Peter opened the door and was surprised to see the Police woman there, his mind went back to when she arrested him, he rubbed his arm where the bruise was, his first thought was to put the copper in her place, but he refrained.
‘What can I do for you’ he asked, in an unwelcoming manner, he held onto the door which he had opened halfway, Sandra noticed this, she expected it, she scratched the side of her nose, she gave a nervous smile and Peter noticed how vulnerable she suddenly looked.
‘Can I come in please’ she replied, Peter opened the door fully and gestured for her to come in with his arm, she went inside and before Peter shut the door he looked around outside to see if anyone was with her, the coast appeared clear.
Eileen and Lily was surprised to see her as their eyes widened and Sandra noticed this, she raised one hand in the air, waived it frantically,
‘I’ve come in peace’ she said and smiled her nervous smile, they went into the living room, Sandra took the armchair, Lily and Eileen sat on the sofa, Peter sat on the arm, he didn’t like the law being there, from what he had seen of Underwood, it was the law that were the bad guys, he noticed she looked nervous, she shuffled her hands in her lap, eventually she spoke as three sets of eyes ogled her,
‘I would like to apologise for what happened the day you came here’ her voice was soft and sorrowful,
Eileen and Lily stood up, ‘I’m going to see if Ivy wants to sunbathe’ said Lily and left the room, she didn’t want to hear an apology, not from the person who arrested her father.
‘I’ll make some coffee ‘Said Eileen, thinking there was no threat here, she could tell that by the look of remorse on Sandra’s face.
‘There’s no need’ said Peter ‘I guess you had a job to do’
She looked down at her feet, still shuffled her hands, Peter observed her for a moment, he could tell there was more,
‘You haven’t just come to apologise have you’
She lifted her head and their eyes met, Sandra could see they were friendly eye’s but they had a look of determination about them, for some reason those eyes gave her hope, they had given Underwood hope, she gulped and run her tongue around the inside of her mouth,
‘Ever since you have come here, you have given people hope, I don’t know why, I can see people’s faces, the bounce in their step, they seem to think you’re the answer’, she met his eyes looking for an expression in them,
Peter’s eyes opened wide, he wasn’t expecting that, he didn’t want to be peoples hope, all he wanted was to get out out Underwood with his family, if he could take others along then fine, but that wasn’t his priority, the only person he could trust at that moment was Tony Griffiths, ‘could he trust this woman’ he asked himself,
He didn’t answer he just let her words sink in.
‘I just want you to know that if I can help in any way, then I will’ she added, Eileen came in with the coffee, Sandra thanked her, she took a sip,
‘So you want me to trust you’ asked Peter he was stood up now pacing the room,
‘I’ve come to say what I wanted, that is up to you’
Peter sat back down, he knew he was going to need some help, people he could trust,
‘Let me ask you one question, and please answer honestly’ Sandra nodded,
‘Have you ever seen the sheriff, vicar or judge together?
Sandra gave it a little thought, but it was a question she had sometimes asked herself, so she knew the answer,
‘No’ she replied,
It was an answer he was hoping for ‘Seems Tony Griffiths was right’ he told himself.
Just then the door opened and in walked Nathan, he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the deputy there, his face grew frightened and his eyes watered as he started to shake,
‘Have you come to arrest me’ he asked in a trembling voice,
The three of them looked at him wondering what was going on in his mind, it was Eileen who spoke first,
‘What have you done Nathan’ she said accusingly, she knew he had done something, she recognised the look, Nathan started sobbing,
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ he cried ‘last night me and Samuel went to the woods, I know we are not supposed to go there, we were looking for a way out,
Peter stood, he shouted at Nathan, the anger just took over,
‘You must never go into the woods’ he told him,
‘I won’t do it again it was horrible’ cried Nathan
Sandra lent forward and held out her hand, he took it, he needed the comforting gesture.
‘Did you see what was in the woods’ she asked him?
‘No’ he shot back ‘but I know who did’.
Tony Griffiths sat down in the doctor’s office, he hadn’t really slept much the night before, he hadn’t gone to bed until late as he was talking to the new resident until the early hours, and when he did try to sleep their conversation kept spinning around in his head, he had told Peter his theory and was glad he believed it, then he had thought how could he not, after all less than a week ago they were living a different sort of life, Tony wanted to help him get back to that, he wanted a taste of it himself, something had stirred up inside of him, he thanked Peter for that, he was ready for anything now and bugger the consequences.
David Harris had not seen a patient since the new family had arrived and he had found it hard to recall the time before that, but he had guessed about a week, the population of Underwood was dwindling, probably less than 250 now he guessed, and not one of them seem to get ill, he knew everyone was destined to die in Underwood, and when they had all gone it would be floating about in its own little world, a town that nobody wants, and maybe those three monsters would kill themselves and that thing in the woods, he just hoped he wouldn’t be the last man standing, he couldn’t cope with that, he was sat looking at Tony Griffiths in his office, he had not made an appointment, not that it mattered, it wasn’t as if he would struggle to fit him in, what was puzzling the doctor was that Tony Griffiths looked a picture of health, in fact he thought he had never seen him looking so good.
They sat staring for a while, trying to suss each other out, Tony wondering whether to trust this guy, The doctor just wanting the whole fucking world to end, it was Tony who spoke first, though he wasn’t sure why he chose the words that he did,
‘How’s life doc’
The doctor took his gaze away from Tony, now he was sure this was no medical problem, they had known each other for decades, they had never been close friends but had a mutual respect, they had both seen the demise of Tony’s wife, both watched her fade away, truth was the doctor suspected Tony had eventually killed his wife, he only wished he had the guts to do it himself, he admired him for it, it took courage.
‘Life’s shit, now what do you want?’ the doctor said, he wanted to add ‘stop wasting my time’ but that’s all he had left was ‘time’.
Tony grinned he liked the doctors style, he knew he had done all he could for his wife, he could not have done anymore, and he thought of all the jobs in Underwood the doctor had one of the worse.
‘If I wanted to kill an animal, could you supply the poison’, Tony had said it now, put his trust in the doctor, there was no going back, if the doctor was going to turn him in then Tony would have to end the doctors life, he somehow thought the doctor wouldn’t worry to much about that’, it certainly wasn’t the question the doctor was expecting, but it didn’t matter, he knew the answer and his response was quick.
‘I have nothing to cure people, but enough to kill them in a 100 different way’s, now who are we killing?’
The “we” threw tony a little,
‘An animal’ was the simple response, then Tony took him in complete confidence and told him about the idea that he had run by Peter Ford, the doctor listened intensively, taking in every word that Tony spoke,
‘So if we take out the thing that feeds them, it’s curtains for those three’ Tony finished.
‘How do we know what�
��s in the woods and if we can kill it’ asked the doctor,
‘We won’t until we try’
‘What if we do take them out, how do we get back to the real world?’
Tony got up from his chair and paced the doctor’s office, he looked pensive, but the doctor could see the look of hope in his eyes, he turned sharp to face the doctor, he spoke enthusiastically, he wasn’t going to tell him of his theory, not yet.
‘Even if we can’t get out, having those dead at least we can stop all the madness, but don’t forget doc, Peter and his family got in, there has to be a way out’,
‘I’ll get you the poison you need ‘said the doctor, he was never not going to.
Tony thanked him and left the doctors, he took a slow walk towards the old army huts and when he reached the converted maternity unit, he stopped and looked at it, he thought of all the young kids been brought there to have the children they didn’t want, he prayed for all the male babies who had been taken to the woods, he looked up to the skies, hoped his wife was looking down on him,
‘They’ll be no more fucking babies’ he told her.
Chapter 12
It was 1976, it was June and the summer was gloriously hot, one of the hottest summers for decades and today was carnival day, one of the biggest days of the calendar year at Underwood Estate.
The estate had been completed, the biggest steelworks in the world, just out of sight behind the trees up and running, plumes of smoke drifting into the sky, sometimes obscuring the sun, sometimes dirtying the washing that hung on clothes lines, but the 3 mile long works kept turning out the iron, making the steel and Underwood, the council estate built in the middle of nowhere, with one road in and the same road out was thriving, the beer pumps in the social club were forever being pulled, the supermarket and the butchers tills were always ringing, the post office and the paper shop churning out sweets for the kids and cashing in the family allowance, and the best stocked chemist for tens of miles were always there to take care of peoples ills, and if you didn’t fancy cooking, then there was always the chip shop, and the hairdressers always made sure you looked good for that special night out, everyone knew everyone and if you didn’t work at the steelworks, you had a family member or friend who did, it was a council estate success, one of the very few.
The red and white flags were hung from almost every house, some displaying the welsh dragon as people watched in the streets at the procession of lorry’s that went past, some full of ancient warriors, some full of fairies and angels, Disney characters and comic villains, all cheered on by proud parents, hoping this year that it will be their daughter that will be announced as carnival queen.
The field next to the centre was awash with activities and games to play for the children, while some parents chose to rest and drink in the centre bar, some had already made it to the social club where the festivities would go on well into the night, when the fairy’s and warriors would be sleeping and the newly crowned beauty queen getting her deserved beauty sleep, yes nearly everyone was there, it was felt that more than likely those who weren’t attending were the ones whose shift it was at the steel works, perhaps it would be they who could explain what happened.
By the time Underwood changed nearly everyone was merry or asleep, the teenagers were at the old army huts, playing in the huts and the dens that they had made, the pretty girls of underwood sharing a kiss with the boy of their dreams, the sun was almost setting on this warm night, if it had set completely then perhaps no one would have noticed it happen.
As the orange cloud drifted from the steel works over the town of Underwood, no one thought much of it, other than it being just another dirty cloud created by the steelworks, only this one didn’t float over it hovered above the town,
People will recall it coming down slowly and purposely, blocking out the fading sunlight, some would say it was a UFO, those who survived would never be able to speak of it again.
Those who walked the streets or those in bed who may not have seen it, felt it first, for the noise would have surely woken them as the trees around Underwood started to turn, slowly at first, as if they were just swaying in the wind, but then they seem to come alive as the orange dust empowered them, and as people watched and screamed at the spinning trees, the ground beneath them shook and those still down at the centre fields and those near the woods edge were sucked into the vacuum as the trees spun and gathered momentum taking the bodies of those closest and tossing them into the air, where there bodies would spin with the trees until it was laid fractured on the ground, hundreds and hundreds of them.
The power was shut off, the phone lines were out of order, those from inside the club and those at home came running out into the streets, some being sucked into the air straight away, for others it would take longer, some survived the ordeal but not many, those in the centre of the town were the best protected, those who stayed indoors were the sensible ones, as long as their windows were closed, but the night was warm and sticky and many perished being sucked up through the open windows, into the void, as they watched or died the new Underwood was being born.
No one could understand it, at first they thought the steelworks had blown up and created a suction and those who survived will say that’s what happened and it somehow threw the town Of Underwood off the planet, no one really believed it, but it’s what they wanted to believe as they could think of no other logical explanation, because trees don’t move, do they? Not as if there was any logic in the one they had.
As the people of Underwood took to the streets and the screams and shouts were in abundance, the teenagers In the army huts stood in fear, just like every other part of underwood the trees were spinning, but as the teenagers run out from their dens, something else was happening in the army huts, for they stood and watched frozen in fear as the ground in front of them opened up, at first they would swear they saw human souls being released from the hole that had appeared in the ground, whatever happened in that steelworks, the finest steel in the world made, today it had unearthed something that had laid dormant since the second world war.
Stronger than any Iron or Steel it had produced.
17 teenagers died that day in the army huts alone, by the hands of the monster that came from the ground as the Wolfe like animal fed on their bodies, they had tried to run, but with the woods spinning, there was nowhere to run to as the landscape changed continually, throwing their minds into utter confusion and throwing their bodies into the thing that devoured them, and as the awoken animal licked his lips at the first meal he had eaten for almost 40 years, he thought of the last three people he had seen, he would call on them to help him create the new underwood, for it was those who destroyed the last.
Next morning the carnage was not unlike an earthquake, the orange cloud was gone now and to everyone’s utter disbelief the landscape surrounding the town had moved, with no outside contact with the rest of the world, people had to burn their dead, under the instructions of the new resident of Underwood, Sheriff Allan Herapath, the Vicar would say some meaningless words as the body’s burned and the judge would punish those that didn’t obey, he was kept very busy in the early days.
That day a new Underwood was born, but it was so different from the old.
Chapter 13
Delyn Brown the pretty 18 year old Welsh girl from Newport had only just passed her driving test, and the curly haired freckled face beauty was a bit nervous in driving over to Bristol, it was her friend “Judith’s” hen night, she was a bit annoyed not being able to have the two days of from the hairdressers where she worked, for now she would have to travel there on her own and meet the rest of her friends there, Bristol was a good night out and the hotel they were staying at had some good reviews on trip advisor and she had cheered up a bit when she managed to leave work 2 hours early, maybe by the time she gets there and meet the others they would not have had to much to drink, though she didn’t like the weather that was approaching and as she sat in her bedroom applying
the final touches to her make-up, the heavens opened and pelted the bedroom window with the rain, she jumped streaking her mascara down her cheek,
‘shit, have to take a coat’ she thought, she looked out of the window, it was really pouring down, she didn’t fancy driving in the rain and she thought about a taxi, she checked her purse, there was no way she could afford that, she had the hotel to pay for and drinks, she would have to take it easy, she grabbed her coat, checked she had her id , she said goodbye to her mum, thankful that her father wasn’t home as she knew he would have told her not to go, she thought about waiting for him to come home and ask him to take her, but that would be leaving it to late, she kissed her mum got into her ford focus and started the engine, she looked up at the skies, it didn’t look good, she hoped it would pass over, or at least she would be driving away from it.
‘I’m a good driver’ she told herself, ‘I passed first time’
Delyn Brown drove off into the rain towards the Severn Bridge to Bristol, she had a hen night to go to, and she was so looking forward to it.
Tony Griffiths stood in his car lot, as he had done nearly every night since he built the car lot that wasn’t allowed to sell cars, he was probably the best predictor of the weather that Underwood had, he had enough experience having lived there all that time, it was the behaviour of the tree’s, the lie of the sun and the movement of the clouds that told him a storm would be coming, just 8 days after the last, he thought it might be a bit soon, and if it was a daytime storm then that wouldn’t do, but it looked as if it was a few hours yet before the storm came, based on past experiences, by then it would be dark, by then they may be able to see exactly what happens when the storms come, he felt the excitement building up inside him, something he hadn’t felt for years, at that time he didn’t care if he lived or died, as long as he tried, someone had to do something about this fucked up world he lived in.
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