Читать книгу The Last Chapter - S. C. Loader - Страница 11

Chapter 6

'What's the face mask for?' asked a bewildered-looking Evelyn, 'and why are we wearing walking boots, thick socks, long trousers and heavy-duty gardening gloves just to go supermarket shopping?'

'Because we've been without power for two weeks and flat-roofed buildings like this supermarket heat up very quickly in hot weather. Without air conditioning, the delicatessen counter is, I can assure you, no longer very delicate on the nose. The meat and dairy chillers haven't been chilling and I'll leave you to guess what the freezers haven't been doing? To put it bluntly, Evie, it will stink worse than a sewer in there.'

'Okay, that explains the mask, but what about the rest?'

'I also expect to find the place is overrun with rats by now.'

'Is that all? We're dressed up like clowns for a few rats? Just make a noise and they're runaway.'

'And what if you're bitten? There are no more accident and emergency departments, no ambulances and no hospitals and I'm neither a doctor nor a nurse. We're on our own now, Evie and we're slowly heading back to the bad old days when a small cut could easily cause a graveside reunion.'

Evelyn sighed, 'Have you ever seen a rat?'

'Only once, in an underground car park, but it was a big bugger!' and he spread his hands out to show an approximate size, 'Have you seen any?'

'Lots of them, they used to live down by the stream in grandma's garden, but they don't do you any harm if you leave them be. If you're worried, just make lots of noise and don't block their escape paths and you'll be alright.'

'You seem very blasé about them?'

She looked around as if checking for potential eavesdroppers, 'You mustn't tell anyone this, but sometimes when no one was looking I used to feed bits of bread to a big brown one when I was feeling really sad. So, no. Rats don't scare me.'

'Why would you feed a rat if you were sad?'

'So I could tell it everything I couldn't talk to anyone else about.'

'What on earth would make you so sad that you needed to confide in a rat, Evie?'

'Not having a Mama and Papa, for example, the way the girls in my class always picked on me and things like that.'

'Didn't you talk to your grandmother about these things?'

'Sometimes, but not very often, I didn't want to be any more of a burden to her than I already was.'

'Evie, I doubt you were ever a burden to your grandmother, she must have loved you enormously to have taken you into her life the way she did.'

'I know she loved me, but that didn't make me feel less guilty for being there.'

The smell inside the supermarket turned their stomachs. Some fluttering as they entered proved to be some small birds that had gained entry through the broken glass door and were now waiting patiently high up on the roof trusses. There was some evidence that both large and small four-legged scavengers had been present, but thanks to the amount of noise Adam had created they had now made themselves scarce. The delicatessen and the open meat chillers now hosted swarms of flies and heaving mounds of maggots. From each of the dairy chillers, a thin yellow substance seeped out all over the floor and meltwater puddled around the upright glass-fronted freezers, stained brown where the freezer had contained meat. In the fruit and vegetable section, some oranges and lemons were still usable, but everything else only appealed to the flies. The bread and cake section had obviously appealed to the fourlegged scavengers as almost every package had been gnawed open, including Adam's favoured finish-them-off-yourself bread rolls.

After gathering up the contents of their list, they investigated the stock room at the back of the supermarket for the bulkier items. Sixty bottles of mineral water, two cases of UHT milk and to Adam's great delight two whole cases of finish-them-off-yourself bread rolls were all soon standing in the shade cast by Five Star.

To accommodate all the new provisions and to fulfil an earlier promise to bring the toilet back into operation a major rearrangement became necessary. A tidy up of the trailer created enough storage space, not only for all the spare cleaning materials but also for all the toilet and kitchen rolls that had previously resided in the toilet. The overhead lockers were also tidied through, again creating some useful storage space and finally, the once half-empty external through locker now contained their bulk nonperishable foodstuff, although a little room was set aside for a small generator, a pump and a crate of odds and ends.

By two-thirty their work was finished and Adam sat astride the higher of the two fold-out steps below the side entry door, Evelyn on the lower leaning back against him, each with a well-earned cup of tea in their hands.

'Adam… you smell… like the inside of that supermarket.'

'Don't spare my blushes young lady, tell me how it is,' and leaning forward he smelt her hair, 'I'm afraid you're not so fresh yourself.'

Evelyn sniffed the T-shirt she was wearing, 'Yuck! It's in my clothes as well'

'Then before we make Five Star smell as bad, l think it would be prudent to shower and change before we move on.'

'Can we afford the water?'

'Let me check.' Adam returned moments later, it's well under halfway, but I think there's enough if we keep the showers short.'

'Shouldn't we be saving water? We could also go and wash in that stream you used yesterday.'

'We can't make that one tank last forever can we? So once we're finished here I think we'll head up to Heartwells, there's a spring in the woods and it's right next to the road. I'll try to fill our tank up from that.'

'Can we go via Upper Boarstead?'

'Why, do you want to collect some more eggs?'

'No, I want to collect my bra from the litter bin, it's the only one I have. Anyway, as you've finished your tea you may as well have the first shower; shout me when you're done.'

'Okay. By the way, sorry you still can't use the toilet. I've yet to figure what I'm supposed to do with The Blue Stuff.'

'The blue stuff?'

'That's what it's called, it's a toilet deodoriser, but I don't know what to do with it. I've never been camping in my life and all this stuff is completely new to me.' As he stood he thought to add, 'But the sink in there is usable, so at least we have somewhere to brush our teeth now.'

Half an hour later and wearing only a pair of shorts, Adam found himself back on the step he had previously occupied enjoying the shade and savouring a rare light cooling breeze, in one hand he held the Hirer's Guide and in the other a refreshingly cold bottle of beer.

'Adam, can you come here please?'

Evelyn, wearing the brown shirt she had borrowed that morning, was in the bedroom looking at herself in the fulllength mirror, he sat himself down on a step that led to the now blocked bedside walkway.

'If I ask you a question Adam, will you promise to answer it truthfully?'

Despite the alarm bells sounding at the back of his mind, he replied, 'Yes, of course, I will.'

Hitching the shirt up she exposed her white lacy knicker clad bottom, 'Do… do I have a horse's arse?'

Adam burst out laughing, 'Who on earth told you that, Evie?'

The reflected expression looked pitiable, 'Everyone,' came her barely audible answer.

Emptying his hands quickly, he stepped up and wrapped his arms tightly around her, 'Evie please, it's time to forget what the girls in your class said, they were either jealous, complete imbeciles or totally blind, perhaps even all three. There is nothing wrong with your behind, it's not too small, it's not too big, it's perfect.'

'Do I have tree trunk thighs?'

'Is this more rubbish you've been told at school or are you trying to make excuses for going on some totally unnecessary diet?'

'School.'

Turning her around he planted a kiss on her forehead, 'First of all you have beautiful, perfectly shaped legs. Secondly, I want you to give me your solemn promise you'll forget about those stupid bitches in your class, you have had after all the last laugh at their expense, haven't you? You're alive, they're all feeding maggots.'

'Okay, I promise.'

After a long consolatory cuddle, Evelyn's head rose up from its resting place on his chest.

'Are they really beautiful or was that a lie to make me feel better?'

'Are what beautiful?'

'My legs.'

'Of course, they are, do you think I'd waste such a compliment on ugly legs?' A flippant reply that left a bright smile across Evelyn's face, but one that left Adam seriously wondering whether he had just walked blindly into a trap.

Adam slowed Five Star down to a stop and pointed down the embankment, 'That's it down there.'

'That's a spring?' asked Evelyn, unable to hide the hint of disappointment in her voice.

'Of course, it is, what were you expecting, a giant tap with an “I'm a spring” sign hanging from it?'

'But it's just a big black puddle and look at all that mud.'

'The water only looks black because of the shadows cast by these overhanging trees, it's actually crystal clear and the muddy banks are caused by the woodland animals that come here to drink from it.'

'If this is the source of the stream you washed in then why is it so slow, the stream by the bridge was much faster?'

'Three other springs feed into the stream before it reaches Upper Boarstead, but this is the only one we can get close enough to with Five Star.'

'Then why didn't we collect the water by the bridge?'

'I trust the water quality here, whereas I can't say the same for the water by the bridge, any number of contaminates could taint it before then, especially now that we've had some rain.'

'Like what?'

'Dead animals, run-off from the fields, an odd barrel of cyanide, all the rats, otters and wildebeest peeing in the water…'

The last comment drew a look of disgust, 'Okay point taken. So what's the plan while we're here?'

'Well I don't know about you, but I'm going to spend the next couple of hours trying to rig up a way of getting the water from down there… up here.'

'If you could hang up the washing line again and get me a bucketful of water I can wash our shop smelly clothes and my one and only bra.'

Evelyn placed a cup of tea down at Adam's side, 'How's it going?' she asked trying to make sense of all the bits and pieces lying around.

Adam picked the tea up and took a grateful sip, 'Thanks, I really needed this.' Then after a deep satisfied sigh explained, 'I had some problems with the filters, I didn't have the right parts to join them together so I've had to either rob the parts from elsewhere or improvise, but that's all sorted out now. Once I’ve joined a few more bits together then it's done.'

'What does all this do?' asked Evelyn waving a hand over the accumulated parts spread out snake-like on the road.

Adam took to his feet and pointed to the first part, 'This is a submersible pump, it sucks water up from its base and pumps it out through this nozzle. The pump goes into this bucket that I've drilled some holes in…'

'I didn't hear a generator going.'

'Battery operated drill! Anyway, the pump goes into the bucket…'

'Why does it go into a bucket, why don't you just put it into the water as it is?'

'Unfortunately, the spring is only half a metre deep at most, and if the pump gets too close to the bottom it will suck up all the debris and ruin the filters within seconds. By placing the pump in the bucket we can avoid picking up that debris.’

'Oh! Okay.'

'So, the pump goes into the bucket which in turn goes into the water, the pumped water then passes through that pipe to this course filter,' which he then pointed out, 'and then to this fine filter, hopefully between them they will clean the water of any organic matter…'

'Will it be safe to drink?'

'I think it should be once we've dropped a sterilizing tablet into the tank, actually thinking of which could you bring the rucksack I borrowed from the camping shop, it's in my side of the locker above the dining table.'

Evelyn returned shortly and started to search through the rucksack, 'Ugh! What's this?'

Adam looked up, 'That's the loo deodoriser. The Blue Stuff!'

'Are these the water sterilizing tablets?'

'Yes, that's them. Leave them by the door I'll need them soon.'

'Wow! Cool! What are these knives for?'

'They're for you.'

'Me?'

Yes.'

'Why?'

'Because.'

'Because?'

Adam sat down next to her on the kerb, 'because a little over a week ago you were born into a world with no laws and only one rule, kill or be killed.

'Does…' Adam immediately silenced her with a finger across her lips.

'Please listen, Evie, this is important. Those that entered this world with you will soon abandon all their social and moral codes in the name of survival and the distinction between right and wrong will become meaningless. This world will shortly be ruled by violence and there is only one person you can count on for protection… yourself, and to this end, you need to learn some vital new skills, how to defend yourself and if necessary… kill…'

'Kill! But I'm only Fifteen!'

'Unfortunately, Evie, that puts you on the list of the most vulnerable targets, the old, the weak and the young. Those who will take your life simply to possess what you have will not be interested in your age, neither will those men who are intent on taking their sexual pleasure from you without your consent. Violence will rule, it will be a daily fact of life and unless you can defend yourself against it you will soon be either the possession of some thug who will do with you as he pleases, or you'll be just another corpse rotting away in a ditch somewhere.'

'Would I really have to kill someone?'

'Only you can answer that question, Evie, is your life or your virtue worth more than that of the person who would try to take them from you?'

Evelyn was still seeking the answer from the knives lying in her hands when Adam took them from her, 'But before you learn how to use these, there are some other things you should learn, driving, shooting a gun, throwing people around and so on.'

'But I can't drive, I'm only…'

'Fifteen! I know, Evie and it is immaterial, if you can reach the peddles then you can learn to drive. Tomorrow we'll make a start on your schooling, but for now, I have to get all this sorted out before I run out of light altogether.'

Adam sat himself down at the table with a heavy sigh, 'Well that's everything set up ready for tomorrow.'

Evelyn placed a ketchup bottle and a mustard jar on the table, 'Why tomorrow, it's only six-thirty? There's still hours of daylight left.'

'The light's far too poor under these trees now that we're in the shadow of that hill and besides, we're not exactly up against the clock to get it done are we?'

Two plates were added to the table, 'No, I suppose we're not.'

'I just hope the water is heatable.'

'Why wouldn't it be?'

'Because some natural water can smell unpleasant when it's heated.'

'And if it does?'

'Washing up the dishes will become a less desirable occupation and a strip wash standing in an ice-cold stream preferable to taking a warm shower.'

Returning from checking on the contents of a saucepan Evelyn sat down next to him, 'Then you'll lose out twice because one, it's your job to wash up the dishes and two, if we have to wash in a stream, then I want to tip a bucket of water over your head first.'

A short contemplative silence fell, then Evelyn queried, 'Can you power the hook-up with your generator?'

'Yes, why?'

'Once you've filled the water tank we can run the mini dishwasher, which you said only works on hook-up. As it heats up the water really hot we'll soon know where we'll be standing for our next shower.'

'It's a slimline dishwasher and that's a brilliant idea, not only will it save the living area batteries from heating up the water, but we can charge them at the same time.' Leaning over he kissed the top of her head, 'I'm so glad we're on the same team, with your brains and my talent we're an unbeatable partnership.'

Stretching up she shyly kissed his cheek, 'That's because you're my partner.'

Evelyn called from the galley, 'Would my partner wash his hands now, dinner is nearly ready. You can use the sink in the toilet, I've put some soap and a towel in there.'

Moments later an impressed Adam added, 'And toothbrushes. It's been a while since I cleaned mine properly, mineral water and toothpaste don't mix well.'

'At least you cleaned yours, I didn't even have a toothbrush.'

'Which one's mine?'

'The blue one, the same as your old one, which is now in the cleaning bucket.'

'Hey! All my shaving stuff is in here as well, that's handy. And my hairbrush and my deodorant too.' He hung his head out of the door, 'It looking really homely around here.'

Evelyn smiled to herself.

Shortly he posed yet another question, 'Where's my T-shirt? I left it here by the door.'

'I've put it in the bedroom, you're not cold are you?'

'Are you joking, in this heat? No, I just thought I'd better dress for dinner.'

'There's no need.'

'But it's not very gentlemanly to eat bare-chested.'

'I don't mind… not in the slightest.'

'Well if you're sure, it's still stifling hot so I would rather be without.'

Looking into the passenger's footwell he noticed Kat had gone, 'Where's Kat?'

'He's outside somewhere.'

'Did you feed him?'

'No, and he didn't eat any of his biscuits either'

'Then God help the local wildlife.'

Evelyn added a basket of warm finish-them-off-yourself bread rolls to the table followed by a bowl of hot Frankfurters.

'What a great idea, hot dogs!'

After making up her first Evelyn asked, 'Adam… do you believe in God?'

He stared out beyond Five Star's walls towards his former home, 'Despite the promise I gave my wife in God's name, I do not and never really have believed in God.'

'What promise?'

'My wife fully believed I had been spared from the plague by God for a higher purpose and so she insisted that I made her a promise, one she knew I would be honour bound to keep.'

'Strange, my grandma said something similar to me, but why did your wife insist on you making the promise?'

'Because she knew that without it, I would have chosen to be with her.'

Evelyn stopped chewing and stared at him, 'You mean…'

Adam nodded, 'My wife knew I would rather have taken my own life than spend what remained of it without her, so she insisted that I fulfilled a promise before I ever considered joining her.'

'I still don't understand. Why did she force a promise from you knowing there would be nothing to stop you from joining her once it had been fulfilled?'

'Because she knew that in fulfilling the promise I would find the reason to want to carry on living.'

'What was the promise?'

'Sorry I can't say, I gave my word not to reveal it because it could influence the outcome, but part of it involves falling in love with another woman.'

'What's to stop you from simply breaking the promise?'

'I gave it to my wife, what type of man would that make me if I didn't even try to fulfil her dying wish?'

'She's dead, so she'll never know.'

'Won't she? It's only the fear of disappointing her that has stopped me from joining her already and the thought to do so has crossed my mind a number of times.'

Evelyn suddenly threw her arms around his neck and drew herself up tightly against him, 'Please, please promise me you'll never break that other promise, please!'

'I promise, Evie, I give you my word I'll not break it.'

Evelyn reluctantly settled back down and began eating again, albeit absentmindedly and with an expression that left deep furrows in her forehead.

Surreptitiously Adam watched her for a while, but when the Frankfurter fell out of her roll unnoticed he knew she needed a more meaningful reassurance than he had previously offered her. Taking her face into the palms of his hands he looked directly into her eyes, 'Evie, I will not break the promise I gave to my wife, she knew I wouldn't and now you also need to know that. It will not be kept to honour a God I don't believe in, but to honour my wife, who was my entire life for the last eleven years. I will never leave you alone, do you understand?'

She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips, 'If you do, I will follow you.'

Adam spread out the map on the table, 'Okay, this is the new plan. Once we've finished here we'll take this route through all these villages to Winery where we'll drop off the trailer, then we'll go to Stockrow and pick up some fireworks,' and he traced the route out with the marker pen, 'en route we'll check out any shops, petrol stations and anything else that might have been targeted by other survivors. I would also like to stop at these points on the way up to Winery' and he added some crosses to the map.

'What's in these places?'

'Stables mostly, I want to release any livestock that we come across, especially horses, future generations are going to need some help on the farms.'

'But they're all warmblood.'

'So you know your horses, I assume you must have done some riding then?'

'Yes, but only as a rare treat, we couldn't afford it on a regular basis.'

'Shame, anyway if these horses are released back into the wild, then over a few generations they may become useful farm animals again, perhaps not true draft horses, but at least a starting point to breed from.'

'What do we do once we have the fireworks?'

He added a few rings to the map, 'We'll give a mini fireworks display for a couple of nights at each of these locations and then we'll go back to Winery to make the house winter-ready. If no one appears during that time we'll take our displays further afield until either we run out of fireworks or the weather forces us back to Winery.'

'How are people going to know where to find us?'

'There's a mobile phone mast prominently positioned not too far from Winery, I'll strap our flashing lights to the mast as high up as I can and we'll paint our address on the side of the metal shed thing underneath it.'

'We could also put up some posters wherever we stop.'

'Great idea, I'll leave those to you, if that's okay?'

'I can do those,' an apprehensive expression suddenly appeared on her face, 'but…'

'But what, Evie?'

'But what if we attract the wrong type of people, the big bad wolves?'

Adam kissed her forehead, 'Then they're going to rue the day they messed with this Little Red Riding Hood.'

Evelyn's cry deep in the night drew Adam out of his sleep and was reluctantly considering another night at the table when he heard the bedroom door slide open, moments later Evelyn was at his bedside.

'What's wrong, Evie?'

'Faces!' she replied clambering over him, dragging her duvet behind herself. Hurriedly she snuggled up to his side, placed her head on his shoulder and drew her duvet up to just below her eyes. Once the terror induced shaking had subsided she soon fell asleep again and thanks to the previous night's lack of sleep Adam quickly followed.