The interrogator questioned him about their numbers, the weapons they had at their disposal, and what their set-up was like, and slowly a clear picture of appalling conditions and brutality began to emerge. Having heard more than enough, Allan and I left to return to the road. Harry, Jon and Paul accompanied us.
Before I could say anything Jon spoke up, “I know what you’re thinking. Most of the men we killed yesterday were probably trying to protect their families.
You could even call them innocent victims. But at the time, the only intelligence we had was that they were hostile and they were attacking us. I said this morning that mistakes would be made and I’m not even sure this was a mistake yet. I’ll need to sleep on it. But I gave the order to eliminate them and I’ll take responsibility for it …”
Allan interrupted him, “Look Jon, there is no right or wrong answer. We were attacked and we fought back and won. The benefit of hindsight doesn’t come into it. The right decision was made at the time. The point now is what do we do with the information we‘ve got? In my opinion we need to get rid of this Gumin character and his cronies as soon as possible. Yesterday’s deaths are on his hands, not ours.”
Jon nodded, looked at Paul and raised an eyebrow. Paul nodded, saluted and replied, “Plan on your desk at 0800 sir!” He bid us all good evening and returned to his men.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
After dinner, and once the children were all tucked up in bed, Jon came by with Pete and a few of his officers and advisors, so that we could go over the plans for the following day. His intention was to meet with all the other groups during our tour and, if he considered them to be suitable, to offer them places at the base.
Given the lack of working farm machinery, muscle power, both animal and human, was going to be essential if we were going to work the land in order to start growing enough to feed everyone. In return for their skills and their labour, Jon was going to offer them food and shelter, and he was keen to know what we thought of the proposal.
Our reactions were negative to begin with. Surely this would be no better than forced labour? A prison camp! It would mean going back to a medieval feudal system! But on the other hand, what other option was there?
As long as people were given a clear idea of the future and what was at stake, perhaps they would understand that what they were being offered was fair. What more could people ask for, but the chance of survival?
Finally Michael, my brother in law, spoke up. It was the first time he had joined in any conversation. The horror of the past few months had weighed heavily on him, and he’d admitted in a quiet moment with me that the sheer helplessness he’d felt when he’d been unable to protect and feed his family would stay with him forever. He’d been overwhelmed by relief and gratitude when they’d arrived at the compound, knowing that they’d made it through their ordeal.
“I think I’m probably the best qualified to answer, Jon,” he said. “Before this thing happened, I’d have been one of the first to protest that what you’re proposing would be slave labour. But now, well, we’ve tried to survive out there. I’ve seen friends killed for the contents of their rucksacks. With my very limited knowledge of foraging and survival, I’ve tried and failed to feed my family with what I could find. And that was before winter had set in.”
Tears began to roll down his cheeks and my sister quickly put her hand on his shoulder.
“I’d have sacrificed my own life in a heartbeat if it had meant that my wife and children would live. I’ve witnessed the evil that’s out there. If people don’t jump at the offer you’re making … if they don’t see that this is their chance of finding security, and protection and an opportunity to survive, don’t take them in. They don’t deserve the chance.
If they start to ask questions about how much work they’re expected to do, don’t take them in. If it meant that my family had a chance to live, I don’t care how hard I’d have to work, I’d do it. I’d work my fingers to the bone, knowing they’d have food on the table. Maybe later on, if it still seems unfair, that might be the time to raise concerns. But not now. Not when the offer is first made.”
He took a deep breath, struggling for control, and continued, “I’ve been out there. I’ve held my children when they’ve cried themselves to sleep with hunger. You haven’t. If people don’t jump at the chance, then trust me, they don’t deserve it.”
Wiping his eyes, he fell silent again. By this time most of the people present had a lump in their throats and Jane, crying herself, gave him a huge hug.
After we’d composed ourselves, Jon spoke up, “Thank you Michael. I can’t begin to imagine what you went through. I think you’re absolutely right. We need people, but most importantly, we need the right people. I’m not so naïve as to think that only the good will survive, but I truly believe that most people will have the right attitude, the will to …” He stopped and held his hands up, “Sorry I was off again on my ‘good over evil speech’ but that’s not necessary now. I’m glad we all seem to agree on the basic principles. When they’re discussed around a table of experts and advisors, it’s easy to convince ourselves that we know everything.”
Looking around he continued, “We hope our ideas are common sense. It seems the only way to get through this; applying a heavy dose of sound judgement to all ideas and hoping that everyone will see that what we’re offering to do, is the right way to go about this.
I’m not sure if Tom has told you yet, but Captain Berry is going to present me with a plan for eliminating this Gumin character in the morning. I’ve had an idea that I want to put to you. After Paul’s briefed me, and if I approve his plan, I’ll ask him to set it out for you. I don’t want your opinion on the military aspects, it’s the humanitarian point of view I’m interested in. No disrespect to Captain Berry. He’s as highly trained as they get in terms of hostage rescue and planning tactics. But this situation is unique.
Most of the people at this place will probably have committed atrocities to save their own and their children’s lives. So do we regard them as victims or targets? I can’t decide. I’m not looking to pass on responsibility, the final decision will still be mine, but I’m prepared to consider other, non-military, points of view. Hopefully it might help me make the correct choice, when I have to.”
Having agreed with Jon’s suggestion, Pete chose himself, Jane, as she’d had first-hand experience of trying to survive out there, and three other people, selected at random, to join the meeting.
We moved on to the logistics for the following day. Initially we would take a walk around the area, introducing our guests to the other groups that we knew were reasonably close by. We would be accompanied by some vehicles, to provide protection and a fast escape route for the VIP guests if necessary, and because they wanted to give every group some supplies, and the vehicles would be needed to transport these.
The walk would give everyone a chance to experience the empty city.
Once the walk was over, we planned to use the vehicles in order to try to reach the groups that were further away. We hadn’t met many of these yet, but our scavenging radius had continued to expand as we’d gradually stripped out anything of use from every house we’d searched. We’d encountered similar groups to ourselves, most of whom had proved friendly, but as our bases had been too far apart, we hadn’t been able to ask them to join us on scavenging missions, as we had done with the groups that were closer by. Instead, we’d agreed on rough limits to areas to avoid falling out over territory and the supplies that were available.
Pete and I had planned to keep up some sort of contact with these more distant groups, but as we’d only met some of them once before, we hadn’t built up enough trust to be told their locations.
Jon wasn’t too concerned about this. If we weren’t able to locate them initially, he would set up a few UAVs to search for them.
We’d encountered a number of hostile groups too, and up until now had given them a wide berth. It was agreed that we would avoid sche
duling any visits to them for the time being, and concentrate on building up a level of trust with the more amenable groups, who were likely to be more receptive to the idea of a recovery plan and life on the base in Herefordshire.
The more unfriendly groups would be contacted at a later date. Everyone would be offered the chance to join in with the recovery plan. But it would be up to them if they wanted to, or not.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Everyone was up early in the morning and the crowd that was gathering in the kitchen area was buzzing with excitement. We were all conscious that important events were taking place today. We were going to reach out and offer help to the other groups we knew of in the area. And if Captain Berry’s plans were approved by Colonel Moore, we might also be engaging in our first offensive operations against a vicious enemy.
Captain Berry had chosen not to join us, as he hadn’t quite finalized his plan for the attack on Gumin, and he wanted to get it finished for our return. But he was sending most of his men to act as close security for the VIPs.
It had already been agreed that Allan and I would lead the expedition, as we both knew the area and the groups we were going to meet.
Jon and his entourage (soldiers and government officials) would follow our directions, but at the first sign of any danger, control would immediately transfer to Jon, who would lead the military response.
Allan and I had both pointed out several times how nervous people might be at the first sight of heavily armed soldiers. If anything did go wrong, or someone reacted aggressively, then unless people’s lives were actually being threatened, the soldiers needed to use careful judgement and not overreact.
Our group consisted of Allan, me and ten of the regular scavengers, who knew the people in the groups we were going to meet as well as any of us.
Jon would be joining us, along with all the government advisors, and Captain Berry’s men would be acting as their close bodyguards. Prince Harry and thirty soldiers were also coming as extra security. A lorry and one of the armoured vehicles, complete with a machine gun on top, brought up the rear.
Although we planned to walk together, it was agreed that it would be best for most of our group to be at the front, and therefore easily recognisable, in the hope that this would reassure the people in the other groups we encountered. As far as we knew, most groups weren’t as heavily armed as us, but we were aware that they all possessed weapons of some kind and we were keen to avoid a “friendly fire” incident.
The morning proved to be a huge success once the four groups we met had recovered from the sight of us being escorted by heavily armed soldiers and vehicles. One of the groups had refused to open their barricades, thinking we had been kidnapped by a rogue government force, until Prince Harry had removed his kit and helmet and walked to the barricade in his uniform to prove who he was and that our intentions were peaceful. This had been a brave move, given that he’d had four shotguns pointing at him.
Everyone we met had been overjoyed (and overcome) at the thought of some help arriving. Once the initial celebrations had calmed down, Jon had stood and addressed them all, explaining why he had come and what he had to offer. You could tell that most of them agreed with everything he said, and once they’d been given satisfactory answers to their questions, the applause he received was an indication that everything he’d said had made sense to them. After all, people were being offered the chance, not only to live, but to thrive and benefit from bringing the country back to life.
They were all warned that the work would be hard, and back breaking. The only reward would be the food and the hope of living in peace under the mutual protection that everybody could offer to each other.
A few people, often those without any family to consider, said that they had no interest in moving, and would take their chances and try to find another group, or even go it alone.
Jon made it clear that nobody would be forced to join, but, given the extremely limited resources available, no help of any kind would be offered to those who didn’t want to contribute. A few grumbled, but most could see his point.
We couldn’t spend long with each group, as we wanted to get to everyone we knew in the area.
Plans for a return visit were made, when more details would be given and arrangements would be made for those who wanted to leave. Having left a parting gift of enough food to feed each group for a few days, we moved on to the next.
Once we’d visited all the groups that we knew of in the area, we radioed for more vehicles to come and meet us at a location we‘d agreed on earlier.
We were accustomed to seeing an empty city, but it came as a shock to the recent arrivals, who couldn’t believe how few people there were.
Prince Harry summed it up, saying, “It’s all very well being shown models and forecasts of how it will be, but walking around in a city where tens of thousands must have lived and only seeing a handful of human beings, makes you realise how many have died or are trying to survive somewhere else.”
Walking from one group to another, we showed them how we had learned from experience how to scavenge effectively from every house. We removed drawers to find lost cans or packets behind cupboards, searched for camping equipment in garages and sheds to find forgotten food from a previous trip and rummaged through lofts. We had learned that secret stashes, where one family member may have hidden snacks, treats or booze, could be found in the most unusual places. Even houses containing the bodies of people who had starved to death or committed suicide often yielded previously undiscovered supplies.
These supplies were always a welcome top-up to what we’d already amassed, but we were only too aware that these resources wouldn’t last forever. Unless we could learn to grow or catch all our own food, it was only a matter of time before we too would be starving to death.
We pointed out the houses we had marked to indicate that there were dead people inside. We hadn’t distinguished between deaths by suicide or murder, but we could all vividly remember what we’d seen and therefore had many horror stories to tell. After a few stories about shooting, stabbing, torture or mutilation, one of the advisors hastily said, “Could you miss out the gory bits please, it’s quite upsetting?”
Jon’s reaction was one of irritation, “Absolutely not!” he said. “We all need to hear how these poor people died. We sat in our bunker and did nothing, while Tom and everyone else here was facing this on a daily basis. All the dead need to be remembered, even if it’s only by Tom telling us their stories. That way their memory will live on in our subconscious. We can’t forget what has, and is, still happening. We can’t.”
Once the armoured vehicles had arrived we continued on our journey. After thirty minutes of slow progress, weaving around all the abandoned vehicles, Jon called a halt.
I was in the lead vehicle with him and he called me forward. “The UAV’s picked up a small group ahead,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map. “Is that anywhere near one of the other groups?”
I shook my head. “No. I suppose it could be one of their scavenging parties. It’s only a few miles from where we met them before.”
“Fine,” he said, and told the driver to move on. I stayed up front so that I could see out of the front window in case I recognised anyone that we saw. The radio was set to speaker and we listened to the continuous commentary from the UAV operator. “You are approaching the last location where I saw bodies on the ground,” the radio broadcast, “No one visible.”
“That’s not unusual,” said Jon. “If they’re inside a house, we wouldn’t pick them up. The cameras are good with both normal and heat modes, but they’re not the latest ones, so they only have limited use. Basically, if they’re out in the open, we can spot anyone night or day. But if they’re in a house or under a thick bush or tree, they disappear.”
He spoke into the handset on his tactical vest, “Caution. People spotted in the area, location currently unknown. They’re probably from the group we’re meeting next, so stay vigilant but
calm. Anyone we see is most likely to be friendly.”
I could see through the front window that we were approaching a mass of cars that effectively blocked the road.
As the thought went through my mind that I didn’t remember the road being blocked like that before, out of the corner of my eye I saw something being thrown from an upstairs window of a house close by.
The front of the vehicle was suddenly engulfed in flames, as the petrol bomb smashed and ignited its fiery contents. Jon immediately grabbed his handset and spoke calmly into it, “Under attack, engage all visible targets.” Turning to me, he said, “Don’t worry, these vehicles can cope with a lot more than this, the only weak spot is the gunner on top. He’s a bit exposed.”
As if responding to Jon’s remark, the vehicle shuddered as the heavy machine gun fired. I wasn’t sure if the gunner could see anyone or was just firing to put the attackers off. Visibility was restricted in the back of the vehicle due to the lack of windows, but three small screens in the front showed the views on both sides and to the rear of the vehicle.
Looking at the screens, I could see that the rest of the convoy had come to a stop, and one of the other armoured vehicles had been hit by a petrol bomb, and appeared to be burning fiercely. There were pools of flames around the trucks, where other petrol bombs had missed their targets and were burning impotently on the ground.
I listened to Jon, steadily giving orders for all the armoured vehicles to surround the vulnerable lorry to give it some protection. The weapons on all the vehicles were firing now, as the vehicles manoeuvred round to shield the truck with their own armoured sides. From inside we heard the sound of bangs as if someone was throwing stones at the truck. The soldier next to me said out loud, “Now they’re shooting at us sir. Let us out and we’ll take it to them.”
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