by Thomas Hall
‘Beth,’ Russell’s reassuring voice came from close by. ‘They’re attacking us. We need to defend ourselves.’
‘Not with guns,’ she said. ‘They’re throwing rocks.’
He nodded and didn’t argue, but she sensed he would have been happy to open fire on the people standing on the pub roof.
‘Lower your weapons,’ he said. ‘You heard her.’
Beth wondered how far her leadership extended. Russell had always been in charge of the military element of the convoy and she had been happy to let him. Now she wondered whether that had been a mistake.
The stones continued to fall for another ten minutes and then stopped. Either they had run out or they realised that they weren’t having any effect. She watched them disappear from the front of the roof and, presumably, climb down the back.
‘We could go after them?’ Russell suggested.
She shook her head. What was the point? They had made their play and now it was over. ‘Let’s get back inside. We can think about what to do in the warm.’
She turned away and he followed her back into the house where the rest of the convoy were waiting for them.
Beth watched David from the window of her house. He was walking along the street but she couldn’t work out why. A light snow had begun to fall and it was cold. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would be out now.
He disappeared from her view a few moments later and she stepped away from the glass. She hadn’t really been that interested in what he was doing, had just been letting herself get distracted from the voice in her head asking her what she was going to do.
Dawn was at Kathy’s house. In the last few weeks she had taken more of an interest in helping the children and Beth was glad that she had something to do. As they were no longer on the road there wasn’t much for anyone to do and until they’d found the message on the building that had been her greatest concern; that people were going to go stir-crazy locked up until Spring.
Boredom would be a nice problem to have right now, she thought.
She paced around the living room. There wasn’t much furniture and what there was belonged to someone else, someone who’s life had been abandoned halfway through. A collection of CD’s that would never be played again. A calendar stuck on a date that no longer meant anything.
There was a knock on the door and she sighed. She welcomed the interruption, but she knew it would be Russell.
She opened the door and found Rachel standing there.
‘Is everything okay?’ Beth said.
Rachel nodded and then shook her head.
‘What is it?’ Beth said.
‘I can’t find David,’ she said.
‘David?’ Beth frowned. ‘He’s outside, isn’t he?’
‘He was supposed to be coming to see the children after he’d had a nap. He was on watch last night and— ‘
Beth held up a hand and stopped her.
‘Wait here,’ she said.
She grabbed her coat from the back of the door and pushed past Rachel. She made her way down as quickly as she could. She looked up and down the street but there was no sign of David.
‘Where is he?’ she said to herself.
Rachel mumbled something behind her, but Beth didn’t pay any attention. She started walking in the direction where she had seen him go.
The snow had been disturbed.
‘Beth?’ Russell said.
‘They’ve taken David,’ Beth said.
‘A couple of others as well.’
‘Who?’ she said.
‘Ellen and Thomas.’
‘Ellen?’ Beth said. She found it difficult to believe that Ellen would have gone easily. Thomas was an original member of the convoy and she didn’t know him well, but the fact that three people had been taken, for unknown reasons, was more than worrying.
‘I can have a group together in ten minutes,’ he said. ‘Just say the word.’
She realised that he wanted to go in shooting and she found it more difficult to disagree this time. But still, she didn’t give the word. There had to be a better way.
‘I’ll go and talk to them,’ she said.
‘It’s not safe,’ Russell said. ‘We don’t know what they’re capable of.’
‘We know that they’re not willing to shoot us, or that they don’t have guns. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.’
‘I can’t let you go Beth,’ he said.
She turned to face him at last. ‘You’re going to stop me?’
‘I don’t want to, but you’re important.’
She shook her head. She wasn’t important, not really. What was important was the safety of the group and not just physically. If they started shooting people who weren’t even armed, what would become of them mentally? It felt like a steep and slippery slope.
‘No,’ she said. ‘We’re not going to attack them.’
‘What then?’
She bit her lips together and furiously tried to think of an alternative.
It was difficult to turn her back on the people who had been taken, but she knew it was the best thing to do. The problem with both her plan and Russell’s was that it left the people who hadn’t been captured vulnerable. She needed to make sure all of her doors were closed before she started breaking windows.
Most of the group was gathered in Kathy’s house and that was good. She sent Russell to round up the rest of them. Once they were all together she explained her plan.
They listened as she told them what had happened and most of them nodded in agreement when she told them that she had decided not to go in and start shooting people.
When she was finished she gave them some time to gather their things and they met again outside on the road. Kathy was being helped along by a tearful Rachel and Beth.
They were dressed in warm clothes and they all had bags. Between them they had managed to carry most of the food that Darrel had gathered and what was left they could return for later.
‘This way then,’ she said and started walking. Behind her she could hear snow crunching under foot.
The sun had begun to set by the time they reached the end of the street and that gave them the illusion of security. They could see each other well enough, but hopefully, anyone who might be watching them from further away, wouldn’t have such a good view. If her plan was going to succeed it depended on it.
It wasn’t a long way to the church, but it took them more than two hours. The ice made it difficult to walk quickly and the older members of the group suffered the most. They were cold and they were tired and she was reminded of the night that she and Dale had tried to lead their small group out of Harmony to safety. She could only hope that this walkabout wouldn’t end in a similar fashion.
The streets gradually became more cluttered and more difficult to navigate. They continued to slow down until they were barely moving at all. It seemed as if they were never going to arrive, and then they did.
The church was not big, but up close, it looked as sturdy as it had done from a distance. She guessed it had been built two or three hundred years before and well looked after. The wooden door looked strong enough to stop a round of machine gun bullets.
Once they were all in, Beth closed the door behind them They had sleeping bags and floor mats and it had been a long night. No one was in the mood to do anything except find a quiet spot and try to get some rest. She walked around and tried to reassure people that everything was going to be okay.
CHAPTER 9
PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT HER.
THEY TRIED TO keep it a secret but she knew.
She saw it in the way they looked at her across the room, in the way that they fell quiet whenever she got close.
They wanted to know why she wasn’t doing anything to help them. They wanted to know when she was going to get back the people who had been taken.
She was beginning to wonder the same.
Beth spent most of the following day out of the church, walking in t
he gardens and wishing she knew what to do. She tried focusing on the problem but that didn’t work, so she tried ignoring it and letting her sub-conscious get busy, but that didn’t work either.
When night began to approach she sat down on a bench in the graveyard. Maybe she had been too hasty in dismissing Russell’s wish to go in with guns blazing. If the Townies weren’t prepared to live and let live then, maybe, it was better to show them that the convoy couldn’t be messed with. She was meeting pacifism with pacifism and that didn’t seem to be getting them anywhere.
If she let Russell have his way then people would be killed. Not her people, perhaps, but there were probably children and old people amongst the Townies as well, and they weren’t responsible for any of this. Probably.
She looked up when saw Russell approaching. He didn’t appear to be in a rush so she didn’t worry. He sat down next to her on the bench and lit a cigarette without saying a word.
They sat together in silence, looking at the old building and perhaps having similar thoughts.
‘They’re talking about leaving,’ he said at last.
‘Leaving? The church?’
‘The town. They think it’s unsafe.’
‘Maybe it is,’ she said. ‘What do you suggest?’
‘We need to show them we mean business.’
Beth frowned, she wasn’t sure what he meant. ‘How?’
‘We need to make a statement. No one needs to get hurt, but they need to know they can’t push us around.’
She could tell that he had been thinking about it as much as she had. It must have been difficult for him to come up with a solution that didn’t involve storming into the town hall and simply taking what he wanted.
‘Have you got something in mind?’ she said.
‘Maybe.’
Snow began to fall and she wondered if this was the longest winter ever. She wasn’t even sure whether it was worse than any other, but it seemed it. Last winter she had been in Harmony and well looked after. There had been heating and food and keeping people safe had been someone else’s responsibility.
‘We need to get our people back Beth,’ Russell said.
‘I know.’
‘If we don’t do something people will start leaving and I know these people; they won’t make it on their own.’
‘I know.’
‘I don’t want to hurt anyone. I know you think I do, but it’s not like that. I just want our people back. If there was a peaceful solution, I’d be all for it.’
‘I could go and talk to them?’
‘And lose you as well? Beth, be serious, they aren’t going to leave us alone while they think they’re stronger than we are.’
It made sense but she didn’t want things to be like that. She wanted the two groups to be able to work together and she knew that, as soon as she went in there with a show of force, that possibility would be extinguished forever. Maybe that was the way of the world now, collaboration was a fantasy.
They lapsed into silence and she wasn’t aware of her own thought process. Russell lit another cigarette and the world continued to get darker. Some time later she found that she was nodding.
‘Let’s do it,’ she said.
‘You’re sure?’ Russell said.
‘Tell me what you want to do,’ she said.
He told her and she found herself nodding. If it worked then no one would need to get hurt, but it would show the Townies that they were a force to be reckoned with.
‘When?’ she said.
‘Tomorrow now,’ Russell said. ‘We need to give them enough time to get there.’
‘Tomorrow then.’
Russell got up without another word and left her to think things through. If his plan worked then they would succeed in showing the Townies who was boss and no one would get hurt, but here were plenty of opportunities for it to go wrong.
As the sun disappeared behind the distant buildings Beth got up. She brushed the snow and ash off her trousers and walked back towards the church. If everything went according to plan, then they could be back in their houses tomorrow and there would be a new equilibrium between themselves and the Townies. If something went wrong… she didn’t want to think about what would happen.
Beth, Russell, Darrel and Noel crossed the town in the golden pre-dawn. Everything seemed to shine and promise a kind of beauty that she knew Carningsby couldn’t provide. They moved quickly and quietly until they reached the car park.
They stopped at the end of the street. The carpark had open sides and she could still see cars parked in it. Most of them were rusting and a couple looked burned out. She began to wonder whether this was the best place to make their grand statement.
While they were at the car park a group of Darrel’s most trusted bikers were making their way to the town hall. If everything went according to plan they would get their people back and show the Townies that they weren’t people to be messed with, and all before lunch time. They could be back in their own beds by the evening.
‘You wait out here,’ Russell said to Noel and Darrel. ‘Make sure no one comes close.’
Darrel nodded.
Beth followed Russell the rest of the way along the street to the car park.
Twenty minutes later they were done. They met Noel and Darrel outside and the four of them left together. They had set the timer to give them long enough to get back to the petrol station, where they could hide and watch. There was no need to rush.
Beth watched the road and began to worry that the Townies wouldn’t come. She started to pace until she felt Russell’s hand on her shoulder.
She turned to look in the direction he was facing and saw dark shapes in the distance. They were too far away for her to see properly but she was sure it was them.
After a few minutes Beth was able to recognise Margaret and a couple of other people, but there were plenty who she didn’t. They looked like a miserable group, gaunt and sickly.
‘They’ve seen it,’ Russell said.
She turned towards the pub and saw that the group were now looking at the carpark.
‘How long?’ she said.
He began to answer, but before he could, the carpark lit up. Seconds passed before there was sound and then a wave of heat washed over her. Beth turned away, she could still see the light behind her closed eyes and wondered if they had made a mistake. If they had used too much explosive, then they might burn the town to the ground, just to make a point.
The heat died away quickly and she dared to look again. The ground leading up to the carpark had been cleared of snow and water lay in puddles that would eventually turn to ice. She looked at Russell and saw his mouth moving, but whatever he was saying was lost. The only thing she could hear was the ringing in her ears.
David, Ellen and Richard were waiting for them when they got back to the church. They looked shaken, but none of them appeared hurt. They looked relieved to be among their friends again. Beth gave them a cursory nod of welcome, but didn’t stick around to take part in the celebrations.
She felt dirty and thought that it had little to do with the dust and debris from the blast.
The fire had mostly died down by the time they’d left and what was still burning would be well contained in the concrete block.
Dawn came towards her, but Beth turned away. She needed to be on her own to deal with what had happened. With what she had done.
They returned to the street that evening and found it exactly as they had left it. Beth insisted she and Russell check the houses before anyone went inside. They found nothing and she was relieved.
Over the next few days life returned to something approaching normal, but while everyone else was relaxing, Beth found herself becoming concerned again.
At first she wasn’t sure why and she tried to ignore it. Then, one morning, while she was brushing her teeth, it came to her:
She expected retaliation.
In all of their discussions, she and Russell had never mentioned it, but
it seemed obvious now.
She put down her toothbrush without finishing. As quickly as she could, Beth left the bathroom and went to find Russell to get his opinion on the revelation.
CHAPTER 10
WILL CARTER STOOD OUTSIDE THE TOWN HALL AND looked up. He was twenty-three years old but small for his age. He’d lived amongst the Townies for long enough that the starvation rations had caused his muscles to wither and his skin to turn a pasty pale colour. His stomach rumbled but he was used to hunger. Margaret would have told him that if he could still feel hungry then he was fine. It was when you stopped feeling hungry that you needed to worry.
He pushed open the door and walked inside.
It wasn’t warm in the town hall but it protected them from the worst of the snow, the wind and the rain.
Will hadn’t been there to witness the destruction of the car park, but he had been there to see them return. They had been covered in ash and not one of them had wanted to discuss what had happened. It was only later that he overheard Margaret and some of the others talking about it.
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The rail was cold and he was reluctant to go up. Sometimes it felt as if there was no place for him in the group, his purpose was ill defined. Although he was one of the younger members of the group he was still twenty-three years old, still an adult capable of contributing. If Margaret hadn’t been so soft on him she might have seen that and he might have been allowed to do something useful.
Most of the group would be on the third floor, where Margaret had her office and most of the day to day business was conducted. Until they had been taken away, the prisoners had been kept in the basement. There was nothing on the first floor and only sleeping quarters on the second.
Will went up to the sleeping quarters. Before Margaret had taken over the building, not long after the zombies had first shown up, these had been offices as well. Since then they had been converted into bedrooms, for the more senior members of the group, and dormitories for the youngsters. It was a constant reminder of his status in the group that he was still sleeping in the dormitory. Worse still, there were rooms available that he could have taken as a bedroom, but Margaret wouldn’t hear of such a thing.