by S G Read
‘That is about the size of it. We need children and lots of them to try to refill this country!’
‘So when can we wed?’ Megan asked.
‘I’ll talk to Dai and Charles they are the leaders of other settlements, as you are the leader of yours they might feel they should attend. I’ll ask the East Anglian lot as well as Mayfield when we go there.’
‘Things are never simple!’ Megan complained and walked away.
‘It’s going to be one hell of a wedding night!’ Ray said after she had gone.
‘I hope so!’ Mac replied.
When it was late and Ray decided to go to bed, Rebecca walked with him to the bottom of the stairs.
‘Where do I sleep tonight?’ She asked.
‘It will be crowded in my bed as it is only a single but you are welcome to share it!’
‘I thought you would never ask.’ Rebecca retorted and followed him up.
The following morning Justine walked out to the plane with Donna to go to the northern settlement and found Barry and Jericho sitting in it already.
‘What are you doing daddy?’ Justine asked.
‘We are your bodyguard Justine.’ Jericho answered for him.
‘But-!’
‘It is my orders.’ Ray said from behind her. ‘I want you safe when you stop to refuel and I thought those two rogues should keep you safe enough.’
‘But I won’t be able to do anything!’ She complained.
‘I guessed that as well and you are still only fifteen. To young and too dainty to do some things yet and accept the consequences of your folly.’
There was no more argument and they boarded with Donna cradling a picnic cold box packed with ice and serum on her lap. They watched them take off and then Mac used the radio to speak openly to his second in command up in their settlement.
‘We have sent you some visitors in the air and I want them treated like royalty. Donna will need to see the newborns if any are still alive as soon as she lands. Any problems and my claymore will tickle your ribs!’
‘I think he understood that.’ Ray said as they walked into the television room.
‘I can’t get used to seeing the television on.’ Mac declared and they sat to watch a film.
Justine flew straight to her refuelling point at Stanstead airport and landed. It was not half way there but they needed the fuel. As she landed dogs appeared from all round the airport and ran barking after the plane. Barry and Jericho took their time and shot several dogs before the rest thought it was a good idea to scarper, then they refuelled the plane while the girls sat inside in safety.
Justine thought having her dad and Jericho along was a good idea, now! As soon as the plane was refuelled, she took off and the dogs crept out of nowhere, for their meal of dead dog. She kept and eye on the wind and the fuel as she flew but they arrived without stopping again and this time they were greeted by an armed guard but one there for their protection.
Donna was driven to the settlement while the other three unpacked their overnight bags and followed on. The serum was placed into a fridge as soon as she reached the settlement and she was shown her first patient. It was another Dawn, so small and being killed by the plague. She injected her with the serum and gave her extra as she was far gone. Ralph had suggested that over the radio. Now they fought to save her. No one slept that night; they were either wetting towels for the baby’s head or hovering outside for some news.
In the morning she was still poorly but still alive which Donna took as a good sign but now she had another one to look after and left the first baby in good caring hands.
The next one was a newborn boy but he was showing no symptoms and after her initial examination, she did not inject him, just told them to keep an eye on him.
Only then did she sleep, fitfully, dreaming of Dawn and her fight for life. After two hours she gave up and went to look in on the babies. Dawn was still alive and appeared to be fighting back and the boy, Gregor was in fine voice.
She sat in a chair near Dawn and fell asleep. No one woke her as the baby fought for her life; she had done all she could. During the night she started to get worse and they woke Donna in case she died. Dawn stopped breathing soon after.
‘Oh no you don’t.’ Donna wailed. ‘I am not wasting my time coming up here and good serum, for you to die.’
She gently resuscitated her, then with slightly more vigour until she coughed and spluttered. There was no crying just a whimper but she was breathing. She grew hotter and hotter and they covered her with ice, a very precious commodity nowadays, to keep her cool. They used wet towels cooled by ice as well on her forehead to bring down her temperature and it appeared to be working, until she stopped breathing a second time. Donna resuscitated her again until she spluttered into life again. They fought all through the day and next night until she appeared to fall asleep normally. By now she just lay there in the cot, the ice had long since melted and the blanket had been replaced with a dry one. They all watched her breathing as one by one the towels were removed and her temperature fell. It was a long night and they all succumbed to sleep early in the morning only to be woken by Dawn’s screams when she woke up and decided she was hungry. They let her cry to air her lungs before they left her with her mother to feed. Donna looked in on the other baby but he was fine.
‘He must have natural immunity.’ Donna declared. ‘And I think it is time I had something to eat, I’m famished.’
She sat in front of the food at the table and fell asleep. A huge Scotsman picked her up like a rag doll and put her to bed before closing the door on her.
‘She’s a fighter.’ He said as he closed the door.
‘A good job as well,’ another man replied, ‘or Dawn would not have seen another dawn!’
Hunger woke her and she sat and ate after asking after the two babies, then she looked in on Dawn who was sleeping peacefully.
‘How are her ribs?’ She asked.
‘A little tender and one might be broken but it is better that her being dead.’ The baby’s mother answered. ‘Thank you for my baby.’
‘We have to beat this plague, as well as live off the land, if we are to survive.’ Donna answered. ‘I watched one little girl die and I will not watch another go the same way!’
‘I understand she was a Dawn as well.’ The mother replied.
‘Yes she was and as pretty as they come. Her face will stay with me as long as I live.’
‘I could never do what you do.’ The mother sighed.
‘I watched you with her and you would.’ Donna replied. ‘I will show you a few things before I go and teach a few others who want to learn and maybe we will have this plague on the run!’
‘We do have a woman who tried to save the babies but she was upset when the babies died.’
‘Well now she has a chance of winning.’ Donna declared.
Rebecca found Ray watching a film on television.
‘Your wife is so much like me that it is amazing, can we find out more about her?’ She asked.
‘We might be able to, I’ll ask Brian.’
They both went to find Brian who was tinkering with the monitors again.
‘Is there any way we can find out about family trees and such Brian?’ he asked.
‘Probably but we will need to go to London to do it, I expect where they store all the birth certificates, we should be able to find what we need there.’
‘Let’s go then.’ Rebecca declared.
‘You are forgetting my position and my obligations unless you want to keep Megan waiting for her wedding?’
‘I thought the others were coming over here for it?’
‘They are. The East Anglia crowd are on their way as is Charles’s lot. Dai will come as soon as he knows the baby will live, if it survives.’
‘Fiddlesticks.’ Rebecca declared causing Ray to turn and look at her. ‘What?’ She asked.
‘Miriam always used to say fiddlesticks when things didn’t go her way.’ He an
swered.
She put her hand to her mouth.
‘She did that as well.’
‘Just who was she?’ Rebecca exclaimed.
Ralphy came in.
‘Daddy says the baby looks good over there. He is just showing some of the women how to inject them and then he and Dai will be on their way back.’
‘Thank you Ralphy.’ Ray replied.
Ralphy walked back to his radio.
‘Well with them on the way we need to start preparations for the wedding, do I ask one of them to marry us?’ Ray asked.
‘Oh yes I don’t want any babies born out of wedlock,’ Rebecca declared, ‘but I still want to find out more about Miriam!’
Ray smiled at the thought of babies but said nothing, he had another wedding to prepare for, in fact, quite a few, the way things were shaping up. He would have to catch all the leaders together to find out just who was going to marry him and Rebecca but one of them was going to do it!
The East Anglia crowd arrived later in the day, all of them. They set up home in the caravans again but was surprised to be sharing the area with an elephant but Nelly only came to see them for what she could get out of it, in the way of buns or apples or anything else which took her fancy. She looked very near to giving birth to Jeremy but it was a little harder to be exact with his timings with her, than it was with a cow.
Ray greeted the East Anglian four with a great deal of pleasure, they had been through a lot together to get their wives back and now their lives were moving forward again.
Charles and a select band from the Nomads arrived soon after and it threatened to be one lively night. The concrete base which was going to be the canteen had been cleared of loose stones and ballast to turn it into a dance floor and settlement registry office. Will and Brian had run wires over for the ghetto blaster which was going to supply the noise and it had two massive speakers, which Brian had wired for sound. That night they had a dance in preparation of the forthcoming wedding dances. It went on into the early hours of the morning and only stopped then when it rained on them. The ghetto blaster and its speakers were hastily covered with a tarpaulin to keep them dry and the revellers went to bed.
Tom had sat up listening to the music where he spent most of his time on the gate tower; he was not into dancing, not anymore! He had company up there as well. He had started chatting to one woman and now he was doing his best to give her a child because she wanted him to.
He knew he would never dance again but he also thought he would never do that again either, so life still had surprises in store, even for him!
The alarm tripped and he had to peal himself out of bed to see who it was but did not recognise them when he looked in the monitor.
‘Any idea who they are Brian?’ He asked but had to ask several times before he woke him up.
Brian looked at the newcomers. ‘No idea.’
‘They’re from Mayfield.’ Clem said peering over his shoulder.
‘Did you get that?’ Brian asked.
‘Got it.’ Tom answered and drove to the edge of the wall. ‘Sorry I was so long we had a bit of a party last night are you here for the weddings?’
‘We decided it was better to move here and live, if there is room for us.’ Bill replied.
‘We are going to be a little crowded for a while but find a place to park and Ray will sort you out.’
‘Just like that?’ Bill asked in amazement.
‘The more the merrier as long as you pull your weight.’
‘Oh we can do that all right.’ Bill answered and drove through the open gate.
Tom closed it after them and went back to bed, not that he was planning to sleep.
The Mayfield contingent found it was indeed crowded but there were a couple of caravans next to Nelly with no one inside and they set up home there for the rest of the night. They had three campers with them in case they had to wait outside and they parked them near the caravans and went to sleep.
Dai and his contingent including Ralph and his bodyguard arrived during the next day and the stage was set for the big wedding.
As the weather was dry they set up everything on the canteen site and Ray took his place at the front with Mac standing there nervously.
‘You are supposed to be a leader.’ Ray said quietly. ‘Act like one!’
Mac looked at Ray then straightened up, looking forward and no longer looking like a nervous wreck.
‘That’s better; you’ll give us leaders a bad name!’
Brian had managed to find a tape with the wedding march on it and as soon as Megan reached the low brick wall with an opening in it which would eventually be the doorway he started it playing. As she walked up Ray looked round the area the new canteen was being built on and started to imagine slight changes. Instead of the area he was standing in being the kitchen it could be the stage and the would have a dance hall come cinema and if they built a kitchen on to it the place could also double as a canteen.
A flash of white brought him back to the present and he saw Megan arrive in her brilliant white dress. The wedding march stopped and the two to be married stood side by side.
‘We are here in the sight of all the settlements represented to marry Macgregor McLeish to Megan Fellows. They will answer to all said settlements if they stray from the path of a good happy marriage. To facilitate the rebuilding of the country they are permitted to give either sperm to be used for fertilizing eggs or eggs to be used when Megan no longer needs them. The eggs when fertilized will be implanted into a barren woman so that she can have a child with her husband or alone if that is what she prefers.
Do you Macgregor McLeish love Megan Fellows?’
‘I do.’
‘Will you be true to her and not stray into another woman’s or man’s arms?’
‘I will.’
‘Do you Megan Fellows love Macgregor McLeish?’
‘I do.’
‘Will you be true to him other and not stray into another man or woman’s arms?’
‘I will.’
‘All the settlements present please note that by giving their vows to each other it means that when I proclaim them man and wife their marriage should not be interfered with by any other. Is that understood?’
There was a ragged yes from the others.
‘That was not a good answer. Is that understood?’
This time there was a resounding yes from all present.
‘Good just remember you all said that as I now proclaim that Macgregor McLeish and Megan Fellows are now man and wife. You may kiss the bride; anything else will have to wait until you get to your room.’
Mac kissed her while the others laughed at Ray’s little joke.
‘Before you lot go home I will need your services to marry Rebecca and myself, after we have gone and done a little digging into a private matter, for now we can clear the floor and start with the music and dancing!’
The dance started as all other wedding dances did when they had the floor cleared and Mac and Megan danced out there on their own until the first dance ended and then everyone joined in.
Ray and Rebecca were soon dancing although the next day there were going to be more marriages Ray had decided a leader’s marriage should be on one day and the others the next. He had not decided if he should do them all together, to save time or do them one after the other. He knew Rebecca wanted one after the other so that each couple had their own wedding and he eventually gave way to her wishes. After all they had all the time in the world now, the hustle and bustle of everyday life was now merely doing what it takes to survive from day to day and planning for the future.
Mac and Megan left the party at midnight but they had no intentions of sleeping and both had been drinking soft drinks to make sure they did not fall asleep too soon. The others saw them off and carried on dancing and this time there was no rain to curtail the dance so it went on until the early hours.
Donna looked in on Dawn and found her feeding normally.
&n
bsp; ‘Looking good Elizabeth.’ She said happily.
‘Looking good Donna.’ Elizabeth agreed. ‘Thanks to you.’
‘Thanks to Doctor Ralph and his serum, without it I would have just watched her die and that is heart breaking for everyone.’
‘How is Gregor?’
‘He is fine, he has natural immunity so he would have lived anyway so we would have had babies who lived but only those with natural immunity. Now we can keep most of the newborns alive!
‘I wonder how many would have died without Doctor Ralph being around.’ Elizabeth mused.
‘We’ll know by how many we have to inject with the serum but Doctor Ralph nearly died himself. Not from the plague though; another settlement who called themselves the clan shot him so they could take his wife. We were lucky he pulled through or we would not have the serum now and both Dawns would be dead!’
Rebecca woke Ray early by nibbling his ear. Ray went to speak, after he had woken up but Rebecca spotted the look in his face.
‘Don’t tell me she used to nibble your ear.’
‘Well she did.’ Ray argued.
They sought out Brian, who was going to come with them. He in turn made sure someone was manning the consoles and that Tom was awake, before he went with them. They drove to London to where all the records were kept at Lancaster Gate. They took two lap tops and a portable generator with them to be able to access the computer files. Brian chose an office with a computer in it and started work while Ray went down to where the power came into the building and disconnected the main fuse, he did not want to power up the street. He connected the generator and started it up in a side room.
‘Just turning on fuses.’ He said into the radio.
‘Ready and waiting.’ Brian answered.
‘One on.’
‘No good.’
‘One off again and two on.’
‘No good.’
They went on like that until Brian saw the computer booting up.
‘That’s the one.’ He cried.
Ray and Rebecca joined him in the office.
‘So who am I researching?’ He asked.