“I have collected blood samples from the people I was underground with, after they showed signs of infection” her voice dropped into uncertainty before she took a breath and raised her head.
“To be able to have other samples to test against, I need – I’d like – if you would allow me to take samples from some of you” she finished. Awkward silence hung over the gathering until Dan took the lead and rolled up his left sleeve.
“I’ll go first” he announced, prompting half a dozen people to follow suit and file into the medical wing.
They left after breakfast with no ceremony; all of them acting as though it were a normal trip out to try and convince themselves.
Steve drove steadily, weaving the heavy Defender through the overgrown roads. In places what used to be two wide lanes had become a single tunnel between the hedges grown wild in the spring. Leah had done well with their route; she had marked a series of roads snaking north with alternative loops in places. Their journey was engineered to avoid the major population centres and to keep off the motorways through the most built up areas. It would not be a quick drive, but it should minimise the risks they had to take.
Steve found Emma to be a quiet, nervous girl. In truth she was no girl but close to finishing her doctorate, although still half his own age. He didn’t mind; he liked silence and she didn’t have much to say for the first day. He didn’t feel the need to fill the void with unnecessary talking, and she didn’t ask questions. His job was to get them there and she couldn’t help much with that. Her job was at the lab.
They moved onwards, Emma lost in her thought and theories and Steve concentrating on the road ahead.
ROADBLOCKS
Three times on the first day they had to double back and take alternative loops. It was easy enough to avoid the blockages, but after the third time Steve’s impatience and tiredness got to him. He had been concentrating all day and they had barely made more than a hundred miles.
Emma was some help reading the maps, but she wasn’t a navigator by any means; more used to negotiating underground train maps than planning a route by car. He had to stop and check it himself a few times, conscious not to let his annoyance show through as he did so.
As the sun started to set Steve called a stop to the day and cleared a small building on a higher patch of ground off the road. Emma had still barely said two words since they had left, not that he took offence to her manner. As Steve set up the camping cooker and began to erect his cot she broke her silence and asked for help.
She caught her finger and swore loudly, dropping the half-made bed as she hopped around holding her hand. Steve smiled at her misfortune.
“It’s not bloody funny!” she admonished him.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. Here” he replied, helping her put the square poles in the right order. He finished the bed easily and she sat on the taught canvas heavily; tired from a day sat in a car concentrating.
“I never even slept outside of a proper bed until the bunker” she said, head in her hands as she rubbed her face.
“Never too old to experience something new” Steve said, instantly regretting sounding so contrite. He busied himself heating the water for a hot drink as she got up and wandered around, looking at the old contents of the shelves in their temporary shelter.
“I wondered about this kind of thing for years” she said distantly. Steve had never heard her speak other than to ask or answer direct questions, so his interest was piqued by her sudden daydreaming.
“About camping in a derelict shop with an ageing helicopter pilot?” he asked, attempting to lighten the mood.
“No” she said, running a finger along the packets containing long ago spoiled food “about what would happen with a virus or something like this. It was all numbers and theories; infectivity ratios, urban population versus rural survival rates, developing algorithms to predict the spread…” she trailed off as she walked slowly, bringing her back to her cot “That kind of thing. I never once actually considered what it would have been like to survive day by day without modern comforts.”
She stopped, fixing her gaze directly on him. “Without fast food and the internet, most people would just fade away!” she said with a smile, bringing herself out of her daydream with levity to detract from her darker thoughts.
“They surely would” agreed Steve, decanting hot water into two mugs and replacing it on the cooker to add packets of instant noodles.
The regular silence lowered its veil over them for the rest of the evening. They ate, they walked away quietly to tend to their own personal needs, and they lay in their cots after darkness settled with no other conversation other than to wish each other a customary goodnight.
The next four days went by very similarly. Some days they made more distance, others far less. They found places of interest on the journey north and Steve took the opportunity to top up his fuel despite not having had to use the large reserve tank on the roof yet. Emma offered to drive once, and Steve accepted to give his body a rest from the constant body position behind the wheel.
She crunched the gears and her clutch control was so ineffective that Steve’s back hurt more in the passenger seat. Despite their lack of conversation, he felt comfortable enough in her company to offer his opinion about it.
“Do you actually know how to drive?” he asked after the nudged the kerb for no reason for the third time.
“Yes! I just haven’t been behind the wheel much since I learnt how” she admitted reluctantly. He took back the controls as soon as it was polite to do so. He tried to explain that he wasn’t being chauvinistic about it, but was more worried for the fuel consumption and the possible damage to the car. The more he explained, the more he felt himself sinking into the hole he was digging. He gave up and fell back into their normal quiet routine.
After six days, and not a single soul seen, they crossed over the border into Scotland.
ROYAL VISIT
Pat thought long and hard about how to go about his business. He considered sending some of his boys in to be ‘rescued’ by them, conjuring elaborate plans of showing resistance with a gun battle so they were more inclined to trust his moles. He dismissed that; the accuracy and savagery of the shooting aimed at them when just one of them came still echoed in his thoughts.
Maybe just a straightforward visit? Stroll up and knock on the front door; a bit of civility cost nothing. His new chief scout had told him about two other vehicles like the one which had come to his land – he had to assume that meant another two armed similarly and just as dangerous. He didn’t have the hardware to counter that; true he had lots of guns but they were all hunting tools and not military grade like those he had faced.
He didn’t want to risk a conflict with this group as he had no idea how many of them there were, but he couldn’t allow their incursion to go unchallenged. Rules must be agreed and compensation paid.
“Load up boys!” he shouted, sparking a series of flurried movements as the nearest of his subjects scrambled to their feet “We’re going to visit the English!”
~
Dan gave up on trying to keep Leah off the front line. She was undoubtedly capable, but he still worried that she was too young to go out alone. He was teaching her how to use the heavy calibre battle rifle one morning, not that she required much instruction after Steve’s thorough lessons. She had mastered using the automatic carbine in a day, and followed suit with a suppressor and scope like Dan’s. Her M4 was painted in a dappled camouflage colour, and she cherished it more than she used to cherish her iPhone.
He realised how quickly he had become accustomed to seeing her armed; before it happened the thought of a child carrying guns was abhorrent to him – even more so because of his personal experiences – but seeing her emulate him was flattering and he felt a genuine pride in her abilities. The scared little girl was long gone. In her place stood a fierce and fit young woman; the next generation of their leadership.
Dan had decided that
if he was going to have to rely on her to cover him, he preferred it if she was firing either lots more or heavier rounds. They took turns firing five rounds each from the battle rifle into a large tree at about four hundred metres, and Leah matched his accuracy easily. At half that distance she joked that she could draw a smiley face.
Engine noise pierced the edge of their hearing, rendering both of them quiet just as Ash sat up from where he lay flat and turned his head towards the source. The noise was wrong. It wasn’t the heavy metallic sounds of their own diesels, but the higher pitched note of a petrol engine. More notes joined the first, until it sounded like a small swarm of bees were headed their way. They ran back to the house and as they neared the drive Dan handed back the heavy rifle he had carried and silently pointed Leah up to one of the solar panel towers. He stood his ground in the middle of the drive fifty metres in front of the house and fired the ugly shotgun twice into the air.
Seconds later Rich ran from the house with a rifle in hand, he dropped to one knee by the tree line to Dan’s left and asked what was going on.
“Engines, not ours, sounds like quite a few and they’re coming our way. I need the gardens and the farm on lockdown and everyone armed” he said as he scanned the limits of his vision through his scope.
Rich ran back to the house without another word, no doubt getting straight on the CB radio. Lexi and Joe were off site, but Joe was still in radio range and turned around to head home in support. Noises of activity started to grow behind him, indicating that others were arming themselves and preparing for whatever came their way. Rich sprinted back to him, now wearing a vest filled with spare magazines.
“Jack’s on the radio. Where do you want me?” he asked.
“Farm. If they come down here then put an ambush in on the driveway. I’ve got Leah up top with a heavy rifle” Dan replied, pointing towards Leah’s nest. Rich nodded and ran in a wide loop to the right making cross country to the farm as Dan sent Ash into the trees to hide. The noises of engines grew louder until he could clearly make out different notes before the sight that unfolded made his mouth drop open.
A large black car rolled down the drive, surrounded by six motorcycles positioned as outriders. It was an unintentional parody of a travelling dignitary; a farce in the ruins of their old lives. Dan would have laughed had he not been so shocked and on edge at the intrusion.
He made a show of slowly racking the bolt on his weapon before settling it into his shoulder and taking a sideways stance. He was conscious not to point the gun at them, but held it ready enough to raise it if needed. He hoped that the message was clear enough.
The ridiculous motorcade came to rest twenty metres from him as the driver got out and made a show of looking around before he opened the rear door. Very Secret Service, but he completely failed to notice the young girl pointing a rifle at him which was capable of tearing through the roof and killing the important passenger without even seeing him.
Amateurs, thought Dan, all for show.
The passenger got out. Dan was presented with a fat man wearing a suit with the most pretentious thing on his head he had ever seen. The man was wearing a crown. The fake Secret Service agent strode forward, complete with sunglasses, and stood in front of Dan.
“I present the King of Wales, you will address him as ‘Your Majesty’” he commanded.
“Will I? Well you can bugger off and go talk into your sleeve, sunshine” Dan replied. He was not in the mood to be dictated to on his own doorstep.
His Majesty King Patrick took the reins. “No need for unpleasantness” boomed the self-made sovereign as he stepped forward and offered Dan a hand.
“Patrick” he said “King of Wales”
Dan ignored the hand and tightened the grip on his carbine.
“What’s your business here, Fagin?” he said.
He dropped his hand and boomed a laugh. “Do I need a reason to visit a neighbouring country and offer the hand of friendship?”
“Let me tell you what I know” Dan said carefully.
“A while ago one of my lot fired on your ambush and rescued four women who didn’t want to be part of your happy gang. With that in mind, you can see why I’m a little sceptical about you being here”
King Patrick’s face dropped, all semblance of joviality abandoned. “You forgot that one of yours killed one of mine in cold blood” he said acidly.
“Regrettable, but unavoidable” replied Dan equably “If you don’t want more bloodshed, I suggest you turn around and fuck off over the border, pal”
Pat sneered “What’s to stop me cutting you down right here?” he said nastily as he opened his suit jacket and exposed a gun in his waistband. Dan slowly took his hands away from his weapon, drew himself up to his full height and smiled.
“Nothing” he said “Only that you wouldn’t live long enough to drag that toy past your gut. HEEL” he snapped to his left without taking his eyes from the man. Ash prowled forwards, head low and teeth exposed in a silent snarl. To make his point more firmly, Dan glanced very deliberately up to his right and back to the intruder.
Pat tore his eyes away from the savage animal watching him, and glanced in the direction of the scaffolding tower. From a distance of less than thirty metres the sound of a heavy bullet slowly being racked into a chamber was unmistakable.
“And we’re just the ones you can see” he said “If you tried anything now, and by some miracle survived, then the way out is far more dangerous than you could imagine. So, leave now and forget any idea you have about taking us on”
Pat was many things, but he was not stupid. He relaxed and brought back the genial smile from before as he waved to his group to relax.
“How about we just talk then?” he said.
“Your lot stay here, no weapons inside” Dan said. Pat removed his handgun, as did his bodyguard. “If they move from the car, they will be shot. Please make that clear to them” he finished.
He looked to Leah, who raised a thumb to tell him that she had overheard and understood. Dan walked to the house and at the front door he turned to face his two uninvited guests.
“Hold your arms out” he instructed them. Pat smiled and complied as Dan ran deft hands over him checking for weapons. The bodyguard wasn’t happy and started to protest being searched.
“Fine” snapped Dan “Stay out here with him” he pointed to Ash as he muttered “Watch Him”. The dog’s sudden snarling was encouragement enough to hold his arms out and stand very still. Dan took a knife from the man’s waistband and dropped it on the floor outside.
“What about your weapons?” the bodyguard summed up the courage to ask.
Dan turned to him “My roof, my rules” he said with finality before leading them inside. People were moving around, some carrying shotguns. Dan walked into the lounge area and nodded to Marie to stay before loudly asking to have the room.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The four sat in silence for a while until His Majesty King Patrick asked an audacious question.
“No coffee?” he said with a smile.
“You won’t be staying long enough” replied Dan “state your business”
Patrick sighed, annoyed missing the opportunity to observe the proprietaries.
“Seems to me that we need to discuss borders, amongst other things” he began.
“Simple” said Marie, rapidly picking up on exactly who this man wearing a ridiculous gold circlet was. “We don’t cross into Wales and you don’t cross into England”
Patrick shook his head “It’s not quite that simple my love” he began. Marie’s anger flashed, putting the fat pretender firmly directly in his place.
“Do not walk into my house and patronise me” she snapped savagely as she stood to tower over him “I see a very clear solution; you call yourself the king of Wales, so you have Wales and we won’t encroach. You are not in any position to dictate terms otherwise. I will happily provide details of the fates of people who have threatened us here if you wou
ld like?”
Her outburst silenced the man. His bodyguard looked nervous; he doubted he had any chance of competing with the man sat opposite him even if he was unarmed but the huge dog sat watching his every move unsettled him greatly. Outgunned and outclassed, he felt it best to keep silent.
Patrick seemed to realise that he shouldn’t push the issue. “I meant no offence my lo…” he stopped himself before he invited another tirade from the steely woman “madam. I merely wish to establish firm rules to prevent further clashes between our nations”
“Agreed. You stay in your country and we shall stay in ours. I can’t see any way we would clash as long as that is observed” she said more calmly “Now, tell us how you knew where to find our home”
Patrick sat back and grinned with smug satisfaction “My eyes and ears have a long reach” he bragged magnanimously.
“So one of your feral children followed my Ranger back undetected” said Dan “We’re more than capable of returning the favour. We paid a visit to a group we didn’t like recently. I’d say you could ask them how it went but you’d need a séance” he left it there, the threat hanging heavily.
“Fine” said Patrick “We keep to our own and you do the same, but that doesn’t mean we have to be enemies”
“What are you proposing?” Marie asked.
“We aren’t animals, despite what the women you brought back told you. We need more women to have babies, and we’ve suffered miscarriages and a stillbirth since this all started. We’re not unlike yourselves, honestly” he said unconvincingly.
Dan reckoned that they probably were just how he thought. He wanted breeders. “If you suggest for one second that we give you women, you’re out of your bloody mind. We don’t run a dictatorship here, we look after our people and don’t force them to do things they don’t want to. We still have our humanity”
Marie stood “Thank you for the visit but we will not trade with your group, nor will you take anyone from us. Goodbye” she said with finality.
After It Happened (Book 3): Society Page 9