Authors: Justin Gowland
We sat down and everyone went quiet, and looked toward me. (bloody great they want a speech.) I stood up with my glass of water and said “Guys I would like to say thank you to Maddie and Christine for making this great meal for us.” Everyone clapped and the two of them went bright red.
“The other person we need to thank is Simon for letting us stay here, even though Rees never gave him a choice.” I said laughing and my group all said thank you to Simon, who lowered his head and looked at the table, but I could see the smile on his face.
“I would like this meal to be a daily thing, that way we can all catch up and voice any problems or concerns. Tonight is a chance for most of us to relax after a long journey. The only other thing I would like to say before we tuck in, is if we could all meet up here at about ten tomorrow morning. The reason is that we will need to work out what we are going to be doing, with regards food, water and security. Not to mention several other small things. Right now, though my stomach thinks my throat is cut, therefore everyone tuck in.”
There was a large round of applause and everyone started to pass plates and bowls around. There was some conversation and a few laughs coming from places on the table. Derek’s two girls kept asking Simon questions which he was answering with a red face. Mary was talking to Rees and I could see that she was hanging on every one of his words. Derek and Christine were talking with Marc and Becky. I felt happy and could feel the smile on my face. I turned and Maddie was looking at me from her side of the table and she mouthed ‘I love you.’ Smiling even more I leaned across the table to take her hand and said ‘Love you too.’
Rees stood up from the table and walked over to the counter where in the past food would have been put out and lit some lanterns to give the room a warm glow. Instead of returning straight to his seat he stood at the end of the table and tapped his glass to get everyone’s attention.
“Erm….Right I am not very good at speaking in public, but I have come to class some of you as family. Not you Simon I don’t know you yet….” He said smiling and everyone laughed “Anyway, everyone here has been with Walker since either the beginning or has been picked up along the way. Now, apart from Marc I have known him the longest, we have been through a lot together on the Army and now out of it. I am not surprised that one of the people to survive and even thrive in this apocalypse was him. That was one of reasons that I went looking for him when I did. He is my brother in arms and I now class him as my actual brother. Mind you saying that I don’t class Marc as one….” Again, some laughter, and Marc saying his usual “Fuck you Jolly Green.”
“Like Walker I hope for us to build something here and hopefully in time get back to the Mainland. For now though I would like for everyone to raise a glass for a toast to Walker, I hope he never fuck’s off.” He said smiling.
The chairs were all pushed back and everyone apart from myself stood and said “TO WALKER, DON’T FUCK OFF!”
Everyone laughed and sat back down. I could feel the heat on my face and I would have thought I could illuminate the room with just my face.
We all ate and talked between us, about what had happened before and after the London meteor. Almost everyone had the same sort of tales to tell. Everyone had either lost someone to the Reapers or had family or friends become Reapers. We had laughs and a few of us shed tears, but in all we had something to be grateful for, we had friends and some of us had family round the table. I had no doubt that we all had a long way to go, but at the very least we would have the support of others in getting there.
Derek and Christine said that it was time for them and the girls to go to bed. Simon said that he would go with them and went to get one of the lanterns to light their way back. They stood and stacked their plates on the counter and Christine said that she would clean them in the morning. With that, they said good night and left holding hands with the girls and Simon carried the lantern high to light their way.
Maddie and Becky stood up and they started to clear the plates and the rest of the bowls onto the counter. Mary and Rees stood and said that if it was ok with us that they would head off to bed as well. (that made me smile.) Literally after the words exited his mouth Rees said that they were going to bed in different rooms and went bright red. Mary on the other hand had a sly smile and a twinkle in her eye. They picked up a lantern and left into the darkness.
Chapter Nineteen
That was when I heard the clicking of Ghost’s toe nails as he came into the café.
“Hello dipshit, where have you been?” I said, scratching behind his ears.
There was some of the canned meat left and I put it in a bowl, which I put on the floor with a bowl full of water. He went at it with gusto, looking up every now and again. Probably think that I was going to take it away from him, considering how little he had eaten lately, I didn’t blame him.
Marc yawned on the other side of the table and Becky came to stand behind him and rubbed his shoulders.
“Thinking we are going to head off to bed now ourselves if that’s ok?” She said.
“Yeah, of course. Get yourselves off, we’ve been on the go quite a bit that last few days. So a good nights sleep will do everyone good. Night guys!” I said.
Marc stood up and Becky gave Maddie a kiss on the cheek and said good night, they went up the stairs and I could hear their door close.
I stood up and walked through the gift shop and stood in the doorway, looking out into the night. The sky was black and the stars shone like diamonds on black velvet. There were a few wispy clouds that every now and then covered the moon. I just stood there looking up and not really thinking of anything, when I felt two arms circle my waist and Maddie’s head rest on my back.
“A penny for your thoughts.” She said.
“Nothing really jumps out at me babe. The only thing that does is that I think Rees has the hots of Mary.” I said.
“You mean that you have just figured that out now! She has done nothing but ask questions about him from the day you brought her and the Hillbilles to the cottage.” She said laughing.
“Oh god! He’s in for a rough time then. Rees has never been what you might call a ladies man. He was always awkward round women, when we were in the Army. The men he could handle, but put a woman in front of him he would get a cotton mouth and not be able to talk. It was funny to watch, a big bloke like him laid low by the smallest of women.” I said laughing.
“Do you think Mary will have to chase after him?”
“Well babe, let’s put it this way, She will more than likely have to do most the running, if she starts by asking him to train her in shooting, that would be her way in.”
“I’ll have a chat with her tomorrow. You’re going to have to take Simon aside tomorrow and have a word with him.”
“What’s he done?”
“Oh, it’s nothing he has done. It’s what Derek and Christine’s girls might do, they were both looking at him like he was a nice side of beef.”
“Side of beef?”
“Predatory. Those two girls have no other boys to try and snag, they are both at that age where hormones come into play as well, so to be on the safe side have a word with him. Or we more than likely have screaming girls twenty four hours a day.”
“Bugger, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“It’s ok babe, I’ll keep you straight. Now would you like to take me to bed?”
Now I am no good at picking up signals from teenage girls, but adults no problem. I closed the door to the gift shop and we walked through the café, picking up the last lantern and went upstairs.
Later, after we had done what adults do, (alright, we had rampant throw the covers off the bed sex.) I was holding Maddie in my arms and her head was on my chest.
“Jay, are you happy with what we have? I mean you and me!” She asked.
“Maddie, I couldn’t be happier than when I am with you.” I replied.
“That’s good.” With saying that she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Now I had to try and figure out what the fuck she meant by that cryptic question and answer.
I started to feel tired and tomorrow was going to probably be a long one, what with trying to sort out what needed to be done and how. My eyes felt heavy and I closed them, the blackness of sleep pulling me down.
The forest clearing was there again, but this time it was different. I was sitting and I had the Reaper Mathleic stood to the side and we were watching the edge of the clearing.
“Where are they Mathleic?” Came the guttural question.
“They should be here soon Majesty.” Came his reply, with him not even turning round.
“Humph!”
After what seemed like an hour, but was more probably fifteen minutes, three Reapers appeared at the edge of the trees. They slowly walked toward where the Queen was seated and one by one they knelt in front of her.
“The Queen would know what you have seen.” Said Mathleic in his deep guttural voice.
The one on the left looked up, it’s yellow eye’s flashing in the moonlight. It spoke in the same guttural language “We have lost the scent your Majesty, in a place where we found some of our dead. There were poisonous smells and we could not find them after they had gone there.”
“Mathleic kill him, he says nothing of use.” The Queen said.
Mathleic moved like a gray blur, then the air was full of shining black beads of blood. He had moved so fast that I never saw the slash that slit the Reaper’s throat. The other two Reapers had not even looked up or moved when their pack mate was killed. Mathleic was back stood beside the Queen again like he hadn’t even moved.
“I would know what you know?” said Mathleic.
The Reaper in the center lifted her head and said “Your Majesty what was said is true, but what the other did not say was that there was another trail, but it did not smell like the other. It went to a human settlement a day and nights travel away. When we got there we were chased away by men with sticks that flashed light and made noise.”
“Tunaic, you have done well and your Queen feels favour on you. You are now your pack chief, find a younger for the loss of this other.” Said Mathleic, pushing the corpse with his foot.
“Tunaic, take this other and dispose of it with the rights.” Said the Queen.
And the Queen sat in silence until the two Reapers had dragged the corpse into the woods and out of sight.
“Mathleic, do you think that the one I want is in that settlement?” the Queen asked.
“If what you have spoke of is true of the one you are after then maybe.” He replied.
Two gray arms appeared at the edge of my sight and the two claws on the end, clicked together, much like someone tapping their fingers together.
‘Jay, I will find you.’ Was the alien thought that came to me.
I sat up covered with a thin covering of sweat, I was breathing hard as well. Maddie was lying on her side, snoring fast asleep. I lay back down and rolled over to my side facing her back. Now I knew that the other dream I had wasn’t a nightmare. In the morning after the meeting and when I had the chance I needed to talk with Rees. I mean one dream like that with my name being mentioned but two. I snuggled up closer to Maddie and tried to drop off to sleep, but sleep didn’t come straight away.
The morning came with Maddie’s arm lying across my chest, with her lightly snoring. I lay with the feeling of comfort from her body. I closed my eyes and thought of the dream or whatever it was that I had last night. Did it worry me? I didn’t think so, but to be on the safe side I needed to have a chat with Rees some time today. If any of it was true then at least these Reapers were looking in the wrong place.
I felt Maddie move beside me and she opened her eyes and smiled at me.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” I said.
“Morning.” She said with a large yawn.
“How did you sleep?” I asked.
“I slept like a log, it was great to have a good night’s sleep.”
“Good, because today is more than likely going to be a busy one. Are you up for having a chat about our food situation?” I asked
“Well, I was hoping for a repeat of last night if truth be told.” She said with a smile and she climbed on top to straddle me. (oh! What the hell, in for a penny, in for a pound.)
After another horizontal jogging session, I lay on the bed as she was pulling on her clothes. Maddie turned to look at me and I lay on my side a wiggled my hips suggestively.
She just laughed and said “Now come on that just looks so wrong.”
“So it’s ok for a woman to do this sort of thing, but not a man?” I said feeling a little hurt.
“Jay, that looks just wrong end of.” She said.
“Now that just hurts my feelings.”
“Don’t worry babe, if you’re a good boy, maybe we can have a repeat of last night or this morning.” She said smiling. “Anyway you have got to get your butt out of bed, because like you said we have a busy day.”