by Terry Tyler
Anyone he wants to see has left.
Anyone who's anyone has left.
Makes him the top guy.
So is this his empire now? Acres of shitty flats thrown up to house the masses, some of whom are already dying. He walks on, round the front of the massive Hub, and on, out into the main street. He never realised how far it is, before; he drove, mostly. Now, he feels tired. He is going nowhere, but walking all the way back seems too formidable a task.
And back to what?
The thought of sitting in his flat feels like a death sentence.
His legs are weak. Like jelly. He remembers this feeling, from childhood: the first day downstairs after being ill.
Out on the main street it is deathly quiet. Through a window of the Supplies Zone he sees armed guards, in their protective clothing and helmets. They won't get the virus. Not them.
They see him looking in, and their only reaction is to prepare their arms to shoot if necessary.
He is just another person who might be infected.
This isn't his empire. You're only the top guy if the guns are on your side, and he has nothing with which to buy their loyalty. They don't have to do what he says; they have weapons, so they can take what they want.
Verlander's power was supplied by the kings of the Renova Group, but Dex never even got to know their names.
He watches a shabbily dressed man stumble against the door of the medical centre and thump with his fist, over and over, but the door remains locked. The man crumples onto the ground, and vomits.
Dex recognises him; it is Steve, whose wife painted the mural on the walls of the house in Lindisfarne.
Fuck him.
His face feels as though it's burning. He touches his forehead; it is.
He feels hot all over, the stink of stale booze sweating from his pores.
He looks back at the Hub, and weakness consumes him.
Beyond him are featureless roads, the Rez Zones, the empty plots and shells of buildings which will remain empty until Verlander's return.
His head hurts, thuds as though held in a hot vice, and he knows this is no hangover.
He wants to sit down, badly, but where? There are chairs in the Medical Centre. Beds. Would they let him in? He just wants somewhere to lie for a while, before he walks on he knows not where. He needs a drink of water, a cool sponge on his head. He is management; they have to open the door, don't they?
But he was never given that promised job title, or presented to the population as anything other than Verlander's spokesperson.
Dex looks past the dismal buildings, and upwards. He wonders, as his stomach begins to rumble and cramp, if there was ever a place for him on the helicopter, Libby or no Libby.
Grey covers the sun, and the last patch of blue disappears.
Dexter Northam moans out loud and lurches over as a sharp pain stabs him in the gut, lower than the gut, and his stomach contracts, his body quivering, no longer obeying his brain as he kneels on all fours in the middle of the road and feels the warm wetness flooding the inside of his pale grey jogging bottoms. His nostrils find the vile smell, and as he shivers, weak, hot and cold all at once, he sees a woman and a little boy before him, their eyes round, horrified and disgusted, and the woman puts her hands over the child's eyes and drags him away so he will not see the dirty man shitting himself in the street.
In the distance, dark clouds open; Dex crawls over to the nearest wall, slumps down and waits for the cold rain to wash away his shame.
Later, as the sun begins to sink and the darkening sky glows pink and orange, the guards do their rounds. They find several infected in the quarantine flats in Rez 5, a few in Rez 4, and one by the door of the medical centre. These poor, sad souls are forced at gunpoint, staggering and moaning, into a van prepared for the purpose; their destination is a Portakabin two miles out, towards the far perimeter.
The guns are not necessary; they know their fate.
As the van approaches its destination through the dim light of the chilly dusk, the guard on the passenger side spies a lone figure, a man, wandering across the vast expanse of empty ground.
"The fuck?" He taps on the windscreen and points; the driver gives him a thumbs up and alters his course.
The driver is Jake Treleaven, the guard who told a young nurse he was in love with her the night before he burst into the management meeting to announce the return of Erika Thiessen.
When they are a few yards from the lone wanderer, Treleaven stops the van, gets out, and fires his gun into the air.
The man turns, staring at him as if he is lost.
"Bloody hell," says Treleaven, as he shines his torch on the man's pallid face.
He beckons to his friend to wind down the window, and shouts into the mouthpiece of his helmet.
"It's Dex Northam. Verlander's man."
"Do we care?"
"Nah," shouts Treleaven. "Infected's infected, don't matter if it's the king of England."
The other guard nods, and sticks his thumbs up.
Treleaven grins, and murmurs to himself, "Code Red couldn't happen to a nicer fella."
He approaches with care, shines his torch over him from head to foot, and laughs. Either he's been rolling around in the mud, or he's shat himself.
Dex looks at him through dead, red-ringed, hopeless eyes.
"Inside the van. Now." Jake Treleaven gestures toward the waiting vehicle.
He gives him a rough prod with his rifle, and Dex staggers forward.
Up front, the guard in the passenger seat makes a gesture: just shoot him.
"Not him," Treleaven says. "He don't deserve to be put out of his misery." He hauls Dex up by the arm and studies his ashen face. "Changed my mind, mate. Code Red's too good for you, too. You're going to suffer until your very last breath."
He shoots him in the leg.
Dex cries out in pain and collapses onto the muddy ground, and Treleaven laughs.
The next bullet hits him in the shoulder, and he begins to cry in fear, holding his hands in front of his face.
"Those two were for me." Treleaven cocks his gun again. "But this one," he says, bringing his rifle up to look through the scope at Dex's groin area, "this one's for Abbie."
He fires, surveys his handiwork with a smile, then gets back into the van.
On the horizon the sun completes its path to bed, the remaining patches of glorious sunset fading into black as the van bumps away over the uneven ground, and the only sounds in the darkness are the tortured screams of slow, agonising death.
Epilogue
Martin
Baldur Island, April 2027
We're here, and it's wonderful.
Most people live in log cabins, and the whole place is so well organised that it puts our efforts on Lindisfarne to shame. These people know what they're doing; it's a self-sufficient island that functioned long before bat fever.
We are welcomed with open arms, whilst being left in no doubt about our role in making sure that Baldur survives and flourishes.
Until more housing is built, I share a cabin with Scott, Luke and John; we make jokes about being a party of trappers as we sit around our wood burning stove. I worry about the amount of logs we use versus the trees on the wooded part of the island, but Jewel assures me that new ones are being planted all the time, and says I can join the loggers, who sail across to another, uninhabited island to obtain more.
I'm not sure if I have it in me to be a lumberjack, but I'll give it a go.
We talk and worry about those we left behind, but Hawk says we can make runs out there in his smaller vessel, a speedboat, to take them supplies and make sure no terrible ills have befallen them.
"But at the end of the day, they made their choice," Jewel reminds him. "You will approach with caution; we cannot do anything to jeopardise what we have here. That is the single most important thing to remember."
What happens in the rest of the world, happens. We've talked about the threat of intruders,
and the new super-deluxe bat fever, and we all know the risks, but I don't think we could be in a better place right now. Water all around us; no boat can drop anchor, no plane can land.
It's wonderful here.
I've met the tree-huggers, who are a little too determinedly serene for me, but they are most welcoming, and as long as they don't try to make me meditate or put crystals under my pillow, I'm good.
One of them offered Ruby a large rock of something-or-other to help her sleep, and she said, "What am supposed to do, hit myself over the head with it?"
There are children, which is a joy; I think of Jarrah and I fear for them, but we have a massive stock of medical supplies.
"We made the most of the chaos of the past years, and looted every hospital and chemist on the mainland that we could find," Seren tells me.
She and Travis are gloriously happy together. I love to see the happy couples, especially those from Lindisfarne: Lottie and Mac, for whom I have special affection, Paul and Davina Lincoln, who escaped the jaws of death-by-UK2, and even Ozzy appears to be having a second honeymoon with Myra, though one wonders how long that will last. As promised, there are some rather attractive Nordic blondes walking around, albeit fully clothed; to his disappointment, I hear.
I had hoped to be part of a couple myself, with Vicky, but it was not to be. Maybe I should have made my move earlier, but I would be an idiot not to see that she and young Doyle are dancing around each other, if they are not dancing cheek to cheek already. He must be thirty years younger than me, and I wonder who I was trying to kid; just because Gaia was eager to hitch herself to an old crock, it doesn't mean every younger woman will feel the same. And Vicky looks so at peace; she smiles and laughs more than she ever did before. I am sincerely, genuinely happy for her.
Besides, my life is not without romantic possibility. Jewel is most attentive when she talks to me. She puts her head on one side and toys with her hair which, Lottie tells me, are signs that someone is attracted to you.
"I read it on a website, years ago, and I've always remembered it; me and my mates, we used to watch out for it and say, that guy, he is, like, so into you!"
Websites. How long ago that all seems now. Fun, but irrelevant, unimportant.
Jewel is around my age, and there is something rather appealing about this. Realistically, I am not sure I would have the energy to maintain a relationship with a younger woman. Not any more. Jewel is attractive, witty, and doesn't stand for any crap. I like that. Also, we can compare grey hairs and wrinkles. While sitting by the fire, reading to each other.
See, I'm thinking ahead already.
Happy days.
It's good to be alive.
THE END
The Story So Far
In the year 2024, a deadly virus is detected in a little known African province. It is nicknamed 'bat fever' by the media, and new social media site Private Life heads the 'Keep the UK Safe' campaign.
A countrywide vaccination programme is introduced by the government, but bat fever hits the UK just a few weeks later, with the first official case reported in the small Norfolk town of Shipden.
The town is locked down under military enforced quarantine, and the public is told there is no need to panic, even as 'isolated' cases appear in South London. The country is thrown into chaos, with riots at the vaccination units.
Underground group Unicorn suspects that the vaccination programme is not random, as is claimed, and that there is a more sinister reason for the outbreak.
Within a week the virus is unstoppable, and the structure of society begins to break down.
Tipping Point follows the story of Vicky and her sixteen year old daughter, Lottie, as they face the first month of quarantine in Shipden without the support of Vicky's boyfriend, Dex, who is a member of Unicorn and was many miles away when the news broke. They escape, and travel to Tyne and Wear, where they share a house with Unicorn members Kara and Phil, and two others: Heath and his son, Jax.
Vicky and Heath are attracted to each other, but Vicky holds back because she believes Dex will join them soon; nobody has seen or heard from him since the outbreak.
A couple of months later, three more people move into the house: Ozzy, Rowan, and Unicorn member Scott, who has found out the truth about the bat fever virus: that it was actually a government-sanctioned, targeted depopulation plan called Project Renova. The virus was released three months earlier than was intended, after which control became impossible. Major Project Renova players, including heads of state and the directors of Maxlo, the pharmaceutical giant that cultivated both virus and vaccine, were flown to remote, privately owned Pacific islands for safety.
Vicky discovers that Dex was having an affair with Unicorn member Naomi, and that she is pregnant; Scott believes the couple are living in an underground bunker owned by Unicorn founder Jeff Finch. Vicky then becomes closer to Heath.
Tipping Point ends with the group's intention to travel to the island of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast.
In Newcastle, ex-convict Alan Wedgebrow, 'Wedge', sets off for Lindisfarne to find the members of his motorbike club, The Hadrian—in particular 'the Kaiser', believed to be on the island with Wedge's girlfriend, Bette. In Leicestershire, former data analyst Travis and girlfriend Aria are also planning to travel there.
Lindisfarne opens with the group's arrival at Lindisfarne, closely followed by those of Wedge, Travis and Aria. An existing community of around forty people is already there, and Vicky discovers this includes Dex, with Naomi. She and Dex decide to rekindle their relationship. Heath is heartbroken and begins a casual affair with Aria, behind Travis's back.
After some months, Wedge plays out his dramatic revenge on The Kaiser—he murders him in front of the islanders, and resumes his position as president of the club. Meanwhile, Vicky and Dex's relationship proves difficult; he takes over as leader of the community and exhibits worrying, egotistical behaviour. He becomes unpopular with some islanders, and forms a friendship with Wedge.
Aria tells Travis about her affair with Heath, with whom she is in love. Travis asks her to leave, and Heath feels forced to take her in. The relationship is not a happy one, and Heath and Vicky reignite the spark between them, falling in love and meeting in secret.
During this time, the security of the island is threatened: Jonas, who was exiled by Dex for vandalism and stealing, tells outsiders of the bounty to be found on the island, and Lindisfarne is invaded. Eight people are killed.
In March 2026, ten weeks after he and Vicky began their affair, Heath is murdered. This is thought to be a random act of violence committed by Wedge. However, Lottie and Jax find out that Dex ordered the murder after discovering that Vicky and Heath had fallen in love and were planning to leave the island together. Jax kills Wedge in revenge, but he and Lottie agree to keep both this and Dex's role secret because Vicky is emotionally fragile and leaning heavily on Dex in the wake of her lover's death. Lottie knows she must tell her mother eventually, but every day it becomes harder to do so.
Others have joined the community, including Martin, a sixty-year-old journalist, and Flora, a nineteen-year-old girl who has suffered much on her road to Lindisfarne.
Meanwhile, in the south, lone traveller Brian Doyle has discovered that the recovery of the UK is underway. Vast areas of infected towns and cities are being bombed or demolished, and a new capital city, UK Central, is under construction on the South Downs. In charge of this is Alex Verlander of the Renova Group, for whom Doyle worked, with Travis, pre-bat fever. Doyle is offered a job managing the data analysis team. He is sceptical; all who accept work and housing within UK Central must agree to have microchips inserted into their shoulders. The 'chipping' is sold to new residents as a way of ensuring their safety; despite his misgivings, Doyle agrees because of the other benefits on offer.
Lindisfarne closes with Lottie about to start a relationship with Hadrian club member Mac, but very unhappy about her dilemma: should she tell her mother the truth about
Dex? Vicky is still very depressed about the loss of Heath, and Jax is suffering greatly. Dex is in full charge of the island community, living up at the castle, and his ego is out of control....
Return to Introduction
The following contains possible spoilers if you have not yet read UK2
Author's Note
This is the final book in the Project Renova trilogy that I planned two years ago, when I first had the idea for Tipping Point. However, although this story has reached the conclusion I promised, I know I have not finished with the series. I have already published a collection of related short stories, Patient Zero; the backstories of Jared, Flora, Ruby and Martin can be found within this. I am also planning a book of short novellas, which will be side stories about Aria, Billy Stokes from Tipping Point who let the virus out, and a couple more, to be decided upon. As well as this, I plan to write a fourth full-length novel, which will take place as far as a hundred years in the future, going back to perhaps the year 2050. A story is never finished, and I still have unanswered questions in my head; what happens to Bronte and Flora's children, and do Naomi and Phoenix survive? Do any of the Elmfield Five go back to Lindisfarne? Does the virus take hold? What happens to Verlander and co in Greenland? In the meantime, thank you for reading, and getting this far. I would so appreciate a few words on Amazon to give your opinion about these books; self-published authors rely so much on recommendations from satisfied readers, so please do spread the word!
Other books by Terry Tyler
The Project Renova Series
Tipping Point
Lindisfarne
Patient Zero
Novels
The Devil You Know
The House of York
Last Child
Kings and Queens
What It Takes
Full Circle
Dream On