It was several minutes before she managed to bring herself under control. “Are you okay?” Mike asked.
“I’m way better than okay.”
“Luce, I’m sorry I waited so long to do this. I’m sorry you haven’t had the easiest ride with me, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
She wiped the glistening streaks from her eyes and cheeks with the heel of her palm. “You don’t need to make anything up to me. I wouldn’t have stuck around if I didn’t want to.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Lucy stretched her fingers and angled her hand towards the moonlight. “It’s beautiful. It fits perfectly.”
“I thought it would, but just in case, I’ve got the same ring in about five different sizes.”
“How long have you had this?”
“A while … months. I got them when we were on a scavenger mission. One of the houses we hit in Garve was owned by a jeweller and there was all sorts of stuff. These were all I was interested in though. Like I said, Luce, I just needed Em to be here. It wouldn’t feel right doing it without her.”
“We can’t announce this yet,” Lucy said, the smile disappearing from her face for the first time in minutes.
“I know. But it can be our secret. Well, ours and Jenny’s.”
“Jenny knows?”
“Jenny was the one who helped me with the ring. She told me what I needed to look for.”
“When was this?”
“Actually, it was before Loch Uig.”
Lucy giggled. “Okay, any more surprises?”
“Err, no.”
“So, we’ll wait for a few days. It wouldn’t be right announcing this after Beth’s just lost her brother. But then I want to shout it from the rooftops.”
“Jen said she’d throw us an engagement party, but—”
“But nothing. We’re having an engagement party.”
“You’re going to be one of these high-maintenance women, aren’t you?”
“Damn straight,” Lucy replied, taking another long drink and handing the glass back to Mike.
Mike climbed to his feet and went to sit in the other armchair. “I’ll ask Bruiser to be my best man.”
Lucy stood up. “We can sort out all the finer details later. Right now, we need to get to bed.”
“I’m going to stay up a little longer,” Mike replied.
“Too bad.”
“Why?”
“Remember what happened when you gave me Charlotte’s Web?”
Mike remembered back to that night in Candleton when they had made love into the early hours of the morning. “Erm, not really a night I’m going to forget.”
“Well, that was for a book. Just think how grateful I’d be for a sapphire ring,” she said, brushing his shoulder seductively as she walked across to the doorway.
“Y’know what, now you come to mention it, I think I will call it a night.” He almost jumped to his feet and followed her up the stairs.
✽ ✽ ✽
“You look tired, Lucy. You have a bad night?” Jenny said with a smirk.
The village hall was already half full as the traditional communal breakfast was served. Safe Haven had never turned away refugees. Some had spent just a few days before moving on elsewhere, others had wanted to settle down and build a life, but all were welcome. “Oh, aren’t you the funny one. Does Ruth know?”
“You should know me better by now. Mike asked me to keep it quiet, so I haven’t told a soul.”
“Thanks, Jen. We’re going to sit on it for a few days. Doesn’t really feel right with what just happened.”
“I understand,” Jenny said, looking at Lucy’s left hand. “Where’s the ring?”
Lucy quickly pulled a gold chain from underneath her T-shirt. There was the locket that contained the photo of her daughter, Charlotte, and jingling against it was the ring. As Ruth approached, Lucy hid it once again beneath the shirt. Ruth placed two trays down on the table; on them were three plates with toast and one pot of tea with three cups. “Honestly, that woman is a miracle worker,” Ruth said, handing out the cups and plates.
“Who, Mary?” Lucy asked.
“Yes. Another ten came in yesterday, but there’s always enough food. Nobody ever goes hungry.”
“Another ten? How come I didn’t see them?”
“Came in late last night,” Jenny said. “Don’t worry, they got checked. Shaw escorted them to the infirmary himself. One of them was your lot.”
“My lot?” Lucy asked.
“American.”
“Whereabouts were they from?”
“America.”
“Uh-huh. But whereabouts in America?”
“I don’t know,” Jenny replied, spreading jam on her toast, “does it matter?”
“I suppose not.”
The three friends tucked into their breakfast and talked about everything from the new defence plans to Mary Stolt’s culinary skills. It was only as their meal was coming to an end that Jenny noticed Lucy had gone quiet.
“What is it?”
“That woman.”
“What woman?” Jenny asked, turning around.
“God, Jen. Don’t just stare at her.”
“Sorry.”
“That woman over there, in the far right corner, was she one of the ones who came in yesterday?”
Jenny surreptitiously turned and glanced towards the couple Lucy was looking at. The woman and the man seemed to be taking stock of their surroundings, eyeing up everyone and everything. “Yes, that’s them, why?”
“She looks familiar.”
“You know her?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Well, I can tell you one thing for sure, she was worth a few bob in the olden days.”
“How do you figure?”
“Darling, you don’t get to that age with boobs like that. Look at them. Jesus, Jake could park his bike between those things without making them so much as wobble. They don’t come cheap.”
Lucy and Ruth burst out laughing. “You have such a way with words.”
“Wish I’d have got mine done while I still had the chance.”
“Hi,” Mike said, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere.
“Hi, sweetie,” Lucy replied.
“You girls having a nice chat?”
“We’re talking about Jenny’s boobs.”
“Err ... okay.”
“What do you think, Mike?” she said, grabbing hold of them through her jumper and jiggling them up and down. “Do you think there’s enough to grab on to? Or should I have had them done when I had the chance?”
Mike just stood there like a rabbit caught in the beam of a car’s headlights. “I … err … they’re fine. They’re fine.”
“Just fine?”
Mike coloured bright red. “They’re nice.”
“Just nice? What’s wrong with them?”
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. They’re perfect.”
“Perfect? You think Jenny’s boobs are perfect?” Lucy said.
“Jesus Christ. I just came over here to say hi. Can we please stop talking about Jenny’s boobs?”
“Jenny’s perfect boobs?” Lucy said.
“Fuck off, all of you,” Mike said, turning around and marching out. He heard the table erupt into raucous laughter behind him as he trailed out of the hall. He walked through the car park and made his way along the road to the dock, which was a flurry of activity.
Shaw, Hughes and Raj were in deep conversation with Ryan and April. “Hi Mike, I was just thinking about you,” Shaw said.
“That’s never good.”
“You’ve met Mike?” Shaw asked.
“You’re Emma’s brother?” April said.
“That’s right.”
“She’s something else.”
“Tell me about it.”
“We’re planning a little outing,” Shaw said.
“Oh yeah, to w
here?” Mike replied.
“Kyle of Lochalsh.”
“Kyle of Lochalsh? You mean the place where a few days ago these people barely escaped with their lives? The place that was attacked by marauders? The place that was overrun with flesh-eating zombies? That place?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Sounds great. When do we set off?”
“Ooh, sarcasm, that always helps,” Shaw said.
“I just don’t understand why you’d want to head down there, knowing what the situation is,” Mike replied.
“Well, technically, we’re only heading to the harbour to start with. Ryan and April said there are a few fishing boats there that could be of use to us. They’re fuelled and ready for action.”
“That’s assuming they haven’t been taken or drained of fuel, which is a big assumption considering.”
“There is something else,” Shaw said, looking towards Ryan.
“What’s that?” Mike asked.
“The settlement’s weapons and ammo cache. It’s stored at the bank. If there is any possibility we can get to it that could really be useful.”
“What you got? A couple of BB guns and some ball-bearings?” Mike asked, dismissively.
“Twenty army issue SA80s, five Glock 17s, a high-explosive hand grenade and two red phosphorous grenades, plus a whole lot of ammo. We got taken by surprise the other night, we couldn’t get to it before the area was teeming with infected,” Ryan said.
“Okay … you don’t think the raiders will have taken everything.”
“The safe, it’s an old-fashioned combination type. Unless they’ve got a skilled safecracker among them or some explosives to take the door off, they’re not getting in. But think about it, why would you be interested in the contents of a bank now? Chances are they didn’t even go in.”
“We’re just going to head down for a look-see. We’re not going to take any risks, but it’s definitely worth a trip, don’t you think?” Shaw said.
“Haven’t you got to oversee things here?”
“Yeah.”
“And I’m guessing Barney’s staying with Beth.”
“You guess right.”
“So, who have you got?”
“Well, right now, there’s Hughes, Raj, Talikha, April and Ryan.”
“Isn’t Kyle miles away?”
“By road it’s a real trek,” Ryan said. “By sea it’s not that far at all.”
“We’re just heading down there for a look. If it seems too dangerous, then we don’t go near it. If it seems okay, we get what we want and head straight back,” said Hughes.
“It’s not like you to turn down a trip like this,” Shaw said, smiling.
“Look, I’m all for us heading out if there’s some tangible benefit for the community, but these marauders, they know what they’re doing. That place will be threadbare by the time we get there. Anything of value will be gone, and—”
“In which case, we head straight back. There won’t even be any need to step off the b—” Shaw was interrupted by the screech of tyres, and all heads turned as a Ford Fiesta came to a sudden stop.
Barnes climbed out, opened up the rear doors and grabbed a rucksack and a rifle then walked over to where Mike, Shaw and the rest of them were standing. “Changed my mind. Thought a little trip might do me good.”
Mike and Shaw shot each other concerned glances, but it was Hughes who spoke. “Barney, mate, don’t you think you should be with Beth and Annie? I mean, Jesus, she’s just lost her little brother.”
“Beth’s not left the bedroom since yesterday. She and Annie need to be alone right now, and I need to be doing something.”
Hughes looked towards Shaw then back to Barnes. “Okay, mate. I understand. It will be good to have you aboard.”
Mike and Shaw looked at one another again, and Mike gave him a barely perceptible nod. “I’ll go tell Lucy that I’m heading out with you. If I’m not back in five minutes, come looking for me, and bring a needle and thread, I’ll probably need my bollocks sewing back on.”
chapter 11
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, how do these people live like this?” Angel asked as she and Troy climbed back into the caravan.
“You’ve been living the sweet life too long, princess. I’d say these people are doing pretty well for themselves. Everyone has a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. On top of that, they put up a pretty good defence against us the other night.”
“Why, Troy, you sound like you admire them.”
“I do. They’ve achieved something pretty impressive here.”
“Having second thoughts?”
Troy smiled as he sat down. “You can admire your enemy and hate them at the same time.”
“You hate them?”
“No, actually. They’re just in my way.”
Angel smiled. “So are you going to tell me now just exactly what the plan is?”
“It’s still forming.”
Angel went to sit down by his side. She crossed her legs and looked down sadly at her designer jeans that had been deliberately stained with mud and dirt to make her look more like a refugee and less like a Hollywood actress. “Okay, but talk to me about figures.”
“Figures?”
“How many of us are there going to be?”
Troy let out a long breath. “Why don’t you just leave all that to me?”
“Look, Troy, none of this would be in motion if it wasn’t for me. You wouldn’t have your little fleet, and we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
“Tell me you didn’t just say that. Tell me you don’t think all this is down to you.”
“Damn straight it’s down to me. Who else could have made all this happen?”
“Seriously, Angel, I thought your husband was deluded, but damn if you haven’t got your very own God complex.” Troy stood up. “I’m the one who made all this happen. I’m the one who put the fleet together, who trained the crews, who devised the raids. I did it all.” He stopped as he saw something approaching hurt on Angel’s face.
“I just need to know, Troy. What we’re doing is no small thing. What I’m doing is no small thing.”
“What you’re doing is running out on your husband. Millions of women have done it before, don’t make out it’s something special or unique.”
Angel’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t belittle me. I won’t have you belittling me. You know damn well this is much bigger than that. We’re leaving most of those people on board that ship to die a slow death.”
Troy knew that wasn’t true. He had a plan in place, and only the ones closest to him knew what it was. The people on The Ark would not die long, lingering deaths at all. Noah would not die a long, lingering death. As much as Angel complained about her husband, he knew she would never be on board with the plan Troy had in place, so he played along. The last thing he wanted was for Angel to go to pieces behind enemy lines.
“Those people have got as much chance as anyone.”
“With no fuel? With no food?”
“Those people have been happy for minions to run around after them for most of their lives. They’re about to find out what life is really like now.”
“Will you at least tell me this—will we have enough people to survive, to build a community like they have here?”
“Yes and more besides. We should have about four hundred men and women all told. Every last one of them sick to the teeth of running around after those over-privileged pissants, every last one of them willing to do whatever it takes to survive. A lot of them were mercenaries who went into private security, but we’ve got a few who are just servants, nannies to the wealthy, but with good skills. The kind of skills we’ll need. We’ve got crew and engineers, useful people, people in charge of the supplies. A lot of them have been in the forces and then found regular jobs. But most importantly of all, we’ll have the arms cache. That’s the only currency worth squat now. That and fuel.”
“You say good people. Would
good people really be thinking about doing this? About invading, occupying somebody else’s land?”
“It’s the apocalypse, Angel, or haven’t you been keeping up with the headlines? It’s survival of the fittest, and these people have lasted longer than I’d have given them credit for, but Jesus, communal breakfasts and suppers? A roof over the head of every straggler who wanders into this place? That kind of red liberal commie bullshit will be the end of them. And if it wasn’t us doing it, it would be someone else.”
“Spoken like a true Christian.”
“You can mock me, but this place will be our fortress, and by taking the food from The Ark, we’ll have time to settle ourselves before the next growing season starts. We’ll keep the fishing boats running and, who knows, maybe we can send out the odd hunting party, get ourselves some prime highland venison.”
“You make it sound idyllic, but it still means we’re putting the people we set sail with from Texas to their deaths.”
“No. It doesn’t mean anything of the kind. We’re not killing them. We’re just making them work. They’ll have every chance to escape that boat and fend for themselves.” I will never be able to tell her the truth, so let her believe one last fairy tale. “Hell, they’ve still got some fuel, enough to get to shore. They could get themselves another fleet, who knows, they might even find a place like this. But they’re not our responsibility. We need to think about ourselves. Hey, if you’re getting cold feet—”
“I’m not getting cold feet, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
“Noah and me. For a long, long time, it’s just been a business arrangement between the two of us. I’ve had my lovers, he’s had his, although the last few years he hasn’t really been interested in that. We’ve led separate lives. We've loved each other, we’ve hated each other, we’ve tolerated each other, but if ever one of us was in trouble, I mean real trouble, we’ve stood our ground together. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I know that’s a pretty screwed-up idea of what a marriage should be, but it’s worked for us up until now.”
“The now being that you’re going to leave him on board that ship with the rest of them. Don’t get me wrong, Noah’s always been alright by me, even when you and I had our thing, but I can tell you he wouldn’t have the stomach for this. This is about survival.”
Safe Haven (Book 6): Is This The End of Everything? Page 10
