New Title 1 by Shaun Jeffrey Page B

cold, she shivered.
    “More than a little I’d say. The scientists and weathermen said it was something to do with adverse atmospheric conditions and global warming. High pressure, low pressure, it was all double Dutch to me, I’m afraid. It’s something to do with living in a damp valley.”
    Chase shook her head. “Well, did they say how long it would be here?”
    “When can you ever get a straight answer out of people? Take doctors for example.” He grinned, his teeth ominously white in the glow of the moon.
    Chase forced a smile. “How long have you lived here?”
    “I was born here. Studied away, and then returned to open the surgery. Not a very exciting locale, but it has its moments. I couldn’t stand living in a city for the rest of my life.”
    “Don’t you get bored?”
    “I don’t have time to get bored. There’s always something to do, that’s the beauty of my job. Even when I’m not in the surgery, people approach me for advice with their ailments. Not that I mind. You have to expect it in a small, close knit community like this.”
    They walked in silence for a while. Although Chase felt comfortable with Adam, she was still on a learning curve, testing boundaries and gauging his character.
    “Why do you think my friend would leave without telling me?” Chase asked, eventually breaking the silence. She still couldn’t accept that Jane had just left.
    “I couldn’t really say. Ah, here we are, home sweet home.”
    Chase was going to invite him in for a drink – there were so many things she wanted to ask – but Adam was already turning away.
    “Have to rush. Just make last orders. See you on Monday. Don’t worry about an appointment. I’m sure I can squeeze you in. I’ll tell my receptionist to expect you.”
    She watched him walk down the path and onto the lane, leaving her in the ominous shadow of the house on Slaughter Hill.
     

CHAPTER 8
     
    “How could we have got so lost?” Izzy wailed.
    Ratty was just able to make her out in the fog, her dishevelled appearance making her appear vulnerable. He knew she was looking to him for answers, but he didn’t have any. He silently cursed his lack of insight. This was his chance to impress her, but he was as lost and baffled as she was.
    “People will be searching for us by now. Smitty and the others will have told them what happened. They will have search parties. Perhaps we should just stay where we are so they can find us?” Izzy said, lighting another cigarette.
    Ratty didn’t reply. He didn’t think their friends would have told anyone what had happened, because then they would have to admit where they had been, and then they would be in trouble. No, they wouldn’t do that. There was a great divide between teenagers and adults, and when you overstepped the line, shit happened. Ratty knew they wouldn’t cross the line, not when their own skins were at stake.
    For the last few hours, they had been following a large metal pipe through the fog, but when it suddenly passed through a wire fence, they lost their arterial lifeline. The fence was about seven feet high, and topped with barbed wire, so they couldn’t climb it.  
    “Now what?” Izzy said, exasperated.
    “Well, we’ll have to follow the fence. Come on, let’s go.” Ratty sounded braver than he felt. The fence was another part of the mystery. Was it to keep something in, or something out? Pulling Izzy after him, he decided to go left.
    The humming sound he’d heard during the night was now discernible again, a steady, throbbing buzz like an angry swarm of wasps hovering in the fog, waiting to strike. The thought made him apprehensive; perhaps Izzy was right and they should just stay where they were. Perhaps by walking deeper into the fog, they were only making things worse, getting more and more lost and making it harder for anyone to find them. But then he remembered the men with guns. No. It was up to them to get out by themselves. He didn’t want those men to