The Fight for Life

by S G Read

Clem drove forward and half way along the front of the house the car stopped. Soon everyone apart from Ralph senior and Donna were fussing round the car. The children were fascinated by the dead dogs.

  ‘Has it got any petrol in it?’ Ralph junior asked.

  Will checked. ‘Some fumes maybe!’ He answered.

  The men all stood looking at Clem.

  ‘So I forgot to fill up!’ She declared.

  ‘Have you a can full?’ Ray asked.

  ‘No.’ Clem admitted.

  ‘Make sure you have next time, you could be out somewhere where there is no garage and there are no cars about!’ Ray ordered. ‘James, will you take Clem to the nearest garage to fill a can?’

  ‘Sure, it could have been me!’ He answered.

  James walked off to his people carrier with Clem following.

  ‘Bring several cans full.’ Ray called after them. ‘Some diesel and some petrol!’

  They drove up to the gates, waited for them to open, then sped up the road towards the nearest garage.

  ‘So what do we do?’ Will asked.

  ‘Tow it up there with the van and dump the bodies ready for burning, we can leave the others where they are for Clem and James to collect.’

  ‘We have a fair bit of rubbish; shall I get that up there to burn with them?’ Will asked.

  ‘Yes but nothing which will rot, we will have to make our own compost for the future.’ Ray warned. ‘We must waste nothing!’

  ‘I saw you had washed the tins we’ve opened. I have a use for a few of them as slug traps, when the garden gets up and running.’

  Using the van they towed the car up to the lawn near the border which would soon be a garden and threw the bodies into a pile.

  ‘We will need to find a plough to turn this into garden and get a few other things from a farm.’ Ray added as he closed the cars back door. ‘Then we can go seed shopping, to see what we can plant and when.’

  ‘I know most of that anyway.’ Will replied.

  They towed the car back to the garage to await Clem’s return, and then went inside for a drink. The morning had started quite hectically!

  James drove to the garage and parked the car. He opened the boot but stopped.

  ‘What’s that noise?’ He asked.

  Clem listened as well.

  ‘That is an engine of some sort and it’s coming this way!’ Clem cried. ‘Drive round the back!’

  James drove round the back and parked the people carrier out of sight, then they crept to where they could see what went past.

  The first vehicle was an armoured vehicle, the second was a lorry which had armed men inside. The third was another lorry full of armed men.

  They watched to see where they went but their hearts missed a beat when the three vehicles turned of on to the road that led to the house they were living in.

  ‘They must have seen enough to think we were out but coming back!’ James exclaimed. ‘What do we do?’

  ‘Follow them a little way and park out of sight! They have no idea about the explosives, well I hope they don’t! When it goes off, we want to capture one of the people alive but we don’t let anyone get away, just in case they are just continuing where they left of yesterday. With the gates closed this time they will know someone is home!’

  They drove a little way up the road until they could walk through the trees to be insight of the gates. James went into the trees on the left and Clem went into the trees on the right.

  Blue was first to hear the engines and barked, but it was not a greeting. Donna peered down the road.

  ‘I think we have visitors!’ She warned. ‘I`ll get the children upstairs.’

  ‘Too late to open the gates again.’ Will declared. ‘I`ll go and get Baby warmed up.’ Baby was his name for one of the snipers’ rifles he had acquired.

  ‘Have a count up for me, no one goes back to report!’

  ‘Will do.’

  He ran up the stairs to find Ralph senior sneaking a look out of the window, in the room he was in.

  ‘Can you shoot?’ Will asked.

  ‘I`ll throw rocks at those bastards if you like!’ Ralph senior replied.

  Will ran to his room picked up the other snipers’ rifle and ran back to where Ralph senior was standing.

  ‘This is better than rocks.’ He declared. ‘No one must get away to let on about our position!’

  Ralph senior opened the window a fraction and settled into a chair. ‘Time for a bit of payback!’ He said with a smile of satisfaction.

  Will returned to his window. ‘You take any on the left who try to leg it and I`ll take the ones on the right!’

  ‘Tell me again why they will try to leg it and not just overwhelm us?’ Ralph senior called back.

  ‘Trust me they will run, if there is any left alive! Oh and try to wing one so that we can have a chat!’

  ‘From this range! I shall be aiming for the biggest bit!’ Ralph senior called back. ‘That way they won’t run too far!’

  Ray watched the armoured car approach the gates and stop. They men stopped for a conference when they saw the gates closed this time.

  ‘This place was deserted yesterday!’ One of the lorry drivers declared.

  ‘It looks like they fooled your lot and it also looks like we found out where they are holed up! Remember the boss wants the girl alive!’ The man who was obviously their leader replied.

  ‘What if there are any others?’ The other lorry driver asked.

  ‘All the boss said was, when we find them he wants that girl to tame, the rest don’t matter!’ The leader answered.

  ‘You hear that boys we get to play with the other women!’ The first lorry driver called.

  ‘Mine will be like the back of a bus!’ One of the remaining men complained from the back of the lorry.

  ‘I’ll drive up to the gate and you two move either side of me as a show of strength, there probably won’t even be a fight!’ The leader crowed. ‘Would you try to fight us?’

  Ray watched them drive on up to the gate and stop. The two lorries pulled up either side of the armoured car and stopped. He opened the little cupboard and uncovered the detonators ready.

  ‘You in the house!’ The leader called. ‘We are the clan and we have come for that girl! Open the gates and we will not hurt anyone, we will just take the girl!’

  Ray peered through the window.

  ‘No time like the present.’ He mused and locked all the detonators to work together. Another look and he fired the explosives.

  All three vehicles flew into the air as the ground underneath them erupted. There were screams of agony and pain. When they landed, there were more screams.

  The men in the house waited for the dust to settle and the smoke to clear. Several were staggering round and the two upstairs fired. One by one they dropped. When there were no more moving Will recounted.

  ‘Three missing Ray!’ He called down.

  ‘We need to stop them!’ Ray called back.

  ‘I’m on my way. Ralph, you pop anyone else you see moving about, other than one of us!’

  ‘Will do Will!’

  Ray opened the gates with the remote and ran down the drive. Will followed. Ray used the remote to close the gates before they were outside, dropped the remote in the grass and hurried through the gates followed by Will. The gates closed and they were outside but there was no dogs about. They searched for the men without success, the men who were there lying down were all dead.

  ‘You go right and I’ll go left.’ Ray called and ran into the trees.

  It was important that the men did not get back to tell their leader where they were!

  Clem walked forward, using the trees as cover until the drive erupted, throwing the three vehicles into the air. She stopped to watch and saw a man run toward her, she already had her pistol drawn and waited until he was close enough, then fired. The man fell like a stone. She looked across to where James had been but could not see him. She could see a man going through
the trees and took aim. It was a long shot and she waited until he was closer. Suddenly James appeared behind the man and hit him with the branch of a tree. The man fell pole axed. Clem felt easier now and started to creep forward again. She passed behind a clump of trees and James was out of sight again, when she came out the other side. She smiled at his skill. She moved forwards, looking for anyone else coming her way but she did not see the man who waited for her, hidden! As she passed him, he stood up and pushed the barrel of his weapon into her back.

  ‘I think you are the one the boss wants,’ The man said coldly, ‘but you have been the reason a lot of my friends have died so I think you have to die!’

  ‘You call them friends?’ Clem retorted. ‘Do your worst!’

  James saw Clem shoot her man from his position and waited for his man to come into his range. Ray wanted one to question so he had decided to clobber him with a log, well it felt like a log to him. He saw a second man on Clem’s side and she was moving toward him but he could do nothing! He waited and finally clobbered his man. He saw Clem look his way and smile but then she went behind a clump of trees. He decided to try to get over there and dropped to the floor out of sight.

  Ray moved forward looking for the three men and Will kept level with him on the other side but neither of them saw Clem’s predicament.

  ‘Have you any last words girl?’ The man asked.

  ‘I have a question and as I am going to die it won’t matter if you answer it will you?’

  ‘We will see.’

  ‘What is your leaders name and where does he have his hide out?’

  ‘Hide out! Jamal does not have a hide out! He is the leader of the clan! We reside in and around the Mecca in London.’ The man exclaimed.

  Now she had him talking she tried to keep it going, her last resort was to do her strip but it was not much use if the man was not interested in girls!

  ‘What the dance hall?’

  ‘No the Upton Park. What is now know as the Mecca.’

  ‘What where Chelsea played?’

  ‘Don’t you know anything? It is West Ham’s ground. We have matches there every Saturday to please Jamal, he loves football!’

  ‘You don’t fancy me, do you?’ Clem asked unzipping her fly.

  ‘Not at all and without you here, Jamal will not think about you again!’

  ‘Did he see me then?’

  ‘Yes. In the shop by the green, he saw you and wanted you but he sent me to catch you and I let you get away. I am better for him than you!’

  ‘It’s a shame you don’t fancy me!’ Clem declared.

  Suddenly the man stiffened up, his eyes opened wide and he slumped to the ground.

  ‘I do though!’ James said as he wiped the blood off the hunting knife.

  ‘I’m glad of that James.’ Clem answered and kissed him on the lips.

  ‘Are we interrupting anything? Ray asked.

  Will stood not far away his rifle ready.

  ‘No, not really.’ James answered. ‘I have your prisoner.’

  He led the way to the unconscious man and they dragged him back to the house.

  The man was tied and left outside with Will watching him while the children were sat down to watch a video, then the rest sat in the kitchen to discuss how to make him talk.

  ‘We could hang him over the wall while the dogs are about.’ James suggested.

  ‘How do we make sure the dogs are there?’ Clem asked.

  ‘Hang a dead dog over there for a while until they are trying to get it.’ Ray answered. ‘At least the dogs will be useful for something and doing it like that it doesn’t matter if the rope breaks.’

  ‘What are we actually trying to find out?’ Clem asked.

  ‘Who their boss is and where they hang out.’ Ray answered.

  Clem said no more, it would be confirmation of what the other man said and she would know if he was lying!

  They took the man to the left hand wall and they hung a dog carcass over the wall on a rope to attract the dogs.

  ‘What are you going to do with me?’ The man asked.

  ‘When we have attracted a few dogs we are going to ask you a few questions, under duress.’ Will answered honestly.

  They waited and the rope started to twitch. Ray climbed up on to the lorry to see over the wall. Several dogs were attacking the carcass.

  ‘Time to change the bait.’ He said looking straight at their captive.

  ‘I will tell you what you want to know.’ The man cried.

  ‘What is your leader’s name?’ Ray asked.

  ‘Robert, Robert Johnson.’

  ‘Liar.’ Clem retorted. ‘Let the dogs chew on him!’

  Ray glanced at Clem but pulled the dead dog back with the help of Will. The man was dragged up onto the lorry and up onto the cab.

  ‘I don’t know if we will be able to pull you back up.’ Ray warned him and held his head over where the yapping dogs were milling about.

  ‘Jamal, his name is Jamal.’ The man cried.

  ‘Better.’ Clem retorted. ‘Now tell us the rest!’

  The sight of the dogs loosened his tongue and he told all he knew. Clem listened intently to see if it sounded true. He mentioned the Upton Park headquarters.

  ‘Where West Ham play?’ Clem asked.

  ‘Yes.’ The man answered. He mentioned the Saturday matches and went on to tell more than Clem knew but she did not let on.

  The clan had a lookout tower on a near bye block of flats with cameras on every floor to alert them if anyone went in. Jamal had arrived in the country shortly before the plague struck and tried to help people where he could.

  When they had heard all they wanted to know, they stopped and Will took some time to shoot as many dogs as he could, before they all ran off.

  James and Clem took the man back to the house where Ralph senior waited to ask some more questions, mainly about his wife. When he knew all he wanted, they lowered the captive into the pit they had dug which was too small for the generator. His hands were still tied, which meant he could not get out and if he did get his hands free, it was still not really possible for him to get out unaided.

  With him out of the way Ray set people to work.

  ‘You and Clem go and get the petrol for the car while we fill in the holes and get rid of the three vehicles. Mind when you come back in case we haven’t filled the holes in yet though!

  Will, you bring the digger round and we will fill the holes enough to put more explosives in there and reconnect to the house. We have enough number one to pack it with but we will have to go off and get some more asphalt tomorrow.’

  They put the bodies into what remained of the three vehicles and they were lifted onto a lorry to be transported. There was a deep hole Ray knew of, no water in it, just a hole in the ground and they lowered the lorries onto the edge of it, bodies and all. Then the lorries were persuaded to roll down into the hole. The armoured car had the same treatment and then Ray trundled out there with the digger and took soil from higher points to cover them with soil, a mass grave for the vehicles and the dead. He did not want them found by the clan.

  They repaired the road and put in more explosives as they repaired it so that it was ready for the asphalt. That enabled James to drive back into the walled area.

  Clem put petrol into her car and started it. She drove away with James as her passenger to fill her car up. While they were gone they laid the dogs on anything they did not want and doused them in petrol. The smell was appalling but it was better than letting the dogs eat them. The other dogs were recovered from outside the wall and thrown on top. Fallen trees and branches were used to make the fire bigger so that all the dogs would burn completely. The resulting ash would be used to enrich the new garden. That evening with the gates firmly closed and the remote on a high shelf, out of reach of the children, they sat and talked in the television room with the television off.

  Ralph senior was there being beaten at chess by Ralph junior, he was a bright little
boy!

  ‘How is Evelyn?’ Clem asked.

  ‘She is a poorly little girl but I hope she will make a full recovery, physically that is, mentally is another thing!’

  ‘And your foot?’ Ray asked.

  ‘A lot better than it was, thanks to Donna!’

  Donna stood up and took a little bow.

  ‘Well we need more people to go and tackle the clan so we will wait until you can perform fully. While we are doing that we will go out and about trying to find more people to help us. Otis is a bit old to go up against the clan so I won’t ask him but if we can find two or three more able bodied men or women I`ll be happy to go up and get your wife back!’

  ‘The sooner the better.’ Ralph senior replied. ‘I have nightmares about what is happening to her up there.’

  ‘I have another idea.’ Ray started. ‘We know Jamal arrived in this country a short while before the plague broke out, I am just wondering if he brought it in some how.’

  ‘It’s world wide.’ Ralph junior said as he moved a piece.

  ‘How do you know that Ralph?’ Will asked.

  ‘I have a short wave radio and I have friends all over the world. One by one they stopped calling or answering until there was no power to run my radio.’

  ‘Have you tried since you have been here?’ Ray asked.

  ‘No. I didn`t think there was any point.’ Ralph junior answered.

  ‘Well Ralph junior, I thought it was just us suffering or even an attack to gain control of the country but if it is world wide it means everyone is in the same boat. Shall we find out if any of your friends are still about?’ Ray asked.

  ‘Okay.’ Ralph junior left the chess board before the game was finished, something he rarely did, and came back with a battered cardboard box with a short wave radio in it.

  ‘He made it himself.’ Ralf senior said proudly. ‘When he was six!’

  Ralph junior plugged the radio in and twiddled knobs until it was up and running. He took out a hard backed note pad and set it to the first frequency.

  ‘Ralphy calling Alphonse, come in.’ He repeated the same call over and over again with out response while everyone waited with baited breath. He tried the next one and the next one with out reply. Slowly he went through his little book alphabetically until he came to the last name. ‘Ralphy calling Wilbur, come on?’ The second time he said it the speaker crackled.