Alone (Book 2): Lone

by Prunty, Mercedes

  “Thing is Callum what if the snow arrives early again this year? I can feel the cold coming, I can’t be unprepared like last time”.

  “Yes but it shouldn’t be just up to you, some of the others could come and chop wood. Plus I don’t like you being out here alone, anything could be out here”, he gave her a small telling off.

  She knew she should have had someone with her to keep look out but they were all busy with their own chores around the camp that no one had a spare minute to help and then there was that feeling, that feeling of dread over the winter months that churned in her stomach, “They were all busy and…and I can’t let this winter be like last winter, I just can’t!”

  “It won’t be we’ve made sure we are better organised”, he said softly pushing some loose hair back behind her ear, she turned her head into his hand and let him stroke her cheek, a lone tear ran down the other side.

  “Maybe not but the more firewood we have the more chance we have of keeping everyone warm and safe, I will not lose anyone to the cold this time”, she whispered.

  Last year’s winter had been the worst for many, the cold snap had been brutal and unforgiving. The snow had arrived a whole month earlier than normal taking everyone by surprise as they were still in autumn harvesting mode, the cold froze pretty much everything, the lake for their water supplies and where they fished, their crops, the animals they hunted hid away earlier hibernating but worst of all people had been trapped in their homes, the doors and windows freezing shut and the snow piling up high blocking people getting to them in time. Before Monique knew it people had frozen to death in their homes because the rescue mission took too long, they couldn’t get to everyone in time and the cold got to them, taking them away. She had tried to catch up cutting down wood for the fires but she hadn’t been quick enough and there wasn’t enough to go around. That year was always going to haunt her for the rest of her life, how when they had finally broken into the Matterson’s home finding both husband and wife frozen together on the sofa, their lips deathly blue and all life and colour gone from their skin but the worst thing was seeing young Kit, she was only twelve but it looked to be she was the last one to go, hiding in the bathroom wrapped in her duvet and towels to keep warm but she had been dehydrated and hungry. Her small tiny frame wrapped up tightly as she cuddled herself to sleep to never awake. Burying them had been a hard day for everyone as it really hit home that nature could be as deadly as the virus that had killed off most of the population. This year she was determined that wasn’t going to happen again. They had gotten hold of some grit which people were to smother round their door frames and paths and with all the firewood she had gathered she knew at least for about a month they should be fine but still she wanted more just to be on the safe side.

  “Look we have enough wood this year you made sure of that. We need to take care of you too, if something happens to you who’s going to chop the wood next year?” he tried to make it a joke but the tone told her he was worried about her.

  She smiled, “Look just a few more and then we’ll go. Why don’t you be useful and load up the truck”.

  He sighed but done as he was told adding, “And you know I don’t like you out here on your own”.

  “We haven’t seen a creature for weeks”, she replied bluntly.

  Yes she should have had a look out but she wasn’t stupid she could handle herself.

  “Maybe so but it’s not always the creatures you need to watch out for”, he said, “We never did find out what happened to Kirk”.

  Kirk had been part of Callum’s team a hunter and forager in the forest, he had good aim and could take down a deer in a heartbeat, he had also been a carpenter and had been incredibly handy fixing things. Then one night he went out on patrol, the others had lost sight of him as he had fallen back probably tracking another deer then gone, vanished, never turned up dead or alive.

  Monique knew Callum’s point though there were still a lot of nasty human beings left in the world, it seemed the virus had decided to keep a few good ones and mostly the nasty ones to see who survived the longest. Thinking of the creatures she knew that they had been lucky here, there had been times when they first arrived here that when out on patrols or hunting they would come across whole hordes of creatures, but soon something started to happen, something or someone was killing all the local monsters and leaving them in the woods for them to find making it safe for them. They knew something out there was killing the creatures keeping their camp safe like a hidden truce but not once had they ever seen or spotted anything out there that could explain it. She had vowed to leave it alone and had made the others promise not to track whatever it was but she did have a nagging feeling that maybe it was that thing that had taken Kirk, either by mistake or not but she didn’t want to ruin what they had going, their camp was safe and she wanted it kept that way. There were others in the camp who wanted to find it and kill it too but she was in charge and what she says goes.

  The sun soon began to set over the cold horizon and she could make out dark grey snow clouds looming their way, it wouldn’t take long for it to come. They packed up all their things into the truck and headed back to the camp, the trucks large headlights illuminating the road sign ‘Barden Park’. When they had arrived here a few years ago the place had been deserted other than the odd creature roaming around, it had two main roads in and out of the estate one of which they blocked up with old cars and fencing at Clare Avenue and the other they built a post in which they could open a large gate to let people in or out, they also built a tower so they had look outs based at Audley Avenue. The estate started off as a large square shaped set of roads with houses and further up onto four cul de sac style roads, most of it was fenced off behind the houses and where it wasn’t they built some using materials from building sites and other houses nearby. Behind the estate close enough for them to have a water supply was a lake and river which over the years was growing but lucky for them as of yet hadn’t flooded, it did have some old apartments which over looked the river but they were useless now, damp and full of rot. Some had crumbled down and the old materials had been used to build up new walls and fences around the camp. Round the front was also a railway track which branched off into a tunnel, the estate was a safe haven, a dream, a fortress which they protected with all their might. A small woodland which was slowly becoming a large forest was also set back to one side which was where they done most of their hunting and set back through the trees and not in the line of sight of the camp was hidden an old mansion. They had raided the old mansion years ago when they first arrived at the camp, it had been stocked to the nines with supplies and for most of their first year they didn’t have to loot many other buildings much other than for the odd things needed that the mansion didn’t have but the mansion was creepy in itself and they never ventured up to it much now.

  Pulling up at the gate they waited for the guard in charge to come and open it, the gate cranked open sending a loud metal twang into the air but it was a good sound, a settling sound it meant they were home. Monique loved the view that greeted them every time they came home, rows of houses mostly made from the traditional red brick, terraced and semi-detached other than the odd fully detached one, there were grander older houses also sited along the roads which they had given to the people who were lucky enough to still have families. Plastic double glazing, drive ways and large ish gardens and most with fireplaces and firewood heating. If now had been the way the world had once been these houses would have been worth quite a few bob, Monique would never had been in a position to own her own home, she had been brought up in a council estate in London and that was probably where she would have stayed. But in this weird new world she lived in a house her family would have dreamed of being in, not over the top fancy but grander than their tiny flat.

  The gardens to the houses had been big but to make the most out of the protective fencing around the estate they had taken them all down from the gardens to make into a stronger perim
eter fence making the gardens just one big plot of land. Which had become useful as over the years they came across animals that they could farm, vegetables they could grow and a playground for the kids. They had horses, cows, chickens, ducks, goats, pigs and sheep a right small holding which with all the hands they had to feed was a good thing. The food they could grow was just enough to keep them going, carrots to cabbage, cucumber to strawberries. Everyone had their own chores to contend with and a lot of the chores began with the animals and crops, because without it all they would perish.

  All in all in their camp they had around two hundred houses mostly occupied as they had nearly that amount of people to keep safe and care for, there was also a fairly new build block of flats which now housed all the children that had been orphaned, that was where Chantelle and her crew of extra teachers and second mothers hung out and next door a house had been converted into a small school so the children could still learn. Even in this day and age the children needed something and school took their minds off not being able to leave the safety of the camp and also taught them life skills they needed, like first aid, foraging, hunting and other useful things that life hadn’t taught years ago.

  Callum pulled up outside of their home, theirs was one of the only driveways that ever got any use, the camp had a few vehicles but as petrol was scarce they didn’t use them often. Together they lived in a small two bedroom terraced house, they also shared it with Ollie who had the smaller second bedroom but Monique knew sooner or later he was going to need his own place as he was now a growing, strapping, handsome young man. He liked to work out with Callum’s weights and was now a keen sharp eyed hunter, he was no longer the young innocent child Monique had first met. He was fifteen now but he looked and acted much older, a lot of the young teenage girls fancied him but he was only interested in keeping the camp safe but she knew one day love would hit him and he would leave the nest they shared. He was a caring young man and had taken Cain in under his wing like a younger brother, teaching him how to hunt although being only five his best catch was a rabbit but not bad considering how five year olds used to be with their toys and computers games.

  Cain was a sweet kid, he lived with Chantelle at the flats he saw her as his mother, even though he knew about his birth mum and Stacie…Stacie the word stung Monique inside, Cain did look a lot like her and her sister, his eyes and mouth, some of his mannerisms and at first as he started to grow seeing Stacie in him was hard but she had grown used to it, although she never liked to visit his room as he still had the picture of the family he never knew.

  Monique climbed out of the truck and began to sort the firewood dragging it over to the shed they had constructed in the centre so people could come and grab some as they needed, at first she had worried people would be greedy but so far people only took what they needed and a little more just in case. Once she finished she joined Ollie who was in their small kitchen cooking and Callum who had just gotten back from checking with the guards, nothing to report, so far a good day. Their home was small but homely, the front room had a tattered old leather sofa, a book case filled to the brim with cook books and novels, small candle lamps lit up the room along with the roaring fireplace which then led into the small kitchen which just had enough room to sit a small table and chairs.

  Ollie appeared out of the kitchen, his broad shoulders filling the door frame, his copper hair flickering in the candle light like a flame, “Dinner will be ready in five”.

  Monique smiled, she loved it when he cooked, “Ooo what we got tonight chef?”

  “Rabbit stew with potatoes and veg and homemade bread”, he grinned.

  She licked her lips, she was starving and rabbit stew was her favourite. She took to laying the table out ready placing out five bowls as he spooned the food into them, piping hot and smelling good. It was the middle of the week and the day when a woman called Stephanie with bright red hair would let Chantelle have a break and come for tea bringing Cain along with her. It was Monique’s favourite night of the week as it meant family time. Maybe not bonded by blood but family in the sense of what they had become.

  Once they arrived the food was eaten and laughter filled the four walls of the family home, Cain chatted away to Ollie telling him all what he had learnt and Ollie showed Cain a kids magazine he had looted when he had been out on a supply run, he let Cain have it. The pages had been worn and the print was slightly faded but it made Cain’s day. Soon enough the laughter stopped as they all succumbed to the tiredness that stayed with them always, Chantelle took Cain home to bed and Ollie vanished to his room. Monique had half expected Callum to want to stay up all night chatting but as she turned to him she saw he two had fallen asleep. Closing her eyes she joined him.

  Monique awoke to the sound of Callum and Ollie discussing something that was happening in the horizon, she threw the covers off and padded down to the kitchen where both the men sat drinking herbal tea from their own batch of herbs talking loudly as men round there tended to do.

  “What’s all the noise about this time of the morning?” she asked pouring herself a cup.

  “Smoke and a lot of it coming from the town centre”, Ollie told her, “I think we should check it out”.

  “Why? Fires normally die out after a while on their own, it shouldn’t reach here”, she said looking at Callum.

  He sighed, “We think it might be caused by scavengers”.

  “And why would you think that, we haven’t had any problems with scavengers for ages”.

  Ollie spoke up, “Last night the fires started, one by one all lighting up the then night sky, I went out for a quick look and I could hear distant shouts and cries, It sounded like scavengers”.

  “You left the camp to look?” she hissed angrily he knew the drill no one went out alone, he could have got hurt.

  Ollie stood up taller showing Monique he wasn’t that small boy, “I didn’t go far I’m not daft but I needed to check that the camp wasn’t in immediate danger, I came straight here to tell you guys but Callum was already awake looking out at the smoke”.

  “Well next time get one of us first ok”, she commanded.

  Ollie dismissed her words, “I think we should check it out”.

  Monique bit her lip, with the snow nearly upon them was it a good time to be looking for danger, danger that might pass them by unnoticed?

  “Mon, come on we need to check for the safety of all of us, I know what you’re thinking that this might be nothing but we have to check. The kids and families depend on us”.

  “Fine, your right”, she sighed, “But I want a proper search party not just you two”.

  “Will you not come?” Callum asked.

  “One of us needs to stay here in case something does come our way”, she placed her cup down and grabbed her coat pulling it on, “I’m going to help keep lookout at the gate and both of you please be careful”.

  Within the hour Callum and Ollie had gathered a few willing hands to go with them into town to check, they were now waiting for Monique to give the all clear and open the gate. Giving the boys quick hugs she opened the gate, watching them as they walked up the road like a small army ready for a fight. As she closed the gate and sat down on the watchers chair the voice of Kady-Lee a new young mum in the camp called up to the watch tower. Monique gave a quick glance out over the scenery before climbing down to talk to the girl, she held her new born son Charlie in her arms, hot tears fell from her eyes and dribbled down her chin.

  “Hey Kady what’s wrong?”

  “I’ve failed him already, he’s going to starve”, just as the poor girl exploded into a mass of sobs the doctor appeared.

  “Ah Monique I see Kady is here with you”, he was an older gentleman and had a voice that told of how many years’ experience he had.

  “What’s wrong? She said she’s failed him already. What does she mean?” Monique asked.

  He looked her dead in the eye with a hint of sorrow in them, “Kady isn’t producing enough milk for him,
he needs formula milk if he is going to survive and with the coming snow I’m worried we may not have time to collect enough”.

  “But all the shops around here have been looted, there isn’t any baby milk, Cerys had it for her daughter”, Monique replied.

  He nodded, “Yes I know that’s why I came to you, I hoped maybe you and the others would venture further out to look, I know it’s an ask but Charlie will die if he doesn’t get any milk and soon”.

  “The others have gone out to check what the smoke is all about, I can’t leave till they get back”, Just as the words left her mouth a lone snow flake fell onto her nose, it was time, the snow had arrived.

  The doctor looked worried and Kady-Lee carried on sobbing cradling her son.

  “Leave it with me”, Monique knew what she was about to do was against all the rules and she had just told Ollie off for going out alone but she couldn’t let a baby die, children were the one weakness that could lead to her own untimely death, she had learnt that once before.

  Kady-Lee looked up, “Really you will go?”

  She knelt down to the girl and smiled, “Anything for Charlie you know that, give me ten minutes I need to get someone to man the gate whilst I’m gone and get the truck ready. When the others get back I will need you to tell them where I have gone”, she said the last part to the doctor.

  “And where will you go?”

  “There is an old shopping centre in Tunbridge Well’s which I know hasn’t been looted”.

  “The one where all the creatures were at?” The doctor asked.