by Luke Duffy
Gary began, “We keep pretty much to the main building here and we can monitor the main gate on the CCTV. Jake is in the security room now, it’s his shift. It was him who told me over the radio that a vehicle was approaching when I saw you. I go down there now and then and clear the gate area of any stragglers that turn up. That's what I was doing when you interrupted me.” He smiled at the group and feigned mock annoyance. “No one else here likes going down there, so as the Senior Park Ranger I see it as my duty to do it, as well as check the walls and fences with the others.”
“Does the wall go all the way around then?” Jennifer asked, taking a sip from her tea.
“Yeah, pretty much,” a young red haired man said from the couch with a chess board on a coffee table in front of him. “There's only one area that isn’t stone wall, but that’s a high fence with a steep drop below it on the other side,” he looked over at Gary, “we gonna finish this game then old man or what?”
Gary looked back at the group. “Sorry, you'll have to excuse Kevin here. He fancies himself as an up and coming chess champion. Only thing is, I only taught him how to play a month ago.”
“Yeah, and I give you a regular kicking at it too,” Kevin interjected, smiling at the group.
Gary sat down in front of the chess board and continued to speak to Steve, Jennifer and Helen. “So, the walls aren’t an issue. We have food but it won’t last forever. We cleared out the restaurants in the park the other day and closed them down to save power. We have running water from the wells and there is enough room to make everyone comfortable.”
“What about power?” Helen asked.
Kevin didn't look up from the board as he studied his next move, but answered, “Generators. They're in the basement and we have our own independent fuel supply here too. We've closed down all unnecessary buildings, utilities and attractions in the park to save power, but as Gary said, that won’t last forever either but we have plenty for now.”
“What about the animals?” Helen asked.
Gary answered, “They're still here, and we've continued and intend to continue to look after them for as long as we can. All the fences to the paddocks are safe and secure and we have plenty of food and medicine for them, though eventually, for the likes of the lions and tigers, fresh meat could be a problem.”
Steve raised his eyebrows, wondering what would happen when the likes of the lions and tigers run out of meat, but said nothing. “Sounds like you've got it pretty well set here and you're in for the long haul. You don’t think that things could get back to normal?”
Gary looked at Steve, a serious expression on his face. “The army can’t control it, and the police can’t. The Prime Minister has disappeared into a bunker somewhere and the rest of the world, including the so called superpowers, are on their knees. So no, I don’t think things could get back to normal. Do you?”
Steve felt a little stupid. “Fair one,” was all he could say.
Gary looked ashamed. “Sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off. I just get a bit worked up sometimes when I think about the scale of this thing. I haven’t heard from my son for over a week and I'm worried. He was down South somewhere, on business, when it all started to go bad. He was trying to get home, but I don’t know where he is now.”
“I take it your phones aren’t working?”
“Sometimes, sometimes not, I think it won’t be much longer before they stop working altogether. We do have a radio here that we used to use, before the days of the internet, to speak with other parks and even countries that our animals were indigenous to, when we had problems or needed advice. It was cheaper than using the phone and quicker than writing letters. Not used it in years though, but I was thinking about setting it up again and seeing if we can get anything from it.”
That reminded Steve, he needed to call Marcus and try Claire again. “Yeah, maybe it would be a good thing to have. Do you remember how to use it?”
“Not sure. Been years since I last even looked at it but if we get it working, I'm sure it'll all come back to me, and Jake is a whiz at the technical stuff. If in doubt, I’ll read the manual.”
Steve nodded with a smile. “Always the case with us men isn’t it, read the instructions as a last resort. I’m gonna see if I can use my phone. I’ll be outside, Jen, and I’ll let you know if I manage to speak to Marcus.”
Gary looked at Kevin. “Sorry young man, but the game will have to wait. I'm gonna give the newcomers the guided tour and introduce them to everyone. I'm sure the other children will be happy to have a few new play mates to join them on their endless games of hide and seek about this old building.”
“Other children? So we’re not the only ones here?” Liam asked
“Not at all,” Gary replied with enthusiasm, “there are five others here, three girls and two boys.” He looked at Jennifer and Helen. “Some of the staff managed to bring their families in with them. There are eighteen of us altogether, including my wife, Karen, and she's on cooking duty tonight so you're in for a treat.” He walked ahead of them, humming as he went, with Sarah, Liam and David close behind.
“Will we get to see the animals?” Sarah asked him.
“I don’t see why not. I think it would be good for them to see kids still showing them an interest. Animals aren’t much different from us you know. They still need to know that they're wanted, now and then, and that someone cares.”
Sarah turned to the rest and grinned from ear to ear. She loved animals and the thought of having an entire safari park at her fingertips filled her with excitement.
Steve couldn’t get an answer from Marcus. He got the usual overseas dial tone, but there was no answer. He hung up and typed out a lengthy text message, giving him the rough details of where they were and how things looked.
Next, he tried Claire again.
14
Roy was starting to get on her nerves. Claire watched him as he paced about in their bedroom where they had taken to spending most of their time to keep out of sight from the street below.
He had steadily become more and more anxious and by now he was more or less in a constant state of panic. Since the news had broken, he had refused to believe what was happening. He had stood and argued with the TV and radio, demanding to know how the dead could come back to life and start eating people and what the government was doing about it.
He had always lived his life through a set routine. He went to bed at the same time every night, went to work on the dot every morning. Even his rare nights out with friends were organized and arranged to the letter. Claire always suspected that he had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Even his wardrobe and sock drawer was neatly arranged accordingly and now, with the world turned on its head, his carefully packaged life had been pulled apart and he was unable to deal with it.
“For fuck sake, Roy, will you just sit down and relax? I'm the one that should be in a panic. My daughter is out there somewhere and I can’t get in touch with her. I don’t know if she is safe or not, but I'm managing to hold it together.”
“She's with Steve. They said they would be heading for a safe place.” He stopped and turned to her. “I just feel like we’re trapped here, Claire, and that eventually those things are gonna come crashing through the door.”
Claire rolled her eyes. Sometimes she had to wonder what she saw in him. There had never been any real adventure or excitement between them. At least with Steve she had never known what was going to happen next. But with Roy, it had been the stability that she had gone for. With someone who was so regimented and set in their ways, there wasn’t much chance of a spanner being thrown into the works.
He was never late and she doubted that many other women would find him at all interesting. Though, without doubt, he was an attractive man. He was, nevertheless, a dull bore. She didn't even get excited sexually by him. Their bedroom activities consisted of a once a week twenty minute session that left her feeling unfulfilled and wondering why she even bothered.
Now, wit
h the chips on the table, she also discovered that he was the sort to crumble at the first sign of trouble.
“Your van is parked up against the front door, Roy. There's no way they can get past that and I haven’t seen any of them driving cars. Besides, there's only a few of them right now and if need be, we can always get out. Steve may have had a plan to get somewhere safe, but how do I know he got there? He told me not to try and phone him and that he would call when he gets there. That was last night and I haven’t heard anything since.”
She knew that with her determination and fitness, the things outside wouldn't be able to get her. There was only a few of them staggering about in the street at that moment and nothing had stirred in the area for the past few days. Not since the crazy man had driven his scooter along the road screaming something about being a 'Mobile Restaurant', then set fire to himself before disappearing out of sight.
Claire was a keen runner. She had been since her school days and although she knew full well that she wasn’t the most academic of people, she made up for it with her physical abilities. She had always kept herself in top shape and four years earlier, as well as her running groups she had discovered an all women’s Karate Club in her area. She had never missed a session since, and won competition after competition; something she suspected that Roy resented. She did her best to stroke his ego but there was always the invisible wall that went up whenever she spoke about her achievements to him. Instead of being proud and full of encouragement for her, he either dismissed her interests as a waste of time or changed the subject just as quickly as she had brought it up.
Now she was passed caring about his feelings. In the time of crisis, she was proving to be the Alpha, while Roy became a frantic bag of nerves. She would have to drag his arse through this if he was to survive.
“Right, they said they were headed for the Safari Park, so why don’t we head there too?” She looked up, hoping that the suggestion of a course of action would bring Roy into a calmer state with his mind more focussed.
Roy sat down and sighed, “Because we don’t know if they actually got there, and if they did, if the place is safe or not. We could be heading into a thousand of those things.”
“Yeah, true. He did say to sit tight for now and he will let us know. God I hope Sarah is okay.” She leaned forward from the bed and placed her face into her hands, rubbing at her tired eyes with the palms.
Roy placed his arm around her. “I'm sure she is, Claire. Steve wouldn't take any unnecessary risks. He's a good Dad regardless of his many faults.”
They sat and watched out of the window for a while, neither of them speaking. For the last week or so they had cried, argued, talked and none of it had gotten them anywhere. Claire had become resigned to the fact that the planet had gone to rat shit and her only concern now, was Sarah.
Her phone began to vibrate in her pocket, then the theme tune to The Simpsons began to emit from her jeans. They both stared at each other for a second, apprehensively, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out her shocking pink mobile phone and flipped it open. It said ‘Dick Head’ on the screen, her contact name for Steve.
Claire fought back a feeling of dread and pressed the green button.
“Steve? Thank God, where are you, is Sarah okay?”
She heard his voice at the other end; it sounded distant but the line was clear. “Yeah, she's fine. We all are....”
She stood up and began to pace the room as he spoke, holding one hand cupped over her unused ear and the phone to the other.
Roy was sitting on the bed and following her with his eyes, trying to work out what was being said, the feeling of angst building inside him the more he was left in the dark.
Claire looked at him and recognised the familiar look of apprehension in his face. She pulled the phone away from her ear and spoke. “It’s Steve. They made it to the Safari Park and they're all safe. There are other people there too.” She placed the phone back to her ear and continued to pace about, nodding, humming and throwing in the occasional ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
Roy assumed that Steve was giving her instructions and explaining what the next plan was and what she needed to do.
“Steve? Steve, are you there, can you hear me?” She looked at the phone then tried to call him back. The line was dead again.
“What's happening then? What did he say?” Roy was eager to hear what he had told her.
“Well, before the line went dead, he was saying that they have a secure wall all around the park and they are living in a mansion with other people. He said that he is gonna come for us within the next few days and once he has it all organised, he will let us know and that we are not to move from here until then.”
Claire was clearly relieved. Sarah was safe and that was all that mattered. She didn't savour the idea of dying herself, but as long as her daughter was alive then she could deal with anything.
She sat down heavily on the bed, and before she knew it the tears were flowing uncontrollably. Everything caught up with her, and now that she knew Sarah was out of harm’s way, she could afford to let her guard down for a moment and all the tension and strain was released in a deluge the moment the wall came down.
Two hours later, she awoke on the bed. Roy had tucked her in and left her to sleep. She must've cried herself out and the exhaustion must've been following close behind the tears because she couldn’t remember stopping crying.
She threw off the bed sheets and walked to the bathroom. She could hear Roy moving about in the room next-door and it sounded like he was looking for something as he rummaged through cupboards.
“What are you doing, Roy?”
He was leaning over a large black canvas bag and looked up, surprised to see her. She stood watching him, her eyes squinting in the light that shone through the window from the rear of the house.
“I'm packing some stuff love.” He sounded almost cheery. “If we’re gonna be leaving soon, then we need to have some things don’t we? I'm just grabbing what I think we need.”
Claire scratched her head where her hair was standing on end. “Ah right. Well, I'm gonna see about getting cleaned up. I need to wash, I feel like the floor of a public toilet, so I’ll have a look at how much water we have in the tank now; may as well use it because whether Steve gets here or not, we’ll be leaving soon anyway.”
“How do you mean?” He looked concerned now and Claire could see the panic returning to his face.
“And you're the one with the degree? Think about it, what are we gonna do? Spend the rest of our lives locked in here? Plus, my daughter is safe and sound and I want to be with her whether Steve makes it here or not, and I'm not going stinking like the arse end of a tramp.”
She and Roy spent the rest of the day and night searching through the house, looking for things they would need. It was more to keep themselves occupied than anything else and now that they had a focus, they both felt better about the situation. Even Roy seemed more masculine and less like an empty wetsuit.
They each packed a bag with clothes and food and a bag for Sarah too. Claire had insisted that she would probably need clean clothes and a few of her personal belongings, such as her diary and photo album as well as her favourite teddy. Now all they had to do was to wait for Steve to call.
15
It was still early morning in Baghdad and the sun wouldn't be up for another couple of hours, but with much of the city ablaze, it seemed more like late evening as the sun was beginning to set. Visibility was good and Marcus decided that the time had come to leave.
During the previous days, reports of other teams from other companies making a break for it had come in. Some had been successful but others had found themselves trapped within the city and in need of help. But help would never arrive.
Marcus and Stu had opted for a route that would take them through the less built-up outskirts of the city. Though the journey would be longer, there was less chance of running into difficulties and finding themselves trapped
like the others, unable to escape.
A city-wide curfew had been announced, but with the American forces too busy pulling out, there was no one to enforce it. It had been left to the Iraqi security forces and the city had soon crumbled into mayhem as a result.
Orders had been passed down to the teams that no one was to attempt a break out from the city and that all vehicle keys and weapons were to be handed over to the management staff at each location, so that they could be centralised and redistributed.
Management were in panic. They had finally realised that the teams had the upper hand. They had the vehicles, the weapons and the experience to get out for themselves. After years of the men on the ground being shit on from great heights by the people who sat behind desks and computers, telling them to ‘put up and shut up’ and to ‘just make it work’, the tables had turned and management soon realised that they would more than likely be left behind and not even considered as the teams bugged out.
The teams themselves scoffed at these orders to hand over their assets and dismissed them out of hand. Few members of management had the nerve to approach the teams and demand the keys and weapons. Rumours of people being shot in other companies by people holding grudges were already doing the rounds. With panic and confusion reigning and other priorities, no one was likely to care about some desk jockey getting his comeuppance.
“You think Mickey will come for the keys?” Ian asked Stu.
Stu huffed, “He's a fucking dick if he tries and thinks we’re just gonna hand them to him. No one else has and I think Mickey knows that Marcus would just tell him to shit and fall in it.”
They were standing in the parking area, keeping watch over their vehicles. Over the past week it had occurred to them that if everyone else thinks of escaping, then weapons, ammunition, kit, equipment and even vehicles would be a priority as it had been to Marcus’ team. When it comes to survival and every man for his self, it was prudent to post guards.