Surviving The Evacuation: Harvest Part 16

Still riding that wave of stolen euphoria, she went looking for Chester. She found him sitting in the kings bedchamber in St Thomas Tower, a pile of maps at his feet, his attention on the view of south London visible through his window.

"That was a good deed well done," she said.

"It was a small enough deed. Another few people safe for another few days."

"But theyre children, Chester."

"Children or adults, a life is a life," he said. "Each one saved brings into sharp relief the number who died. Were losing a couple of people each month. And you know what I think? Its not like a war where even the defeated have the prospect of a future once its over. This is life. This gradual attrition, a few here, a few there. This week, next month, soon well each die."

"Cant you just enjoy the moment?" she asked, his mood finally killing her own.

"Honestly, when a day like today is the best we can hope for? Im exhausted, Nilda. I truly am. Theres only so many times you can tell yourself tomorrow will be better than today and still believe the lie."

"We rescued the children. No one died. Theres the food in the coaches, and well have that inside by nightfall tomorrow. Weve water. Weve strong walls. Weve-"

"Reece died. I didnt know him very well, but then who amongst us really knows anyone that well? Were all strangers whove no choice but to be in one anothers company."

"Thats called a family, Chester. And Im not going to allow you to bring me down. Not today."

"Fair enough. But there something else you need to know. The lifeboats fuel tank has a leak. We cant use the engine again."

"Oh. Well, thats for the best," she said.

"It is?"

"Yes, without the illusory hope of an escape route, with the knowledge that this, here, is it, people will have to work harder."

"Maybe," he said, although his tone suggested he disagreed. "I drained the tank. Added to what weve got left theres enough to get a car about a hundred miles, but Im not banking on it getting me any further than the outskirts of London. I might reach Wales in a week. It might take a month. Have you decided what youll do then?"

"When the boat comes? I dont know. Do you think we can rely on them for food?"

"Probably. Theres an obvious advantage in not having all the human beings on the planet nestled up against a nuclear power plant. They had grain to spare, and theyll need a fairly decent sized ship to take all those kids away, so theres not much point bringing it here empty. But what I meant was, well, do you think youll stay in London?"

"I think so. They may have electricity, but otherwise not much else that we dont, or that we cant, have. And they have some ideas that I think we can do without. With a little work, and if we dont have to worry about every single meal, I think we can make something new here. Maybe something better, even if it looks a lot like something very old."

"Youd rather Jay be the penniless King of London than the rich peasant? No, I get that. I really do. Parents always want to give their kids the best possible chance in life." He sighed. "And its not my place to tell you whether youre right or wrong. Time will do that. Theyll want to send people here. Doctors. Soldiers. The kind of people you need to make a place like this work, but theyre also the kind more used to giving orders than taking them. You ready for that?"

"If you pick them. Make sure theyre... well, the right kind of people. You know what I mean?"

"Sure. And what about Mac?" he asked.

"Sh.e.l.l leave. Im certain of it. Im surprised she hasnt volunteered to go with you."

"A journey through an undead land? Thats not her kind of risk. But yeah, youre probably right. And Hana? You think sh.e.l.l mind you taking over."

"I think shed probably be safer in Wales," Nilda said. "I dont know if sh.e.l.l stay. If she does, well, I havent forgotten how this all came about, and if Ive learned anything, its my own limitations. Hana, Tuck, and myself, well run the place together."

"The three of you? Yeah. I figured itd be something like that."

She knew instantly what he meant, but clamped her mouth down on a rushed amendment. Backtracking would make it worse. More than that, any comment would lead to a question, one that she wasnt sure how to answer.

"I suppose the radiation from those bombs in Kent must have been blown out to sea," she said instead.

"Maybe," he said, closing his eyes. "Probably."

"But its still odd, though," she said, speaking quickly to fill the now uncomfortable silence. "I mean it doesnt tally with what they said over the sat-phone."

"No, well Ive an idea about that. Its not really an idea. More a hypothesis, I suppose. But its not important. Not now. When I get to Anglesey, they can get their satellites to prove it."

"Prove what?" she asked.

"It doesnt matter. Telling you would just give you something else to worry over. Now, if Im to leave tomorrow, I really need to sleep."

Disconsolate, confused, almost wishing life was back to being as simple as worrying about whether theyd live through the next hour, Nilda left Chester and found herself wandering aimlessly through the courtyard.

"Nilda? Nilda!"

"Constance? Whats the matter?"

"Its the children. They have so little, and they need so much."

"Show me."

Nilda took the proffered list. She turned the page. And another. It was extensive.

"They dont need half these things." Nilda raised a hand. "They may want them, but they dont need them. Like I said yesterday. Shoes, clothes, toothbrushes. We just need to know if weve got the essentials."

"Yes, there are enough clothes left by the warders families, and theres always those costumes they sold in the gift shops. Not that I like the idea of dressing them as princes and princesses, but thats not what Im worried about. Its medicines. Thats this page here."

Nilda looked at the list. She recognised a few of the brand names and recognised a few others whose names the children had misremembered.

"This is an anti-depressant," she said, pointing at one half way down.

"Is it?" Constance asked.

"Next to... is that Simone or Simon?"

"Simone," Constance said. "She was very definite about it being important."

"Shes survived the last eight months without it. I think sh.e.l.l be fine. How old is she?"

"Eight."

"And on anti-depressants? What kind of school was that?"

"Well..." Constance stammered, defensive by proxy. "What about these. Antihistamines."

"Do any of the kids seem like they have allergies?"

"Not really."

"Then theyre fine," Nilda said. "When I mentioned it, I really meant things like insulin for diabetes. Did you ask Inspector Styles?"

"I did. He said they hadnt had access to anything stronger than aspirin since March."

"Well, take that list to Hana. If she thinks any are important, then well see what we can do, but really, the children seem fine. And as for everything else," she added kindly, quickly detaching the rest of the list, "well organise a looting expedition just as soon as weve brought that food in from the coaches. Okay?"

Mollified, Constance left.

It would make a nice change going out looking for clothes and shoes, and yes, perhaps some toys for the children. Secure the food supply first, and then get people organised. Get them working in teams with specific tasks and set goals. There was certainly more than enough work to keep everyone occupied. What she needed was a pen and some paper. Actually, what she really wanted was something to eat. They had enough food now that some could be spared. She set off towards the dining hall. Stewart was there, scrubbing at tables.

"Got to keep it clean," he said as she entered. "Cant have the kids getting sick."

"No. No. Of course not," Nilda said. "Are you here on your own?"

"Constance was meant to be helping, but shes disappeared. Aisha, too, but she said she felt like she wanted to throw up. Thats why Im cleaning. In case theres a bug."

"Shes..." Nilda began, but stopped. It was Tuck whod confirmed Aishas pregnancy when they had got back from Kent. Nilda had suspected as much, but if Aisha wanted to keep it a secret, it wasnt her place to start telling everyone. "Ill give you a hand," she offered. "But I could do with something to eat. Is there anything left?"

"From lunch? No. Those kids ate it all. They eat a lot dont they, children? Always eating. There should be some biscuits in the storeroom."

"Enough to spare?" she asked, her stomach growling eagerly.

"Oh yeah, were still a few days away from having to use any of the stores. They came from Liverpool Street. The train station," Stewart mumbled. "Dev. He found 'em. One per person. In first cla.s.s. Theres a list."

Nilda pa.r.s.ed that until shed deciphered the meaning. She went into the kitchen and found a clipboard hanging from the wall. It was a rea.s.suringly long list. Some entries were short, containing little more than a name and a number such as 'rice 25kg. Others gave mouth-wateringly precise detail such as 'Lovvit & Baker, Chocolate Chip, Biscuits, 2 boxes x 100 packets x 2 biscuits per pack.

She looked around the kitchen. It was immaculate. The steel gleamed, the fresh fruit and vegetables were neatly arranged on the counter, and the packets on the shelves were well organised. Even the knives were neatly ordered, aligned perfectly with the well-scrubbed chopping boards they sat on. It was all very rea.s.suring.

Stewart came into the kitchen, the disinfectant spray dangling from his hand.

"You find them?" he asked.

"I was looking at the list and your kitchen. Its impressive."

"Oh, the list isnt mine. I just do the cooking."

"You dont look after the storeroom?"

"Dont need to. Not yet. Thats why they call it stores. Three more days." He looked slowly around the kitchen, his eyes falling on the fresh food. He picked up a carrot and moved it from one pile to another. "Maybe two, then well start on the stores. But theres the food outside. Not sure how much that is. The longer we leave it, the better. Make sure you cross those biscuits off when you take 'em. Thats important."

That much was written in bold red letters at the top of the list. She scanned down the page, turned to the next, then the third. "Nothings been crossed off," she said.

"Yeah. I dont think people hand in everything they find, you know?" Stewart said. "They go out, find something nice, and they keep it for themselves. Well, fair enough, I say. I mean, weve all been hungry. We know what hunger can do. Terrible, terrible things. So everyone keeps a bit aside, and what does it matter as long as everyone has enough? Thats all that matters, right? As long as they cross off what they take. We dont want to be eating the stores, you see. Because when we do, it means people have run out of their own private supplies. Thats when the trouble will start. When people will change. We cant run out of food. Thatll be the end. Cant have that. Not now. Not ever."

"You know Chesters going to Anglesey tomorrow," Nilda said. "h.e.l.l come back with food."

"If theyre still there. They might not be. They might have nothing to spare, and then what? No. We cant rely on the kindness of strangers, not unless they can rely on us. And they cant do that unless we know we can rely on ourselves. Thats why the stores are important."

Nilda nodded and smiled, but decided it was time to give up. Stewart seemed to have brief moments of lucidity followed by periods of utter detachment. She took the flashlight from the hook, opened the door, and went to search for the biscuits.

She was immediately struck by the size of the room and the sheer number of boxes. Since the dining hall had been barely half full with a hundred people in it that morning, she supposed the Tower must have been catering for thousands a day. As she ran the light down the rows of mostly brown cardboard mixed with the multi-coloured packaging of the more expensive brands, she had a flashback to her previous life, and smiled at the memory.

She scanned the light along the shelves until she found the one containing the biscuits. It was empty. Disappointment mixed with irritation. Whoever had eaten them could, if not crossed them off the list, at least have removed the empty box. She tracked the light left and right, looking for something else vaguely snackable. There was a label that read 'Brazil nuts. She checked the box. It, too, was empty.

Dont panic, she told herself. Dont let dark thoughts turn fear into fact. She tried another box, and a third. It was only when she reached the sixth that she found one with something inside it: two small bags of rice.

Slowly, methodically, she went through the room, checking each box against the list Stewart had given her. When shed finished, shed found there was enough food for one hundred meals, but only if you really stretched out that rice.

Again she told herself not to panic. It was bad stock management, nothing more. She repeated that, standing in the near dark, trying to convince herself that everything was okay.

"Tell me again how this works," she asked Stewart, back in the kitchen. "What food do you use for cooking?"

"Fresh food, anything thatll expire, thats all here," he said. "Anything were keeping for the long-term, that goes in the storeroom."

"Right. So how often do you go in there?" she asked.

"I dont. Ive got everything I need here. Two thousand calories a day, thats what were on. Ive got it marked down in the ledger over-"

"Right, and this list," she said, tapping the clipboard. "Was this started back when you were all in Kirkman House?"

"Oh no. We started that when we were putting everything away."

She opened the kitchen cupboards, hoping against hope that somehow the missing food would have found its way in there. There just werent enough cupboards. A few did contain food, but not nearly enough.

"Is everything all right?" Stewart asked.

"Its fine," she said. But it wasnt. After theyd eaten what was in the kitchen theyd have to start on the stores, and it turned out they hadnt got any left.

"And how often do people come and help themselves?"

"Well, check the list. Theyll have crossed it off."

"But no one has crossed anything out."

"Exactly," he said, as if that answered anything. Perhaps it did.

"What about Hana and the food for the animals?" she asked.

"Oh no, that doesnt go in. We separated out all the food that would do as feed. No additives, that sort of thing. Thats all in her store over in the Keep."

"And how much time do you spend in here?" she asked.

"Well, theres cooking. And then theres the cleaning up. Most of the time, I suppose, except when theres other work to be done. I mean-"

"Yes. Yes, I know." She looked at him, and properly this time. The man was a shadow of whoever hed formerly been. It was her fault, or Hanas or someones for letting responsibility fall on his shoulders.

"I have to go," she said.