The Citadel and the Wolves (17 page)

As I was coming out of the public toilets, I saw father talking with a man whom I’d never seen before. I paused, watching them curiously. They didn’t notice me. The slightly overweight man in glasses and a heavy moustache wore a brown warehouseman’s coat, so I presumed that he was a member of staff at
the Food and Utilities
government
warehouse. I was puzzled at first. Then Daddy handed over a velvet blue display case. I recognised it almost at once. It contained his precious antique gold and silver coin collection that had taken him years to build up. The other checked it briefly before he nodded to daddy. They shook hands. A deal had been struck. Daddy had just paid for our extra food rations and the other supplies. I’d better explain. Not many people accepted paper money these days. Hyper inflation had made it virtually worthless. What I’d just witnessed made me feel a little sad, but I understood why daddy had to do it.

When I returned, I helped mum and Wendy put away the rest of our supplies into the back of the Land-Rover. The bulk of it was on the trailer, which was now covered with tarpaulin and secured with ropes. Daddy appeared from the building. He looked surprised when I ran up to him, giving him a big hug. The others glanced at each other puzzled. He saw it in my eyes, and he knew that I knew.

After pestering the others, they let me take the wheel on the drive home. I enjoy driving whenever I can, which isn’t often owing to the severe petrol rationing. The shopping trips used up our weekly ration. Father sat beside me in the front, passenger seat.

As we were driving through central Croydon past the boarded-up shops and department stores, I became aware of the white VPF vehicle in my mirror. He was following us, puzzling me. He flashed his blue lights and sounded his siren briefly, ordering us to pull over. I obeyed. I was worried. What had I done wrong? Father put his hand on my shoulder.

“Keep calm, Jade,” he said reassuringly. “I’ll sort this out.”

I murmured.

A VPF cop in black leathers and body armour climbed out of the white armoured vehicle. He wore a holstered sidearm. He lifted his helmet visor, revealing a blonde youth with thin, sullen lips. When he tapped on the window on my side, I wound it down.

“What’s the problem, Officer?” I asked with a slight tremble in my voice, betraying my emotions, for the other intimidated me.

“You were speeding back there, Miss,” he answered. His voice was cold and authoritarian. He sounded older than his years.

Speeding? But that was untrue. I’d been only travelling at 30 kph in a 40 kph zone; therefore, I hadn’t exceeded the speed limit, and the other knew it. The VPF
fined motorists on the spot for speeding. The fines were arbitrary. The cops usually pocketed the money themselves. Of course, I don’t mean ‘money’ in the real sense of the word. Most people had to hand over their ration books instead. The VPF was deeply mistrusted, disliked and corrupt.

When he looked in our vehicle, I noticed his eyes straying to our supplies in the back. He unzipped his breast pocket and took out his ticket book.

“Driver’s licence and insurance,” he demanded brusquely.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding, Officer,” interjected daddy.

“Misunderstanding, Sir?” queried the VPF
officer who remained impassive.

“I’m sure we can sort something out, Officer,” said father.

Father gave the VPF cop a case from our rations. It was a bribe, an expensive one.

As we rode through the Streatham streets continuing our journey home, I took a wrong turning somewhere back there. We had strayed from a
Green Zone,
an area considered safe, into a
Red Zone,
which was definitely not safe.
The VPF
cop had unsettled me. He would soon be the least of our worries. Father saw it a second before me and shouted a warning.

VENUS PEBBLES!!

The road ahead was blocked by torched buses and trucks.

I reacted quickly. I slammed on the brakes, locking the wheels on the four-wheel-drive, burning rubber in the quiet, deserted street. I looked around. Most of the crumbling buildings and shops were boarded-up.

“Back up, Jade,” said father with a sense of urgency in his calm voice.

I crunched the gears as I put her into reverse, looking over my shoulder.

“Take it nice and easy, Jade.”

I murmured.

The Ragged People
in hoods appeared silently from the derelict buildings. They had pink eyes and their faces were as white as ghosts. Some were young children. They lived in the dark places. They rarely came out during the day, but we had something that they wanted, food.

“Troggies!” gasped Wendy alarmed.

They quickly surrounded our vehicle. They began rocking it. I froze. They were going to have us over. Everybody was scared. Tommy was crying in the back with mother trying to comfort him. Wendy was ashen-faced.

“Jade, get us out of here!” barked father.

I snapped out of my inertia, stabbing the accelerator pedal hard. Some of
the Troggies
leapt clear. Then we felt a bump. ZOOTWOSOME! We’d just run over one who wasn’t quick enough. I hoped briefly that it wasn’t a child. I didn’t have time to think about it, keeping my foot on the accelerator pedal as we reversed out of the street at speed. They were still pursuing us. Wendy screamed when a rock hit the rear window, showering them with glass. I didn’t let it distract me, keeping my foot down hard on the accelerator pedal. Getting us out of there was all I could think of right then. Father wound down the window on the front, passenger side as he drew his holstered revolver for the first time. He fired at
the Troggies.
His revolver cracked twice. I saw one stumble and fall. The others hesitated. It had given them something to think about. When we reached the top of the street, I shifted rapidly into forward and accelerated away.

We were back in the
Green Zone.
It had been a close call.

I and the others were relieved as we turned into Crown Dale Close. What had started out as an exciting day out shopping in the morning had almost turned into a nightmare for us.

When father closed the big, heavy gates behind us, we felt a sense of relief and security. We were safely home once more in our citadel.

The Land-Rover had suffered only minor damage. We unloaded the trailer.

“No more shopping trips from now on, girls,” said father sternly as he took a case of tinned stuff from the Land-Rover.

Wendy and I murmured in agreement.

He added, “This last trip should see us through the winter without making more out.”

Although hoarding was banned, most people who could afford to did. I should imagine the lawmakers in parliament did too.

As I passed my parents’ room later on my way to Wendy’s, I overheard them discussing something. It sounded important. They had left their bedroom door ajar. I thought that they were arguing at first, though they rarely do. They agree to disagree. I paused, biting my lip. I listened on the door. I was being curious. No, I was being nosy again.

“Michael phoned me earlier,” said father.

Michael is daddy’s older brother. Wendy and I call him ‘Uncle Mike.’ He’s charming and funny. He’s big and hairy too. He loves giving us girls bear hugs whenever we visit.

“What did he have to say for himself?” asked mother who didn’t sound very pleased.

“He wants us to move in with him,” revealed father after a short pause.

Oh? I thought. Uncle Mike runs a remote hill farm in Wales. He keeps sheep. We spent our Easter holidays there some years ago. We haven’t visited for awhile.

“He thinks London and the other big cities are becoming too dangerous now, what with the Roamers and Troggies. He reckons it’s safer in the countryside.” Daddy.

“What did you tell him, Frank?” Mum.

“I said that if we ever do decide to leave London, it would be a family decision, Myra.” Daddy.

“Would you?” Mum.

I didn’t hear my father’s reply.

Then someone not a thousand miles away tugged my hand, making me jump. Tommy looked up at me with his large, blue, inquisitive eyes.

“Fade, what you doing?” asked my brother.

My eyes widened with surprise and alarm when the bedroom door opened wider in front of me.

Mum wore a peculiar look on her face. “Jade?”

Oh, DROKK! I thought.

Wendy and I slipped into casuals. We listened to old pop disks in her room, lying on her bed. I sat up on my elbows studying her face. She had her eyes closed. I brushed some untidy strands of silky, blonde hair away from her eyes. She remained my beautiful, elder sister.

She opened her eyes puzzled. “What?”

I revealed, “I overheard mum and dad talking about some things earlier, Wendy.”

She smirked. “Listening on doors again, were we, Jade Robinson?”

I laughed and threw a pillow at her. She tossed it back. Then it quickly developed into an old-fashioned pillow fight. We collapsed into a heap on the bed, giggling loudly.

We lay on the bed for some moments catching our breath. We were a little exhausted. Wendy slipped her hand into mine, squeezing it tightly.

Wendy asked, “So, what did you overhear, Jade?”

“Mum and dad were talking about leaving London and going to live with Uncle Mike in deepest Wales,” I answered.

She looked shocked. “In Wales?”

I nodded.

“I’ll never leave London,” vowed Wendy frowning. “We were all born in this beautiful house. I love this place. It’s our home. It’s everything. It’s full of all our memories, good and bad, sad too. No, I could never leave this place, Jade.”

I played with her long strands of gold. “We might have to one day, Wendy.”

“Driven out by the Troggies and the Roamers,” said Wendy bitterly.

I fondly stroked her flushed cheek. “It may never come to that, Sis.”

“It will.”

We drew closer together lying on the bed. We kissed.

Wendy and I went downstairs later. We found mum in the kitchen making tea. Dad was outside on the roof, replacing some tiles, which had blown off during a bad storm in the night. They were more frequent these days. I blamed the comet once more for changing our weather patterns all over the world. Tommy sat under the table eating one of mum’s homemade cakes. He was shoeless. He grinned happily when he saw Wendy and I.

“We’re going out to feed the rabbits, Mum,” I announced.

“Tea won’t be too long, girls,” said mum.

I smiled inwardly. Although the coming of the comet had probably changed the world forever, it hadn’t changed teatime at the Robinson household. It was part of our familiar routine. It was part of our family life. It was unbroken continuity. Wendy was right. We could never leave here whatever the future threw at us. We would withstand the storms. I smiled when Wendy put her arm around me as we stepped out of the back door together.

Tommy, who had finished his cake, joined us outside a few moments later. He loved playing with the rabbits. He called them his friends. We took him to see his friends.

The tall, steel water barrels stood in a row against the high wall like silent sentinels guarding our property. Since the water supplies had become more erratic with every passing day, the water barrels were no longer an option for many people in the Close. Man cannot live without water. The occasional black rain can cause problems, so father had filters fitted to the water barrels to overcome that. We now depend on heaven to give us a lot of our water and not the local water company.

While the others waited anxiously, I opened the cage and took out Tessa. She didn’t object when I carefully examined her belly.

“Well, Jade?” asked Wendy.

I nodded.

Wendy was pleased. “That’s fantastic.”

Tommy was worried though. “Fade, what’s wrong with Tessa?”

“She’s expecting little babies again, Tommy,” I answered, sounding like the proud parent herself.

He wore a baffled expression on his face. “How, Fade?”

Wendy and I laughed.

“I’ll explain it to you one day when you’re older, Tommy,” I promised.

As I came out of the shed with the rabbits’ feed stuff, I noticed father gazing intently at something from the rooftop, puzzling me. What was he looking at? Then I saw it too. A plume of thick, black smoke rose above the rooftops. My blood went cold.

“Inside everybody!” shouted father as he quickly climbed down the steel ladder.

Wendy and I took the rabbits and hurried inside with Tommy and father. It had come to Crown Dale Close.

OH, DROKK! ZOOTWOSOME! VENUS PEBBLES!

“Shutters!” barked daddy urgently, though he remained calm.

We flew around the rooms downstairs and upstairs, closing the shutters. The house was secure. I prayed that it was secure.

We gathered in my parents’ room upstairs. We waited. Although we were all a little scared, I felt confident that the high wall would deter them.
The Roamers
liked easy pickings. We had made it very difficult for them. Our fortress home would hold whatever came.

Tommy seemed oblivious to what was going on around him as he played with the rabbits, his little friends, who ran around the room excitedly.

We heard the angry voices and the shouts outside as they passed our house and saw the high wall and big, heavy gates. We jumped with fright when three, loud thumps hit the heavy, steel shutters. More followed. I covered my ears. But the shutters held. Then I noticed that Tommy and Tessa were missing. They were missing.

As I leaned over the banisters at the top of the stairs, I saw Tommy with Tessa under his arm, trying to open the front door; though he was having some difficulty reaching the heavy bolts that dad had fitted when he had reinforced all the doors with steel plate.

“Tommy!” I hissed. “Come up here at once.”

He turned and looked up, grinning. “Tommy take Tessa walkies, Fade.”

I flew down the stairs in a second. “You mustn’t take Tessa outside, Tommy. There are some very horrid people out there.” That was an understatement. “Let’s go back upstairs with mummy and daddy.”

He wore a puzzled look on his face briefly. “Not Wendy?”

I laughed.

I took Tommy and Tessa back upstairs, giving him a piggyback ride.