Aftermath: The Complete Collection (Books 1 & 2)

by John Wilkinson

  ‘They’re around a hundred yards away’ said Sergeant Marsh, pointing in their general direction. ‘Eleven o’clock, behind the first bunch of trees to our right. They haven’t moved for around fifty minutes, I think they’re feeding on something.’

  ‘How many dogs?’ Sergeant Davis asked, peeping over the wall, as the rain poured off it.

  ‘I couldn’t get a confirmed number on that, but we believe around thirty.’

  ‘What do you want us to do?’

  ‘We’re going to fan out along this wall, as you backtrack to the entrance for the public footpath, half a click back, and then follow the path around the dogs, positioning yourselves there’ he said, pointing over the wall at a derelict barn on the outskirts of the forest.

  ‘From there, fan out surrounding the targets from the north west, as we squeeze from here. We will take them out on my signal.’

  Attacking while they were preoccupied feeding, seemed like a decent plan, so we headed off along the road towards the footpath, arriving at the entrance in about eight minutes. We quietly took our turn with the wrought iron gate, and continued over the muddy ground, that was covered in dog paw prints. The ground was soft but slippy, a mixture of mud, ash and dead leaves, now getting soaked. The footpath led us away from the dogs at first, but soon bent back towards them. We could hear them long before we got a sighting on them, their howls and barking made all the more sinister by the eerie atmosphere, and dark rainy conditions. We kept a good distance away as we made our way towards the derelict barn, that was set well back from the path. There was no direct route to the building, we had to go off path, through the trees to a six foot high red stone wall. Rain was dripping off it, as I got into position to help lift Sergeant Davis up, who climbed to the top and scouted the area. He then signaled for the team to climb over, starting with Little D. I stayed in position as everyone climbed over, then using the foot holes between the brickwork and Sergeant Davis’s help, I lifted myself over. We lowered ourselves down onto the moist, soft ground and continued around to the back of the building, where we joined up with the rest of the team. ‘Keane, take up a position on the second floor, overlooking the dogs’ whispered Sergeant Davis, pointing to a glass less window high over to our left. Keane climbed though a downstairs window, and we made our way past the overgrown garden, that covered the whole side of the property, and took up position. The rain was pouring off the roof, and cascading to the floor. I took a moment to stay out of it under the overhang, as we observed for a few minutes. We could see the dogs about one hundred yards away, and Latics Company, about two hundred. We got onto the radio, and informed Sergeant Marsh we were in position, and ready. The message came back to move, so we crept out, still in formation, and spread to around five metres from our nearest comrade. I held my rifle in position, as I stopped in the long grass at the front of the house. I looked up at the window and could see the barrel of Keane’s rifle, poking out of the top left window, partly hidden by overgrown ivy. The dogs were looking aggressive, some were scrapping, fighting, trying to get near the food. Ahead of us was more long grass, covering what once was a path, which led to the opening, where the dogs were feeding. The whole area was surrounded by dying or dead trees, some still upright, many lying on their sides. A large open field was to our right, an obvious escape route, should they get spooked. The rain was still coming down, the sound masking our approach, making everything we stepped on soft. We started to enclose around the dogs, but it wasn’t long before they sensed something was happening. ‘Fire!’ Shouted Sergeant Marsh, as Latics Company opened up on the dogs. At that point they ran, so I knelt on one knee, and fired at anything with four legs. Bullets tore into flesh, tree trunks and the muddy ground, it thumped with the impact of the bullets. The dogs yelped, as bullets ripped through their bodies. Some of the dogs got past the initial wave of fire, and ran at the men, a couple getting to within six feet before being taken down. One dog was running at me, as I struggled to get my rifle positioned, a bullet from Keane’s rifle whistled inches from my right ear, before shattering the dog’s skull. When the gun fire had finished, the bodies of forty three dogs lay scattered across the forest floor. Keane came bounding out of the building, full of himself as normal. ‘I’m costing myself money here Driver, keeping you alive’ he laughed, climbing up onto the stone wall, outside the property. ‘How close was that dog to taking you down?’

  ‘It wasn’t as close as your fucking bullet’ I replied, as we both laughed. I was intent on pushing him off the wall, but as I reached him there was a noise from behind as three dogs jumped out of the downstairs windows, and ran at us. I have to admit I was slow to react, Rhino shot one, as did Sergeant Davis, but the middle one went for Keane. He jumped down from the wall, just as it launched itself at him, sinking it’s teeth into his rucksack. Keane stumbled forward, and with the weight of his equipment turning his body as he fell, he landed on his side and back. The dog went for Keane’s throat, causing him to protect it with his arm. No one could risk taking a shot, for the chance it would go through the animal and into Keane. It bit through his uniform, and he screamed as it’s teeth drew blood. I pulled my Welrod out of my pocket, and in one quick motion, kicked the dog in the head as hard as I could, and fired two shots into its body, killing it instantly. I dragged it off Keane, as the rest of the company picked him up, and removed his jacket. The wound was not too deep, but it had punctured the skin in nine places, and was bleeding. ‘It’s fine’ Keane said, trying to reassure himself. ‘Look through my rucksack for a bandage.’

  Captain Paul Howard, Latics Company medic, arrived and had a look at the wound, which was swelling and looked tender. He cleaned the wound, placed sterile antiseptic strips across the broken skin, and bandaged the wound up. ‘You’re going to have to have that looked at back at camp’ said Captain Howard, to the visible annoyance of Keane. ‘Have you got your injections?’

  ‘Yeah, on the Viking.’

  ‘Make sure to use them as soon as you get back.’

  As Keane was being treated, Rhino, Little D, myself, plus a few members of Latics Company, moved all the dogs corpses, and put them in a pile. I would never have pegged these dogs as dangerous, some were clearly domestic none aggressive pets, still with dog collars around their necks. They wouldn’t be attacking people under normal circumstances, but with no one feeding them for the past three months, they’ve had to find their own food, and they’d done that. Where the dogs had been feeding, were the remains of a human. Only one I think, it was hard to tell, they’d been torn to pieces, with very little waste. Rhino torched everything, the area filled with the smell of burning flesh, and fur. Latics Company headed off for their final objective, as did we. At the Viking, Keane retrieved the medication, and injected himself. Sergeant Davis plotted our new objective, twenty minutes back along the A702 towards Hillend. Our final search zone was just outside the Pentland Hills, and included the remains of ‘Adventure Park,’ where Emma and I had stopped for chocolate bars and cans of lemonade. This time we went through the front entrance, and pulled up the Viking opposite a fleet of abandoned stagecoaches, probably left the morning of the attack. We all climbed out, except Keane, who we decided should rest. The rain storm had blown over, but the sky was still black with ash, and the wind was blowing a gale. Sergeant Davis told Murphy and Rhino to search the car park, that had roughly thirty vehicles abandoned in it, while we searched the reception. We walked through the ticket lines, with metal chains still separating the lanes, and past the ticket office. The inside had been ransacked, but not before it had been burnt out. We searched the front end of the adventure park, which included a toilet block, cafe and shop. The outside of everything was covered in a grimy black film, and everything flammable had burned to ash. We searched each cubicle in the toilet block, leaving nothing to chance. All the mirrors were broken, and in pieces in the sinks. Rubbish lay on the floor, that was caked in mud and ash walked in by hundreds of feet. The cafe had been raided for any food, cupboards left o
pen, empty boxes and plastic containers thrown on the floor. There was a noticeable trail from the entrance to the kitchen, muddy feet belonging to individuals with only one thing on their mind. The tables were still laid out with cutlery, from the day everyone disappeared. The inside of the shop was largely untouched, row upon row of toys and cuddly animals, which gave me an idea. ‘Are you in charge of Father Christmas visiting Camp Blue?’ I asked Sergeant Davis.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Look at the state of this place, it’s full of stuff.’

  ‘Good idea Driver, look for something to carry them in.’

  I found some carrier bags below the till cabinet, and a couple of sports bags that had been on sale. We filled them with as many boys and girls toys as we could, stuffing them in every space available. We put the bags by the entrance to the shop, to pick up on our way out. Rhino and Murphy joined us, after clearing out the car park, and burning all vehicles with possible traces of the disease. I found a few adventure park maps on the floor, and we searched area by area. Most of the theme park had burned to the ground, with the odd brick building still standing. Large plastic slides, colourful fascias and the roof to the dodgems, had all melted under the extreme heat, and then re-hardened as the cold and rain came. We plotted a route through the park, that covered every possible area. If we found the remains of something we couldn’t recognise, we just burned it, to be sure. We found nothing alive, just the burnt remain of customers who died long ago. There were a couple of black birds, sat on the largest building still standing, a large slide that descends down around a circular stone centre. The plastic slide was missing from the sides, melted and broken into pieces on the floor. The birds took flight as we got closer, disappearing into the black sky. The winds rattled anything not fixed down, bits of debris blew around our feet. When we had finished the search, we headed back to the Viking, collecting the bags of toys as we past. The vehicle was covered in dents, all over the bodywork, caused by the impact of the hail storm we sat through. It was twenty to nine pm, we had an hour to kill before the pre arranged meeting with all participating companies, to confirm completion of the kuru mission, and finalise the journey back to camp blue. So Blue and White Company played cards, in the back of the Viking, as Sergeant Davis filled out some paperwork. The game of choice for Blue and White Company is colourfully known as ‘Shit Head,’ and had been played in the Fleetwood Barracks for over fifty years. We enjoyed a few boiled sweets, and some powdered electrolyte drinks, only just better than going thirsty. Keane won nearly every round we played, I’ve always thought there was a large slice of luck involved in winning Shit Head, but I couldn’t ignore his success rate. After my second powdered electrolyte drink, I needed to go and relieve myself, and headed off the Viking to find somewhere suitable. I walked over to the nearest bus, and pissed against the flat front tyre, as I looked up at the darkening sky, searching for any sign of the sun or moon. As I turned to walk back to the Viking, I heard a whimpering sound, coming from on the bus. I pulled my rifle out, turned the tactical light on and climbed up the steps and onto the bus. There was a musty damp smell coming from the coach, wet clothes and mould spreading across the roof. I couldn’t see anything ahead, so I carefully shone the light on my rifle onto each seat, and under it. There was further abandoned belongings and rubbish, clogging up the walkway and seats. Around halfway, I noticed something in my torchlight, at the end of the bus, taking up the back seat. It looked like a body, but it wasn’t until I got closer that I could tell what it was. There was a man, recently deceased, sat with his right pant leg rolled up to his knee. There was a pool of blood on the floor by his feet, and after further inspection, a large wound on his calf, that looked self inflicted. Maybe he thought he’d have a better chance of survival, eating his own flesh. How desperate for food must he have been? If I had to pick an area of my body to cut off for food, a part I could lose but still survive, I think that’s where I’d have chose. He might have hit a blood vessel, and slowly bled out, dying not that long ago. His blood, that covered the floor by his feet, was still red and shiny. There was a rucksack by his side on the back seat, half open with his belongings falling out, a knife by his right hand stained with his blood, and dried blood stains on his fingers and his beard around his mouth. By his left, was a plastic shopping bag, covered in blood. With the muzzle of my rifle, I inspected the bag, finding a few strips of black and bloody flesh. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed movement on the seat to my right, and quickly moved my rifle to its position. There was a pile of coats, with something moving underneath. I lifted them off, one by one, unveiling a tiny child. She tried to hide, and then escape, but I stopped her. ‘Please, don’t. I’m not going to hurt you.’ She looked at me with her big brown eyes, I tried to wipe the blood off her face, but she flinched, and withdrew. I held my hands in the air, and then slowly moved them to her, letting her watch them, and then gently wiped the blood off her face. She too looked badly undernourished, her arms and face like a dolls, tight and dry. I asked her what her name was, but she wouldn’t speak. I felt she understood me, but was too frightened to talk. She looked really young, maybe five or six, it was hard to tell she looked so ill. She had light brown hair, that was almost black with dirt and grime, and she was wearing dirty white shoes, blue jeans and a dirty denim jacket with a rain jacket over the top. She climbed off the seat and ran over to the man on the back seat, and cuddled him. ‘Is that your dad? I asked, moving closer to her. She didn’t respond, she just continued to cling onto the man.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Said a voice behind me. I turned around to find Little D climbing up the steps of the bus, ‘We were going to send out a search party.’

  ‘I’ve found a little girl’ I replied, as he walked up the walkway to meet me. I stood aside, so he could see her, she was still refusing to let go of the dead man.

  ‘Is that her dad?’ Little D asked.

  ‘I’m not sure, she won’t speak.’

  ‘Has she been eating him?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘It looks like she has, that would be my guess.’

  ‘If she has, it’s only been to stay alive.’

  Little D left the bus to get Sergeant Davis, and explain the situation, as I tried to convince the child to come with me, but she wouldn’t budge. When Little D came back aboard, he told me Sergeant Davis want to speak to me. I left him to try to talk the child around, and went to meet him, stood by the Viking with Murphy and Rhino.

  ‘Is she infected with kuru?’ Asked Sergeant Davis, with a look of concern.

  ‘I don’t know, I don’t think so.’

  He sighed and walked away, leaving Rhino and Murphy looking at me. I could hear him swearing to himself, before he returned.

  ‘Ian has confirmed she has been eating flesh, I’m going to have to kill her humanely’ he said, pulling his revolver out.

  ‘Are you fucking joking?’

  ‘We have orders to destroy all infected, and burn all remains. As per our mission objective.’

  ‘Why would you? She’s not-’

  ‘We have our orders Driver, they are not going to accept us bringing a carrier back to the camp.’

  ‘She’s not a carrier, she’s a fucking child.’

  ‘Keep your voice down.’

  ‘Why? Are you concerned she’ll understand what you’re planning to do?’

  ‘We cannot let our feelings affect our decision making’ interrupted Murphy.

  ‘I cannot fucking believe I’m hearing this, fuck your mission objective, this is not the same thing. This child’s dad has probably died trying to keep her alive, only for us to kill her. This is not the same thing, she’s showing no signs of the disease, but just because she ate some flesh to stay alive, you’re going to kill her. Do none of you have children? Someone must, Murphy? Chris?’

  None of them could look me in the eye, until Rhino spoke.

  ‘I have two boys.’

  ‘And what do you think about this?’


  He didn’t respond, or I continued before he’d chance.

  ‘Would you do anything for your children? If you were desperate, if they hadn’t eaten, and they would die. What would you do?’

  ‘I would do the same.’

  ‘Too fucking right you would, you all would.’

  Sergeant Davis, Rhino and Murphy looked at each other, hoping for a divine intervention, but I was not going to let up, this was bullshit. As Sergeant Davis remained silent, listening to everyone, Murphy spoke out.

  ‘How do we explain to General Morris-’

  ‘We don’t have to explain shit’ I interrupted. ‘We found this child, and brought her back to the camp. If you’re worried about her, she can stay in the camp medical centre under observation. But she’s a child, not a danger, we need to keep this in perspective.’

  Sergeant Davis asked each member what we thought should happen, and told me not to interrupt.

  ‘For what it’s worth’ said Rhino. ‘I agree with Driver.’

  ‘Killing her doesn’t sit well with me’ said Murphy, ‘But we would be disobeying military orders.’

  I tried to interject but Sergeant Davis stopped me, and asked Murphy to continue.

  ‘But maybe the orders don’t take into account all possibilities, maybe we need to make some decisions ourselves.’

  Little D walked out of the coach holding the little girl, who had her arms wrapped around him tight. I could see a tear in Rhinos’s eye, which told me he’d been affected by the situation, and was thinking about his boys. We should be protecting children like this, not hurting them. The army needs to adapt to the world we are now in, the fight has changed and we have to change with it.

  ‘Ok’ said Sergeant Davis, ‘Put the child on the Viking Ian, we need to move out. Rhino and Murphy, can you search the remaining buses, and torch any bodies.’