by RR Haywood
A blur of purple sky ahead, solid sheets of rain that fall with thunderous effect onto the hardstanding. It’s so loud they have to speak in raised voices, shouting at one another in amazement at the spectacle.
Nick feels the intense heat still hanging in the air. Pausing for a second, he first extends one hand out to feel the water cascading down, then ventures out to stand in the downpour. The effect is shocking, the warm soft water drenches him completely in an instant. Hair soaked through, his clothes cling to his lean, muscular frame. He closes his eyes and for a second everything else is forgotten. Rain. Pure and clean.
Others move out to join him, Jacob staying close to the younger man. It’s like standing under a shower but like a shower unknown in his lifetime. Perfectly warm, perfectly refreshing, perfectly soaking.
Hearing noise, Nick opens his eyes to see the crowd outside the house growing. The Doc ran to gather the children, hastily leading them outside to stand with the others. Squeals of pleasure erupt from the boys as for a few minutes, all thoughts of loss, pain and suffering are gone.
Nick closes his eyes again, and a sudden, intense feeling of being lonely hits him. Away from the others, the separation tugs at his heart. He still doesn’t know for sure if everyone made it through the battle of the car park. Listening to the sound of the rain striking the ground, he misses them more than ever. The image of Lilly swims into his mind. The way she offered herself to him. What would that have been like?
He would never do that, never take advantage in such a manner but Nick is but a young man with the dreams and hopes that young men have. Lilly is beautiful beyond words so the desire, the dream, the wonder of allowing himself to imagine it is allowed. The kiss, although maybe given under duress by her, was both magical and intense yet soft and over far too quickly.
Where is she now? Is she standing in the rain thinking of him? Where are the others? What are they doing right now?
He realises that he’s homesick. Not for a place, but for his team, his family.
Stay strong and wait, they’ll come soon.
Fifty
I watch her young face turn up to the sky, the rain drenches her in an instant. Her blonde hair gets plastered to her face. She looks so alone, so frightened but resolute at the same time. Is she thinking of her brother? Of Nick in the house?
I feel Lani’s hand push into mine, our fingers entwine as we stand beneath the deluge. Everyone stands beneath the deluge.
Blowers, Cookey, Maddox and Lenski. Everyone. The whole fort stands still and faces the heavens.
The rain is massaging and warm, soft yet just hard enough to stimulate, and in this heat it feels like nothing I have ever felt before. Refreshing and cleansing, pure and sweet.
I’m not the only one who opens their mouth to catch the falling drops. Only this isn’t the average rainfall, this a deluge of the greatest intensity I have ever felt. My mouth fills with water. I swallow and do it again. It tastes amazing. No pollution, no chemicals, nothing but clean water.
Someone laughs nearby as a child jumps in the puddles already forming. Someone else cheers and I hear the sounds of people being happy, maybe only for a few minutes but it’s enough to lift the spirits.
Ominous though, portentous even. My heart rate suddenly increases, hammering in my chest, breathing coming hard and fast. Everything slows. Blowers with his face turned up, rivulets of water pouring down his stubbled chin, Meredith lapping at a puddle and her pink tongue seems to flick in and out so slowly.
Lani runs her hands through her long silky hair, sweeping it clear from her face. Electricity pulses through my body making me feel sick. Hairs standing on end and a tightening in my stomach.
Searching, looking all around. Something bad comes this way. Headlights at the front as the gates are swung open. The Saxon drives in, slowly becoming visible through the sheets of rain. The driver’s door opens as Clarence jumps down to join the others staring up at the sky.
The bulk of the Saxon hides the four wheel drive tucked behind. It drives out and round, pulling up alongside. Paula and Roy step out to smile and laugh at the feel of the rain drenching them in an instant.
Swallowing I can feel the pressure building inside me. I want to shout, roar and scream out loud. Something bad comes this way.
Dave watches me, unblinking, unflinching. Water runs freely down his head to stream from his chin. Something bad comes this way.
He knows it.
His eyes search mine as I look to him. Turning slowly, Blowers is no longer facing up but staring at me, his dark eyes locked on mine too. Cookey does the same, Lani and Clarence too. All of us feel that pressure, that static building stronger by the second. Maddox, Lenski, Paula, Roy and now Lilly. They all stare across at me, towards me, watching, waiting.
Something.
I don’t know what.
Bad.
What bad? I don’t know what it is.
Comes this way.
The air breaks. It breaks with noise so deep, so full of bass, with a roar that makes me feel so small and insignificant it brings tears to my eyes. Thunder.
From every direction it comes at once. Not from the distance but right above us and at the same time all around us. Low but high, close and far. It rolls and booms, jarring my organs. Screams and cries, people hit the ground in fear as the sound continues. It rolls and echoes and never goes away. Getting deeper, more powerful, building to a point where surely the planet will split and fracture into tiny pieces.
There is no action to be taken. The noise, the sensation, the feeling of the thunder driving through our bones renders us to the point of amoebas.
Thunder and lightning. Except in this case there is no and. Thunder. Lightning. Both together, at the same time. Co-ordinated and exact.
Light fills the dark sky, forks of pure white energy burn onto my retina so the shape of them remains for seconds. More come. Forks all around us. Crackling and flashes as the heavens explode in light.
Suddenly dark. Night came without any hesitation. The clouds blacken the sky to be revealed in their almighty glory by the electric flashes that seem to split the sky every few seconds.
Thunderous war drums boom round and round. A sight so great, so mesmerising, it takes my breath away.
A huge thick fork screeches down into the fort, a solid beam of jagged blue white light that seems to dance along the ground. Tents explode as the metal frames heat within a split second, the wooden outbuildings erected as make-shift kitchens burst into flames at the gentlest lick from the serpent’s forked tongue.
Sparks and flames shoot into the air. Another fork hits the visitor centre with enough energy to burst the one remaining pane of glass left proudly in the window. The smell is incredible, like singed hair but metallic and sulphuric too. Static everywhere, like tingling on the ends of my fingers. Speaking is negated as the thunder rolls back and forth, seemingly feet above our heads.
People screaming and running but there’s no point. The flames caused by the lightning are doused quicker than any fire service could ever do. There are a billion hoses on full spray in the clouds above and nothing can stay alight under that much water.
A fork hits the centre of the fort, the point gouging divots of earth as it snakes, dances and scores a path. Someone gets hit and is ripped from his feet to be sent spinning off into the darkness. It’s coming this way and we’ve seen enough action now to know when to stop and stare and when to run. So we run. Star-bursting, we explode away in all directions as the crackle whips by.
‘OFFICE,’ Dave roars at the top of his voice. Even so close, he sounds muted, like he’s trying to compete with the giants of the sky. They mock and laugh in return, rolling out a series of deep, explosive, rolling drums.
Heads down we run, the ground covered in a layer of water that flares up with every step. Clarence, the closest, gets there first and wrenches the door open. Standing outside he almost lifts everyone off their feet as he shoves them inside.
Slammin
g the door we stand dripping, breathing hard like we’ve been running for hours. The thunder is still going but the roof above our heads is thick stone and deadens the noise enough that we can hear each other shouting. Flashes of lightning burst into the darkness, giving us a harsh strobe like effect.
There’s another noise but from within now, it takes a few seconds but I gradually become aware of Meredith howling with her nose turned up and her long neck stretched out. Mournful and haunting, she keeps going until Lani drops down next to her, literally tugging at her to stop.
‘RIVER IS NO GOOD,’ Paula shouts, waving her hand under her chin to emphasise her point.
‘RECCE?’ I shout, my voice cracking from the exertion.
‘DONE,’ Dave is easier to hear, ‘AS LILLY SAID.’
Lilly, she’s still with us. The plucky kid ran with everyone else to get inside the offices.
‘SAXON?’
‘FIXED,’ Clarence bellows with a thumbs up.
‘WE GO NOW, THE STORM,’ I point at the sky, ‘GOOD COVER.’
Nods all round, everyone in agreement.
‘SAME PLAN?’ Maddox shouts.
‘DAVE?’
‘YES.’
‘SAME PLAN?’
‘I SAID YES MR HOWIE.’
Funny bugger, I swear he does it on purpose. ‘WE’LL TALK ON THE WAY, LET’S GO.’
Sprinting to the armoury we grab shotguns, both sawn offs and long barrelled. Dave grabs his sniper rifle while Clarence takes the GPMG from on top of the Saxon. No ammunition but the sight of it might make a difference.
All around us the thunder booms and rolls. The risk of being struck by lightning is very real, especially given the fact we’re about to load into a huge metal can. Is it earthed? What will happen if lightning hits it?
Still, the storm is perfect cover for what we’re about to do. The noise of it, the spectacle, the reduced visibility all works in our favour.
The Saxon is loaded up with me in the driver’s seat, Clarence in the passenger and my team in the back. Another van is loaded with Maddox, Roy, Paula and the two youths Jagger and Mo Mo.
‘Wait,’ Clarence jumps back outside and runs off while I get the engine started, trying to peer through the gloom and watching another jagged fork strike the top of the seaward side wall. It’s an incredible sight and truly frightening.
The rear doors open to reveal a very sad looking, ginger, dread-locked man being launched in. Door close and the big man is climbing back into the passenger seat giving me a thumbs up.
‘Nice one.’ I nod back at the terrified man staring up at the hard faces from his hands and knee. He looks round then stops dead at the sight of Meredith holding her nose inches from him.
Blowers visibly tuts, grabbing hold of his shirt he pulls him onto a seat and says something to him.
That’s it, loaded up and ready to go. Pulling away, I navigate a wide turn to face back the right way and start heading towards the main gates, the second van close behind me.
‘Fuck,’ I gasp at the sight before us. The hard compacted earth, baked so dry after two weeks of such intense heat isn’t absorbing the rain. Instead it pools and gathers on the surface, giving an appearance of a huge lake stretching out in front of us. The noise of the rain striking the Saxon is constant, a drumming, pattering sound. That coupled with the thunder and constant flashes gives everything a static, surreal feel.
Edging forward slowly, I aim for where the road will be, knowing there are two big ditches here somewhere that are now unseen. After so many trips up and down this road, I find it instantly and start moving away.
‘Keep an eye out the back in case the van gets stuck,’ I yell out, hearing as someone opens the rear doors to watch. A huge thunder clap literally vibrates the Saxon on its springs, followed a split second later by huge twisting jagged bolts of pure energy strobing the sky.
Just hang on Nick, not long now mate. Hold tight and wait for us.
Fifty One
‘You got any spare clothes?’ Jacob asks. Back in the house and the young boys were quickly removed once the thunderous claps and bolts of light started. There were screams of fear as the sheer awesome sound and light show terrified the children to their cores.
‘I’ll be alright,’ Nick replies, ‘they’re still hot so they’ll dry.’
The Doc ushered the boys into the house, yelling in delight at them to run and get to safety. He led them up the stairs like a heroic saviour of children, picking two of the smallest up but refusing to let any of the guards help.
Left in the hallway, Nick and Jacob stand away from the others to watch the storm through one of the large display windows, marvelling at the power of the storm hitting so quickly.
‘It’s everywhere,’ Nick observes as the thunder booms and rolls, seemingly from every direction at the same time. The barbs of lightning bring the vista to daylight for split seconds, burning the image onto retinas.
‘Long time coming,’ Jacob has to shout over the noise of the pelting rain and thunder, ‘feel this heat though?’ Jacob asks watching as Nick nods, ‘means the worst is yet to come, feels like it’s getting hotter too, humid and static yeah?’
‘Yeah,’ Nick nods in agreement, the air feels almost thick and syrupy. His head is clogged with a dull pain and he can feel the static, the hairs on his neck and arms prickling.
‘It will get much worse,’ Jacob nods staring back out the window, ‘no wind yet either.’ He bites his bottom lip, blinking as a fork strikes the grounds just metres away. ‘Thunder is the air being split by the lightning, hear that crackle then the sonic booms?’
Glancing over he sees Nick staring at him closely, ‘the lightning hits which does something to the air, like positive and negative ions or something. Anyway that displaces the air so fast it creates that sonic boom, like an aircraft but…’
‘Yeah,’ Nick nods, ‘how do you know that?’
‘Read up on it for my kid,’ he shrugs, ‘he asked me what thunder and lightning was so I figured I should know, I hope I got it right,’ he adds quickly.
‘Sounds good mate,’ Nick smiles. Perfect weather. This noise and the reduced visibility will hide the approach of the others when they come. They’ll be on their way now, setting out in vehicles with Dave sat in the back sharpening his knives, whilst Cookey cracks crap jokes that still make everyone smile. Clarence will be up front so everyone has a bit more space in the back, probably with Lilly and Lani sat together while the lads gawp at her.
‘You look like your waiting for something,’ Jacob whispers quickly between a break in the thunder.
Nick looks and smiles sadly, he likes Jacob more with every passing minute. They’ve only just met but the older man has taken a huge gamble in trusting him and opens up more every few minutes. He hasn’t questioned Nick about anything but just stayed close. The way Jacob explains things; who to avoid, the dangerous men, the easy going, lazy ones and the layout of the house in such detail that Nick knows the man suspects something is going to happen soon.
‘Tonight?’ Jacob asks hopefully, ‘just tell me where you want me when it happens yeah?’
Indecision keeps Nick silent, unsure of exactly how much to tell the man. It could still be a trap, he was placed with Jacob by Larson. This man could be faking all the misery and upset, but it doesn't feel that way and sometimes you just have to go with your gut.
‘Well my glorious men,’ the Doc booms, walking jauntily down the stairs, ‘the boys are with the lovely Meryl, poor little mites were terrified. I would say,’ he stops halfway down the last flight of stairs, a perfect position to hold court to the men gathered in the grand hallway, ‘this weather breaking is cause for celebration, who agrees with me?’
Deep voices murmur in agreement, a muted, restrained response from men too wary of the psychotic doctor to do anything else.
‘Come now,’ the Doc laughs, ‘I expected more of a rousing cheer, well you if you don’t want beer and liquor and dare I say… Some of the fine, sing
le malt whiskey then fine…Oh that got your attention didn’t it, I say again… Who agrees with me?’
The responding cheers echo through the cavernous room, deep voices yelling in happiness. Someone whistles as Nick takes in the various broken toothed smiles almost as ugly as the undead.
‘Larson my good man, let’s get these men a drink.’
‘Right you are Doc,’ Larson appears at the edge, leaving Nick wondering if he had always been there or just arrived. ‘Everyone with me then.’
‘What about the guards?’ Nick asks Jacob quietly.
‘Rotation is done for the evening,’ Jacob replies, ‘the gate guards will stay there till morning and just a few left on patrol. ‘Ere Mick,’ Jacob calls out to a passing man with old style, faded green tattoo’s on his neck, ‘you on patrol tonight?’
‘Yeah,’ Mick scowls at the prospect of not being able to drink.
‘Me and the lad’ll do it, I promised Larson I’d show him round.’
‘Bloody hell Jacob, I don’t need asking twice mate, nice one!’ Mick grins, grabbing his mate to give him the good news.
‘Cheers Jacob and whatever your name is,’ another thickset man calls out from the crowd.
‘Nick, no worries,’ Nick calls back with a smile.
‘What’s that?’ Larson steps in looking between the two pairs.
‘Jacob said he’ll show Nick round and do our patrol tonight, means we can have a drink yeah?’ Mick explains with a sudden worried look that Larson will refuse it.
‘Good on you Jacob,’ Larson nods firmly, ‘everything okay then Nick? Settling in alright?’
‘Fine thank you,’ Nick nods thinking it’s only been a couple of hours and how can he possible have settled in yet.
‘Take it easy tonight Mick,’ Larson warns in a low growl, ‘don’t get drunk, you hear me?’
‘Course not,’ Mick murmurs. A strange, subdued response from such a hard looking man. The scars and marks on his body speak of countless fights and scraps yet he instantly defers to Larson. They all do, nodding respectfully as they file past into one of the big downstairs rooms.