by Oliver Smith
Jack smiled at the girl and sat down on the remaining sofa with cushions on. Chloe jumped next to Jack and nuzzled in. She was looking up at Jack and said, “Mummy and daddy aren’t coming back are they? They’re monsters now aren’t they?”
He didn’t know what to say and wasn’t ready for a question of such directness, stumbling for the right words, Jack knew the answer already, but instead said, “I don’t know Chloe, anything is possible, they might have got stuck somewhere.”
The answer didn’t suffice and she continued, “Will you look after me now?”
“I will.” He kissed her head and opened the book where a homemade bookmark kept the girl’s place in the book safe. Looking at the homemade bookmark he imagined Chloe sitting with her parents having fun creating it, sadness filled him and he wanted to cry.
Chloe fell asleep 15 minutes into the story. He placed her on the makeshift bed. Jack fell asleep shortly afterwards while sitting on the sofa thinking about Lucy, praying for her wellbeing.
-
Lucy’s evening would have been quite entertaining under different conditions. If she were not mourning for Jack and a prisoner in a remote cottage with Bulldog and his brow beaten girlfriend. She had lost hope of Jack’s survival and was melancholy. There were some mercies to being trapped in the cottage, it used a water tower, so they still had running water and by some miracle Mick had managed to keep the boiler running so Lucy could take a hot shower. Mick had also looted some expensive wine from his day’s escapades and the three of them drank. In the beginning, he was charming and odd in equal measures, sensing Lucy’s mood, Mick was putting on a show for her. He woke the baby frequently with the noise of his theatrical tales, each time Jen silently slunk out of the room to attend to the baby’s needs.
The more Mick drank, the more animated he became. He was all over the lounge, pacing here and there, telling incoherent stories, swinging arms around wildly. The more he drank, the more he stared at Lucy. She began to feel claustrophobic in his intimidating presence. As the night wore on, Mick became more touchy-feely with Lucy, eventually taking a seat beside her on the sofa. He put his hand on her leg. Her whole body tensed at the touch as the hand just lay there. He began to say something when Jen stood up and grabbed Mick’s hand and said, “Come on Mick, I’ve got a surprise you’re going to really like. Plus, I think Lucy could do with some sleep, she’s had a hell of a day.” She winked at him.
With that, Mick rose to his feet with gusto, “Bulldog likes a surprise. Lead the way baby!” They both disappeared upstairs.
Lucy thought that Jen had sacrificed herself for her. Jen made it clear that Mick would have wanted Lucy more and more until his advances went past flirting to a very dark place. Lucy thought of Jen closing her eyes and sucking Mick’s cock; keeping him satisfied and his hands off Lucy, but for how long?
“I’ll go and get the bottle, you get undressed.” Lucy heard Jen call as she came back downstairs. She moved past Lucy and picked up half a bottle of wine and turned to her, “You need to leave tomorrow; it’s only a matter of time before he tries to sleep with you, he wants you pregnant.”
Gasping, Lucy mouthed the word ‘pregnant’. She was confused.
Jen said, “He wants to repopulate the world. He’s father and we’re all the mothers, all roads lead back to the daddy. Bulldog.”
“I’m getting lonely.” Mick’s voice drifted down the stairs. Jen hurriedly went to join him.
That night Lucy stayed in the spare room waking frequently, her thoughts drifting from Danny, to Jack and back to her sorry situation. Every creak of the old cottage made her heart miss a beat as she expected the door handle to turn and for Mick to appear.
-
Jack woke as the sun was rising. Peeking out of the heavy and expensive curtains, he could see that it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. He guessed it was about 5am. Walking groggily into the kitchen, he checked the clock on the wall, it was 5:05am. It was time to put his plan to action. He’d slept fully dressed and ached from the sofa, stretching he thought that he needed to write a note to Chloe to let her know he was going to get Lucy and that they’d be back for her today, he wasn’t sure a seven year old could read and tried to remember back to being seven but couldn’t stretch his imagination back that far. Surely she could.
He rummaged through the pantry and found a loaf of bread that was still semi-fresh. Taking out four slices, he buttered the bread and added some strawberry jam. Leaving two slices on the table for Chloe with a miniature bottle of Tropicana he’d also found.
Eating two slices of jam on bread, Jack wrote a simple note:
Gone to get Lucy. We will be back today.
I’ve made you some breakfast, make sure you eat it and drink the orange juice. It is on the kitchen table. Also drink lots of water today.
See you later.
Jack xx
Surprised with how easy it was to fall back into the parental mind set after five years made Jack sad. The end of the world was like therapy for him, it had given him closure, he could say goodbye to Amy, to Ruby and to the old world. The introduction of Chloe had thrown him and now he was in danger of wallowing and eventually apathy. Shutting down the negativity, he focused on the bread he was eating and looked at a blob of butter that was slowly making its way off the crust as gravity begged it to fall to the plate. Looking at the butter he just couldn’t stop the feeling of despair, he wondered if he’d ever have butter again, or yoghurt or fresh ice-cold milk? He loved dairy produce and he hadn’t printed out any instructions for how to make extra mature cheddar or banana choco-flake yoghurts. He was working himself into such a state, tears were forming.
“For fuck’s sake Jack, pull yourself together, come on three-two-one let’s go.” He said to himself in an attempt to shake the trepidation about his rescue mission from his bones, which was also a major factor towards his current mood.
Taking the note back into the front room, Jack knelt by Chloe and placed it next to her. He was tempted to wake her, so she didn’t worry when she got up, but she looked peaceful and cute; her bed warm red cheeks and blonde hair ruffled by a night of tossing and turning.
He retrieved the gun that he’d stored in a kitchen cupboard, at head height and out of Chloe’s reach. Tooled up and ready, Jack wheeled the bike around the front, poked his head over the gate pillar to look out for any of the dead, and left through the gate when satisfied that the coast was clear.
Jack checked the gate was properly closed three times to ensure Chloe was safe and set off on the bike as quickly as possible. His body ached from the previous day, he had scratches up his chest from needlessly scaling the gate pillar, back pain from being thrown into a car, his head still ached and he feared he had a cracked tooth from taking a rifle butt to the jaw. For the first time in Jack’s life his hands were workmanlike, rough with callouses; they were transformed from the soft skin of his previous life sitting behind a desk all day.
Carrying on through the aches and pains, Jack reached the cottage in 15 minutes. He’d cycled past three of the dead, but left them behind so didn’t worry about them creeping up on him whilst he undertook his stakeout. Taking extra care to hide the bike this time, Jack made for the bushes that he’d watched Mick from the previous day. Seeing that all was quiet, he crept to the cottage and waited around the corner of the wall adjacent to the front door.
It was too late to back out now, he was operating on pure fear and adrenaline, heart racing at a million beats per minute. It was two hours before Jack heard anything, the first signs of life came from the drainpipes as water flowed from the house down into an underground network of pipes. Jack had become complacent in the two hours of waiting, boredom taking over from the initial panic. The sound of flowing water was a wakeup call and he stood from his sitting position and held the gun purposefully in both of his hands like he’d seen on TV.
After another two hours of waiting, Jack had sat back down and listened intently. Noises were ever present in the
house, plates being moved, muffled voices and other household noises echoed around. He kept his fingers crossed that Mick wasn’t choosing today to be lazy and rest at home. Mick wasn’t the type of man to sit around doing nothing and before long Jack heard the key in the lock. It was time for action and Jack waited with his back to the wall, gun held pointing up against his chest while he concentrated on his breathing, long deep breaths.
The door didn’t open straight away, Jack heard Mick call something out to the house, then the key turned and the door opened. Without waiting Jack turned the corner with gun outstretched and placed it against the back of Mick’s head.
Mick froze as Jack tried and failed to sound commanding, “Don’t move.”
Not one for following orders, Mick turned around to face Jack, the gun pointing at his forehead now. He smiled, “Jacky boy. How nice to see you. I see you found the gun, I wondered where it had gone.”
The plan wasn’t going to Jack’s liking, he had expected Mick to do whatever he said, not this cockiness, “You left me to die out there.
“LUCY, it’s Jack, come on, I’ve come to get you.”
“Bulldog was testing you dear boy. I want to keep that wonderful woman safe and I wasn’t overly impressed with you so had to take things into my own hands to keep my women safe.” Mick spoke calmly still smiling at Jack.
“That’s not your decision to make.” Lucy’s voice came from behind, it was a broken voice, wobbling through emotion.
“Lucy, are you okay, did he hurt you?” The anger was boiling up in Jack as he heard the pain in her voice.
“Relax Cowboy. I’ve been a perfect gentleman. Lucy, I think your man wants you, come on out here. I apologise Jack, I’ve underestimated you and Bulldog is feeling generous. I know you’ll keep her safe, so I won’t bother you anymore. You’re obviously more equipped to survive then I thought. Good job son.” Mick said, his words were patronising, but his face came across earnest.
A scream came from inside the house as Jen came downstairs to see Jack pointing the gun at Mick’s head. She begged, “Please don’t hurt my Mick. He’s all we have, we need him.”
“It’s okay love, Jack’s not going to do anything stupid, are you boy?” Mick said.
“Move away from the door and let Lucy out and then, you” nodding in Jen’s direction, “throw her the front door key.”
Mick moved away from the front door and Lucy stepped out into the late morning sunshine. The sun reflected off her red hair, her skin looked flawless, she was more beautiful than he’d remembered. Jen threw the keys to Lucy who caught them, she was looking at Jack, a solitary tear slowly traced down her cheek, she said softly, “I thought you were dead. Oh God, look at your face, what did he do to you?”
Butterflies fluttered in Jack’s stomach as emotions tangled. The pleasure of seeing Lucy was tarnished with fear and panic as Jack was now operating without a real plan, just pure instinct. Seeing the Citroen in his peripheral vision, Jack asked Lucy, “Do you have the keys for the car?”
“No, Mick has them.” She said surprising Jack by using Mick’s name.
“Give me the keys to the car, now.” He demanded of Mick.
Mick took the key from his trouser pocket and threw it to Lucy, “Luce (he’d never called her that before), please get in the car.”
Turning to Mick he continued, “I should shoot you here and now. You’re going to come back for us and I can’t let you endanger Lucy again. I should do to you what you tried with me.” Jack’s grip on the gun tightened and for the first time he could see fear on Mick’s face.
Jen came running out of the house and stood next to Mick and pleaded, “Please we need him, my baby needs him, don’t hurt him. We’ll die without him.”
“Jack. No. It’s not you.” Lucy stood with the car door open looking at him with a look he’d never seen before.
“Look son. Bulldog is a man of his word. You’ve proved yourself to me. Just keep her safe and you’ll have nothing to worry from me. In this new world, we don’t need men, we need women. Just one man is enough, but I guess two is fine. You keep her safe and we’re all good. I give you my word.” Mick spoke with clarity and conviction and Jack, despite himself, believed him.
Taking no chances, Jack asked, “Does this place have a back door?”
“No, it’s an odd cottage, one way in, one way out.” Mick responded.
“Will you be able to get out if I lock you in?”
“Pain in the backside, but yes.”
“Good, now you two get inside the house and stay by the window where I can see you. Move and I shoot. You come looking for us Mick and I will kill you. That is a promise. We’ll be out of the area today, so you don’t need to worry about us.”
Mick nodded and then moved inside the house with Jen and stood at the lounge window. Jack could see them both looking out, Jen terrified, Mick unmoved. Lucy threw Jack the front door key and he quickly locked the door, leaving the key in the lock, and ran to the car. Lucy and Jack got in the car and sped out of the yard.
-
Jen watched on and thought to herself, I got rid of her, he’s not going to leave me now. She was pleased with herself having deceived Lucy by spinning a web of lies about Mick and his likely rapist tendencies. Mick would never have raped any woman, he put them up on a pedestal. Upon seeing Lucy, Jen had worried that it was only a matter of time before Lucy became as attached to Mick as she was. Mick had often expressed the need to repopulate the human race and believed he could cope with numerous wives and kids to spread the gene pool enough to grow a clan of his own. Jen didn’t have to kill Lucy now; she could just carry on living her life with her knight in overalls.
-
Jack and Lucy drove, she was turned on the seat looking at Jack, tears in her eyes as she took stock of the fact that he was very much still alive. Avoiding the dead on the road, now five of them, Jack turned to Lucy and asked, “Did he hurt you?” Still not convinced.
“No Jack, honestly, he didn’t touch me.
“I’ve never been so happy to see you. You are my hero.”
The rescue mission was like one of Jack’s dreams in his teenage years where he’d stop some group of aggressors at school and save everybody, including the girl. This was real though and he felt nauseous as reality started to hit him.
Lucy looked concerned for a minute and with a serious face asked Jack earnestly, “Were you going to kill Mick?”
“No, well, I didn’t want to. I wanted him to be scared, to make sure he wouldn’t come looking for us. I don’t think I scared him though.”
“Good. I didn’t want to think of you like that.” Moving on swiftly, she asked, “Where are we going, what’s the plan?”
“I’ve found a place to crash tonight. We should go tomorrow morning and get some distance between this place; I think we both need a fresh start! I need to show you something first however.”
Lucy didn’t respond, she sunk back into the seat and held Jack’s hand on the gear stick as they drove the short trip back to the house where Chloe waited.
-
Impressed with their temporary and secure home, Lucy smiled at Jack as he shut the gate behind him, “My, you’ve gone up in the world.” The sparkle in her voice had returned.
“You haven’t seen anything yet. You wait.” Jack was regretting not telling Lucy about Chloe, but he’d gone this far, too late to change the surprise. He led her by the hand around the back of the house and in through the broken window.
“Hi Jack. You must be Lucy.” Chloe said sat at the kitchen table amusing herself with some crayons and paper.
Lucy looked at Jack in wonderment, stuck for words. Regaining her composure, she turned and smiled at Chloe and said, “I am indeed Lucy, what’s your name?”
Chapter 23 - Expected Departure
Chloe, Lucy, and Jack got acquainted during the day. Chloe was an open and affectionate girl and took to Lucy straightaway, taking her by the hand and showing Lucy her collection of dolls.
Lucy took to Chloe straight away too; she humoured the little girl and was led around the house by the hand; showing interest and joy in everything that Chloe pointed out to her.
Jack had expected to have a serious conversation with Lucy at some point that day. He was expecting her to express fears about how they would look after a little girl and make it across the country. He expected some resistance to their initial plan with Chloe, the spanner in the works, complicating matters. No concerns materialised though, Lucy had of course had these thoughts, but kept them to herself. She knew why Jack was helping Chloe and she was doing the same. They couldn’t abandon her. Lucy listened to the girl talk about her parents and seen the girl’s frankness when she explained she didn’t think they would be coming back and that they were probably monsters anyway. Chloe’s childlike honesty left Lucy in no doubt that the girl was her responsibility now, she chose not to think about what this meant and the dangers it would create. For now, this little girl needed Lucy and Jack.
In the afternoon, Jack and Lucy sat Chloe down to talk to her about the planned trip to Yorkshire. The little girl knew where Yorkshire was, she was bright. She listened as Jack laid the maps, mercifully salvaged from the recovered Citroen, out on the table and went through the plan like Chloe was an adult. She listened and didn’t ask questions. It turned out that it only took the mention of there being less monsters over in Yorkshire to convince the girl to come along, not that Jack nor Lucy would have left her behind.
Jack started to run through the rules of the trip. He needed to make sure that the girl had her eyes open to the dangers ahead: the dead and the living. Lucy was quick to stop him mid flow and told him that the two girls would have some girl time to talk about all this. Chloe was excited to have another girl in the house and smiled while clasping her hands together at the prospect.
Watching with a broad grin as Chloe led Lucy upstairs, Jack sat back and relaxed. He decided he’d enjoy his last night in the magnificent house with the two new women in his life. Life moved quickly before the end of civilisation, now it was careening at lightspeed.