Light At The End | Book 1 | Surviving The Apocalypse

by Benson, Tom

“I’d be prepared to head up a visit,” Calvin said.

  Dawn whispered, “You’ve just nailed it.” She looked up to see everybody gazing at her. “What Calvin said … heading up a visit. Don’t you see? Instead of one person going it alone, we strive for gaining entry, but we send a small delegation, maybe two men and two women.”

  “I like that,” Alan said.

  “Me too,” Calvin nodded. “That’s an excellent idea.”

  Bill sipped his herbal tea and felt a pride in his companions. They were working together trying to solve issues he’d been considering before he’d ever walked out into the glass corridor. He was happy to be a spokesman when it was needed, but he was delighted to sit back and observe. A movement in his peripheral vision caused him to turn slightly, and Steph was nodding and smiling at him. He grinned as he waited for her usual reference to him as the leader.

  “Okay,” Craig said. “Let’s say we’ve agreed that we move on, yeah?” He grinned. “I’ll be positive for once, and we gain entry.” He waited until the nervous laughter ended. “We have to decide who to take with us, and who we leave behind, yeah?”

  “If I may,” Harry said. “Looking on the positive, perhaps it would be beneficial to continue as you guys have done from the outset.”

  The small gathering waited for the man who’d been prepared to live and die in a tunnel alone.

  Harry said, “From all I’ve learned about the group, you’ve taken small, considered steps, and that is the logical way to continue.” When he received nods of agreement, he went on. “Decide who is going to be the advance party and that way you know you’re ready to go. Work out how to gain entry and what to do or say before you’re in there.”

  “In the military,” Bill said, “it was always referred to as the ‘actions on’ or ‘what if’ scenario.”

  “That my friends,” Harry said, “is a critical aspect of our next move. Before anybody goes inside that facility, there must be a spokesperson. You must have agreed what to say, and how to react to a variety of responses.” He paused. “You have to be positive but not forceful.”

  Craig said, “We have to instil into whoever is in there that they need us more than we need them.” He paused. “Our aim must be to change their needs into wants, yeah?”

  Bill laughed. “I told you your day would come, Craig. You’ve sold me on that theory.”

  Another ripple of laughter coursed through the small group.

  Bill said, “Now that we’re all on the same page, I’ll tell you what we’re up against before we get to using dialogue. Inside the lip of the other tunnel is a pair of metal doors. We could knock on them, and even if we had a shift system, we could be sitting there for days. Another possibility is to force entry. We’d need to have luck on our side because we don’t have the appropriate tools.”

  “How about chipping away at the stone around the doors?” Calvin suggested.

  “No good,” Bill said. “The doorframe has been built from the inside of the tunnel entrance. What you have surrounding the doors on the outside is the natural black rock of the mountain.”

  “Which required explosives to break up when the plant was built,” Dawn said.

  Alan said, “Are the doors flat-faced with no handles, like emergency doors?”

  “Yes, mate,” Bill said. “There is a possible Achilles’ Heel. To the right, fitted near one of the doors is a small panel; a keypad. There is no grille or speaker, so I can only assume that it’s a means of accessing the place for somebody who has been outside and the door has closed behind them.”

  “Why on earth would anybody need to come outside?” Calvin said, his brow furrowed.

  “I don’t know the reasons or how recently they were removed, but there were several square, wooden structures outside on small wooden platforms. When I was close to the other end of the corridor inspecting the glass, I found the remains of one of those small, but important items.”

  Harry was smiling but remained silent like the others to let Bill explain slowly.

  “Unless I’ve missed my guess, there were beehives outside not far from the doors. If they’d been taken inside the mountain months ago, the wooden remains would have rotted out there in the humidity I experienced. I believe that there are people in that plant and they took the hives indoors recently.”

  Craig said, “Keeping bees indoors and inside a mountain surely wouldn’t work, yeah?”

  “They have a wide range of flowers and plants in there,” Dawn said. “Apart from the massive cavern where the pumps sit like indoor landmarks, the main road is over a kilometre long, and the greenery they’ve cultivated is situated throughout the facility.”

  “Dawn has a valid point,” Harry said. “They might have had some hives outside and perhaps one inside to see if the idea worked. The facility is almost self-sufficient from what I recall on a visit.”

  “Which brings us back to how to gain entry,” Calvin said.

  “Are we agreed on our four-person advance party strategy?” Bill said.

  Everybody nodded.

  “I’ll go in,” Bill said. “I’d like to hold a place for one young female member of our group. It’s somebody I have in mind for a particular task, so it would be right to give her the option.”

  “Sod it, I’m game,” Craig said. “It’s high time I earned my place, yeah?”

  “Well,” Steph said, “if the young female member is allocated, I’ll be the older female member.”

  There was polite applause from the others.

  “I think we have the basis of a plan,” Bill said. “I’ll have a discreet word with Cherry when the guys come along for their snack in a while. I’d suggest we don’t spread the word yet.”

  “Surely we should tell them what we’ve planned?” Craig said.

  “No, mate,” Bill said. “Now that I’ve gone out and returned safely, we’d end up with a bunch of people impatient to get into that place. The last thing we want any survivors in the plant to see is a crowd of people acting like they’ve risen from the dead.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re right, yeah?” Craig said. “You did paint a pretty vivid picture of that for us earlier.”

  Bill said, “I’ll ask Cherry to go with me, and we’ll tackle the entry aspect first. Only when achieved, we’ll ask for the next two people, that is Steph and Craig to join us.”

  “There must be something the rest of us could do while you guys deal with access,” Dawn said.

  “There is,” Harry said. “I’d like to go out there with Victoria and identify any flora that would be useful to us, however things work out. We will have to make a pathway from this tunnel through the greenery to the other tunnel. It would be good not to destroy plant life unnecessarily.”

  Cherry stood at the end of the tunnel looking out through the gaps in the brickwork at the glass corridor. “Right, so what you propose is that only the two of us go through there to those doors?”

  “Yes,” Bill said. “Having seen what you achieved with the old tunnel lights and the ancient telephones, I have every confidence you could steer your way around a digital access panel.”

  The ebony beauty nodded. “I brought a handful of small tools rolled in a cloth, so when do you want to do this?”

  “If you’re not worried about going out there what else have you got lined up today?”

  “Bill, you put your backside on the line for us, so we all owe you the same in return.” She smiled. “We’ve eaten, and it would be best to work in daylight, so what are we waiting for?”

  He winked. “Give me two minutes so I can let Harry and Steph know we’re good to go. I’ll see if there’s a spare carrot or apple or something lying around. We might be a while.”

  Thirty minutes later, Bill and Cherry arrived at the entrance to the Auchcarn tunnel.

  Cherry laughed and wiped perspiration from her face. “I don’t know what was scarier … thinking about dying in the coach three days ago, or coming through that miniature jungle.”

  B
ill grinned and pointed to the right of the doors. “There is our target.”

  “It doesn’t look like much, but then it depends on how delicate the mechanism or circuitry is inside.”

  “We’ve come so far, Cherry, and as long as we don’t rush this, it might work.”

  “Could you hold this tool roll for me, and it will save me squatting to pick up different items?”

  Bill held both hands out, palms open and the piece of rough cloth was laid over them. The equipment was no more than a small selection of hand tools, and it was hard to see how they would make any difference when looking at the task ahead.

  Cherry used a tiny screwdriver around the edges of the panel. “That’s the easy part done,” she said, and lifted away the outer casing, exposing two tiny motherboards with micro-circuits embedded into them. “I’ll try not to destroy anything. I guess that if we’re not opening those doors inside the next hour, we’ll be knocking on the damn things or looking for a doorbell to announce ourselves.”

  Bill smiled at his companion’s easy acceptance of their situation and her dark humour. While she held two different screwdrivers and eased one of the motherboards away from the primary mechanism, Bill studied Cherry’s features. Her gaze was steady under the long black curling lashes. Her even, white teeth contrasted with her smooth dark skin as she worried her lower lip while concentrating.

  Cherry continued to make tiny movements with the two fine-bladed tools. “If you’re staring at my face, I hope your thoughts are honourable.” She smiled but didn’t turn away from her task.

  “I’m sorry,” Bill said and didn’t know where to look.

  “I’m only kidding.” Cherry’s smile was infectious. “Staring is kinda complimentary, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is.” He gave a light cough. “How is it going?”

  “Ah, I’ve finally worked something out.” She continued to loosen a tiny wire.

  “What?” He looked at the maze of coloured plastic threads.

  Cherry whispered, “I’ve worked out that our hero of the hour is a bit nervous around the female of the species.” She steadied both hands and briefly turned to glance at Bill. “It’s okay, I won’t tell.”

  Bill smiled and wondered at this lovely creature who was as much at home, toying with circuitry as he would have been years before when stripping an automatic weapon.

  “Bill, there is a thin screwdriver in that bundle, which has a tiny bulb inside the handle.”

  “It’s got a yellow handle?”

  “That’s the one.” She kept her hands perfectly still. “Place the roll on the ground and get ready to use that insulated driver.”

  “Okay,” Bill held it up in her peripheral vision.

  “Along the top, there are ten small gold-tipped switches. Carefully place the point of the driver on each one in succession, but don’t touch anything else. Be aware that the handle might light-up, but don’t worry, that’s what we expect.”

  Bill pressed his left elbow against the nearest metal door and used his left hand to steady his right arm. His right hand moved forward slowly until the tip of the screwdriver touched the first gold switch. He felt like a bomb-disposal technician as he aimed the screwdriver. The LED inside the handle of the small tool lit up.

  “Next, please, Bill.”

  Bill performed the same delicate operation again, but nothing happened. “Next one?”

  “Yes, please. Take your time, and we have to remember which ones light up your screwdriver.”

  Ten minutes later and soaked in perspiration, Bill took the screwdriver away, admiring how Cherry’s two small screwdrivers had stayed in position throughout. “Numbers one, three and seven,” Bill whispered.

  “Okay, the next part is a bit tricky. In the tool roll, you should find a pencil. We need that next, and it needs to be sharpened.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Am I laughing, Bill? We need something pointed that won’t conduct electricity.”

  Bill squatted beside his companion and used the blade of a chisel to rapidly shave the point of the pencil, and then he stood. “Ready.”

  “I need you to get the next part right or this might trip-out completely. When I have three points of contact, I need you to touch the first switch with your screwdriver, and if nothing happens, then touch number three, and if still nothing, number seven.”

  “Understood.” Bill squatted and lifted his screwdriver. “What about the pencil?”

  “Slip the blunt end into my mouth … and no bloody wisecracks.”

  Bill had to force himself not to laugh aloud. He held the pencil up in front of her face pointing at the panel and Cherry took it between her teeth.

  She moved forward and pressed the point of the pencil against a small white circular pad, and then made a low ‘mm’ noise.

  Bill steadied his arm as before and pressed the tip of his screwdriver against number one switch. The handle illuminated but nothing else happened. He quickly adjusted his aim and pressed number three. Same result. He tried seven. The handle of the screwdriver lit up, and there was a dull clunk. In his peripheral vision, Bill saw a thick dark line as the metal doors parted company. He moved his left foot out.

  “Geck ick,” Cherry mumbled.

  Bill took his screwdriver from the panel. He reached out and slipped his left hand between the partly open doors.

  Cherry stepped back, removing her two screwdrivers from the circuitry before she spat out the pencil. “And for my next trick.” She smiled and squatted to lift a sizeable broken branch which she wedged between the doors to prevent them from closing.

  Bill said “You were bloody amazing, but you’d better go back. I’ll wait for whoever comes from within.”

  “I know you mean well, Bill, but this is no time for chivalry. There is a fair chance that somewhere in there an alarm will have operated, so they are not going to welcome a strange man with polite conversation.” She undid the top buttons of her shirt. “Go and fetch the other two members of our advance party.”

  “I can’t leave you here to face whoever comes out.”

  “Bill, if it’s a woman, I’ll be safe, and if it’s a guy, is he more likely to listen to you, or a tall young woman with her ample chest on display?”

  Bill shook his head, turned and worked his way through the greenery back to the tunnel. It felt good to see such courage in any young person in such circumstances, but he hurried anyway.

  12 - Soldiers of Misfortune

  Steph, Craig, and Dawn were standing inside the tunnel, sharing a mug of tea.

  “We’re on,” Bill said and took a few deep breaths. “Cherry is a bloody magician. We need to get back quickly because she might have company soon.” He saw a look of concern on Steph’s face. “What’s wrong, Steph?”

  “Norman would like a quiet word at your earliest opportunity.”

  Bill’s brow furrowed. “The forestry guy?”

  “Yes, but we told him this had priority over everything else.”

  Calvin appeared from beside the nearest train carriage. “Are we set, Bill?”

  “Yes, mate. Could you hold the fort here and make sure nobody else leaves?”

  “Consider it done.”

  Steph handed Calvin her tea. “We’ll see you later.”

  Bill, Steph and Craig set off through the bushes.

  “Bill, did you see Harry and Victoria out here?” Steph said.

  “Yes, and if we follow this white tape, it should take us past them. I think they’re spending time identifying flora and working out a route for us to avoid destroying anything .”

  They continued following the tape for a few minutes, and Harry appeared right in front of them.

  “We noted that you were in a hurry a minute ago,” Harry said. “I take it we’re in, Bill?”

  “We are mate. Somebody will be back with an update when practical. Calvin’s at the back wall.”

  Victoria glanced and nodded at her friends as they rushed past her through the foliage.r />
  When the trio reached the entrance doors to the Auchcarn hydro facility, there was no sign of Cherry, and one door was wide open. Where Cherry should have been, were two men in one-piece protective outfits wearing respirators. Both were wearing simple mesh webbing with pouches to hold equipment, and the men were aiming laser rifles towards the visitors.

  Bill halted and raised his hands, which was copied by Steph and Craig.

  One of the soldiers stepped forward. “Who are you and where the hell do you think you’re going?” The voice was slightly muffled due to the respirator.

  Bill glanced at the rank and name-tag. “Corporal Beech, we’re not enemy forces or insurgents.” He glanced at the other soldier. “Like you guys, we’re survivors of whatever the hell happened when everything went pear-shaped. Our next objective, unless you want to kill us or leave us out here to die, is to find reasonable shelter.”

  “Your next objective … now, that doesn’t sound very civilian to me.”

  “That’s because I’m an ex-Serviceman and as you’ll find out in due course, you hang on to a lot of the lingo.”

  “If you’re an ex-Serviceman you’ll know more than my rank and name, but so would an insurgent or enemy special forces.”

  “My guess is that you’re Airborne Defence Brigade, and since this place isn’t normally guarded, you guys must have dropped in when the shit hit the fan. The Standard Operating Procedure would be to use your men to secure power and communication facilities.”

  Cpl Beech nodded but kept his weapon raised in a defensive position. “So far, all you’ve proved is that you know a little about us, and our possible role, but we know shit about you.”

  “We were on a coach tour on the mountain roads when the nuclear tit-for-tat thing kicked off.”

  “You expect me to believe that you’ve survived for three days in the mountains?”

  Steph said, “Young man, I have the greatest respect for our Armed Forces, but do I really look like a bloody insurgent?”

  “The enemy comes in all shapes and sizes, madam.”

  “Do they usually come as an unarmed, forty-something woman who is dishevelled, hungry, tired and smelling like shit. Apart from looking like they’ve just spent three fucking days living in a disused railway tunnel?” She shook her head. “I’m tired, and I’m putting my arms down … shoot me if you must.” Steph slowly lowered her arms.