Autumn

Chapter 4

They’d been right to trust Noah. His local knowledge was spot on, and for that they were grateful. Without him they’d have been wandering all night and would likely have walked right past this place. It was quiet, secluded and, until now, undisturbed. There was a good amount of space on almost all approaches, most notably the woods through which they’d walked to get here, with a water tower and covered reservoir on a patch of land behind. Tucked away on the outermost edge of a Brentwood suburb, the Reservist base looked ideal.

Steve Armitage was the only one with any relevant recent military experience. He got inside and scouted the place out, returning after a couple of minutes with a pair of cutters that he used to make a large enough hole in the wire-mesh fence for them to crawl through. The break-in felt deceptively simple. They had to remind themselves that, pre-apocalypse, it would have been impossible. These days even the most secure, well-protected locations were easy targets. Steve agreed to take responsibility for working out what they’d got and what was worth keeping. There was no discussion necessary. This place would do for tonight.

The site itself was little more than a yard and a handful of buildings: the barracks, secure stores, what appeared to have been a training and administration block, and a prefabricated hut that had been home to the local army cadets. One of the rooms in the barracks was a chapel, and someone had joked that Audrey could set up shop before remembering she wasn’t there, that she’d been lost today along with so many others. Their exhaustion and the adrenalin rush of the trek here was enough to keep the loss and grief at bay, but barely. Most people could feel the darkness closing in. They knew they couldn’t keep walking indefinitely, couldn’t go another mile tonight, and this place seemed ideal. Except that the security, darkness and space would inevitably give them time to think.

Today’s losses were painful and raw. They brought back memories of everyone they’d lost before. Sam remembered Charlie, who’d died helping them get out of the hotel on Fleet Street. David remembered Holly, who’d been so traumatised by the fighting around the Monument that she’d taken her own life rather than face going into battle again. Lisa thought about Richard, who’d gone off to help secure Thomas More Street on the night the final Great Fire of London had begun and who’d never returned. And both Vicky and Selena thought about Kath. They wished she was here, but they both knew she’d never have made it. Sanjay remembered the group of people he’d left behind in the Tower of London. He’d had no choice but to walk away, but that didn’t make him feel any better. He’d just abandoned them, for crying out loud. Had he even tried? It felt like an age ago.

They were still hung up on past losses, hadn’t had space to even start trying to deal with them. Today alone they’d lost more than one hundred and fifty of their friends – another mass of hurt that would eventually need to be unpacked. And no one yet dared to mention the countless family members, loved ones, colleagues, and other friends who’d been killed without explanation that first week of September. It felt like there was layer upon layer upon layer of loss, too deep for any of them to dig through.

#

They dined on ration packs in a musty mess-hall. With everyone occupied, David left the main building to look for Chapman and Steve. He saw that there were bodies in front of the gates. It was no surprise; wherever they went, the dead would find them. Their numbers were low for now, but David knew it wouldn’t take much of a disturbance for a handful to become a crowd, then a mob, then a major problem.

They were waiting for him in the cadet headquarters on the other side of the yard. It reminded David of the draughty old Scout hut he used to go to when he was a kid. In comparison to the other buildings on the site, it felt flimsy and prefabricated. ‘Our reluctant leader,’ Steve said when he entered the building.

David sighed. ‘f**k me, I keep telling everyone I’m not the leader.’

‘And the rest of us keep telling you that you are. For now, at least. Anyway, want to know what we’ve got?’

‘Go on.’

‘For starters, three well-maintained trucks and a van. Not the most comfortable of rides, but they’ll do. Plenty of room for all of us that’s left and our gear. Next, quite a bit of useful kit. There’s a reasonable stock of ration packs, some protective gear, lots of useful stuff we can use out in the field.’

‘Sounds good. What about–?’

‘Weapons?’ Steve interrupted, pre-empting him. ‘Yep, there’s some stuff we can take, but I’d keep it between us. You know how it is, Dave, the dead are coming apart at the seams as it is, we don’t need to start shooting at them.’

Chapman agreed. ‘We need to steer away from guns and grenades. You’ll get rid of a handful, but every single shot will let hundreds more corpses know where you are.’

Steve wasn’t finished. ‘I know my way around this kit, but I don’t intend spending the next few weeks and months training civvies how to fight. I mean, can you imagine Omar getting his hands on a frigging automatic rifle? Terrifying! We’re not that far gone.’

David managed half a smile. ‘So, apart from the fact you don’t trust Omar with a g*n, what exactly are you telling me?’

‘That we should be good here for a day or two, but no longer,’ Chapman explained. ‘As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we already have an audience building outside. We’ve got time to get some rest and get our heads together, talk about next steps, but that’s about it. I reckon we’re still far too close to London to risk hanging around for long.’

‘People are going to want to stay,’ David said.

‘And we need to be ready to persuade them otherwise. Look around... things are nowhere near as bad as they were in the capital, and it should only get easier the further north we go. I’m not suggesting we go all the way up to la la land or wherever it is in Yorkshire that Vicky’s determined to visit, just far enough. It’ll be December in a couple of days. Winter’s coming. Once we get a couple of months into the new year, everything will look different again.’

‘Will it? I’m not so sure. You might have the appetite for it, but I’m not sure about everyone else. I’m not even sure I have. It’s the wrong end of the wrong day to be having this conversation.’

‘No, it’s exactly the right day. We should let the others have a night off tonight, then start sowing the seeds tomorrow. And don’t start with all that I’m not a leader bullshit again, because right now you’re the closest thing we’ve got.’

‘I’m no Dominic Grove,’ he said quickly.

‘Thank f**k for that,’ Steve said. ‘You’re as far removed from that slimy little bastard as it’s possible to get. Look, mate, I know what I’m talking about. You’re good officer material. You lead from the front, and you’re not opposed to getting your hands dirty. I heard people talking tonight like they’d found their forever home here, but I reckon that’s just wishful thinking. We need to get them used to the idea that this is just another pitstop. In fact, we need to get them used to the fact that it’s going to be pitstop after pitstop for the foreseeable future.’