by RR Haywood
‘Mr Howie will have to accept that,’ Charlie says politely, ‘that we can only work with what we are given.’
‘Indeed,’ Reginald says righteously, ‘indeed he shall have to be accepting of that.’
Leaning forward she pulls the chair in tighter to the desk taking care not to bump Reginald’s chair in the process while being mindful that he retains the central position to the desk and she off to the side, ‘Foxwood is here,’ she says placing a finger on the small village indicated on the map, ‘I wonder,’ she muses gently, ‘what we can match from the map to what we witnessed as physical objects. Is that the pond?’ She asks knowing full well that the blue section on the map is the pond in Foxwood.
‘Er, yes. Yes that must be the pond as it is the only expanse of water shown within that vicinity.’
‘Okay, duck pond…so that cross symbol represents a church? Is that right?’
‘Yes yes, a bold black cross is the sign of a religious building. See here, they are within nearly every village and town,’ he says motioning to the various bold black crosses on his own map.
‘Interesting, do they use different symbols for differing places of worship in relation to the differing religions?’
‘An interesting question. I know of three different symbols used. There is a blue cross for a cathedral, the black cross with a square underneath represents a place of worship with a tower whereas a black cross with a circle underneath represents a place of worship with a spire or a minaret or dome. So in effect, the black cross with a circle can be used to identify a place which may not be a Christian place of worship.’
‘I did not know that,’ she says softly, ‘here in Stenbury,’ she says holding her finger on the map, ‘there is a cross over a black circle, so that could be a mosque or other religious place of worship?’
‘Yes, or it could also be a church with a spire.’
‘You’d think with the onset of greater religious sensitivities that they would denote a wider range of symbols.’
‘Indeed but then the argument could be brought forward that map makers are independent of all cultural values and therefore they merely observe and record what is in place at that time without deference to the religious or cultural meaning.’
‘Yes but they are using a cross which is a symbol of Christianity and that same cross could be used to represent a religion that is not Christian in origin.’
‘Again a valid point and should civilisation start again perhaps we could bring it their attention.’
She smiles at the gentle joke, ‘I think we should. This is the woods behind Foxwood,’ she says indicating the green section on the map, ‘this orange coloured line represents the road running through the village…’
‘Yes and the red line here is the road we are on now but do note that red lines are used both for dual carriageways and for main roads, the key is the thickness of the line.’
‘Blue is motorways?’
‘Yes, orange is secondary roads and the red and white striped are narrow roads with places to pass.’
‘Ah yes I see one here.’
‘Do you understand the gradients?’
‘Yes, a series of concentric in appearance circles that, when seen closer together, show a steeper incline and I think I am right in saying the height above mean sea level is shown with a numerical value, is that correct?’
‘You are correct but they are not concentric circles.’
She doesn't point out she said they were concentric in appearance but stares down with a finger that traces lightly over the thick paper. Manipulation is never nice but gentle manipulation is done with every human encounter and she does notice his hands are now entirely steady and his tone is neutral with that comforting level of condescension reserved for the true academic at work.
‘Howie to Paula, we’re just about to pass Foxwood.’
‘Hi, Howie, thanks for that…did you hear that in the back?’
‘We did, thank you, Paula,’ Charlie calls out as Reginald winces.
‘They should not be using names and places on the radio,’ he says quietly, ‘it is not beyond the capability of the opponent to listen to our transmissions.’
‘I do agree, however, we are only doing what is expected and at this stage, the opponent will only be hearing that we are maintaining the same course. Perhaps we can advise Mr Howie that after Flitcombe we should desist from using names and locations?’
‘Yes, yes we’ll do that.’
‘Or, perhaps given the circumstances we could consider making fake transmissions to enforce the subterfuge should the opponent by listening.’
‘Ah yes, a suggestion that can be given consideration at the appropriate time.’
‘Should we maintain a record of our suggestions or advice to be given? So we don’t forget? That is something I can do.’
‘If you wish yes, a record will perhaps be appropriate.’
The clipboard is within arms-reach with fresh paper ready to go and a pen wedged into the spring mechanism at the top. Neat handwriting and the first suggestion is logged, advice ref. use of names on radio / maintain subterfuge.
A natural break in the flow of conversation and she takes advantage to subtly progress matters.
‘So we’re here,’ she says at the point on the map where the orange line of the road through Foxwood runs from the red line of the road they are on, ‘and we go along here until we reach Hydehill which, by all appearances, is not a big place at all.’
‘No, not a big centre of habitation.’
‘What could we assume?’
‘Assume?’ He asks with a slightly sharper tone but she carries on as though unaware.
‘Of Hydehill. Could we assume the shops and stores will be on the main road running through?’
‘Oh I see. Well yes, yes I think we could. There are very limited side streets shown on here, of course there will be more than shown but if you were planning a commercial endeavour you would wish to capture the best location for both residential and transient custom. Therefore the main road would be the best location.’
‘Yes, and they would need parking in order for your customers to stop. So we can expect a main road with shops and stores with either on road parking or a nearby car park.’
‘Of course and this being England there will be a public house and a post office.’
‘P.O. Is that post office?’
‘P.O? Yes, ah yes there it is on the main road as we correctly predicted.’
‘Church is here, or rather a place of worship and the shape is square so we have a place of worship with a tower. Actually, that could be important if we…if one were to be looking for places of height say for observation.’
‘Yes and taking that one step further we could also suggest that a post office has a secure inner area used for the storage of money…’
‘Which could be used as a safe fall back point should the need arise.’
‘Yes,’ Reginald says nodding, ‘in the same way we could assume a public house will hold ample supplies of refreshments. You should note that suggestion down.’
‘But public houses are not denoted on the maps,’ she says adding to the list.
‘You are correct, they are not on ordnance survey maps of this scale.’
‘It was a good suggestion though. Hydehill has one church with a tower, a post office on the main road and look here, there is an orange coloured road feeding into the red coloured main road running through and that orange secondary road joins another main road a short distance away.’
‘Where does that second main road go?’
‘It runs through another series of villages, farms and what looks like open heath land.’
‘A viable route for the opponent to use to move host bodies into Hydehill or even through Hydehill towards Stenbury.’
She stares down, tracing along the second main road as it runs through the towns and villages marked on the map visualising the infected moving along the road with a predefined num
ber peeling off to stay in Hydehill while the rest move on.
‘Placing myself in the position of the other player,’ Reginald mutters more to himself but wishing to show his intelligence, ‘I would try and hold them at the junction.’
‘Junction?’
‘Where the secondary road meets the main road through Hydehill,’ he says without looking at her, ‘yes, yes indeed I would use this location to buy time to enable me to position my pieces to a more advantageous…er…position.’ Damn it, why did he say position twice? He should have thought of a different word.
‘And there are quite a few side roads around that area of the junction,’ Charlie says not mentioning the fact he said position twice when he could have used any number of other words, ‘actually there is one that runs from before the junction and appears to go round the back of the buildings fronting onto that main road and connects with the er…main road before the junction.’
‘Yes I see it, I would leave the junction of the side road clear until they were past and committed at the crossroads and hold a reserve force behind the buildings to come round and attack them from behind,’ Reginald says glancing up at her.
‘That is supposing you wished to win the fight when in this case the infection does not wish to win the fight,’ she says.
‘No that is true but it will need to gain time and still give the sense of victory which can be done by allowing Mr Howie to deal with those at the crossroads and then bring in some more to attack from behind and therefore prolong the battle and still give a greater sense of achievement.’
‘Good morning, this is your captain speaking. Please fasten seatbelts in preparation of the landing as we will soon be coming into Foxwood…fuck it, we’ve done Foxwood, I meant Hydehill…bollocksed that one up didn’t I? Anyway, Hydehill is just ahead.’
‘Thanks, Howie. We’re ready.’
‘Paula,’ Charlie calls out, ‘we think they’ll meet you at the crossroads on the main road where the shops are.’
‘Oh right,’ Paula says twisting round to lean through the open door, ‘how did you work that out?’
‘Reginald was examining the maps and…’
‘There will be a smaller junction to the left going into a side road,’ Reginald says quickly, ‘we think they will use that to send reinforcements down to attack you from behind.’
‘I thought they wanted us to win?’ Roy asks.
‘We have predicted the opponent will be trying to gain more time so perhaps it will send the second force down that road towards the end…that is if we are correct which, of course, we may not be, in fact you should not rely on anything we have said to any degree of reliability.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Paula says with an earnest look, ‘we’ll keep it in mind.’
‘If you park near to the junction we’ll be able to see from the cameras,’ Charlie says.
‘Which junction?’ Roy asks, ‘the main one or the other one you said about?’
‘The one for the side road, Roy,’ Charlie says.
‘Paula to Howie…’
‘Good God don’t transmit that!’ Reginald yells.
Paula presses the button to speak into the handset with a glare at Reginald, ‘Paula to Howie, ask Nick what the chances of our transmissions being heard are.’
‘Hang on, he heard you…I’ll put him on.’
‘Paula, it’s Nick, you there?’
‘Yep it’s me. We couldn’t get Roy’s radio to talk to the Saxon radio so we used a radio from another cash van to put in here and I’m guessing they’re probably encrypted.’
‘So they can’t be hacked?’
‘Hacking is something different but the chances of someone else having a radio with the same encryption software are low but not impossible.’
‘Okay, understood. Ask Marcy if it’s likely the infection would do that?’
‘Er…she says how the hell would she know.’
‘She was…never mind…Christ, I’m offending everyone today,’ she mutters darkly to herself.
‘It’s very hot,’ Charlie says tactfully, ‘and so humid and sticky.’
‘Yes,’ Paula says sharply then seems to realise the tone of her own voice so turns and offers a smile, ‘sorry, yes it is. Don’t worry we’ll tell the others what you said.’
‘Quietly, you must tell them quietly and give nothing away.’
‘Yes, Reginald. We’ll do it quietly.’
‘The opponent must not be alerted that we know what…’
‘Yes, Reggie! I heard you.’
‘Reginald,’ Reginald mutters at the harsh rebuke while Roy stares diplomatically ahead and Charlie examines her fingernails.
Eleven
The battle for Hydehill
The main road through is wide and straight. Shops and stores on both sides with parking spaces out the front and on the way into the town we pass the obligatory post office and a church set back amidst a rapidly overgrowing garden and thick weeds sprouting at the base of the gravestones.
A junction on the left leading to what looks like an access road running behind the main shops. Cars still parked up in the spaces on the road and no doubt left by the people who lived in the flats above the shops. Windows broken and the puddles on the road are fighting valiantly but losing badly against being evaporated. No jokes now and the sounds of weapons being checked come from behind me. Magazines taken out. Magazines rammed back in. Bolts racked. Straps adjusted. Bags pulled on. The gentle dink of hand weapons being lifted. Dave, next to me in the front checks his rifle first then draws and checks his pistol before running his hands along his beltline checking the hilts of the knives are in place. Clarence clearing his throat, Marcy taking a deep breath.
‘I’ll puke soon as we get out,’ Blinky says hoarsely.
‘Okay,’ Blowers replies in a dull tone, ‘we’re down one with Charlie so stay together and stay alert. Nick, keep Meredith with you until we go to hand weapons.’
‘Got it.’
‘Will we go to hand weapons?’ Blinky asks in that rush of words.
‘Dunno, see how it goes,’ Blowers says gruff with the expectancy of the fight.
‘I’ve only got a knife.’
‘It’ll do for now,’ Clarence says, ‘if it goes to that then stay close to me or the lads, same goes for you, Marcy.’
‘I’ll stay with Howie,’ Marcy says.
It starts. The pulse of my heart rate increasing. The gentle pounding of blood starting to rush past my ears.
‘They’re here,’ Mo says abruptly at the same second Meredith gives voice with a low growl.
‘Uncanny,’ Clarence mutters, ‘you’re a human German Shepherd, Mo. See anything?’ He adds standing up to lean over the seats and stare through the front.
‘Not yet.’
‘You stopping at that big junction?’
‘Yep, everyone ready?’ I get a low murmur of voices in response as I slow the speed down to a crawl over the last few hundred metres while we scan the sides, doorways, windows, recesses, mouths of alleys, ‘remember,’ I say as I bring the vehicle to a halt, ‘don’t give anything away. Everyone out.’
Weapons up and the doors open as we vault the drop into the wall of incessant heat that instantly brings the sweat to bead on our foreheads.
‘Blowers, junction,’ I motion to the mouth of the wide junction to the left side.
‘On it, Blinky, stay close to…you alright, Blinky?’
We all turn to see her bent double retching to spew on the ground, ‘told you,’ she says with a belch as she stands upright wiping her mouth.
‘Stay between Nick and Mo, spread across the junction.’
‘Howie,’ Paula calls my name jogging easily from Roy’s van. I stop and wait expecting her to say something but she waits until she gets in close and drops her head as though to talk to the ground, ‘Reggie and Charlie said they’ll be sending more down from that side road back there,’ she says with a gentle motion of her head back to the road we came along, ‘
but probably not until we’ve almost finished.’
‘Okay, tell Blowers and the others,’ I nod and look round as casually as possible.
‘They also said this is the place they’d meet us but,’ she looks up and round, ‘but…’
‘Meredith was growling,’ Clarence says quietly, ‘and Mo said they were here.’
‘How does he do that?’ She asks glancing over to the young man standing by the junction with the others.
‘No idea, Roy…you alright keeping an eye behind us?’
‘Yep, Charlie and Reggie have a view from the cameras at the back too.’
‘Good,’ I move round in a slow circle, ‘we’re ready then…’
*
‘We we’re mostly right,’ Charlie says speaking in a hushed whisper now.
‘Mostly? I would say we were wholly right,’ Reginald replies with his eyes glued on the monitor watching the rear view and the junction to the side road back in the distance.
She rises from the chair and moves to the thick riveted Perspex window on the driver’s side to look out at the shops and buildings. No movement. No motion. She moves to the other side and scans the view, ‘nothing,’ she mutters and glances down to the monitor and the image of the others all spread out near the main junction, ‘do you think we were wrong?’
‘Good god no,’ Reginald snorts, ‘were you expecting them to be waiting here? No no no, that would tell us they were expecting us. No, they’ll be stacked up in those buildings at the sides waiting to come out in dribs and drabs.’
‘Is that what you would do?’
‘It is exactly what I would do. A few minutes to let them wonder if this town has any infected left and then send them out to the slaughter.’
She watches his right foot tapping and the his hands constantly going to the base of his neck as his reaction to the tension of the situation starts to show, ‘but they will come from behind us and our group,’ he taps lightly on the screen at the figures, ‘are all in front of us which has left us isolated and alone…’ he looks round to the back doors, ‘are they locked?’
