by Dave Lacey
“I guess. It’s a big step though. How long would it take to travel all that way?” Smithy asked.
Jack pulled a face and nodded. “Good question. I dunno. Let’s say we could march at what, two, three miles an hour?” Smithy nodded. “Let’s say, two, taking in any delays. And we can march for...ten, no twelve, hours a day, safely. That’s twenty-four miles a day.” Jack looked at Smithy for agreement. Smithy nodded.
“Twenty-four miles per day. I reckon it’s around three hundred miles to the Eden Project, which is where the seed bank is. So, that’s...I’d say, maybe thirteen or fourteen days, if we’re lucky with patrols. A month round trip?” Jack cocked his head to one side as he looked at his friend. Smithy looked up at the roof of the tunnel and blew out his cheeks. He threw a small stone across the tunnel at the wall, and listened to it bounce around the ground before answering.
“That’s a long time to be gone, chuckles,” Smithy said, rooting out another stone. “And that’s if it goes according to plan. If it doesn’t, it may take two months. Or we may not come back at all.” He pursed his lips in thought.
“This is true, but let’s not be too down on the whole thing.” Jack busied himself with trying to dig out his own stone from the ground. “I’m not sure if I’m happy or not now that Tom decided to let us go,” he said, throwing his stone across the space between them.
“Yup, and I’m now thinking of decking Tom when we go to see him later,” Smithy said, full of bluster.
Jack laughed. “Yeah, sure. This show of bravado is pretty late in coming though. You had your chance while he was here.”
Smithy looked away again quickly and began shaking his head. “Look, I could have taken him, but he’s old, and I’m still coming back from a life-threatening, life-threatening by the way, injury. What else could I have done?” Smithy shrugged.
“No, no, quite right. Tom doesn’t know how lucky he is.”
Chapter 22
As the day of the mission approached, the Hub became a flurry of activity. People moved with even more purpose than usual, and children scampered about the place, giggling and chasing each other. There was an air of excitement, undercut with tension. They all knew something was happening, that it might be hugely beneficial, but most didn’t know the details. Tom prowled around the place like a caged beast. He harangued and barked his orders, and people scurried in all directions to carry them out.
Jack and Smithy worked on their fitness. They couldn’t slow the mission down. They had to be ready. Jack had to admit he felt a sneaking excitement at the thought of what came next. He had come to agree with Tom against telling everyone exactly what it was they were looking for, to prevent a revolt before they even began the journey. He was doing his post workout stretches, when Millie came in. She slumped against the wall opposite and sighed.
“Yes?” Jack asked, grunting at the effort. Millie tilted her head to one side before answering.
“It’s the three of us, plus Darren,” she said.
Jack came up on his elbows. “Really? Darren?” he asked, his face spread in surprise.
Millie nodded slowly. “Yup. I mean, he did really well during the whole Jack Junior episode, but that’s the extent of his expertise.”
They sat in silence for a moment, then there came a knock at the entrance to Jack’s quarters.
“Come in,” Jack shouted.
Darren entered, then looked at the both of them, pursed his lips and nodded. “So you know already?” he asked. Jack and Millie nodded. “And you’re not impressed by the idea?” Darren added, clasping his hands together in front of him.
A moment of silence, then “It’s nothing against you, Darren, really,” said Millie. “It’s just that there are so many experienced members of our defence squad that I find it odd they chose you to go. After a single mission.”
Darren nodded, staring at the floor. “I understand,” said Darren. “But let me just say that I asked, if not begged, Tom to allow me to go.”
“I see,” Jack said. “That throws a slightly different light on things. Why?” Jack asked as he leant on the wall stretching his calves.
Darren frowned, one hand slipping into his pocket, the other moving to support his chin. He shook his head as he answered, looking slightly bewildered. “I’m not completely sure. But I think it’s mainly because I want to do something useful. I want to contribute. I’ve been a slave for more years than I care to remember, and I’d like to do something that will benefit what I hope will be my new home for many years. At least until we overthrow our oppressors that is.” He smiled, but continued to stare at the floor. His eyes were slightly glassy.
“Fair enough,” Jack sighed. “It’s hard to argue with that.”
Darren sat down next to Jack, and the three of them discussed what they might expect from the journey, but not what they were going for. That information would remain a secret between Jack and Smithy.
The small team spent more time together in the following forty-eight hours. The whole community was buzzing with expectation, and no one seemed to be getting much sleep.
A few days later, groups of people from other communities started to arrive. The ensuing back slapping and general bonhomie was infectious, creating an almost festival-like air in the community. Talk and laughter filled the air, and people stayed up all night discussing the life they had lived for the past eight or so years. And more than a little of the time before.
Jack sat on the outer edge of the Hub, a soft smile on his lips as he watched those before him. He was a great people watcher, and it was a very long time since he had seen anything like the scene in front of him. Christmas was always a good time, even in the community, but this carried more weight and momentum. It was an incredible thing to see. Great bursts of laughter, screams, shouts and the constant susurration of many voices vying to be heard. Children sat on knees, looking and listening, as rapt as the parents.
Smithy found him there, and together they sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before Jack spoke. “I wonder if it will ever get any better than this?” He jerked his head to indicate the heart of the Hub.
“How do you mean?” Smithy asked, continuing to look at the same scene as Jack.
“I mean, will it ever get any better than it is right here, right now?” he said.
“If we find something to fight them and beat them with, then yes, obviously,” Smithy said, folding his arms and slouching back in his seat.
Jack hitched up one side of his mouth, wondering. “Will it? You think we will ever be happier than we are right now? I’m not sure about that. Were we happy before they came, do you think?”
Smithy frowned and looked at the floor, wracking his mind for the truth of it. “I think so, yes,” Smithy said, nodding to affirm his point.
“Really?” Jack wore a lugubrious expression before going on. “Maybe. But I have a sneaking suspicion we weren’t all that happy. I think we just plodded along, day by day, week by week, month by month, hoping things would get better. Worrying about so many things that we just got used to an underlying level of fear that sat there, waiting to grow. Here, at least we all worry about the same thing, and it is just one thing. Them. We’re all in it together. We are a community, a proper one.” Jack said.
“So let me get this right. You’re saying we should be grateful that the ‘Landers came and invaded our world? That they’ve done us a favour?” Smithy said, frowning.
“No, you tit, that’s not what I’m saying. Not precisely. But in many ways I wonder what we’ll do if and when we get rid of them. It’ll take a long time for the planet to recover, but it will recover.” Jack stopped, frowning in his conviction.
“But?” Smithy asked.
“But, will we? There’s going to be so much to do. The surface world is a total fucking mess, a complete write off. There are so few of us left now, in comparison to before. I’m just saying there’ll be a lot to do. And it will take a long, long time to do it. It will almost be like starting o
ver again.” Jack took a moment to let that thought sink in. It was a weighty consideration, and Smithy went very quiet. “There’ll be no government, no police force, and no infrastructure. And we’ll lose some of the organization we have down here. People will just drift off as they feel like it.” He stopped again. He leaned back into his own slouch, then flinched at Smithy’s raised voice.
“Wow. So really I may as well just open an artery right here?” Smithy said, glumly staring into the middle distance.
Jack laughed. “Well, no, you know what I’m saying. I just said, is this the happiest we will ever be?”
“Yeah, I know, and then you went on to be quite depressing. Look, whatever happens, we will be better off without the enemy. That much is beyond argument. The rest, well, we’ll just figure it out for ourselves. That’s what we’ve always done isn’t it?” Smithy said. Jack just pursed his lips and nodded.
After another day of bonding, the group of mixed community adventurers were getting close to departing. They had enough supplies to last them fifteen days, when rationed out. Though not enough for the entire trip, the rations would last until they found additional food and water. The group would be led by Bill Egan, who had travelled from a community less than thirty miles away. He had brought with him an additional four men, and this made them the largest contingent.
Jack wasn’t sure what to make of Bill just yet. He was a quiet and patient man, and his steel grey hair leant an air of experience and competence to his demeanour. The men he had brought with him were an intriguing mix of characters. There was ginger Mark, then Nick, as serious as Bill. Then there was Simon, and finally Mitch.
The other teams comprised men and women, some good, some not so. But they would manage. Who knew if the entire group would make it to Cornwall? But Jack thought that some of them at least would do so. Before they left, Jack went to see Tom one final time.
“Just tell me again why we’re going to the other end of the country when all of the communities have seeds and plants in their bases. Why can’t we just use those?” Jack had asked, the thought only having occurred to him as they prepared to leave.
“Because the plants we have here don’t produce very much pollen. The plants used during the attack were a bit of a fluke, flowers that are of no use to communities other than as things to look at. The seeds you’re going to recover will actually produce a high yield. The engineers on the Moon base think they can use that to synthesize a weapon, a kind of aerosol that will explode in the air. That means that they can also produce handheld, grenade-like weapons that we can use on the ground, in their ships if we make it that far.”
“Okay, good answer.” Jack smiled. Then he nodded, embraced Tom, and joined the group as they left the community. Now he mulled over what Tom had told him as they walked two abreast, their footsteps the only sound in the night, save for the occasional bird call. The air was warming up; winter was giving way to spring. The sky was lighter, even during the night. It held the promise of a new start.
The lighter sky and the occasional moonlight assisted Jack in scoping out his surroundings as his thoughts turned to how humanity might fare if ever they got to live above ground again. Angular silhouettes of what was left of buildings dotted the horizon, misshapen tooth stumps in a rotten mouth. The road surfaces were pitted and cracked, providing more evidence of neglect and conflict. Fragments of bone could also be seen, evidence of a more sinister outcome. No doubt, most of those remains they came across were the result of the ‘Landers’ attacks, but some would also be down to people just being people. Jack knew for certain that some people, at the very moment that all seemed lost, would have sought to settle old scores.
Jack absentmindedly wondered how endangered animals were faring, now man was largely out of the equation. But then the end of virtually all plant life answered that question. The food chain doesn’t adapt too well when things like that happen.
Shocked out of his thoughts, Jack felt a surge of adrenaline as he heard a sound, a snapping noise from off to his right. He dropped into a crouch, as did the others around him. But he needn’t have bothered. It was just the curtainsides of a gnarled and twisted articulated lorry flapping in the breeze. They all breathed out at the same time, and a few nervous giggles fluttered through the night air.
Jack looked up to see Bill watching him, his head angled to one side, and what looked like a very small smile on his lips. He felt a flush of embarrassment; Bill had seen him move first. Jack just nodded his head, and Bill responded with an almost imperceptible nod back. Then he turned and continued walking, his head moving left to right and back again as he scanned the landscape. Jack chided himself for his overreaction. He started walking again, watching Bill as he bowed slightly and spoke to Nick who walked alongside him. Nick nodded, and Bill slipped back through the ranks until he walked alongside Jack.
They walked in silence for a minute or so, then Bill spoke. “Good reflexes,” he said, his voice soft and resonant.
Jack chuckled. “Yeah, shame it was only a canvas sheet,” he said and avoided making eye contact.
“Well, canvas or not,“ Bill laughed, “you’d have survived.” Jack smiled in response.
They walked for a few more minutes without speaking. “You think we can do this?” Jack asked eventually.
“I do yes. I don’t suppose we’ll all make it, but so long as we do what we’re here to do, I guess it doesn’t matter too much.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jack said, nodding. “I’m glad you’re here, Bill. I mean, I’m glad that somebody like you is in charge,” Jack added.
“Thanks. But if I’m honest I had assumed it would be you. I’ve heard a great deal about you. You’re a man of renown.”
Wow, Jack thought, this guy knows all the right things to say. He laughed. “That’s very kind, Bill, it really is. But I think they chose the right man. And I’ve just gotten over being pretty beaten up. I’m lucky to even be here,” Jack said, still smiling.
“I think we’re lucky that you’re here.” Bill said, smiling. Then he spoke again. “It’s pretty smashed up isn’t it? This world of ours.”
Jack looked around, his look tinged with sadness. “It is. It really is.”
“You think we can fix it? Bill asked. Should our little plan work, that is.”
Jack nodded fiercely, his face tightening. “I hope so, Bill. I do hope so.”
Chapter 23
The first day passed without incident. The major roads and motorways would have been the best route. They offered a direct, flat path. But they also carried the heavy risk of being found by the ‘Landers. So, they took a straight-line route, across mainly open land. They slept for six hours during the daytime. Out here, in the farmer’s fields and rolling hills, it didn’t look so bad. There were fewer manmade structures for the ‘Landers to have destroyed. One could almost imagine nothing had happened if you ignored the black, barren landscape. One could almost imagine starting again.
They woke in the late afternoon, the only sounds the soft noises of moving cloth, and dead branches and stones being crunched underfoot. There was no talking. A fine, light rain, almost a mist, began to fall. There was an amicable silence hanging in the air. People smiled at each other, and started to pass food around. Mark handed Jack a mug. Hot instant coffee and condensed milk. It might just have been the best thing Jack had ever tasted. Hardship had a way of sharpening your appreciation. Jack held the enamel mug with both hands, absorbing the heat of the coffee within. He smiled at the motto Keep Calm And Carry On written on the front. It seemed apt, perhaps more so now than ever before.
Nourished, the group gathered together their packs and continued along a narrow, natural cleft between two fields, until it petered out at the beginning of what was once a forested area. Without pause, they moved into the dead forest, its trees bare and blackened. In the last of the springtime light, it was an eerie sensation.
People began to talk. It was a comforting sound. They integrated properly now, as
they moved through as safe a portion of the journey as they would see. There was no need for caution, and as they moved Bill looked back a few times. He smiled on one occasion, content with how things were panning out Jack guessed. Jack sped up a little, catching the leaders as they walked. As he drew up to Bill’s group, he caught a whiff of something rotten. He gasped, and Mark turned to give him a big, ear to ear grin. He lifted his eyebrows as he stared at Jack, clearly proud of his achievement.
“Jesus Christ, you could give a man some warning when you’re going to do that,” Jack said, holding the back of his hand against his nose.
“What’d be the fun in that?” Mark said to Jack. Jack barged his way past and walked level with Bill.
“So, you’re getting to know the guys then?” Bill asked, fighting a grin.
“Yeah, they’re an interesting bunch.” Jack said.
“They are that, definitely. But they’re good boys, really, and they all have their own strengths. You’ve just discovered one of them.”
“I guess you could call it that,” Jack said. “So,” he spoke in a conspiratorial whisper now, pulling them slightly further away from the group. “What do you think of our goal?” The light was fading quickly now, and the way would only become more difficult as it did so.
“In truth, I don’t know what to think,” Bill replied. He paused, blowing out a long breath. “I guess I lean towards saying why shouldn’t it be feasible? The argument, though, is pretty convincing, don’t you think?”
It was Jack’s turn to blow out a long breath. “I guess,” he said, not very enthusiastically. Then, with more conviction, “Yeah it is. The more I think about it, the more convincing it becomes. It’s just a bit of a shock when you first hear it.”
“It is. But then, is it any more shocking than anything else that has happened in the last eight years?” Bill asked.
Jack shook his head and chuckled. “No, no it isn’t. You think it’ll work?” Jack asked him. Now that was the question. It took a great deal longer for Bill to answer that one.