Aftermath: The complete collection

by John Wilkinson

  ‘Why would they attack with such a small, ineffectual team?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know, it doesn’t sit right with me either.’

  ‘They cannot have hoped to achieve anything.’

  ‘Unless they were just testing us, seeing how we dealt with it.’

  ‘Maybe, they had hundreds in the camp outside Preston, this was nothing. They were expendable. Torriero was happy to lose them all, maybe the fighter we captured will give us information.’

  ‘Who took him?’

  ‘I didn’t recognise them, they were high ranking military who removed him.’

  As Bernard took the children for breakfast, I thought I would have a look around the camp, see what was happening. It seemed different, there was an odd atmosphere around the place, with military men striding around the camp with a purpose. I’m not sure if the general community knew what had happened, but they knew something wasn’t right. There was a lot more security visible, on patrols and talking to the residents. But no one of any real rank, I asked one of the guards outside the football stadium, where the military hierarchy was. He explained the sergeants meeting in the morning had been cancelled, and an emergency meeting had been called. I couldn’t get to within thirty yards of the stadium entrance, a large armed presence was keeping everyone out. I decided to see the extent of Little D’s injury, and headed around the back of the hotel to the Medical Centre. There I found him on the first ward, leg bandaged up, and chatting up the nurses.

  ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Like I’ve been shot in the leg.’

  ‘I see you’re making yourself at home’ I said, smiling at the nurses hovering around his bed.

  ‘Almost worth the bullet, for a little female company.’

  ‘I can believe it is. Has your brother been to see you yet?’

  ‘He dropped in for a couple of minutes, before he was called into the military meeting.’

  ‘They’ve been in there hours.’

  ‘If they are voting on our next move, they could be in all day.’

  ‘You think that’s what they’re doing?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘That was not an attempt to start a war, and if we treat it as such, we will play right into their hands.’

  ‘Maybe, maybe not, but it was provocation.’

  ‘How did you find yourself in the firing line?’

  ‘There was a lock-in at the bar, military only. We didn’t have much on today, just a little weapons practice, so I was in it for the long haul. There was only five of us left by the time the walkie talkie message came through, the older gents just cannot hack it. By the time I got to the security base, the first vehicle had hit the tram, and exploded. The second vehicle smashed through the metal fencing heading towards me. I shot at the tyre, and then the driver, causing it to swerve off the road, and into the buildings on the left.’

  ‘How did you get shot?’

  ‘I went to investigate the first vehicle crash, I didn’t realise anyone was alive, a bullet rang out and dropped me like a stone. I was really rather drunk, although I sobered up pretty damn quick, getting shot has that effect. Has the man arrested said anything? I assume they’ve questioned him.’

  ‘I’m not sure, I’ll try and find out when I leave here.’

  I left Little D as the nurses arrived back with his lunch, and went to get mine, and write this up.

  8/12/2029 - Time 23:50

  I looked up at the windows of the football stadium as I walked past, and could see men in military suits, pacing the meeting room, looking flustered. They’d been locked in the room for hours now, with still no sign they were done. Around the camp, the atmosphere resembled Rome, when the College of Cardinals are deliberating over a new pope. I wasn’t allowed near the prisoner, the security around him was as tight as I have seen. I spoke briefly with a guard outside the prison block, who told me what little he knew.

  ‘They’ve given the lad a going over, trying to glean as much information as they can. But he’s not talking, not giving anything away.’

  ‘What have they been doing to him?’

  ‘I don’t know, I don’t see what’s going on. But it doesn’t sound enjoyable, this is war now, we have to resort to their level of barbarism.’

  I’m not sure I agreed with the young guards view point, but I could understand it, and didn’t fully disagree.

  ‘Apparently, the lad never changed his stance’ he continued. ‘Kept repeating the same strange line.’

  ‘I know what you’re planning, Torriero will prevail.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘No idea. But he kept repeating it.’

  With time moving on, I went to see if we were any closer to a decision at the meeting, but the doors were still closed and the consensus within the waiting guards was they were still hours away. Armed with that knowledge, and still a few hours away from picking the children up for dinner, I decided to get Sergeant Davis’ Santa list underway. I walked into the hotel looking for Officer Farrell, and found him sat at the reception desk playing Shit Head with Private Chadwick.

  ‘Ssshhh’ said Officer Farrell loudly. ‘He’s here. If it isn’t Camp Blues kuru killer, how can we help you?’

  ‘I need to help Father Christmas with his deliveries this festive season, and make sure no children at Camp Blue are left out.’

  ‘Oh yes, Davis mentioned something about that’ he replied, handing me the latest census, and rummaging around under his desk for the older version.

  ‘Here you are’ he said, handing me a large tatty book, held together with elastic bands.

  ‘Ages and sex are in the right hand column, you should have everything you need there.’

  I thanked him, and moved to a quieter part of the camp to start the process. On the fifth floor, workmen were building a library, for the thousands of books obtained by the camp, with nowhere to live. The room was a shell at the moment, with dusty bookcases positioned ready to be filled, but there were also tables and chairs, which I made use of. I decided eleven was the cut off age, and set about collating the name, age, sex and room number of every child below that age. I thumbed through the pages, marking them all in my diary. It took around two hours to complete, in the end, I had a list of one thousand, five hundred and forty two children under the age of eleven, with a split of around nine hundred of which were boys. Armed with my list, I went to see how many presents we had brought back from the theme park, which were still in the back of the Viking.

  I counted twenty bags with around thirty toys in each, most of which could be considered suitable for either sex. So we still needed around nine hundred presents, a tall ask. I tore the pages out of my diary, and filled in any more information I could think of, folded it all up and put it in my back pocket. I will need to speak to General Harris about the list when I get chance, but that might not be anytime soon. By the time I had finished, a large gathering had started to form outside the stadium, and rumors were passing freely from one man to another. Everyone was excited, a decision had been made and we would shortly know what was happening.

  ‘We are going to nuke those fuckers’ I heard one man say, to all that would listen. ‘It’s the only thing we can do, wipe them off the planet.’

  Well, I cannot believe they would be that fucking stupid, this is not yet the moment for war. We need to try and resolve this with diplomatic means first, if that fails, at least we tried. The excitement in the crowd was electric, a mixture of soldiers and camps community together, and we didn’t have to wait long until the meeting room started to empty, and all the sergeants came out in a line. They weren’t for giving anything away, and ignoring cries for information, they walked through the crowds and into the hotel. I followed, thinking I might see Sergeant Davis heading to his room, and sure enough I
met him there.

  ‘I cannot tell you what’s happening yet’ he said, opening his door as a few pieces of paper fell to the floor from under his arm. I picked them up, turning them the right way and handed them back to him. ‘Can you do me a favour Nathan?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Can you find Keane for me, tell him I have called a company meeting at five o’clock, to discuss future military matters.’

  ‘Ok, where at?’

  ‘We’ll do it in the bar, where else? You might even find him there. I’ll speak to Ian later, Rhino and Murphy already know.’

  I nodded my understanding, and went to the bar, as a flustered looking Davis continued into his room, with arms full of paperwork. Keane wasn’t in the bar, although a few soldiers claimed he had only left an hour previous, on his way to get some dinner. I found him in the dining hall on his floor, tucking into a plate of food.

  ‘Keane, Sergeant Davis has organised a company meeting at five in the bar.’

  ‘Great, I told you this fucking war would start before I was ready. The company will be sent out and I’ll have to wait until I get the all clear, by then you could be anywhere in the country.’ I didn’t believe that was the case, and my face must have said as much. ‘Anyway Nathan, with me missing from the current line up, I’m not sure you are rugged looking enough for Blue and White Company, we have a reputation to upkeep.’

  ‘Really? Not rugged enough?’

  ‘It’s your age really isn’t it. You’re just not as young as us fit, athletic soldiers. You cannot help it.’

  I laughed at Keane, he was managing to keep a straight face, so fair play to him, but I wasn’t going to let him off that easily.

  ‘What about you then?’

  ‘What about me?’

  ‘What’s that on your face?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Some men really shouldn’t grow a beard.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ He snapped back, stroking the end of his chin.

  ‘If you pucker up your lips for me, your face looks like an arsehole.’

  We both laughed, I think I’ve got the measure of Keane now, it took some time but I think he’s even starting to like me, maybe a little. After an early dinner, where I asked Bernard to take the children for me, I went to meet Blue and White Company in the bar. The doors were guarded by two soldiers, with no non-military allowed inside. The pub was full, packed to the rafters with soldiers, with the atmosphere buzzing. I noticed Blue and White Company, sat at a table by the bar, the same table they’re always sat at.

  ‘Sit down Nathan’ said Sergeant Davis, pushing a chair towards me. ‘We’re just waiting for Keane, did you speak to him?’

  ‘Yeah, I told him.’

  ‘Grab yourself a beer.’

  ‘You spent a little time with your children?’ Rhino asked, raising his voice over the rumble of conversation.

  ‘Yeah, it was nice. Great just been able to do nothing with them, spend some time in the company of people not affected by hate. What about you?’

  ‘Spent a few days with the boys, even went for a kick about on the sports ground yesterday, haven’t done that for a while. I always enjoy the rest and recuperation when army life affords it, Annette and I have lived like this for years, it’s nothing new.’

  Keane walked in and sat down, acknowledging his comrades.

  ‘Right everyone’s here’ remarked Sergeant Davis. ‘The generals of Camp Blue put forward the reasons for war against Torriero, and the creatures, should they prove to be a threat. Going to war was put to vote by all seven hundred and seventy three sergeants, with a decision agreed in principle by a majority of five hundred and thirty one in favour, to one hundred and thirty five against, the rest abstained. Before I go into the details, I want to show you some of the evidence put forward to us, that helped form our decision.’

  I looked at the faces of my comrades, each one telling a different story, and I couldn’t tell what any of them were, but I was bloody surprised. Sergeant Davis had his arms folded over a pile of papers, which he started to distribute to members of the company. There were some photocopied notes, but most intel came in the form of black and white Polaroid photographs. Each photo had a date between the end of November, and the beginning of December.

  ‘This one shows one of their training camps’ said Sergeant Davis, handing me a picture. I took it off him and looked at it, the photo was taken from some distance away, with around a hundred men during a rifle exersise. It looked rudimental, but training none the less. There was a photo showing stock piles of weapons inside a garage complex, including MG42 machine gun nests, decommissioned after world war two, and modern mortar systems, a very worrying sign. The amount of weapons they could call upon was vast, a collection Torriero is rumored to have been building well before this war. There was no evidence of tanks or other offensive military vehicles, which had been a concern, but that didn’t completely rule out the possibility. Nor chemical and biological weapons, something Torriero could have men working on, but there was no proof as yet. There were also large factories photographed within the camp, but as yet their use was unknown.

  ‘This was the deciding factor’ said Sergeant Davis, as he handed a photograph to his left. Rhino took it and stared at it for a few seconds, before passing it onto Murphy, working it’s way anticlockwise towards me. The photograph was of a truck full of people, being unloaded, and taken through the entrance to a restricted area. The photo was taken from a height, possibly from inside a building opposite, looking down at the scene below. All the people aboard the truck had bags over their heads, but one was circled, in red biro pen. As I looked closer at the circled silhouette, Sergeant Davis continued to speak. ‘This photo was taken just two days ago, we believe this is a truck full of females. Based on information obtained from the recently captured member of Torriero’s army, we believe these females are the relations of some men Torriero has forced to fight for him. Added to this, we understand certain brain washing techniques have been trialled on some fighters, instilling a belief it’s the army trying to kill their female family members, and Torriero is protecting them.’

  ‘How can anyone believe that bullshit?’ Murphy interjected.

  ‘These are desperate times, and desperate people. It isn’t hard to convince someone of an agenda, if they’re paranoid and scared.’

  The circled person did look female, the way their body arched as they were pushed from behind, silhouetted against the light in a puddle, revealed a definable female shape.

  ‘Where have all these photographs been taken?’ Keane asked, putting his empty bottle on the table.

  ‘We believe this is Torriero’s main camp situated in Leeds, and where his headquarters are. The camp is situated within a group of buildings on Great George Street, and surrounding area. The old town hall is the heaviest guarded, and probably the headquarters, with a few other noteworthy size buildings housing the soldiers, although we believe the camp is being extended as we speak. The area we believe the females are being kept in is towards the right hand side of the camp, and is restricted, with high barbed wire fencing and guard patrols. There are other civilians living inside Leeds, many of which are resorting to undertaking jobs for Torriero in exchange for food, which is scarce. Many of the locals have been made homeless, thrown out of their houses to make room for more fighters. Torriero has seized all food and drink within a five mile radius of the camp, and is using it as a bargaining tool.’

  ‘Is it believed Torriero is ready for war?’ Keane asked.

  ‘He has been moving weapons and men over the past month, preparing for something. We want to hit him before these plans have been fully realised.’

  ‘Are we making an attempt to save the females, held at Torriero’s camp? Rhino asked, a question that was on everyone’s lips.

  ‘The fact To
rriero has hold of a group of females has made our decision to go to war easier, and an attempt to rescue these females will be made at some point, but it is important to understand the task ahead, the overall defeat of Torriero and the creatures is our main objective. The generals have come to the conclusion, Torriero will continue to attack Camp Blue, putting lives at risk, with a high probability of war. Things are going to swing into action pretty quickly, the generals are presently working on the legality of the war, with offensive plans to be drawn up for approval from the day after tomorrow.’

  ‘We don’t even have a full squad’ laughed Murphy, pointing at Keane and his strapped up arm.

  ‘Keane and Ian will be able to join us when they are fully fit, but until then we will be recruiting. A funeral will take place tomorrow afternoon for Officers Abbott and Wilson, killed this morning in the attack of Security Base Delta. I want you guys to get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day.’

  As the table dispersed, Sergeant Davis got my attention with a wave of his hand.

  ‘Can I just have a word Nathan?’

  ‘Sure, what’s up?’

  ‘We are going to have to take a couple of recruits on, to make up numbers. I’m just wondering if you can recommend any you have worked with, who you think are made of the right stuff?’

  ‘Any of the soldiers I trained with, Cox, Harper, Proctor, Beck and Jackett. They’re all good prospects, but obviously some have strengths that lie elsewhere. Adrian Harper is a good shout, although I know he’s already been positioned, with an objective soon. I will speak to Bernard, see if he has any recommendations from the recruits he’s been working with.’