The Fight for Life

by S G Read

‘Going somewhere?’ He asked.

  ‘The Eden project. It finally dawned on me how we can save the babies.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I remember Dai telling us how he nursed Mafanwi, he gave anything he could lay his hands on and nursed her night and day. She should be dead and as she is the only one who has survived the plague I must be able to make anti bodies from her blood.’ Ralph answered.

  ‘Sounds a good idea. I am sure we can cope while you are gone but you ought to have company.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Barry and Jericho should be enough if you are happy with them.’ Ray answered.

  ‘Sounds good to me although they shouldn’t be needed now that the clan has been crushed.’

  ‘Check in on the 303 mob to see how they got on with the Winchester turncoats,’ Ray said thoughtfully, ‘but keep clear of Winchester for now until you know what happened.’

  ‘Will do.’

  Ray drove on passing the bull as he did so. He stopped and gave him an apple to keep him friendly, before driving on. He reached to top corner and turned for the main house making sure he closed the gate to keep the cow and the bull apart for now. With his inspection complete he returned to the house and a welcome cup of tea.

  That evening he called a meeting in the dining room.

  ‘It is obvious to me that we need more land than we have enclosed to plant up to keep us in food so we will be fencing land outside the settlement for that very purpose. We will not treat it as safe until we have ensured that it is and then anyone inside will be in pairs and well armed. Ralph, Barry and Jericho are going to the Eden project to collect some of Myfanwy’s blood to try to make another serum. Unfortunately we will only know if it works when the next baby is born and if it survives after being given the serum. The canteen will go ahead now, while the fences are being put up round the new land, I want it up and running as soon as possible. We will also send out parties to collect whatever livestock is still alive out there and bring it back to the settlement. I am sorry we have to do it all at once but we will need to plant soon and the livestock will not survive forever with out our protection. We have to work out who will do what, who is best to do something and who should stay and work.’

  ‘Who decides?’ Will asked.

  ‘You will be following the cables again Will as you didn’t get it finished the first time.’ Ray continued. ‘We will need to be generator free sooner than later as it is using up a lot of valuable fuel.’

  ‘I can’t do the work on my own though.’ Will argued.

  ‘No you can’t. You will have to instruct someone as to what to do and how to do it and when. First you need to get it all of what we need to do straight in your mind and then we will talk about help.’

  ‘I’ll get started then when Justine is ready.’ Will replied.

  ‘I’ll see if she is up yet.’ Barry said and walked off to find her.

  ‘I have drawn up this rota for people to work with.’ Ray continued.

  ‘Did you get any sleep last night?’ Jericho asked.

  ‘No.’ Ray answered. ‘I’ll sleep when it is all under control.’

  ‘If you don’t die first.’ Ralph warned.

  ‘If I die, I die.’ Ray answered. ‘Other people have died and other people will still die in days to come. We need to get this place running properly or we will end up with little or no food.’

  ‘There is always fish.’ Jericho replied.

  ‘There is fish and we will need to catch a lot to see us over this winter. We need to get the cold room and the large freezer up and running as well but we can’t do everything at once. When we have the freezer running will be the time to catch the fish and a lot of them for freezing.’

  ‘We could use the small freezers again.’ Donna suggested from the doorway.

  ‘We can, I agree and when we kill some of our stock, we will use them to freeze the meat. When Will has the power from the wind farm harnessed he will go out and shoot some deer for the table, they have been surviving in the wild for a good few years so I don’t think they will be wiped out by the dog packs.’

  Ray sat down to eat some breakfast and the others sorted out what they were supposed to be doing and went about it. Ralph left for the Eden project with his escort and what equipment he needed. Justine and Will took off so that he could finalize the route he wanted the power to take, on its way to the settlement. It would need a specially built control room near the settlement to make sure there were no surges or low voltage problems. Jethro carried on with building the new canteen with James and Clem as assistants. The others were either mixing concrete to fill up the walls via a pump or out trying to find livestock. Live being the exact wording. Will and Justine took a radio in case they saw anything they could help with, whether it was another tiger or livestock. Ray was on concreting duty, self imposed as he hated it but the walls needed filling to make them strong enough to resist all comers. Including an elephant trying to get in!

  The work continued on the wall and slowly they filled them to the top; when the concrete had set the wall would be strong enough. The gang collecting animals for inside the settlement chose to follow the plane Justine was flying so that they could let them know where they had seen any. Will used the radio to let them know when they saw some animals and they either went straight there or marked it on to their map, as the next place to visit. They had animal transporters with them and most of all they had the two farmers. They filled all the transport they had with ease and returned with them for release inside the settlement. Again the farmers showed them where and how but after that they were on their own, the farmers had work to do. They left to collect more with the empty transporters leaving the farmers to erect fences to keep the new animals separate and to make sure the bull did not get in with any new cows they found.

  Jericho drove, heading for the 303 mob but steering clear of the Winchester people who may or may not have been sorted by the 303 mob, as they had been charged with doing it. They were either returning the children or keeping them if the parents were dead. Possible by their hands after a trial but Charles was a fair man.

  They joined the M3 and turned off onto the A303, following the directions to the meet and were met by a car. This time it was with just a wave and the driver drove off with them following. They arrived at a farmhouse and Charles came out to meet them.

  ‘I’m glad you came Barry and you Jericho.’ He said as a greeting. ‘I know you are passing through Ralph but I am hoping to borrow Barry and Jericho for a tricky mission which Barry is at least well suited for.’

  Barry was immediately interested and protective. ‘My job at the moment is to make sure Ralph arrives at the Welsh HQ.’ He answered.

  ‘I don’t mind going on alone.’ Ralph declared.

  ‘I know but orders are orders.’ Barry answered.

  ‘I have two men picked out to send with Ralph and escort him back to here. I will clear it with Ray if you like?’ Charles offered.

  Jericho looked at his watch. ‘They will be half way round the wall with the cement pump by now.’

  ‘Make it three men and it is a deal.’ Barry offered in return.

  ‘Three it is then.’ Charles declared.

  Ralph stopped to freshen up then drove on with one man in the car with him and two following in another car, bristling with weapons.

  ‘Now what is this tricky mission you have in mind?’ Barry asked.

  ‘We thought we might find out what is happening on the island.’ Charles explained, pointing in the direction of the Isle of Wight. ‘So we sent a man and woman across there on a small boat. They did not come back and we heard no more, so we sent two men across. The same has occurred with them.’

  ‘So you want us to go and have a look?’ Jericho asked.

  ‘That is the general idea.’ Charles answered.

  ‘I think we are in your area of expertise.’ Jericho said letting Barry answer.

  ‘We’ll go. We need a small boat with an outboard m
otor on it and two or three men to wait out of sight on the main land in case we hit trouble. I’ll let them know what we want on the way.’ Barry said earnestly. ‘When do we start?’

  ‘ASAP.’ Charles answered. ‘I want to know what happened to me people!’

  ‘Let’s go then, who is going with us?’ Barry replied and there was a flurry of hands.

  Charles chose the men to go and they left in two cars. They drove down to the coast road and along to the part of the coast which was nearest the Isle of Wight.

  ‘Right we take the boat out there and have a look round. You lot stay out of sight but keep watch on the reach between us and the island; if we hit trouble it might just follow us back and it will be nice to know they aren’t here waiting for us, well not alive anyway.’ Barry announced.

  ‘You think they are clan?’ Jericho asked.

  ‘Could well be ex clan hiding out on the island. If so the men are likely to be dead but the woman might still be alive.’ Barry answered.

  ‘We’ll get the boat; we know where they are hidden.’ Paul from the 303 mob declared.

  Barry chose a spot and settled down to wait. It was an hour before they were ready to leave.

  ‘Keep a good watch, night and day but keep out of sight.’ Barry said making sure they understood, then they pushed off and started the engine.

  Barry left Jericho to steer the course to the island but before they were close enough to the island to see it Barry made him stop the boat and drop the anchor.

  ‘If we take it in they will wait for us in numbers, out here it will be one or two if they find it.’ He explained.

  ‘So we swim in from here?’ Jericho asked.

  ‘We do.’

  ‘Good job I packed my cossie then.’ He declared and started to undress.

  ‘No: In clothes like our boat sink, well your boat sank; I hope they don’t see me.’

  ‘So do I then but won’t they shoot first and answer questions later?’ Jericho asked putting his jacket back on.

  ‘I am hoping they want to ask you some questions about what went on at the stadium and what is happening on the mainland.’

  ‘If they don’t already know.’ Jericho added.

  Barry dropped silently into the water and Jericho followed. It was a long swim to the shore but they were both good swimmers. Near the shoreline Barry and Jericho split up so that Barry could watch Jericho’s back if there was trouble.

  Jericho crawled ashore and stood up. Standing there to let his clothes drain. He could see no sign of Barry, which he took as a good sign. When he had drained his clothes enough to move on, he did so and a man stepped out with a rifle in his hands.

  ‘Hello there.’ He greeted. ‘You can think of me as customs and immigration. I have to take your gun, please.’

  Jericho gave him his gun and the man waved him to take the lead using the rifle barrel.

  ‘Did your boat sink on you?’ The man asked.

  ‘Yes I was fishing and it just started taking water, this was the nearest land and I thought I might find another boat on here.’ Jericho said as he walked along.

  Jericho walked on followed by the man and they came to a car parked inland.

  ‘You can drive.’ The man ordered and climbed into the back seat as Jericho climbed into the driving seat.

  ‘Where to?’ Jericho asked.

  ‘Just drive along the road, I’ll tell you where to turn off.’ The man answered.

  Jericho drove and followed his instructions until they came to a police station.

  ‘Stop here and get out.’ The man ordered.

  Jericho obeyed and was taken inside. He was taken to a cell and locked up. He listened intently to hear what was going down and he could hear when the man turned on an old radio set and called in.

  ‘Johnson here, I just got a meaty one. Tell the others we can have a meat feast tomorrow.’ What the man said chilled the blood in Jericho’s veins.

  ‘Not the clan.’ He thought. ‘Worse, cannibals! What is the country coming to?’

  Barry came out of the water further up after Jericho had been taken inland; he followed keeping far enough away, so that he was not heard. As it is hard to walk along quietly, when you are soaking wet. He saw them get into a car and started running but he had no chance of stowing away on it, he just had to follow as quickly as he could. As he ran he squelched but there was no one to hear him and the further he ran the drier he became. The car soon left him behind and he knew he was going to have to find out where they had taken Jericho the hard way.

  Jericho sat in the cell listening for, either more information, or sign that Barry was near by. What he did hear after an hour was something he would have rather not heard.

  ‘What.’ The man outside said in an answer to a radio call. ‘What now? Well I can’t do it on my own so send Boris over.’

  It sounded ominous and it sounded like it involved him. Half and hour later a car arrived.

  ‘What do you want now?’ A man who was obviously Boris asked.

  ‘They want me to hang him to let the blood drain! Have you seen the size of him? And Kurt told me not to shoot him in the head as he wants the brain intact.’ The man waiting for him declared.

  ‘Kurt is partial to brain pie.’ Boris answered. ‘How are we going to do it?’

  ‘Just hang him up and cut his wrists I suppose- oh and I have to catch the blood as well! I am getting more like a butcher than jailer.’

  ‘They do tend to come in as prisoners and go out as meat for the table.’ Boris answered. ‘Better bring the stun gun he’ll have heard every word we have said.’

  They walked into the back room where the cell was and found Jericho as far back as he could get.

  ‘That don’t help none.’ Boris declared. ‘Walter here is a real good shot with this little baby.’ He pointed to the taser in Walter’s hand.

  As Jericho looked at it he was hit by a jolting impact and collapsed in a heap.

  ‘Good shot Walter, now let us get him hung up and start him draining. In ten minutes he won’t give us any more trouble but a whole lot of pleasure.’

  Back on the mainland Ralph and his escort drove on to the Welsh headquarters in the Eden project and Dai was there waiting for him. He knew what it was all about.

  ‘So your serum didn’t work.’ Dai said after the formal greetings were over.

  ‘No our first baby died. I think Mafanwi is the only hope now.’ Ralph answered.

  ‘Because I saved her.’ Dai asked.

  ‘If she did have the plague and you saved her then her body must have made antibodies to fight it. If she did she can save our babies.’

  ‘We have babies due soon, how soon can we have some serum.’

  ‘It should be ready to use a week after I get home.’ Ralph answered.

  ‘Be a bit tight for one girl, it would be a shame to lose the baby.’

  ‘Tell her to cross her legs until the serum comes.’ Ralph replied. ‘Although we do have two days after it is born to treat it. I will be as fast as I can but it is not something I want to get wrong again.’

  ‘That I can understand, Mafanwi is in there waiting for you.’

  Barry had slowed to a trot as he neared the town; he had no idea where he had to go until he heard the car. It was someway in front of him and heading his way so he hid but it never arrived. Barry looked and saw a man going into a building and headed for the same building, if Jericho was not there, he could at least ask the man politely where he was! Then make him talk, if being polite did not work.

  He reached the door in time to see two men walk into the back room. He opened the outer door quietly and followed them into the same back room after picking up a Taser from the desk. He had seen them used before to devastating effect.

  He heard one man telling someone that Walter was a real good shot and then heard a gurgle which sounded like Jericho. He moved to be able to see and saw Jericho on the floor, he saw the taser in Walter’s hand and used the taser he had picked up o
n him. Walter fell down quivering and the man next to him turned to see where the Taser was fired from. He saw Barry and drew his pistol. Barry threw his knife and the man fell dead on the floor.

  Barry walked to the front door and looked around; he could see no one but locked it anyway, before he went to see how Jericho was. He was glad to find him still breathing and waited patiently for him to wake up. A voice came over the radio outside but he ignored it, by the time they came to investigate he would be long gone with Jericho, either carrying him or him walking. Either way they would be gone.

  With time passing he picked up Jericho and carried him outside but he could hear a car coming so he walked round the back of the building to be out of sight and kept walking. He walked up empty streets and through small alleyways not heading in the direction the islanders would expect them to travel in, they could turn for the sea later and hopefully miss anyone hoping to stop them reaching the sea and the boat.

  Jericho moaned and Barry lowered him onto his feet but he promptly collapsed in a heap again. Barry slapped his face, not hard but insistent and Jericho opened his eyes.

  ‘I hope you killed them both!’ He said as he remembered what had gone on.

  ‘I did.’ Barry answered. ‘What was that all about? Were you ribbing them or something?’

  Jericho smiled. ‘Well ribbing came into it. I was to be the guest of honour at a feast; the only drawback was that I was the main course.’

  ‘You’d be tough just to spite them.’ Barry replied. ‘They weren’t clan then?’

  ‘No just cannibals. We really need to do something about them.’

  ‘We will probably run into more of them before we get off the island.’ Barry warned.

  ‘Good I want to knock a few teeth out.’ Jericho declared. ‘Make it hard for them to chew.’

  ‘Come on let’s make tracks, follow me but keep close.’ Barry said quietly and walked on.

  ‘Easy to say but my legs still feel like jelly.’ Jericho replied.

  ‘Lean on me for a while then but I will have to go forward and have a look round sometimes.’ Barry answered.

  ‘Wouldn’t have it any other way: If anyone comes along I’ll fall on them.’