Surviving the Fall: How England Died

by Stephen Cross

  Adam still didn’t move. “But mummy, maybe the man is right.”

  “Wait a minute June, let’s just think about this,” said Harriet. “Maybe we should just stay here tonight, and then we can talk about it in the morning?”

  June looked around the room, all eyes on her.

  Jake said, “I didn’t mean to scare you, June, I’m sorry. Look, just stay here tonight. It’s not safe out there now. I’ll give you some food to take with you tomorrow.”

  June sat back down and threw her arms up. “Fine.”

  Chapter 2

  Jake showed them upstairs. There was his bedroom, two spare bedrooms, and a bathroom. Pretty standard for a suburban new build.

  Harriet was to sleep in one of the spare rooms, which Jake had turned into a study/storage room.

  “This airbed should be fine,” said Jake, giving a few finishing squeezes on the foot pump.

  At least he’s eager to please, thought Harriet. But then he probably didn’t get to speak to a lot of women his age, she thought, looking around at all the survival magazines, ninja weapons, and camo gear.

  “I’ll be in there”, said Jake to his guests, pointing to the room next to Harriet’s. “I’ll probably be up late, and you might hear some power tools.” He handed everyone some ear plugs. “You can use these.”

  “Power tools?” said June.

  Jake nodded. “Yes, I’m going to to get to work on securing the place.” June gave him a sharp look, he smiled back at her. “Just the windows.”

  “Ok, thanks Jake,” said Harriet. “Thank you very much, for being so generous. You’re very kind.”

  Jake blushed. “That’s ok,” he quickly started back down the stairs. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

  Once he was downstairs, June whispered, “This guy’s a bit weird, are you sure about staying here?”

  “I think he’s mainly harmless, and besides, I don’t see we have any other options, do you? We can get out of here first thing.”

  June shrugged, “Do you want to to sleep in with us?”

  “Thanks, but I think it will be ok.”

  June didn’t look convinced, “If you’re sure. We’ll see you tomorrow. Nice and early.”

  “Ok, night June.” She waved at Adam, “Night Adam.”

  “Night Harriet,” said Adam.

  Harriet closed the bedroom door behind her. The desk and a few boxes took up most of the floor space, with just enough room left for her airbed. The desk housed a PC, numerous game boxes, manga magazines and novels about war, soldiers, space, etc.

  Harriet looked out the window, the lights were still on in the street and a dusky orange watched over the stillness. No houses had any lights on that she could see, and only one house had a car in its drive. It seemed most had ignored the emergency broadcast to stay home.

  She gasped as she saw movement outside, a figure emerging from the darkness. She ducked down, peering over the window sill, and watched as the figure shuffled, not walked, along the middle of the empty street. It was difficult to make out details in the low lights, but it looked like a man, maybe in his fifties, fat, wearing a shirt and tie. He dragged his left leg behind him, and as he got closer, Harriet noted his shirt was covered in blood. The skin on one side of the man’s head hung off, resting on his shoulder, flapping gently as he walked.

  Harriet pulled her hand over her mouth and ducked out of sight, breathing heavily. She fought the rising panic, breathe deep, breathe slow, one, two, three, close your eyes…

  She found the courage to look again. The man was disappearing into the darkness. She quickly closed the curtains and climbed into bed.

  She started to cry. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help herself. It was all she could do to stop her panic from engulfing her. She would allow herself the luxury of crying.

  Harriet woke in the darkness, and for a moment she was back in bed in her Camden flat. She reached over to look at the clock on her bedside table, but instead she found the chair leg of Jake’s desk.

  She sat up on her elbows, remembering were she was.

  A strange sound from downstairs sent a shiver down her spine, the sound of an electric motor, muffled through her earplugs.

  Power tools. Jake had said they would hear the sound of power tools.

  She wondered if the sounds would attract any more zombies, and struggled to get back to sleep, but eventually the hypnotic rhythm of the tools lulled her to a shallow slumber.

  Harriet woke early - it was six o’clock according to her watch. An immediate nervousness set upon her stomach, as the memories of yesterday flooded into her mind.

  She sat up and carefully pulled back one of the curtains a little, peering out to the street.

  Empty.

  She had expected to see a crowd of zombies outside the house, baying to get in.

  She pulled out her earplugs and got dressed. She went to the bathroom.

  The house was silent - she was the first to wake. She wondered how late Jake had stayed up last night, ‘securing’ the house.

  Although feeling a little rude going downstairs whilst Jake was still asleep, she needed a drink of water. And she might as well get a coffee whilst down there. She was sure Jake wouldn’t mind.

  She stepped quietly down the stairs, wincing at the few creaks on the stairs.

  The house was dark.

  Harriet paused at the bottom of the stairs and stared at the front door. Wooden slats had been screwed in the full length of the door - there was no way to open or close it.

  That’s why it was dark - the door window and the porch glass had been covered with large wooden boards.

  Walking quickly around the ground floor, treading carefully in the darkness, she found that all the windows had been covered. The back door in the kitchen was also sealed shut.

  She was trapped in darkness. This is what Jake meant by securing the house - no one in, no one out.

  Including her.

  Scared, she crept upstairs and gently opened the door to June’s room. She was asleep, but Adam was awake, his eyes looking up at her from the darkness. He waved and said “Morning Harriet.”

  Harriet rushed her finger to her lips and hushed him. She leaned down next to June and shook her gently awake.

  June stretched and opened her mouth to speak, but Harriet, and also Adam, hushed her.

  “What is it?” whispered June, a frown on forehead. “What time is it?”

  “It’s just past six in the morning. We’re in trouble.”

  June sat up quickly and grabbed her jumper. “What do you mean?” she quickly glanced at Adam to check he was ok.

  “I’ve just been downstairs - he’s screwed wooden planks across all the windows and doors. We can’t get out.”

  “What?” She got out of bed and pulled her clothes on. “Get dressed Adam. Tell me exactly what’s happened.”

  Harriet shrugged, “That’s it. Every door and window has a load of planks over them - he’s trapped us, we can’t get out.”

  June shook her head angrily. “I knew that little bastard was bad news. Come on, we have to get out of here.” June put her hand on the bedroom door handle.

  “Wait,” said Harriet, “just wait a minute. Let’s think about this.”

  “What is there to think about? The man’s a bloody nutter, we have to get out of here.”

  “I know, that’s what I mean. Last night, he never mentioned anything about this - he knew that we didn’t want to be locked in, and he was all smiles and promises we could leave today.”

  “What’s your point Harriet?”

  “If he catches us trying to ‘escape’, how do we know what he’s going to do? He could be dangerous.”

  “Are we in trouble mummy?” said Adam.

  June crouched down beside her son. “No, don’t you worry, darling. We’re ok.” She hugged him and said to Harriet, “Well, we have to do something. I want to see.”

  The three sneaked down the stairs and June held in a gasp as she
saw the planks nailed across the front door. They went into the kitchen, the room in darkness, only slight slivers of light able to pierce the gaps in the planks.

  June held her hands to her face. “Dammit. Dammit! How could I be so stupid,” she whispered.

  Adam took a closer look at the planks on the kitchen door.

  “Mummy, these are screwed in.”

  “Come here Adam,” she held out her hand.

  “But mummy, we can try and unscrew them, we could do it quietly.”

  “He’s onto something, June,” said Harriet. “I’ll bet there’s a screwdriver around here somewhere. Either in this kitchen, or in that spare room I was sleeping in.”

  “Soldiers always have tools around,” said Adam.

  “He’s not a solider,” said June. “I’ll look down here. Do you want to check your room?”

  Harriet nodded and looked at her watch. “It’s six thirty. Let’s hope he was up working late on this - I imagine otherwise he’s a rise early sort of guy.”

  Harriet moved quietly up the stairs, again wincing at the creaking staircase. She went back into the spare room and started to search for a screwdriver. Her hands were shaking.

  “Calm down, come on.”

  She slowly pulled out drawers and looked through boxes. It didn’t take long to find an old tool box under a pile of tired army clothes. She grabbed a few screwdrivers and took them to the kitchen.

  “Found some,” she said, holding them up.

  “So did we. And that’s not all, look at this.” June eased open a drawer to reveal a number of large and deadly looking knives.

  “Wow. They look pretty serious,” said Harriet.

  “They are.” June took out two large knives, both with thick handles and double blades, one smooth and the other serrated. She passed one of the knives to Harriet.

  “What? I don’t want one.”

  “Take it, we’re not in Kansas any more.”

  Harriet sighed and took the knife. June passed her a sheath, and Harriet put the knife in it, tucking the ensemble in the back of her jeans.

  “Come on, we don’t know how much time we have,” said June.

  They each took a screwdriver and started to work on the planks. Adam was tasked with standing at the bottom of the stairs to listen for any sounds of waking.

  Unscrewing the screws was much harder work than Harriet had thought. The drill that Jake used had done a good job.

  “This isn’t going to work,” said Harriet after a few minutes had only yielded three screws. “There’s hundreds of them.”

  June looked over the boards. “Not hundreds, but definitely a lot. If he comes down when we’re half way through…”

  As if on queue, Adam came back into the kitchen and pointed upstairs. “He’s awake,” he whispered.

  Harriet looked to the boards and the screws on the floor. She remembered the knife in her back pocket. She stood up, about to put the knife away, then thought the screws on the floor were more obvious, so she kneeled down to pick them up.

  June grabbed her wrist, “What are you doing? Calm down.”

  Harriet took a few deep breaths.

  The sound of footsteps came from above them.

  June picked up the three screws from the floor. “Keep hold of your knife, but put the back of your shirt over it, tuck it well down in your jeans. You may need it.”

  Harriet nodded and stood up, doing as June had said.

  Adam tip toed out of the kitchen.

  Harriet looked at the board they had been working on. Although dark, the missing screws shone out to her like a beacon.

  “What do we do now?” she said.

  “What people always do, make a cup of tea,” said June, smiling.

  She opened and closed cupboards, not trying to be quiet.

  “I think we should be listening to the radio today,” said June in a normal voice, making Harriet jump.

  Harriet mouthed, “What are you doing?”

  June whispered, “Everything is normal, we are good with this ok? If he catches us, I don’t know what he’ll do.”

  Harriet’s eyes lit up in realisation. “Oh,” she mouthed, then louder, “Yeah, I’m sure the police will have everything under control in a day or two.”

  Adam walked into the kitchen, looking confused.

  “Everything’s ok, isn’t it Adam?” said June, winking at him.

  Adam smiled, “Sure mum,” he said catching onto the facade straight away.

  Bright kid, thought Harriet, I needed it spelt out to me.

  The sound of footsteps came from the stairs.

  June turned the kitchen light on.

  “Where do you think the sugar is?” she said in a bright voice.

  Jake appeared at the door, he stopped still and surveyed the kitchen, looking at each person in turn. “Everyone alright?”

  Harriet held her breath, unable to speak.

  June smiled, “Sure we are. Just trying to rustle up a cup of tea. You don’t mind do you? I can make you one?”

  Jake stared at June for a moment, then his face relaxed, and he smiled. “Course I don’t mind. I’d love a cuppa. I don’t have any sugar though. It’s not good for you.”

  “Oh, that’s ok. I could do with cutting down myself.”

  Jake looked at Harriet. “How are you Harriet, did you sleep ok?”

  Harriet forced herself to smile and look Jake in the eye. “Yes, great thanks.”

  Jake held her eye for a moment, then turned back to June. “The cups are in there.” He pointed to a cupboard above the kettle. “And how are you young man?”

  “Tip top, reporting for duty sir!” Adam mocked a salute.

  Jake laughed, “Good lad.”

  Harriet felt the knife pressing against her lower back. It felt like it was jutting out from her shirt.

  June filled the kettle with water and flicked it on.

  “You sure you girls ok?” said Jake.

  June faced Jake, a wide smile on her face. “Of course, why wouldn’t we be?”

  Jake held out his hands and looked around the room. “Uh, why do you think?”

  “You mean the boards?” said June.

  Jake nodded.

  “I think it’s great. It’s safe.”

  Jake looked at Harriet, his face expressionless.

  Harriet nodded and managed to say, “I saw one of them in the street last night. I was worried they might get in, but not now.”

  June moved closer to Jake and put her hand on his shoulder. “Look Jake, I know I might have been a bit rude last night.”

  Jake glanced at the hand on his shoulder and barely hid a smile. He shrugged.

  “But, last night, when I got to thinking, in the dark, just how dangerous things are now.” She pointed to the boarded window. “This is the best thing you could have done.”

  She’s good, thought Harriet.

  Jake blushed a little. “I thought you would be angry, and want me to take them down.”

  “And let those things in? No way. We need to keep Adam safe. And you can keep us safe, can’t you Jake?”

  Jake let out a small laugh. “You know, I thought you would go all crazy.”

  June joined in the laughter, “Oh no, not at all!”

  “I thought that I would have trouble with you both! But you understand, I have to keep you here, we have to stay together if we want to be safe.”

  June nodded. “Absolutely Jake, absolutely. What do you think Harriet?”

  Jake turned to Harriet and she opened her mouth to try to talk, but she didn’t have the chance.

  June pulled the kettle out of the wall and swung it hard at Jake’s head, hitting him hard. The metal rang with a loud bong like a bad cartoon joke.

  He stumbled forward his eyes locked on Harriet, a dumb look of surprise on his face. He reached out to grab the sink, and June hit him again.

  He fell like a sack of potatoes to the floor. He lay motionless.

  Adam stared at his mum, “Wow…”


  Harriet, her heart racing, also stared, unable to speak.

  June put the kettle down. “What are you both looking at? Come on, we have to be quick.” She ran over to the boards and took out the screwdriver from her pocket, making a start on the screws. “Adam, find something to tie him with. Harriet, you look like a goldfish. Come on, let’s get these boards off.”

  Harriet found herself smiling, and liking the adrenalin rush she felt. “That was amazing, no way I could have done that.”

  June just smiled and motioned at the boards.

  “Oh, of course.” Harriet kneeled down and started unscrewing.

  Thirty minutes later and they were nearly done. Both Harriet’s hands hurt bad. Blisters had formed on her fingers and palms. But she didn’t give up.

  One more board to go and they could reach the door handle and hopefully get out. The sunlight shining in through the gap left by the removed boards was enough motivation to get them working double fast.

  “How’s he doing?” said June.

  Adam looked at Jake. “Still out.”

  Jake’s hands had been tied with the kettle cord - they couldn’t find anything else.

  “So, where’s Adam’s dad?” asked Harriet, feeling close enough to safety to make small talk. “Or is that a sore subject?”

  June let out a small snort. “Long enough ago now not to matter. A good man, don’t get me wrong, but just never there for us. He’s army through and through.”

  “I guess it must be tough, with him not being around. Was he away a lot?”

  June nodded. “I thought I could handle being an army wife, but… I got lonely, you know?”

  Harriet noticed Adam watching them both, and decided not to press any further.

  “Got ya!” shouted June in triumph.

  June’s last screw popped onto the floor. The board hung now on one screw. They both pulled on it, and with a few tugs, it was out, falling to the floor with a bang.

  The two women cheered and hugged each other. Harriet felt tears on her cheeks.

  “Sorry,” she said wiping them away. “I guess I didn’t know how scared I was.”

  “Don’t be daft love,” said June, giving Harriet another hug. Adam ran over and joined the group hug, his little arms reaching only half way round Harriet’s back. Then Adam let out a cry, and his arms were gone.