Light At The End | Book 2 | Light To Dark

by Benson, Tom

  “There’s a junction up ahead,” Cherry said, “and Dalwhinnie is signed two miles along the minor road to the left.”

  “That will do nicely,” Bill said, “as long as the road is in decent condition.”

  The road was overgrown but dry, so it was no hardship to walk on. As they continued, Cherry was looking out for the sub-station which was supposed to be on the right side of the road not far from the village. Only accurate map-reading saw them stop and check out what was once a short entry path into the installation, now hidden behind a screen of trees dense with foliage.

  Cherry shot the lock on the wire mesh gate and was delighted to enter the small compound to find that the installation was similar to the previous one. “It’s another Mark 4,” she shouted.

  “Is that a good thing, Bill?” Victoria said from her position still lying on the stretcher.

  “I asked that same question the last time, and yes, it is a good thing if the equipment is in working condition. It will mean Cherry doesn’t have such a stressful task ahead of her.”

  Cherry came back out to the gate. “It’s looking good in there so if you like I can get started right away.”

  “I’ll tell you what we could do,” Bill said. “While you get to work, Jay-Dee and I will bring Victoria inside the compound and then I’ll go for a stroll through the village and see what condition the rest of the place is in. Allow me about an hour before you come looking for me.” Bill accepted his rifle from Victoria and patted her shoulder. “Don’t you be standing.”

  “She’ll stay there,” Jay-Dee said, “and we’ll see you in a while.”

  Ten minutes later, Cherry was inside the small brick building conducting her diagnostic checks. At the same time, Jay-Dee sat on a boulder beside the stretcher chatting with Victoria and making sure nothing nasty turned up at the compound gate.

  Bill returned an hour later. “Where is our Sparky?”

  Cherry appeared, grinning. “What news have you of our evening’s accommodation?”

  “This may not sound grand, but the railway station will do nicely for us. It’s not the biggest I’ve ever seen, but we’ll have somewhere to fix up food and a hot drink, plus we’ll have padded benches to stretch out on for a decent rest.”

  Jay-Dee said, “Did you have a look around at other buildings in the village?”

  “Yes, mate, but for now, I think we’ll get in where it’s both comfortable and safe so that we can relax this evening.” He handed his rifle down to Victoria. “Thank you.”

  “Ready when you are,” Jay-Dee said and squatted to take the back of the stretcher.

  A few minutes later they were walking along the narrow main road which ran through the village. Several buildings had collapsed after the same tremors which had destroyed so many other places just a few years before. They turned into Perth Road and walked along to the small parking area to the front of the tiny station. Miraculously the railway station was completely intact. Most of the windows were still in position, which was highly unusual when considering what the team had seen so far.

  Bill said, “Before any of you faint from shock, I should warn you that while I was in here, I located the mains fusebox so we ought to have some light.”

  Jay-Dee said, “How did you know it would work?”

  “I didn’t try until I’d allowed enough time for Cherry to have worked her magic.”

  After going through the central doorway, they turned right toward the cafe which did indeed have lights on. Cherry went ahead and held the doors open while the two men carried in the stretcher and set it on a long leather bench seat.

  “You can sit up now, Victoria,” Jay Dee said, “but please keep your injured ankle up on your bergen.”

  “This is luxury,” Victoria said as she got comfortable and Jay-Dee adjusted her pack.

  Bill pulled one of the poles from the stretcher and slipped it through the double handles of the doors. “I’m just making sure we’re not disturbed overnight. We’ve got a place to sit, a place to cook, a place to sleep and we have toilets just through that doorway.”

  “Shall I break up some of this furniture and build a fire?” Cherry said.

  “You can if you like,” Bill said, “or you could go behind that service counter and see if the cooker works.” He grinned. “It was okay about half an hour ago when I checked.”

  .

  Friday 5th August

  “Oh my … what is that lovely aroma?” Cherry threw her blanket back and sat up on her cushioned bench.

  “The boys have been playing,” Victoria said.

  “Fried fish, freshly caught this morning, served with parsley and rosemary.” Jay-Dee served up the meals to the two women.

  Bill approached with two similar meals for Jay-Dee and himself. “I saw the herbs when I was checking out some back gardens in the village yesterday.”

  “I wish I could have been with you and I might have spotted a few more.”

  “They’re not exotic fruits, but we’ve got a few apples too,” Jay-Dee said.

  “I have to get out there and see what there is locally,” Victoria sounded desperate.

  Bill said, “Victoria if you feel up to it by mid-day, you can go out with one of us to test the ankle.”

  “Are we not leaving after breakfast?”

  “No. Jay-Dee and I were discussing it while he was showing off his fishing skills at the local river. We thought it would be beneficial if your ankle had another full day to recover.” He held up a hand when she was about to respond. “When we leave here, whatever the terrain might be it would be good to reach Aviemore in one day.”

  The conversation ceased while the four people enjoyed breakfast in their strange circumstances. Several times a sigh could be heard as one of them savoured the excellent hot, tasty breakfast.

  Jay-Dee finished and returned to the area behind the counter. He came back to the tables with four mugs of a dark-coloured hot liquid. “I’m not sure if this will be palatable or poisonous, but it’s regular tea from sealed foil packets I found in the stock area.”

  Cherry was the first to taste the untested hot drink. “Ahh, Jay-Dee … that is nectar.”

  “Nectar?” Jay-Dee said and raised an enquiring eyebrow.

  “Well,” Cherry sipped again. “It reminds me of how tea used to taste.”

  The others all laughed.

  Victoria said, “Bill, how far will it be to Aviemore?”

  “If the road surface is good, which I think most of it will be, we’re looking at about twenty to twenty-five miles.”

  “Wow, what makes you so confident about the roads?”

  “Altitude. Remember, Aviemore was a ski-resort, and though the River Spey runs past, it’s not at the same level as the town so either the main road or the railway should be good for us.”

  Cherry said, “Would it be easy to change from road to railway if we came across any difficulties?”

  “Yes, they run close together a few times in that region.”

  Victoria said, “What’s the plan for today if we’re staying here?”

  “This wasn’t a big village to start with, and there’s not much left, so I’m taking another walk around. If you feel up to it, you’ll get out for a short walk later as Jay-Dee suggested, so maybe Cherry could go with me shortly, and then Jay-Dee can accompany you.”

  Cherry sipped more of the old tea. “That all sounds good to me, so tell me when you’re ready.”

  Bill and Cherry stepped outside and paused at the car parking area before setting off.

  “Have you been to those few houses along there, Bill?”

  “Yes it was along there I found the herb garden. There isn’t much else of interest to us, and I tried going inside the houses and garages.”

  “That’s a point—where there are garages there are cars. Might there be something we could use?”

  “I did consider the idea, but after the first three garages I gave up on it. The vehicles are all-electric, of course, but the first o
ne I checked told me the story I’d find elsewhere—the charging cells are useless.”

  “We’ve got the power to most parts of the town. I’m pretty sure I could get a vehicle working well enough to reach an outlet.”

  “There are two issues with the cars, and that’s one of them. You’ll remember from your work on cars that the cells were mass-produced. It was never considered that the vehicles would be left unused and uncharged for such a lengthy period.”

  “I’ve got vehicles working after six months of them sitting idle, but I’ve never seen one out of use beyond two years old.”

  “From what I’ve seen so far, the reaction of the cell storage units is to disintegrate over a much longer time—like five or six years.”

  “Are you saying that there are reasonably modern cars here, but the power cells are useless?”

  “Yes, and apart from the electronic and solar power cells, the other problem is the tyres.”

  “Oh, shit, of course. Tyre compounds were redeveloped to be environmentally friendly, so they were meant to disintegrate after a certain guaranteed use, just like the power cells. I’m sure five or six years would be excessive.”

  “It’s pretty sad,” Bill said, “having no power cells and no tyres even though we’ve got one of the best engineers in the business.”

  She laughed. “I remember talking to Paul about the tyres on the coach. After we’d settled in and he drove it slowly through the old tunnel, the remaining tyres shredded and I told him that in a couple of years if he went back to the coach he wouldn’t know the wheels ever had tyres.”

  The pair walked east along the short Perth Road towards the A889, the main road through the village. For a moment, they paused and then went left.

  Bill said, “I thought we could walk straight to the end house in the village and then work back.”

  “That sounds like a good idea.”

  “I want you to do something for me,” Bill said. “Let me check out any buildings before you take a look.”

  “Okay … but why—”

  “Last night, apart from the damaged vehicles, I saw a few disturbing things that I don’t want you to witness.”

  For a few minutes, they strolled along, Cherry looking at houses and trees as if seeing them for the first time. Bill meanwhile was taking in every noise and movement.

  “It’s strange,” Cherry said. “Mankind developed technology that was put to such good use, producing vehicles which didn’t burn harmful fuel, and tyres which dissolved over time. The energy was eventually sourced from the sun, the wind and the sea and everything was becoming clean. It was supposed to be a world for future generations. It would be a planet to cherish, to appreciate and nurture and all for what?”

  Bill nodded, “All so that when it was too late, they realised that the weapons systems and dog-eat-dog international politics should have been worked on at the same time.” He stopped and nodded upwards. “Look at that sky. We’re under a massive hole in the atmosphere which reminds us of all the efforts you’ve just been talking about. Most of the sky is black or grey thanks to devices which should have been deemed too dangerous to keep.”

  They ambled along the pavement, overgrown with greenery from front gardens.

  “When you were in uniform, Bill, did you ever consider that civilisation would be destroyed the way it was?”

  “I did, but as is the way with service people, we’d joke about nuclear war.”

  “I know from listening to you, Sandy and Flint, that you all find the strangest things humorous, but nuclear war is, or was serious.”

  “To put it into perspective, back in my day, we were trained to wear protective suits which would save our lives in the event of gas, liquids and vapours. We all knew that it was postponing the inevitable.”

  “You knew that you might eventually have been affected by the stuff—”

  “No, Cherry, it was much simpler than that, my friend. Some of the agents were invisible to the human eye, like a virus, for example. Chemical and biological agents could be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed. We could wear all that protective gear we had and then when removing it there would be a decontamination procedure, but nothing was foolproof.”

  “Surely if you removed all the clothing and your respirator it would be okay?”

  “Sadly, no. We tried decontamination chambers which would take one person. A blow-dry was tried, and then there was the vacuum system and the chemical rinse … so many different methods but they all had the same flaw.” He paused. “Not one of them removed every single particle. We tested the different methods by using an ultra-violet staining agent, and there was always a tiny fragment left after decontamination.”

  “Didn’t the military issue you with an antidote or something?”

  “Yes, we had pills we could take beforehand, and we had injectors to use in an emergency, but they were all time-related … lasting at the maximum for twenty-four hours, and by that time, your body might already be deteriorating.”

  “Right, so the majority of service personnel had the equipment and did the training, but most of you had a sort of fatalistic approach. You felt you were going to die if another world war started?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid that’s about the size of it. I saw far too much death and destruction in the conventional warfare I was involved in. I had no desire to die as a quivering wreck puking up my internal organs.” He turned to Cherry and grinned. “At the first sign of recognisable symptoms, I’d have shot myself.”

  “Oh, Bill, what about the medics getting infected people back and doing the decontamination—”

  “For an able-bodied person in control of their functions to decontaminate properly took over an hour. If that same man or woman was believed to be infected, it took four other people to decontaminate them, which took three hours and that was the best time we ever made in practice.”

  “I think I see it now,” Cherry said and touched his arm. “All the equipment, the training and the publicity about how good it was—it was a paper exercise to give you guys and the public confidence, but it was a false hope?”

  Bill nodded. “That’s why on a mountain road six years ago I was willing to give Paul his chance at heroism. Every one of us on that coach was destined to die that day, so I thought if that young man feels he can offer a glimmer of hope, then I’ll be backing him. I was impressed when Calvin stepped up to support him.”

  “I didn’t even know Calvin.” She smiled. “It feels like a lifetime ago now.”

  “I was getting out of my seat when Calvin got up a few seats ahead of me and gave Paul his vote by telling everyone else to let him get on with his plan. As Paul drove around those mountain roads, he was demonstrating bravery I’ve only seen a few times. He had a coach instead of a defensive weapon, the passengers were his responsibility, and he felt duty-bound to protect them.”

  “I’ve talked to Calvin about that so often. When we’re sitting with the twins playing in front of us, it all feels so unbelievable.” She smiled. “I think my hopes went up in steps. Paul setting off like he did and then Calvin backing him up and, of course, you doing your ‘survivors’ speech when we ended up in the tunnel.”

  “We’ve all played our part in the community’s success,” Bill said, “and we’ve all got a reason to be proud to have come so far.”

  They stopped when they arrived at the last house on the way out of the village.

  Cherry looked around. “I suppose this is where we find out what happens in a place where folks didn’t survive.”

  Many of the houses had been built at a time when locally sourced rock was used. A building would last for a century or longer.

  Bill paused at the first gate and looked at the sign, ‘Rose Cottage’. Before he went along the garden path, he turned. “You begin to appreciate how intimate a community like this was when you see that nearly every house has a name rather than a number.”

  Cherry followed him to the front door. “Okay, so do you want me to wait at the d
oor until you’ve cleared the house.”

  “Yes, we don’t know what might be inside.” He tried the door handle, but the door was locked. “A sure sign that some people expected to be coming back.” Bill blasted the lock with his laser and then pushed the door open. He went inside and returned two minutes later. “Come and stand inside.” He walked up the staircase slowly, and after a short time came down. “Nothing.”

  “What would you expect to find, Bill?”

  “I’m not expecting to find signs of life or at least human life. I wouldn’t be content for us to move on until I’ve assured myself that nobody is cowering in a corner somewhere having survived somehow.”

  They set off to the next house, which was a short walk.

  “Do you think that any pets might have survived, Bill?”

  “Not many, and I’d expect birds and cats rather than dogs.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Any pet lover would have taken their domesticated animal with them if possible. I imagine birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and the like would all be set free so they could reach the local woodland. Cats live by their own rules anyway, and many might not have been at home when people left in a hurry.”

  “Why wouldn’t you expect dogs?”

  “Some dogs would have been taken away by their owners, while one or two might be abandoned. On my walk yesterday, I found instances of dogs which stayed with the owners when a suicide pact had been fulfilled by a couple.”

  “Oh, Bill—”

  “It’s okay, I remember which houses they were, and I’ve burned a large X on the front doors or the garage doors.”

  “Why the garage doors?”

  “A long time ago somebody could kill themselves by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes in an enclosed space. For example, they could run the car engine in the garage, and it didn’t take long to work.”

  “That would have been in the days when most vehicles used liquid fuels. I can only think of one way to do such a thing with an electric car. The power cells were sensitive to certain chemicals.”

  “Correct and the main ones were gardening chemicals, which when introduced to a solar or electrical vehicle power cell, produced toxic gas. It would be invisible and odourless, but deadly.”