Society: After It Happened Book 3 (15 page)

ROYAL DECREE

Patrick was not happy.  He had been shamed, outclassed and sent packing.  He brooded over taking revenge on that arrogant bastard and his evil-tongued bitch.

Obviously he had no intention of getting his own hands dirty.  He had his boys to do that.  This wasn’t the medieval era; Kings weren’t expected to don shining armour and ride at the very head of the vanguard any more.

No; he would be clever about it.  Any attack on their base would likely result in a mild case of death with a side of brutal retaliation, so he would have to find another way.

For over a week now his boys had been searching for a base closer to the prison; somewhere they could keep an eye on their comings and goings and report back.  This had worked wonders, and already he had built a picture of what their routine was.  The plan was forming in his head nicely, and he was close to a formal declaration of war.  His boys knew it was coming.  The fact that their efforts to find more weapons and vehicles had doubled was a clear indication.

Patrick wanted to return the shaming on Dan, and he intended to bleed him slowly.

“Gather round, my boys” he bellowed as he hauled himself to his feet.

“The time has come” he said confidently, looking at the faces of the assembling rag-tag army.

“I’m sick of scratching a living, and I know you are too” he waited for agreement.  It wasn’t coming, not yet.  He had to whip them up.

“There’s a nice place over the border, and I want it.  I want it for us.  I want their supplies”

A murmur of agreement from the assembled faces.

“I want their warm beds and their electricity”

Louder now.

“I want their hot water and their guns” he said, voice raising with every word.

A cheer began.

“I want their farm… AND I WANT THEIR WOMEN!”

Arms were raised.  The cheer became a shout and the shout became a chant.

“PAT-RICK, PAT-RICK, PAT-RICK, PAT-RICK…”

Satisfied, the overweight man sat down and smiled; accepting the praise with a regal wave of his hand.  The time was now.  He would move his best force up and take the bastard.

It was three days before they had moved their temporary camp to within five miles of the prison.  It was done carefully; not in convoy to avoid detection.  Their ambush plan was set.

COMPLACENCY

Leah was duty in Ops, and had the coffee ready for after breakfast when the others gathered.

Steve’s absence was starting to be missed; nearly two weeks without him had left a gap in the team makeup.  Also the workload was harder on everyone, even now with Leah not wearing her armbands as Rich joked.

Rich had started taking all the night duties to relieve the pressure; he said he never slept much anyway and took about five hours over lunch to refresh himself.  He still looked awake in the briefing now. 

“What have we got then, kid?” Dan asked, receiving an annoyed look in return.  Mental note; treat her more like an adult in front of people.

“Lexi; protection for scavenging team” she slid the map around to show her the location.

“Dan and Joe; recce farmland for any animals and other stuff.  Here’s a list of what Chris and Ewan want” she passed them both a piece of paper.

“Dan, you’re going south and Joe north” both nodded.

“I’m stuck here” a hint of petulance crept in before she got a hold of herself “and Rich will do the afternoon rounds to the farm and gardens”

“Ok” said Dan “Let’s do it”

Rich passed their weapons out one by one and they all went through their familiar routine of gearing up.

Within half an hour, they were all gone.  Leah sat back in the office and turned the music up a bit, conscious not to drown out any sound that could come from the CB radio.

~

Joe made his way on the familiar roads, half asleep as he always was this early.  He had never been a morning person.

Perhaps the fog on his brain made him utterly fail to see the danger.  Perhaps he was doing a job that he wasn’t experienced enough for.  Not trained well enough.  Maybe he was just having a slow day.

If he was switched on, he would have thought that there was something so horribly wrong with the vehicle blocking the road.

If he was switched on he would’ve stood off and called Dan back, or made contact with Leah, or done something; anything other than what he did.

Lazily, he drove up to within a few feet of the wreck and got out.  As he bent to unhook the heavy rope from the front bumper he heard a scrape on the concrete from behind him.  He froze, suddenly aware of his vulnerability.  He only carried the Glock on his leg; the M4 sat uselessly in the cab of his Defender.  He spun, drawing the weapon as he moved.

Nothing.  He stood motionless in a half crouch with the gun held in both hands out in front of him.  Slowly he calmed and stood up, flicking the safety and sliding the gun home in the holster.

He never saw the baseball bat swing from behind him.  The sickening crack as it hit him full in the back of the head echoed between the derelict cars over the sound of his diesel engine idling. 

He fell to the floor like a bag of sand; lights out. 

SCOTLAND; IT’S BEEN FUN

Mitch got back just as the sun was starting to sink.  He was excited about finding the preserved helicopter, and was careful to seal the hangar to keep it that way.

He returned to find the mood low.  Steve was sat quietly on a chair outside in a t-shirt; carbine resting across his knees.

“What’s up?” Mitch asked, picking up on the total lack of excitement at his return. 

Steve sighed and stood, throwing away the dregs of his coffee.

“Emma’s got to the bottom of it” he said, tiredly “I’ll let her explain”

They sat down together in the lounge area and Emma gave a simple explanation.  Mitch was unfazed; typically, of a soldier’s mentality he reckoned that anything not directly affecting him in the immediate future wasn’t a concern.

Emma had transferred all the files to her laptop, and they planned to get back on the road the following morning.

As they drove south retracing their steps, she was quiet again.  She couldn’t get the possibilities out of her head about the effects of the virus on those who were immune.  Her mind raced, but she didn’t have the knowledge or the equipment to find out; she hated not knowing the answers to things which was exactly why she was scientist.

It took them three uneventful days to get back to Richards’ camp, and Mitch led them through the roadblocks without challenge.  A familiar feeling of claustrophobia descended on Steve; he found that he much preferred the freedom granted by Dan to the thought of returning to military service.

Richards’ was his usually unconvincingly exuberant self and listened intently to the results of their trip.  They agreed not to hide their findings from him as the information was mostly irrelevant now. 

After they ate, Richards asked Steve for a private word.  He led them to his office, past the two armed sentries as they returned the salutes, and produced a bottle of Chivas and two crystal tumblers from the bottom drawer of his desk.

Steve recognised the officer to officer approach; he had seen it so many times in the past that it had no effect on him.  It hadn’t for years, not since he was a young man proud to be in exalted company.

“So, Andrews tells me he’s found a bird you can fly” he said with a veiled excitement.  He seemed desperate to extend his military might to the skies.

“Maybe” replied Steve in an equally languid style as he leaned back and sipped the fiery drink “It all depends on how many good engineers you have”

“Five.  All experienced.  They should be able to use the manuals to fill in the gaps in their knowledge and of course your experience will be wholly necessary”

The way Richards said it made his cooperation a foregone conclusion.  Steve had to tread carefully; he didn’t want his liberty removed which was clearly in his power.

“Absolutely” he said, taking another drink to give himself time to think “I’ll get back as soon as I’ve taken Emma home and head up there with the engineering team.  Hopefully I can get in the air again!” he finished with a disarming smile and raised the glass in toast.

Richards reciprocated the gesture.  He was quite ready to call the two briefed sentries in to detain and disarm this valuable man, but better to encourage his love for flying than force him into the role.  Still, he could not afford to let him out of his sight.

“Very well” he said “Let’s talk in the morning” he drained his glass and stood, dismissing Steve.

He maintained his smile right up until Steve’s footsteps echoed into silence before summoning the two soldiers outside.  He sat and crossed his legs as they entered and stood to attention, salutes quivering.

“Keep watch on them all night, I don’t want them leaving” he looked directly in their eyes to make the point clear “Is that understood?”

“Yes Sir” they chorused before turning to their left and leaving.  Richards poured himself another measure and leaned back in his chair.

~

Steve went to find Emma.  He was worried because he fully expected to have his weapons taken from him and the keys to his Defender seized, but the implication of freedom concerned him greatly.  He found her lay on her camp cot, staring at the ceiling of the tent.  He walked in and knelt next to her, making her recoil slightly at the encroachment into her space.

“I don’t think they’re planning on letting us go” he whispered close to her ear.

Her eyes showed panic and her breathing became rapid as the fear rose in her chest.  She retained the wherewithal to keep her voice to a whisper in response.

“What do we do?” she asked in terror.

“I need to get you out of here.  Do you think you can find your way back?”

Her eyes widened as she processed what he was saying.

“What about you?” she hissed, making him raise his hands in a calming gesture.

“It’s really me they want; I want you to get home and tell them where I am” he said, sure that they would pursue them if he went too.

She thought on that for a minute, wondering how he could possibly be rescued.  He seemed to read her thoughts as he cut off the next question.

“That helicopter should fly.  As soon as it’s in the air I’ll be flying it straight home; it’ll only take me a few hours or so” he said, the plan forming in his head.  He pushed away the thoughts of what he would do if he couldn’t get airborne.

“Ok” she said “what do I need to do?”

Steve whispered his instructions of how she could get out of the complex.  The benefit of her analytical mind meant that she had clear memories of the way out.

“All you have to do is head south; make as much progress as you can and only stop when you need to.  When you do stop, you hide”

“I don’t know how to find the prison though!” she whispered with the expression of a worried but brave child.

“All you have to do is get within twenty miles of home and use the radio.  Tell them where you are and they can come and find you” he said, sure that this was the only way either of them would get away.

“When do we do it?” she asked.

“I’m not sure yet.  Soon though, be ready”

She nodded and quietly put her belongings back in her bag.  He gave her the keys and asked her where her gun was.  She had left it in the glove compartment.

Steve racked his brain.  He was sure they would let her go if he could only get her outside the compound; he was the real prize.  He decided to act normal and fill the time by looking for Mitch.

As he emerged from the tent and stood upright, one of the sentries from Richards’ office ducked his head out of sight.  It had already started then.  Steve stood tall and sauntered with confidence directly towards where the sentry had been.  He rounded the corner and almost bumped into him.

His feigned surprise was hopefully taken as genuine, as he apologised and walked off towards the mess hall.  Mitch was there, showered and changed and tucking into a plate of something that looked fairly undesirable.

Steve sat opposite him and chatted amiably.  He was unsure if he should bring him into his confidence; certainly if he helped then it would make Emma’s chances of escape much better.  They chatted generally as Steve tried to gauge to risk in telling him.

“You seem a little distant…” Mitch said, fishing.

“Yeah.  Long journey, you know?” Steve answered vaguely.

Mitch finished his mouthful and put down the fork he was using to shovel the food into his mouth.  He leaned forward and spoke softly.

“This got anything to do with your two shadows?” he muttered.

Steve gave a hint of a smile to fake some confidence.

“Two?  I’d only clocked the one” he said truthfully.

“Let me guess” Mitch went on, barely moving his mouth “You don’t think you’re going to be allowed to leave tomorrow, do you?”

“No” he replied after a thoughtful pause, deadly serious.

“So why come to me” Mitch asked, looking him straight in the eye.

Steve had to show his hand or fold; there was no other way.

“I’ll stay, but I need Emma out” he said after a long pause, hoping Mitch wouldn’t burn him.

The soldier leaned back and picked at his teeth before draining his mug and burping behind his hand.

“Tricky, that” he said cryptically.

The two men regarded each other for a while.  Mitch didn’t need to point out the position of power he was in; that he could just tell the soldiers watching Steve that he was planning an escape.

“I’ve had no orders” he said.  Steve didn’t know what he meant by that yet, so he kept quiet.

“So I wouldn’t be breaking any orders by giving you some help, would I?” he smiled and stood, collecting up his tray.  He leaned over and slapped Steve on the shoulder with the smile still stuck in place, muttering like a ventriloquist as he did.

“Her tent.  Ten minutes.  Be ready”

He left and Steve stood, not quite believing or trusting that he had a better chance of getting her out.