Part 5 (1/2)
”Well, its fifty-fifty whether Im right or not, but thanks to that Jumbo Jet, no planes could take off, right? Perhaps the reason they stayed at the airport was that there were a lot of pilots amongst them, and until that runway was wrecked, they intended to fly out of there. In which case, theyd have had a stash of fuel.”
”Thats just a guess,” Nilda said. ”A nice theory that neatly fits some of the facts.”
”Tuck says,” Jay began, ”that the planes we went into could be flown. Wait. No. Would have been able to fly. Ah, yeah. Before the birds got in, she means.”
Nilda glanced up. That great green flock was now looping around the airport. Occasionally one would dart down, flying towards the broken planes, then shoot up again before landing.
”What did those birds eat?” she asked. ”Because maybe we can eat it too.”
”We can eat birds,” Jay said. ”Even parrots, right?”
”Parakeets,” Chester said. ”Some people saw them as a bit of a pest. I liked them myself. Made a welcome change from pigeons. I havent seen that many birds in a while, not since earlier in the year, and then they always seemed to be migrating. They might have found a perch in a tree or on a roof for a night, but a day or two later, theyd all be gone. Its a good sign, or Im going to take it as that. What about you two, did you see many when you were on your way down from Penrith?”
”A few in the countryside. None in the towns,” Jay said. ”We did see a fox once. That was near Cambridge.”
”I saw a few birds on the Isle of Scaragh,” Nilda said. ”Not many, and none settled on the island. Maybe the people who stayed did have food, and thats what the birds were eating. Maybe they used the fuel to power a generator, and it all ran out. We dont know, and now we have no way of finding out. At least we have the life rafts.” She turned away from the airport and looked down at the stack of rafts tied to the deck. Some were orange marked with red, others yellow marked orange, a few an orangey-yellow with red stripes.
”And did you get the Geiger counters?” Jay asked.
Nilda stared at him blankly. Shed been so distracted that shed completely forgotten about the radiation. She ran over to her pack and pulled one out. It worked. Or she thought it did.
”Is this right?” she asked, handing it to Tuck.
The soldier took it, looked at the counter, then quizzically up at the sky. Then she nodded.
”What?” Jay and Chester asked, almost as one.
”Normal,” Nilda said. ”The reading is normal. Well, its a bit higher than before, but not by much. You see on the lid, here, theres a chart. It gives the background level for London, for tracers in medical procedures, and all the way up to lethal.”
”Thats... I dont know what that means,” Jay said.
”It means were safe,” Nilda said.
”So whats wrong?” Jay asked, as if sensing her doubt.
”It should be much higher,” she said. ”Those people on Anglesey said that it had been spread by the winds. People had gone to Cornwall and got a lethal dose.”
”Wasnt it Birmingham?” Chester asked. ”And they said that those people had to turn back. But both are a long way from London. Maybe the winds been blowing out to sea. On the telly, whenever they showed the weather maps, the fronts always-”
”For seven months?” Nilda cut in. ”And if it was blowing west in Birmingham, southwest in Cornwall, how was it always blowing east here in London?”
”Yes, fair question,” Chester said. ”But the reading is more or less normal, thats all that matters. Exactly why weve not died from radiation poisoning isnt as important as the fact we havent.”
”Yes. Yes, of course. Sorry,” Nilda said. ”Youre right. It is good news. It was the sight of those children, I suppose. And that cell. I cant get that image out of my mind.”
”What cell?” Jay asked.
Nilda briefly summarised what theyd seen in the holding cells at the airport.
”You see,” she finished. ”I can understand why you might lock up someone whod been bitten. Thats safer for everyone. But that window was small, and when we first went down the corridor it was transparent. When we were heading back, it was so covered in that brownish... well, I suppose you can call it blood, but it was so coated in the stuff I couldnt see the creature at all.”
”Youre saying that we were the first people to go down there since the person died and the zombie came back,” Chester said.
”Exactly,” Nilda said. ”They were locked in there and left to die.”
”Maybe not,” Jay said. ”Maybe they planned to go back, but they got infected, too.”
”Maybe, but what about the other cell, and the person in there who hadnt turned?” Nilda asked. ”What was it you said about Stewart? Some people shot him and killed the people he was with, all for food. Whos to say that those people, or people like them, arent out there still?”
”You look for the bad in everyone,” Jay said. ”Since were doing all we can to help others, we should a.s.sume others will help us.”
”The Golden Rules a nice idea, kid,” Chester said. ”But when youre older, youll find out the real world doesnt work that way.”
”Maybe because its full of cynics like you,” Jay said.
”Yeah, maybe I am a cynic. It doesnt change the fact that someone was locked in that cell. How much do you know about the people at the Tower? How many of them tried to rescue you from the museum? Ask yourself that, and then tell me Im a cynic.” He turned the engine off. ”I think we can let the tide pull us for a bit.”
”Well, we got the Geiger counters,” Jay said. ”And the rafts will help. Oh, and we found these.” He pulled a can of lemonade from his bag and offered it to his mother. ”So whats next?”
”Kent,” she said. ”That was the point of this, wasnt it? Find a Geiger counter, and if Kent isnt radioactive, find a coastal farm, and gather the food before it rots. I think weve enough fuel to make three trips along the coast. Maybe four. I suppose we could fill up the rafts and tow them behind the boat. Wed get more that way, and then... I dont know. Were all running on empty and so on edge the only thing keeping us from falling off is that were heading forward at full speed. It cant go on. We have to stop before we collapse. We all need time to heal. Time to grieve. Time to remember what it means to be human. We cant do that when each dawn brings new worries, and each night reawakens old fears.”
”Or we just keep going,” Chester said. ”Never stop until were forced to, and hope that when we do, we realise weve found safety. You got anything stronger than lemonade in that bag of yours?”
”Theres c.o.ke,” Jay said.
”Yeah, figures.”
”But the reading is normal?” Finnegan asked.
”Thats right. Or a little higher than normal,” Nilda said, repeating what shed told everyone when she and the others had returned to the Tower. Once the initial good news had been pa.s.sed on, Hana had said that further details could be given at the meeting after the evenings meal. As Nilda went off to wash, change, and throw another set of ruined clothes on the pile to be incinerated, shed tried to think of what additional details there were to give. By the time shed walked into the two-storey red brick building that had once been the Towers restaurant, shed thought of nothing. Nor had she found any inspiration in the few mouthfuls of over seasoned stew that shed managed to swallow before Finnegan had asked his question. She stared down at the unidentifiable contents of her bowl. She wasnt sure she would have finished the meal, but shed have liked to have had the chance.
”But its safe, right?” Finnegan continued. ”I mean, thats all that matters, isnt it?”
”Please. Everyone,” Hana said, standing up. ”If were to start the meeting now, please remember the rules. You must wait to be recognised before speaking.” The room went mostly quiet. ”Um. Right. Well. Yes. Well, the radiation. The reading is above normal. But...” She glanced down at a stack of ledgers shed brought with her into the dining hall, and which shed spread out over the table, her own meal forgotten and congealing to one side. ”Yes, its safe. That is the important part, though in this context 'safe is hard to define. We have to rely on the figures given in a couple of textbooks, and they all seem to base their conclusions on the same studies of Chern.o.byl. The professor would have known, of course.” A wave of sorrow fluttered across her face. ”But perhaps the details arent important. We, here, do not have to worry about radiation. There are, however, plenty of things we do need to worry about. Water, food, and heat are at the top of the list, along, of course, with safety.” She closed the ledger and opened the next. ”Things arent as good as any of us would like. We lost a lot of supplies with those vehicles we left at the British Museum. But it isnt all bad news. The pigs and the chickens...”
Hana began an overlong explanation of feed stores, energy requirements, how much water the animals required, and how much human energy and time was needed to prepare it. Nilda looked over at McInery. The woman was sitting hands folded, listening intently. She was one of the few. Most had returned to their meals or sat with eyes glazed, not really taking in the details of what the young vet was saying, but seemingly comforted by the scientific summary.
”Which means,” Hana finished, closing the ledger, ”that unless circ.u.mstances change, we will need to slaughter one pig in five days time, and another a week after that. If we can stockpile water, and not have to use all our electricity on purification and sterilisation, then I think we could keep a freezer running for a total of eight days. But this would not be ideal. I know that pork chops are an appealing prospect, but what we eat now, we cant eat this winter.” There were a few nods, a few grumbles, but no real dissent.
They would follow the young vet, Nilda thought, and do what she said because theyd been fed and told that there would be food tomorrow.
”Winter is the real problem,” Hana continued, ”and autumn has yet to truly begin. Stewart? Do you have the list?”
Stewart stood, and waved a clipboard.
”It comes to about two weeks of stores?” Hana asked.
”Thats it,” Stewart said. ”About a week of fresh in the kitchens, then were on to the stores. Two weeks. Everything on here. I added it up when we brought it in from Kirkman House.”
”So,” Hana said, ”including the livestock and their feed, well be starving before December.”