Everyone stood in a semi-circle around the sofa, the only voices were Kamiyo’s and Holly’s. Holly’s moaning had continued, which was a good sign. She still felt pain, which meant she wasn’t unconscious. Kamiyo soothed her as much as he could, coaxing her to push. Her uterine muscles tightened irregularly, but it was something. Becky got sips of caffeinated water down her throat gently enough to keep from choking her.
An hour passed before they knew it.
Kamiyo had the baby’s head between his fingertips now, and he pulled as gently as he could. His hands were slippery with blood, and cramped, which made it slow going. He was no longer sure if the baby was alive. If it was, it was dosed with morphine. Becky and Philip, to both their credit were alert and responsive to his every command. A good support team. Aymun and Pritchard stayed out of the way.
“I can’t stand this,” said Pritchard after a while. “All the death and suffering. I just… I thought if we could get this baby out into the world… If we could just see a birth instead of more death…” The man blubbered to himself, at a breaking point.
“Ben, everything is fine. There’s a picnic later.”
Pritchard froze. “Holly?”
Holly smiled. “Where’s Tony?”
“I don’t know anyone called Tony. I don’t think you do either.”
Becky gave Pritchard a sympathetic glance. “It’s just the morphine talking.”
Kamiyo felt a twinge of hope. “No, this is good. Holly was almost unconscious, and now she’s chatting away. She’s moving in the right direction.” He got firmer with the woman. It was now or never. “Holly? I know you’re confused, but you need to push. Pretend you’re on the toilet, and you need to take the biggest shit in your life. Push it out!”
Holly giggled. “You sweared. Push shit out.”
“Yes,” said Kamiyo. “Push. Shit. Out.” He looked at the others. Becky understood. She cleared her throat and repeated the mantra.
Philip twigged next. “Push. Shit. Out.”
Pritchard joined in last.
Aymun remained silent and bemused.
Holly chanted with them, giggling. She had stopped moaning now, her pain receptors too dulled to fire, but she was awake. And she was pushing.
The feeling of her uterus writhing around Kamiyo’s hands was amazing—like he was feeling life returning to dead flesh. It throbbed and clenched. The baby began to move. He pulled harder, decided that speed was now too much of a factor. His fingers moved higher and Holly pushed harder and harder.
The baby’s head came down into the birth canal, held in place by the vaginal walls. Holly continued pushing while Kamiyo still had his hands inside of her. “That’s it, Holly! Push! That’s so good. It’s almost out. Hard as you can now, sweetheart.”
Holly screamed, her pain suddenly switching back on. She rose up on her hands and bore down, bellowing like an angry gorilla.
The baby slid out onto the sofa like a dead fish. It didn’t move. A small pool of blood spread around it.
Kamiyo lifted the baby by the ankles and spanked it. Then he swooped a finger in its mouth to clear its airways. Still it made no sound.
But it stared into Kamiyo’s eyes curiously and blinked. A sleepy newborn.
A baby high on morphine.
“The baby’s alive, and it’s a boy,” he said with relief, “but he’s suffering the effects of the morphine.” With one hand, he parted Holly’s shirt, and placed the baby down against her bare chest. Holly giggled, then went silent as she stared at the newborn on her chest. Pritchard ran over to her and kissed her head, completing the family picture.
For the moment, both mother and baby were alive. Kamiyo would cut the umbilical cord and check Holly wasn’t hemorrhaging, but that was about all he could do. Nature would decide the rest.
Philip patted Kamiyo on the back. “That was pretty spectacular, Doctor. What should we do now?”
Kamiyo shrugged. “Now we try to make a deal.”
40
HANNAH
The sun lingered majestically over the lake as though God wanted to make their last day special. From atop the castle walls, the forest below was an oil painting of mixed greens, oranges, and browns. The chirping of the birds and trill of insects, however, was absent. Did they know the demons were coming? Were the monsters already in the forest?
Hannah wished the sun would stay in place forever, never sinking behind the trees. She knew the death that the darkness would bring.
Their time was almost up.
She and Ted were in charge of… well, everything. The only other adults were Frank, Carol, and Steven, and they were keeping the kids accounted for. The last thing they needed was one of them getting caught playing outside the walls during an attack. Hannah had been unnerved when Ted had brought Nathan back inside the main camp, but even more shocked to witness the re-emergence of Vamps. Ted had encountered the man down at the cabin, and like Kamiyo, had been convinced that he was an innocent man.
Everyone in the camp wanted Vamps dealt with, but no one could agree on how. Murder was the most popular vote.
Hannah’s rifle had seven rounds left, but she’d not held it since Nathan had used it to murder Jackie. It was stowed inside the pantry, but she retained the bolt carrier assembly in her pocket. The weapon was useless without it.
The dark ages had returned where people took refuge behind wooden stakes and stone walls. They would fight, not with tanks and grenades, but spears and bows. There would be no amnesty for women and children.
Ted had been working all afternoon to dig a ditch beyond the portcullis, making it even harder for the demons to assault the gate. He was still out there now and surrounded by all the male teenagers. What on Earth was he up to?
Hannah headed down the stone steps and ducked beneath the half-open portcullis. “What’s going on, Ted? Why is everybody out here?”
Ted turned around with a slight grin on his face. “We’re just taking a piss. Want to join us?”
Hannah frowned. “Huh? I don’t understand. The latrine is on the other side of the camp.”
To her amazement, the teens whipped their dicks out and started pissing on the ground right next to the ditch Ted had been working on. Ted seemed amused by her confusion, but he didn’t explain what was going on. Instead, he put a hand on her back and moved her from the obscene scene. “How are we looking, Hannah?”
She chewed at her lip and shrugged. “As good as we’re going to get. Frank has rigged up a load of plastic bottles and tin cans in the trees as a kind of alarm system. Was a good idea actually.”
Ted chuckled. “He told you it was his idea? I told him to do that, the cheeky bugger.”
“Oh…” Hannah chuckled too. “The sod. Well, we’re all set. Just need to hunker down and get ready. Tonight is going to be the biggest night of our lives.”
“I have a few more things to do first,” said Ted. “The teenagers will need to fight, so I want to make sure they all know what to do. The attack will come at our front. Has to.”
Hannah nodded. “The hill is steep on the other three sides, obviously, but if they come from the lake, they could try to make it through the sally-port. It’s weaker.”
“They’d be sitting ducks,” said Ted. “They’d have no cover, and every time they lost their footing they’d tumble back down and have to start again. Vamps said the attack would come from the front, and it’s the only strategy that makes sense.”
“Okay, so if we’re sure the attack will come from the front, we need to get the kids back ins—”
Ted waited for her to finish, and when she didn’t, he frowned. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She shushed him. “Listen!”
Ted concentrated. There was a rattling sound—tin cans and plastic bottles.
Frank’s rudimentary alarm system.
Terror seizing him, he turned towards the teens, now doing up their flies. “Lads! Get your pricks away and get your arses behind the walls. Now!”
&nbs
p; 41
DR KAMIYO
Kamiyo had to stop for two minutes to catch his breath. The shopping bags he carried weighed a tonne, and his backpack was so heavy it threatened to tip him backwards. Philip, older and less athletic, was struggling even worse, and had to use his spear to lean on. Aymun acted as though the pack on his shoulders was full of feathers.
“I’m wondering if I can make it back,” said Philip, taking off his backpack to give his body a rest. He rotated his shoulders and winced. “Jesus.”
“It is true,” said Aymun. “I am a donkey lost in the desert, and I too must rest.”
“You look like you could do this all week,” said Philip incredulously.
“I know my body well, and it is ebbing.”
Kamiyo sighed while prodding at the weeds with his poker. “We already wasted too much time as Pritchard’s prisoners. We shouldn’t rest for too long.”
The other two men nodded their heads in agreement.
Holly and her newborn son had recovered from their ordeal with nothing worse than exhaustion. The labouring mother’s failure to progress could have been fatal to them both, but now that it was over, they should recover well. Before leaving, Kamiyo had sorted out Folic acid and other supplements from the pharmacy to keep Holly and her baby healthy, and Pritchard had been so grateful, he’d told Kamiyo and Philip they could take whatever they could carry from both the supermarket and pharmacy. His people had seemed a little perturbed by that largesse, but no one argued. He found out from Becky that demons had attacked the group on several occasions, and that Pritchard’s leadership was the only reason any of them were still alive. He had been a police officer before and had taken charge when things turned bad. Pritchard wasn’t such a bad guy.
Kamiyo, Aymun, and Philip had filled their rucksacks full of rice, grains, and noodles; and stuffed pill packets into their pockets and half a dozen carrier bags. They even found seeds for tomato plants, mint, radishes, and cabbages. Even after that loss, the supermarket group still possessed a veritable bounty of supplies. In exchange for the supplies, Kamiyo had told Pritchard everything about their camp in the forest—how to get there and how protected it was. He told the man to bring his group and come join them. Together they would have everything they needed—supplies, protection, and manpower. Pritchard’s group wouldn’t have to worry about being defenceless anymore. Pritchard responded that he would think about it, and that they were free to leave with his thanks. There was no apology for the hostility of the last three days, but Kamiyo supposed it was water under the bridge.
Kamiyo estimated the castle would now have enough supplies to withhold a siege for several months—providing the walls took care of everything else. Having spent so long on the road alone, Kamiyo had seen enough of the demons to know their capabilities well. He couldn’t imagine them bringing ladders and scaling the walls or constructing trebuchets and mangonels.
But he couldn’t see them giving up either.
Philip heaved his backpack onto his shoulders again and puffed. “We should get moving again. The demons could attack any time. I’m sorry I’m dragging us down.”
Kamiyo’s own body was close to falling to pieces too, but he consoled himself by telling himself that once he made it behind the castle walls, he would collapse and take a rest. He just needed to push himself a little longer. “You’re fitter than you give yourself credit for, Philip. I thought I was in good shape after being out on the road so long, but you’re matching me step-for-step.”
He smiled. “Used to do the London marathon every year. My wife had brain cancer, so I used to run to raise money.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. She beat it. Went through a year of hell, having to shave her head and puking all the time, but she never gave up. I suppose the marathons were a way for me to thank her for that—to suffer just a little of what she did. She could have given up and left me and Bray all alone, but she didn’t. I always used to think of her cancer as a monster, eating her insides, but it was real-life monsters that eventually killed her. None of us had any idea, did we? If I had known what was coming…”
Kamiyo nodded. “You would have spent more time at home with your wife, with Bray? Anything but work your arse off for a future that didn’t exist.”
Philip looked at him, a glassy look in his eyes. He nodded.
“Me too,” said Kamiyo. “I wish I’d experienced the taste of living before it all turned to ash and chalk. Philip, you had a wife, a child, businesses… I never got to have any of that. I envy you, Philip, even if I would never ever wish for the amount of pain you’re in.”
Philip stopped walking and seemed upset. His Adam’s Apple bobbed up and down. Eventually, he put out his hand. “Thank you, Christopher. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time. What you did back there to deliver that baby…” He sighed. “I know there was nothing else you could have done for Bray.”
Kamiyo held the man’s hand tightly and looked him in the eye. “We might have lost whatever chance of a life for ourselves, but there’s a castle full of kids that still have a future. We just need to keep them safe.”
“We will.”
Aymun had stood by listening. Now he spoke. “Then we should make haste, brothers.”
Kamiyo nodded and resumed walking. He yelped when something struck his face and then gave him a hefty bonk on the forehead. It didn’t hurt, but as he stumbled in fright, he caused a racket—the sound of thin metal against metal.
Aymun slunk into the bushes, glancing around like a spooked leopard.
Philip steadied Kamiyo and glanced around warily. “What the heck? Who put these up?”
Kamiyo saw the strings hanging from the branches, each one adorned with cans, bottles, and other pieces of rubbish. “It’s an alarm system,” he said, then grinned. “It means we’re nearly home.”
“Thank God,” said Philip. “Forget all that stuff I said about running marathons, because I’m going to puke if I don’t sit down soon.”
Kamiyo gave him a gentle shove. “Not long now. Let’s keep moving.”
42
TED
The castle courtyard was abuzz. Frank rang the bronze bell beside the well in case there was anyone caught outside. Steven dropped the portcullis.
The adults gathered around the campfire, the de facto lieutenants of the battle to come. Steven shook his head. “You told us the attack would come in the middle of the night. It’s still daytime.”
“I know,” said Frank. “We can’t worry about that now. Everything is set up. We’re ready. Get your teams in place.”
Frank glanced around. “Where’s Steven?”
“He’s down at the lake,” said Hannah. “He hasn’t brought today’s catch up yet.”
“Damn it!” Frank turned towards the rear courtyard. If Steven made it back soon, he would be fine. The attack would come from the front—according to Vamps.
But the young man had also claimed the demons would come during the middle of the night.
“Frank, get up on the front walls. I want to know what’s coming out of the forest. Hannah, get up at the rear. I’m not so sure we can trust our Intel. And get Steven back inside these walls.”
“Roger that, boss.”
“What about me?”
Ted turned to see Carol. He had forgotten all about her. She’d been sickly for a long time after her Typhoid Fever and spent most of her time babysitting the kids. “Oh, Carol, yeah. I, um, need you to get the youngest children inside the castle. Take them to the upper floors and block the stairwell with whatever you can find.”
She smiled a quivering smile, one prone to evaporate if she fell victim to panic. “W-Whatever you need, Ted.”
Ted turned to the teenagers next, who had assembled themselves into a small regiment. They had spent the last weeks concentrating on nothing but this moment. Each was afraid, but their collective presence steeled them all individually. Teenage peer pressure existed even in this, and no one wanted to be the kid
who ran away crying.
Ted addressed them all. “You know your jobs. Get up on those walls and prepare to rain hell.”
The teenagers sprinted away, each heading to their own allocated post. Ted was proud of them. He prayed he got to tell them that.
If the demons were coming, did they have a hope of surviving? What if they fought the demons and won? Would that mean the entire area was safe? Would there be others nearby? Other demon armies in Northumberland?
Ted grabbed his hammer from where he’d left it and took some of the tools lying around. His hammer would only come in handy if the demons got inside the walls. It would be a last resort.
He started up the steps leading to the front battlements and heard Frank calling out his name. “Ted!” he shouted. “Think yow better see this.”
Ted picked up speed, taking the ancient stone steps two at a time. He moved up beside Frank, looking out over the edge of the wall.
Something emerged from the forest.
“Thank the stars!” Ted grinned, his tummy turning a somersault of relief.
Kamiyo waved at them from the bottom of the front approach. Philip and Aymun walked beside him. All three were encumbered with bags and bags of supplies.
“Hurry up, kidda!” Frank shouted down at them. “A lot’s happened while yow been gone.”
Kamiyo and the others started up the hill, about to pass through the gate. They looked tired and weary, and the weight on their backs was substantial.
Their return was just in time.
It appeared Vamps might still have been telling the truth. The demons hadn’t attacked yet.
“OH NO!” A shout came from across the courtyard, all the way from the rear wall. “SHIT! HELP! HELP!”
Ted saw Hannah waving her arms to get his attention. She cried out hysterically.
Hell On Earth Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 105
