After It Happened (Book 1): Survival

by Devon C. Ford

  “It worked out ok in the end.” He held up a hand to stop her furious objection at that “but I apologise for not telling you where I was going. I won’t do that again, but you must trust me to make my own decisions when it comes to these things” Penny was silenced, waiting for more.

  “It was dangerous, which is why I went and did not send any of the others” he finished.

  “Not good enough” she said.

  “Well if you don’t mind I have lots to do and I haven’t slept in two days” he snapped as he stood and walked out.

  A flurry of footsteps scattered from the door before he opened it, only to find lots of innocent people minding their own business nearby. He didn’t care. He walked back to his room, woke up Ash who was already asleep on his cot, and went outside. He lit a smoke and started to pile boxes out of the Land Rover, carelessly thumping them around.

  Why was he so angry? Because he was overtired? Because he was told off? Because Penny was right? He told himself he didn’t care, and continued to remove the boxes.

  Lexi and Joe turned up, clearly orchestrated to seem casual, and both started cooing over the huge amount of ammo. Ash circled them both, sniffing and casting a hopeful look at Dan. He gestured with his hand and Ash stalked back to him.

  Both asked if this meant that they could do more target practice, and he agreed to ten rounds on a range every week just to stay fresh. That was overly generous he knew, but didn’t care just now. He thought to himself that he would have to stop that in a matter of weeks to conserve what they have. They helped to carry the boxes in, and almost all of the new ammo had to be stacked in the corner of ops as the armoury cupboard was full.

  Dan returned to the front of the Land Rover and retrieved his newest toy – the shotgun. Lexi seemed impressed and asked to have a look at it. He handed it over and had his sense of humour rewarded when she pulled a face at its stickiness.

  “What the hell is all over this?” she asked

  “The former owner’s brains” he said, taking it back from her and seeing her open-mouthed look of utter horror. He walked inside with Ash trotting lazily after him, casting a look to the other rangers.

  Dan shut himself away for the next few hours. He stripped, washed, scrubbed and oiled the shotgun until no trace of blood or bone fragment remained. It classed as therapy nowadays he supposed. He reloaded it and unloaded it, checking that the action was smooth. He liked the feel of it, and wondered if it was worth carrying as another backup weapon. He measured it against the body armour he wore, and found it to be just about short enough to draw over his shoulder if he could fashion a secure enough holster for it. He was too tired for that now, and didn’t want to part with it. It was a curious looking weapons; the folding stock went up and over the gun, and the barrel was barely an inch longer than the stock. It held five rounds, with one ‘in the pipe’. This was definitely a tool for close encounters.

  It was a silly thought; he had access to all the weapons and could set up the big machine gun in his window if he felt like it, but he wanted to keep this one close. It had something to do with it changing hands; how he had taken it from being used to take a life in sad circumstances and now was lovingly restored to protect the lives of over thirty people. It felt symbolic to him, so he vowed to keep it. It still felt good to break some rules.

  The bag of bloody equipment still needed attention, and tempted as he was to leave it, he put on a pair of rubber gloves and poured water into a plastic tub outside. He scrubbed it all with cold water and salt, turning the water pink instantly. The sidearm, a Sig Sauer identical to Dan’s, had not fared well and was jammed with dried blood and tissue. This took some soaking to free it up before he was able to take it inside and strip it completely. He poured fresh water into the tub and more salt, putting the kit back in to soak for longer.

  He spent the afternoon in some nearby woods with a side by side shotgun and Ash. He got a rabbit and a pigeon for eight shots, reckoning to leave the gamekeeping to Pete.

  Another hour was spent wheelbarrowing logs from the splitting pile to the store. Their winter fuel supply was coming on nicely, including bunches of twigs trimmed and bound together, but Dan thought more was needed. He reckoned winter would hit them inside of six weeks now.

  Dinner was good, and more tables were occupied as there were over thirty people in the room. Penny called for order and welcomed Sera to the group. She finished with an announcement not of tomorrows tasks, but for a day of rest.

  “Everyone please meet with your departmental heads this evening at their discretion. A council meeting will be held after breakfast tomorrow, and we shall all take the day to rest and relax”

  Lexi and Joe made straight for Dan as they were dismissed as such. Both full of questions about the new routine.

  “Nothing to worry about” said Dan, but was just as curious as they were. “Find Leah and meet in Ops in ten” he said, walking out. He almost bumped into Sera in the doorway, who gave him a mocking look. He wasn’t sure if she was being playful or she actually hated him.

  Leah joined him at the table in Ops, followed by Lexi and Joe. Lexi poured three glasses from a bottle, Leah was obviously left out of the round. Dan sipped in satisfaction, studying the odd shaped bottle. He rolled the liquid over his tongue and decided that he liked it. The Isle of Jura would’ve been somewhere he would like to have visited in the past. He could tell from their faces that neither Lexi nor Joe were huge scotch fans, but neither wanted to look anything other than tough in front of him.

  Ash looked up from his spot by Dan’s feet to see if anyone had brought anything edible. He lay down again when he realised his luck was out.

  He ran through the child-friendly version of his trip. He turned to Leah.

  “Thank you for having my back with Penny. It means a lot to me” he said proudly

  Leah beamed shyly, and mumbled something unintelligible.

  “Where do we stand then? I know Penny is going to want to hear our reports and plans in the morning. Joe?”

  Joe looked nervous, not wanting to say something stupid was fighting a losing battle with not saying anything at all.

  “Still think there should be more of us” he said “We should have enough vehicles and kit ready for when we get recruits”

  “Agreed. More Land Rovers – there are three within thirty minutes of here as I’m lifting the ban on going south for Rangers only. You two can get those the day after tomorrow in relays. What else?”

  “Army surplus store” interrupted Leah, leafing through her notebook. “There are three fairly close” she stole a small look to Lexi who had obviously been helping her with the map work “And I think we should take Jimmy and Kev to the biggest one… here!” she said after finding the right address on her colour-coded list.

  “Good. That’s good” Dan said. The machine was starting to turn, he thought as he took another sip of single malt.

  “Skills gaps? Training issues?” he asked. Neither volunteered any weaknesses, which Dan recognised as a weakness in itself.

  “Both of you need some beefing up on breaking into places. I’m going to get some more entry kit from police stations as and when to kit out each vehicle but we’ve found that using towing chains is very effective - stick to that if possible. I’ve spoken with Neil and he hopes to knock up a couple of folding anchors for us; post them through a letterbox and drive away. Simple.”

  “Leah” he said “Ops?”

  She blushed at being put on the spot, but said that everything was fine. “There aren’t enough people to go out and not enough space to keep any more stuff we find” she explained. Fair enough assessment.

  “Ok, so our plan is to recover three more Defenders and lead a scavenging run to this army surplus store, which is how far away?” he asked Leah.

  “Hour and a half” she shot back “Depending on traffic” she added seriously, getting a laugh from the other three.

  “Good work, you three. Go do your own thing and relax tomorrow
, but only after your weapons are cleaned fully and stored. Sidearms only on days off”

  “Do I get a gun?” asked Leah seriously

  “No chicken. Not yet” he said kindly.

  COUNCIL OF ELDERS

  Penny called for order, as formal as ever, and proceeded with the update from her perspective as head of the house. Dan was a little miffed that she was taking overall charge of his group with less and less cooperation being sought, then thought that he didn’t want the responsibility and told himself not to be childish.

  “Store rooms are well stocked, we have sufficient clothing and bedding to last the winter. Winter requirements have been ordered for logistics to retrieve and we are well on the way to having enough wood to burn over the winter. We would welcome ideas on laundry matters as clothes will not be disposable items forever. I feel that the staff numbers are insufficient and would seek to recruit more cleaning staff” she said. She turned to Chris and invited him to report on the agricultural matters.

  “Animals are ok, got enough feed to keep them through winter and I don’t propose killing any off yet for food – need to breed them another year I hope. I want to find a bull for the cows so we can get some milk going again. I need more people to help work the farm. Sera has already offered to check the animals out which could take a few days” he said, uncertain in his new corporate role.

  “And the gardens?” Penny asked

  “Cleared out ready to go for after Christmas when we’ll get some greens and cauliflower down” he replied

  “Thankyou. Neil? Engineering if you please?” she went on.

  Neil seemed tired, and not the chirpy man he was when they numbered fewer. He seemed to be losing weight too.

  “Vehicle workshop up and running, although touch wood” he tapped his head “all vehicles have been fine so far. We’ve stockpiled parts so I’ll want them all in for a New Year service. Solar panel project is on hold until we have scaffolding and builders hopefully, and an extended period of good weather to make the job safe. Rain water collection is ongoing”

  “And our fuel situation?” Penny enquired

  “Plenty” said Neil “and nearby stocks are still high. I’ll want to make another two full hauls with the tanker soon to top off the tanks on the gardens and the farm” they had discovered another large red diesel tank on the gardens.

  “Thankyou. Catering?” she looked at Cara

  “Fine” she said nervously “No problems. Could do with more people in the kitchen too I suppose”

  “Medical?” she asked Kate.

  “Staffing is good, could still do with a surgeon but I suppose our vet will be helpful in a pinch. Stocks are fine but I still need to empty an A&E storeroom in a few months” she said

  “Supplies?” she looked to Andrew.

  “Stores are just about full. We’ve started clearing other rooms to use for stockpiling. Food and water for our current population for over a year without any further scavenging” He said. That was good news at least.

  “James. Logistics?” she said

  “All good. Point us in the direction of what you want and we’re ready to go. I’ve been keeping mine busy by loaning them out to other areas. Doesn’t hurt to know other people’s jobs too” he said

  “And you are sufficiently staffed?” Penny asked

  “Until we get more space cleared for more stores, yes”

  “Thankyou. And lastly, Daniel. Operations” she said

  Well bollocks to you too, he thought.

  If this was Penny’s was of punishing him for yesterday then she wouldn’t get a rise out of him.

  “Weapons and ammo levels are currently acceptable. We need more vehicles which my Rangers will be recovering over the course of tomorrow, and after that I would like a scavenging team deployed to us for equipment recovery. I want another three rangers ideally, and in the long term up to five security personnel based here and at the gardens. An appropriate quartermaster and a better weapons store would be ideal too.” He said.

  “Communications are a problem – we lack the hardware and the knowledge to use any communications gear that hasn’t been rendered useless by lack of maintenance on substations and satellites. High Frequency and Citizen’s Band are the way forward, or backwards if you like, and we need to relearn those skills.” No response from anyone.

  “If I may suggest, the wood we are chopping will not last this winter. It is green and there isn’t enough. Leah has located three sites for recovery of coal which I believe are a priority over the next month; Andrew, if you could source a storage area for say twenty to thirty tonnes?”

  Andrew nodded in thought before saying, “Could Ian get another lorry? That would be sufficient to keep it from the elements surely?” They looked to Neil, who didn’t think it was a problem at all.

  “Lastly” said Dan “I want to get people out again every day. Nearly all of us have expressed a lack of personnel as a problem; we need to find more survivors and they are unlikely to find us if we stay here all the time. The more before winter the better, because for the first time in years, the human race is going to be at risk from a simple change in weather”

  All agreed, and Penny looked put out. Dan had whipped the council into a sense of urgency, of purpose, had injected some renewed need to get out and save people. He had also made suggestions which countermanded her own assessments in very slight ways.

  And the power struggle went on.

  IT’S GOOD TO TALK

  Lexi and Joe came up with a plan to maximize efficiency, which resulted in Dan dropping them off at the dealership to bring back a new Land Rover each. Time and motion.

  Neil and Ian went with Adam, Jay, Kyle Liam and Andrew. They returned late that afternoon with over five tonnes of seasoned logs from the place where they took the lorry load of bagged coal. They stacked the logs at the front of the now huge log pile to use first, and stored a lot of the coal inside in tubs ready to use. What remained went into sheds to keep dry.

  Dan made another trip in the morning to take his Rangers back out for another two vehicles, and they had order to scout for a few hours on the way back in different directions before reporting with the new Land Rovers to Neil.

  He made his own recce of the army surplus store, and found so much that he had to leave it all to be a scavenging trip.

  On the way back he found himself involuntarily slowing as he stared at a thing of beauty. A vehicle parked on a driveway had caught his attention; it was very uncommon to see new a Discovery with modifications but this one had a suspension lift, front and rear winches built into the bumpers, a snorkel, roof rack carrying jerrycans, two spare wheels and all terrain tyres all round. It was black, with heavily tinted back windows. He wanted it. It was actually the first thing since all this happened that he coveted. He reasoned with himself that it was functional, that it was a sensible choice, but really he just liked how it looked and wanted it.

  “What do you think, boy?” he asked Ash as he scratched under his chin. Ash cocked his head at him, which Dan readily took as agreement.

  “Alright then, but you stay here” he said as he got out.

  He had barely been into a house since people started dying, but he pulled the scarf over his mouth and nose and forced the front door open. A search found the keys in a bowl on the kitchen table, he took them and left the house quickly, eager for fresh air. He climbed in and moved it to the road. He liked it; a three litre diesel automatic was far more comfortable than the cramped and breezy Defender. He moved his kit into their new ride, noting how useful the heated leather seats would be when it got colder. The Defender was locked up and left on the road; he would come back to collect it on the return trip.

  On the way back he saw a vehicle moving. He was on a main road, parallel to the motorway. A lorry cab was snaking slowly along, avoiding the cars abandoned both in the lanes and on the hard shoulder. Dan checked the map quickly, and reckoned he could get ahead of it within a few miles at the next junction. He follo
wed the roadsigns with the blue markings, and soon found himself joining lane one of what used to be a very busy road. Signs warned of delays due to ongoing improvements. Nothing new there.

  His daydreaming led to a bizarre lapse in concentration, and he found himself indicating to join a motorway utterly devoid of life. He laughed at himself, and rolled to a stop with his hazard lights on; he wanted the driver of that lorry to see him coming a long way off. He left Ash and the M4 in the car, and the shotgun was in the driver’s door pocket. He still carried his Sig. He leant against the side of his new vehicle and smoked as he waited for the lorry to crawl into sight.

  The driver approached very cautiously, stopping some distance away and getting out with an axe held low in his right hand. Little use when facing someone with a gun, no matter how fast he was, but the statement of intent was clear.

  As he approached, Dan reckoned he didn’t look fast. He was at least sixty, with tanned but liver spotted skin, a lean and leathery man with clever eyes and a wary stance.

  “Blessings of God to you, friend” he said in harsh Belfast accent.

  “Good morning” Dan replied cheerily, hoping to assuage the suspicion evident in the older man’s face and body language. He walked towards him with his hand out, and saw the man shift the axe to his left hand and move it behind him, just in case. “I promise you I mean no harm. Would you talk with me for a while?”

  The older man was still very apprehensive, which he admitted to Dan. “Understand me friend, I’ve met folk before now who’ve showed kindness and tried to take what was mine. I mean no offence by being careful”

  Dan said that he understood, and told him that he had also met a few people who were dangerous. His tone implied that those people had not fared well.

  “And yet you’re the man standing whole in front of me” said the wise lorry driver “Seems to me that they weren’t the dangerous ones, perhaps?”

  Dan smiled at his sharp logic “Perhaps” he admitted “but what I have done was done for the good of my people. We have a house and a farm. There are over thirty of us and we’re getting ready to settle in for winter”