Humanity: After It Happened Book 2 (3 page)

WINTER WONDERLAND

Days rolled into weeks.  Frosts came and it tried to snow a few times.  Everyone was wrapped up well; the boxes of thermal sports base layers lifted from the camping store were a good buy.

Dan went with black under armour under his standard black clothes.  He had got a black arctic waterproof and windproof pullover from one of their scavenging trips during the hot weather.  He had dug it out and now pretty much lived in it.

Curiously, he noticed that the other Rangers had followed suit in style noir, which adorably included Leah.  Her black boots had her black combat trousers tucked in, and she added about four layers of tops and fleeces topped off with a black woollen hat.

Dan had kept the beard and hair a little longer, but still the same length all over, which both Joe and Steve had adopted.  Dan’s bandaging had come off, exposing the straight line of delicate stitching running through the puckered skin from below his left eye and up into his hairline.  Luckily the blade had cut through his eyebrow and missed the recess of his eye socket.  It itched like hell, which he knew was a good sign.  Kate gave him painkillers which he stopped taking before she recommended, much to her annoyance.  He did complete the course of antibiotics which had been given to all of them.  Ash had even had a course, courtesy of Sera’s small medicinal stock.

He donned his own black woolly hat and went outside, pulling on his thermal gloves.  The fresh, pink skin of his scarred face feeling the icy stab of the cold more than the rest of him.

Ash bounded with him, fully healed long before the human casualties.  He smoked as he walked, passing a couple of the others as they went.  Ash even let the others touch him now.  Dan had worked hard to have him in the house to get used to people.  It was Sera’s suggestion, after she had been bitten trying to stop Ash’s bleeding.  He was still developing and double the size as when he was first found.  He had a coarse short coat which had darkened only slightly as he matured.  He glided effortlessly; loping on all fours with a casual ease that did not betray the savage speed he could employ.  It’s not the size of the dog that make the hits big; it’s the speed it hits you at.  Well, Ash was big and fast.

He walked up to the farm and back, talking with people he met as he walked.  He went into Ops and Ash stalked to Leah’s side where he practically searched her for food.  His snout was almost the same size of her torso. 

Leah pushed the animal out of her face and produced a sheaf of papers, clearing her throat and giving Ash a polo which he crunched once and swallowed, looking expectantly for more.

“Applications” she announced.  Dan picked up a plastic wrapped pack of biscuits and poured coffee from a flask left by Steve – it was his day on duty – who was studying maps.

“Give me the highlights” he said as he sat and invited Steve to join them with a wave. 

“Request for specialist item recovery” she read, then scanned her eyes along the rest of the text.  “Christmas presents, actually”

Dan smiled.  That kind of humanity made him happy and he would be glad to do those runs himself, even though he bloody hated Christmas.

“A suggestion that the Rangers run a self-defence class” she said.  He thought of Lexi, with her martial arts background “Lexi might like that”.  Dan was well qualified to teach also, but didn’t want another commitment on his time.

“Kyle wants to be a Ranger” she said with a smile.  Dan coughed and spat coffee as he controlled himself.

“This again?” he said, annoyed.  Steve gave him a questioning look and he explained. 

“Kyle is a complaining, cowardly, weak, selfish, chinless mewling little boy who wants people to fear and respect him.  He wants a gun.  The answer is the same as when he asked the first time; no fucking chance.”

Leah muttered “language” not quite under her breath and made a note, but Dan told her “I’ll tell him myself though”

“Any more?” he asked

“Request from Cedric and Maggie to run through training with people working away from the house” she said “What to do if someone turns up, basically” Dan looked to Steve, who nodded his agreement to the silent request.

“I can throw in a bit of E&E for flavour too” he said.  Dan was glad to have him; even with the six-inch scar across his forearm he had got for putting his eggs in Dan’s basket.  It was still angry and swollen, as was the stripe down his own face.

“Ok, link up with Chris and find a day when the farm is covered by Logistics.  Reckon you could do it within the week?” he asked.

Steve did.  There were no more requests of interest, and the few more that were for Christmas presents went on the pile for a one-hit shopping trip.

He decided that there had been a long enough wait, that he was healed enough to take Joe on a trip.  He went to tell Penny what he planned before finding Neil and the others he needed.

He had rounded everyone up and Ops was full.  Neil, Mike, Jimmy, Ian and Joe sat to listen.

“I want to raid a police armoury.” He let that hang for effect.

“I need Jimmy to bring a crew under Mike and Ian’s direction to use heavy machinery to breach it.  Neil, there’s a diesel tank in need of emptying too so we may as well have all that while we’re there.” He said.

“Ideas” he announced, inviting the selected group to join in.

Mike was the first to speak.  “I assume we are talking stressed concrete, probably reinforced with steel?” he asked.

“I think so, and no windows” Dan replied.

“So we attack the weakest point.  The lock” he said confidently.  “Jackhammer around the door housing and a Stihl saw with a diamond tipped blade.  It won’t be pretty but it will be open”

“We’ve got the kit” said Neil

“Kev can use the jackhammer, he’s big enough” said Jimmy not hiding his pride in his giant sidekick.

All in agreement, they planned to leave in an hour.

Dan and Joe went in the new Discovery, Neil went in his Defender with Ian and Mike towing the mobile tanker with its attached pump.  Jimmy and Kev borrowed Lexi’s Defender, carrying a generator and the tools they needed.

Dan and Joe cleared the building, driving into the yard he had left months ago after his first burglary.  There was some evidence of scavenging since he had been there last, but he highly doubted anyone could have got into the armoury.  He paused to look at the now unrecognisable corpse that lay unburied in the car park where he had dumped him out of his BMW.

They cleared the building, then led Mike, Ian, Jimmy and Kev to the heavy steel door.  Mike started to give instructions to the others to say what he needed, and Dan took Joe outside leaving orders to be called when they were close to getting in.

Neil was busy pumping the diesel into his tanker, smiling at his creation again.  He gave a thumbs up to them as they reappeared.

“Can you get up there?” Dan asked Joe, pointing at the roof of a police van.  Joe nodded and jogged over to get the height advantage and keep watch to protect the mission.  The noise started, shaking the whole building.

Dan went back inside to look for more equipment to augment their kit.  He took a number of batons, and six ballistic vests as he only had two for his Rangers currently.  Magazine holders and holsters from lockers went into the large bag he was carrying as the noise was replaced with the high-pitched scream of metal being cut.  Ash watched him, hoping for food every time he prised open a locker.

Eventually the noise and vibration stopped, and he heard his name being shouted without urgency.  He took the armful of big black kit bags he had emptied, hoping to have enough to fill them.

The doorway looked like it had exploded, with a pile of rubble pushed to one side.  They had exposed the lock housing and mangled it to the point where they could force it open using the hydraulics.  Dan wasn’t too happy.

The racks were mostly empty.  There were two Heckler & Koch G36 carbines, four Glocks, no MP5’s, but there were a pair of HK416’s.  The carbines had the new sights which had the telescopic part you could flip to the side to use a holographic sight.  They both had torch attachments, however all the guns only had two firing selector settings; safe and semi-automatic.  Not really worth the energy expended he thought, but better than nothing.

Ammunition was stacked and spare magazines were found.  He was really hoping for more.  He picked up the two single-barrelled launcher guns – they basically fired a round like a solid lump of rubber.  They were called AEP’s; attenuating energy projectiles.  Non-lethal, unless you were seriously unlucky, but bloody painful.

The bags were loaded, the fuel was siphoned, and they set off home for dinner.  Dan was the only one not to be excited; the others thought the haul was impressive.

All the new weaponry got left in the bags, ready for all the Rangers to strip them in the morning and familiarise themselves before test firing.

After dinner Dan asked Kyle to step out with him.  Kyle was very wary of Ash; he was one of the few people he wouldn’t let touch him which proved to Dan that his dog was a good judge of character.  Dan sent Ash off into the bushes so as not to lose Kyle’s attention.

“Listen, about being a Ranger” he started, glancing sideways at Kyle in the fading light.  He did not look happy, as if he knew where the conversation was heading.  If he had single brain cell, Dan mused, then he should.

“It’s not going to happen.  It takes previous experience which we all have and we don’t have the infrastructure to train someone from scratch” he said.

Kyle stopped walking. “Joe doesn’t.  Lexi doesn’t.  We don’t even know if you do” his anger made him brave.  Dan let the weak personal attack pass, knowing that jealousy has a strong pull.

“Joe and Lexi’s experience was enough for them to be assessed.  I assessed them.  They are now Rangers.” he said carefully.

“WELL ASSESS ME THEN!” shouted Kyle.  He was shaking and close to tears.

“Tell me why you want it” instructed Dan, keeping his cool.

Kyle failed the first test; he failed to control his anger.  “Why should you lot get to swan around and do what you want while everyone else works?  Cocky bastards.  You think you’re better because you got a gun.”

“Stop now, Kyle” Dan said coldly.

Kyle failed another test, demonstrating to Dan that he had no sense of self-preservation by carrying on.

“You pick who you want.  Do what you want.  You’re a fucking Nazi. You...” Kyle stopped, yelping in terror as Dan grabbed the front of his coat with both hands like a striking animal, pulling him close.

“Take a good look at my face, you spoilt little shit” he growled at him.

“Does it look like it was fun?  Would you have swapped places with me when I was fighting with the bastard who did this, after he took out two other people who I know for a fact would snap you without breaking a sweat?  Would you even have survived this long if we hadn’t taken you in?”

Kyle didn’t answer, just tried to keep himself from crying in temper.

“No, Kyle.  The answer is no.  You aren’t capable not only because you aren’t trained, but because you only want it to show off.  I have no use for you and I will never put a gun in your hand.  Am I understood?” he said savagely.  At the tone of Dan’s voice, Ash had crept out of the dark and began to growl menacingly behind Kyle.  He edged away, casting a fearful look at the dog, then ran back to the house.

“Fuck it” he said to himself before adding “Well, that went well” aloud to Ash.

LIFE GOES ON

The next weeks went by slowly.  The old house got very cold, and gas heaters had to be used to stop people freezing.  Everyone was wearing gloves and hats inside.  Only two more trips were made out.  One heavily protected detail visited an ambulance station now that Kate had got her medical stocks in order with Steve, Joe and Dan going as protection whilst Lexi stayed behind as she took the longest to heal from her injuries.

The other was to the closest vets as Sera had set up a small surgery on the farm and needed more supplies.  With a little more instruction from Steve, Leah was becoming very good with maps and plotted the route easily.

Both trips were, thankfully, uneventful.  Dan tried to develop some kind of routine, but felt increasingly restless as time wore on.  He wanted to be out, finding more people but most of the group were happy to sit tight and let the cold pass.  A few of them got ill, but Kate took the precaution of keeping a very close eye on them and quarantining those with viruses.  She insisted that everyone take vitamin supplements with breakfast to try and avoid the colds too.

Dan received lots of sullen looks from Kyle, but he clearly lacked the conviction to make any trouble.  Jack had started to spend his days either tinkering with the radio in the small hope that there was anyone on the other end, and taking trips with Pete to hunt game.

One of the cows died and with the help of the Discovery’s winch and a trailer, it was butchered and brought back to the house.  They had a variation on steak every day for a month, it was tough meat but it was food and nobody complained.

Dan noticed that some curious pairings had started to form.  Mark had given up on Lexi and had moved on to try and impress Cara.  She had other ideas and seemed to have a soft spot for Matty.  The effect of this was that he stayed overweight due to her cakes and extras from the kitchen. 

Chris and Ana spent most days together, and in early November they moved into one of the living quarters together.  Penny wanted to object, but she held her tongue at the tactful suggestions of others.  Mark moved on to Eve, who seemed receptive but could barely get away from the traumatised child who clung to her legs constantly.  She still hadn’t spoken.  Mark gave up on Eve and tried to get close to Sera, who slapped him down.  Literally. Sera spent most of her free time with Kate, which most people thought nothing of but then most people hadn’t noticed what Dan had.

Lexi still tried to get time with Dan, but he tried to make it clear that it wasn’t going to happen.

They had a frank conversation one evening, and he told her “I’m responsible for keeping you safe.  Think about the hospital; if I hadn’t been thinking straight because we were an item, then that pyscho could’ve killed us all”

It was a weak argument, but one that she accepted.

On the whole, people were happy.  Even more so one day when a large, scruffy black cat visited the gatehouse.  Ash immediately went for it, and Dan had to resort to screaming at him in German for the first time in weeks before he came away.  The cat sat on the bonnet of the Discovery and hissed at the dog, who whined pitifully at being so outsmarted by a simple height advantage.  Leah insisted that the cat be fed and join them.  She called it Mollie, but Dan was sure it was a male and looked more of a Boris than a Mollie. 

Leah would have none of it; this evil cat who taunted the dogs and scratched everyone else adored her.  It would curl up on her lap in Ops and even got a bed on top of the boxed ammo where it spent the day sleeping and being fed.  If he had to stereotype the cat as a person, he was pretty sure this one had done some time in jail and wasn’t to be crossed lightly.

By mid-November, Leah had compiled a long list of special items people wanted to give as Christmas presents.  Dan called a council meeting – they weren’t always weekly by now as there was nothing much to report by anyone as they were in a semi-hibernation – and proposed an outing to the shopping centre where he and Lexi had found Joe and Mark.  It was accepted without argument, which he found strange, and he found himself almost brokering the case against going as nobody else objected.  Unanimous agreement unsettled him.  It felt like complacency, and complacency would get someone killed.

In the end, it was decided that two trips were to be made.  Dan and Lexi would take one with Jimmy and Kev, and Steve and Joe would take another with Adam and Andrew.  Joe knew the shopping centre well anyway, and Dan trusted Steve more than anyone but himself to keep them safe.

Leah pleaded with him to go.  She was obviously getting bored.  He agreed, thinking that it would do her good to get out.  She must be nearly thirteen now – she had dropped her pretence of being fifteen by pure accident on the day they had found Lexi and the others – and Dan thought that she was old enough to learn some survival skills.

He started to take her out with him to exercise Ash, and after she had learned not to bounce alongside him asking questions, he started to teach her some skills.

They approached buildings he knew to be empty, starting with the gym, and got her to practice watching the building before entering it.  He gave her an empty Glock to practice weapon handling and was impressed with her.  He didn’t know if she was naturally good, or just naturally good at mimicking him.

He was often told that his only real skill was replicating what he saw others do; and for years took it as an insult until he saw her doing the same.  He even let her fire a few rounds, but she struggled with the recoil and the noise, letting out a scream and dropping the gun once as the slide pinched her hand.  He had nothing smaller to let her use, not that anything smaller would stop a cuddly toy let alone a person.

Her pleading got through to him, and he promised to keep teaching her.  In the interim, he taught her how to strip and clean all the weapons they had with the exception of the large machine gun. 

The news of the shopping trips went round quickly, and others asked to come.  This also went to the council, and again people were happy for ‘civilians’ to go as long as they were adequately protected.  In the end, Neil stayed home for both trips and all four Rangers accompanied a small group to the shopping centre twice.

Dan showed concern throughout the trips, as he felt that everyone was being too happy and not considering the dangers.  Lexi told him he was being grumpy, which he conceded that he was.  Probably.

Leah brought back next year’s calendar for Ops, with large boxes to write things in.  It was adorned with pictures of kittens.

December arrived and a wave of excitement buzzed through the cold survivors.  Pete had brought in a small conifer tree one day, and Jay mounted it in a large flat slice of oak he had used as a chopping block when splitting the wood.  A box of decorations was found in an office – they still had lots of unused rooms to clear out – and the place took on a happier feel.  A fire burned all day in the lounge, where people had taken to congregating as there was less work to do.  The library was being well used too, probably far more so than it had ever been.