Before Safe Haven_Lucy

by Christopher Artinian

  “I said, we’ll see,” they both looked at each other and then giggled.

  Charlie got up and ran towards the table with the lemonade on. She used both her small hands to pick up the jug from the tray and began to pour. “Do you want some mommy?”

  “Mommy.”

  “Mommy.”

  “Mommy.”

  “Lucy.”

  “Lucy.”

  “Lucy,” this time the call came with a fierce rapping on the door as Samantha became increasingly concerned.

  Lucy looked in the mirror. The summer garden had been replaced by the dirty white tiles of the bathroom. Lucy was back to being a childless mother. Alone in the world but for casual acquaintances and memories. “I’m okay,” she called.

  “You sure? You didn’t answer,” replied Samantha.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she said, unlocking the bathroom door and walking past the nurse, and back out into the bustling distribution centre. “Just a bit queasy. Must have been something I ate.”

  Samantha followed her. “We’re all packed up and ready to go. It’s over at Cross End Flats, near that big industrial estate.” Lucy shrugged her shoulders. She just went wherever the ambulance took her.

  The two women climbed into the back of the ambulance and saw two men there. They were just putting on the hazmat outfits.

  “Eh up!” one of them said. “Doctor Blair?” he got up with the yellow trousers just half way up his legs. “I’m Les, this is Pete.” He extended his hand.

  Lucy shook it, as did Samantha. “Call me Lucy, this is Samantha.”

  The other man got up and shook both their hands too. “Pleased to meet you,” he said.

  “You’re not the guys we had this morning,” said Lucy.

  “No. Nobody can find them. Guess they’ve done a runner somewhere,” said Les, and let out a small chuckle.

  “You don’t seem like conscripts,” said Lucy.

  Les smiled widely. “Well, we are and we aren’t. We were both in the army in the dim distant past, but for a few years, I’ve been a brickie and Pete’s been a welder. When the economy tanked, we both got laid off, and hey, presto, we got our bloody call up papers. Talk about shite luck.” The four of them laughed. The two men finished putting their suits on and the ambulance set off.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The ambulance made good time once it was outside of the radius of the distribution centre. The roads were clear apart from the odd police or military vehicle. The traffic light system had been shut down. There were so few vehicles on the road that they just stopped at junctions now, but usually moved on after a couple of seconds, unencumbered by the risk of hitting other traffic.

  The ambulance slowed and took a corner before continuing. “I’m guessing you’ve heard the rumours we’ve heard,” said Samantha leaning forward and looking towards Les and Pete. The two men glanced at one another.

  “What have you heard?” asked Les.

  “About the likes of Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, and so on,” she said.

  “What about them?”

  “That they’ve had outbreaks.”

  “I’d heard that last week. This week I’ve heard more than a dozen towns and cities have had outbreaks. I’ve heard armed gangs have been taking over some places. I’ve heard all sorts. Who knows? All we can do is control what we can control. Let the rest of the chips fall where they may.”

  “But what do you think?” asked Lucy, going to sit on the Gurney so she could see the other three without twisting her head around.

  “I think...I think things have changed in the last week or so. The briefings have been more guarded. I think we’re getting less information through from the powers that be, and I think that can only be for one reason,” said Les, staring Lucy straight in the eyes.

  “Which is?” she replied.

  “When things were going well, we were hearing about everything. We were being told how we had done what no other country had managed to do. We had been told about the hundreds of thousands of tons of wheat and hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil had been secured in this deal or that deal. We were being told about all the coal that was being mined again, about the massive amounts of food that was being produced now there was zero unemployment due to the conscription. But gradually, we heard less and less, and since last week, pretty much all that’s coming through are orders and directives. The secondary flow of information about how the rest of the country is doing has dried up. I think things are...bad,” he said, finally lowering his gaze.

  Lucy looked across towards Samantha. It was just a matter of time now.

  “Fuck!” shouted the driver as he slammed on the brakes, throwing the passengers in the back of the ambulance forward. Lucy's heart started racing.

  The soldier in the passenger seat picked up the radio. “Control this is Mobile Three, over.”

  “Mobile Three, this is control, pass message, over,” said the female dispatcher’s voice.

  “Control, we have arrived at Cross End Flats. There is a large gathering of civilians breaking curfew. Request immediate assistance, over.”

  “Mobile Three, I have your location. We’re dispatching backup now, over and out.”

  He placed the radio handset back in its cradle and just watched. The two soldiers along with Lucy and Samantha had crowded round the gap between the cab and the rear of the ambulance, just staring towards the crowd who seemed to be in a state of perpetual rioting, pushing against windows and doors of the ground floor flats.

  “What the bloody ‘ell’s going on?” said Pete.

  “Move forward a bit,” said Les, “We can’t see bugger all back here.”

  “Fuck off!” said the driver. “You think I’m going to go near an angry crowd with no backup?”

  Les shook his head and unzipped his hazmat suit enough to reach his belt. He pulled out a monocular and focussed it on the crowd.

  “Oh Shiiittt!” he said.

  “What? What is it?” asked Lucy.

  “They’re not civvies. They’re fucking RAMs,” he said.

  The driver shot round to look at him, taking his foot of the clutch. The ambulance had still been in third gear and stalled immediately, with a heavy judder.

  “Oh fuck!” he said, turning the key back then forward to get it restarted. It coughed loudly causing a number of the RAMs at the back of the crowd to turn, then more, then the rest. They started charging towards the ambulance.

  The passenger grabbed the radio handset out of the cradle again as the engine continued to splutter.

  “You’re going to flood it y’daft twat,” said Les.

  “Control this is Mobile Three, RAMs. We’re under attack from RAMs. Dozens of them. Send help!”

  “Mobile Three, this is control, repeat message, over.”

  “There are fucking RAMs everywhere, they’re coming for us.” It was the first time Lucy had taken a proper look at the driver’s mate. He was young, maybe nineteen or twenty, but right now he looked like a frightened schoolboy who was about to burst out crying. “Please. Please send help!”

  The engine continued to cough, and Les and Pete un-holstered their sidearms, as the charging herd of vicious beasts closed in on them.

  Instinctively, Samantha grabbed Lucy’s hand. If they were going to die, at least she wanted to die with a friend. “It’s okay, sweetie,” said Lucy, her mothering instinct, still present. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Listen,” said Les. “This isn’t a civvy ambulance. The bloody thing’s armoured. It might be a few years old, but it’ll have got through worse crowds than this before, so don’t you girls worry. We’ll have backup here soon.”

  The engine finally rumbled to life, and all six of them let out audible breaths of relief.

  “Thank God,” said Samantha.

  “Alright soft lad,” said Les. “Just take it easy, we don’t want to stall the bugger again do we?”

  The driver crunched the stiff gear stick into reverse and eased his foot down on the
accelerator, while at the same time releasing it from the clutch. The ambulance began to move as the first two RAMs smashed into the front of it, followed by another then another. As the ambulance picked up speed, a gap formed between it and the herd, then a bigger gap.

  “Hold on,” said the driver as he turned the wheel hard, the ambulance reversed into a sharp ark. He banged his foot down on the brake and clutch as the ambulance came to a standstill at a right angle to the curb.

  The RAMs seemed to speed up as their focus now stood still, mere metres away. The driver took a breath before pushing the gear stick into first, turning the wheel right, putting it into a full lock; and as the front wheels began to turn again the RAMs were suddenly in the rearview mirrors. The ambulance accelerated and with each passing second, the panic diminished a little more. Other than the driver, all eyes were fixed on the wing mirrors, as the charging figures got smaller and smaller.

  The driver spun the wheel and the ambulance took a hard right, screeching the wheels and leaning to within a few inches of toppling. Everyone’s hearts leapt to their throats as the vehicle negotiated the tight corner, but when they were back onto straight road, they breathed easy again. Within a few seconds, they saw four army trucks speeding in the opposite direction, into harm’s way.

  “Oh sweet Jesus, I hope they know what they’re heading into,” said Lucy.

  “Don’t worry love, they’ve got a better idea than most,” said Les.

  “Oh shit! Hold on!” shouted the driver as the ambulance swerved drastically to avoid more creatures appearing from one of the side streets, and leaping towards the moving vehicle.

  “Holy fuck, what’ going on?” asked the soldier in the passenger seat.

  More RAMs stormed out of a street on the opposite side of the road, and leapt at the ambulance, battering their bodies against the armoured sidings. Samantha let out a small scream as a gory mass exploded onto the left-hand side of the windscreen where one of the creature’s head met the toughened glass.

  “Okay, where now?” asked the driver.

  “What do you mean, where now?” replied Les. “The backup’s arrived, we go and help them.”

  “Fuck that shit,” said the driver.

  “Oy!” said Les, “Those are our people back there.

  “Yeah, and four more guns aren’t gonna make a difference are they?” replied the driver.

  “Four guns can make all the bloody difference, y’spineless little twat,” replied Les.

  Another four RAMs rushed from a side street to hammer their bodies against the vehicle and get scattered over the road.

  “Don’t you see? Don’t you fucking see? This is it. It’s hit us! This is the fucking end. It’s the end of the end!” said the driver.

  “You need to calm the fuck down, son,” said Les.

  “Calm down? Why the fuck should I calm down?” asked the driver as another creature emerged, and flung itself against the ambulance.

  “Listen to me son. Conscripts or not, we’re all in this together. We sink or swim together, we live or die together. It’s going to be panic and poor judgement that kill us, not these bloody things,” said Les.

  The driver turned back to look at the seasoned soldier with tears in his eyes. “I just want to see them,” he said.

  “What are you talking about? See who?” asked Les.

  “My family. I just want to see them one last time,” he replied, and the tears began to fall properly.

  Les rubbed his hand over his face and took a deep breath. “Listen to me son. The only way we’re going to get out of this mess is by working together. Now, for Christ’s sake, keep your eyes on the road.”

  Shots began to ring out from behind them as the battle began. The six of them could only imagine the carnage that would ensue. Lucy turned round to see Samantha had taken a seat on the gurney. Her hands were clenched together in her lap and her lips were moving. Lucy went to sit with her and placed her right hand gently over hers. Despite the noise of the engine and the intermittent conversation between the four men, she could hear Samantha mumbling the Lord’s prayer.

  When she had finished, Lucy squeezed her. “We’re not there yet, sweetie,” she said. Samantha didn’t say anything, she just looked up at her with sad eyes. There was a thud as another creature flung itself at the side of the vehicle. Samantha flinched.

  “They’re fucking everywhere,” screamed the driver hysterically.

  “Calm down,” said Les. “Our lads will get this mopped up in no time,” and on cue, two more army trucks passed them going in the opposite direction.

  The driver continued to accelerate, and the streets felt less dangerous with each metre of road that passed beneath them. There was a recreational ground to the left with not a soul in it. The driver turned into the car park and pulled on the handbrake. They had a good three-hundred and sixty degree line of site, just in case trouble headed in their direction.

  “Right,” said Les. “Let’s just get our bearings. Come on, let’s get some air for a minute.” He opened the back door of the ambulance and climbed out, being sure to scan the area for danger before beckoning the rest of the team out of the ambulance.

  They could hear the odd shot and explosion in the distance when the breeze caught it right, but for the time being, their heartbeats returned to something a little more normal.

  The driver started to roll a cigarette, but his hands were still shaking, and it was his friend who finished rolling both cigarettes for them.

  Lucy, Samantha, Les and Pete stood at the back of the ambulance. They were taking in deep breaths of fresh air, grateful to be out of the confines of the vehicle. They sipped water from their canteens.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Lucy, looking towards Les.

  “We just go where we’re told,” he said. “We’ll get our breath back and radio in that we’re awaiting fresh orders. Hopefully we’ll be sent somewhere that doesn’t look like it’s the set of a bloody horror movie.”

  “Yeah, here’s hoping,” said Lucy raising her canteen and taking another drink.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  They gave themselves a good fifteen minutes before climbing back into the ambulance. Les walked to the front and asked the driver to pass him the radio handset. As he did, it burst into life.

  “Control, this is Mobile Nine, over,” announced the shaky voice.

  “Mobile Nine, this is control, pass message, over.”

  “Control...Control. We’re on the outskirts of Headingley, heading up from Burley. There are...RAMs. Control, there are RAMs. Multiple sightings. Request immediate assistance. Repeat, request immediate assistance, over.”

  “Mobile Nine, this is Control. Assistance is being dispatched, over and out.”

  Les looked at the handset. “Holy shit!” he said.

  “See, see, I fucking told you,” said the driver. “This is it. It’s all turned to shit.”

  “Give it a rest,” replied Les. “Do you know how many soldiers we’ve got stationed here? You think we can’t handle multiple combat zones?”

  “Listen to yourself,” said the driver. “Multiple combat zones? We’re not talking about a bunch of bloody rag heads in the desert now, we’re talking about…RAMs. These things are relentless. For so long we kept them out, but the second there was an outbreak, that was it. It was just a matter of time. And the time has come. This is it.”

  “I’ll say it again, calm the fuck down,” said Les, as he brought the handset up to his mouth, and cleared his throat.

  Before he got chance to hit the speak button, there was another broadcast.

  “Hello? Hello? Is there anybody there?”

  “Identify yourself, over, came the curt response from the dispatcher.”

  “I’m in an ambulance. It was horrible. They’re all dead,” said the female voice as she began to cry.

  Les turned to look at Lucy, Samantha and Pete.

  “Where are you? Over?” asked the controller.

  “Beeston, nea
r the Ring Road. Topworth Gardens,” came the reply.

  “I have a fix on your location, we’re sending assistance now. Stay in the ambulance until they arrive, over and out.”

  “No. Don’t go. Please don’t go,” said the woman, sobbing. “I’m scared. I don’t want to die. Not like this.”

  “Caller, this channel is for military traffic. It’s essential it is not congested. Stay in the ambulance. Stay out of sight, and help will be there soon. Over and out,” said the controller, more firmly this time. The broadcast was followed by a high-pitched screech of electronic interference before going silent.

  Lucy plunged her face into her hands. “This really is it,” she mumbled. She made sure her voice was not loud enough for the driver or his mate to hear, but she knew it was truth.

  When he was sure his broadcast was not going to be interrupted, he pressed the speak button. “Control, this is Mobile Three, over.” He released the speak button and waited for a response. When none came, he pressed the button again. “Control, this is Mobile Three, over.” He released the speak button and was greeted with silence once more.

  “That’s it. Fucking Control’s gone down now. That’s it,” said the driver.

  “Will you shut the fuck up,” said Les, clenching his fist. “There could be a dozen different reasons we’re not getting a response. “Control, this is Mobile Three, are you receiving us, over?” Once again, there was no reply. “Right,” said Les, pulling a small card out from his pocket. “We need to see where else they’re distributing rations. There’ll be soldiers wherever there’s food.” He scanned the card. “Right, Moortown. You know how to get there soft lad?” he asked the driver.

  “Course I do,” he replied in a shaky voice, and started the engine.

  The ambulance began to move, and Les and Pete sat down opposite Lucy and Samantha who were still on the gurney.

  “So, how screwed are we?” asked Lucy, quietly.

  “On a scale of one to ten, we’re about two hundred.”