Marcus agreed, but he wasn’t prepared to leave the pick-up in the middle of the road so he backed it up a little way up the road they had come down, Omar opened a gate that led into a farmers field, Marcus bumped over the ruts of the field. Hitting his head on the roof as he did so. He parked it drivers’ side parallel to a thick hedgerow, to make it invisible from the road. Scrambling over the front seats, he opened the glovebox, ejected his Motorhead cd and put it neatly back into its sleeve, in one of his many cd wallets, in alphabetical order, this one wallet titled, Le-Q, which varied from Led Zeppelin all the way to Queens of the Stone Age. He hoped out, onto the hard dirt, slid on his pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, he grabbed his rifle, opened his fuel cap and joined the others outside the gate.
They navigated through the maze of abandoned vehicles, they did not bother searching, as the people who had placed them here must have already stripped them clean.
Alex led the way, stopping every now and then, taking a knee and searching the area. They must have been spotted by now, they were on someone else’s turf, and they only had the word of one strange man that they would not get hurt. And they were armed, Alex had an assault rifle, as did Omar, after Seamus’s use of the gun the day before they had to share the bullets from Alex’s spare magazine. They would rather Alex have a full and a half than Omar having a full one. Hopefully, they would not need them at all. On top of that Marcus had his rifle, and he was in possession of the Kimber. Leaving the one Glock back at the gibbet. They could easily give the wrong impression.
They strolled to the end of the road, a small roundabout stood before them, one of those unnecessary roundabouts which were just painted on the road, which would have been just as easy to be a T-junction. A post had been constructed, a metal pole in the middle of the roundabout. Chained to the pole was one of the dead, groaning and trying to pull away from its restraints. Marcus stepped forwards, billhook in hand, he swung back.
An arrow, landed in the dead persons face right through the eye socket, Marcus was startled, as was the others, they started scrambling to take cover, wherever they could.
Marcus looked to see where the arrow had come from. On the roof of a building, that was hidden in the trees. Stood a man, holding a recurve bow, like a bow used by a competition archer.
“I wouldn’t stand there!” he yelled at Marcus; Marcus scurried to get out of his line of sight. He managed to hunch down behind a small green electricity box.
“Or there” the man said again.
Marcus looked up to see another Archer on top of another building.
Drew stepped out with his hands in the air out onto the roundabout. He instructed the others to put their weapons down, stepping into the line of fire he addressed the two bowmen on the roof.
“We are not here to cause any harm” he said gingerly “We were told of a settlement near here, we are seeking help” trying to edge his bets “Seeking shelter” the bowman who had fired lowered his bow.
“Who sent you?” he asked, “The knights?” The man demanded.
“No not at all” Drew shook his head vigorously “Some stranger, up at a place called Coombe gibbet?” he answered questioningly.
This took the man’s attention, he seemed a little agitated, in his body posture.
“The Warlock?” he asked “How do you know the Warlock? What have you done to him?”
The man raised his bow once more. Drew put his hands back up and beckoned Paul over.
“This man here” he pointed to Paul “He took us to him, he knew him, he saved his life before” Paul nodded along to confirm the story.
The bowman lowered his bow again.
“I guess you are Paul?” the bowman said
Paul was staggered, he looked at Drew bewildered, the confusion was shared by the others, Omar stepped forward from where he was taking cover.
“Yeah that’s right” Omar said, “How do you know that?” he looked to Paul suspiciously. “Do you know these people?”
Paul responded in the negative. He had no idea who the man holding the bow was.
“The Warlock told me about him” the man informed “Said he saved him from the dead, in the Kennet centre in Newbury” Paul nodded “He told me he sent you to find another group” he looked at the six of them “I guess your it? What happened? The Knights?”
“Initially yes, they fractured our group” Omar started “Then we have been attacked by these other people, with masks and numbers, they killed my son, slit his throat”
“I’m sorry to hear that big guy, my condolences to your family” the man said “I don’t know of these masked people, but I know someone who would like to know more, I’ll meet you at the front door”
They all looked around, there was no apparent entrance to where the bowman was standing, all they could see was a wall of trees and bushes.
“Where?” Drew asked.
“Behind you” the man said. “You will surrender your weapons”
Drew looked around, all he could see were bushes and trees. He stood staring at them trying to see a door when, as if by magic, part of the bush opened, the bush was been deliberately grown or fixed over the door to create a camouflage.
Marcus was reluctant to enter, Alex also.
“We can’t go in there unarmed, we don’t know these people” Marcus said sternly “No way”
Alex agreed with him, they would be at a tactical disadvantage if things went
south.
“I think if they were just going to kill us, then they would have done it already, or at least tried too” Paul said reassuringly.
But Marcus was still adamant. Hannah grabbed hold of his arm.
“Think of the others, they need somewhere to stay, we have got to do this” She reasoned.
Marcus looked at her and reluctantly agreed, he wanted to find her a safe place to stay as soon as possible, but Alex was less keen.
“I’ll stay outside. If anything happens, I will storm this place” Alex said.
Marcus tossed him the keys to the pick-up. Not saying anything but Alex knew just it was in case they did not come back out. They all dropped their weapons, including their sharps.
“Excellent, I’ll meet you downstairs” the man said before shouting to someone the other side of the wall of trees. “Bear! get up here and take watch”
Drew looked around as they entered. There were children playing football in the street, not just one or two but lots of them, laughing and playing, without a care in the world. To his left was what looked like a kitchen, people were queuing up for food. He was gobsmacked. The place was a lot bigger than he thought. With roads, snaking off in all directions into all sorts of cul-de-sacs.
“Your just in time for breakfast” the man said “Nothing fancy, just porridge or eggs” he invited them to the kitchen “oh… or pancakes” he added
“I’m not being rude, but we just came here for help or advice or something” Drew said.
“My advice is to get some breakfast, maybe a shower. You guys stink” the guy replied.
They nervously joined the man in the queue, picked up a plate and waited, laid out on a table were jams of lots of different flavours, and fruits ripe apples as if they had just been picked of the trees.
“We are pretty self-contained here. We have farmers who have moved their things and livestock inside the walls, we can produce milk and cheese and all sorts, we have fruit trees and bushes, for now, things are going swell, we have quite a stockpile of oats and flour also” the man educated them whilst they were in line “There are lots of houses here, and when the world went tits up they left everything. This place was a ghost town when I got here, and we sometimes go out on scavenges to top things up”
They all got a plate of eggs and a bowl of porridge and sat down at a picnic table.
Drew was still full of questions.
“What is this place?” he asked
“You can ask the boss” the man replied “He will answer all your questions”
&
nbsp; Drew tucked into his eggs and porridge. A lady came by with a couple of teapots. Offering tea or coffee to the newcomers. A little girl followed behind with sugar and milk, on a tray. Drew smiled and asked for a tea, two sugars. The lady kindly poured from the ceramic white pot in her left hand, with a warm smile, making them feel welcome, the little girl, snuck out from behind the other lady and bashfully gave Drew some milk and sugar, before scurrying back behind the lady. Drew thanked them both, the little girl blushed her cheeks rosy red.
“It’s ok Maisie” The lady who was pouring the tea said to the little girl “She is just shy with new people”
Drew smiled, a warm friendly smile and the little girl ran off.
Omar was stuffing his face eating so quickly, and finished his breakfast before anyone else, the man told him he was welcome to go up for seconds. Omar did not need telling twice, he grabbed his plate and bowl and was back in the line like a shot. Paul was eating slowly and quietly, a little unsure of his surroundings. Hannah was chatting away with Marcus as if they were out at a restaurant enjoying a pleasant meal with each other.
“My name is Drew Barnes” Drew introduced himself
The man with the bow was sat opposite him, he looked up from his breakfast
“Names Skutterz” he said
“Skutterz?” Drew replied
“Yeah” Skutterz said “It is not as weird as it seems, obviously it is not my birth name, it was my gamertag, it was the only community I felt part before and I was reborn the day this all started” Drew listened keenly “Don’t let this fool you” Skutterz said pulling on his long rugged beard “I am only twenty one years old, all I was before this was a keen video gamer, and a member of the local archery club just up the road, I was unemployed”
“So, you are from around here?” Drew asked “Not many people I’ve come across have stayed where they come from, not ones who are alive anyway”
Skutterz answered in the affirmative
“When can we see the boss?” Paul piped up
“Not till about ten thirty. He needs to get sorted out first” he looked at his watch “So we got about an hour and half, plenty of time for you to all get showered and changed, we have quite the selection of clothes, which were all left by the owners of this glorious community” Skutterz stood up “I expect your friend is hungry out there” He yelled at the top of his voice
“Open the gate!”
Alex was stood outside the walls, unsure how long this was all going to take, a little nervous about the safety of his friends, he was sat on the roundabout with the chained up dead person, gun in his hands, two bowman zeroed in on him, thinking he may have been a little foolish about the situation he had walked them all into, when suddenly the bush moved again. He stood up sharply, brought his gun up to his eye.
A man stood at the gate and waved to him.
“Come on in friend!” Skutterz yelled waving welcomingly “Bring your gear”
29
They all stood the other side of an empty Ash desk, Veneered, presumably from IKEA or somewhere similar, the kind of furniture you bought that you thought was fancy, looked a little upmarket, you think it looks like wood, no one would know, then you get it home and your neighbour has the same and his brother may have the same, and the brothers friends cousin has one, turns out the item you thought would fool people as unique turns out is a dime a dozen.
Skutterz stood by the door. On the walls were lots of photos that had been put into frames, each photo had the same selection of people, a family, Drew looked at one particular photo, taken at a place he recognized as Warwick Castle, inside on one of the courtyards with the castle walls with its keeps and turrets in the background. He has been there many times, with his own family, when he was a child, he and his brother Richard occasionally took part in a battle re-enactment.
In most of the pictures was a man, maybe in his late Forties bald headed, next to him was a woman of similar age, dark hair, thick rimmed glasses. Three young adults, all girls, in their twenties maybe the youngest still in her teens, and two young children, one boy and one girl, one of the young adults’ children, Drew figured.
A man entered, the man in the photo, the man with the bald head, with one of the young women in the photo a little older now but instantly recognizable. Pushing him in a wheelchair, and behind his dime a dozen ash veneered desk.
“Good morning” the man welcomed them “My name is Kevin Smith, but just call me Kev, and welcome here to Mercia”
“Drew Barnes” he said offering to shake hands “Thanks for seeing us”
The man said he was welcome and went on to introduce the woman pushing him as his daughter Natalie, she was by default, his carer. Drew did not want to ask, why he was in the wheelchair, as in the photos he was a very mobile person, he was pictured playing sports and games with the young children.
“How can I be of help?” Kevin asked sincerely.
“We are looking for shelter” Drew began once more “We were attacked by a group of people with masks, we believe they were stalking us for some time beforehand”
Kevin thought for a moment. “Attacked how?”
“One of them, snuck into our camp” Drew answered looking to Omar “And slit the throat of my friend’s son”
Kevin was unsettled, he fidgeted in his chair
“That’s awful, I’m so sorry” Kevin said remorsefully. “That’s terrible” Skutterz nodded in agreement. “How did you find us?” Kevin asked, “Is it just the six of you?”
“No sir” Drew replied “There is twenty-two of us in total”
“Twenty-two? Wow that’s quite a few” Kevin said “I am afraid we would not be able to give you all shelter here, you see we have a strict policy here”
“I see” Drew said
“We would take any minors you have, those under the age of eighteen years old, along with one guardian per child, this is the way to keep them safe, we can’t go changing the rules, or we will end up letting everybody stay, we need to be strict, you see when we started out, most of the community packed up and left. Unfortunately, or not as the case may be, I was unable to do so. My carer had left to be with her family, I was here alone”
Kevin took a sip from a glass of water that Natalie had just poured for him and everybody else in the room.
“At the beginning, my youngest daughter Emma worked down the road at the church of St. Thomas, they had a children’s playgroup there. And when the parents did not turn up for their children, she left a note on the church doors and brought them here. As a safe collection point, some of the parents have since come to find their children, some have not. We hope to reunite all of them, but we understand that may prove fruitless. We offered those parents to stay here, with their children. And that is how it began, so unless any of you have children, or are looking for a child already here then I am afraid you will have to leave, how did you find us?”
“We appear to have a common acquaintance?” Drew informed “A guy called the Warlock?”
“That guy, yeah he helps us trade supplies across the county, and beyond”
“He saved our friend Paul here” Drew answered “He told us you would not take us in, but that you could help us? What does he mean?”
Kevin shook his head “I have no idea, I’m sorry, I am good guy, I lost the use of my legs because of my niceness”
“How so” Alex asked inquisitively.
“Remember the Coronavirus outbreak?” Kevin started
“How could we forget?” said Hannah
“Well, I was self-employed, and I got this job offer”
They all looked at him intently with suspense
“It was my job to install the plastic screens that protected the staff and customers at supermarkets and shops” he rubbed his bald head “Some youths decided that I was out breaking the lockdown conditions, told me I was one of the reasons why the virus was spreading, I shrugged it off and got on with my job, then after I had finished, these youths were waiting for
me outside and beat me to within an inch of my life. They did so much damage I am paralyzed from the waist down”
Everyone was gobsmacked, what a terrible way to treat someone who was trying to make everyone else’s life a little better, left him with lasting consequences.
“I shall ask you to leave now please, but feel free to take some water and food with you, again I am sorry I cannot help you on this occasion, but if you feel you wish to have a safe place for any children and their guardian, then I must stress bring them here as soon as possible, it’s not safe for children out there”
Skutterz opened the door, led them out, and just as the meeting started, Natalie wheeled Kevin back out the way he had come. Back out into the streets of Mercia, where the children were still playing in the streets. Drew looked to Skutterz
“What’s your story?” he asked
Skutterz smiled “I tried to rob him”
Drew was confused
“I used to come past these houses all the time on the way to archery club, I used to think what a load of pompous arseholes, so when this all happened, I went to fetch my bow from the club store room, I thought screw it, I’m going to see what they got, I noticed everyone was gone, or nearly everyone” he chuckled
“So why are YOU still here?” Drew asked with emphasis on the you
“Because” Skutterz smiled “I was seeing his daughter beforehand, and he hated me, but he couldn’t kick me out when she turned up with all the kids from the playgroup, I helped make it safe here, and he knew that he couldn’t keep them safe, he needed me”
Somehow it made sense to Drew, he had felt unwanted by Sarah’s family when they first got together. And he knew Marcus had felt like an outcast for many years. Drew looked over his shoulder, at Marcus and Hannah laughing with each other, Hannah holding onto his arm, Drew, did not recognise him, he had never seen this glow from him, never seen him smile so much, he was pleased for him. She was good for him; she would stop him from becoming the man who executed that masked prisoner when they were scared on the road.
They walked to the main gates. They arrived with the knowledge of knowing that they would not be allowed to stay but it still hurt to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Although Drew had not considered how the group. Would have felt about moving in with these unknown people anyway, it was a little comfort that he knew if they wanted to Omar and his family would be given sanctuary. Skutterz told them to wait, he went off for something. Alex and Paul took the opportunity to load up their bags with fruit and water.
After The Turn: Redemption Page 17