The One Percent (Episode 3): The One Percent

by Heller, Erik P.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “It’s Frank. Now, tell me, where’s the canteen?”

  IX0X0X0X0X0X0XI

  I sat on the wide stone steps outside the back door of — I still had no idea where I was—spooning mouthfuls of a pretty decent casserole I’d been provided with, then dipping the stale bread I’d also been given into the gravy. It was basic, and it was delicious. Mungo had wolfed down his more meagre portion and was sitting by my side, his eyes fixed and following my spoon every time it moved from bowl to mouth and back again.

  Night had almost drawn in by then and the most remarkable thing was the sheer number of stars shining in the clear air already, even though dusk had yet to completely vanish.

  I could remember as a child back in Lanchcombe when it had been similar there, but since the suburbs started to expand and encroach onto land close to the estate, the night sky had gone from pitch black to a muddy orange, courtesy of the street lights that came hand in hand with every street built.

  Not one light shone in the late dusk sky that night.

  I’d gone outside to eat to give Brian and bloody moron Jezza a chance to talk to everyone and give me the all-clear before I tried to take my place in civilised society again.

  The solitude was nice. Late flying flocks of birds looking for a last-minute roosting spot wheeled through the sky, while in the bushes, the odd rustle indicated some nocturnal creature or another stretching, yawning, and readying itself for a night of hunting food.

  Mungo was licking my bowl clean with gusto when the door clicked open behind me.

  “Frank?”

  “Hello, Daisy,” I said, not turning my head. I lit up a cigarette and watched the smoke plume up into the dark.

  “Mind if I sit with you a minute?”

  I shrugged. I wasn’t feeling overly inclined to talk to Daisy in truth. Being kicked out of your only means of transport and left to fend for yourself tends to do that to a bloke.

  I felt Daisy sit next to me, careful to leave a good foot of space between us.

  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You were right.”

  “Was I? That makes a change.”

  “I know. I reacted, and I got it wrong, Frank.”

  “Well, that’s good to know and thank you for having the guts to come and tell me. What changed your mind?”

  “No one thing really changed my mind. Just that the more I thought about it the more I realised that my first reaction was an emotional one. It was only when I calmed down that I realised I was seeing things about face. I’m glad Brian and Jezza saw sense. I tried to talk to them about it before they went in, but they didn’t seem very interested in listening.”

  “No. I can understand that,” I said quietly. “So, what was going on at the gun shop. First, you were there waving me down, then, when I got my hands ziplocked, you were gone.”

  “I was told to get straight back in before we left and that you’d be brought back. I didn’t realise they were going to arrest you or whatever it is they did. I thought you would think I’d done it on purpose, so I got back in and stayed out of the way. When I tried to say something the soldier next to me put his hand on my shoulder and sort of shook his head.”

  “I don’t think it would have done much good, Daisy. You know what these military types are like. They have their processes, and everything has to be done by the book.

  I leaned over and bumped shoulders with her.

  “I’m glad you’re safe,” I said.

  “I’m glad you are.” She scooted over and laid her head on my shoulder.

  “I’m glad you’ve forgiven me.”

  “There was nothing to forgive, Frank.”

  Daisy gave out a little exclamation of surprise when Mungo jumped up on her lap.

  “I heard you’d got yourself a new companion. I got quite jealous until I found out it was a dog.”

  I laughed at that and put my arm around Daisy’s shoulder. Purely to keep her warm against the cooling air of course.

  She’d been jealous! That was an interesting piece of information and quite unexpected.

  “I’ll tell you what happened with him one day.”

  “Tell me now, we’ve got time.”

  I sighed. “No. I don’t really want to talk about it yet. Soon maybe, but not yet.”

  “Was it that bad?”

  I nodded. “Soon, I promise. How’s everyone keeping up?”

  “Jules is a mess as you might imagine. Brian and Jezza are doing their ‘I’m the leader’ thing. The army boys are all shocked at what’s happened. The two who came in with you are quiet and keeping themselves to themselves. Morale’s pretty low all round.”

  I thought it might be. I couldn’t see my brother as a natural leader of anyone.

  “Well, hopefully, tomorrow will bring a better day.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Me too. Now tell me. What are the sleeping arrangements?”

  “Frank!” Daisy said as though somehow my question had shocked her. It took me a while, but eventually, I realised why.

  “No,” I said,” I didn’t mean like that, I meant generally.”

  “Oh, right.” Did I detect a note of disappointment in her voice? “There’s one room for the three females and three rooms for the men.”

  “I think I’ll stick with a sofa.”

  “Don’t blame you.”

  “Are you OK? Warm enough?” I asked.

  “It’s warmer inside. The heating’s oil based and one of the army lads rigged it up to work straight from the batteries running off the solar panels on the roof. Showers too.”

  The idea of a hot shower filled me with a wholly remarkable level of joy given what a simple thing it was.

  “Come on then, let’s get in there quick.”

  “Just one more thing, Frank.” She lifted her head off my shoulder and looked up at me. “I am really sorry.”

  “I know. It’s in the past now. Time to move on.”

  “Thank you,” she said, then leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.

  When she moved away, I could swear she had lights in her eyes.

  “Frank. Look over there.” She pointed off to the distance.

  I could see a bright red flare as it sank slowly back down to earth.

  “I wonder who it is?”

  “Well, it’s coming from the north,” I said, “but it looks like it’s a long way away. Whoever it is, he, she, or they are alive. I can’t see a Groaner shooting a flare, can you?”

  “No. Should we go looking for them?”

  “Not right now, eh? It’s pitch-black.”

  She laughed. “No, I mean tomorrow.”

  “I think we’ll probably be busy tomorrow. We need food and water and some of the army boys are going back to that shop again to get all those guns.”

  “But what about those people?”

  I sighed. In normal circumstances, I’d have said we should up sticks and go and find them in a car but there was no way I was going to do that in the dark now. God knows how many Groaners were out and on the move.

  “I’m sorry, Daisy. They’ll just have to look out for themselves for a bit longer. Look. It came over that tall tree right against the wall. I’ll see if anyone’s got a map tomorrow and we’ll try and work out where they might be but it’s impossible to know how far away they are. The way things are, we have to worry about ourselves first and anyone else last. We’ll help anyone we come across who wants help, but we just don’t have the manpower to go investigating every possibility.”

  I could see Daisy giving that some thought for a few moments.

  “It’s going to be a harsh world, isn’t it?”

  “It is, but I don’t think most people are willing to accept that quite yet.”

  “Do you think it will make us hard?”

  “I think it has already started to. Look, in the old days, it used to be every man for himself. If we can stop ourselves from getting dragged back that far, we’ll have done we
ll. That means we have to stick together and work together and try and keep something of our humanity. God knows there are enough sub-humans out there to worry about. But in the end, we must protect ourselves and what is ours from any threat. That’s why I killed that man.”

  “Steve?”

  “Yes.” I was trying not to think of him as a person but Daisy saying his name thwarted that ambition.

  “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

  We sat for a few minutes watching the sky where the flare had appeared but there was nothing else lightening the night sky.

  “I’ll mention the flare to Brian. Whoever’s on watch can keep an eye out and see if they see any more through the night. Right now, I need a shower. Then I need to sleep. Are you coming in?”

  “In the shower?” Daisy asked with a slight smile playing on her lips.

  “No,” I shot her a smile back. “I meant inside, into the warm. It’s getting cold.”

  “My lap’s lovely and warm,” she said stroking Mungo behind his ears.

  “Keep an eye on him while I go for a shower?”

  “I will. Gladly. He’s cute.”

  “I feel sorry for the poor thing.” I did feel sorry for him too. Poor creature must have been terrified of Jamie. A picture of him being torn to shreds by the Groaners flashed through my head, making me shudder.

  “Oh, you really are cold, aren’t you?”

  “I am. Come on, tomorrow’s going to be a long day, I think. A shower and bed for me if I can find a spot somewhere. Quick cup of tea when I get out?” I asked, hopeful to be able to spend a little more time with Daisy. Now we’d got our differences out of the way I was inclined to eventually take up where we’d left off, back at her farm. Hopefully without the same Groaner interruption.

  “Sounds great. I’ll see if someone’s brewing up and I want to go see the two who came with you, make sure they’re OK.”

  “Lucy and David. They might take some time to come around. Go gently with them.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  “Back in a few minutes. Where are the showers by the way?”

  “Up the stairs, first on the right.” She pointed vaguely as she wandered off. Mungo looked at her where she had put him down on the floor, then looked at me.

  “Mungo, stay,” I said, and he lay down on the hard floor, not taking his eyes off me as I headed away.

  I bumped into Brian as he stepped out of the study. Holding his arm, I took him to one side and told him about the flare. For a few seconds he looked perplexed, then he looked concerned.

  “I don’t think it’s close, Brian, but maybe someone who’s on watch will be able to keep an eye? In the north it was.”

  “I’ll see to it. Look, Frank. I know I fucked up with that prank, but your brother is very persuasive. Accept my apology.” He held out his hand. I took it and shook it.

  “Big day tomorrow, Brian.”

  “I think most days are going to be, Frank.”

  “You’re right there. Need me to work a watch shift?”

  “No. get some sleep.”

  “OK, thanks. I’m up for it when you need me.”

  Brian nodded before we went our separate ways.

  As the water from the shower sprayed weakly over me, I thought about everything I’d been through since this all started.

  I tried not to think too hard about what was to come.

  I really needed to sleep.

  IX0X0X0X0X0X0XI

  Daisy and I pulled search duty.

  Jezza and a couple of the army boys left early to go and get all the guns from the shop I’d been dumped in by Daisy. The rest of the party, minus Jules, Lucy, and David headed off into the village to see what they could plunder from the local shop. The others were left to keep an eye on the place and recover a little more.

  The disadvantages of Marldon Hall as I’d discovered it was called, were already plain to see. There were thirteen of us left and that meant we needed large amounts of food to keep us going.

  We were more likely to need warehouses and supermarkets to keep us supplied than some corner shop that had been in the same family for a hundred years. If push came to shove, we could raid pubs and off-licences for something to drink, although I wasn’t sure that adding alcohol into the mix was a sound idea.

  Bottled and tinned drinks and water would have to suffice until we get to somewhere safe with a water supply.

  I’d seen Brian at breakfast, after a night sleeping on yet another sofa, and he told me that flares had been seen twice more in the night after I saw one.

  We’d had a look on a roadmap but there was nothing obvious that might indicate somewhere high profile the people might be in.

  The army lorry had gone on the scavenge, while David and Lucy’s campervan had been sequestered for the gun run. That left Daisy and me in either her tractor or a solid looking Range Rover that had belonged to the family.

  We opted for the Range Rover for comfort.

  There was a compass in the car which was handy, so we could always check after making a turn to make sure we were still heading north, and the first half hour was spent manoeuvring until we were roughly five miles out which was pretty much the same distance the soldiers and I had suggested.

  “What do you think we should be looking for?” Daisy asked.

  “Somebody with a flare gun I suppose,” I replied flippantly.

  “Smartarse,” Daisy said, play-punching me on the arm.

  “Thank you. I’ll now try to drive with my one unbroken arm.”

  “Oh, give over. I barely touched you,” she said.

  “I know. I was just kidding. I suppose whoever’s out there might light a fire or something. Smoke, I suppose we should watch out for. Oh, bugger.”

  Daisy was looking out of the passenger window when I swore and twisted her head to the front to see why.

  Ahead of us was a crowd, well more like half a dozen Groaners heading our way. I had no idea where they might have come from. They had a definite rural feel about them. Overalls, caps, sunburnt skin, or at least what I could see of their skin.

  Each of them was bitten somewhere on their bodies and had dark blood stains on their overalls.

  I pulled up as quickly as I could. Robust as it was, a forty mile an hour smash into six bodies was going to damage the car.

  Even though it felt entirely wrong, the tactic, as I’d had it explained to me before we left, was to wind up the windows, lock the doors, and drive through them slowly then speed away once through the logjam.

  So that’s what I did. At little more than walking speed, the Groaners bounced off the car a treat when we hit them. A couple of them managed to slap their filthy hands on to the car windows and try to bite at us, running slobbering mouths and slimy grey tongues over the windows, but as soon as the last one was out of the way, I was able to put my foot down and shake them off. I could see them lying on the ground by the side of the road where they had fallen, and the temptation was to reverse back over them until their skulls were crushed or their bodies were broken beyond repair.

  I didn’t.

  The fascination I’d developed back at Lanchcombe, where I’d stood for hours watching the things milling around, had vanished as soon as regular physical contact had begun.

  Now I shuddered at the idea of dealing with them face-to-face even though I knew that one on one it would be OK. One on five or six? Not so easy and I know I had Daisy with me, but she hadn’t had one up close in her face yet, so I wasn’t sure how she would react.

  I’d got my handgun back that morning and Daisy had a shotgun with a pocketful of cartridges, but apart from a couple of knives, that was the sum of our defensive capabilities so avoiding confrontation with Groaners was absolutely vital.

  “A church,” Daisy said, once we were on the roll again.

  “Where?”

  “No, I mean we should find a church, preferably on a hill, and preferably with a good high steeple, climb up and see what we can see
. What do you think?”

  I thought it would probably kill me walking up a church steeple, but I suppose I could see the sense in it.

  “Great idea.” I said it as enthusiastically as I could, but there must have been some edge to my voice.

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do, it’s just, well, I’m out of condition, Daisy. I’m used to a sedentary life, fannying around on the farm all day. Sitting on my backside doing paperwork.”

  “You’ll be fine. I’ll help you up the stairs if they get too much for you Your Grace.”

  I shot a look over to her.

  “Sorry, Frank. Jezza let it slip when I caught up to them.”

  “Oh, I’ll bet he did.” Bastard, sneaky, sonofabitch Jezza.

  “You think he told on purpose? It didn’t seem that way.”

  I thought about it for a few moments. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t on purpose, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was.”

  “You two don’t get on.” It was a statement rather than a question. Daisy had obviously sussed that much out about the two of us.

  “Well, it’s not that we fight all the time. I think he has a bit of an inferiority complex although I’ve never done anything to encourage it.” I thought quickly through our childhood before boarding school. “Not for a while, at least,” I said, tempering my statement slightly. Was it my fault I was born before Jezza? No, of course not. Was it my fault he could never get over being second born? No of course not.

  “You’re lucky, Frank. I would have loved a brother or sister.”

  “Well, you’re more than welcome to mine,” I said.

  Daisy snorted a laugh. “I’m sure you love each other really.”

  “Hmm.” I went for non-committal and I thought I’d hit it about right, but Daisy suddenly yelled in my ear. “Stop the car, Frank!”

  “I jammed on the brakes. “What? What is it? More Groaners?” I asked when we came to a halt.

  “No. Look.”

  I shifted in my seat, so I could see what she was pointing at over my right shoulder and just behind me.

  “Look. A church with a steeple.”

  And, indeed, that was exactly what there was. The church was only about a mile away and stood atop a small hillock giving it a commanding view over the countryside. Exactly what we needed. Allegedly. I was still yet to be convinced.