‘Are you as thick as you sound?’ I replied. ‘Or are you doing it to be funny? Only these are not zombies, this is not a film you dumb fuck. Sergeant Davis have you got any more of those kuru information leaflets, I think Keane needs to go back over it.’
Sergeant Davis screwed up a leaflet, and threw it at Keane, who sat back in his seat with a smug grin on his face.
‘I have a subject for next week’ I said, breaking the silence. ‘Who has the biggest ego but the smallest manhood in Blue and White Company?’
‘I’ll have a piece of that’ said Sergeant Davis.
‘Me too’ said Rhino, waving a tenner in the air.
‘You won’t last until next week’ Keane shouted, as I sat back down satisfied in the knowledge I’d given him some stick back. There was a short but strong storm, that pounded the car, cleaning all the dirt off the windows. We stayed on the M6 until we were a couple of miles away from Carnforth, where the traffic on both sides was gridlocked. We moved into the field on our right, and climbed the hill as it rose above Carnforth. I looked down at the traffic jam to our left, where the vehicles were gridlocked together. The centre of the pile up was clear except for the odd car, where they’d once been floating on top of the water, now ditched as the water decreased. Sat in a pool of their own rust and salt water, it was a strange sight now the water had all but gone. Towns people were working on the clear up of Carnforth, picking their way through the properties, throwing everything the water had wrecked outside in piles. Over the next few hours, we past Kendal, Penrith and then Carlisle, with little obstacle. The odd abandoned blockade, traffic jams and areas where the sea water was still draining. The Viking was making easy work of the different terrains it was asked to tackle, and we were soon approaching the junction where George and June’s farm was located. I could see through the windscreen, where the motorway manoeuvred around the property, hidden by the large trees. I searched the sky for a sign of smoke but there wasn’t any, we continued past and I bit my lip, wishing we could stop. But this was an official army mission, and not something I had the authority to alter. The weather had been threatening to rain for the last hour, and as the motorway turned into A74, it finally gave way. A storm rolled over with a torrential downpour, making it difficult to see where we were going. The darkness to the north east had grabbed everyone’s attention, it looked threatening and dangerous. ‘Bloody hell lads’ said Sergeant Davis, turning around to face us all. ‘Look at the fucking state of that.’
‘This is going to be intense’ laughed Little D.
The conditions seemed to excite everyone, including me a bit. I suppose it’s a different thing walking through it, fearing about the safety of your seven year old child. When we reached the A702 turn off, Sergeant Davis turned the two way radio on, and told the rest of the convoy we were about forty minutes away from our mission point. In those forty minutes, the conditions took a turn for the worse. The rain was lashing our vehicle, and the wind felt like it could pick us up. The darkness had arrived, and the ash clouds were growling. The Pentland Hills loomed into view ahead, and we followed the forest towards our rally point. The same forest that had been the scene of the tribe like cannibalism, and the reason I was here. We pulled up around two miles from Hillend, Sergeant Davis got out and spoke to the sergeant in the vehicle behind, and got on the radio to call the other vehicles. Ten minutes later, all the sergeants were gathered around our vehicle, finalising their approach for the next three days, and amount of time they believed it would take to complete the mission. The code word ‘kuru’ was decided between the companies, to make sure no situation arose where we were shooting at each other. Blue and White Company climbed out of the vehicle, as the rest of the companies moved out to their particular search zones. The air was noticeably thicker, and took everyone by surprise. It felt like someone had their hands around my throat and was gently squeezing. Rhino opened the back doors to the Viking, and pulled out some army rations. ‘First things first’ he said, handing us all a factory packed ration sachet. On the packet it stated ‘British Army twenty four hour ration packs, containing three main meals and snacks for a total of four thousand calories. To fully sustain one active soldier for twenty four hours while on operations.’
‘I cannot be putting myself in danger on an empty stomach’ laughed Rhino, as he handed Little D the final sachet.
‘I don’t understand how you enjoy this stuff’ said Little D, opening his packed. ‘Unless you warm it up, it tastes like shit.’
‘If it’s edible, I’ll eat it!’ Rhino replied, as he tucked in.
‘You’re the only man I have ever met who actually enjoys it’ joked Little D. I opened the first meal, an all day breakfast, and ate it. It tasted like cardboard, all washed down with a powdered electrolyte drink. A few boiled sweets came in the pack, and at least removed the taste of cardboard bacon from my mouth. I pulled my rucksack out of the back of the Viking, packed the remainder of the rations pack into it and fastened it on my back. I checked my rifle was locked and loaded, and pulled it over my shoulder. Rhino was stood at the back of the Viking, as Keane and Murphy helped him put the M202A1 Flamethrower on his back, he then gave it a burst to check it was working, golden flames leapt forward and then disappeared into the darkness. ‘Tactical lights on’ ordered Sergeant Davis, as the sky lit up with white beams. We only had one area to search this afternoon, we climbed over the wooden sty to our left, and onto my neighbour’s land, heading for Scald Law Peak. Buchanan’s Farm is large, nearly two hundred and sixty hectares. It incorporated Scald Law Peak and surrounding woodland. They have owned the farm a long time, since I was a boy, and were good friends with my parents, having helped each other on many occasions when problems arose, which they often did in the agricultural profession. But we had no idea who had the farm now. We lined up around ten metres away from each other, and moved forward in a perfect line, beams of light ahead, searching the landscape for any signs of movement. Visibility was poor, the darkness and fog drifting across the landscape making identification of anything problematic. The first body we found was already dead, with a bird picking at it. Little D shot it, and Rhino burned the lot. I could hear dogs in the distance, but they weren’t in our search zone, so we left them. But they will have to be dealt with at some point. The ground was slippy and muddy, our torch lights were glaring off the uneven surface. The search zone was largely open, and with no trees to protect us, the winds pushed us around. Our uniform was certainly better equipped to deal with the conditions though, but it couldn’t stop everything. We searched for a few hours, covering around a hundred and fifty hectares, with no sign until we started the incline of Scald Law Peak. Little D spotted something first, a couple of figures high up on the top. I thought they were trees at first, until there was some clear movement. Our line converged on their position, zeroing in on five men, sat on logs, around a long since dead fire. One man had absolutely no clothes on, I cannot emphasise enough how cold it was. These five men were the perfect first encounter with kuru for Blue and White Company, they bore all the hallmarks of the disease, and showed very little in the way of human behaviour. They spoke in riddles, like their brains were mush, and they didn’t understand what was happening. Sergeant Davis gave us the order to take them out, which the team did with ruthless efficiency. Our beams lit up their distorted faces, as we put them all down in a short burst of bullets. We piled them on top of the dead fire, which was littered with human bones, and Rhino torched them. From on top of Scald Law Peak, we could see flickering candle lights in the farm building. We walked down the other side of the hill, and spread our search line out again. As we got closer to the property, we had to avoid bodies, lying in the field around a hundred yards from the wall surrounding the building. Sergeant Davis and I continued to the property, as the other four searched the approach for bodies to burn. As we climbed over the dry stone wall, the front door swung open, and a man armed with a shotgun walked out. ‘Put down your weapon’ shouted Sergeant Davis, as t
he rest of Blue and White Company, sensing a situation quickly joined us. ‘You put yours down’ the man retorted. ‘This is my property and you are trespassing’
‘Matthew, is that you?’
‘Who’s that? I cannot see you.’
‘It’s Nathan, Tony Driver’s son.’
‘Nathan, what’s going on?’
‘Put your weapon down Matthew, we are friendly.’
‘Lower your rifles’ Sergeant Davis said to his men, as the they dropped them to their sides. I walked up to Matthew and we hugged, before he invited us into his house. Only Sergeant Davis and myself went in, as the others continued to burn the bodies in the fields. Matthew told us there would be more corpses on this approach to the farm, coming from the south, as it’s the direction he believed the disease was spreading. Many of the locals had been containing it, and protecting their own properties.
‘I’m so happy you are OK Nathan’ said Matthew, putting his shotgun by the side of his front door as he walked through.
‘It’s OK Kate, it’s Nathan, Tony’s boy. Do you know how your mother and father are? We’ve been worried about them, there’s something odd going on at your place.’
‘No I haven’t seen them since the morning of the attack.’
‘Oh I’m sorry Nathan, I didn’t realise. What about your daughter-er-’
‘Emma.’
‘Yeah sorry Emma. Tell me she is safe.’
‘I’ve got her, she’s at the camp.’
‘Oh thank the Lord.’
At that moment, Kate climbed out of the cellar, and came straight over to give me a hug. I don’t think I had ever had a hug from either of them before, it’s strange what brings people together.
‘It’s so good to see you Nathan, we were so worried about you and your family.’
‘I’m fine thanks Kate, it’s good to see you’re OK.’
‘So you have no news on Tony and Patricia? We were ever so worried about them, I saw Tony leaving in his car on the morning of the attack, shortly before we descended into the cellar. But we never saw him again.’
The rest of Blue and White Company came in through the front door, much to the surprise of Kate. I introduced them all to Matthew and Kate, who offered us a home cooked meal and the barn for the night, so long as the men took their dirty boots off at the door. Murphy and Sergeant Davis went back to the Viking, and brought it onto the farm, putting it in the unused barn we would sleep in. While Kate made us all some hot dinner, Matthew told us how they’d avoided Torriero’s men, using the farms underground tunnels, a maze when you don’t know where you are going. His men had only visited the farm once, and Kate had escaped into the countryside, using the very tunnels I would play in when I was a child. My dad would’ve killed me if he knew I’d been in them, he always said they were dangerous, and could collapse at any moment. It was lovely to see some familiar faces, and they made us feel welcome. We all ate well, and headed to the barn for some shut eye. As I wrote my diary, Sergeant Davis called me up to the higher floor of the barn, where he was studying the map and making notes. He told me to go over to the window, and have a look out over the countryside at the fires lighting up the darkness. For as far as I could see, the horizon was covered with little fires burning, the kuru operation was well underway.
4/12/27 time 19:30
Nothing better first thing in the morning, than a fresh home cooked farm breakfast, particularly when you’ve a strenuous day ahead. That’s precisely what was waiting for us when we woke up, and made our way over to the farmhouse. We had a laugh to ourselves, at how the other companies would be waking up in their Viking, with aches and pains, tucking into their cardboard breakfast, as we enjoyed fresh sausage, bacon and toast, the beauty of a working farm. The mood was high, ready for whatever the day brought. Over breakfast, Sergeant Davis showed us the plan for today’s objectives, it looked like a busy day ahead. We thanked Matthew and Kate for their hospitality, and promised we would be back tonight. Murphy had brought the vehicle around to the front, we all climbed aboard as Sergeant Davis opened the gate at the edge of the drive. It was easier to paint a picture of The Buchanan Family Farm in the early morning gloom, than when we arrived last night. It was much the same as my farm, but for a thatched roof, and darker brown stone walls. We left the property, and drove a few miles towards Easter Howgate, where we pulled over in a parking layby. I had a rough idea where I had seen the camp, and we would start our search at the most northerly point of the forest, and work our way towards it. We got our kit on, and headed into the forest via a public footpath, trying to remain as silent as possible. The weather was cold but dry, and remained like that for a few hours. We spotted our first suspects after around twenty minutes in the woods, three men stumbling through the undergrowth towards us. Sergeant Davis ordered us to stop, and we waited until they were yards away. He then identified them as kuru, and we took them out. Rhino burned them, and we continued towards the camp. This pattern continued for the first hour, as we mopped up any strays we discovered, burning all traces of them and moving forward. The trees and woodland restricted any light, making visibility difficult, but fortunately kuru sufferers were clumsy and noisy. It became apparent we were approaching the camp, as the noise levels started to increase, and it loomed out of the fog, its size surprising everyone. Sergeant Davis took his binoculars out of his rucksack, and moved a little closer. ‘There’s a lot of them’ he said, when he got back. ‘Too many for us to confirm as infected.’
‘If they are all eating human flesh’ said Little D, ‘Then they deserve the same fate.’
‘It’s not that simple little bro, there’s an area towards the centre that looks restricted, the men around there do not bare the hallmarks of kuru. We have protocols to follow, and we need to make sure we are not putting ourselves in danger. We don’t know what’s going on inside the camp, or to what level they’re a danger. I could see definite sufferers of kuru, I’m confident of that, but there were others I’m not sure about.’
‘I agree with Little D’ said Murphy, ‘We need to move in quickly and take them out. They are all doing it, the disgusting fuckers.’
‘I need eyes in the camp’ said Sergeant Davis. ‘Before I make any decisions.’
Sergeant Davis walked over to Murphy, and turned him around to get to the two way radio, that was on his rucksack. He put a call out for any other companies, who might be close. After half an hour of waiting, we had three. Sergeant Davis organised how to move forward, with the other sergeants, and then came back.
‘This is the plan’ he said, unfolding the map and laying on the floor. ‘I have organised for Clarets, Tangerines, and Latics Company to provide support from here, here and here’ he said, pointing at each position as he talked. ‘I need confirmation from within the camp that they’re all legitimate targets before we take them out, so I’m going to walk into the camp, and play it as it comes.’
Aftermath: The Complete Collection (Books 1 & 2) Page 35
