Nick Smith

Book three

Retribution

By Stephen Birch

Text copyright © Stephen Birch 2014

All Rights Reserved

This book is set in the southwest of England.

While the names and the places are generally real

small changes and some additions have been made to

enhance the story.

My love and thanks go to my wife.

Without her help and loving support Nick Smith

and his friends may have never have been known.

Once again, thank you for choosing to read this book.

I truly hope that you enjoy it.

Table of contents

Prologue

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven

Chapter eight

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter twelve

Chapter thirteen

Chapter fourteen

Chapter fifteen

Chapter sixteen

Chapter seventeen

Chapter eighteen

Chapter nineteen

Chapter twenty

Chapter twenty one

Chapter twenty two

Chapter twenty three

Chapter twenty four

Chapter twenty five

Chapter twenty six

Chapter twenty seven

Chapter twenty eight

Chapter twenty nine

Prologue

Night 26th August. Somewhere in Devon

Nick stumbled on through the night. He knew that walking at night was a fool’s decision but he didn’t care. He couldn’t stop yet. If he stopped to rest then he would start to think and if he did that then he wasn’t sure if he’d have the strength or the will to start moving again. His heavy pack was a dead weight on his back now. The straps had worn the skin away on his shoulders and they burned deeper with every step. He absorbed the burning pain and added it to all of the others. The combined effect helped to dull the memory of his friend’s shredded body. He stumbled again as his boot found yet another small hole to slip into. Another slight sprain, another small pain. He tested his weight onto it and found that he could still walk. A thought intruded into his mind telling him that he should get his compass out and see what direction he was walking in. The thought didn’t stay long though. Why did it matter what direction he was going in when he didn’t know where he was going or why he was going there.

A night a day and another night. That was all that mattered. Time heals all wounds. He knew that was an old lie but he couldn’t help trying it out one more time.

Dawn began to lighten the world around him once again. He stopped moving his bruised and blistered feet for the first time in thirty four hours. No more than ten metres in front of him lay a wide expanse of water. Probably the Dart Estuary, his brain told him. It looked to be about four hundred metres to the bank on the other side. It was enough of an obstacle to shock his exhausted body into stopping. As soon as that happened he collapsed down into the wet grass.

It was the sun shining brightly onto his closed eyelids that woke him. It suddenly turned his internal universe bright red. He opened his eyes and was blinded by the bright yellow sun. It was directly overhead shining through a gap in the clouds. Mid-day, his brain told him. It still carried on giving him information even though he was no longer interested. He closed his eyes again and went back to the bright red universe.

After a while he pulled his arms out of the straps of his pack and rolled out of it onto his hands and knees. Every move brought a stab of fresh pain. He welcomed it. He smiled at it and stood up if only to defy it then he opened his eyes again. The light faded and he looked up at the sky. "Some sunshine with patchy clouds and a chance of rain." His brain gave him the standard, catch all weather report for this country. His smile was wider this time and it cracked his dry lips. He rubbed a dry tongue over them. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had drank anything. He sat back down into the long grass and looked at the wide expanse of water in front of him. “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” The rhyme of the Ancient Mariner popped into his head. He knew that the estuary water was brackish and un-drinkable. He chuckled through his dry throat and even that hurt. He wondered if he was finally going insane then he remembered reading somewhere that if you had to ask then you were not.

Ok then, he thought. There was no escape down that road so he might as well go and find something to drink. He stood up slowly and looked around. He looked at the estuary again and thought about making a solar still. He had the equipment to do so in his pack but he just couldn’t summon up the effort. Then he saw the small rowing boat. The tide was out at the moment and it was sitting lopsided on the muddy shore. A thick rusty chain attached to a concrete post stopped it from floating away when the tide came in. On the other side of the water he could see a town. Worn in habits took over and he opened a zip on his pack and pulled out his map. It was Stoke Gabriel that he could see. It was a small town on the north side of the Dart estuary. He thought about the effort it would take to row across the water and he knew that he would never make it in his current state.

‘Solar still it is then,’ he said aloud to himself. His voice was crusty and dry. Worn in habits took over again and he started looking for a good site to make a camp. He knew that a one night camp was all he had the energy for. Just to his right was a small stand of trees. With a huge amount of effort he picked up his large rucksack and limped towards them. He was surprised to realise that he had started thinking again. Time might not be able to heal all wounds but it did help to cover them up a bit.

Nick’s method of making himself a one night summer camp was to tie a length of cord between two trees, like a washing line. He would hang his tarpaulin over this and then pull out the sides and then either tie them or peg them out, to make a tent shape with two open ends. He would then lay out his ground sheet underneath it. When that was done he opened his pack and took out the items needed to make a solar still. These simply consisted of a pot, a thin plastic sheet and his small folding shovel.

He picked up a few small rocks and pieces of wood then slowly moved out beyond the trees again. He wanted a place that had the sun on it for most of the day. He dug a hole about a couple of feet square then he took the pot down to the estuary and filled it with the brackish water. When he tipped this water into the hole the earth absorbed it immediately. That was fine. It took three more trips until the water stopped disappearing. He put the pot in the middle of the hole then he covered the hole with the plastic sheet. He pinned it down with the rocks and pieces of wood. Then all he needed to do was place a stone in the middle of the plastic sheet, centred over the pot. By now what little strength he had was gone. He limped slowly back to his camp, crawled into his tent and slipped away into a deep sleep.

He slept all through the rest of that day and the following night and he would have died in his sleep from dehydration if it wasn’t for the dog. Wetness on the hot skin of his face woke him and his body provided him with a burst of adrenaline. He reared up from the ground and grabbed the dog by the loose skin under its throat then he rolled with it, crashing through the side of his shelter. The dog yelped and pulled itself away from his feeble grip. Nick pushed himself up onto his knees. His head was a pounding ball of pain as he blearily looked at his attacker. The dog had run off a few feet and then turned to look at him. It was now standing there watching him. It had the usual daft dog expression on its canine face and it was wagging its tail slightly.

Nick turned away and started crawling in the direction of his solar still. Luckily it hadn’t been disturbed while he had been unconscious. He pulled the plastic sheet away to reveal a full pot of water in the middle of the hole. Nick pulled it from the hole and took a tiny sip. He couldn’t remember anything ever feeling as good as the trickle of water slipping down his dry throat. He drank the rest of the water over the next hour or so, forcing himself to take it slowly as he sat there watching the new day begin. The dog had followed him out into the field and it had sat a few feet away watching him the whole time. When the much needed water had been absorbed by Nick’s dehydrated body he turned his face to it. ‘Thanks dog,’ Nick said weakly. ‘I owe you one.’

The dog’s tail started wagging slightly again.

There are a few ways to prepare dirty fresh water. All of them involve filtering and boiling, but you could boil brackish water all day and all you would be left with was a pot full of salt. A solar still works by using the heat from the sun to evaporate the dirty or brackish water into the air in the hole. Only clean, fresh water is evaporated, leaving all the dirt and salt behind. The evaporated water condenses on the underside of the plastic sheet. Because of the stone in the middle of the sheet the clean water then runs down to the lowest point and drips into the pot.

It was three days before Nick started to feel well again. He spent the time maintaining his solar still and eating from the emergency ration packs stored in the bottom of his rucksack. During his convalescence he was visited regularly by the dog. On the third day the dog brought him a rabbit.

‘Well what have you got there boy?’ Nick asked him. He had been sitting on a fallen tree near his campsite, chewing slowly on an energy bar from his ration pack when the dog had turned up again. He looked at the wet and ragged rabbit hanging from the dog’s big mouth.

The dog dropped the rabbit and sat down. He looked at Nick with the daft and friendly expression that most dogs have. His tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth.

Nick smiled at the dog and for the first time since he had burnt Badger farm he felt a sliver of light enter his tortured soul. He looked at the dog, trying to work out what breed he was. It was pretty obvious that it was a dog and not a bitch. It was also pretty obvious that he was a mongrel.

‘You’re an ugly bugger aren’t you boy,’ Nick said. The dog was roughly the same size, and he had the same kind of coat as an Alsatian, but that’s where the resemblance ended. Because he had the whip thin body of a Grey Hound with a deep chest. Grey hair sprouted randomly from his body, face and ears. ‘Yes you’re an ugly bugger but I bet you can run aye?’

The dog started wagging its tail.

Nick stood up slowly. Since that first time when the dog had woken him and he had grabbed it, the dog hadn’t let him get close again. He didn’t blame him. ‘Stay,’ Nick told the dog. He kept his voice low and deep. The dog carried on giving him that daft look and his tail began to wag faster. ‘Good boy,’ Nick said, once again keeping his voice low and deep. He started to move very slowly towards the dog. He held his hand out to him, offering him the rest of his energy bar. The dog raised his nose and sniffed out to it then slowly stood up and backed away from him. Nick crouched down again and threw the small treat to him. He smiled again as the dog caught it deftly in his mouth. ‘Good boy,’ Nick said again then he turned and went back to sit on the fallen tree. When he turned back the dog had disappeared. ‘You can move bloody quietly as well.’ Nick shook his head slowly as he noticed that the rabbit was still there.

That evening Nick made a fire then skinned, cleaned and cooked the rabbit. It was delicious.

When Nick woke up the following morning he decided that it was time to move on. He’d been hiding for long enough. It was time to avenge Bill and find his friends. He disassembled his camp and packed up all of his bits and pieces then he sat on the fallen tree to wait for the dog. He didn’t have to wait very long until the dog came bounding through the woods. ‘Hello mate,’ Nick greeted the dog as it slowed down and came closer. ‘I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.’

The dog sat down about ten feet away from him and looked over at where his camp had been.

‘Yes mate it’s gone. You are one clever dog!’ Nick said, standing up and pulling his pack on. He grimaced slightly as the straps rubbed on his healing shoulders then he looked at the dog again. ‘Well goodbye ugly,’ he said. ‘Thanks for the rabbit.’ He then turned away and slowly walked off. He walked out of the wood and passed the hole where he had made his solar still. He walked past the rowing boat. It was floating gently on the water now but he still didn’t fancy his chances of rowing across the estuary. He had looked at his map and he knew that the river Dart flowed down through the town of Totnes before opening out to the estuary. Totnes would be as good a place as any to start his search. It was the nearest place north from here with bridges to cross the river. Another river, the river Harbourne ran into the estuary about a mile up from where he was and it blocked his direct path to Totnes so he angled his walk west to swing around it.

Although he had thought it through many times, the only plan he could think of was to go from town to town until he could pick up the trail and find the people who had attacked Badger farm. He thought that they must be connected to the military somehow and Badger farm couldn’t have been the only place that they’d been to. Whoever they were, he knew that he would find them eventually and his face became grim with the dark thoughts of what he would do when he did find them. He stopped walking then and turned back to look at the wood where he had made his camp. Would it be so bad, he thought if I stayed for a few more days? Would the world stop turning? He had almost persuaded himself to go back to the safe haven of the wood when he saw the shaggy shape of the dog racing towards him. He smiled. He was right. The dog could run like the wind.

Chapter one

Afternoon 25th August 2014 Wyvern Barracks, Exeter, Devon.

Sergeant Scott looked at his young Captain and he sighed deeply. ‘I told you this morning that this was fucked up,’ he said. His weather-beaten craggy face looked miserable.

The beefy thirty nine year old Scott was an ex Sergeant from the rifles regiment. He had left the Army just over three years ago at the age of thirty six. Since leaving the Army and up until the flu had struck the only jobs that he had been able to find had been working on the doors of Exeter’s night-clubs and labouring for a local builder. It seemed that being able to shoot, shout at people, run all day and then fight at the end of it weren’t brilliant skills to add to a civilian CV.

The fact that he liked to have a good drink hadn’t helped much either.

After miraculously surviving the flu and then the riots afterwards he had seen joining Simon’s Army as an obvious choice. Because of his history he had been automatically given the role as Sergeant in this new Army. They hadn’t minded his drinking one little bit and up until today he had been as happy as a pig in shit.

Steve Saunders shrugged his shoulders. He was leaning up against the wall just inside the doors of the medical centre. He closed his eyes for a second then opened them and looked at his watch. ‘I can’t believe that it’s only just gone two o’clock!’ He said. He spoke quietly but he looked just as miserable as the Sergeant.

‘Yeah I know what you mean,’ Scott said. ‘I can’t believe that we left to go to that fucking place only six hours ago.’ Scott moved in closer to Steve. ‘Why the fuck did he have torture the poor fuck like that? I’ve never seen anything like it and I never want to ever again.’

Steve pushed himself off the wall and put his mouth near to Scott’s ear. ‘It’s because he knows the bloke we were looking for,’ he whispered. ‘He knew him before the flu.’

Scott thought about that for a second then frowned. ‘So what,’ he said. ‘I knew plenty of people before the flu. It don’t mean I want to slice bits off other people to find them though.’

‘Keep your voice down,’ Steve told him. ‘He’s obviously worried about this Nick Smith bloke.’

‘What? You mean he’s scared of him?’ Scott looked incredulous. ‘I wonder who the fuck he is then? I wouldn’t want to bump into someone that Simon is scared of.’

‘I really don’t know but he’s got even more reason to be scared of him now,’ Steve stepped back to lean against the wall again as Scott looked at him worriedly. ‘I know,’ Steve said quietly, nodding.

‘He’ll go for the women and kids next!’ Scott said urgently.

‘I said I know Scott, but we need to be very careful about what we say or do next mate. I was watching the faces of the men while Simon was working on the big fella. A few of them were having fun.’

‘That’s just fucking disgusting! Who?’ Scott asked him a little bit too loudly. His face showed his revulsion.

Steve shook his head slowly at his friend and indicated with his hand for him to be quieter. ‘Too many of them to do anything about mate,’ he told him quietly.

Scott studied him carefully. Although Steve was sixteen years younger than he was, he had a lot of respect for the young man. Scott knew that although Steve was young, he was smart. He looked around but there was no one else in the corridor at the moment. ‘We have to try and save those people mate. Get them out of here. We can’t let him do to them what he did that bloke. I can barely live with myself now. I see it every time I close my eyes.’

Steve closed his eyes again and said, ‘yeah, me to mate.’ He opened them and sighed. ‘I assume you know what this means then?’ He asked.

Scott just nodded slowly.

‘Ok.’ Steve stood up straight and looked Scott directly in the eyes. ‘How stable is Beth?’ He asked him.

Scott just looked at him oddly.

‘The woman with the shot up leg! Her name is Beth.’

‘You know their bloody names?’ he asked.

Steve shook his head. ‘Only hers and the slim dark haired one. She’s called Nancy. The Big fella called their names out and the old lady cried out Beth when she saw the woman’s leg.

‘Well done Sherlock,’ Scott said then,’ that makes it even worse somehow, knowing their names.’

‘I know,’ Steve said. ‘So how stable is she then?’

What he was suggesting suddenly dawned on Scott. ‘You mean we have to do it now?’ he asked dubiously.

‘If we don’t move quickly and do it now mate we won’t get another chance,’ Steve told him. ‘As soon as Simon has time to think about it he’ll have them locked away, and I don’t think that you and me are flavour of the month with him at the moment either. We’ll probably be locked up with them. He could even be arranging it all now.’ He looked at Scott seriously. ‘So how fucking stable is she then?’

‘They drugged her and sewed her up. She’s still alive’

‘Well that will have to do. I’ll go get Beth. You go talk to the others outside. All of the vehicles have just been left there, with the supplies and some of the weapons as well. If we move quickly, we could be away from here clean before anyone realises what’s going on.’

‘The men left the vehicles and weapons with the prisoners?’ Scott smirked. ‘This is one shit pot army and what you’re thinking of is also a very big step Stevie boy. If it goes wrong we will be dead men before the end of the day.’

Steve leaned in close to the beefy Sergeant. ‘If you call me by that fucking stupid name again you’ll be a dead man before the end of the minute.’

Scott stepped back, looked at him and then chuckled. His face lost some of the tenseness that had been there since leaving Badger farm. ‘Ok let’s fucking do it then!’ he said.

Steve nodded. ‘You know where the others are. You will have to get them to trust you mate. I think they hate me at the moment. When I come out with Beth you will all have to be ready to go.’ He thought for a second. ‘I will need you, the kids and the younger woman-Nancy in one vehicle. Ask the old woman to get in another.’

‘Ok.’ Scott stood up straight.

‘Try to get their trust Scott,’ Steve told him. ‘Tell them what we are doing. Be gentle with them. They’ve had a bad day.’

Scott nodded. ‘I’ll do my best.’ He then turned and walked purposefully out of the medical centre.

Steve took a deep breath and then he walked down the corridor towards the medical centre’s small patient’s ward. He came up to a few of his men on the way there. They were lounging around and joking with each other in the waiting area. They stood up straight when they saw him though.

‘Sir,’ a couple of them said.

‘Take it easy guys,’ Steve told them over his shoulder as he went past. ‘Go get yourselves some food and take the rest of the day off. You all did a good job this morning.’

‘Thanks Sir,’ they chorused behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and saw that they were leaving. Good, he thought. He found Beth two doors down in the only single room. There was no one with her. The doctors must be treating the wounded men now in the main part of the ward further down the corridor. If he was quick he could be out of here with her before anyone noticed. He went straight over to the bed. She was asleep, but he touched her gently on the shoulder and she opened her eyes.

‘It’s ok,’ Steve told her. ‘I’m here to help you.’

She looked at him vaguely. Steve could see that she was well tanked up with morphine. He quickly scanned the room and just as he thought, the busy doctors had left a box of the tablets on the side. He grabbed the box and shoved it in his pocket then he went back over to the bed. Her eyes were closed again. There was no way she was going to be able to walk out of here holding onto his shoulder. He was going to have to find a wheel chair. ‘Shit,’ he said aloud then he quickly went back out of the room and jogged down the corridor. He opened doors as he went past them and checked each room. The fourth door along led into a large storeroom and over to one side of it there were three wheelchairs. He quickly grabbed one and pushed it back out of the door. He managed to get all the way back to Beth’s room without being spotted, but he was sweating now with the stress. He knew that Scott would be waiting outside and ready to go. If anyone noticed them all sitting in the vehicles the game would be up. Steve didn’t want to think about what would happen if they were caught. Simon was already extremely pissed off because he hadn’t found Nick Smith today.

‘Hello again,’ Steve said. Beth had gone back to sleep. Her mouth was hanging open and she had actually started to snore a bit. He shook her shoulder lightly. She stopped snoring and opened her eyes again. She smiled at him. ‘Bloody hell!’ he swore. ‘How much did they give you?’ She just carried on smiling at him. ‘I need you to get up!’ he said urgently. ‘Can you sit up?’

‘Sit up,’ she repeated, but she then closed her eyes again.

‘Bollocks!’ Steve said then, ‘ok I’m going to have to lift you. I just hope that the morphine is just as good at killing pain as it is at making you happy.’ He pulled the covers back from her then put his arms under her legs and shoulders and lifted her up. She was no lightweight being as buxom as she was. Steve noticed that detail by accident, as her breasts pushed up against his face. He was strong though. He lowered her gently into the wheelchair. As he did she opened her eyes again and smiled at him. Well at least the drugs seemed to be working. She wasn’t screaming in pain yet, he thought thankfully. To stop her falling out of the chair, he tipped it back and pushed her out of the room. He had almost reached the doors to the outside when two of his men came in through them. He planted a smile on his face.

‘There you are Sir,’ the larger one of them said.

‘What do you want Atkins?’ Steve asked him sharply. The men were blocking the doors now. Steve stopped the wheelchair. He stood there holding it and tipping it back.

‘We’ve been sent to find you Sir,’ Atkins told him. He was looking at the woman in the wheelchair curiously.

‘Who by?’ Steve asked, speaking sharply again. ‘As you can see, I’m a bit busy at the moment.’

‘The boss Sir,’ it was Atkins that spoke again. ‘You know? Simon. He told us to come and get you.’

Steve looked at them both and smiled. ‘Oh ok,’ he said. ‘Just open those doors for me would you?’

Both the men looked round at the double doors. ‘Yes sir!’ It was Evans who replied this time. They slowly grabbed a door each and they pulled them open.

‘I’m going to need your help to get this woman in the Land Rover as well,’ Steve told them as he pushed the wheelchair past them. He looked over and he could see that Scott had managed to get the others in the vehicles. He breathed a sigh of relief at that. Scott had also been sensible enough not to choose the two very nice looking black ones that they had picked up at Badger farm. Green Land Rovers were in and out of the main gates all day long. The black ones would have attracted attention to them.

‘But the boss said we were to get you right away. “No matter what you said,” he told us.’ Atkins said frowning.

‘And you are aren’t you?’ Steve said. ‘But as you can see I have to get this woman in the Land Rover.’

‘Oh,’ Atkins paused. ‘Then you’ll come with us right away Sir?’

Steve smiled at him. ‘Of course Atkins. What do you think? Now can you hurry up? This wheelchair isn’t exactly light you know.’ He smiled again as they let go of the doors and began to follow him over to the where the Land Rovers where parked up.

‘Is that the Sergeant in there with those weirdoes we picked up earlier Sir?’ Evans asked as they got closer to the vehicles.

Steve sighed heavily. ‘Of course it is you moron! Now fucking hurry up! This wheelchair’s getting really fucking heavy now. I’m putting her in that nearest one. Atkins, go and open the back door I want to lay her out on the back seat.’

As Atkins jogged over to the Land Rover Evans looked at him curiously. Steve could see that he was thinking hard. ‘Where are you taking them all then Sir?’ he asked suddenly.

Steve had just about had enough of these two idiots now. His arms were aching and he was becoming extremely stressed at the thought that someone with a brain was going to come around the corner soon. ‘Shut the fuck up Evans!’ he said. He pushed the wheelchair a bit faster and finally made it to the vehicles. Atkins was waiting there with the door open. Steve stopped the chair and went around to the front. He put his arms under Beth’s legs and looked at Atkins. ‘Well get her shoulders then!’ He told him, raising his eyebrows.

‘Sorry sir, I was just thinking!’ Atkins said as he came round and grabbed Beth by the shoulders.

‘I had wondered what that noise was,’ Steve said.

Atkins frowned at him. It took a bit of pushing and shoving but they finally managed to get Beth out of the wheelchair and onto the backseat.

During the struggle the old lady had got out from the front seat. She now climbed into the back. ‘I’ll hold onto her,’ she said to Steve, giving him a very curious look.

Steve nodded at her and put Beth’s head onto her lap. The old lady looked strained and exhausted, Steve thought but she did look a lot better than she had a little bit earlier. A tough one, he thought to himself. He closed the back door of the Land Rover then turned to the two men. ‘Right!’ he said. ‘Now that’s done at last thank god.’ He looked at them both and they both looked at him. ‘Now what was it you wanted?’ he asked them. Neither of them had noticed that Scott had sneaked around to come up behind them. They were frowning heavily now, because they both knew that something wasn’t quite right here.

‘We told you Sir,’ Atkins said. ‘The Boss wants you.’ He was still frowning.

‘Yeah what’s going on with this lot then Sir?’ Evans asked.

Steve ducked down then suddenly whipped his right fist up and caught Evans under the chin with a solid uppercut. He had his legs and the whole strength of his body under the blow. It lifted Evans right off the ground. At exactly the same time Scott punched Atkins in the side of the head with a massive haymaker. Both men collapsed to the ground.

Steve sighed. ‘Thank you,’ he said to Scott. ‘Those two were really doing my head in.’

‘What did they want then?’

‘Apparently Simon is looking for me.’

‘Oh,’ Scott raised his eyebrows.

‘So we’d better get the fuck out of here quick eh?’

Steve knew that Simon would realise something was wrong very quickly. He would be waiting there, expecting him to go to him immediately. Someone else would probably be sent to check where he was and then that person would find the two unconscious idiots. Therefore they would only have a few minutes at best to get out of the main gate. Once out of the main gate though they should have a little bit of time before they were followed.

Steve climbed into the Land Rover and drove off slowly. He led the way to the main gate with Scott following. They both drove slowly. They didn’t want to draw any attention to themselves. Just as Steve had guessed there were a few other Land Rovers coming in and going out so unless Simon was already on to them nobody should take any notice. They went right around the parade ground nice and steady and then headed for the main gate. As he approached the gate Steve put a smile on his face for the gate guards.

Chapter two

At exactly the same time that Steve and Scott were driving up to the main gate with Simon’s prisoners, Simon was walking around the corner to the medical centre. He saw the two unconscious soldiers that were lying on the tarmac immediately. He also noticed that two of the Land Rovers were missing. He then just stood there motionless for a second or two thinking before he turned and walked back around the corner. He put his arm out to stop the first man that he came across.

‘You!’ he said, putting his hand on the man’s chest.

‘Aahh..Sir,’ the man replied, worried by the pale and intense look on Simon’s face.

‘Run to the main gate quickly and tell them that nobody is allowed in or out,’ he said.

The man looked at Simon’s hand on his chest and then at Simon. ‘Aahh..Yes Sir,’ he said, confused. He had thought that he was just about to get a bollocking for being late back from lunch. He and his friends had found a crate of beer in a cellar in the town and they’d lost track of the time. He smiled at Simon, relieved that he had got away with it.

Simon looked at the man and then he suddenly punched him hard in the throat. There was a wheezing gasp from the man as he fell to the floor holding his crushed windpipe. Simon stepped around him and began to sprint across the parade ground towards the main gate. He could see two Land Rovers sitting there waiting for the barrier to be raised. He shouted as loud as he could while running. ‘Close the gates!’

The gate guards all turned to look at him as he ran towards them.

‘Stop those two vehicles!’ He shouted at them. Now that he had managed to get their attention he slowed his run. Thankfully, the guards were now pointing their weapons at the two green Land Rovers. Simon smiled. ‘Nearly Stevie Boy,’ he said to himself quietly. He knew that there had been something wrong with him during the drive back. Stevie had definitely not been himself. It had been obvious to Simon that he hadn’t liked the questioning of the fat bloke, but not in a million years would he have guessed that he would go as far as helping the other prisoners to escape. He could hear the soldiers shouting at the people in the vehicles. They were ordering them to get out now so he slowed right down and walked the last fifty feet or so. He tried to calm himself. He wanted everyone there, including Stevie to see him righteously angry but composed. He practised the expression while he walked and he believed that he had got it just about right. Then he noticed that it wasn’t Stevie or the prisoners getting out of the vehicles. It was two men that he had never seen before. Simon lost his righteously angry but composed expression immediately.

The gate guards saluted him as he came up to them then they went back to pointing their weapons at the two scared looking men who had climbed out of the Land Rovers.

‘Are these the two that you’re after Sir?’ one of the guards asked him.

Simon looked at the guard then looked at the two men then he turned around and started to walk away. ‘Nobody in or out of the gate!’ he shouted at them over his shoulder. He didn’t trust himself enough to stay near any of them. He couldn’t kill any more of his men today. He was beginning to think that he might need them all quite badly before long.

Steve had looked straight ahead as he drove out through the main gate and then he looked in the rear view mirror to make sure that Scott came out safely after him. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and loosened his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel as he watched the barrier being dropped down behind Scott’s vehicle. They were both out.

All they had to do now was get out of Exeter. He could just imagine the rage that Simon would fly into when he realised that he and Scott had stolen his prisoners. After everything that had happened today it still made him smile to think of it.

‘Why have you helped us young man?’

Steve jumped in his seat. The old lady had been so quiet in the back that he had almost forgotten that she was there. ‘Wow! Please don’t make me jump like that again. I’m a bag of nerves as it is.’

‘I’m sorry young man. My name is Grace,’ she told him.

Steve negotiated a particularly tight corner then checked in the mirror to make sure that Scott was still on his tail before he said, ‘Glad to know your name Grace. My name is Steve.’ He swung the jeep around a parked car. ‘We have to get out of Exeter real fast now Grace,’ Steve told her as he looked all around quickly. ‘So I would be grateful if you could just try and keep a tight hold onto Beth and keep quiet for a little while.’

‘Yes you are right. I’m sorry Steve. I’ll stay quiet,’ Grace said. She was in fact finding it very difficult to hold onto Beth as Steve spun and turned the Land Rover down the narrow streets.

‘I’ll have more time to talk when we get on to the main roads,’ Steve told her. Then he concentrated on driving.

They came out of Exeter going south on the A30 then joined the M5 at junction thirty one. As soon as they were on the motorway Steve put his foot down. The M5 ran out onto the A38 and then they were able to pick some speed up.

Steve glanced over his shoulder at Grace. ‘How is she doing?’ he asked.

‘She’s still asleep thank god,’ Grace told him. She was very glad that they were now going in a straight line. She was completely exhausted.

‘That’s good,’ Steve said. He was still watching the road carefully. There was the occasional abandoned car here and there to look out for and he was going fast.

‘So what do you plan to do now Steve?’ Grace asked.

Steve looked in the mirror, looked at the road ahead and then glanced at her quickly. ‘To be honest, I haven’t thought that far ahead,’ he told her over his shoulder. ‘I really wasn’t expecting to make it this far.’

‘We will need to get off this road,’ Grace said.

Steve sighed. ‘I know. We will have to find somewhere to hide for a while. Once he realises that we have taken you he will probably send everyone out looking.’ Then Steve smiled to himself as he remembered that both of the other Captains and their platoons were way down south in Cornwall. Simon would have to do without big Sam and scary Liz for a while. The only fighting platoon left at Wyvern was his platoon. Steve smiled again as he imagined how Simon would get on with trying to organise his crazy bunch of bastards without himself or Scott to help. He did have the extra soldiers from the base at Okehampton now, Steve reminded himself and his mate Klaus to organise them, but it would still take them a while to get a proper search arranged. Steve started to relax a bit as he realised that they might have actually gotten away with it.

‘We should hide somewhere remote. Somewhere out of the way, maybe somewhere with some low hills,’ Grace said.

‘Yeah that would do,’ Steve said. ‘Why, do you have somewhere in mind?’

‘No,’ Grace told him. ‘It’s just something that Nick said. It seems like a lifetime ago now though.’

Steve glanced back again. ‘You mean the Nick?’ he asked. ‘The infamous Nick Smith!’

‘Unless there is another one,’ Grace answered. ‘Why do you want to find him anyway?’ she asked.

‘I don’t,’ Steve said. ‘Simon does. Simon knew him from before the flu.’

‘Oh I see,’ Grace said.

‘See what?’ Steve asked.

‘Nick did tell us some things about his past but that’s Nick’s story to tell. Not mine.’

They stayed quiet after that. A lot had happened to them today and they both needed a bit of time to process it. They were on the A38 for about ten more minutes when they passed a turnoff on the left for the A384. A few minutes after that Steve saw another turnoff for the B3380. Signposted Buckfastleigh. He indicated and slowed down to let Scott know he was turning off then he went down onto the slip road. He turned right at the bottom, went under the A38 turned left and then took the jeep over the road and into a small industrial park. He quickly drove around and behind a large building, turned the engine off and then sat back in his seat.

‘Phew! We did it,’ he said. He watched as the other jeep pulled up behind him and Scott jumped out. He was closely followed out of the Land Rover by the three kids. Steve noticed that the woman Nancy didn’t get out with them. He turned to face Grace in the back. ‘Do you want to get out and stretch your legs?’ he asked her.

‘I think I will,’ she told him.

‘I’ll come round and open the door for you.’ Steve pushed his door open and jumped out then he jogged around to the door on grace’s side and pulled it open. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Take my arm.’ Grace slid sideways on the seat a little and then gently laid Beth’s head back on the seat then she stepped out. When she finally had both feet on the ground she let go of Steve’s arm.

‘Thank you Steve,’ she said before turning away from him to walk over towards the kids.

Scott had come over to him while Grace was getting out. He waited until she was out of earshot before saying to Steve, ‘fuck me that was scary!’

Steve looked at him. ‘Are you ok buddy?’

‘Sure, nothing a few beers wouldn’t sort out. You?’ Scott said looking around.

‘Yeah, I’m ok,’ Steve said nodding. ‘Considering what we’ve just done.’

‘Where the fuck are we anyway?’ Scott asked him, frowning.

‘Nowhere!’ Steve said. ‘But that’s the point. It’s completely random. Even if we were seen heading south out of Exeter we have gone past at least three main turn offs and then randomly turned off here. That’s a lot of different ways we could have gone and this is the most unlikely one of them all.’

Scott was looking around as Steve spoke. He had stopped listening after "Nowhere." ‘Surely we can’t stay here,’ he said.

Steve frowned at him and shook his head.

‘What?’ Scott asked, confusion on his craggy face.

‘No we can’t stay here and we are not going to. I just explained why we were here but you weren’t bloody listening. We will have to move out of here very soon. I only stopped here to make sure everyone was alright. We need to find somewhere to hideout for a while.’

‘That’s what I thought,’ Scott said. ‘This is a shit place. Have you got any ideas then?’

Steve looked at him, starting to get a bit annoyed but then he remembered just what Scott had done for him today. He had put himself into serious danger. Steve knew that he had done it for these poor people, but he had trusted him with the plan and with his life. ‘Yeah,’ he said smiling at him. ‘I’ve got a few.’ He looked around as he heard footsteps coming towards him. ‘Hi Grace,’ he said turning towards her.

‘Hello,’ she replied. ‘Might this be a good time to tell me why you have rescued us after everything that happened this morning?’

Steve looked at her. ‘It was because of everything that happened this morning Grace,’ he said sadly. ‘But we really need to get on the move again now. Is everyone ok?’ he asked her.

Grace looked into his eyes. ‘Very far from it I’m afraid. The kids are traumatised and my daughter is suffering very badly but we are all very grateful for what you and Scott have done for us. I can’t even imagine how they would all be now if we were still back there with that monster.’

Steve looked away from her. ‘If I could undo everything that happened today then I would, but I can’t. All I can do now is my best to see that no more harm is done to you.’ He looked back at her. ‘We thought we were attacking a dangerous killer this morning. Not a bunch of women and children.’

Grace looked at him steadily for a few seconds before saying, ‘if you had been a couple of days earlier Steve then you would have been attacking a dangerous killer. It was lucky for you that he had left the day before.’ Grace looked away then before saying, ‘lucky for you but very unlucky for poor Bill.’

Steve nodded slowly, not really knowing what to say to that. ‘Ok. Well we need to go soon. We have to find somewhere isolated to stay for a while, then we need to find food and water.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s just after three o’clock.’ He raised his eyebrows and sighed. ‘Is this the longest bloody day in the history of the world or what?’

They all climbed back into the two Land Rovers. This time though, the younger girl silently climbed into the back of Steve’s vehicle instead of Grace. She gently lifted Beth’s head gently onto her lap. Steve looked at her. Her eyes were grey and sunken and tears had made deep tracks in the dust and dirt on her young face. Grace climbed into the front and looked over at him. ‘This is Sammy, Beth’s daughter. She wanted to be with her mum.’ Grace explained.

Steve looked out of his side window and started the engine. ‘That’s fine,’ he said, fighting back his emotions and thinking that it was a shame that Nick hadn’t been there this morning when they had attacked Badger farm.

Chapter three

Simon knew that it would be a pointless waste of time sending men out to chase after them now. They’d have no chance of catching the pair of them as they raced out of Exeter. There were far too many ways out of the City and he knew that Stevie wasn’t a fool. He’d be doing something clever by now. By the time he had walked back across the parade ground he had calmed himself down. He noticed that the man he had struck in the throat had been moved somewhere, but then he didn’t give that another thought as he went up to his office. He was thinking very hard about Stevie. He had really believed that he had worked the young man out. It amazed him so much that he could get people so wrong sometimes.

He went into his office and locked the door then he sat in his chair and tried to figure out what to do now. Stevie and the Sergeant escaping with the prisoners was extremely annoying but it was not in itself a major issue. His campaign could easily move forward without the two soldiers and he had been going to kill the prisoners anyway. He had only brought them back because Stevie had wanted to, and now he knew why! No, none of that would ruin his campaign or make any difference at all in the long run. He still had control over most of this part of the country and it was almost time to start moving north and east. He decided that as soon as Klaus was ready at Okehampton and Sam and Liz were back with their platoons then that’s what he would do.

He leant back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He tried once again to imagine what it would be like to be in control of the whole country. He tried to revisit the imaginary scene where he saw himself as the leader of the whole of England. He thumped the desk in frustration after a few seconds though because he still couldn’t see it any more. He hadn’t been able to see it since he had received confirmation that Nick was at Badger farm. Every time he tried all he could see was Nick Smith’s face smiling sarcastically at him. He quickly sat up straight again and then stood up as the familiar feeling of nausea churned his stomach. He waited until the dizziness passed then sat down again and put his head in his hands. He knew that until he had removed the threat of Nick he would always see that face in his mind. Nick Smith was blocking his dreams and making him ill.

A light knock on his door dragged him away from his thoughts.

‘Yes, what is it?’ He shouted, annoyed at being interrupted.

‘It’s Private Turner here Sir.’

Simon frowned. How was that supposed to mean anything to him?

‘I’ve come from the gate Sir.’

Simon was still frowning, wondering what the fool wanted. ‘What do you want Turner?’ he asked shortly. ‘I’m busy.’

‘The corporal just sent me to ask if we can open the gate again Sir,’ the man said through the door. ‘There’s loads of people waiting inside and outside it Sir. Everyone’s going crazy Sir.’

‘Yes you stupid fool. Go and open the gate!’ For God’s sake, he thought. Do I have to make every fucking decision around here?

‘Thank you Sir.’

Simon shook his head as he heard the man walk away then he started to write down some notes. The fat fool at Badger farm had said that Nick would be traveling on foot. Simon knew that Nick could walk at least thirty miles in a day. Assuming that he still had his strength and stamina (which apparently and unfortunately he did have) that meant he could have travelled at least fifty miles already. He stood up and looked at the map on his office wall. That meant that he could be almost anywhere in Devon by now. He punched the map, putting a tear in it and denting the plasterboard wall behind it then he threw the pen he was holding at the other wall. All he could think of now was to send a description to all of his communities. He thought about that for a while. What incentive could he offer though? Money was worthless now then he smiled as he had an idea. Yes that just might work. He decided to do it. He would say that Nick was guilty of something that people thought was dreadful, like molesting a child maybe? Yes that would really upset Nick and stir people up to find him. He chuckled to himself as he found a pencil on his desk and began to draw Nick’s face on a piece of paper. Even after all these years he still found that very easy.

Steve did a wide turn and drove back out of the small industrial estate with Scott following behind. He turned right onto the road then he took the next right turn. Within a few minutes they were driving down narrow lanes surrounded by fields.

‘There’s no way that we will be found now as long as we stay away from the communities that we have control of,’ Steve told Grace. ‘I mean that Simon has control of,’ he amended. ‘Simon believes that he has control of everywhere from Exeter to Lands End but he’s a bit more than slightly delusional.’ He glanced over at Grace. She was being very quiet. ‘Are you ok?’ he asked her.

‘So that’s his plan then is it?’ Grace asked quietly. ‘He wants to take control?’

‘That’s his plan,’ Steve said.

‘And you were helping him to achieve this plan?’

‘I was,’ Steve admitted. ‘It seems stupid now doesn’t it?’

Grace sighed deeply. ‘Someone will always do it,’ she said. ‘And it’s the people that shouldn’t be in charge that always try to be. How did you end up helping him then Steve?

‘A long story made short is that I didn’t have much choice.’

‘But you were doing ok because of it though,’ Grace turned her head to study him while he was driving. She saw a handsome and strong looking young man. She couldn’t see any deceit or evil in him though.

Steve could see her looking at him in his peripheral vision. He glanced at her. ‘What do you see then Grace?’ he asked her a bit self-consciously.

‘You were in charge of those soldiers that attacked us,’ she said, ignoring his question.

‘I wasn’t today Grace,’ he told her.

‘You’ve run away from a good life back there though. What were you, his second in command?’

‘Ha! Hardly,’ Steve said. ‘I had a platoon. Unfortunately it was the platoon that he chose to attack your home.’

‘So there are other platoons then?’

‘Yeah, a few,’ Steve said then he sighed. ‘You’ve got to understand that today was different. It was very different from what we normally do when we find a group of people.’

‘Ok,’ Grace nodded.

‘Honestly Grace up until today we have just been looking for communities that are set up. We then ask them if they would like to join us. Normally they are pleased to see us. They see it as a normal service is resumed kind of thing.’

‘Normally suggests that sometimes people are not pleased to see you.’

‘It happens,’ Steve admitted. ‘But it’s never happened to me.’ Steve glanced at her again. ‘Today wasn’t about taking over the world Grace,’ he told her. ‘Today was about finding and killing Nick Smith.’

‘Because Simon knew him before the flu,’ Grace said.

‘Yes,’ Steve answered. ‘I don’t know how he knew him, but I do know that Simon was worried about Nick. He definitely thought that Nick was a threat to him and his “campaign.” I got the impression that Nick was more of a threat to him personally though.’

Grace sat back and tried to make herself comfortable. She looked out of the window at the scenery as Steve drove along the country lanes. They were well within the borders of Dartmoor now and the scenery had now changed from farmland to moorland.

Grace looked around at Sammy. She was sitting there looking down at her mum’s face. ‘Are you ok in the back there Sammy?’ she asked her.

Sammy looked up and nodded slowly.

Grace thought that she did look a bit better. ‘Your mum’s going to be ok Sammy. You do know that don’t you?’

Sammy just nodded again and Grace turned back to look at Steve. ‘We will need to stop soon Steve. There’s not much endurance left in us today.’

Steve glanced at her. He thought that Grace just might know why Simon was worried about Nick. He also realised that she had changed the subject. He wondered if she thought this was some kind of convoluted plan to catch Nick. It didn’t matter, he thought. She would trust him eventually.

‘We will stop soon,’ he told her. ‘We are far enough away now and there are no reported communities in this area. In fact,’ he said, ‘there isn’t much of anything in this area. I’m just looking for a good place to stop now. I’m looking for a house that’s out on its own somewhere.’

They both stayed silent then, thinking their own thoughts. After about another mile of driving they saw a sign telling them that they were coming up to a place called Hexworthy. They glanced at each other at the same time.

‘You ever heard of Hexworthy?’ Steve asked her.

‘No dear.’

‘Well it looks like we are nearly home then.’

At first glance it looked to them like Hexworthy was just the name for a slice of moorland with some trees on it, then Steve saw gap in the trees and bushes along the side of the road. He had already driven past it before he realised what it might be. He looked in the mirror to check that Scott wasn’t too close then he indicated left and slowed down carefully.

‘I think I saw somewhere,’ he told Grace. He left the engine running, jumped out of the Land Rover and jogged back to the other vehicle. Scott had stopped just after the partially hidden dirt drive.

He leaned out of the window and smiled at Steve as he came up to him. ‘Do you want me to go take a look up there?’

‘I think it’ll be easier to drive down there mate. That drive could be a mile long or it could just be a track leading off into the woods.’

‘Yeah spose,’ Scott nodded.

‘I think it’s a house though. If it is it’s in a good location for us. I only saw the drive because I was looking hard for one.’

‘Ok mate,’ Scott said. ‘I’ll see you down there.’

As Steve jogged back to his vehicle, Scott reversed a little way and then turned onto the track. Steve jumped in and did the same. Soon they were both driving slowly down the dirt track.

Chapter four

Afternoon 25th August 2014 Wyvern Barracks, Exeter, Devon.

Simon’s six scouts stood in the war room and listened as Simon sat at the end of the long table and spun them a very unpleasant story of a man that he used to know before the flu. There was disgust on Simon’s face as he told them that this man had been a known child molester. He had served five years in prison for his crimes but he had been out on parole when the flu had struck. The scouts had nodded and murmured amongst themselves as Simon revealed the name of the man to them. Just about everyone in Exeter had heard the tale of the two boys by now and they all knew the name of the man who had killed the boy’s father and their brother. Everyone had also heard by now that Simon had been looking for this man. The scouts knew that he had even gone out of his way and put himself in danger personally to ensure that this man was caught. There were stories that his questioning of some bloke had gotten a bit nasty but the scouts had nodded when Simon had asked them who wouldn’t have acted that way with someone who was protecting a known child molester? Someone who was most likely into the same kind of shit himself.

Simon put his head down into his hands and then rubbed at his eyes to make them red before looking back up at the six scouts. ‘We missed him by one day boys. One day! Can you imagine how bad I felt? Only the devil knows where he is now and what he is doing. Every day that he is out there more children are at risk.’

‘We’ll find him Sir,’ one of them told him confidently. ‘We found him before.’ They all turned to look at Jamie, the scout who had brought the report back from Badger farm.

Jamie’s face turned red and he looked down at the floor. ‘I didn’t know what you wanted him for Sir,’ he said, looking back up and giving Simon an intense look. ‘If I had I would have taken him there and then, when I spotted him.’

Simon shook his head slowly. ‘No Jamie no,’ he told him. ‘You did exactly the right thing. He is a very dangerous man. God knows what he would have done to you if you had tried. That’s why we needed all the manpower this morning.’

Jamie looked down. He was really embarrassed now. He had been telling everyone that it was ridiculous taking all those men for such a small place.

Simon was smiling inside because he knew what the scout had been telling everybody. This plan was working out brilliantly. He didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to him before. The scouts would go from this room and gossip to everyone as they always did. They would then go from Exeter and spread the word to all of his communities. Very soon the whole of the south west would know that Nick Smith was a child molester. It would completely invalidate anything he said to anybody. That’s if he even got the chance to speak to anybody before they attacked him. Simon could hardly contain his excitement and he felt his anxiety easing off a bit.

‘I have drawn a likeness of him boys,’ he told them. ‘I have made copies. What I want you to do now is spread the word. Go out to all of our communities and give them these copies. Pin them on notice boards or wherever they will be seen, but above all let everyone know what this man is.’

They all nodded eagerly and said that this was what was needed. ‘We’ll do that Sir, don’t worry about that,’ Jamie told him when it had quietened down.

Simon knew that Jamie would now be his most fervent and energetic supporter. ‘Well done lads, I knew that you would understand how important this is.’ He looked up at them. Go spread the word boys!’

When they had all finally shuffled out of the room, Simon jumped up from his seat and started to pace up and down the room. He was having trouble containing the feeling of euphoria that coursed through him. This plan would not only see Nick removed from being a danger to him. It would also see him hated and humiliated. ‘Ha!’ He suddenly shouted, unable to keep the feeling inside any longer. ‘Let’s see who wins now Nick fucking Smith, you pompous do-gooding bastard!’ Simon clenched his fists together and waited for the intense feelings to subside.

They had been driving down the track for a few minutes now and Steve was beginning to wonder if it was just a track that wound through the woods. Every time they went around a bend he expected to see some kind of car park or maybe a picnic area or even just the end of the track. So it was a complete surprise to him when the large farmhouse suddenly appeared up ahead. It was obviously also a surprise for Scott driving in front because he slammed hard on the brakes. Steve only just managed to stop before bumping into the back of him.

‘Bloody hell!’ Steve swore as Grace flinched. Beth nearly ended up on the floor. He was just about to jump out to see what was going on when he noticed why Scott had stopped so abruptly. There were three men in a line in front of the house and they were holding shotguns. Steve looked all around quickly and noticed there was at least one man in the trees on each side of them.

‘Bollocks!’ he swore as he slowly started to reach behind him for his rifle.

‘Try to stay calm Steve,’ Grace told him. ‘We have come onto their land.

‘What is it Grace?’ Sammy asked from the back seat then she said, ‘oh I think mum is waking up.’

‘Perfect timing,’ Steve said, putting his hand into his pocket. He quickly pulled out the box of pills and handed them to Grace. ‘These are what the doctor has given her.’

Grace took them from him and looked at the packet. ‘It doesn’t say how many she should have.’

‘No,’ Steve said, not really thinking about the pills now. He watched as the men moved closer. They were aiming their weapons now. He thought about grabbing his rifle and rolling from the Land Rover. If he could make it to the trees they might just have a chance. He could see five men in total but there could be more in the trees. He had just started to reach for his rifle again when Beth suddenly screamed.

‘Aaah!’ Steve cried out, nearly jumping through the roof of the Land Rover. Grace flinched and Sammy shrieked as well. The men outside suddenly stopped coming closer and they were now looking at them all curiously. Beth screamed again, long and horrendously loud.

Steve and Grace turned in their seats to look at Beth. Sammy was trying to calm her mum down by stroking her face and talking to her quietly.

‘It’s ok Beth we are safe,’ Grace told her. ‘I have some pain killers here.’ She pulled out a strip and popped one out of the foil. Beth’s screaming had toned down to a low panting moan as Grace spoke to her. Grace handed the small white tablet to Sammy.

‘There should be some water in the door,’ Steve said then looked back out at the men.

Grace found the small bottle of water and unscrewed the lid before passing it to Sammy. By now two of the men had come right up along each side the Land Rover and they were looking at Beth through the side windows. Steve could see that there were other men doing the same at Scott’s vehicle. He wound down the window.

‘Please,’ Steve called out through the side window. ‘We have an injured woman and children with us,’ he told them. ‘We are not looking for trouble.’ He looked at the man by his side of the vehicle. He looked to be around sixty years old but his hands were rock steady on the shotgun. ‘Please,’ Steve said again.

The man studied him for what seemed like ages while Beth and Sammy cried quietly in the back. The man then looked past him at Grace and he seemed to relax a little. ‘Ok son, open the door very slowly and climb outa there,’ he told him. ‘I want to see your hands out in front the whole time though soldier.’

‘Sure,’ Steve said then he did what the man had asked him to do. When he was standing on the ground outside the vehicle another man came up behind him and frisked him quickly.

‘He’s not carrying Dad,’ the man behind him said.

‘What about the other soldier?’ Frank asked. Steve had his back to Scott’s vehicle so he hadn’t seen that Scott was getting the same treatment.

‘He’s clean Dad!’ Steve heard a man shout.

Frank nodded. ‘Ok then,’ he said. ‘Let’s get this woman out. You!’ he pointed at Steve. ‘No funny stuff. We might not be soldier’s boy, but we all know how to shoot a gun the right way round.’

Steve smiled at him. ‘I’m sure you do,’ he said relaxing a bit as he saw him take his finger off the trigger. ‘We are definitely not looking for trouble Sir. We have already had one hell of a day of it.’

‘Humm. So it appears,’ Frank said then all of a sudden there was a loud female shout from the direction of the house and they both jumped. Steve was glad that the old boy hadn’t had his finger on the trigger. If he had Steve would probably be missing a head now.

‘What in hell is going on out here?’

Steve turned around to see a large dark haired woman come storming out of the house and over towards them. As she came closer Steve could see the grey streaks in her hair and she looked to be about the same age as Frank. He took a guess that this was Frank’s wife by the way Frank visibly flinched.

‘You bloody fool of a man!’ She shouted at him.

‘Now there’s no need for shouting at me Brenda. You know that we have to be careful these days,’ Frank said.

Steve turned back towards a now worried looking Frank.

‘There are children in that car you fool!’ Brenda came right up and pushed past Steve to look into his Land Rover. ‘Oh my god! Look at that poor woman and child.’

Steve stood there looking bewildered and keeping quiet. He wasn’t sure what to do as Frank took his bollocking from Brenda. He certainly didn’t want her to start shouting at him.

‘I was dealing with her honey,’ Frank said. ‘But we had to make sure they were friendly first. They could have been attacking us.’

Brenda turned to study Steve closely then turned back to Frank. ‘Don’t you honey me Frank Reeves. Only a damn idiot would attack somewhere with three children an old lady and a badly wounded woman!’ She shouted the last bit. ‘This young man doesn’t look like an idiot to me,’ she said turning back to Steve. ‘Now get that woman up to the house.’ Both Steve and Frank went to open the back door of the Land Rover then Steve felt a slap on the back of his head. ‘Maybe I was wrong about you,’ she said to him. ‘Drive her up there!’

Steve had to laugh as he climbed back into the Land Rover and followed Scott up to the big farm house.

By the time they were parked up alongside the porch that fronted the house, Brenda had everyone organised. The two men who had been hiding in the trees came out red faced as Brenda called them all a bunch of fools. She saved most of her annoyance for Frank of course. He was the one who had called them all out. Apparently Brenda had been out the back tending the vegetable garden when Frank had heard the vehicles coming down the track. Steve guessed that she had come into the house, seen them outside and had at first been frightened. She had then heard Beth screaming and come out. Steve felt a bit sorry for Frank. He had actually done the right thing, but Brenda was now covering up for her earlier fear by having a go at everyone.

The pill that Sammy had given Beth seemed to be working. Either that or she was being very brave in front of people she didn’t know. Steve watched as two of the younger men carefully lifted her out of the Land Rover and carried her into the house. Sammy trailed in behind them then another younger woman came out of the house to speak to Brenda. They spoke for a few seconds and then she walked over to him. She was tall and slim and appeared to be in her late twenties. She was wearing brown jodhpurs and black riding boots. She pushed her long black hair back over her shoulder and smiled at him. Steve gaped back at her.

‘Hello,’ she said, still smiling back at him. ‘My name’s Sally.’ She held out her hand.

Steve took it gently. ‘I’m Steve,’ he told her as Scott came up alongside him. ‘And this is Scott,’ he added.

Scott held out his hand. ‘Hello there,’ he said.

‘This is Sally Scott,’ Steve told him. ‘She lives here.’

Scott gave Steve a curious look. ‘I heard her mate, and I kinda gathered that anyway,’ he said, smiling at Sally. He let go of her hand and faced Steve. ‘If you could spare a second Steve?’ he asked.

Steve reluctantly turned away from Sally. ‘What’s up?’

Scott smiled at him again and shook his head a little. ‘It’s the woman Nancy,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t want to get out of the Land Rover.’

Steve looked over towards Scott’s Land Rover. The two other kids had got out and he could see that they were trying to coax Nancy out as well but she was having none of it. ‘Poor bloody woman,’ Steve said. ‘But she won’t get out for me will she?’

‘Probably not mate,’ Scott said. ‘What shall we do then? Just leave her until she wants to come out?’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. God knows what she’ll do if she’s left on her own out here.’

‘Would you like me to go and speak to her?’ Sally asked.

Steve turned back to her and he tried to ignore the way that she was making him feel. He knew that it was completely inappropriate but he could hardly think straight. He paused for a few seconds and looked away as he wondered how to explain to her what had happened with Nancy. What would she think of him if she knew that what had happened was partly his fault?

Scott stepped in to help. ‘That would be good of you Sally, if you don’t mind. Nancy is in a state of deep shock. She hasn’t said a word the whole way here.’

‘I’ll just sit with her for a bit then while you get everything sorted,’ Sally told Scott.

‘Thanks love.’ Scott turned to Steve as Sally left them to walk over to the Land Rover. ‘Hey, wake up sunshine,’ he said to Steve. ‘Do you want to get us thrown out here?’

Steve frowned at him. ‘Of course not. Why?’

‘I’ve counted at least five men here,’ Scott told him. ‘Discounting the hen pecked Frank that leaves four men in front of you in the queue for that little piece. And if any of those men are her brothers…’ Scott didn’t need to finish that sentence.

Steve looked at him. ‘God was I that obvious?’

‘Completely bloody obvious mate, so can we just leave well alone until we know who’s with who?’

Steve smiled. ‘Sorry mate, she just caught me by surprise. I’m not myself today.’

‘Ok.’ Scott said. ‘Now let’s go and meet the family.’

Chapter five

Morning 26th August 2014 Reeves Farm, Hexworthy, Devon.

Beth woke slowly with the pain as the morphine began to wear off. She opened her eyes and just lay there looking up at the white ceiling. Although the morphine’s pain relieving properties were fading, her mind was still foggy from it. At least she remembered where she was this time. She also remembered what had happened. She knew that the morphine was taking the edge off of that as well though and she was glad. After a few minutes she turned her head to the right and saw Sammy asleep next to her in the large double bed. She turned her head left. On the bedside cabinet there was a glass of water and a white tablet. She tried to reach for them both. The movement on the bed woke Sammy.

‘Mum.’

Beth turned her head slowly back towards her youngest daughter. ‘Sammy darling, are you ok?’

‘I’m ok mum. Does your leg still hurt?’

Beth closed her eyes. The pain pulsed through her with every heartbeat, but she wasn’t screaming anymore. That meant it was either getting better or she was getting used to it. She opened her eyes. ‘Not so much as it did darling, but can you pass me the tablet and the water please?’

Sammy studied her mum. ‘It’s not time yet for another one. They said eight o’clock for the next one.’

Beth closed her eyes again. ‘What time is it now?’ she asked.

‘It’s just gone seven.’

An hour, Beth thought. I can last an hour. She kept her eyes closed and concentrated on trying to blank out the deep pain coming from her leg and the even deeper pain coming from her memories.

Steve pushed his empty plate away and picked up the large mug of coffee. ‘That was the best breakfast I have ever had,’ he said.

Brenda walked over from the sink to pick up his plate. ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it Steve. You certainly ate it fast enough,’ she said looking at Scott sitting opposite him and his still half full plate.

‘I was starving,’ Steve told her. ‘He’s only eating slowly just to make me look bad.’

Scott finished chewing and swallowed before saying, ‘It’s called chewing your food,’ he said.

‘You take as much time as you like love,’ Brenda told him.

Steve laughed then asked her, ‘Where’s everyone else?’

Brenda walked back over to the sink. ‘Kay and Dan went with Sally to help her with the horses and Sammy’s with Beth,’ she told him. ‘I’ll look in on them in a minute. She’ll be waking up soon with that leg as it is.’ Brenda finished washing the plate then came and sat down next to Scott. ‘The boys are all out working. It’s an early start round here feeding all the animals, but I don’t know what we’re going to do with Nancy,’ she said worriedly. ‘Her mum is with her but she still hasn’t said a word yet.’

Steve sighed. It had taken over an hour yesterday to get her to come out of the Land Rover. ‘I really have no idea,’ he said. ‘Maybe it’s just a matter of time?’

‘Maybe,’ Brenda said thoughtfully.

Steve sighed again. Yesterday evening, with the people from Badger farm fed and tucked up in bed, he and Scott had sat in the large comfortable living room with the Reeve family. In the light of the burning log fire they had told them all about their eventful day. The family had listened in shock as they described the attack on Badger farm.

The Reeves family now consisted of Brenda and Frank, their four grown up sons and their one daughter. Part the way through the recounting of the attack Frank had stood up and gone over to the cupboard. He came back with a bottle of whiskey and nine glasses. His face was troubled as he handed the glasses around and poured a generous amount of whiskey into each of them.

Even though they had been out every now and then driving around the area. The Reeve family hadn’t seen anyone from the outside since the end of May so none of them had any idea about what was happening out there. Before the flu they had made their living farming sheep, but for their own use they also kept horses, and chickens. They also grew all of their own vegetables so even before the flu they had kept pretty much to themselves. Once the flu had hit they had unanimously decided that none of them would leave the farm until it was over. They assumed that if they stayed away from other people then they would all be safe from it. It was a good assumption. Sadly, it hadn’t worked. Frank, his wife and children had not contracted the flu at all. It seemed that they were immune from it, but three of Frank and Brenda’s sons. Colin, Aiden and Robert had been married. Aiden had two young sons, ages nine and twelve. Robert had a three year old daughter. All three of their wives had somehow become infected by the flu and so had the three children. They had all died from it. It seemed that the Reeves were immune but the immunity had not been passed down to the children.

Over the past few weeks they had been going out more and more. Driving around the surrounding areas almost daily trying to find out what the situation was now. They had seen no one else until today. The picture that Steve and Scott were painting for them was a very bleak one.

‘So there’s hardly anyone left alive now?’ Sally had asked.

‘Well,’ Scott had answered. ‘That depends on your perspective.’

They had all looked at Scott confused.

‘There are people left,’ Steve explained. ‘In most large towns the survivors have formed communities,’ he told them. ‘I think what Scott means is that the people that are left create so much trouble that it seems there are more of them about.’

‘So this Simon seems to be making himself a dictator then?’ Frank asked.

‘Pretty much,’ Steve said.

‘And you were one of his generals,’ Brenda added.

‘Captain’s,’ Scott said.

Brenda looked at him. ‘Pardon?’ she asked.

‘He called them his Captains.’

‘I was one of his Captains,’ Steve admitted. ‘I was with him from the start.’

They all looked at him. ‘So you’re saying that you were alright with it all up until today?’ Sally asked him. ‘You were helping someone like that.’

Steve nodded but he didn’t say anything in his defence. He knew that he was guilty.

Brenda studied Steve. She respected him for not trying to justify his actions. She thought herself a good judge of character and she could see no malice in him.

‘We all make mistakes,’ Frank said. ‘It’s what we do to rectify them that counts.’

They all nodded at that and then the conversation had turned to more mundane things. The family began to speak of farm matters. Mainly how the hot weather was causing problems with the grazing for the animals. Steve had tuned them out then and he had let his mind wander over the events of the day. Sitting there in the warm and comfortable living room with nice and ordinary people he had found it hard to believe that it had really all happened.

The pain in Beth’s leg was starting to become almost unbearable when the door to the bedroom opened and Brenda came in.

‘How are you doing love?’ Brenda asked as she walked up to the bed.

‘She wants her tablet,’ Sammy said.

Brenda looked at Sammy and her heart went out to the young girl. It was obvious that she had been crying again. ‘You give it to her then sweetie,’ she said

‘Will it be alright? It’s not eight o, clock yet.’

‘It’ll be fine,’ Brenda said, smiling at her.

Sammy needed no other encouragement. She jumped off the bed and raced around to her mum’s side then she carefully handed her the tablet. She tried to give her the glass of water next but then realised that she wouldn’t be able to drink it lying down.

Brenda came round to the side of the bed. ‘Here let me help,’ she said. Sammy moved out of the way so that Brenda could get in. Brenda gently put her arm under Beth and lifted her up into a sitting position. She put the pillows behind her then laid her back down against them.

‘Thank you,’ Beth said. She was sweating heavily from fighting the pain.

‘You’re welcome dear,’ Brenda said, moving back so that Sammy could hand her mum the water. ‘It’s supposed to be every four hours for those tablets,’ she told Beth and Sammy. ‘But if the pain gets like this again taking them a little earlier should be ok.’

Both Beth and Sammy looked at her with relief. ‘Thanks for all you’ve done for us Brenda,’ Beth said.

‘You are more than welcome dear,’ Brenda told her. ‘Let’s give the tablet time to work and then I’ll come and change that dressing for you.’ She looked at Sammy. ‘You come with me sweetheart and get something to eat now.’

‘I want to stay with mum though.’ Sammy looked up at the large woman worriedly.

‘Go with Brenda darling. I’m going to try and sleep when the tablet kicks in anyway,’ Beth told her.

Sammy looked from one of them to the other and then said, ‘ok.’ She trailed out of the room after Brenda. She turned around to give her mum one last worried look then closed the door.

Chapter six

Mid-day 29th August. Wyvern Barracks, Exeter, Devon.

Simon was in his war room. He was standing with his back to the room studying the map on the wall when Klaus walked in. He knew that it was Klaus from the heavy sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor. At six feet five inches and weighing around seventeen stone it was hard to mistake him for anyone else. Apart from that Simon had been waiting for him.

‘Afternoon Klaus,’ he said, still looking at the map.

‘Hello Simon.’ Klaus replied his German accent was still strong.

‘When are you going to finally let that accent go?’ Simon asked as he smiled and turned around to look at him. Klaus was wearing camouflage combat trousers, black boots and a green t-shirt under a big brown leather coat.

‘What accent?’ Klaus asked, smiling back.

‘I know you only keep it up to be different. You haven’t been back to Germany in over twenty years.’ Simon sat down at the head of the long table as he was talking.

Klaus pulled a chair out three places down and turned it to face Simon before sitting down. ‘I keep it because if I ever go back to Germany I don’t want them to think that I’m English,’ Klaus told him. ‘A more interesting question is why you are wearing that uniform?’ He grinned. Simon was wearing the formal officer’s number two’s uniform. It had been tailored to fit him perfectly and he had the badges of a four star General on his shoulders.

‘I find it helps the men to remember who I am,’ Simon replied, more than a little defensively.

‘Ha! I think that it is more to help you to remember who you are,’ Klaus said. He was still smiling as he said it.

Simon didn’t like that comment very much. He frowned and changed the subject. ‘How is it going at Okehampton?’

Klaus leant back in his chair and then leant forward again quickly as the chair groaned under his weight. ‘Swimmingly,’ he said putting on a posh English accent.

‘Funny,’ Simon said, subconsciously straightening the khaki coloured sleeve of his jacket.

Klaus noticed that and he dropped the smile. Simon’s affliction was starting to become more obvious lately. ‘Everything is sorted there. The nice little Colonel has been very helpful.’

‘I’d like to move the operation down to the base as soon as possible,’ Simon told him. ‘Are you completely sure that the other military bases are unaware of us being there at the moment?’

Klaus sucked at his teeth for a second then said, ‘well they haven’t said anything.’ He smiled and then chuckled at his own joke. ‘The Colonel there has been very helpful and the radio room is guarded twenty four hours each day. I have also ordered that all the pigeons are to be shot.’

‘Pigeons?’

‘That was another joke Simon. What is the matter with you? You seem a bit on edge. This is new for me. You are not normally a worrier.’ Klaus knew exactly why Simon was on edge but he was waiting to see if Simon was going to tell him.

‘It’s nothing I can’t handle,’ Simon said dismissively. ‘Why are you only ninety percent sure?’

‘Well there is a chance that someone from here has told them.’

Simon frowned at him. ‘You think I can’t handle this bunch of idiots?’

Klaus smiled again. ‘No my friend,’ he said. ‘I know that you can’t handle this bunch of idiots.’

Simon stood up angrily at the apparent insult. ‘What are you trying to say Klaus? I’m not in the best of moods at the moment.’

But then Klaus stood up as well, all six feet five of him. He towered over Simon by six inches and outweighed him by four stone. It caused Simon to hesitate, as Klaus knew that it would. Neither of them knew who the better fighter was.

Klaus just smiled at him though. ‘Calm down my friend. Please, sit back down. I meant no insult.’ He slowly sat back down himself.

Simon sat down but he was still staring hard at Klaus. ‘What exactly did you mean then?’

Klaus sat back down. ‘You said it already Simon.’ He paused to think then said. ‘A lot of them are idiots. A lot of them are also civilians and they come and go all day long.’ Klaus held out his long arms. ‘I also hear that you have had a couple of recent desertions.’

‘That is a completely different matter. Those two will be too busy hiding to cause us any trouble.’

‘So anyway, we can never be one hundred percent sure until we receive a communication or an attack from the other bases.’ Klaus dropped his arms down. ‘What does it matter to us? We have more men now and we are not afraid to use them. These bases will not be a problem for us for much longer. They will be our bases before too long.’

Simon took a deep breath. ‘Sorry my friend, you are right’ he said. ‘I have been under a lot of pressure lately and I am really glad you are back here with me.’

‘I am glad I am back with you as well my friend. We will sort out this little problem you have together eh?’

Simon looked at him. ‘I take it that you have heard about Nick Smith then?’

‘I have heard the rumours Simon but I think that you take this man too seriously. He-’

‘You can never take him too seriously!’ Simon had stood up again without thinking.

Klaus studied his friend for a few seconds then sighed. ‘You interrupted me again Simon. I know very well what he is capable of. I was just about to say that he will have no chance of getting near to you now. I went into Okehampton town before I came here. The people are watching for him there. They have pictures. I would assume that it is the same wherever your scouts went.’ He watched as Simon nodded. ‘People do not like men who mess around with children. It was a good idea. It will cause his downfall.’

Simon suddenly laughed loudly and clapped his hands together. ‘Ha! It was a good idea wasn’t it?’ He laughed again and sat back down. ‘So when can we get out of here and down to Okehampton? This place is doing my head in.’

‘As soon as you are ready my friend.’ Klaus stood up. ‘I will see you later at dinner and we can discuss the arrangements. I’m afraid that I am very tired and I will need to sleep for some time this afternoon.’

Simon nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yes my friend. Dinner it is then. You have a good sleep. It’s good to have you back.’

Klaus turned on his heel and walked out of the room. When he was outside he took a deep breath and sighed with relief. He had known Simon for a long time and he knew of his problems, but for a while in there he had seen complete madness in his friend’s eyes. He had even believed that Simon was going to attack him at one point. Klaus took another deep breath and reminded himself that not only had Simon saved his life on three occasions. He was also very useful at the moment. Simon’s craziness kept all these other crazy men in line. Klaus knew that everyone was terrified of him. And so they should be, he thought. He then pushed aside his doubts. Simon would be more stable when Nick Smith was out of the way. Klaus was aware of Nick Smith’s reputation before the flu. He had been a legend at one time. One of the SAS’s best soldiers, if not the best until Simon had framed him. The man still held a lot of psychological power over Simon though. Klaus didn’t really understand why. Nick was getting old now and Simon was surrounded by his army. He must admit though, that he thought it was a very strange coincidence that all three of them had survived through everything. It was also a strange coincidence that they had all ended up in this little part of the world. Klaus decided not to think about it anymore. Nick Smith would probably be dead soon. Everyone in this part of the country would be looking for him by now. Klaus yawned loudly then went off to his room to sleep. The last few days had been very tiring.

Beth braced herself then nodded to Colin. He leant in and pulled her up gently into a sitting position on the bed.

‘Ouch!’ Beth closed her eyes and waited for the pain to subside. Today was to be her first try at getting out of bed. Since yesterday she had only been taking half of a tablet every four hours. Her leg was healing but it still hurt like hell. The half tablet barely touched the pain but she knew that she had to work her way off them. There were only a few left and she didn’t think going back for some more would be an option.

Colin stepped back from her looking worried. ‘How bad is it?’ he asked.

Beth forced a smile for him. ‘It hurts a bit,’ she told him. ‘But I’m going to get out of this bedroom today, even if it kills me.

‘Well I hope it doesn’t,’ Colin said, smiling at her.

Beth looked at him and smiled back. ‘Do you?’ She noticed that he was blushing a bit.

‘Yes I do,’ he said, turning away from her and picking up the wooden crutches that were leaning against the wall. ‘It would mean that I had made these for nothing.’

‘Well ok,’ Beth said! ‘I’ll make sure I stay alive long enough to use them then.’

Colin smiled at her again. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Are you ready for the next move yet?’ I’ll need to swing your legs over and get your feet onto the floor?’

‘Yes I’m ready.’ she said.

They had been at Reeves farm for four days now and every day Beth had felt a bit better. It wasn’t just the healing of her leg either. She had started to recover psychologically from the ordeal at Badger farm.

Once Sammy had seen that she was going to be ok she had cheered right up as well and she had started to go out now and again with Dan and Kay. Dan and Kay went out with Sally every day to help with the horses. The Reeves had eleven of them apparently and according to the children, they were all wonderful. Sally had been teaching them to ride and it was a joy for Beth to see their flushed and happy faces when they came to see her.

So it seemed that it was true that kids healed and bounced back far more quickly than adults, physically and psychologically. Although Beth was healing, she still cried sometimes when she was by herself and she thought about Bill. She had grown to love him dearly in the short time that she had known him. He had been a kind and thoughtful man with absolutely no malice in him. She knew that her last shred of naivety had died alongside him at Badger farm.

Nancy had still not spoken to anyone yet. Not even her mum. She wouldn’t even get out of bed. Grace had sat with her every day and slept next to her every night, hoping that she could bring her back out of herself. But although Nancy was showing the worst symptoms from the events at Badger farm Beth believed that it was Grace who was actually suffering the most. It seemed that she had aged ten years in the last few days. It must appear to her that she had lost Bill and her daughter at the same time.

Steve and Scott had been working with the four brothers since they had been here. There were always plenty of jobs to take care of on a working farm. Everything from mending the fences to cleaning out chicken pens. From what she had gleaned from the scant information they had provided her with, she knew that Steve and Scott’s former lives with the devil’s army had been completely different. She could see that they were trying to atone for the part they had played in the tragedy though. The work and the family atmosphere here was helping to heal both of them as well. Beth knew that the ordeal at Badger farm had affected them all deeply. They would all bear the scars for the rest of their lives but she also knew that they would all bear them differently and in their own way.

Beth still thought of Nick each day and she wondered where he was and what he was doing. She hoped that he would find whatever it was that he was looking for and she hoped that he was safe. She wondered now if they ever could have been together in the way she had thought they would. She knew that in the dreadful circumstances that had thrown them all together she may have mistaken her affection for him as love. Bill had been right when he had told her that Nick was broken inside. She was desperately relieved that he wouldn’t be aware of what had happened to Bill. God only knows what he would do if he ever found out.

‘Come on then daydreamer I thought you said you were ready for the next move.’

Beth looked up into Colin’s ruggedly handsome face. He was smiling at her and she thought she saw something in his dark brown eyes. ‘And I am ready for the next move,’ she told him, and maybe she meant it in more ways than one.

Chapter seven

Afternoon 31st August 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Nick hadn’t pushed himself getting to Totnes. He was still only half mended from his suicidal walk away from the burning of Badger farm. He knew that he was in no condition to take anyone on yet. It was a warm day with the sun shining in a clear blue sky so he breathed in the fresh air deeply as he walked and he watched the dog as it playfully bounded around everywhere.

The sight of Bill’s body cut up and hanging from the stairs at Badger farm would live in his mind forever, but he had absorbed the memory of it now and it was a part of him. He had stored it with all of the other pain, both physical and psychological that he had gathered over the years. It was said that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well this one had come very close to killing him and he couldn’t let the pain or the guilt eat at him any longer. He was now waiting for it to make him stronger so that he could go on to find his friends and avenge Bill. He knew that if he didn’t let himself get strong and stay sane he would be no use to anyone.

Before the flu Totnes was a busy market town with a population of around eight thousand. It is at the head of the estuary of the River Dart, and it is the lowest bridging place on the river, so it is a natural meeting place for a lot of the roads in the area. Nick and the dog approached the town from the south at about mid-afternoon. He didn’t know the exact time because his watch had wound down at some point while he had been unconscious. It had stopped at four twenty two. He didn’t even know if it had stopped in the day or at night. There was no point in winding it up yet. Maybe he could get the correct time from someone in Totnes, he thought, or he might be able to find a watch shop that had a battery one still working.

The first sign that they were coming near to the town were some really big and expensive looking detached houses. They sat on their own and backed onto the fields that he and the dog were now walking through. Nick was really thirsty. He had shared the last of his water with the dog about an hour ago. He decided to go and have a look in some of the house’s to see if he could find some water and food. After that he would go into town and take a look around.

He looked around for the dog but he had run off ahead somewhere and he couldn’t see him. He called out quietly to him. ‘Come here mate,’ he called, keeping his voice right down. He found it amusing that the dog always wanted to be running out in front, even though he obviously had no idea which way they were going. ‘Come on mate. Come here,’ he called again. A little louder this time. He was trying not to shout. If there was anyone living in Totnes he would rather not let them know that they were here just yet. He decided to give up on the dog for the moment and looked over at the houses. He knew that the dog would be able to sniff him out when he was ready to come back.

There was a low wooden fence around the back of the first house and Nick approached it slowly. If there was anyone in there he didn’t want to spook them. He took one more look around for the dog but he still couldn’t see him, so he pushed open the small gate and walked slowly up the large overgrown garden. He looked carefully into the windows for any sign of movement but he couldn’t see any. It was always a dangerous move entering a building of any kind because you could obviously never tell if anyone was in there. Nick always erred on the side of caution. If there was someone in the house he wanted them to see him as friendly. They might at least talk to him then before deciding to shoot him.

He made it to the back door without getting shot at though and rapped his knuckles on it. He waited patiently for a couple of minutes then he tried the door. It wasn’t locked. That was a good indication that there was no one alive in the house. People hiding tended to lock themselves in. He stepped into the large fancy kitchen and dropped his pack off onto the floor looking around. Very nice, he thought the people who had owned this must have had a few pennies. He looked back out of the door but he still couldn’t see the dog. Nick thought that he might have found a rabbit or something. He then started to look around the whole house. He found the owners of the house in the main bedroom upstairs and shut the door on them again. They wouldn’t be troubling him in this life. He then went in search of water and found a whole six pack of two litre bottles in one of the kitchen cupboards.

He smiled. He remembered being really annoyed at the whole bottled water boom in the nineties, and in the time running up to the flu he remembered that bottled water could cost more per litre than petrol. He was very glad of it now though and he took everything he had said about it back. He sat down then and spent the next ten minutes drinking half a bottle, then he sat there some more on the shiny tiled kitchen floor, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of not being thirsty. The solar still had provided enough water to keep him alive, but not much more than that.

After a little while he stood up and took a look out of the back door again for the dog. There was still no sight of him and Nick was starting to worry that something might have happened to him. He decided that he would first see if there was any food in the house and then he would go and see where he had got to. He turned back to the kitchen and started opening cupboard doors. He stopped after opening the first three though because they were crammed full of tinned food. He could see what had happened here and even though it was lucky for him, he felt it was a shame. The couple upstairs had the intelligence to think well ahead. They had stored enough food and water here in their house to last for months. Regrettably, they hadn’t lasted long enough to eat or drink any of it.

Nick sighed, closed the cupboard doors and then went back out of the back door to look for the dog again. Thankfully he didn’t have to go very far, although he completely missed him at first as he scanned the large field behind the houses. It was the low whine that gave the dog away. He was just lying in the long grass in the back garden.

Nick was pleased to see him.’ What are you doing there mate,’ he asked him quietly.

The dog gave another low whine and wagged his tail. He then looked up at the house and back out at the fields.

‘Oh I get,’ Nick said smiling at him. ‘You don’t like houses but you do like the fields.’ Nick smiled and started to walk slowly over to him. The dog gave a small whine then he stood up and backed away from him. ‘Bloody hell mate!’ Nick swore quietly. ‘I only grabbed you because you made me jump. How long are you going to hold that against me?’

The dog sat back down and just looked at him.

‘A long time then it seems.’ Nick shrugged his shoulders. ‘Oh well, suit yourself,’ Nick said. He then turned and walked back into the house shaking his head. He looked back over his shoulder to see that the dog had stayed exactly where he was. He smiled to himself. That dog can really hold a grudge. He found two large saucepans and filled one with water and the other with two tins of minced beef. He put both pans outside the door for him then he went back inside to eat himself.

As he sat at the large wooden kitchen table spooning cold tinned food into his mouth and drinking the water, he thought about what he was going to have to do next. He wasn’t looking forward to it but there really was only one way that he was going to quickly find information. He was going to have to talk to people. He felt a sudden shiver run through him at the thought. He wondered for a second if it was his sense of danger kicking in, trying to warn him about something but then he dismissed it. He rationalised that it was just the thought of talking to strangers that had caused it. He had never enjoyed doing that very much. He didn’t know it then, but he would have a long time to regret ignoring that shiver.

He sat there at the table and thought about the towns and cities all over the country. He remembered what they were like in the early days after the flu, and then later as things started to settle down.

There would of course be people all over the country who like himself, would prefer to take their chances on their own or in small groups. Most of the survivors would have gathered together in large groups though. They would feel safer and more secure living like that. People in towns all over the country would be beginning to settle into small communities. They would be living and surviving together.

He was going to have to find out if there was a group like that here in Totnes. If there was he would have to try to talk to them. It was the only way that he could think of to get information about the people who had attacked Badger Farm. To say that he was reluctant to start doing that was a massive understatement. He rubbed at his eyes as a heavy weariness suddenly overwhelmed him. He then stood up slowly and stiffly and went over to the open back door. The two saucepans that he had put outside were empty and the dog was once again lying in the long grass of the garden. Nick closed the door quietly and locked it then he picked up his pack and went upstairs to get some sleep.

Chapter eight

Afternoon 31st august 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

Big Sam and Liz had finally come back to Exeter with their platoons yesterday. They had successfully incorporated the five communities in Southern Cornwall with no loss of life on either side. As usual the small communities had been glad to see that efforts were being made to bring things back to normal.

Klaus had taken charge of Steve’s old platoon and they were all back in Exeter getting ready for the big move down to Okehampton. The quartermaster, Adrian Bannard had stayed back with them to help arrange everything, but Simon had been impatient to get there. He had gone ahead to Okehampton with the facilities manager and a small hand-picked guard. He was met on his arrival there by Colonel Hawkins.

Simon stepped out of the Land Rover and smiled when he saw the Colonel waiting. He looked around at the base. Here at ground level everything was immaculately tidy and extremely organised. Nothing was out of place, just like a military establishment should be, he thought. It was so much different than the disorganised mess that Wyvern had become. He knew that there was only one way to run an army. He would not let Okehampton fall into the mess that Wyvern had. It never occurred to him even once that it was his fault that the barracks in Exeter had fallen into such a chaotic mess. He walked over towards the Colonel. He was standing outside the entrance to the underground facility.

‘Hello Colonel.’ Simon had a great cheesy grin on his face as he came up to Colonel Hawkins.

‘Hello..ah..Sir,’ the Colonel replied uncertainly, while looking at the rank badges of a General on the shoulders of Simon’s uniform.

Simon was having a great time. ‘Yes Colonel. It’s not Sergeant Daniels any longer eh?’

‘No Sir.. not at all,’ Colonel Hawkins replied, his face getting redder by the second. ‘But I knew there was something special about you Sir,’ the Colonel added. ‘Do you remember, in my office? Before you went off to the power station at Hinkley?’

‘Yes Colonel,’ Simon said abruptly. For some reason he found that he didn’t like to be reminded of his past now. ‘Well let’s get in shall we? I want to see what’s been done with the place,’ Simon told him. ‘I hope it’s looking a bit better organised than when I last saw it,’ he said.

The Colonel’s face went a shade redder. That remark was slightly unfair. The last time Simon had seen the base he had been attacking it and killing everybody. ‘We’ve tidied up since then Sir,’ the Colonel said following behind as Simon led the way in. ‘I’ve arranged an office for you as well Sir, as ordered.’

‘Good. That’s very good Colonel,’ Simon said over his shoulder as he walked into the large reception. ‘I hope it’s bigger than yours.’

It wasn’t possible now for his face to go any redder. ‘Yes Sir. Definitely Sir,’ the Colonel told him as he wondered if it was or not.

‘I’m only joking with you man,’ Simon told him as he made his way over to the lift. When everybody was in the lift he watched the doors close. As he finally felt the lift start to descend he sighed inwardly. He felt that it would be a lot safer here underground until Nick Smith was caught.

Evening 31st August 2014 Reeves farm, Devon.

Beth sat near the warm log fire and looked around the large living room at the smiling and contented faces. Life certainly kept throwing her curveballs, she thought. She was finding it extremely hard to keep up with them lately. She stretched her bad leg out and was pleased that she was able to actually do it. It hurt like hell and she was still very weak, but she could move it. Steve had told her that she must have a lucky streak. The bullet had passed right through the large muscles of her leg without hitting a bone or a major artery. She had thought about that for a while after he had left and she realised that although things had been bad, even terrible at times, so far there had always been someone there to pull them out of trouble. That had to mean that they had some good luck on their side. She supposed that was as much as anyone could ask for these days. She looked up as she felt Colin’s hand on her shoulder. She knew that it was him.

‘Hi,’ she said, smiling at him.

He sat down next to her. ‘Hi,’ he said back, smiling as well. ‘How are you doing?’

‘I was just looking around at everyone and I was realising that I’m actually doing quite well at the moment,’ she told him.

The only person missing from the room was Nancy. She was still not speaking to anyone. Grace and Beth wondered if she ever would. She seemed to have withdrawn completely from the world around her. They had all suffered terribly while Bill was being tortured but it had been much worse for Nancy. Beth silently thanked Steve for what he had done. Although none of them had appreciated it at the time, he had somehow managed to get them out of the farm and into a vehicle outside. That meant that they hadn’t had to actually see whatever Simon had done to Bill. They had sat in the Land Rover with their hands covering their ears to drown out the cries of agony as they were driven about a mile up the road to wait for it all to finish. On the way out of the courtyard though, that vile creature had stopped them.

‘Wait,’ he had said, holding up his hand.

‘Sir?’ Beth remembered Steve saying and his shoulders had slumped as he had turned back to face him.

‘The dark haired woman,’ Simon had said. ‘Bring her over here.’

Steve had sighed and then he had walked over to him with Nancy. Nancy had been in a state of deep shock by then. She had been crying silently. The tears were just rolling down her face. They had all watched then as Simon had given Bill a choice. The sick bastard had offered to let him go and put Nancy in his place. Bill had knelt there bound and bloody and he had ignored Simon. He had held his head up and looked at Nancy instead. He had looked into her eyes and he had told her to live and be happy. He had then looked over at the rest of them, he told them that he would be ok and he had told them not to worry about him anymore.

Then they had all watched as Bill looked up at Simon. ‘You do your worst little man,’ he had said to him calmly. ‘You know that Nick will find you one day.’

After that Steve had then hurried them all out.

Beth wondered if Nancy could ever completely recover from that.

Grace was sitting just opposite her on another sofa right now. They had managed to get her to leave Nancy and come down for the first time tonight, but so far she had just sat there staring into the flames of the fire. Brenda had approached her a few times but although Grace was very polite, Beth could see that she just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts.

‘You lot are tough people,’ Colin said, bringing her back from her thoughts.

‘You should have met Nick,’ she said. ‘Now he is tough!’ She watched as Colin just looked at her. He was smiling and his big brown eyes were thoughtful.

‘I might meet him one day,’ he said after a little while. ‘But I don’t mean tough as in who can beat the most people up. I’m talking about the way that you have all coped with the dreadful things that have happened to you.’

‘Well,’ she said looking around at everyone again. ‘What choice do we have? Life goes on and we go on with it as best we can. You’ve also had your own dreadful things to deal with. You know that we have no choice but to cope.’

She saw Colin glance over at Grace. He didn’t have to say what he was thinking. Beth shuddered at the thought of ending up broken like Nancy.

They were interrupted suddenly by Robert calling over. ‘What do you say Colin?’ he asked.

Colin’s brother Robert was just two years younger than him and he was very similar looking to Colin. Beth thought that he had a more serious character though. Then she thought that losing his wife and young daughter to the flu would have helped to make him serious.

Beth had noticed since she had been here that the other three brothers always deferred to Colin. She didn’t know if that was because he was the eldest or because he was the most knowledgeable. The three brothers had been having a discussion about extending the grazing for the sheep. The people who owned the land that was next to theirs had died from the flu and the grass was just growing wild. They would have to make a new run of fencing but with Steve and Scott here now working alongside the brothers that made six of them. The fencing work would be completed easily. The discussion was about whether it was morally right to use their neighbours land.

‘What do I say about what?’ Colin asked, frowning over at them. Although Beth had been listening to the quite heated discussion, it looked like that Colin hadn’t been.

The youngest brother, Frank Junior looked over. ‘Oh god!’ he said loudly. ‘Don’t worry. We can see you’ve got other things on your mind tonight.’ At twenty six he was fourteen years younger than Colin. He seemed to Beth to be the most light hearted of the brothers, but then he was younger, the only one who had been single and he hadn’t lost anyone to the flu.

‘Shut up Junior,’ Colin said. ‘If you’re talking about that bit of land again then yes, I think we should do it. We need the extra grazing. Anyway,’ he added. ‘They never did anything with the field when they were alive. I’m sure that will stay the same now they’re not.’ He looked back at Beth. ‘Would you like to get some fresh air and give your leg a little bit of exercise before bed?’

Beth looked around at everyone again. She noticed that Steve was looking at her and smiling and then some of the others started to look over. ‘Ok yes,’ Beth said. She was a little embarrassed by all of the attention the pair of them were attracting. Colin helped her to stand and then handed her the crutches that he had made for her. ‘Thanks.’ She got herself set and then moved slowly across the room with Colin following. She was glad when they had finally got outside and onto the porch. Colin helped her to sit down on the bench seat then he sat down beside her.

‘It’s hard to get a bit of privacy around here,’ he said.

‘Yeah I noticed that.’

‘They don’t mean any harm.’

‘Quite the opposite I think.’ Beth looked at him. ‘Well my leg didn’t get much exercise,’ she said, smiling.

‘No.’ Colin looked away from her. ‘It’s a lovely evening though,’ he said, looking up at the stars.

Beth also looked up at the mass of stars in the black sky. You could see the stars a lot better these days. There seemed to be so many more of them now. She knew that it was just because the air was cleaner and everything was so dark at night now, but it still looked amazing. ‘What do you see when you look up there Colin?’ she asked him.

He had been watching her. He looked up again. ‘Stars?’ he asked after a second or two. He was frowning slightly.

‘Ha-ha, it’s not a test.’ she said laughing at him, but then she wondered if it was. She remembered what Nick saw when he looked up at the stars in the night sky. He saw a fight he could never win. She looked back at Colin. ‘How do you feel about me?’ she suddenly asked him.

‘Bloody hell,’ Colin looked at her. He was a bit flustered. ‘Is this one a test?’ He didn’t know whether to smile or not.

‘It might be,’ she said. She was suddenly really embarrassed again and she wondered what had made her say that now. It had just burst out of her. She watched him though as she waited for his answer. His handsome face was thoughtful as he looked up at the brightly lit sky.

He turned towards her. ‘I care for you Beth,’ he told her.

Beth sighed in disappointment and turned her face away. ‘Ok,’ she said quietly.

‘And I also think that you’re beautiful.’

Beth turned her head back towards him quickly. ‘Really?’ she asked him. She was aware that she was sounding a bit desperate, and that it was also a bit unfair, but she’d rather that than tolerate another massive disappointment. She wanted all the cards out on the table this time.

Colin didn’t answer her but he slowly moved closer to her and looked into her eyes. She looked back at him wondering what he saw there and then he just kissed her gently on the lips.

Chapter nine

Afternoon 31st August 2014 Totnes, Devon.

There were three large double bedrooms all with en-suites and two large single rooms upstairs in the house. Nick chose the large double room that was furthest away from where the dead owners of the house were lying. He closed the door and then wedged a chair against it. For some reason he was feeling a bit on edge. Maybe it was just because he had got used to being back in the woods, he thought. He dropped his pack onto the floor then went over and stretched out on the bed. He decided that he would sleep in his boots and he also felt a strong need to go over his defences in his mind. First defence was the dog outside. Nick was sure he would hear something from him if anybody came near the house. The second defence was the locked doors. Once again he would hear something if anybody broke in. His third defence was the chair jammed against the door. Satisfied that he couldn’t be snuck up on he forced himself to relax. It didn’t work very well though. It was a long time before he finally slipped off into sleep.

He woke with the sun coming up. At first he thought that it was still the same day then he realised that he could see the sun shining through the east facing window. Bloody hell, he thought, surprised that he had slept for so long. His body must have needed it. He sat up in bed and thought through what he was going to have to do today. After a few minutes he got out of bed and stretched. He still felt stiff and sore but he was beginning to get his strength back and feel like his old self again. He hated that it was taking him so long to recover now. Old age is coming, he thought. He checked to see if there was still water in the toilet cistern. There was so he made use of that then he pulled the chair away and opened the door. Picking up his pack, he went downstairs to the kitchen.

After putting food and water outside for the dog he sat at the table and ate a cold breakfast of tinned hot dog sausages and beans. He then put a bottle of water in his pack, hoisted it onto his shoulders and left the house. The dog looked at him, yawned and then stood up to shake. He then followed him as he walked back out into the field and started heading towards the centre of Totnes.

The tense and edgy feeling that Nick felt had begun to get even worse as he left the open fields and the buildings started to surround him. He looked at the dog and thought that he must be feeling it as well because he was no longer bounding ahead. He also didn’t look very happy and his ears and tail were down. Nick took a deep breath then let it out slowly. He pushed the bad feelings he was having to the back of his mind. If there was danger here he would deal with it. He told himself once more that this was the only way he would get any information. He told himself once more that he needed to find people and talk to them or he might never see his friends again.

Nick saw that Totnes had the same smashed up and abandoned look as every other town that he had been in since the flu. And as usual, the damage became worse as they came closer to the centre of town. Nick looked all around sighed and then he dropped his pack onto the ground and off his sore shoulders. He sat down on a low garden wall. The dog looked over at him and then crept slowly towards where he was sitting. He stopped about ten feet away and sat down in the middle of the road and then looked at Nick miserably.

‘I don’t like it very much here either mate,’ Nick told the dog. ‘Come on. Come over here.’ Nick held his hand out towards him. The dog crept a bit closer. His tail had lifted a tiny bit but he was still looking at Nick suspiciously.

‘It’s alright mate come here,’ Nick said again, keeping his voice low and friendly. The dog’s tail began to wag slowly and he took another step forward. Nick looked at the dog and smiled. ‘Look I’ve told you. I’m really sorry I grabbed you the other day ok? You just made me jump.’

The dog still didn’t move.

‘If a car comes you’ll get run over,’ Nick told him, then he gave up, shook his head and smiled. ‘Not been to town much before have you mate? You’re a country dog aye?’ The dog just carried on looking at him. ‘Ok then,’ he suddenly said. ‘Have it your own way,’ Nick then slowly lay down on the low wall and closed his eyes. As he did so he felt his aches and pains come back but he breathed slow and deep and willed his muscles to slowly relax. He must have laid like that with his eyes closed for about five minutes before he felt a big wet tongue slop onto his face. Nick smiled and opened his eyes. When he did he found it a little bit disconcerting to see the dog’s big wolf like mouth and teeth so close to his face. He forced himself to stay completely still though until the dog had stopped licking him. Nick then very slowly put out his hand and let the dog lick it. ‘See,’ Nick said. ‘We’re friends.’ He then, once again very slowly, sat up and stretched his aching back. The dog looked up at him once and then just stared off down the street as if he hadn’t even been interested in the first place.

Nick stood up. The dog stayed right by him now. ‘Come on then you ugly mutt, let’s go and see if we can find someone.’

The dog smelled them before Nick heard them but there wasn’t much in it. People! He stopped and looked around for somewhere to hide. He saw an alley between two houses and quickly jogged over to it. The dog followed him closely but his head was still raised as he sniffed the air. It was gloomy in the alley and it stank with the smell of something rotting. Nick didn’t even want to try and guess what it was. He just leant against the wall and tried to think about what to do next. His sense of danger was on overdrive. He wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead and looked down at the dog. He didn’t look very happy either. He had started to growl quietly. Nick wondered if the dog was picking up his feelings and reacting to them or if he had his own danger sense. The people were definitely coming this way and it sounded like there were quite a few of them. Nick could hear them talking to each other as they walked up the small street towards them. They were almost at the alley now. He made a motion with his hand for the dog to stay where he was. He then closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath to calm himself. He decided that he would wait for them to pass and then trail them. He slipped his heavy pack from his shoulders and leant it against the alley wall then he waited. It was just at that moment when the dog decided to leap out. With a loud growl he flew out of the alley and into the group of people. Nick heard shrieks, loud shouts a lot of growling. Then he heard a thud and a sudden loud whine.

‘Stupid fucking dog,’ he said then he leapt out after him.

His world had been reduced to a place of pain, thirst, cold and hunger. The only light came from the fluorescent tube on the concrete ceiling. Nick lay naked, curled up in the corner of the bare concrete room, trying to stop some of the heat escaping from his naked and battered body. In the beginning he had tried to keep a rough count of the days by counting each time the light had gone on and off. He had only counted to seven though before he realised that they were just turning it on and of randomly. He didn’t know if it was done purposely to add to his torment or if it was just laziness by the guard. It made no difference to him now anyway. He only moved to collect the small amount of food and water that they left for him or to use the bucket by the door. He passed in and out of consciousness as many times as his brain slipped in and out of madness. Sometimes he dreamt of Beth and his friends. Bill was there as well. They were sitting in a green field and the sun was warm his face. For most of the time though he seemed to relive moments in his life.

‘You will beg for forgiveness in the end,’ Simon had told him on the day he had been dragged before him.

Nick had looked at him and although it had split his dry lips again, he had still smiled. ‘Nice uniform,’ he had croaked through his sore, dry throat.

Simon had nearly killed him then. Nick could see it in his eyes. He hadn’t though. He had something much worse planned for him. Instead Simon had turned to the three men who had brought him up from Totnes. ‘You have done your country a great service,’ he had told them officiously. ‘He will ruin no more children’s lives. I am in your debt gentlemen thank you.’

‘It was no problem Sir,’ the leader of the small group had said.

‘You’re welcome Sir. Thank you Sir,’ the other two had mumbled.

‘Your vehicle has been topped up with fuel and there are some other supplies in it that I think you will enjoy gentlemen,’ Simon had told them. ‘You are of course free to go back to Totnes when you wish, but you may also stay and enjoy some comforts of civilisation before you go.’ Simon had then held out his hands and the men had been dismissed. Nick remembered thinking at the time that he wouldn’t miss them much. How wrong could he have been?

He had leapt from the alley at the sound of the dog being hit and he had thrown himself into the group of men. He had knocked three of them to the ground then danced and dodged amongst them, kicking and punching as he moved. Then he caught sight of the dog lying still on the ground. Seeing him lying there had taken his attention for just a second. It was long enough for one of them to catch him on the back of his head with a baseball bat.

He had woken with his hands and feet tied and a rope around his neck. They had then beaten and kicked him half to death before dragging him to see the leader of the community. The man had held up a piece of paper next to his face and then he had beaten him again, pounding blows into his face and body. With his hands and feet tied Nick could do nothing but except the battering. He had then been dragged to the back of a waiting car and thrown in the boot.

The bolt scraping on the door dragged Nick back from the memory. He very slowly stretched out his arms and legs his joints were stiff and he trembled with the effort of moving. He was barely getting enough food to survive so his body was cannibalising itself. His muscles had withered away He forced his mind away from the thought and rolled onto his belly, then with a massive effort he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He started crawling slowly towards the door to collect his food. He was half way there before he noticed that something was different this time. The door was still open and he could see two pairs of legs.

‘Well just look at you. ‘It was Simon. ‘Ha-ha brilliant. How did that song go? "What a difference a day makes." Well two months have certainly made a difference to you haven’t they.’

Two months? Nick thought despairingly. He pushed away the despair and he pushed himself back until he was sitting on the cold floor with his withered legs sticking out in front of him. He looked blearily up at Simon. He worked his mouth around, trying to produce enough moisture to talk. ‘Hi,’ he finally managed to say before his head dropped back down. His voice was a rasping wheeze caused by the dehydration and the lack of use.

‘Oh I see that you’re in a mood for talking. Are you ready to beg me now then?’ Simon bent down to look at him more closely. ‘Or would you like a little more time to think about it?’ he asked. ‘Do you know that you look really shit Nick?’ He stood back up straight. ‘Well there you go. There he is. You wanted to take a look so take a look.’ Nick realised that Simon was speaking to the other person now. ‘Is it who you think it is? Your vile enemy.’

‘I don’t know,’ the other person said. His voice was deep, slightly ponderous. ‘It could be I suppose. Take away all the hair and add a few stone. He told me that his name was Nick.’

‘Well like I told you, his name is Nick but let me assure you that he looks a lot different now.’ Simon laughed.

With a huge amount of effort Nick lifted his head up again to look at the other bloke. His eyes were watering. He hadn’t used those much for a while either. The watering was making it difficult for him to see who was there. That’s just typical, he thought. I’m dying from dehydration but there’s still enough moisture to make my eyes water. He blinked a few times to try and clear them. When he finally saw who it was his dry lips cracked open again as they formed his first smile in two months. He sucked the blood from his lips into his mouth and worked it around a bit. ‘Hello Jeff,’ he finally managed to rasp.

‘Fuck me! It is him!’

‘Well aint that just lovely,’ Simon said happily. ‘Two old friends just meeting up like this. It brings tears to my eyes as well Nicky boy.’

‘It don’t seem right somehow,’ Jeff said, still looking down at him and frowning. He shook his big head slowly from side to side. ‘No it don’t seem right.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Simon suddenly shouted. Of course it’s right!’ The shout echoed around the bare concrete room. Nick would have jumped in surprise if he had the energy.

Jeff did have the energy. He then looked at Simon. ‘What are you doin’ to him anyway?’ Jeff turned to look at Simon. ‘He can’t even hold his own fucking head up.’

Simon looked at Jeff then suddenly laughed. ‘Ha-ha! I know. Aint it fucking great?’

Jeff didn’t speak after that. Nick saw his big booted feet turn around and he walked slowly out of the room.

Nick was looking past Simon’s legs now to see if any food or water had been left for him. He couldn’t see anything though.

Simon leant down once more to look at him. ‘Oh well visiting time is over,’ he said still smiling broadly. ‘I’ve got a country to run and you got some more suffering to do.’ He stood up straight again. ‘Aren’t we busy people?’ With that Simon turned around and left. Nick listened as the bolt was pushed back into place then he crawled back over into the corner. He closed his eyes and slipped straight back into the dream of his friends and the green field. The sun was warm on his face.

Chapter ten

Afternoon 1st November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

It was cold above ground at the Okehampton base but Simon was well wrapped against the bitter weather. He was standing with Klaus in his officer’s greatcoat, black leather gloves and peaked cap. They were watching as the troops were being drilled out on the parade ground. The blithe attitude that Simon used to have towards the uniforms, discipline and the training of the men was gone now. The men before him were all pre-flu professional soldiers. Pre-flu civilians still had some important roles to fill in the new scheme of things but they were not allowed to fight in the army any longer. Simon was proud of his army. When they weren’t away fighting they were here at Okehampton training. He would put his men up against any army in the country and expect to win. Three out of the seven other emergency military bases had already fallen to him. Tidworth, Aldershot, and Colchester were now under his control. Essentially that gave him the whole south of England.

Simon turned to look at Klaus. ‘One day the whole country will be ours. I can really see it happening now.’ Simon’s face was full of excitement at the prospect.

Klaus just frowned thoughtfully. He was dressed in his usual army combats with his thick brown leather coat over the top. To look at them both standing there you would immediately think that it was Simon who was the leader but you would be wrong. It was Klaus who really run things now.

‘After Luffenham we will need to take things a little slower for a while I think,’ he said staring over at the soldiers as they drilled in the cold.

Simon’s face dropped into the dangerously mad stare that he wore when things weren’t going his way. If it had been anyone else standing there with him they would have been petrified. Simon’s habit of completely losing control was well known and it was becoming worse. ‘Why would you say that?’ he asked Klaus harshly. ‘Luffenham will be easy. The scouts have reported that the discipline there is poor.

Klaus ignored the look and the tone. Klaus was not anyone else. He carried on watching the soldiers. ‘We are overstretched and the men need to rest for a while. We need to consolidate our resources and ensure that the towns we already control are properly garrisoned. There is also the fact that it is coming up to winter now.’ Klaus’s tone was completely flat as he listed the reasons.

‘The men do not need to rest! They will do as they are ordered!’ Simon said venomously. ‘Who has been complaining?’

Klaus noticed that Simon had missed most of the information. He was aware that Simon was becoming increasingly unstable. He had always been unbalanced. Most people in their former profession were. You could say that it was almost a necessary requirement of the job. But Simon’s particular psychopathic behaviour used to be an asset. Apart from being completely void of a conscience. Simon had the unique ability to ignore peripheral problems and dangers. Once given a target or a mission he would be like a bullet fired from a gun. Simon was extremely intelligent and skilled, but as time went on, his brain was becoming increasingly unreliable. His brain would only take in information that it recognized as important. Unfortunately, Klaus thought. What Simon’s brain perceived as important these days was becoming quite peculiar. Like the way that he was dealing with Nick Smith. Keeping that man locked up and alive was not only bordering on perversion. It was also extremely dangerous. Klaus knew that you should never underestimate a man like Nick Smith. The man was not only extremely skilled. He was also extremely lucky.

‘Nobody has complained Simon,’ Klaus told him quickly, before he could storm off and kill someone. ‘It is just strategy my friend.’

As Klaus had known he would, Simon suddenly got bored of the conversation.

‘Oh well my friend that’s going to have to be something for you to sort out. I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I can’t do everything.’ Simon was once again looking over at the men drilling.

Klaus smiled to himself. He had already known that Simon couldn’t help him there. Simon’s only real use at the moment was as a figurehead. He inspired complete terror and obedience in all of their soldiers. Most of the south of England lived in fear of Simon now. Everybody knew that there was nothing that he wouldn’t do. The combination of Simon’s ability to strike fear into everyone and his lack of ability to absorb information made him the perfect tool for Klaus to use for his own means. He would have to do something about him soon though. He was starting to become extremely annoying.

‘You have so much to do already Simon,’ Klaus said to him. ‘You can leave all the boring details to me. I promise you we will have the whole of the country under our control one day.’

‘I know I can rely on you my friend.’ Simon turned back to him. He was smiling again now. ‘Right I’m getting a little bit bored of this, he suddenly said. ‘I think I’ll go back downstairs and sort out some bits and pieces.’

‘I will join you later Simon,’ Klaus told him. ‘There are a few things that I need to sort out as well.’

‘Very good,’ Simon told him. ‘I’ll see you later then.’

Klaus watched for a little while as Simon walked arrogantly across the parade ground, heading for the entrance to the underground facility. He then shook his head and walked over to the Sergeant who was drilling the men.

‘Halt!’ The Sergeant shouted at the platoon. The soldiers came to a halt in perfect unison. The Sergeant then called them to attention and turned to salute Klaus.

Klaus returned the salute. ‘Fall the men out Sergeant,’ Klaus told him. ‘It’s to fucking cold to be messing about out here.’

The Sergeant smiled. ‘Yes Sir.’

Afternoon 1st November 2014 Reeves farm, Devon.

Nearly all of the twenty five hectares of land at Reeves farm was used as grazing land for the two hundred sheep. There were also pens for the other animals and stables for the horses. The huge farmhouse had six double bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs. There was also a large annex which was used by the shearers in the spring.

The farm house was situated in a secluded spot near a bend in the river Dart. They were well within the boundaries of Dartmoor, and hidden by low hills and small wooded areas. That was why it had managed to avoid the attention of the scouts so far. Along with many other remote places like this, they just didn’t know it was here.

The farm benefited from a few other things as well. A few years before the flu the Reeves had taken advantage of the Government’s FIT incentive for having solar panels installed. They had bought fifty 250 Watt solar panels and they had been set up in the field nearest to the house. Pre-flu this used to net them around five thousand pounds a year from the Government incentive scheme. Now it provided them with all the power they needed for the house and farm. Because of the rural location the farm also had its own well which provided them with water. The farm also had a septic tank system much the same as the one at Badger farm to deal with the waste.

Over two months had passed now since Steve and Scott had escaped from Exeter with the others and accidentally found Reeves farm. After they had been there a few weeks the Reeves family had invited them to stay for as long as they wished. So far they had made no plans to move on. It was almost like they were one big family now.

Steve, Scott and Dan slept out in the annex building. The rest of them stayed in the large farmhouse. Each of the three brother’s Robert, Aiden and Junior had a double room upstairs. Of the other three doubles, one was used by Colin, who now shared it with Beth. Sally had her room and Frank and Brenda had theirs. Downstairs Kay and Sammy shared one room and Grace and Nancy shared the other.

They were all very grateful and happy that the Reeves family had invited them to stay. They loved being there and they all got stuck in and did their share of the hard work necessary to maintain the farm and look after the animals. Even Nancy worked hard. She still hadn’t fully recovered, but the simple hard work of the farm reminded her of her childhood and growing up on their own family run farm. This healthy environment and the happy atmosphere of the farm and the people who lived here had begun to help her to heal.

It was a good way to live and they were all recovering from the horrors that they had been through. Every evening after a hard day’s work they would all get together for dinner and then afterwards they would sit around the fire in the main living room to talk and relax.

Steve looked around at everyone this evening as they chatted and smiled. They were joking with each other and talking about their day. He could see they all were happy. He remembered how bad they had all looked on the day that he had rescued them from Simon. He was so glad that he had taken the risk on that day. He could never have imagined then that it would all turn out so well for them all.

He looked over at Sally as she chatted with the kids about the horse ride they had all been out on today. He sighed. That was the one disappointment that he found very hard to get over. Weeks ago now he had decided to tell Sally how he felt about her. She had smiled at him and touched his cheek gently then told him that she could never have that kind of relationship with him. The disappointment had hurt him and he had asked her why. She had shook her head sadly and then told him why they could never be together. She had told him that her interests lay elsewhere. He had frowned for a second before understanding what she meant by that. His face had gone bright red with embarrassment and he had apologised profusely. She had just smiled at him then and told him that if she ever became interested in men in that way then he would be the first one on her list. He had smiled along with her but it hadn’t really helped his feelings much at the time. It still didn’t help much now.

He looked over at Beth and Colin. They were good for each other. Colin had lost his wife to the flu and Beth had her own nightmares to deal with. They had helped each other to move on. Beth’s leg had healed really well. She had a very slight limp and she said that it still ached a bit. Steve thought that it probably always would, but she had been very lucky with that wound. A few millimetres in any direction and she would have either lost her leg or her life.

As usual the other three brothers were winding each other up. Scott was sitting with them laughing at something. Those four all liked to have a drink or two in the evening and they had been experimenting with making their own alcohol. They said that they would have their first batch ready soon. Steve hoped for their sake that they would. On the few times that he and Scott had gone out to scout around and look for supplies, Scott had always spent most of the time looking for alcohol. It was getting scarcer and harder to find these days and he didn’t like to go very far. If they were spotted by one of Simon’s scouts they could be followed back here. He didn’t like to think about what Simon would do to them if he ever found out where they were.

He looked over at Frank and Brenda sitting together. Apart from obviously being mum and dad they were the two leaders of their small group. They had both been on this farm for most of their lives. Frank had been born here and he had hardly ever been off it. Steve knew that both of them found a lot of pleasure from seeing everybody happy and they had really gone out of their way to make sure that they all felt a part of their family.

Steve was pulled away from his thoughts as Nancy stood up. She would always go off to her room early. Steve smiled at her as she went past him but she just nodded to him and looked away. He knew that she no longer blamed him for what had happened to Bill, but she was still avoiding him. He knew it was because he reminded her of that day too much and what had happened. He didn’t blame her at all for that.

He looked over at Grace. He knew that she would follow her daughter up soon. She spent most of every day with Nancy as they carried out their work. She would talk to her and try to bring her out of herself. Steve felt sorry for Grace. She seemed to have aged a lot in the last couple of months. She had also lost her confident manner and she rarely spoke much to anyone but Nancy now. He knew that at Badger farm she had played a large role in the running of the place. Here with her only role as mother to Nancy she had slipped into the background. Steve really hoped that one day he could make Simon pay for what he had done to these people, and for what he had done to him as well.

That thought brought him back to what he was going to propose to everyone this evening. They needed to know what was happening in the world outside of Reeves farm now. So far they had managed to avoid being detected, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before someone found them here. That might bring them to Simon’s attention. If he and Scott were discovered here the Reeves family would be blamed for harbouring them. God knows what Simon would do to them then. Steve needed to know if they were in any way close to being found. If they were then he and Scott would have to leave. He thought that the others would probably be safe enough staying here. He doubted Simon would remember what any of the people from Badger farm looked like.

So he wanted to take a quick tour out to see what was going on. He wanted to pay a visit to one of the communities to see how Simon’s campaign was going. Over the past two months he had been growing his hair and beard. He didn’t know if Simon had sent out descriptions of himself and Scott, but if he had he should be safe from that kind of scrutiny. It wasn’t just the beard and hair he had changed either. He had been working on changing his whole manner. He had taught himself not to strut along like a trained Marine Commando. He also now dressed and looked like a farmer. His only concern was if he bumped into someone who knew him well. Like Simon or Klaus, or anyone in the whole platoon he had left behind at Exeter!

He stood up slowly and waited until everyone had noticed him standing. ‘Hi everyone,’ he said. ‘I think it’s time that we found out exactly what’s going on in the outside world.’

They all looked at him. Some of them were nodding and some of them were looking worried.

‘Do you think we’ll get found here then Steve?’ Frank asked him.

‘It is a possibility.’ Steve looked over at him. ‘We found you,’ he reminded Frank, smiling at him. ‘I think that we’ve been lucky so far and it’s a good thing that we are a long way out on the moor but sooner or later someone just has to turn up.

‘Sounds like a good idea,’ said Scott. ‘When are we going?’

‘I think that it would be better if I just went alone on this first trip,’ Steve told him.

Scott stood up. ‘No way!’ he said frowning. ‘If you go then I go to,’ he told him.

Steve smiled. ‘We can talk about that later mate. I just wanted to tell everyone at once and see if anyone has anything against it.’ He looked around again. ‘It goes without saying that if I’m caught. They won’t find out about this place or any of you.’

Frank nodded. ‘You’re right Steve, we do need to find out what’s going on out there,’ Frank said sadly. ‘We’ve been putting it off. When are you thinking of going?’

‘Sooner the better I suppose,’ Steve said. ‘So I guess tomorrow would be as good a day as any.’

Chapter eleven

Night 1st November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

Nick was pulled from a hazy dream by the metal against metal screech of the door bolt. He opened his eyes slowly. The light was off and it was dark in his cell but light was spilling in through the now open door. He watched a pair of legs step back out of the door and then the light in his cell flickered on. Nick closed his eyes against the sudden glare. Something different was happening again. The food man never came into the cell. He just left the food and water and took the bucket. He heard the door close. He could hear a man’s heavy breathing so he knew that he was still in here with him. Nick had no strength to stop whatever new kind of torment they had planned for him this time so opening his eyes seemed pointless. He wondered if they were going to kill him today.

‘Nick,’ he recognised the deep rumble of the man’s voice. It was Jeff.

So that was it then. Big surprise. Jeff was now going to smash him around a bit. Nick wondered how those two had got together. He still couldn’t be bothered to open his eyes though. He tried to find some moisture in his mouth to speak but there was none so he didn’t.

‘Nick, wake up,’ Jeff said again more urgently. He felt a light tap on his leg from Jeff’s boot.

He had not been expecting a light tap. He had been expecting hard kick. He opened his eyes slowly. The glare from the light made his head hurt even more. He hadn’t thought that was possible.

‘Thank fuck!’ Jeff’s loud voice vibrated around inside his aching head. ‘I thought you were dead for a moment then.’

Not quite, Nick thought.

‘You gotta sit up. I got some stuff for you.’

Nick thought about sitting up then realised that he couldn’t and closed his eyes again. The end must be closer than he had thought. If he was still alive after Jeff left he didn’t think he’d be able to crawl over to the food anymore. It was almost a relief. He had done his best. He hadn’t given up. They hadn’t beaten him. They hadn’t made him beg. Simon would be disappointed. Then he felt Jeff’s hands under his legs and head. He felt himself being lifted up. His head swam and he dry retched as he was put into a sitting position leaning against the wall.

‘Don’t you fuckin die on me you fucker.’

Nick pushed down on the nausea and opened his eyes again. Jeff was kneeling next to him. He had a bottle of water in his massive hand. Nick stared at the bottle until he went boss eyed as it came towards his mouth.

‘Just a sip,’ Jeff told him as he tipped the bottle against his cracked and dry lips. Water tipped down onto his naked chest. ‘You gotta open ya fuckin mouth.’

My you do swear a lot, Nick thought. His lips were stuck. They were glued together with dried blood. The water had loosened them up a bit though. He pushed his dry tongue against them and opened them a crack, tearing more skin. The blood from that loosened them a bit more and he managed to open his mouth. I’ve run marathons that were easier than doing that, he thought as Jeff tipped the bottle up again. Cool water hit his tongue and slipped down his dry throat then Jeff pulled the bottle away.

‘Too much and you’ll be chuckin’ it back up.’

Nick’s brain knew that but his body wanted the whole bottle right now. ‘I know,’ he wheezed.

‘You can still talk! Thank fuck!’ Jeff put the bottle back to Nick’s mouth and he took another glorious sip. ‘It’s like feeding a baby,’ Jeff said then he saw Nick’s glare. ‘Ooh still got some fight in you even now eh?’ He grinned.

Eating was even harder than drinking. Jeff had brought sliced meat, bread and fruit. Nick had only been eating scraps for the last two months. A lot of it pre-chewed. His lips, tongue, throat and teeth hurt and some teeth were even becoming a bit loose but he ate in tiny amounts and sipped the water as Jeff explained why he was here.

Apparently Simon had made himself ruler of the world. Nick smiled at that. Simon always did have a big ego to fill. King of the world just might do it.

Jeff told him that he had been living with the Bournemouth community when Simon had turned up with four hundred heavily armed soldiers. The committee there had agreed to Simon’s terms and committed themselves to Simon’s rule over them. Jeff said that Simon hadn’t given them a lot of choices.

Jeff told Nick that he had been talking to the soldiers when they were there. Asking them about Simon and telling them that he wanted to join up with them if he could.

‘It was shit boring there,’ he told Nick. ‘But you gotta live somewhere now though aint ya? And I thought it looked like it would be a bit more fun with this lot.’

‘Don’t get me wrong Jeff,’ Nick’s voice was still weak and raspy. ‘I appreciate the visit and the food and water, but why? The last time saw you was when you were beating up women and kids. I only just stopped you from killing your own brother.’

‘Yeah me and Bill went a bit crazy for a while after the flu. We thought everyone was gonna die anyway so what did it matter. But yeah, I did go a bit crazier than Bill did I spose.’

Nick tried to move into a slightly less painful position. He stubbornly refused to think about what he must look like to Jeff. ‘You’re brother told me that you were always crazy. He said you had mental problems.’ Nick’s voice was a tiny bit stronger now.

‘You got a fuckin smart mouth on you for a naked and dirty skinny bloke.’ Jeff gave him a hard stare. ‘Yeah I had a few problems being sociable. So what? Anyway this is all boring shit.’ Jeff stood up. ‘I never came here for that. I gotta ask you a question.’

Nick looked up at him painfully. ‘What?’

‘That mad fucker Simon tortured someone. Was it my brother?’

Nick looked back down at his dirty emaciated body. He thought of what Simon had done to Bill and suddenly he didn’t feel so smart mouthed.

‘Well?’ Jeff demanded.

Nick nodded slowly. The image of Bill hanging from the stair rails jumped into his mind as he heard Jeff take in a long deep breath.

‘I fuckin’ knew it!’ he said angrily. ‘They were all talking about it and I fuckin’ knew it. Everyone’s shit scared of this Simon. He’s done a lot of fuckin’ mad things but everyone talks about what he done to some bloke. They said he was a big fat bloke and he looked a bit like me. They said about how he cut him all up and made him scream and all that. Everyone says that he was looking for someone and that’s why he did it. They said that he was looking for you. They said your name and I remembered it and they said that you was messin’ with kids. You know? like you was perverted.

Nick looked up at Jeff again. ‘Let me tell you this Jeff,’ he said looking him in the eyes. ‘Bill was my friend. I loved that man and I knew that they did it because they were looking for me.’ He carried on staring Jeff down. ‘But I’m no pervert. Simon wasn’t looking for me because of that.’

‘I knew that bit.’ Jeff said. ‘When I found out you was down here I wanted to see you and make sure that it was Bill they were talking about. I had to get down here because I knew you’d tell me. I knew he went off with you at the services. I saw all you lot at another services and then when I got to Bournemouth they all told me you was with Bill and them others.’

Nick wanted to ask Jeff about the Bournemouth community. About how they were getting on but he didn’t have the strength. ‘So now you know about Bill what are you intending to do now Jeff?’ Nick asked quietly.

‘Now I’ll fuckin’ kill ‘im.’ Jeff was staring madly at the wall. His eyes were bulging in anger.

‘Jeff,’ Nick said. Jeff didn’t move. Nick could see that his whole body was trembling with rage now. ‘Jeff!’ Nick said again, this time loud enough to hurt his sore throat. Which still wasn’t very loud but Jeff heard him and looked down.

‘What?’ Jeff said. Nick could definitely see madness in those eyes.

‘You will die trying.’ he rasped. ‘And all for nothing. You can’t kill him.

‘Fuck off! I’ve seen him. He’s nothing special. I’ll get him on his own. He’ll be nothing without his soldier boys around him. I’ll smash him to pieces.

Nick shook his head slowly and then looked Jeff in the eyes. ‘Believe me. He is far more dangerous without his soldier boys around. They would just get in his way.’ Nick saw that Jeff wasn’t really listening. ‘Please Jeff. You have to believe me. Simon is a complete psychopath but he is also extremely deadly.’ Nick coughed slightly then winced. The effort of saying so much had drained him. He took slow deep breaths to try and calm himself.

Jeff stared at him for what seemed like a long time before finally saying, ‘ok let’s say I believe you, what should I do then? I can’t just let him get away with it? Bill was my brother!’

Nick stared back. ‘Get me out of here and I’ll kill him.’

Nick could see that Jeff wasn’t thinking straight. ‘He thinks I’m stupid, ‘Jeff suddenly said. ‘He doesn’t know Bill was my brother. He wouldn’t let me join his army properly but he uses me as his errand boy.’ Jeff sneered. ‘It makes him feel big, ordering me about.’

‘Help me get out of here Jeff and I’ll kill him.’ Nick stared into Jeff’s eyes.

Jeff looked back at him. He remembered the easy way that Nick had beat him back at the services. ‘I can handle myself,’ he told Nick. ‘You were lucky that other time.’

‘I know you can handle yourself Jeff,’ Nick wheezed. ‘But Simon has trained all his life to do one thing and that’s kill. He will beat you before you even know it’s started then he’ll torture you or put you down here.’

‘Why’s he got you down here anyway?’ Jeff looked at him.

Nick could see pity start to show in Jeff’s eyes. He didn’t like it. ‘It’s because he’s scared of me,’ he said.

Jeff studied him for a couple of seconds. ‘I knew all that shit the soldiers said about you messing with kids didn’t sound right. They all talked about you in Bournemouth all the time. About how you beat that big guy Brett in the ring. Killed ‘im they said and they said he was even bigger than me and he was a right nutter.

‘They were right Jeff.’ Nick told him. ‘And I beat him easy.’ Even considering the state he was in at the moment, Nick still didn’t like boasting. It was not his way. He knew that it was the only way that he would gain Jeff’s confidence though. He had to make Jeff see him as more than just this emaciated wreck. His throat was pure agony now after all the talking. ‘Do you have any more water?’

‘I’ll get some.’ Jeff opened the door and went out. He was back almost straight away carrying two more bottles of water. He noticed Nick’s look. ‘There’s about a hundred of these on a desk out here.’ He took the lid off one and handed it to him.

Nick sighed. All that time he was dying of thirst and the water was just outside the door. He took the small bottle from Jeff. His whole arm shook as he put it up to his mouth. He took a large swallow while trying not to think about his wasted body. His stomach lurched but he forced the feeling down.

‘I could beat him if I had my full strength,’ he said, closing his eyes. They were stinging from being open so long. ‘I could beat him easily,’ Nick boasted. ‘That’s why he’s scared of me.’

‘You’re not at you’re full strength anymore though are you?’ Jeff was studying him again. Nick hated what he must see.

‘It’s only muscle, fat and water that’s missing Jeff.’ Nick took another swig of the water. He could feel his body soaking it up. He slowly picked up some of the meat that Jeff had brought. ‘A lot of what you see is from dehydration,’ Nick told him. ‘It’ll come back. My body still remembers the way it was. It still remembers what it can do.’ He put the meat in his mouth and chewed it very slowly.

‘So you reckon you’ll be able to heal right up?’ Jeff was looking at him as if he was the crazy one.

‘I will heal right up Jeff, but I’m going to need about a week of food and water before I could walk out of here. I’m going to have to stay here until then.’ Nick was feeling a little stronger already. He ate some more of the meat. ‘After that I’m going to need another month then I’ll be fit enough to take him on. We will need somewhere to hide.’ Nick spoke as if it was already going to happen.

Jeff looked at Nick’s wasted body. ‘Are you sure you can get better from this? You look like shit. A two year old girl could beat you up.’

‘She probably could and I bet that’s next on Simon’s list of humiliations for me.’ He looked into Jeff’s eyes. ‘I am your only option to get this done Jeff. I will need the time but I will heal. When I do I’ll come back and I’ll kill Simon. Your brother was my friend Jeff. I was looking for his killer when I got caught. I didn’t know that it was Simon then. I didn’t even know that Simon was still alive.’ Nick thought of the dog then and wondered if he was still alive. The stupid bloody thing just jumping out of the alley like that.

Jeff nodded. He didn’t like it. He would have to be around Simon every day and he still didn’t rate Nick’s chances much. He thought about his brother Bill then and what Nick had said about him. He said that Bill was his friend. He really hadn’t meant to hurt his little brother like that back at the services. He had just got carried away again. He had spent every day since then regretting it. He was glad to know that Bill had had a friend after he had let him down so badly himself. Nick had even said that he had loved Bill.

‘Ok,’ Jeff suddenly said. He had made up his mind ‘I’ll bring you food and water. It’ll have to be at night though.’

Nick nodded. He was exhausted now. He could feel that the food and water had already made his body stronger though. ‘I take it that it’s night now then?’ he asked.

‘Yep,’ Jeff said. ‘It’s just gone three in the morning.’ He had a huge yawn. ‘I’d better take those empty bottles out in case anyone sees ‘em and I’ll get you another one.’ He looked around the bare concrete cell. ‘Fuck knows where you’re gonna hide it though.’

‘I’ll think of something,’ Nick said. ‘Bring me two.’ He doubted anyone would come in. Simon had only been down once in two months. The mad fucker was just happy knowing he was locked up down here. Simon was busy. As Simon had told him on the one occasion he did come down. He “had a country to run.”

Jeff put the two bottles of water down next to him. ‘Ok then. I’m going to bed. I’m bloody knackered.’

‘Me to,’ Nick said. ‘Can you turn the light off on the way out?

Chapter twelve

Morning 3rd November 2014 Reeves farm, Devon.

Steve was looking forward to finally going out today. He had not gone yesterday as he had planned to. The weather had turned cold overnight and they had to go out to check that the sheep were ok. They had given them extra hay and even put some of the weaker one’s in the barn. Today it looked like rain but he still wanted to go. He’d been out on a few foraging runs with Scott since they’d been here, but they’d just gone to small abandoned villages. They hadn’t gone very far and they’d stayed well away from other people. Today he was going to go to Totnes. It was probably quite an established little town by now. It was one that Steve had helped Simon to acquire back in the beginning. It was also in the opposite direction from Exeter and Okehampton. He should be able to pick up some good information from there and hopefully find out what was going on.

He was wearing a worn out pair of jeans and a thick brown woolly jumper, with a waxed green coat. All of the clothes were courtesy of Aiden who was very similar in size to him. As usual he was going out in Frank’s dark blue Nissan pick-up. For obvious reasons they left the army Land Rovers hidden in one of the barns. Steve was taking nothing that would connect him to his old identity, nothing with any kind of address on it and nothing that was obviously worth mugging him for. All he had on him were two medium size knives. He was wearing one on his belt and one concealed inside his coat.

‘Be careful out there,’ Scott told him for the thousandth time. ‘I don’t know why you don’t want me with you.’

They had been standing by the Nissan truck for about ten minutes. It looked like it was going to rain any minute and Steve just wanted to get going now.

‘I’ve told you Scott. I won’t attract any attention. A soldier who looks like you would get noticed.’

‘I can pretend I’m a farmer to.’

Steve laughed then asked, ‘Do you look in mirrors much?’

Scott frowned. ‘Why?’

‘I’ll take that as a no then. I suppose I wouldn’t if I had a face that looked like a sack of spanners.’

Scott frowned again. ‘What’s that got to do with it?’

Steve shook his head. ‘Nothing,’ he said. He noticed that Scott hadn’t argued about his face looking like a bag of spanners though. ‘If you looked in a mirror you’d see that you look exactly like what you are Scott. You look, talk, walk and stand like a Sergeant. If there’s anyone there who knows us or is looking for us they will spot you a mile off. It’s safer if I go on my own. And anyway,’ Steve added. ‘We need you here to look after the others in case anything happens while I’m gone.’

‘Oh well I offered,’ Scott said. ‘I’m just trying to help. You’ll just have to get yourself out of trouble then.’

Steve laughed again. ‘I’ll do my best. Right I’m off now. It will take me about an hour to get there. I might only be there a couple of hours then it’s an hour back. I might be back by lunchtime so stop worrying.’

Scott shrugged. ‘If you see any booze..’

‘I’ll get it for you. I’m sure that’s the only reason you want to come anyway.’

‘Not the only reason,’ Scott said offended.

‘Ok whatever.’ Steve jumped into the pick-up. ‘See you later.’ He then started the engine and pulled slowly away.

It was an uneventful journey with the first part of it driving down country lanes. It took him about forty five minutes to reach the outskirts of the town. He was driving on one of the main roads into Totnes, the A385 when he came around a bend and saw the roadblock. Cars had been parked all the way across the road in a staggered line and Steve could see two men standing out in the rain on the other side of them. They were watching him as he slowed down and stopped. There was a portacabin on the other side of the roadblock and three more men came out of it. They were all wearing camouflage clothing with black berets and they were all carrying L85A2’s. Military rifles. Steve felt a bit vulnerable without his. They all waved their arms for him to come closer. He did so slowly and stopped the truck again a couple of metres away from the cars blocking the road. Five rifles were now pointing right at him.

‘Get out of the vehicle slowly,’ one of them shouted at him.

Steve looked out at the pouring rain and sighed. He pushed open the door and climbed out. Pulling the zip of his coat up and hunching his neck down into the collar. It really was raining heavily now. This is just lovely, he thought.

‘Walk slowly up to the barrier,’ the same man shouted at him.

Steve realised that they all looked like and they were acting like professional soldiers. He was trying to see if he knew any of them as he walked closer. He stopped right by a red Astra and held his hands out wide, showing them that he held no weapon.

‘What do you want?’ Again it was the same man speaking. He wasn’t wearing any rank badges. Steve scanned them all. None of them were but they were definitely professional army. This was the last thing he had been expecting. It looked like things had gotten a lot more serious in the couple of months since he and Scott had left. He decided to act a bit slow.

‘I don’t want nothin’.’

A couple of the men chuckled and they all smiled. ‘What the fuck are you doing here then?’ It was the same man again. ‘Did you get lost?’

‘No. I used to live here,’ Steve said.

‘Oh yeah. So what are you doing here now then?’ The bloke repeated, speaking slowly this time.

‘I just wanted to see what it was like now.’

‘Where have you been living up till now?’

‘Nowhere,’ Steve told him. ‘I’ve just been moving around.’ Steve watched as the bloke shook his head and spoke quietly to the man next to him. ‘Ok!’ he shouted. You can come through but I want you to stop when you are on the other side and get out again. Ok?’

Steve nodded. ‘Ok,’ he said smiling while thinking, bollocks. They were suspicious. He jumped back into the truck. He was soaking wet now and a day that had looked like it might have been a bit of fun was turning into a really shit day. He watched as one of the men climbed into a car and reversed it. He left a car size gap to drive through. Steve drove slowly, trying to look scared and stupid. He didn’t have to try very hard. He should have done a recce before trying to drive straight into the town. He should have planned this a bit better, but who’d have thought that everything would be so organised now? Simon was too crazy to have it all sorted out like this. It must have been Klaus’s doing. Steve had really respected the German. What he had been doing hanging around with Simon before the flu he didn’t know, but he was the only one that Simon would really listen to.

He pulled up a little way down on the other side of the barrier and watched as the car was driven forward once again to block the road. The soldier got out. Steve climbed back out into the rain himself and looked over towards the centre of Totnes. They were about half a mile out here and he wondered if anyone would hear any shooting. He hoped not. He looked back at the soldiers. The four that hadn’t spoken yet were still standing by the cars. They had their rifles ready but they were relaxed and smiling. The other bloke was walking over to him. He was holding his rifle down. He wasn’t expecting any trouble. Steve knew that they were not going to let him go. He had only one choice left now. If they held him or took him in he would be recognised. Whatever happened he didn’t want to end up like Bill.

He dropped his head down. He wanted the soldier to think that he was no threat. He needed him to get close with the rifle. He knew they wanted to hold him. If they didn’t they would have already shot him.

‘Look up at me and stand still!’ The soldier shouted.

Steve looked up, flinched then took a step back with his right foot. ‘What’s happening?’ he asked sounding confused at the same time as he moved his right foot back.

The soldier brought the rifle up. ‘I said stand still!’ Steve watched him move in.

‘But I haven’t done anything.’ Steve said, at the same time he took a step forward, right foot again. He was now in range so he stepped in with his left foot, brought his right arm up and grabbed the rifle with his right hand. The rifle fired as he pushed it over his right shoulder. He then smashed his left elbow into the man’s face. At the same time he grabbed the stock of the rifle with his left hand and wrenched the weapon from him. He then fired two quick shots, left handed from the hip. The soldier dropped to the ground with his upper body ripped apart. Steve dropped to the ground behind his body. The other four men reacted as slowly as Steve had hoped they would. He switched the rifle to his right shoulder and shot two of them before they had even fired a round. The other two panicked and started firing wildly. Steve picked them off easily then stood up quickly and looked all around. Nothing. It was all quiet. He’d done it. You’ve still got it Stevie boy, he said mimicking the way Simon used to speak to him. The patronising bastard, he thought as he climbed back into the pick-up and took off down the road as fast as he could.

A little way down, right on the edge of Totnes there was a school on the right hand side and a housing estate on the left. He turned into the housing estate and pulled the Pick-up onto the first empty drive he came to then he climbed out and shut the door. It was still raining. There were some trees on the other side of the road so he decided to go and wait under them. He needed to think about what he was going to do next. When he was under the cover of the trees he sat down and tried to get his breathing back to normal. It was only then that he realised that he had brought the rifle with him. He looked at it and sighed. This was definitely not how he had thought the day would go.

Chapter thirteen

Morning 3rd November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

The fluorescent tube flickered then flooded the room with light. Nick opened his eyes and for just a second the despair hit him, as it had done every time the light had come on and woke him. Then he remembered the recent events but just in case it was another crazy dream and before he got his hopes up, Nick put his hand down between his naked body and the wall. He felt the three bottles of water and the bag of food. He smiled then. He was going to get out of here and he was going to kill Simon.

Jeff had been in to see him again in the night. He had brought a big bag of food with him this time and left him extra water. Nick had been a bit better and he had eaten a lot of the food straight away. He pulled out an apple from the bag now and ate it slowly as he thought about Jeff. Never in a million years would he have guessed this scenario. After the fight at the services he had just thought of Jeff as another enemy left behind. Jeff had admitted that he had been as mad as a cat in a bucket of water after that fight. A few days after that though, he said he had calmed down. He had realised that he missed his brother badly and he had also admitted to himself that Nick had let him off lightly.

Nick finished the apple. He ate the whole of it. Crunching on the core and the pips and he smiled again as he remembered Jeff’s face last night. Nick had needed to point out that there was an unfortunate side effect of him eating and drinking properly. The waste bucket! It had hardly been used in weeks. It would have to be emptied each time Jeff came or someone would see it and get suspicious. Jeff wasn’t happy as he had carried it out.

‘You fuckin owe me big for this,’ he had moaned.

Nick knew that he would owe him big for everything and in a way Jeff was also helping him to deal with his grief over Bill. The two brothers were so much alike when you scratched the surface. It was like getting a little bit of the big fella back. Nick stopped thinking about that as his emotions started to rise. He looked down at himself and noted the wasted muscles of his body. His elbows and knees looked swollen compared to his now skinny arms and legs, and he thought he could probably play a tune on his ribs. He had told Jeff confidently that he would get back to normal. Now he just had to do it. With that in mind he decided that he was going to try and stand up right now.

When they had thrown him in here two months ago he had been so badly beaten that he had just laid in a heap of pain, slipping in and out of consciousness. After a while he had finally started to become aware of his surroundings, but he was still unable to move very much because of the pain. He had slipped in and out of sleep as his body slowly healed. He was so very weak from dehydration and hunger by then though that he had tried to stay still as much as possible to conserve energy and to stay alive. Now he had food and water it was time to start moving again. He laid himself out flat on his back and took a slow deep breath, he then he rolled over onto his front. The room span and he almost threw up his precious food and water.

‘Too fast,’ he said to himself. ‘Take it easy.’ He put his hands on the ground and pushed himself slowly up onto his hands and knees. The room span again and he waited once more for the dizziness to subside. Ten minutes later he was standing up, leaning with his back against the wall. He was just getting used to the view from this high up again when the tears hit him. They came on suddenly and with no warning. He couldn’t see and he almost slipped back down onto the floor. He hadn’t realised until that moment that he had never expected to stand up again. He caught hold of his emotions and pushed himself away from the wall then he stood there, silently defying gravity. He swore to himself that that was the last time he was going to cry. That was twice in forty years now and it was becoming a bit of a habit.

Sometime later Nick sat himself back down in his corner and finished the rest of the food. He had managed to stagger around the room ten times but he was dizzy now and out of breath. His whole body was trembling from the effort. He was happy with his progress though. It was faster than he had thought it would be. He reckoned he would be able to walk out of here in a couple of more days. He looked forward to giving Jeff the news tonight. The sooner he was out of here the less chance he had of Simon deciding to come back down and finish him off. He laid himself down on the floor and pushed the now empty food bag underneath his back then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Morning 3rd November 2014, Totnes, Devon.

Steve sat there under the trees and waited. Whether he was waiting for a reaction from what he had just done at the road block or whether he was waiting for it to stop raining he didn’t know. Maybe it was both. He waited for about twenty minutes though and neither one of them happened. It was still raining and he had not heard anything happening so he stood up.

He decided that after all that bother and now that he was here he might as well go into town. Now that he knew about the roadblock he would be able to slip out another way. They still needed the information. From his time here before he knew that the river Dart flowed past not far from where he was. He worked out roughly that it must be on the other side of this housing estate. He decided to find it and then follow it down to the town centre. It would be safer than going down the roads and quicker than climbing through back gardens. He looked at the rifle in his hands and weighed up the pro’s and cons then he reluctantly hid it behind a tree. Pulling the collar of his borrowed coat up, he then stepped back out into the rain. Ten minutes later he was standing by the river. He found it strange to think that this same river went right past Reeves farm and his friends. It crossed his mind that he might be able to get back to the farm by boat. He then turned towards Totnes and began walking down the river path. As he walked the sky began to brighten and the slowly rain stopped.

It wasn’t until he came out from under one of the bridges across the river that he saw a few fishing boats and heard the noise of people gathered together. It was a strange noise after such a long time away from it. You couldn’t hear individual voices or individual anything it was just a general buzz of different noises mixed together.

It had turned out to be a good decision to walk down the river. He hadn’t met a single person yet. Maybe because of the recent rain, but now he was also coming from the opposite direction of the dead soldiers at the road block.

He came out from under the bridge walked a little bit further along and stepped through some trees into a Morrisons car park. The big supermarket looked smashed up and cleaned out. He still couldn’t see anyone yet but the buzzing noise of people was getting louder. He carried on following it and he was amazed when he finally came round the corner into the High Street. The street was full of people. His immediate reaction was to duck and hide but he fought it and carried on walking. Soon he was surrounded by people and not one of them was taking any notice of him. He looked at what everyone else seemed to be doing and then copied them. They were shopping.

Like any high street in the country this one had the usual shops all along it on both sides. The difference now was that most, if not all of the shop windows had the glass broken out. It didn’t seem to be bothering anyone though. The broken glass had been swept away and Steve could see that there were people set up inside the shops offering all kinds of things. There were also stalls set up in the middle of the street. It reminded him of a crazy looking market from the pre-flu days and it looked like you could get almost anything you wanted here. Steve saw stalls and shops with different types of weapons next door to shops and stalls with tinned food. There was even an open fronted shop full of sheep. There were many types of people crowding the street as well. From camouflaged soldiers to tramps begging for food.

He finally found what he had been looking for halfway up the street. It was a pub. He moved back out of the way of two drunk looking soldiers pushing their way out and then he went inside. It was dark inside the pub compared to the street and it was even more crowded in here. Steve waited for his eyes to adjust then pushed his way through the people and over to the bar. A rough looking giant of a man stood behind the bar opposite him and stared at him for a few seconds. Steve looked at him curiously then the man leaned across the bar and crooked his finger at him. Steve leant towards him cautiously.

‘I’ve not seen you before,’ he said. He had a thick west country accent. ‘And I know everybody in this town.’

Steve looked around quickly.

The man frowned at him. ‘What ‘ave you got for me then?’

Steve looked at him and frowned back. ‘Aint I suppose to ask that?’

‘Ha-ha,’ the man laughed quietly at that then leant right across the bar towards him. ‘Have you heard about the shoot up at that road block?’

Steve stepped back from the bar and prepared himself to fight or run. He carefully watched the man’s face, while at the same time looking around with his peripheral vision at the other people in the bar.

‘Calm down now,’ the man said quietly.

After a little while Steve could see that no one was paying them any attention. He moved closer to the bar cautiously. ‘Why did you ask me that?’

‘I watched you come in all furtive like. I watch people come in and go out of that door all day. When someone I’ve not seen before comes in after something like that it isn’t hard to put the two together.’ The man stood up straight and stretched. Steve thought that he must be about six, five. It seemed to him that a disproportionate amount of really big men had survived the flu. ‘I’m right aren’t I?’ the giant asked.

Steve shook his head. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Ok what have you got for me then?’

Steve guessed what he meant. ‘Not much I’m afraid. I left my wallet at home. How does this all work now then? Some kind of barter system? Golden trinkets?’

‘Ha-ha,’ he laughed again at that. ‘You’re a funny man. I’ll give you a drink just for that. So you don’t know anything about that shooting business earlier then?’

Steve raised his eyebrows at that. ‘No,’ he said. He didn’t like the way this was going at all.

‘Stop worrying. Relax and try to fit in, or get drunk and fit in even better.’ The man reached down below the bar and came back up with a brown bottle. He put it on the bar and popped the lid off with a bottle opener. The label had worn off.

‘What is it?’ Steve asked, looking at it curiously.

‘Does it matter?’ The big bloke was smiling again.

‘I suppose not,’ Steve said, picking it up and taking a sip. ‘It’s Newcastle brown ale.’

‘Crate came in yesterday. A gallon of diesel that cost me.’

‘For one bottle?’ Steve asked incredulously.

‘For the crate. Do I look like a muppet?’

‘No,’ Steve said, looking him up and down. ‘You don’t.’

‘You want another and it’ll cost you.’ The big man looked over at one of his customers. Steve saw that the scruffy looking man was holding out a box of half a dozen eggs. ‘Be right with you John!’ He looked back at Steve. ‘You stay right there,’ he told him.

Steve stood there at the bar and sipped the brown ale from the bottle. He tried to look as if he spent every day there. He looked around and then put his elbow on the bar and slouched, copying a few of the other men. While he was standing there he realised that he had spent very little time in bars like this. He amended that thought as he looked around. He had never spent any time in a bar like this. He wondered if there even was another bar like this. After serving a few customers the big bloke came back over to him.

‘If you need to pee there’s a latrine pit out the back,’ he told him. Then he dropped his voice. ‘There’s a door near the back exit, it says staff only. Finish your drink then make your way over there, casual like.’

Steve frowned at him. ‘Why?’

‘It’s too late to be suspicious of me. Don’t worry I’m on your side. Go through the door and someone will meet you.’ He looked at Steve and then left him to serve another customer. Steve looked over to where the back exit was, and then he went back to trying to fit in while he thought about what to do next. He didn’t know who this bloke was or what he wanted. He realised now that it had been a bad move coming into town after what he had done. It was too late now though. He reckoned that the place would have been full of soldiers by now if the big bloke had told them he was here. He would have to trust his instincts. He finished his drink and put the bottle on the bar then walked casually through the packed people. When he reached the staff only door he pushed it open and stepped through. As the door closed behind him it went pitch black and he had no chance of seeing the person who knocked him out.

Chapter fourteen

Afternoon 3rd November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Steve was confused when he first came awake. He couldn’t remember where he was or why he was here. Then the memories came flooding back, along with the knowledge that he was now tied tightly to a chair. He decided that this was the last time he would trust his instincts. He pulled frantically at the ropes that tied his wrists and ankles but all that did was cause the ropes cut into him more. He stopped and tried to calm himself down. Images of Bill tied to the stair rail, waiting for Simon’s knife swamped his mind and he started thrashing around again. It was no good he was tied tightly. The wooden chair that he was tied to was sat in the middle of an otherwise empty darkened room. There were heavy curtains blocking the light from one large window. The giant bartender must have sold him out to the soldiers.

Steve tried to think past the panic growing in his mind. He had to get away. He took a few deep breaths. ‘Think!’ He told himself then he remembered seeing a film once. Someone was tied to a wooden chair like this. He couldn’t remember if it was James Bond or Rambo. Maybe it was someone else? He shook his head to try and clear it of the muzzy thoughts. It didn’t matter. The thing was, the bloke had made the chair fall over backwards and it had splintered into pieces. He rocked the chair backwards and forwards a couple of times. Each time it went just a little bit further. Steve thought that it was going to work when all of a sudden it tipped just a little bit too far forwards. He had a spilt second to realise that he was going to land straight on his face before he did. He instinctively tried to put his hands out then his face smashed into the wooden floor boards. His felt his nose break with a crunch and then a horrible nausea spread from it around his face and down through his body. He groaned with the pain for a little while and then thought Bollocks, as he felt the blood starting to pool around his mouth and nose. He would have to turn his head sideways so that he could breathe. The weight of his body was on his face so the wooden floor painfully scraped at his nose again. He just gave up then as he felt his eyes begin to swell.

After about five very painful minutes he heard the door open and he heard what sounded like a young woman start laughing.

‘Now that is funny,’ she said after she had stopped laughing. ‘How did you end up like that?’ Then she started laughing again. ‘Oh god, I’m sorry,’ she said trying to catch her breath. ‘But that is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Just what were you trying to do?’

Steve couldn’t see her he was facing away from the door, but he heard her light footsteps walking towards him. Suddenly her pink and white trainers were right by his face. He felt the chair start to move and some the weight come off his face and then it dropped back down again.

‘Oomph!’ Steve’s face hurt all over again. He felt really sick now.

‘Oh sorry. I thought I could lift you up but I can’t you’re too heavy. I’ll have to go and get Dad.’

Steve didn’t even try to speak as the woman walked back across the room and out of the door. After a few more pain filled minutes he heard the heavy tread of a man coming in.

‘What the bloody hell have you done to yourself? You bloody idiot!’ It was the giant bartender. He felt himself being picked up. His head span as the chair was once more sat back on its four legs.

Steve looked at the big man blearily. The blood had stopped running now but his nose and eyes were swollen and extremely painful. He could only breathe through his mouth. ‘Why did you tie me up?’ he asked nasally.

The big man looked at him, shook his head and began to untie him from the chair. He looked over Steve’s shoulder. ‘Pass me that bowl of water and the cloth Angel,’ he said. ‘And can you go and get those painkillers and some drinking water. I’d better get him cleaned up a bit.’

‘Ok dad,’ Steve heard her voice and some movement from behind him but he didn’t bother turning to look.

‘I had to get you checked out you idiot,’ the bartender told him. ‘I’ve never seen you before then you come into my bar straight after an attack on the soldiers.’

Steve’s head hurt too much for him to think straight. It was either that or the big man was still not making any sense. He rubbed at his sore wrists. ‘I think I need those painkillers and a long lie down,’ he said.

‘We’ll get you cleaned up first and the painkillers are on the way,’ the big man told him as he finished untying his ankles and then stood back to look at him. ‘You’re a right bloody mess. You can’t go anywhere looking like that. Not at the moment. It looks too dodgy. They’ll pick you straight up for questioning.’

Steve closed his eyes then said, ‘What’s happening here and why would any of it concern you anyway?’

‘What I want to know is where you came from?’

‘Why does that matter?’ Steve still kept his eyes closed as the man started wiping his face. The cool water felt good on his hot skin.

‘Because you don’t live round here. I’ve never seen you before. Why did you kill the soldiers at the road block then just walk into town for a beer? Are there any more of you here? Are you part of some resistance group or are you just some kinda crazy bastard?’

Steve sighed. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He opened his eyes. They were so swollen now though that it hardly made any difference.

The big man smiled. ‘Listen to me son. I know you had something to do with it. You already said that I didn’t look like a muppet so don’t treat me like one.’

Steve closed his eyes again. It was too hard to keep them open against the swelling. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said. He heard the big man move back a bit.

‘My name’s George,’ he then heard him say. ‘And I’m just trying to help you.’

‘My name’s Steve and thanks,’ he said sarcastically. ‘You’ve been really helpful so far. This was just what I needed.’

‘Ok Steve, I’m really sorry about knocking you out and tying you up.’

‘Oh don’t mention it,’ Steve snuffled.

George smiled again. There was something about the young man that he liked. Angel came back with the painkillers and took some from the packet. She handed them to her dad. George handed him three of them and the glass of water. Steve swallowed them and drank the water then George carried on cleaning him up.

‘I heard all about the shooting about ten minutes before you walked into the bar.’ George told him.

Then as he was cleaning his face he started to tell him about the town and the soldiers. ‘Back at the beginning when the flu had been killing everyone off it was crazy here.’

Steve nodded slowly, hoping that this wasn’t going to be a long story. His head was killing him.

‘I suppose it must have been the same everywhere,’ George said, dabbing at the blood around his nose.

Steve grimaced. ‘That hurts a little bit,’ he said.

‘I bet it hurts a lot,’ George said. ‘You’ve broken it.’

‘Yeah I guessed that,’ Steve said. ‘So I don’t mean to be rude George but would you mind if we just skipped over the history lesson? I’m in a hell of a lot of pain here.’

‘The pain will fade in a minute. Those tablets should start working soon.’

Steve just sighed and gave up trying to turn this back into a sensible situation.

George continued. ‘It didn’t take us long though to realise that things would need sorting out.’

Steve’s mind started slipping away from what George was saying. He was thinking about how worried Scott would be getting because he hadn’t come back. He would have to try and get back to the farm before the silly bugger came looking for him.

George’s voice faded back in ‘We slowly got back to working the fields, fishing, looking after the farms and animals. Trading had also been set up in the town centre. People went there to barter for what they couldn’t get hold of. We were getting somewhere then the soldiers came.’

Steve nodded slowly. He knew the soldiers had come. He had been leading them at the time. He didn’t think George would want to hear that though.

‘There was some kind of agreement made and most of them had then left,’ George carried on. ‘There had only been a few soldiers here then but over the next few months more of them turned up. They started to get worse as well. Treating us all like shit.’

Steve was listening through some kind of haze now. The pain had faded from his face as he listened to George talk.

Apparently they now walked around the town as if they owned it. They demanded free food, drink and anything else that they wanted. They had set themselves up in what used to be a school only two streets away from George’s pub. Then even more soldiers came. There were now over fifty of them and they had started calling the school a garrison. They did no work or trade or anything else and they demanded that the people of Totnes support them. So George and his friends had started to meet to talk about fighting back against them. George thought that someone might have informed on their group. Although he then admitted that so far he and his friends hadn’t actually done anything. It had all been just talk.

George had heard about the shooting. One of his friends worked at the garrison cleaning and doing other jobs for the soldier’s. He had come straight from there to the pub and told George all about it.

‘Then a few minutes after that you walked into the pub looking suspicious and seeming to know about the attack.’

‘I knew you didn’t look right but I didn’t know what side you were on.’

Steve’s face had been cleaned up now and the painkillers were doing their job nicely.

‘Knocking me out was a stupid thing to do George.’ Steve told him. The drugs making him smile. ‘If I had been with the soldiers they would have come in after me when I didn’t come back out.’ For some reason Steve thought that was funny. He chuckled.

‘Yeah I thought about that afterwards,’ George said.

‘What makes you so sure you know now then?’ Steve was starting to feel really happy.

‘Well apart from the fact that you just told me, my friend at the garrison tells me that the soldiers don’t have a clue who did it or why. They don’t know what to do and they haven’t sent anyone out to try and find out yet.’ George sighed. ‘I’m really sorry boy but I got worried and I had to be sure. Can you stand up?’

Steve stood up. He felt a bit wobbly. ‘Looks like it,’ he said smiling.

George looked at him curiously then he picked up the painkillers. He looked at the box but he didn’t have his glasses on. He looked at his daughter. ‘Where did you get these from?’ He asked her frowning.

‘Your medicine box under the sink,’ she said innocently.

‘These are morphine,’ he told her. ‘They are really strong.’ He turned back to Steve just in time to catch him as he fell forward. He laid him on the floor then turned to Angel. ‘We gave him enough of them to knock out a horse you daft twit. I thought they were Aspirin from the cupboard.’

‘I looked there but couldn’t find them.’ Angel looked worried.

George bent down to check that Steve was breathing then looked down at his face. Under all the swelling it had a great big smile on it.

‘Oh well if he dies at least he’ll die happy.’

Chapter fifteen

Early morning 4th November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

Nick woke to darkness. That was an unusual thing in itself. Up until now he had always been woken by the light coming on. He stretched himself out on the floor, testing his strength, feeling for weaknesses and pain. He was extremely stiff and sore but he thought that most of that was due to the exercise earlier. He had slept for some time after his first bit of exercise then in the afternoon he had walked around the cell ten times again. He had then stood in the middle of the room and he had slowly started to go through some of his martial arts moves. Very slowly blocking and punching at imaginary enemies. He had kept this up for about ten minutes before his strength faded away and then he had gone back to lay in his corner.

Now he was awake in the dark. He had no way of knowing what time or even what day it was but something felt wrong. He sat up slowly and he was pleased that he felt a little stronger. He moved his arms about in front of himself. Once again he was pleased that they were strong enough to respond. He was just about to lie back down and try to go back to sleep when the door bolt screeched and the door flew open.

‘Shit!’ he heard then the light flickered on and Jeff ran into the room. ‘You’re awake,’ he said. ‘That’s good ‘cause we gotta get outa here tonight.’

Nick could see that Jeff was looking a bit stressed. ‘What’s happened?’

‘No time for that.’ Jeff then leant down and pulled Nick up onto his feet. ‘Can you walk?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good cause we gotta get out of here tonight,’ he said again.

Jeff let go of him and Nick took three wobbly steps then he took a deep breath and drew on reserves of stamina that he had built up over a lifetime. He righted himself and followed Jeff out of the room. He looked around. He had been unconscious when they had brought him down here so it was the first time that he had actually seen the corridor. He noticed that the floor and walls outside his room were also just unfinished bare concrete. He guessed that this part of the place was barely used. Jeff was heading for an elevator at the end of the short corridor. It was about twenty feet away. Nick thought that he could just about make it there. Jeff moved ahead of him and pressed the button. The doors slid open just as Nick reached them and he almost fell into it. His strength was fading.

‘Plan,’ he gasped as the doors slid shut and he leant heavily against the side of the elevator.

Jeff looked at him. ‘I’ve got some stuff in my room. We need to get there then get the fuck outa here.’

Nick was dizzy and nauseous. He didn’t have the energy to talk and stand so he just stayed quiet as the lift took them slowly upwards.

‘You were on level five.’ Jeff said then he looked at him and frowned. ‘Are you gonna be able to do this? You don’t look to good.’

‘Yes,’ Nick said. The word wheezed from his chest.

‘I could carry you. You look about as light as feather but you do stink though.’

Nick frowned at him. ‘I’ll manage,’ he said. The thought of having to be carried like a baby sent fresh adrenalin through his system. He stood up a bit straighter.

‘The main rooms are on the second floor down. I share with three other blokes. Hopefully they’ll be asleep. I’ve got clothes and food stashed under my bed.’ The lift stopped and the doors slid open. Jeff poked his head out. ‘Come on, there’s nobody here.’

‘What time is it?’ Nick asked looking down the dimly lit corridor. This one had vinyl on the floor. There were doors spaced every ten feet or so and the walls were painted light green.

‘About four, come on.’

Nick followed Jeff down the corridor. Once again Jeff went ahead. He stopped by one of the doors and Nick watched Jeff open the door slowly as he caught up.

Jeff turned to him. ‘They’re asleep,’ he whispered. Come on.’ They both went into the room and Jeff closed the door quietly. It wasn’t completely dark in the room. A small amount of green light was coming from alarm clock radios by the side of each of the four beds. There was just enough light for Nick to watch as Jeff went to the first bed on the left and knelt down by it. He pulled out a small rucksack from underneath it. Nick went over and sat down on the end of the bed. He was completely exhausted now and his breath was coming in short gasps. He remembered his own words "Don’t pant like a dog." and he began to slow his breathing down. Jeff was pulling clothes out of the rucksack.

‘Trousers,’ he told Nick, handing them to him.

Nick had to smile then. ‘Just cause I don’t have any on don’t mean I don’t know what they are,’ he whispered.

‘Just shut up and get dressed,’ Jeff whispered back. ‘I want to get out of ere quick.’

‘Sorry,’ Nick said then with Jeff’s help he started to put the clothes on. When he was finally dressed Jeff sighed with relief. Nick stood up. It felt weird wearing clothes again and the boots felt heavy on his feet. The clothes were somewhat baggy on him but Nick was now dressed the same as Jeff. Combat style trousers and a green jumper over a green t shirt.

Jeff picked up the rucksack. ‘Right let’s get the fuck outa here at last.’ He took one last look around the room. The three men in the other beds were still sleeping soundly. Nick knew from long years of service that you soon got used to people coming and going while you were asleep in a shared room. It was still quiet out in the corridor as they came out. Jeff slowly closed the door again. ‘The lift.’ he said pointing back down the corridor towards it. ‘There’s one floor above this then it’s ground level above that.’

Nick just nodded. He was running on empty now as they walked back to the elevator. Jeff punched the button and the lift doors opened immediately again. It was a good sign, Nick thought. Nobody else was using it at the moment.

When the doors had closed Jeff turned to him. ‘There will be a night guard at the desk upstairs. I will have to take him out,’ he said. ‘You pretend to be ill and I’ll hold you up. When I get close enough I’ll let go of you and I’ll hit him.’

Nick nodded again. He liked a plan even if it was a simple one. A few seconds later the lift opened up into a large reception area. As Jeff had said, there was just one guard sitting behind a desk over by the doors to the outside. He looked up and over at them as they came out of the lift. It was about twenty feet to the reception desk. Nick could see that the guard was looking at them suspiciously then he stood up and watched as they slowly come towards him.

‘Alright mate,’ Jeff called over to him. ‘My mates sick,’ he said. Nick let Jeff take most of his weight. He didn’t need to pretend to be sick. He felt absolutely terrible now. ‘Just taking him outside for some fresh air.’

The guard was still looking at them suspiciously and Nick knew that there was going to be trouble. They’d got about halfway across the open space when the guard started to slowly reach for the rifle that was lying on top of his desk. Jeff suddenly let go of Nick and dropped his pack to the floor. He then ran towards the guard. Nick fell in a heap on the tiled floor and watched as Jeff leaped the last few feet. He went crashing into the guard. They both went down and hit the floor hard. Jeff was on top but the guard had managed to get hold of his rifle and he now started firing it. The noise was deafening. Ceiling tiles and lights were being smashed to pieces then it stopped suddenly as Jeff smashed his head down hard into the guards face.

Nick watched as Jeff stood up pulling the rifle from the unconscious guard at the same time. ‘Now we really have to get the fuck outa here,’ he said. He had a big crazy smile on his face that Nick found a bit disturbing. He ran back, picked up his pack and pulled Nick up onto his feet. Then with Nick dragging along behind him they made it to the doors and outside. It was cold. That was the first thing that entered Nick’s mind. The last time he had been outside it had been hot. Nick looked up at the night sky. It was dark and cloudy, he couldn’t see the stars. Nick knew that they were still in immediate danger of being caught but he was just soaking up the feeling of being outside again.

They were both startled by the Land Rover as it suddenly came around the corner. The headlights blinded Nick as it headed straight towards them. Jeff started waving his rifle around at it though and shouting. Clever, Nick thought as the land Rover stopped alongside them and the driver jumped out, leaving the engine running.

‘What the fuck’s going on?’ The soldier shouted, coming round to them. He instinctively took hold of Nick’s other side and helped to support him.

‘Nothing,’ Jeff said as he let go of Nick and smashed the soldier in the side of the head with the rifle. As the soldier fell to the ground Jeff quickly grabbed Nick before he could fall again then he pulled open the rear door and bundled him onto the back seat. After slamming the door he ran around to the other side and climbed into the driver’s seat. He then revved the engine and took off at speed. They went around a couple of buildings and then Jeff headed straight for the main gate. The Land Rover was doing seventy miles an hour as they hit the wooden barrier. It exploded into pieces and then they were out. Nick held onto the seat and braced himself as best he could as Jeff hammered the vehicle down the country road. After about a mile he made a sharp left turn onto the slip road and then they were speeding down the A30 going east. Nick felt the driving even out into a smooth straight run and he released his death hold on the seat. Within a few more seconds he passed out.

Early Morning 4th November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

The soldier who had been knocked out in the reception area woke up with a pounding headache. At first he thought he’d been out drinking last night then he looked at the smashed up ceiling and realised where he was. Suddenly it all came back to him.

‘Help!’ he called out as loud as he was able to with his head pounding at him. After a few minutes he knew that he would have to get up and go to find someone. He’d made it up onto his knees when the door burst open and the rest of the night guard rushed in. The eleven men stormed about looking in corners or waited patiently depending on their particular dispositions while Lieutenant Hammond, the duty officer asked him just what the fuck had happened here.

The soldier had managed to stand up by now but he was leaning on the reception desk and he was in serious danger of throwing up. ‘I’m not quite sure sir,’ he said, putting his hand over his mouth.

‘There’s a man lying outside on the ground with his head bleeding. We can’t wake him up. Then there’s you in here with all this mess and all you can say is “I’m not quite sure.”‘

‘It was that big guy Sir.’ The soldier closed his eyes for a second. ‘The one who goes around with the General sometimes. Big crazy looking bloke with blonde hair.’

The Lieutenant waited for a second then shouted, ‘and?’

The soldier flinched back then turned his head to the side and threw up all over the reception desk. ‘Aah god..Sorry Sir,’ he said wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He was looking very pale now.

‘Shit!’ the Lieutenant stepped away from the soldier and looked away from the mess on the desk. ‘So you’re telling me that you don’t know why he caused all this mess and then smashed right through the main gates in a Land Rover?’ he asked with a distasteful expression on his face.

‘He had someone with him Sir.’ The soldier covered his mouth and burped. ‘A really skinny bloke. He didn’t look very well.’

The Lieutenant frowned and shook his head. ‘Can you walk?’ he asked.

The soldier nodded.

‘Get yourself down to the medical centre then.’ He then held his hand up to stop him. ‘But I’ll be speaking to you again later,’ he warned him sternly.

‘Yes Sir.’ He took a step forward, wobbled a bit and then carried on out the door.

The Lieutenant looked all around and then turned to the other soldiers. ‘Well I haven’t got a fucking clue what all this is about,’ he told them. ‘Roberts and Calder get that soldier outside down to the medical centre. The rest of you might as well go back to your normal duties,’ he said. ‘We’ll have to wait until morning before taking this any further.’

As the Lieutenant watched the men shuffle out of the door he had no idea that he had just made the worst decision of his life.

Chapter sixteen

Morning 4th November 2014 Corfe Mullen, Dorset.

Jeff had been driving for just over two hours now and he could see the grey light of the new day arriving. They had come out of Devon and they were now in Dorset on the A31. They had been on this road for a while now still heading east and Nick had stayed asleep for the whole time on the back seat. They were coming up to yet another roundabout. Jeff scowled. He was getting fed up with having to slow down for them. There seemed to be too many on this road for some reason. This roundabout had a sign for a place called Corfe Mullen. Jeff decided that he had been driving for long enough and that this town had such a weird name that nobody would think of looking for them there. He slowed right down again so that Nick didn’t fall off the seat and he went round the small roundabout and headed up the road towards Corfe Mullen. It didn’t seem like there was much going on here to Jeff but it was only just starting to get light. He came up to yet another roundabout slowed down and went straight across this one and then on the left he saw a pub. Perfect, he thought. Please god let there be some beer left.

‘Nick,’ he called glancing over his shoulder and then back at the road as he drove. He glanced back again and saw that Nick had come awake. Jeff pulled the Land Rover into the pub car park. ‘I think I found a place that we can hang out in for a while.’

‘Aah shit, I feel like crap.’ Nick didn’t bother trying to sit up yet.

‘You look like crap to mate,’ Jeff told him happily.

‘Thanks mate. Where are we anyway?’

‘Corpse woollen, or some kinda weird name like that, but there’s a pub here though and it don’t look all smashed up.’ Jeff pulled to a stop by some overgrown bushes in the car park. He then turned the engine off and threw open his door. ‘I’ll go take a look then come back and get ya.’ Jeff jumped out then walked over to the pub’s big red front door. He tried the handle but it was locked. He took a few steps back and looked up at the windows upstairs then he walked around the back. He tried the door there but that was locked as well. He took a step back again but this time he hammered a kick at the solid looking hardwood door. He bounced right back off it. ‘Bollocks!’ He swore then he looked at the large downstairs window.

Back in the Land Rover Nick sat up slowly. He felt really dizzy again and still very weak. He smiled though as he looked out and all around. It was getting lighter outside and he could see that the whole place had a really deserted look. He carried on smiling. He was just so glad to be out of that cell. He leant over and pulled on the door handle then slowly pushed the door open. After shunting himself across the seat he swung his legs out. He waited a few more seconds to regain a small amount of strength then he put his feet on the ground and stood up. That was when he heard the loud sound of smashing glass. The noise echoed past him and down the silent street. Nick shook his head slowly. Let’s wake the neighbours up nice and early Jeff, he thought and then started to make his way slowly around to the back of the pub. He saw Jeff knocking the last pieces of jagged glass from around the broken window with a large table umbrella.

‘I think they may have heard that back in Okehampton,’ he said, smiling at him.

‘Nah, we’re over two hours away and in a different county.’ Jeff told him then he threw the umbrella behind him and started to climb through the window. ‘I’ll go round and open the door for you.’

Nick nodded and went over to the door. He could hear Jeff on the other side of it clicking and turning locks. Eventually the door was pulled inwards.

Jeff was standing inside with a large grin on his face. ‘You’re never gonna guess what?’ he said.

Nick looked at the happy grin. ‘The bar has alcohol left,’ he said.

Jeff’s face dropped. ‘How did you guess that,’ he asked disappointedly.

‘Deduction my dear Watson,’ Nick told him.

‘Ha-ha, you’re being Sherlock Holmes now.’

Nick studied Jeff for a few seconds. He found that he was really starting to like the big guy. He was like a mixture of his brother Bill and the dog. If both of them had died and come back in one body then it would be Jeff. He smiled at him again. ‘It was pretty easy to guess what would put such a large grin on your great big face. I think you had better take a good look around in there now though mate. It’s unusual to see a pub in such mint condition these days.’

‘You think there’s someone in here?’

‘Yeah there’s a good chance. Possibly more than one person as well so go careful Jeff.’

‘No problem,’ Jeff said turning around and disappearing into the darkness inside the pub. Nick slowly made his way around to the bar then he went behind it to see if he could find some crisps or other snacks. He was starving. Literally, he thought. His luck was in. It really seemed as if nothing had been touched in here. He had a feeling that all Jeff would find would be a few dried up corpses upstairs but he needed him to have a good look around before he could relax. A few minutes later as he was finishing his second bag of crisps he heard Jeff stomping back down the stairs.

‘I’m behind the bar!’ he called out.

Jeff came into the bar area through an internal door and then, in the dim light walked straight into a table and four chairs. There was a great big crash of breaking wood and then a colourful bit of swearing from Jeff as he untangled himself from the wooden wreckage.

‘Fuckin stupid place to put a table and chairs,’ he said brushing himself down and then joining Nick behind the bar. ‘There’s just a few dead ones up there.’

Nick just nodded.

‘What you found? Some crisps?’

‘Yeah, there’s loads here if you want some,’ Nick said around a crunchy mouthful.

‘No, you’re alright. You need to fill your muscles back up if your gonna go back and fight Simon. I’m just gonna have a few drinks.’

Nick smiled. ‘You do that mate,’ he said, opening another bag and putting some more crisps into his mouth. ‘Cheese and onion,’ he told Jeff, watching as the big fella started moving bottles of lager out of a dark fridge and onto the bar.

Jeff smiled at him as he walked back around to the front of the bar and sat on a stool. He picked up one of the bottles and bit the lid off. ‘You never asked me why we had to leave that army place quick did ya?’ Jeff put the bottle to his mouth and tipped it up, taking a long swallow. ‘Aah that’s heaven.’

Nick shook his head slowly as he finished chewing a mouthful of crisps. ‘I’m just really fucking glad to be out of there Jeff,’ Nick said, swallowing. ‘I thought I would need to be fit enough to fight before I left but you did it all on your own. That was pretty good work mate.’

‘Thanks mate.’ Jeff drained his bottle and picked another one up. ‘Had to though.’ he bit the lid off again.

‘You know that’s really bad for your teeth,’ Nick said, wincing. His own teeth, like the rest of his body were hurting.

‘Nah,’ Jeff said. ‘People always say that but I’ve been doing it for years.’ He opened his mouth to show Nick his teeth.

Nick smiled. Jeff’s teeth were as big as a horse’s. ‘You’re a strange one Jeff,’ he told him.

‘People always say that as well,’ he said, smiling. ‘Anyway,’ he said then paused to pick up yet another bottle. ‘Simon was gonna kill you today.’ Jeff pointed the bottle at him. ‘I heard him telling that big German mate of his.’

Nick stopped chewing and looked at Jeff while he was thinking. ‘The German’s name, is it Klaus?’

Jeff bit another lid off. ‘Yeah. Anyway the German said that it was a bit weird keeping you locked up like that, and dangerous. He said keeping you alive was dangerous.’ Jeff looked at Nick. ‘They both got some kind of fear of you eh? And there’s you who can hardly stand up.’ Jeff laughed. ‘So Simon got angry and said he’d kill you then if that’s what he wanted. So that’s why I had to get outa there.’

Nick watched as Jeff drank the whole of his third bottle of beer down in one go. He watched Jeff but he was thinking about Klaus. With the German by his side Simon had a very good chance of succeeding with his plans. He opened another bag of crisps and started crunching on them slowly. He also realised that he was also going to have to be really careful now as well. There weren’t many people that worried Nick but Klaus was one of them.

Morning 4th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Steve had slept through the rest of that afternoon and on into the night. When he woke it was pitch black. He couldn’t see a thing and he realised that he was only wearing his boxer shorts. He was lying in a clean and comfortable bed though and his face was hurting like hell so he decided he’d have to trust whoever had put him here. He lay there for a little while thinking about all of the unexpected things that had happened to him. His little scouting mission had turned into a right mess, he thought. At some point he had fallen back to sleep and when he woke next the light was shining through the pale yellow curtains. He looked around. He was in a small but clean and tidy room. He could see a chest of drawers, a dressing table with a mirror sitting on top of it and a low stool in front of it. He swung his legs over the bed and then stood up slowly to test for any other injuries. Apart from his face though he felt absolutely fine. He went over to the dressing table to assess the damage. He was so shocked by the state of his face that he sat straight down on the stool and just stared at himself in the mirror. His nose looked about twice its normal size and both of his eyes were black. At least the swelling had gone down a bit around his eyes though, he thought. He was still sitting there staring at himself when the bedroom door opened and Angel walked in. As Steve saw her reflection in the mirror he noticed two things very quickly. The first one was that she was blonde and extremely pretty, stunning in fact. The second one was that he was only wearing boxer shorts. He flung his hands across his lap as she smiled and came into the room.

‘You’re up then,’ she said happily.

Steve looked down at his lap, then he realised what she meant. He was glad that his face was already red and black. ‘Er...yeah,’ he said.

‘Dad said I gave you too many tablets.’ She had the cutest accent. Steve wondered how old she was. Twenty, he thought. Maybe a little older.

‘Er..no I feel absolutely fine,’ he said. He didn’t want to move just yet so he carried on talking to her reflection in the mirror. He watched as she sat down on the bed. That move didn’t help with his embarrassment at all. ‘Hey you wouldn’t happen to know where my clothes are would you?’ he asked her.

‘You’ve got a nice back,’ she said ignoring his question.

Steve was at a complete loss about what to say to that so he was extremely glad when he saw George’s reflection in the mirror. He moved very quietly for such a big man. Steve was also glad to see that he was carrying some clothes.

‘You can stop winding him up now Angel and go start getting some food ready. The boys will be round soon.’

Steve watched as Angel stood up again. She smiled at his reflection in the mirror and then sauntered past her father. ‘Yes Dad,’ she said as she left.

‘Right little sod that one. She always has been,’ George told him.

Steve noticed that George was filling the whole mirror now. He looked down again and it was obvious that there was no way that he could turn around yet. He forced himself to stop thinking about Angel.

‘Are those my clothes you have there?’ he asked.

‘She can get a man into some serious trouble if he’s not careful.’ George put the bundle of clothes on the bed and then looked at him knowingly in the mirror. ‘Do you understand what I’m saying Steve?’

Steve coughed then said, ‘I think so George.’

‘Good,’ George said. Right your own clothes were covered in dirt and blood so we’ve found you some more. There’s all you need there.’ He pointed at the pile. ‘It’s one thing we’re not short of since the flu. Your two knives are there as well.’

‘Thanks George.’ Steve looked down and saw that it was safe to turn around now. So he did and stood up. George towered over him in the small room but Steve held out his hand to the big man. ‘Thanks for putting me up.’

George looked down and then took Steve’s hand in his. ‘Don’t mention it Steve. It was the least we could do after knocking you out and tying you up.’ He looked at Steve’s face. ‘But don’t forget you did that to yourself.’

‘I won’t,’ Steve told him. ‘And I definitely won’t be trying that move again.’

George smiled at him. ‘I’m glad to see someone fighting back against this lot. God knows where it’s all going to lead though.’

Steve looked up at him. ‘I told you I had nothing to do with that,’ Steve said.

‘Yeah.’ George laughed. ‘Then the morphine kicked in, he lied.’

Steve looked at him worriedly. ‘What have I told you George?’

‘Don’t worry, it’s nothing I didn’t already know.’

‘Ok.’ Steve was starting to worry though. ‘I can talk some right crap when I’m under the influence of drugs.’

George frowned at him. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I know that you took out the soldiers. That was pretty impressive. Five armed men on your own. Are you sure you didn’t have any help?’

‘Yeah,’ Steve said. ‘But I only wanted to come into town to find out what was happening. I’ve been living on a farm for the last few months. We’ve had no contact with the outside world. I wasn’t expecting the road block so I just drove down the road and straight into it. I had to improvise.’

George knew he had guessed right. ‘You had to improvise.’ He studied Steve. He looked at his toned and muscled body. ‘I can see you’ve been growing your hair and a beard but you don’t look like a farmer to me,’ he said.

‘No,’ Steve said. ‘Not always anyway. But I wasn’t looking for trouble.’

George shook his head and smiled at him. ‘Trouble found you though eh?’ He pointed at the clothes. ‘Why don’t you get yourself dressed Steve? Some of my friends will be here soon and they’ll be some food ready before long.’ George turned around and stepped back out of the small room. ‘Just you mind my girl though eh. Trouble she is,’ he told Steve over his shoulder. ‘Last bloke ended up being dragged up the river on a rope from the back of my boat.’

‘Sure no worries,’ Steve said nodding. ‘I get the picture George.’ An image of her blonde hair, blue eyes and stunning face jumped into his mind. ‘Must be hard looking after her,’ Steve added.

‘Yes it’s hard but I manage quite well.’ George was halfway down the landing by now.

‘About that boat,’ Steve called after him, remembering something he had thought of yesterday.

‘Later Steve,’ George called back. ‘Get dressed now then come down and get some food.’ He disappeared down the stairs and Steve turned back to look at the clothes that he had brought him. He was worried about meeting George’s friends but then Angels face popped back into his mind. It made him smile then he started to get dressed.

Chapter seventeen

Morning 4th November 2014 Corfe Mullen, Dorset.

Before Jeff had become too drunk Nick showed him how to set up a dead fall trap just inside the now broken window. If anybody tried to sneak in on them through that way they would set the trap off and bring a large pile of chairs and tables down on themselves. It should give them enough warning. Nick then ate another four bags of crisps, two bags of pork scratching’s and drank four bottles of water while Jeff drank an amazing amount of bottles of lager in such a short space of time. Nick gave up counting them at thirteen. Nick was very happy to be out of that cell but he now had a lot to think about. He didn’t mention his worries to Jeff as they had sat there chatting. The big guy had done more than enough to earn the enjoyment of a worry free drinking session.

When Nick could hardly stay awake any longer he told Jeff that he was going to get some sleep. Jeff said that he was knackered as well anyway. So they both went upstairs. They finally settled on sharing the twin guest room. It would be safer for them to be together if they were discovered. It was also the bedroom that was the furthest away from the dead ones. Nick had been right. Jeff had found three dried out corpses in one of the bedrooms earlier. The situation here was very much like in the house that Nick had found on the outskirts of Totnes. They hadn’t looked around properly yet but Nick had a good idea that the landlord of this pub had stocked up with food and water and then he had locked his doors to wait out the trouble. Unfortunately he and his family had then all died of the flu.

Nick slept for a few hours then woke up slowly. His heart lifted when he remembered where he was. The sight of sunshine coming through the window was a pure joy. It seemed like everything was new to him again after being locked in that cell. It wasn’t so much because of the length of time he had been down there. He had been locked up before for a lot longer than that. It was the fact that he had been so certain that he was going to die while rotting away down there.

He looked over at the still snoring Jeff and thanked him silently then he stood up slowly and left the big man to his sleep. They had both slept fully clothed in case they were disturbed so he just went out of the bedroom and quietly closed the door. He then took a look around upstairs. His first priority today was to get clean and have a shave. He was so dirty that he could hardly stand the smell of himself.

He found the bathroom down the hallway and he was glad to see that there was a bath in there. There were also all kinds of soaps and body washes scattered around. After searching for a little while he found what else he was looking for. There was a Gillette razor and a new pack of blades. All he needed now was for the taps to work. He put the plug in and then turned the taps on. His luck was in today. Water came out of them. He had found during his travels that the taps worked in some places and not in others. He thought that it probably depended on the water towers or the amount of people using the water but he wasn’t sure. He was just glad that it was still working here at the moment. He started to get undressed.

Jeff woke up just as he normally did. Confused. Over the past six months he had woken up drunk in so many different places that he always had to lie there and try to remember where he was for a while. He had also a headache as usual. That helped him to remember where he was and that helped him to remember the escape from Okehampton in the night. He looked over at the other bed but Nick wasn’t in it so he rubbed at his head and stood up. He suddenly realised that he needed to pee badly so he quickly went down the stairs and out into the back garden. He looked around. It was a bit nippy but the sun was out, then he smiled as he saw Nick sitting out there by a small fire stirring something in a large pot that was hanging over it. The smell of cooking food hit him and his mouth watered.

‘Are you hungry mate?’ Nick turned around to face him.

Jeff laughed. Nick’s head and face was completely shaved. ‘I see you had a haircut?’ he said, walking over and looking in the pot.

‘It’s tinned sausages and beans and yeah, I’ve had a haircut and a bath.’

‘I like tinned sausages and beans,’ Jeff told him then he said, ‘I’ve just got to piss.’

Nick watched as Jeff rushed up to the back of the garden. He was now beginning to think that Jeff reminded him more of the dog rather than Bill, but that wasn’t a bad thing. He went back to stirring the food. When Jeff came back he told him that it was ready and started spooning some of the food into a bowl for him.

‘So what’s with the new look then?’ Jeff asked. He was smiling as Nick handed him the bowl.

‘It’s not a new look,’ Nick told him as he began filling his own bowl.

‘You look like you’ve just escaped from a concentration camp.’ Jeff started shovelling the food down.

‘Yeah well that part of it is a new look and one that I hope to lose pretty soon.’ Nick put a large spoonful of food in his mouth and chewed slowly. It was the first hot food he’d had since the rabbit that the dog had caught for him over two months ago. He thought about the dog then and wondered again if it was still alive out there somewhere. He hoped so. He looked over at Jeff. ‘I must admit though that I don’t normally have it this short,’ he told him. ‘I normally use a battery shaver and keep it trimmed, but I left mine in an alley, along with everything else when they caught me.’

Jeff did a loud burp and then put his bowl on the ground. ‘Well what’s the plan now then?’ he asked.

Nick smiled again. Unlike himself, Jeff was definitely a here and now type person. He liked that. He had found that those type of people where a lot easier to be around. The past is done and gone and there’s no point in thinking about it. ‘We need to see if we are sharing the area with anyone,’ he told Jeff. ‘There’s plenty of food and bottled water stored inside the pub.’ Nick put his empty bowl down on the ground. He looked at Jeff. ‘I don’t actually think there’s anyone around here,’ he said. ‘If I’m right I think we should stay here while I recover.’

Jeff looked back at him and nodded. ‘Cool,’ he said. ‘There’s plenty of alcohol in that pub to. I like the plan. You eat and I’ll drink, then when you’re better we go and kill the bastard!’

Nick nodded. He knew that he would have to do more than eat to achieve that though. He would have to train his body hard as well. He wanted the food that he ate to give him back the solid muscles that he once had. He pictured Bill’s torn up body and then Simon’s face. Yes he thought. Killing Simon was something that was long overdue, but he would have to be ready first. Especially now he knew that Klaus was on the scene.

Morning 4th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

As Steve came down the stairs he could hear men’s voices. He followed the sound and came into a large warm kitchen. Five men were sat around a big old wooden table. They all looked up at him as he walked in. He noticed straight away that none of them looked at all happy to see him. Well the feeling is mutual, he thought.

Angel was standing over by a big old range stove. She had a white apron on over her clothes and she was holding a large frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. She at least seemed happy to see him but he quickly looked away from her. It was with some relief that he saw George come in through another door on the other side of the kitchen.

‘Steve,’ he said, smiling. ‘I would like you to meet some of my friends.’

Steve looked back down at the men sitting around the table. They still didn’t look very happy to see him.

‘I don’t think that your friends are very pleased to see me,’ he said, looking back at George.

‘Nonsense,’ George told him as he went and sat at the end of the table smiling. ‘Come on then, come and sit down. We’re going to eat soon.’

Steve looked at the table. There were two empty chairs. One of them was next to an older looking guy with a weather beaten face. The other chair was next to a bloke who looked about the same age as he was. Steve frowned at the completely hostile look coming from him. He decided that he would take his chances next to the older guy.

‘Hi everyone,’ he said as he pulled out the chair and sat down. He received a few nods back from some of them. He looked over at George. ‘Is there something going on here that I don’t know about?’ He asked, then he watched as George looked around the table. It was only then that he seemed to notice that his friends didn’t look very happy.

‘What’s the problem here gentlemen?’ he asked.

‘It’s him George.’ Steve saw that it was the younger guy with the hostile look that had spoken.

‘How do we know we can trust him George?’ This was from a chubby looking guy wearing glasses. He was sitting down the other end of the table next to George.’

Steve watched as George looked around curiously at his friends.

The older man sitting next to Steve turned to him. ‘We don’t mean to be rude Steve,’ he said. ‘It’s just that these are dangerous times and we don’t know who you are.’

Steve was about to agree with him whole heartedly when the younger guy suddenly spoke up again. ‘What have you told him about us George?’ he demanded.

Steve felt a sudden tension in the room as George looked at the man. ‘Pardon?’ he asked him quietly. Steve noticed that everyone was looking at George worriedly now.

‘I said w-’

‘I know what you said young Allan!’ George was suddenly on his feet. He towered over the table and his face was full of rage. ‘I just can’t believe you said it. Why are you behaving like this at my table?’ he asked. ‘This man is an invited guest in my home. The same as you so I won’t have you treating him like this?’

Steve was watching the other men as George spoke. They all looked like they wished they were somewhere else. He stood up slowly. ‘Ok everyone,’ he said calmly. He was looking at George though. ‘Shall we just start all over again?’ He smiled then and looked around. He thought he could see relief in some of the faces. ‘I can understand why you are all a bit wary,’ he told them. ‘You don’t know me. I get that. I don’t know any of you either.’ He looked at George again. ‘I don’t think that Allan meant to cause any insult.’ He looked at Allan and was surprised to see that he was still staring at him spitefully.

Steve looked back at George and saw the anger start to leave his face. The big man gave Allan one more look then sat back down. Steve sat back down as well, thinking that it was all over but then George looked at Allan.

‘No!’ he said suddenly. I’m not havin’ it. You might as well go Allan,’ he said quietly. ‘Get your coat and go home. I’ll not have you here today.’

Bollocks, Steve thought. He looked from George to Allan. The young man didn’t say anything but his face had gone very pale. He just stood up stiffly and turned from the table then he went over to where the coats were hanging and pulled his own from the hook. It was right at that moment when Steve noticed that there might be another reason why Allan had been so hostile towards him. He saw Allan glance over towards the stove and look at Angel before going out through the door. He heard another door slam a few seconds later and he looked around the table again.

George looked over at him and smiled. ‘Sorry about that Steve. That boy’s always been a bit of a hothead. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to tell him off over the years.’ George then looked over at Angel. ‘Is that food ready yet darling?’

Steve sat quietly with the rest of the men as Angel came over and started dishing out the food. He felt really uncomfortable now and he was a bit worried about an angry Allan running around outside. George hadn’t seen the hate in the man’s face, or the look he had thrown Angel. He wished once more that he had just stayed on the farm. He should have at least gone back after the road block incident. This was all getting far too complicated.

After dishing out the bacon and eggs Angel sat down and they all ate quietly then when they were finished eating George introduced Steve to everyone.

‘I was going to do all this before we ate but we had all that funny stuff with Allan,’ he said. ‘Steve this is Ian.’ He pointed at the chubby one with glasses. ‘Then there’s Amos.’ George pointed to a slim friendly looking man. ‘And that’s Jason.’ Jason was tall with short blonde hair. ‘Samuel is sitting next to you and Allan was obviously the one who slammed the door on his way out.’

Steve nodded to them all and then forgot their names almost immediately. He didn’t know how anyone could remember people’s names like that. George carried on speaking.

‘Gents this is Steve he was the one who shot up the soldiers at the road block yesterday.’

Steve cringed at that and then frowned at George.

George noticed. ‘What?’ he asked confused.

‘The less people know about that the better,’ he told George as the big man started frowning back at him. Steve was worried now that he would be the next one slamming the door on his way out.

George stopped talking and looked at him for a second. The other men stayed quiet then Angel spoke into the silence.

‘He’s right dad,’ she said. She looked at Steve and smiled and then looked back at her dad. ‘He’s just met us all and he doesn’t know us. Plus you have knocked him out and tied him up. Then he smashed his own face in.’ She suddenly had a broad grin on her face and a small laugh burst out. ‘Sorry,’ she said, then her dad smiled at that as well and then suddenly everyone was looking at Steve’s smashed up face and laughing, even Steve chuckled a bit although it made his face hurt even more.

The laughing eased the tension though and George stood up. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I’m just impatient to get something done but it’s not fair on Steve.’ George looked at his friends. ‘I’ve jumped the gun a bit this morning. I shouldn’t have said anything so keep it all to yourselves eh,’ he said. ‘I’ll see you all a bit later in the bar.’

They all smiled and said no problem. Steve thought they looked glad to be getting out of here. He wished that he could go with them. There go four more people who know about me, he thought. After they had thanked Angel for the food and then filed out Steve looked at George. ‘I can understand that you want to do something about the situation here George,’ he told him. ‘But I have to tell you that I didn’t come here to be a part of any plot to save Totnes. I only left the farm to see what things were like now. The road block thing was an unfortunate accident and I would rather no one else found out about it if you don’t mind.’

‘So you don’t want to help us then?’ George frowned.

‘Help you do what George? Take back your town? Kill all the soldiers?’ He looked at George and watched his frown deepen. ‘You must know that these soldiers are just a small part of a much bigger army. Getting rid of them would only cause you more trouble.’

George put his head into his hands and rubbed at his eyes then he looked up. ‘So you’re saying that we should just carry on putting up with it then?’

Steve looked at him. His face hurt and he felt really tired now for some reason. ‘I’m saying that you don’t have much choice. If you and your friends ever manage to get enough support to take on these soldiers here then you would really regret it.’

‘Why,’ George asked him.

Steve looked at him. ‘Do you really not understand what’s happening out there?’ He looked down at the table. ‘You don’t do you? That’s exactly how Simon has managed to get this far.’

‘What do you mean?’ George asked him.

Steve looked back up at him. ‘All the towns are isolated from each other. Each one was relieved to see someone come in and take control of the madness. Each one was taken individually with hardly any trouble at all. None of them had any idea what was happening elsewhere. Simon has a lot more soldiers than the ones that you have seen here George, and a lot more towns like this under his control.’

‘So it’s like this everywhere then?’ Angel asked quietly.

‘Well I came off the farm to try and find out how far it had gone but I assume that it’ll be like this in a lot of places by now,’ Steve told her sadly.

George had been watching Steve carefully. ‘How do you know so much about it then?’ he asked. ‘If you’ve just been living on some farm.’

Steve looked from George to Angel. It wouldn’t be a good idea to tell them anything about himself but he also didn’t want to see them get themselves killed. Not over some half assed plan to free their town. He thought of what Simon might do with Angel.

‘I know what I know,’ Steve said. ‘Can you just let that be enough for now?’ He looked at them while they both looked back at him.

‘That’s enough for me dad.’ Angel looked across at her dad as she said it.

George just looked at her and then he got up from the table and left the room. Angel looked over at Steve.

‘I’m sorry,’ Steve told her. ‘But if something goes wrong it would be better if you didn’t know anything about me.’

‘I believe you Steve,’ she told him. ‘It’s just that dad has been making plans since the soldiers first come here. We had some weasel of a man trying to run things back then and he just gave up the town to the soldiers without even an argument. Dad has been annoyed about it ever since.’

Steve looked down at the table. He hoped that Angel or her dad never found out that it was actually him who had made that weasel of a man give up the town without an argument. ‘Just out of interest,’ he said. ‘Where is that weasel of a man now? Is he still running anything?’ He looked back up at Angel.

‘No,’ she said. ‘That’s a funny thing.’ She stood up and began to pick up the dirty breakfast plates. ‘Him and his two friends never came back from taking that pervert up to Okehampton. Nobody misses them though. Mean lot they were.’

Steve looked up at her. His head was starting to ache again now. ‘You had a pervert here?’ he asked, not really interested. He was just glad that the weasel had gone.

‘Well not really,’ Angel said. ‘We were given these pictures of this man and then he just came into town a couple of months ago.’ She walked some plates over to the sink. ‘He just walked right in and they all beat him up. There was supposed to be a reward but they never came back.’ She came back to the table for some more plates. ‘Maybe that was their reward eh?’ she said. ‘Not having to come back here.’

Chapter eighteen

Morning 4th November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

Simon was confused. His morning routine was not happening. He had not been woken by his new orderly. He also had no coffee sitting on the bedside cabinet. He looked over at his clock again. It was telling him that the time was zero eight twelve. That couldn’t be right but it was impossible to tell whether the clock was right or not without getting up and finding somebody. Down here in the underground base there was of course no daylight. Simon couldn’t decide if he should just wait for the big lout to bring his coffee or if he should get up and find somebody. He decided he would wait for a little bit longer then he immediately got out of bed. His clothes were hanging in the wardrobe so he dressed groggily. He liked his morning routine. He liked being woken gently and given his coffee. He liked it when his clock told him the correct time.

He only realised that something was terribly wrong when he came out into the main corridor and he saw soldiers everywhere, going about their daily duties. He was late! He held out his hand and stopped one of them.

‘What time is it soldier?’ he demanded.

‘Aah..Sir.’ The soldier saluted him.

‘The time soldier!’ Simon suddenly shouted at him. ‘And sometime before I am forced to kill you would be nice!’

The soldier quickly looked at his watch. ‘Zero eight twenty seven Sir!’ the soldier told him, while at the same time he thanked god that he was wearing his watch.

Simon dropped his hand and walked past him. The soldier took one look at the General’s back and then turned around and very quickly left the area.

Simon walked on in a daze until he came to his office. He pushed open the door and went inside to sit behind the desk. It was only when he looked down at his desk and started to read the report there that he properly came awake.

Fifteen minutes later Lieutenant Hammond and two soldiers with injured faces were standing before his desk. Two minutes after that there were three loud gunshots. They echoed through the underground base. At just before zero nine hundred hours Klaus calmly walked into Simon’s office.

‘He’s escaped!’ Simon said frantically, looking up at him.

Klaus looked at the three dead soldiers. Interestingly they had landed in a kind of pile in front of the desk. Their arms and legs were intertwined.

‘How did he manage that?’ Klaus asked while still looking at the bodies. ‘The man could not even stand up. You have been starving him for months.’

Simon sighed. ‘Apparently it was that big ape. You know the one who I took on as my orderly. He helped him.’ Simon pointed at the pile of bodies in front of his desk. ‘One of those described him.’

Klaus shook his head at the wasted men. ‘I wonder why your orderly would help him,’ he said. ‘There has to be a good reason why he would have done that.’

Simon shrugged his shoulders. ‘I only showed him down there once.’

‘You showed him Nick Smith down in that cell?’ Klaus had a completely astonished look on his face. He knew that Simon was losing the plot but this was getting ridiculous. Klaus wondered if Simon had actually contracted the virus all those months ago and it had somehow not killed him but rotted his brain instead.

‘He knew him from before,’ Simon said. ‘He told me that he had wanted to kill him. I liked the man.’

Klaus had seen Simon’s new orderly and he had already made the assumption that the man was as batty as Simon was. He wouldn’t have thought that the man was capable of deception. It was an interesting line of thought that Klaus would save for later. At the moment he would have to deal with the fallout from this.

‘Who knows about the escape?’ he asked.

Simon shrugged. ‘The whole night guard I suppose. They crashed out right through the gates as they got away.’

‘Others will know by now then,’ Klaus said. ‘People talk. I told you that you should have killed Nick straight away.’

‘And I was going to,’ Simon said angrily. ‘But then I wanted to make him suffer. I was going to kill him today though. Like I told you I would.’

Klaus thought back to their conversation yesterday. ‘Your..’ he paused, ‘orderly was present when you told me that yesterday wasn’t he?’ Klaus could remember him being there. ‘It is looking to me like he came here to rescue Nick.’ And you helped him you mad bastard, he thought.

Simon looked down at the desk. ‘He will come for me now you know.’

Klaus nodded. He knew very well that Nick would come for Simon now. Nick would not fall into the same trap again either. All that could be done now though was to try and make something out of this situation. He couldn’t have it all fall apart now. He had just got used to the idea of being the king of England.

‘A crazy man ran loose. He killed a few guards and escaped,’ Klaus said. ‘Nick Smith did not escape from here because you killed him months ago. He was not kept here starved and living in his own filth. Nobody escaped from here apart from your crazy orderly.’

Simon looked at Klaus and nodded. ‘That sounds good but we will have to remove the whole guard from last night for that story to work.’

Klaus looked back at Simon thinking that at least he had not lost all of his marbles. ‘Let us not do it down here though,’ he told Simon as he once more looked down at the pile of bodies. ‘It would be better as well if you didn’t just go out there and shoot them all. We will have to come up with some kind of story for this.’ He pointed at the pile of bodies on the floor. We will say that you were attacked and you managed to defend yourself. It will also increase the rumours of your prowess.’

Simon looked up at Klaus. ‘But what about Nick though?’

‘That is something that I will need to think about.’ Klaus looked at Simon for a few seconds while he thought, then he asked, ‘would you be interested in leading the campaign to take over the base at St Georges Barracks at Luffenham?’

Simon looked at him suspiciously. ‘Why?’ he asked.

‘What do you mean, why?’ Klaus asked calmly then looked at his watch as if he was bored.

Simon studied Klaus and Klaus carried on looking bored. Klaus knew that if Simon thought that he wanted him to go then he wouldn’t go. It amused Klaus a little that they were having a polite conversation while three of their own men laid dead cooling on the floor of the office.

‘Why would you want me to lead this one?’

‘I don’t,’ Klaus said. ‘I have some things to sort out now Simon so I will have to go soon.’

Simon just carried on looking at Klaus then he suddenly said, ‘Ok!’

‘What is ok?’

‘The attack on Luffenham is leaving from Colchester.’

‘I know this,’ Klaus told him. ‘I arranged it. Most of the men are there and the equipment is ready. All they are waiting for is a leader. I was going to leave tomorrow.’

‘I will lead them!’ Simon told him. ‘I will leave tomorrow.’

‘Very well if that is your wish,’ Klaus said. ‘Captain Liz has all of the necessary information. I will inform her that you will go with her instead of me. Now I must go and prepare,’ Klaus told him. ‘It would probably be better if you left the office while I have these bodies removed.’

‘Of course,’ Simon agreed distractedly. He was thinking of his trip tomorrow and the fact that he would be far away from here and the danger of Nick Smith coming for him.

Chapter nineteen

Mid-day 4th November 2014 Reeves Farm, Dartmoor.

Beth stopped slicing the homemade bread and looked up as the men came in from the fields. They were laughing and joking as usual and their loud deep voices and male presence changed the whole feel of the house. She looked over at Brenda and smiled.

‘Here they come,’ she said and Brenda smiled back at her.

The men had been out in the fields all morning and they would all be starving now. She went back to slicing the bread for lunch as they all went and sat down around the large kitchen table. When she had finished slicing up the two fresh loaves she piled the bread onto a large plate and carried it over to the table.

‘Thanks Beth,’ Colin said, smiling at her as she put it down.

She smiled back at him. ‘You’re welcome. Have you had a good morning?’

‘Yeah not bad. Just been running that new fence out.’ Colin looked over at Scott. ‘He’s as miserable as sin this morning though. Steve’s still not back.’

Beth looked over at Scott and she saw what he meant. She was just going to go and have a word with him when Brenda called over.

‘Stew’s ready now love.’

Beth smiled at Colin again and went over to help Brenda dish it out. Not everyone was here. The girls and Dan were out with Sally and the horses again, and Grace and Nancy hadn’t come out from their room yet today. Sometimes they just didn’t. At first Beth used to go to see if they were ok, but now she knew that it wasn’t worth it. They would only come out when Nancy was ready. Beth did feel sorry for her but she also felt that Nancy was wallowing in it all a little bit too much now. Everyone had lost people dear to them but life kept moving along and you had to move along with it or get left behind. Nancy’s grief was also still affecting Grace badly. Beth felt that Nancy was also not being fair to her mother.

The food had all been dished out and everyone had started tucking into it before Beth got the chance to talk to Scott. She had purposely gone and sat down opposite him.

‘He can look after himself you know Scott,’ she said kindly.

Scott looked up from his food. ‘He can’t.’

‘He must have just decided to stay the night somewhere.’ Beth tried again.

Scott’s expression changed to anger. ‘The only reason he would do that was if he was in trouble! Something’s happened. I knew I should have gone with him,’ he said. ‘He’s not much more than a kid. He’s not safe on his own. He needs me.’

Beth looked down and started to eat her food.

‘I’m sorry Beth,’ Scott said quietly. ‘It just annoyed me that he went on his own. He needs me.’ he told her again.

You need him you mean, she thought as she looked up and then across the table at him. ‘We are all worried Scott but there’s not much we can do about it.’

Scott looked at her intensely. ‘If he’s not back by tonight I’m going after him.’

‘Ok,’ Beth said. She was getting slightly worried now. Scott was looking at her as if it was all her fault. She had only been trying to help. She looked down at her plate again then heard Colin’s voice from down at the other end of the table.

‘What are you doing sitting down there Beth?’ he called. His brothers laughed at him.

‘She’s gone off you bruv,’ Junior told him.

Beth looked down the table at Colin and smiled. She knew that he had picked up on the tension going on down this end of the table but she didn’t want any trouble. She just put her head down and finished her stew as quickly as she could. Scott didn’t say anything else after that and she was glad. When she had finished eating she got up and took her bowl back over to the sink. She glanced back over at Scott. He had finished eating now as well but he was still sitting there scowling on his own as the others chatted.

Mid-day 4th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

George had said to him that it wouldn’t be a good idea to go outside while his face was a swollen mess. He said someone would notice and it would draw attention to him. While Steve knew that George could be right, he still needed to get back to the farm today. He knew that they would all be getting worried and he knew that it wouldn’t take long for Scott to decide to come after him. He would feel the same if it was the other way around. The trouble was that Scott would drive straight into a load of trouble here. Since the shooting at the road block the town was apparently buzzing like a swarm of angry bees. It was putting them all in danger at the moment. If he was going he would have to go soon. Knowing Scott as he did, he thought that he would probably give him until tonight to get back.

Steve had helped Angel with the washing up then he had gone to lie down for a little while to try and get rid of his headache. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep but when he woke up an hour or so later he felt a bit better. He went to look for George and found him in the living room staring into the flames of a log fire.

He heard Steve come in and turned away from the fire to look at him. The big man seemed to have calmed down and he just looked dejected now.

‘Not in the bar today,’ Steve asked him.

George shook his head. ‘Jim will be ok on his own out there for a while.’ He looked at Steve. ‘I’ve been a fool haven’t I? Those stupid meetings and all that talk was for nothing. I suppose a part of me must have known it all along. That’s why we never did anything, but I was an idiot to have knocked you out and tied you up though. What the bloody hell was I thinking? I’ve put you and everyone else in danger.’

Steve went to sit down next to him. ‘Don’t beat yourself up about it too much. You just want what most people want George.’ Steve had told him. ‘But it’s going to take a long time for everything to get back to anywhere near normal.’

George just nodded his big head. ‘We will just have to put up with the crap until then eh?’

‘Apart from your problem with the soldiers you all seem to have a good thing going on here.’

‘But it’s the soldiers that bother the hell outa me,’ George told him.

Steve looked at him. ‘They will settle down eventually. Maybe they act like they do because they know you don’t want them here.’

George had stared back into the fire.

‘No matter what happens there will always be someone in charge who takes from you.’

George turned and studied him for a few seconds then said, ‘I see what you mean. I never really thought of it like that.’ George looked back into the flames. ‘So you reckon more soldiers will come if we do anything here.’

‘Yes. I know they will.’

‘So what about the road block then?’

Steve nodded. ‘That’s another reason why I have to get away from here as soon as possible. If they find out it was me and that I was here, you will be connected to it, then god knows what they will do.’

George shook his head. ‘And there was me thinking that what you did was a good thing. What a twat. I was so wrapped up in getting back at them.’

‘Don’t blame yourself to much. I was the one who killed those soldiers, but like I said. It was an accident. I run into them and I couldn’t let them hold me for questioning. You just messed up by keeping me here yesterday. I worry that you have put yourself, your daughter and your friends in danger though. I have to get away from here today but I do have a bit of an idea how to do it.’

George sighed. ‘And how’s that then?’

‘You said you had a boat?’

George sat up and looked at him. ‘Sure I’ve got a boat down at the river.’

‘Can you get me to the boat and get me up river a little way?’

‘It’ll be a risk. Although I have been told that most of the soldiers are out driving around the country side. Even they didn’t think anyone would be daft enough to walk into town after killing a load of them.’

‘I have to get away from here George and the river looks like the best bet. We get as far up river as we can get then I’ll either find a car or run the rest of the way. I have to try to get back to the farm before tonight. If I’m not you’ll have another stranger here looking for me. He’s got a face like a bag of spanners and he’s not quite as subtle as me.’

George raised his eyebrows at that. Killing five soldiers and then breaking your own face in is subtle?’

‘It is compared to what Scott will do if he can’t find me.’

George changed the subject. ‘You don’t live far from here then? If you can run there.’ George winked at him.

‘You don’t know how fast I can run.’ Steve winked back.

‘Ok!’ George suddenly stood up. ‘Let’s give it a go. We don’t need another crazy man running around town.’

Steve stood up then watched as George thought for a second. ‘I’ve got an idea,’ he said. ‘You stay here for a bit. It’ll be safer. I’ll go and get things sorted at the boat and make sure it’s clear down there then I’ll send someone back to get you.’ George looked at his swollen face. ‘I’d better find you a coat with a large hood as well.’

Steve nodded. ‘That’s a great idea.’ He could see that George’s mood had picked up a bit now that he had something to do. Helping Steve get away was at least something he could do to fight back against the soldiers.

Steve sat looking into the fire until he heard the outside door open and shut then he went to find Angel. She was in the kitchen chopping up a load of vegetables.

‘At least you have plenty of food here,’ Steve said as he walked in. He saw her jump slightly. ‘Sorry did I make you jump?’

‘Just a bit,’ she said turning around. ‘The food is from the bar. People bring it in and barter it for beer and stuff. We always have far too much so dad always invites people round to eat. Like this morning. It’s like a circle. They give the food to my dad then I cook it and give it back to them.’

‘So he doesn’t get anything from running the bar then?’

‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Angel told him, smiling. ‘He gets some other stuff that he keeps. And we get to eat. He also has a lot of friends.’

‘It seems as if he deserves them,’ Steve said. He had actually come in to see Angel because he wanted to talk to about something else. Now it had come down to it though he was feeling a bit nervous. Angel was still smiling at him. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Steve suddenly took a breath then went for it. ‘I’ve got to leave soon. Your dad’s going to get me up the river in his boat.’

‘Ok,’ she said. ‘I was just getting to like you.’

Steve noticed that she had stopped smiling. He saw that as a promising start. ‘It’s just that I have to get back to my friends,’ he told her. ‘They will be worrying.’

‘Ok,’ Angel said again. ‘I understand.’

Steve went to say something else then he hesitated and then he took another breath and just went for it. ‘When things calm down a bit would you mind if I came back to see you my face will be better as well then and you can see what I really look like it will probably be a few weeks until it’s safe to come back what do you think?’

‘I think that’s the longest I’ve heard anybody speak without taking a breath,’ Angel said. She was smiling at him again now though. ‘I actually saw you in the bar yesterday,’ she admitted. ‘And that was before you smashed your own face in. I was in there with Allan. We both saw you.’

Oh I get it now Steve thought. That’s why Allan was so weird with me. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘Can I?’ Then what she had just sunk in properly. ‘Oh I didn’t realise,’ he told her, frowning. ‘You’re with Allan.’

She wiped her hands carefully on a small towel and then looked at him. ‘I’m not with Allan,’ she said seriously. ‘He just tries to make out we’re together.’

‘Well that’s just great!’ Steve told her happily. ‘Not the bit about Allan being like that,’ Steve said. ‘Obviously that’s just a bit weird. ‘I meant the bit about you not being with him.’

‘I guessed that you twit,’ she said.

‘You’re not w-’

‘God!’ Angel interrupted him. No I’m not with anyone and yes I’d like you to come back and see me.’

‘Well that’s just brilliant.’ Steve’s smile was as wide as his swollen face would allow, then they both heard the door open and close. Steve moved right away from Angel in case her dad got the wrong idea, but it was the old guy who had sat next to him earlier. He was carrying a big blue coat.

‘Hi Sam,’ Angel said. ‘Shall I put the kettle on the stove?’

‘Hello dear. Oh go on then, twist my arm, I’ve come to collect Steve and take him to the boat slip but we’ve got ten minutes and it’s getting bloody colder out there again.’

‘That’s why they call it winter Sam.’ Angel winked at Steve. ‘Don’t you remember last year?’

‘Eh I saw that wink,’ Samuel told her. ‘I might have to tell your dad. You know what he’s like about you and men.’

Steve looked at him worriedly but Angel just laughed.

Chapter twenty

Mid-day 4th November 2014 Corfe Mullen, Dorset.

Jeff had been gone about an hour now and Nick was resting.

After eating earlier Jeff had gone into the pub and then come back out with a couple of bottles of lager. He had bit the lid off one and offered it to Nick but Nick had just shook his head and smiled at him.

‘No thanks Jeff, I’ve got to do some training when the food goes down.’ Nick had given up telling him not to bite the lids off.

‘Suit yourself.’ Jeff tipped the bottle up to his mouth and drank most of it in one go. ‘Aah that’s better,’ he said, smiling. ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’

Nick shook his head at him. ‘I’ll have a couple with you tonight.’

‘Cool.’ Jeff tipped the rest of what was in the bottle down his neck then threw it towards the back of the garden. He bit the lid off the other one then said, ‘I’m gonna go have a look around this place and see if there’s anyone here in a minute.’

Nick had stood up slowly and looked at the sky. Dark clouds were coming over again and they were going to lose the sun any second. ‘It’s going to rain soon,’ he told Jeff.

Jeff looked up. ‘No worries. I’m going in the Jeep.’

Nick bent down and picked up the cooking pot and bowls. ‘Probably be better if you walk mate.’ He stood back up stiffly. Every muscle was stiff and sore and he hadn’t even started training yet.

Jeff had thought about it for a second then said, ‘yeah your right. They won’t hear me then will they? I wonder if there’s any coats inside.’

‘It would be strange if there wasn’t.’ Nick started walking back inside and Jeff followed behind. ‘Whether any will be big enough to fit you is the real question.’

They had looked around and managed to find Jeff a big green parka. It was hanging inside the hall cupboard with a load of other coats.

‘I’ll see you later then,’ Jeff said, smiling broadly.

Nick said goodbye, wondering why Jeff looked so happy about walking around in the rain. He went over to the window to watch him as he went out, and he watched him walk over to the Land Rover and pull out the rifle that he had taken from the guard earlier. Oh, he thought, realising that Jeff was probably hoping to find the opportunity to shoot someone. ‘That’s why.’ Nick said to himself. He smiled. Jeff was definitely still a crazy fucker but Nick was in no mind to try and stop him. Since Totnes he was finding it very hard to find any good feelings towards his fellow human beings.

After Jeff had gone Nick sat down for a while to let the food digest in his stomach. He could feel it gurgling around in there. He knew that he would have to approach building himself back up again very carefully. He would have to take it slow if he wanted to avoid an injury that could potentially put him back weeks. He stood up and started to slowly move the tables and chairs out of the way, so that he had an empty space to move about in. That alone had tired him out but he had still taken off his thick green army pullover and then gone to stand in the middle of the empty space he had created.

He had stood there completely still for a second to focus himself and then he had started to shake his arms and legs out, trying to remove the stiffness from them. He then performed a few random kicks and punches to warm himself up. He was breathing heavily now and he had started to sweat. He lowered himself slowly down to the floor and got into the press up position. He managed three before he collapsed. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. His personal best at press ups was two hundred and twenty six in one go. He forced himself to do ten stomach crunches and then he very slowly stood up. He was feeling very dizzy and extremely tired. His arms and legs were shaking uncontrollably, but it was a start. He ate some more food then walked slowly up to the bedroom. ‘And so it begins,’ he said quietly to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

Mid-Day 4th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Samuel handed Steve the big blue coat and looked closely at his face.

‘My God you really did a number on yourself didn’t you son?’ the old boy said in his rough west country accent.

‘Yeah,’ Steve said taking the coat. ‘Phew! It hums a bit.’ Even breathing through his mouth, Steve could still smell it.

‘It’s been in my cupboard for years that has,’ Samuel told him. ‘It was all we could find big enough for you with a hood on it without traipsing around the town.’ Steve put the coat over the back of a chair then sat down while Angel made some tea. Samuel came and sat down next to him. ‘George must like you,’ he told Steve. ‘He don’t normally use his boat in winter and he’s got to get the cover off and check it all over. He wouldn’t do that if he didn’t like you.’

‘If he really liked me he’d give me one of his coats.’

‘Yeah I suppose,’ Samuel agreed.

The conversation was a bit stilted after that. Steve couldn’t really speak to Angel properly with the old man sitting there and Samuel wasn’t a big talker. Angel went back to preparing the food while they drank their tea and then it was time to go.

Steve stood up and put the coat on and he reluctantly pulled the smelly hood up over his head. ‘Does it work?’ he asked.

They both laughed at him. ‘It works boy,’ Samuel told him.

Steve turned back towards Angel. ‘I’ll see you sometime soon then,’ he said. ‘Wish me luck.’

‘Luck,’ Angel said, smiling. ‘See you soon.’

Samuel huffed. ‘Come on then,’ he told Steve. ‘Let’s get going. I want to get back ‘ere for me lunch. What we havin’ anyway my darling?’

‘Lamb casserole,’ Angel said.

‘Lovely. I’ll be looking forward to that then,’ he told her. ‘Is that young fool allowed back yet?’

Steve guessed that the old boy was talking about Allan.

Angel smiled and nodded. ‘Probably,’ she said. ‘You know my dad. He’s got a bad temper but he would have forgotten about this morning already.’

‘Shame,’ Samuel said. ‘That boy needs teaching a lesson. Come on then you let’s get going.’

Steve followed Samuel down the hallway and up to the front door. Once there he turned around again. ‘I didn’t see any soldiers comin’ up so they might all be out searchin’ still, but try not to look suspicious.’

Steve smiled under the hood. ‘Wearing this coat is the most suspicious I’ve ever looked in my life,’ he mumbled back.

Samuel huffed at him again and opened the front door. For a few seconds Steve felt like not going out there. He wanted to rip off this smelly coat and run back in to Angel. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t going anywhere without her ever again. He stepped over the threshold and into the street though and pulled the door shut behind him.

Typically, the street didn’t seem as busy today and he felt a bit uneasy but the old boy was striding ahead so Steve kept walking and caught up with him. He was glad that it was only a five minute walk to the bottom of the street. At the bottom they turned right and then Steve saw the top of the slipway between two of the buildings. He was still feeling uneasy and he was looking forward to getting on the boat and getting away from here. He pulled the hood around his face a bit more and they walked around the corner of the building. As they walked onto the slipway and he saw the small dinghy tied up and waiting for them he breathed a sigh of relief. He was looking out over the choppy grey river trying to see George’s boat as they walked down the slope when suddenly the doors of the buildings behind them opened up and soldiers came pouring out. Within seconds they were stuck. They had the water at their backs, the flat walls of buildings on both sides and at least twenty soldiers blocking the only way out. The soldiers were all pointing their rifles at them.

‘Bollocks!’ Steve heard Samuel say. He looked all around but there was no way out of this. It was a perfect trap. Keeping his movements slow and easy he looked all around again. He was looking for George. The only way this could have been arranged was if they had prior knowledge. They must have known exactly where he was going to be.

‘Stand right where you are and hold your hands out where we can see them!’ One of the soldiers shouted at them.

‘Bollocks!’ Samuel swore again and held out his hands.

Steve did the same but he was still watching carefully all around. There still might be a way to get out of this. ‘It aint over till it’s over,’ he told himself quietly.

‘Don’t bother looking around mate,’ another one of the soldiers said. ‘You’re fucked.’

‘What do you want?’ Steve shouted at them. ‘We haven’t done anything wrong.’

‘Yeah sure,’ yet another one of them said. ‘Get down on the ground and spread your arms and legs,’ the soldier said. ‘Come on then!’ He suddenly shouted. ‘Do it!’

‘Ok calm down a bit,’ Steve told him. ‘He’s just an old man. Give him a bit of time.’ Steve was still hoping for an opportunity. Maybe when they started closing in. He might be able to grab a rifle and use one of them as a shield.

‘I was shouting at you fuckhead! On the ground now or it’s a bullet where it hurts.’

‘Ha-ha nice one,’ Steve laughed. Still trying to stall them. Once he was on the ground he was truly fucked. ‘Good one. I like it. Bullet where it hurts.’ It was at that moment when he saw Allan come out of the building opposite. He was walking with a soldier. He saw Allan glance over at him and smile. A few of the soldiers had started closing in. They had started to block the line of fire for the ones behind them. Steve knew that it was now or never so he decided on now.

George had gone out as they had planned earlier and he had gone straight to Samuel’s house. Out of all his friends, George trusted Samuel the most. George had known Samuel all his life. It was Samuel who had taught him how to sail out on the Dart estuary when he was only ten years old.

But with his hood up against the weather George hadn’t noticed that Allan had been following him since he had left the pub. Allan had been loitering around there for a few hours, wondering what to do about this morning. George had embarrassed him in front of Angel and everyone else, and that bloke Steve was trying to move in on Angel. He had seen the way that Angel had looked at him yesterday in the bar. He knew that he had to do something about Steve. He just didn’t know what.

For the past six months Allan had been feeding the soldiers information about certain people in the town. In return they looked the other way while he did a few things that he shouldn’t. Like when he had been caught shagging that posh bitch out on the rich estate. She had been shouting that he had raped her but he knew that she had wanted it really.

The trouble was he couldn’t inform on Steve while he was staying at the pub. He didn’t give a shit about the high and mighty George Stanford, who ripped people off at the bar and then graciously gave them some of their own food back. He’d just be getting what he deserved. The fact that George had kept Allan well fed over the past six months didn’t enter into his thinking at all. Allan couldn’t inform on Steve while he was there though because he didn’t want Angel to be taken to the garrison. He knew what they did with some of the women when they took them there. He had watched a few times. Angel was his girl and he wanted it to stay that way so he was hanging around trying to think of another way when he saw George leave the pub looking suspicious. So Allan had followed George then and watched as Samuel had greeted him at the door. They had both then gone inside.

Allan had watched from the derelict house opposite and he had waited to see what they were up to. He knew them both well enough to know that they were definitely up to something this morning. He would bet anything that it had something to do with that Steve bloke.

He didn’t have to wait very long before they came out again. Samuel had gone back in the direction of the pub carrying a big blue coat but curiously George had headed for the river. Allan realised then that George was wearing his boating coat. He knew that George only ever took his boat out in the summer so it didn’t take him long to figure out what they were probably up to. He took off quickly for the garrison. If they were sneaking that Steve bloke out by boat then they would be going by the usual slipway. He would have to move fast though.

Steve moved. He suddenly pushed Samuel hard to the right, knocking him flat onto the ground. The move put Samuel out of harm and distracted the soldiers. He then sprinted left. By crossing their line of fire he was a harder target to hit. That and some of the soldiers being in the way gave him a chance. He hit the wall and rebounded off in the other direction and crashed into one of them. They both hit the ground together but Steve had been expecting it. He struck out at the soldier hard and then rolled, grabbing the man’s rifle at the same time. In a split second he was in prone position and firing at the soldiers. He fired three short bursts then rolled to his feet. It was a mess of confusion as the soldiers that he had hit cried out and everybody else was shouting. Steve ran straight at the soldier who was doing the most shouting. He was firing the rifle at the same time. The soldier and two behind him went down. Steve could see a gap now and he sprinted for it. If he could get around the building in all the confusion, he stood a good chance of getting away

The bullet caught him on the back of his right shoulder. It caught the edge of his scapula and passed through his heavy shoulder muscles. It also punched him to the ground. He rolled a couple of times with the momentum then stopped on his back, staring up at the cloudy sky. The last thing he saw was a rifle butt coming towards his face. It re-broke his healing nose and sent him into darkness.

Chapter twenty one

Evening 4th November 2014 Reeves farm, Dartmoor.

Scott had not come in for dinner. He had gone straight to his room in the annex after coming in from the fields. They had tidied up from dinner and now they were all sitting in the large living room. The log fire was burning and the room was warm but the people in the room were all looking a bit worried.

‘Do you think something’s happened to Steve mum?’ Kay asked. She and the other two kids had been out with the horses again all day and their faces were flushed and red.

‘We don’t know darling,’ Beth told her.

‘He should have been back well before now,’ Frank said.

Brenda was sitting next to him on the sofa and she shoved him. ‘Foolish man!’ she said. ‘He’ll be fine Kay. Don’t you worry, these men are always up to something they shouldn’t be doing.’

Kay smiled at that. ‘Yeah they are.’ She punched Dan on the arm. ‘Like him,’ she said. ‘He put straw in my hat,’ she told everyone.

Dan just laughed at that and they started wrestling on the couch.

‘Owah!’ Sammy moved away from them. ‘Tell them to stop mum,’ she said with a cross look on her face.

‘Stop it you two, now,’ Beth told them.

They stopped wrestling but they were both grinning at each other still and it looked like they would start again any minute.

‘I think Scott’s going to see if he can find him,’ Robert told everyone. ‘He’s been hell to work with today and then he didn’t have dinner.’

‘He’s probably getting ready to go now,’ Junior said.

‘What at night?’ Colin asked.

‘I think Junior’s right.’ Beth was sitting beside Colin. They were in their usual spot nearest to the fire. ‘He said he would go if Steve wasn’t back by tonight. He had the right hump at lunchtime.’

The sound of a vehicle starting up startled everyone and they all looked at each other.

‘Well it would seem like Junior is right,’ Colin said, shrugging his shoulders.

After starting the Land Rover up Scott jumped back out and went to open the big barn doors. He had taken the clothes off that he had worn while working in the fields and he was dressed now in his army combats. For the first time in over two months he felt truly comfortable. He was a soldier not a sheep farmer and it was time to go back to doing what he knew best. He jumped back into the Land Rover and drove it slowly out of the barn. He wasn’t surprised to see the Reeves family coming out of the house. Robert was waving his arms. Scott pulled up alongside them and wound the window down.

‘I’m going whatever you say,’ he said. He was talking to Robert but they could all hear him. He could see Beth and the kids coming out of the door now as well.

Robert nodded and frowned. ‘You do what you gotta do Scott,’ he told him sadly. ‘I’ll go shut the barn doors for you.’

Scott sighed deeply. ‘You’re good people,’ he said. ‘Whatever you do now try not to get noticed here. If you do get noticed then get away and get away quick. I’ve seen what they do to good people.’

The frown deepened on Robert’s face. ‘Why are you talking weird Scott? You sound like you’re not coming back.’

Scott just looked at him for a second then nodded. He didn’t need to say anything else. Robert nodded back then turned away to walk over to the barn doors. Scott took one last look at everyone then he pulled away slowly. He hated saying goodbye, but if he could have seen the amount of sad faces and tears that he had left behind he would have hated it even more.

He sighed again when he reached the end of the drive and turned into the road. He didn’t expect to be coming back. God knows what Steve had been up to but Scott just knew that his friend was in deep trouble.

The drive to Totnes was quicker than he had expected it to be. Back on the farm it was easy to start thinking that you were in the middle of nowhere.

It was as he was driving down the A385 that he saw the orange lights twinkling in the distance in Totnes. He knew that the lights were a combination of fires, candles and generated electricity. He was also not one for romantic ideas, but even he thought that the tiny oasis of orange light looked almost magical against the completely black background of the surrounding countryside. He was thinking about that when his headlights suddenly picked up the cars parked across the road up ahead. He braked automatically and threw the vehicle in reverse. A quick turn saw him driving away at full speed before the soldiers at the road block had time to react.

‘Is that what happened?’ Scott said to himself. ‘Did you let yourself get caught in that road block you twat?’ He saw a small turning on the left and turned down it. ‘No,’ he said then. ‘You’re not that stupid. Somebody’s stitched you up. I can feel it in my bones.’

He drove for about another half a mile down the road and pulled the Land Rover into a field. He turned off the lights and the engine and then just sat there thinking about what to do next. It didn’t take him long to realise that walking would be his only option now. He picked up his rifle from the seat next him and climbed out of the Land Rover. He could still see the lights in the distance so he knew which direction to take. He looked at the wet muddy field and decided to use the roads. He could hide if a vehicle came looking for him. He would see the headlights a long time before they saw him and they would be looking for a vehicle now anyway not a walking man.

It seemed that nobody had bothered following him though. The lazy bastards, Scott thought as he came into Totnes about half an hour later on the North West side of town, and then just as Steve did, he let the sound of people lead him straight to where he needed to go.

George was back behind the bar tonight. He knew that he would have to keep appearances as normal as possible. The soldiers had Steve and Samuel at the garrison but they must suspect that more people had been involved. He couldn’t take any risks that would put Angel into danger now. He found it absurd that he had never thought of that before now.

‘You thought that you were so clever,’ he said to himself under his breath as he wiped some spilled beer off the bar and wrung the cloth out in a bowl. He looked over to where Allan was talking to Angel. She didn’t look very happy. She had been so distraught when she had heard that Steve had been shot and that Samuel and Steve had been taken back to the garrison. George frowned then as he watched Allan. He knew that they were all trying to be as normal as possible but Allan seemed to be acting extremely happy. He thought about their argument this morning but then dismissed the dark thought that Allan might have been involved in this somehow.

He went back to stewing about what had happened earlier on. It was while he was getting the boat ready that he had heard the shooting. It was immediately obvious to him what the shooting meant and the feeling of dread that he felt at that moment almost dropped him onto the floor of the boat. He knew that he could do nothing but wait though. He had sat down in the boat and waited in dread for over an hour after the shooting had stopped. He was waiting for a boat and for the soldiers to come for him. It didn’t happen. Somehow they didn’t know that he was involved. At first he felt a massive sense of relief then he felt guilty at the feeling. After that he started feeling confused. How had they not known of his involvement? Why hadn’t they been out to check the boats? He gave it another hour before climbing into his small rowing boat and going back to shore. He purposely used another Slipway further down then after tying the boat off he walked slowly back to the pub. Somehow he knew that the soldiers wouldn’t be there. What he didn’t know was why. Whoever had informed on Steve must have known about his involvement.

George sighed again and looked over at where Allan was talking to Angel then his heart lurched in his chest as the door opened and he saw a soldier walk in. The whole place went quiet for a few seconds as the ripple of the soldier’s presence ran through the gathered people. It wasn’t long before they went back to talking though. It wasn’t as if it was the first soldier that had come in here for a free drink. George watched the soldier carefully though. He hadn’t lied when he had told Steve that he knew everybody in this town and he knew that he had never seen this man before. The soldier walked arrogantly towards the bar. He held his rifle out in front of him and this was enough to get everyone to move out of his way.

George took a deep breath then moved down the bar to meet him. ‘Beer?’ He asked the beefy looking grim faced soldier. George had about seven inches on him and at least four stone but he wouldn’t want to be first in the Queue to fight this bloke.

‘That’ll do for now.’

Fuck me, thought George. Even the man’s voice sounded grim. This was not a happy man. George guessed that he had been drafted in because of the troubles. He thought about it then bent down and picked up the last bottle of brown ale from beneath the bar. He had been saving it for himself but he thought that it might sweeten this new soldier up a bit. He popped the lid off and put it in front of the soldier. ‘It’s on the house,’ he told him, forcing a smile.

‘Of course it is,’ the soldier snarled. Then he leant across the bar. ‘I’m going to ask you a question and I’ll only ask this question once big fella, do you understand me?’

George just frowned at him then. The man might be a tough one but George was seriously thinking about moving up the queue to fight him. He was an arrogant bastard.

‘Just nod once for yes, twice for no if that’s too complicated to answer.’

‘I understand you well enough,’ George told him. ‘Now ask your question.’ His own voice was low and menacing now as he stared at the soldier. There was only so much he could take to keep the peace.

‘Good,’ the soldier said. ‘Now where is my friend?’

George took a step back and he was sure that his heart missed a beat. He hesitated for a few seconds before answering as he wondered if this was a set up. He remembered when he had thought the same thing about Steve and how much trouble it had caused. He had also learnt now that the soldiers had no need to play games. They had proved that earlier on. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and leant down onto the bar. ‘He was right when he said you had a face that looked like a bag of spanners,’ he said.

‘That’s the one.’ Scott stood back up straight. Only Steve ever said that to him. ‘Where is he then?’

George sighed again deeply. ‘So your name is?’

‘Scott,’ Scott told him abruptly. ‘Now where is he?’

George remembered Steve telling him that name. ‘My name is George,’ he said. ‘He told me you’d come.’ George sighed yet again. It seemed like it was a day for sighing. ‘I’m really sorry but I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you Scott.’

After assuring Scott that he was Steve’s friend and that Steve wasn’t dead, he directed him round to the side door. This time he didn’t knock anyone out though. Scott picked up the bottle of beer and followed the big man through to a large kitchen. There was a large wooden table there and George gestured for him sit down. A few seconds later three more men came in and George introduced him to Amos, Jason and Ian. Just as they finished saying hello another couple came in. A dark haired young man and a pretty blonde haired girl. Scott said a quick hello to these two and then they all sat around the table looking at him.

‘Well what happened then?’ he asked them.

Chapter twenty two

Evening 4th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Steve woke in the dark to the experience of real pain. He had thought that he had learnt all about pain. He had grazed his knee when he was six and cried when the antiseptic had been put on it. He had run into a car when he was nine and cried with the concussion that followed. He’d had boiling water accidently poured on his leg when he was eleven and he had screamed with that one. He had fallen out of a tree when he was fourteen and broke both of his arms. He had wanted to cry then but hadn’t. He had been bunking off school and he needed a plan to explain why he was up a tree when he should have been in maths. More recently he had smashed his own face into the floor and broken his nose. He had suffered other small pains too numerous to mention before and during those times, but nothing had prepared him for this. All he could do was moan with each breath as the pain ate at him. On some level he was aware that someone was here with him in the dark. At times he could hear the other person talking but mostly whoever it was seemed to exist in another universe. Whoever it was, he was definitely not sharing this universe with him and the never ending waves of pain.

Samuel was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. He couldn’t see a thing in the darkness. Steve’s head was resting on his legs while Samuel held his coat tightly against the wounds in the boy’s shoulder. The boy had been moaning quietly since he had woken up over an hour ago and Samuel had done his best to reassure him that everything was going to be ok. The problem was that he didn’t think it would be. The soldiers had dragged them into this room hours ago and then just left them here. Samuel knew that the boy would need his wounds treated very soon or he would be dead before morning. He also needed water. He had lost a lot of blood. Samuel could feel it soaking into his trousers right now.

Scott studied them, the big fella that he had met at the bar, the four other men and the pretty girl. They had told him everything that had happened and what a fucking fuck-up it all was. Scott was as angry as he could ever remember being. He felt like smashing the place up and shooting the fucking lot of them. He knew that he should have come with the idiot in the first place. That smash in the face must have knocked out what little sense the boy had left in him. How could he have put his life into the hands of these amateurs?

‘So that’s it is it?’ Scott asked them.

The big fella said yes. Some of them nodded. One of them looked worried. The pretty girl was nearly crying. Scott focused all of his attention on the one that was looking worried.

‘What’s your problem son?’ he asked him. ‘And what was your name again?’

Scott watched then as he visibly flinched. He looked around at the others and they were still wearing the same expressions. Something wasn’t right here, but then he had known that before coming into the pub.

There was a definite pause before the young man answered. ‘I don’t have a problem,’ he said. He had tried to make his voice sound aggressive but he failed badly.

Scott studied him for a few more seconds, noticing the sweat on his forehead. It was warm in here but not warm enough to sweat. ‘I asked you what your name was boy!’ he said harshly.

‘Just hold on a minute soldier boy!’ George interrupted, standing up quickly and glaring at him.

Scott looked over at the big fella and smiled at him nastily. He knew that his attitude was pissing George off but that was what he fully intended it to do. Scott was sure that at least one of these people had dropped Steve in the shit. He wanted their emotions cranked up high. He stood up as well then, but very slowly. ‘So you were in the boat nice and safe when the shooting started were you? That’s very convenient.’ He watched as the fight suddenly went out of the big fella. He looks sad about that, Scott thought. Not guilty and he could see that George wore his feelings openly. He looked around at the others again. They all looked away from him apart from the black haired young man who had come in with the girl. He was sitting there looking at him angrily. Why? He put his rifle on the table and walked slowly around it until he was standing behind him. ‘I asked what your name was boy!’

Allan had started to turn around in his chair to face him when Scott suddenly threw his arm around his neck and dragged him over the chair backwards. The chair fell over with a crash and Allan started struggling madly but Scott held him tight in a choke lock. Everyone else was completely startled by the move and then George took a step towards them.

‘You take one step closer and I’ll snap his scrawny neck big fella.’ Scott told him calmly. George stopped then and Scott could see confusion and then the light of comprehension suddenly spread across his face. Scott nodded slowly at him.

‘Oh no Allan,’ George said quietly. ‘What have you done?’ He walked slowly back to his chair and sat down again. Everyone else was just looking at them curiously. They didn’t really understand what was going on yet.

Scott loosened his hold on Allan’s neck. ‘You’ve got one chance to tell them boy,’ he told him. ‘You do it now or I’ll snap your neck like a rotten stick.’

Allan coughed a couple of times then gasped. His face had turned purple. He looked around wildly at everybody around the table then shouted, ‘get the gun! Quick! Shoot the mad bastard!’

Scott tightened his grip again and smiled as they all looked at his rifle lying on the table. He knew that none of them would touch it. He could see it in their faces. They were beginning to understand what was happening here. Scott let go of Allan and then before he could even try to take a breath he punched him hard in side of the head. Allan fell to the floor in a heap. Scott stepped over him and went to sit back down in his chair. He picked up his bottle of beer and took a long drink from it while he looked around at everyone. He then put the bottle back down. ‘Anyone else got anything that they want to get off their chests?’ He asked. None of them spoke. They just stared over at the unconscious Allan.

Then George stood up. ‘Go and get the rope darling,’ he told his daughter, then he walked over to where Allan was lying in a heap on the floor. He glanced over at Scott and he remembered Steve telling him that his friend wasn’t as subtle as he was. Now he understood what he had meant, although he wasn’t sure that subtle was the right word. Maybe tactful would be a better one to use? He looked back down at Allan. He always had been a sneaky little shit but who would have thought that he could stoop so low?

Ian had come rushing back from the garrison earlier and he had told them that Steve was very badly wounded and that poor old Samuel was locked up with him. A part of him could understand why Allan might betray Steve. They didn’t know him and he had brought trouble to their town. He had also noticed that Angel seemed to have a thing going with Steve. She had been making it pretty obvious that she liked him. That would have made Allan jealous.

Allan had known Samuel all his life though. They all had and Samuel, along with the rest of them had looked after Allan since the flu virus. The boy had just seemed incapable of looking after himself. How wrong could they have been there?’ George bent down and lifted him up then he carried him back over to the table. ‘Pick the chair up would you Amos,’ he said to the grey haired barber.

By the time that Allan had come round he was securely tied to the chair. He had looked around frantically then he had started to shout out for help. Scott had stood up then walked over to him and slapped him hard across the face. ‘Anymore of that shit and I’ll break all your fucking fingers.’ He had then grabbed hold of the little finger on Allan’s right hand and snapped it. He cut off his scream by placing his meaty hand over Allan’s mouth.

‘Hey there’s no need for any of that!’ George had said standing up outraged.

Scott had released Allan’s mouth and stared at him. ‘Do you understand me now boy?’ Allan had nodded frantically and whimpered. Scott had then looked at George. ‘I’m sorry George but you’re wrong. There is a need for this. Your friend here has betrayed you all, but worse than that, he has betrayed my friend. Steve is now badly wounded and locked up and because of this piece of shit he could die. I need every scrap of information this shit has in his head, and I need it as quickly as possible if I’m to have any chance of saving him.’ He then looked over at Angel.

‘You should go back out into the bar girl,’ he told her. ‘It was busy out there when I came in. Why don’t you go and help your man out there.’

Angel had looked at him, her eyes were wide. She had looked at Allan and then her dad. George had nodded to her and then she had turned and left the room slowly.

Scott had then asked Allan some questions and Allan had answered them.

George was relieved to find out that the pub and the people here were not under any suspicion. Allan had made out that Samuel was the only one aiding Steve. He was really shocked when he found out how long Allan had been informing to the soldiers though.

When all the questions had been answered Scott had calmly grabbed Allan’s head in his meaty arms. Allan had struggled franticly for a few seconds and halfway through a shout for help Scott snapped his neck. Amos had immediately thrown up all over the table and everyone else but George had gasped and then looked away. Scott had then walked back to his chair and sat back down.

‘Well that was good riddance to bad rubbish,’ he said.

Amos wiped his sleeve across his mouth. ‘Was that really necessary?’ he asked as George stood up to start cleaning his vomit up.

‘What else would you suggest mate?’ Scott asked. ‘If we had let him go he’d have gone straight to the garrison and you’d all be in the shit.’

‘He’s right Amos,’ George told him. Ian and Jason just sat there quietly looking at Allan’s dead body. Amos drank some water and George cleaned up the table as Scott sat there looking at them all and trying to figure out what to do next.

Chapter twenty three

Night 4th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

After a lot of plan making and after a lot more careful deliberation Scott stood up from his chair. ‘Bollocks to all of this!’ he told them. ‘I’m just gonna go to the garrison.’

He knew that Steve had been shot and he was seriously injured. Even if he could get a rescue attempt arranged with this useless lot and manage to carry Steve out of there. Steve would most likely die in the process, and even if he lived through it where would they go. According to Ian, Steve had received no treatment for his wound yet. He had just been thrown in a cell with their friend Samuel. So Scott had no choice really. First he would get there and see if he could get some proper treatment for Steve. Then if they could they would try and escape later.

‘Steve has killed nine of them now,’ Ian told him. ‘They’re not very happy about that.’

‘I bet they’re not,’ Scott said. ‘When did you last see him?’

‘I was there when they brought him in about eight hours ago. He was unconscious. I left there about four o’clock. Someone had been in to check he was still alive just before I left and I heard Samuel shouting that the boy needed medical attention.’ Ian shrugged. ‘They just laughed and slammed the door on them.’

Scott nodded. ‘Well it looks like I’d better get over there quick then. All this bollocks has just wasted time.’

Ian looked over at Allan’s dead body. He was still tied to the chair. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know about him and what he was doing. It was my job to find out about this kind of thing.’

‘They would have been very careful to make sure that no one found out about their little grass,’ Scott told him.

‘Don’t blame yourself Ian. We should have been more careful. Like I said earlier, he always was a sneaky little fucker,’ George said angrily.

‘Well it didn’t do him any good in the long run,’ Amos said, looking over at him.

‘What are we going to do with the body?’ Jason asked quietly.

‘Put it out with the rest of the rubbish,’ Scott told him.

‘He’ll feed the fish tonight,’ George said. ‘We’ll put him in the Dart later.’

‘Ok!’ Scott stood up. ‘Where’s this garrison then?’

‘You’re just gonna walk in there? I thought they wanted you as much as they did Steve,’ George said.

Scott smiled at him. ‘They used to,’ he told George. ‘But I aint killed nine of ‘em have I? Anyway,’ Scott said. ‘Most if not all of them won’t know me and any that do will know me well enough to listen to me. They’ll just lock me up nice and tight to wait for that mad fucker Simon, but I might be able to get them to treat Steve’s wounds.’

‘So you’re just going to give yourself up?’ Amos asked him.

‘Yes,’ Scott said. ‘Steve will die if I don’t. Now where is this fucking place? I need to get over there.’

It was decided that George would go back into the bar until closing time then get rid of Allan’s body later and Ian would show Scott where the garrison was. Amos and Jason said that they were going to get drunk. Scott watched them go back out into the bar. As the door opened and the happy sound of people talking and drinking came through. Scott really wished that he could go with them instead of doing what he had to do now. He had a feeling that the next few weeks weren’t going to be a lot of fun.

‘Come on then,’ he said to Ian. ‘Let’s get this over and done with.’ He looked at the rifle then left it on the table. What he had to do now wasn’t about killing. It was about trying to save Steve’s life.

It took two minutes for them to get to what the people were now calling the garrison. It was just a primary school building with a new metal fence put up around it but it looked secure enough to Scott. He said goodbye to Ian and then just walked up to the new high metal gate. There was a soldier sitting on a blue plastic chair on the other side of the fence but he didn’t notice Scott until he shouted at him.

‘Wake up sunshine!’ Scott shouted in his best sergeant’s voice.

The soldier nearly jumped out of his uniform. ‘What?’

Scott realised that the man actually had been asleep. His shout had just woke him up. ‘Asleep on duty boy!’ he shouted through the fence. ‘Get up and open this gate you useless pile of shit!’

‘Oh God!’ Sorry Sir ur..’ The private looked at the three stripes on his arm. ‘Sergeant,’ he finally said, coming over to the gate and lifting the locking bar. ‘It’s been a really shit day Sergeant.’

‘Yeah,’ Scott agreed with him. ‘Tell me about it.’ When the gate was open he walked through. ‘Who’s in charge here private?’ Scott asked while cursing the fact that Steve was injured. Now he had seen the set-up here he reckoned he could have got him out of here on his own. But then again, he thought. If Steve wasn’t injured he wouldn’t be in here in the first place.

‘Lieutenant Briant Sergeant but he’ll probably be asleep now it’s been a shit day.’

‘Yeah you said. Where are the prisoners being kept?’

The private pointed towards the main building. ‘They’re in a storeroom. Go down the corridor, turn right. It’s about three maybe four doors down but you’ll have to see the corporal. He’s got the keys.’

‘Ok thanks son,’ Scott said. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you were fast asleep.’

‘Thanks Sergeant,’ the young man said. It’s been-’

‘A really shit day yeah,’ Scott finished for him before walking off towards the main building. That boy was probably gonna be in the shit within about ten minutes, he thought. He went through the double doors at the front of the building. There was a long corridor in front of him. A couple of fluorescent lights were on so he could see all the way down. He listened then and he could hear a generator running somewhere. He wondered for a second then what they would all do when the diesel finally ran out. Who gives a shit, he then thought. I’ll be lucky if I live that long. He followed the directions that the gate guard had given him and then started shouting. ‘Steve! Samuel! Where are you?’ He listened carefully but couldn’t hear anything. ‘Samuel!’ he shouted again.

‘Hello!’ He heard a shout. ‘Hello, I’m Samuel! We are in here!’

Scott followed the voice to a brown door and tried the handle. It was of course locked.

‘Samuel,’ Scott shouted through the door. ‘I’m a friend of Steve’s. Is he still alive in there?’ He had to wait for a few seconds. He guessed that Samuel must be checking. He had probably been asleep. The fact that he had to check wasn’t a good sign.

‘He’s still alive!’ Scott finally heard. He sighed with relief.

‘Are you near the door?’ Scott asked.

‘No,’ came the reply.

‘Good.’ Scott then lifted his booted foot and hammered it against the door. It smashed inwards and bounced off the wall inside. It was completely dark inside the windowless store room. ‘Talk to me,’ Scott said.

‘We are over here to your left. Have you come to get us out?’

Scott felt his way over to them and nearly tripped over Steve’s legs. He stopped. ‘No mate, I’m sorry. There’s no way out of here just yet. I’ve come to try and keep that idiot alive if I can.’ He could just about see the outline of them both now that his eyes adjusted to the gloom. He bent down and grabbed Steve’s legs. ‘Lower his head gently onto the floor as I pull him Samuel. Let’s get him out into the corridor where there’s a bit of light.’ He then pulled Steve out into the corridor. In the light Scott could see that he was in a really bad way. His face was a right mess but it was the bullet wound he was worried about. He definitely wouldn’t have lasted the night. ‘Bastards!’ he shouted.

The shout finally brought Steve around. ‘Uuurh...hurts..’ he murmured without opening his eyes.

‘It’s ok Steve,’ it’s Scott. I’m gonna get you sorted out. It’s gonna be ok now, can you hear me Steve?’

‘Hurts..’ Steve murmured again. He was barely conscious.

‘He’s been like that for hours,’ Samuel told Scott. ‘Just moaning in pain. They haven’t given him anything and his wound needs cleaning badly.’

‘It’s ok, that’s why I’m here mate. Now let’s get his clothes off and have a look.’

With Samuel’s help lifting and pulling, Scott managed to get the coat, pullover and t-shirt off of Steve. He then looked closely at the shoulder wound. It was hard to see how bad it was with all the blood. But there were two holes, which hopefully meant that the bullet had passed right through his heavy shoulder muscles. The main problem would be any clothing fibres and dirt that had been driven into the wound. The amount of pain he was in would probably be due to nerve damage. His face was a swollen mess as well so he probably had concussion as well.

‘I tried to get help for him but they wouldn’t listen,’ Samuel told him.

‘It’s ok Samuel.’ Scott looked at him. ‘You did good,’ he said. ‘You somehow managed to keep him alive.’ Scott closed his eyes and sighed then as he heard the sound of boots running towards them. Lots of boots. He stood up and held his hands out wide as they came around the corner of the corridor aiming rifles at him.

‘Stand fucking still!’ One of them shouted at him, then, ‘what the fuck? Where the fuck did you come?’

Scott looked at him and smiled. ‘Fuck me Jackson they must be short of men if they gave you two stripes.’

‘Fuck...’ Corporal Jackson, previously Private Jackson in Scott’s old platoon looked at him dumfounded and lowered his weapon. He eventually got the rest of his words out. ‘Fuck me!’ He said, staring at him. ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’

Scott smiled at him. ‘That’s, what the fuck are you doing here Sergeant to you Jackson.’

‘Who the fuck is this Corporal?’ One of the other men asked but he lowered his rifle as well. The other men followed them. They all lowered their rifles and starting looking around confused.

‘My name is Sergeant Scott soldier,’ Scott told him. ‘Now what the fuck is going on here boys?’ This man is seriously wounded and you’ve just left him locked in the dark. That’s not very nice now is it?’

‘You broke the door Sarge’ Jackson said, looking at it curiously.

‘I can see you’re having problems keeping up as usual Jackson, so let me explain quickly. This man is going to die if we don’t get him treated right now!’

Corporal Jackson just stared at him. The other soldiers started fidgeting nervously. They didn’t have a clue what was going on. They had been dragged out of their beds thinking that they were under attack.

‘What shall we do Corporal?’ One of them asked quietly.

Corporal Jackson looked at his old Sergeant for a few more seconds, shook his head and then said, ‘get this man down to the medical room and go wake up the doc.’ He turned to face the men. ‘Davis and Jonas you carry him down there. Francis you go wake the doc. The rest of you go back to bed. The panic is over.’

Scott looked at him and nodded. ‘You’re doing the right thing buddy. I’ll not try and escape and drop you in it. I only want his wounds treated.’ As the men carried out their orders Scott looked at him and said, ‘you obviously haven’t figured out who that is yet have you?’

‘I’m so confused at the moment that I’m not even sure who I am now,’ Jackson told him, looking down at the floor. ‘Did I dream the last few months? What’s going on Sarge? We were all really fucking pissed off when you and the Captain run out on us.’

Scott sighed. ‘I’m really sorry son but we had no choice. We had to save those people from that mad fucker.’

Jackson looked back up at him. ‘He’s a lot worse now Sarge. He’s fuckin’ way scarier now.’

Scott nodded. ‘He’ll pay for it all one day son. What goes around comes around.’ He watched as the two men picked Steve up and started carrying him down the corridor. ‘That’s the Captain there that you’re men are carrying.’

Jackson turned around quickly and looked at him just as they took him around the corner. He looked back at Scott. ‘Fuck me! I had no idea. No wonder he managed to kill nine men.’ Jackson looked at him then and smiled. ‘Although they were fucking shit men,’ he said. ‘Most of this bunch here are a right shower of shit, including the Lieutenant. If I’d have known I would have got him sorted out Sarge but I only came on duty a few hours ago. I’d give anything to have it back to the way it was. Those were the best days. This whole thing with taking over the country is just no fun anymore.’

Scott nodded. ‘That shit at Badger farm was probably when it started getting worse. Did he ever catch that bloke he was after?’ Scott asked. ‘Nick Smith.’ Scott didn’t really care much but he knew that Beth’s and the others would. If he ever lived to tell them, he thought.

‘Yeah,’ Jackson told him. ‘They caught him months ago. Apparently he was a child molester.’ It was only then that Jackson noticed that Samuel was still sitting there on the corridor floor. ‘What about him?’ He asked.

Scott looked down at Samuel then back up at Jackson. ‘Let him go son. He’s an old man and he kept the captain alive for us.’ Scott reached down and helped Samuel get to his feet. ‘I’ll take him to the gate. You can say you knew nothing about it then.’

Jackson nodded. ‘Go for it Sarge,’ he said. ‘The Lieutenant was hoping they would both be dead by morning anyway.’

‘Well you’ve done the lieutenant a favour buddy. When Simon hears that we are both captured down here he will want our deaths to be a bit more public and last a lot longer than that. There might even be some more promotions for you all. That can be your reason for keeping the captain alive tonight against the lieutenant’s orders.’

Jackson looked at Scott closely. ‘When you take him to the gate are you coming back in Sarge?’

‘I’ll be back son. The others have all seen me and they know who I am. You would definitely be in deep shit.’ He knew that Jackson wouldn’t have tried to stop him though.

Scott looked at Samuel. The old man looked completely done in. ‘Can you walk Samuel?’

Samuel took a breath and looked at him. ‘I’ll damn well walk out of here!’ he said.

Chapter twenty four

Morning 5th November 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Scott had been dozing in the chair but he woke up immediately when he heard people coming his way. A brief ray of sunlight illuminated Steve lying in the bed by the window. Scott looked over at him and saw that his chest was moving up and down beneath the covers. His face poking out above the white bed sheet was a complete swollen mess of bruises, but at least he looked at peace. Last night the doctor had first given him morphine for the pain then he had cleaned and stitched him up.

‘I doubt he’ll ever regain full use of that shoulder.’ The doctor was small quiet man but he had looked like he knew what he was doing. ‘Although the bullet passed right through I think it hit one of the bones. The scapula it has probably caught some tendons and nerves.’ The Doctor pulled off the rubber gloves and threw them in the bin. ‘The shoulder is a weak joint. It relies on the muscles and tendons to hold it in place.’

‘Thank you Doctor,’ Scott had said. ‘We’ll worry about that if he lives.’

‘Yes quite.’ The Doctor had gone over to a cupboard and taken out a couple of boxes. Then he had gone to another cupboard and found some bottles of water. He came back and handed the boxes to Scott. ‘Well, he will need these antibiotics.’ He handed Scott one box. ‘And these are for the pain.’ He handed him the other box then he put the water on the cabinet by the bed.

‘Thanks Doctor.’ Scott had noted where he got the tablets and water from.

‘We don’t have any intravenous equipment here yet so you will have to make sure he gets plenty of that water. If you can get any food down him then that would be good as well.’

After the Doctor had left Scott went to the cupboard and helped himself to a few more boxes of the tablets. He hid them in his pockets. Then he just sat in the chair and watched his friend. ‘Stick out would I?’ he said quietly after a little while. ‘You’re a bloody idiot. I knew I should have come with you in the first place.’

Scott must have dozed off but the sound of heavy footsteps woke him. He stood up as Lieutenant Briant strode briskly into the room. Corporal Jackson was right behind him followed by two other soldiers. As he came into the room he stopped abruptly. Jackson just stopped in time to avoid walking into him. The two soldiers behind Jackson didn’t stop in time and they did walk right into him. He turned around and shoved them both then Lieutenant Briant started shouting.

‘What the bloody hell are you doing in here unrestrained?’ The Lieutenant then turned to face Jackson. ‘What the bloody hell is going on here Corporal? I’ve just sent a messenger to the General telling him that I have captured these two and you let them walk about freely. I don’t need to tell you what he’ll do if they get away from here.’

‘Yes sir!’ Jackson said. ‘Sorry Sir.’

‘Well..’ the lieutenant paused. ‘Well that’s ok then.’ The Lieutenant turned to Scott. ‘Why are you unrestrained Sergeant Scott?’ He asked.

Why are you a complete fucking idiot, Scott thought then said, ‘it’s my fault entirely Sir. When I walked in here of my own free will last night I forgot to tell someone to lock me up in case I changed my mind.’ Jackson grinned behind the Lieutenant and Scott smiled as Briant frowned. ‘My friend needs looking after Sir,’ Scott explained to him slowly. ‘Or he will die. If that happens I will fight my way out of any room you put me in or I will die trying. Either way neither of us will be here when Lord Simon the great fucking arshole arrives.’

The Lieutenant took a step back. Jackson stepped out of his way and came around the front. ‘I’m going to put guards on them twenty four hours a day Sir,’ he said. ‘They won’t escape.’

The Lieutenant frowned at Scott again, but he didn’t really know what to say now so he turned around. ‘Make sure you do Jackson,’ he said as he walked back out of the door.

‘Ha-ha, life’s been a bit boring without you around Sarge, even if you did always take the piss outa me all the time.’ He looked over at Steve. ‘Is he gonna be alright now do you think?’

Scott stopped smiling and looked over at the bed. ‘If I can make sure he gets what he needs.’ Scott sighed ‘As soon as he wakes up I’ve got to get food and water into him. He’s lost a lot of blood.’ He looked at Jackson. ‘I have to stay with him for now matey.’

Jackson nodded. ‘These two will keep you company.’

Scott looked at them. ‘Got any cards boys?’ he asked them. ‘It’s gonna be a boring shift.’

Jackson laughed then said, ‘don’t hurt them Sarge, we are running out of men here.’

‘Did anyone ask about the old man?’ Scott asked. He was talking about letting Samuel go last night.

‘No, nobody even noticed and the Lieutenant thought he’d won the lottery when I explained who you two were. He’s already sent someone up to Okehampton to tell the General.’

Scott sighed. ‘Yeah I heard him say. Oh well. It had to happen.’ He then smiled. ‘Who sorts all the food out here? How can I make sure we get what we need?’

‘There’s a guy called Ian. He’s a friendly bloke,’ Jackson told him. ‘He’s about the only one who is in this town. They fuckin hate us here you know.’

‘Yeah,’ Scott said. ‘I heard that.’

‘It appears that the men here were a bit heavy handed with the locals in the beginning, so you can’t really blame them. Anyway I’ll send him to you. Like I said he’s a nice bloke, but if you want any extras from him he always wants something in return.’

‘Like what?’ Scott asked confused.

‘Don’t worry Sarge it aint a shag up the arse,’ Jackson laughed again. ‘Fags, booze, knives,’ he said. ‘Anything he can trade. It’s the way things work now.’

‘Oh that’s ok then,’ Scott said. ‘I think we can work something out.’

Jackson looked at him. ‘Don’t hurt him either. We need him.’

Scott laughed at that. ‘What sort of a person do you think I am Jackson?’

‘I know exactly what you’re like Sarge. Anyway I gotta go. We gotta re arrange the watches after the Captain here killed four men yesterday.’ He leaned in close. ‘Some of the men lost friends yesterday. That’s why they threw him in that room. So keep on your toes Sarge.’

Scott looked over at the two soldiers. ‘What about these two?’ he asked.

‘No. They’re ok,’ he said. ‘That’s why they’re here. I’m not as stupid as I look.’

‘No that would be hard to achieve,’ Scott told him.

Mid-morning 5th November 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

Lieutenant Briant’s messenger arrived at Okehampton at around eleven o’clock. He had enjoyed being out on his own in the Land Rover and he hadn’t rushed getting there. He had even stopped for an hour and caught up on a bit of sleep. It had been a shit day for him yesterday and he’d had guard duty last night as well. It had been a strange few days.

As he showed his I.D at Okehampton he looked at the broken barrier. ‘What’s happened here then mate?’ he asked the gate guard.

‘Fuck knows mate,’ the gate guard said. ‘Nobody’s saying anything about it.’

‘Oh well same as always eh? We’re just the mushrooms.’

‘Yep,’ agreed the guard. ‘Kept in the dark and fed on shit.’

The messenger had laughed and then driven on into the base. He pulled up outside the main building and turned off the engine then he sat there for a few minutes and looked around. He had been stationed here at the beginning before the general and his army had taken over the place. It had changed a lot since then. There were a lot more people here for one thing. At the time it had seemed like they were the only people left alive in the world. He sighed and climbed out and walked into the main reception.

‘Hello mate,’ he said to the soldier at the desk while looking curiously up at the smashed up ceiling. ‘Bloody hell what’s been going on around here?’

‘Dunno,’ the bloke said. ‘It was like it when I came on this morning. Who are you looking for?’

‘I’ve got a message for the General.’

‘Oh yeah. Well you just missed him.’

‘Oh. When will he be back?’

‘In about a month. Is it important then?’

‘Dunno really,’ the messenger told him. ‘We found a couple of guys he was looking for apparently. It’s all written in here.’ He handed the guy a big brown envelope.

‘Ok cheers mate I’ll pass it on.’

The messenger nodded, said thanks and went back to Land Rover for the nice long drive back to Totnes. He was already planning where he was going to stop for another nap on the way back.

Chapter twenty five

Morning 7th December 2014 Corfe Mullen, Dorset.

Nick ducked under a massive haymaker from Jeff, tapped him in the ribs and carried on moving past. He then turned quickly to face Jeff as the big man also turned around.

‘Broken ribs,’ he said, smiling then skipped to one aside as Jeff ran at him wind-milling punches. As Jeff went past he tapped him on the shin with his foot. ‘You’re down,’ he said.

‘You’re a sneaky fuckin bastard!’ Jeff said as he turned to face Nick again. ‘Why don’t you just stand still and fight properly?

‘You can’t do those two things at the same time Jeffrey.’ Nick smiled at him.

‘Stop calling me that!’ Jeff ran at Nick again but this time he tried to grab him in his huge arms. Nick nimbly stepped aside again and Jeff went stumbling past. He turned back around. ‘You’re a sneaky fucking fighter! And I’ve had enough of this shit.’ Jeff walked past him and went back inside the pub.

Nick smiled and followed him in. Jeff was behind the bar again of course. Nick watched him pick up a bottle of peach schnapps and tip it up to his mouth.

‘So you’ve finally drunk everything else then,’ Nick said, stretching his arms out and rolling his shoulders.

‘Yeah,’ Jeff said making a face. ‘I don’t like this shit much. I’ve emptied every fuckin’ house and I’m running out. We are gonna have to leave here soon.’

‘I know,’ Nick said.

Over the past month Nick had trained, eaten and slept in that order twice every day. His muscles had filled back out again and he was almost back to his original strength. During the same month Jeff had drank, eaten and slept in that order twice every day and he had gone through almost every drop of alcohol in the small town. It was definitely time to move on. Nick found that he was actually feeling a little bit sad about that. They never had found anyone else living in the area and Corfe Mullen had been an excellent place for him to recover. He would miss the complete simplicity of this existence but he had a promise to keep and a revenge to carry out.

He went over to sit on one of the bar stools and Jeff handed him a bottle of water. ‘Even that’s running out,’ Jeff told him. ‘Although I don’t know why you drink that shit anyway.’

Nick smiled at him. Jeff had the constitution of an ox. Somehow he could get away with just eating crap, doing no exercise and drinking huge amounts of alcohol. He not only got away with it he actually seemed to thrive on the diet. Nick had come to the conclusion that he was the result of centuries of inbreeding and natural selection. He was a mutation. If he ate healthily and did some exercise it would probably kill him.

‘I would like to revisit Totnes before we go to find Simon,’ he told Jeff.

‘Why?’ Jeff took another long swig of schnapps and grimaced.

Nick drank some water then looked at Jeff. ‘Well first of all I left my pack in an alley there. It’s got all my stuff in it.’

‘Well how’s that still gonna be there?’ Jeff asked him dismissively.

‘It might be gone,’ Nick said. ‘But I have to check anyway. I left it in a shitty dark alley away from the town centre so it could still be there.’

‘Can’t you just get a new load of shit?’

‘Some of the stuff can be replaced,’ Nick told him. ‘But some of it can’t.

‘Totnes,’ Jeff said thoughtfully. ‘Weren’t they the ones who caught you and took you to Simon?’

‘Yeah,’ Nick said. His face was serious now. ‘That’s the other reason I want to go there.’

‘Well why didn’t you say that in the first place.’ Jeff glugged down the rest of the bottle and threw it at the wall. It smashed into pieces. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good scrap.’ He looked at Nick. ‘And I don’t mean your kind of fairy dancing. I mean a proper scrap.’

Nick smiled again. ‘How much schnapps have you got left under there?’

Jeff looked under the bar. ‘Three more bottles,’ he said, but he smiled as well and then he pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. He placed it on the bar. ‘But I’ve been keeping this back for emergencies or celebrations.’

Nick laughed. ‘So we can have a drink and celebrate tonight and leave tomorrow then.’

Jeff looked at the bottle seriously. ‘I don’t think there’s enough here for both of us,’ he said with a worried look on his face.

Morning 7th December 2014 Okehampton, Devon.

Simon stormed out of his office and grabbed hold of the first soldier he came across. ‘Find Klaus and tell him I want to see him!’ The soldier jumped, said yes Sir then he jogged off down the corridor.

Simon had returned from his campaign at Luffenham two days ago. It had of course been completely successful and the base there was now under their control. That just left three more bases and then they would have complete control of the armed forces in England and Scotland.

Being away with his troops on a successful campaign had given Simon his old confidence back. It had given him time to think straight and he had given a lot of thought to his feelings concerning Nick Smith. He had begun to realise he may have overestimated the situation. Nick Smith was an old man now. He hadn’t looked brilliant when they had brought him in and he certainly wasn’t looking to good the last time that he had seen him. Simon had rationalised his feelings. Nick had bullied the younger version of himself and it had caused some kind of psychosis. Like an irrational phobia. That was why he had needed to implicate Nick in the scandal that had seen him put in prison. That phobia had taken a long time to go away but he believed that it had gone now. He had kept himself in peak condition and continued with his training after going awol from the Regiment. He had worked hard to perfect his fighting skills and he had worked with terrorist groups worldwide. What had Nick Smith done other than grow old?

He had most likely gone off somewhere and died after that big oaf had carried him out of the cell. Simon had decided that he would not allow the thought of him to influence his judgment or ruin his successes any longer.

He had rested and slept all of his first day back at Okehampton and then this morning he had got up and gone to his office to start looking at the pile of paperwork on his desk. He had diligently read the first two reports. The first one was about the Bournemouth community. Apparently there was a guy there who had been in charge of the community from the beginning. His name was David Dean. They recommended that he should carry on controlling the situation there. Out of all the communities the Bournemouth one seemed to be the most successful. Simon was happy if someone else was volunteering to do all of the hard work.

The second report had been about the Barracks at Exeter. The place had started to attract all the dregs of humanity that were still left alive. When they had evacuated from the barracks about three months ago they had purposefully left behind a lot of the civilians. They had no real use for them now that they didn’t want them in the army. It was intended that they form their own community at Exeter. Well the report was saying that they had but it was fast becoming an ungovernable and dangerous town where anything could be bartered for. The report suggested some kind of clean-up operation might be necessary.

By the time Simon got to the third report he had almost given up the will to live. It was saying something about this base and the way that Colonel Hawkins was starting to gain more influence with the soldiers here. It suggested removing him and giving him a small community to govern. The words began to blur on the pages and Simon threw it on the already read pile. He couldn’t understand why most of this ended up on his desk. Did he have to do everything? What he didn’t know was that Klaus or one of the other officers had already dealt with any of the important issues. Klaus had copies of the reports put on Simon’s desk to purposely bore him into leaving things alone.

Simon began to just flick through the reports then throw them on the read pile until there was just one sheet of paper left on his desk. He was just about to add that to the already read pile when one of the names on it sprang out at him. Captain Steve Saunders! He quickly read the short document. Stevie and Sergeant Scott had been captured in Totnes! He then read the date at the top. It was dated the fifth of November. That was over a month ago.

Within minutes of Simon sending the soldier off to find him, Klaus walked into his office.

Simon looked up at him. ‘Did you see this report?’ He asked him frantically, holding it out to him.

Klaus took it and read it slowly. ‘No,’ he said when he had finished. ‘I was not informed of this.’ Klaus had been out himself for most of the last few weeks. The running of the base was indeed left mostly to Colonel Hawkins, but Klaus trusted the little fellow and even liked him. He was also far too fearful to try anything.

‘It’s over a month old,’ Simon told him worriedly.

‘So?’ Klaus’s face was curious. ‘Why is this important to you?’

‘Important to me!’ Simon shouted. ‘Why is this important to me? These men betrayed me and deserted. Of course this is important to me!’

Klaus shook his head slowly. Simon was becoming impossible to bear. ‘You shouldn’t get so worked up about these things Simon. It is not good for your health. They will still be there.’

‘How can you be so sure?’ Simon asked settling down a bit.

‘We have had no other messages from Totnes concerning this. If they had escaped we would have been told.’ Klaus smiled broadly at Simon. ‘Nobody would want to see you turn up and then be disappointed would they?’

Simon relaxed back into his chair. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think of that.’ They both knew that he would most definitely kill a few people if that happened.

‘Plus it says that he was injured badly.’ Klaus handed the sheet of paper back to Simon.

‘Does it?’ Simon had not read it all. He scanned it now. ‘Oh yes. Well that’s brilliant! Well I need to get there as soon as possible then,’ he said.

‘Of course,’ Klaus agreed. He would agree to anything that took Simon away from here.

‘I shall go tomorrow then,’ Simon told him. ‘I’ll need a small guard detachment.’

‘Of course you will,’ Klaus agreed again. ‘I will arrange everything for you,’ he told him. ‘I assume that you will you be leaving at eight tomorrow?’

‘I will,’ Simon told him. Klaus had to look away from Simon then. The malicious smile that had suddenly appeared on his face was quite sickening.

‘I will arrange it,’ he said. He was already feeling sorry for the two men. He had liked them both.

Morning 7th December 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Steve was clean shaven and his hair was cut short again. His face had completely healed but his nose had a slight bend in it now. He was sitting in his chair and looking over at the rack of dumbbells. George and the lads had brought them in and set up the rack for him a couple of weeks ago. There were ten pairs of dumbbells on the rack. They ranged from a one kilogram pair to a ten kilogram pair.

Steve had always been naturally big and strong so he had never really got into weight training much. During his Marine Commando training his bigger build had actually slowed him down a bit, so he had always done more aerobic type training for fitness and endurance. He put a hand on his stomach and felt the layer of fat that was building up there. It was hard to stay fit when you couldn’t even go for a walk outside. The thought made him feel even more claustrophobic. He stood up and walked over to the rack then picked up one of the one kilo dumbbells in his left arm. It was easy for him. He could barely feel the weight as he lifted it above his head. He then tried to move his right arm towards the rack to pick up the other one kilo weight in that hand and he immediately felt the intense pain shoot from his wounded shoulder and down his right arm.

‘Fuck it!’ he swore and threw the weight in his left arm at the wall. It bounced off, landed on the floor and rolled.

It was pointless. He could barely move his right arm, let alone pick anything up with it. The Doctor had told him that the bullet had torn through the tendons and nerves and they had been severely damaged. He would need major reconstructive surgery to regain any real use of the arm. Steve believed him. The trouble was that Scott didn’t. Hence the weight rack that George had found in the sports shop down the road.

Steve lifted his arm back into the sling then went and sat back down in the chair. Scott meant well but pointless optimism wouldn’t magically reconnect broken tendons and nerves. He was just thinking about lying on the bed and going back to sleep when he heard Scott’s laughter echoing down the corridor. He sighed then put a smile on his face for his friend as Scott walked in.

‘How’s the weight training going?’ Scott asked, looking over at the rack. He walked over and picked up the one on the floor then put it back on the rack.

‘I don’t think that I’ll make the Olympics this year,’ Steve told him.

‘Ha-ha,’ Scott laughed. ‘That’s ok there aren’t any Olympics this year. You’ve got until 2016. You’ve got plenty of time to train up for it.’

Steve just shook his head and smiled for his friend. Scott had given up his own freedom to save his life. Without Scott he would have died thirty two days ago. The trouble was that most of the time he wished that he had died. Better dead than broken, he thought. He knew that he could have dealt with the constant pain in his shoulder if it was just that. The real problem was that he couldn’t move his right arm. It was amazing how much he had taken it for granted. That thought was so absurd that it actually made him smile.

‘Now that’s what I’ve been waiting for,’ Scott told him. ‘You gotta cheer yourself up mate.’

‘I know Scott.’ The smile dropped from Steve’s face. ‘I’m just an ungrateful bastard.’

‘Now-now,’ Scott admonished. ‘None of that crap again.’ Scott sat down on the bed. ‘George and the lads are coming over this afternoon,’ he said, changing the subject. ‘For a game of cards and George is bringing beer.’

Steve gave him another smile. George and the lads, he thought. The lads being Amos, Jason, Ian and Samuel. A load of old men, he thought ungraciously then hated himself for thinking it. He was sure that they had better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than to come and sit with him.

The strangest thing though was that they were allowed in here. Since the shooting and then Scott’s arrival, the soldiers at the garrison and the people in the community of Totnes had started to become friendly towards each other. Before that the soldiers had always thought that the townies had hated them and vice-versa. At least by being shot he had accomplished one good thing. As he always did when he thought of that, he thought of Simon. A few weeks ago they had heard through the grapevine that the psycho was away killing people up north somewhere. Everyone had prayed for his death. Then they had heard recently that the killing people up North thing had gone very well for him and that the psycho was due back soon. He had a strong feeling that things would change around here before long.

‘You know that you should start thinking about getting away from here now Scott,’ Steve said, looking over at him seriously. ‘We’ll get a visit from Simon before long.’

Scott looked at him. ‘You know I can’t,’ he said. ‘These lads here have been good to us Steve. If we’re gone when loopy fuckin’ Simon finally gets here he’ll skin the lot of them and probably most of the townies as well.’

Steve nodded back at him. ‘We’ve been over all that Scott!’ Steve raised his voice. ‘You go! I’ll stay! It’ll be me he wants. Not you.’ Steve looked out of the window. ‘He’ll be happy with that,’ he said the last bit quietly, not really believing it himself. Simon had been told they were both here he would expect them both to still be here. When Scott had walked in here a month ago he had known just what he was signing up for. He looked back over at Scott. He knew that he wouldn’t leave here and let the men take his punishment. He had given his word. ‘You’re a stupid, stubborn and brave fucking idiot Scott,’ he told him quietly.

‘And I love you to Steve,’ Scott told him, jumping up. ‘Now let’s get the table ready in the other room,’ he said. ‘I hope George got hold of some more of that brown ale, or even Guinness,’ Scott said as he was walking out. ‘I’m not complaining but lager doesn’t really do it for me you know.’

Chapter twenty six

Morning 8th December 2014 Totnes, Devon.

Simon’s convoy arrived at the road block on the A385 just outside Totnes at just after nine am. There were three Land Rovers in the small convoy. The first one held the detachment’s commanding officer and four men. Simon was in the middle vehicle with another four men. The last Land Rover held three more men and had a heavy machine gun mounted on the back of it. After a few words from the detachment’s commanding officer the two guards at the road block quickly opened it up to let the three vehicles through.

Nick had approached Totnes slowly and they had seen the roadblock from way back. He had turned the Land Rover around and decided that they would swing around to the east of the town and come in on one of the smaller roads. They would then ditch the Land Rover and follow the same way in that he had on his first disastrous visit to the town.

He had wanted to leave really early that morning but he hadn’t been able to get Jeff out of bed until gone eight. This was due to his previous night’s celebration with his three bottles of peach schnapps and one bottle of Jack Daniels. Nick was just glad that the schnapps to J.D ratio hadn’t been the other way around.

It was nearly eleven o’clock by the time they reached the house just outside of Totnes where Nick had stayed before. He drove the Land Rover to another one of the big houses three doors down and pulled it up behind some trees.

‘Jeff,’ he said, looking over his shoulder at him lying crunched up on the back seat. ‘We have arrived.’ There was no obvious sign that the big fella had heard him. Nick sighed and turned off the engine. Jeff’s snoring suddenly became the loudest thing in the local area. Nick opened the door, jumped out and then stretched. His newly built-up muscles were stiff from the driving. As he stretched he looked around and listened carefully but the area looked and sounded as empty as it had on his last visit.

He took a deep breath then pulled open the side rear door of the jeep. Jeff’s massive legs flopped out of the door. ‘Waah..! What the fuck!’ Jeff started thrashing around and punching out. Nick smiled. He was glad he hadn’t opened the door on the other side.

‘We are here,’ Nick told him while still looking all around for any sign of trouble. ‘It’s time to get up now. How’s the head?’

‘What head?’ Jeff asked sitting up slowly. ‘You made me jump,’ he told Nick moodily.

‘Yeah sorry about that,’ Nick said with absolutely no sympathy in his voice. ‘Come on then get out,’ he told him. ‘There’s a house full of food and drink just over there.’

‘Drink?’ Jeff smiled.

‘Yeah, I thought that would cheer you up.’ Nick reached into the Land Rover and picked up the rifle from the floor. Jeff climbed out slowly then shook himself like a big ugly dog as Nick closed the doors. ‘You do that a lot,’ Nick told him. ‘It reminds me of friend I used to have.’ He then he turned and walked towards the house.

‘Wait up!’ Jeff shouted. ‘My boot laces have come all undone.’

Nick stopped and looked all around carefully then he said, ‘you haven’t tied them yet.’

Jeff smiled broadly. ‘Oh yeah,’ he said. Nick waited while he bent down and tied up his laces then he turned and started walking towards the house again. Jeff had to jog to catch up with him. ‘What kind of drinks ‘ave they got here then?’

‘Loads of bottled water,’ Nick told him, smiling.

‘What and that’s it?’ Jeff looked outraged.

‘I don’t know. I never checked the bar out.’

‘They’ve got a bar?’ Jeff’s face went straight back to smiling again.

‘So the moment has finally arrived.’ Steve said. He was sitting very still in his chair looking up at Jackson and Scott. They were both standing in front of him looking very serious. A messenger had arrived yesterday afternoon informing them that the General would be arriving today. Jackson had just come in to say that he had received a radio message from the road block telling them that he had just passed through. He would be here in about ten minutes.

‘Yes it has,’ Scott said. ‘His lordship has finally turned up.

Jackson looked from one of them to the other. ‘I don’t really know what to say.’

‘Then don’t say anything Jackson,’ Scott said, smiling. ‘Look. We knew this day would come. It’s not been played out yet though so anything could happen.’

‘I’m gonna have to lock this door and put a guard on it,’ he told them apologetically.

‘Do what you have to do Corporal.’ Steve then looked at Scott. ‘There’s still time,’ he said.

Scott shook his head slowly.

Steve sighed. If it wasn’t for Scott being here he would have been relieved that this day had finally come. They had been playing cards yesterday when they had heard about the messenger, and the first thought that had sprung into Steve head was thank god. Like Scott had just said. They had known that this day would come sooner or later. He looked down at his arm in the sling and he wondered if he would have ever had the courage to carry on with his right arm hanging from him like a useless dead weight. He would never find out now, but he wished that Scott would take his advice and leave while he could. Simon would not be gentle with Scott. He would see him as a traitor. Scott was not a traitor though and he had always stayed true to his word. He had promised Jackson that he would come back on that first night when he had let Samuel go. He had come back then and he wouldn’t leave now.

‘Well all I can say is good luck to you both,’ Jackson said then he quickly turned around and left the room. They heard a key turning in the lock after the door was closed. It was the first time they had been locked in since the night that Scott had arrived here.

The three Land Rovers pulled up alongside the new metal fence around the small school. Simon stayed seated as the soldiers with him jumped out of the vehicles. He watched then as they secured the area around them. He received a nod from the detachment commander then he looked around himself, pushed the door open and stepped out. He loved feeling important. As he walked towards the metal gate it was pulled wide open. He strode through it followed closely by his bodyguards and was then met by a feeble looking Lieutenant.

‘Hello Sir,’ the Lieutenant said as he saluted him.

‘Where are the prisoners?’ Simon didn’t salute back. He liked the being saluted part but it was so bothersome saluting back. If he did it every time he was sure that he would spend his whole day waving his arm up and down.

‘Securely locked up Sir as you would expect,’ the Lieutenant told him.

Simon frowned at him curiously. What a stupid thing to say, he thought. ‘Just show me where they are you idiot!’ he said, walking around him. The doors to the main building were opened for him and he stepped inside and out of the cold wind. The Lieutenant turned around quickly and followed him inside. Simon was striding down the corridor now and the Lieutenant was following him, getting even more anxious now. How was he supposed to show the general where the prisoners were from behind him? Simon then suddenly stopped abruptly and he almost walked into him. This was of course Simon’s intention. He loved proving his power over people.

‘Go past me you idiot!’ Simon was annoyed that the idiot hadn’t bumped into him. He wanted an excuse to hit him then he remembered that he didn’t need one and slapped him around the head as he went passed.

‘Oh!’ The Lieutenant squeaked. ‘Sorry Sir.’

Simon smiled. His good humour was restored. The Lieutenant then went in front and led Simon down the corridor. They turned a corner and then stopped at the second door down. Simon was pleased to see the guard standing outside the door. The Lieutenant wasn’t a complete idiot then, he thought.

The door was first unlocked and then opened. Simon stood back as the two soldiers with him stepped into the room first. ‘Stand to attention up against the wall!’ he heard one of them order. There was some shuffling of feet then Simon entered the room.

Nick led Jeff around to the back of the house. Nothing seemed to have changed here apart from the season. A bitter cold wind hit them as they came around the corner of the house and walked into the field at the rear. Nick pushed open the small back gate. It had developed a rusty squeak. They walked through and up the garden path. He banged on the door a few times then waited, listening.

‘What the fuck are you waiting for?’ Jeff asked him. ‘It’s fucking freezing out here!’

Nick just smiled and pushed open the door it was still unlocked. He doubted that anyone was in there but just in case he stepped out of the way. ‘After you then Mr impatient,’ he said.

Jeff stomped in and looked around. ‘Nice place,’ he said. Nick came in after him. It wasn’t much warmer inside but at least they were out of the wind. ‘Where did you say the bar was?’ Jeff asked him.

‘It’s in the main room.’ Nick told him, while looking around.

‘I’ll see you in minute then.’ Jeff stomped out of the kitchen as Nick went to check the cupboards for food. He was really surprised to see that none of it had been touched. He grabbed a spoon from the drawer and picked up an armful of tins then went to sit at the table. He still had a few pounds of muscle to build back up before he was back to full strength.

‘Well this is a very nice room I must say,’ Simon said as he walked in. He frowned at the large window. ‘Not a very secure room though is it?’ He turned and stared at the Lieutenant. ‘Is this your idea of how to keep my prisoners locked up properly?’

The Lieutenant cringed slightly, expecting another slap. ‘No Sir.’

Simon stared at him in dis-belief then suddenly shouted, ‘are you some kind of joke?’ He turned to the Corporal who was standing just inside the door. ‘Is this some kind of fucking joke Corporal!?’ he shouted.

‘No Sir!’ the Corporal said, looking him in the eyes.

‘No!’ Simon shouted again, making everyone except Scott, Steve and the Corporal flinch.

‘Well that’s fucking good! Because I’m not fucking laughing! What is your name Corporal?’ Simon had moved forward. The Lieutenant quickly shuffled out of his way. He was glad that someone else was being shouted at now.

‘My name is Jackson Sir. Corporal Jackson.’ Jackson stood up straight before him.

Simon studied him then suddenly said, ‘well now it’s changed!’ Simon turned to the Lieutenant and slapped him across the face hard. ‘You go and wait outside in the corridor,’ he told him harshly. ‘You!’ he said turning back to Jackson. ‘Are now Sergeant Jackson and you will be in charge of this garrison until I send another officer down here.’

‘Yes Sir,’ Jackson replied, straight faced.

Simon then turned back to face his ex-Captain and the Sergeant. They were standing still by the wall watching him. ‘Well Stevie you have really disappointed me this time,’ he said quietly. ‘And you Sergeant Price,’ he said looking at him. ‘I expected much more from you both.’ He then looked from one of them to the other and said, ‘anyone with half a brain cell could have escaped out of that window.’ Simon suddenly doubled over, laughing at his own joke.

Nick was just finishing his third tin of food from the cupboard when Jeff came back into the kitchen. He was carrying a half empty bottle of Jameson whiskey and he was wearing a long thick gold chain around his neck. ‘The people who owned this house must have been minted,’ he said, coming and sitting down at the table opposite Nick.

Nick scooped the last bits of ravioli from the tin and put them in his mouth. He chewed slowly then swallowed before saying, ‘nice chain mate. It suits you.’

Jeff smiled at him. ‘Really?’ he asked, surprised. ‘I thought you wouldn’t like it.’

‘Well it’s not me, but it is definitely you.’ Nick thought about opening the fourth can then pushed it away. He was feeling stuffed now.

‘Thanks,’ Jeff said then tipped the bottle up to his mouth and took a long swallow from it.

‘No worries,’ Nick said. He then stood and went over to one of the cupboards. He came back with a large bottle of water. ‘I need to go into town soon,’ he told Jeff, watching as the big guy took another long swallow of the whiskey. He unscrewed the cap on the bottle of water and took a long swallow from it then asked, ‘are you coming with me or do you want to wait here?’

Jeff looked at the bottle of water curiously. ‘I’m coming with you,’ he said. ‘You said we were going to have a scrap.’

‘Are you sure you’re going to be up to it after drinking that?’

Jeff looked at him in the same way that he had been looking at the bottle of water. ‘Are you sure you’re up to it after drinking that shit?’ he asked. ‘There’s nothing like a drop of whiskey to put you in a fighting mood.’

‘I’ll manage without it somehow,’ Nick told him.

‘Well so will I then,’ Jeff said, slurring slightly.

Nick smiled and he was about to say something sarcastic when he heard the garden gate squeak. A couple of seconds later it banged shut. Jeff stood up far too quickly. He knocked the chair over and then tripped backwards over it. The bottle of whiskey went flying and smashed on the tiled floor. Jeff started scrabbling to get up as Nick moved away from the table and went to stand behind the large American fridge. He looked over at Jeff and smiled. Jeff stuck a finger up at him as he finally managed to get to his feet. Then both of them stared at the back door, waiting to see who was going to come in. Nick knew that the gate had only been open and closed once. Others may have stepped over the low picket fence though. After a few seconds Jeff looked at Nick and frowned. He pointed to the rifle that Nick had left on the table. Nick thought about it. Whoever it was out there, they weren’t coming in. Nick held his hand up to Jeff to tell him to wait. Ten more seconds went past and there was still no movement then Nick heard something. He smiled suddenly then moved quickly to the back door and pushed it open. Standing there just outside the back door, growling from low down in his throat was the dog.

Chapter twenty seven

Mid-morning 8th December 2014 Totnes, Devon.

‘So why didn’t you escape from here?’ Simon stood back up straight and asked them curiously. ‘The pair of you could have walked out of here anytime that you felt like it.’

‘We were well guarded Sir,’ Steve told him.

Simon looked at Steve. He studied him carefully from head to toe. Steve looked back at Simon unafraid of the inspection. At last Simon stood back. ‘Everybody but these two leave the room and close the door behind you,’ he ordered quietly. After a very slight hesitation from his two guards they all left. As the door closed Simon said, ‘sit down the pair of you. I’m finding it very hard to get my head around this situation.’

Steve and Scott looked at each other then moved away from the wall. Steve went and sat in the chair and Scott perched on the edge of the bed.

‘This isn’t where you’ve both been locked up. You haven’t been well guarded,’ Simon said. ‘If you’ve even been locked up at all I’d be surprised. There’s only one bed in here for a start. What has been going on?’ He looked around the room then looked at Steve’s arm. ‘Shot in the shoulder,’ he said. ‘Has it fucked your arm up?’ Simon moved over to the wall and leant back on it.

Steve nodded. ‘Yes Sir,’ he said. His voice was deadpan.

‘That’s really fucking bad Stevie,’ Simon said.

Scott and Steve both looked at him curiously. It had sounded like he really meant that.

‘Yes, I do have feelings you know,’ Simon told them. ‘Everybody thinks I’m made of stone or something but I can be hurt to. Like when you deserted from my army and stole my prisoners.’ He paused to think for a second. ‘What happened to them anyway?’ he asked.

‘We were attacked Sir,’ Steve told him. ‘A large gang came on us while we were sleeping. We only just managed to get away ourselves.’

‘So they’re all dead then?’ Simon asked. ‘That’s convenient.’

‘Not for them,’ Scott said.

Simon suddenly pushed himself away from the wall and flew towards where Scott was sitting on the bed. To Steve it seemed as if he did actually fly, he closed the gap between them so quickly. He hit Scott in the face with a backhanded slap that knocked him over onto his side and almost knocked him off the bed. If Steve had needed a reminder of how deadly and how erratic Simon was then that would have been a good one.

Scott didn’t make a sound or any sign that he had felt the slap. He just sat back up straight on the bed and ignored the thin trickle of blood that was running from the corner of his mouth. Simon moved backwards slowly and leant his back against the wall again in the exact same spot. He was smiling. ‘Now you were both being rude then,’ he told them. ‘Here I am explaining my deep feelings and showing sympathy and neither of you are showing me any respect.’

‘Sorry Sir,’ Steve said. Once again his voice was deadpan.

‘What’s happened to you Stevie?’ Simon asked him, but he didn’t wait for the answer. ‘Do you know why I liked you?

Steve was annoyed at Simon for hitting Scot and he wanted to distract him from thinking about Beth and the others. ‘I kind of figured it out,’ he said, staring at him.

‘Oh did you now!’ Simon pushed himself off the wall and stood up straight. ‘And what did you figure out Stevie?’

‘That you need a complete selection of different kinds of people around you to make you feel like a real boy.’ Simon’s face ran through a sequence of different looks before it settled on cold hostility. ‘You’re comparing me to Pinocchio?’ His voice stayed low but very menacing. The old Steve might have been worried now.

The new Steve wasn’t. The new Steve was hoping that Simon would just shoot him and get it over and done with. ‘Yes,’ he said calmly, looking him in the eyes.

Simon walked slowly across the floor and stood before Steve’s chair. ‘That is very perceptive of you. I always knew that you were clever Stevie. I never was a real boy, but now I am so much more than a real man. But anyway that’s obvious, I liked you because I knew that you were clever.’

‘And possibly because you realised that you could only fit a limited amount of tongues up your arse.’

‘And I also enjoyed your razor sharp wit.’

Steve couldn’t be bothered to say anything to that. The scene that was being played out here was nowhere near anything that he could have imagined. He had imagined Simon coming to them full of rage and shooting him straight in the head. In another possible scenario some kind of torture would be included, but this was just getting weirder by the second.

As if Simon had read his mind he took a step back and looked at the pair of them. ‘Well that’s enough of the bantering crap,’ he said. I’m bored now. So tell me why you are still here? Why haven’t you escaped?’

Neither Steve nor Scott felt like telling him the real reason. He wouldn’t believe it anyway. So Steve told him something that he would believe. ‘We knew that you would find us eventually. The whole country will be yours soon.’ Steve told him.

Simon nodded. ‘I see it all now. You think I will go easy on you for giving yourselves up. You knew that I liked you and gambled on that saving you. You’ve fucked your shoulder up and want your old job back and he just goes wherever you go aye?’

They both nodded even though they both knew that there was no chance of that.

‘So what am I to do with you both then?’ Simon asked himself thoughtfully.

Ian watched as the Land Rovers turned up and Simon got out then he left his position just over the road from the garrison and ran back to the pub. The others were waiting for him in the warm kitchen.

‘He’s here,’ he told them.

‘What does he look like?’ Angel asked as she brought a cup of tea over for him.

‘Thanks darling,’ Ian said taking the cup from her and warming his hands with it. ‘He looks kind of normal really. Like a soldier, but he acts really weird.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘It doesn’t matter what he looks like,’ George told his daughter. ‘Did he bring many men with him?’

‘Twelve of them,’ Ian told him. ‘They look like they know what they’re doing as well. They all got out and looked around before Simon got out.’

‘We should have had a sniper waiting like I said.’ Jason stood up and took his cup over to the sink. He turned to them all. ‘He would have been dead by now!’

‘And then what?’ Samuel asked. He looked at the army rifle that Scott had left with them. They had been hiding it but it was lying on the table now. ‘Let’s say were lucky enough to kill him.’ Samuel stood up now. ‘We would then have all those soldiers searching the town, killing innocent people and wrecking everything we have built up.’ Samuel was angry at Jason. At thirty eight, the blonde haired Jason was the youngest of their little group since Allan had died and he kept going on about his stupid idea. ‘Then we would have a load more of them come here.’ He sat back down and put his head in his hands.

Jason went back to the table and sat down again. ‘There’s no need to have a go at me,’ he told Samuel. I just want to help Steve and Scott.’

Angel went and sat down next to him. She put her hand on his shoulder but she didn’t say anything.

‘Scott made his decision a month ago when Steve was captured.’ Samuel looked up and told them all yet again. ‘I was there remember. He gave up his freedom to get me out and save his friend. Would you make his sacrifice mean nothing by acting stupid? You know what he has asked us to do.’

‘I wonder what he’ll do with them both,’ Amos said, holding his mug of tea in both hands and watching the steam come off it.

‘I suppose he’ll take them back to their main camp,’ George said. ‘It’s going to be strange round here when they’re gone.’ He looked at his daughter. At one point he had thought that there might be something between her and Steve. Since Steve had been captured though neither of them had spoken of the other and Angel had stayed away from the garrison.

‘It’s been strange round here while they were here,’ Ian said. They all sat there quietly then and thought their own thoughts about the two soldiers that had come into their lives and were soon to be gone from them.

Nick laughed happily then crouched down. ‘Hello Ugly,’ he said holding his hand out to the dog. The dog just growled at him quietly though and he didn’t come any closer.

Jeff came up behind him and looked over Nick’s shoulder. ‘Fuck me you named that dog well! That is the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen,’

The dog’s growling suddenly grew a lot louder.

‘Ha-ha, I think he feels the same about you.’ Nick stood and the dog backed slowly away. Nick noticed that he was looking a lot thinner than when he last saw him. ‘Hard hunting in the winter mate?’ he said to the dog then he turned around. ‘I wouldn’t go near him if I were you Jeff. I don’t think he likes you very much.’

‘Don’t you worry about that,’ Jeff said, scowling at the dog then turning around and walking off. ‘I’ve got to find something else to drink now. Bloody ugly thing made me drop my drink.’

Nick laughed again as he remembered Jeff falling over the chair in his drunken panic. Whiskey might put him in the mood for fighting but it certainly didn’t help much with the actual fighting. He went over to the cupboard and started pulling out any tins of food that had meat in them. The two saucepans that he had put outside for the dog three months ago were still there. He filled both of them up with saveloy sausages, minced beef and ravioli. The dog watched him while he did it but he didn’t move towards the pots at all. Nick stood up and backed into the kitchen. ‘Go on then you stubborn bugger,’ Nick told him. He could see the dog was salivating. ‘Ok. I’ll just go back inside then. You eat it when you’re ready.’

Jeff came back into the kitchen carrying another bottle of Jameson’s. ‘Fuck me. You didn’t tell me you were Doctor Dolittle.’ he said. He started singing, ‘if I could talk to the animals.’ Then he started laughing at his own joke.

‘Oh look at that,’ Nick replied. ‘They must have been really minted. Two bottles of whiskey behind the bar!’ He then smiled as he heard the dog wolfing down the food outside. He was relieved and happy that the dog had survived, even though it was his own stupid fault that he had got caught. The dog had only been trying to protect him and he had got hurt in the process.

Steve looked Simon straight in the eyes. ‘I suppose just letting us go isn’t one of the options,’ he said.

Simon looked back at him with hostility. ‘I told you that I was bored of this bantering crap. It was slightly amusing catching up with you both but now it is boring me so please shut up while I think.’

Steve flicked a glance over towards Scott but he was just looking at the wall. Then Simon suddenly shouted out and called everyone back into the room.

‘We will hold an execution!’ he said when they were all back in. Sergeant Jackson.’

‘Yes Sir.’

‘Have these men restrained properly.’

‘Yes Sir.’ Jackson looked at them both sitting there. He noticed the blood drying on Scott’s chin. He went over to him and raised his eyebrows but Scott gave a tiny shake of his head.

‘I need an open area Sergeant Jackson. On tarmac, I don’t want to be slipping around in the mud. Do you know of somewhere?’

‘Yes Sir.’

‘Good. I think we will have an old style public execution. Now where can I get something to eat around here?’

Nick waited for the dog to finish his food then he picked up the rifle and looked at Jeff. ‘Come on then mate, let’s go and see what’s going on in Totnes shall we?’

Jeff stood up and stretched then he picked up the bottle of whiskey.

Nick looked at the bottle. A quarter of it had gone down Jeff’s neck already. ‘Are you bringing that with you?’

‘Can’t see why not,’ Jeff said, yawning.

‘Well not being able to walk might be a bit of an impediment.’

Jeff frowned at him. ‘If I knew what the fuck that meant I’d probably be annoyed.’

‘Never mind,’ Nick said. ‘Let’s go.’ He walked out onto the garden path. The dog was standing watching them about halfway down to the gate. He started growling again when Jeff came out. ‘I don’t think he likes you mate,’ Nick said.

‘I’m getting confused now,’ Jeff said behind him. ‘Are you talking to me or the dog?’

Nick shook his head and sighed. ‘The dog,’ he said. ‘I get more intelligent conversation from him.’

The walk into Totnes went a little differently than last time. The dog seemed to be right at home here now. Nick guessed that he had moved out of the fields and into the town. There was shelter from the cold here and his new prey was most likely rats instead of rabbits. The dog was a born survivor, but although the dog obviously recognised him and it seemed to be going in the same direction as them. He wouldn’t let either of them get too close, and he was constantly growling at Jeff as he stumbled along.

The two prisoners had been restrained and locked up. Simon had eaten and the newly promoted Sergeant Jackson had reluctantly checked out a car park just round the block from the garrison. The few cars in there had been pushed out to the edges, he had left men there to control the area and he had reported back that the place was ready for whatever the General had in mind.

As word spread through the town about what was happening the people had wrapped themselves in their warm coats, gloves and scarves and they had started gathering around the area. They couldn’t really be blamed. Amusement was not easy to find now and this situation looked like it had the prospect of becoming very interesting. When Simon had been informed that the people had gathered he had become quite exited. He had thought of a good way to both execute the prisoners and impress people at the same time. The more people who were there to see it the better it would be for him.

Chapter twenty eight

Nick found the alley easily. It was his last fully functional memory of Totnes before the fight with the gang and the subsequent beatings. He thought about what they had done to him for a little while and his face became deadly serious. He could see their faces in his mind. He shook the memory away and then walked into the dark alley. His pack was exactly where he had left it and that made him smile widely.

‘It’s here,’ he turned and called back quietly then nearly tripped over the dog. He had followed him in. ‘Bloody hell mate, you can move quietly.’

The dog looked up at him and let out a small whine.

Nick crouched down and held out his hand. The dog sniffed it cautiously then he let Nick stroke his head. ‘It’s ok mate. It won’t happen again,’ Nick told him as he stood up and picked up his pack. Once he was back out into the light of the street Nick realised that he would need a new pack really soon. It was disgustingly dirty, really damp and it stank. It had also been chewed at quite a lot. He put it on the ground and opened the top and he was really glad to see that the stuff inside looked to be ok though. The good quality rucksack had protected all of his things and the dank dark alley had hidden it.

‘Is it ok?’ Jeff asked him. He was sitting on a low garden wall. Nick saw that half of the whiskey had been drunk now and Jeff’s eyes had a slightly unfocused look to them.

‘It’s fine,’ Nick told him then he walked over and took the bottle from Jeff’s hand.

‘Heh!’ Jeff stood up quickly. A lot quicker than he should have been able to with that much whiskey inside of him. ‘What are you doin?’ Jeff was frowning at him now.

‘Let’s do a little test,’ Nick said.

‘Why?’ Jeff was still frowning at him. ‘I want that back.’

‘You can have it back if you can jump on that wall and walk along it without falling off.’

‘Just give me it back,’ Jeff told him, his voice was low and menacing now.

‘Jeff,’ Nick said. ‘Just wait and think before you get silly over this ok.’

‘Oh whatever,’ Jeff said then he jumped on the wall. He stood there for a few seconds then he ran along it and jumped across the gap to the next wall along the street. He landed steadily and looked at Nick.

Nick was impressed. ‘Bloody hell,’ he said. ‘Well done. What are you? Some kind of giant alien that just feeds on alcohol?’

Jeff jumped down and grinned at him. ‘You said I could have it back.’ He held out his massive hand and Nick gave him the bottle.

‘I did,’ he said then he frowned and tipped his head to one side. ‘What’s that noise?’ he asked.

Jeff tipped his head as well. ‘It’s people in the distance,’ he said. ‘Lots of them. It sounds like shouting.’ He pointed. ‘That way.’ He then took a long swallow from the bottle and said, ‘let’s go find them.’

Simon had changed out of his smart no 2’s uniform and into his worn and comfortable camouflage combats and boots. He was standing in the middle of the now empty car park. He was moving around, warming himself up and watching the people of Totnes gather. The car park had the high walls of buildings on two of its sides and the other two sides were open. Armed soldiers were between him and the crowd. They consisted of the soldiers that he had brought with him and some from the garrison. They were all evenly spaced around the two open sides of the car park. They were there to keep the town people out and the prisoners in. Simon was going to hold an exhibition and he was going to be the main exhibit. He was looking forward to it immensely.

Steve and Scott were standing handcuffed over by one of the high walls. They were being guarded by two more armed soldiers. Simon looked up at the sky as a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds. It shone down on the car park, illuminating the scene and Simon knew that it was shining just for him.

‘Hello everybody!’ He shouted out to the crowd, smiling happily. ‘Thank you for coming. As you are probably all aware, I am General Daniels.’ Simon looked around at the crowd and noticed that a few of them were even holding camcorders up to record the event. What a great idea. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of that. They would hold a record of this event that he would be able to watch over and over. He would have all of them confiscated afterwards.

There was a muted cheer from the crowd after he had spoken. Hardly any of them were aware of who he was. A low hum started though as word was passed around. Simon remained completely unaware of the mood of the crowd as they learned.

He jumped around a bit threw out a fast flurry of punches then he jumped high and spun in the air as he carried out a high spinning kick before landing again in perfect balance. Some of the younger townsfolk whooped at the display of skill.

‘Thank you,’ he said to them all. ‘Now!’ he said then waited as the crowd quietened. ‘I have come to Totnes today because my garrison here has been holding two soldiers that deserted from my army a while ago. These two men were also responsible for the deaths of nine brave soldiers from this garrison. The soldiers died bravely in the line of duty while apprehending them.’

Scott looked at Steve. ‘Fucking lying bastard!’ He said. ‘I had nothin’ to with that!’

Steve didn’t respond. He was just staring at the ground.

‘Steve!’ Scott said, trying to get his attention. ‘Steve!’ He said a bit louder.

Steve looked up at him slowly. ‘I’m really sorry about this Scott. This is all my fault.’

‘Oh god, would you just shut the fuck up with the whining,’ Scott told him.

His tone and the words made Steve frown angrily. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘Now that’s better. You get fucking angry and wake up because I can see where all this is leading to even if you can’t.’

‘What makes you think I can’t?’ Steve stared at him. ‘But what use am I going to be with only one arm!’

‘Oh have you hurt one of your arms,’ Scott asked sarcastically. ‘I hadn’t fucking noticed that with all the whining going on.’

Steve stared at him then and his stare turned into an angry frown. ‘How fucking dare you!’

‘How fucking dare I?’ He asked. ‘I’ll tell you that later over a beer when we’ve kicked this fucker’s arse!’

Scott looked at him for a second then laughed bitterly. ‘Ha-ha do you think that you can beat him?’

Scott glared at him then. ‘Don’t you fucking laugh at me you fucking baby. It’s been a long time since I went into a fight expecting to lose.’

Steve looked at his friend for a while and suddenly realised what he had been saying. ‘I’m sorry Scott.’ He told him suddenly. He stood up straight and rolled his good shoulder. Because he was cuffed it pulled on his right arm and his healing shoulder burst into pain again. He gritted his teeth against it as he started to move his legs about, warming them up. He knew that there was no way that they could beat Simon in a fight. He wouldn’t have stood a chance with both arms working but Scott was right. He had been acting like a baby, moaning and whining. He looked around at the crowd. It looked like everyone in Totnes must be here to watch.

He could hear Simon still spouting garbage at them but when he looked at the people properly he could see that they were all looking over this way. He stood up even straighter as he caught George’s eye in the crowd. He was standing near the front and Angel was standing next to him. He saw George nod at him and for some reason his eyes filled with tears. He shook his head to clear them and for the first time since he had been shot he started to feel whole again. He would not die on his knees whining like a baby. He knew that they had no chance of winning but he would go out there and fight as hard as he could.

‘Good man,’ Scott said beside him. ‘Now that’s the Steve I know and I’m glad that he’s back because I’ve fucking missed him.’

Steve felt himself getting emotional again and a laugh suddenly burst from him. He was laughing as the thought occurred to him that if he didn’t get hold of his emotions he would be going out there crying like a bloody baby anyway. He hadn’t realised how loud his laugh had been until he heard the town people suddenly cheer. He looked over at them and they cheered again.

He looked at Simon then and smiled. Whatever happened today Simon had already lost his big moment. The pain from his shoulder faded into the background as an intense feeling of pride flooded through him. The worst thing that could happen today was that they would die, and everybody must die sometime. He felt a kind of strength that he had never felt before. It was an inner strength. He remembered something he had heard once. "It’s easy to be brave when you are strong, but to be brave when you are weak is the real test of a man’s courage." He had not really understood what it had meant before. He understood it now.

Simon heard the laugh and he was suddenly filled with an uncontrollable rage. He couldn’t believe that they would have the nerve to attempt to ruin his day. He turned around to face the two prisoners. ‘Release them now!’ he shouted over. One of the soldiers guarding them shouted ‘Yes Sir!’ and pulled a key from his pocket. He released the cuffs from Steve and Scott’s wrists. Scott rubbed at his to restore the circulation. Steve was only able to wave his left arm around a bit, then he pulled the waist of his trousers out and dropped his right hand under the belt, trapping it there. It hurt but he ignored the pain.

‘Don’t rush straight at him,’ he told Scott. ‘That’s what he will be expecting. We will have to go each side of him and keep out of his reach. When he goes for one of us the other must attack and then pull back.’

Scott nodded. ‘Sounds like a good plan to me.’ He looked at Steve proudly. No matter what he had said to him just now, he didn’t think that he would have had the courage to overcome an injury like that. They moved in slowly.

Simon watched them for a few seconds before he realised what they were doing. He smiled at them. ‘You are the clever one Stevie,’ he said. ‘That was your idea I take it? The fat sergeant is obviously far too stupid to think of it.’

‘Ignore him,’ Steve told Scott. ‘He’s trying to wind you up.’

‘Well it’s working,’ Scott snarled.

‘Stick to the plan,’ Steve told him. ‘I’ll go wide.’ He then sprinted around Simon in a wide circle.

‘This will only save you a little time,’ Simon told them. ‘The crippled and the stupid,’ he taunted.

‘Yes!’ Steve suddenly said. ‘This will be a massive victory for you. You beat a stupid fat man and a cripple!’

‘Who are you calling fucking stupid?’ Scott called over to him. ‘You fucking cripple!’

The crowd suddenly laughed loudly and Simon roared then ran at Scott. Scott had been expecting it though. He turned and ran. Simon ran after him. Steve had been waiting for it. He knew that Simon’s weak points were his anger and his pride. He took off running towards Simon as soon as he had turned towards Scott. He may have been unable to train properly for the last month but he was still extremely fit. He was a Royal Marine Commando and he was over twenty years younger than Simon. He caught up behind him and then just simply threw out his leg and tripped him. Simon went down and then rolled. Scott heard him go down and he slowed. He was about to turn on him but then Steve shouted. ‘Run Scott!’

It was a good job that he did. As soon as Simon felt the trip his trained reflexes kicked in. He turned the fall into a forward roll and if it wasn’t for Steve’s shout Simon would have had him. Simon rolled to his feet and seeing Scott get away from him, he automatically went into his fighting stance. Steve had backed off and Scott was once again out of reach.

‘The longer this goes on the worse it will be for you,’ Simon told them. What he was now trying to hide though was the fact that he was slightly out of breath.

‘Shut the fuck up you boring bastard.’ Steve said.

The crowd roared with laughter again and Simon realised that he had made a huge error here. This was not how it was supposed to go. They were turning this into a comedy and he knew that he was beginning to look stupid. What he didn’t know was that it was going to start getting a lot worse any second now. He was just about to leap towards Scott and finish him when one of the soldiers suddenly shouted.

Nick hid his rucksack back in the alley. It had been safe there all this time so it should be ok for a little bit longer. He and Jeff, closely followed by the dog then set off in the direction of the noise. Nick thought it sounded like people cheering and it sounded like a large group. He wondered what was going on.

‘When we get there don’t just go rushing in and battering people,’ Nick told Jeff.

‘Why not?’ Jeff took another swig from his bottle as they walked along.

‘Because we have no idea what’s happening and we don’t know who they are,’ Nick spoke slowly and clearly to make sure Jeff understood.

Jeff grinned at him and then he asked, ‘why.. are.. you.. talking.. so.. slowly?’

Nick shook his head at him but he was smiling now. ‘You do make me laugh mate. Do you ever take anything seriously?’

‘Not when I’m drunk,’ Jeff told him.

It occurred to Nick then that the only time he had probably ever seen Jeff sober was at the services on the M3 when he was beating the shit out of his own brother. Maybe Jeff was smarter than he had given him credit for. One man’s poison is another man’s medicine, he thought. ‘Ok but can you just wait until we can see what is going on please mate? I don’t want to end up back in that cell.’

‘Whatever,’ Jeff said amiably then he took another swallow from the bottle.

When they came around the final corner Nick stopped, the dog shrank back and Jeff carried on walking. ‘They’re watching some kind of funny fight,’ he said with a smile as the crowd suddenly roared with laughter.

Nick frowned and then followed after Jeff. He looked back at the dog. It seemed that he had the most sense out of the three of them. He had sat down out of the way to wait.

Jeff walked into the crowd and started pushing his way through. A few people turned to look at him but then seeing the size of him they moved out of his way. Nick followed behind him, making use of the wide gap that he created. He was still carrying the rifle and the sight of that helped to hold the crowd away long enough for him to get through. The crowd suddenly laughed again as Jeff finally reached the front. Nick came alongside him and then he nearly fell over with surprise when he saw what was going on and who was there. Then all hell broke loose as one of the soldiers saw the rifle that he was carrying.

‘Stand still and drop the weapon!’ he shouted at Nick.

Nick looked around at least twenty rifles were now aimed at him. Most of the crowd were panicking and shouting and trying to move back out of the way. He very slowly held the rifle out in front of him and then dropped it onto the ground. The soldier then slowly moved in towards Nick and he had to smile. He could understand that they might not have been listening during this part of their training, but had these people never even seen any films?

‘You do not need to be right up close to shoot me,’ he told the soldier. Nick’s arm was like a striking snake then as it whipped out and snatched the rifle from the soldier’s hands. He then kicked the man in the stomach. The soldier staggered back but stayed on his feet as two of his friends came in from either side. Both men were concentrating on Nick. The man on Jeff’s side hadn’t even noticed him until he threw a massive arm around his neck. Jeff then just held him off the ground with one arm. Nick reversed the rifle then he shouted as loud as he could in his best parade ground voice.

‘Everybody freeze!’

Everybody froze.

Nick could see the crowd of town people in his peripheral vision. They seemed to be just standing there watching the show again. ‘Trooper Daniels!’ Nick shouted even louder than before.

Simon heard the voice and a sick sense of déjà vu flooded through him. He glanced either side of him at Scott and Steve, but they were standing completely still along with everyone else. He looked at his soldiers. They just looked confused. Lastly he looked over at Nick.

He screwed his fists up into tight balls. ‘You’re supposed to be fucking dead!’ he shouted at him.

Three camcorders were still on in the crowd recording everything that was happening.

Chapter twenty nine

Nick looked at the soldier in front of him. ‘My name is Sergeant Smith,’ Nick told him quietly and calmly. ‘Under my coat I wear the same uniform that you do. Look down at my legs and feet.’ The soldier looked. ‘Do you want to die today son?’ Nick then asked him just as calmly.

The soldier shook his head. ‘No Sergeant,’ he said.

‘What’s your name soldier?’

‘Davis Sergeant.’

‘Ok Private Davis turn around and point out your commanding officer to me.’ Nick watched as he did as he was told. ‘What is his rank and name Private Davis?’

‘It’s Corporal, I mean it’s Sergeant Jackson Sir.’

Nick suddenly shouted, making Private Davis flinch. ‘Sergeant Jackson!’ he called out.

‘What do you want?’ Jackson’s loud voice shouted back from over the other side of the car park.

‘The man that you all know as Simon is actually a deserter. His name is Daniels and his rank is Trooper. He is a traitor to his country. Before the flu he was working with known terrorist groups. Since the flu he has carried out far too many atrocities to list right now.’

There was a widespread collective murmur from everyone here. As they watched the drama unfold.

‘He is to be put under arrest and he will face a court martial.’

Nick was winging it now. To avoid a massacre here today he had to keep the soldiers from firing on him. He had, luckily enough spoken to exactly the right person.

Jackson sighed. He knew that he would never get his promotion confirmed now, but he still smiled with a massive sense of relief as he shouted over to Simon, ‘Trooper Daniels get down onto the ground and spread your arms and legs!’

Simon turned around and looked at Jackson in disbelief. ‘What the fuck do you think you are doing Jackson?’ He shouted at him. ‘I will make sure that you die very slowly for this!’

As Simon spoke those words a change seemed to wash over everyone there. The soldiers included. They had heard Nick speak. He had been reasonable. He had spoken of a court martial and he had remained calm and authoritative. They had watched Simon and now they had heard him speak and he had spoken with a threat of death. He had spoken with anger and hate in his voice. It was as if a curtain had suddenly been drawn back in their minds. They remembered how things used to be before the flu and they also remembered some of the things that they had done since the flu. The soldiers remembered things that Simon had done and they knew in their hearts then that it was all wrong. Almost as one the soldiers turned and aimed their rifles at Simon.

‘Trooper Daniels!’ Jackson shouted again. ‘If you don’t do as ordered these men will fire on you!’ He walked towards him a little. ‘You will be secured and we will contact Commander Klaus. If this man is wrong then you will be released.’

Simon glared over at the Lieutenant who had come with him as his guard detachment’s officer. The man was pointing his rifle at him along with the others ‘Lieutenant!’ Simon shouted at him. ‘Shoot Jackson now and I will spare you,’ he told him.

‘Get down on the ground please Sir,’ the man told him. He then looked over at Jackson. ‘You will have to take it from here Sergeant.’

Within a minute Simon was restrained. He was now sitting in the middle of the car park with two soldiers standing guard over him. His hands were cuffed but he was still glaring at everybody. ‘Every single person here today will die for this. I will make sure of it!’ He spoke loud enough for everybody to hear.

Nick hadn’t moved yet. He had stood there watching as the soldiers went about their business and Simon was secured. He looked at Jeff but he had gone back to casually swigging from his bottle. He looked over at the two men who had been running around the car park with Simon. They were now standing and talking with a small group of the town people. He realised that he didn’t really know what had been happening here or what he was going to do now. He hadn’t planned on any of this. He had come to see if his rucksack was still here and go to look for the three men who had beaten and tortured him. Nice and simple objectives. That’s what he had planned for. He then glanced over at the large crowd of civilians and noticed that a few of them were holding up camcorders. They seemed to be recording the events. He looked over at Simon’s sneering face as he carried on making vicious threats and an idea started to form.

From the look on Simon’s face and his still very confident attitude Nick could guess what would happen if Simon was taken back to Okehampton. Nothing would happen. Simon would be released and just like he had threatened, everyone here would be hunted down and killed. While Nick had been thinking he hadn’t noticed Jeff coming up beside him.

‘Are you going to kill him now then?’ The big guy asked him.

Nick smiled at him. ‘Yes I think I will,’ he said then he started walking over to where the soldiers had gathered by one of the walls. ‘Hello,’ he said as he reached them. They all looked at him warily. No one spoke. He realised that just like him, they weren’t sure what to do next. Most of them just looked really worried. The two men that Nick had seen running around with Simon left the group they were with and walked over to him. Nick watched as they came closer. The youngest one was solidly built but it looked like he had injured his arm. His face and manner was full of confidence though. The older guy with him looked tough and steady.

‘Who are you?’ the younger one asked.

‘His name’s Nick Smith.’ Jeff said from behind him.

Nick looked back. He hadn’t realised that the big fella had followed him over.

‘Ha-ha! That is just too bizarre.’ Nick watched curiously as the young guy stared at him.

‘Am I missing something here son?’

The young guy took a deep breath then looked at him steadily. ‘I’m sorry about that Nick,’ he said. ‘It’s just that this whole mess started with you and now it seems that it has run full circle.’

Nick studied him for a little while as he thought about that. ‘Badger farm,’ he then said suddenly.

The young guy nodded.

‘You were there.’

The young guy nodded again.

‘What happened to my friends?’

Steve would have liked to have taken a step back then but the look on Nick’s face froze him. Everybody went completely silent. ‘They are all safe,’ he told him quickly.

Nick felt his knees suddenly go weak but he took hold of his feelings and pulled them in. ‘That is good to hear,’ he said then he pointed over his shoulder at Simon. ‘Is he in any way in control of them?’

Steve knew what he meant immediately. ‘No,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t know they are alive. They are with friends of ours and they are safe.’

‘Thank you,’ Nick said to him then he turned to introduce Jeff. ‘This is Bill’s brother. His name’s Jeff.’

Steve looked at the giant standing next to Nick. His resemblance to the bill was obvious.

‘We need to know if you had anything to do with what happened to him.’

Steve looked from one of them to the other then he stood up straight. ‘I was there,’ he said’

Jeff suddenly moved. Nick wasn’t expecting it but Scott was. Everybody else had been watching Nick but Scott had been watching the big guy’s face. When his brother’s name was mentioned the relaxed look had disappeared from it. It was replaced by an extremely tense one. Scott moved at the same time and put himself between Steve and the big guy.

‘Move little man,’ Jeff told him.

‘Jeff!’ Nick said, watching the tough looking soldier’ face. It didn’t look like he was going to move out of the way anytime soon. Nick looked around at the other soldiers. They were tense. He knew that this situation could kick off really easily now and all hell would break loose. ‘Jeff!’ he repeated.

‘I’m busy,’ Jeff told him without taking his eyes from the man in front of him.

‘It’s not them Jeff,’ Nick said. ‘Let’s find out what happened first shall we? We already know that Simon was responsible for what happened to Bill and we have him.’

Jeff suddenly lifted his bottle and took another drink then he stepped back out of the way.

‘What’s your name son?’ Nick asked, looking at Steve.

‘Steve,’ he told him and this is Scott.’

‘Ok,’ Nick said. ‘Now that we’ve all got to know each other has anyone got any ideas about what to do with Simon?’

‘Kill him!’ Steve said.

‘Kill ‘im,’ Jeff said.

Scott nodded, still staring at Jeff. ‘Kill ‘im,’ he said.

Nick nodded then looked all around. Well over a hundred people were watching them. ‘Anybody else got any ideas?’ He shouted out. The blast of sound from the people surprised him.

‘Kill him!!!’ They all shouted.

‘Well I would say that was pretty unanimous,’ Nick looked over at Simon. He was still just sitting there in the middle of the car park glaring at everyone. ‘Hey Daniels!’ he called over to him.’

Simon turned towards him.

‘What shall we do with you eh? Shall we just kill you, or would you like to go one on one with me?’

‘I don’t think that you understand who I am now,’ Simon said calmly. ‘I am the leader of armies.’ His voice raised a notch. ‘I am their General.’ Again his voice got louder. ‘These soldiers you see here are my soldiers!’ He was shouting now. ‘This town all around us is my town!’ The whole country is m-’

‘Sorry to interrupt you Simon,’ Nick shouted suddenly cut him off in mid flow. ‘But it’s getting late and it’s bloody cold out here.’

A lot of the crowd laughed again.

‘Your death will be the slowest!’ Simon suddenly roared at him.

Nick sighed and waited for the echoes to stop. ‘What are you going to do then?’ he asked. ‘Bore me to death?’ Nick turned his back on Simon and looked at Steve. ‘Did you have anything to do with my friend’s death?’ he asked, staring into his eyes.

Simon started struggling madly with the handcuffs then he gave up and sprung lithely to his feet. The soldiers guarding him went to push him back down but he easily slipped through them and flew towards Nick. His speed was awesome to see. At the last second he leaped into a flying kick with his booted foot aiming towards the back of Nick’s head. All his rage, all his attention was focused on Nick and this one completely perfected move.

Jeff swung his arm out. The movement seemed slow and ponderous compared to Simon’s immense speed. Jeff was still holding the now almost empty whiskey bottle in his other hand but his massive forearm somehow caught Simon across the face on his way past. The crack of Simon’s neck breaking could be heard from the other side of the car park as Jeff clotheslined him. Momentum kept Simon’s booted feet moving forward and they stopped an inch away from Nick’s head, then Simon’s dead body dropped heavily to the tarmac.

Nick turned around and Jeff looked at him. ‘Told you I could ‘ave him,’ he said then he drained the rest of the bottle in one swallow.

A messenger was sent to Klaus at Okehampton that afternoon. He took with him one of the camcorders. They had all watched the recording of the events and they believed that no other information would be required. Klaus would either side with them or against them. They were right. That evening the messenger came back with the same camcorder. There was a message from Klaus recorded on it saying that he was happy that justice had been carried out correctly. There would be no reprisals for the actions recorded and the army was now taking a new direction following the death of the traitor.

The pub was packed that night and George warmly welcomed the overflow of people to use the rest of the ground floor to celebrate. The party went on for most of the night. The last two people standing at around six o’clock in the morning was a giant of a man with blonde hair and blue eyes and a beefy looking older guy. Jeff and Scott had looked around them at everyone lying about. They had called them all lightweights and then both fell over where they were and slept soundly for most of the next day.

Steve was last seen by George going upstairs with Angel quite early on. George decided that it would be unfair to tie a one armed man behind his boat and chose to pretend that he didn’t see them.

Although many of them had wanted to talk to Nick and thank him for the part that he had played that day, nobody knew where he was. He turned up the next day though with a big ugly dog following behind him.

It had just started to snow as the green Land Rover made its way up the long drive. The large farmhouse came into view as they went around the final bend. As the vehicle pulled up near the house a group of people came out. They were a bit hesitant at first but then excited when they saw who had come back. Scott turned off the engine and sighed happily as two girls and a tall skinny boy ran up to the Land Rover laughing and shouting. The boy then suddenly stopped still and fell to his knees on the cold ground. He had seen who was sitting in the passenger seat. Tears started rolling down his face. Nick pushed the door open and rushed out to lift him up and hold him tight. Everyone else just stood still in shock as the boy sobbed silently into his shoulder. Steve then climbed out, followed by Scott, then everyone was startled as a big grey dog jumped out of the Land Rover and ran off.

Soon everyone was talking at once. Brenda, Frank and the four brothers greeted Steve and Scott warmly as they glanced over at the other man and worried about the dog eating the sheep. Kay and Sammy hugged the two of them as well and shouted hello at Nick then they stopped to watch as Grace and Nancy came out. Nick let go of Dan and looked over at them. They smiled at him. Nick didn’t know at the time but it was the first time Nancy had smiled since Badger farm. Nick looked around and then saw Beth standing behind everyone else. The others let him pass as he walked over to her.

‘Hi Beth,’ he greeted her quietly.

She looked at him, went to say something then stopped as he took her into his arms and held her.

‘Hello Nick,’ she said quietly to him, hugging him back. He could feel her warm breath on his ear. ‘You need to know that some things have changed.’ she told him, but her breath was still warm on his ear. ‘They always do,’ he said.