The Undead Day Twenty (23 page)

Fourteen

Everyone does something. Everyone sweats from the crushing heat and feels the bloom of headaches in the backs of skulls that signals the pressure building for another storm.

‘…and it’s really important to keep it clean, especially in this weather. The moisture in the air from the humidity and the dust and grime in the air can mess it up…’ Blowers and Heather both turn to see the funeral pyre ignite with thick black smoke curling up into the sky.

Half an hour is all it took for the traveller men to get the bodies stacked with dry wood, douse the lot in petrol and set it on fire. More of them scrub the road with stiff brushes and detergent, or
soapy water
as they call it.

Nick washes the Saxon. Clarence cleans the GPMG. Blinky and Mo take the ammunition cases brought over from the fort to stack inside the vehicles. Howie loads rifle magazines in the rear garden. Cookey loads pistol magazines. Dave and Roy work to put new edges on their bladed weapons.

The rest work at the patio table, going through the list to pick out the people closest to the south coast to give Heather and Paco the best chance at finding them.

Reginald watches Lilly while holding the secrets of the world in his head. It was the way Pea, Sam and Joan made straight for her when they got back. It caught his attention. People do that with Howie. They have that thing that makes other people want to follow them no matter where they are going. They are both aloof and they both have easy smiles and polite tones but underneath the surface they also have a vicious power that subliminally or sub-consciously transmits to those around them. It makes you want to be on their side as opposing them is a step into something you will not survive. Howie is dark and brooding. Lilly is cold, almost clinically so. Howie has dark hair and dark features. Lilly has blond hair and blue eyes. The difference in their physical appearance is stark but the similarities in their manners are striking. The way Howie looks up and follows the conversation. Passive and laid back. The way Lilly smiles at the conversations going on and smiles politely.

Reginald realises, at that very second, that if Howie falls it won’t be Clarence, Paula or Blowers who take his position. It will be Lilly. That realisation brings forth a fresh worry. He is about to take the strongest pieces on his half of the board and leave the queen undefended.

  Perhaps Mohammed should stay behind and be to Lilly what Dave is to Howie. Reginald deliberates for a fraction of a second then concedes that leaving Lilly at the fort is the right thing tactically. If Howie’s group are killed then she will remain to continue the game against the other player so why risk both Generals?

It raises another question and set of problems. Reginald will guide
his
team in the direction he surmises is the right one, but
if
Howie’s team does fail then Reginald will fail with them and Lilly will be left here not knowing what to do.

Reginald also accepts that Howie’s idea for Heather and Paco to gather the immunes and bring them here is a good one. He had already considered it. His reaction, at the time, was simply because someone else suggested it before he did. Which irritated him a little.

The plan forms. The way ahead starts to show clear. Howie and his team will move out to be seen and play the game. Heather will find the immunes and bring them here but Lilly must also play her part. Reginald thinks. He thinks a hundred or more thoughts at the same time and takes each single concept and applies it to every other concept. Everything is linked now. Every strand is woven like a tapestry.

A decision made from an intellect that grows more confident by the hour. Howie is the leader but to do this, to win the game and play at this level means Reginald
has
to be able to make decisions without seeking consent from Howie. He sighs heavily and closes the notepad open in front of him as though to signal he has finished reading. He rises from his chair, taking his mug with him as he goes.

‘I shall make a peppermint tea,’ he informs everyone.

‘Reggie’s brewing up,’ Cookey says brightly.

‘Coffee please,’ Paula says.

‘Coffee for me,’ Marcy adds, holding her mug out.

‘Cheers, Reggie,’ Howie says.

‘Indeed,’ Reginald says, pausing to look round with a comical expression. He breathes in and shows a build up to replying. ‘No,’ he says flatly and walks off. The others chuckle. Cookey nods with respect at the timing of the subtle joke.

‘Kyle,’ Reginald says, nodding in greeting.

‘Reginald,’ Kyle says, returning the greeting as he takes in the casual way Reginald looks round to make sure no one else can hear them.

‘I er,’ Reginald says politely, dropping his voice to a low muted tone.

Kyle inclines head sharply as he places the pan on the hob and sets the gas jets to flame.
Not now.
He twists the valve to increase the flow, filling the room with the hiss of the burners. He pauses, looking at Reginald. A second later, the downstairs toilet flushes. The toilet door opens. Sam comes out and turns briefly to smile at Reginald before making her way down the hallway to the front door. Kyle nods. Reginald pushes his glasses up his nose and begins to explain.

‘
Boss? It’s Blowers, we’re test firing out the front…repeat…test firing weapons out the front…’

‘Yep, got it, mate,’
Howie replies into his radio.

‘Lilly here, there will be test firing of weapons,’
Lilly relays the message.

Heather fires the assault rifle. Surprised at the lack of recoil from the weapon. Single shots fired out to sea. Blowers watches her closely.

‘Good, very good. Don’t keep your feet together though…that’s better. Squeeze the trigger…good. How many shots have you fired?’

‘Seven.’

‘How many in the magazine?’

‘Thirty.’

‘How many do you have left?’

‘Twenty three.’

‘Good. When I say, sling the rifle like I showed you and draw the pistol. Okay?’

‘Yep.’

He waits, letting her fire off a few more shots before reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. ‘Weapon is jammed…’

She stops firing and goes to sling the rifle, ‘do I put the safety on?’

‘Always…I mean, like if they are right in front of you and that second of pause will get you killed then no…but remember it means you have a live weapon dangling down your back.’

She switches the safety, slings the rifle and draws the pistol to hold two handed. Her thumb finds the safety and flicks it over. She fires the first round, wincing at the power of the recoil.

‘Yeah it’s a bitch,’ Blowers says.

‘Hurts my ears,’ she says, shaking her head.

Clarence watches for a few minutes then goes back to fitting the GPMG. Cases of ammunition are stacked. Magazines are distributed. Bags are checked. Hand weapons are taken back. Jess is loaded. Peter and a few of his men stand talking to Pea and Sam. Joan bustles here and there giving orders and chiding anyone not working.

Fifty minutes after he left the house, Maddox steps off the boat onto the beach and makes his way through the people working to stack and sort goods ready for ferrying to the fort. Again they show the same distaste at the sight of him. He trudges on but keeps his head high and looks only ahead.

Fifty nine minutes after Maddox left the house Howie walks out the front door and stops to take a cigarette from the packet offered by Nick. He bends his head to light the smoke then steps back with a muttered
thanks
. Clarence walks over to join them. Charlie and Blinky come from the house. Blowers walks down from the road with Heather and Paco. Lilly walks out to stand and talk to Nick. Reginald watches her and the way the twelve men, Pea, Sam and Joan all watch her. The same way Howie’s team always know where he is. Reginald joins the group. Paula comes out the house, mid-way through a conversation with Roy. They both stop. Roy turns to lift his top. Paula frowns and looks at his back then says something. Roy pulls his top down. A toilet flushes. Dave and Mo Mo stand slightly apart from the main group. Watching. Scanning. Always watching. Always scanning. Meredith sits in the middle of group. Blissfully happy at the whole of the pack being in one place. Marcy walks from the house and up the path as Cookey notices Maddox walking towards them. Muttered words spoken. Everyone turns to watch Maddox approaching who inwardly braces in readiness for the insults. It stings more when they don’t come as it means Howie has said something that everyone is now abiding by. He stops a few feet away and looks at the faces without a flicker of emotion showing on his face.

Paula gives him magazines for his rifle and pistol. She gives him a knife with a new edge. She gives him water bottles and shows the same level of attention to his kit as everyone else’s. He says thank you and takes the items. Howie smokes. Nick and Lilly talk quietly with soft words.

Paula turns from Maddox and spots Heather. She smiles at the woman fidgeting with the heavy holster now on her hip and the rifle slung across her chest.

‘You get used to it,’ Paula says, taking the new list from Charlie. ‘We’ve done what we can to check for the people closest to here.’

Heather takes the list but doesn’t speak. There are too many people around her. The discomfort is obvious.

‘We’ll be going in a minute,’ Paula says kindly.

‘Heather, if I may?’ Reginald says, easing through the crowd. ‘Please do stay as covert as possible and do nothing to draw attention to your task. The other side cannot, they really must not know what you are doing.’

Heather nods at him. The list in her hand. Paula placing a bag at her feet and hands another to Paco who stares at it before she places it at his feet.

‘Water bottles, magazines, toiletries but you’ll need more as you go…if you run low or anything happens then head straight back here. The armoury in the fort has more ammunition…’

‘Reginald?’ Lilly asks, transforming from the girl talking to her boyfriend to the woman in charge as she moves a step away from Nick. ‘Are there any instructions for us regarding the people with immunity?’

‘Gosh,’ Reginald says, blinking a few times as he thinks. ‘Well it goes without saying they need to be kept safe…do try to stop them leaving…’ he smiles as he finishes, a glance to Kyle at the back who nods once and discrete.

‘Of course,’ Lilly says, ‘Pea? Did we arrange transport for Heather?’

‘Coming now, Lilly,’ Pea replies, walking over with Sam and Joan. The traveller men follow them a few metres behind. The group growing thicker in number. An engine sounds from the road. A black four-wheel drive Toyota with big wheels and an oversized set of bull bars on the front. Rugged and tough looking. ‘That do?’ Pea asks, evidently pleased at the perfect timing.

Heather nods but still doesn’t speak. As with everyone else she feels the conflict inside. The thrill at being a part of this. At being involved in the fight back and her role has suddenly become very bloody important too. Find the immunes. Bring them back. That’s it. Have some guns. Have some bullets for your guns. Have a big machete. Have a bag filled with stuff and go do it. The lack of structure is awful. The lack of organisation and the haphazard manner but they are so few and this is all they can do. She can see it now. She understands why everything is so rushed and frantic. The pace these people move at is frightening. She looks up at Paco who immediately smiles at the eye contact and suddenly everything is okay. She has him. They have a big vehicle. They can go off alone and do their task their own way. That changes the perception in her head just enough to look round at the group.

‘Thank you,’ she says suddenly, everyone looks at her. The discomfort is intense. The instinct to shy away almost overwhelms her but she holds her ground. ‘We’ll try…I promise…’

‘That’s enough for me,’ Howie says, giving her that easy smile.

‘All we can ask,’ Clarence adds, his deep voice so re-assuring.

‘Well,’ Paula says after a second of silence. ‘That’s it then…I think we’re ready for our shopping trip.’

‘Supply run,’ the men of the group say together. Smiles all round. The awkward tension easing. The British stiffness of a group now ready to break up without knowing how to do so with etiquette and dignity.

‘Come here,’ Paula says, pulling Lilly into a hug. ‘You’ll be fine, keep doing what you are doing,’ she whispers into Lilly’s ear.

‘Lilly,’ Clarence says, taking his turn. He bends down and pulls the girl into his huge arms. Lost from sight she even closes her eyes for the briefest of seconds at the feeling of comfort that should have been given by her father. ‘We’ll come back,’ Clarence rumbles, his voice loud enough to carry, which was exactly what he intended. He pulls away and lets his eyes flow over the twelve men. A message passed and understood as they nod back at him.

Howie steps towards her. Lilly smiles and accepts the hug that is given almost awkwardly. They are not the types to give public affection. They are not the types that either seek to give, or need re-assurance from one another in this way. A nod would have done it. A simple holding of eye contact for a second but this is a show of unity. This is the continuance of the message Clarence just passed. Lilly is one of us. Be warned.