Lexi knew the towns of a nearby county having grown up there. Steve, not being from the area originally, went with Joe in his own Defender towards the countryside in the direction they were pointing. Lexi went with Dan and Ash, that way both crews had a sniper option if needed.
They wished each other luck and planned to be back home by nightfall. Dan called up home on the CB and got Rich straight away.
“Go ahead, Boss” he said
“Nothing here, intel must have been good. Splitting into two teams for recce further afield. Back by nightfall” Dan replied.
“Roger, happy hunting, stay safe” Rich came back.
The weather was blowing cold and wet as Dan drove along endless fifty mile an hour roads, thinking that the commute along here would have been dull. They reached a small town that didn’t even have a full supermarket and saw that the windows had been broken long ago, probably before the winter.
They pressed on, going from small town to village as they went. Each settlement showing aged signs of having been systematically emptied of supplies. They were probably two hours from home when Lexi pointed out a vehicle that didn’t look right.
Dan rolled to a stop and killed the engine. They watched from a distance, waiting for anyone to return to the small truck which was obviously still in use; no vehicle which had been left sat for over half a year would be in such good condition. Everywhere the cars were covered in old dead leaves and a green film of neglect, but this one had fresh windscreen wiper marks showing clear glass.
“Play it nice, or play it careful?” he asked the car out loud. Ash stopped panting to give a small grumble and nuzzle his face. Lexi suggested that they play it nice.
Dan started the car and drove slowly forwards. As they neared the car, he stopped and went to get out. Lexi followed suit.
“No” he said “Wait here, if they aren’t friendly then let Ash out and you follow”
She nodded, and let go of her door handle.
Dan slipped out, walking slowly and keeping the barrel of his gun pointing towards the floor. He got his familiar feeling of being watched and hoped it wasn’t through the sights of anything which went bang. He stopped by the car, looking around.
“Hello?” he called out, and waited. He looked around, fighting the urge to raise the weapon and use the scope for better detail. He knew Lexi would be itching to get out, but they had to give off the vibe of being friendly.
“Hello?” he tried again, louder.
A noise behind him made him turn to see a man dressed in camouflage clothing in a doorway. He held a large rifle, the same size as their own battle rifles but this one was older with a wooden stock.
“Hello” he said back, keeping his own gun pointed at the floor.
Dan took his hands away from his weapon to make a point of it. “Friendly” He said “We’ve met plenty who weren’t, but I’m hoping you are”
The man regarded him closely. He was older than Dan; older than Steve too. He carried himself well and had the look of a professional man at one point before he grew his hair and beard long and wild. He kept the gun where it was. “What about your friend in the car?” he asked.
“She means no harm either – we’ve taken to travelling in pairs because there has been some trouble. You experienced any?” he asked.
“We’ve had our share” he said carefully.
We? Thought Dan.
“How many is we?” he asked, hopefully.
“Not sure I should say just yet, no offence” the man replied.
“There are about seventy of us, mostly farming and growing crops. Only the explorers like me go around dressed like this” he said with a smile, hoping to reassure the man that he wasn’t from a military camp.
“Seventy?” he asked, straightening slightly “That’s good going” he seemed to consider his situation for a little longer, then relaxed a bit and allowed the gun to rest on its sling which he put over a shoulder.
“Name’s Gregory” he said “You?”
“Dan” pointing his thumb at himself before turning over his left side “Lexi’s in the car with my dog”
“Truce?” Gregory suggested.
“We mean no harm, I swear it” Dan replied. Gregory walked from the building and came out, still keeping clear of this armed and armoured man who had walked into his world.
“Shall we talk” asked Dan.
“Not here, follow me” replied Gregory, climbing into his car.
NEIGHBOURS
They followed Gregory away from the main road onto a playing field. It was overgrown but well-trodden in places where Gregory had driven in before. He turned his car around to face them and stopped.
Gregory emerged slowly, the rifle held low in one hand. Dan unclipped the carbine and left it on his seat as he walked towards the man carrying only his suppressed Walther and the brute of a shotgun on his back. Lexi emerged similarly disarmed, but with the Glock visible in its holster on her chest.
Dan brought one extra item with him; his flask of coffee, which he raised to Gregory as they neared.
He nodded. “I’ve got biscuits” he said without a hint of humour. After a bit of stand-offish acceptance, they finally relaxed in each other’s company sufficiently to talk.
“I found some folks about a week after. I’d loaded up all my stuff to go and find out what was happening, but realised it was everywhere and I wouldn’t know where to start. They already live a bit like this, you know, all environmental and that” he explained. “I don’t stay there all the time when the weather’s good, I drive around looking for people and things.”
Dan reciprocated with their own story, leaving out some details such as raiding other camps and killing everyone or having their own home attacked and killing all of them, too. He worried it might give the wrong impression of them. The words ‘I can explain’ never really help, he thought.
“We managed to get holed up well before winter, and now we have a farm and a commercial garden with greenhouses” he went on to say about their solar power and hot water, which made Gregory’s eyes open wider.
“Will you take us to your group” Lexi asked
Gregory swallowed his drink as he thought.
“Follow me. It’ll take about twenty minutes”
They talked as they drove, running through options. Could they recruit these survivors to come back with them? Would they want to? How did they generate power? Fresh water?
They followed Gregory down a farm track, and saw curious looking buildings. There were signs by the entrance, making bold statements about geothermal heating and emission-free homes. They had found some kind of hippy camp, Dan thought and tried to practice his non-judgemental face.
He would be fine as long as they didn’t try to get him to meditate with them or give him an earth name or something else ridiculous.
As it was their minds were blown by the peace of the place. They were well situated in a valley with low, rolling hills either side. They had a well, and were in the process of building a timber-framed house with straw walls. They explained how they would put timber boards over the frame and pack the whole thing with mud and other things to wake it weather tight. Everyone seemed happy and smiled at them as they walked around, feeling totally alien with their black clothes and guns. It was like these people had come from a different world, and not the same violent dystopia that his own group had escaped.
They had a small working farm, complete with another well, and when Dan talked about the breeding problems on their own farm someone mentioned that they had a bull and two cockerels which had to be permanently separated save they kill each other.
As they toured the place, the word ‘commune’ sprang to Dan’s head. He had thoughts emerging that they could trade with these people if they had things that each other wanted.
They were invited into the main building, which was formerly the visitor’s centre where a person could pay just under five pounds for a homemade tea bag made up of wild berries and other spice
s or over six for a small bottle of pear and elderflower cider. They probably both tasted like toilet water Dan decided, vowing to stick to coffee and scotch.
They sat, and the apparent leader of the group sat down to speak with them. She was a thin old woman, permanently smiling in a serene manner. Dan would have probably found her very annoying a year ago, but then he wouldn’t be sat here dressed as he was a year ago.
They were offered refreshments, and both Lexi and Dan chose water.
“My name is Scarlet” she said, and they introduced themselves to her in turn. She didn’t look like a Scarlet; she was at least sixty and had white hair which hung thinly to her shoulders.
“As you have seen, we have been blessed here” she said. It turned out that most of the people here had come in the first week. They were either workers or regular visitors to the site, and they all agreed that their little corner of peace was the best place to rebuild.
“We have saved over forty people from the harshness of the outside” she said mystically “and we are nearly all of us happy here”
Interesting, he thought. “Nearly?” he asked
“Some of those brought here do not like our way of life. They long for the things they have lost, you see?” she explained. The slow way she spoke was starting to get on his nerves.
“We have two of the younger ones who express a wish to leave, but they have not because it is not safe” she finished.
“What about Gregory? Why don’t they go with him?” Lexi asked.
“Gregory is happy in his own company, and will not take them with him. He visits occasionally, bringing those he finds in need of help, but his wish is to live alone”
In the current company, I can’t imagine why, Dan thought sourly. He got to the point.
“The way I see it, we can be of use to each other. We can swap the stud animals for the farm to ensure the breeds live on. We grow our own vegetables and will be adding salads to the list as soon as the weather gets better. I’m offering to establish trade” he said.
Scarlet smiled, sickeningly “I think that is wise. Will you return here one week from today? If you speak to Zachary, I’m sure he can help” Dan thanked her and stood to leave.
“If you don’t mind, I have another request” Scarlet said.
“Go on” he replied.
“The younger ones we have who do not like it here. They do not share our philosophies and our beliefs; will you speak with them? Explain the dangers of the outside world?”
Dan said he would, but he had his own suggestion.
“And if they still want to see the world? What then?”
“What are you suggesting” Scarlet asked, the curtain of tranquillity over her face twitching to betray her thoughts.
“If they want to go, they can come with us. If they want to come back, we will bring them back when we return. You have my word” he said firmly.
Scarlet smiled again, glad that she had manoeuvred this man to where she wanted him. In truth, she couldn’t stand those kids; they were loud and they didn’t respect nature. They wanted to eat the cows and the chickens instead of nurturing them for their eggs and milk.
“Very well” she said magnanimously.
They went outside to find Zachary. He was every bit the vegetarian organic farmer Dan expected and he doubted that anything the man wore had ever had a label in. They discussed livestock, Dan’s knowledge being just about sufficient to do the trade, and he agreed to bring back the bull and cockerel for straight swaps as well as a few of last year’s lambs to swap for one of their own yearling rams. This should allow the livestock population to enlarge a bit quicker, he thought, then went to find the ones who didn’t fit in.
VEGETARIAN PRISON
Henry was maybe a little older than Leah, and very easily bored. He had even taken to doing press-ups obsessively in an attempt to impress the older girls from the group. There were two of them, and he took their giggling to mean that he was getting somewhere when in fact they were laughing at him.
Lucy was ten, and looked as though she had just given up. She looked at the chicken pen for hours, longing for the chance to cook one the ungainly birds and eat every last scrap of flesh from its bones. It consumed her; she dreamt of roast chicken.
Neither enjoyed it there, and both had a similar story in that they were found and brought here; one by Gregory and one by a kind woman who harboured thoughts of raising her for future breeding.
They both rebelled, both were punished by being sent to sit in solitary boredom for hours at a time. Neither of them wanted to work, and neither wanted to stay.
“Have you tried to leave?” Dan asked them.
Henry did once, but he came back. He wouldn’t admit that he was scared, and Dan doubted if he’d even got to the main road. Lucy hadn’t, she just sat bored. They were both unhappy.
Lexi began to tell them about their home. As she spoke, the kids looked up. They grew more attentive with each line she spoke, and when finally they were offered to come and live with them instead both jumped up to say yes. They would both have probably asked anyway. Dan couldn’t believe how trusting these people were; or maybe he underestimated just how much they didn’t like people who didn’t fit in. He recognised it for what it was; it was one bizarre meeting about the power of Mother Nature away from being a cult.
Dan had no great wish to involve the spiritual in their lives; a person’s beliefs were their own he thought. He very much believed in the concept of each to their own, but having to live under the stifling blanket of a faith you didn’t want would be too much to cope with. Both kids packed their small amount of belongings and barely held their excitement as they bounced to the Discovery.
Dan turned to Scarlet, seeing her flanked by younger women dressed in the same way as her.
“We will be back to trade in a week, if the kids don’t like it there they will be brought back then”
Scarlet nodded sagely. He noticed that not one person said goodbye to the children.
He turned and unlocked the Land Rover, asking them to wait. “Ash; over” he said, making the reluctant dog jump into the boot. Lucy made a noise at seeing him and Dan explained to them both.
“He is not a pet. Please don’t put your hands through to him or he might bite you” he struggled for the words to get it through to them exactly what Ash was. Lexi stepped in, “Did either of you ever see a police dog?” she asked. Both nodded “Well until Ash knows you and gets used to you, just be careful of him, Ok? Don’t try and stroke him!”
They understood.
Henry’s face when he saw their guns was a picture; his eyes grew so wide on seeing the shotgun that he could barely speak or break his gaze away. Dan talked as he drove.
“There are a few of us who make sure that everyone is safe. We’re the ones who go out and make the dangerous places less dangerous. It’s not for everyone, but it needs to be done so we can live in safety. We’re called Rangers”
Henry showed his immaturity by asking outright if he can be one too.
“It’s about what training we’ve had” he said, thinking that he had to come up with an excuse for a girl younger than him having weapons “We all have previous experience which takes years to learn. You’ll have to see how it goes, get really fit and try when you’re older. If you want to stay that is”
He sank back in his seat. Lucy said nothing for about thirty miles, until she asked “What’s for lunch?”
They had left ‘The Haven’ as they had called it before meal time, and Dan looked to Lexi. She dug into her E&E bag and came out with snack bars, crisps and two bottles of water.
“Here” she said, handing them back and ignoring Ash’s best ‘I’m a good boy’ face with his top lip tucked behind a row of teeth “We usually eat lunch on the go as we work. There’ll be a hot meal tonight though”
Neither kids really heard her; they were ripping into the carbohydrate rich food like they had spent years in a Turkish prison, their faces melting with the s
atisfaction of the taste of food they weren’t allowed.
A few questions came from the back as they drove, and the four spoke about the way life went in their own personal manor house. Ash watched Lexi for a while, still waiting for his treat. He gave up, grumbling, and turned to look out of the rear window.
GAINS AND LOSSES
They arrived back before Steve and Joe, sedately coming down the drive and rolling over the patches on the tarmac where the blood and fluids from the wrecked cars were starting to wash away.
Both made the right noises as the ornate building came into sight, although Dan felt that its original grandeur was slightly marred by the solar panels which looked like they had landed from space on the roof.
Dan pulled up to his usual space by the front door, and climbed out.
“Hang on here for a minute with them?” he said to Lexi. She nodded. He let Ash out of the boot, and nearly tripped over him as he made straight for the nearest tyre to irrigate it. Leah met him at the door. She was wearing a belt holster with an identical gun to Dan’s new Walther sat proudly on her skinny left hip in a cross draw position.
He smiled at her, and asked for Marie and Kate to come and meet the newbies. Leah tiptoed and strained her eyes past him but couldn’t see inside the Discovery’s tinted windows.
Kate was the first out, asking Dan who he had found. “Hang on for a minute, I’ll explain in one go. Is Lizzie free to give them a tour while we talk?” she nodded and went inside, bringing Alice and Lizzie out for induction duties.
Marie appeared, having politely cut short one of her sessions with a survivor from the shipping container cage. Rich stayed in Ops; he didn’t like the stares his scars got from people who didn’t know him,
Society: After It Happened Book 3 Page 4
