Jerry, looking pale and grim, continued.
“Yes, it still exists. Admittedly most modern cases have been in Africa, but given the right circumstances it could easily occur here.” Shaking his head, he added, “I blame myself. I should have insisted on better precautions as soon as the rats appeared.”
“Why?” asked Becky.
“Fleas, Becky. The fleas on the rats carry the bacteria. The fleas bite us and the infection spreads.”
“What’s the treatment, Doc?” asked Harry.
“Antibiotics, basically. Hopefully what I’ve given Jo, Ben and Laura will work. My one concern is that even though I’m certain of my diagnosis, the timescale wasn’t what I’d expect. Admittedly, I’ve never treated someone with this before, but I’ve looked it all up and it seems to be affecting them differently. I’m worried we may be facing a new strain of the disease.
In light of this, I’m recommending that we immediately start operating under quarantine conditions. We’ll need to separate ourselves off from each other as much as possible to try to limit the spread. We don’t know who’s already infected; we could all be. Only time will tell.”
We all looked at each other, fear making us dumb.
“If you could all individually collect a mask and surgical gloves from the boxes I have here and go back to your house, we’ll work out the finer details later. As soon as anyone feels the slightest bit ill, you must tell me. The sooner the antibiotics are given, the better the chance you’ll have.”
I spoke up, “Jerry, we all know from history that the Black Death killed off about half the population of Europe. How good is this treatment? You don’t sound certain.”
He shrugged, “Truthfully, I don’t know. I know without treatment the death rate is about eighty percent. With antibiotics, the survival rate is usually quite good, but as I said, this isn’t following the usual pattern. I can’t be certain, but I don’t have a good feeling about this.
The rats have been feasting on rotting human flesh for weeks. Bacteria can mutate and adapt to the environment they’re in. My concern is that we may be dealing with something new. Without a full laboratory test, we won’t be able to tell.
Now please, go back to your houses and keep a careful eye on each other. If anyone falls ill, I’ll do everything I can to help. But to be honest, treatment is simple: antibiotics, fluids and general care. And we can all do that.
If this spreads, I could get it as well, so I’ll prepare as many doses of antibiotics as I can and leave detailed care instructions so that you’ll be able to look after each other.”
Turning silently, and clutching our children close, our household made its way back home.
We gathered in the kitchen, still masked, and gazed helplessly at each other.
“What shall we do?” asked Jane, breaking the silence.
A scurrying noise made us all turn, and we watched miserably as a rat ran across the kitchen floor and disappeared through the open back door.
“I don’t think we can hide from this,” I said. “We’ll just have to hope that the precautions we have in place now will be enough. If we already have it, we won’t be able to do much about it. And if Laura, Ben and Jo have it, the chances are that someone else will have it too. Most likely, they’re standing in this room.”
We all peered at each other, as if careful scrutiny might be sufficient to force the hidden organism to reveal itself.
I began again, “I think we should exercise extreme caution. Why don’t we all grab some food and drink and retreat to our rooms for the next twenty four hours or so? There’s no point in trying to be a hero. Keep your masks on. If you have it, you won’t want to spread it to the rest of your family, and if a member of your family has it, they’ll need you to stay well so that you can look after them.”
With a few “good lucks” and “God bless yous”, we all shut ourselves in our rooms. After an hour in one room, struggling to entertain the children, it hit me that we were now more isolated than at any other time in our community’s history.
Communication between the families was limited to shouting through closed doors to each other and we had no idea what was happening in the other houses. We also had no idea who, if anyone, was on guard duty.
The whole situation had arisen so suddenly that we’d had no time to put any measures in place. All we could do was follow Jerry’s directions.
Only now, after contemplating the matter for an hour or two, did it occur to me that there could well be other serious consequences from the outbreak.
“Becky,” I said, coming to a decision, “I need to go and sort a few things out.” At the look on her face, I hastily added, “Don’t worry, I won’t go near anyone.”
Before she could argue, I gave the kids a quick hug and headed out.
Before leaving the house, I checked through everyone’s door to see if they were OK, explained that I was going out for a while, and asked if they needed anything.
Outside, the road was silent and deserted. It was the strangest feeling. At most times of the day or night there was always someone out and about. To find the road empty was an unsettling experience. Now it looked like all the other abandoned roads in the city.
Shrugging off my feelings of unease, I hurried over to Pete’s house and called to him from his doorstep.
As he opened the door, I stepped back. By unspoken agreement we both felt more comfortable with six feet between us.
“Is everything OK at yours?” he asked anxiously. “I think Allan might have it; he’s trying to get Michelle to leave him alone, but she won’t hear of it. Jerry’s been round and given him a dose of antibiotics, so fingers crossed we caught it in time.”
I felt despair. Hard to believe that Allan, who had always been so strong and dependable, could have succumbed to the infection. In some ways, you could understand it with children and older folk because they were much more susceptible. But if Allan had caught it, then so could any one of us.
I dragged my thoughts back to the reason I was there in the first place.
“Pete, I’ve just realised there’s no one on guard duty. We were all knocked off balance by Jerry’s diagnosis, and we just blindly did what he told us. But we can’t leave ourselves undefended, no matter what’s happening. We’re just asking for trouble.”
I watched as a look of dawning comprehension crept over Pete’s face, swiftly replaced by a look of embarrassment. To think that he, of all people, could have been caught out! The poor man was so mortified that I smiled in spite of myself.
“Pete, don’t blame yourself. None of us remembered, and you’ve had other things on your mind. You’ve got a sick friend in your house. I only thought about it when I was sitting in my bedroom trying to think up something to do.”
Pete nodded, somewhat mollified by my words. He now had that familiar look on his face; the one he always wore when he was planning. A noise from further up the road made us look round.
Harry, Paul, Chris and the two other soldiers were approaching, their faces half hidden by full face gas masks and all wearing surgical gloves.
Harry spoke, his voice oddly muffled, but sounding slightly sheepish all the same. “They might look like overkill, but they’re infinitely better at keeping things out than those face masks you’ve got. In fact, they’re horrible to wear for any amount of time, but we’ve got them so we may as well use them.
I’ve managed to scrounge up ten more sets. I think it would be best to give them to the people who are more likely to have had contact with the infected.”
He placed a bag on the floor between us. “We’ve also realised that in all the fuss, no one’s been watching the perimeter!”
Pete interrupted. “Yes, that’s why Tom came to see me. Thanks for the gas masks, if that’s what you call them now. Jerry and Fiona will need them and I’ll allocate the others as necessary.”
“I’ve had a think and I’ll work out a rota for guard duty, taking into account the need to contain the sprea
d of the disease …”
I grinned. Pete was back in action.
Paul stopped him by raising his hand. “They’re actually called respirators, but gas masks works just as well. Don’t worry, Pete, we’ve already talked things through and the five of us can manage the security situation. The rest of you have friends and family to worry about. We don’t.”
Paul caught the look I gave him. “OK ,Tom. Friends yes, family no. But for the next couple of days, let us take care of things.”
Pete shook his head. “It’s too much to ask,” he said. “It’s very kind of you, but five of you can’t cover everything.”
“Yes, we can,” said Harry firmly. “With the exception of Chris, we’re all soldiers. A couple of days on reduced sleep is nothing we haven’t done before. And if we need more help, we can raise the alarm using the normal procedures and you can all come running! Don’t worry, we can do it. Anyway, we insist, so that’s the end of it.”
He paused and you could tell he was smiling behind his mask. “Don’t make me get all ‘royal’ on you guys. You can still be hanged for disobeying a direct order from a monarch, I believe.”
I laughed. “Oi, Prince Boy. You ain’t my monarch … yet!”
He snorted inside his mask. “I can always get Grandmama on the radio if you like.”
I held up my hands in mock surrender. “OK, OK, I agree. Thank you, thank you all. Pete, they’re making sense to me. We can always be on hand in case they need us. Let’s go back home.”
Pete nodded and added his thanks. As I walked home, he called after me that he would get the gas masks to the right people.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I was woken up the following morning by Jerry banging on my bedroom door and calling my name.
Realising that something must be wrong, I hastily scrambled out of bed and yanked the door open. The sight of Jerry in a full-face gas mask gave me quite a start. He looked like something out of a horror movie.
“I need a word with you outside. Now,” he said quietly, and made his way back down the stairs. Having recovered from my shock, I threw some clothes on and followed him down.
He stood in the middle of the deserted kitchen area, careful to stay six feet away from me, removed his mask and took in a deep breath of fresh air. The anguish on his face made my heart sink.
“Jo and Laura died last night and we lost Ben twenty minutes ago.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“There was nothing I could do; the antibiotics just didn’t kick in quickly enough. I haven’t seen or heard of anything this aggressive. They didn’t stand a chance.”
The words felt like a physical blow. I stood there for a moment looking at him, then instinctively took a step towards him, wanting to comfort him. He recoiled and took a step back.
“Don’t, Tom,” he said, wiping his eyes, “you need to keep your distance. I’ve been in extremely close contact with them. And the way this is spreading, it has to be highly contagious.”
My heart sank even more. “Why? How many more are infected?”
“Allan was the next person to pick it up, but for some reason he’s responding better to the antibiotics …” He paused, “or he’s as strong and stubborn as an ox, and naturally resistant to diseases and it’s nothing to do with me. Ten more people are also showing symptoms now,” he added, reeling off their names, “but they’re not doing so well. I’m not sure if any of them will make it.”
I began to say something but he held up his hands, “Tom, just listen to me. There’s no time to waste. I need you to look after my children for me. Everyone who isn’t sick must leave immediately. In my opinion, it’s the only way to avoid infection. Just look around you, for God’s sake! The place is still crawling with rats and once someone has it they’re highly infectious.”
Dumbfounded, I asked without thinking, “Where shall we go?”
He looked at me and it struck me that he seemed to have aged years overnight. “Oh, for pity’s sake, Tom. Anywhere but here! You work it out. Fiona and I will stay here and do what we can for the sick.
If we’re careful about using the masks and we protect ourselves from flea bites, we should, in theory, be safe enough.”
Paul must have seen us talking and came and joined us. Jerry quickly updated him on the deaths and the newly infected. I watched as he quickly took in what Jerry was saying and remained silent for a minute, thinking it over.
“Well Jerry, I think that’s a brave decision and I think it’s the right thing to do. We’ll do everything we can to help.” Briskly, he turned to me,
“Tom, I’ll organise this. When it comes to mobilising quickly we’ve been trained to do it. We’ll have to use your Land Rover and trailer, so could you get those ready please? I’ll need Pete as well. He’s got all the inventory lists.
Tom, find another adult on the way to getting your car, and send them to me. If we pull together we can be gone in a few hours. Will that be quick enough Jerry?”
Jerry nodded, “As far as I’m concerned, you should really leave now, but a few hours won’t make much difference, given the measures we’ve taken. For anyone already infected, there’s not much we can do for them. We just need to get as many people away from the vermin as we can. They’re the reason the plague is here.”
I hurried back to the house and summoned everyone from their rooms, asking them to meet me in the kitchen.
Five minutes later Michael was on his way to Paul with all the children who were old enough to help, and the women were packing rucksacks for each family with a few changes of clothing and other essential items.
Although my Land Rover hadn’t been used since the rescue mission, we’d been careful to maintain it so that it would be ready to use at a moment’s notice. Up until now it had proved invaluable so we’d taken the precaution of using a solar trickle charger to keep the battery topped up and routinely starting it up and running it for half an hour every week. This had clearly paid off. After disconnecting the trickle charger, it started without hesitation.
I pulled it forward, manhandled the trailer on to the tow bar, and after winding my garage door up, drove out on to the road.
Paul was still deep in discussion with Harry and Pete, surrounded by a crowd of adults and children. The two soldiers looked decidedly eerie in their masks.
Paul beckoned me over. “Right,” he said briskly, “we’ve drawn up a list of supplies we need to prioritise. Enough for thirty days for thirty people. The other essential supplies are going to make quite a big pile, so let’s get it all sorted and loaded and then we’ll see if we have space for anything else.”
He turned to me. “Tom, while we’re doing that, I want you to give some thought to where we should go. You’ve got the local knowledge and you’ve spent a lot of time out of the compound on scavenging missions.”
I nodded, “OK no problems. What type of location should I be thinking of?”
He thought for a second. “Ideally somewhere remote enough to have escaped the rats. Trees to provide shelter and fuel and nearby fresh water. Anything else we can hopefully bring with us.”
“OK, I’m on it.” I went back to the Land Rover, pulled out a road atlas and took myself off to a table in the kitchen area. I already had a rough idea of the best area to head for. In theory, the countryside on the south side of the M42 motorway that encircled Birmingham should provide plenty of suitable places; it was just a matter of identifying the best one.
When I glanced up from the map five minutes later, I could see that Paul and Pete had formed a chain gang and my trailer was rapidly filling with a variety of boxes, containers and sacks. I knew I could trust them not to miss anything, even though this was being organised in a huge rush.
I quickly pinpointed a suitable place. It was a small wood surrounded by open countryside. It was less than ten miles away, so even at walking pace it shouldn’t take more than three or four hours to get there.
I had vague memories of the wood from driving past i
t many times over the years.
The map showed a stream flowing through a nearby field and from what I could recall, it was about as good a location as we were likely to get without a more exhaustive and time-consuming search. Time was the one thing we didn’t have.
On my return, I noted Harry and Chris busy creating another pile, which consisted of cooking, camping and survival equipment. Another soldier was checking through a smaller but much more dangerous looking pile of guns and ammunition.
Harry looked up as I approached and gestured towards the car. More stuff was being packed on to its roof rack and into the boot. “We’re almost there with the supplies.” He nodded at the two piles, “We should be able to balance this lot on top. If everyone carries a full Bergen containing their personal stuff and whatever else we need to add before we leave, we should be ready to go.”
When I showed them our intended destination Paul nodded, “What are we worrying about? It’s only about half an hour away at a steady drive … if we forget anything serious, one of you can always pop back and get it.”
Jerry, hurrying past him at the time, overheard him and snapped, “Don’t be an idiot, man, three more of us are showing symptoms. I don’t want any of you back here until I give the ‘all clear’. I’m going to have to give everyone a full check-up before I allow them to leave anyway. We can’t risk anyone carrying the disease with them.”
Without waiting for a reply, he hurried off, his face careworn and weary. People he considered to be friends were dying and there was nothing he could do about it.
Paul and I looked at each other soberly, and then set to work again loading up the supplies.
CHAPTER TWELVE
True to his word, Jerry carried out a thorough examination on everyone who was planning to leave. Six more people were found to be showing early signs: elevated temperatures, heart rates and blood pressure. They were immediately placed in isolation.
Only time would tell if they had the disease. So far, according to Jerry’s records, this particular strain was taking a maximum of one or two days to develop. If after that time the patient didn’t develop it, Jerry would agree to them joining the rest of us. In the meantime, those of us who were fortunate enough to have left already would need to keep our masks on for the next few days. Providing the place we fled to was free of the source of the plague (the rats/fleas), we could reasonably assume that we were free of infection, and it would be safe for us to remove the masks.
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