and Lexi.
Cedric and Maggie had found a teenage boy and a woman in her thirties, Liam was seen walking along the road, and Kate drove up to them in the most unlikely of vehicles. Liam seemed to only mourn the loss of his Xbox, but Kate was a find of pure platinum. The group now had a paramedic in their own well equipped ambulance. She was fit, a runner Dan reckoned, and shared his sense of rebuilding society. Dan made a point of taking her aside and asking for a second opinion on John’s symptoms, just in case he was wrong. Luckily she agreed, and he gave her the heads up that she may be asked the same question after what he had done.
She had a very pragmatic sense of duty, and now that the law didn’t apply her views on euthanasia were no longer unpopular or deemed too liberal. She was tattooed, pierced and, Dan strongly suspected, a lesbian. Nothing seemed to shock her, which he could only see as a plus point.
Neil had found himself a friend, a lad in his late teens who called himself Jay. Jay’s dad had owned a landscape gardening business and he had seen his fair share of trees felled.
Dan’s mental notepad was being scribbled on furiously.
Jimmy and Kev returned about an hour later in a new lorry. Sandwiched in the middle seat between them was another young man, Adam.
Adam was in the bathroom fitting business. The family business as was, and seemed a fit and healthy addition.
Penny had prepared another large meal of something Dan barely recognised as macaroni cheese. Everyone ate and sat talking. An air of actual happiness had overtaken them with the eight new arrivals. After dinner, Penny called for some hush.
“Welcome to our new members. We are so thoroughly grateful to have you here” noises of agreement came from the group.
“I never thought I’d say this, but we are suddenly short on living space!” a few laughs from the circle “James and Kevin, as agreed you two will move into shared accommodation with Daniel and Neil”
Kev looked at Jimmy and raised his eyebrows, Jimmy said “We’re sleeping in their caravan” quietly to him. Kev smiled and nodded, leaning round to smile at Dan.
“Liam, Jay – you two will take James and Kevin’s former caravan with Adam and Kyle” all those mentioned by name looked around and nodded.
“Andrew, if you could please welcome Ian” nods of agreement exchanged.
“Leah and I will accommodate Lexi and Ana”
“Now, normal business will be suspended tomorrow morning until we have met to discuss our plans. So, everyone must feel free to have a small drink and have a slightly later night. I say we have all earned it to get this far.” She stood, and Dan thought she may have had a couple of those sherries whilst cooking.
“We have all of us lost a great deal. Let us not think of loss, but consider our gains. We have all gained a new family in each other, may that family grow and prosper. Cheers!”
They drank. Leah was asleep in the chair before long, and Dan carried her into her caravan. He loaded and unloaded the magazines for his guns, ran a scrap of oiled cleaning cloth tied to the end of a piece of wire through the M4 and locked the carbine away before joining Neil in another journey to the bottom of a bottle.
He woke early, in desperate need to pee. Despite their new toilet setup, he went to the side of the building as before and pissed noisily against the wall. He decided that Neil was a bad influence which would probably ruin his liver. He was never much of a drinker before, he would drink after rugby matches and always had drinks in at home, but he was never that much of a social drinker. He’d stopped going out to get drunk over fifteen years ago. Maybe the apocalypse was making him alcoholic?
“Who gives a fuck?” he croaked in answer to his own unasked question.
Others were starting to surface, and he saw Penny boiling a kettle and holding her head in obvious discomfort. He knew that look, and he knew that a strong cup of tea would
Cedric and Maggie had found a teenage boy and a woman in her thirties, Liam was seen walking along the road, and Kate drove up to them in the most unlikely of vehicles. Liam seemed to only mourn the loss of his Xbox, but Kate was a find of pure platinum. The group now had a paramedic in their own well equipped ambulance. She was fit, a runner Dan reckoned, and shared his sense of rebuilding society. Dan made a point of taking her aside and asking for a second opinion on John’s symptoms, just in case he was wrong. Luckily she agreed, and he gave her the heads up that she may be asked the same question after what he had done.
She had a very pragmatic sense of duty, and now that the law didn’t apply her views on euthanasia were no longer unpopular or deemed too liberal. She was tattooed, pierced and, Dan strongly suspected, a lesbian. Nothing seemed to shock her, which he could only see as a plus point.
Neil had found himself a friend, a lad in his late teens who called himself Jay. Jay’s dad had owned a landscape gardening business and he had seen his fair share of trees felled.
Dan’s mental notepad was being scribbled on furiously.
Jimmy and Kev returned about an hour later in a new lorry. Sandwiched in the middle seat between them was another young man, Adam.
Adam was in the bathroom fitting business. The family business as was, and seemed a fit and healthy addition.
Penny had prepared another large meal of something Dan barely recognised as macaroni cheese. Everyone ate and sat talking. An air of actual happiness had overtaken them with the eight new arrivals. After dinner, Penny called for some hush.
“Welcome to our new members. We are so thoroughly grateful to have you here” noises of agreement came from the group.
“I never thought I’d say this, but we are suddenly short on living space!” a few laughs from the circle “James and Kevin, as agreed you two will move into shared accommodation with Daniel and Neil”
Kev looked at Jimmy and raised his eyebrows, Jimmy said “We’re sleeping in their caravan” quietly to him. Kev smiled and nodded, leaning round to smile at Dan.
“Liam, Jay – you two will take James and Kevin’s former caravan with Adam and Kyle” all those mentioned by name looked around and nodded.
“Andrew, if you could please welcome Ian” nods of agreement exchanged.
“Leah and I will accommodate Lexi and Ana”
“Now, normal business will be suspended tomorrow morning until we have met to discuss our plans. So, everyone must feel free to have a small drink and have a slightly later night. I say we have all earned it to get this far.” She stood, and Dan thought she may have had a couple of those sherries whilst cooking.
“We have all of us lost a great deal. Let us not think of loss, but consider our gains. We have all gained a new family in each other, may that family grow and prosper. Cheers!”
They drank. Leah was asleep in the chair before long, and Dan carried her into her caravan. He loaded and unloaded the magazines for his guns, ran a scrap of oiled cleaning cloth tied to the end of a piece of wire through the M4 and locked the carbine away before joining Neil in another journey to the bottom of a bottle.
He woke early, in desperate need to pee. Despite their new toilet setup, he went to the side of the building as before and pissed noisily against the wall. He decided that Neil was a bad influence which would probably ruin his liver. He was never much of a drinker before, he would drink after rugby matches and always had drinks in at home, but he was never that much of a social drinker. He’d stopped going out to get drunk over fifteen years ago. Maybe the apocalypse was making him alcoholic?
“Who gives a fuck?” he croaked in answer to his own unasked question.
Others were starting to surface, and he saw Penny boiling a kettle and holding her head in obvious discomfort. He knew that look, and he knew that a strong cup of tea would
Similar Books
