Surviving The Ravenous

by King, Christine

  The inside of the castle was huge, and the surrounding walls looked high and imposing, but it felt safe and the stillness was reassuring. Ahead of us was a large manor house type building that seemed to run from one turret to the next. A few smaller buildings dotted the grass and mud in the open space that was before us, Jason walked to the left, so I headed right. I found more bones, and some smashed up items littering the ground. The buildings here looked less impressive but functional, they had bars on the ornate windows and heavy oak doors which were locked; I used my crossbow to smash the small padlock off one of the old wooden doors and headed inside. It was cooler here and had a lot of dust dancing in the light beams that speared their way across the room. It looked as though the ravenous had not gained entry, none of the windows had been smashed due to the thick bars protecting them on the outside and the surroundings looked undisturbed. I wandered around the large room; it was filled with embroidered sofas and large vases. It screamed opulence and history; I guessed that all these items were part of the display shown to the public and I rubbed my hands over a few antiques, feeling lucky to be this close to them. After a quick search, I headed back out, it all seemed quiet; Jason was heading towards me with his bow in its holster, so I knew he had found nothing alarming. Mark and Lara appeared from around one of the smaller buildings with both their weapons sheathed. Lara beamed at us and we couldn’t help but smile back. It was nice to see her happy, “This place is amazing,” she cried.

  Mark spoke up, “We found one ravenous towards the back, it must have been left behind. I got rid of it and it seems clear everywhere else.”

  Jason looked around, “this could work,” he said with enthusiasm and looking about at the stone walls and high turrets I felt proud that it had been my idea to come here and I also felt relief that we had finally arrived.

  On the way back to the van we talked of what we had seen. Mark and Lara had searched the manor house and the turrets. They were full of old furniture and machinery. Jason had searched the building opposite mine; it was a place of work and had things in it to do with grinding wheat and tilling the fields. Jason said there was even an old plough; Lara added that the manor house had a loom and a spindle. Everyone got very excited at the things we could learn to do, I told them mine was mostly furniture and ornaments, but everything would come in handy. No one had seen any other signs of life, ravenous had been in with the plough but they hadn’t done much damage and had only left behind bones, scatterings of rubbish and human waste. We found some silver cylinders, but we didn’t want them near us, so we rolled them as far as we could from the castle. The courtyard was littered with the ravenous leftovers, but it would be easy to clear away with a bit of hard work.

  Ali and Adam were happy to see us all back in one piece and even happier that the castle seemed to be a perfect haven. We drove down into the courtyard and began our takeover of the castle by pulling up the drawbridge; the mechanism was still functional and only needed a light oiling to get it running again. With the van parked inside the castle grounds, we began to unload our supplies and belongings; Adam ran around looking at all the fancy rooms and picked one of the large manor house bedrooms for himself. We put a lot of the supplies into the area deemed as the pantry; it seemed very cool in there and perfect for food storage. We had everything inside before it got dark and sorted out rooms for everyone. As the sky turned from blue to black, we set off a flare from one of the turrets. We hoped Tessa and her family saw the sky light up with our signal, and I hoped they were happy for our safe arrival. Thinking of the family on the pier made me a little sad again, I hoped that they were doing ok and that they were happy out by the sea. I had a moment of worry that the flare might attract other survivors or looters, but we had promised.

  Wandering around the upper area of the manor house with my torch, picking out the large furniture and ornate mirrors, I picked a bedroom with large windows and a massive four-poster bed. I had to move away the red ropes that segregated the bed from the rest of the room and air the sheets; it felt quite naughty to be about to use an antique bed, but it was more use to us now to get some sleep in than to use it as a display item.

  I was wandering in and out of my new room with piles of clothes and things I found myself acquiring from the rest of the house, when I realised Jason was moving into the bedroom next to mine. I stood in the doorway watching him bent over a small chest of draws; he was sorting his clothes into them in a tidy fashion. He spun around as I coughed and smiled at me, “Thought I should be on hand in case you need me to help you out.”

  I grinned cheekily and sauntered into his room. “What kind of help did you have in mind?” I flirted back at him. He shrugged and came forward to embrace me, I put my arms around him, and he kissed my forehead affectionately. As I stood there in his bedroom, I worried that I might be in danger of being easy. I pulled away and said, “I want to take things slow, I know it’s a strange time and all that, but I am unsure of everything at the moment and I don’t want to start something I can’t finish.”

  Jason looked at me thoughtfully and then took my hand, “I want you to be happy and I know we have both gone through some awful stuff. We will just take each day as it comes and see where we end up.”

  I stepped back in for another hug and kissed his rough cheek. “Thanks” I whispered and felt him squeeze me harder with real longing and affection.

  We came out to help Lara clear some rooms, Mark and Adam were chasing the puppies outside and Ali was stood in the doorway laughing.

  I cleared the main room; we would use this as a communal living room; it had an old log fire and lots of sofas. As the night wore on, we all grabbed something to eat from what was left of the fresh items and lit the fire in the living room. It was very cosy; Ali had found a lyre, which she played like a guitar. The sound was a little distorted, but she managed to find some tunes we all knew and some nursery rhymes that Adam could join in on. We all sang a bit even Jason hummed along now and then, Adam got us all up to do ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ which was his favourite and stood in front of a log fire trying to remember which body part I was meant to be touching and laughing as we all messed it up I again forgot for a short time the horrors I had seen and the uncertainty of our future.

  Finally, we all crept off to bed, Mark and Ali seemed to be sharing one room with Adam and Lara had picked a room not too far away from mine. We all said goodnight and with my torch balanced on the bedside table, lit against the darkness, I managed to drift off to sleep.

  The next morning, I awoke not quite remembering where I was. The light shone in through the metal bars. I looked up at an ornate ceiling and I turned over in my giant soft bed to see the expensive and beautiful furniture around me. I almost laughed out loud at the thought of sleeping in what once could have been a royal bed. I got up and pulled on my grubby but practical shirt and trousers; I was not feeling very royal. The thought came to me that finally, we could wash some of our stuff.

  I headed out to the corridor and found Adam playing with Tit and Tat; the dogs were running up and down the passage whilst Adam threw a ball for them and he was laughing as they fought over the ball and tumbled over each other. He called the dogs to him as I came out and looked apologetic, “sorry if we woke you”.

  I shook my head with a smile, “you didn’t, keep playing. I’m going to find everyone.”

  Adam ginned back and threw the ball for the bouncing puppies, they scampered after it and I heard Adam laughing again. It was a nice sound, and I was sure we would all feel more settled today.

  I found Mark and Ali downstairs; she was fixing a metal contraption over the fire and looking at it I guessed it was a potholder or a spit. Mark was studying some plans on the table; I went over to have a look and saw they were the castle blueprints. Mark and Ali said,” Good morning,” and as I peered over Mark’s shoulder Jason came in.

  “No good, it's polluted,” he said as he strolled over. Upon seeing me, he came to my side and put his arm aroun
d my waist. I almost stepped out of the way as I wasn’t used to public signs of affection from him, but the warmth of his arm was comforting and he was stood so close I could smell the agreeable smell of musky sweat on his skin. Mark turned away from the table to face us, “I thought the moat might be, but I think I’ve found a well, it’s probably boarded up but if it hasn’t dried up completely it could be a water source. We will have to hope it doesn’t get its water from the moat but from the river over the way”

  Jason nodded, “I think the river will be better once it’s cleaned out of all the junk in it, but at the moment it’s not looking good either.” Mark nodded and pointed to a place on the blueprints “Let’s try here” Jason craned to see where Mark was pointing, and I watched him gathered the maps and begin to leave. Jason squeezed my waist, kissed the side of my head and followed Mark out the door. I felt special, warm, and wanted. An overwhelming desire to chase after him made me step towards the door but Lara walked in and I stopped to check that she was ok.

  “Did you sleep well?” I asked, going over to her. She nodded and looked out of the window, “I found a tractor and an old jeep, I think I can make them work,” she said a little dreamily.

  I smiled encouragingly, “They could pull the plough” I interjected.

  Lara gave a quick nod, “Dad taught me about ploughs and crops,” she finished. I put my hand on her shoulder, “We are lucky to have you,” I said, and she finally turned to face me.

  “My dad didn’t make it, did he?” she asked, biting her lip as she waited for my answer. I knew that I had to be honest and that she wasn’t a little girl, she needed to be tough to survive and I shouldn’t try to be her mum and shield her from the realities of life. “I really don’t know Hun.” I said quietly, “It’s unlikely but not impossible, we have to get on with living for today and if we get the chance, we will do everything we can to find your dad, I promise.” Lara wrapped me in a hug, and I hugged her back, when she let go, she had a determined expression in her eyes. “I will go fix those vehicles and see if the plough is useable” I nodded my approval, and she headed back out. Turning to face Ali, I said, “If you’re looking for Adam, he’s upstairs.” Ali nodded and beckoned me over; I walked over to see what she needed. She had the metal potholder balanced, but it kept falling over so together we found bits of metal and made it stable, then we looked for pots to fit on it.

  The rest of the day was spent working hard; we ate some soup around lunchtime, which Ali prepared with a few of the fresh vegetables in it. She had even found some flour and made a flatbread that though it wasn’t like usual bread was fantastic to us after tinned food for weeks. We discovered a kiln for pots and a gift shop full of sweets, most of which Adam claimed. It also had bottles of juice and water which would come in handy, the loom still worked and there were plenty of books on how to use it. In the castle’s small cafe, we checked use-by dates on perishable things and although we didn’t know today’s exact date, we could guess at what was edible and what needed to be thrown out.

  The well had been found, and it wasn’t boarded up, it looked as though it was used for demonstrations in the castle. It had water in the bottom and a wind-up bucket. We couldn’t believe our luck. The water still didn’t look too great, so we decided all water would be run through cloth filters and boiled before any of us even thought about drinking it.

  I began to till a small patch of land by hand in the courtyard with Adam’s help, and we put in a few seeds from the supplies we had brought with us. Adam ran around watering them with the water from the well’s bucket. As evening came, I made plans for tilling the surrounding fields, for putting up fences and an early warning signal. Over dinner we discussed traps and pits, Jason thought we could divert some of the river water to protect us on one side. It was all going to be very hard work, and we began to designate jobs.

  Ali enjoyed the cooking, so we left that to her, she would also be clothing washer, water gatherer and the castles primary guard if we were away foraging or claiming back land, we designated a patch of ground outside that would be used to bury rubbish or pour soapy water away; we knew it wasn’t a perfect solution but would work for now. Eventually, we hoped Ali would collect any vegetables we managed to grow. Mark was in charge of cleaning and washing up, he would also have to dig out latrines for us, we decided to use the inside toilets for now as we had lake water to flush them with but at some point, another solution was needed as inside toilets could clog and with no one running the whole drainage system it was only a matter of time before something went wrong, so we would need to dig a hole and have an outside toilet which Mark said he could build. Mark also began reading up on tilling and sowing as he hoped to be able to do these properly as well. Lastly, he volunteered to go out and set some traps. Jason would teach everyone combat, he would make arrows and other weapon’s, fetch water daily from the well and begin to divert the river, Mark also asked him to clear the moat around the castle and to clean the river of the rubbish dumped in it. Lara was assigned the tractor and the other vehicles, she needed to get them up and running so they would be able to pull the plough, Mark asked her if she could look up how to use the loom and find any wool or thread that could be used, he also put her in charge of weapons, the ones we had now and any future ones. I was asked to begin clearing the rooms, deciding what we could use and what we couldn’t, I also had to start sorting out the items we had brought with us. I wanted to continue learning about medicines and I had seen a few books in the van that had information on natural remedies, as our stored medicines could not last forever we would need to know more about how to use herbs and things we could grow to help with medical needs, I didn’t think anyone of us had any idea how to make modern medicines. I also felt it would be fun to build a scarecrow, and I volunteered to work on early warning signals. Lastly, they asked me to work out how to make pots, which sounded interesting until I began to read up on clay and kilns. That’s when I realised it was actually very hard work, Adam was asked to keep the puppies and the chickens fed and watered and also to help water the crops every day and to tend to them. Other jobs were more urgent, we had to establish watch rotas and check stock levels.

  “So, what shall we call this place?” Jason asked.

  Mark scratched his chin, “Ideas?” He asked.

  “Hope.” I said firmly.

  Jason nodded. “Sure, Hope castle.”

  Everyone nodded, and it was agreed.

  Day-to-day life had to go on, we had to eat, drink, wash, and sleep. In a few days we had settled in quite well, Jason built a pen for the chickens and the puppies had kennels devised from stationary cupboards found in the back of the shop.

  Adam found some toys in the gift shop and we often passed him in the hall chasing a ball or building a model.

  Jason couldn’t go out to collect water for washing the clothes alone in case of an attack, so one of us would go with him to the river and take turns to watch the horizon as we gathered buckets of water. In the evening’s we lit the fire and some candles and sat around telling stories, eating or singing songs. Jason and I usually went to the top of one of the turrets and sat in the moonlight together. It was a good place to watch for ravenous and also a good place to be alone. In case it rained we put out buckets and tubs to catch as much freshwater as possible, we would still boil it as we didn’t know how the gas in the atmosphere had affected the weather or the water and even with Jason working hard the river was still in need of a clear out.

  On our sixth night, Jason and I climbed the stairs as usual and sat together eating some left-over pie Ali had made for dessert and talking about the crops, we would be planting the next day. I could see smoke in the distance and as the wind blew gently, I could smell burning. “Is that the house we set on fire still burning?” I asked as I pointed it out to Jason. He stood up suddenly and made me jump. “No, but the pier is in that direction,” he said sharply. I knew he was right, “Tessa,” I said, feeling my stomach lurch. Jason bounded back down the s
tairs and rushed into the manor house; I ran after him, my bare feet slapping on the smooth stone.

  I followed as Jason swept into the room below making everyone jump, Lara had been dozing with Adam on her lap and she sprung up, almost knocking Adam to the floor. Jason called to Mark and Lara and they went to the back of the room. Adam newly awake went to his mother and hugged her, sensing something was wrong. Ali looked at the small group with fear in her eyes, I bent down beside her and whispered. “Don’t worry, we think there is a fire out there, we’re going to see if we can help.” I saw her visibly relax, and she ran her fingers through Adam’s hair to calm him. I decided not to tell her that we thought the fire was at the pier. There was no need to upset her. Lara came over as I got on my boots, “Mark is staying here,” she said looking towards Ali and Adam. “Someone needs to help keep the castle protected tonight, it could be a decoy.”

  “Good thinking,” I said, my mind racing as I tied my boots and grabbed my bow from the storeroom; I hoped I would never have to use it again, but I knew that laying down our weapons was a luxury we couldn’t afford.

  Everyone got ready to go, Lara checked her dwindling supply of ammunition and we hugged the others farewell. Adam ran around making a noise like a fire truck, not understanding the seriousness of the situation. He raced around us trying to get us to join in as we got ready to leave but we had no time for amusing distractions; we knew we had to go and see if it was the pier on fire and if our friends were in trouble.