Rogue Evacuation

by Simon Neilson

  “Yes, I know I have an IGS uniform.” He sighed. “What do you want me to do?”

  I borrowed the binoculars from Jackson and looked at the sight of a mixture of IGS officers and soldiers who were rounding up individuals and booking them through gates into the evacuation centre. This was near the sea front, gated off where the train station was. These people were then being passed through lanes surrounded by barbed wire fencing to marquees. In the distance, anchored off shore, I could see a variety of boats and ships. Some were Royal Navy, others were civilian with a mixture of tankers, cruise ships, fishing boats and yachts. I could see powered dinghy’s taking people out and loading them aboard.

  “All of us going in there together won’t work. I need you and Jackson to find this address in Southover Street.” I pointed to the list. “Evacuate the two occupants, two women, and bring them back here to the truck.” I glanced between both Jackson and Lance as I spoke.

  “Oh piss easy!” Jackson stated sarcastically.

  “You’re both wearing uniforms. We’re not,” I replied.

  “I think you’re forgetting two important things here.” Jackson turned in this seat. “We’re both deserters. If we get caught we’ll be executed.”

  “I understand that risk,” I replied.

  “Do you now?” Jackson raised his eyebrows.

  “We don’t have any other choice.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence and Beth sidled up next to me. I looked across and noticed she was now wearing army combats.

  “Where did you….” I didn’t get a chance to finish as Beth held her palm up to my face.

  “I was in the army cadets. I thought the uniform might come in handy.” She looked away from me and stared at Jackson. “I can come with you, monitor the radio to check if there are any bad guys in the area. You two go in, get the packages and we silently move back here.”

  She said this with such confidence and conviction that it left myself, Jackson and Lance slightly speechless. We all looked at one another and nodded together without saying a word. We had nothing further to add. Even if we had tried to talk Beth out of this idea she would have most probably shot us down with words one way or the other and we decided this was the easiest way to deal with it.

  Jackson, Lance and Beth jumped down from the truck and wandered forward over the crest of the hill and out of sight. I waited until they had gone and turned my attention to the back of the truck.

  “Jesse, I need you to jump down,” I said.

  “What’s going on?” Rebecca asked with a frown.

  “I just need a moment.”

  Jesse clambered down from the back of the truck and I took her by the hand. We wandered off a few yards and I knelt down so I had eye contact.

  “There is a house just behind me. Do you see it?” I asked. Jesse nodded. “I need you to go and hide in there.”

  “Why?” Jesse asked.

  “There are going to be some men coming and they will take you away.”

  “Because I’m immune?” Jesse asked.

  “Yes,” I replied after a short pause.

  “How do you know they are coming?” Jesse looked down the hill towards the hordes of people below.

  “I just do. I promised to take good care of you and this is how we need to do this.” I took hold of her shoulders gently. “I promise I’ll be back to get you, I just need to hide for now.”

  “What if the bad men find me?” Jesse asked.

  “Leave that up to me.”

  Jesse nodded and wrapped her tiny arms round my neck. I hugged her back and then she pulled away.

  “I know my mummy and daddy died because I am immune. I don’t want anyone else to die.”

  Before I could reply Jesse scurried off to the house I told her to hide in, leaving me staring at the floor with tears trickling down my cheeks.

  I looked back at the truck and called for Lizzie to bring Bruno. I also asked Selina to join us. They walked over and I smiled at Selina who remained straight faced.

  “Excuse us one moment.” I said and pulled Lizzie to one side.

  After I had handed her walkie-talkie, I told her what I wanted she took my rifle and told Selina to follow her. Taking hold of Bruno’s leash, they disappeared up an alley out of sight.

  I heard the footsteps approaching and gazed up to see Rebecca staring at me suspiciously.

  “Mind telling me what is going on?” She asked.

  “What’s the time?” I asked.

  “Why?”

  “What’s the time?”

  Rebecca stared at me for a moment and turned her wrist. She gazed down at her watch and looked back at me.

  “Midday.”

  “In about a minute or so a machine gun mounted jeep will appear behind us, it will contain IGS officers. Don’t try to run.” I spoke calmly.

  “Kaleb, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

  “I’m saving our lives.”

  As I predicted the sound of the jeep came closer. Rebecca glanced up and I knew the jeep was in sight by how wide her eyes grew. Everybody in the truck looked out and appeared startled, yet I stayed where I was before slowly turning my head to see The Commander.

  The jeep came to a stop. He jumped out and wandered slowly towards me. I took Rebecca by the hand, she was shaking. The Commander looked at his watch and nodded.

  “Great timing,” he said. He looked at the back of the truck. “You seem pretty low on numbers.”

  “Three of our group have gone to get the last two. They’ll be back in a moment,” I replied.

  “Kaleb.” Rebecca spoke slowly, still looking at The Commander. “What’s going on?”

  “No need to worry, Rebecca.” The Commander smiled.

  “You know my name?” Rebecca asked.

  “I know all of your names.”

  “What have you done?” Rebecca let go of my hand and stomped back to the truck.

  “Good work, Kaleb.” The Commander smiled and ordered his men to round up everybody on the truck.

  DIARY ENTRY 74

  29th December – Afternoon

  The IGS guards ordered everybody down from the trucks and sat them on the pavement at the side of the road.

  Shortly afterwards I saw more IGS guards walking up the hill with Jackson, Lance and Beth who had successfully found the last two people on the list, two women named Natalie and Imogen. All five had the hands on top of their heads.

  The five of them looked at me standing with The Commander as they were ordered to take their place on the pavement next to the others. Jackson squinted at me. I could see the anger in his eyes.

  The Commander stepped forward so he was standing in front of the group. He took out the piece of paper I had been carrying and began to read out names.

  “Joyce Gregory,” bellowed The Commander.

  “Yes.”

  The Commander nodded to one of the guards and he took her from the pavement to the opposite side of the road to stand in front of a brick wall.

  “Bethany Carter.”

  “Yes.” Beth’s reply was full of insubordination.

  She was also taken to the other side of the road and stood next to Joyce.

  “Matilda Watkins.”

  There was silence and The Commander looked up from the piece of paper and stared at Matilda who smiled sweetly back at him.

  “Hello,” replied Matilda in her sweet persona.

  The Commander nodded and another guard yanked Matilda to her feet and dragged her to the other side of the road. There was some rumblings from the others which caused The Commander to become agitated.

  “Quiet!” He shouted. “Duncan Bishop!”

  “He’s dead,” I replied.

  “Really?” The Commander asked in a tone of a disbelieving nature.

  “I shot the fucker!” Jackson said angrily. The Commander turned and nodded.

  “Maria Bishop!”

  “Dead,” I replied.

  “Now you’re taking the piss!” The
Commander shook his head and wandered a few paces before turning to face the group. “Did you shoot her as well?” He directed his question at Jackson.

  “No, I did.” Lance spoke calmly.

  The Commander gazed at Lance for a few seconds, his eyes moving down to the dirty IGS badge on the uniform before returning to the list.

  “Jesse Bishop!”

  There was silence and I could see Rebecca looking at me as though she understood what I had done earlier.

  “Dead,” I replied. I saw Jackson look at me in confusion.

  “You had one job.” The Commander turned to look at me and he wasn’t smiling. “Three of them!” He shook his head and returned to piece of paper. I could see what name he was going to read out next.

  “Dead,” I said. The Commander turned to look at me as if I was taking complete liberties. “Lana was shot by Jackson. He didn’t know she was immune and she had taken a bite mark to the neck. It was unfortunate.”

  “Unfortunate?” The Commander repeated in condescending tone.

  “Natalie Brooks!” The Commander shouted still glaring at me.

  “Yes,” replied the woman with long brown hair rescued from the house by Jackson, Lance and Beth.

  A guard wandered over and took her by the wrist. He led her over to the brick wall to stand with Joyce, Beth and Matilda.

  “Imogen….” The Commander did not get to finish his sentence as the young girl with blonde hair rescued with Natalie stood up, not waiting for a guard and took her place unaided by the brick wall.

  “Lance Gallagher!” The Commander paused for a moment and turned away from me to look at Lance. “Otherwise known as Gov Block.” The Commander ushered towards the brick wall and without waiting for a guard, Lance stood up and walked across the road.

  We waited for a moment and I heard a truck approaching. Once it arrived the others who had been standing by the brick wall were herded onto the truck. As soon as it was full the truck drove off leaving the rest of us with The Commander.

  “So, Kaleb.” He paced up and down in front of Rebecca, Amelia and Jackson. “Who do we have left?”

  “A word, please?” I asked.

  The Commander wandered in front of the four of them before turning sharply to walk towards me.

  “Yes?” He asked.

  “In private,” I replied.

  We walked away towards his machine gun mounted jeep and I looked over my shoulder at the suspicious looks I was getting.

  “You’ve got what you want,” I said.

  “Yes, I have and you have your family.” The Commander gazed back at Jackson. “No idea who the girl is, but I would assume that Jackson, that’s what you called him? I would assume he is a deserter.” He shrugged and looked back at me. “In simple terms, a traitor.”

  “He helped me along the entire journey.”

  “He’s still a traitor.” The Commander sighed. “Kaleb, you have your family. That was the deal. Why are you bothering with a two-bit soldier?” He shook his head and turned to walk away.

  “Aren’t those you have taken enough deaths for one day?”

  “Apart from Lance, all of those deaths will save humanity. You knew this?” The Commander stopped and glared at me.

  “But why does one innocent person have to die?”

  “Please! Spare me your shallow empathy.”

  The Commander turned to walk towards Jackson pulling the gun from its holster. He stood directly in front of Jackson who gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. The Commander pulled the gun up and pointed it at Jackson’s head.

  “I have your wife!” I shouted.

  I saw the hand of The Commander shake and slowly he turned his head to stare at me. Jackson opened his eyes and peered at me. Rebecca, who was holding Amelia’s face to her chest, hands clasping her ears also looked at me.

  The Commander angrily holstered his gun and stomped over to join me at the jeep. He nervously rubbed his chin before looking me straight in the eye.

  “I think you must be mistaken,” he replied.

  “I think not.” I stared down at his name badge which bore his surname like all IGS officers. “Selina Montgomery. The one name on that list which you failed to read out. If she had been here you would have read her name out but ferried her to safety, but when you did not see her on the truck you just assumed I never found her.” It was my turn to pace confidently. “The way I see it is that you and I both had the same agenda. Saving our families. That’s why you were always hot on heels when we travelling, you wanted to know whether I found her and you were going to save her.”

  “Kaleb.” The Commander chuckled. “I believe I may have underestimated you. Where is she?”

  “Safe,” I replied. “You order your men to leave, hand me your weapon and I will have her delivered.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “I’ll have her shot, like you would have done to my family if I had not delivered my side of the bargain.”

  “You never delivered everybody. Four of them died,” he replied.

  “You have enough from that list to make a start on the vaccine and I know there are more immune people.”

  “How?” The Commander asked.

  “Back at the police station in London I saw Lance accessing records. He only have me six names, yet on the list scrolling down I saw at least fifty.”

  “Well, you really are a bit of a surprise.” The Commander laughed.

  “You think I’m going to turn up here with my dick in my hand waiting for you to call all the shots?”

  “Obviously not.” The Commander turned and ordered his men to leave.

  They jumped in the jeep and drove off down the hill leaving just The Commander staring at me. He took his revolver from the holster, turned it so the butt was facing me and pushed it in my direction.

  “Walk down the hill to the checkpoint half a mile up the road, I’ll send your wife down,” I said.

  “And why would I trust you?”

  “I asked myself that same question when you visited the yard where I worked.

  The Commander smiled and nodded at me. He turned without saying another word and walked over the crest of the hill. As soon as he was out of sight Jackson, Rebecca and Amelia jumped up. They rushed over to me full of questions.

  “Wait!” I ordered raising my hand. I took a walkie-talkie from my jacket and spoke into it. “Lizzie, bring her out.”

  “Where did you get that walkie-talkie from?” Jackson asked.

  “From the police station,” I replied.

  “And you didn’t mention this because?” Jackson asked again.

  “Because I was waiting for the right time.”

  “Forget all of that, what the hell is going on?” Rebecca asked.

  “I will explain.”

  Lizzie appeared from the alley with Selina and walked over towards us. Selina stood in front of me and I smiled.

  “If you walk half a mile that way.” I pointed towards the crest of the hill. “You will find a checkpoint where your husband is waiting for you.”

  “I…I…” Selina’s eyes grew wide with surprise. She was unable to speak.

  “Just go. More than enough people will die today,” I replied.

  Selina walked off and I spun round without paying attention to the others. I rushed into the house where I had told Jesse to hide. It didn’t take long to find her hiding underneath a table. I told her everything was safe and picked her up. She wrapped her arms round my neck and I walked out the house to the other three, plus Bruno, staring at me all looking very bewildered.

  “I don’t understand,” Rebecca said.

  “We don’t have time. Jackson fire up the truck, we have an appointment with a fishing boat just up the shore.” I stroked Rebecca’s cheek. “I will explain.”

  “You just sent innocent people to their deaths!” Jackson shouted angrily.

  “Not so innocent,” I replied.

  “What!” Jackson retorted.

  “I’ll explai
n.”

  And I suppose I should end this journal with an explanation to you the reader who I deceived all this time along with my family and travelling companions.

  I would like to take you back to my fourth diary entry in this journal when The Commander visited my depot at work. As you will recall he questioned me about Duncan and had stated that I had been a victim of burglary. This made me very nervous, I didn’t want to be a traitor but he did not believe I would help Duncan, so I thought and I was relieved when he left the office of my boss. It was after I left and went outside when I saw him standing underneath the metal stairwell. He asked to talk to me and well that is how we ended up where we were.

  As I promised, I shall explain.

  DIARY ENTRY 75

  The Explanation

  The Commander had told me about Duncan and the list he possessed. He also knew about my wife and daughter being immune, though he could not deny or confirm whether they were still alive. He asked me to help him.

  Duncan was going to round up all the immune people on the list and take them back to Scotland. With the war still being fought, whichever side possessed the vaccine would be in control of what happened next, and the fear of the English government was that if the immune people were ferried back to England the war would be lost.

  I was asked to help the group and to stop the immune people being taken across the border. Once they had all been found I was to contact the IGS Commander, who would not be far behind and they would take care of the rest.

  My ‘reward’ for helping them was the safe passage of myself, Rebecca and Amelia, to the safe zone in Gibraltar. Now that I knew the IGS were aware of my contact with Duncan I had no choice but to say yes.

  Before I left The Commander he also told me that I would possibly be contacted by Lance, a renegade blogger. The Commander also knew that I read Gov_Block. He definitely had my testicles in a vice. Lance was a renegade, he sought bidders for the vaccine abroad who could sell it for the highest price to the government most willing to pay. Lance, by all intents and purposes was a mercenary, and was only in it for the money.

  The list of six people was a little bit trickier. I explained to The Commander that I was a little uncomfortable with handing over six innocent people who did not deserve to die. I told him that no matter how much I wanted to be reunited with my family, I had a conscience. He handed me a file which listed the names of the six.