“What’s it all doing here?” Amy said to Melanie, without looking at her. “It’s like a stockpile. Someone was definitely expecting an emergency.”

“Edward?” Melanie suggested. “If he couldn’t get out to...”

Amy shook her head. “I doubt if he could even get out here.” She picked up a tin and looked at it. “Baked beans,” she said. She looked at another. “Sliced peaches in syrup.”

“Let’s hope there’s a tin opener,” Melanie said, picking up a tin of beans.

“Anyone this organised is not going to forget something as basic as that,” Melanie said.

“Hang on, Ames,” Melanie said, “Have you seen the cut-off dates on these?” She read from the can: “Best before November nineteen eighty six.”

“It should be okay,” Amy said, checking another tin. “As long as it hasn’t been opened. In a sealed tin, food can last for decades. It only goes off once the air gets to it.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Melanie said, putting the tin back down.

“Just take what we need for now,” Amy suggested. “Find the tin opener and take a few tins of food and some water.” She pointed to the camping stove. “And the stove. You still got your matches?”

Melanie nodded. “Yeah, and more candles.”

“We can boil water for washing and freshening up, then get some breakfast. What do you fancy?”

“Melanie picked up a tin of corned beef. “How about corned beef and baked beans?”

“Sounds good.” Amy said, sliding a box to the side so that she could reach one behind it. “Let’s have a good look first though. See what other goodies we can find.”


To be continued soon, but, just to clarify things, the next chapter follows Kirsty and Becky’s goings-on after Amy and Melanie left the room, so it will run PARALLEL with the chapter you’ve just read. We will return to Amy and Melanie in Chapter Thirteen.