by RR Haywood
‘Yes Mr Howie.’
‘See ‘em!’ Lani calls out.
‘Fuck me, I need glasses,’ I rub my eyes and try again, somewhat re-assured to see Clarence and the lads doing the same thing.
‘Do zombies use boats?’ Cookey asks.
‘How the hell would we know that?’ Blowers asks.
‘Just asking,’ Cookey shrugs, ‘didn’t Marcy use boats to get over from the…’
‘Who?’ Lani asks with a very barbed tone followed by a few coughs and shuffling feet.
‘Yeah so, a beautiful morning then,’ I say lightly.
‘Yes lovely,’ Lani adds in the same light tone.
‘Sorry Lani,’ Cookey says quietly.
‘Don’t worry…’
‘You’re not holding a meat cleaver behind my head are you?’
‘That again?’ Lani sighs, ‘really?’
‘Yep, got them now,’ I say as the small black dots come into view.
It takes ages for the small line of boats to get into better view. Low powered engines putter through the gentle waves, the sounds of them reaching us well before we get any view of the occupants.
Dave walks forward a few steps, shielding his eyes to stare at the boats. Someone stands in the lead boat, arms held high waving back and forth.
‘Nick,’ Dave announces.
‘WHAT? Really?’ I go forward to the edge of the water, we all do. It’s almost too much to hope. We crowd round until our feet are wading into the shallows.
‘NICK!’ Dave bellows. We start waving, arms held high as he stands at the front waving back. Then there he is, the boats close enough for him to be seen clearly. Three small boats, each filled with children. Nick in the first with Lilly, Roy in the last one and another man in the middle one.
‘I DIDN’T BREAK IT,’ Nick shouts pointing at where the flatlands were.
‘BET YOU DID,’ Cookey bellows back.
We start wading out, surprised at how warm the water is. Nick brings the boats in close enough for us to grab and pull in. Everyone helps to pull until the first one grounds out gently.
Jumping down, I see he looks a bit battered and bruised but otherwise good, that brilliant smile of his plastered to his face.
‘Mate!’ I grab him for a hug, ‘really missed you Nick. Thank god you’re okay.’
‘You too boss,’ he smiles sheepishly, ‘is everyone okay?’
‘Fine mate, loads to tell you but we’ll do that later. Are you okay? Any injuries? Are you hurt?’
‘Fine Mr Howie, really…’ He gets mauled by everyone in turn. Blowers and Cookey are genuinely delighted and I’m not the only one with a tear in my eye at having him safely back with us.
Watching Lilly I can see she doesn't take her eyes off Nick the whole time, staring at him in awe as he gets greeted so very warmly by everyone. There’s long hugs and tears, Clarence giving him a bear grip and Lani kissing his cheek. Even Maddox shakes his hand and Paula gives him a hug. Having him back with us, seeing him here in the flesh safe and sound, I can’t express what it feels like.
Pure joy is the closest term I can think of. Absolute, pure happiness.
‘Right,’ I smile into the boats seeing the terrified children staring wide eyed. They look pale and sickly. ‘You are all safe here, no one will hurt you, I promise. Come on, let’s get you out.’
A human chain is formed as we unload the first boat, lifting the children out to be passed along until they’re safely on the beach. The second boat gets pulled up and the same process is repeated with the man handing the children over. He too looks battered and bruised.
‘Mr Howie, that’s Jacob…he was a guard at the house but he’s okay,’ Nick says. I stare up at the man. His eyes speak of sadness, of deep conflict, but I trust my team and if Nick says he’s okay then I won’t question it.
‘Jacob, I’m Howie, nice to meet you. Thank you for helping Nick.’
‘Mr Howie, my pleasure,’ he replies solemnly, ‘and it was Nick that helped me, he saved these kids…’
‘Nah,’ Nick gives his shy smile, ‘fucking team effort.’
‘Nick,’ Lilly calls out.
Wincing, Nick turns quickly, ‘sorry!’
‘You said to tell you,’ she points out.
‘Tell him what?’ Cookey asks with interest.
‘Don’t tell hi…’
‘When he swears,’ Lilly states, ‘he said he wants to stop.’
The damage is done. Nick winces again as both Cookey and Blowers look like all their birthdays came at once.
‘Did he now?’ Cookey calls out.
‘Nick? Not swearing…no chance…’ Blowers bursts out laughing.
‘Mr Howie, Roy was amazing, really amazing…I’ll tell you later but bloody hell,’ Nick speaks quickly and quietly.
‘You just swore,’ I smile quickly, ‘was he? He did alright then?’
‘More than alright,’ Nick nods.
‘Roy,’ I nod as the third boat gets pulled in, ‘thank you for getting Nick back to us.’
‘S’alright,’ he shrugs, ‘he did most of the work…Paula!’ He jumps out deftly, wading through the shallows as he heads straight to Paula.
She grins warmly at seeing him, walking forward as though to hug him. ‘Hey,’ she calls out, ‘are you okay?’
‘No,’ Roy whimpers, ‘I think I’ve got a lump.’
‘Right,’ she hardly breaks pace, sliding effortlessly into concern, ‘where?’
‘In here,’ Roy opens his mouth, ‘in my cheek, where the cheek meets the jaw…see it…is it huge?’
‘You mean here,’ she gently touches his jaw, smiling when he winces in pain.
‘Yeah, my god you can see it from the outside!’
‘It’s a bruise Roy, you’ve bruised your jaw…big battle last night? Remember that?’
‘Oh right,’ Roy probes his jaw line, fingering the tender spot, ‘right here, yeah?’
‘Yes Roy,’ Paula says gently, ‘bit swollen but definitely bruised.’
‘Oh thank god, I was so worried,’ Roy sags with relief.
‘Anytime,’ Paula smiles, but with a hint of sadness in her eyes.
‘Great,’ Roy nods still fingering his jaw, ‘a bruise…er…Paula?’
‘Yes Roy?’ She asks with patience.
‘I didn’t say goodbye yesterday, sorry about that. I’m not very good with people…er…you okay? Everything alright?’
Her face lights up, a visible change as she smiles at him, ‘yes,’ she replies, ‘fine and you?’
‘Yeah,’ he nods unsure of what to do, ‘fine, er…weird night but we got the kids out.’
‘Come here,’ Paula laughs grabbing him for a hug, ‘glad you’re back,’ she says softly.
‘Anyone got a smoke?’ Nick asks, ‘mine got fucking…shit! Sorry Lilly…mine got ruined.’
‘He’s been like that the entire way here,’ Jacob smiles fondly.
Heading inside, Lenski soon gets some of the mothers formed into a work party to take care of the boys.
‘LANI!’ Milly breaks free of a group as she hurtles towards us, ‘it was raining and there was thunder and lightning and everything!’ Milly shouts as she launches herself into Lani’s arms.
‘Yes! I saw it,’ Lani laughs.
‘Clarence, do you like rain?’ She asks immediately, holding her arms out for the big man to take her from Lani.
‘I do,’ he smiles as we all wait to see who will be next. Instead she peers at Lilly, then at Nick and finally down at the little boy being held by Lilly.
‘Who are you?’ Milly demands.
‘I’m Nick and this is…’
‘My name is Milly and this is Lani and this is Clarence and he is Cookey and he is Blowers and we have a dog called Meredith you can fuss her if you want and he is Dave and that is Mr Howie and he’s in charge of everyone, like a teacher…’
‘Wow,’ Nick shakes his head, staring in shock at the little girl proudly being held by a grinning Clarence.
/> ‘Who are you?’ Milly turns to Lilly and the boy.
‘Hello Milly,’ Lilly says politely, ‘I’m Lilly and this is my brother Billy…’ I can almost hear the cogs turning, the delight spreading across her face as she throws her head back and laughs excitedly.
‘Milly and Lilly and Billy,’ Milly sings, ‘Milly and Lilly and Billy!’
‘Lions and tigers and bears…’ Cookey shouts.
‘OH MY!’ Milly responds clapping her hands in glee.
‘Lilly, do you like rain?’
And so it goes on. We have to wait until Milly has done the rounds, asking everyone if they like rain, then if they like thunder and finally if they like lightning. That’s before she tells everyone about the trip to the zoo.
Billy looks shocked to the core but the pressing questions posed by Milly leave no room for hesitancy, something about the way the little girl asks the questions means you just have to answer.
Wriggling to be put down instead of asking, Milly gets to the ground and runs to hug Meredith sitting patiently watching everyone. Throwing her arms round the huge dog’s neck, it’s hard to believe that dog was tearing throats out just a few hours ago. She looks blissfully happy now, being fussed and hugged by the girl.
‘This is Meredith,’ Milly says to Billy, ‘she likes boys and girls but she doesn't like the zombo’s’
‘Zombies,’ Lani corrects.
‘Or the zombies…she doesn't like them…you can stroke her if you want.’
***
We move back to the offices but this time with Nick, Roy and Lilly with us. Having got her exhausted brother to sleep, Lilly was finally convinced that he’ll be safe and joined us to find out what happened.
Nick gives most of the account until he starts explaining what happened when he got to the house. At that point, Jacob comes in for a very hard time as we understand he knew what was going on within the house.
He handles it well and explains his reasons for doing so, drawing a picture from his pocket of a woman and boy. He states clearly that the boys were never physically hurt, but there is pain in his eyes when he says it. He breaks down, sobbing hard as he re-lives what he had to see and hear, the killings given out by the Doc and Larson, the perversion, and the overwhelming desire to get the cure and try and find his family.
He makes it clear he doesn't want anything from us, that getting out with Nick was all he wanted, and his intention is to leave and find his family.
After that, Nick explains the rest with some help from Lilly, Jacob and the odd bit from Roy, all the way through to the house clearance at the end and getting back to the estate and seeing the flatlands flooded.
In turn, we explain our events of the day, seeing Milly and going off for miles chasing her. Nick smiles with genuine humour at hearing how we all tried catching her, and failed dismally.
All of them listen enraptured as we all go through the night’s events, the storm, the flooding and the undead charge over the walls.
Nick grins like a maniac when we explain what happened to Cookey.
We drink coffee, eat food brought to us and talk, we talk about everything since we last saw each other.
We talk until we can’t stop yawning and Clarence starts dozing off. Meredith is already flat out on her side, snoring peacefully.
‘Our rooms?’ Nick asks, ‘they flooded?’
‘Only the main room got wet,’ Blowers replies, ‘the others were alright. With the doors open it’ll dry out quick.’
‘Good because I am fucked,’ Nick yawns.
‘Nicholas,’ Cookey warns.
‘Don’t swear Nicholas,’ Blowers adds.
‘Sorry about this Lilly,’ Nick says quickly, ‘but you two can fuck right off.’
‘Er, right well I better leave you to your er…meeting. Thank you for everything you did Nick and thank you to all of you and Roy…’ Lilly starts standing up speaking very politely.
‘Get off!’ Cookey bursts out laughing, ‘stay with us for a bit, you don’t have to go anywhere.’
‘Honestly, sit down,’ Lani urges, ‘we’ll find you some rooms in a minute.’
‘She can stay with us,’ Nick stretches then realises what he just said, going bright red in the face as he stares wide eyed at Lilly, ‘shit I didn’t mean like…fuck it…I meant…’
‘Ah, go on Nick….’ Cookey laughs.
‘Piss off I just meant…fuck it…you know what I meant.’
‘Not swearing going well then mate?’ Blowers asks.
‘I know what you meant, and thank you, that’s a very kind offer,’ Lilly says sweetly, ‘but I should stay with Billy.’
‘We’re going to have to find a bigger space,’ I say, ‘we need more rooms now…That’s if Paula and Roy are staying?’ I look over at them, ‘we’d like you to stay, genuinely.’
‘We take your room yes?’ Lenski says, ‘Maddox and me, Darius and Sierra, we have those rooms. The armoury it have some more rooms with the big space so we move the weapons to the engineer rooms and you have the armoury rooms yes? I do this already,’ she adds with a grin.
‘Lenski!’ Maddox exclaims.
‘What! I do these things, they need to be done yes? The guns I get Jagger and Mo Mo to move with the crews, your stuff I move and our stuff I move, you have the bigger space now with the bigger rooms, you have more people so… the engineer rooms they have the big lock so it better for the guns…’
‘That,’ I say, ‘is wonderful, thank you very much Lenski.’
‘Is no bother, you sleep now yes? I work to do.’
‘You need to sleep too,’ Maddox says with a frown.
‘I sleep soon,’ she shrugs, ‘we need to get the boats to the estate yes? How the people going to get here without the boats? We make the ferry I think and we use the radio’s to talk…’
‘Whoa,’ Maddox shakes his head, ‘later yeah? Please…later…’
‘Okay,’ Lenski concedes, ‘we talk this later. You have the rooms now so Paula and Roy, are you staying yes? I need to know this, I have the rooms made for you.’
‘Er,’ Paula glances at Roy, ‘I think so, I want to stay…Roy? You staying for a bit?’
‘Yes,’ Roy announce.
‘Great!’ Paula adds to Roy’s rather short answer, ‘we’d love to stay.’
‘I take you now yes? I show you the room?’
‘Now? Room? One room?’ Paula asks.
‘You have the two rooms,’ Lenski replies and I swear I see a very masked look of disappointment flash across both their faces, ‘one is for the day and one bedroom but they make the two bedrooms. This is decision for you, come now, I show you yes?’
‘Kit, weapons and then sleep,’ Dave announces as Lenski starts to lead Roy and Paula out. Groans escape from the lads with coy smiles as Dave gives them one of his glares.
Drifting off, we start heading out of the offices and into the fort. Some activity is taking place but mostly people are dropping wherever they can find a dry spot. With the sun up the weather is fine and warm, not hot like before. Amazingly the sky is clear and a gorgeous blue colour, with no sign of the ferocious storm from the night before.
‘Where you going Nick?’ Cookey calls out at seeing Nick walking off with Lilly.
‘Leave him alone,’ Lani cuts in quick, pulling Cookey round.
‘Nicely done,’ I comment as we enter our new, bigger rooms. A table and chairs have been put in the main room, and checking the side rooms we see bedding has been brought down.
‘Lenski gets things done,’ Blowers mutters.
‘She bloody does mate,’ I reply.
‘Mr Howie and I are having this room,’ Lani announces, selecting the furthest room along.
‘Lani, do you call Mr Howie, Mr Howie when you’re alone?’ Cookey asks.
‘I do, he insists on it,’ Lani replies seriously, ‘very strict is our Mr Howie.’
‘We got our own gas stove for brewing up,’ Cookey nods at the burners on the shelves at the end.
‘Were they? Oh yeah…’
‘You should know, you used them enough,’ Blowers says.
‘Hello sunshine!’ Cookey laughs as Nick walks in.
‘You can fuck off,’ Nick grins easily.
‘Did you walk her home safely?’ Blowers asks.
‘Yes I did,’ Nick sticks one finger up.
‘Tell you what mate,’ Cookey says seriously, ‘she’s a stunner for a fifteen year old.’
‘Yeah, fifteen, nice one,’ Nick shakes his head, ‘am I sharing with someone?’ He asks with a nod towards the rooms.
‘She is mate, fifteen,’ Blowers says.
‘Fuck off!’ Nick laughs, ‘fifteen…yeah right!’
‘She is,’ Cookey says, ‘really Nick, she’s fifteen.’
‘Piss off, yeah right like I would be kissing a fifteen year old girl…’
‘You kissed her?’ Blowers asks in shock.
‘Well, yeah but I didn’t mean it like I was bragging…like not like that…she’s really nice…’
‘We know you’re not like that Nick,’ Lani says, ‘but she is fifteen.’
‘Eh?’ Nick looks over at me for confirmation, the blood draining from his face when I nod, ‘fifteen? She’s fucking fifteen?’
‘Didn’t she tell you?’ I ask gently.
‘No boss, she bloody didn’t…she’s really fifteen? Fucking hell! I thought she was like eighteen or nineteen.’
‘She looks it,’ I reply, ‘easy mistake but yeah, fifteen mate.’
‘Oh fuck…I kissed her,’ Nick slumps into one of the chairs, ‘she was offering herself and everything…’
‘Yeah we heard,’ I move over to sit down as Clarence glares at the two lads daring them to make any quips now.
‘Shit…I kissed a fifteen year old girl…fuck…what if I had…’
‘But you didn’t,’ Clarence says gently. Sitting down he lifts his feet to rest on the table, ‘and you only kissed her Nick.’
‘Nick, it’s okay,’ Lani says, ‘you’re only what? Five or six years older? It doesn't matter, she told us she offered herself to you.’
‘And that,’ I stare at Cookey, ‘doesn't get repeated outside these rooms.’