by Peter Hall
“Cal, please take that inane smile off your face, it’s not attractive.”
“Sorry.”
“About our new sleeping arrangements.”
“Yes?”
“Do we need to pay a visit to a pharmacy?”
“What for?”
“Come on Cal. Put two and two together, will you?”
“Oh, I see. Yes. I mean no. No, we don’t need to visit a chemist. I’ve got some… things in my car.”
“Of course you have. I should have known. You’re a man. Civilisation may have ended, but you wouldn’t be caught without a condom, just in case.”
“As a matter of fact, they make excellent emergency water carriers.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure that’s why you carry them.”
Cal silenced his phone alarm a second after it sounded. He had been awake for some time, simply lying back and experiencing bliss. Outside, it was only just getting light, and the wind rattled the canvas of the tent. Cal couldn’t care less. Inside the sleeping bag, it was warm and dry and he lay with a naked, beautiful woman pressed against him.
Hell’s bells. Life doesn’t get any better than this.
After they had visited the outdoor store at Paradise Valley, to Cal’s surprise, they had not actually used the double sleeping bag or new tent, and had continued to sleep separately.
“I wanted to have them ready. Just in case,” Juliet had told him.
“Just in case of what?”
“In case you decide to take our relationship further than just travelling companions.”
“Well, I do. Definitely.”
“Excellent.”
“So, that’s settled.”
“Not so fast, Romeo. I’m not some German prostitute.”
Cal blushed at the mention of his former liaison. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”
“Woo me.”
“What?”
“You heard. I’m a woman, not a vending machine. Woo me.”
Cal had nodded thoughtfully. “I’m not very experienced at wooing.”
“Well, you’d better get learning fast then, hadn’t you?”
Romance did not come naturally to Cal. What to do? What to do? Before the Death, he could have sent a bouquet of flowers, or a box of chocolates. He could have texted sweet nothings to her, or arranged an expensive meal at a posh restaurant. But all the mechanisms of civilised romantic foreplay had vanished. Now it was just two people travelling in a post-apocalyptic landscape. How do you introduce romance to that? Yet somehow he had to rise to the challenge. The stakes were high. He needed to think about it logically.
So, he began to compliment Juliet on her looks. That proved to be relatively easy, since he only had to remember to say out loud what he was thinking. He tried to anticipate her needs and perform minor acts of kindness, such as laying out a cushion and blanket for when she returned from her morning ablutions. Once, he collected a bunch of red flowers from a garden and presented them as a bouquet. If there was any heavy lifting to be done, Cal made an extra special effort to do the lion’s share—diverting Juliet to a less manual task.
The evenings saw the biggest change. Cal made a supreme attempt to talk and have real grown up conversations on subjects other than warfare. He asked Juliet about her life—favourite films, books and foods. They discussed politics, religion and a dozen other subjects. In turn, he revealed more about himself. One night, when they were both sozzled, Cal told the truth about his military career—or lack of it. He had feared Juliet would think less of him, but she laughed hysterically and complimented him on his deception. With that secret exposed, Cal was able to relax and talk about anything and everything with her. Juliet was the first person in his life he felt totally at ease with.
The previous evening, after they had eaten and were enjoying a glass of red wine before bed, Cal noticed Juliet rotating her shoulder. They were sitting opposite each other by the campfire and, as usual, several battery lanterns glowed nearby.
“Got a problem?” Cal asked.
“My shoulder’s sore. I think I slept awkwardly last night, because I woke up with a stiff shoulder and all that lifting today has made it worse.”
“Why didn’t you say before now. I’d have carried those boxes for you.”
“I don’t like to make a fuss. And I don’t want to be the helpless female either.”
“I’d never think that. Everyone has an off day. We’re a team and help each other out.”
“I guess so. It’s really not so bad. Probably be okay in the morning. And don’t you dare tell me I need to see a doctor.”
Cal poked the fire with a stick. “How about I give it a rub? See if I can’t loosen it up a bit?”
They gazed at each other over the flames. Although the pair had become closer over the past couple of weeks, physical contact remained non existent.
“Okay, that would actually be lovely.” Juliet said. “Tell me you’ve been hiding the fact that you’re a trained masseur.”
“Sorry, no. But how hard can it be?”
Cal stood up, went around the fire, and knelt behind Juliet. She wore a thick fleece over her pyjama top. He placed his palms on her bare neck and began rubbing gently and rhythmically.
“Oh, that’s heaven. Are you sure you’ve not had training?”
“I must be naturally talented. It’s about time I found something I’m instinctively good at.” He pressed his thumbs into her spine and moved them up and down her neck. “How’s that?”
“Soooo good. But it’s not helping my shoulder.”
Cal sat down crossed legged behind her. He transferred his hands to her shoulders, still on top of her fleece.
“Hold on a sec,” Juliet said, taking off her fleece. The air was chilly, but they were close enough to the fire to feel the heat on their faces.
“If it makes it easier, you can go underneath my top.”
Cal hesitated, and his breath quickened. He slid his arms underneath the bottom of Juliet’s pyjama top and started caressing her shoulders again. The sensation of his fingers sliding over her soft skin was exquisite. He sensed her relaxing and responding to his movements. It felt good. It felt sensational.
Juliet moaned with pleasure. “I used to love having a back rub. I can’t remember when I last had one. God, that’s lovely.” She tilted forwards, lowering her head, inviting Cal to go lower.
Cal ran his thumbs up and down Juliet’s spine and again she moaned.
Cal felt himself become hard and struggled to resist the urge to gyrate his thighs. The suggestion of a shoulder rub was made in good faith, but now his body coursed with desire and he regretted the offer. When this was over, he would have to sneak off for some private time.
Cal’s fingers squeezed and rubbed, moving away from Juliet’s spine and outwards to her shoulders, then progressing down her back. He fought the craving to reach around and cup her breast. This couldn’t carry on much longer. Juliet became increasingly relaxed, but Cal was about to explode with frustration. His hands now rotated in the small of her back, just above her buttocks.
After a couple more minutes, she sat up straight. “That was fantastic. You, sir, have a gift.” She rotated her shoulder again. “That’s much better. Thanks.”
Juliet turned to face him and smiled. “Now it’s your turn.”
Oh! I wasn’t expecting that. Should I present my back to her?
Juliet leaned forward and gently planted a kiss on his lips. Then sat back and smiled.
Cal was stunned. Was that what she meant by his turn? And was that the end of it?
Juliet continued to sit and face him, looking into his eyes.
When faced with two options, favour the boldest.
Cal leaned forwards and kissed her… slowly.
Juliet stood up and, for a second, Cal feared he had done something wrong.
“C’mon, get up,” she said.
He did so, wondering what was happening now. The pair faced each other in the flickering firel
ight. Inches apart. Juliet put her arms around him and drew him close. They kissed again—for a long time. Cal wanted it to go on forever. This was not like Britney—that had only been animal passion. This was also animal passion, but with something else, a yearning, a wish, an urge to get closer to Juliet than was physically possible, to get inside her skin, to be one with her—it could only be love.
Their lips parted.
“At fucking last,” she said. “I was wondering if you’d ever pluck up courage to do something.”
Cal didn’t know what to say to that, so kissed her again.
“Listen,” she said. “I know it’s late, and dark, but how about putting up that two-person tent we’ve been lugging around?”
Cal erected the new tent in a blisteringly fast time, whilst Juliet unpacked the double sleeping bag.
The melody and lyrics of Mad World entered Cal’s consciousness. He lay in absolute darkness and had to fumble about to silence his phone alarm.
Juliet’s arms wrapped around him from behind.
“Are you awake?” he said.
“I’ve been awake for ages. I’m so cold I can’t sleep. This has been the worst night ever.”
“What? Even dressed like the Michelin man?”
Over the last month, the nights had become progressively colder. Most mornings they had been greeted with a frost. The previous evening, Juliet had climbed into their sleeping bag wearing several layers, including her thickest fleece, gloves, and thermal socks.
“Yes. Even dressed like the Michelin man, I was freezing fucking cold. And don’t you dare say I was wearing too much clothing.”
“It was the last thing on my mind.”
“Good. What about you? Surely you felt the cold?”
“Hmm. Maybe a little.” In fact, Cal was chilled for most of the night, but was reluctant to admit it. He switched on his head torch, which lay next to the sleeping bag. The walls and roof of the tent were bulging inwards.
“Just a sec.” He pulled himself out of their sleeping bag.
“Oh, Cal. For God’s sake. Can’t we just stay in bed until it gets light at least?”
“I said, just a sec. I’m checking on something.” Cal zipped open the bottom of the outer tent flap. A clump of snow fell inwards.
“Holy crap!”
“What is it?”
“It’s snowed. I mean really snowed.”
Juliet crawled to join him at the entrance.
“Oh, my word. It’s beautiful.”
Although the sky was a deep ultramarine, the snow reflected enough light to view the landscape clearly. And it was a ghostly white. An almost perfect uninterrupted white. The snow was thick enough to cover most objects, with only trees standing proud. Even they struggled under the weight of snow, which burdened their branches.
“Well, I think we can say the winter heatwave is truly over,” Cal said.
“What are we going to do?”
Cal slid back into the sleeping bag. “We could build a snowman.”
“Seriously, you dick, we can’t travel in this weather. Even if we could, living in a tent is ridiculous.”
“Hmm. I agree. Come back to bed.”
Juliet did so, and they hugged each other.
“It’s time for Plan B.” Cal said.
“Plan B? I didn’t even know there was a Plan A.”
“That’s why you’re not in charge.”
She punched him in the arm.
“Ouch!”
“Serves you right. Chauvinist pig.”
“So, do you want to hear about Plan B or not?”
“What I want most of all is a wee, but I’m not sure if I can be bothered to go outside.”
“It’s going to get very wet and steamy in here if you don’t.”
“Okay. I’m going for a wee. You dig out that gas stove and put the kettle on.”
A short time later, they sat cross-legged inside the tent, cradling mugs of steaming tea in their hands. The eastern sky had turned mid-blue, signalling the sun was struggling to make an appearance. The only light in the tent was their head torches.
“So, genius. Tell me about this Plan B.”
Cal slurped his tea. “Okay. Well, although the weather has been unusually warm since the Death, I suspected it might not last. The planet is warming up, but one effect of that is the weather’s becoming extreme and unpredictable.”
“Yes, I know all that. I used to watch the news as well. So what is Plan B?”
“Before we met, I was scouting out potential sites for settling down—both temporarily and permanently. I needed to know there were bolt holes I could go to in an emergency. For example, if I was injured and needed to lay up somewhere to heal. So, I’ve prepared half-a-dozen places which are suitable for temporary winter retreats.”
“Oh wow. That’s great. Where are they?”
“The nearest is less than fifteen miles away. It’ll be a struggle to get there in this snow, but trust me, the effort will be worth it. It’s called Rockbeare House. Used to be a farmhouse. I think some rich family must have bought it a few years ago and went to town modernising the house and grounds. It’s got log fires and a range cooker. Best of all—wait for this—it has solar panels, a wind turbine, and a ground source heat pump. There’s a well for water and a septic tank, so it’s pretty much off-grid.”
“Wow. That’s fantastic. But what about food?”
“I’ve left supplies in a barn nearby. We can supplement that with hunting and perhaps even fishing from their lake. Of course, I also removed the… bodies… Mom, Dad and three kids. I found them all huddled together in the same bed.”
Cal became silent. Sometimes the horror of the Yellow Death crept up unexpectedly.
Juliet reached over and held his arm. “You okay?”
Cal looked up. “Yeah. Sorry about that. Anyway, the place is ideal for sitting out the worst of the weather. We could sit out the cold spell watching some movies whilst relaxing in front of a log fire. I might even arrange a hot shower. Sound good?”
“Oh, God. It sounds perfect. Just one tiny weeny thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ve just told me we could have lived the last two months living in luxury rather than freezing our tits off. I’ve spent every morning trying to wash in an ice-cold stream and now you tell me about hot showers and log fires. Why the hell didn’t you say something earlier?”
Cal paused, feeling slightly deflated.
“Erm, I… Well, I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“It is. It’s a lovely surprise. But it would have been a lovely surprise two weeks ago.”
“I guess I was waiting until we really needed it. Once we hunker down for the winter, we’ll be using our supplies rather than building them up. The farmhouse is pretty remote. Apart from a few neighbours, there’ll be no more scavenging until we hit the road again.”
Juliet sipped her tea. “Oh. Okay. I suppose that makes some sense. But in future, it would be nice to be kept in the loop. I’m not a child that needs looking after.”
“No. No. Of course not. I’d never think that.”
“Good. So tell me. Is there a Plan C you’ve been keeping to yourself?”
Cal laughed. “Maybe. But that’s on a need to know basis.”
The campfire was burning brightly, creating an aura of light and warmth holding back the darkness. Mutton stew bubbled enthusiastically and gave off meaty aromas. Cal and Juliet both stared into the fire in silence, gripping mugs of tea. They had only recently begun travelling again after spending three months at Rockbeare House during the worst of the Winter.
The first six weeks at Rockbeare had been bliss for Cal. Living in luxury, alone with the woman of his dreams. They watched movies, cooked, shared hot baths, played games and made love. They proved to be evenly matched at playing chess and their daily game became increasingly competitive, with prizes and forfeits adding to the interest.
As the days became longer, Cal developed itchy feet. Th
ey were wasting time. Juliet was comfortable there and reluctant to leave. However, she had to agree they had scavenged everything within the local area and it was not tenable to stay there long term. Cal argued if they were going to settle in a permanent location, they needed to find a larger group.
Juliet pulled the hood on her coat over her head. “God it’s cold. I bet there’ll be another frost tonight.”
Cal suspected Juliet’s comment was a jab at him for making them leave Rockbeare House in March, when Spring was still battling for dominance over Winter. He chose not to respond and stirred the stew, staring closely at it. “How the hell can you tell when this is done?”
Juliet took the spoon off him, removed a chunk of potato from the pot, blew on it, then carefully nibbled it.
“Give it another fifteen minutes.”
“How d’you do that? How can you just poke the food, or nibble it and know how much longer it needs cooking?”
“How come you can’t? It’s a basic life skill any normal ten-year-old could do.”
Cal sat back down and switched off his head torch.
“Are you angry with me?”
“A bit pissed, yes.”
“Is it because I wouldn’t stay at Berryfields tonight?”
“Exactly. That was a great settlement. The people were friendly. They were doing exciting things with solar panels and that water turbine. It was fascinating to hear what they were up to, and they were keen to hear our news. They were very grateful to learn of the blacksmith in the next valley. And we did a good trade.” Juliet pointed to the mutton and vegetables boiling in the pot. “But you hardly spoke to them and were itching to get away. It would’ve been lovely spending one night in a proper bed and having human company.”
“I’m human.”
“Barely.”
Cal had no reply, so stirred the stew to appear busy. Silence dragged on for several minutes before he relented. “Okay. I’m sorry. I know what you mean. And I could see you were unhappy when we left. In fact, I almost turned back.”
“So, what was the problem?”
