Aftermath: The complete collection

by John Wilkinson

  ‘It is’ he replied. ‘It’s the safest place I know.’ Bernard lowered his gun and pulled the plastic sheets off the children, who sat up nervously. ‘If you have any concerns,’ he continued, ‘Ask me questions. I’ll tell you everything I know. There are many people at the camp who have travelled great distances, and have children like yourself, how far have you travelled with them?’

  ‘From Edinburgh.’

  ‘Your lucky to be alive, but you’ve made it, the journey is almost over.’

  ‘How safe is it?’ I asked, still pushing for a level of reassurance that might not be possible.

  ‘It’s the safest place in the north, not just for children, we also have over seven hundred females at the camp.’

  ‘Really? I’m so happy to hear that,’ I said, feeling a bit emotional. ‘I was starting to think no place like this existed. How many people are there altogether?’

  ‘The camp is made up of around six thousand, seven hundred service men of varying ranks, and over five thousand civilians, but that’s increasing daily.’

  I wanted to take the opportunity to find out as much information about our possible new home as I could, and make sure it was the right place to take these children. I asked all the questions that came into my head, what plans the army had for the future and how secure the camp was. Captain Riddle also told me of their plans to open a new camp at a different location, as they could only safely take another one thousand five hundred people, and the daily intake was averaging out at over one hundred and forty. I lifted the piece of rope attached to the front of our boat out of the water, and threw it to Captain Riddle. He tied it to his boats bow eye, to stop us drifting apart, and sat down to listen to our concerns. The children were looking a bit more comfortable, and started to ask questions too, Emma came and sat next to me at the front of the boat, and asked Captain Riddle about life on the camp, ‘Are there other children?’

  ‘Yeah, there’s lots of children at the camp, and lots of fun things to do.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘We have play rooms full of toys with game organisers, and outdoor equipment like bikes and scooters.’ The brothers came closer to listen, gaining in confidence, and interested in the conversation.

  ‘What’s a game organiser?’ James asked, as he found a place to sit next to Emma, and made room for his brother.

  ‘People who look after you, and think up games for you to play.’

  ‘Do you play big alien games, or great white shark games?’ Josh interrupted.

  ‘Yeah I’m sure they do’ laughed Captain Riddle.

  I asked him how the camp was split up, he explained ‘Everyone mucks in, there are jobs for all. Whether it’s looking after the children, cooking, security, or the army itself. We are one of three teams whose job is to find survivors, and bring them back to the camp, targeting different towns each time. But we also have groups who go out collecting supplies and others who salvage useful items for the camp.’

  By this point, our boats had floated back to the raft, that was fastened around the chimney of a terrace house, and we saw first hand some of the work his team had done. There was around twenty people on the raft, mainly elderly, a few children and a couple of pets, something I hadn’t seen for a while. They were all wrapped up in blankets, being fed and watered. They looked like broken human beings, probably much like we did. We talked a while with some of the survivors, whose stories were just as traumatic as ours. Families torn apart, suffering from the extreme cold, starvation and depression. I was also introduced to the team of officers, eleven of them in total, I had forgotten their names by the time I wrote this, but they were all soldiers of varying ranks. They looked well fed, neat and clean shaven, something I hadn’t seen since Roy and Nancy. They talked a good talk, and appeared to be on the level, but I’m not prepared to let my guard down just yet. Captain Riddle also told us about the events leading up to the nuclear war, and how the camp was formed. ‘We were on standby for a few weeks before anything happened’ he said. ‘On heightened alert, but the general consensus within the local barracks was if it kicked off, the politicians would head off to their bunkers after starting the war. So before communication went down we formulated a plan, involving the many different barracks in Lancashire. The camp was originally located at my barracks at Preston, Fulwood, that’s why we have two thousand soldiers from Fulwood at Camp Blue, and we still have a small team at Fulwood, as it’s the place we agreed all soldiers should head towards on the outbreak of war. For the first few months after the bombing, soldiers would arrive from all the local barracks, Squires Gate Blackpool, Lancaster, Bamber Bridge and Fleetwood. Then from further afield, Liverpool, Blackburn and Burnley, but by that time, the world had changed, and the known threat had changed. When we realised the country had been invaded, and the reason why, a decision was made to move to a site in Blackpool, where Camp Blue now stands.’

  ‘Why Blackpool? Seems odd to set up in an area prone to storms and flooding.’

  ‘The conditions have got significantly worse since we made the move, and it’s still a decision that’s questioned today, I think the effect a nuclear war will have on the planet will take years to fully materialise. But the conditions have probably worked in our favour, the creature’s couldn’t cope with them, their weapons and vehicles are too temperamental. We have reports of their aircraft coming down in thick ash clouds, their engines on fire. We take all information available to us, to paint as complete a picture as possible, so we can try and find any weaknesses in the enemy. Even though we have more man power, we are not an offensive army, our main aim presently is to save lives.’ I flashed Bernard I knowing smile, which he acknowledged, before he asked a question of his own. ‘Have you been involved in any battles?’