Global Cooling (The Time Bubble Book 2) by Jason Ayres

Author:Jason Ayres [Ayres, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chapel Street Press
Published: 2014-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen – 21st October 2029 (7.00am)

Charlie was exhausted. He had been driving most of the night to get to the port.

It had taken them until 4am to reach Dover. The snow had continued to fall off and on all night. They had crawled around the M25, almost getting stuck completely at one point where a lorry had jackknifed, blocking two lanes. Eventually they made it to the M20, which was just about passable, and made their way slowly onwards.

Around midnight, Kaylee had suggested that they stop at some services near Ashford, and get a hotel for the night but Charlie was determined to press on. They had been listening to the radio ever since leaving Gatwick and there were some real horror stories beginning to emerge.

As far as they could tell, Scotland and the North of England were more or less completely cut off. Figures such as 18 inches of snow were being quoted, with drifts of over a metre. Electricity lines had been brought down in several areas, leading to power cuts, and there were numerous reports of fallen trees.

“We have to keep going,” Charlie had said. “If we stop now, we might never get started again.”

And so they had struggled painfully on to the end of the M20. The last few miles were the toughest of all, made worse by the very real possibility that they might run out of fuel.

Charlie was glad he’d chosen a hybrid car rather than a purely electrical one. If it hadn’t been for the full tank of petrol he’d put in, they would never have made it. Even so, all those miles crawling along in first and second gear had left the needle hovering dangerously close to empty.

When they got in sight of the port they joined a long queue of cars waiting to board the ferry. Clearly a lot of other people had had the same idea as them. The first sailing of the day wasn’t due to leave until 6.40am, so he switched the engine off and took the opportunity to grab a couple of hours’ sleep.

Kaylee was already asleep: the long day had taken its toll on the pregnant girl.

He was awoken a couple of hours later by a horn beeping behind him. They were on the move again. He switched on the engine and began the crawl towards the ferry terminal. Progress was slow and it became clear quite quickly that they were not going to make it onto the first ferry.

Then came the moment Charlie had feared. About a quarter of a mile from the ferry, the engine died. They were out of fuel.

“What now?” asked Kaylee.

“We’ve no other option,” replied Charlie. “We abandon the car and walk.”

“We can’t just leave it here, can we?” she asked.

“I don’t see why not. We must have passed a hundred abandoned cars since we left Gatwick. What’s the worst that could happen? They tow it away? That’s if they can even get a tow truck down here, which I doubt.

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