Chapter 5: What Now?

It wasn't the question of if they would leave but how and when, the place they called their home-base was too cold too lonely and there was the issue of food and water so the question was "what next?" .

But what could they do with such limited options it's not like their was another camper van around the corner, the warehouse was the only thing for miles strangely. But they were determined to get to Australia on the other side of the seemingly suicidal world. 2 weeks went by and everyone didn't know what to do, Conor had been working on something huge but he never said anything about it, not once though he couldn't wait to reveal it and the next day he would. Conor had finally found the last part to the radio to boost it's signal and fixed it up sparking it to life as if by command it straight away connected to the emergency report and words crackled out...

[ ...INCOMING UPDATE THE LAST SET OF RESCUE HELICOPTERS WILL BE LEAVING IN 1 WEEK.... I REPEAT THE LAST SET OF RESCUE HELICOPTERS WILL BE LEAVING IN 1 WEEK PLEASE HURRY TO YOUR CLOSEST EVACUATION POINTS IMMEDIATELY AND DON'T... ]

The radio burst into flames sending shards at conor before another word could be said and left him with a permanent scar reaching across his face and left eye then clipping into his hairline on the right taking his part of his eyebrow with it as the fire burned out, it wasn't that bad a look but still wasn't the best as it gave him the look of a menacing fighter who had turned to brutality. Holly got to work fixing his face bandaging it up and Isabelle,by some miracle, shut Samuel up with his stupid eyebrow remarks; Jessie was simply lying with him as she herself had gotten burned in attempt to save him from the hell fire he'd created, it was nowhere as near as bad as Conor's burns and wouldn't leave a scar.

"What are we gonna do now the damn wound is infected I don't have the equipment or medicine to fix this on me!" - Holly

"Calm down i'll be fine... just need some rest..." - Conor

"No way it could spread to your brain you idiot we have to treat it now while it's still manageable" - Holly

Conor stood up obviously frustrated that everyone was so worried

"So wha.. what can we do now... what!" - paranoid Conor.

"Calm down!... I don't know but we have to do something maybe that hospital we passed on the way here could help us but no way of getting there in time..." - Holly

"use theThe... bus... " - Conor

But the sentence was never finished as his balanced wavered & collapsed without warning, Jessie was the first to scream out to him the rest - not including Samuel... - joined in shortly even the cat was moaning next to him in despair. This was a problem, not only because of the injury, bu because of the effect it would have on everyone, he was the only one with the technical know how to get them out of there, to keep them alive in fact, without him they had practically nothing.

They decided to hold a quick group discussion, not on whether to go somewhere but where to go to fix up Conor. Backwards and forwards the conversation went, mostly two options had been made - go back to the hospital which would probably take so long that the last helicopter would leave before or go to Littlehampton and get help from the evacuation staff but it was possible he wouldn't make it there or they wouldn't be able/want to do it both had a clear risk. It was either Conor or the way out soon they'd be in a relentless war zone, it was time to choose Conor or the way out. Finally after what seemed like hours of back and forth arguing they had decided -well everyone but Samuel- that they couldn't abandon Conor as he was probably the only reason they had gotten that far. Next was how, sure they knew where it was but they couldn't walk all the way let alone carry him there, they needed some form of transport a car, or even bikes but none of that was there but there was one thing holly had remembered his last words 'the bu' bunker? no He would have told them straight away... bus? but there was no bus insight except a sheet that had towered them, Conor had been tinkering at it for the past 2 weeks but no one else had seen, he was going to reveal it the following day but never got the chance and so without any hesitation Holly whipped the sheets down reveal what looked like...

A bus but without any seats inside, the bus was double Decker and would have made the motor home seem cramped.

"You work too damn hard Connor... " - Holly whispering

But was pleased with this as it meant a way of escaping their hell of a home. It would be an easy in and out operation now the trip would only take a day at the most - most streets were blocked either by gangs or by walls of death, rubble... Or both - leaving them 5 short days to reach Little Hampton, considering the state of the underpopulated world it could take them up to 4-5 days to get there and that's if a path there even exists. The next problem was whether it worked or not but without hesitation Holly climbed on to find a luxury-ish home presented to her with scavenged low class medical machinery set up, stoves and tv, though no signal, as well as a fridge and sofa at the back like that you'd see in a bar or diner, how he fit those in they didn't know and without there awareness too. The walls were decked with shelves in the places where the windows were covered. a corridor stretched the length of the bus's upper deck with 2 door engraved with signs one read 'girls room' the other 'boys room' separated for obvious privacy reasons of course (well mainly because of Samuel's weird... desires...). The floor had been replaced with laminate wood and patches of soft fur carpet; what kind of warehouse stores this variety of stuff they wondered. Jessie and Samuel hauled Conor on passing the driver's seat and placing him on the sofa, the driver's seat held what looked like a aliens cockpit with millions of labeled buttons not that the labels made it any easier to understand, there was a set of noise canceling headphones like the ones downstairs, why she didn't know (seriously though where would you even find those? ). It had a key ignition but no key she searched around but it wasn't there. She returned downstairs in hope that it was with Conor, so whilst Conor lie unaware of the invading fingers probing around his pocket a metallic sharp object gnawed at her fingertips her curious hands tug on it revealing what looked like some sort of boss level key from a game, none the less it was a key. She wished for it to work and slid it in with each piston grinding loudly and then twisted it right. The beast of an engine roared, obviously not belonging to the bus originally it may as well of been a dragster bus the buttons flickered to life. It was light a DJ desk but even that would have been easier to understand than this, at least it had normal semi automatic gears, so she could drive it. If it worked.

she turned off the engine and stepped off. one thing was seriously bugging her, where the hell Conor got the materials and stuff to make this and pull it off in 2 weeks! she looked around the warehouse searching for any indication of the  kinda stuff Conor would have had to obtain. she journeyed into the very back of the warehouse that was still grasped in darkness and found that this was not one single warehouse but multiple all attached, but why had Conor not told them of this? all the stuff there could've been a major help to them the past 2 weeks. Holly pondered on this but quickly came to the conclusion that he had a valid reason they shouldn't know about it he was always overprotective of them and so quickly left the area before his reasons came true. returning to the kitted out bus home.

To the world's surprise Samuel wanted to drive, he actually wanted to do something!!! It was more surprising than a baby being born then saying "hello mummy i'm your new son/daughter" and so out of shear bedazzlement they decided to give it a try. Big no.. HUGE mistake. As if the bus was rejecting his resistance, almost immediately he crashed as he'd put it in reverse, boxes full of Styrofoam, tech and cans of food showered them playing drums on its windows luckily not breaking them. Inside the cockpit things were going crazy due to Samuel frantic button pushing frenzy, the things inside the rest of the vehicle were no better, things were going berserk sirens and flashing lights were the most prominent thing sending everyone into panic. 

Silence. 

Samuel removed the key and the engine died and at that very moment Holly stormed the cockpit - that's what they named it - like how an army an army would storm a castle. 'escorting' Samuel from it's throne by the ear. She replaced his seat but Samuel kept insisting he drive only to be silenced by her monstrous stare that would make the infamous 'mum stare' seem comforting; her eyes would sharpen as if trying to find the soul in his eyes and then proceed to shatter it, her mouth slightly open as if saying "are you sure you wanna die right now...? cause I can arrange that... keep speaking I dare you"

As if he were facing Satan's spawn, which he might as well been due to her mother nickname, satana, he backed away, not daring to make sudden movements. A fiendish aura seemingly radiating from her soul, her attention returned to the alienated cockpit. She knew not which buttons caused their home to go insane but hoped it wouldn't happen a second time and with that thought radiating through her mind Holly slid the master key and turned it; the pistons grinding once more and allowed the key to twist for the third time. The deafening sound of the engine's long startup filled not only their new home but the whole warehouse  and probably the others too. Samuel, still spooked by Holly's 'demon stare', went with Jessie to pry open the large warehouse doors though only inch by inch and was a hard task to complete, the unnamed house on wheels slowly crept its way to the life threatening outdoors where their only hope to save Conor laid. The ride was surprisingly smooth even on the cracked lumpy roads, Holly wanted to ask why only to remember her brother was in a coma like state hooked up to her makeshift life support system that needed attention every 15 minuets or so. it was going to be a long journey to say the least.