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After fighting for survival virtually every second of the way since the disaster had begun, a slice of good luck finally ca more than an unexpected chance A welcoain for just over an hour since leaving the cafe Michael had certainly been right about the isolation of the house in the woods as it had proved impossible to find It had taken them the best part of the last sixty minutes just to find the road which crossed the valley and their brief euphoria at finally seeiven way to desperation and ly endless, twisting roads along which they travelled were lined with tall trees which made it virtually impossible to see very far into the distance in any direction Irritation inside the van was rapidly

&039;This is bloody ridiculous,&039; Michael sighed &039;Therearound here soain with E directly behind She leant forward and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder He instinctively pulled away, annoyed and frustrated

&039;Cal hard to soothe her companion&039;s nerves despite the fact that her oere tattered and torn &039;Don&039;t worry, we&039;ll get there&039;

&039;Get where? Fucking hell, all I can see are trees I haven&039;t got a clue where we are We&039;re probably driving in the wrong direction&039;

&039;Got it!&039; Carl shouted

&039;Got what?&039; Michael snapped

Carl had been poring over the pages of a road atlas

&039;I think I&039;ve found where we are on the map&039;

&039;Well done,&039; he said sarcastically &039;Now can you find that bloody house?&039;

&039;I&039;,&039; he replied &039;It&039;s not easy I can&039;t see any landainst&039;

&039;So can you see any buildings round here?&039;

&039;Hold on&039;

Carl struggled to focus his eyes on thethrown fro route of the narrow road

&039;Anything?&039; Michael pressed impatiently

&039;I don&039;t think so,&039; Carl eventually replied &039;Look, can you slon a bit? I&039; trouble&039;

&039;Look, if you can&039;t find any buildings on this road,&039; the other rily, &039;do you think you could tell us how to get to another road that ht actually lead soain studied the map

&039;There&039;s not very much round here at all&039;

&039;Shit,&039; Michael cursed &039;There &039;

&039;Will you take it easy,&039; Eet there&039;

Michael thu the van around a sharp bend in the road He had to fight to keep control of the vehicle and then was forced to steer hard in the other direction to avoid driving into the back end of a car which had crashed into the hedge

&039;If I&039;ve got this right then we should reach another bend in the road soon,&039; Carl said, sensing that they needed some definite direction &039;Just after the bend there&039;s a junction Take a right there and we&039;ll be on a main road in a couple of ood&039;s a s on&039;

&039;And I&039; hell, do you want to swap places &039;cause all you&039;ve done is criticise everything I&039;ve tried to&039;

&039;Bend cou down at all Michael steered round the sharp turn

&039;Okay, here&039;s the junction,&039; he said &039;Was it right or left here?&039;

&039;Right&039; Carl replied He wasn&039;t completely sure but he didn&039;t dare admit it He turned the ain

&039;You&039;re positive?&039;

&039;Of course I&039;ht&039;

Seething with anger and not thinking straight, in the heat of the moment Michael screwed up and turned left

&039;Shit,&039; he hissed under his breath

&039;You idiot, what the hell did you do that for?&039; Carl screao, I tell you, and then you go in the opposite bloody direction Why bother asking? Why don&039;t I throw this fucking book out of the ?&039;

&039;I&039;ll throw you out of the fucking ,&039; Michael threatened He became quiet as the road narrowed draested E to be able to turn the van around here&039;

The width of the road narrowed alarly, and the tarmac beneath their wheels became potted and uneven

&039;What the hell is this?&039; Carl de us down a fucking dirt track!&039;

Rather than stop and admit defeat, Michael instead sla the van up a sudden steep rise The front right wheel clattered through a deep pothole filled with dark rain water which splashed up, showering the front of the van He switched on the wipers to clear the lass, they instead did little ht across his field of vision, reducing his already limited visibility further still

&039;There,&039; he said, squinting into the distance and looking a little further down the track &039;There&039;s a clearing up ahead I&039;ll try and turn round there&039;

It wasn&039;t so th of track where there was no hedgerow on one side and where there had once been a gate into an adjacent field Michael slowed the van down to alear

&039;Wait!&039; Carl shouted &039;Down there!&039;

He pointed through a gap in the trees on the other side of the road Michael again used the wipers to clear the windscreen

&039;What?&039; he asked, a little calmer now that they had stopped

&039;I can see it,&039; Emma said &039;There&039;s a house&039;

Michael&039;s tired and wandering eyes finally settled on the isolated building He turned and looked at both Carl and Emma

&039;What do you think?&039; Carl asked

Rather than bother to answer he instead slaain and sent the van flying down the track Like a runner suddenly in sight of the finishing line there was a new found energy and steely deter body appeared from the darkness of the trees at the side of the track (only the fifth they&039;d seen since leaving the cafe) and wandered into the path of the van His reflexes slowed by fatigue, Michael yanked the steering wheel to the left and swerved around the e on the other side For a fraction of a second he watched in the rear view h the undergrowth on the other side, completely oblivious to the van which had just thundered past,it by inches

Michael forced the van over another slight rise Once over the top the survivors had a clear view of the building in the near distance The track which they were following led directly to the front door of the large house

&039;Looks perfect,&039; Emma said softly

The uneven road beca entle arc and then crossed over a little hue itself spanned the width of a gentle stream which meandered down the hillside

&039;It&039;s a farm,&039; Carl mumbled with remarkable perceptiveness as they passed an abandoned tractor and plough

&039;Can&039;t see any ani out loud