‘I no do this,’ Lenski starts to say. ‘I just help…’
‘If the shoe fits, Lenski,’ Kyle says, patting her back.
‘What shoe? I have shoes.’
‘It’s a saying,’ Pea explains.
‘Lenski, Sam, Pea, Joan and Kyle can all make decisions regarding the fort and the things we need.’
‘Got it,’ Colin says. ‘So like they’re all deputies. That right? And we’re like section heads? I just like to be clear on things.’
‘Does it matter?’ Sam asks.
‘He just said he likes things to be clear,’ Pea explains. ‘That’s fine, Colin. Think of it like that.’
‘Great. So. Just to be clear. I’m a section head of the clothing, bedding and hygiene department. That right?’
‘Yes,’ Pea says.
‘Great. Got it. Thank you. Do we get t-shirts or anything? You know, like a uniform or…’
‘No,’ Pea says.
‘Great. Got it. Just thought it might help that’s all. So people can see who the section heads are if they need help.’
‘Is that a bad idea?’ Sam asks. ‘Might help put people at ease. Colin, you carry on if you want…’
‘Great. Anyone else want a t-shirt? I’ll get a list going…sizes? Colours? Preferences?’
‘I think we’re done,’ Lilly says. ‘You can sort the other things out between you. We need progress and quickly. Thank you everyone…’
Chapter Five
Day Twenty One
‘Tinned beans and hot dog sausages. Fucking joke that is. Either that or fruit. Some fucking choices that is. Bet they’ve got bleeding crossonts to eat or those pain o’chocolate buns…and what we supposed to do all day? Sit in the sun?’ Tommy grumbles in his patch of ground. Sat on his backside with his legs stretched out. His belly full and a large Styrofoam cup filled with strong tea at his side. The sun now rising higher into the sky with the promise of another scorching day.
‘This tea tastes like gnats pee as well,’ Tommy adds after sipping from his cup. ‘They need to get a fucking grip in here…where you going?’ he asks when Norman rises to his feet.
‘I need to stretch my legs,’ Norman says.
‘Make sure you go the right way this time you numpty…’
Norman walks off. Simply unable to sit in the heat listening to Tommy. Too many images of Robert in his mind. The pain inside so very terrible it makes him feel strangely numb, like there is a void where his heart and soul once existed. He needs something to do. Something menial and hard so he’ll be exhausted and sleep without nightmares. It felt good for those few seconds this morning when he helped with the woman in shock. Not the action of it all. That was frightening, and never in his life did he think he would ever need to try and wrestle a gun from someone.
No, it was the doing that helped. The having something else to focus on. That’s what he needs now.
He lifts his head to look about, trying to discern who he should ask and walks to the door where all the fort workers seem to go in and out, hearing the sound of chairs scraping and people chatting as the meeting ends.
‘Excuse me! I have work to do?’ A female voice snaps and Norman watches the angry female doctor he saw yesterday storm out and walk off across the fort.
‘Give me five minutes,’ Lilly calls while walking out. ‘Oh hi,’ she says, coming to a stop on seeing Norman. ‘You helped us this morning…I didn’t have a chance to say thank you…’
Norman nods, offering a tight quick smile. ‘Is this where we volunteer to work?’
‘Yes, it is. Thank you so much. Go in and see Lenski…she’s right in there.’
‘Lenski?’ Norman asks, stepping into the offices to see people standing and chatting.
‘I’m just saying it’ll help if we have t-shirts,’ a red-faced man tells Sam nearby.
‘Sure,’ Sam replies. ‘Sorry, who are you after?’ she asks Norman.
‘Er, Lenski?’
‘Down there,’ Sam replies, pointing down the room to the tall Polish woman talking to Agatha the cook.
‘Lenski? I’d like to volunteer…to help I mean,’ Norman says, coughing to clear his throat. His voice sounding so weak and feeble. His voice was always so strong. So resonant and powerful but then everything feels weak and feeble now.
‘Name?’ Lenski asks, waving as Agatha walks off.
‘Norman.’
‘Last name?’
‘Calloway. Norman Calloway…’
‘Wait please…’ Lenski says, flicking through a stack of sheets on a table. ‘Calloway with C yes?’
‘Yes, it is. I can pick litter up or…clean the dishes maybe. Open tins. Carry wood or…’
‘Were you builder? Soldier?’
‘Er, no…no, I wasn’t…’
‘I have now,’ she says, pulling a sheet from the pile. ‘Calloway. Yes. Norman Calloway. It say you were a lawyer.’
‘Er yes.’
‘You have education yes? Wait please…Ann?’
‘Over here,’ Ann replies, pushing through the people chatting. ‘What’s up?’
‘I have man to help you. Is lawyer. Is smart.’
‘A lawyer eh?’ Ann asks, stepping in close with that doctor’s way of invading his personal space without the slightest bit of worry. She reaches out to feel his neck, nodding at him as she does. ‘I’m happy with menial work or just labouring,’ he adds while she pulls a small torch from a pocket to shine in his eyes.
‘Look that way…have you eaten this morning?’
‘Sausages and beans but…’
‘Drank much?’
‘Tea…’
‘Passed water?’
‘What?’
‘Had a piss? Have you had a piss?’
‘Yes.’
‘Any pain? Did it hurt?’
‘No but…’
‘Close your eyes, hold your arms out…checking you for balance now. Just going to push gently so resist me…that’s good. From this side. That’s good…’
‘Sorry, what’s this for?’
‘Checking to make sure you’re fit to work with me. Expect a long day. Hot too. Not much shade either. Probably looking at twelve, maybe fourteen hours before we come back to the fort. That okay?’
‘Right. Er…doing what?’
‘Working with me on the other side. Could do with a thinking man giving me a hand.’
‘I just wanted to pick litter.’
‘Oh I recognise you now. You helped this morning with that woman. Of course you did. You’re with me. Wait here and we’ll go when Lilly gets back…actually, that pan has just heated. Make yourself a cup of tea and I’ll have one too. No sugar in mine…’ she rushes off, making Norman turn as Lenski walks in from his other side.
‘Radio,’ Lenski says, pushing one into his hands. ‘Channel two, you are the beach, yes?’
‘What?’
‘If I call for the beach you answer if Ann does not hear me. Yes?’
‘Right.’
‘Take this clipboard. Names, details of the people. What skills they have. You write this down when the new people come. Yes?’
‘Right.’
‘Yes, write. Write on sheet. If builder, if doctor you say urgently. We need people with skills. Yes?’
‘Right.’
‘Thank you so much for this morning,’ Pea says, walking by while quickly rubbing his shoulder. ‘Really means a lot.’
‘Right,’ Norman says.
‘Okay,’ Ann says, appearing at his side with a huge red paramedic bag that she dumps at his feet. ‘Did you make a brew? No? I’ll do it. Look after that bag…’
‘Okay, everybody ready?’ Lilly calls, prompting an exodus of people starting to move.
‘Grab that for me,’ Ann says, passing Norman the big red medical bag while she hoists another one from the side onto her shoulder.
Lilly leads the way with Kyle and Peter as they head out and down to the gates and through to the beach and the workers all chatting and s
moking on the shore with the boat engines idling, ready to load.
Into the vessels with Lilly’s and Ann’s boats moving side by side through the still water as Norman takes it all in. Looking at the sea, at the sky, at the people about him that appear so tired and exhausted but still functioning and still trying to help.
‘What’s your name?’
Norman blinks then spots Kyle staring at him from a few feet away in the other boat. ‘What’s your name?’ Kyle asks again.
‘Norman.’
‘Norman is it? Thanks for your help this morning. Appreciate that.’
Norman nods. Not knowing what else to say. ‘We’ve got new arrivals already waiting,’ Ann says to him, pointing ahead to a fleet of vehicles waiting on the shore road flanked by armed men and women. The refugees drinking water and sitting in the shade. Men, women and children. ‘Going to be a very long day…’
‘What do I do?’ he asks but she just smiles at him. A middle-aged woman with laughter lines in the corners of her eyes and a great and awful sadness within them.
‘Whatever it takes,’ she says with raw honesty. ‘We do whatever it takes.’
If there is order, Norman cannot see it. From the minute he steps from the boat to the beach there is only chaos and noise with many people doing many different things at the same time.
He wades through the shallows onto the beach. His wet office shoes sinking into the soft sand. Grey suit trousers and his white office shirt now grubby and worn. The sun already glaring down. The heat already so high it makes him squint from the sunlight bouncing off the water, shielding his eyes as he looks this way and that while carrying one of the big red medical bags.
‘We’re over here,’ Ann calls, bringing his attention to her at the edge of the sand. ‘Give me a hand with these…’ she starts grabbing large sun umbrellas. Norman tries to help but every action feels feeble and weak. Like he’s not in his own body. ‘They are a bit tricky,’ Ann says kindly, having already put four up. ‘How do you like it?’
‘Like what?’ he asks.
‘Our office,’ she says, staring at the shaded section formed by the umbrellas. ‘Grand isn’t it. Right, grab a clipboard, we’ll get stuck in…’
Clipboard in hand and he trudges after Ann striding confidently from the soft sand onto a road surface that only three weeks ago would have been swept daily to keep the sand off. Now it’s barely visible.
‘Hullo!’ Ann calls out to two armed men. ‘Are you with the camp?’
‘We are,’ one of them replies. Blond haired and smiling. ‘I’m Patrick, that’s Tyson…’
‘Alright,’ Tyson says, tanned and lean with short dark hair. A wooden stocked rifle held on a strap across his front.
‘Great stuff,’ Ann says. ‘I’m Ann. This is Norman. Right, what have we got here?’ she says, coming to a stop to address the silent and worried looking people that arrived during the night. ‘Listen in please. We’ll get you over to the fort as soon as we can, so please get yourselves ready to be checked. Norman, we’ll start at the far end and work backwards…’
Into the fray they go. Norman rushing after Ann towards a car at the front. A family sitting beside it. Two young children. A mum and a dad. All of them looking fearful.
‘Hi! Doctor Ann Carlton,’ Ann says, walking towards them. ‘We just need a few details. Come on, up you get…where are you from?’
‘Gloucester,’ the man says, clearing his throat to speak.
‘Not too far then,’ Ann says. ‘Are any of you in pain? I mean serious pain from injury or illness? No? All good? Children drinking plenty? Have any of you been bit, scratched, cut or had any bodily fluids go on you from the infected? No? Right, very briefly. This is the fort. We’re getting set up as we go, okay?’
‘Is Mr Howie here?’ the man blurts, glancing at his wife. ‘We heard about him. They said he’s immune and he’s got soldiers and it’s safe here…’
‘See that group over there,’ Ann says, pointing down the road to Lilly talking with Kyle, Sam, Pea and Joan. ‘They’re all part of Mr Howie’s team. He’s not here right now but he does come back. We’re doing everything we can to make you safe while Mr Howie is out there keeping them away from us…’
Norman spots the looks of relief in the faces of the two adults. That there is hope and someone doing something.
‘Norman, we need names, dates of birth, who they are here with, allergies and what skills they have, weapons, engineering, cooking, crafting…anything that can help us. Lenski also does the same in the fort to make sure nothing is missed.’
Into the fray a bit further and Norman starts his job proper. A pen in one hand. A clipboard in the other and he feels strangely nervous, like it’s the first day on a new job and he’s being scrutinised. Then a few seconds later and his mind floods with images of Robert and those nerves go because nothing really matters now.
‘Okay, great,’ Ann says, finishing the first family. ‘Norman, can you radio Lenski and tell her the first lot are on their way.’
‘Er…’ Norman juggles the pen and clipboard, everything awkward and weird. The radio in his hands and he presses the button, not knowing if it’s working. ‘Is that it?’ he asks, hearing his own voice blast out from several radios held by people nearby.
‘I’ll do it,’ Ann says, rubbing his arm as she plucks her radio from her belt. ‘Lenski, it’s Ann. First family coming to you very shortly.’
‘Yes. I hear this, Ann,’ Lenski’s voice transmits back.
Into the fray a bit more and he rushes after Ann striding on towards the next set of people. The same things repeated. This is the fort. Mr Howie is not here but Lilly and her team work with Mr Howie. Names, details, allergies and skills.
‘Sally love! Next lot are ready to go over…Lenski, It’s Ann. Another group on their way.’
Norman rushes after Ann as the morning plays out. The same things repeated. This is the fort. Any pain? Names, details. What are your skills? More caravans arriving. People shouting out. Voices constantly on the radio with people in the fort and on the beach talking to each other. Boats going back and forth. Vans and pick-ups whizzing up and down the shore road carrying the contents of the houses being flattened. A frantic pace that only gets worse as more people turn up. Terrified, confused, bedraggled and desperate.
‘Er, Lenski? Hi, it’s Norman. I’m on the beach and Ann asked me to tell you the er…I mean we have some more people coming over…when Sally…’
‘I hear this,’ Lenski cuts him off and on they go, working down the line to the next vehicle. A tall man with a turban and a dark beard turning to look at Ann and Norman. Two more men in turbans. Women, children and older people. All of them the same as everyone else. Silent and fearful looking.
‘Hi, Doctor Ann Carlton. Welcome to the fort. I just need to check you over and we’ll go through everything with you. That okay?’
‘Sure,’ the tall man in the turban says. His accent distinctly Birmingham.
The same as before and Ann gets working, moving from person to person. Asking about cuts, bites, scratches and bodily fluids.
‘Just need to take some details please,’ Norman says. ‘Names, dates of birth, who you are here with then skills and that sort of thing.’
‘Sure mate, whatever you need. I’m Pardip…the other two ugly ones are my brothers unfortunately, Jaspal and Simar, we’re all Singh though mate. Surnames like. I don’t think anyone is allergic to anything. Best ask the wife though…Sunnie? Is anyone allergic to anything, love?’
‘You’re allergic to cleaning,’ she fires back in a strong brummie voice. ‘No love, nobody has allergies. Jaspal gets windy if he eats too much bread…’
‘Okay,’ Norman says, writing it all down. ‘I need to ask for skills too, builders or soldiers or…’
‘I’m a builder, well, a construction manager to be precise like,’ Pardip says casually.
‘What?’ Ann snaps, spinning around. ‘Say that again?’
‘I’m a b
uilder,’ Pardip says with a shrug.
‘Not a good one,’ Jaspal mutters.
‘Builder!’ Ann says, rushing over. ‘I could kiss you! I will kiss you! A builder…’ she grabs the tall man, planting kisses on his cheeks in a way that makes his family all smile in puzzlement.
‘Jaspal’s an electrician,’ Pardip adds. ‘And Simar is a joiner…’
Ann shouts in delight as she rushes to hug Jaspal then on to Simar. ‘WE’VE GOT BUILDERS!’ she shouts, making the workers on the beach turn to call out and wave as she grabs her radio. ‘John! It’s Ann. I’ve got a strapping family here. Builder, electrician and a joiner…’
A brief pause. A burst of static. ‘Really?’ John’s voice booms from the radio. ‘They fit to work?’
‘Sure, I guess so,’ Pardip says, clearly thrown off but smiling all the same. ‘Sunnie’s a cook too if that helps, and Anika’s a nurse.’
‘FUCK ME,’ Ann shouts, lifting her arms into the air, making them all jump. ‘You’re the family from heaven…are you a qualified nurse?’
‘Yeah course,’ Anika says, her own voice as strong with the brummie accent as the others.
‘You beautiful woman,’ Ann says, hugging her too. ‘Right. We’ll get you over to the fort and sorted out, then as soon as you are ready please get back over here to work with me and Norman. Is that okay? Best family ever…gold stars for everyone.’
‘That’s a nice welcome that is,’ Pardip says as his family nod and murmur in agreement. ‘We were worried like. You know. Being Indian and all that…and from Birmingham…’
‘You could be aliens and I would still kiss you,’ Ann says.
‘Hi, Ann? I just heard on the radio,’ Lilly says rushing towards them with Kyle. ‘Builders?’
‘Oh no, not just builders,’ Ann says, grabbing Sunnie’s hand. ‘This lady is a cook, and this lady is a nurse, Jaspal is an electrician and Simar is a joiner…’
‘Oh now, will ye look at that,’ Kyle says, striding in to clasp hands.
‘Brilliant,’ Lilly says, joining in with the greetings, and it hits harder, right then on a sand covered road at the edge of a beach between a fort and a gypsy camp as Norman realises just how desperate times are now. And that this family, simply because of the skills they have, are instantly elevated up in terms of just how bloody essential they are.
The Undead (Book 23): The Fort Page 5