Winter Smith (Book 1): London's Burning

by Strange, J. S.

  “Now, Winter. You’ve had a rough time, haven’t you, in your young life?”

  There was no follow up, and Winter suddenly realised she was supposed to answer. Her eyes flickered to two cameras pointed at her. One no doubt taking in her whole appearance and the other capturing her emotions.

  “Uh, yes I guess I have.”

  David’s face flickered with the familiar features of annoyance. He had always thought Winter was a bad person to interview, and was always quick to point this out in his own interviews.

  “Why is it that now you want the media attention you so desperately try to avoid?”

  Winter swallowed. She could feel Violet looking at her. This was her chance to say what these people were here for.

  “My…boyfriend.” Was that right? Sure. It made the story more interesting. “My boyfriend has gone missing, and I know he’s alive…”

  “But how do you know this?” David pushed. “How can you be so sure?”

  “I know he wouldn’t give up…on me. He’d want to be with me, and he’d want to make sure other people are safe.”

  That was the wrong answer, and Winter knew it. She needed to compose herself, come across well.

  “So many people are dying. How can you be sure that Connor isn’t one of them?”

  “I just know he’s alive.”

  “It just isn’t likely any of us will be getting out of this place alive, is it? It’s even more unlikely that a lone, young boy like him will be looked over when there are ravaging beasts killing any human that moves. For all you know, Winter, he could be one of them.”

  So this was the direction David wanted the interview to go. He wanted to break Winter, make her cry, make her look weak. No doubt he would then turn this into another terrible heartbreak story which would make Winter spiral out of control.

  “And, of course, you’ve had a bad time at fourteen, haven’t you? How does this compare to what happened back then when your grandfather-”

  She zoned out of the conversation. She couldn’t talk about this. This wasn’t what the interview was about. She did feel tears come to the edge of her eyes, but she blinked them away. This was the last time she would let David break her. She wouldn’t let him think he had won. He would not ruin this for her.

  “This is my appeal to London city,” Winter said, looking straight at the camera that was filming her. She heard David break off. “My boyfriend, Connor Getty, has disappeared. Yet I know he is alive, and I need him here. He has lost his family, and I will not let him lose me, too. I will keep him safe, in memory of his family. Yet it’s not just me that has lost someone.”

  “Okay, Winter,” David tried to say.

  “It is not just me that has lost someone. There are people all over the world who are missing someone, who could still be alive. Don’t give up.” A flash from a camera. The crew looked panicked. Winter knew the signs. This was live streaming. They couldn’t stop her. Violet was grinning. “My appeal is that more is done to save those who are missing. We need to focus not on me, but on those who can’t leave their cities until they are reunited with those they have lost. Closure is what we need. I’m not Winter Smith, the drug fuelled girl who was set on ruining my parents’ lives. I never was that girl. I am Winter Smith, a girl born into the wrong lifestyle, and a girl who is just like you. Its cliché, but I’m in the same situation as everyone, and I may not get out of here alive. The government are not doing enough. We must save those we have lost.”

  “And that is all we have time for.” David Herald stepped in front of Winter so the camera was on him and only him. Winter was quickly ushered away from the sofa, and they covered her mouth as she screamed out at the pain in her ankle. Violet hurried over to Winter, but a woman tackled her to the ground. “Thanks for watching Herald Streaming. Remember, we will find Connor Getty, for Winter Smith.”

  Winter was dropped on the hard floor. Violet was still pinned down. David turned blazing eyes of fury on Winter and strode over to her.

  “You stupid, idiotic, bitch.” He hit her hard across the face. Winter felt blood leak from her nose. “Can’t you do anything right?”

  “I’m not being exploited, David,” Winter spat. She stood up, ignoring her protesting ankle. “You can’t make me look like I’m lowlife scum and get away with it anymore. You know why? Because no one cares, David. No one cares about this shit. People only care for their safety and their friends and family. For once, in your pathetic life, do something right.”

  David raised a fist to hit her again, but the sound of a gunshot echoed around the room. Winter saw the woman in the busty dress fall to the floor, and Zach stood across the room, holding the gun he had bought recently with shaking hands.

  “What the fuck has that greasy twat done?” David cried, running to the woman on the floor. She was crouched on the floor, clutching her arm. The wound didn’t look lethal.

  Zach turned the gun on the man pinning Violet to the floor. He jumped off her, moving away until the wall stopped him from moving anywhere else.

  “Don’t shoot, mate,” David said. “We’ll be going.”

  “You won’t be going anywhere until you make sure you get Winter’s message across,” Violet said. “You will include Connor’s name, a photo of him, and where we are right now. You will also promise that if you find Connor, you get him to appeal directly to us.”

  David looked like he would gladly hit Violet just as hard as he had Winter. Yet with a gun pointed at him, he wasn’t too confident.

  “Of course, that was what we were here for.”

  “Sure.” Violet shook her head. “Get out.”

  The reporters began to gather their things, but another gunshot made them jump. Zach had shot one of their cameras.

  “You won’t be carrying on with your live stream anymore, either,” Violet said. “Instead, you will make your channel an appeal to save those who are alive and lost.”

  David nodded, ushering the woman to stand up.

  He looked at Winter one last time, a hint of guilt on his face as she wiped blood away from her nose. Zach turned the gun on him and he hastily hurried down the steps.

  “Cancel all of the other bookings,” Violet said. “You were right, Winter. We’re not doing that.”

  Chapter Twelve

  By mid afternoon the whole square outside knew about what had happened with Winter and the reporters. Winter had learnt that TV screens had been set up in TV city centres to broadcast updates on nearby locations, and somehow David Herald had secured his own TV channel to be broadcast every day for three hours.

  The interview with Winter had been seen by anyone who was alive and well. They had learnt about Connor and had heard her appeal for help finding other people who were lost.

  Some people thought she was ridiculous. Sitting by the window upstairs, she could clearly hear people discussing her as they walked by.

  “That was pretty selfish, I thought,” a woman was saying. “I think she’s just thinking of herself. I’ve lost my mother, but I don’t have TV stations helping me find her.”

  It was the same story throughout the day. Violet had been out to finally buy them new clothes, and she came back in a rising temper.

  “This bitch in the clothes shop was talking about you, Winter,” Violet growled. “She was saying how much of a spoilt brat you were, and that no one cares about Connor. She said he’s probably dead and the whole idea of appeals to find lost ones is just ridiculous. I fucking hit the bitch.”

  Winter knew that was to be expected. She had said to Violet herself that the whole idea just seemed awfully selfish. Yet Winter couldn’t help think that if so many other people had seen the report, there was a good chance Connor would have, too.

  “You know it’ll all blow over in a few days, anyway,” Zach consoled Winter. “There’ll be a story tomorrow and then nothing. There’s not a market there for celebrity news anymore.”

  Winter hoped Zach was telling the truth, but her previous experiences with the
public told her otherwise.

  In the late evening, a lorry showed up out in the square to deliver stock. Winter spotted the driver unloading a big batch of tomorrow’s newspapers.

  “The papers are here,” Winter announced.

  She didn’t turn around to see who walked out of the building, but looking down in the square she saw Violet hurrying over. A few moments later Violet was returning with a newspaper in her hand and a bottle of something.

  “I got the newspaper,” Violet announced, climbing back up the stairs. “And I got a bottle of vodka, because we might need it.”

  “Really?” Zach asked. “They’re still selling alcohol?”

  “I think a lot of people need it, you know,” Winter said.

  “I hate it,” Zach grimaced. “I’ll never drink it.”

  “Pussy.” Violet scoffed.

  Violet handed Winter the paper, and neither of them were surprised to see Winter’s face on the front page.

  It was a photograph from the interview. Winter sat on the sofa, looking lost and afraid. Her designer dress looked even worse in photo, and Winter noticed how tired and grubby she looked.

  “If people don’t believe you’re in the same situation as them from that photo, they’re idiots.” Violet remarked. She was looking at the background, at the empty attic where they were staying.

  Winter flipped to the report – a three page spread – written, of course, by David Herald.

  “Read it out,” Zach said.

  Winter scanned for the first part of the story and read it over herself first, shaking her head at a few parts.

  “Winter, we know the truth,” Violet said. “Read it out.”

  Winter cleared her throat.

  “‘London City is under attack, but that doesn’t stop seventeen year old drunkard Winter Smith arranging media interviews so she can be reunited with her boyfriend,’” Winter read. “‘Seventeen year old Connor Getty, right, was in another world from Smith, serving coffee to members of the public while earning a minimum wage. Yet odd events brought the pair together when Connor arrived for a night of glamorous bliss at the socialite party of Nathaniel and Olivia Smith.’”

  Winter rolled her eyes. She hoped Violet and Zach were not judging her.

  “‘Of course, things did not go quite to plan, as you readers fully well know. The party was disrupted by the living dead, and many people lost their lives. Olivia and Nathaniel Smith being just two of the many who died that night.’”

  Winter felt her heart sink. Had David known her parents were dead? Had he meant to tell her? Or was this just him writing created lies, to add a bit of emotional depth to the story?

  “Go on,” Zach encouraged.

  “‘I caught up with Winter Smith in a small, never opened before Café just outside of Borehamwood. The young, lost girl was sat in a ruined designer dress from that fateful party night, and was sporting a broken ankle.’”

  “Twisted,” Violet said. Winter looked at her. “Well, it’s not broken is it? It’s twisted.”

  “‘I asked her why she was appealing to the general public of London town, especially now when so many others had lost their loved ones. Why was she different? Winter simply replied, ‘I believe Connor is still alive, and I know he will not give up on me, and I will not give up on him. It’s important he is found alive.’”

  Winter shook her head. “I didn’t say that exactly.”

  “We know this is going to be a report that twists the truth anyway,” Zach said. “He didn’t sound like a very nice man.”

  “He’s not.”

  She crinkled the paper in her hands and carried on reading.

  “‘Connor Getty was last seen in the town of Borehamwood, carrying weapons and standing alone in a blood stained street. The boy of seventeen is said to be of an average height, medium build and has swept back hair. Winter Smith hopes that you, the public, will help him if you see him, or report back on any possible sightings you have.’”

  Winter turned the page, and saw the headline ‘SAVE THE PUBLIC’.

  “‘But Winter isn’t entirely selfish, despite what I have led you all to believe. Speaking out for London City, Winter Smith appealed for more help to those who have lost their loved ones.

  “‘I don’t think the government are doing enough to save London, and they are trailing behind and using the excuses of having less staff, when really they are too frightened to do anything,’ Winter quoted once the cameras had stopped rolling. ‘I really believe that we need to do more to save those who are lost and still alive, reuniting them with people who won’t leave London until they find their families. I am just like you. I’m no better. I know what it feels like to be missing those we have lost.’”

  “You didn’t say anything like that!” Zach exclaimed.

  “‘Before we left, I offered Winter the opportunity of travelling with me and my team. I asked her for her help, and told her that with her on our side we can pioneer a new campaign together to save those who have been lost. Winter politely told me to get out, as she was not wasting any time with me. Maybe she was just untrustworthy of me, which is understandable. Yet I couldn’t help but feel like this interview with Winter was all because she wanted to find her boyfriend, and shame the hard work of the government.’”

  Winter was stunned, ashamed and defeated. David Herald had once again manipulated her words and her appearance to his own liking, to create a story that would sell more. She knew that the story had untied ends, so more stories could be created from it. She knew how David worked.

  “That bastard didn’t even mention Zach almost shooting his brains out,” Violet remarked. “He’s such a dick.”

  “Next time we see him, I’ll make sure I shoot him in the head.”

  “I hope we never see him again,” Winter said. “He’s been doing this to me too many times. I knew he’d do it again.”

  “I’m so sorry, Winter. I should have listened.” Violet sighed.

  “It’s fine.” Winter shook her head. “I’m used to the public thinking I’m just a nuisance. I can get used to it this time around, too.”

  “People are only going to be focussing on what you said about saving their loved ones, anyway. They’re desperate for help.”

  “But I’m not going to be helping with that. That is all in David’s hands. If he doesn’t do anything, then it’s going to look bad on me, isn’t it? I’ve come out as the bad guy in this report. I always do after David Herald has written about me. He’s made it look like I’m challenging the government, and why the fuck would I want to do that? They’re helping.”

  Zach moved away from the window and rummaged through a bag on the floor. He took out a pack of crisps.

  “Anyone want one?”

  Winter and Violet shook their heads.

  “I am really sorry though, Winter. I thought you’d be able to handle it.”

  “I can handle it, Violet.” Winter reassured her. “But I just think now it’s going to be even harder. I’ve come across as a self obsessed girl who only cares about finding her boyfriend. The public aren’t going to like me for that.”

  “There won’t be many people who read this report,” Zach said. “And anyone else has seen the live stream, and saw how genuine you are. It’s not going to be as bad as you think.”

  Winter sighed. She couldn’t be bothered to think about it. She’d been screwed over too many times before.

  “We could break him,” Violet said darkly. “If the public knew that he had hit you, and had known that he had manipulated you, we could really ruin him.”

  “He’s ruined already,” Winter said. “His days with that newspaper are numbered.”

  No more was said on David Herald and his newspaper. All of them silently agreed that the incident needed to be put behind them. There was no use in giving David the satisfaction of knowing he had managed to hurt Winter once more.

  That night, Zach had gone out to a fish and chip shop and ordered them two large portions of chips
each. They all agreed they hadn’t had a good meal in awhile.

  “Do you know anywhere where I can have a shower?” Winter asked, as Zach handed Violet two bags of chips.

  “There’s a public swimming baths around the corner,” Zach said. “I think its shut but we can get in and get to work the showers. People have been using it as their showers for awhile.”

  “Why can’t they use their own showers?” Violet asked, ripping off the paper layers of her chips with hungry ambition.

  “Because some people have baths.” Zach shrugged.

  Violet rolled her eyes. She put a chip into her mouth whole and began to chew. Her eyes rolled back and she slowed down her chewing, savouring the taste.

  “I never thought I would appreciate a chip so much.” Violet sighed.

  Winter bit into a chip and felt her taste buds jump with joy. Something so simple could bring a lot of joy to them.

  “So, Winter…” Zach began, a little bit timidly. Winter looked at him. “I already know what happened when you were fourteen, but I only know what happened from the media’s point of view.”

  He said all of this quickly as if he was worried Winter would shout at him. She saw Violet watching her, evidently in the same boat as Zach.

  It was true, of course. Nobody really knew what happened that night except for a tiny bit of truth and a whole load of hearsay printed in the press. Winter had been offered countless times to tell her version of what happened that night, but she had always refused. The matter was still too raw for her.

  “You don’t have to tell us,” Zach said. “You hardly know us, really.”

  Winter swallowed the chip she had and ran a hand through her messy hair. “We’re going to have to get to know each other, though, aren’t we? You can only do that by talking about things.”

  Zach said nothing.

  “I guess I should really tell you what happened. To be honest, I haven’t told anyone but my parents, and they didn’t really help too much with it. It is something I have never gotten over.”

  “I bet. How the hell would you get over something like that?” Violet pondered.