by J Porteous
We had encountered no abandoned buildings for shelter, not even anything as simple as an old sheep shed. We were out in the open, and there was nowhere for us to hide from the elements. ‘We can start a fire,’ I said. ‘Chase off some of this cold at least. You two sit here, Jessica and I will gather some wood.’ I nodded to Jessica to follow. ‘The sooner we get a fire started the better.’
‘Be quick,’ Diego said, his voice weak. ‘Please.’
We wandered away from Felix and Diego. I tucked my hands in tight around myself; the icy night air stinging my bare skin. I pulled my scarf up around the face in an attempt to keep some warmth in me.
‘I don’t think Diego is very well.’
I looked down at Jessica, her own scrap of material covering her face. ‘I think you’re right,’ I said. ‘I don’t know if he can walk for much longer.’
‘Will the fire help?’
In all honesty, the fire was more for ourselves than Diego. It would help out, that was true, easing the cold from eating away at him, but there was little to comfort a broken bone. ‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ I said. ‘Take a look around, there’s got to be some firewood around here somewhere. And keep close, there’s no telling who’s out here in the dark.’
As the moon dipped behind the sporadic cloud cover, we searched the area for any kind of wood we could scavenge. A lot of what we found was buried beneath the snow, too wet for any use. I reached up to some of the lower branches of the nearby trees, snapping off anything which felt suitable.
I stopped occasionally to make sure we did not wander too far from Felix and Diego, their shadowy forms merging with the trees and brush they lay amongst. I could still make out slight movement from both of them, so the worst hadn’t happened to Diego yet.
I soon had a good bundle of dry wood in my arms. ‘Jessica, I think we should have enough.’ There was no answer. I looked around, trying to make out her small form in the darkness. ‘Jessica?’ She was nowhere to be found.
I dropped the wood I cradled in my arms and blundered through the darkness. ‘Jessica?’ The wind whistled through the stark outlines of trees, the moonlight shrouding everything in silver whenever it reappeared.
Ahead of me was a small incline, leading to a rocky outcrop. I clambered up it, in the vain hope that the elevation might give me an advantage in spotting the girl. I slipped as I scrambled up, fumbling around in the darkness for a foothold in the slushy mud. If she had slipped and fallen, unable to respond, she’d be dead by the time I found her in the morning.
I reached the top of the slope and froze. Ahead of me, on the edge of the rocky outcrop, was Jessica. She sat with her back to me, legs dangling over the edge. ‘Jessica, thank god.’ I clambered up the last bit and caught what mesmerised her.
In the distance was an amalgamation of lights; electric lights. Some were plain white, others bright neons and blinking. I stood slack-jawed, my eyes welling at the sight of something I never thought I’d see again. I’d hoped the rumours of the city were true, but the realist in me never got my hopes up of it being anything more than bullshit.
I snapped myself back into the current situation. I walked towards Jessica, her head not turning away from the distant lights. ‘I can’t believe it.’
Jessica did not take her eyes away from the lights. ‘Is that the city?’ Her voice stuttered from the cold.
I put an arm around her, trying to warm the girl up. ‘It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to one for a long time.’
She smiled, then turned to look at me. ‘I’m so cold.’
‘I know. We all are.’ I stood up and offered my hand out to her. ‘And if we’re cold, imagine how Diego and Felix are feeling.’
Jessica grasped hold of my hand and hauled herself up. ‘Did you find any wood?’
‘I did,’ I replied. ‘I just hope we can find it on the way back.’
I slung the pile of wood down at my feet and started to construct it into a fire big enough for us all to gather around. Jessica helped, finding stones to surround the bundles of branches and twigs.
‘I didn’t think you were coming back,’ Felix said. ‘You were gone so long. Can’t say I would have blamed you.’ The young man shivered with cold, even when bundled up against Diego.
‘I’m sorry it took so long,’ I said. ‘But we found it.’
‘It?’
‘The city,’ Jessica said, her smile audible through her voice.
Felix sat upright. ‘No fucking way. You’re serious, aren’t you?’
I placed another branch on the small pyramid which was emerging. ‘I’m serious. We’ve seen it. We’ll be there in a few hours come morning.’
Diego roused, his face drenched with sweat. ‘You’ve seen it? What does it look like?’
I looked up and smiled. ‘Like all the stars in the night sky.’
Diego laughed and wheezed. ‘Didn’t have you down as the poetic type, Gamekeeper?’
‘When you see something you never thought you’d live to see again, it tends to do that to you.’
Jessica stood up and spread her arms wide with pride. ‘There, ready to go.’
I nodded. ‘Well done. Now let’s get it started.’
Felix grasped my arm before I could light the fire. ‘Do you think it’s safe? You know, with those people out looking for us, and for her.’ He glanced at Jessica.
I pulled my arm free and set to work on the fire. ‘It’s either that or we freeze to death. There are some chances you’ve just got to take.’
Felix grunted a response and sat back down. ‘I suppose you’re right.’
‘Feel free to camp elsewhere if you don’t like it,’ I replied.
Felix grumbled slightly, but failed to move. Somehow, I thought that was going to be the case.
‘Let’s just get ourselves warm and get to the city in the morning,’ I said. ‘One problem at a time.’
Chapter Five
The progress made in the morning seemed to come at a snail’s pace. Even though none of us slept overly much, Jessica’s excitement burnt through her fatigue. She scurried excitedly ahead; although my stern warning of further traps curtailed her somewhat.
For myself, the beauty of the city at night dwindled as we stumbled ever closer. The beacon in the night had become a structure of dull grey in the day, and now that we were near the large main gates, it was evident that this city was a repurposed shopping mall.
A tall perimeter surrounded the old concrete shopping centre, a Frankenstein-mass of patched together corrugated iron sheets. In the midst of the imposing structure was a large swing gate, another, more person-sized, gate hewn near the centre of it.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Felix said, in between drawn out breaths. ‘I never thought I’d see something like this again.’
‘You should have seen it last night,’ Jessica said. ‘There were so many lights, it looked like a dream.’
Felix smiled at the large walls which greeted us. ‘Believe me, this is still like a dream to me.’
I walked up to the inner gate and banged my fist against the door. Felix lowered Diego down against the outer wall, both of them sinking to the ground in exhaustion. Jessica stood beside me, looking up expectantly as if the gates would swing open and reveal her father.
A window of metal dropped away, leaving two piercing blue eyes staring in its wake. They looked from me to Jessica, to Felix and Diego, to me again. ‘Citizen pass, please.’
Citizen pass? Must be what the woman that Felix told me about had. ‘We don’t have one,’ I said. ‘But I’ve got a girl, and one of them by the wall is injured-’
‘No pass, no entry,’ the man snapped, as if this wasn’t the first time he had said this today. ‘I’ll tell you what I tell everyone else. No pass, no entry.’
I glanced back at Diego, his face screwed up in agony. Felix had been forced to cut the boot from his painfully swollen foot, his naked foot somewhat disfigured and reddened. There was no way the man was going any further. ‘Please, we need help
.’
‘And I need to find my dad,’ Jessica said.
The man stared at Jessica for a moment, before turning his eyes back to me. ‘You need to pass for citizenship like everyone else. Bring up some electrical spares and you’ll get your citizen pass. You’ll need to bring something like it every month, or you get turfed out on your arse.’
‘Where am I meant to get something like that?’
A hand appeared along with the eyes, pointing further down the perimeter wall. ‘Old Oxford is that way, that’s where most of our citizens get their scraps. Don’t come back here without anything, or I’ll be telling you to fuck off a little harsher next time.’
With that, the panel slammed shut and was secured back in place, leaving myself and Jessica stood facing the closed gate. I looked down at her, a confused frown on her face.
‘Why didn’t they let us in?’ she asked. ‘Why didn’t they help us?’
‘Help is rarely free,’ I said. ‘We need something to pay them with.’
‘Are we going to the place the man said about?’
I shuddered at what the man suggested. I had not entered an old city since I had crept out of the quarantine in Gloucester all those years ago. Once the government had wiped the city from the map, there was no way I could have gone back even if I had wanted to.
Felix hobbled towards me, still short of breath. ‘Why aren’t they opening the gate? Aren’t they going to let us in?’
‘They need payment.’
Felix chewed his lip. ‘Payment? What kind? Haven’t you got anything in that bag of yours that they want?’
‘No,’ I replied. ‘They want electrical gear.’
Felix frowned, turning back to look at Diego. ‘But we’ve got injured? They can’t just leave us out here!’
‘They’ve got the walls and the gates, they get to set the price,’ I said. ‘If we want in, we’re going to need to get them what they want.’
‘And just how the fuck are we going to do that?’ Felix said. ‘Diego isn’t going anywhere soon, and my feet are starting to rub.’ He turned to the gate and hammered his fist against it. ‘Open up! Open up, you bastards! We’ve got wounded out here!’
I grasped Felix’s arm and pulled him away. ‘You’re not going to get anywhere or make any friends doing that.’
‘Then what are we meant to fucking do?’ Felix said, his voice creaking with exasperation.
I held his gaze for a moment, letting his anger dissipate. ‘I’m going to go get what they want.’
‘What? Where?’
‘Old Oxford.’
Felix’s eyes widened. ‘You’re not going to one of the cities? By yourself?’
I didn’t like the idea myself, but I didn’t see any other choice. Jessica believed her father was in there, and it seemed like the best chance of finding someone to look after her. If I died, well, it wouldn’t be for me to worry about any more. I shrugged. ‘If I have to.’
Felix paced before me, his boots churning up the already muddy ground. ‘Fuck. Fuck. I can’t leave Diego alone, but I can’t go anywhere else either. He won’t make it.’
I grabbed Felix firmly by the shoulders. ‘I’ll get enough for all of us. We’ll make it inside.’
Felix held my glare. ‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’
‘So do I.’ I turned to Jessica and knelt to her level. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded, then turned her eyes back to the large gate. ‘My dad’s in there, somewhere.’ Her eyes sparked with hope. ‘Do you think they’ll ask him to come to the gate?’
I sighed. ‘I don’t think they’re going to answer the gate until I bring something back for them.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘No, you won’t,’ I said. With this, I had to be firm. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
‘But what if it’s dangerous here, too?’
If? I almost laughed. ‘You’ve got Felix and Diego to look after you,’ I said. ‘They’ll keep you safe.’
‘I-’
‘I said it’s too dangerous,’ I replied, before she could even get the words out. ‘Stay here. I’ll be back before you know it, and you’ll be seeing your dad soon after.’
Those words seemed to placate her. ‘Okay.’ She wandered towards to where Diego was slumped, scuffing her shoes through the mud.
A hand touched my shoulder. ‘We’ll take care of her,’ Felix said, standing over me. ‘You know, if anything happens. I promise.’
I nodded. ‘It’s appreciated.’ I stood again, looking out in the direction which the man at the gate had pointed. If Old Oxford was out there, it was well hidden behind distant trees and hills. ‘Give me a day. Any longer than that, you’re going to have to find another place for help.’
Felix nodded. ‘Best of luck.’
‘Thanks.’ I’ll be needing it.
I rummaged through my rucksack, grabbing a couple of bottles of boiled water, and stuffed them into my coat pockets. I adjusted my shotgun, making sure it was neatly hidden, but easily accessible, and double-checked the two shells I had left. I pulled one into the light before loading it into the shotgun.
I secured my rucksack and dropped it beside Diego. ‘Take what you need from in there. It should keep you going until I’m back.’
Felix gave a thankful nod, casting a concerned eye over the sleeping Diego. Jessica sat beside him, watching me with worried eyes.
‘Be careful,’ she said.
‘You too. I’ll see you soon.’
As I wandered towards the edge of the wall, I wondered how much I believed that I would be seeing them soon. Even though the plague pits of the cities had lost their virulent nature, there was little telling what or who inhabited those old grave-buildings.
My walk took me past the large walls of the city, and on towards an old road. Given the lack of traffic to beat nature into submission, the greenery had reclaimed this once busy place. Weeds wormed their way up through the gaps they could find in the tarmac, while the bushes and trees, which had been previously been relinquished to the far edges of the road, now forced their way back with glee. Old cars lay rusted and choked with moss.
The road was long and tiresome, and soon the midday sun was high overhead, breaking through the clouds where it could. My paranoia itched, my mind begging me to get out of the road, but without knowing the area, I could have easily gotten lost off-road.
It wasn’t well travelled, but I had walked past the occasional wanderer; our gazes eyeing each other cautiously as we passed on as far the other side from each other as possible. One had been a man, skin leathered by years of sun, another a group of three people and a cart, hauling their trade to the city.
It was an hour or so until the old city loomed. The great tower of the cathedral perched above everything else in the city, high above the old containment walls which still surrounded the place. The old checkpoints which had secured the entrances to the city were derelict, the military staff which had manned them long gone.
As I paused to watch the remnants of the past, a sound came to me. It was distant on the wind, but it was a voice calling out from behind me. I turned back down the road I came to see a small shape running towards me, the sleeves of their jacket flapping around as they ran.
Jessica? Anger bubbled inside of me. I asked those idiots to look after her, and now she’s here?
The smile on her face was apparent as she came close. ‘Wait! Wait for me!’ She bounded up to me, lungs gasping for breath.
I grabbed her and shook her. ‘Do you realise how dangerous this is? I told you to stay!’
The smile broke and fell from her lips. ‘I wanted to come and help.’
‘And I want you to be safe,’ I said. ‘What happened to Felix and Diego?’
She shrugged. ‘They were both asleep.’
Can’t they do anything I fucking ask? I took a couple of deep breaths, reminding myself that my issue was with them, not with her. ‘Did you see anyone on the way? Did anyone talk to you or fo
llow you?’
Jessica shook her head. ‘I saw some people with a cart, but I hid as they passed. They didn’t see me.’
Relief washed over me. In retrospect, it was a stupid question. If anyone had seen her by herself, I doubt she’d be here talking to me now. Another wave of anger rose at the thought of Felix being so slack. I took a calming breath.
‘Well, you’re here now,’ I said. ‘And I’ve got to get us into that city somehow. Just keep close and do what I say, okay?’
‘Okay.’
We wandered towards the military checkpoint, the quarantine walls now rising high into the air.
Jessica looked up at them. ‘Do all cities have these big walls?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Or at least, they never used to.’
‘Why do they have them?’
From what I understood, Jessica had led a pretty sheltered life in the barn she had called home. ‘How much did your dad tell you about what came before?’
‘Not much, just that Mum died and then we moved away.’
‘Did your mother live at the barn too?’
‘No, Dad said she never made it there. It’s always just been me and him.’
‘So he told you nothing?’
Jessica chewed her lip. ‘He said that the world had gone bad, so we had to live away from it all.’
‘Your dad was right.’
‘Were the walls to keep the bad out?’
‘No,’ I replied. ‘It was to keep it in. People were getting sick, and it made them very ill. A lot of people caught it and they didn’t know how to stop it, so they made the big walls to keep all the ill people in.’
‘That doesn’t sound very nice.’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
The old checkpoint was just how I remembered: metal barriers, now broken bio-scanners, and gateways. The gates were wrenched open now, either by people going in to loot, or whoever was left after the bombings breaking their way out. Both thoughts nauseated me.
Jessica walked behind me through the old turnstiles, stepping over the abandoned equipment which littered the floor. She stopped as we stepped out onto the street. ‘It’s so big.’
The main road stretched out before us, burnt out cars and buses left where they were queued. Some of the fire-damaged buildings were missing their long-collapsed roofs, others remained relatively untouched; only their broken windows and doors betraying their abandonment.