At 12:35pm, their luck really changed.
A large RAF Sea King helicopter approached the house and came into the hover after their attention was drawn by the picket on the roof. A winchman descended to investigate.
He was politely invited into the pub and shown downstairs into the kitchen, where the man offered him tea and sandwiches. He explained that he and his five colleagues had taken shelter in the pub on Day 2 of the storm. It had been abandoned, so they had made the best of it and remained here ever since. They were just relieved that rescue had come so soon.
No, there weren’t any other occupants in the building and yes, they were all ready to go. The winchman said the chopper would be back in five minutes after completing a quick scouting sortie around the area, after which they could all fly away.
They all re-dressed warmly and trooped upstairs. The family in the cellar could hear nothing as the door was soundproofed and the two boys were severely weakened and gagged, so couldn’t call for help when they heard the helicopter.
One by one the men were winched up into the hovering aircraft leaving the leader, Mo, the last to leave. Whilst he was waiting for the winchman to recover his fifth henchman, he walked casually over to the attic door, pulled a Molotov cocktail from his pocket, lit the rag and tossed it down the stairs. After making certain that the furniture was properly alight he shut the door and calmly strolled over to the ladder, climbed up and was winched swiftly into the waiting Sea King.
Ten seconds later the six men were heading eastward towards their allocated ship and safety.
The man looked out of the Sea King’s window and believed he spotted a waft of smoke floating out of the attic window.
‘So much for your precious bloody family, mate!’ he thought malevolently, ‘perhaps a bit of simple Christian charity might have served you better.’
The man, who’d escaped from a prison van on the sixteenth of December and who had taken on the identity of a dead victim he came across, really didn’t care either way.
He was the real survivor.
Day 25
Wednesday 8th January
Walthamstow – East London
At 1430, on a clear but crisp day in London, Ross and Brady crosschecked their personal GPS units, took a rough bearing towards the QEII Bridge – the Dartford Crossing – and set off, after Ross had made a further quick reconnaissance of the immediate area around the house.
Brady led, as usual, followed by Chloe and Chris, with Ross bringing up the rear. Their pace for the first hour was pretty slow and laborious. The two non-skiers were trying their best to make progress, but it was hard work and Chloe fell to the ground several times. They had to make four rest stops in the first hour. However, their skill level slowly improved and the foursome plodded along at a reasonable pace. Too slow for Ross, but he was obliged to compromise.
Ross was glad to get away from No.50, as he wasn’t convinced that other survivors were not lurking nearby. He was certain that someone must have seen the helicopter pick-up and heard the gunfire. However, the party had made no human contact during the first hour, and it was fast becoming time to seek shelter for the night. They hadn’t expected to make the QEII Bridge that day, so a nightstop en-route was inevitable. Ross and Brady were now scanning the area ahead for something suitable – both safe and out of the weather. Brady had noticed a few puffy clouds forming to the west and he wondered if the weather was about to change. If a front was approaching from the Atlantic, that meant only one thing at this time of year – rain! - and that meant trouble. He really must get Chloe to safety before any significant flooding started – even if it meant dumping Brady and Chris.
Brady was heading towards the Bridge via Ilford and hoped to rest in that approximate area overnight. That would leave them about seven or eight miles to ski the next morning – the ninth of January. Chris told Brady that he knew Ilford well and had travelled regularly on the train via the Ilford overground line. There was a huge car park next to the station at Ley Street, and it should be above ground as it was definitely over thirty feet high. So Ross and Brady programmed Ilford railway station into their nav kit, and were steering towards it to ascertain if the multi-storey was indeed suitable for their needs. It should be.
Several helicopters passed close to their position, but only one responded to their passionate waving and shouting – as if the pilots could hear them anyway! He’d spotted their trail and flew up behind them, hovering briefly and throwing down a few of Ann Fletchers leaflets before scooting off somewhere more important, especially after the crew spotted the two rifles carried by Ross and Brady – and it was too small to lift the four skiers off the surface anyway.
They all read the leaflet enthusiastically and eventually continued their trek towards Ilford station car park. Ross had noticed more and more tracks appearing in the snow and as a result re-doubled his scan for human life.
Once, when they were sheltering in the lee of a tower block, a group of people up on the tenth floor shouted down to them. A stilted, bellowed conversation was held before Ross decided it was time to go. The flat dwellers were asking for food and quite frankly, Ross decided unilaterally that he had none to spare, declaring forcefully that they had no food themselves – and he certainly didn’t want to get involved in any argy-bargy. So they sloped off quickly, waving agreeably. The flat dwellers screamed abuse!
At around 1600, just as the light was beginning to fade, Brady picked out the target. The Ley Street car park was indeed still standing and lay about five hundred metres straight ahead. Ross made them halt at about two hundred metres, taking cover by the minaret of a mosque, whilst they scanned the gloom for activity. They waited for ten minutes and when Ross was satisfied, the group continued towards the building ahead. Ross circled the car park and returned after a few minutes with good news.
‘I’ve found a way in on the other side. There aren't many cars, but there are enough to break into to take shelter. Let's go!’
They all followed obediently, trusting Ross to make the right decision. Chris was especially impressed with the SAS man and had been chatting for the entire journey, asking questions about his experiences, and lapping up some of Ross’s mildly exaggerated tales.
Ross once again cleared the car park and found no trace of any human occupation, except a single estate car at the far end with two frozen bodies slumped on the back seat. As a result, he selected three cars in the middle of a group at the opposite end of the level. He didn’t want to be too far from an exit, but wanted to be deep enough in the car park to avoid casual detection by passers-by. Whilst the other three waited patiently, Ross broke into the three vehicles in less than three minutes. Chris and Chloe were well impressed! The vehicles were in opposite rows, separated by one vehicle on each side. Chris and Chloe would take the BMW 5 series, whilst Brady and Ross would take one each of a 4x4 and a Volvo opposite, so that they could keep an eye on the BMW when on stag.
They stashed their gear in the boots of the vehicles and Ross started the preparations for supper, whilst individuals crept off for toilet duty. Brady completed a circuit of the level and scanned the area outside as best he could, but by now it was fully dark and he really couldn’t see much at all. He did spot a building on fire in the distance, but it must have been at least four or five miles away. He informed Ross, who noted the information but commented that it was probably not an issue for them.
After hot soup, Heinz beans with sausages and steaming rice pudding, Brady and the two youngsters sat in one of the cars, shivering.
‘It's going to be cold in here tonight,’ complained Chris.
As Chloe was about to agree, the vehicle opposite sprang into life. Ross had hot-wired the engine and after fifteen minutes of gunning the motor, the AC, set on fully hot, had transformed the interior into a mini sauna.
The other three gave him a warm round of applause as Ross performed his magic on the other two vehicles. Within half an hour, all three cars were nice and warm, although t
he car park was then engulfed in carbon monoxide and steam. Nonetheless, the light breeze dispersed it fairly well, so they decided to retire for the night – it was about 7.30pm – and so Chloe and Chris snuggled up in the BMW, whilst Ross took the 4x4. Brady took first watch from the Volvo – until 2300, so Ross put his head down and was asleep within two minutes.
Brady patrolled the car park every thirty minutes, alternating with fifteen minutes in the car warming up with the engine on. The sleepers had switched off their engines prior to crashing out and had cracked the windows by about an inch to prevent condensation – a dead giveaway to a chance observer.
Brady was sitting in the Volvo during his last break before relieving Ross at 2300 when he was startled by a sharp rap on the window.
He looked at the source of the racket and saw a short, bearded man who was brandishing a baseball bat at Brady and motioning for him to exit the car, as he violently snatched the door open.
Brady looked across the passage at Chloe’s BMW and saw that they were also being forcibly ejected from their vehicle.
Brady had no choice but to vacate the car, cursing himself for not being aware of these intruders. Ross would be bloody furious! As Brady climbed out into the car park, the man outside screamed at him to leave his weapon inside. Brady did as he was told as these guys looked desperate and violent. Brady stood up, obeying instructions to put his hands on his head, and glanced casually round the car park to total the number of adversaries, and counted only three.
What he also noticed was that none of them were standing by Ross’s 4x4, urging him to get out.
Nobody had spotted him!
Perhaps all was not quite lost.
Day 27
Friday 10th January
Sandringham House – Norfolk
It was 7.30 am on the last day that the PM and his staff would spend at Sandringham. Sir Ian and Dame Ann sat at breakfast with their aides and the conversation turned to the rescue operation.
‘Have you received the latest figures, Ann? How’s it all going? Have we got any improved headlines to publish in the UK News today?’
Sir Ian was moderately upbeat this morning, both pleased to be transferring to Brussels and elated with the good news about his son and family.
‘Yes, Prime Minister, it's all going very well indeed. My idea to split the UK up into ten kilometre squares seems to be working. Each helicopter on call patrols the same area until it's completely covered each day, and then moves on to the next area allocated to his mother ship. If the pilot spots survivors, dependent on the size of aircraft, he either picks them up straight away, or if he can't for any reason, he calls forward another chopper immediately. The system is working very well. More and more ships are joining the force, and as it stood at midnight last night there were four hundred and twelve ships, with at least two helicopters stationed aboard each vessel lying just off the coast. In total just over one thousand sorties are being flown each day and almost twenty thousand survivors have been picked up so far. However, I suspect that this initial surge may drop off as the days pass.
Refuelling at sea (RAS) by specialist vessels is almost constant, whilst the larger helicopters are flying onto mainland Europe for fuel upload and crew changes. The fleet of aircraft delivering leaflets continue to cover the country’s main areas of habitation. The sea ice has all but melted and many ships have now moved towards the coast and docked at those piers and harbours which are clear. This is all being controlled by a joint RAF/RN Command Centre at a Dutch Air Force Base. Slowly but surely, we are starting to re-establish good communications. Airborne AWACs are helping to control the flying programme and surface surveillance.’
‘Seems to be going very well, Ann,’ Sir Ian smiled.
‘Reasonably so, Sir Ian, but the snow is now beginning to melt quite rapidly. It appears to be receding at about two to three inches per day and luckily most of this is evaporating. Fogs have been forming in places, but usually burn off by lunchtime, so do not inhibit rescue operations much at all. The snow is slowly cascading into the sea. For example, at Brighton, the entire beach is now visible. Snow melt is pouring from the high ground and taking snow with it into the Channel. However, in many other areas, especially in the North and Scotland, water is beginning to pool significantly, and huge lakes are appearing, lying on top of the snow. Avalanches are beginning to occur, as well. I dread to think what the interior of housing is like. Most domestic buildings have lost their roofs with snow and water flowing into the living quarters. There is a folder containing the latest photography on your desk. It's not attractive viewing.’
Sir Ian finished his poached eggs, bacon and toast and sauntered over to his desk. He scanned through the folder.
‘These pictures of individual survivors are harrowing. How the hell did they make it? These people are certainly made of the ‘Right Stuff.’
Dame Ann continued her discourse.
‘We've had reports of some extremely traumatic and distressing experiences from survivors. There have been fourteen reports from people picked up of cannibalism; countless examples of suicides; and, I'm afraid to say, what appears to be murder! I am at a loss as to how we approach these moral and legal issues.
Additionally, many people have died through lack of medical attention whilst sheltering– appendix ruptures, viruses, heart attacks, strokes, conditions requiring anti-biotics and the long-term ill – cancer primarily - are but a few examples of this.
Supermarkets seem to have been the main centres for survival. Groups appear to have gathered in Sainsbury, Tesco and the like and formed sort of co-operatives. Of course these stores are almost limitless sources of food, water and clothing. I have asked the rescue co-ordination team to concentrate on these specific locations from tomorrow.
Houses of worship have been popular. Because of their steep, sloping spires, many churches have remained dry. However, they are not well insulated – have you been in a church recently? Many of the dead have been discovered frozen in churches up and down the country. Hopefully, they gained some spiritual comfort before they passed on.
The Republic of Ireland has been allocated its own co-ordination centre and progress is being made. However, conditions there were particularly bad – but only the Eastern half of the island has been really seriously affected. Currently, there is no snow lying up to at least sixty miles inland from the Atlantic - so aircraft with relief and supplies are able to land and rescuers can work into the snow from the west. Many Irish nationals fled west in the early days and the strain on resources in those areas is beginning to tell.
You know, of course, that Paddy O’Connor is one of the new Cabinet which meets tomorrow. We must continue to support Eire, both financially and with infrastructure renewal.’
Sir Ian agreed wholeheartedly.
‘Yes, Ann, when one’s neighbours house is on fire, one does not start to haggle over the price of the fire hose you are going to inevitably give them!’
Ann smiled at the axiom, but there was still plenty more detail to cover before Ann was ready to depart for Brussels at 9am.
‘We’ve picked people up from almost everywhere. Only yesterday we rescued six men from a pub near Boston where they took shelter when the storm began. Brave and resourceful characters, indeed!
There have been some setbacks. We've lost three helicopters including two which have been downed by gunfire and the crews lost. All helicopter crews are now armed for self-protection. The third tried to land and sank into the snow. The crew, very red-faced, had to be rescued themselves.’
Sir Ian tried to bring the breakfast meeting to a conclusion. There was a 9am flight to catch.
‘Ann, thank you for your comprehensive update, but we should really be prepping for the flight now.’
Ann was determined to get her final and main point across:
‘If I may, Prime Minister, can I mention one essential matter? The resettlement questionnaire. It's being issued from tomorrow and we hope to start collating respo
nses soon. I would request that I be allocated the responsibility for resettling our displaced residents. We need to ascertain how many of the two hundred and four other UN member states are willing to take our people on a temporary or permanent basis. It's a vital issue and I'm keen to get my teeth into it. I have some experience in the diplomatic world – and I can assure you that diplomacy will play a huge part in negotiating concessions for our people.’
Sir Ian looked at Dame Ann and wondered briefly what she was up to, but in the end conceded the point and nodded his assent.
‘Okay, you can co-ordinate from here whilst I am in New York talking to the main players. I suggest you deal with the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the issue whilst I deal with the damned politics. Now, let's get ready for our trip across the Channel. I think we've done all we can from here. I suspect we may be escaping just in time. The rain is coming. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.’
********
The Prime Minister, Sir Ian James and his Deputy, Dame Ann Fletcher departed the temporary headquarters at Sandringham with their administrative entourage at 9am on Friday the tenth of January; Day 27 of the international crisis. They made the quick hop across the English Channel to a Belgian Air Force Base near to Brussels, so that they wouldn't be plagued by the press corps on landing, who, as usual, was hungry for news and scandal. A press conference had been arranged for 6pm and Sir Ian wanted to meet his new Cabinet before then.
They had achieved a great deal in four days at Sandringham, and Dame Ann had done a lot of spadework in the preceding three weeks which had now simplified their work markedly.
Ann had convinced the Royals remaining at Sandringham to evacuate later that day - to Luxembourg, where the Grand Duke was more than eager to host such influential ‘relatives.’ (Princes Andrew, William and Harry were already flying rescue operations.) They would be reasonably close to Brussels (where the Princess Royal was already stationed) and Ann had promised daily briefings. However, she imagined that the Queen’s staff would have their hands full dealing with the press. Her Majesty had expressed a wish to begin a comprehensive tour of locations where British citizens were temporarily housed, taking her across Europe and the rest of the world. Ann had appointed a senior civil servant to head the project in liaison with Sir Robert Williams, the Senior Royal Protection Officer from Sandringham.
Snow! The Series [Books 1-4] Page 69