I
There’d been something theatrical about the whole thing, there really had ... but now the major push was on by the shadow State to break up cells, roundup anyone connected ... but word had got through and Plan Bs were implemented all over the country.
There were high profile cases like former CEOs of tech platforms arrested in Paris and in other cities around the world … there were ordinary citizens arrested on spec in Britain and a bitter truth was becoming so obvious that it was dispiriting.
Very, very few "normies" were ever going to lift a hand, even to save themselves ... they thought lying low was saving themselves, as humanity thought in ancient times until rudely awakened about the year AD30.
And so the cells had had no choice but to get out quickly ... Cam's Plan B in their case ... probably just in time, not even a day to spare.
So here they were in this disused redoubt once used by the Norwegian government but now long abandoned, it was one of his secret retreats … and he had a few … making it habitable would be the ladies’ work, being sexist about it all … they had the skill, he didn’t have, he reasoned, they were actually delighted … what was their budget?
The most bizarre aspect though was they were now leading one of the enemy, Cleo, straight to one of the hideaways and did anyone fully trust her yet … if at all? If she were for real, then she was now just as much a fugitive as they were but what goes through such a woman’s brain?
Turn them in, redeeming herself? Go back to live that predatory way?
Was this going to be any better here, she thought. No one had loved her there, in her other world, nobody had liked her … they did here … but for their part, she quite understood … what if there was some hold still over her? Her mother, a child? Would she try to signal? Escape?
It had gone through everyone’s mind and she knew it had.
Cam had loved Jeanne, not this brash Cleo … and yet Jeanne had betrayed them … him. In the worst possible way. Why?
Despite being the multiple murderess she was though, Cleo was bouncy, bright and breezy … if she were onside with them, with him, she’d be all the partner you’d want.
That was it though, he mused … did he want? And she was well aware of this, he’d not be her first choice either, maybe not even her seventh or eighth … he’d certainly be soon after that in the pecking order. But she knew what he felt about her … they’d been sworn enemies, no?
There was no basis for trust.
It was bizarre.
And so here they were … pleasant enough on the grass outside this redoubt when it was not storm-racked, warm enough in summer … better than extended torture and a gruesome death anyway.
And they had food, plus other means of provisioning … that was Cam’s biz. And they had enough survival vegetation inside, many cackling hens and a few roosters too … they were looking to convert one of the collapsed rooms at the end into a pond, put in some fish …
.o0o.
In these early days, the other four observed, those two were inseparable, they walked the paths he knew between the rocks, they covered every topic under the sun … they’d tried their first tentative ahem (cough) … kiss.
It wasn’t that in the least which now freaked them both out ... it was a humble grasshopper they saw basking on a rocky outcrop.
This far north.
And both immediately fell upon the same thought …
They looked at one another. The grasshopper looked at them. They went back down the path, back inside the complex, but instead of returning to the others, he led her down a narrow passage to a sort of broad cave and piled up along the walls were all sorts of containers of chemicals, fertilizers, plus medicines.
He stepped between containers stacked further into the earthen ‘room’, she followed, until he stopped by a dozen plastic containers, each five litres … Fipronil. Used for locusts.
‘It’s banned in what was the EU before that was subsumed into the global authority, Euro branch. I never brought and stored it here, they’ve not been a Euro problem, locusts, they have though anywhere hot … Africa, middle-east, downunder. But it’s not unknown this far north, it has actually happened … there’s always a midge problem here.’
‘You know the science behind these critters?’
‘Once I saw the Fipronil, I checked it out back in England. It kills em all right, but applied indiscriminately … in our water, on crops, on the grass … it eventually kills us too. I thought it was interesting finding these tubs in this redoubt. And they’re not decades old either … none of em are older than ten years.’
‘A commercial killing for someone who could induce a plague, plus hold the solution to that plague.’
‘And here’s our first ethical test, Cleo … innit?’
‘Yes.’
Silence.
Then: ‘Did Jeanne know? Do we tell the others?’
‘You tell me.’
‘Ah … right … I see.’
She cogitated, he looked down, away, over at a row of chemicals.
‘We tell them,’ she concluded. ‘If there were any point to making ‘money’ now … now it’s gone digital I mean … I can’t see how we could turn it to our advantage.’
‘The science also says they can only be controlled in a small area … you have to dig trenches around the nymphs … they go on scent, there’s a scent they produce, drives em mad, they transform into huge swarms just like that.’
‘Chilling.’ She thought again. ‘Ok, we go back and tell them. Can these things fly?’
‘Generally they don’t, they jump … but they can … huge swarms high in the air … not millions or billions … trillions.’
‘Nightmare.’
II
‘So,’ asked Faye after they’d heard it all … ‘do we go out and kill all those we find, now … or do we put up some sort of wire mesh?’
‘We talk it out and vote,’ said Cam.
‘Is it something,’ asked Cait, ‘that we really need concern ourselves about? I mean, what chance them swarming here and even if they did, could they get in here and eat our supplies?’
‘I’m more concerned about provisions arriving after that, our supply chain. They react to loss of food in the habitat. We’re not in a lush area, it’s not a warm climate, but there’s enough food for them for now. The issue is the instant that line’s crossed. And how did they even get here?’
‘Brought,’ said Sven, ‘along with the antidote … by limited brains. Anything else of the kind in that cave?’
‘Haven’t fully explored yet, we might do that tomorrow if that’s all right. Immediate question, as Faye said … do we go out and kill them now, the ones we can find? What if that’s enough to trigger the swarming?’
‘There’s also a biblical side to this,’ put in Faye. ‘It’s possible our killing them incurs wrath. Not saying it will and I’ll be first out there with the spray but … but …’
‘I actually agree,’ said Cleo. ‘I’m thinking we just slowly secure this place, start growing our own food in here, if we could work out a way to let sunshine in but seal off the gap when we had to.’
‘That last bit is ready to go in,' said Cam '… a skylight system, we’ll check it over tomorrow.’
Said Cait, ‘What about our scent? Could that trigger them? If we were, say, making love?’
No replies.
‘I’m thinking,’ she went on, ‘that we need to watch out for any getting in here, at any time … for any reason.’
‘What Faye said,’ said Lee ‘…I think we need to … er … behave ourselves, fly straight, do right things … I don’t really know how to say this but I do feel it’s not wise to … well … to tempt things. I’d say don’t kill them right now, stay away, as we would from wasps.
‘Plus one more thing I read,’ said Faye.
All eyes were on her.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘I looked this sort of thing up while I was browsing … I was wondering why many plants don’t grow under conifers … pines, that sort of thing. Well, there seem to be myths and truths. Whether they poison the ground or it’s the light blockage or whether it’s the dry dirt around the roots or whether it’s the sap or other resin type things … well it was not certain as far as I could see.’
She paused and all eyes were still on her.
‘Right,’ she said again, ‘other things turned up, as they do. In 1874, there was a locust plague in the western part of America, up into Canada too. Um … no … 1915 I think it was. Anyway, the locusts gave Saskatchewen a wide berth … especially the coniferous parts … hillsides, mountainsides … anywhere with conifers.’
They looked at one another and she went on …
‘Yep, I do mean that, I am definitely hinting at that. We’re covered in conifers, so where exactly did you two see your little hopper?’
Said Cam: ‘You’re quite right … it looks out over a clearing … grasses and wildflowers, the only one accessible from the redoubt. There are plenty of clearings in the area, fields, not much agriculture as such … food’s brought in and stored here, the downside of this haven.’
Sven added: ‘I suppose flamethrowers are out of the question in this area?’
‘They’re in a separate room to the containers … we do have them … ten all up. Problem is they’ll take out the eggs the locusts lay but not all of them in full swarm … we just have to batten down if it happens …’
‘Skylight?’ asked Lee.
‘Yes, an issue … we need it open for ventilation plus sun and rain on our mini-crops. Yes, we could go a few days, maybe a week … but these swarms go on for months until it’s all stripped. As I say, we’ll look at the skylight tomorrow … we have rolls of mesh wire. All right … are there any points we’re not agreed on? We lie low, yes,we don’t tempt fate at this stage?
Silence but agreed silence.
III
About two months in, most of their tales of family had finally been told and as expected, Cleo's was the wildest and weirdest ... there was a half-brother that would be tracking her down if he could ... he was resourceful ... he'd stop at nothing.
No ... not an errant husband, disgruntled lover ... this was truly a half-brother ... and he was hot for her.
'I can't see,' thought Cam out loud, 'how he would make it here and if he could ... who put him onto it, who dropped a trail?'
Cleo accepted that. Cam demanded she talk and all noted the tone.
'I left no trail for anyone else but I did leave a lipstick here, some clippers there ... only he would know they're mine.
'Why?'
'It was on the way here, it was early days, I had no idea how it would pan out, I might have had to get out ...'
'Plus you're his lover,' murmured Cait.
'Yes. This was before anything with Cam, any understanding.'
'That's a capital offence,' Cam was incandescent. 'I mean that. He's not coming in here, I'll tell you that now. You want to go? Go on, I won't shoot you.'
It was ugly ... no one knew what to say or do for once. She saw it all falling away ... half a life, not no life. She lowered her head, for the first time in a long time ... chagrined.
.o0o.
As if that were not enough, about two weeks later, mid-morning ... suddenly, the hoppers or locusts stirred ... thousands upon thousands ... they were battering the wire mesh on the skylights, a few had made it through but not many ... some got out, some didn't ... and that was what the swarm had done, what they'd been trying to do in their crazed way ... get out of the area asap ... warmer climes?
Apart from the remaining hundred or so, quickly Fipronilled, swept up, cleared out ... that was that.
The six were quite shaken ... not just by the locusts but by Cleo and this weird man, so they saw him as ... she knew they did ... and she resented it.
The biggest issue for all was ... how could they trust anything at all she said? Mental illness takes many forms ... she might well be over the edge right now.
And if so, what to do? Because she was mighty fine in his arms at night ... in that respect she excelled ... she was a giver, was Cleo. It was insane. She had asked for nothing, had not clung on, she'd just waited.
'What do you want to do? Go out and find him? We're not in normal times, Cleo ... there are very nasty things reported through the supply drops ... I never meet them, the drops are just there, sometimes with news clippings. What do you want to do?'
'Did you ask them to find out, hoping he'd be ... dead?'
'I asked, yes, planning to make a decision if it ever happened. Kill him? Ask them to? No ... I did not.'
She nodded. 'I think he's dead ... I can't face this, Cam ... but I know he is. They were ambushed, there was no further word. Jihadis. You do see though ... not knowing ... I know they were ambushed ... news is bitsy, that's all it was.'
He lay back, slowly breathing out. 'Understood.'
IV
The chill was upon them ... they'd prepared, they were so used to constant threats from nowhere that when there weren't any ... what then?
Said Sven: 'We can't get soft, I mean that ... and that includes the girls. I'm past the stage of apologising for offence taken ... I see an issue and it needs sorting.'
'Yes it does,' added Lee. ' I was close to diabetes at one point, found some pretty good literature on it ... very basic ... a mix of all sorts of meat, veg, fruit, exercise ... aerobic and resistance ... and guess what we found in one of the back caves? Someone obviously planned to live here.'
'They did,' confirmed Cam. 'Those weights include girls things ... pilates mats etc. Thing is ... we're fit till middle age, then drop off. Bedtop workouts are also good. We found the board games ... in fact, everything people used to do before the electronic age ... but more healthily. There are concessions ... in one box are vials of novocaine and syringes ...'
'Dental,' said Faye. 'It's been well done you know.'
'I was a dental nurse.'
Totally out of the blue. Cleo.
'But that's wonderful,' smiled Faye. 'I get a feeling that if no major attack comes, if supplies keep arriving, thanks to Cam's deep pockets, plus ours, plus things we have that they need out there, we might get some years out of this.'
'But would we be satisfied?' asked Sven. 'I'd have said no a year ago but now ... I'm afraid I've changed. Cait's expecting.'
.o0o.
Once the tumult had subsided over that, the wine consumed, the nibbles, Cam brought them back to reality.
'We've been on the edge so long, guys, we've been constantly looking each way. I say we keep looking each way but we also get some quality back into it. Can you do some kind of church service, Faye, on a Sunday? We could dress in our best for that.'
'Our parents?' Cait reminded them. 'Cleo's half brother ... closure. We need that as far as we can.'
'I know he's dead,' Cleo blurted out. 'I saw him fall off the wall, with two others. That was long before we escaped as a group. That was when there was no reason for him not to make contact. Plus this.'
She got up and went to their room, returning with a local newspaper cutting, handing it to Cam. He glanced down, looked it over. 'I actually remember that,' admitted Cam. 'We had much intel coming in, it didn't seem related to us specifically ... so you know. But I saw that clip in other local rags. Must have done your head in, Cleo. I'm ... sorry. Would you people excuse us for an hour?'
V
Sven and Lee were the gym guys, the girls were the entertainment committee. Faye was like the conscience of the group, the one who kept it together, Cam was the perimeter defence and news source, Lee was the DIY … help build, cook, do this and that, Sven and Cait, warriors, were now producing babies … maybe the others would too.
And Cleo … definitely Miss Interesting in the group, eyes into that other world you know, said Cait to Faye … she’s coming around … or else she has us all quite fooled.
Give it time had said Faye.
The boys insisted on the medium level exercise, the meals everyone chipped in with, the girls insisted on a bit of fun now and then.
Cam asked to speak on outside things one Thursday … after lunch, stretched out on the divans in the main room or doing this or that.
All ears.
‘Fewer supplies now, guys … when Sven and I went to the last five … there were four. No way of knowing why … he’d been intermittent anyway. I’m going to lay the clippings on the table here, with the handwritten notes.
Take your time, read through please, then we’d best talk.’
.o0o.
The news clippings of what now seemed alien events out there in the 'real' world, the handwritten notes here and there ... told of a world gone totally, evilly insane which had been allowed to happen ... they could not take their eyes from the table.
That was reality, was it?
‘All right,’ Cam addressed them, ‘we’re down to taking stock of our situations. Faye has faith we’ll be looked after from Above if we believe we can be … interesting perspective … ancient. Our reality is that sooner or later, we’re going to be down to the chickens and fish …’
‘Provided no disease gets to them,’ put in Lee. ‘Provided we’re not found by these bands of crazed marauders, provided the State or Global nutters don’t get it into their heads to suddenly go to WW3 … use up the last of the arsenals … all that.’
Said Cam: ‘That’s the long and short of it … ‘civilisation’ as we knew it was already on the way out but all orderly govt is now over … just strongarm gangs with warlords and Viking type violence.
Thing is … to protect Cait’s baby, all our girls’ babies … look, let me put it this way. There’s a view, often called male but many women agree … you do whatever it takes … lionesses do, mother ducks do …’
Said Cait: ‘But there are those always thinking appeasing the monster will work.’
‘All right,’ said Cam. ‘We’re an unusual six … we have a long history of dealing out summary justice … we’re not known for holding back … but now we hold fire … we just add to the defences of this place … but the best defence is a passive, calm attitude … but trained to instantly swap to full force.’
Just silence, but not in disagreement.
‘So that’s our strategy … anticipate different types of trouble, prepare, be ready to act instinctively … drills, practice … spring into action once we see what needs action … the locusts were a perfect example. Still no objection?’
Not a word.
‘So there it is. Every single possible threat contained in those news clippings … the notes on that table too … we train, people, we train, we have kids.’
Said Sven, ‘I get this feeling that we’re not going to be in huge danger now from overwhelming force, by bombings, armies, not even by mercenaries … we seem to have moved onto that last stage … I agree that, except maybe from marauders … well … all of us would do what we had to, no qualms … but we’re going to find ourselves creating a little colony … we’d be breeding the chickens and fish, we’d be sick of it, even with creative ways to stave off the boredom, we’d be back to dark age village things … that’s if the poisoned world didn’t get here …’
Said Cait, ‘I’m thinking there’s a thing called overplanning … I’m thinking that Faye’s not wrong in that calm way she has … don’t despair but equally don’t kid ourselves. Have a bit of faith, hope, pray no one gets really ill.’
‘That’s peace of mind,’ mused Cleo. ‘Speaking personally, I need that most just now.’
‘Don’t we all,’ said Cam. ‘So there it is.’
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