Autumn: Aftermath

by David Moody

“I quite like the look of that helicopter pilot,” she half joked.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “A little peace and quiet and some booze, that’ll do me nicely, thank you very much.”

  “The island sounds peaceful. Mind you, try finding somewhere that isn’t quiet these days.”

  “I know. Truth is, I’m really not sure what I want to do yet. I need a good night’s sleep to try and help me decide. I can see plenty of reasons for staying, but I can find as many good reasons to go.”

  “Well, I’m going,” Driver said, eavesdropping on their conversation. “I’ll tell you this for nothing, first chance I get I’m buggering off to this island. Always fancied retiring to the country, I did.”

  28

  Harte hardly slept all night. He’d laid awake on a spare sofa bed in one of the caravans, the trailer next to Jackson’s, where Kieran and Jas slept—along with Ainsworth and Field, who’d both moved in after the “accident” with a wastepaper bin, a bottle of booze, and a box of matches which had caused the fire. He’d seen Donna, Cooper, and Richard go into Jackson’s caravan late last night, and they hadn’t yet come out. His restless night had mostly been spent looking out of windows. He watched the caravan next door for a while, then turned the other way to check on the helicopter in the middle of the courtyard, desperate for it not to leave without him.

  After tossing and turning restlessly for hours, he finally fell into a relatively deep sleep around four. Noises outside woke him later and he got up with a start. He was out of bed so fast it made him feel nauseous. He pressed his face against the window and saw that there were people gathered around the helicopter. He ran outside, frantically pulling his clothes on as he went.

  “Morning,” Richard said casually as Harte blustered toward him, all arms and legs and panic. “All right, are you?”

  “Thought I was going to miss my flight,” he answered breathlessly.

  “You are,” Cooper said from behind him, startling him. He spun around. Jackson was there too.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked. He turned to look at Jackson. “What’s he on about?”

  “We were talking in the caravan after the meeting,” Jackson explained. “Some of the things Jas said last night were right. This is a big decision for people to make, and we can’t rush them. Cooper here has kindly agreed to give us all a little more time to make up our minds about what we want to do.”

  “We’re flying back to Chadwick this morning,” Cooper began. “We’re going to—”

  “I’m coming with you,” Harte interrupted. “You said.”

  Cooper shook his head. “We need you here. Look, we need to get back to the marina to let Harry and Michael know what’s going on. In the meantime, you and Jackson will be organizing this end of things, finding out who’s going and who’s staying and getting things packed up.”

  “But why me? You don’t need me for that. Anyone could do it.”

  “You know the area better than most,” he explained. “You’ve spent a couple of weeks scavenging around Chadwick, and you know where to find the boats we’re planning to take. Your man Driver has agreed to transport everyone, but he needs your help to get there. This is important, Harte.”

  Harte just looked at him, feeling deflated and unexpectedly angry.

  “This is bullshit,” he spat, turning his ire on Cooper. “I agreed to come back here on the condition you’d get me out again.”

  “And that’s still going to happen. It’s just that you’ll be leaving here by bus, not helicopter, that’s all. What difference does it make? We’re going to wait for you in Chadwick until midday tomorrow, so come the end of the week you should still be on Cormansey. These people need you, Harte; Jackson and Driver most of all. I think it’s the least you can do after running out on them like that.”

  Harte tried to argue with Cooper but he couldn’t. There was no point.

  * * *

  Just past midday. A clear sky and a cool breeze. Jas was standing on the top of the gatehouse with Kieran. Below them the rotor blades on top of the helicopter had just started to spin. Their noise and speed increased rapidly, blowing clouds of dust across the courtyard and sending people scattering, looking for cover. The aircraft rose majestically, and Jas watched it effortlessly climb.

  It was gone in a matter of minutes. All the noise and bluster disappeared in a remarkably short period of time.

  “So what do you think?” he said to Kieran. Kieran stared into the distance, looking as far as he could see in the general direction the helicopter had taken.

  “I’m guessing fifty-fifty,” he answered. “Maybe more will want to go than stay. The grass is always greener, and all that shite.”

  “And that’s all it is,” Jas said, “shite. Most of the people here are just sheep, following the rest of the herd. If you told them to swim the Channel because there’s no dead bodies in France, most of them probably would.”

  “They’re not that bad.”

  “Some of them are.”

  Kieran thought for a moment before asking, “So what are we going to do?”

  Jas walked to the other side of the gatehouse roof and looked out between the battlements over the dead world beyond the wall. Kieran followed him. Down below he could see what was left of the dead, still drawing ever closer even after all this time, the noise of the helicopter piquing their unwanted interest this morning. Christ, they were pitiful-looking creatures now. He watched one of them, one leg broken, the other missing, as it lay on its belly and slowly dragged itself across the muddy grass. Another tried to move past one which had expired against the trunk of a tree. In its clumsiness the two rib cages had become entangled, and now the corpse which still moved was dragging the other behind it.

  The dead appalled Jas. He didn’t admit as much to anyone else, but they still scared the hell out of him too. How could anyone not be afraid of monsters such as these? Foul and hideous, ungodly beasts which would stop at nothing to reach the living. Detestable fuckers with no consideration for their own physical condition, less anyone or anything else’s. Even today, months after death when their physical bodies had deteriorated to such a repulsive extent, they were still a threat. There was nothing human about them now. They were evil: driven to keep attacking until they could no longer function. He wondered how anything could be filled with such relentless, remorseless hate.

  “We can’t let anyone leave,” Jas said, finally responding to Kieran’s question. “Can’t they see what they’re doing? They’re making a huge mistake.”

  “We could try talking to them again,” Kieran suggested. “Maybe now they’ve had time to think they’ll see things differently.”

  “I doubt it.”

  The two men remained looking over the battlements for a while longer. Eventually increasing noises from around the courtyard distracted Kieran.

  “I’m going to see what’s going on down there, okay?”

  “Okay,” Jas said.

  Suddenly alone, Jas leaned against the wall, then sank down to the floor. He held his head in his hands and tried to make sense of the whirlpool of emotions he was feeling. He thought about everything he’d gone through to get to this point—that first morning when he’d lost his family, the time he’d spent with the others at the flats and the circumstances under which they’d been forced to leave, their nightmare incarceration at the besieged hotel …

  It was the weeks he’d spent trapped in the hotel which still troubled him most. Just the thought of those dark, endless hours was enough to bring a tidal wave of uncomfortably familiar feelings of helplessness, panic, and dread crashing over him. He’d found it almost impossible to deal with the cruel finality of their imprisonment there—the fact there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to help himself—and the prospect of being backed into a corner like that again now terrified him. And despite all the assurances he’d heard over and over, that was how this island seemed. He’d be giving up control if he went there. He’d be trapped
unless he could persuade Richard Lawrence to fly him back or find someone who could sail a boat back to the mainland. And travel to and from the island was inevitably going to get harder with time, not easier.

  Cheetham Castle wasn’t perfect. It was an ill-equipped, uncomfortable place, but that didn’t matter. It was just a staging point—a stepping stone, a shelter where they could weather the final days of this tumultuous storm—and it had served its purpose adequately. It would soon be time to move on, but not yet. And definitely not to Cormansey.

  Without thinking, Jas slipped his hand into his inside pocket and pulled out the wallet he’d carried with him constantly since before his nightmare had begun. In it was the last remaining photograph of his family. It had become increasingly ragged and dog-eared over time, more so recently because he seemed to be looking at it more than ever. He gazed deep into the last image of his wife’s beautiful brown eyes—still sparkling and intense in spite of the wear to the picture—and then, as he did whenever he felt his options were reducing, he asked her what she thought he should do.

  Tell me, Harj … do I stay or do I go?

  29

  Short winter days and long nights conspired against all of them. In Chadwick, Cooper and the others spent much of the rest of the day collecting additional supplies, mindful that more than ever, they needed to maximize the usefulness of their time on the mainland. Taking more people back would inevitably reduce the space they had available, but at the same time, the potential increase to the size of Cormansey’s population also meant they needed to take as much as possible. They unpacked and repacked the boats, discarding anything unnecessary and loading the bulk of the supplies onto the Summer Breeze, the slightly smaller of the two. Both of the boats could carry ten people each, maybe more at a push. Working on the assumption that Jas and his inner circle wouldn’t be leaving with them, and with four spare seats in the helicopter, they worked out that they should easily be able to fit all their passengers and their belongings on board the Duchess.

  They spent their third night on the mainland on the luxury cruiser again, as comfortable as before but, strangely, more subdued. Maybe the people back at the castle hadn’t shared their enthusiasm for island life? Donna was surprised. She thought a few of them would have turned up by now, at least.

  “They’ll be here,” Cooper said, seeming to read her thoughts. “You know what it’s like when you’re leaving somewhere,” he half joked. “There’s always more to sort out than you expect.”

  She smiled.

  “I know,” she said. “I just want to get going, that’s all. I want to go home.”

  * * *

  At the castle, Driver had moved his tired old bus for the first time in weeks. He drove it out into the center of the courtyard where the helicopter had been standing hours earlier. He checked it over thoroughly, keen to satisfy himself that the vehicle would be able to get them all the fifteen miles or so into Chadwick. The distance was strangely daunting. In times past he’d have covered it in barely any time at all, but things were different now.

  Another reason for shifting the bus into a more central position was to allow all those who wanted to leave to get their belongings (and any supplies they could half-hitch in the process) loaded up. There had been a steady stream of people getting on and off the bus for as long as it had been out in the open.

  Jackson and Harte watched from a distance.

  “First light and we’ll be off, okay?”

  “Okay,” Harte said. “The sooner the better. Got any idea how many are leaving?”

  “Thirteen or fourteen, I think,” he replied, “including you and me.”

  “Good. Just Jas and his mates staying behind, then?”

  “Looks that way. Jas, Kieran, Melanie, Ainsworth, and Bayliss, I think. Phil Kent’s undecided.”

  “It’s probably for the best. No point in them coming if they’re not committed. Jas does have a point, but we’re all taking risks whatever we do now, and I know where I’d rather be.”

  “As long as we’re all happy with our own personal decisions, that’s all that matters.”

  * * *

  Out of sight on the far side of the bus, Ainsworth, Kieran, and Jas were shifting boxes of supplies from the café kitchen and the back of two trucks and a van, stashing them away, locking them in the gift shop and museum.

  “You sure we should be doing this?” Ainsworth asked.

  “We need this stuff,” Kieran replied quickly. “There’ll be plenty more where they’re going tomorrow. It’s different for us. We’re not leaving here, so we have to make this last. This is our share. We worked for it and we’re entitled to it. We’re just making sure they don’t take what’s ours.”

  “Get as much as you can move,” Jas said. “The more we lock away, the less there is for them to take.”

  30

  It was after eight before the sun rose fully, but as soon as there was enough light for people to see, the castle courtyard quickly became a hive of frantic activity. Those who were leaving grabbed the last of their belongings and stashed them on the bus.

  By just after ten they were ready to load up the remaining food and other supplies. Jackson, Bob, Howard, and Harte walked over to the kitchen to start, but where they’d expected to find large stocks of provisions, they instead found just an empty space.

  When she heard what had happened, Lorna began checking around the rest of the castle. She spotted the bulk of the missing supplies in the gift shop, hidden behind display racks and the counter.

  “Over here,” she yelled, her voice loud enough to alert everyone who was awake. “I’ve found it all.”

  Jackson and the others ran over to the gift shop.

  “Who has the keys for this lock?” Harte asked.

  “There are only two keys, I think,” Howard answered.

  “I didn’t ask you how many there were, I asked you who has them.”

  “Jas has got one,” Bob said.

  “And I’m pretty sure Kieran has the other,” Howard added.

  “Let’s get this door open. Some of that’s our stuff in there. I’m sure as hell not going to leave it all in there for Jas and his cronies to gorge themselves on when we’re gone.”

  “That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” Jas said. Unnoticed, he’d walked up behind them, flanked by Ainsworth and Bayliss.

  “Come on, Jas, this is stupid,” Jackson protested. “We won’t take it all, but we’re entitled to some of this stuff. It’s ours.”

  “It’s staying here. You’re going back into Chadwick, aren’t you, so you can get more. Remember, we’re stopping here for a while longer yet. We need this more than you do.”

  “Yes, but not all of it. Christ, there’s only going to be a handful of you staying behind. And anyway, just a couple of days back you were telling us all how you were going to rape and pillage the whole country.”

  “That’s in the future. Until then, we need those supplies.”

  “And so do we!”

  Jackson turned his back on Jas and shook the door but it wouldn’t open. He took a knife from his belt and started trying to force the lock.

  “Go and find Kieran,” he said under his breath to Harte. “Talk some sense into him. See if you can get the other key off him.”

  Before Harte could move, Jas grabbed hold of Jackson and threw him away from the gift shop entrance. Jas had a clear strength advantage, and Jackson was sent flying. He landed on the floor then got up, brushed himself down and ran at the door, trying to shoulder-charge it open. It was stronger than it looked and he simply bounced back off it, but he tried again, regardless.

  “You’ll never do it, you fucking idiot,” Jas said. He was about to speak again when someone shouted behind him.

  “Stop her!”

  Jas spun around and saw that Lorna was helping herself to more supplies from the back of one of the trucks. She scooped up as much as she could carry and sprinted over to the bus. Following her lead, several others did
the same.

  For a moment longer Jackson tried to force the door. When Jas didn’t come at him again, he looked back and saw him running off toward the truck which was rapidly being emptied by Lorna and the others. Driver was standing in the middle of the courtyard, watching the chaos unfolding all around him, dumbstruck.

  “Get the fucking bus started,” Jackson screamed at him as he ran past. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Lorna weaved around Jas, slipping down onto one knee momentarily, just managing to hold on to everything she was carrying. She threw herself forward and scrambled up onto the bus, barely getting through the open door before Driver came storming up behind her. He clambered into his cab and started the engine, sinking into his seat with relief. He looked behind and saw that there were only a handful of people onboard. More were running over from the caravans, terrified that they were going to be left behind. Howard stumbled up the steps, his arms overloaded.

  Outside, Jas positioned himself directly between the front of the bus and the gate. Charlie Moorehouse tripped while carrying two heavy cellophane-wrapped packs of bottled water, and while he was off-balance Ainsworth shoved him right over and put a boot between his shoulder blades, preventing him from getting up. Elsewhere, Zoe fought to get past Will Bayliss, who was blocking her way back to the bus. She tried to barge him out of the way but he stood his ground. She went to slap him but he was too fast. He caught her wrist and twisted her arm around so her position was reversed. He shoved her up onto the bus, empty-handed.

  “You can fuck off,” he spat at her. “I’ll be glad to see the back of you.”

  “Don’t do this, Jas,” Jackson said, refusing to show any anger or malice as he approached the other man, arms open but still carrying the knife he’d been using to try and force the gift shop door open. He sheathed it to show his peaceful intentions.

  “Unload the supplies,” Jas said, “and I’ll let you leave.”

  “You’ll let us leave!” Jackson laughed. “Come on, Jas, grow up. What do you think this is, a movie? We’ve all made our individual decisions, just like you insisted. Everyone’s had their say and made their choice, now you have to respect those choices.”