Autumn exodus, p.14
Autumn - Exodus, page 14
‘I dunno,’ Orla said. ‘Some kind of freak accident, maybe?’
‘Seriously?’
‘Why not? We know how quickly the fires spread in London. It wouldn’t have taken a lot. What if they were struck by lightning?’
‘Do you have any idea how unlikely that is?’
‘How unlikely would you say any of this was just last summer?’
‘But why were they all in the same field?’
‘Maybe they were having a game of cricket,’ she smiled. ‘Sorry. I’d say either there was something here that attracted them, or they were rounded up and torched.’
‘What, some kind of ritualistic sacrifice? Can you even sacrifice something that’s already dead?’
‘Interesting question.’
‘Why’s that? Look, Orla, I don’t really care what happened here, I just don’t want it happening to me.’
Back at the van, they told the others what they’d seen. Sam questioned them as he drove away. ‘How many bodies?’
‘We didn’t stop to count,’ Joanne said, sarcastic.
‘A dozen? Fifty? Give me an estimation.’
‘A couple hundred at least.’
‘And was it a recent fire?’
‘Hard to tell with the rain. But, yeah. Few days, maybe?’
‘That’s good.’
‘Is it?’
‘Yes, for a while I was thinking it might have been something to do with David and the others.’
‘But who’d do something like that?’ April asked.
‘You’ve not been properly introduced to Piotr, have you?’ Vicky said. ‘It’s definitely his style.’
April watched Emily and Isabella’s faces with concern. This horror was hard enough for her to process, how the hell were kids as young as these two supposed to cope?
‘It wouldn’t have been Piotr,’ Dominic said. ‘Too classy for him. He’d have just set fire to them where he found then, wouldn’t have taken the time to round them up.’
Sam thought he might be right but didn’t give him the satisfaction of any acknowledgement.
Barely any further forward, Sam slowed the van again. They were on the summit of a hill now, facing down the slope on the other side. There was a crowd of bodies at the bottom. Their movements were unusual. Orla had noticed it too. ‘This is weird. They don’t know if they’re coming or going, look at them.’ She had a point; as many were walking out onto the road as those trying to go in the opposite direction.
‘I think they’re coming and going,’ Sam said. ‘There’s more smoke way over in that direction, see? This might be a residual response. I think what we’re seeing now are the remnants of their reaction to something that happened previously.’
‘Like Piotr coming through, or David and the others?’
‘Exactly. Imagine what it would have been like here last night... pitch black, pouring with rain. With all those bodies in the road, our lot could have ended up anywhere.’
‘We’re close to Peterborough,’ Rafe said, checking a book of maps. ‘Bloody hell, your friends might have driven blind into the middle of a city.’
‘That’s what I’m worried about.’
‘So, what do we do?’ Orla asked.
‘I think we keep going.’
‘What?’
‘Just a little further. I’ll get us through the crowd, then we’ll stop somewhere on the other side.’
‘This is a bad idea,’ Stan said from the other end of the van.
‘It might well be, but unlike you and Dominic, I give a shit about my friends. If there are no tracks on the other side of the bodies, then it looks like they’ve ended up in Peterborough, as Rafe said. And if that’s the case, then we’re going in to look for them.’
23
Chapman returned to the convoy, accompanied by Ed and Marcus, another man from the Yaxley group. The two local men worked quickly and silently to ease the pressure of dead flesh from around the stranded trucks and release David, Ruth, and the rest of the remaining group. They shifted vehicles that had been left blocking specific side-streets, allowing the mass of corpses to flow away. Ed’s dog Molly precipitated the flood. An incredibly smart and fast animal, she’d adapted to this new world as well as her owner. She’d been trained to round up sheep but proved equally adept at keeping corpses in line. She’d sprint away from them then stop and bark until they followed, wagging her tail like it was the greatest game. A maze-like system of further blockades deeper in the village kept the creatures moving along into a holding pen of sorts, a safe distance away from everyone else.
It was less of a risk to move the people rather than their vehicles. Ed and Marcus led them along whisper-silent streets to the south. They regrouped in the assembly hall of a small school on the far side of a playing field. Chapman sat with David and Ruth on one side of a table, and Ed and Marcus on the other, feeling like he was a politician about to try and broker a crucial peace deal. They were united in their disdain for Piotr and everything he represented, but Ed was staunchly protective of the community they’d built here.
‘I think you’d got it part right,’ Ed said after David had told him what they’d been through in London. ‘You were too restricted there, though. Too many dead bodies. Your ratios were all wrong.’
‘Forgive him,’ Marcus said. ‘He’s always going on about ratios and stuff like that.’
‘That’s because it’s important. You can take the piss all you like, Marcus, but it matters. It could literally be the difference between life and death. The more of them you have to deal with, the more space you’re going to need to do it. You need at least double the space they occupy, and with the best will in the world, you’re never going to find that in a city centre.’
David was less than impressed. ‘Let’s cut the crap. What is it you’re actually trying to do here? Are you just playing games? Because I’ve got to be honest, I’m not best pleased at being caught up like we were last night.’
‘No one was trying to catch you out. We were just trying to keep ourselves safe. Not our fault if people keep barging in uninvited.’
‘Let’s not get caught up in semantics.’
‘Look, we’ve got everything we need here, or we did have until those bloody raiders turned up the other day. I was born and raised here. My family’s farmed just outside of Yaxley for the last eighty-odd years, and we intend being here a while longer yet. Well, I do, anyway. What we’ve done here is make the most of our environment and our experience. We keep the dead moving the way we moved herds of cattle previously, and the way we will again one day. We keep their numbers under control ‘cause there’s still plenty of them dragging themselves down here from Peterborough way. They’re just another type of vermin is all, one that happens to look like us. They won’t last forever, that much I’m sure of.’
‘You’re right about that,’ David said, less antagonistic now. ‘We’ve been trying to hold out until the end of winter. If the cold doesn’t stop them, decay will. There’s only a finite length of time they’ll be able to stay mobile.’
‘Agreed. Longer-term, things look a lot more positive. It’s surviving the here and now we’ve got a problem with. I’ll be completely honest, we were struggling even before those thugs turned up and turfed us out of the warehouse. I’m hoping it’s something you might be able to help us with. Quid pro quo. We could all do well out of this if we’re smart.’
‘Go on.’
Ed paused, a little unsure. ‘Truth is, we’ve been struggling here because there are so few of us. It was hard enough keeping on top of things as it was, but with what’s happened now, it’s nigh on impossible.’
David connected the dots. ‘You want us to provide the manpower?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Wait, to get rid of Piotr, or to keep your farm running?’
‘Both.’
‘We’ve lost a lot of people along the way, but there’s still a fair few of us, you know. You’d be looking at the best part of a hundred mouths to feed.’
‘I ran a commercial farm, mate. I think I can handle that. I’ve got plans for expansion once the dead are finished. I’ve wanted to get a decent number of livestock back on the farm, but it’s been too much of a risk until now. I tried with chickens, but the damn things were too noisy.’
David laughed. ‘I’ve heard it all now.’
Ed remained deadly serious. ‘You think this is a joke?’
‘It’s not that, it’s just...’
‘It’s just that you haven’t thought about it. Well, I have, mate. It’s my job. What we’re lacking is the manpower you have.’
‘How do you know you can trust us?’
‘Because I trust Tony. This is less of a gamble for me than it is for you.’
‘And how do we know we can trust you?’
‘I could have left you stranded in your trucks.’
‘Can’t argue with that,’ Noah said, perched on a seat nearby, spectating.
‘For what it’s worth, I think we should do this,’ Chapman said. ‘The potential gains are huge. This place can give us everything we need for long-term survival, without us having to go traipsing the length of the country to get to Ledsey Cross. Way I see it is we try it, and if things don’t work out, we can still move on.’
‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ Ruth said. She’d been sitting on the edge of the conversation, listening in. ‘What about Vicky and the others? We can’t just forget about them. If anything, they should be our priority.’
David rubbed his temples and sighed. ‘I know how you feel, Ruth, but you know the reality of our situation here. They’re not our priority. They can’t be. We’ve always had to put the needs of the majority first.’
‘I know, but—’
‘But nothing. They’ll be okay, you know they will. Sam and Vicky won’t take any shit.’
‘We’ve got a chance of setting ourselves up with a future here, Ruth,’ Chapman said. ‘We can’t pass that up.’
‘Your friends will find us if they come this way,’ Marcus added. ‘Same way you did.’
Ruth looked like she was about to protest, but she backed down at the last moment because even though she didn’t like it, she knew they were right on every score. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of a handful of people, and both Sam and Vicky did have proven track records at surviving the apparently un-survivable. Besides, what else was she going to do? If they hadn’t come this way, they could have gone anywhere. What were the chances of finding a van full of people in an entire country? It was needle in a haystack time. She knew she stood next to no chance.
‘Aren’t we just glossing over something here?’ Sanjay said. ‘What about Piotr and his mates? Anything you build here, any successes you have, those fuckers will destroy it all.’
‘I know,’ David said.
‘So, we’ve got to get rid of them, right?’
‘Right.’
‘But Piotr’s a fucking psychopath. And most of the morons left with him are equally unhinged. Killing corpses is one thing, Dave, but what we’re talking about here... I’ll be honest, I’m not comfortable with any of this.’
‘Neither am I, Sanj. Truth be told, I’m nervous just thinking about it. But right now, I don’t see that we have any choice. If we don’t take them out once and for all, then we’ll just be kicking the can down the road. We can’t spend the rest of our lives running from that evil bastard, constantly looking over our shoulders. We’re going to have to make a stand at some point.’
‘I agree,’ Ruth said.
‘And me,’ Chapman agreed. ‘Fuck it. I’m done running. We’ve got the weapons we picked up from the reservist base, rifles and grenades. Maybe it’s time to use them.’
David looked at Ed. ‘Can you get our trucks out?’
‘Easy. You should be able to move them in an hour or so. The crowds will be gone by then.’
Marcus grinned, a plan forming. ‘We don’t have any firearms, but there is something else we can bring to the party.’
24
‘The human race is on the verge of extinction, of that I have absolutely no doubt,’ Piotr said. ‘These final days, weeks, months, and possibly even years are the death throes of a dying breed.’
‘You’re a proper ray of sunshine, you know that?’ Kelly said. ‘I’m glad you only talk like this after we’ve had sex. Going on about the end of the world is a proper passion-killer.’
She got up and scooped up her discarded clothing. His trousers were entangled with her underwear. She separated them, kept hold of her knickers, and threw the rest at him.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘What, for throwing you your trousers?’
‘No.’
‘So, you’re thanking me for sex then? Great. That doesn’t make me feel like a prostitute at all.’
‘Not that. Jesus. Thank you for keeping me focused.’
‘I don’t follow. You don’t half talk a lot of crap once you’ve shot your load.’
‘It’s not crap. It’s important. Don’t you get it? The rest of the world is dead, but we’re still doing okay. Hell, we’re fucking. What greater pleasure is there, what more proof of life than fucking?’
Kelly could think of a few, but now wasn’t the time to mention them.
Piotr was still sitting on the bed, ranting. ‘Even when there’s so much death surrounding us and what’s left of the world is on its knees, we can still find such pleasure... don’t you think that’s incredible?’
‘It is,’ she said, quickly agreeing. She decided not to tell him that she’d found ten times as much pleasure last night with Damien McAdams, the footballer. She couldn’t believe she’d fucked a Premier League footballer. Times past, she’d have been all over her socials telling anyone who’d listen, but both the social networks and all her contacts had been logged off for good now.
And Piotr was still droning on.
‘The world and almost everyone in it is dead, Kelly, but we’re still here doing our thing. I’m not promising you a life like the one you used to have, but stick with me and I’ll see you right. You know that, don’t you?’
She finished pulling on her clothes then climbed back on the bed. ‘I know that. You hungry? I’m starving. I’m going to fetch us some food.’
And she left the room before he could say anything else.
Damien was downstairs with Paul Duggan and several others, all togged up in freshly looted gear like they were about to go on a hike through the wilderness. ‘Where you off to?’ she asked.
‘Fishing,’ he said, sounding like an excited kid.
‘I thought we could spend some more time together.’
‘Later, Kel, I promise.’
‘But you said we could—’
He was gone before she could finish her sentence. It was bloody freezing outside. She was glad when the heavy glass door swung shut. It blocked out the cold and it blocked out the wind and it blocked out everything else. Her stomach growled with hunger, and she went to find something to eat.
#
One of the local lads, Yasir, had told them about the fishing lake in the country park adjacent to the warehouses. Damien wasn’t much of an angler by any stretch of the imagination, but Yasir and Paul Duggan seemed to know what they were talking about, and he’d jumped at the chance to go fishing with them. Paul had told him it was a good opportunity to learn an important life skill, but Damien hadn’t cared much about that. It was a chance to get outside and spend some time with the lads. He’d missed this kind of freedom and camaraderie. It was a welcome taste of the old world.
‘So, what was it like?’ Paul asked as they walked down to the lake.
‘What was what like?’
‘Playing for the Arsenal? Playing in front of all those people?’
Damien spun a well-rehearsed answer he’d given a thousand times before to a thousand different people. Paul lapped it up, and that made him feel good, made him feel important, like he used to. He’d forgotten how much of his life centred around his public image. He’d been worried that his magic would wear off now that everything had changed, and he would become merely ordinary. Paul’s reaction was proof positive that his celebrity status should count for something for a while longer yet.
They’d taken everything they needed from the Amazon Aladdin’s cave and were now crossing a football-pitch-sized patch of undeveloped scrub to get to the tree line boundary of the country park. Yas took them along a muddy, well-worn path through the trees. ‘I used to cut through here and play when I was a kid,’ Yas said. ‘Been here forever, this place has. They’ve been building up on all sides, but whenever anyone talked about building on the park, all the locals used to come out in force. Proper little oasis, this is.’
He was right.
The rough path soon merged with another, more substantial walkway, and the park opened up around them. It looked untouched. Unspoilt. A glimpse back into an untainted world that everywhere else had forever disappeared. Paul stopped and looked around. ‘Perfect. It’s like nothing ever happened out here. I can imagine little Yas playing down here in his shorts.’
‘I did!’ Yasir laughed.
The country park was cold, wet and miserable today, but at that moment Paul didn’t ever want to leave. ‘We are gonna find fish here, aren’t we?’
‘Yeah, loads. Why?’
‘Because he doesn’t want to go back to Piotr empty handed,’ Damien said.
‘Don’t talk bollocks,’ Paul said, embarrassed.
‘I’m not. It’s true. You’re always sucking up to the boss. I don’t blame you. I’d probably be the same in your position.’
‘It’s just down here,’ Yas said.
He’d described it as a fishing pool, but when they reached the water Damien thought it looked big enough to be called a lake. They found a convenient spot and began to set up their gear. It was overgrown now, but this part of the bank looked well-worn and had likely been frequently fished from in the past. There was a rough-hewn wooden bench. Damien sat down and watched Paul and Yasir sorting out their rods and tackle.
‘Takes me back,’ Paul said. ‘I haven’t done this for years.’
