Safe Haven (Book 6): Is This The End of Everything?

by Artinian, Christopher

  Mike caught movement out of the corner of his eye. It was someone lurking behind a tree that bordered the car park. Was that one of them? Was that one of the enemy? Safe Haven had an open-door policy. They took in refugees on a regular basis and, providing they were happy to have the physical examination to check they hadn’t been bitten or scratched and that they were willing to work at whatever job they were given, they were given accommodation and food. There were often faces Mike didn’t recognise, but, given the circumstances, he wondered now if this was one of the spies the voice on the radio had warned of. He climbed down off the bench and headed into the pub. Kirsty followed him.

  They entered the main lounge and Meg, Jenny’s dog, lifted her head up, looked at the two of them and brought it to rest once more on the thick rug in front of the fireplace. Even when there was no fire burning, that was her favourite place to while away her days. “So this is it then?” Kirsty said. “Everything we’ve worked for, we’re just handing it over.”

  Mike carried on walking. “Maybe,” he replied as he began to climb the stairs to Jenny’s flat.

  “Err, Mike, where are you going?”

  He didn’t respond but reached the top of the flight and walked along the hallway to the main bedroom. He stopped just back from the window. The crowd outside were talking and pointing in various directions, dividing up the village to spread the grave news. “You see that guy?” he said, gesturing to the far corner of the car park and the figure he had seen two minutes before.

  Kirsty sidled up beside him. “Yeah.”

  “You recognise him?”

  “Well, it’s difficult to see him properly, he’s not exactly out in the open, but, no, can’t say I know him, why?” The men and women in the car park began to disperse and almost as soon as Kirsty had stopped speaking, the mystery man vanished behind the tree and out of sight. She and Mike kept a vigil for a few more seconds, but he did not re-emerge.

  Mike turned to look at Kirsty. “Whoever these people are, they’re well organised. I thought that when they talked about having spies, they might have been bluffing, but I’m pretty certain they’re not.”

  “I don’t understand why we can’t take the vehicles, it would be much quicker.”

  “I told you they want everything. You know how precious fuel is, they want that too. I sent Talikha to organise Richard and David then get to my family almost as soon as the broadcast had finished. I figured there’d be a few minutes’ grace. They’d appreciate not everyone would have heard the instructions, but I wouldn’t want to press our luck.”

  Kirsty looked confused. “I don’t understand. You sent Talikha? How come you didn’t go?”

  Mike brushed his hand over his face. “Lucy, Em, Jen, Raj, Jules, George, Hughes, Shaw, none of them are making it out of that hall alive. They’ve got a few hours while we get everyone out then that’s it.”

  “But they’ve said if we try anything, all bets are off.”

  “That’s why I can’t make a move until everybody else is safe.”

  “Mike, that’s madness. They’re coming in on those big ships, there’s going to be a whole army in Safe Haven before long. What can one man do against an army?”

  “I suppose we’re about to find out.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “He specifically asked for Richard and me to do this?” David asked again.

  The men and women at George’s workshop were already making preparations to leave when Talikha had pulled up outside.

  “For the third time, yes. Now, it is of vital importance that you do this. Mike has put his faith in you,” Talikha replied.

  “Oh, goodness me.” It was Richard who spoke this time. “I can feel my hives are getting ready to break out.”

  “Look, you are very methodical, very thorough, and that is just what this requires. It is of paramount importance that this is done with all possible haste.”

  “Maybe we should draw up a plan,” David said.

  “No!” Talikha even shocked herself with the sternness of her tone. “No,” she said again, softer this time. “There is no time. We must start this now. I have to collect Sammy, Jake and Wren, and then I will join you.” She looked towards Richard then David. “We have been through a lot together. We have always depended on others to guide us, now it is their turn to depend on us.”

  There was a short pause as the enormity of Talikha’s words sank in then a knowing nod shared between all three of them.

  “You’re right,” Richard said. “You’re right.”

  “I will see you shortly,” Talikha replied then turned to leave.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Mike had formed a plan in his head long before leaving the pub, in fact soon after he had given Talikha her instructions. There was no way he could have told anyone else. There was no way he could even have spoken it out loud for that matter. Just the thought of carrying it out made him shiver, but it was the one chance, the one glimmer of hope he had.

  There was no way he could have been seen by spies or anyone as he slipped out of the back door of the Haven Arms and into the woods. He arrived at the infirmary to find that it had already been evacuated and all that remained were four empty static caravans.

  Mike kept his eyes peeled to make sure there were no mysterious strangers looking in his direction before breaking cover and running across to the entrance of Ward One, where he had said goodbye to Talikha just a short time before.

  He climbed the steps, opened the door, and there in the corner where he had left it was his rucksack. Just carrying it would be a death sentence if he was seen. The crisscrossed machete handles protruding from it would have been enough to signal his intent, but if anyone opened it up to look inside it, they would see a shotgun, shells, Lucy’s Glock 17, a couple of spare magazines as well as screwdrivers, a crowbar and a couple of knives. Up until a few days ago, it had been gathering dust in the back of their car, but now the familiar backpack had been forced out of retirement.

  Mike slid the straps onto his shoulders, returned to the door, and scoured the landscape before sprinting back across to the woods. Where he was going nobody would think of looking for him.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Talikha brought the car to a stop and pulled on the handbrake outside of Mike’s house. She turned to look at Humphrey. “I know, boy, I’m scared too,” she said then reached across and gently stroked his head. “Come on.” She opened the door, climbed out, and Humphrey followed her. They had only just reached the garden gate when the front door swung open, and Wolf bounded out towards the Labrador Retriever. The two greeted each other, wagged their tails and disappeared into the house. Wren was waiting at the door with a smile on her face.

  “Hi,” she said, “there’s only me, Sammy, Jake and Tabby here if you’re looking for Mike or Lucy.”

  “No, I have come to see you.”

  “Sounds ominous,” Wren replied, still smiling, but as she looked into Talikha’s sad and frightened eyes, the smile washed off her face. “What’s happened?”

  “I need to speak to you and Tabitha away from the children.”

  “Okay, but you’re starting to scare me. What’s going on?”

  A few minutes later, Talikha had relayed the events to Wren and Tabby in the kitchen while Sammy and Jake were entertained by Humphrey and Wolf in the living room.

  “Oh my God!” Tabby said.

  “Grandad’s there.”

  “I know, Wren. Raj is in there too.”

  “Where’s Mike now?” Wren asked.

  “I have no idea. He asked me to come here and make sure that the four of you got to safety.”

  “But he’s not leaving?”

  “I don’t know what Mike is doing; I am just doing what he asked me to.”

  “I don’t understand. If they gave these instructions, and he tries something, then it doesn’t make any difference if it’s one man or all of Safe Haven, they’ll retaliate.”

  “Wren, please, I have no idea what he has in mind, but I
know that he would never do anything to jeopardise the safety of those nine people who are being held hostage or any of us.”

  “Well, by the sounds of it, if they see him, he already is jeopardising their safety.”

  “Look, I understand your concerns, I share them equally; however, the best course of action we can take is to do as he has asked.”

  “I’ll go get the children ready,” Tabby said, leaving Talikha and Wren alone.

  “I have known Mike for a long time. I trust him with my life. I trust him with Raj’s life. If there is a chance, he is the one who will find it.”

  Wren stared at Talikha. She remembered back to the first time she saw Mike, trapped in the snow, on the verge of being made mincemeat by a horde of rampaging infected. “I suppose you’re right.” Almost as if he sensed Wren’s distress, Wolf appeared at the door. “I’ll go get Daisy and then we can set off.” Wren headed out of the kitchen and Wolf followed.

  A few minutes passed, and when she did not return, Talikha went outside to see what the hold-up was. She walked around the house to the lean-to that housed Daisy, Mike’s gran’s beloved goat. The animal was happily bedded down, chewing away on some grass. “Wren?” Talikha called, but there was no reply. “Wren?” she shouted this time, running to the side of the house to get a view of the track leading up to the road, but there was no sign of anyone. Talikha clenched her fists and closed her eyes. Part of her wanted to jump in the car and go looking for Wren; part of her wanted to scream and cry at the top of her voice, to shout to the gods to protect her husband; but she did neither. She coaxed Daisy out of her little home, attached the short length of rope around her neck that was hanging by the shelter door, and made her way back around the front of the house to where Tabby, Sammy, Jake and Humphrey were all patiently waiting.

  “Where’s Wren?” Sammy asked.

  “She’s going to catch up with us later,” Talikha replied sadly, knowing it wouldn’t be the last lie she told that day.

  chapter 18

  Noah stood in front of the window, looking out over the glimmering sea and massaging his temples in the hope that the gentle action might relieve the hammering headache he had been suffering since soon after waking up that morning.

  The luxury ship was in an uproar. Breakfast had still not been served. Madison and dozens of others had demanded to see Noah but to no avail. He had sequestered himself and his two bodyguards away in a vacant cabin. Eventually, he turned around to look at Doug then Viktor. “Okay, take it from the top, one last time, because as much as I want to stay in here for the rest of the day, at some stage I’m going to have to go out there and explain what’s going on.”

  “Sir, the inventory officer isn’t on board; he must have helped them and gone with them. His deputy and the head chef reckon we might have three days’ food left at the most.”

  “Yeah, yeah, that much has sunk in. Go over the rest of it again.”

  “Mr Jackson, we’re missing a lot of the crew. My guess is there’ll be a lot of pissed-off people out there who are missing members of their entourage too. This was well planned, sir. Both the ship and the lifeboats have been drained of fuel, and even if that wasn’t the case, the engines and controls have been sabotaged. This ship isn’t going anywhere. The armoury looks just like the pantry, lots of empty shelves and very little else.”

  Noah turned back towards the window. “Angel, what have you done to me?” he asked under his breath. He looked at his watch. “Shit, it’s getting on towards lunchtime and we ain’t even served breakfast. Do me a favour.” He turned back around. “Viktor, head down and tell the chef to start serving breakfast. Then go find Madison. Tell him to round up his cronies and meet me in the dining room.”

  “Yes, sir,” Viktor said, immediately disappearing out of the door.

  “What do you want me to do, Mr Jackson?”

  “I need you to stay the fuck with me and make sure your weapon’s loaded. When they find out what my wife’s done to us, they’re going to want someone’s blood, and even money I’ll be that someone.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The radio hissed to life. “Troy, this is Santos. Over.”

  Troy unclipped the handset from his belt. “Santos, this is Troy. Go ahead. Over.”

  “The village is nearly clear. They’re emptying the last few houses now. What do you want us to do? Over.”

  “When everyone’s out, post two guards on the north approach. We’ve already got our team in place on the east approach, so we don’t need to worry about that. It’s going to take them a few hours to make that trail. When the reinforcements arrive, have a team do regular sweeps up and down the coast in a vehicle. Make sure everybody sticks to the plan. You know what to do if they try anything. Stay in regular contact. Over.”

  “Message received and understood. Over and out.”

  The radio went silent and Troy slid it back onto his belt. “Well, it looks like your friends are all playing nice.”

  “They didn’t really have a lot of options, did they?” Shaw replied.

  A cruel smile curled up the corners of Troy’s mouth. “Everybody has choices.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Mike sat down on the sturdy wooden bench. He had lost count of how many times he had been to the cemetery. He had helped dig more than his fair share of graves, and now, as the outlines of the first tall ships appeared on the horizon, he wondered if he would ever dig another. There was a sad resignation to what he was doing. He knew that the chances of his actions allowing him, Lucy, Emma and the rest of them to escape into the sunset unharmed were a million to one, but doing nothing was not an option. He couldn’t join the rest of them on their march out of Safe Haven.

  Talikha was an intelligent woman. She had a sound medical knowledge and a sensible head on her shoulders. Wren had survived out there for months by herself, she was a fighter. As long as Sammy and Jake were with them, they would be okay. But the chances of everyone surviving without the infrastructure that had been put into place in Safe Haven to protect them were slim.

  Mike reached into his rucksack and pulled out a bottle of water. He took a drink then regarded it for a few seconds. This was from the well at home. It was probably the last water he would ever drink from it. As much as it tantalised him, as much as he would like to drink it all as the sun beat down upon him, he knew he would need it later, so he screwed the top back on and returned it to his backpack.

  He sat a while longer, enjoying the serenity. The cemetery was well off the beaten track. There were no houses around, and it was on a long-neglected road. He watched the flotilla of ships and boats move forever closer. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

  He finally stood up and walked to the rickety shed in the far corner of the burial ground. He opened it up and there in the corner was a selection of spades. He grabbed a long-handled stainless steel one and headed back out to a freshly laid plot. There was a large wooden cross sunk deep into the dry brown earth. It read, “JOHN MASTERS, MUCH LOVED BROTHER OF BETH AND ANNIE. MAY HE REST IN PEACE.”

  A wave of guilt swept over Mike as he read the words. He wished John could rest in peace, but, unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Thiago and his vast team had sprung into action as soon as the word had come down from above that breakfast was to be served. The bakery had long since delivered the bread, possibly the last bread that would ever be served on The Ark. The massive galley was a throng of activity as trolleys started to be wheeled out. Steam rose from various urns, plates clattered, orders were shouted down the line, and every member of staff in the place was doing their best to subdue the angry growls from their almost empty stomachs. They had taken hurried and hungry bites from rolls and croissants while preparing a much slimmed down breakfast experience, but the passengers, especially these passengers, were the most important ones.

  As more and more trolleys of food and drink made their way out of the doors, Thiago started to relax a little. He was down quit
e a few staff that morning; he could only assume they had disappeared in the night as well, so he found himself mucking in wherever he was needed. Right now, he was scooping strawberry jam from a tin, which was about half the size of the average beer barrel, into bijou terracotta serving pots. This was his second trolley. The first was already being pushed out to the dining room.

  “We should be starting lunch now, never mind breakfast,” said Timo, the man doing the same job on the opposite side of the preparation table.

  “We shouldn’t be starting anything. We should be rationing what we’ve got more than ever,” Thiago replied.

  “The bread was already made. It’s not like we could let it go to waste.”

  “It wouldn’t go to waste. In three days’ time, when there is nothing left but tomato ketchup and mayo, trust me, these people with all their airs and graces would kill for a piece of stale bread.”

  “It won’t happen. They’ll come up with a plan. They always do.”

  Thiago shook his head. “You have too much faith.”

  “They gave us the scavenger fleet, didn’t they? They will sort something out.”

  Thiago looked across at Timo to see if he was joking, and when he saw he wasn’t, he shook his head again with more frustration this time. Am I the only one who can see what’s going on here? He returned to his work and, aware that there would be lengthening queues at the buffet tables, picked up his pace. A big glob of jam spilt over the sides of the pot he was holding and landed on his thumb. “Dammit,” he said, wrapping his lips over the red splodge then wiping the rim of the small pot. He carried on to the next and was about to fill that when he stopped.

  Despite all the noise going on in the kitchen, Timo noticed that the rhythmic clink from across the preparation counter had come to a stop. “What is it?”