by Benson, Tom
A hubbub went around the room as might have been expected with such an introduction.
“The forestry, as you’ve heard, has flourished. We believe that as a direct result, the overhead gap in our dark sky has increased and will continue until it joins with the other gap a little north of here. There might not have been many wildlife survivors in the local mountains, forest and waterways, but there has been some. Our trip into the wildlife reserve has convinced us that many species which were in captivity have survived too.”
A hand went up amidst the audience.
“Yes, Craig?”
“Bill told us after the first visit about the damage to fences and suchlike. Surely the animals would have run out of food and water, yeah? They’d all have been in compounds or fenced-in even if it were in a larger area, yeah?”
“A good point, Craig. Yes, they would all have been secured even if it were in a pretty big area. We’ve seen evidence which suggests that all of the birds and animals have been presented with their freedom.”
Several hands were raised.
“Yes, Ramona?” Tina smiled at the handsome woman who’d been the chef at the power station before the group had arrived.
“Do we know if there were any dangerous species set free.”
“Wolves, lynx, snow leopard, tiger and bears; including polar bears.”
There was a hubbub once again, and then a hush fell over the room.
“Now, you’ll understand the importance of the forestry and local flora and fauna’s survival. Some of those animals are forest and jungle dwellers. In contrast, others prefer wide open spaces and still others like mountains or colder climates.” She smiled. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but factors to consider are the ranges involved, habitats and natural prey. Many of the predators are territorial and will set out to establish their own living and hunting grounds. Apart from the hunters we know that there are several species of herbivores, that is grazing animals. They will have grown in number and over the past couple of years, broken away in large groups.”
“How do we know that the herbivores will disperse far from the reserve?” This from Alan, the ex-businessman and more recently, Ramona’s partner in life and work.
“The reserve is a massive area, Alan, but grazing animals naturally migrate many miles searching for food and water if they’re not fenced in. We’ve already discussed how we can help them. As we explore, if we don’t see herds, a couple of our members will locate the outer perimeter and ensure that a few openings are created. It would not only allow freedom but encourage the herds to disperse and wander. We believe from what we’ve seen that most have already left the reserve.”
“How wide an area will the herds cover?” Dawn, who’d once been the tour guide on the coach.
Tina smiled. “Grazing herds could feasibly wander far enough to inhabit the whole Highland region. In a nutshell, wherever the greenery has survived or seen a resurgence, the wildlife will thrive.” She paused briefly. “That’s the land, and the wildlife brought together. You’ll now be wondering how the weapons come into this. Our primary purpose as a community has always been survival—ourselves and humanity. The few smokers have long ago forgotten the habit, so they’re going to live longer. We’ve all retrained our palates—apart from eating fish as we’ve started to do again recently, we’re all vegetarian. I, for one, would be delighted if we could keep things that way. Unless we have anyone who wants to return to being an omnivore, it would be good if our weapons were only used for our protection and not for hunting.”
Silence descended on the large room as Tina’s words hit home.
“How we go forward on the matter is an individual choice, but Bill made a suggestion, which I think puts the whole concept in perspective.” She turned and nodded to the man whom many still regarded as the community’s unofficial leader, irrespective of who was voted in each month.
Bill stood. “I intended to avoid taking the floor today, but on this particular matter, it’s only right that I do so. Recently, since we’ve been going outside, a couple of guys have gone down to the loch and caught fish. It’s a healthy supplement to our diet. The suggestion I made to Tina was that it would be fine if we had any members who’d like to return to eating red meat or wildfowl, however, they’d be expected to deal with procuring that meat themselves.”
Des, the engineer, stifled a laugh. “I’m sixty now, and I think we’ve been well catered for over the past six years, but for the benefit of a would-be meat-eater among us, how much of the procurement would they have to do?”
“They’d have to learn certain skills, Des. For example, they’d have to get close enough to kill the chosen creature, then drain it, pluck it or skin it, butcher it and prepare it for consumption.”
Most of the people in the room laughed at Bill’s matter-of-fact delivery while a couple of others were feeling queasy.
Bill captured the general mood and surveyed his audience. “Sandy, Flint and I will all be happy to teach you to shoot, and if required, I’ll demonstrate the other stages except for preparing a meal.” He looked around the room slowly again and smiled as he received a nod from certain people. Bill sat down, feeling that he’d accomplished his aim.
Calvin stood. “Are there any more questions?” He turned briefly to grin at Bill before he faced the silent audience. “No? Well, in that case, moving swiftly on. Our update is over, but our intrepid explorers have done us proud, and you can now come and see what we have to share.” He stepped back and waved an arm. “We have sufficient backpacks to allocate one to each of the children. There’s quite a stock of T-shirts in various sizes, but again, importantly, at least half are aimed at the needs of the children. Water bottles with carriers and mugs fitted, colouring pencils and books, plus a few reference books about natural history which I think will come in handy for all of us.”
Bill, Tina, Norman and Flint all stepped aside. Calvin was as keen as the others to see the latest acquisitions, and he poured over the various items with Cherry, his partner and mother of their twins.
.
Sunday 10th July
A patio of sorts had been created by digging a flat platform into the side of the mountain. The patio was no more than three metres by four metres, but when furnished with a few seats, it had become a popular place to sit outside. Flint came up with the idea of using the bricks from Harry’s old tunnel wall. In a few trips, he brought out a quantity of bricks and set to work.
“Anybody can be uncomfortable,” Flint had said as he set out small squares of house-bricks on the flat and smooth earth of the patio. For a short while, he had experimented with different levels. When content with the height, he busied himself, making a bucket of mud to build his first seat. By the end of that morning, he’d created a simple but effective place for people to relax. Up to ten people could sit around outside but near the entrance portal. To demonstrate creativity, he constructed a few single seats while others were double.
Bill and Fiona sat on one of the double seats. It was a few metres away from what was referred to as the ‘front door’. Due to the patio being nearby, the door was left slightly ajar whenever anyone was outside.
Bill and Fiona had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and because it was Sunday, it was the day deemed to be a rest day for all. Religion had nothing to do with the decision to have a rest day once a week. The loss of loved ones and the destruction of humanity created reservations about the existence of any supernatural saviour.
The only work being done was the duty engineer in the Control Room. Bill and Fiona were relaxing, enjoying the fresh air and gazing down at the vast expanse of water a couple of miles away at the base of the mountain.
“Come on, Mr Kane, you promised to tell me about your master plan.”
“I know it will sound far-fetched—”
“Hey, remember where this all started for us—nothing is far-fetched in our world.” She looked into his eyes for a moment, wishing that they could have been blessed with childre
n, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Bill reached out and took her hand. “Our footpath will take another few weeks to reach the lowlands and made presentable, but when it does, I’d like to start work on that large patch of grassland farther down. We have the mountain which our community will eventually outgrow so instead of waiting until it’s a necessity I’d like to establish accommodation closer to the loch’s banks.”
“Are you talking about actual buildings?”
“Well, I was thinking of something rudimentary. We could build two or three places where a few of us could stay overnight occasionally to test them. For example, if we drew up a basic plan, instead of working to scale, we could measure it out in real terms in the orchard.”
“I’m with you, so we’d have a ground plan, but we wouldn’t have to build rooms or walls, only mark it out to check the feasibility?” She turned. “Do you have designs in mind?”
“I’ve been considering a couple of ideas. One would be the classic timber and mud hut. In the main tunnel, we have a massive stockpile of railway sleepers which would be ideal for the foundation of our first buildings. When we put our heads together, we can create, repair or improvise just about anything so perhaps we could fell a few trees. Interlocking timber joints would negate the need for nails or screws.”
“Yes, and we’ve got Jean and Marie who are great when it comes to crafting skills so they’d be the ideal people for working out how to create a thatched roof.” Fiona nodded. “You said you had a couple of ideas, so if the classic hut was one, what are the others?”
“I can imagine them, but how practical they’d be long-term I don’t know.”
“Come on, explain it and we’ll work it out.”
“A building out in the open on a flat piece of ground would be subjected to the elements. We’ve already noted that the seasons are nothing like they used to be so rain and snow, for instance, might be harmless or destroy our efforts.”
“Okay, cut the build-up, you’ve got me intrigued.”
“I wondered if somewhere low down the mountain, we could cut deep into the hillside. We could use timbers to shore up the walls and whatever we used as an internal ceiling but there would be no roof because the actual house would be cut into the hill, like a man-made cave.”
“Okay, and are there any more?”
“Yes, and I know these work as short-term survival shelters—turf buildings. They wouldn’t be big but evenly cut turf bricks would make a solid formation to then render with mud.”
Fiona smiled, enjoying the sound of her man expounding his theories about creating something from nothing. Six years earlier, this same man had created faith and hope from terror and despair.
“How will you sell the idea to the prospective inhabitants of this village you intend to build?” Fiona grinned.
“That’s the easy part. We create one of each type and then monitor how they are affected by the elements. Nobody has to be at risk living in them, and we’d be able to see the merits of whatever we build.” He laughed. “If my sales pitch doesn’t work I’ll ask Craig to help me … sales were his profession so he could be my estate agent.”
Fiona laughed. “Have you talked to anybody else about this venture?”
“I’ve chatted to Harry about it, and he thinks all three types would be feasible. Just as I did so long ago, both Sandy and Flint have lived rough in woodland, so they’re good to have around when designing. We don’t have a lot of tools or screws and nails so most of what we do will be down to our ability to adapt.”
“May I take it that there will be no time-scale for this vision?”
“No, we take things one step at a time and involve all those who have ideas or would like to take part in the design or building.”
“We all came from different backgrounds and were thrown together into our situation. I doubt if any of us ever knew the true meaning of community until we settled inside the mountain.”
Bill squeezed her hand. “I’d be inclined to agree with you, but, of course, when I was in the military, I was part of a brotherhood and sisterhood which creates a lifelong connection.”
“I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed that you, Sandy and Flint are closer with each other than any others here. Your career was long over, and yet it’s as if there is an unspoken understanding—an unbreakable bond.”
“It’s hard to explain unless you’ve experienced such a thing. It’s different from family or friendship and is probably more to do with knowing that we all promised to protect others and put the safety of their lives before ours.”
For a short while, the pair held hands, gazing at the lush grassland far below, and the loch beyond. The foothills on the other side of Loch Awe were green, but the hills a few miles farther south were more reminiscent of tundra. On the southern horizon and slightly to the west, the hills were white; dead for the main part. Bill dealt with the sight by telling himself that it was a winter wonderland of life, and not a land-based version of dead, white coral.
All of the adults in the Auchcarn community, had become accustomed to their clothes having become worse for wear. Many times in their new lifestyle, they’d all been grateful for having been on a short trekking and sightseeing break at the time of the apocalypse. They’d at least been left carrying backpacks with a couple of changes of clothes, and they’d been wearing sturdy footwear and durable clothing.
During their time inside the mountain, there were a variety of skills which came to the fore and eased the burden of clothing falling apart completely. It had taken many hours and days of trial and error. A couple of people worked hard at separating, spinning and binding fibres from useful plants and trees which were grown within the mountain. Improvisation took on a whole new meaning as those who had attained the skills had passed them on to others.
It was a strange concept. Particular members of the community were learning to make a cotton thread from natural fibres, while others were trying to come to grips with the fundamentals of hydro-electric power.
Over the past six years, every member of the small community had become multi-skilled. The knowledge that men could repair clothing and women could understand the sophisticated equipment gave the entire community undeniable mutual respect and confidence in each other.
As the children had come along a greater sense of family had evolved. Selfishness was a thing of the past. Personal privacy which had at one time all but disappeared, was beginning to develop once again.
In their early hours and days in the old tunnel, nobody had been permitted to perform essential bodily functions unless there was somebody else within reach in the darkness. That single area of human need … to be alone for those few private moments had been destroyed by the need for mutual dependence and safety. It was a time never spoken of but always remembered.
The sound of small children between the ages of three and five gave new life and meaning to every waking minute of every day. Clothing so far for the youngsters had been tailored and adapted garments handed down from the adults, whether or not they were the child’s parents.
Footwear for the children had been a worry until Marie; the self-styled homemaker suggested adapting the sleeves of outdoor jackets. The simplicity of the solution wasn’t fully realised until it became apparent that the footwear could be increased in size by undoing, rotating and restitching of the material.
One of the areas which had created the need for toddlers to have footwear was the main tunnel in which some of them had spent a lot of time in their first two years. The subject of babies becoming toddlers had been brought up at a community briefing, and none other than Craig, the converted pessimist offered a solution.
“We’ve got loads of time, yeah,” he’d said, “so why don’t we sweep the gravel off to one side of the old tunnel, yeah? Sweep it all away from the side which has the accommodation portals, yeah?”
The task was like so many other massive undertakings by the group. They had gone at it with a will and produced a re
latively flat if not utterly smooth surface which was half the width of the railway tunnel. It was this same gravel which would eventually find itself being harvested for use as a simple foundation for the hillside footpath.
Craig had also been one of those who’d created the first play area for the toddlers halfway along the old tunnel in the community’s first year underground.
“I’m sure Bill would agree that it was the right thing to do.” Flint was talking as he walked out of the front door to step onto the porch. “I told you—he’s out here with Fiona.” Flint was followed outside by Sandy.
Bill said, “I would agree that what was the right thing to do?”
“Hi, guys,” Sandy said as he glanced at Fiona and turned to Bill. “It was something I had in mind, but we can discuss it later.”
“We don’t have secrets.” Bill’s comment got a smile from Fiona.
Sandy mimicked his young companion and sat on one of the brick and turf seats spaced out on the patio. “I was telling Flint that I’d like to get on with a new project—begin a survey to map out the extent of Loch Awe’s banks.”
“Six years have passed, mate,” Bill said. “You’ve both been through a lot since ditching into the water near here so only you two will know if you’re ready for it.”
Sandy half-turned and glanced at Flint, the comrade who’d been nearest to him in one of the doomed heli-pods. “I’m ready, and this fella has proved himself time and again—he’s ready too.”
Fiona said, “How many of you would perform this … survey?”