by RR Haywood
‘Did I get a field?’ Clarence asks squinting through one eye.
‘Again please,’ Reginald moves to his side and watches as Clarence lifts his arm and again lets it drop gently to the map where he draws another dot, ‘and again,’ Reginald says and watches as Clarence repeats the action, ‘hold still but keep your eyes closed,’ he takes the pen from Clarence’s grip and quickly outlines a rough circle on the map before pushing the pen back between the huge digits of Clarence’s hand, ‘and again please.’
‘Shit,’ Cookey is the first to voice the surprise when Clarence drops his arm and draws the dot in the middle of the circle.
‘What?’ Clarence asks opening his eyes.
‘Your random selection just got everyone killed,’ Reginald says.
‘How?’ Clarence asks.
‘Reggie drew that circle,’ Paula leans over to trace the line of pen that Reginald drew, ‘and you landed in the middle of it.’
‘So fucking cool,’ Nick says.
‘Your height, weight, girth, length of your arm, the drop from your arm to the table and the size of the map can all be used to calculate the area within which the pin, or pen in this case, will drop. It is not random. Not random at all.’ Taking his pen he slides it back into his trouser pocket and sits back down with an air of disquiet and worry.
‘I apologise,’ he says stiffly after the lengthy pause of the rest of us taking in everything he just said, ‘I did not mean to undermine you but merely to highlight that whatever you choose to do and whatever plan you come up with the infection, with its hive mind capability, will outthink you.
‘There are thirteen people in this group of varying sizes and indeed, we have various maps of various sizes so the variables of who is assigned the pin and which map is used at what height and distance all increase the statistical odds of the opponent not being able to know our destination. As Clarence almost got correct, the first would be very hard, but not impossible, to predict, but the second destination would not. The opponent knows that Mr Howie leads this team, it will also know, through gaining Lani’s mind, that Paula, Clarence and to a certain extent, Simon all play active parts in the leadership and direction this group take. Therefore the opponent will know, after the first destination has been chosen, where the likely second destination, or objective, will be.’
‘Holy fuck,’ Cookey mutters, ‘Reggie is Morpheus…’
‘Okay then,’ I say leaning forward, ‘then we don’t do the pin but just pick a town completely at random…like just choose one without any regard to where it is.’
‘Please,’ Reginald says sliding the map towards me, ‘where are we now?’
‘Fuck, I’ve got no idea,’ I say staring down at the map, ‘er…anyone got an idea?’
‘Find the hotel we stayed at and work from there,’ Roy suggests.
‘It matters not the actuality of our location, please just choose any place on the map and we will assume, for this purpose, that we are at that place.’
‘Okay, here then,’ I jab my finger down onto what looks like a small town.
‘Please choose where you would attack first.’
‘Okay, er…’ I look round at the grey smudges indicating the urban towns and places of populace, ‘doesn't really matter which is the first so….this one,’ I tap my finger on a grey section.
‘And the next please,’ he says tightly.
‘Ah right, so the next is random so…er…this one,’ I skip a few other grey sections and tap a bigger one to the north.
‘And the next,’ he says.
‘Next? Er…random again so….this one,’ I say with a shrug and tap a town a few miles to one side.
‘And the next,’ he says.
‘This one,’ I tap a splodge on the map.
‘Excellent,’ Reginald says without any trace of my choice being excellent at all, ‘you have attacked four towns but by the fifth you will be trapped and decimated. Or rather,’ he adds with a look round at everyone, ‘you will get everyone here trapped and they will be decimated.’
‘How?’ I ask as the tension round the table increases tenfold.
‘You have selected a pattern of up then to the side then back down…effectively working to the points on a compass.’ He slides the map back towards him, ‘North. East. South,’ he taps the towns I selected in turn, ‘your next choice would be West and given the preset range of your arm and the choices you have already made I would predict your next random choice will be this one,’ he settles a finger on a grey section, ‘and if I can work that out so can the infection.’
‘Fuck,’ I lean back from the table and blink slowly, ‘I probably would have chosen that one,’ I admit audibly.
‘Fucking Derren Brown…’ Nick says, ‘fucking awesome.’
‘Reginald,’ Charlie says politely, ‘sorry for interrupting you but are you saying that whatever we choose, or whatever method we choose it will be worked out because we’re using our minds which are preset within the confines of the way we are taught to think?’
‘Yes,’ Reginald looks up with surprise, as do the rest of us, ‘that is exactly what I am trying to explain.’
‘So Mr Howie, although he thought he was choosing random towns, was sub-consciously using the points of the compass, albeit he was skipping towns on the map…but because of the length of his arm and the height of the map on the table he was moving to a pre-defined range of areas.’
‘Yes!’ Reginald says.
‘And you say that the infection will be able to work this out?’
‘Yes! Of course it will. It knows everything we know and more. It has access to every memory and fact known by every host body. The fact that we are in the infancy of the evolution is the only reason we are still alive and not yet wiped out.’
‘Huh?’ I ask stupidly.
‘Think about it,’ he says looking round the group, ‘to have access to every fact, memory, experience, knowledge of every human mind and brain…to be able to use all of those facts to your advantage. Say a mathematician is a host body. The infection will have the expertise of that mathematician and the same with a soldier,’ he points to Clarence and Dave, ‘to military leaders,’ he points to me, ‘accountants, archers…hockey players…the infection will evolve beyond our understanding of intelligence. Think of what it has done already? It has taken host bodies from being barely functioning to Marcy. To having the ability to allow the host body to use their own minds. To experimenting with what works and what does not work and it is doing it at a rate and size we cannot fathom or comprehend. It is said that if the Roman Empire had not fallen we would have been putting men on the moon a thousand years ago. The infection will achieve what we have been striving for within a matter of weeks.
‘Simply put. We are playing against an opponent that is learning faster than anything we have ever known in our entire combined history. We are pitted against a foe of unimaginable power. They were lying down!’ He exclaims with his hands waving in the air, ‘lying down.’
‘Still killed ‘em though,’ Blowers mutters trying to show a level of confidence that none of us feel.
‘Of course and you’ll kill many more and what a clumsy, ham-fisted silly infantile thing to do. To lie down and pretend to be dead. To play dead. We have that dog who can smell them and we have eyes that can see them moving…’ he stops to look round again, ‘silly stupid and ridiculous…but…it shows the start of a complex thought process. To deceive. To trick. To pretend one thing while intending another. To lure. To trap. Lying down was today. What will be tomorrow or the next day? We have to think beyond what is now and work to predict not only the next move on the board but we have to predict the next ten moves on the board and consider the reaction to every move you make.’
Silence. Profound and deep and every heart sinks at the realisation of our own stupidity. At pretending to be professional soldiers and doing something great when in fact we’re being played and no better than bloody children throwing stones against an invad
ing army. I look round the table at the faces of the twelve other people and feel foolish that I ever thought we could make a difference.
‘Fifty million?’ I look across to Dave.
‘Yes,’ he says as dull as ever.
‘Fuck,’ I snort, ‘how many bullets have we got?’
‘Not fifty million that’s for sure,’ Clarence says.
‘Why fifty million?’ Charlie asks looking between the three of us.
‘Something Dave has always said,’ I reply, ‘that there were fifty million people in this country…’
‘And we’ve killed a hundred thousand at the very most,’ Clarence says.
‘Hundred thousand?’ I scoff, ‘probably half of that if we’re lucky. Well, that’s kinda sapped the motivation.’
‘I am sorry,’ Reginald says gravely.
‘Don’t be,’ I say to him, ‘better we know what we’re up against and plan round it…fuck…what did we kill in this village? Twenty? Thirty at the most?’
‘Not all fifty million will be infected,’ Paula says, ‘Marcy, when you were er…you know…’
‘Yes I know,’ she says quietly.
‘When you were taking people, what was the rate? As in I don’t know…for every hundred you went after how many did you actually infect and turn?’
‘Probably ninety nine out of a hundred.’
‘Oh,’ Paula sags, ‘shit. So we give up?’ Paula asks the group then looks to Reginald, ‘are you saying we can’t win?’
‘Oh good lord I am not saying anything of the sort. It is not my place to say you should stop or continue but I could not sit back and watch the folly of your endeavours any further. Indeed, I offer my upmost apologies for the manner of my intrusion into your affairs but…’
‘Our affairs,’ I interrupt, ‘so what do we do?’
‘I don’t know,’ he blurts, ‘truly I don’t know.’
‘Reginald,’ Clarence leans forward to rest his bulk on the table, ‘what method of attack can we use that the infection won’t be able to work out?’
‘Good question,’ I say with a nod at Clarence then another at Reginald who shifts uncomfortably in his seat at the attention being placed on him once again.
‘I am sorry,’ he says in mild panic, ‘but I am not a person who can make decisions that puts the lives of others at risk. I simply cannot do that.’
‘I make the decisions,’ I say injecting some firmness into my voice that earns a glance from a few others, ‘but I do it after taking into consideration the knowledge and experiences of everyone else…’
‘Is that the Tesco School of Management again?’ Marcy asks with a wry smile.
‘Might be,’ I smile back, ‘but the thing is, Reginald. Is that it won’t be you deciding the fate of everyone. It will be me.’
‘But what if you form a decision based on something I say to you that ultimately led to the death of everyone. I truly do…’
‘Then we’d all be dead,’ Paula says bluntly but in a kind voice, ‘the same way everything we’ve done so far could have led to our deaths.’
‘May I?’ Roy asks me.
‘Carry on, mate.’
‘Reginald,’ Roy says turning to the other man, ‘tell us about random then…how we can choose a random selection method.’
‘Before we even contemplate that question you need to be sure of your goals and objectives?’
‘That’s simple enough. Kill as many as possible.’
‘Is that realistic?’ He asks, ‘considering the numbers you are up against? Should you not be looking to seek the answer to the question of your immunity? Why Marcy and I were infected but are now seemingly ridding our bodies of the virus?’
‘How? Where?’ I throw the questions out and watch as he balks slightly at the force of my voice, ‘I am asking you not confronting you, Reginald. If you have any thoughts or ideas in that direction then say so. I mean we got four doctors and a ton of equipment but…’
‘They were general practitioners of medicine,’ Reginald says, ‘you need experts within the fields of virology, scientists…’
‘Which we’ll never find,’ Paula says quietly, ‘we got lucky with the four we found but none of us would even know where to begin looking for a virologist.’
‘London,’ Marcy says, ‘at the big hospitals.’
‘Have you seen London?’ Clarence asks her, ‘we have.’
‘The idea was to be away from then fort and use guerrilla tactics to cull their numbers,’ I say, ‘but now I’m questioning if we should be doing that? Should we?’ I ask the group, ‘we were going to be seen away from the fort…fight back…show them we’re not cowed…but now, taking into account what Reginald just said, is that the right thing to do?’
‘What do you want to do?’ Marcy asks me as every face waits for the answer.
‘Me? I want to fuck ‘em up as much as possible and irritate the shit out of it. I want that bastard thing to know we’re fucking it over bit by bit and getting good at it. But after what Reginald just said…well, common sense says we should leg it and find somewhere safe to hide but they’ll come and keep coming. They won’t stop and if what Reginald says is true, which it is because we’ve all seen how clever the bloody thing is getting, then it’ll work out how to get into the fort and every other safe place. So yes, while my common sense says run and hide I know we’re just buying a bit of time before they find us.’
‘Then we do that,’ Marcy says with a firm nod.
‘Oh no, no no no,’ I say waving my hand at her, ‘this isn’t a decision for me to make. This has to be a collective decision.’
‘You just said you make the decisions.’
‘Yeah but…’
‘You did say that,’ Paula says.
‘Yes but…but what I mean is…I mean, fuck it. Yes I want to keep going and attack but only if it’s the right thing to do.’
‘You sound like a politician now,’ Marcy says, ‘who cares if it’s the right thing or not…we’ll never know if it’s the right thing as there is no precedent for this ever happening before. Whatever you decide is the right thing to do and if it leads to all us all getting killed then so be it, we’re on borrowed time anyway. What? Don’t look at me like that? We are on borrowed time. I died. I was killed. Murdered. So was Reggie. Paula was coping on her own and surviving but how long would that have lasted for? Charlie and Blinky might have lasted another couple of weeks in that house before it found them or god forbid some other men found a house full of young women.’
She stops and shakes her head sadly while looking round the table, ‘the sun is shining, the weather is warm and we’re in good company…anything else is a bonus. Paula said something to me this morning that made me think.’
‘What did I say?’ Paula asks with a worried look.
‘You said about taking comfort when you can.’
‘Er yes but that was a very specific conversation.’
‘The principle is the same. This is our comfort. This right now. Sitting in a café drinking free soft drinks and having the ability to hold a conversation. Who else can do this right now? Who else has the wherewithal to have made this happen? We did. We made this comfort in spite of the infection so we are already winning and like I just said, anything after this is a bonus.’
‘So what do you want to do?’ I ask her softly, mesmerised by the passion of the way she was speaking.
‘Kill the lot of them,’ she says bluntly and grins round at the shocked expressions, ‘you weren’t expecting that answer were you?’ She laughs, ‘what they did to me…and Reggie…and what it made us do cannot be forgiven. Kill them. Kill them all and even if we only kill one more before we all die then it’s one less to ruin someone else’s life completely.’
‘Fair enough, Clarence?’
‘Same,’ he replies, ‘keep going.’
‘Dave?’
‘Your decision, Mr Howie.’
‘Paula?’
‘Keep going.’
One
by one I ask the question and get the same answer keep going. Keep going Mr Howie.
The last one is Reginald and I left him until the last on purpose, ‘Reginald?’
‘I cannot…’
‘Wasn’t going to ask you that,’ I cut him off, ‘I was going to ask you how we do it?’
‘How?’
‘Yeah, how? This next town you were saying about. We should go there,’ I say with an eager nod, ‘can’t we somehow make them think we’re still doing the same thing but get them trapped instead?’
‘Ooh you dirty bastard,’ Paula laughs.
‘Yeah, why not?’ I grin at her, ‘fuck ‘em. Reggie? Sorry, I mean Reginald…what do you think?’
‘Really, Mr Howie. I am not a military strategist. This is not something I can even begin to…’
‘You just bloody did,’ Clarence sputters, ‘Christ, Reggie. I’ve met officers with less military strategy than what you just said and if Chris was here he’d be creaming his pants. Man up and spit it out.’
‘I don’t know. I cannot even know where to start to…’
‘Yes you bloody can,’ Clarence booms, ‘it’s written all over your face and that little glimmer in your eyes is telling me you’re itching to have a go.’
‘A go? Have a go? What on earth do you mean?’
‘You play chess, right? This is a game of chess. You even called it the other player.’
‘I did no such thing.’
‘You so did,’ Cookey laughs, ‘we all heard it.’
‘Okay, just this next town,’ I say, ‘do we go barrelling in like before or sneak in like sneaky mother fuckers?’
‘Again it depends on the end objective,’ Reginald replies immediately, ‘if you want the other…I mean…’
‘Ah you were gonna say other player,’ Nick says.
‘Yes I was but nevertheless, if you want the…opponent…to know you know what they know then yes, use stealth and surprise them but my guess is you’ll be able to withstand the opposition with relative ease simply because the opponent does not have the time to draw such numbers as needed to complete his…its…objective.’
‘The infection isn’t a man,’ Paula says, ‘you said it was intelligent.’
