Endurance

T. J.
Blake
was born in Guildford, England and is
currently living in Surrey.

Endurance
is his first
novel.

To keep updated
and find out more about

T. J.
Blake
, visit his personal blog
page:

http://tjblakeauthor.wordpress.com/

ENDURANCE

T. J.
Blake

Copyright ©
2013 T. J. Blake
Smashwords Edition

All rights
reserved.

ISBN:
9781301094400

Part
1

1

A man sat
slumped with his back against the wall, injured and staring at the
last flickering light, at a vandalised station on the London
Underground; the bricks and tiles scattered across the floor. The
bloodstained walls have made it unrecognisable. No one else was
around. He sat in the corner of the stop, deeply hidden within the
shadows. The entrance was barricaded with collapsed concrete and
bricks. Specks of dust floated down from the ceiling onto the
ground and covered the man in a sheen of white. Complete silence
was occasionally interrupted by loud screams from above, mostly
from women and children. As the screaming stopped, murmuring and
deep roars began. The sounds were not completely clear, but
resembled a heavy smoker clearing his throat.

The man
emptied his pockets; a wallet was all he had; it contained only a
bank card and driving licence. Tom was thirty-years old, with
roughed-up black hair and stubble on his face. He wore a suit that
had seen better days. His shirt was covered in blood and there was
a deep gash on his shoulder, with blood trickling slowly down and
further staining it. As he stared at his driving licence, he
inhaled and exhaled wearily, and mentally went over the events
leading to his current circumstances...

Today’s been
hard. How could a day go from being so good to so fucked up so
fast? I don't even know what's going on anymore. How am I going to
get help?

Tom slowly
rose. Dust fell from him, creating a smoky atmosphere. He choked.
In pain, he clutched his injured leg, fell into the wall and slid
onto the ground.

Blood
dribbled from a wound on his leg; it had been oozing blood for some
time now. Trying to shake off the pain, he slowly and carefully
pushed himself upright.

Breathing
heavily, he used all the strength in his legs and balanced first on
his left foot and then his right, testing the strength to ensure
the limbs would bear his weight. He began to limp toward the
blocked exit. Tom moved some of the debris. After a few moments, he
kicked the barricade in frustration as he realised it was
completely blocked with monstrous pieces of concrete that would
require heavy equipment to move.

He knew there
was no choice but to walk through the tunnel to the next stop in
search of a clear exit. The thought of this journey into the dark
with no light at all to assist him sent a shiver down his spine,
his palms began to sweat and the hairs on his neck stood on end. He
stepped off the platform, onto the tracks, and stared weakly into
the gaping black maw of the tunnel. Tom took a cautious step toward
the darkness. He was shaken when he heard a scream echo through the
blackness. It sounded like a grown man. He took one step; followed
by another. Then yet another step, until he stumbled into something
on his left side. He knelt cautiously, trying to protect his
injured leg as much as possible. He leaned forward, squinting to
make the best of the feeble light. Tom saw that he’d tripped over
the corpse of young man, who seemed to be in his early twenties. He
wore a green polo shirt and blue jeans, soaked in blood. The
clothes clung tightly to his physique. His arm was covered in
blood, with deep scratches all over it; the entire arm had a
strange, lumpy, chewed look.

The bile
climbed into Tom’s throat; he vomited violently and fell onto his
hands and knees.

Screams faded
into the distance, but Tom attempted to block them from his mind.
He stared at the filthy train tracks; the musky scent of the tracks
and the smell of the rotting corpse overwhelmed his senses, making
him nauseous. Tom continued to focus on the dust-filled tracks. He
watched the clumps of dust rolling from his knees, past his hands
toward the tunnel, blown by a breeze that entered the stop behind
him.

He placed his
palms on the grimy wall and pulled himself to his feet. He stepped
away from the wall and stood upright, facing the tunnel. Clenching
his shaking fists, he began to walk toward the tunnel. As he
stumbled past the corpse, the shadows wrapped around him; dragging
him in. He disappeared into the darkness…

2

It was sunny
in London at Jubilee Gardens; the sun glistened off the river
Thames and the surrounding buildings. The London Eye gleamed from
the rays. The grass was green with no dead, yellow, dried grass in
sight. The Thames was dark blue with boats cruising along the river
and seagulls fluttering around the water.

Tom Williams
and his long-term girlfriend, Anna Reid, sat on the green grass
having a picnic. Her straight, smooth, shoulder length hair shone
in the sun as she tossed her head to look at Tom. Her dark brown
eyes sparkled with hidden mirth as she gazed at him. He reached
down to stroke her soft, pale skin and touched her peachy lips
lightly with his; she blessed him with an elegant smile. She wore a
knee length red dress, brown boots and brown-tinted
sunglasses.

'Can we see
that new romantic film tomorrow in the cinema to mark our five-year
anniversary?”

'Yes, I
suppose we can, now I’m unemployed I’m free non-stop,' Tom
sighed.

'Oh, Tom,
don’t worry, we’ll find you something soon, I guarantee
it.'

'I don’t
know. There are no jobs around here,” Tom chuckled, “I’m a bit
nervous about ever finding anything.'

'I know, Tom,
but it will get better and you’ll find something and when you do,
everything will be great.' Anna held Tom’s hand. 'Come on, let’s
eat, I’m starving,' Anna said.

After eating
their fill of the lunch of fried chicken, pasta salad, and tiny
pastries for dessert, Tom and Anna lay down, gazing into the clear
blue sky. The sun dominated the sky and shone brightly on them and
everything around them. A light breeze floated through the gardens.
The trees danced and the grass swayed from side to side.

Tom turned
onto his stomach and ran his hand through Anna’s soft glossy hair,
‘What do you want to do now?’

Anna rolled
onto her stomach and looked at Tom, ‘I don’t know.’ She stroked
Tom’s wiry black hair and moved down his bristly face, over his
cheeks, to his chin and back the way she came.

‘
I’ve got to
go back to work soon, I only have five minutes of the lunch hour
left, so we should probably make our way back.’ Anna stood, brushed
the grass off her dress and grabbed her bag. She pulled out her
mobile, checked the time, and then threw it back into her bag.
‘Come on you.’

Tom stood and
brushed the grass off his jeans and his navy blue and white checked
shirt.

They left
Jubilee Park and walked along the side of the River Thames, holding
hands, talking, and joking around, until they arrived at the front
of the fruit and vegetable shop where Anna worked.

Outside
serving the customers, was a middle-aged, slightly overweight man.
He saw Tom and nodded; Tom returned the nod and looked at
Anna.

‘
See you
later, baby. I’ll meet you here; then walk you home, if you
like?’

‘
That’d be
nice, Tom. Thanks.’ Anna smiled and wrapped her arms around Tom’s
neck. As she did, Tom got a waft of her sweet perfume. ‘See ya,
Tom, I love you.’

‘
Bye, I love
you, too.’

Anna stared
at Tom and smiled. When she smiled, her slightly freckled nose
crinkled. She kissed his lips, loosened her grip, and released
him.

She skipped
to the shop, turned at the entrance, waved, blew Tom a kiss then
walked inside.

3

Tom arrived
at the home he shared with three roommates. He walked through the
front door and corridor. The corridor and sitting room floor were
covered with a soft, bouncy, green carpet. The walls downstairs and
upstairs on the landing were a soft cream colour.

With every
step, the floor boards under the carpet gave a loud
screech.

‘
Anyone home?
Tom shouted. He heard a muffled voice from the sitting room. Tom
entered to find one of his house mates, Stewart, lying on the sofa
with his legs crossed together on its arm, watching the Jeremy Kyle
Show.

‘
You alright
Tom, any luck with a job yet?’

‘
Nothing yet,
still on the lookout. Something should come up soon. Got anything
planned today?’ Tom began to smile; ‘Apart from watching The Jeremy
Kyle show of course.’ Tom sat on an armchair to the right side of
the sofa.

‘Nah, mate
nothing today, just chilling and that, you?’

‘
Well, seeing
Anna again later. Tomorrow is our five-year anniversary of being
together so I’m taking her to a posh place to eat and then to the
cinema. I think I might propose to her.’ Tom grinned.

‘
Whoa, wait a
second.’ Stewart paused. ‘You’re proposing? For that you need a
ring, pal, and some money while you’re at it.’

‘
I’ve got a
ring. I do have some money, you know, I had a good ICT job being a
designer. It paid well; but obviously I need a job to keep my money
topped up before I lose it all.’

‘
That’s a big
step, mate, but I wish you the best.’ Stewart rose from his cocoon,
pulled Tom out of his chair and shook his hand firmly. ‘Your dad
would be proud.’

Tom felt
himself welling up and quickly moved toward the door. ‘Cheers,
going to go in the attic right quick just to look at the bit of
Dad’s stuff that I kept. Where are Dan and Lucy?’

‘
They’re both
at work, and won’t be back till later.’

‘
Alright. See
you in a bit.’

Tom walked
out of the sitting room and up the creaky stairs. He got to the top
and looked up at the entrance to the attic. He carried a stepladder
from a walk-in cupboard and set the ladder underneath the entrance.
He climbed the ladder and pushed the attic hatch open and pulled
himself into the darkness. Once inside, Tom switched on the light,
attached to part of the wooden scaffolding. Specks of dust and a
musty smell welcomed him.

He stepped
across the wooden structures to the other side of the room to an
open box, where all of his father possessions were placed. Using
his palm to wipe the dust off the photos, Tom looked longingly at
the pictures of his dead family. Of the three people in the photo –
him, his mom, and his dad , he was the only one still living. He
set the photos aside and looked at the cassette recorder his father
loved and once used to play his music. The player impressed Tom as
a child because it also had the capability to communicate with
others through a radio frequency.
Next, Tom picked up an article about his father’s death. The
headline read “Murder Mystery.”No one knew why Tom’s father, Ken
Williams, was killed or who murdered him.

Ken Williams
was a physicist working with a very specialized and top secret
experiment for his company; this made him unique in his job. He was
shot to death in his own lab. There were no CCTV cameras working at
the time. There was no known reason for him to be killed. There had
been no new developments in his murder case. Tom put the paper back
in the box. Thinking about his father’s death made him depressed
and reflective.

Tom’s mother
died of cancer when he was very young. Tom never really knew his
mother, Sarah.

Ken and Sarah
had gone away on holiday to Rome, knowing that she didn’t have long
to live. Ken returned home a week after they’d left and broke the
news to family and friends that she had passed away while in
Italy.
The people closest to Tom were his girlfriend Anna, and his
housemates Stewart, Dan and Lucy. These folks were as close to
family as he had. Some days the loneliness hit him like a brick in
the head. It was painful in its all-encompassing blackness. Tom
left the attic in a much darker mood than when he’d entered
it.