Aftermath: The complete collection

by John Wilkinson

  ‘Where does the need for females factor into this?’

  ‘They use them as a host, for their newborn, it’s that simple. Their species has existed millions of years longer than humans, but evolution has robbed them of a way to give birth without death for the female creature in child birth, and their species is close to extinction.’

  ‘So you are prepared to condemn all human females to a horrible, painful death?’

  ‘Everyone is going to die. You, me. We are all going to die.’

  ‘What about the lady that just brought the tea?’ I interrupted. ‘Is she a relation? Are you going to give her to the creatures?’

  ‘I’d rather not, she’s my sister. I suppose it depends if we’re short.’

  At that point, I realised it was futile trying to negotiate with this man, he is deluded and not about to back down, but we still had other discussion points.

  ‘To avoid war, what do you want?’ Sergeant Davis asked, trying to get the faltering negotiations back on track.

  ‘I want the females in your camp.’

  ‘You’re not going to have them.’

  ‘How many have you got?’

  ‘I’m not going to tell you that.’

  ‘I have three hundred females, I need three thousand.’

  ‘You are not going to have them’ repeated Sergeant Davis.

  ‘Then we will go to war. I don’t care if there’s a war, I will risk it to get what I want’ Torriero ranted, his voice becoming more angry.

  ‘We will give you food and water.’

  ‘Fuck you. Why come here if you won’t discuss this properly. Fuck your food and water, we don’t need it. I probably have more than you’ he shouted.

  ‘You must know, we cannot give you any females.’

  ‘Then you will all die in battle, everyone will die.’

  The door swung open and a guard entered, who spoke into Torriero’s ear. It sent him into a storm of fury, swearing loudly and smashing his cup on the floor.

  ‘You attack us while we are in a meeting? This is completely unacceptable’ he screamed.

  ‘We haven’t attacked you.’

  ‘Who has then?’

  ‘I cannot comment on something I know nothing about. All I know is Camp Blue would not have attacked you, while this meeting was taking place.’

  ‘I need to think’ snapped Torriero, as he stood up and stormed out of room. Keenan followed him, closing the door behind. We were all worried how the talks were unfolding, the negotiations had taken over an hour, and we had got nowhere, Torriero seemed to have a screw loose. Sergeant Davis was very wary of him, and didn’t trust anything he said. He thought war was inevitable, and we should attack soon, giving them less time to prepare. We were ready for war, the longer we waited, the stronger they would become. We were made to wait another twenty minutes, before Torriero and Keenan returned, ready to continue. He seemed to have calmed down, and was ready to compromise, which I didn’t fully believe, with a much milder manner he continued.

  ‘Knowing what I have told you, what is it you want?’

  ‘To avoid war if possible’ Sergeant Davis replied. ‘We shouldn’t be fighting each other, we should be joining forces, and attacking the creatures?’

  ‘Attack what? Where are they? You don’t understand what you’re dealing with.’

  ‘They can be destroyed, everything can be destroyed. They cannot fight on this planet, or they would’ve done, it would be over, and they wouldn’t need you. If we can prove they can be beaten, will you listen?

  ‘I will position myself on the side that will win, whichever that is.’

  ‘Would you give us time to prove the creatures can be beaten?’

  ‘How long do you need?’

  ‘Two months, there’s no rush.’

  ‘You can have two weeks, I can put the creatures off that long, in preparation for war.’

  ‘Two weeks is not long, when orchestrating a battle, when you don’t fully understand the enemy.’

  ‘Ok, ok. I will give you three weeks, I need to produce results soon, but I will give you until after Christmas.’

  ‘Will you refrain from offering your females, until after the battle?’

  ‘Ok.’

  ‘Can I draw this up as a binding agreement?’

  ‘If you wish.’

  ‘Will you honour this treaty? People are suspicious this is not what you want.’

  ‘People?’

  ‘The generals.’

  ‘Well they weren’t concerned enough to turn up.’

  ‘You know why we couldn’t have three generals come to this meeting.’

  Sergeant Davis pulled some paperwork out of his jacket, and laid it out on the table. Torriero looked it over, and signed on the dotted line.

  ‘Now we must celebrate’ announced Torriero. ‘You can stay for a meal before we take you back to Camp. We will feast like kings, the best meal you’ve had since before the attack. He seemed happy and excited about the agreement, but I couldn’t completely trust him, knowing what I know about him, how ruthless he has been, trusting his word will take a leap of faith. Torriero disappeared after the meeting had been concluded, and Keenan took us for a tour of the headquarters. We were also introduced to a few more of Torriero’s senior men, working in the headquarters. Names I remember include Watt, Harper, Fox, Patel and Adams, all important figures in any possible battle. It was hard to gauge how big an operation he was running here, it looked big, but I wasn’t sure if he was making it look bigger than it was for our benefit. The most interesting room we were taken to was what Keenan described as ‘The War Room.’ It took up half the second floor, and saw the most amount of activity. There were photographs of Camp Blue pinned up on the walls, including security bases, look out points, and areas within the camp. Some photos looked like they’d been taken from within the camp, a possible infiltration, but then the information written on other photographs was completely wrong. On one it claimed a building was being used to house all the camps females, like they were cattle, when in reality all the females of Camp Blue were living with their respected families in the hotel. But even these photographs could have been planted for our benefit, to make us believe they didn’t know what was going on, we really couldn’t be sure. Back on the first floor, Keenan led us into the main hall, where we found most were already sat, waiting for their dinner. There was maybe fifty people in the large room, all talking, laughing and a drinking. The room was the most lavish in the building, with more paintings on the walls and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There were five large rectangular tables, stretching horizontally from one side on the room to the other, with a walkway around them, by the walls. The tables were covered with white table cloths, and laid out with plates and cutlery. There were bottles of red and white wine with glasses in each place, which were already open on most tables, and were being enjoyed. We made our way to the left, around the tables towards the front, where Keenan showed us to our place. We were sat at the head table, that faced the room and other tables, with a two metre gap between them. Our table was slightly raised on a step, making us look even more on show. ‘We aren’t on the top table are we?’ I asked Keenan, as we approached our place. ‘You’re our guests’ said Torriero, standing up from his place at the centre of the table. ‘Sit yourselves down.’

  We took our places, and Sergeant Davis poured the wine. Keenan, noticing I didn’t take any wine, asked if I wanted anything else. I’ve never liked wine, everyone told me I would when I got older, but I never did. A couple of bottles of beer were brought over for me, ‘Lakeland Lager,’ wet and cold. There were nine of us sat at the main table, from right to left, Mercer, myself, Sergeant Davis, Rhino, Keenan, Torriero, Blake, and a couple of other men we had seen, but not been introduced to. Mercer mentioned the hea
d chef from a michelin starred restaurant, ‘The Box Tree’ at Ilkley, had been convinced to come and work for Mr Torriero, and now runs the kitchen, so we should expect great things. When the first course came, it was a lovely mushroom and roasted chestnut risotto. More females appeared waiting on the room, which I found encouraging, not locked away and mistreated, although I got the feeling they were relatives of some in the room, from a few looks I saw. I finished off my starter as the main courses arrived, which consisted of pig shoulder, roasted for twelve hours, hand cut chunky chips, carrots and peas with a jug of gravy, that was passed around the table. The pig arrived on a large silver platter, with a carving knife and fork. The food was passed out and we all tucked in, it was indeed the nicest meal I had eaten since the attack. I chatted to Mercer, who was sat next to me, about how he had found himself working for Torriero. He looked a little younger than Keenan, but said he had been within Torriero’s group for over ten years. He had left school with no qualifications, and ended up a petty criminal, stealing enough food to live on the streets of Edinburgh. Torriero’s men had picked him up, and given him somewhere to stay. In return he would do little jobs for them, he worked his way up the organisation, describing it almost like a job. But it had cost him his relationship with his family, who had disowned him. He seemed remorseful for that, talking about his mum and dad with affection. When the poached pears in sauce arrived, I made the excuse I was full, but I’ve never liked pears either. I looked along the table at everyone’s plates, Sergeant Davis hadn’t been as hungry as Rhino, who had typically eaten everything. The rumble of voices came to a stop, as Torriero stood up from his seat, hitting his wine glass with a knife. ‘I would like to make a short speech’ he said, making his way around the table, and stepping down onto the main floor. He followed the table until he was facing us, put his glass and knife on the table, and turned to face his men. ‘I would like to thank Camp Blue for sending us three soldiers’ he continued. ‘So we could finalise an agreement that will see no further fighting until after Christmas. And that’s something to celebrate, don’t you agree?’

  The men cheered, and banged their bottles on the table, until he calmed them down to continue. ‘But as you know I’ve told you all about my distrust of the army, and here is the reason why. I believe, in fact I know, this camp is being spied on, from someone sent by Camp Blue. The atmosphere took a sudden change, as his men started booing and hissing at us. It felt uncomfortable, and it wasn’t going to get any better.

  ‘Sergeant Davis’ continued Torriero. ‘It appears we have a spy in the room.’ He approached the table again, as the room behind him started chanting ‘I want you to identify him for me please’ shouted Torriero, over the increasing noise.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ replied Sergeant Davis. Torriero pulled a hand gun out of his pocket, and shot Sergeant Davis through the head at point blank range. His body rocked back and then slumped forward, blood covering the wall behind us. Everything around me blurred as I went into shock, my eyesight drained from my head. I could hear muffled voices, and colour flashing around me. Suddenly I snapped back into the room, Rhino was standing up, having taken half the table with him. Torriero’s gun was pointing at his head, until he sat back down.

  ‘Now you know how serious I am?’

  Rhino nodded his head, having a quick glance at me, his eyes worried and twitchy.

  ‘I will ask you the same question, and I hope you think about your response carefully. Who is the Camp Blue spy?’

  Nervously Rhino answered, his voice breaking with emotion.

  ‘The identity of the spy was classified, the generals didn’t tell us who he was.’

  I turned my head away as a gunshot rang out, and I heard the distinctive sound of blood spraying against the wall, and his body hitting the floor.

  I couldn’t turn to my left, I didn’t want to see the death surrounding me. I looked at Torriero, who was already looking at me, so I turned away, but he approached.

  ‘Who is the spy?’ He asked calmly.

  ‘I don’t know’ I replied, closing my eyes as he raised his weapon to my head. He pressed it onto my forehead, the cold metal barrel the last thing I would feel. I tried to make peace with myself, and prepare for death, but after a few seconds he removed it and I opened my eyes. ‘Hold his arm down’ he shouted at Mercer, as he removed the carving knife from the remains of the pig.

  Mercer grabbed my right arm, and knocked the plates and glasses off the table as Torriero approached us both. I could see the baying crowd, willing the spectacle on, faces with so much anger and bitterness. ‘Before I kill you, I might have a bit of fun, and start by taking your fingers off’ smiled Torriero, as I tried to form a fist with my hand. ‘Spread your fingers out, or I will stick the blade through your skull.’ I put the palm of my hand onto the table, as he put the blade between my fingers, pressing it against my little one. ‘Which would you prefer to lose, your little finger or your thumb? All you have to do is tell me who the spy is?’

  ‘I don’t fucking know’ I spat, as the blade split the skin around my knuckle.

  ‘You know I’ll take it off don’t you, just tell me what I want to know?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know.’

  He placed the blade on my little finger, just below the knuckle, and started to saw. My fingers were rigid and pointed, as Mercer held me down, and I fought the pain. I could feel each serration, tearing the skin off my finger. It was unbearable, I screamed out loud as the serrated blade hit the bone, forcing him to put more weight on. Blood was gushing off, coating the knife, and smearing across the blade. With a pop, he past the bone and it was over. My hand was stinging, but they wouldn’t let me have it back, I could feel a pool of blood forming under my palm, sticking to the table. Torriero picked up my blooded finger and held it aloft to the baying crowd, who were in raptures at the spectacle. He then threw it into the air, as their hands grabbed for it, and he turned to face me again. He picked then next finger, and placing the blooded blade across it, dragged it across my knuckle.

  ‘If you tell me who the spy is, this will all stop.’

  ‘I don’t fucking know’ I cried, almost at the point of fainting. He removed the blade from my finger, and turned to face his men. ‘I don’t think he knows’ he laughed, much to their amusement. ‘No one would continue down that road if they knew, but fortunately I don’t need him to tell me, I have another job for him. I already know who the fucking spy is, and he’s in this room, he must think I’m one dumb fucker.’

  The room fell quiet, as everyone looked at each other, nervous of what was to happen. Keenan approached Torriero, and stood by his side. Mercer let go of my arm, and gave me a white napkin to wrap around my hand. Torriero walked over to the first table, looking at each man individually, each one looked nervously back. ‘You know what I do to traitors’ he said, as he strolled along the line. ‘I’m going to have fun when I get my hands on you.’ The distrust within the group was obvious, the atmosphere becoming unbearable. I’m not sure if he knew who the spy was, or he was playing with their paranoia and fear, waiting for him to show his hand. But the situation must have been to much for the target, who tried to back away, and was picked out by Torriero. ‘Grab him!’ He shouted, as the man made a run for it. But there was too many men around him, he was punched to the floor, and dragged across the tables to Torierro. He hit the floor in front of him, and had just climbed to his feet as Torriero shot him through his forehead at point blank, sending his body sprawling back to the floor.

  ‘You must think I’m a fucking idiot’ he shouted, as he started to stamp on the dead man’s head, his body twitched on the floor, with every blow. ‘Who’s fucking stupid now? You piece of shit.’

  He stamped on the man’s head, until it caved in, and there was just a blood mess remaining, then he turned his attention back to me.

  ‘We req
uested the company of the generals from Camp Blue, to try and halt a possible war, and who the fuck do they send us? A sergeant, a captain and a fucking private. Well it’s your lucky day Private Driver, the only reason you are going to walk out of here, is I need someone to go back to the generals of Camp Blue and give them my message. If they think they can stop this war, they’re mistaken. It’s coming, and there is no way to stop it. We are ready to fight, we will fight and we will win.’ Torriero’s men cheered and banged the tables, as they were whipped into a frenzy by him. Soon I was dragged over the table, and kicked around the body and head, until I was unconscious. I don’t remember much after that, just continually waking up in pain, during the truck journey back to camp, unable to comfortably sleep. I hadn’t wanted to write this update, I put it off not wanting to relive the horrific final moments for Chris and Rhino. But somewhere in my memory, might be that bit of information needed to defeat Torriero. I am the only man still alive, who has witnessed first hand Torriero’s camp, his army, and his power.

  Chapter FIVE

  15/12/27 - Time 17:20

  I slept for days, medicated up to the eyeballs, to help stop the pain. When I finally came around, and opened my groggy eyes I found Bernard sat in my room, reading a book. It took a few minutes for me to remember what had happened, how I found myself in this medical bed. I sobbed when I remembered, a worse feeling than the pain my body was suffering. I briefly explained what had happened to Sergeant Davis and Rhino, Bernard put the book onto the cabinet as he tried to take it in. I looked at my right hand, that had been bandaged up, hiding the trauma. It didn’t feel any different, I was sure I could wiggle my little finger, but I know that’s not the case.

  ‘The doctor says you’re lucky,’ said Bernard. ‘No broken bones.’