Safe Haven (Novella 2): Before Safe Haven [Alex]

by Artinian, Christopher

  “Stop it,” replied Alex. “Just listen to me.”

  He put his empty bottle down on the table and looked at Alex. “What?”

  “Those guys tonight. I’m not saying they didn’t deserve punishment. I’m saying there might have been another way. I’m saying that should have been the last resort, not the first resort,” said Alex.

  “And I’m saying, I met a shed load of those people when they sent me away. You hesitate, you give them an inch and you’ve already lost. You hit first, and you hit hard. If they’re prepared to rape a woman, if they didn’t do it this time, they’d have done it next time. Now, a couple of them won’t be able to look at a woman without pissing themselves in fear. That’s how you deal with those people, Alex.” Mike stood up. “Now I am going to bed,” he said and left the room.

  Alex sat there for a moment sipping his drink. There was so much wrong with what Mike said, but so much right with it too. He looked up to the ceiling as he heard Mike’s footsteps walk across the landing. “God! I really hope you know what you’re doing with him, because I don’t have a fucking clue.”

  chapter five

  Day 30

  Mike flopped on the couch, “So does that mean you’re coming home?” he asked.

  “You are such a dick,” replied Emma.

  “If I had a penny for every time you told me that, I’d be able to buy us all an end of the world bunker. So are you?”

  “Put Alex on,” she replied.

  “Alex is out.”

  “Then put Sammy or Jake on.”

  “They’re in bed.”

  “Right. I’ll call later in the week. See you,” she said.

  “Hey!” shouted Alex. “You’re on speaker, he was just winding you up.”

  “You are such a fucking dick, Mike,” said Emma.

  Alex pulled the phone out of the cradle, “Stop that,” he said, walking into the dining room.

  “But he is. I love him, Alex, but I hate him sometimes too,” she said.

  “Your brother loves you. He’s worried about you, that’s all.”

  “That’s not all. He wants to control me,” she replied.

  “That’s not true.”

  “Look, I’m not arguing about this. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, sweetheart. Things have stabilised. You walk into the supermarkets, and you still can’t tell we’re in the middle of the apocalypse,” he said letting out a small laugh.

  “Don’t say that,” she said. “Don’t say that word.”

  “So, how’s my favourite journalist?”

  “She wants to come home,” replied Emma.

  Alex lowered his voice, “What? Seriously?”

  “The magazine’s going to fold. Half the staff have already left. Michelle has gone back home. I want to come home too.”

  “Wait, what? Michelle’s gone back home? Why? What happened?” asked Alex.

  “She wanted to be with her mum and dad. She asked me to go, but I guess I just wasn’t that committed. I want to be with you rather than her. I want to be with my family, not hers.”

  “I’m sad, but I’m happy too. Do you want me to come down for you? When are you wanting to come back?”

  “I’ve told them I’ll work a week’s notice. I’ve got some money squirrelled away. I’m guessing when I get back to Leeds I’ll be conscripted, so I’ll be earning something,” said Emma.

  “God, don’t worry about that love. We’ve got you covered, we just want you back here.”

  “I’ll head back a week from today if that’s okay,” she said.

  “Okay? That’s the best news I’ve had in months.”

  “I’ll call later in the week to finalise things. Love you, Alex.”

  “Love you too,” he replied and hit the end call button. He walked back into the living room. “Your sister’s coming home,” he said.

  “What?” replied Mike.

  “Emma...next week. She’s coming home.”

  “What persuaded her?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Alex. He felt Mike’s eyes boring holes into him, but ignored it. “We need to get all that shit out of her room, I know that much.”

  “I’ll get onto it tomorrow,” said Mike.

  “Don’t make her regret it, Mike. Don’t make her regret coming back.”

  Mike smiled. “I love what a high opinion people have of me around here,” he said.

  “You know what I mean,” said Alex.

  “Yep, I know exactly what you mean,” he replied.

  “Stop sulking. How was your day today?”

  “We were another man down. No call, no response when we called him. I know his family lived in Reading, so I don’t know if he went down there. Don’t really care, he wasn’t a good worker anyway, but if nothing else, it was a pisser at break time. I had to have lunch standing on the line.”

  “Who’d have thought there’d have been such a need for cardboard boxes during the apocalypse?” asked Alex, smiling.

  “I’m not complaining. I’d rather be busy than not.”

  Alex suddenly noticed plasters on Mike’s knuckles. “What happened there? He asked nodding toward his stepson’s hand.

  “I fell,” replied Mike.

  “What, onto someone’s face? repeatedly?”

  “Yeah,” said Mike without the hint of a smile. Alex just raised an eyebrow. “Look, sometimes, stuff just happens.”

  “And sometimes stuff just doesn’t,” replied Alex.

  “Something happened on the way home from work, and I dealt with it. What more do you need to know?”

  “I need to know all of it,” replied Alex. “I’m your father.”

  Five years earlier, Mike would have spat back ‘no you aren’t’, but now—now he knew it was true. “There were a couple of teenagers trying to rob the local Co-op. I dealt with them,” he said.

  “Oh Jesus!” replied Alex. “Tell me what dealt with them means exactly.

  “I brayed the shit out of the little bastards,” replied Mike.

  “Oh god,” said Alex.

  “The next place they try to rob had better have fucking good disabled access, that’s all I can say.”

  “You are so out of control, it’s scary.”

  “Trust me, Alex, you’ll be grateful for it one day soon.”

  Alex couldn’t argue. As much as Mike frustrated him, he knew he was right. “All I ask is you try to think a little before you act.”

  “Anything on the news?” asked Mike, taking the remote and switching on the TV.

  “The PM is meant to be making another address tonight.”

  “Oh great! The last one was a real gas. Can’t wait to see what he tells us this time. Martians have invaded? The country’s water supply has been contaminated by the Ebola virus?”

  “Well it will be on any minute, so why don’t you shut your trap and watch,” replied Alex, smiling.

  Mike smiled too, and found the BBC news channel. Lots of stations had gone down, or were showing continuous loops of entertainment and reality TV shows. The news channel wasn’t really news any more. It was propaganda more than anything, but this was wartime. Albeit the enemy was different to any that the country had faced before.

  “And now, we’re going over to Ten Downing Street for an address from the Prime Minister,” said the camera-friendly female presenter.

  The screen went black for a moment. When an image appeared, it was of the PM sitting behind his desk. He looked much more relaxed than his address from nearly a month earlier.

  “My fellow citizens. A month has passed since the face of the world changed forever. Billions have lost their lives.” He paused and looked down at his desk in a moment of reverence. “But we are still here. We brought in measures to combat the spread of the infection to these shores, and I am here this evening to give you a progress report.” He picked up a glass, took a sip of water and looked back into the camera as sincerely as he could.

  “To date, there has not been one case of infectio
n in Britain or Ireland. Our navy, coast guard and air force continue to patrol our waters and our skies. All overseas military personnel have now returned to these shores and are involved in vital work to make sure that our country continues to prevail. As you know, we conscripted millions to ensure Britain and Ireland became self-sufficient, and that program has been a resounding success.” He paused and, managed that inimitable look that instilled confidence and won him the election in a landslide.

  “Coal production has reached pre-1980 levels. Now, please don’t misunderstand, this government was and is for renewable energy; but while massive scale production of wind turbines, solar panels and other green energy generation apparatus is ongoing, we need to ensure we have a reliable power supply, especially as winter approaches.

  After the ill-advised panic buying and food hoarding from the first week of the outbreak, you will notice that the supermarkets are becoming increasingly well stocked once again. Although, for the time being the range of items available will not be as varied as before, this will change. We have, and are erecting polytunnels on thousands of acres of unused land. Wasteland is being made fit for agricultural purposes. Fish farms are being built at suitable sites all over the country, and hundreds of maritime vessels, large and small are being adapted and fitted with equipment to turn them into fishing boats.

  Pharmaceutical manufacturing has doubled since the beginning of the outbreak to make sure there are stockpiles available as we head into winter. Although we urge all citizens to use public transport wherever possible, Petroleum manufacture is still at the same level as it was before the outbreak, due to trade deals we negotiated. This will be temporary, however, that is why it is essential we use private transport less and communal transport more.

  Although the after effects of the cyber-attacks on the run up to the start of the outbreak are still being felt, internet and network services in general are beginning to return to normal. I realise there is more work to do on this, but the best minds in the country are trying to resolve the problem.

  There are still pockets of survivors in other countries who are in contact with us. Most significantly, we are in touch with several research facilities who are supplying us with vital information regarding the virus. Our hope is that this information will eventually lead to the development of a vaccine.”

  The Prime Minister paused and looked straight into the camera once again.

  “In closing, I would just like to say this. I believe the worst of this disaster is behind us. The measures we brought in have built us a firm foundation, and we can only get stronger from here. While things will never be the same again, things will get better. Things are getting better. With each minute, with each hour, with each day, things are getting better.

  It’s up to all of us to make sure that continues. Thank you for playing your part. Goodnight, and may your god go with you.”

  The screen went black again, before returning to the bright faced presenter. Mike immediately turned the volume down and looked towards Alex. “What do you think?” he asked.

  Alex smiled. “I think he’s got this down to a fine art now. He’s very engaging and very believable.”

  “No, I mean what do you think about what he said.”

  “You seen any big expanses of land being levelled for agriculture?”

  “No,” replied Mike.

  “You seen any polytunnels being built?”

  “No,” replied Mike.

  “You seen huge improvements in the internet coverage?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t believe everything you see on TV Mike.”

  chapter six

  Day 123

  “Turn the bloody TV on,” shouted Mike, bursting through the living room door.

  Emma and Alex were playing a relaxing game of cards, but both of them jumped as he made his dramatic entrance. “Bloody hell, Mike, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” said Alex.

  “Turn the TV on,” said Mike again, just standing there, looking towards the blank screen with his hands on his hips.

  Emma tutted, reached for the control and pressed the ‘on’ button. “I don’t know what you’re expecting to see. It’s been the same news day in and day out for the last month. Things are getting better, more food on the shelves, coal output at a recor…”

  “Quiet, Em!” snapped Mike.

  “Don’t you tell me to be…”

  “Shut the fuck up and listen, will you?” said Mike, just as the picture came on screen.

  Emma stood up and was about to face off with Mike when she heard the concerned tone of the news presenter and saw the breaking news banner at the bottom of the screen.

  “...earlier today. Authorities have already put the city under quarantine. Coast guard and naval vessels have set up a no sail zone around the coast. Field hospitals are being erected outside the city and military personnel are being deployed to assist the police in enforcing a city-wide curfew. Xander Bright, the Press Secretary, released a statement earlier. In it he stated that the government had already established a protocol if there was ever an outbreak and what we were seeing now was a well-oiled machine being put into gear. He urged the British public to remain vigilant, but carry on as normal. The situation was being contained, and he had every confidence it would be resolved shortly.” The presenter cleared her throat. “Once again, there was an outbreak of the reanimating virus in Portsmouth today. The government has set up a helpline for worried relatives, but urges people to stay away from the area.”

  Alex reached across for the remote control and turned the volume down.

  “Fuuuckkk!” said Emma, flopping down on the sofa once again.

  Mike just stood there, continuing to watch the screen with no sound. Alex put the playing cards down on the table and sat back. “Are Sammy and Jake in bed?” asked Mike. Alex nodded. “What do you think we should do?”

  “What is there to do? We sit, we wait, we watch, we hope. If they’ve quarantined the entire city, hopefully that means the infection won’t spread.

  “Yeah, and what if it does?”

  “I don’t know what answers you’re expecting me to give you, Mike. I don’t have a magic solution to this. Maybe we should just have a little faith in the government for a change. They’ve kept us all safe for over four months. They had this contingency plan in place in case there was an outbreak, and they’re putting it into effect now. They will have had the best minds in the country on this. The only thing we can do is what we’re being told to do. Go about our daily routine and remain vigilant,” said Alex.

  “You saw what happened everywhere else. When this thing hit, that was it, game over,” he replied.

  “Yes, but it caught everyone else by surprise. We planned for it. We’ve got an infrastructure in place ready to deal with it. That’s something no other country has had. That’s why we stand a better chance of defeating this than any of the others have done.”

  Emma was conspicuous by her silence, and Alex turned to look at her. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

  Mike looked across towards her. “Great…tears…that’ll help.”

  Alex put a single finger up towards him. “Enough.”

  Mike shook his head, turned, and left the room.

  Alex sidled up to Emma and put his arm around her. “It’s alright, love. Portsmouth’s the other end of the country,” he said, leaning in and kissing her on the head.

  “It’s not that,” said Emma as more tears flowed from her eyes. That’s where Michelle’s parents live. That’s where Michelle is.” Alex clenched his stepdaughter tight and put his chin on her head as she nestled into him.

  “Oh, Em, I’m so sorry darling,” he said. “But look, we don’t know how bad this thing is. There might have been just a couple of cases. They’ve got the city in lockdown, they’re implementing a curfew. This could be a case of overkill. Plus, it’s startling to see, but it’s kind of reassuring too. This is a huge operation, the technology and the manpower involved is st
aggering.”

  Emma straightened up and Alex gave her his handkerchief. She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. “I hope this was a clean one,” she said, trying to make a lame joke.

  “Dunno, I found it on the pavement outside,” said Alex, and they both let out a small chuckle.

  “Your right. I know you’re right,” she said folding the handkerchief and placing it in her jeans pocket.

  “Listen, how about you and me open that bottle of Malbec that’s been hiding in the back of the cupboard?” said Alex.

  Emma smiled. “I’d like that,” she said. “But I can’t be too late, I’ve got work tomorrow,” she replied.

  “Meh! Work,” said Alex. “You can have a glass or two.” He got up and headed into the kitchen. “How’s it going there anyway? You don’t talk about it much,” he said.

  She heard him clattering in the cupboard and then clinking glasses. He walked back in, placed the glasses down then poured healthy measures into each. “There’s not really a lot to say about the place. The people are nice enough, but it’s eight hours of order picking boxes of tablets and putting them in bigger boxes to be sent all over the country. It’s not the best job in the world, but it’s not the worst, and I really do feel like I’m contributing something,” she said leaning forward and picking up her glass.

  “You are,” said Alex. “I’m proud of you, but then, I’ve always been proud of you.”

  There was silence for a moment while the pair of them swished around the wine in their glasses and allowed themselves a moment of introspection. It was Emma who spoke first. “I really hope Michelle’s alright. I tried calling her, but her mobile goes straight to answerphone.”

  “That means nothing, love. Think about it. All the chaos going on down there at the moment, there could be power outages, masts going offline, all sorts. It will be mayhem. As long as she observes the curfew, does as the authorities suggest, she’ll be fine,” he said, raising his glass and taking a sip.

  Emma did the same. “Needs to breathe a bit more,” she said.

  “Uh huh,” replied Alex, taking a gulp. “So, things between you and Mike don’t seem to be much better.”