As the Light Dies (15 page)

With no choice in the matter they got to it as the passengers voiced their complaints blaming Eddy for not concentrating hard enough. Gavin jumped out again happily leaving Eddy to deal with them and directed him back walking along by the back of the bus and calling directions back to Eddy.

Eddy only managed to reverse two and a half bus lengths before they bogged down.

The passengers were not amused!

Gavin tried scraping snow away from around the wheels with his feet but it was no good, the bus was completely stranded
.“
Do
n’
t bother
,”
said Eddy
,“
yo
u’
re wasting your time.
I’
ll try calling the garage, the
y’
re gonna love me
.
”

Gavin was just brushing himself down before getting back on when he heard the sound of a clunky diesel engine somewhere nearby, and it sounded like it was getting closer! Minutes later a farmer appeared through the murky snow in his old tractor.

He was out doing the rounds, checking his livestock. Eddy could not believe their luck. The farmer had some old rope in his cab and it worked a treat pulling them back up the road all the way to the turn off the
y’
d missed which turned out to be quite far. Gavin took up directing duties again walking alongside the two vehicles calling out directions when he needed to until eventually they reached the fork and Eddy got the bus facing the right direction. Gavin unhooked the rope, looped it up and took it back to the farmer
.“
Thanks again bud
,”
said Gavin
,“
I thought we were totally fucked then
.”
The farmer chuckled
,“
You wer
e
totall
y
fucked
,”
he said
.“
There aint gonna be any traffic out this way for a while now
.
”

Gavin nodded
,“
Well, cheers
,”
he said, then as he was about to leave he said
,“
Oh, just before you go, I do
n’
t know if these are your fields around here
,”
Gavin waved his arm in the general direction where the
y’
d been stranded thinking about the bull.

“
Yep the
y’
re all mine, why
?
”

“
Well I walked down the road a bit trying to see where we were and there were some really strange noises coming from the field, I tried to see what was going on and there was a huge bull lying on the ground and it looked all mashed up
!
”

“
What do you mean all mashed up
?
”

“
Well the gate was all banged up like the bull had been ramming it or something, you know, and it was just lying there with bad cuts on its...
.
”

“
AH SHIT!”
said the farmer
,“
damn things probably gone daft like my fucking sheep! The
y’
re all actin
g
weird
!
Well, the ones that aint dead at least, the same as the milking cows. Hell, even the fucking chickens are going daft! This ash will be the end of the farm, I tell ya.
I’
ll go and check on him though. Thanks
.
”

The farmer slammed his cab door and started off down the lane in a hurry. Gavin watched as the tractor disappeared through the dirty snow belching out clouds of black diesel fumes in its wake
.
“Well,
”
said Eddy
,“I’
m glad you could join us. I was about to start rolling without you. Thought that might get your attention
.
”

“
Yea sorry I was just telling the farmer about a dead bull I saw in one of the fields
.
”

“
A dead bull eh! Probably the ash, i
t’
s been all over the news about the animals dying, i
t’
ll cripple the farmers
.
”

Gavin nodded and they started moving again.

They rolled along slowly down the narrow country lanes through blizzard conditions. There was no- one else to pick up, the eight passengers they did have on board apart from one had all come from Inverness having gone in to stock up like the news told them to and half of the bus was full with their shopping. All of them were going to the end of the line.

Gavin thought it was quite amusing, he told Eddy that he thought there was a crate of bottled water on one of the seats that did
n’
t have a ticket. Eddy only responded with
,“
Huh
,”
from his hunched position over the steering wheel peering through the windscreen at the murky abyss trying to concentrate. The passengers all seemed to know each other in one way or another.

Probably comes with living in a small town out in the sticks
,
thought Gavin as he listened to them chatting to each other.

So and so was pregnant, and so and so had a new job, oh and so and so had a new car and none of them could understand how they could afford it.

He turned and looked out the window at the grey mess amazed by it all as it continued to darken as if someone was turning down a dimmer switch. He found it exciting even though he knew he probably should
n’
t with all the problems over in Europe but it was all just so bizarre.

Then Eddy brought him crashing back down to earth telling him he hoped they did
n’
t lose power out here like the news said was happening over in Norway and wherever else affected by the power cuts.

“
If the military ca
n’
t keep their vehicles running
,”
he said
,“
then w
e’
ve got no chance with the maintenance these buses get
!
”

One of the passengers overheard him, an old plump woman that looked like she was wearing every single piece of clothing she owned and she told him to be quiet or h
e’
d jinx them.

Another passenger, an extremely skinny man seemed to get very anxious at the idea and started re checking his shopping with shaky hands for what seemed to Gavin like the twentieth or even thirtieth time. They continued on and after awhile the passengers ran out of things to chat about and the bus fell silent. Gavin ate a sandwich h
e’
d bought in town waiting for Eddy and wished he had another when he finished it; he was starving after all the traipsing through the snow, he pulled out a timetable and checked it keen to see how late they were running after their hold ups.

It was nearly three in the afternoon and they were meant to be leaving Inverness again in five minutes having already done this run and had a fifteen minute break!

“
What time do you think w
e’
ll get finished Eddy
?”
he asked
.“
You know with us running so far behind and that
?
”

“
I think this will be our last run out Gavin, I ca
n’
t see us having to do another run, not with us being so late now,
I’
ll try calling the garage again when we reach Fort Agustus. I could
n’
t get them last time I tried.
I’
ll see what they want us to do, either way w
e’
ve still got to get back to Inverness eh
.
”

Gavin nodded and sat back as they carried on and after a short while Gavin felt a chill beginning to crawl over him and he shivered. He asked Eddy to turn up the heat but Eddy said it was already on full
!“I’
m feeling the cold as well Gav
,”
he said
,“
and
I’
ve got the cab heaters directed right at me.

I’
ve got a bad feeling that the heaters might be packing up
!
”

The old plump woman piped up again
.
“See”
,
she said
,“
tha
t’
s your fault, yo
u’
ve jinxed us, the heaters stopped working and next the bus will stop working. Get your foot down and get us down this road before it does
.
”

“
Do
n’
t worry missus
,”
said Eddy
,“
ther
e’
s enough of you on board to push
!
”

He said it playfully but Gavin could hear the tension in his voice.

Glimpses of hedgerows and dry stone walls became fewer and further between, the snow was overpowering everything and the snow in turn was being overpowered by the ash. There were no odd white specks in the dark, almost black snow. Everything that was visible looked dirty, it looked bleak
.
Might as well not have windows
,
thought Gavin and he rummaged through his rucksack hoping to find some food. He did
n’
t. He had a handful of dust masks and two bottles of water, one half empty. The masks were a good find though; the previous ones h
e’
d been using that Dean gave him were already past it, clogged up and black instead white.

Suddenly Eddy said
,“
Thank God for that
!
”

“
Wha
t’
s up
?”
said Gavin looking up
.“
W
e’
re here, w
e’
re in Fort Agustus. W
e’
ll be heading for home in five
.
”

The plump woman piped up
,“
Yo
u’
re right. Thank God
,”
she said then she started gathering up her shopping, all twelve bags of it.

Gavin felt Eddy slowing them down but he still could
n’
t see anything outside. For all he knew they were in the middle of a field.

The rustle of plastic shopping bags filled the bus as the passengers started getting ready eager to get home. The skinny, anxious man literally ran to the front of the bus banging his shopping off the end of the seats as he hurried down the aisle, making sure he was first in line to get off. While he waited at the front between Gavin and Eddy he did
n’
t say a word to either of them, he just stared straight ahead. Finally Gavin saw houses come in to view and realised where they were. They were on the High Street. The street was dark and eerie looking, all the street lamps they passed were either dim, flickering or off.

“
Looks like you guys have got problems with your street lights
,”
said Eddy.

“
Oh I hope it is
n’
t the start of them power cuts
,”
said the plump woman as she struggled with her last few bags.

“
Na
h’
the
y’
ve probably only just come on early because of the ash confusing the censors
,”
said the guy they picked up at the end of the country lane.

“
Oh I hope so
,”
said the woman and then a guy wearing a high visibility jacket along the queue said
,“
I think it is you know. Look at the houses and the corner shop, not one has a light on
!
”

The woman mumbled something under her breath then said
,“
The corner shop will be closed, they ran out of stock the day before yesterday
,
”

Then Eddy stopped the bus. The
y’
d finally made it.

As soon as Eddy opened the door the skinny guy took off and disappeared out of sight.

“
My God I ca
n’
t see anything
,”
said the next person that got off and then Gavin hopped off to help an old lady down and he was taken aback by how thick and black the snow had become. He stayed there to help the others down, some did
n’
t want help but ended up needing it anyway as they stumbled or slipped, pulled off balance by all their shopping. The last one off was a little old man with only one shopping bag, he thanked them both and wished them both a safe journey back to Inverness and then he disappeared.