Civvy Street

by Fiona Field

  He watched Armstrong bodily lift Perkins clear of the water. Instantly Seb braced himself and began to haul on the rope as step by agonising step, Armstrong began to drag Perkins towards the bank. Seb did his level best to help with the deadweight of the casualty and, finally, the pair reached the bank and Armstrong pushed Perkins onto the land. With Perkins’ weight off the line, Seb was able to uncoil the rope and run forward to help.

  ‘Is he breathing?’ he yelled at Armstrong.

  Armstrong, his chest heaving from his exertions, shook his head. ‘Dunno, boss.’

  ‘I’ll start on the CPR – you call an ambulance.’

  Seb flipped Perkins over and pushed his chin back to clear his airway before checking for a pulse. He couldn’t feel anything so he switched from the pulse in Perkins’ wrist to the pulse point in his neck. Still nothing. Seb pinched Perkins’ nose and started breathing into his mouth. He gave the corporal several breaths before he began the chest compressions. Push, push, push and in his head he heard the Bee Gees’ ‘Staying Alive’. Push, push, push, push, staying alive, staying alive...

  ‘Sir, my phone’s fucked. Think it must have got water in it.’

  Seb rocked back on his heels and rummaged in his inside pocket. He chucked it at the sergeant. ‘Try mine.’

  He went back to the compressions. Shit, it was hard work and double shit, he should have been counting. Thirty compressions then four breaths was the technique he’d been taught, and he’d no idea how many compressions he’d done. He took a break and did the breathing then back to the pumping. This time he counted and breathed into Perkins’ mouth at the appropriate moment.

  ‘How’s he doing?’

  Seb stared up at Armstrong as he returned to the compressions. ‘Nothing yet.’

  ‘The ambulance is on its way.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘Want me to give it a go?’

  ‘Let me finish this thirty off and do the mouth-to mouth.’

  A few seconds later he handed over the pumping to Armstrong. His hands were right beside Perkins’ name tape, stitched just above the breast pocket of his combats. There was no way he would miss it.

  ‘Perkins?’ he said to Seb.

  Seb nodded.

  ‘Jenna’s Perkins?’

  Seb nodded again.

  ‘Blimey.’ He carried on with the compressions before stopping after half a minute or so to administer mouth-to-mouth. He resumed pumping. ‘How long do we go on for, boss?’

  ‘Until we get a result or paramedics take over.’

  ‘Do you think we’ll succeed?’

  ‘We are not going to fail. That is not an option.’

  ‘No, boss.’ Armstrong did a few more pumps. ‘Jenna might not have been the best wife to this guy but she was fond of him, I know that. She won’t forgive me if I fuck this up.’

  He was about to bend forward to do mouth-to-mouth a second time when Perkins’ chest heaved and water trickled from his mouth followed by a weak cough. Swiftly Armstrong rolled him on his side and more water poured out. Perkins coughed more and dragged in a big shuddering breath.

  Armstrong closed his eyes and sighed heavily. ‘Thank God for that.’ He opened his eyes and stared at Seb, his face pale with tiredness and worry.

  ‘Amen to that,’ replied Seb with feeling. He leaned forward and looked at Perkins. ‘Hey, buddy, how’re you feeling?’

  Perkins shook his head.

  ‘Rough?’

  Perkins nodded.

  ‘You gave us a bit of a fright there.’

  Perkins coughed again.

  ‘You owe Sergeant Armstrong here a drink,’ said Seb. ‘I reckon he saved your life.’

  Perkins switched his gaze to Armstrong and made an attempt at a smile. ‘Thanks,’ he mouthed and then gave Armstrong a weak thumbs-up.

  Seb got to his feet. ‘I don’t know about you but I’m freezing.’

  He went over to the vehicle and switched on the engine, thoughts of winching the branch out of the river long forgotten. He leaned in to the cab and flicked the heater switch up to full, before he returned to the other two soldiers.

  ‘Give it a minute or two and we can go and sit in the cab – get a bit of warmth till the ambulance gets here.’

  Chapter 43

  Susie and the girls looked at the filthy water as it swirled across the road in front of them. After managing to reach the car and escaping out of the village they had all relaxed, thinking that it would be plain sailing to get to Maddy’s. And so it had been – right up to this moment because, in front of the car, water was bubbling out of the drains at the side of the road and pouring over the tarmac. A stretch of the highway, a good two hundred yards long, was under water and Susie couldn’t tell how deep it was. She clutched the steering wheel and stared at the scene. Did she dare risk trying to get through it? The water streamed into the drainage ditches on either side but still the level seemed to be rising. Even as she watched, the flood inched closer to her bonnet. It could be just a few inches deep or it could be a couple of feet and, if it were the latter, there was no way her little car would be able to make it through. Mike’s exhortation not to take risks rang in her ears.

  ‘Now what?’ said Katie.

  Susie shrugged. ‘I’m trying to think if there’s another way round. Ella?’ Susie swivelled around in the driver’s seat. ‘Could you take a look in the seat-back pocket and see if there’s a book of maps in there?’

  There was the sound of rummaging and rustling. ‘Not a thing.’

  ‘The back parcel shelf?’

  More rustling. ‘Nothing.’

  Susie sighed. And Mike had the satnav. And that was another problem with moving house a lot – you never really got to know your surroundings. Susie was certain that there had to be another way to Warminster, some back road or other, one that ran over higher ground and wouldn’t be flooded, but she didn’t know it. The only roads she knew were the routes that she travelled along on a regular basis. Maybe if she had a four-by-four she’d risk trying to continue but her little runabout was not the car to try to ford a flood in.

  ‘We’ll have to go back.’

  ‘Mum,’ the girls wailed in unison.

  ‘But the house, the electrics,’ added Ella.

  ‘It’s too dangerous. If we get halfway and get stranded things might get really dodgy. It’s just not worth the risk. The house might be cold and you won’t get a roast lunch but it’ll be dry and safe.’

  Both her daughters looked unhappy but even they could see that their mother had a point.

  Susie picked up her phone from where she’d put it in the pocket behind the gear lever and pressed the contacts icon. She scrolled down the list to Maddy’s number and hit ‘dial’.

  ‘Hi, Mads,’ she said when it was picked up.

  ‘Hiya, Susie. You on your way over? I’ve got Jenna arriving in a minute.’

  ‘That’s the thing, Mads, I’m going to have to cry off.’

  ‘No! Why?’

  ‘I can’t make it. The main road is flooded and I daren’t risk trying to ford it. Not with the girls in the car.’

  ‘No. Is it that bad?’

  ‘To be honest I don’t know how bad it is, but if I get halfway and have a problem... and maybe if I had something a bit more robust...’

  ‘I’ll come and get you. What’s the point of Seb and me owning a four-by-four if most of the time I just use it for the weekly shop? Let’s face it, the supermarket car park doesn’t often require low-ratio gears.’

  ‘But Maddy, you can’t—’

  ‘I can. When Jenna arrives she can look after the kids and I’ll come and get you. So, that’s settled then,’ said Maddy, firmly. ‘I suggest you find somewhere safe where you can park the car up and I’ll come and find you.’

  ‘If you’re sure.’ Susie was still very doubtful as to the wisdom. ‘And if you change your mind when you see the flooding, you are not to risk it. Promise?’

  ‘Promise. I know it’s only a crappy old M
itsubishi but it’s got lots of grunt – well, Seb says so. What do I know about cars? Anyway, I’ll be with you in about half an hour – just as soon as Jenna gets here.’

  Susie disconnected. ‘Looks like we will be getting a chicken dinner after all.’ She switched on the engine again. ‘I’m just going to find a lay-by to park in and then we’ll wait for Maddy to come and get us.’

  Instantly the twins perked up no end.

  Susie executed a three-point turn and headed back along the road, peering through the windscreen so as not to miss a lay-by or parking bay where she could safely dump her car. It was the middle of the morning but the light was so bad she was forced to switch her headlights on. She couldn’t remember ever seeing such terrible weather. No wonder half of the county was drowning. She drove carefully back the way she’d come, along the deserted road until she came to a section with a wide flat verge. This’ll do, she thought as she pulled off the road.

  ‘And now, we wait,’ she said to the girls as she switched the engine off.

  *

  Mike rubbed his hand wearily across his face and wondered when things might calm down enough for him to be able to grab some shut-eye. He’d had an attempt at getting his head down a couple of hours previously but Rob had come in and flapped around making ridiculous comments about how this flood was completely unforeseen and how no amount of emergency planning could have prepared anyone for it. At which point Mike had quietly reminded him that he’d tried to.

  Rob had stared at him for a good five seconds as he took on board what Mike had said. ‘Ah, yes, that report.’

  Mike nodded. ‘“That report”,’ he agreed. ‘That report’, he added silently, that I sent to you and which, when I later checked, you’d signed off with the comments no further action and another, longer comment which implied that I was at worst scaremongering and at best being overcautious. Given the current situation, ‘that report’ and the subsequent comments were going to leave Rob in a pretty poor light.

  Shortly afterwards Rob had scurried off looking, Mike thought, more than a little shifty and he wondered if Rob might have gone back to the council offices to retrieve – or destroy – the incriminating paperwork. Good luck with that, matey-boy, thought Mike as he glanced at his briefcase containing the files he’d liberated from the office.

  But his encounter with Rob had banished all hope of a nap back then, and he’d been on the go since. So, he wondered, what were his chances of getting a power-nap now? Absolutely zero, he decided. The flood situation was getting worse and more and more homes were being evacuated although, in some respects, other things were getting better as the emergency procedures began to kick in and more and more volunteers and organisations came on board; the evacuation centres now all had extra loos, generators had been delivered to where they were needed, the Plymouth Brethren and the RVS had set up emergency catering and soup kitchens and, with the army filling and shifting sandbags, at least the population knew that everything that could humanly be done to try and protect them was being done. But even with all those things sorted out, he really couldn’t afford to stand himself down – not yet, at any rate.

  He got up from his seat and made his way over to the coffee urn. Another cup might keep him going just a bit longer. He had to bring the police chief superintendent up to date about the situation as it stood now and he needed his wits about him if he was to write a comprehensive and comprehensible briefing paper.

  ‘Ah, Collins, there you are.’

  Oh, gawd. Bloody Rayner again – just what he didn’t need. Mike turned. ‘Colonel, what can I do for you?’ Then he added, ‘I’m just about to get myself some coffee, would you like one?’

  ‘No time for coffee breaks, Collins. Work to be done.’

  Mike ignored him and poured a mug anyway. ‘Really? According to my team, we have pretty much got all bases covered.’ He added milk to his brew.

  Rayner shook his head. ‘That was always your problem, Mike, lack of attention to detail. “Pretty much” implies that there are still outstanding areas of concern.’

  Mike stared at Rayner, willing himself not to rise to the bait. As calmly as he could he asked, ‘And what details would those be, details I haven’t paid enough attention to?’

  ‘The accident at the bridge. That could have been a fatality.’

  ‘But it wasn’t. Seb Fanshaw and Sergeant Armstrong’s actions were exemplary and Perkins is on his way to hospital to be checked over. And besides, it wasn’t a detail that was overlooked by my team, it was an accident that happened while Seb was trying to clear the waterway.’

  ‘You should have given instruction to my men not to take risks.’

  ‘From my understanding, Colonel, Seb was roped on, as was Perkins. They were not taking risks, they were reacting to the situation on the ground. And besides, it is not my job to micro-manage every situation as it happens and develops. Judgement calls on the ground have to be made by the people who are dealing with them; the officers and NCOs.’

  ‘Typical,’ said Rayner. ‘No wonder the army let you go; you’re still refusing to take proper responsibility for events.’

  Mike was aware that a couple of police officers in the corner of the pub had stopped their own conversation and were listening to his.

  He lowered his voice. ‘I don’t know what your game is, Colonel, but how I run my department and this particular emergency are none of your business. And now, as I have to brief the chief super prior to a press conference, I suggest you find something useful to do rather than stand here, irritating me.’

  ‘You can’t talk to me like that. I’ll have you for insubordination.’

  Mike shook his head slowly. This man was the bloody limit. ‘Colonel, as I said before, I am not your subordinate and, what’s more, I owe you no allegiance. I have things to do. Goodbye.’ Mike turned away but was pulled back round by a hand on his shoulder.

  ‘Don’t you dare turn your back on me,’ snarled Rayner.

  Mike narrowed his eyes. ‘I will do as I damn well please.’ His voice was low and menacing. He turned again and this time Rayner grabbed his arm.

  Over in the corner a policeman got to his feet. ‘Is this man bothering you, Mike?’

  ‘You stay out of it,’ Rayner shouted across the room.

  ‘Looks like he’s assaulting you,’ said the policeman.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Rayner.

  ‘Then remove your hand,’ said Mike.

  ‘I’ll do more than that, I’ll remove my men.’

  It was Mike’s turn to say, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Then he followed it with, ‘Besides, you don’t have the authority.’

  The colonel’s eyes were looking dangerously wild. ‘Don’t you tell me what I can and cannot do.’ His voice was getting higher in pitch.

  The copper moved closer. ‘Come along, sir, before things get out of hand.’

  Rayner rounded on the policeman. ‘What are you implying?’

  ‘Colonel,’ said the copper, ‘either you calm down or I’ll be forced to remove you from the premises. Which is it to be?’

  Rayner’s mouth worked as he tried to formulate an answer before he turned on his heel and stormed out. Twice in one day, thought Mike. The man had to be deranged. For the first time since he’d been made redundant he was thankful he was no longer a part of 1 Herts and he pitied the poor buggers who were.

  He went back to the table where he’d been working and picked up his pen ready to make a start on the report for the chief super.

  ‘Hello, Mike.’

  He dropped his pen in irritation. Not another interruption. He looked up and saw Seb. His attitude changed in an instant.

  ‘Seb! How’s Perkins? Thank God you and Armstrong got him out of the river.’

  ‘It was mainly Armstrong, Mike. He’s the one who risked his own life to save Perkins. All a bit ironic given that it was Armstrong who Jenna Perkins was having an affair with when Perkins got trashed in Afghanistan.’

  ‘It
probably makes them about even, then.’

  Seb nodded in agreement. ‘And to answer your question, Perkins is going to be fine. Armstrong went with him to the hospital, just for a bit of moral support.’

  Mike’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Is that wise... given the past?’

  ‘I don’t think they’re going to kick off. As you said, honours are about even now.’

  ‘That’s something. I need all the good news I can get.’

  ‘You sound as if you’ve been having a bad time.’

  Mike snorted. ‘Not as bad as Perkins, obviously, but I’ve just had Rayner in here blaming me for what happened to him.’

  Seb’s forehead creased. ‘What?’

  ‘I know, the man’s bonkers. Seriously, Seb, he’s got a screw loose.’

  ‘Tell me something I didn’t know.’

  ‘You’ve had trouble?’

  ‘Nothing seriously career-threatening but...’ Seb shrugged. ‘How long have you got? And Maddy’s fallen out with his wife.’

  ‘Maddy? But she never falls out with anyone.’

  ‘She has now. She and Camilla are at daggers drawn. And put it this way, I won’t complain when I get posted out and I think half the battalion feels the same way. You’re well out of it.’

  ‘As I am beginning to appreciate.’

  ‘Now, the reason for taking up your valuable time is that I came to borrow a phone. I lent my mobile to Armstrong and I haven’t got it back.’

  ‘Sure, be my guest.’ Mike handed over his own mobile to Seb. ‘I don’t have Maddy’s number on it though.’

  ‘And I have no idea what her mobile one is. That’s the problem with mobiles – you just press buttons. Just as well I know the landline one.’ Seb dialled home.

  ‘Who’s that?’ he asked when the phone was answered. ‘Jenna? Can I have a word with Maddy?’

  Mike tried to carry on with his report but couldn’t help earwigging Seb’s half of the conversation.