‘Who is running the camp?’
‘Bill Grayson, the member of parliament for Edinburgh, and the community.’
‘Did you visit the camp, and inspect it?’
‘We did sir, I can confirm the camp was secure, with decent security in place.’
‘Do they have any females at the camp?’
‘Although we didn’t see any, Grayson confirmed they did have a group of females within their ranks. We did advise they would be safer at Camp Blue, but Grayson was not interested.’
‘I was informed by Sergeant Charles, that a child was brought back to the camp, and is now in the medical centre. Can you elaborate on this please?’
‘Yes sir, we found a girl on the final day of the mission, whose father had died. We brought her back to the camp, and she is now being observed by medical staff.’
‘Do we know anything about her?’
‘Not really sir, she hasn’t spoken as yet. The nurses have named her Bella, until she tells them otherwise. She has taken a liking to Ian sir, the first child ever to do so.’
Sergeant Davis smiled at his brother, who smiled back.
‘Is she healthy Sergeant Davis?’
‘Yes sir we believe so. I little undernourished, as to be expected, but healthy. She is lucky, if Nathan hadn’t found her she would have died within days.’
A few other less interesting points were made, before General Morris opened the floor to questions, the first of which came from a member of Blue and White Company. ‘Captain Murphy, Blue and White Company. Will the camp be making a fresh appeal to bring the females at Camp Paula back to Camp Blue? Their security, although acceptable, would not hold up to a moderate attack by Torriero.’
‘I will discuss the subject with the other generals, and we may put it to the vote. Resources are presently stretched, and with the future still somewhat clouded, it may not be the right time.’
‘Sergeant Painter, The Imps Company. Are the Pentland Hills the only area with reports of kuru? Is there not a strong possibility of similar issues around other impact zones? And finally, will Camp Blue be organising any missions to the country’s other bomb sites, to confirm they are clear of this disease?’
‘Much the same as the last question, we are stretched at the moment and will discuss all the points raised today, but they will be dealt with in order of importance. With regards to any other possible sites, we’ve not had any other reports of sightseeing or rumors, and this camp takes people in from all over the country.’
After a few seemingly pointless questions, the final comment was an interesting observation, that I hadn’t considered.
‘Sergeant Marsh, Latics Company. I think a bigger worry in the long run will be the possible spread of the disease via animals. There is no real way to cull the animals that had been feeding on the remains of those infected, the resources needed are well beyond our means. We probably don’t even know a tenth of what animals are infected.’
‘I’m not sure on the technicalities of the disease. Sergeant Davis, you have a better understanding.’
‘Yes General Morris, I believe the only known way to contract the disease is to ingest infected flesh, a possible reason some of the infected had deteriorated so quickly is they could have been given the brains to eat, which are known to infect more people. The camp in the Pentland Hills had buckets of waste body parts including heads, which if fed to humans over the past few months, could have infected them. There is no evidence to suggest that you can contract the disease from an attack by an infected animal.’
‘What about eating infected animal meat?’
After a short pause for thought, Sergeant Davis attempted to answer the question. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know General Morris, further research may need to be undertaken.’
When the meeting had finished, Sergeant Davis waited around to speak to the generals on his own, and finalised the paperwork, as the rest of us went to get an early lunch. With still no sign of Keane, we decided to go to the medical centre, and see how he was doing, I might also get chance to see the little girl. The Camp had raided the Preston Royal Hospital in the months since the attack, bringing any patients who were still alive back to the camp. They also brought back forty beds, a collection of useful if basic surgical equipment, and a vast multitude of medication. The Medical Centre was located in a large detached property, directly behind the hotel. It was previously owned by the Latvian business man who built the hotel, and was his family home before bankruptcy forced him to leave the country. The building, although empty for over thirty years, had been maintained by the new owners of the hotel, even though they hadn’t lived in it. The house was painted white, like the hotel, with a slate roof, and a large garden. Of the forty beds, in four rooms on two floors, only six were unoccupied. Some patients were wounded soldiers, but there were also twenty four civilians, with varying illnesses, and a group of elderly suffering from malnutrition. Keane was even grumpier than I’d been treated to before, ‘I’ve been fucking sat here for three hours’ he spat, shuffling in his chair uncomfortably. ‘I’m deemed not life threatening, if you could die of boredom, I was clinically dead two hours ago.’
The bandages had been removed from his arm, with the wounds getting an airing. They had scabbed over, and much of the redness and inflammation had gone.
‘And I’m out of action for two weeks, when there’s nothing wrong with me.’
‘We will be no nearer war in two weeks’ I replied, ‘Just relax for a change.’
‘It’s typical army bullshit, and I’ve had fucking enough of it.’
I tried to lighten Keane’s mood, but he was stubborn and refused to cheer up. I left him to stew in his own self pity, and headed to the next ward, where the young girl we brought back was recuperating. I found her in a bed on Ward Two, in a fresh pair of pyjamas. I almost didn’t recognise her she was so clean, the dirt had been hiding a beautiful little girl, with light brown hair, and a fair completion, but still no voice. She looked uneasy in her bed, with her red eyes telling the story of her day. As I approached, her eyes lit up, maybe a face amongst many strangers she recognised. She was laying under the covers of her bed, propped up with the hospital cushions, and a collection of cuddly toys surrounding her. She started to cry a little, so I tried to reassure her, she was in a safe place now. The nurses told me she had pretty much cried the whole time she had been awake, until around seven am when she fell asleep. They had checked her over, with nothing serious discovered, but they would keep an eye on her weight and an infection in a wound on her left leg. I still couldn’t get her to speak, I might bring Emma and the boys with me next time I visit her, Emma has a way with young children. As it was getting close to dinner time, I decided to go a few minutes early, to see if I could get a word with Lauren. It was still thirty minutes off dinner when I got to the hall, but I convinced the chefs to break off their prep to give me some food early. By the time the children started appearing, I was just finishing my sausage stew. Mrs Brownhill arrived, with three children in tow.
‘See there he is’ shouted Emma, pointing in my general direction.
‘Oh yes’ replied Mrs Brownhill. ‘I’m glad to see the mission was a success Nathan.’
I smiled at her as Bernard arrived, and sat the children down for their dinner, looking a bit tired himself. I think this is possibly the busiest he’s been for years, certainly physically. I asked Lauren how the children had been over the past few days.
‘They have been fine Nathan’ she replied. ‘Emma has been her normal confident self helping me to run the class. James has been making new friends, even Josh has been chatting more. They have been learning a bit more about World War One, making a family tree out of paper and glue, and learning how to make a fire.’
‘That’s good, keeping them busy.’
‘Yeah, we are trying to keep i
t fun, but instill a few skills into them. We will be covering basic defensive moves, making drinking water from rain and catching and killing wild animals in future lessons.’
‘Have you seen much of Shazia and the children?’
‘Nadim, Erina and Elma have been turning up late to classes if at all, in dirty clothes and looking unwashed. I think I will have a word with General Brown to see if I can get someone from social care to speak to her. She’s been signed off work for a few weeks, but nobody has seen much of her, I might get the camp priest to have a chat too.’
‘It might be worth it.’
I left Lauren with one final child still waiting to be collected, and joined Bernard and the children at their table. They all looked as tired as Bernard, maybe the long winter nights were catching up with everyone. When we got back to the room, the children were asleep within thirty minutes, so I headed off to the bar, to see if any of the lads had felt in need of a beer. As I arrived, Little D and Murphy were helping Keane out of the front door and back to his room. He had spent the remainder of the day getting drunk, after finally seeing the doctor, and receiving his verdict. He looked a little worse for wear, with red eyes, and stumbling feet. I saw Sergeant Davis and Rhino at a table, so went to join them. The table was littered with bottles of beer, some empty, some full, I picked up a full one and took a swig. ‘You spoke to General Morris about the girl Chris?’ I said, acknowledging them both as I sat down.
‘Yeah, no problems, no awkward questions, just accepted our story. Just hope she doesn’t become chatty, and contradict our chain of events.’
‘She won’t’ said Rhino. ‘It’s going to take some work getting anything out of her.’
‘Ian is going to keep an eye on her’ continued Sergeant Davis. ‘I think he’s taken a liking to her.’
‘Was General Morris happy with how the mission went?’
‘He was happy with the mission, less impressed with my paperwork. I hate all that bullshit, it’s becoming a joke.’
‘What paperwork can you do for a job like that?’
‘I’ll show you sometime’ he smiled, as Little D and Murphy arrived back.
‘Still going on about the fucking paperwork Chris?’ Laughed his brother.
‘You’ll have to deal with this shit too if you want a career in the army’ he replied, smiling at him.
‘What weren’t they happy about?’ Said Murphy, grabbing himself a beer.
‘They were concerned with our identification process, and whether we were thorough enough.’
‘They wanna come face to face with a group of those fuckers, and see how long it takes them to identify carriers’ spat Rhino. ‘We should have brought some of them back, and thrown them onto the stage with them.’
‘Can you imagine?’ Laughed Little D, ‘General Brown would be off like a rocket, like the day the supply run to Preston brought back some butter pies!’
‘Is there anything you want me to do?’ I said, finishing my beer and grabbing another.
‘There is as it happens’ replied Sergeant Davis, moving a little closer so I could hear as he whispered. ‘With Father Christmas due to visit the camp at the end of the month, could you organise a quick calculation of how many presents we are going to need? Boys and girls. The information should be available through the census, if you speak to Officer Farrell on reception, he’ll point you in the right direction. The toys we brought back from the theme park are still locked up in the back of the Viking, located on the north west carpark behind the hotel. I’ve just got too much on at the moment, to be sorting that shit out as well.’
‘Yeah no worries.’
‘If we still need more presents, write up a list and pass it on to General Harris, explaining the situation. He’ll get a supply run sent out. I spoke to General Morris about you too Nathan, told him how impressed I was with you, and how you’ve slotted into the team.’
‘Thanks, that’s much appreciated. You guys have made it easy, made me feel welcome. How did Keane take the news?’
‘Not very well, as you can imagine. We’ve all had to sit out at one time or another, he’s just an impatient bastard.’
As we sat drinking, the room started to spin around my head, and I decided I’d had enough, feeling tired myself. I said my farewells and headed back to the room to finish the days entry, and get a good nights sleep. Sorry if this entry has been less descriptive than normal, as I started writing, tiredness caught up with me, and I rushed a bit to finish it.
8/12/2029 - Time 11:30
A large explosion rattled the hotel in the early hours of the morning, I sat up in bed and listened. Bernard was sat up too, we looked at each other bemused. ‘There’s no recruits training this morning’ he said.
‘What the hell was that then?’
‘I don’t know.’
I looked at my watch, which said three thirty nine am. The children were still asleep, so I told Bernard to wait with them while I went to investigate. I ran through the corridor and out of the hotel. I looked to my left, where a large funnel of smoke was pumping into the dark sky, lit from below by a fire. There were soldiers running around, with voices full of panic. I ran to the entrance of the football stadium, where Captain Jones was handing out rifles. I took one and followed the other soldiers towards Security Base Delta. The scene when I arrived was chaotic, gunfire and shouting. The smoke was coming from a truck on fire, smashed into the terraced houses to the left of the security base, thirty yards into the camp. There was a hole in the metal fence, where the vehicle had ploughed through, before hitting the houses. Another fire was blazing in the tram, used as the security office. It wasn’t until I got closer that I saw another vehicle on fire, impaled in the tram. Bullets flew over my head as I ducked for cover, realising I was in plain sight. I retreated towards a group of soldiers who were gathered around the nearest vehicle, as the houses surrounding it started to catch fire. There was a wounded soldier in the road, between us and the other vehicle at the entrance. Bullets were being exchanged between the soldiers and the enemy, still outside the camp. The wounded soldier was on his back, and was dragging his body back towards us. ‘Get down officer’ shouted the soldier on my left. I looked at his name tag, which said Captain Gossard, before asking him what the situation was.
‘The spotter for Security Base Delta raised the alarm at three thirty one, two vehicles were approaching at speed, we had no further reports and found this situation when we arrived.’
‘Do you know who is alive, and how many attackers there are?’
‘I haven’t seen or heard anything from the security guards, I presume they were in the tram. There were three bodies in this vehicle before it set fire, all dead. I think there is only one attacker left, he shot the solider in the road after he went out to investigate.’
Captain Gossard ordered two of us to run across to the other side of the road, and supply covering fire as they tried to move around the target. We crouched down, and sprinted across the road, jumping into a door entrance. Captain Gossard signalled for us to fire, which we did, into the area around the vehicle. They ran forward, stopping where the metal fence met the terraced houses. We waited for any return fire, but there was only silence. ‘Come out with your hands in the air’ shouted Captain Gossard, to which he got no response. After a few minutes shouting, and no gun fire, I left my position to help the wounded soldier, as Captain Gossard moved to apprehend the enemy. When I reached him, I realised it was Little D.
‘Are you ok?’ I shouted, searching for cover.
‘Yeah I think so, just a wound to my leg.’
I lifted him onto my back, like in training, and carried him to the doorway, where I laid him back down. At that point, the other soldiers had surrounded the burning vehicle, and emerged with one man, restrained. There was a substantial amount of blood coming from Little D’s leg, I
put my fingers through hole in his pants and tore the material open. There was a small hole in his thigh, about the size of a penny, with blood oozing out. I felt around under his leg, and found an exit wound, also losing blood.
‘It’s just a flesh wound’ I said, pushing down on the hole with my hand.
‘It’s not hit anything?’
‘No, straight in and out, no bones hit.’
I tore the remainder of his trouser leg off, and wrapped it around his thigh, tying it tight across the wound. I told him not to move, as I helped make sure the area was secure, and the attack over. I held my rifle out, at forty five degrees, and crept along the roadside, towards the burning tram. I searched in every doorway, turning my tactical light on to help visibility. The heat was intense, I couldn’t get close to the vehicle to see if anyone was still inside it, if there was, they were dead. I searched the area around the edge of the fireball, but found no one alive, just two bodies outside the tram, and one inside, although I couldn’t get close to it. The body inside the tram looked like one of our men, wearing an army uniform, but I couldn’t get close enough to confirm. We had to let the fires burn, it was twenty minutes before a fire engine was brought around to the front, and another ten minutes before a connection to water was fashioned. By that point, over one hundred soldiers had arrived, with a heavy armed presence visible. Four Vikings left the camp, to search the surrounding area for any signs of Torriero’s men, as the vehicle wreckage was moved, and work started on patching up the security. Little D was helped into the back of a Viking, and driven off to the medical centre, as the military machine started to grind. We were ordered to leave by the sergeant of Baggies Company, a team of soldiers set up to deal with attacks on the base. There were seven other companies, with similar objectives, as the security around the base was put on high alert. I headed back to my room at around five am, finding everyone asleep, so I led down and tried to get some shut eye. I listened to the noises outside the hotel, as work continued on strengthening the camp walls. I never got back to sleep, soon the children were up, and so was Bernard. As they played, blissfully unaware of anything, Bernard and I discussed what had happened.
Aftermath: The complete collection Page 40
