Something nasty inside me gurgled upwards and I yelled out, ‘Go!’ Urged on by my forceful command, the bulls stomped forward. I wanted them to gore and trample the men that meant them harm, but another voice, that of Krishna and all the other monks I had known that craved peace, crushed my violent desires. I ceased my cries and called , ‘Oak. Snowbone. They stopped and pawed the ground.
Paul, Richard, and Mike appeared. The servicemen lifted their rifles. Richard held his hands in the air and stepped slowly towards them. ‘Okay, okay, now gentlemen, let’s not be hasty. If you would put down your weapons? As you can see. I am not armed. We are not armed.’
One of the soldiers, a clean shaven, shortish, heavy-set man in his early thirties with close-cropped black hair, stared at us for a moment before lowering his gun. ‘Stand down, Phillips.’ His big-biceped friend grimaced and let his rifle fall to his side. ‘One of your group attacked one of my men.’
‘Arjuna acted in self-defence. My friend was trying to protect the herd.’
‘Maybe, but an attack was made.’
Phillips clenched his wide jaw, causing veins to bulge from his thick neck. ‘Too right it was, Harris. Tell that weirdo woman to shut up. She has a voice on her that would wake the dead. I want nowt to do with her. You look like reasonable men. Surely you’ll understand? I mean, we come across a load of cows when you know, food is scarce. Meat, fresh meat, is well, pretty damn non-existent anymore. Shit, what would you do if you saw a herd of cows? We need meat. That looney female needs to be restrained and gagged.’ He lifted his rifle and aimed it at my head. Despite my fear of such a giant male, he was at least a head and shoulder taller than Paul, I could not help noticing how slender his fingers were in contrast to his muscular, hairy arms.
When he peered through the sight with his left eye, I prickled and marched forward. ‘I will never be silenced. Not whilst I am tending to the sacred cows. I will protect them with my last breath. You will not harm them.’
I looked at the ground, saw a large branch, picked it up and waved it before his face. ‘You will not harm them.’ My words, or perhaps my menacing stance, seemed to put fear into the men. They backed away as I walked forwards. A rage still smouldered within me and with every step I took a new-found strength entered my limbs. With a throaty roar, I lifted the heavy piece of wood and with a primal scream of hate, I raced towards the white-faced soldiers.
I managed to strike the one called Phillips across the jaw. His rifle flew against a tree trunk and he fell to his knees. Before the other could raise his weapon, I struck him on the wrist. HI gun to crashed to the ground. I shoved the branch into his stomach, but before I could do any more damage, Paul grabbed my arm and prised the wood from my fingers.
‘Calm yourself, Mayer. Shhh, now.’
‘Arjuna. They have hurt him.’
‘And you have hurt them. All square?’ Richard’s voice was cold. ‘I must say I’m surprised at your actions.’
‘We are peaceful It is true, but when force is needed to protect our herd, neither Arjuna nor myself will hesitate to use it.’ I pulled free of Paul and went to where my friend lay by the tree. He sat, rubbing his chin. ‘Are you well?’
‘I may have broken a finger or two, but yes, I am without too much injury. The cows?’
‘Unharmed.’
‘Did I imagine it? Did you attack the soldiers?’ Arjuna said and wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth.
‘Yes, she bloody well did. She’s a mad woman.’ I turned and Phillips pointed at me. ‘She should be locked up. When Sarge hears what she did, she’ll be punished. Won’t she, Harris?’
Holding his right arm with his left hand, Harris stared at me, then to my surprise smiled. ‘I dunno, Phillips. I think we could use her. She’s formidable. I’d gladly fight alongside a woman like that. You’re stiff and right, girl, stiff and right.’ He saluted me.
Mike laughed. Paul grinned, but Richard shook his head. ‘Now what?’ he said and scratched his greying beard.
‘Well, Matey, Phillips and me will have to report what happened. Don’t know what Sergeant Brandish is going to say. I mean, he was the one who told us to ambush the cows. He loves his steak. But, I’ll put a good word in for….’
‘Mayer,’ Paul said and went to the men. ‘Richard, take a look at them. It’s okay, he’s a doctor.’
‘Really? Cool. You’re just the man we need. Several of our lads are pretty sick.’
Richard narrowed his eyes. ‘Symptoms?’
‘Kind of, like the flu, only worse. They’ve got the squits really bad too.’
Paul and Richard exchanged a serious look.
Arjuna groaned as he stood. ‘They may have the virus. We must not have contact.’
Richard sighed. ‘Don’t make any rash judgments. I’ll take a look at them in exchange that you leave the herd and our people alone.’
Harris shrugged. ‘No telling what Sarge wants to do, but I can have a word. You can fix the boys, though?’
‘I can try. We only have a limited stock of medicines.’
‘We were supposed to stop off in Edinburgh, it’s still pretty much intact. There’s a hospital, local council and all that. But they’re not keen on letting anyone in, scared of contamination. That virus thingy is spreading fast. Plus, Brandish got wind of you lot. Don’t look shocked, you’re all over what’s left of the media. Did you think you could walk a load of cows across Britain and not be noticed?’
Paul whistled, wiped his face and said, ‘I suppose we’ve been lucky not to have been attacked before now.’
‘Not lucky. Brandish has been keeping tabs on you. Clearing folk away if they got too close. He’s obsessed with getting those cows. I mean, he even, well, I tried to stop him, but he shot a bloke for just saying that he hoped he’d share the beef with the rest of the troop.’
‘Sheer madness. I mean, obviously I thought we might run into a bit of trouble, but this man sounds dangerous. You’re telling us that he’d rather see his own men suffer or possibly die just to get his hands on these cows? That’s insane.’
The same noisy honking halted Paul as he spoke. The same coarse voice boomed out, ‘Stay exactly where you are. We won’t harm you. Harris? Have you procured me a steak?’
From out of the dense trees came four more soldiers. The one in front carrying a voice enhancer, wore a darker uniform, green instead of light brown, his greying hair almost covered by a black peaked cap. He was slim, small, with a long narrow face and a hooked nose that almost touched his thin upper lip. Narrowing his close together eyes, he stared at his men, then over their heads to where the herd stood. ‘Dammit, Man. I ordered a steak, and that is what I expected.’
‘Sorry, Sir.’ Harris saluted with his left hand.
‘What the hell happened to you?’
Harris coughed and looked at the ground.
‘That woman attacked us, Sir.’
‘What?’ He marched up to me.
‘Do not come closer or I will…’ I raised my fists. He laughed.
‘Beaten up by a girl. That’ll go down well round the campfire.’ He sucked in his cheeks. ‘Well, I’d best stay where I am. Those cows are yours?’
‘They are no ones. They are their own cows, we protect them,’ Arjuna said and stood beside me.
‘They are not for slaughter. They will not be harmed. Whilst we live we will fight to protect them.’
Sergeant Brandish yawned, pulled out a pistol from his trouser pocket and aimed it between my eyes. ‘Well, then you’ll just have to die. I will have my steak.’
There was a loud gunshot sound and I thought I was injured, but down went Brandish clutching his thigh.
‘Arjuna!’ Paul ran to us and took the gun from his hand. My friend shook and blinked but said nothing. ‘Damn it. This is not good. Christ in all his mighty!’
‘Don’t stand there, you feeble little snot wipes. Attack! Kick the scrawny bastard until he bleeds!’ Brandish held his hand over the wound that gushed, then pointe
d his gun at Arjuna, who dropped his and stared at the wild-eyed Sergeant.
‘Kill me if you must, but others will take my place.’
‘Too flipping’ right they will. I’m with Arjuna and Mayer,’ Mike said.
‘Me too,’ Paul said and both men stood in front of Arjuna.
‘This is ridiculous. You men, don’t just stand there, like lost kittens, shoot them or so help me I’ll shoot you.’ He aimed his gun at the troops. ‘Pathetic idiots, I don’t need you. I’ll pick you all off one-by-one.’
Before he could pull the trigger, the soldier called Phillips, snatched a rifle from the man that stood next to him and shot Brandish in the temple. He fell backwards, twitched for a moment then lay still.
‘Shit from on high!’ Harris said and went over to Brandish. He knelt down, checked for life signs then addressed us all. ‘The bastard’s dead.’ His fellow squad members cheered.
***
With two dozen army personnel in our midst, folk felt safe and our group began to relax. Except for Arjuna and myself. We took it in turns to keep watch on the herd. Despite Harris swearing that they were in no danger, I saw the way some of the soldiers looked at them. There was a hunger in their eyes as they passed by. As we watched them smoking and head jerking in our direction, Arjuna and I huddled closer together. ‘I do not trust them.’
‘Nor I, Arjuna, nor I.’
‘If they could condone and even applaud the murder of one of their own so readily, then the slaughter of a cow or two would be as nothing.’
‘Are you talking about me and my pals?’ Corporal Harris said walking towards us. He, like the other soldiers, no longer wore their official uniforms, preferring to kit themselves out in thick, black waterproof all-in-ones made from a new kind of ‘magic’ material that repelled water and kept the skin dry and odour free. He sucked on a tobacco tube, or Ciggy, as they called them and blew out smoke rings into the air. ‘Because, if you are, you shouldn’t be.’
‘One of your men shot and killed a fellow officer and you cheered. We have a reason to be suspicious.’
Harris threw his stub to the floor and ground his foot on it until it was no more than a pile of dried out herbs and leaves. ‘Look, Sarge was a git of the highest order. We all hated him. He ruled us with threats and violence. We were scared. We followed his orders. The man was worse than Hitler, worse than Prime Minister Johnson when he sent the troops to wipe out the rebels who wanted to reunite Europe. He was a gonner. Just a matter of time before someone did him in. Phillips took the initiative.’
A mighty wind stirred up the soggy leaves and made the cattle moo sadly. A clap of thunder heralded the arrival of more lightning and torrential rain. Harris pulled his hood further down his forehead. ‘Time to head for shelter. Coming?’ We shook our heads. ‘Suit yourselves. Tell you what, if you’re so keen on keeping vigil, I’ll let you have a couple of onesies, then at least you can keep dry. See? We’re not that bad.’
In but a few moments the man who killed Brandish, Corporal Phillips, came to us with Sarah walking beside him. ‘Dear me, you look like a couple of drowned rats. You know, you’re being very foolish. These wonderful men are here to help, aren’t you?’
Phillips nodded.
‘Besides, you shouldn’t be appalled at that Brandish fellow wanting to butcher your pets. I mean, how long did you think it would be before some of our dear little gang began to have thoughts of meat stew? Our rations are nearly gone. These brave young men are a blessing. I for one, am very glad they found us.’ She winked at Phillips and I sensed a look of collusion pass between them.
‘Here you go. Frankie said to give you these. I chose big ones to go over your clothes. Although, I think you should get dry before putting them on. Otherwise, well, what would be the point. Tell you what, I’ll look after the cows whilst you go and change.’
Now, we are followers of Krishna and wish no harm to any living creature, but when it came to protecting our sacred cows, we were bound to do so by any means necessary.
Arjuna pulled out a fierce serrated knife from his pocket. I took out a pistol. The one Brandish was keen to use on me. I had never shot a gun, but it looked easy enough. Phillips held up his hands.
‘Okay, I get the message.’
Sarah snorted. ‘Really? Some religion you have. I thought you Buddhist lot were all for peace and non-violence. Hypocrites.’
‘I will not argue semantics with you, Sarah. We know when to fight to defend those we cherish and must defend. Not hypocrisy, survival,’ I said and pointed my weapon at her.
‘Whatever,’ she said and left, calling over her shoulder, ‘Come on, David, they’re really not worth the effort.’
‘I’ll just leave these here,’ he said and carefully placed the garments on a rock. He turned, shrugged his broad shoulders and walked back to camp with Sarah.
‘It will be hard to look after the herd when we continue our travels. Sarah was behaving strangely, don’t you think?’
Arjuna smiled, replaced the knife and pulled out the map from his inside coat pocket. He rubbed the stubby ginger and blond moustache that was growing longer each day, unfolded the chart and put his finger on a large green patch. ‘What if she was behaving oddly? It is no matter. This is our final destination.’ He moved his finger slightly. ‘This is where we are. It’s not more than forty miles away. In less than a week, we should arrive. Tomorrow we leave.’
‘I will take the lead.’
‘And I will take the rear.’
We pressed our foreheads together and through the pitter-patter of water on leaves heard a familiar voice say, ‘I will help too. And if you look this way, you will see I am not alone.’ Behind Paul, I saw Richard, Mike, and Janet. But, not Kevin.
The rain died down during the night. When it was my turn to sleep, I wandered into the camp. Paul and Richard were sitting by the fire, heads bent, hands clasped upon their knees. They looked concerned and were discussing something very important judging from their furrowed brows and hushed voices.
Paul looked up as I approached. ‘There you are.’ His face brightened and he gave Richard a side glance. ‘You look wet through. Go to the supply tent, get food and a change of clothes.’
I held out the damp proof suit. ‘Corporal Phillips gave us these.’ He stretched out and touched the fabric.
Richard did too. ‘Nice. So, they’ve already manufactured it. I thought we were years off. Leave it to the military to get things done.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, Mayer, that scientists such as myself and Paul, have been a thumbnail away to producing fabric such as the one you are holding for decades, but when the storms began in earnest and the virus left people dead, we were taken off the projects to concern ourselves with how to keep the human race alive. Or at least, the technology to create more humans if need be.’
‘Are you talking about cloning and…’
Paul stood quickly. ‘You should go and put the suit on. Then, sleep. Okay? We have a long journey ahead. Plus,’ he looked at the small area of sky that could be seen between the densely packed branches, ‘A storm is coming and we’ll need to be rested and dry before battling through it. The wind is rising. Can you feel it?’ I nodded. ‘Go, don’t worry about what techs do or don’t do. There’s no point now. I imagine most if not all experiments are on hold. No labs, no scientists, no trials.’
‘Well, I suppose you are right. What you say makes sense.’
Richard coughed. ‘Glad you can get some meaning out of all this mess.’
I shrugged and went to the supply tent. It was dry, heated and lit by a small battery operated radiator that stood in the centre. Although the light was quite dim I was able to find the box that contained fresh clothes. I picked out thick trousers and a heavy woven shirt, took off my wet attire and put them on. I shivered for a moment and climbed into the onesie Phillips had given me. Draping my wet things over a fold-away stool, I placed my sodden garments in front of the fire to dry, gra
bbed a nutritional bar from the supply box, and walked briskly back, munching as I strode to where the two scientists sat.
‘The soldiers that are ill, do you know what ails them?’ Richard leaned back in his canvas chair. He looked at me, then at Paul who shook his head. ‘Don’t keep anything from me. If they are with the virus I, we, need to know.’
‘I suspect two have it, Mayer. They are far gone and not expected to survive the night. The other three show early symptoms. I really can’t be sure.’
‘No. They can’t come with us. It’s too dangerous.’ Both Paul and Richard broke eye contact with me. ‘You’re not considering taking them with us?’
‘Look,’ Paul said and took my hand. I pulled it away. ‘Mayer, please, listen and don’t be angry. Ah, now, I know that look. Your cheeks are reddening and your pretty mouth has gone all thin.’
‘Do not sweet talk me.’
‘Sorry, it’s just, well.’ He ran his fingers through his matted brown hair. ‘The thing is, we have to. Harris, Phillips and Sarah, insist we do. They believe we can cure them.’
‘And can you?’
‘To be honest, sorry to interrupt Paul, we need them to, well, no to put too fine a point on it, to experiment on. They could prove to be invaluable. So, yes, they will be coming.’
Thunder rumbled above. A sign that trouble was brewing for sure. I breathed in the damp leaf air, walked past Paul and went back to my tent. It was only a few hours before we would head off on our last trek to the place of sanctuary. I needed to be rested so that I could be on the alert. A thing I needed to be now that the army men decided to join us.
I did not sleep. Despite being warm and snug in my new outfit, the conversation with Paul and Richard left me uneasy. As light filled my tent I heard the honking of the military alarm and voices shouting orders. The soldiers took control of the evacuation and put people into groups. I was amazed at how acquiescent all were to do their bidding. But then, they were tired, cold, wet and hungry. The soldiers shared their rations and these desperate folk were glad to follow an established leadership.
The Chronicles of Mayer_An Apocalyptic Survival Story Page 6