He would have answered but he was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of sixth-form boys, eager to congratulate him. Wolf-Barry slapped his back and punched the air, Patel kept saying that it was “so cool”, Zayn just looked awed.
Great, he’d got a new fan club.
WE GATHERED THAT evening in the main common room after a subdued dinner of curried horse. I didn’t eat.
Bates was first to speak.
“You’re all aware of the incident that occurred this afternoon. Matron is even now working to save the lives of the two boys who were shot. These boys are Grant of 2B and Preston of 4C.”
One boy in the second row gave an audible gasp at this news. A classmate, probably.
Bates seemed more sure of himself in this safe, controlled environment. All trace of his earlier loss of composure was gone. He stood erect, in full uniform, with his arms behind his back, like a regimental Sergeant-Major.
“I’m going to hand over to Mr Hammond at this stage, who will tell you what happened. Dennis...”
He gestured to his colleague to take over, and resumed his seat. Hammond stood and surveyed the room, scanning our faces, mentally noting which of us he knew, seeing who had survived and who, by omission, had not.
“Boys, it’s good to be back. It’s good to see so many of you again. It gives me hope that...” He trailed off, momentarily overcome.
“Preston and Grant lived near me in Sevenoaks, and they both arrived at my house together a few days ago. It was my suggestion that we return here. If we’d stayed where we were, maybe... Anyway, we ran out of petrol just as we entered Hildenborough. But it’s only an hour’s walk to the school so we weren’t worried. Grant was hungry so we stopped at a newsagent’s and rummaged around for something to eat. The place had been pretty thoroughly cleaned out, but we found chocolate bars underneath an overturned cupboard. We considered ourselves lucky, and set off again. But within minutes there was a hue and cry. The shout ‘looter’ went up and we saw a man running towards us, so we just ran for our lives.
“Preston knows the area very well and thanks to him we were able to elude our pursuers, although we never seemed able to completely shake them off. They finally caught up with us at the gate and you know the rest.
“If it hadn’t been for Matron and MacKillick here...” Again he trailed off into silence.
You would have expected Hammond to have been grateful to the man who had saved his life, but the look he flashed Mac was one of distaste and suspicion.
Bates stood again, thanked Hammond, and handed the floor to Mac with an alarming degree of deference. Norton and I exchanged worried glances. Mac had cleaned up and changed his uniform, but he still sported combats and camouflage.
“Thank you, sir” he said, with perhaps the tiniest hint of sarcasm. “I’ll be brief. Fleming, McCulloch and me left this morning to scavenge in Hildenborough. As you know the shops have all been cleaned out, so we had to go house to house. Not the prettiest work. Those houses that haven’t already been got at have normally still got occupants. You need a strong stomach.”
What a smug, self-satisfied, aren’t-I-hard sod he was.
“We found one house full of stuff we could use and we started carrying it out to the minibus. I was inside when I heard shouting. I went to the window and saw three men, all carrying guns, coming at McCulloch and Fleming. Our boys weren’t armed, they’d been surprised, they didn’t stand a chance. I watched as they were led away and then I followed, dodging house to house and keeping out of sight. They took the lads to a big house down a side road, an old manor house I think. I didn’t even have time to sneak up and look through a window before they were brought out again. The three men and a new guy, some posh lord of the manor type in tweeds and stuff. They led our boys round the side of the house and I followed, hiding behind the hedges. And there, like it was the most normal thing in the world to have in your garden, was a gallows.
“McCulloch started screaming, so they did him first. It was all over in an instant. Then they did Fleming. He’d wet himself before they even put the noose around his neck.”
Bloody hell, Mac. No need for the fucking details. I clenched my fists angrily. He was enjoying this.
“I didn’t stick around after that. But as I was leaving town I saw some guys putting up a new fence across the road and a sign saying ‘Hildenborough Protectorate. Governor: George Baker. Traders welcomed. Looters hanged.’
“I had to try another way out of town and found guards posted at all the exit points around the perimeter. So I dealt with one of them and came back here. Just in time too, I reckon.”
‘Dealt with one of them’. That explained the blood on his jacket. So he’d killed three people today and he looked for all the world like he was having the time of his life. I felt sick.
He sat back down and Bates took the floor again.
“Boys, I know this is hard, but we have to accept the reality that we may be, um, at war.”
There were murmurs of disbelief.
“I know it sounds ridiculous, but consider the facts. A hostile force has established a base of operations practically on our doorstep. They’ve killed two of us and wounded two more; we’ve killed three of them. We know they’re armed, entrenched, and determined. We must assume they will attack, and we must be ready.”
I raised my hand to ask why he thought they’d attack.
“Put your hand down, Keegan,” he barked. “I didn’t throw the floor open to questions. And that goes for everyone. If we’re to survive this we need to be focused, united, organised. There needs to be a clear chain of command and all orders will need to be followed promptly and without question. Is that clear?”
“Well, really,” said the Dinner Lady. “I don’t expect to be talked to like that.”
“Ma’am,” snapped Bates. “You are welcome to remain at St Mark’s but I am in charge here and if you accept my protection I’m afraid you accept my rules.”
And just like that Bates declared martial law.
I looked over at Mac. His face was solemn but his eyes told a different story. They shone with glee.
Hammond spoke up.
“I say Bates, are you quite sure you need to...”
Bates leaned forward and hissed something peremptory at Hammond, who fell silent.
He went on: “We need to secure our perimeter, post guards, organise patrols and so forth. To this end we are re-establishing the CCF and every boy will be expected to do their bit.”
Broadbent raised his hand and began bleating before Bates could stop him.
“But sir, I was excused CCF because of my asthma. My dad wrote a note and everything.”
“I said no questions, boy!” Bates yelled. “And no excuses either. If you’re old enough to dress yourself you’re old enough to carry a gun.”
You could feel the shock in the room as everybody’s eyes widened and their shoulders stiffened. Bates breathed deeply and visibly calmed himself.
“I know it’s not how we want things to be, but it’s the way things are,” he reasoned. “It’s my job, and Mac’s, to keep you safe. I failed in that today. Not again.
“As of now you will all refer to me as Colonel and Mac as Major. Is that clear?”
I wanted to laugh in his face. I wanted to stand up and shout “Are you fucking joking? You’re a history teacher, you deluded tinpot tosser”. But I didn’t. It was all too tragic for that. Tragic and – I glanced at Mac – sinister.
“I said is that clear?”
Some boys muttered “yes, Colonel” unenthusiastically. I thought Bates was going to push it, but he must have realised the time wasn’t yet right.
“Good,” he said. “Now, I want Speight, Pugh, Wylie, Wolf-Barry, Patel, Green, Zayn and Keegan to stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed for the evening.”
Norton whispered “Good luck” as he got up to leave. Everybody else shuffled out leaving myself, Bates, Mac and the seven other boys whose names had been called. They were all the rema
ining sixth-formers; I was the only non sixth-former there.
When everyone else had left, Bates gestured for us all to come and sit together at the front, and sat to address us.
“You’re the senior boys here, and a lot of the responsibility of this is going to rest with you. We’ll be assigning ranks in the coming days but for now you’ll all be acting corporals. Major Mac will be managing you directly and I want you to follow his orders promptly and without question at all times. Is that clear?”
“Yes Colonel.”
“Good lads,” said Bates. He smiled what he probably thought was a reassuring smile, but he actually looked more like a scared man presenting his teeth to a sadistic dentist. He patted Mac on the shoulder.
“All yours, Major,” he said, and left the room.
Mac glared at us and grinned a sly, feral grin. He didn’t look impressed by us, but he did look pleased with himself. He pulled his chair around so that he was facing us.
“Right, I’ve killed three fuckers today and if none of you want to be number four you’ll keep your ears open and your mouths shut. Clear?”
Oh yeah. Here he was. This was the Mac I remembered. All these weeks of playing nice and sucking up to Bates, he was just biding his time, waiting for the right moment. Now Bates had shown weakness, there was blood in the water, and Mac was the shark.
Things were going to get ugly.
CHAPTER THREE
I SAW MAC with his father once, on speech day. Jon and I walked behind them for a while, fascinated by the way they talked. His father, being a Lord, was all fruity vowels and wot-wot, and the brilliant thing is that Mac was too. He was all ‘Gosh Daddy’ and ‘Super’ and ‘Cripes’. Once he actually said “Oh, my stars and garters!” Jon and I had to walk away at that point because we were finding it impossible to stifle our giggles.
I looked at the wannabe gangster who sat in front of me now and all I could think was: what would your father think? And also: I know you, fraud. Everybody else may think you’re a hard nut but underneath it all you’re just a spoiled upper class daddy’s boy overcompensating for the silver spoon you’ve got shoved up your arse.
“Right,” he said, in his broad cockney accent. “From now on, as far as you’re concerned I am your fucking God. I am the law. Proper Judge Dredd, that’s me. What I say goes and you don’t question a fucking word, got it? You are mine.”
He paused for effect and graced us with a menacing leer.
“But I’m not unreasonable,” he lied. “I’m not unfriendly. Stick with me and you’ll be all right. I’ll take care of you. I like loyalty. If you’re loyal we’ll rub along just peachy, clear?”
Again, we nodded.
“Right. So. The Colonel has made me second-in-command and you lot are my officers. You’re my go-to guys. You’ll be able to give orders to all the other scrotes and you’ll carry weapons at all times. I’ll be doing some extra training with you over the next few days – leadership, strategy, warcraft, that sort of shit. And you’ll be leading scavenging groups, raiding parties and any other kind of operation too fucking menial for me to dirty my lilywhites with.
“Stick with me and you’ll be in clover. Fuck with me and you’ll be pushing it up.
“Now, most of you were in the CCF under me, so you know how I like things done. Those of you who were fucking flyboys will learn.”
I’m sure we will, I thought.
“Keegan!” he bellowed suddenly, making me jump.
“Yeah?” I stammered. He glared at me dangerously. “I mean, yes, sir?”
He nodded, letting it go this once.
“You showed a lot of initiative this afternoon.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“For a flyboy,” he added. “And a fifth-form scrote. Bloody good shooting too. Almost as good as mine, eh?” He laughed at his little joke. Pugh sniggered sycophantically until silenced by a contemptuous look from Mac.
“We’re going to need you, Keegan, if things get sticky,” he went on.
He turned his attention to the others and I sighed heavily, suddenly aware that I’d been holding my breath.
“The rest of you could learn from this one. Proactive is what he is.”
He leaned in close to me, his hot sour breath in my face, and hissed: “But not too proactive, yeah? Don’t want to be too smart for your own good, do you, Keegan?”
“No sir,” I said, crisply. He leaned back and smiled.
“Right, let’s get you lot into patrols.”
As the briefing got underway I realised that I was being given an opportunity. If I was to be part of the officer corps then I could get close to Mac, and if I could get close to him perhaps I could influence him, divert him, maybe even, if the need arose, deal with him.
I prepared myself to be Mac’s bestest of best mates: reliable, steadfast and sneaky as a bastard.
SPEIGHT AND ZAYN got first watch, the rest of us were dismissed. I’d be reporting for guard duty with Wolf-Barry first thing in the morning so I wanted to get my head down.
The difference between night and day used to be blurred by electricity; streetlights turned the night sky orange and blotted out the stars; electric lights in the home allowed people to keep doing whatever they wanted all night long; car headlights made travel in the darkness a cinch. Things were different now. Battery torches were only used when absolutely necessary, so any light after dark had to come from flame. People were returning to the old rhythms of day and night, rising and retiring with the sun.
Nonetheless, the old term-time routine of lights-out was still being preserved by Bates; juniors in bed at 8, fourth and fifth-formers by 9:30, seniors by 11. So normally I’d need to be tucked up by 9:30, but I’d been told that as an honorary senior – with all the duties that implied – I could observe senior bedtime, so I had some time in hand and there was someone I wanted to see.
The door of the sanatorium was closed, but the candle light flickering through the frosted glass windows revealed Matron moving around inside. I knocked and I saw her freeze. She didn’t respond. Perhaps she wanted to be left alone. I knocked again.
“Matron,” I said, “It’s me, Lee. I just wanted to see how you are.”
Her silhouette relaxed.
“Come in Lee,” she said.
I pushed open the door and entered to find Matron standing at the side of the padded table she used for examinations. There was a livid purple bruise on her forehead where the horsewoman had clubbed her, and for an instant I was so furious I wished I had shot the bitch after all. Matron was dressed in medical whites and an apron stained with fresh blood. Her sleeves were rolled up and she was wearing thin rubber gloves which she was removing as I entered. Her face was as white as her clothes.
Four bodies lay on the floor, covered with sheets. Both boys had died then.
I stood there in the doorway, unsure what to say. She broke the silence.
“Too many pellets,” she said simply. “Not enough anaesthetic.”
Next to the table stood a complicated system of tubes suspended from a metal stand. She must have been giving transfusions.
She followed my gaze and nodded.
“Atkins gave blood first, then Broadbent, Dudley and Haycox. They were so brave, but it just wasn’t enough.” Her voice caught in her throat and she leaned against the table as if light-headed. Then she looked up, remembering.
“Oh Lee, I forgot to thank you. You saved my life, didn’t you?”
I nodded, still unsure what to say.
“Bless you. You saved me, but I couldn’t save them.” She slumped to the floor. “What a fucking waste. To survive the end of the world just to be murdered for a Mars bar.” She hid her face in her hands and wept.
I walked over to her, knelt down, and gingerly reached out to touch her shoulder. As I did so she leaned forward and embraced me, burying her face in my neck, soaking it with tears.
We sat there like that for quite some time.
WITH THE BODIES buried, one hor
se butchered and salted, and the other released ten miles down the road, we removed all evidence of the confrontation on the school drive.
The minibus that had been abandoned in Hildenborough was thankfully not one of those with the school name and crest painted on the side, so no-one could trace it back to us without checking the registration plate with the DVLA, and they weren’t taking calls. We just had to hope that McCulloch or Fleming hadn’t revealed our location to our neighbours before they were hanged. However, Bates wasn’t prepared to take any chances, and the next afternoon he called all the officers to the common room. He got straight to the point.
“We need ordnance,” he said simply. “Our armoury holds ten rifles and a few boxes of rounds, but if it came to a shooting war we’d be lucky to last a day. Of course with law and order entirely broken down there are weapons and ammunition there for the taking, if you know where to look. And I do. So we’re going on a field trip.”
He took out his whiteboard pen and started drawing a map.
PUGH AND WYLIE stayed behind to guard the school. Mr Hammond was planning to teach a class, so most boys would be safe inside. Meanwhile the rest of us hit the road, with Mac and Bates each driving a minibus. In full combats, all armed, and with mud and boot polish rubbed into our face, we were off to get ourselves an arsenal and we were ready to meet resistance.
Giving Hildenborough a wide berth we headed out into darkest Kent. The only cars we passed had been abandoned, and the roads were well on their way to becoming impassable. With no council workers to operate the hedge trimmers or clear fallen trees, the narrow country lanes were rapidly disappearing under the greenery. On some roads the hedgerows scraped along both sides of the bus. A couple of summers and they’d be buried forever.
We passed through picturesque villages with large greens, their cricket squares so neat for so long, now shaggy and unkempt. We saw ancient churches with their stained glass windows smashed and their huge, centuries-old oak doors hanging off thick, bent hinges. We drove past fields of cows, most dead or dying, suffering agonies because they’d been bred to produce milk that nobody was around to extract.
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