Glass access doors at the rear of the reception area led to the main offices of the building. There were three offices and a staff room with a vending machine. Garrick checked the offices, his machete ready. He’d seen too many people dead from assuming situations were safe. He wanted to make sure with his own eyes that the building was truly empty. Then I’ll rest easy.
All three offices contained tiny two-seater sofas with cheap throws, a pretence to make the rooms more comfortable and relaxed for thrashing out a divorce settlement. Garrick sat down on one. The foam cushion was cheap and thin, but adequate. He swung his backpack off his shoulders, grateful to shed the weight. Anna walked over to where he sat and rested her hands on the arm of the chair, as if unsure what to do next. He pulled out his water bottle and handed it to her.
“You must be thirsty. Stay here.”
He left the room without waiting for an answer and did a quick scout for supplies. When he returned within five minutes, Anna had shed her armour and was sat on one of the sofas. Her eyes were unfocused, but she sat upright when he tipped the contents of his search onto the desk. Three chocolate bars and several packets of peanuts. He rummaged in his backpack and topped up his spoils with a couple of green apples. There was an orchard near the base where he liked to go when he needed to escape the underground confines. He offered one to Anna. She took it with a smile and rubbed it against her shirt.
“I’ve not seen one of these in a while. Everything we’ve been eating recently has been out of a tin or a packet.” She took a bite, closing her eyes while she savoured the taste. It made him unexpectedly happy, watching her eat.
She pointed in the direction of her backpack. “I have some delicious long-life survival biscuits in there too.”
He raised an eyebrow. “We’re practically spoiled then,” he said tipping a handful of peanuts into his palm and washing them down with lukewarm water.
They sat eating in amicable silence, for a few minutes.
Anna spoke first. “Tell me more about your base.”
He sighed and scrunched the empty peanut packet into a ball. He cricked his neck from one side to the other, the muscles in his neck crunching as if they’d been dipped in concrete. A headache threatened at his temples.
“CB, or the Command Base. It’s a government bunker in Wiltshire, a relic left over from the Cold War. It was decommissioned and forgotten about and then the access tunnels were blocked by the meteorite damage. Local survivors took two weeks to dig them out. Those locals and a few government officials were the first to set up camp there. I was lucky, I stumbled across them with my sister, Violet. It’s as good a place as any to hunker down. We have supplies, weapons, and technology. Not all of it works, and much of it is thirty or forty years old. It’s far from perfect, but it’s safe and underground where the Chittrix can’t find us.”
She nodded. “Somewhere to start building again?”
He paused. A light of hope burned in her eyes.
“Yes.” He paused, not sure how much to say. There were many good things about the CB. The men he worked with, his sister Violet. But it had its flaws too. Incompetent military running it for a start. “We’re still knocking out some of the kinks. It’s a work in progress.” He shrugged. “It’s all we’ve got.”
“You don’t believe that, though, do you?” Eyes the colour of a summer’s day pinned him down. Nothing escaped her.
He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
Truth was, he didn’t know if he wanted to stay at the base. He was comfortable being alone. He had seen and done terrible things to survive since the invasion. You didn’t just forget all that. And with people came responsibility. Bonds. He wasn’t sure if he wanted that anymore. When Tom died, it had nearly torn him apart. Revenge was the thin thread that pulled him through the madness.
He took another swig of warm water. Changed the subject. “Want to tell me more about what you’ve been doing in that lab for the past six months?”
She hesitated. She wanted more from him; he sensed the exasperation radiating off her body like heat.
“I’ve worked for the Ministry of Defence at Magdon Down for six years. Julia, Blake, and myself were the only remaining survivors. Julia specialises in acoustic weaponry. She doesn’t have anyone left either, like me.”
She worried at a hangnail on her thumb. “I had a foster sister. She’s dead too,” she said, her tone flat. “It’s not even unusual anymore, is it?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, her train of thought compelling her forward.
“Blake is—” She blinked and corrected herself. “Was our linguistics expert. He was vital in negotiations with foreign investment for our projects. The Chittrix killed his family. It really messed him up. I suppose that doesn’t matter now.”
Anna continued when he didn’t speak. “The Weapons Defence Team was my baby. We were at the forefront in synthesising armour. We grew biological body armour using the first principles of insects. The preying mantis shrimp can withstand fifty-thousand high-velocity strikes of its club in its lifetime. That’s the equivalent of fifty-thousand bullet impacts. Can you imagine?” Her face lit up. “We had prototypes when the Chittrix first invaded but their biology provided us with a huge boost. We took highly-organised layers of chitin, then rotated and dispersed them in a mineral composite similar to human bone. The chitin fibres absorb shock waves as they pass through the material in high velocity attacks.”
Garrick smoothed his hand over the armour he wore. Her life’s work, even if he wasn’t sure he understood the science she was narrating. Her face glowed with enthusiasm. When was the last time he’d been excited? Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he was enthusiastic about anything.
She reached over and touched his chest, her fingers pressing gently, making his traitorous heart race. “It’s lightweight, tough and shock-resistant, the first material we devised impenetrable to Chittrix attack, but the world fell apart before it was ready. I thought I was too late, but now,” her eyes were bright in the dim light, “now maybe there’s an opportunity to share the technology and develop it further. Actually use it against the Chittrix.”
Garrick swallowed. Reasons and arguments flew through his mind in all directions. She spoke with such passion and belief. He wanted to believe her, to feel there was hope, something to fight for.
She sat back from him as if suddenly aware of his proximity. His chest still tingled from her touch. He wanted more of that, to share in her hope and optimism.
“A small group of us got marooned at the labs, working day and night to bring the technology up to speed. There were twenty of us in the beginning. People died foraging for supplies, making stupid mistakes. Those the Chittrix didn’t kill, scavengers picked off. We’re our own worst enemy. The three of us were preparing to leave this morning when you arrived with your men. Supplies were low; we needed to move somewhere safe with space to grow fresh food. There’s only so long you can live in a lab.”
There was a sadness in her face as she spoke that made Garrick want to reach out and cup her soft cheek in his hand, pull her to him, and tell her it was all going to work out fine.
Her hands were restless in her lap, fidgeting. “Better late than never.”
Images of his brother Tom fighting the Chittrix flashed through Garrick’s mind. For a moment, the dusty room around him disintegrated into memories, and he heard the echo of the Chittrix battle-cries and felt the leaden weight of Tom in his arms, scarlet blood soaking his hands as his brother grew cold under his touch. That had been the mistake that governments had made. Underestimating their enemy. He pushed the thoughts away. It’s not helping.
“Why don’t you rest. I’m going up to try to make the radio work,” he said, changing the subject.
Garrick approached the window and twitched the blind. Outside was as empty and quiet as it had been when they arrived. Across the street, windows gaped, black maws with God-knew-what lurking inside.
Anna c
leared her throat behind him. “I’ll stick with you, if that’s ok.’
He nodded, unexpectedly glad of the company.
16
Thoughts fired through Anna’s head as she held the ladder while Garrick opened the attic hatch. The elegant, controlled way he moved and spoke reminded her of the officers who had come on regular visits to the labs to assess progress on her work. The size and solidness of him gave her reassurance. She was smart enough to realise there was a place for brute strength in this new world.
The angles and width of his arms left her in no doubt there was plenty of brute strength under the covers with Mr. Garrick. What kind of name was that anyway? Was it his first name or last name? Did soldiers like him have first names? Fine dust shimmied from the ceiling above her as he cracked the hatch door open. She coughed as it caught in her throat and filled her nostrils. Crap. I’m ready for today to be over.
Garrick disappeared into the dark void of the attic, leaving Anna alone in the corridor. The landing was silent and dark. Pitch-black dark.
In the attic above, he was hidden from view, but the floor boards creaked under his weight.
Screw this.
She put her hands on the smooth wooden rungs and climbed, pulling herself up into the loft space. The air was dry and the shadows impenetrable. Garrick was nowhere to be seen, forcing Anna’s ears to strain to find him in the inky blackness. She turned as something protested with a screeching wrench, and then grey light flooded the attic as Garrick levered a skylight open on the far side. He balanced on two joists, moonlight playing on the ridges of his biceps as he pulled himself up through the opening in one swift, effortless movement.
Jeez. Can’t he stay still? It’s like chasing the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.
She darted to the space under the skylight, balancing on the beams so she didn’t go crashing through the ceiling to the rooms below. Under the skylight, her fingertips grazed the bottom edge of the window. She was too short to pull herself up.
“Garrick,” she whispered. The wide-open sky above made her uneasy.
Nothing.
Stars winked in the clear night air. The thought of him abandoning her sent a flutter of panic through her body. She was a survivor, she knew that, but inexplicably, the thought of him leaving her made her belly contract.
“What?” His face suddenly blocked out the sky as he hung through the skylight.
She wobbled on the narrow timber below her feet. “Don’t disappear like that. I can’t climb up.”
He ducked his head down. “No. You’re not tall enough.”
“Are you trying to tick me off?”
His tone was dry. “I don’t think I need to try to do that.”
A gloved hand shot down into the gap. She grabbed it with both hands, her fingers closing around his forearm as he jerked her up through the skylight in one clean motion. He lifted her like she weighed nothing, catching her on the roof, and wrapping his arms around her. For a split second, she rested on him, solid muscle and heat under her body. Temptation coursed through her as her hands pressed against the ridges of his abdomen. She swallowed, her mouth parched. Every time he touched her, her brain completely derailed. It was thrilling and infuriating. He released her, and her feet touched the slates. Keep your crap together, Anna. Life’s too hard for distraction now.
A few short steps up an incline and the roof levelled out. Anna held her breath. Everything was bright with moonlight. A silvery wash illuminated the landscape. The office building sat at the top of a hill, and below, London spilled out in a broken, disjointed mess for several miles, the dark pinnacle of the Shard and the metallic glint of the Heron Tower visible in what little remained of the financial district. It was the most complete view of the devastation she had seen since everything had begun.
It hit home how protected and isolated she had been in her lab while the rest of the world went to hell. Everything she’d seen until now had been only small fragments of the story. But this? This was something else. She found herself turning in a circle, her eyes scanning the horizon in all directions. The broken-jigsaw block of Canada Square sagged into the landscape. Fire raged to the east in bursts of red and orange, filling the sky and obliterating stars with long pillars of filthy black smoke.
As she stood watching, dark swarms obscured the moon, momentarily blotting it out. Chittrix patrolling the sky that now belonged to them. Everything she knew and loved was gone. She blinked, rubbing her arms to dispel her shivers. There was nothing to be gained in losing herself in memories; they only got in the way and distracted you from survival. She’d learned that the hard way.
Garrick stood behind her emptying his backpack, pulling out metallic boxes that she assumed must be the radio equipment. Concern softened his eyes.
Ignoring his regard, she straightened her back. “What about the radio?”
He grunted in response, plugging wires into a black, faceless box. Green and red lights danced across the front when he flicked a switch, and fizzy static filled the air between them. She squatted down beside him and waited while he scanned the air space for a signal.
Garrick ran the dial from one side to the other but shook his head wearily. “Nothing. Nothing from the rest of the team, and we’re still too far away to pick up a signal from the base. We can try again in the morning. We need to keep moving, whatever we do. The rest of my group will be doing the same.”
He must have noticed her frown. “I’m sure they’ll have Julia with them. She’s in the best hands to bring her home safe.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Anna gestured at the desolation all around them. “I’ve never really appreciated everything and everyone are gone. It’s so complete.”
“You were pretty protected in that lab.” A statement, not a question.
She nodded in agreement. “That’s how it goes a lot of the time in weapons development. If we were in contact with the real world too much, we might develop a conscience.”
“What you’ve developed is defence. We can use it against the Chittrix. That has to be good.”
“What did you do before all of this?”
His eyes slid away, down to his hands. He turned his palms over. “Special forces. SAS. My team was involved in countering the first wave of the invasion.”
She waited for him to continue. She wanted to know his story. What had made him the man he was now, fighting on when there was barely any world left to fight for?
“It didn’t go well. You know that. The government had no idea what they were dealing with. Most of our forces were sacrificial lambs, mine included.” He dismissed the topic by standing up. “We should be under cover.”
She suspected there was more. He was holding back on her, giving her tiny snippets that barely explained what she saw before her.
She let it drop. He would tell her when he was ready.
Back in the attic, they made a makeshift bed from the throws downstairs. Garrick pulled up the hatch in the floor, securing them from the rest of the building. He left the skylight open a crack for air, and moonlight pooled on the ceiling beams below.
Once they had finished the bed, he climbed back out on the roof, leaving her alone. She sensed she had touched a raw nerve earlier, and that he wanted to be alone with his demons, so she left him to it.
She lay down with a rolled-up throw under her head as a pillow. It was scratchy and uncomfortable against her cheek. Eventually, Garrick returned to the attic space. She opened her eyes. His presence burned like white heat against her shoulders as he lay down beside her. She shifted slightly as if asleep and used the pretence to move a few inches closer to him. Warmth from his body soaked into her spine, relaxing the muscles in her neck.
For the first time since the invasion, she fell asleep feeling safe.
17
When Garrick woke, he was wrapped around Anna. She nestled in the crook of his arm, her back pressed to his stomach. His hand rested on the curve of her hip, her hair gentle against his chin. He lay stil
l, not wanting to spoil the moment, inhaling her spicy cinnamon scent and the gentle warmth of her. His life was toxic and she was the antidote.
She started suddenly, waking, her hands scrabbling for her weapon that was just beyond reach. He released her from his arms and sat up. When she turned to look at him, her face was still flushed with sleep, her hair in a dishevelled cascade. He wanted to push his hands into that cloud of hair and kiss her hard.
Instead he sat up and ran his hands through the dark fuzz on the top of his skull, pushing the image of her in his arms to the back of his mind. They needed to press on this morning, get the hell out of London and into the safety of the CB. There he could get some distance from her and the intoxicating way she was dominating his thoughts. It scared the shit out of him.
To distract himself, he stretched and picked up the remaining apple. They needed to get more food today, sustenance for the long walk ahead. He passed her the apple. “You need this more than me. I’ve had plenty recently.”
She gave him a shy smile, wiping the sleep from her eyes, and took the apple gratefully. “Thank-you.”
Garrick contented himself with wolfing down more nuts and two of the tasteless biscuits from Anna’s pack.
“Will we get there today? Your base?”
He shook his head. “No. I think it will be tomorrow before we arrive. There’s some pretty intense Chittrix activity en-route. The team may try and meet us halfway.”
“How can they find us?”
He pointed to the dense black strap on his wrist. “Tracker device,” he reminded her. “Even though we don’t have radio contact, they can track us from the base. They may try and pick us up. But we can’t assume they’ll be able to. We need to keep on moving, regardless.” He rubbed his black wristband thoughtfully. She needs this more than you.
He unstrapped the band and placed it around her wrist, pulling it snug.
Anna’s eyes were wide with questions, her face only inches from his.
Garrick: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Earth Resistance Book 1) Page 8