Underwood

by Colin Griffiths

  He walked into the service station, there was a sports shop inside, he bought some track suit bottoms and two sweat shirts, he paid on his card and was again pleased that the transaction went through, it wasn’t his usual attire but he had few choices at that moment, he booked a room in the adjoining travel lodge and again such a trivial thing as his cash card working made him feel real, but he knew he wasn’t real, there was still too much missing from his life, he went into the room to wash and change, it seemed a million miles away from what he had left that morning, but he knew only a short while away was a town called Underwood, a town no one knew existed, well not the one he had just come from, he went down the stairs to ask the receptionist where to hire a car, he felt he may need one, a taxi ride took him to Caldicot where he hired a SUV, he drove the 7 miles back to the travel lodge, had a KFC as he ate he begrudged himself every bite as he thought of his wife and children.

  He went back to his room and lay on his bed, his head was still in a whirl, he checked the weather forecast on the tele, it said it was going to be fine and he threw the remote on the bed, he wanted some sleep, he needed to sleep to be able to think right, it was just after 9am, he set the alarm clock on the dresser for four hours later, he drifted into a sleep, he dreamt of wolves.

  Delyn sat on the sofa, her upper half of her body jerking as she wept, she really could not believe the story that Tony had told her, that she had come into a secret town and they were looking for a way out, and that if she was ever seen she could be in danger, Tony didn’t tell her everything, he didn’t want to, he held her hand as he told her and this time she did not try to take it away, he got her to lie on the bed to try and get some sleep, exhaustion had overtaken both of them and Delyn soon slept, Tony wanted to sleep but he couldn’t just yet, he had to go and try to explain to the family in Hawthorne, and why Peter was not with him,

  ‘Don’t know what I’m gonna say about this one’ he thought, and a tear came to his eye as he locked Delyn Brown in her prison as she slept.

  Eileen, Lily and Nathan did not want to believe it when Tony explained what had happened, Tony tried to put it as positive as he could, but he knew Lily had seen some of it, he never mentioned what happened to Steve Duce, he hoped Lily wouldn’t, he wondered what was going on in her young mind, so much had happened so soon, he was surprised at the mental strength of the girl, her courage and determination would only drive him on.

  Lily cursed her father inside own head, she thought he had put himself at risk and now he has left them alone and vulnerable, she wanted to hate him, but she couldn’t, deep down she knew that he was trying to save them, she did not believe he was dead, she didn’t feel it, her father would save her, because that’s what fathers do,

  ‘What will happen to us now’ asked Eileen who was trying desperately to stop the tears but on this occasion failed as she wiped them from her cheeks, Nathan sat on the sofa and sobbed, Lily went to comfort him, trying to reassure him that his father was safe and he would be back, but Nathan didn’t believe it, he knew what was in the woods and now it had taken his father, he hated those woods, he wanted to kill the thing that was inside it.

  ‘You will be kept here, Lily is the asset they want’

  Lily heard her name being mentioned and came back into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her so Nathan could not here’

  ‘They aint fucking having me or Ivy’ she stood with her fist clenched, she screwed up her face,

  ‘I’m not going to let that happen’ said Tony as he put his arm around Lily’s shoulder,

  ‘Where’s the girl’ Lily asked’

  ‘She’s safe, come to the car lot tonight and you can meet her, she’s called Delyn, have you got any clothes that would fit her,’

  Eileen gave Tony some of her clothes before he left, Tony would put them down the drain when he was sure no one was looking, he still had stuff to do, there was a vacancy as a driver available, and he wanted to make sure he got it, but first he had to see the doctor.

  Sandra Skellam stood in the sheriff’s office, wondering why for the first time she was not shaking with fear, she still feared the man that sat before her, but today she was not afraid of him, she wondered if the man could sense that, then she was surprised at her own thoughts as she hoped he could, something had happened today, people had started to fight back, she wanted to be part of that, if there was going to be a revolution she certainly wasn’t going to miss it.

  ‘So you don’t know if we’ve had any new residents’ said the sheriff after Sandra had told him about the death of Steve Duce,

  ‘It doesn’t look like it sir, there was no vehicle’,

  Allan Herapath cursed, he wanted new residents, and the velocity of the last storm should have brought some in,

  ‘I want you to search every house’

  ‘Of course sir, but no one would hide anyone, they know how important it is to have new residents’ she thought she sounded convincing but to her surprise she found that she didn’t really care.

  ‘Advertise for a new driver and send them to me, and tell that doctor I want to know the cause of death as soon as possible’ he banged his fists on the desk expecting Sandra to jump, she did not.

  ‘There’s one other thing sir’ Sandra said,

  ‘What is it ’the sheriff shouted, he had enough bad news for today, Sandra stood her ground at the sound of his voice, she wasn’t going to be intimidated, not today,

  ‘I had a call sir from 12 Hawthorne, it seems Peter Ford has been missing since last night’

  ‘Missing, what do you mean missing?’

  ‘According to his family, he was looking for a way out, they think he went in to the woods’

  The sheriff thought about that, he had been feeling well today, he gave it some thought’

  ‘I’ll send the vicar around’ he shooed Sandra out of his office and Sandra left, feeling a lot better then she had for a long time.

  Allan Herapath stroked his chin, he regarded Sandra as his best deputy but two men dead in one night was not acceptable, people shouldn’t be trying to leave Underwood, they should be queueing up to come in was his theory, he may have to look for a replacement deputy.

  Tony stood in the doctors surgery looking at the dead body of Steve Duce and he suddenly become full of remorse looking at the man he had killed earlier in the day, Steve Duce wasn’t a likeable man but Tony thought ‘wasn’t he a victim like everyone else?’ he didn’t deserve to die but he knew he had no choice, Steve would have surely taken the young girl to the sheriff who would immediately be put on the production line, Tony couldn’t allow that, Steve Duce became the victim of those particular circumstances.

  ‘How did he die’ asked Tony to the doctor who was trying to examine the body of Steve Duce who was laid out on a table, the doctor walked over to his desk and slumped in his chair, he was feeling hot and sweaty and he wiped the palm of his hands om his trousers, Tony could see the sweat on his brow.

  ‘How the fuck am I supposed to know, I’m a GP I got a fucking stethoscope’ he eventually said, he wiped his forehead with his hand.

  ‘Looks like a heart attack to me’ said Tony with no medical knowledge whatsoever, he was still looking at the body of Steve Duce.

  The doctor got up from behind his desk and stood beside Tony, both men were staring at the dead body.

  ‘And how would you know’ he asked Tony with a hint of sarcasm, not taking his eyes off the body.

  Tony turned to look at the doctor,

  ‘Because that’s the best way’ his stare was hard and the doctor turned to look at Tony he could see the determination in his eyes,

  ‘What are you up to’ the doctor asked him,

  Tony’s expression did not change,

  ‘So it was a heart attack?’

  The doctors eyes went from Tony to the body and back to Tony, he let out a sigh, a sigh that told Tony he didn’t want to do this anymore.

  ‘That’s exactly what I was going to put on my report’ said
the doctor, he walked over to one of his filing cabinets, took out a blue medicine bottle and a packet of syringes and handed it to Tony, his expression had changed, there was a look of contempt on his face, Tony did not know how to deal with it.

  ‘If taken direct it will kill within 30 seconds’ he paused and there was a smile on his face, ‘however if injected into meat and that meat is eaten, it could be a slow and painful death’

  Tony took the medicine and thanked the doctor, they shook hands and the doctor wished him luck, Tony went to open the door to leave the surgery when the doctor called him back,

  ‘Tony’

  Tony turned around his hand still on the door handle, their eyes locked.

  ‘If it’s for who I think it is, I’d prefer the second option’

  Tony nodded, so did he.

  As he left the surgery he wondered what he had let himself in for, his partner in crime was gone, he needed an ally, he thought he may have one with Sandra the deputy and as he walked to see the sheriff, he just hoped and prayed that Peters remains had not be found, he wanted him alive, even though at this time he was of no use, he hid the poison in his clothing, ten days ago he was just a used car lot owner with no sales, drinking and smoking himself to death, now he had kidnapped someone, killed someone and was walking around with a concoction in his pocket that could kill in seconds, he wondered how it all changed, he smiled as he walked blaming his new friend, Peter Ford.

  Chapter 16

  Peter lay on the bed until the alarm clock went off, but he was awake well before it did, his mind was racing to much to sleep, and when he did doze the dreams were haunting, he had thought about contacting family at home, they would be wondering why no contact had been made, their numbers were in his phone which he had left in underwood, but he wouldn’t be contacting them, at least not for the moment, what could he say, what could he tell Eileen’s mother and father, ‘your daughter and grandchildren have been kidnapped by an alien force’ who in their right mind would believe that, ‘who in their right mind would believe that there was a hidden world somewhere and a storm had took them to it, ‘The police?’ what would he tell them, what could he say, the only conclusion he could come to was sit it out, wait for a storm then see what happened.

  He had a much appreciated shower, relishing the hot water as it hit his naked body, he got dressed and went downstairs to the reception area, behind the reception desk there was a pretty young girl in a hotel uniform and she smiled at him as he approached, and that simple act made him realise how much he had missed normal people, ever since he had been in Underwood all he had seen was fear on people’s faces.

  ‘Can I help you’ she asked as Peter approached the desk, Peter’s heart went into his mouth, he didn’t know why, he gulped, he was at a loss about any of this, he felt like half the time he was walking around in a day dream and the other half was a nightmare, he didn’t know who he could trust, he was on edge, not in control of his emotions and he felt his actions were showing it.

  ‘Can you tell me how to get to Underwood’ he asked her, he watched her eye’s he was sure he was going to see a look of shock on the receptionist face, as if he had sworn at her or made some inappropriate comment.

  ‘Sure’ she said ‘go out of the services, turn right onto the Magor road, follow that for about 2 miles and when you come to the dip, it’s on your left, it’s signposted just go up the hill, you can’t miss it really’ and she smiled at him again.

  The response took Peter aback, he wasn’t sure what answer he was going to get, for a split second he thought the girl was part of it all, and he wanted to challenge her, but that went out of his head when he saw the young girl smile once again, she looked so innocent,

  ‘How can she be part of this’ he told himself.

  ‘Are you okay’ she asked him, noticing the look of shock on his face, her smile wavered to a look of concern.

  Peter composed himself, he noticed the name tag on her uniform, and he chastised himself for his own thoughts,

  ‘Yes thank you Frankie’ he told her ‘I didn’t realise it was still there’

  ‘Where else would it be’ said the girl with a slight look of confusion on her face,

  Peter smiled and thanked her, he didn’t know the answer to that question.

  He left the reception and got into his car and followed the directions he was given, and he was soon passing the church into Underwood, he slowed down to look at it, there was no fear within him, he drove over a bridge with a Motorway running underneath it, his heart was in his mouth as he drove up the incline and to the sign that read Underwood, there was nothing written underneath it and for that he felt thankful, but there was also a tinge of regret, he wanted it to be the same place, and Peter crawled along as he entered the estate, looking around all of the time, then he parked the car and looked on in shock at what he saw, he didn’t know what he was expecting,’ maybe I was hoping for a miracle,’ he thought as he sat in his car open mouthed.

  It was the same road he had entered Underwood during the storm, that was quite clear to him, not as badly worn but he knew it was the same road, but this time to his right where the army huts should have been, were houses, newly built houses, and as he looked down Waltwood road all he could see was cars parked outside the houses and on the drives, behind the houses still stood the woods, but they looked different, they did not look scary, they did not represent fear, in fact Peter thought that they looked quite welcoming, as he looked between the gap of two houses into the woods he could see that someone had built a swing on the tree that overhung into the garden, it was definitely the same place, but somehow it looked different, this wasn’t the same place that he had tied himself to the railings the night before, yet in some ways it was exactly the same place.

  A shiver went through his body and he looked around and expected to see Steve Duce there, but he wasn’t, and again he didn’t know whether to be disappointed or pleased, all the pent up emotions were confusing him, he started answering his own questions in his head, until he run out of questions.

  He put the car in gear and drove on, if he was right the social club should just be down the road, or at least that’s where it was when he first entered Underwood, but then he remembered it had changed so he wasn’t sure what he was going to see, he pulled into the car park and got out of his car, it was exactly where it was the first time he entered Underwood, he shivered again at the thought of it, the building was still there, the first thing Peter noticed was the windows, the one he had left had no windows at the front, this building did, but it still bore the same shape as the one he remembered, the same construction, there was outside seating areas and a new side entrance, with a smoking area, and a new sign adorned it’s walls, now it wasn’t Underwood social club, it was the Iscoed Tafarn and it looked a dam site more welcoming than the Underwood social club he knew and he hated that about it.

  Peter stood there for a while in utter confusion, he really felt like calling the police and telling them everything, but when he went over it in his mind, however he put it, it just seemed so unbelievable that he thought he may be sectioned, then he thought they would look for his family and when they couldn’t find them he would be accused of murdering them, there would be no body’s, his mind was spinning, he thought of life imprisonment if he reported this, he was on his own, no one could help him, not now, the only hope he had was Tony Griffiths and he didn’t live here, not in this Underwood.

  He watched as people were going in and out of the pub, he stood and as he watched them, he was trying to see if there was fear on their faces, the fear that everyone in the town he knew had, the fear of desolation there wasn’t, people were walking up and down the streets and children were out playing, what really threw him was a No.64 single decker bus drove by and stopped at the bus stop, people got on and off, Peter ran in a panic over to the bus stop and someone told the driver to hold on as they thought he was running to catch the bus, but he only wanted to look at the driver, the driver
stared at him waiting for him to step onto the bus, but it was not the man who picked his family up in the mini bus and as his heart sunk he realised he wanted it to be Steve Duce, he wanted someone he had met, he wanted answers, the driver closed the bus door, mumbling to himself as he did so.

  He walked back to the pub and around the back, a bit more purposeful than he had been, the entrance was still there, but it wasn’t the same, it had a canopy over it and another smoking area, there were a group of people outside smoking, they didn’t acknowledge him, never gave him a second look, so different than when he first went to Underwood, where everybody looked at him as if he was a condemned man, he went inside the pub and immediately noticed how different it was, it had become modern and friendly looking, no longer that fear of remorse filled the air, no longer that haze of smoke that you could taste as it hit your lungs, as there was clearly no smoking in the modern Underwood, the pool table was new, the dartboard was not falling off the wall, the TV screens showed sky sports, and as he walked to the bar the young female server smiled and for the second time in a short while Peter was taken aback, he ordered a pint of John Smiths as he thought of the homebrew that Craig would pull.

  ‘Is Craig about’ Peter asked the barmaid’ he didn’t know why he asked it, it just seem to come out,

  ‘I’m sorry who?’ she replied,

  ‘The bar man Craig’