Aftermath: The Complete Collection (Books 1 & 2)

by John Wilkinson

‘What paperwork can you do for a job like that?’

  ‘I’ll show you sometime’ he smiled, as Little D and Murphy arrived back.

  ‘Still going on about the fucking paperwork Chris?’ Laughed his brother.

  ‘You’ll have to deal with this shit too if you want a career in the army’ he replied, smiling at him.

  ‘What weren’t they happy about?’ Said Murphy, grabbing himself a beer.

  ‘They were concerned with our identification process, and whether we were thorough enough.’

  ‘They wanna come face to face with a group of those fuckers, and see how long it takes them to identify carriers’ spat Rhino. ‘We should have brought some of them back, and thrown them onto the stage with them.’

  ‘Can you imagine?’ Laughed Little D, ‘General Brown would be off like a rocket, like the day the supply run to Preston brought back some butter pies!’

  ‘Is there anything you want me to do?’ I said, finishing my beer and grabbing another.

  ‘There is as it happens’ replied Sergeant Davis, moving a little closer so I could hear as he whispered. ‘With Father Christmas due to visit the camp at the end of the month, could you organise a quick calculation of how many presents we are going to need? Boys and girls. The information should be available through the census, if you speak to Officer Farrell on reception, he’ll point you in the right direction. The toys we brought back from the theme park are still locked up in the back of the Viking, located on the north west carpark behind the hotel. I’ve just got too much on at the moment, to be sorting that shit out as well.’

  ‘Yeah no worries.’

  ‘If we still need more presents, write up a list and pass it on to General Harris, explaining the situation. He’ll get a supply run sent out. I spoke to General Morris about you too Nathan, told him how impressed I was with you, and how you’ve slotted into the team.’

  ‘Thanks, that’s much appreciated. You guys have made it easy, made me feel welcome. How did Keane take the news?’

  ‘Not very well, as you can imagine. We’ve all had to sit out at one time or another, he’s just an impatient bastard.’

  As we sat drinking, the room started to spin around my head, and I decided I’d had enough, feeling tired myself. I said my farewells and headed back to the room to finish the days entry, and get a good nights sleep. Sorry if this entry has been less descriptive than normal, as I started writing, tiredness caught up with me, and I rushed a bit to finish it.

  8/12/2029 - Time 11:30

  A large explosion rattled the hotel in the early hours of the morning, I sat up in bed and listened. Bernard was sat up too, we looked at each other bemused. ‘There’s no recruits training this morning’ he said.

  ‘What the hell was that then?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  I looked at my watch, which said three thirty nine am. The children were still asleep, so I told Bernard to wait with them while I went to investigate. I ran through the corridor and out of the hotel. I looked to my left, where a large funnel of smoke was pumping into the dark sky, lit from below by a fire. There were soldiers running around, with voices full of panic. I ran to the entrance of the football stadium, where Captain Jones was handing out rifles. I took one and followed the other soldiers towards Security Base Delta. The scene when I arrived was chaotic, gunfire and shouting. The smoke was coming from a truck on fire, smashed into the terraced houses to the left of the security base, thirty yards into the camp. There was a hole in the metal fence, where the vehicle had ploughed through, before hitting the houses. Another fire was blazing in the tram, used as the security office. It wasn’t until I got closer that I saw another vehicle on fire, impaled in the tram. Bullets flew over my head as I ducked for cover, realising I was in plain sight. I retreated towards a group of soldiers who were gathered around the nearest vehicle, as the houses surrounding it started to catch fire. There was a wounded soldier in the road, between us and the other vehicle at the entrance. Bullets were being exchanged between the soldiers and the enemy, still outside the camp. The wounded soldier was on his back, and was dragging his body back towards us. ‘Get down officer’ shouted the soldier on my left. I looked at his name tag, which said Captain Gossard, before asking him what the situation was.

  ‘The spotter for Security Base Delta raised the alarm at three thirty one, two vehicles were approaching at speed, we had no further reports and found this situation when we arrived.’

  ‘Do you know who is alive, and how many attackers there are?’

  ‘I haven’t seen or heard anything from the security guards, I presume they were in the tram. There were three bodies in this vehicle before it set fire, all dead. I think there is only one attacker left, he shot the solider in the road after he went out to investigate.’

  Captain Gossard ordered two of us to run across to the other side of the road, and supply covering fire as they tried to move around the target. We crouched down, and sprinted across the road, jumping into a door entrance. Captain Gossard signalled for us to fire, which we did, into the area around the vehicle. They ran forward, stopping where the metal fence met the terraced houses. We waited for any return fire, but there was only silence. ‘Come out with your hands in the air’ shouted Captain Gossard, to which he got no response. After a few minutes shouting, and no gun fire, I left my position to help the wounded soldier, as Captain Gossard moved to apprehend the enemy. When I reached him, I realised it was Little D.

  ‘Are you ok?’ I shouted, searching for cover.

  ‘Yeah I think so, just a wound to my leg.’

  I lifted him onto my back, like in training, and carried him to the doorway, where I laid him back down. At that point, the other soldiers had surrounded the burning vehicle, and emerged with one man, restrained. There was a substantial amount of blood coming from Little D’s leg, I put my fingers through hole in his pants and tore the material open. There was a small hole in his thigh, about the size of a penny, with blood oozing out. I felt around under his leg, and found an exit wound, also losing blood.

  ‘It’s just a flesh wound’ I said, pushing down on the hole with my hand.

  ‘It’s not hit anything?’

  ‘No, straight in and out, no bones hit.’

  I tore the remainder of his trouser leg off, and wrapped it around his thigh, tying it tight across the wound. I told him not to move, as I helped make sure the area was secure, and the attack over. I held my rifle out, at forty five degrees, and crept along the roadside, towards the burning tram. I searched in every doorway, turning my tactical light on to help visibility. The heat was intense, I couldn’t get close to the vehicle to see if anyone was still inside it, if there was, they were dead. I searched the area around the edge of the fireball, but found no one alive, just two bodies outside the tram, and one inside, although I couldn’t get close to it. The body inside the tram looked like one of our men, wearing an army uniform, but I couldn’t get close enough to confirm. We had to let the fires burn, it was twenty minutes before a fire engine was brought around to the front, and another ten minutes before a connection to water was fashioned. By that point, over one hundred soldiers had arrived, with a heavy armed presence visible. Four Vikings left the camp, to search the surrounding area for any signs of Torriero’s men, as the vehicle wreckage was moved, and work started on patching up the security. Little D was helped into the back of a Viking, and driven off to the medical centre, as the military machine started to grind. We were ordered to leave by the sergeant of Baggies Company, a team of soldiers set up to deal with attacks on the base. There were seven other companies, with similar objectives, as the security around the base was put on high alert. I headed back to my room at around five am, finding everyone asleep, so I led down and tried to get some shut eye. I listened to the noises outside the hotel, as work continued on strengthening the camp walls. I never got back to sleep, soon the children were up, and so was Bernard. As they played, blissfully unaware of anything, Bernard and I discussed what had ha
ppened.

  ‘Why would they attack with such a small, ineffectual team?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know, it doesn’t sit right with me either.’

  ‘They cannot have hoped to achieve anything.’

  ‘Unless they were just testing us, seeing how we dealt with it.’

  ‘Maybe, they had hundreds in the camp outside Preston, this was nothing. They were expendable. Torriero was happy to lose them all, maybe the fighter we captured will give us information.’

  ‘Who took him?’

  ‘I didn’t recognise them, they were high ranking military who removed him.’

  As Bernard took the children for breakfast, I thought I would have a look around the camp, see what was happening. It seemed different, there was an odd atmosphere around the place, with military men striding around the camp with a purpose. I’m not sure if the general community knew what had happened, but they knew something wasn’t right. There was a lot more security visible, on patrols and talking to the residents. But no one of any real rank, I asked one of the guards outside the football stadium, where the military hierarchy was. He explained the sergeants meeting in the morning had been cancelled, and an emergency meeting had been called. I couldn’t get to within thirty yards of the stadium entrance, a large armed presence was keeping everyone out. I decided to see the extent of Little D’s injury, and headed around the back of the hotel to the Medical Centre. There I found him on the first ward, leg bandaged up, and chatting up the nurses.

  ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Like I’ve been shot in the leg.’

  ‘I see you’re making yourself at home’ I said, smiling at the nurses hovering around his bed.

  ‘Almost worth the bullet, for a little female company.’

  ‘I can believe it is. Has your brother been to see you yet?’

  ‘He dropped in for a couple of minutes, before he was called into the military meeting.’

  ‘They’ve been in there hours.’

  ‘If they are voting on our next move, they could be in all day.’

  ‘You think that’s what they’re doing?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘That was not an attempt to start a war, and if we treat it as such, we will play right into their hands.’

  ‘Maybe, maybe not, but it was provocation.’

  ‘How did you find yourself in the firing line?’

  ‘There was a lock-in at the bar, military only. We didn’t have much on today, just a little weapons practice, so I was in it for the long haul. There was only five of us left by the time the walkie talkie message came through, the older gents just cannot hack it. By the time I got to the security base, the first vehicle had hit the tram, and exploded. The second vehicle smashed through the metal fencing heading towards me. I shot at the tyre, and then the driver, causing it to swerve off the road, and into the buildings on the left.’

  ‘How did you get shot?’

  ‘I went to investigate the first vehicle crash, I didn’t realise anyone was alive, a bullet rang out and dropped me like a stone. I was really rather drunk, although I sobered up pretty damn quick, getting shot has that effect. Has the man arrested said anything? I assume they’ve questioned him.’

  ‘I’m not sure, I’ll try and find out when I leave here.’

  I left Little D as the nurses arrived back with his lunch, and went to get mine, and write this up.

  8/12/2029 - Time 23:50

  I looked up at the windows of the football stadium as I walked past, and could see men in military suits, pacing the meeting room, looking flustered. They’d been locked in the room for hours now, with still no sign they were done. Around the camp, the atmosphere resembled Rome, when the College of Cardinals are deliberating over a new pope. I wasn’t allowed near the prisoner, the security around him was as tight as I have seen. I spoke briefly with a guard outside the prison block, who told me what little he knew.

  ‘They’ve given the lad a going over, trying to glean as much information as they can. But he’s not talking, not giving anything away.’

  ‘What have they been doing to him?’

  ‘I don’t know, I don’t see what’s going on. But it doesn’t sound enjoyable, this is war now, we have to resort to their level of barbarism.’

  I’m not sure I agreed with the young guards view point, but I could understand it, and didn’t fully disagree.

  ‘Apparently, the lad never changed his stance’ he continued. ‘Kept repeating the same strange line.’

  ‘I know what you’re planning, Torriero will prevail.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘No idea. But he kept repeating it.’

  With time moving on, I went to see if we were any closer to a decision at the meeting, but the doors were still closed and the consensus within the waiting guards was they were still hours away. Armed with that knowledge, and still a few hours away from picking the children up for dinner, I decided to get Sergeant Davis’ Santa list underway. I walked into the hotel looking for Officer Farrell, and found him sat at the reception desk playing Shit Head with Private Chadwick.

  ‘Ssshhh’ said Officer Farrell loudly. ‘He’s here. If it isn’t Camp Blues kuru killer, how can we help you?’

  ‘I need to help Father Christmas with his deliveries this festive season, and make sure no children at Camp Blue are left out.’

  ‘Oh yes, Davis mentioned something about that’ he replied, handing me the latest census, and rummaging around under his desk for the older version.

  ‘Here you are’ he said, handing me a large tatty book, held together with elastic bands.

  ‘Ages and sex are in the right hand column, you should have everything you need there.’

  I thanked him, and moved to a quieter part of the camp to start the process. On the fifth floor, workmen were building a library, for the thousands of books obtained by the camp, with nowhere to live. The room was a shell at the moment, with dusty bookcases positioned ready to be filled, but there were also tables and chairs, which I made use of. I decided eleven was the cut off age, and set about collating the name, age, sex and room number of every child below that age. I thumbed through the pages, marking them all in my diary. It took around two hours to complete, in the end, I had a list of one thousand, five hundred and forty two children under the age of eleven, with a split of around nine hundred of which were boys. Armed with my list, I went to see how many presents we had brought back from the theme park, which were still in the back of the Viking.

  I counted twenty bags with around thirty toys in each, most of which could be considered suitable for either sex. So we still needed around nine hundred presents, a tall ask. I tore the pages out of my diary, and filled in any more information I could think of, folded it all up and put it in my back pocket. I will need to speak to General Harris about the list when I get chance, but that might not be anytime soon. By the time I had finished, a large gathering had started to form outside the stadium, and rumors were passing freely from one man to another. Everyone was excited, a decision had been made and we would shortly know what was happening.

  ‘We are going to nuke those fuckers’ I heard one man say, to all that would listen. ‘It’s the only thing we can do, wipe them off the planet.’

  Well, I cannot believe they would be that fucking stupid, this is not yet the moment for war. We need to try and resolve this with diplomatic means first, if that fails, at least we tried. The excitement in the crowd was electric, a mixture of soldiers and camps community together, and we didn’t have to wait long until the meeting room started to empty, and all the sergeants came out in a line. They weren’t for giving anything away, and ignoring cries for information, they walked through the crowds and into the hotel. I followed, thinking I might see Sergeant Davis heading to his room, and sure enough I met him there.

  ‘I cannot tell you what’s happening yet’ he said, opening his door as a few pieces of paper fell to the floor from under his arm. I picked them up, turning t
hem the right way and handed them back to him. ‘Can you do me a favour Nathan?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Can you find Keane for me, tell him I have called a company meeting at five o’clock, to discuss future military matters.’

  ‘Ok, where at?’

  ‘We’ll do it in the bar, where else? You might even find him there. I’ll speak to Ian later, Rhino and Murphy already know.’

  I nodded my understanding, and went to the bar, as a flustered looking Davis continued into his room, with arms full of paperwork. Keane wasn’t in the bar, although a few soldiers claimed he had only left an hour previous, on his way to get some dinner. I found him in the dining hall on his floor, tucking into a plate of food.

  ‘Keane, Sergeant Davis has organised a company meeting at five in the bar.’

  ‘Great, I told you this fucking war would start before I was ready. The company will be sent out and I’ll have to wait until I get the all clear, by then you could be anywhere in the country.’ I didn’t believe that was the case, and my face must have said as much. ‘Anyway Nathan, with me missing from the current line up, I’m not sure you are rugged looking enough for Blue and White Company, we have a reputation to upkeep.’

  ‘Really? Not rugged enough?’

  ‘It’s your age really isn’t it. You’re just not as young as us fit, athletic soldiers. You cannot help it.’

  I laughed at Keane, he was managing to keep a straight face, so fair play to him, but I wasn’t going to let him off that easily.

  ‘What about you then?’

  ‘What about me?’

  ‘What’s that on your face?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Some men really shouldn’t grow a beard.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ He snapped back, stroking the end of his chin.

  ‘If you pucker up your lips for me, your face looks like an arsehole.’

  We both laughed, I think I’ve got the measure of Keane now, it took some time but I think he’s even starting to like me, maybe a little. After an early dinner, where I asked Bernard to take the children for me, I went to meet Blue and White Company in the bar. The doors were guarded by two soldiers, with no non-military allowed inside. The pub was full, packed to the rafters with soldiers, with the atmosphere buzzing. I noticed Blue and White Company, sat at a table by the bar, the same table they’re always sat at.