“I was … and I did.”
“Yeah, well, it was a two-way street, I needed you too. And the same way I feel that Mila needs me now, and that’s why I’ve got to do this.”
“You don’t have to convince me. I’m with you on this, Bobbi. It’s when we get back home that there’ll be some explaining to do.”
“Yeah, well, one thing at a time.” Robyn turned back around to look at the van and then the Vauxhall Astra. “Your friends … do you think they’d be willing to take in Ruby and Tommy?”
“I’m certain they would.”
“Even with him being … y’know … a little slow?”
“He’s not slow, Bobbi, he’s autistic, and I’ve got a hunch that he's actually very bright indeed.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a hunch. But yeah, I was thinking about that actually, it makes sense. We’ll go our way, and she can head back to the hotel in Torridon.”
The two sisters and Wolf headed back out of the barn and into the house. Ruby didn’t notice them come in at first. Her gaze was distant as her blue, tear-glazed eyes looked out of the window. Tommy was still perched on the kitchen countertop, only now he was happily munching away on some dry crackers while reading a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary that his sister had given him to calm him down.
“Hello!” he said as they walked in, making Ruby jump a little.
“Hi, Tommy,” Wren replied then turned towards his sister. “Bobbi and me have been talking. You can’t come with us, but you can go back to our home. We’ve got a good community there. I’ve just thought, you can drive, can’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m going to draw you a map.”
“I … what if something happens? What if the car breaks down and we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere?”
Wren looked around at the dead bodies and the broken windows. “You can’t very well stay here, can you?”
“I could tidy it up. I could get rid of the bodies. We could stay here until you got back from wherever it is you’re going.”
“We don’t know what we’re going to face. Who’s to say we even come back this way? We might be forced to take another route.”
“Tommy knows this place. There’s food, water and heating here. If we get stuck out there, just me and him… When we were out there last time, if we hadn’t run into Jax and the rest of them, we’d have been lucky to last more than another day. We need people. Tommy needs people in case something happens to me. Heading out there, car or not, is just too much of a risk.”
Wren and Robyn looked at one another and both sighed heavily. “Come on,” Wren said, “we’ll give you a hand to get this place cleaned up.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Today, Mila had been chained next to Rod. They sat down side by side on the floor of the lorry as it slowly began to pull away. The mood was grim, but that was nothing new. It was always grim. A new prisoner had been captured the previous day returning their number to twenty-four. The addition to their ranks did nothing to improve the mood.
Two of the women on the opposite side of the bus were holding each other tightly. “Just so you know,” said Rod, leaning into Mila, “if you fancy a hug, I’m okay with that.”
For a moment, Mila’s face was like stone; then she broke into a smile and let out a little laugh. “It is a kind offer, but I think I’m okay right now.”
“You can really fight.”
“I have had to learn. If I didn’t fight, I would have died many times over.”
“Where are you from?”
“A place called East Crovie.”
“No, I mean originally.”
“Germany.”
“Your English is excellent.”
“It could be better. I try. When I am excited or nervous or preoccupied, I sometimes forget words, but I do my best to learn.”
“Trust me; your English is way better than a lot of people who’ve lived here all their lives.”
“Danke,” she replied with a smile and a nod. “How long have you been here?”
Suddenly, the good humour was gone and Rod looked down to his hands. “Two weeks … I think.”
“What do you know about these people?”
“I know they’re well organised and well equipped. When they raid a town, they’re very thorough. They pretty much strip it of everything of value. In the time I’ve been doing this, I’ve seen plenty of us get killed but never one of them.”
“How many are there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe four or five hundred.”
“Scheisse!”
“The raiding parties are pretty small, usually just a few men and women. But they’ve got us to make sure no infected get through and they’re really well armed. I’ve been through the village just once. They’d found a solid fuel range in one of the houses that they’d been to that day and they wanted it carrying into the schoolhouse. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to move one of those things, but they weigh a ton. We ended up having to roll it on lengths of thick pipe … anyway, that’s beside the point … where was I?”
“The village.”
“Ah, yes. Well, it wasn’t anything like I expected. First thing I passed was a blacksmith. It was like going back in time.”
“A blacksmith? I do not know this word.”
“Err … it’s someone who makes things out of iron. Horseshoes, swords, that kind of thing.”
“Ah, yes, a schmied.”
“Yeah. Well, there must have been half a dozen people working away in that stall.”
“What were they making?”
“Big metal spikes. They’re building defences. I saw teams of them putting up fences. They’re turning the place into a fortress. I saw other groups putting up polytunnels, and I saw a couple of small fishing boats on the dock where people were checking nets. I’m pretty certain that they’ve got a long-term plan for this place, it just doesn’t include us. All I know is that the first chance I get I’m going to—” He broke off, his eyes scanning the faces around him to see if they were listening; however, they were all lost in their own sad thoughts.
“Escape?” Mila asked in a hushed tone.
Rod turned to look at her. “My sister’s out there. A couple of days ago, when we were out with the raiding party, I’m certain I saw her on the roof of a building. It was just for a few seconds, but I’m sure it was her. I need to get back to her.”
“Then I will help.”
✽ ✽ ✽
“You’re sure your people won’t be pissed that we’re taking Ruby and Tommy back?” Robyn asked as they piled the final body onto the heap.
“I know they won’t. Safe Haven is … was for everyone. It will be again.”
“But I mean Tommy’s going to be a bit … it’s not like he’s going to be able to contribute a lot, is it?”
“Firstly, I’m pretty certain Tommy is going to contribute more than most people. Secondly, what do you think Safe Haven is?” Wren asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what kind of place do you think it is that they’d be pissed at us taking an autistic boy back?”
“I dunno. I just thought, y’know, it’s another mouth to feed and with things being the way they are…”
Wren straightened up and placed her hands on her hips. “Listen to me. Everybody in Safe Haven has to contribute the best they can if they’re going to be part of the community, but that doesn’t mean everybody has to be in the militia or the workshop. There are hundreds of jobs that are important, and I know we’ll be able to find one that suits Tommy.”
“If you say so,” Robyn replied.
“It wasn’t a perfect place, Bobbi, but nobody went hungry. There was a hospital, a library, communal breakfasts for the new settlers until they got proper accommodation. When there was something big that needed doing, everybody got involved. We’ll get the town back, and it will be like that again.”
Robyn thought for a moment. “
Isn’t that the problem though?”
“Isn’t what the problem?”
“Well, you’ve got this amazing place, and everyone’s running around with flowers in their hair; doesn’t that make you a target? Isn’t that the reason you got attacked?”
“Firstly, no one runs around with flowers in their hair. Secondly, we have incredible defences, but there was a big flaw in our plan, we never saw an attack from the sea coming.”
“Yeah, I’d call that a pretty big flaw.”
“Thirdly … what’s the alternative? Safe Haven is a place where everyone is equal. They have a council of elected representatives who make decisions on behalf of the whole place. All the reps work within different parts of the community, so all aspects of it are discussed when making choices that affect it. The alternative is a place like Loch Uig, a terrifying king ruling over his subjects. Power corrupts, Bobbi, absolute power corrupts absolutely. You saw how crooked everything used to be before this happened. You saw how everything was manipulated for the purposes of the wealthy. Well, the council aren’t perfect, but they are for the people; whether a person is a young builder who can work from six in the morning until midnight or whether they’re a teenager who has a disability, they’ll get the same respect and each of them will have a place.”
Robyn just stared at Wren for a while. “Wow! You’re really into that Mike guy, aren’t you?”
“I was being serious … and, anyway, he’s not even on the council.”
Robyn smiled. Then Wren smiled too. “Come on, let’s go get some grub and then we can get off.”
They headed back to the house, and as they entered the kitchen, the smell of baked beans warming on the stove wafted through the air.
“I thought I’d warm them up for your breakfast,” Ruby said, stirring the pan.
“Cool,” Robyn replied.
Wren walked over to where Tommy was sitting. He was still snacking on dry crackers and continued to read the dictionary he had laid out on the countertop. His face was not twitching, and his fingers moved much more slowly now. “You like reading, Tommy?”
“Yes.”
Wren glanced at the page he was on. “You’re a quick reader. I wouldn’t be able to take much in reading at that speed.” She studied him for a few seconds, but he just continued to stare down at the page. “But I bet you can, can’t you?” Wren closed the dictionary and Tommy turned his head away.
By now, Robyn and Ruby were looking across towards Wren. “Hey Sis, I don’t think he wants to talk. Let him—”
“Abelia,” Wren said. Tommy paused noticeably, and his fingers sped up a little.
“Wren. I told you. Let—”
“Come on, Tommy,” continued Wren, “abelia.”
“Abelia—an ornamental garden shrub with pink or white flowers.”
“Abolla.”
There was less of a pause this time before Tommy answered. “A cloak worn by Roman soldiers, worn draped over one shoulder and fastened with a metal brooch.”
“Acapnia.”
“The state of lacking carbon dioxide in the blood.”
Wren turned around with a smile on her face. “Your brother’s pretty amazing.”
Ruby looked across to Tommy proudly. “Yes, yes he is.”
✽ ✽ ✽
The lorry pulled up; the ramp was put into position, and one by one, the zefs exited the vehicle. Straight away everybody could see this wasn’t a typical residential street, and straight away they knew today was going to be different.
They were at the entrance of what appeared to be a vast industrial estate, presumably somewhere on the outskirts of Inverness. Some of the buildings were still under construction, so in all likelihood this area had never been populated by anyone other than builders and contractors.
Rod was first in line today, and as the guard grabbed the end of the chain, Rod, Mila and the rest played follow the leader as they were guided across to a lamppost. The end of the chain was looped around it then padlocked. Because the road was so wide, Line Two was attached to Line One, in turn having their chain attached to the opposite lamppost. Behind them, Lines Three and Four were hooked up together in the same way.
“I really don’t like this,” Rod said, looking at the gap between him and the building to the left then looking down the line to see the gap between the end zef and the building to the right. “On a narrow street, we can control the flow; here, they could easily get around the back, we could get swarmed, attacked from both sides.”
Mila looked back towards the second line of defence. “What is it that they are doing here? There will be no food, no supplies, it doesn’t make sense it is der wahnsinn … err … madness.”
The six soldiers kept the rifles trained on the zefs as one by one a spear was thrown down in front of them. They knew by now that they were not to pick the spears up before the distributor was well out of attack range, otherwise a bullet would be heading their way. Within a few minutes, they were all armed, all ready and waiting. Two soldiers on motorbikes took up positions about twenty metres back and the lorries and other bikes disappeared into the depths of the industrial estate.
“I’m guessing they’ve already done a recce of this place, otherwise they’d have sent a few of us in like canaries down a coal mine.”
“This is good,” Mila said. “Maybe today we don’t fight, maybe today we get to stand around like council workmen at a roadworks, yes?”
“Somehow, I don’t think we’re that lucky, and mind what you’re saying. I used to be one of the men who worked on road repairs,” he said, smiling.
“Ah, gut, then you will be most proficient at standing around doing nothing; I will learn from you how to do it properly.”
Rod let out a small laugh. The sun was starting to beat down, giving all the signs that it was going to be another unseasonably warm autumn day.
“Y’know, maybe you’re right,” he said, “maybe today will be our lucky day.”
The minutes passed, and hushed conversations broke out between the others.
“Why were you and your sister separated?” Mila asked out of the blue.
“Wrong place, wrong time. We lived in a house in the sticks. Our parents died a long time ago, and after the prime minister’s speech telling us everything had turned to crap, we decided we’d head back home to where we grew up and tough it out together.”
“You were close?”
“We were always close growing up. We went to college, drifted apart, got married, got divorced, and then kind of drifted back together again. When the raiders came, we decided to make a run for it. Well, we didn’t have a working vehicle, so we set out on foot. I know that’s pretty mad, but it was safer than the alternative. Anyway, next thing I know, we hear an engine, so we scarper into the woods, but what we didn’t realise was that there was a foot patrol in the area too. Izzy tripped; I kept going for a few metres before I even realised. They spotted me, so I did the only thing I could think of. I took them off in another direction so they didn’t spot her.”
“That was brave.”
“She’s my sister. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. I’d die for her if it came to it.”
“Well, if we remain prisoners of these people, I am fairly certain you will, but you will not be alone.”
chapter 8
Robyn slowly pulled out onto the main road and travelled for just a hundred metres or so before bringing the van to a stop once more. She turned to look in the back of the van to see Wolf comfortably nestled into a folded duvet. The last time she had driven this vehicle all the children had been with her. The last time she had driven this vehicle had been the last time she had seen Mila.
She turned back around and looked ahead. The bridge to Inverness stretched out in front of them. To the right stood the city, its glass windows gleaming in the morning sun. There was no clue to a casual observer that unfathomable danger lurked within as it had now become the playground for thousands of infected.
Be
yond the bridge to the left lay the route that they would have to take. A different type of danger awaited them there … the great unknown. Almost as if reading her sister’s thoughts, Wren reached across and placed her hand over Robyn’s. “You need to do this, Bobbi. All we’re doing is checking it out, remember? But if Mila’s still alive, that’s the first step to saving her.”
Robyn turned to look at Wren. “I … I’m putting you … both of us in danger, and she might already be …”
“This is why we came. If we’d have had to explain this to Grandad and everyone else, they’d have guilted us into not coming, and you’d never know, one way or the other. It weighs on you, Bobbi. That kind of uncertainty, it starts eating away at you. This way, you’ve fulfilled your promise to Mila, the kids are safe. You promised her that’s what you’d do, and you did it. Now we’re going to try to figure out what happened to her; now you’re fulfilling a promise to yourself.”
“Have I told you lately that you’re my favourite sister?”
“I’m serious. You and I are the only ones who get this. Nobody’s shared what we have.”
Robyn turned back to the road ahead. “So, this is it then.”
“Yep. Into the great wide open.”
Robyn released the handbrake and they slowly moved away.
✽ ✽ ✽
Quiet conversations had continued among the zefs as they stood keeping watch at the mouth of the entrance to the industrial estate. “Well, as far as jobs go, this has been the cushiest so far,” Rod said as he leant on his spear.
“I still don’t understand what we’re doing here,” Mila replied.
“Relax, it doesn’t matter. Whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it quietly, so that suits me fine. No noise; no infected. No infected; no danger. Don’t worry about what they’re doing as long as it stays like this.”
The two of them stood there for a moment, looking at the worried and frightened faces of the others. Eventually, Rod turned to Mila. “So, what exactly did you do for a living before all this started?”
The End of Everything | Book 8 | The End of Everything Page 6
