New World: Nick Smith Book one (Nick Smith Series 1)

by Stephen Birch

‘Trying to get home I suppose, or trying to get to somewhere or someone before they died,’ Nick answered, looking straight ahead. ‘Have you noticed that in most of the cars that are still occupied there is usually only one corpse?’

  Bill nodded slowly. ‘No. I hadn’t noticed that.’ He looked at Nick thoughtfully. ‘You think a lot don’t you?’

  ‘I’ve been on my own for a bit.’

  Bill changed the subject. ‘Where’s Jeff now do you think?’

  Nick kept his eyes focused ahead as he shook his head slightly.

  Bill got the message. The girls were in the back.

  ‘Do you have any idea why we are heading for Bournemouth?’ Nick changed the subject again.

  ‘Oh. We were talking about it last night while you were taking your nap.’

  Nick glanced over at him. ‘When you knocked me out you mean?’

  ‘Yeah, sorry about that,’ Bill said. ‘Anyway, Beth promised her girls that they would go to the seaside. Bournemouth actually. They went there on holiday last year and they are looking forward to it.’

  ‘Yes we are!’ Kay suddenly put in from the back seat.

  ‘Shush.’ Sammy poked her.

  Nick smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘Hey, that’s fine. I was just wondering that’s all.’

  They eventually made it to the end of the traffic block and the road looked almost empty for as far as they could see. Nick stopped the truck in the field pushed open the door and got out. He stood there in the shimmering heat and looked all around. Nobody said anything while he did so. They knew the drill by now. They would stay quiet until he gave the all clear.

  ‘Ok. Let’s all take a break,’ he told them once he was satisfied.

  ‘Thank god!’ Beth said as she slowly stood up in the truck bed and stretched. ‘That was better than walking, but not by much.’ Her leg and neck were still really sore from yesterday. She climbed over the side and lowered herself down slowly into the long grass. Dan jumped straight off the truck and landed down beside her. She looked at him. ‘Show off,’ she said, smiling. ‘Shall we have a break? Get some food down us? This looks like a nice place for a picnic.’

  After they had eaten Nick drove the Navara back down onto the motorway. There were some bushes next to the fence this time but the big car just crushed them down along with the fence. By the time he had broken through the crash barrier though the front of the car was looking a bit dented and sad.

  The others walked down onto the motorway after him and began to look for another car. They found a white Astra estate that was empty of bodies. The keys were still in the ignition and it had half a tank of fuel in the petrol tank. The Navara was running low on diesel and Nick told them that they would need to change it soon so Kay said they would keep an eye out for another Navara because he liked it so much. Everybody laughed and even Bill had a small chuckle. Beth looked around at the small group and couldn’t quite believe that these were the same people as yesterday. What a difference a day makes, she thought.

  They all then climbed into the cars. They kept to the same arrangements as before and Dan jumped back in with Nick.

  The road was almost empty for the rest of the way down the M3 and onto the M27. By now the fuel gauge in the Navara was showing nearly empty. Another service station was just coming up so Nick flashed his head lights at the Astra to indicate a stop. Beth replied by turning her hazards on and off, and he followed the Astra slowly down the slip road into the services.

  They were all a bit worried about going into the services after all the trouble they’d had at the other one. Although Kay pointed out with her usual logic that if they hadn’t gone into the other one, they would never have met each other. Sammy added that they wouldn’t have also nearly got killed. Beth stopped the inevitable bickering by stopping the car, then they all watched and waited while Nick got out of the Navara and looked around. He held up his hand to them, signalling for them to wait and Beth turned off the engine.

  ‘Where’s he going?’ Sammy asked as Nick walked off towards the main building.

  ‘To check it all out and see if it’s safe,’ Kay told her.

  Sammy gave her a look but said nothing this time. Nick eventually came back and walked over to their car.

  ‘It seems to be safe,’ he said. ‘There are a lot more dead in here though. I don’t think it would be a good idea to go in there. It looks like quite a few people decided to spend their last few days on earth here.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘It stinks a bit in there.’

  ‘Ok,’ Beth said. ‘What do you want to do then?’

  ‘I think we should just see if we can find a car with keys and fuel in it, and then get out of here. I’ve gone off service stations.’

  ‘What about the petrol station up there?’ Beth pointed.

  ‘Yeah might be worth a look,’ Nick said but he had a bad feeling about this place. It felt like he was being watched. He just wanted to get away from here really but because he didn’t know them that well he was reluctant to say anything without being sure. Over the years he had learned to trust his instincts though. Something was definitely wrong here!

  ‘Do you want to check it out while we look for a car?’ Beth asked him.

  ‘No I think it’s best if we all stay together.’ He told them.

  Beth looked at him then. ‘What’s up Nick? You seem a bit edgy.’

  ‘I was born edgy.’ He smiled. ‘It’s ok I just got a bad vibe about this place. I’d rather we just found a car and left really.’

  ‘Well let’s just do that then and stop all the jabbering!’ Bill mumbled.

  Nick looked across at him and nodded. ‘Yeah let’s just do that then.’

  ‘Oh no, we wanted to get out,’ Sammy said from the back, speaking for all of them.

  ‘Shush up Sammy. If they think we should go then we go,’ Beth told her. She turned the ignition key, starting up the engine.

  ‘Actually,’ Nick said, changing his mind. ‘I think we should look for a car somewhere else. There’s still a bit of fuel left in the Navara and I really don’t like this place.’

  Beth looked at him thoughtfully for a second then said, ‘ok let’s go then Nick. We’ll follow you out.’

  ‘Ok,’ Nick said then he jogged back over to the Navara and jumped in.

  ‘Strap up Danny boy. We’re out of here!’

  ‘Ok,’ Dan replied pulling on his seat belt again. Nick started the car up and pulled slowly away. He checked the mirror to make sure that the Astra was following but he didn’t feel right until they were all back on the M27.

  Back at the services two men came out of the petrol station building and watched the two cars disappear in a cloud of dust.

  ‘I thought you said they’d come in here!’ the small and greasy looking one shouted.

  The big blonde haired one was just watching the disappearing cars thoughtfully, but he turned quickly. ‘Shut up you little twat!’ he told him. ‘They should have but they didn’t. Fuck knows why not.’ He was holding his arms around himself tight, hugging his ribs.

  ‘Fuck it! Who gives a shit ay? Let’s go and have another beer. Plenty left ay?’ The small man turned to go back into the shop. Jeff followed him in, walking past the two double barrelled shot guns that were leaning ready, up against the empty rack just inside the door.

  Chapter fourteen

  Nick drove carefully to conserve what little fuel he had left, but the orange light had been on for about ten miles now. He didn’t have a clue how many more miles the big car would go on reserve. The M27 had soon ran out and they were now driving down the A31 through the new forest. Nick saw Beth flash the headlights behind him as they went past a sign for a lay by up ahead. He flashed his hazards back and they both pulled slowly into the small lay by. It was completely empty of cars and apart from a small stand of trees about a hundred yards away, there was an uninterrupted view across the New Forest heathland. They stuck to the drill though and Nick got out first. When he gave the all clear sign they all climbe
d out of the cars and stretched. Dan walked across to the other car and greeted the girls then started to help Beth unload the car.

  They decided to stay there until the morning. They were all tired and on a bit of a come down from this morning’s high.

  It took them a little while to get organised for the night. It was warm still and there was a clear sky again so Nick decided they wouldn’t need a shelter. They parked the cars nose to tail and Nick sent Dan off with Kay to look for firewood while he and Beth arranged the camp in the lay by.

  Bill just went off and laid himself down on the grass by the road and seemed to fall straight asleep. They knew that he was still suffering from the beating by his brother so they just left him alone.

  ‘Do you think he’ll be ok?’ Sammy asked as she watched Nick lay out some stuff in preparation for the firewood.

  ‘Yeah, I think he’ll be ok. He just needs to rest,’ Beth said, walking over.

  ‘His brother beat him up really badly?’ Sammy said. ‘Kay told me that Nick beat up his brother and made him go away.’

  ‘Yes he did,’ Beth told her daughter.

  ‘Will we ever see him again?’ Sammy asked. ‘His brother I mean?’

  ‘We don’t know darling.’ Beth put her arm around Sammy’s shoulders. ‘But we have Nick and Bill here next time if we do.’

  Sammy looked at Nick. ‘Mum says that we are safer with some men with us,’ she told him.

  Nick looked up and noticed that Beth was blushing.

  ‘I just said that-.’

  ‘You are safer,’ Nick told Beth, interrupting whatever she was going to say next.

  ‘Thanks Nick,’ Beth said. She then kissed Sammy on the head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. ‘Come on you! Let’s go and sort out some food.’ She took hold of Sammy’s hand and they walked back to the cars. Nick carried on with his fire preparations, smiling to himself.

  Dan and Kay eventually came back with the firewood. Nick had told them to collect only dead wood so that the fire didn’t smoke too much. They both complained that it was hard to find that kind of wood. He shook his head at them and got on with starting a fire as Kay started to brush off the bits of old wood and leaves that were stuck to her. Nick glanced over, noticing that Dan was watching her a bit too intently as she did it. He told him to come and watch how to make a fire. Dan left off his ogling reluctantly and came over.

  ‘To make a fire you have to start off small. See this?’ Nick showed him a small piece of cotton wool. ‘Cotton wool makes good tinder,’ he said. ‘And this?’ Nick pulled something from a small holder on the side of his smaller knife sheath. It looked like a small metal rod about three inches long. ‘This is a magnesium fire rod. I have another one here around my neck. You can never have too many of these’ He pulled out his large bowie knife. ‘And this is a knife.’ Dan frowned at that. ‘Now watch.’ He placed the cotton wool on the ground and held the rod over it. Then he rubbed the back of the blade down the rod in a quick motion, causing a small shower of sparks. Dan smiled as most of them fell onto the cotton wool. As the cotton wool began to smoulder Nick leant forward and blew on it gently. A small flame appeared as the cotton wool caught fire. Nick gently fed some small, dry slivers of wood onto the flame and when they caught he started feeding the fire with increasingly larger pieces of wood. Pretty soon he had a nice fire going.

  ‘Can we make tea on that?’ Beth asked.’ She had brought the girls over to watch as well. She knew that they would all need to learn these kind of skills now.

  ‘Yeah, I just need to make a tripod. Dan, go and cut me three sticks about as long as your leg and about this thick.’ He held up his hand. ‘From a tree this time. Here use this.’ He pulled a folding saw from his pack and handed it to him. ‘And don’t dawdle.’

  ‘Ok,’ Dan said taking the saw and running back across the heath towards the small stand of trees. Nick moved away from the fire and sat down on the grass. They certainly didn’t need it for heat tonight. It was going to be another hot one.

  Beth moved away as well and sat down beside him. She turned to the girls. ‘Go and get the food we sorted out earlier you two. Oh and that big cooking pot that Nick and Dan found at the services.’

  ‘Ok mum,’ they both said together.

  ‘Finally, I’ve got you all to myself,’ Beth said watching his profile as he looked into the fire.

  ‘Not for long though I bet.’

  ‘No I suppose not,’ Beth replied.

  ‘So why are you going to Bournemouth?’ Nick was still staring at the fire.

  ‘What? Why? Beth’s mind was busy with her own questions so she was caught out by his.

  ‘Bournemouth. Why Bournemouth? It won’t be like it was when you went there last year on holiday. You have to know that it’ll be no different there than anywhere else?’

  ‘I know.’ Beth sighed. ‘It was all I could think of at the time to make the girls feel better about leaving our house. They were scared. That was the only home that they have ever known. I tried to make it seem like we were going on a holiday.’

  ‘Ok, I can get that.’ Nick stood up and put a large piece of wood on the fire, then he came back and sat down.

  Beth noticed that he had sat back down closer to her this time though, seemingly without thinking. She wondered again what had happened in his past to make him such a loner, because she saw that he seemed to be unravelling from it very quickly. He’d gone from being very distant to being friendly in under a day, but he also seemed to be shaping them all somehow. Even Bill seemed affected by him. They were turning into a small team. Was it because of Nick she wondered or was it just natural in this kind of situation? People naturally avoided strangers, but then how quickly do strangers become enemies or friends in a hostile environment? Very quickly, she supposed. ‘It was a destination anyway,’ she said. ‘Somewhere to head for. We couldn’t just drive around aimlessly. And once I’d suggested Bournemouth. Well?’

  ‘Yeah, I get it.’ Nick told her again. ‘We’ll probably be there tomorrow if the roads are ok. What do you have in mind to do when we get there then?’

  ‘I wish that I knew,’ Beth said frowning. ‘Anyway. What about you? Why are you going to Bournemouth?’ she asked, looking at him closely.

  ‘Honestly?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes honestly.’ She was still watching him closely.

  ‘Well then. I’m not really sure,’ he admitted, looking off into the distance.

  ‘How old are you Nick?’ Beth suddenly asked.

  ‘Wow let’s just change the subject,’ Nick said. ‘How old are you?’ he countered, smiling at her.

  ‘You shouldn’t ask a lady that,’ she told him.

  ‘Oh come on. You asked first.’

  ‘Ok. I’m forty two,’ she said, staring at him and blushing a little.’ Now it’s your turn.’

  ‘Let’s just say that I’m a bit older than that,’ Nick said standing up to put another lump of wood on the fire.

  ‘That’s not fair! I told you.’

  ‘What’s not fair mum?’ Kay said. Beth hadn’t noticed that both the girls had come back.

  ‘Oh nothing,’ she said, standing up. ‘We were just joking. Bring that food over here.’

  There were no problems overnight. They woke Bill and they all ate stew that was heated up in the new pot, hung on a tripod over the fire. The stew was made by mixing up some of their rapidly reducing cans and they all ate sitting around the fire. The conversation was a bit muted due to everyone being really tired so after that they prepared for sleep. The two girls slept on the back seats of the two cars. Beth gave Bill and Dan a blanket each. Bill took himself a little bit away and Dan curled up on the other side of the fire. She then sat there watching the fire with Nick as it slowly burnt down to glowing embers. They didn’t talk much, but the silence was a comfortable one. In the morning they packed up all of their stuff and set off again.

  The priority that morning was to find a replacement car for Nick. He thought that he mu
st be keeping the Navara going by willpower alone. It was typical that now they wanted a car there seemed to be very few of them on the road. Nick slowed down as they passed the first dozen or so but each one had at least one rotting body in it. Then they saw an old green mark two Astra. It had run off the road and the car’s front left side had hit the grassy bank. Its front left wheel was in the drainage ditch. The car was empty though. Nick flashed his hazards and slowed to a stop beside it. Beth pulled up close behind him. The keys were still in the ignition.

  After checking that there was fuel in the car and that it started they transferred their gear into it.

  ‘Looks like someone run it into the verge then run off,’ Nick said.

  ‘Probably that someone,’ Bill said, pointing at a pile of bones and clothes about twenty feet in front of the car. ‘He didn’t get very far.’

  ‘Probably,’ Nick replied. There wasn’t much left of any dead ones that were outside now. They had mostly been picked clean until they were just piles of bones and clothes. It wouldn’t be long before all of the dead ones were the same. He wondered if anyone would ever get around to tidying it all up.

  ‘Bit of a come down from the Navara,’ Bill said.

  ‘I was getting bored of it anyway,’ Nick told him smiling.

  After changing cars and getting back on the road, they finally made it to Bournemouth at about six o’clock that evening. The journey the rest of that day had gone really well for them. They’d had to manoeuvre in and out of abandoned cars for some of the way but there were no complete blockages. Without a better plan they all decided to head for the pier and the sea. Beth had worried all day long about what they would find when they reached Bournemouth. She felt responsible now for dragging them all down here. It had seemed like such a good idea back at the house.

  They found their way to a hotel that overlooked a long cliff drop to the beach and parked up in the car park behind it facing the sea. They all got out, stretched and then went over to look out at the view. The wind blowing inland was refreshing after the long hot drive. Nick looked around then went to sit on the wall near to Bill. The big man was slowly recovering from his beating but his face still looked like it had been run over by a bus.