The Fallout

by Knox, J. C.

  ‘Mate, you can’t do anything, and pacing isn’t going to help. For fucks sake, now I’m awake and I’m not getting out later. Fuck you, George.’

  It’s a long 2 hours before the men in C block are being called for breakfast, normally George doesn’t mind waiting, but this morning he pushes himself to the front of the queue determined to be ready for when the guard comes for him. He chooses the toast, there’s no way he could stomach anything more, his stomach is doing flips already as he sits opposite Daniel who is wolfing down sausages and eggs. George has finished the last of his coffee when he feels a tap on his shoulder, turning his heart drops when he realises the top dog of the wing is standing behind him.

  ‘I hear you’re getting out later?’ the large muscular man known informally as Spike said, his crew gathering around them hiding whatever is about to happen.

  ‘My wife had a baby, but the baby is dying,’ George said, hoping it will stop them asking for whatever it is they are here for.

  ‘I’m sorry for your loss, but I need a package collected,’ Spike said.

  ‘I’m going to have a guard with me the whole time, how can I collect a package?’

  ‘Smart man like you, you’ll find a way. I will have the package delivered to the hospital. I assume that is where you will be going?’

  ‘Yes, the maternity wing.’

  ‘Excellent, you’ll know my man when you see him, make sure no one sees you. It's good doing business with you,’ Spike said, walking away his crew following behind.

  ‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’ George said, looking for some kind of inspiration from Daniel

  ‘Don’t look at me, I’m staying out of this, you don’t mess with Spike and his crew. Seriously George you better lift that package, men just disappear when they mess with Spike.’

  There’s a call over the tannoys for the men to finish up and make their way back to their cells, but before he can leave the canteen George is stopped by a guard.

  ‘Come with me,’ the guard said, indicating George should follow him.

  He turns and follows the guard who walks ahead of him down a corridor until they reach a heavy locked door. George has never been down here before and assumes it must be where the guards go when they leave. The door opens into a large office where the prison warden is sitting, George has never spoken to him before, only seen him when he’s been out for exercise.

  ‘George Thompson, thank you for coming, as you’re aware, you are being allowed a personal day to visit your sick daughter today. The terms of your release are that you will be accompanied by a guard at all times this includes bathroom breaks. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes sir,’ George replies, intimidated by the man who if he wanted, could stop him from being allowed out.

  ‘Good. Guard I am satisfied that he can have his personal day. Do you have everything in order?’

  ‘Yes sir,’ the guard replies.

  ‘Okay, you are both dismissed. Oh, and George no funny business, you’ve only six months left on your sentence. Don’t fuck it up.’

  ‘Yes sir,’ George said, as the guard leads him out another door.

  George is marched down a long corridor until they reach another heavy door which the guard opens revealing a courtyard and a waiting van. The guard opens the van door and allows George to step in without handcuffing him.

  ‘You heard the warden, no funny business okay?’

  ‘Yeah, no funny business, I get it.’

  Sitting in the van, George is confused but at the same time relieved not to have handcuffs on. The engine starts, and the van begins to move, it’s a bumpy ride to the hospital but it doesn’t take long. George is comforted by the fact that he hasn’t been that far from his family. The back doors are opened, George steps out expecting to be handcuffed, but he’s surprised when the guard just walks next to him into the hospital.

  ‘Your wife and child are on the second floor,’ the guard said, pushing the lift button.

  They ride the lift to the second floor, Georges stomach does a flip when the door pings and opens, he doesn’t know what to expect, Sarah said the child was seriously deformed but what does that mean? The guard steps out and waits for George ‘Are you coming or what?’ he said.

  ‘I’m sorry, it’s just…,’

  ‘Come on, you’re here now, you might as well meet your daughter,’ the guard said, his demeanour softening a little.

  George follows the guard to the nurse’s station where he waits to be checked in.

  ‘She’s down here,’ the guard said, walking him to a room.

  Stepping in through the door, Sarah immediately stands up, throwing her arms around him. They stay like that until the guard separates them.

  ‘Come and meet your daughter, I haven’t named her yet, I thought we could do it together,’ Sarah said, walking him to a large cot beside the window.

  Looking into the cot, George tries not to recoil in horror, the child’s face is almost split in half, she doesn’t have a nose and her mouth is split all the way to between her eyes. He can see her teeth under the gums. It’s not just her face that is deformed but her head is overly elongated as if she’s been stretched out of proportion. She doesn’t have fingers on one hand just a stump and it looks like eight fingers on the other hand.

  ‘How is she alive?’ George said, sitting down his eyes heavy with tears.

  ‘The doctors don’t expect her to survive the week.’

  ‘This is horrific, they should put her out of her misery, even if she lives, what sort of life is she going to have?’

  ‘We can’t kill her George; she must die naturally but the doctor suggested that he could give an extra dose of morphine that would end her pain, but it would be likely to cause her to stop breathing.’

  Glancing up at his wife, his eyelashes heavy with tears ‘What do you think of Elizabeth?’

  ‘Yes, I like Elizabeth.’

  ‘Do you think the doctor can give the morphine before I leave later today?’

  ‘I’ll tell the nurse that we have a name and that we need to see the doctor.’

  Unable to believe how bad the situation is, George stares at the abomination that is his daughter. There’s a noise behind him and he’s surprised to see the Guard leave the room. Wondering what is going on? George contemplates making a run for it, when the door opens again, and the guard returns with a package, handing it to him. ‘This belongs to spike, don’t forget to hand it over,’ he said, stepping back to the door.

  Chapter 13

  Release.

  It’s been six months since that awful day when he went to the hospital, without saying anything he and Sarah agreed that the doctor could end the life of their daughter. It was the worst day of Georges' life, his severely disabled daughter died, and he had to leave Sarah to deal with it alone. The warden allowed him out a week later to attend her funeral, Sarah was barely recognisable, she was disheveled, unclean and clearly drunk, Seamus told him that Sarah has been drinking heavily since she came home from the hospital.

  Today at 1pm, George will be released, he’s grateful that he didn’t get caught with the package which would have increased his sentence by another six months. He still doesn’t know what was in the package but assumes it must have been some form of drugs.

  It’s 12:57, the guard is unlocking the cell door, only this time he doesn’t handcuff him, but walks beside him down the corridor to the warden’s office.

  ‘George Thompson, I’m sure you are aware that today is your release day, your record is impeccable, and I am happy to sign your release forms.’

  George can’t stop himself from grinning, he looks up at the guard who nudges him with his elbow as he takes the signed papers, ‘Come on let’s get you out of here,’ the guard said, smiling for the first time since George has been here.

  ‘Take care. I really don’t want to see you again, Thomson,’ the warden said, smiling.

  The door makes a loud clang as it closes behind him, it’s a strange feeling standing
outside the prison, he’s not sure what to do or how he’s going to get home? When he spots a familiar figure walking towards him ‘Do ya need a lift?’ Seamus calls grinning as he walks up to George throwing his arms around him. ‘Come on, let’s get you home, that wife of yours needs you.’

  ‘How has she been?’

  ‘Drunk, I don’t think she’s sobered up since she came home from the hospital, she’s going to need dried out George. You should also be aware that there’s been people dying from radiation exposure; it was traced to fish they’d eaten.’

  ‘Yeah, I had thought that may happen at some point, you can’t stop fish from swimming. There’s nothing in the air though is there?’

  ‘Not that I know of, but I did see men in hazmat suits coming out of the mayor’s office a week ago, nothings been reported, but it is strange,’ Seamus said, looking at George ‘Maybe you will find out what’s going on?’

  ‘I got a message from the mayor last week to report to him as soon as I get out. I’ll go after I’ve seen Sarah.’

  George can’t believe the state of the house when he steps through the door, there’s empty bottles of vodka everywhere, the bins are overflowing and the house smells of urine. He soon realises why when he walks over to the sofa, where Sarah’s foot is hanging over the side. She’s passed out, soaked with urine, her face and hair have dried vomit on them. George shakes her shoulder,

  ‘Sarah, come on Sarah wake up,’ he said, shaking her a little more vigorously. She lets out an unrecognisable groan,

  ‘Sarah, it’s me George, I’m home.’

  He cringes as she rubs her eyes with vomit on her hands,

  ‘George is it really you?’

  ‘Yes, it’s me. I’m out. Now come here,’ he said, pulling her into a sitting position. ‘You need to get showered, come on stand up,’ he said, recoiling at the stench.

  George is certain she hasn’t washed in weeks as he carries her to the bathroom. Placing her on the toilet while he turns the shower on, he turns to help her get undressed, but she’s urinating on the floor. Taking a deep breath, he waits for her to finish before stripping her out of her filthy clothes before lifting her into the shower. She can’t stand by herself, so he lowers her on the floor to wash her hair, using a sponge to clean the rest of her. There are no towels in the bathroom; he’s not sure what to do and turns the shower off to try to find some. Walking into the hall, he opens the hot-press, lifting several large towels, bringing them to the bathroom. He wraps a warm towel around his wife, lifts her out of the shower and carries her into the bedroom where he finds the bed stripped off all bedding and clothes scattered everywhere.

  ‘Sarah, what have you done?’ he said, placing her on the bed where she flops backwards, snoring.

  Leaving Sarah on the bed, he searches the room for some clean clothing but can’t find any, looking across at his wife he realises she’s not going anywhere any time soon. He gathers the filthy clothing off the floor and bed bringing it into the kitchen, loading it into the washing machine. Opening the cupboard doors, he looks for bin bags but can’t find any. Giving up trying to find anything, he steps outside, knocking on Connors door.

  ‘Mate… Your home!’ Connor said, smiling.

  ‘Yeah, I’m home and not a minute to soon, going on the state of Sarah.’

  ‘I know, she’s in a bad way, I tried to help, but she’s become too difficult, I’ve been bringing her food every now and again, but she’s so abusive, I try to avoid her.’

  ‘The house is a pigsty; do you have some bin bags I could have? I’ll replace them; I just need to clean the place. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are rats.’

  ‘Yeah, no bother I’ll get them, good luck,’ Connor said handing over the bags.

  ‘Cheers mate and thanks for trying,’ George said, walking back to his home.

  Stepping through the door his heart sinks, he doesn’t know where to start and begins lifting bottles from inside the door. He places them out the back ready to take to the recycling depot later, before heading back in to start cleaning the vomit of the sofa and rug. Down on his hands and knees scrubbing, he realises that the mat is where the smell is coming from, and rolls it up, bringing it outside. Determined to get rid of the smell, he opens all the windows even though it is cold; it won’t be long before the heavy winter snow begins. The house looks and smells a lot better after three hours of cleaning, turning on the kettle, George empties the washing machine, hanging the clothes on a clothes horse to dry. Lighting the wood-burning stove before placing the clothes in front. He makes coffee before heading into the bedroom to wake Sarah, she’s still unconscious and he leaves her, it’ll give the clothes time to dry. The living room is cold with all the windows open; he closes them before sitting down to drink his coffee. He’s only sat down when there’s a loud banging on the door. Wondering who would be knocking so urgently, he quickly answers it to find the mayor Magnus standing there.

  ‘Good afternoon,’ George said, wondering why he is here.

  ‘Did you get my message, George?’

  ‘Yes, sorry I haven’t had the chance to get to you just yet. I had to deal with Sarah.’

  ‘Yes, yes, I’ve heard about her. I’m sorry you have to deal with this, it’s a horrible illness and she will need professional treatment soon.’

  ‘I know, she doesn’t even know I’m home yet, she’s unconscious, this place was a tip. I’ve been cleaning.’

  ‘The thing is George, we have a problem, ever since the explosion we have been monitoring the air for radiation and up until recently it’s been clear, but my men have reported significant radiation in the air for the past three weeks’

  ‘Are there any bunkers?’

  ‘There’s a bunker that was built for government officials; it will hold about 200 people but that is all.’

  ‘What direction is the radiation coming from?’

  ‘The east, we thought there had been an earthquake, or a volcano erupting about a month ago, but then radiation was picked up and we believe an unstable abandoned power plant has erupted somewhere east of here.’

  ‘It’s possible, I know for certain that there are power plants in Finland, Sweden also the UK, if one reactor happened to explode then Iceland could be impacted.’

  ‘We need an evacuation plan, I don’t want to worry people unnecessarily but if we need to move, we need to move.’

  ‘The thing is winter is coming, if there is fallout the fission products in the snow will be a major problem that could affect the whole of Iceland. Radioisotopes have a long life and cause long-term problems. Fallout will contaminate the vegetation, milk and water. It will cause biological changes, unborn babies will be affected along with farm animals anything exposed will be affected, that’s why you need to find out what bunkers are available across Iceland and we can plan from there. I have a bunker on Blackcliff Island, and it will hold around 100 people, Seamus and Connor also have a bunker, but I don’t know anything about it only that their community stayed there,’ George said, a feeling of dread running down his spine.

  ‘Okay, thanks for your help George, I hope everything works out here,’ he said, indicating the house.

  George watches Magnus walk away and wonders whether he and Sarah should make plans to head home. He realises that they would need to go soon before the ice gets too thick. Heading back indoors he continues clearing the rest of the mess. Checking the clothes, he’s pleased that they are almost dry, the washing machine has finished the third load, and he’s running out of space to hang things. There’s noise coming from the bedroom, he grabs some pyjamas and underwear before making his way to the room. Opening the door, he finds Sarah sitting on the bed naked swigging from a bottle of vodka, she pauses momentarily when she sees him and carries on drinking.

  ‘Come on Sarah, get dressed,’ he said, holding out the clean clothes.

  Irritation flashes, when she ignores him,

  ‘I mean it Sarah! Put the vodka down and get dressed!’

&n
bsp; ‘So, your back,’ she slurs, slumping back on the bed holding the vodka to her chest.

  ‘Yes, I’m back and Sarah I need you to listen, we might have to go home to Blackcliff Island and stay in the bunker for a while.’

  ‘Not me, I’m never going back to the bunker, I’d rather take my chances.’

  ‘Yeah, you look like you’re having a great time, oh and you're welcome for cleaning you and the house up,’ George said annoyed.

  He leaves her lying naked and barely conscious on the filthy bed, grabbing his coat before stepping outside. Knocking on Connor’s door, he hears Toby give a low growl and movement inside. When Connor opens the door, George asks if he can borrow some money to get some groceries, ‘I’ll pay you back when I get to the bank,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, no probs, how’s Sarah?’

  ‘In a state, I’ve just about got the house cleaned up, but there’s no food, only bottles of vodka. I’ve left her in bed drinking herself to oblivion.’

  ‘Hopefully she’ll accept some help soon.’

  ‘Yeah, hopefully, thanks for this, see you later.’

  At the small supermarket, George gets enough groceries to do a few days, but finds himself picking packet and non-perishable foods rather than anything fresh. Walking passed the alcohol section he picks a bottle of red wine; he wants to celebrate his release with Sarah but knows that won’t be happening any time soon. Guilt eats away at him; he blames himself for getting locked up and not being here for Sarah when she needed him, the image of their daughter still haunts him. On the walk home he’s wondering whether to talk to Seamus and Connor about what Magnus told him. The thought of moving back into the bunker fills him with dread, but he will do what he must. He wonders where he can get some more hazmat suits. He knows they don’t completely protect against ionising radiation, but he will be happier having something, anything will be better than nothing.

  When home, he checks on Sarah, glad to find her passed out again. Prizing the bottle of vodka out of her hand, he places a freshly washed blanket over the top of her. Walking around the bedroom he gathers several, half-drunk bottles and numerous empties off the floor. Placing the bottles in the recycling bin he realises he could make a bit of money at the recycling depot. His stomach grumbles, it’s almost 4pm he forgot to have lunch, and makes himself a vacuum pack meal, making sure to drink water from a sealed bottle.