Interrupted Journey

Chapter 9 - Back To Mike's

Next thing I knew, I was being woken by Susan in the pre-dawn darkness with a cup of tea and a kiss; I felt better and more refreshed than I had since 'the day'.

"I could get used to this," I teased her.

"Just make sure you come back safe!" she said. "I mean, these two girls are lovely but I didn't have any plans on becoming a single mother just yet!"

The trip back to Amberford was much less stressful than the drive to the farm. Mike knew the way and was not forced to rely on my map reading skills.

I say again, I can read a map. I just have difficulty when both the map and the landscape outside are pitch black!

We made good time and it was only just light as Mike rolled the Landy down the path towards the ring road. There was a shallow bay where we could get it down into the stream bed and I only had to push because Mike wanted to reverse the Landy into the culvert for a quicker getaway.

"We should be there in time for breakfast," Mike commented as we walked down the path towards town.

Jimbo was on sentry duty on the garage roof and waved down as we approached. He seemed to be even more vigilant than Samson had been. We hurried inside and I immediately noted an absence.

"Where's James?" I demanded.

"He's out on patrol with Laura." Samson answered as he poured us out mugs of tea.

"Don't worry about that!" Mike smiled when he saw my expression. "Laura's been taking care of new recruits for more years than she'd thank me for mentioning. She's not going to let anything happen to him."

"But he's too young."

"I've had much younger kids shooting at me."

"Yeh... but..." I began but trailed off. I didn't quite know what to say. That had been in some third world hell hole - but it was probably a paragon of order and civilisation compared to what our little corner of the world was quickly slipping into.

I dutifully drank the tea and ate the porridge that was thrust in my direction but I was nervously pacing the floor by the time James returned.

I could immediately sense something different about him as he walked through the door. He looked older, taller... maybe he was just standing a little straighter. He was dressed in camouflaged military clothes and his overlong hair was tamed by a camouflaged cap. His eyes seemed to flicker around the room, taking everything in but he visibly relaxed when he saw me.

"How's Lizzie?" he asked and hurried over to give me a huge hug,

"She's fine," I assured him. "I'm afraid there's some bad news, though."

His face dropped.

"Your Grandfather has been killed."

He stood unmoving for a few seconds as his face turned pale then he fled from the room.

I started to follow him but Laura put a hand on my arm. "It might be easier on him if you let me deal with this," she said. "I'm less personally involved."

I hesitated for a moment then nodded. She went over to where James was sitting on the stairs.

"Hey, soldier," she said. He tried to look away but she sat down next to him and put an arm round his shoulders. "There's nothing to be ashamed of in shedding a tear for your Grandad," she began as she pushed the door closed with her foot.

I felt very left out.

The living room was completely packed with equipment from the shop and it was immediately clear that we were never going to be able to move it all with just one trip in the Landy. Mike and I were having a look when Laura reappeared.

"Jamie's gone for a lie down," she told me. "We were up at sparrows and, with the shock, it's probably for the best."

I nodded.

"Sitrep, please," Mike said to her, handing her a cup of tea.

"Two big gangs out there," she told him. "One based down at the Priory Fields, the other up at Crofton. They're holding a couple of the smaller supermarkets each and have a running war going on over the big one. They've had a huge influx of members since 'the day', of course, with most of the newbies being treated as cannon fodder and slaves.