Tariq mulled over the questions deeply before answering. “There would be no point surviving if surviving was all it would be. For any of us to truly survive we need to live and create a healthy society and that doesn’t stem from leaving the weak behind, from only looking out for yourself.
“It was predominantly a selfish act by me to approach the house. I needed food and shelter and figured it would be empty after seeing your friend carted off. I assumed they would have taken everyone, but wouldn’t have been able to take everything. When you appeared in the doorway, I was surprised and even more so to see that you had a broken leg. It was the influence of seeing how my dad acted back in Egypt that came through in me when I realised that you needed help. When I was about sixteen or seventeen, my dad joined a group of people that were looking to overthrow the government. They were all men of the people and wanted a better world for their children. He originally started out in the political wing of the organisation, which was run in small cells at that time, but as things started to build in momentum and things got more violent he was moved over to a military cell. He ran things differently to a lot of the others, which from the reports we would see on the news, were running a much more aggressive campaign. My dad was kind and fair and our house ended up being somewhat a sanctuary for people passing through. If he came across people injured or in need he would put himself out to make sure they were safe. My mother studied as a nurse for some time when she was young and still living in England and the downstairs became a makeshift hospital for children and elderly people, whether they believed in the uprising or supported the government. He didn’t care. To him, if someone needed something he could give, he would give it. It was that care for others that was the most resounding trait he had. I want to continue that. That’s why I can’t leave you behind. He wouldn’t have.” Tariq lowered is head a little and muttered something to himself.
Grace was leant forward over her leg, which had started to throb wildly as the blood flowed into it. “Well he certainly taught you well. I don’t know what I would do without you coming to my need.”
Tariq waved the gesture away. “I could have done more,” he said only just audibly above the wind. He looked up and met Grace’s eyes. “I could have done more. I knew that-, this was happening.”
“What?” Grace asked.
“The bombs. The killing. I knew it was going to happen. I tried to get an article in The Vigilante, but no one would listen. They wouldn’t publish it out of a duty to peace. I only survived because I knew, but I couldn’t save anyone else. Nobody would take it seriously. The editor seemed to, but even taken seriously, he didn’t act on it. I could have been more influential, I should have rattled every door, taken to the streets or something. If I could have gotten more out of the city or got some backing somehow, maybe the death toll would be that much lower.” Tariq slammed his fist suddenly and violently into the dirt beneath him and the motion made Grace flinch. He seemed otherwise so calm and controlled. She felt a tear in her eye, seeing his emotion at helping a society that wasn’t even his.
“Remember that you tried, Tariq. It’s okay,” she told him. “You want a hug?” She smiled compassionately at him and he glanced up to see it, bringing a slight hint at a smile to his face.
“No. I am fine. We have a mission. Let’s go get your girlfriend and we can do hugs then.” Tariq sniggered to himself as he pushed himself to his feet.
Grace opened her mouth to retort, but decided to set herself up for the ride ahead instead.
Chapter 46
Mina sat alongside Shannon, with Leighton lying at her feet a bale below. Zeke had made his way onto her lap and was playing with the edge of her broad hood, hiding his face behind it and peeking out periodically. Mina was enamoured with Zeke and talked to him quietly and continuously, almost completely ignoring the adults in her company. Sat there with her whole attention on the little human reminded her of the best of times of bringing Rebecca up and she revelled in it. She copied his babbles until the volume rose alternately between them, only stopping when it garnered the attention of the other group. She quickly averted her eyes from them and slowed Zeke down by holding his arms and rocking him back and forth to her hums of a nursery rhyme. However, she could still hear their loud huffing over her tune.
Leighton tapped Shannon’s shin with his elbow and she leant forward. “Zeke seems to trust her,” he whispered.
“He does. Although I’d be keeping an eye on her too. We really don’t know her. You are too trusting too easily.”
“She seems alright. Aren’t kids meant to be good judges of character?”
“Yes. Don’t take this as me not trusting her. Okay? I’ll give her a shot.”
Mina could hear the whispering between the couple and raised the intensity of her humming to give them privacy.
Leighton turned to look at Mina and found her to be sobbing to herself. “Are you okay?” he asked louder than he expected.
Shannon reached and took a bemused Zeke onto her lap whilst she put her hand lightly on Mina’s shoulder. “What’s up, Hun?” Mina had her hands over her face now, her shoulders bobbing up and down.
Mina shook herself, almost brushing Shannon’s hand from her shoulder unwittingly. She sighed loudly. “Sorry,” she said, giving her head another shake.
“What’s the matter?” Shannon asked.
“I was remembering my little girl. She was up north with my sister when the things started happening. I don’t know if she was still there- or is now, I mean.”
“It’s okay,” Shannon said calmly. “Do you want to talk to me alone?”
Mina nodded. “Thank you.”
Shannon passed Zeke to Leighton and then moved to the corner under the section of open roof. Leighton lay back on the highest level of straw and placed Zeke front down on his chest. Zeke played with his father’s lips, giggling while Leighton stared up into the blue sky. A thought played out across his mind, a thought where he had super powers and flew straight through that gap – he thought he would fit – and blast away all the soldiers and the lock on the barn door before flying his family over to his parents’ farm. He chuckled, bouncing Zeke lightly and receiving a laughing smile. The pleasant idea didn’t last long. His thoughts moved to the farmers. He pictured himself confronting them and ran through line after line of his confronting speech that would put them in their place. He mulled over the ensuing fist fight where he beat all three of the men down easily, ducking and leaning around their punches as easily as a professional boxer in a bar fight whilst landing damaging punches to their jaws and chests that knocked them out standing or winded them so hard that they struggled to breath. Variations of these thoughts played repeatedly in his mind.
As the sun settled onto the edge of the horizon, Tariq and Grace reached the point in their route closest to Draycot Foliat. Tariq was sweating profusely, the hot day still not cooling into the evening by much. A few turns along the country road later and with a steep rise then to their left, Tariq spotted something to cause him to stop.
“Looks like a good place to stop. Look.” Tariq pointed a third of the way up the rise where rocks protruded from the long grass.
“What is it?” Grace asked. “I can’t bloody see from down here!”
Tariq stooped his head a little to see closer to her level. “Ah, sorry,” he said. “It looks like there is a bit of natural cover up there. I’m going to run up and have a look.”
“Good idea. I think we will be stranded without any light soon, anyway.” Grace calmly watched as Tariq ran far enough up the grassy bank for his head to be level with the rocks. It didn’t take long for him to come back.
“Right, it will take a bit of effort to get up there, but will be worth it. It seems to go back into the hill a little bit so we will have good cover above and on three sides. What I don’t know is what we are going to do with the bike and cart.” Tariq stood anticipating the clever response from Grace.
“Wherever we are looking from here, w
e must be close. I reckon if it’s good enough cover in your opinion, then we should take it up with us out of sight of the road, hopefully.”
Tariq thought for a moment. “Sounds good. I will need something to eat before we start getting everything up there. It’ll take a good few trips.” He grabbed a bag of raisins from the pannier and stuffed a few handfuls into his mouth. “Let’s go. We start with you.”
Grace offered to take herself up, shuffling on her bum. It took quite a bit of persuading and she was a quarter of the way up before Tariq was confident enough to go back down for the first of the bags and by the time she was halfway to the rocks, he was already shoving water bottles under his arms for his third trip. Every time he went past her he would ask if she was going okay or give a thumb-up or questioning smile. She reached the top at the same time Tariq had managed to haul the trailer up alongside the opening.
“Let me help you up,” he said, taking her under her arms and lifting her easily to standing. He walked her over to the small cave. It had just enough space at the back to shuffle under in a sleeping bag, maybe just about the two of them at a squeeze. In front, it opened enough that you could sit up and still just be under cover and if they turned the cart over to cover the rest of their gear they could keep most of that dry if it did happen to rain. Grace was helped down to sitting just under the cover. The ground was cold and the top of the sun was only just visible over to her left. “One more run,” Tariq said. Grace watched his bald head disappear down the hill.
“I’m going to speak to them,” Leighton said. “They can’t get away with taking food from Zeke.”
“Don’t,” Shannon replied. “You’ll only make things worse. If they get pissed off, they could withhold it all. There’s three of them and one of you.”
“They’ll understand if I talk to them. Calmly,” he iterated. “They’ve taken more than their share at every meal today. They need to understand.”
Shannon looked away, frustrated. “If you were calm, I would let you go over and make peace. You’re not. -And I don’t want you going over there. I don’t know what’s the matter with you. You’ve got a look in your eye like talking is the last thing you want to do.”
Mina looked over at the pair concernedly.
Leighton looked fiercely at Shannon and she held his gaze. “Right,” Leighton said firmly. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m on edge. We all are.”
“Zeke. Give Daddy a hug.” Shannon passed their son to him and he held him close, Zeke’s chin resting on his dad’s shoulder. Shannon looked at Leighton’s now softened eyes earnestly. “Get your shit together.”
Tariq helped Grace under the cover of the cave, snuggly inside the thick sleeping bag taken from Mina’s home. Tariq laid his out next to hers ready to get into later. He knelt at the mouth of the opening, neatening up their stores of food and other supplies and again covering them with the upside-down cart. He leant in close to Grace and spoke her name. She didn’t stir. He got up quietly, taking a torch and the rear reflective panel from the bike in his hand and climbed up the hill above where Grace slept. He dug the reflective panel partway into the dirt and turned the torch on and off quickly to check it would reflect his torchlight adequately. He quickly glanced around for any other signs of light and noticed that the only lights he could see were that of the moon and stars above him. He would have been awestruck by the clarity with which he could see the Milky Way, if it had not been a reminder of the night view he had from atop the garage forecourt roof.
Tariq moved away from the cave slowly and carefully up the hill. He wanted to get sight of the land at night. If Mina was hidden away somewhere by soldiers there was a likelihood that they would have been able to get a fire going or otherwise get a generator fired up for some electricity. He figured they wouldn’t be too scared of being seen either, seeing as they were comfortably rounding up anyone left in the area and easily subduing any resistance.
He reached the top of the hill and instantly saw what he was looking for. At the foot of the hill was a large complex, lit by floodlights. A tall silo blocked half the light coming from the windows of a large farmhouse and he could see a few larger structures dotted around a large, eerily under-lit tree in the centre of a driveway. Farmed fields ran out to the left and far sides and along the side closest to him a patch of dark trees grew up the incline that must have been too steep to farm effectively. The treeline met the complex near the back of a large, rectangular roof. ‘This must be it,’ he thought to himself, moving his lips soundlessly to the words.
He started moving back down the hill and ensured he was well below the top before turning on the torch to scan for the sign of the cave. His light went back and forth several times before it returned a flash of red light. He aimed towards it and continued to work his way back down, one arm touching the grass behind him as he did so. He used the torch to navigate his way around the top of the cave and get himself into his sleeping bag. It was a long night of thinking and planning, lying still next to Grace, before a short amount of sleep found him.
Chapter 47 - Day 12
Leighton rolled over from where he lay to see Zeke already awake, facing him with open eyes. Zeke smiled and babbled something indecipherable at him and Leighton picked up the boy and sat him against the straw while he pulled one of the bales free to give himself a back rest that faced the two sleeping members of their party. He watched them both sleep for a few minutes expecting them to wake up only shortly after he had, but his gaze drifted up to the hole in the roof. Another clear day was dawning. He felt as if he hadn’t slept, but knew he must have to be able to recall such long stress-dreams. It involved either running without the pace to outrun his pursuer or fist fights in which he had inadequate strength to land a proper punch on his target and they left him feeling drained and frustrated in the waking world.
Zeke started to moan and Leighton checked the door to see that he must be too early for breakfast. He nudged Shannon with his foot until she roused.
“He’s probably hungry,” he said to her quietly, trying not to wake Mina in the process.
“Oh, really?” Shannon asked. She looked around her, she was disoriented. “Yeah. Pass him here then, let’s see what I can offer. I’ve got a headache. Is there water yet?”
“Not yet. Sorry. Can’t be too long, though. It’s getting quite light outside.”
“You’ve barely stopped staring up at that gap.”
“It’s tantalising,” Leighton said.
“You’re obsessed.”
“No, I’ve been thinking.”
Shannon stared up at the gap, Zeke suckling at her breast and covered slightly with her jacket. “No, love.”
“No, what?” Leighton asked with a smirk.
“You want to get through that gap, don’t you?” Shannon spoke a little louder than intended and Leighton took a glance round at the group on the barn floor and turned back to shush her.
“No, no, no.” Leighton shook his head. “Well, actually…” His eyes darted left and right. “-Yes. Great idea. We aren’t going to just walk out, we need to get outside, unlock the door and get somewhere out of sight before they notice anything is wrong. That is currently a potential route to making that happen. Perhaps the only one!”
Shannon groaned. “-And how do you expect to get up there?”
“It’s a plan in progress. When we were up on that hill a couple of days back you said you trusted me to get us out of our predicament. I think I recall you saying you trusted me to make a decision.”
Mina interjected, surprising both Shannon and Leighton. “Don’t act yet. We need to think about this properly. Do either of you really know how it looks out there? How many soldiers? Whereabouts of all the cover, tools, weapons?” Mina urged them for an answer.
“No,” Leighton responded. “Not yet, but now we have a plan we can do some investigation.”
“Well, I can already help with a lot of that,” Mina said. She smiled.
The door opened and all t
hree of them looked over. “Everyone is getting a shower,” yelled an older voice. The usual young, blond soldier placed the tray in the middle of the floor and swapped over the bucket in the corner for a fresh one. “One at a time. Come on!” One of the farmers stood up suddenly. It looked like the older of the men.
He walked towards the door with his chest pushed out. “Go on, then,” he said aggressively. “Where’re we going?”. The barn door slammed shut and something was shouted from the other side, covered by the noise of the chain rattling.
Mina grabbed Leighton’s arm. “We don’t have much time then to give you your bearings. If I fill you in before we go, you can get a better look on the way to the showers. By the way the one that left, that’s Glen.”
“Yes, after you. You ok, Shannon?” She nodded. “I’m sorry about getting angry last night. We won’t be long.”
“It’s fine. You just make sure you think this through thoroughly.” Shannon’s eyes shone fire at Leighton who held his hands open to her.
“You trust me?” he asked. Shannon nodded reluctantly.
“Where did you go last night?” Grace asked Tariq. They both sat in the mouth of the cave looking to the right where the sun was resting above the horizon. The sky to the east was faint with a morning haze and it darkened on their left to a royal blue where the sun was yet to touch.
Ousted: A thrilling debut novel of survival and humanity Page 24