The lorry park was a good bet, but he wanted a separate trip for that with Jack and Ian along as well as two Rangers and all the logistics crews.
Steve returned with a boot full of choice items and Jimmy ready to lead the way; no issues with the supermarket.
Lexi returned with Mike who was happy that the tools they would need were readily available, and had found a well-stocked scaffolding yard on their way back, but couldn’t get the loaded lorry started to bring it back.
Joe walked back in, limping, and carrying a box. Chris followed as Joe deposited the box on the table containing three very small bundles of black fur. The story was not a happy one. They found the wholesalers with ease, and the stores there were worth going back for. As they searched though, Joe was attacked by a desperately wild collie dog. She was filthy and bone thin, and after she had bitten clean through Joe’s trousers and taken a chunk from his calf, he shot her.
Only afterwards did they hear the tiny sounds the surviving puppies made after their mother had attacked the intruders to protect them. Joe felt terrible and was close to tears. Chris was far more pragmatic about it, and judged that she nor the puppies would probably have lived through to spring. He shared that he had had to shoot one of his own dogs once, as it turned savage without warning and started killing sheep. Sera agreed with Chris’ prognosis, declaring the puppies very malnourished and saying that she would be surprised if any of them lived a week.
Joe was marched into medical where Kate set about him. Dan looked out of the window, guessing there was probably an hour of light left. He told Leah to grab Lexi’s Glock and her own emergency bag. She flew from the chair and was ready in seconds.
He pushed the Land Rover down now familiar roads, eager to be back by dark. Especially as he hadn’t thought to bring the night vision goggles. They reached the small shop they had visited before, as Dan remembered seeing what they needed there. He let Leah do a quick sweep of the building – never miss an opportunity for training – before he grabbed baby bottles and tubs of milk powder. He ended up throwing almost all of it into a bag before driving back.
It wasn’t ideal, Sera said, but it would at least give them a chance of survival.
SPRING IS IN THE AIR
Leah interviewed the three new joiners. They knew of lots of interesting things in the city, but the general consensus from all three was that the city was a bad place to visit. Marie described the place as being plagued by pirates.
What wasn't spoiled or looted was prey to roving gangs of people who wouldn't exactly be welcome in their new society. These reports were put to Dan who decided categorically to avoid the larger population centres and stick to the more rural areas which had served them well so far. He explained this to the council and found no disagreement.
The run to the lorry park was made first. Dan wanted to lead, as always, but Steve stepped in to softly persuade him that he would go with Lexi.
They were gone from dawn ‘til dusk and returned full of excitement. They had found countless trailers full of useful supplies and recovered an entire truck full of batteries. They had finally got two articulated lorries started and brought back hundreds of bottles of water in one, and another full of tinned food.
That put the trip to the supermarket on the back burner. They had encountered no problems, and Dan grudgingly left Steve in charge of the next four days of recovery runs there; they had to dump the emptied trailers nearby as there simply wasn't room for them at the house.
Andrew was busy with all the available bodies unloading and sorting the new loot as quickly as possible so that they could get going by the following dawn. After four days they were exhausted and Dan declared them officially stood down until Monday; they couldn't afford a crash through tiredness.
The next day Dan took Adam and Jay with Sera and Kate to clear the hospital and vet's surgery.
The weekend passed without incident, lorry park operations resumed on the Monday. Jack argued to bring back a portacabin for additional storage space which was supported. Neil went with them also to siphon another tanker of diesel from the large tanks of the lorries.
They set the portacabin up at the side of the loading bay to their stores, and Carl began to stack and wire the lorry batteries together. It was one of those moments where having someone not qualified watching slows a professional down significantly, but it was insisted upon that he show Mike what he was doing and why. Surge protectors and other such complicated matters were discussed, all of which sailed over Dan's head - plugs, fuses and bulbs were the extent of his electrical knowledge.
By the time he returned with a lorry full of medical and veterinary supplies, another stocked ambulance - this one being a special weather one, miraculously a Land Rover Defender - and another 4x4 from the veterinary practice, the battery bank was wired and weather proof. Leah rode shotgun for him, taking her role ever so seriously. They drove in alert silence with Ash nosing his now huge head between the seats so it seemed that all three played I spy.
The scaffolding trip wasn't a priority as the weather wasn't yet good enough for the project, and the abundance of supplies from the lorry park was taking most personnel off site for days. Dan accepted the back seat on that detail and rotated the other three Rangers to go in pairs as the full logistics and engineering teams went out for another week.
By mid-March, they had accrued more supplies than they could actually store, and Andrew began to backfill empty barns on the gardens and farm with the sturdier food supplies. Every day the teams went out to return with new fully-laden trailers which were hastily unloaded by a kind of all-hands approach. The next morning they would eat a large breakfast and set off again, with the group’s former professional drivers putting in more hours behind the wheel than they used to.
March ended, and so did the runs to the lorry park as they had scavenged all that they could. Pallets were added to the 'battery bank' and another layer of lorry batteries added and wired in. Dan was sure it wouldn't pass a health and safety inspection, but as long as any fire there didn't threaten the house then he was ok with it. Carl assured him that it was far enough away, but still had added a lot of foam and co2 extinguishers to the shopping list.
Dan checked the Ops calendar in early April, seeing a curious marking on the following Thursday. It had hearts and stars on it, and the number thirteen.
It was Leah’s thirteenth birthday.
BAD PARENTING 101
What to get a newly minted, bona fide teenager on her first post-apocalyptic birthday?
Dan had an idea, and frankly couldn't give a toss if nobody agreed.
She had earned her keep in Ops; put in the boring work, studied the maps and learnt everything from scratch. She could clean and dismantle weapons better than all but three of the group and had proven herself enough to be given lessons on handling the Glock. Now, if she were to take her first adult step into Dan's new trade, she would need to send something a little heavier towards the enemies of the group.
All four M4's were in use, which left the HK416's and the G36c's. The 416 was essentially the same weapon as the M4, and in his opinion too long for her to handle easily. The G36c was shorter and only weighed a shade under four kilos. He stripped one down and checked it. It was spotless, as Leah had cleaned it under his instruction.
He had never really liked it, but hoped it would fit her nicely. He secretly had Lou prepare a scavenged harness from the surplus shop to hold a Glock, two spare mags and another pouch to take two mags for the G36.
He decided that it was sensible to let Steve take her for the next element of training, as he liked the sassy little girl too much to be objective if she wasn't ready yet. Still, he wanted to be the one to give her the present.
To make it less of a boy present, he also scavenged a laptop, iPod and lots of chart CD's he hoped she liked and spent three entire evening's worth of electricity time copying them onto the iPod.
He only told Penny, Lexi and Cara, and between them they planned a s
urprise party. He told the party committee what he planned to give her, having prepared his arguments in advance. There was some resistance to begin with, but it was Leah's wish to be trained in this field; others reasoned that she should still learn other skills which Dan didn't object to at all.
Whispers had gone round and plans made. Every department head decided to get her something, and one afternoon Dan and Lexi led some others on a small shopping trip to get the items on the lists.
Looting for survival was an unremarkable activity nowadays, but looting for presents and wrapping paper felt strange; like the excitement of Christmas again.
A sticky suggestion came from Kate, who raised a parallel with Leah's chosen career path and the child soldiers of African civil wars. It was done carefully to avoid insult but made Dan pause; if an eight-year-old kid can use an AK47 then he was sure Leah could manage the G36.
Having realised that he had completely missed the point of the comment, he drifted back from his thoughts in time for the suggestion that she be given mandatory weekly counselling sessions to mentally prepare her. He thought this a great idea.
"Agreed, I'll speak to Marie about it" he said too quickly. A smirk showed on a few faces and his further attempt to explain just left him in a deeper hole. He gave up and outlined his plan.
"Leah's training will be thorough, but I have no intention of deploying her alone as a resource yet" he said as professionally as he could to recover some poise.
"She must be a skilled all-rounder before that happens in the future, which includes driving and survival skills"
They all agreed, Penny visibly relaxed when she realised that Leah wasn't to be handed a gun and sent out into the remains of the world.
"I'm trying to future proof our survival here.” He said tiredly.
“Who is to say how long I'll be fit to do my role? Leah will effectively be coached to replace me when she's old enough or I'm too old"
That surprised a couple of them, as they clearly hadn't thought past this generation.
"On that note" started Chris "we could do with more people and some youngsters to start training in a similar way. I know Pete needs an apprentice"
Murmurs of agreement went round the table, and the plans for the new apprenticeships were born.
Dan's attempts to spend time with Marie were unsuccessful, to describe it mildly. She was always ahead of him, and whenever he made a clumsy suggestion she cut him off.
He decided to be brief and business like instead of playing the supplicant fidgeting with his hat.
He found her room and knocked.
"Come in" she said from inside. He did, and found her with a large towel wrapped around her and wet hair. They both had a moment of awkwardness, which she turned into his discomfort entirely by asking him what he wanted as she sat on her bed and smiled at him. He explained briefly, stuttering his way through before he left.
Crashed and burned again.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I GOT YOU A GUN
The morning of Leah's birthday came, and she still hadn't said anything. The day started as normal, with the morning activity causing the flow of people to congregate the dining hall.
Leah shuffled in, groggy as always, and stopped in suspicious surprise as everyone was looking at her.
"Happy birthday!" Penny said in her singsong assembly voice.
Everyone chorused in with the same and Leah turned crimson, looking like she might cry.
Ops presented her with the laptop, Neil gave the iPod and speaker dock from engineering which made her squeal with delight. Cara uncovered an array of her favourite foods whilst Penny gave her a leather bound diary. Chris, on behalf of the farms, gave her a set of boots like Dan's which would have cost over two hundred pounds last year. Medical, via Kate, gave her a compact field medical kit and promised her the training to use it. Next, Lou got a nod from Dan and laid a heavy package in front of her. She tore at the wrapping as politely as she could, then froze.
It was her tactical vest, lifted in silence as she slept and painstakingly transformed under torchlight by Lou. She ran her hands over it, and rested on the pouches for the larger magazines. She looked at her mentor, who nodded and told her that her training was kicking up a gear.
What a terrible world, he thought, that a teenage girl was so excited to be given such things. Still, he was happy that she was happy and oddly proud of her.
She didn't know what to do first. She ate mostly pastries for breakfast, then dressed in black combats and her new boots before bouncing back downstairs pulling on her winter coat similar to Dan's.
The weather was definitely improving with longer daylight hours and nobody was still wearing the base layers which had been so popular over the worst of the weather. There were still some frosts, but spring felt imminent.
"You do know you've got the day off, don't you?" Dan asked as she walked into ops.
She looked instantly deflated "Do I get to choose what to do today?"
"Ok, I'll rephrase that. You can do what you like today" he replied.
"I'd like to learn to shoot then" she said.
Dan nodded agreement and unlocked the armoury, selecting the G36's and four magazines. They loaded them as Dan began again from the beginning the rules for holding a firearm, this time including her mandatory counselling sessions and that her regime will be dictated by Steve.
"Aren't you teaching me?" She asked.
He thought about how to respond and tell her that he was too fond of her to be objective, in the end settling on "Steve will be better at it and I have lots of things to do. I will be assessing you anyway"
She seemed happy enough with that, and they went for some target practice.
OVER THE WALL
The Colonel was somewhat over enthusiastic, and she wasn't the only one worrying that he had possibly suffered an episode, or maybe she had witnessed the rapid onset of degenerative brain disease.
The man was issuing orders and laughing aloud, but being mostly tolerated by the group who were busy packing the remaining supplies for their uncertain future outside.
She had long since abandoned her tailored skirt suit and heels and had resorted to the comfortable jump suits designed for those living underground for extended periods. Now she was in boots and overalls not unlike a pilot's flight suit, loading a bag ready to walk out with the others.
It had been years since she had really walked anywhere or carried her own bags, let alone both.
There was a general feel of a plan, but no real plan and certainly no actual leadership. All those senior and important people in one place was bound to cause friction, as most had their ideas which they would then try to bully others into supporting. The world of politics could well end with these few people wasting what remained of their lives arguing, she thought. She would wait until they had established somewhere, then name herself Prime Minister as the most senior cabinet member left.
Everyone carried their own food and water, those who were armed when they came in felt more secure and she started to notice a shift in the established power balance; for years these politicians had been protected by armed police officers and most saw them as part of the furniture type people, now the politicians stuck to them and started to see them as valuable people. There was no secret weapons cache in the bunker, much to the annoyance of the Colonel who was loudly voicing his hopes that this was a Russian act of war and he would 'finally get to stick it to Ivan'.
He was pretty much ignored by everyone at the end, including his own kind; some of whom had abandoned the dress uniforms most of them wore in favour of utilitarian clothing.
The time came when they could wait no longer and, without ceremony, site three opened its sealed steel doors which had protected them for months.
The pressurised door hissed as it was unlocked, letting cool air in from outside. As this happened, one girl from the research team quietly said to herself with a resigned sigh.
"We all just died" she said tiredly.
; THINKING AHEAD
Penny called the group to hush during breakfast, engaging with the regular niceties which Dan wouldn't have bothered with. She looked pale and thinner, he thought. Maybe some time outside would be good for her. Spring was fast approaching, and she explained the needs and expectations of them all.
The priority now, was to plant and rear as much as possible during the good weather.
"We will also work on winter-proofing our home for better comfort" she declared "I'm sure everyone knows we are looking to establish some solar power and possibly hot water when we are equipped to do so. Now, your departmental heads have work for you. Have a good day everyone."
Chris was by far the busiest. He had limited support, those assigned to the gardens were equally as busy but Chris was never really given a break during the busiest time for his trade.
He had given his simplified plan to the council recently; expand their livestock through breeding, get enough feed for them, grow vegetables.
Andrew was in support, as having had a winter to see how the food stores fared, he believed that the farms had three to five years to take over supplying the group before the stocks ran out.
"Dependent on numbers, obviously" he added.
That got Dan thinking; they still needed more of them to make this work. Logistics were stacked with premises to empty, and both crews went on a planned route daily with multiple places to hit.
Engineering had recovered the scaffolding lorries, and made a further trip to the distribution place where they had got the lorry full of parts. This time they returned with thin metal cylinder tanks as well as more panels.
Humanity: After It Happened Book 2 Page 7