The Bitter End (16 page)

Aaron helped him lay Sol on his back. His face was pale and ghostly. He moaned gently as he rocked from side to side. Ben watched Aaron and Daniel share a loaded glance and he knew it wasn't good news for the boy.

"It doesn't look good, does it?" he whispered, standing up next to Aaron.

Aaron shook his head. "He's not going to make it."

It felt as if there was something not being said, something important, but Ben couldn't tell what. If he wasn't there, he thought, the two other men would discuss it openly. It was because they didn't trust him yet.

"We need to get to the village before dark," said Aaron.

"He's slowing us down," said Daniel.

Then Ben knew what they weren’t saying. The boy was dead weight, or as good as. He wasn't going to make it so why were they putting themselves at risk so that he could die somewhere other than this field.

"How's Anthony?" said Ben, wondering if Aaron would feel he same if it was his brother in Sol's position.

"He's walking by himself," he said.

Ben glanced back; Anthony was sitting on the floor beside Kris, who was just staring into the fog as if it held the answer to her problems. He did look better, he had some colour in his cheeks and didn't appear to be in too much pain.

He looked at the faces of the other two men. They were settled on this, they weren't asking his permission. He had never been under the illusion that he was in charge of this operation but he hadn't thought there was such a strict hierarchy that they wouldn't even discuss a thing like this.

Ben looked back at the boy. He didn't deserve to die like this but then none of them did and if they took him with them then that was what would probably happen. He could have tried to talk Daniel and Aaron out of it, they almost seemed to want him to, but he wasn't altogether sure that he wanted to.

"I'll take Kris somewhere away," he said.

At least they weren't planning to leave him there in pain. A bullet through the temple and he would be dead instantly. In some ways maybe it was mercy, he wouldn't be suffering anymore and the vamps wouldn't get him.

He walked over to Kris who was still staring vacantly into the mist. She looked like a different person now, removed from her lover she was just a little girl again, not much older than Sol had been. He was not so innocent as to believe they would all survive the rest of the journey but he made a promise to himself that he would do everything he could to make sure Kris got home safely.

He led her into the mist, turning at intervals until the others were completely invisible. She did not ask where he was taking her but followed with blind faith. Perhaps a part of her knew what was happening.

There was no way to shield her from the sound. It exploded around the field and afterwards he heard birds squawking as they flapped their wings and rose into the air.

He waited a few minutes before leading her back to the others. They were waiting for them, ready to go. Sol was nowhere to be seen but he could see where the dry grass had been hastily cleaned. Kris accepted Sol's absence as she had accepted everything else that had happened since Sandra's death, as if she hadn't even noticed it.

They set off again and moved much more quickly without Sol slowing them down. As he thought it Ben felt a stab of guilt but it was for the best; the sun was rapidly losing strength and according to Daniel they were still several hours away from their destination. They might not make it before dark as it was, if they still had Sol with them they wouldn't stand a chance.

They stopped just once more before reaching their destination. At the edge of the field there was a copse where they found berries growing. It wasn't much and what was there was half-rotten but none of them had eaten since the early hours of the morning and their food stores had gone down with the boat. They ate while they filled their pockets and there was a moment of strange normality about it. They left with their stomachs groaning but they were happy and ready for what lay ahead.

9

The cobbled lane had been invaded on each side by long green weeds that climbed through the gates and fences. Between the stones yellow dandelions bunched together, impossibly growing through ancient mortar. It was dark but the moon offered enough light for them to see by. Beyond the overgrown gardens there were crumbling houses that had been old before the vamps came. Little cottages with faded wooden shutters, it wasn't even possible to guess what colour they had been. Some of them didn't look any bigger than the long boats.

Ben walked at the back of the group behind Kris. Now that Sandra had gone the others didn't seem to care what happened to her but he remembered his promise. They walked along the narrow path towards wherever Daniel was leading them. The cold night air had a bite to it and he hoped that wherever they were going it would be inside.

A church stood at the end of the lane in what once would have been a clearing. Now the land had begun to reclaim the space and soon it would succeed in doing so. They walked towards the church. It was mostly intact save for a few broken windows. A heavy door barred their way.

"Is it safe?" said Aaron.

"Safer than out here," said Daniel in his gruff way. They were all tired and in pain, two of them still needed medical help and they were a long way from home. Aaron stared at Daniel until he relented. "Alright, I'll go and have a look. You'll not be any safer out here though."

"Thank you," said Aaron.

Daniel pushed open the door. It creaked loudly in the otherwise silent village. He looked back at them briefly and then slipped into the darkness. Once, before vamps had existed, people had believed they were scared of churches or crosses. A stupid idea really but he shuddered to think how many people had probably died putting it to the test.

They waited for Daniel to return. A long time seemed to pass. Somewhere an owl hooted and a twig snapped, it might have been a vamp but it was more likely to be a fox or some other animal grown brave since humans had left the village. Animals had done well out of the situation; the vamps had no interest in them and there weren't enough humans to be a threat. Even so Ben reached for his gun. The sudden movement jarred his shoulder and reminded him that he was still in pain.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Aaron looking at him. "It's okay," he whispered. He was holding his own gun. Ben nodded but hoped Aaron wouldn't wander off to investigate the noise.

Aaron stayed where he was and before too much longer the church door opened again and Daniel came out. "It's all clear," he said and held the door open for them to enter one by one. Aaron brought up the rear and Ben thought he heard him say something to Daniel as he closed the door behind them.

Inside the chapel it was cold and dark. The grey stones seemed to retain the cold and project it inwards. Ben followed Anthony limping to the front where they found candles and matches to light them. Aaron and Daniel appeared at the other end, delayed by whatever secret conference they had been having.

Ben sat down on a hard, cold bench near Kris. He suddenly felt exhausted and the pain in his ankle and arm flared up again promising him that rest would not be as simple as closing his eyes and drifting off. Aaron came and sat next to him so he didn't even get the chance to try.

"How you holding up?"

He tried to shrug but his shoulder had started to stiffen and it came out more like a grimace.

"Let's take a look," said Aaron, pealing back the remains of his shirt. "A flesh wound," he said. "You should be fine."

Ben nodded. He wasn't really listening. Whether Aaron thought he was going to be fine or not didn't matter. What were they going to do if he wasn't; shoot him. "What's going on here?" he said.

"What do you mean?"

"This place, you knew it was here, didn't you? Have you been here before?"

Aaron shook his head and Ben thought he was telling the truth.

"Daniel then?"

Aaron said nothing.

"He has, hasn't he?"

"Not for a long time. Not since before."

'Before', it didn't need an explanation, everyone's before was the same now: before the vamps, before the end of the world. Except Ben didn't really think of it like that, he was younger, maybe that was it, but to him it seemed more like the start of the world.

"So you knew we were going to be attacked?"

"Not like that. Normally they just try to talk us into going back with them, we refuse and they leave us to it."

"You've done this before?"

"Not exactly. A few trial runs as far as Reading, nothing very exciting."

That made sense, really it would have been foolish to begin an expedition of this scale without testing the water. Which was of course what he had done. And he would find himself permanently on the back foot because of it.

A gust of cold wind passed them and he shivered despite himself. "Are you sure this place is safe?"

"As safe as you can get on dry land." He stood up and looked about to clap Ben on the shoulder but, perhaps remembering his injury, thought better of it. "Try to get some rest," he said. "We need to make an early start tomorrow."

He nodded. "What's the plan?"

But Aaron just smiled and then walked away.

He spent the night on the floor. At first he tried to sleep on the pew but found it too narrow. He kept dreaming of falling. The floor was colder but at least he could spread out how he wanted.

That night he woke only once, to the sound of sobbing coming from the far side of the room. At first he thought it had to be Kris but when he opened his eyes he saw her asleep on the floor nearby. When he looked up he saw Daniel at the foot of the steps beneath the stage sobbing into his hands.

Ben closed his eyes and tried to forget that he'd seen it but the image wouldn't leave him. He dreamed of a crying mountain, the tears running down its slopes and washing the world away.

The next morning they were up and ready to go before it was light. Even though there had been no sign of vamp activity during the night they agreed that it would be better to wait until after sunrise.

Ben was hungry. His body ached and he wanted nothing more than a comfortable bed and a cuddle with Mary. But he was aware that they were still at the beginning of their journey and they were off to a bad start. What had started as a two week round trip had become something much longer. They would be lucky if they made it back inside of a month and, when they got back, there was nothing to guarantee they would be welcome.

They passed through the rest of the village in silence. The early morning sun did not improve its appearance but Daniel didn't seem to mind. He walked ahead of them with a wistful look in his eye and Ben began to suspect that he knew why he had been crying.

He led them through the heart of the village, a market place now overgrown, wooden stalls rotted beneath the weeds and made it look like land choral. Bees and other insect buzzed around, darting from flower to flower. It looked as if the bee population was another that had improved without human interference.

The village sloped gently down hill and Daniel appeared to be in no rush. Aaron sighed from time to time but was, on the whole, patient. It took until lunch time for them to reach the river. There were boats there but most of them had been destroyed, either due to lack of maintenance or sabotage. There was one, shining example, however that stood alone in the middle of the river.

It was bigger than even the hulk had been. A fresh coat of white paint had been applied to the hull and in shined brightly in the mid-day sun. It was beautiful. Certainly better than the long boat they had been in that was destroyed. Had this always been the plan, he wondered.

They followed the path down to the river and then he could see that there were people on the boat already. Three men of a similar age to him, checking ropes and cables. Daniel and Aaron approached the vessel while Ben stayed back with Anthony and Kris. He was impressed but confused.

There were rumoured to be other communities in the area but, as far as he was aware, that was all they were; rumours. He had seen no sign of them in any of his wanderings. Yet here were three men he had never met aboard a boat that he was sure he would have remembered and Daniel and Aaron seemed to know them.

They waved at each other and Daniel accepted a hand up and onto the ship. He stood on the roof and spoke to the man who had helped him over while the other two men carried on about their work. While this was going on Aaron wandered back up the hill to them.

"We should make good progress in this," he said.

Ben nodded but kept his eyes on Daniel and the men.

A few minutes later Daniel turned and waved them aboard. Aaron led with Ben bringing up the rear. They had to help Anthony up, his shoulder was too weak to support him, and Kris showed little interest in the fact they were boarding another boat. Introductions were made; the captain was a little man called Joel Thresher, the two boys were his sons Martin and Alexander. Mrs Thresher was a portly woman called Samantha who wouldn't let anyone else near her kitchen, not even to make tea.

The boat was called The Robinson Crusoe and, as they settled in, Joel explained how they had spent the last twenty years travelling up and down the river. They knew all about Sanctuary, of course, but had no interest in settling anywhere at the moment.