Aftermath: The complete collection

by John Wilkinson

  11/11/2027 - Time 22:30

  After I had finished writing the diary entry, we got up to see what state we were in after yesterdays traumatic events. We both stripped off our dirty, foul smelling clothes, and carried them in our arms to the edge of the river. We were well past the point of contamination, and the river in front of us was calm and clear, so we slowly waded in. I was shocked to see how much weight we had both lost, our pale, skinny bodies disappeared into the black river. It was incredibly cold, but the grime and dirt washed off, so I held my clothes under the water, and watched the red blood run off, clouding the river. The current lapped up against my chest, I held my breath and put my head under. I had never been happier to have a wash, I needed to clean away yesterdays memories. We wrung out our clothes and hung them on the branches of a tree while we checked the map, deciding how we would move forward. To continue in our current direction we would have to walk through the centre of Carlisle, picking up the M6 again as it moved back into the countryside. If we went back, we would pass the mass genocide we encountered yesterday, not a path either of us were keen to take. We put on our change of clothes, and wrapped the wet ones up in the plastic sheets, tying them to our rucksacks. We chose to continue towards the M6, and set off at a brisk pace. As we got closer to the city, the path became more stable, everything was still covered in black sludge, but there was a harder top. The weather was as good as we’ve experienced since setting off, everything was wet, but it wasn’t too cold and the wind had died down. From the riverside, we observed the beautiful stone architecture of the buildings around Carlisle, it’s a shame to see historical areas such as this so deserted and downtrodden. We approached a small picturesque bridge over the river, its flower baskets still hanging in place, filled with black ash. As we came out the other side, the huge stone building opposite had a message painted on it. On the white wall, the words ‘This is God’s judgement’ were painted in big red letters. We walked for a couple of miles through the built up area, taking our time, remaining as quiet as possible. We were almost out of the city when we had an encounter, with what I thought was a boy, but he was that dirty it was hard to tell. He looked about the same age as Emma, maybe a little younger, he was sat on a wall eating an apple like he hadn’t a care in the world. As we approached, he saw us and jumped down onto the footpath ahead, he looked at us for a second, before fleeing. ‘Hey’ Roy yelled, ‘Wait a minute, don’t run, we won’t hurt you.’ He ran after the boy, and I in turn after him, the child was fast, and looked like he knew his surroundings well. He sprinted away from the river towards the city centre, under fences and through bushes, we couldn’t keep up. As he disappeared around a wall, I caught up to Roy and got a handful of his rucksack, ‘Stop Roy, we won’t catch him.’

  ‘Why is she running?’

  ‘It was a boy not a girl, and he was scared.’

  ‘It wasn’t a boy, it was a girl, I’m pretty sure. We have to help her, she’s just a child.’

  ‘It makes no difference either way, do you really want the responsibility of a girl on your hands? People will kill for that, make no mistake, our lives would be put in major danger. We cannot help everyone, he’s done well to have lasted this long, maybe he doesn’t need our help. We don’t have enough food for ourselves, we cannot feed another mouth.’

  ‘But if we had a female in our company, it would make our position stronger.’

  ‘How would it? It would make us more vulnerable to attack, people are getting killed for hiding females.’

  ‘It could put us in a position to negotiate with these people.’

  ‘Are you serious? I’m not bargaining with someone’s life Roy, that’s not who we are.’

  ‘Sometimes you have to sink to their level, and fight with their mentality, or just become another statistic.’

  ‘I will never resort to that, it’s the only thing that sets us apart, we would be no better than them. What makes you think you can trust anyone outside yourself? Anyway, for all we know it could have been a trap, we have to make the right decisions from now on.’ We walked back towards the river, all the while checking we hadn’t been followed. My plan was to get as many miles under our belt as possible, we seemed to have lost some time and don’t have the food to last much beyond today. We got back into our stride and walked for hours, with the conditions pretty good. We ate our chocolate bars and fruit as we walked, giving us an extra boost. As we left the city, I saw the first signs of the cold coming back, there was a short snow fall, it only lasted a few minutes and then it was gone, lost in the black ash sludge, but it was more what it represented that worried me. Our speed picked up as the temperature dropped, and without the buildings for protection, the wind started to eat away at our morale. From a distance, we spotted a beautiful arched bridge, the river had widened, and was flowing through three arches. It’s the kind of scene you might expect to see on an e-card, which was possibly the reason we weren’t paying enough attention as we approached, walking in plain sight towards the under path. Looking up, I realised there was a truck sat on the bridge with its engine running. Sitting in the trailer was a group of men, fortunately they hadn’t seen us and we managed to get behind cover before they did. Our first thought was to wait it out and go when they had gone, but they didn’t move and the darkness was descending all around. I didn’t want to put us in any unnecessary danger but I was not happy sitting there, the decision was made to continue past them, under the bridge and find somewhere to camp down. The only weapon we had left was my Welrod silenced pistol, which I took out of my rucksack. I checked how many bullets I had remaining (two), and I locked and loaded it with the bolt on the back. I took the safety off, and held it in my hand in front of me. The weather was changing, so we moved out, sticking to the bushes that followed the path, we arrived at the foot of the steps climbing up to the road. From there we could see a further four men on motorcycles, whose engines had been running, not the truck. Slowly and as quietly as possible, we walked under the bridge, avoiding the pools of water that had gathered, all the time listening out for any sign of movement. I peered out from under the bridge, looking up the side for any spotters, walking backwards with my eyes fixed on the bridge wall. Roy was watching ahead as we edged away towards the trees on the other side. I was happy with the distance we had put between us when I heard footsteps behind me, I swung around to find myself face to face with one of the gang. A dirty looking individual, with a great big unkempt beard. He was wearing overalls, an oversized jacket, baseball cap and boots, there was a noticeable shake in his hands and his eyes were bloodshot. Steam was rising off the tree next to him, where he had been urinating. I quickly calculated how far away from the group he was, and if I should use a bullet on him. With only two left, and no easy way to get more, I had to justify every one I used. As he spoke, I could see the remains of his last meal stuck in the gaps of his teeth. ‘If you fire that gun you’ll have ten guys bearing down on you in minutes.’

  ‘I don’t want to fire this gun, what happens next is dependant on you.’

  ‘We ain’t concerned with passers by, we are just looking for the child, have you seen her?’

  ‘Concerned for her are you?’

  ‘This is not the place for a child, out here on her own. We just want to get her back with the group, Mr. Torriero is concerned for her welfare.’

  ‘Your all fucking heart aren’t you? You don’t have to bullshit me, we know what’s going on.’

  ‘Why don’t you come and speak to Mr. Torriero, I’m sure he will be able to convince you of the right thing to do.’

  ‘I have no interest in speaking to him, if you come any closer I will put you down.’

  ‘So you don’t entirely know what’s going on then do you? If you haven’t been introduced to Mr. Torriero.’ I didn’t respond to his question, so he continued. ‘This is his river you are following, his bridge you have past under. The north is his, yo
u are trespassing, but Mr. Torriero is nothing if not a fair man. If you would like to speak to him, he would be happy to meet you, he is always interested in meeting new people with something to offer.’ He took a couple of steps towards me causing me to raise my gun again, which had lowered, and re-aim at his head. ‘Do not come any nearer than that, or I will put a bullet between your eyes.’

  ‘With that gun?’ He laughed, his voice wheezing and crackling. ‘It must be a hundred years old, I would be surprised if it even still works.’

  ‘I hardly favour your position, you’ve turned up to a gun fight with your dick in your hand.’

  Behind him, there were shouts that I couldn’t determine the location of, but they were getting closer.

  ‘Now you have a problem haven’t you, they are looking for me, if they find you like this, they will kill you.’

  My finger was getting itchy on the trigger, I could hear the voices getting closer and my choices diminishing. ‘Why don’t you just give the gun to me?’ He said, putting his hand out and easing towards me. I pulled the trigger, the bullet tore into his head and he dropped like a stone, a spray of blood hit the tree he had been pissing against. Roy and I turned and ran, sprinting along the side of the river, trying to stay on our feet. We ran until we had no more air left in our lungs, we stopped, coughing and wheezing, trying to regain our composure. I cocked the bolt back on my Welrod, and kept it in my hand just in case, but no one came. We walked for a further hour until the M6 came into view on our right, it was still a couple of fields away, but we could follow the line of dying black trees surrounding it. ‘Why didn’t you warn me?’ I asked Roy, still in shock at what had happened.

  ‘I’m sorry’ he replied, ‘I just didn’t see him until it was too late.’ We set up camp for the night under a bridge that carried part of Adrian’s Wall, a good indicator of where we were, and where we needed to be. With only one can of beans left, we decided to save it for the morning, the cold was setting in and we need a good sleep. I stayed up for an hour or so after Roy had dozed off, to write this diary entry. It concerns me that Roy didn’t alert me to the man taking a piss by the tree, he was looking in his direction, how did he not see him? I know it was dark but we were on top of him before I turned around.

  12/11/2027 - Time 10:00

  We woke suddenly this morning with what sounded like an earthquake, the ground was vibrating all around us, up through our bodies and into our fingertips. We lay motionless, as stones and debris fell from the underside of the bridge, landing on top of our plastic sheets. The noise that accompanied the vibrations was loud and intense, it felt much like the day of the attack. We crawled out from under the plastic sheets to get a closer look at what was happening. Leaning back against the side of the bridge, we could see billows of ash and dust thrown into the air from the road, as a convoy of vehicles drove over the bridge, trucks, motorcycles and lorries. I couldn’t tell if they were the same group as yesterday, there seemed more of them. I counted thirty seven vehicles pass over, probably twice that while we were in the tunnel. The freezing weather had returned with vengeance, huge clumps of ice appearing on top of the river, and a thick layer of grey snow on the ground. We ate the final tin of beans for breakfast, I had planned on fishing but couldn’t bring myself to sit out in the open, we cooked them over a fire and warmed ourselves in the process, having a cup of tea each. While I was packing my bag I noticed the lighter fluid was almost empty, we have maybe one more fire left.

  12/11/2027 - Time 22:40

  We set off from Adrian’s Wall at a brisk pace, keen to find where the A702 breaks off the M6, before camping down for the night. Since we left the city, all remains of a footpath had gone, replaced by frozen hard fields. The terrain was a lot harder than we were used to, with steep inclines and plummeting drops, it took it’s toll on us early. About an hour into the journey, just before we left the Eden as it pushed off to the west, we saw a body in the water. At first we thought it was a child, the body lying face down in the river, caught in the branches of an overhanging tree, another memory we would be unable to forget. But for some reason I was drawn to it, instead of just walking past, I stopped and took a closer look. From the riverside, all that was visible was its back, bobbing up and down in the water. I couldn’t reach it from the bank, so found a branch on the floor next to a dead tree and used it to hook the body and pull it ashore. I first realised something was odd when I got hold of its garments, they were like no material I have ever felt, to the touch they resembled silk but had the strength and consistency of metal, or carbon fibre. Roy and I pulled the body onto the riverside and turned it over, water poured off onto the muddy bank, finding its way back into the river. I knew straight away we had something unique on our hands, it was the body of a dead creature. ‘Holy shit’ said Roy, with a look of disbelief on his face. ‘There ain’t no disputing that.’ And he was right, the stories had been true, and here was the proof. It was the size of a ten year old child, dressed in an all black body suit, there was a helmet covering half the creatures head, and some kind of rifle still connected to its hand. I momentarily moved the gun from its hand and found it connected by some kind of magnetic force, so I left it in place to concentrated on the creatures head. I will give you a general description of the creature, but bare in mind I’m not a pathologist or an expert in any way, these are just general observations. With no obvious markings or wounds, I suspected the creature died from drowning, but I’m not about to cut it open, as I would have no knowledge of what I was looking at. The visible skin was completely hairless, and monotone grey in colour, I ran my finger across the creatures forehead, to the touch it felt course, like sandpaper. There was no variations in the colour of the creature, no bruises or blemishes, it was strangely beautiful, almost perfect to look at. It had two large eyes, very similar to the human eyeball. It didn’t have a nose, but rather two flaps of skin on either side of its head, I couldn’t tell if they were for smelling or hearing. The creature had no chin, and a small mouth, with very thin lips that remained the same diameter all the way around. When I opened its mouth, it extended much wider than I expected, the head almost splitting in two. It seemed to have a set of sharp teeth protracted further back into its mouth, like they didn’t really use them. Physically, the creature appeared to possess no real strength, quite the opposite, it looked weak, maybe reliant on superior weaponry. I took a knife from my rucksack to try and cut its suit off, I wanted to know how they impregnate humans, but the knife hardly made a mark on it. It had four long slender fingers on each hand with a smaller thumb at more of a right angle than a human, with no nails on the end. The only cutting into the creature I did was to get what looked like a chip out of the back of its head, it was the size of a stamp and the thickness of a credit card. When its skin was cut, no bleeding took place, but there was a black liquid. It was thicker than blood, but its hard to say what effect death has had upon the condition of its body, or the fact it had been submerged in water for some time. When I had retrieved the chip, I cleaned the black liquid off it in the river and wrapped it in a hanky. When cut, the skin reminded me of the skin of a pig, certainly to look at, the layers, but also the texture, it felt tough. While I was putting the chip in my rucksack, and Roy was inspecting the creatures weapon, I heard a strange beeping sound coming from his general direction. It started off quietly but got progressively louder, by the time I looked over at Roy it was deafening, ‘Get down,’ he shouted, as there was a flash of light and an explosion. I threw myself to the floor as the noise fused my senses, dazed, I looked up towards where Roy had been standing. All I could see was smoke, I stumbled towards him concerned about what I would find. Before I discovered Roy’s body, I heard his muffled cries, so I knew he was still alive, the explosion had taken two fingers of his right hand. He had also received shrapnel wounds to the same arm, but otherwise had a very lucky escape. He had removed the rifle from the creatures hand which must have triggered a self destruct
ion sequence, maybe the weapon was matched directly to the creatures DNA, and cannot be used by a foreign body. He has since explained, when he realised what was happening, he threw the rifle over the creatures body while ducking to avoid the explosion. The creature took the brunt of the impact, but the shrapnel didn’t even penetrate the suit. I washed Roy’s hand in the river and tied a tea towel around the wound to stem the bleeding. After about thirty minutes, it had stopped, and Roy had passed out with the pain. I unzipped the first aid kit, cleaned and treated the wound and then bandaged it up, his entire middle finger was missing, to the joint. His little finger was severed around halfway. When he came around he was keen to get moving, brushing off his injury, claiming we had a lot of time to make up. The weather had closed in on us, but we were both up for walking. Within half an hour we had found the M6 and left the river for the first time in days, we needed to be on the right hand side of the motorway to see where the A702 left it, and we weren’t. The last time we got close to the road we witnessed a car full of people murdered, as we approached the trees that surrounded it, we trod carefully, all the time listening for any sign of movement. The floor was now covered in about an inch of snow, making it hard to see what we were standing on, branches would crack and splinter as we crept between trees. This stretch of the motorway was empty of vehicles, the wind blew across, making it hard to see the other side. All we could do was take a chance, we needed to cross the road. It felt strange to the foot walking on concrete again, we climbed over the metal barriers all the while keeping a close eye in front and behind. Out in the open you could get a better understanding of how much snow was coming down, it’s no wonder the ground seems to have a permanent blanket. When we reached the other side, we continued into the field to get a safe distance from which to follow from. Any hope of reaching the A702 before night, vanished in the proceeding hours, as we were battered by the weather in every which way you could be. Our morale had seeped away, along with our strength, by eight o’clock we were both exhausted, Roy was adamant we should stop, but I wouldn’t. I was pushing us too hard, I had lost it, I wouldn’t stop or listen. We are camped around three miles from Gretna, I have to admit, Roy pulled me through the final few miles. After we had found somewhere to camp down for the night, I broke down on him, telling him everything. The lie about Emma became too much to conceal, the scene of mass female genocide was too much for me, I couldn’t keep the secret any more I have no idea if Emma is still alive but I have to find out, I cannot leave her to fend for herself in this world, it would have been less cruel on her to have died in the nuclear attack, sometimes I find myself hoping she did. I couldn’t get the face of the dead girl out of my head, it could have been Emma, I’m not sure any more if I want to find her alive, but what if I don’t? What if she’s not there? I don’t know what I would do if I was unable to get any closure, either way. Roy hadn’t understood why I had pushed as hard as I had, so I explained to him the real reason I wanted to get back home. He was very reassuring, and now understands my determination, he seems as eager to get back to her as I am. We hadn’t eaten since first thing but I didn’t have the energy to try and hunt for food, I will try in the morning. We used the last bit of flammable liquid to light a fire while we sat and talked, sheltered from the conditions in a derelict farm building. It had lost its roof long before any nuclear war, but the walls offered us enough protection. I think I will leave the fire burning overnight, to try and keep as much heat in our bodies as possible. I know we will soon be facing a problem with the drinking water as it is fast running out. So with the fire burning, I tried to prepare some water that was safe to drink, to keep one step ahead. Another thing I remember my grandfather mentioning, about his time fighting in Europe, was when they had no water they would drink the rainwater. I’m not sure how safe the rain coming from these dirty, black ash clouds is going to be, but we may have no option. I tested a little tonight, before we can start to use it properly. I set up a couple of pans outside the camp, hoping to catch anything coming down. Within thirty minutes, the pans were full of a mixture of rain and slush, its colour was brown and gritty, hardly appetising. I removed as much ash as I could with my fingers, and boiled a few pans worth, until the water was foaming, and then I took it off to cool. When it had, I dabbed some on my arm, leaving it for an around an hour as I wrote. I have had no adverse reactions to it, so I will wash my chest in it before I go to sleep tonight, and see if anything happens, before we start to consider drinking it. Roy looks to have recovered from his illness for the most part, his injured hand will need cleaning again in the morning, I can see where the blood has seeped through the tea-towel.