The Hoffmann Plague

by Tony Littlejohns

‘Make that twenty-three;’ Jamie replied, ‘my partner, Jane, also caught it and survived. We met about three months ago and hooked up.’ The officers looked at each other again with surprise and then came forward to stand in front of him. Both saluted, introduced themselves and shook his hand.

  ‘Major Harry Miller, British Army,’ said the first man. He was in his early forties and well-built, with short dark hair and a moustache. He couldn’t have looked more like the archetypal British Army officer.

  ‘Major Thomas Cunningham; I’m a doctor with the Royal Army Medical Corps,’ said the second. He was of a similar age to Miller, but shorter and slighter. He had sandy-coloured hair, with a friendly, studious-looking face and round glasses. Miller looked back at the soldiers and waved his hand and they stood easy, but kept an eye on proceedings.

  ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Jamie said. ‘Well, I never expected to see you, I must admit. What are you doing here?’

  ‘Over the last six weeks we’ve been making a tour of the southern towns and the coastal areas,’ said Miller, ‘to establish what the situation is and to see how many survivors there are. We’ve just come from Hastings.’

  ‘How is it there?’ asked Jamie.

  ‘Terrible, just like everywhere else,’ replied Miller. ‘Very few survivors it seems; the few we did meet were in poor health, and we saw many more corpses on the streets than we’ve seen in Bexhill. We don’t have transportation facilities, but we’re directing anyone we meet who needs help to make their way to Tunbridge Wells. We’ve established a refugee camp there, a mile north of the town on the A21. It has pretty good medical facilities and a quarantine area.’

  Cunningham then spoke. ‘London is probably rife with cholera, typhoid and all manner of other diseases. The army hasn’t been in on the ground, but another Company has done several fly-overs by helicopter. The streets are littered with corpses. We have road blocks on the major routes out of London, but we don’t have enough personnel to man them all, obviously. Those few survivors who have escaped London to the south we’ve escorted to the refugee camp for treatment.

  We’re also worried about the possibility of a further outbreak of plague in London, but we don’t know enough about it yet to understand how it survives or multiplies. It’s also possible that there aren’t enough survivors there for it to spread. We’ve got a team of scientists working on it at a secret research facility. I’d recommend you be careful about contact with anyone you meet from now on. Make sure you ask them about their health, where they’ve come from, whether they’ve had any contact with other people and when that was. If they have had contact with other people but it’s been over seven days and they look healthy, the chances are they’re okay. If it’s less than seven days, then be wary. ’

  ‘I’ll do that, thanks. How is the army holding up?’

  ‘Not too well, Mr. Parker, to put it mildly!’ replied Miller. ‘We’ve lost well over ninety-five percent of our forces, which leaves us with fewer than two thousand personnel, spread around the country. There are also around two thousand mixed personnel from the navy and the air force, again spread all around the country.’

  ‘Really? I’m surprised there are so many left.’

  ‘Well, our troops had better training and discipline than the general public, Mr. Parker. Added to that was the fact that many troops were on military bases, ships or airfields, and not mingling with the public as much, as well as having Noddy suits.’

  ‘Noddy suits?’ Jamie enquired, looking baffled.

  ‘Sorry- common army jargon!’ Miller said with a quick smile. ‘CBRN suits, to give them their official name: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear suits. Used to be called NBC, but the boffins changed the name to confuse us all. Frankly, though, if everyone had worn them when they should have we might have lost far fewer people.’

  ‘And the government?’ asked Jamie.

  Miller hesitated for a second. ‘There is no government, sir; not as such. They all perished in London as far as we can tell. The Queen and most of the Royal family survived, as did the Prime Minister and a couple from his Cabinet, and they’re in a safe place, but there’s nothing they can do. It’s a bit difficult to have a government when there’s no one left to govern, and no taxes to collect,’ he added with a dry smile.

  Cunningham then took over. ‘Can I ask you, Mr. Parker, how you’re coping, how many of you there are and what the situation is here in Bexhill?’

  ‘Well, we’re just about coping okay, so far, but it’s been tough. Jane and I met around three months ago and we moved into a couple of houses by the sea whose occupants had died. We’re working towards becoming self-sufficient and we’ve planted vegetables and are harvesting fruit and preserving it. We also fish, trap rabbits and make our own jerky, amongst other things.’

  ‘Well done, Mr. Parker, and good for you,’ said Miller.

  ‘We’ve also now got a young girl with us, called Megan,’ said Jamie. ‘She’s twelve and an orphan. We found her last week; she’d been surviving on her own for nearly five months since her parents died, bless her, so we took her in. I don’t think she would have lasted much longer if we hadn’t found her. We’ve hardly seen anyone else in Bexhill in all this time. We met a family and two others on a farm near Hooe and have become good friends, and also two sisters a few miles away on a smallholding north of Bexhill.’

  They stood and talked for another ten minutes, with the two officers asking him many more questions and writing things down in a notebook, and Jamie asking several in return.

  ‘Could I ask you what the prospects are, please?’ Jamie said.

  ‘Well, I won’t lie to you, Mr. Parker;’ said Cunningham, ‘we don’t know what the prospects are, but they’re not looking good; that’s for certain. The country seems to have lost close to a hundred percent of its population, from what we’ve seen. There’s almost no one left anywhere in the south-east so far. We don’t have any hard figures, obviously, but based on what we’ve seen in recent months we might estimate that over 99.9 percent of the UK population has died. There is a possibility that in some more rural and isolated areas like Scotland, Wales or Cornwall there are many more survivors, but even that can’t be guaranteed. During the 1918 to 1920 flu pandemic people were dying in all corners of the world; even on remote Pacific islands. That pandemic showed that there aren’t really any safe havens in the modern world. There are around a hundred-and-fifty survivors at the refugee camp so far, which is a drop in the ocean considering what the area’s population was, but we don’t expect all of them to survive.

  There’s no infrastructure or services and there won’t be any for the foreseeable future. Fuel reserves will probably become unusable within a year or so, we think. The country is more or less going to revert back to the Middle Ages- or worse. There are a few thousand armed forces personnel dotted around the country, but there’s very little we can do, in reality. We can’t produce food, for instance, and we can’t produce electricity, or fuel, or medical supplies. All we can do is assist people where we can, and attempt to distribute the food and supplies that are left to those who need it, while we can. But fuel will run out, generators will fail and communications will fail. We in the modern world have become so reliant on technology and the service industries that we’ve lost the basic skills that even people in the Middle Ages possessed. People will have to start learning things again that it’s taken mankind thousands of years to develop… Need I go on?’

  ‘No;’ replied Jamie, ‘we’d kind of worked these things out for ourselves over the last six months. That’s why Jane and I have been growing food and learning preserving techniques.’

  ‘I take it you haven’t been checking for radio broadcasts, then, Mr. Parker,’ asked Miller. Jamie felt a little foolish for not having done so.

  ‘No. To be honest, Major, all our time has been taken up with just surviving and we hadn’t given any thought to it.’

  ‘Well,’ Miller answered, ‘we’ve been broadcasting several ti
mes a day for around three months on 93.5FM to let anyone listening know about the refugee camp at Tunbridge Wells. We announced this by loudspeaker on our flights over London, too. We’ll be broadcasting any news on that frequency from now on, so it might pay for you to listen in.’ Jamie said that he would do so.

  ‘By the fact that you’re on foot, I’m guessing that you live nearby; is that correct?’ asked Cunningham.

  ‘Yes, just five minutes away,’ replied Jamie.

  Cunningham looked at his watch. ‘Well, we have to get back to the camp, but as we’re so close… Would you like us to come back with you so I could have a look at the girl- Megan- and give her a quick examination?’ Jamie said that would be great, so Miller instructed him to climb aboard. It was a bit of a squeeze with four in the cab, but it wasn’t for long. The driver turned the truck around and Jamie directed them to the bungalow. When they pulled up outside, the door opened and Jane stood there in amazement as Jamie climbed from the cab followed by the two officers. He walked up to her, smiling, and kissed her.

  ‘Look who I found on my travels! Major Miller and Major Cunningham, this is my partner, Jane Roberts.’ The two officers saluted and shook hands with her and she greeted them warmly.

  ‘Well, I’m sure Mr. Parker will fill you in later, Miss Roberts, and we can’t stay long,’ said Cunningham, ‘but I’m a doctor with the Royal Army Medical Corps. I offered to come back and give Megan a quick examination while we were in the area. I believe she’s been on her own for a long time and I’d like to check her out, if that’s okay?’

  Jane welcomed them inside: the officers removed their caps and they went through to the kitchen, where Megan had been told to wait. She introduced them to Megan and they all said hello.

  ‘Honey, these men are from the army. This is Major Cunningham; he’s a doctor and he’d like to examine you to check that you’re healthy. Would that be okay?’

  ‘Are you just like a normal doctor?’ Megan asked.

  Cunningham smiled. ‘Yes, Megan, I’m just a normal doctor, but I’m in the army so I have to wear a uniform like a soldier.’

  ‘Okay then, I guess,’ she said. Jamie directed him to Megan’s bedroom and he picked up his medical kit and followed her inside. He asked Miller if he would like some coffee, or something stronger.

  Miller saw a bottle of Scotch on a shelf and nodded to it. ‘A small one would be great, thanks.’

  Jamie poured them both a good measure and they raised their glasses and drank. Jane was busy preparing the evening meal and while they waited Jamie showed him the gardens and the vegetables they were growing, along with the improvements they’d made. Miller was impressed and said they were doing a grand job. Jamie told him that Jane was pregnant, but still had nearly eight months to go and that they were both worried.

  ‘Well, bear in mind,’ Miller said, ‘that the camp isn’t too far away from you, and we have doctors and nurses there if you need help or advice.’ Jamie thanked him and they went back inside.

  Cunningham came back with Megan and smiled. ‘She’s doing okay under the circumstances. Some borderline malnutrition, but nothing too serious, and a fair bit of weight loss, but she’ll soon put that back on if you feed her well. I’ve given her some multi-vitamins to take; one a day for a month, and I’m sure she’ll be fine.’ They both thanked him.

  ‘There’s one other thing;’ Cunningham said, ‘would you object to me taking a blood sample from you? You’ve both survived the plague, which is extremely rare: it’s possible that it might help our scientists to learn more about the bacterium, and why you survived when most others didn’t.’ They had no objections so he took samples from them both.

  The two officers said they had to leave, so Jane and Megan said goodbye and Jamie went outside with them to their truck. They stood on the pavement and shook hands; Jamie thanked them both and they wished him good luck, saluted and got into the truck. The driver turned around in the road then they waved from the window and drove off. Jamie went back inside and the kitchen was filled with the smell of baking bread and rabbit casserole.

  He kissed Jane and ruffled Megan’s hair. ‘Well, missy, it looks like you’re doing okay.’ Megan gave him a big grin.

  Twenty-two

  Jamie told them about his meeting with the officers and he repeated Cunningham’s warning to be wary of contact with strangers without questioning them first. He explained that the army were concerned about survivors from London, who might be carrying new diseases, slipping past their road-blocks because they were so thinly-stretched. He also explained to Megan that things weren’t going to change in the country just because there were now some army people to help out where they could.

  ‘I understand that now,’ she replied. ‘I mean, we learned some basic stuff about supply and farming at school, and it’s not like the army people can become farmers and grow wheat and potatoes, is it? And they can’t, like, open Tesco’s again and fill the shelves with food, can they?’

  ‘No, honey, you’re absolutely right,’ Jane answered.

  Later on, after Megan had gone to bed, he and Jane sat up talking further about his conversation with the officers and what he’d been told.

  ‘Well, it’s great that the refugee camp has been set up at Tunbridge Wells,’ said Jane, ‘and reassuring to know there are doctors and nurses there.’

  ‘I agree, but… Well, I don’t want to be pessimistic, but you’re not due for another eight months or so yet and that’s a long time. Anything could happen between now and then. Will the camp even still be there in eight months?’ He shrugged. ‘Oh, well, there’s nothing we can do on that score and no point thinking about it.’

  ‘It’s very worrying, though, what he told you about the prospects for the country, but I’m glad he was honest with you about it. I suppose it’s no different to what we’d thought anyway, is it?’

  ‘No, it’s not. All he’s done is to confirm our suspicions that, basically, we’re on our own from now on. As he said, even though there are a few thousand armed forces personnel left, there’s actually not much they can do. They can’t man pumping stations and sewerage plants to get water flowing again, or power stations, and they can’t farm the land to produce food for people.’

  ‘What on earth is going to happen in a year’s time, Jamie? Or less, even! When the fuel either runs out or becomes unusable they won’t have any transport; generators and batteries will fail, along with their communications. What will they do then?’

  He thought for a few seconds. ‘Well, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that will be the end of the army. Without transport or communications they won’t be a structured force any more. And when medical supplies and food run out what will be left for them to do?’

  ‘Who knows? Maybe they’ll just disband and settle wherever they happen to be; I don’t suppose many will have homes to go back to any more. Maybe they’ll become local peace-keeping forces, to replace the police, or form small communities. Anyway, this is all academic, really, and just supposition. I can’t see how it will affect us, though, or change what we’re doing; until today we didn’t even know they still existed.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose you’re right,’ he admitted. ‘Come on, let’s go to bed.’

  In the morning Megan was up before them. They’d sat up late talking the night before and as a result were later than normal to rise. When they came into the kitchen they found that she had got a fire going in the range, made some breakfast rolls that were ready to go in the oven when it was hot enough, and had also made them coffee!

  She put her hands on her hips, looked at them with a mock-stern expression and, in imitation of her mum, said ‘And just what sort of time do you call this? Must I do everything in this house?’

  Jane and Jamie looked at each other and burst out laughing, with Megan joining in. Jane leaned forward to hug her, then immediately let go and dashed to the toilet to throw up. Megan got worried and panicked.

  ‘Oh my God! Jane hasn’t got the plague, ha
s she?’ Jamie rushed over and put his arms around her. ‘No, honey, she’s okay, honestly. Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong.’

  Jane came out and drank some coffee, then gave Megan a hug. ‘Honey, I’m sorry to scare you and there’s nothing wrong with me. Megan… I’m pregnant. This is called morning sickness and it’s what most pregnant women get early on. I’m sorry we hadn’t told you yet. I only really knew just before we met you and we didn’t want to bother you with it this week while you were settling in with us, as things have been hard enough for you as it is. We were going to tell you soon.’

  Megan threw her arms around her. ‘Oh Jane, I’m so glad you’re not sick! I couldn’t bear that to happen.’ Jane started crying and hugged her back. After they had recovered they sat at the table and talked about it with her.

  ‘But there aren’t any hospitals or doctors now, are there?’ she said. ‘So what will you do?’

  ‘Well,’ Jane answered, ‘there is the refugee camp run by the army now at Tunbridge Wells, and they have doctors and nurses there who can help me,’ which seemed to satisfy Megan. She omitted any other misgivings that she and Jamie might have so as to not worry the girl.

  While Jane and Megan got breakfast underway Jamie took Max out for his morning walk along the promenade. After breakfast they tidied the place up a bit and got ready for their friends’ visit. Jane made some olive bread, which Megan helped her with, while Jamie prepared the fish they’d caught the previous day. They made a Mediterranean-style fish stew with onions and tinned tomatoes, as theirs wouldn’t be ready for a while yet, and herbs from the garden.

  They heard a vehicle pull up earlier than expected and when Jamie went to look he saw Bill’s old Renault van outside, so he opened the door and went out to welcome them.

  ‘I see you finally got the old van fixed!’

  Bill grinned as he shook his hand. ‘Well, it was about time, I suppose! Didn’t take much, in the end. Glad to have it back on the road.’