Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever Page 5

  “Something got your attention?” Catherine asks, smiling as our kiss comes to an end.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I reply, hoping the darkness is hiding my blushes.

  “You might get lucky later if you play your cards right,” Catherine teases, pulling my hand to take me with her as she heads towards the cottage.

  Inside, after putting my empty beer bottle in the bin, I open the fridge to retrieve another beer. Catherine suggests making it the last beer I have tonight, what with my tests at the hospital tomorrow, and I agree. She makes herself a cup of tea and we go through to the living area to sit with Emily and Stacey for a while.

  Only the girls’ two heads are visible above the duvet they have brought down from the bedroom to snuggle under on the sofa. Stacey’s eyes are closed, and the redness of her eyelids tells me that she has been upset again, which I am not surprised by. Emily is leaning on Stacey, and her eyes are open, although droopy and she smiles as I enter the room. I see her legs move under the duvet ready for me to sit down next to her, and so I do without her having to ask. The duvet moves again and her feet, dressed in pink socks, pop out of the side of the duvet to rest on the top of my legs. I pull the duvet over to cover her feet so they don’t get cold and Catherine squeezes in next to me.

  “You look tired Emily,” I say, my hand moving to hold her top foot.

  “I am a bit. Can I just watch the end of this?” Emily asks.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a rom-com,” I’m told, and Catherine and I look at each other smiling, surprised by her use of the term rom-com.

  “How much is left?” I ask.

  “Not much, I don’t think,” Emily replies vaguely.

  Not much turns into at least another three-quarters of an hour and it is me who has dozed off by the time the film finishes. A nudge from Catherine wakes me with a start just in time for me to see the film’s titles begin to roll.

  Emily gets up to get ready for bed with no protests and Stacey wakes as Emily releases herself from the duvet without any subtlety. Stacey decides to follow Emily upstairs to get herself ready for bed. She tells Catherine and me that she is okay before she goes, telling us that she is only tired. Neither Catherine nor I believe her, but we say nothing so as not to upset her any more than she is before bed.

  Emily calls for Catherine to come and say goodnight to her when I tuck her in, which I find reassuring. Stacey, in the bed across the room, had her eyes closed before I entered, and she doesn’t open them before Catherine and I leave the room. I am fairly sure that she is pretending to be asleep so I don’t push her, and simply wish her goodnight as I leave.

  “Shall we go straight to bed too?” Catherine asks me on the landing, just outside our room.

  “As tempting as that is, do you mind if we wait until Josh and Alice get back?”

  “They’re not children, I’m sure they can sort themselves out, Andy,” Catherine tells me.

  “I know, but old habits die hard. I’d just like to see them when they get back to check they are okay after their first outing. Can we give them half an hour?” I ask. “Maybe we could cosy up on the sofa…” I quickly add embarrassingly, fearing I have blown my chance with my gorgeous woman for the night and feeling like a foolish love-struck teenager.

  “Oh Andy, you are a funny one,” Catherine smiles. “Okay, but you’re not getting past first base.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I threaten and chase Catherine down the stairs.

  No sooner have I caught her and thrown Catherine onto the sofa, ready to attack and with her squealing with laughter, than an engine sounds outside the cottage and headlights shine through the front window.

  “I told you that you wouldn’t get past first base. Now off you get, the children are back,” Catherine announces victoriously, sniggering.

  “I may have lost the battle, but I’ll win the war,” I counter and kiss her before I quickly get to my feet and straighten myself up before Josh and Alice come through the front door.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Catherine winks as she moves into a casual sitting position on the sofa.

  Josh and Alice are chatting away as the front door closes and they come through to the lounge. As soon as they see us an awkward silence breaks out.

  “Not disturbing you are we, Dad?” Josh says with a cheeky smile on his face.

  “No, not at all. We’ve just put Emily to bed,” I mumble. “How was the pub?” I ask quickly, changing the subject.

  “It was okay, a small country pub, a proper spit and sawdust place. Everyone was talking about the infection though. They have even put an old portable TV on the bar and had the news on the whole time,” Josh says.

  “Wasn’t the night off we were hoping for, to be honest,” Alice admits.

  “I don’t think there’s any getting away from it,” I volunteer.

  “We did get to talk though,” Josh tells me.

  “Oh yes, what about?” I ask, suspiciously eyeing Josh whose turn it is to look suddenly awkward.

  “Well,” Josh starts, looking anywhere but at me and looking mostly at the floor. “We’ve all been through an ordeal, Dad, and I know what you went through to find me and get me to safety. But I can’t just sit around here when I’m needed elsewhere…”

  “No,” I announce, cutting Josh off mid-sentence, knowing exactly what he is going to say. “That isn’t happening, no way! Catherine, tell him,” I order, my stomach dropping.

  “Hold on a minute, Andy, Josh hasn’t finished what he was saying. Let’s hear him out,” Catherine replies, unbelievably not following my lead.

  “I don’t need to hear him out; I know exactly what he is going to say and it’s not happening. Don’t play dumb, Catherine, you know where this is going. Wait a minute, have you two talked about this already, behind my back?” I storm, losing my cool.

  “No, Josh and I haven’t discussed anything behind your back, Andy, and I’ll thank you for not talking to me that way. I’m not dumb! Josh has a right to say his piece and you need to listen to him,” Catherine fires back at me.

  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t calling you dumb,” I say, regaining some of my cool. “Okay Josh, please continue.”

  “Not until you calm down, Dad,” Josh insists.

  “Okay,” I say, taking a deep breath before looking at my son, “I’m calm. Close the door though; I don’t want your sister overhearing your hare-brained plan.”

  “You’re not calm, Dad,” Josh tells me as he closes the lounge door. “Please listen to me. You above all should understand how I’m feeling.”

  “Should I? I’ve never seen anything like these things.”

  “No, but you missed most of my childhood in one country or another, supposedly fighting evil for queen and country. Now I’m not trying to belittle what you did, Dad, you know how proud of you I am and that I’ve always looked up to you. But evil is actually here in our own country, on our own doorstep, and you expect me to leave it to someone else to fight. That’s not the way I was brought up, it’s not me. It’s my duty to fight this evil wherever I find it, and you would do exactly the same if you were in my position, wouldn’t you?”

  Silence falls over the room when Josh finishes saying his piece and all I can hear is Dan howling in laughter at me, telling me, He’s got you there, Boss. No doubt about it, he’s got you there. Right where it hurts!

  How I miss Dan, I think as I look up at my son. Dan always cut through the bullshit and said it just how it was. I am forced to concede that Dan would have been right, and Josh has got me by the short and curlies.

  “So, what’s your plan?” I say to Josh with a tear in my eye.

  “To report back for duty. Alice and I are going to try and stay together but that’s not really up to us.”

  “Alice, is this really what you want?” I ask, looking at her.

  “It is, Andy; I feel the same as Josh. I might be American, but this country is as good as home for me,” she tells me w
ithout a second to think.

  “Well, it sounds like your minds are made up, despite what I think.”

  “I wonder where Josh gets that from?” Catherine interjects.

  “Thank you, Catherine,” I reply, slightly irritated.

  “Well, I’m not wrong,” she pushes, but I let it slide because after all, she is completely right.

  “I will speak to Lieutenant Winters, see if he can sort you out with a posting behind the lines. You’d still be doing your duty and helping in the fight, but hopefully not in direct danger,” I say to Josh and Alice.

  “No, Dad. Thanks, but that’s not what we want. We will go where we are ordered, and if that is on the front line, then so be it. We don’t want any special treatment,” Josh tells me, and Alice nods in agreement.

  “But…” I try.

  “Dad, no. But you could ask him if he can get Alice and me rolled into the same unit, so that we stay together, but no more, okay?”

  I look back at Catherine in the hope that she might back me up on this one. There is no quarter given from her; however, she looks away from me, holding her hand up.

  I am fighting a losing battle, that much is clear. That wouldn’t stop me fighting, however, if I didn’t have sympathy with their arguments and knew deep down that they were committed and probably right.

  “Okay,” I concede. “I’ll phone the Lieutenant in the morning. I just wish there were another way.”

  “I know Dad; it frightens me to death. But it frightens me more that I’ll look back when I’m your age knowing I took the easy way out and didn’t do all I could,” Josh says, looking me straight in the eye.

  “Come here, champ,” I say, holding out my arms. Josh gives me a tight hug, which I return and savour. “You two look out for each other,” I tell the two youngsters as Josh moves back.

  “We will Andy, and thanks,” Alice says.

  “There isn’t anything to thank me for, Alice,” I tell her.

  “Come on,” Catherine says, moving to my side and clinging onto my arm. “Let’s get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

  “Yes, that’s right, you’ve got your trip to the hospital. What time are you going?” Josh asks.

  “After lunch. Get some rest you two, it sounds like you’re going to need it.”

  “I’m going to set up my bed as soon as you lot get out of my bedroom,” Josh jokes.

  “I’m going up now, I’m beat,” Alice says. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”

  Alice leaves the lounge as we say good night to her. She is in the box room upstairs, which is barely longer than she is tall. Josh moves to get his bedding out of the cupboard and both Catherine and I give him a hug goodnight before we leave him to get his bed ready.

  “I hope you didn’t mind me being honest down there?” Catherine asks as she gets into bed beside me.

  “No, I didn’t, you were right. I’m sorry for getting upset and saying what I said. I didn’t mean it; you know that don’t you?”

  “Of course, I do. It was a shock for you and understandable,” Catherine says as she puts her head on my chest.

  “Still, no excuse for talking to you like that. You didn’t seem that shocked.”

  “I had an inkling something was afoot,” Catherine replies.

  “Oh, how?”

  “I saw them talking before the barbecue, and they both looked quite serious.”

  “Why didn’t you mention it?” I ask.

  “I wasn’t sure. I just got a feeling, but I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily. It could have been nothing.”

  “It is worrying, and you know how Emily will react.”

  “I know, but we will deal with it,” Catherine reassures me.

  “Yes, we will,” I agree. “It seems you won the war after all.”

  “What?” Catherine says, confused.

  “I didn’t get past first base tonight.”

  “Never mind, we’ve plenty of time, and as Alice says, I’m beat.”

  “Me too,” I confess.

  Catherine is soon asleep, breathing heavily against my chest. I am quickly discovering that she has no trouble when it comes to sleeping. I wish I could say the same. I slept long and hard when we first arrived at the cottage, drained from events, but that was a one off and I have slept only in fits and starts since. And as I listen to Catherine’s breathing, my mind starts to work overtime. Dread begins to fill my belly the more I think about Josh leaving to face the Rabids again. I have to move from under Catherine as my heart rate increases and I begin to overheat. Pushing the duvet off myself at least evaporates the sweat that comes as I run through the different connotations of Josh’s and Alice’s futures. I have trouble forming any positive scenarios for them, staring at the ominous shadows on the ceiling as the night draws on.

  Chapter 5

  “Morning all. Something smells good!” I announce when I get downstairs and enter the kitchen. It seems that I am the last up, but I would still bet I got the least amount of sleep last night. I haven’t a clue what time it was when my brain finally relented and allowed me to drift off. All I know is that it was in the early hours of the morning and if it wasn’t for the smell of bacon and sausages cooking, I’d probably have slept on.

  I surprisingly feel quite refreshed and energised this morning despite my troubled night. At some time in the night, I concluded that Josh had made his decision and no matter my reservations, I must support him. His decision has actually made me immensely proud of him. He wants to do his bit to fight the infection and if circumstances were different, I would be mounting up with him, that is for sure, even in my middle age.

  Josh stands guarding the grill, cooking tongs in hand, ready to tackle the sizzling sausages and bacon. He is definitely a chip off the old block; no one else dares approach the cooker while he’s in command of it.

  I lean forward and kiss Emily on the top of her head, and she barely acknowledges me, her eyes fixed in anticipation on the spitting sausages under the grill—she does enjoy a morning fry up.

  I am not looking forward to breaking Josh’s news to her, not one bit.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Catherine teases as I lean over to kiss her good morning. “I was about to send up a search party.”

  “I got fed up with waiting for my breakfast in bed,” I respond.

  “You’d have been waiting a long time for that,” Catherine says and smiles.

  “How’s my breakfast coming along, Josh? Don’t overdo the bacon,” I tell him as I go over to him.

  “You let me worry about the bacon, old-timer,” he snaps at me with an annoyed look.

  “I’ve caught one on my hook,” I laugh.

  “Very funny! Why don’t you sit down and drink your coffee?” Josh says.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to interfere,” I tell him, putting my arm around his neck, squeezing it playfully.

  “Get off, Dad,” Josh insists, pulling away and raising the cooking tongs in a threatening manner.

  “Okay, okay,” I say, and I take a seat next to Catherine, satisfied that I’ve wound Josh up like he was a little boy again.

  “Morning Alice, did you sleep okay?” I ask, looking at Alice in a chair opposite.

  “Morning Andy. I got some sleep, thanks.”

  “Where’s Stacey?” I ask, looking around.

  “I looked in on her a few minutes ago and she said she would be down shortly,” Catherine tells me.

  “Okay, good,” I reply.

  “You seem in a good mood,” Catherine says.

  “Yes, I suppose I am. I had a good think about things last night,” I say looking at Josh, “and I am feeling more positive about the hospital. It could provide some answers and you never know, they could find something useful for all of us.”

  “Let’s hope,” Catherine replies.

  “Can’t I come with you Dad?” Emily asks again.

  “No, you won’t enjoy it anyway. There’ll be a lot of boring waiting around, so you�
��ll be better off here. We will be back before you know it anyway.”

  Emily’s eyes divert back to Josh and the sausages with a look of defeat and without saying another word. Taking the opportunity, I get my phone out of my pocket to catch up with the latest news on the infection.

  The reading isn’t good. North London is still a battleground with no indication of who is actually winning the battle. The government are trying to make positive noises about how operations are going. I am not convinced, well aware of how governments tend to try and paint roses out of a pile of shit. And from what I’m reading, this sounds like the latter.

  More outbreaks are reported in South London, which has now also been designated a quarantine area. The South Circular Road has joined the North Circular to form a quarantine perimeter to encircle London. The outbreaks are being dealt with more decisively south of the river than when the outbreak happened in North London and are reported to be contained. Overwhelming force is used to contain any hint of an outbreak. Troops line the streets and strategic airstrikes are hitting that part of the city at regular intervals. Bombs are raining down on poor civilians cowering in their homes. They must feel like they have been transported to one of the far-flung under-siege cities that they see on the news or one of the televised Save the Children donation adverts.

  Martial law and night-time curfews are enforced throughout the UK, brought in to tackle the riots and looting that was spreading from city to city like wildfire. The softly-softly approach to bring the rioters under control was quickly abandoned and scores of rioters, and/or looters have been shot in almost every large city in the country. The public may have protested at the deadly force, to begin with, but at least the towns and cities outside London are now calm. All, that is, except the towns and villages lining the River Thames, east of London.

  Bodies have begun to wash up on the coastline down river from London, lots of bodies and the Thames Flood Barrier has been closed to stop more bodies from washing down river. But it wasn’t closed until bloated zombies began to stagger out of the river and into the towns and villages that line the river downstream. The authorities are insisting that no significant outbreaks have been caused by undead wandering up the beaches along the coast. I am not convinced by that claim and neither are the countries that border the North Sea and the English Channel, they are up in arms. Holland has closed all its sea defences, and countries such as Germany, Belgium, France and beyond are all on high alert in case bodies that were washed out to sea make port on their coastlines.