Nuclear Midnight

by Cole, Robert

  ‘Now, I want some answers,’ the Major said coldly.

  ‘Just one lie, one mistake, one answer that doesn't tally with what we already know and your girlfriend pays for it. Do you understand?’

  Alex nodded obediently.

  Over the next few minutes Alex spilled out everything he could remember about the mine's defences, armaments and military strength, only marginally understating the true figures - the fear of seeing Elaine torn apart foremost in his mind.

  The Major sat at his desk, taking detailed notes. Indeed, he continued writing long after Alex had finished. When he finally looked up, his face had resumed that earlier mask of calm. He told Alex to sit down next to Elaine and began reading through his notes.

  Elaine sobbed in Alex's arms like a child, her battered face turning more bulbous and deformed by the minute. The corporal stood by, at ease.

  ‘Well,’ said the Major, walking around to sit on the desk in front of Alex. ‘All things considered, this has been a very successful session, although a bit more traumatic than I had anticipated.’ He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his chin.

  Alex didn't take his eyes off him.

  The Major seemed to take a sadistic delight in the hate in Alex's eyes. ‘You asked before why we wanted information on your colony's defences,’ he continued. ‘If you haven't already guessed, we want to destroy you, as well as the Scottish colony and any other minor ones that may exist in Great Britain. No one is to be left. The cleaning will be thorough, the extermination complete. The land will be set free, ready for our people to stream forth upon it. All the disease and sickness left by the bomb will be wiped out when the last mutant dies.’

  He stared triumphantly at Alex.

  Elaine had stopped sobbing and was listening intently.

  ‘You must be wondering who we are,’ the Major went on in an almost jocular tone, as he savoured the moment to the full. ‘I may have deceived you when I told you that we were the government. The government ceased to exist on the first day of the war when a ground burst detonated directly on top of the Whitehall complex. So much for central planning.’ The Major paused, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth. ‘We're the military, my dear young friends. You don't seem particularly surprised?’ he added, when he saw no reaction from them.

  Alex was not surprised at all. Only a totalitarian force like the military could attempt something this monstrous. ‘Is the whole city full of troops?’ he asked.

  ‘We have an armed force of forty thousand soldiers, and a civilian population of sixty thousand men, women and children.’

  ‘And do they approve of the slaughter of all life on the surface?’

  ‘They are prepared to be guided by wiser counsels than their own.’

  ‘How diplomatic!’ Alex spat. ‘In other words they either don't approve, or they don't know.’

  ‘What an angry young man you are. Surely you must have learnt these are not times for qualms or moral judgements about right or wrong,’ the Major replied.

  ‘But why?’ Elaine interrupted. ‘I don't understand. Why do you have to wipe out all the survivors?’

  The Major's face softened slightly. ‘To turn the argument on its head, young lady, why not? Look at you both; skinny, diseased, your bones probably laden with radioactive strontium, and your tissues filled with radioactive caesium. Anyone who lived through the first year of the war must have accumulated lethal doses of these isotopes. I guarantee that not one survivor in the whole of Great Britain wouldn't have developed some radiation-related sickness within the next ten to twenty years. You're riddled with it. All that awaits you is a painful, lingering death.’

  ‘After all that we have suffered,’ Alex cried.

  ‘Oh, don't get so self-righteous,’ the Major scoffed. ‘You're infinitely expendable.’ He waved his revolver in a dismissive gesture. ‘What can't be cured must be killed. You have no place in the world we are going to create.’

  ‘We fought to survive in a world you have destroyed. You've no right to say that we have no place! YOU HAVE NO PLACE!’ Alex was screaming now. He tried to rise from his seat, but the corporal slammed him back down. ‘YOU CAUSED THE WAR!’ he ranted. ‘YOU SHOULD BE HELPING US, NOT TRYING TO DESTROY US!’

  ‘Tut, tut, tut,’ the Major shook his head. ‘Losing your temper isn't going to get you anywhere.’

  ‘Actually to address your last comment,’ the Major continued mildly. ‘We did not cause the war. From what our intelligence can gather it was a computer malfunction. ‘Yes,’ he continued in a whimsical, faintly amused fashion. ‘You see after the end of the cold war all those computer-based early warning systems in Europe were just left decaying. No money to maintain them you see. Well it was inevitable really. One of the computers must have malfunctioned, someone panicked, maybe a computer accidentally sent off a few nuclear missiles. Who knows? The rest, as they say, is history. Once the first real nuclear missile was launched.’ He paused as though reciting a well-loved and highly amusing story. ‘The cascade affect must have been amazing. All the countries that had nuclear arsenals just started popping them off until the planet was thick with flying missiles and mushroom plumes’

  Alex glared at him for some time before lowering his head. Somehow this revelation made the holocaust now even more hideous. He shook his head. The whole human race annihilating itself accidentally.

  When he spoke again his voice was subdued, but it had lost none of its underlying intensity. ‘What will be so different about the world you will create?’ he asked. ‘You'll still have to face the same problems, and you'll have to adopt some of the same solutions if you want to survive.’

  The Major shook his head. ‘That's where you're wrong. There is a fundamental difference. You mutants are now at subsistence level, barely producing enough food to fill your own stomachs. You exist from day to day, totally dependent on the elements for survival. The few pieces of machinery you have salvaged will be of no more use when the parts wear out or the fuel dries up. And when the last survivors die from cancer, the land will be inherited by your noxious, ignorant children. Civilisation will be thrown back thousands of years. Man will have to begin again, think of that! Have to relive all his mistakes! Disease will be rampant, war, famine, fire, flood. Civilisation put back in the nursery and having to crawl and drag itself up to maturity.’

  He paused, but as Alex said nothing, he resumed.

  ‘We don't want to have to go through all that. Down here we have some of the best minds in Britain; doctors, surgeons, lawyers, administrators, scientists, have been down here for years. And knowledge is not only banked in the human brain, we have marvellous libraries and huge computer databases on virtually everything. We have been patient, and now we are ready to start afresh. There will be no more bombs in the new world, none of the vices that ruined the old; no social problems; every man will have his own piece of land and we'll make a golden age once again.’

  Alex continued to glare at him but said nothing.

  ‘You find my arguments unanswerable, don't you?’ he went on with a smile. ‘You're thinking how logical your eradication sounds. As indeed it is. In six weeks our forces will surface and advance in all directions, wiping out all degenerate human life in their path. The operation will be completed within three months and sweetness and light shall reign.’

  ‘Aren't you forgetting the rest of the world in your calculations?’ Alex said. ‘What happens when other nations start arriving here? When your crime is made known they will destroy you utterly.’

  The Major shrugged. ‘You obviously have no knowledge of the extent of the war. There are no countries left. It's no use you looking out there for your protection. We shall have a free hand, never fear. And if there should be other civilisations like us that have survived I cannot imagine that they would condemn our actions.’

  ‘What about the radiation in the cities?’ Alex suddenly remembered. ‘We’ve tested it and the levels are so high they're uninhabitable.’

&n
bsp; ‘Oh, but we know all about that. We contaminated the cities ourselves by spraying them every six months with radioactive isotopes.’

  ‘You?’ Alex stared at him dumbly. ‘You contaminated them? Why?’

  ‘Because we didn't want any large colonies of survivors living in the cities. We don't want to have to level whole blocks or put industrial complexes to the torch to drive out the mutants. We prefer them out in the open where we can keep an eye on them.’

  ‘But you’re making your own cities uninhabitable?’

  ‘No we're not, the half-lives of the isotopes we use are very short. That's why we have to keep re spraying. By the time we want to re activate these complexes, the radiation will be minimal.’

  ‘You bastard!’ Elaine could bear no more of it. ‘You want us herded into the country like cattle so that you can slaughter us.’

  ‘These things just evolved like that, it wasn't planned exactly,’ he said almost casually. ‘The surface was supposed to be cleared of people well over a year ago, but we under-estimated the resourcefulness of the survivors. We thought that by initiating the typhus plague we’d have swept the place clean.’

  ‘You did that?’ Alex rose to his feet beside Elaine, causing the corporal to move a pace nearer.

  Major Collins paused, watching their faces with obvious enjoyment.

  ‘As I recall,’ he continued, ‘the land was almost overrun with rats at that time. We felt sure that if we contaminated some rats and released them in populated areas, they would spread the disease pretty well everywhere. But we underestimated the lengths to which the survivors would go to escape the rats, and the natural resistance of the population. Still, we did manage to wipe out many of you…’

  His words were cut short by an ear splitting scream from Elaine as she flung herself at the corporal. He knocked her away with one long powerful sweep of his arm, but the distraction was enough. The corporal's attention had faltered. Alex sprang past him at the Major, bringing his knee up sharply into his groin, and at the same time turning his gun hand. But the corporal was only moments behind. A split second before he arrived, Alex jumped onto the desk and leapt high, smashing the fluorescent globe with his fist. At the same instant he took one last look around the room. Elaine was crumpled up in the corner where the corporal had thrown her. The Major was bent double beside the desk, and the corporal was lunging at his feet.

  Alex landed back on the desk, springing away again as massive hands groped for him in the dark. He dropped lightly near the door, rolled over and avoided the desk as it was thrown after him across the room. The corporal's footsteps moved towards him, kicking and scraping the floor in a futile search for him.

  ‘Corporal, have you found him?’ The Major's voice allowed Alex to get a fix on him.

  ‘No, he's moved. He must be over the other side of the room!’ the corporal shouted.

  The Major began shooting wildly into the dark. Alex crept up behind.

  ‘Hey, what's going on in there?’ came a faint voice from outside.

  ‘Open the bloody…’

  Alex pounced in the direction of the Major’s voice and brought his left arm up under the Major’s throat and gripped his revolver with his right hand.

  ‘Corporal, he's here!’ the Major croaked.

  With a strength born out of desperation, Alex tightened his grip on the revolver and aimed it at the rapidly advancing footsteps.

  Two shots rang out.

  A short distance away the corporal gasped in pain as the bullets tore through his chest. He staggered for a second and then collapsed onto the floor.

  Alex tightened his hold on the Major's throat, completely blocking his windpipe. The revolver clattered to the floor as the Major tried to loosen Alex’s grip. The next moment the door suddenly burst open and the silhouette of the guard appeared in the gap. Alex picked up the revolver shot him twice in the chest, sending him sprawling backward into the corridor.

  When he turned back, the Major had nearly reached Elaine. Alex shot him in the side as Elaine attacked him from the front. The Major dropped forward, gasping. Alex grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward the light from the door.

  ‘Pull that guard out of the corridor and keep watch,’ he hissed at Elaine.

  He pushed his face next to the Major's and rammed the revolver up his nose. The entire colour had fled from the sadist's face.

  ‘Now,’ Alex snarled, ‘I want you to tell me exactly what the strength of your military forces are, and don’t leave out any details.’

  CHAPTER 12

  A bullet through the head ended the Major's ignominious career. Seconds later, Alex and Elaine burst out of room eleven, and were running down the corridor. Alex had the Major's revolver and ammunition belt strapped around his waist, and his note pad, papers and maps stuffed in his backpack. Elaine had the guard's automatic rifle and a pocket full of ammunition. At each corner they halted and went on cautiously, but they didn't come across any military until they reached the front office. Alex waved several startled staff into a room and locked them in with their own keys. A man and a woman were taken as hostages.

  Alex ordered the woman to run in front and the man behind to act as body shields. Several groups of armed personnel threatened them in the main corridor, but each time Alex ordered them to drop their arms before they ran past. After ten minutes they had reached the lift. Alex's ribs ached from the beating he had received and his nose throbbed painfully, but he still felt strong and alert. Elaine, however, was near the end of her strength. She ran the last fifty metres at a stagger and then immediately collapsed against the wall next to the lift.

  The lift arrived and Alex bundled the hostages in, then helped Elaine. Once in the lift, he examined her more closely. Blood was still pouring from her shattered mouth and her eye was now almost completely closed. Tearing off part of his shirt he tried to wipe her face. The hostages, clear white skinned and flabby-cheeked, looked on in horror from the corner of the lift where they huddled together.

  Alex only felt contempt for them and a deepening resolve not to let such people wipe the survivors from the face of the land.

  ‘We don't have those remotes they used to activate the trapdoor.’ Elaine’s voice was distorted as she tried to speak through the pool of blood that was gathering in her mouth.

  Alex stared at her for a moment then turned to the hostages. ‘Is there any other way to open the trapdoor?’ he asked harshly.

  ‘No, you need the remotes,’ the woman replied, shrinking back.

  Alex swore. ‘Where does the train go?’ he demanded.

  ‘Either to the suburbs or the city centre. There's one every fifteen minutes,’ the man explained obediently.

  Alex ordered the man to press the button for the level the train line was on.

  When the lift doors opened he pushed them out. The platform was empty, although he knew it wouldn't be long before it was swarming with patrols. Removing his belt, he wedged it in the doors, jamming the lift. When the sound of the approaching train could be heard, he ordered the hostages down the escalator and along a gleaming, well-lit tunnel. At the bottom a large digital clock read 20.06.

  Directly beneath it, an illuminated sign showed how the train route linked the twenty three residential sectors of the city. The exit to the right was for the train travelling to the central business area and it was from there that the growing roar was coming. Alex directed the hostages through the exit and onto the platform. A large crowd was already gathered, waiting for the train to stop and the air pressure doors to hiss open. No one noticed the strange appearance of Alex and Elaine in the crush to get a seat. The hostages, however, used the opportunity to lose themselves in the crowd. The doors had closed and the train was already moving forward when Alex realised that neither of the hostages were aboard.

  Elaine clung to him, burying her head in his chest. For the first time since their escape Alex had a moment to take stock. The hostages even now would be warning the authorities. Very soon t
he train would be pinpointed and the game would be up. They had to exit quickly and disappear into one of the sectors.

  The people in the carriage were beginning to wake up to the presence of strangers in their midst. As each in turn noticed them, or was alerted, conversation died. Alex became aware of their many startled, gaping faces. People like this would have been two a penny on any train or bus before the war; now he found their smooth faces and neat clothes almost as repulsive as they must have found him. Most were casually dressed, some had suits and others wore the same hooded tracksuits he had seen on the surface. Even the children, chubby and unblemished, stared open-mouthed as they clung close to their parents. Nothing much was said and nobody seemed to know quite what to do.

  Alex felt a fresh trickle of blood seep down from his nose and he cuffed it away with his sleeve. The sudden movement riveted all eyes on him. Then the train slowed bringing them to a station, and several people near the door shuffled out quickly. The incoming passengers turned round to look at Alex and Elaine in astonishment.

  The train lurched forward again.

  ‘ATTENTION, PLEASE, THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT,’ the speaker system on the train blurted. ‘TWO MUTANTS HAVE ESCAPED FROM THE SECURITY SECTION. THEY ARE ARMED AND VERY DANGEROUS. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT APPROACH, BUT REPORT ANY SIGHTINGS IMMEDIATELY TO THE NEAREST MILITARY POST.’

  The atmosphere in the carriage became electric. Some people screamed, while others started a mad push to distance themselves from the pair. Several of the men stood up, and began moving menacingly forward. Alex instantly drew his revolver and stopped the advance.

  ‘Now listen, all of you!’ he yelled. ‘We won't harm you if you don't cause any trouble!’ His voice came across as a raucous, half hysterical scream that pierced every corner of the carriage.

  Elaine unslung her rifle and levelled it in one quick movement. The sudden exposure of her battered face sent a wave of gasps around the carriage.

  Alex ordered two of the passengers who were wearing loose fitting hooded pullovers to strip, and, as the train pulled into another station he and Elaine clambered into the clothes and pulled the hoods over their heads.