“Oh, er, right. Sorry, Captain,” Bucky emphasised. “What I mean is we are from the Berrington Heights Secondary School and Sports Academy. We went to the Sir Thomas Beck School for a cricket match, and on our way back all this happened. We ended up taking shelter in a shop in a town a few miles away before deciding to make a run here.”
Cardell shifted in his chair. “And this is you? All of you? No teachers, teammates or anyone else?”
Bucky shook his head. “We did have, but they all died.”
A burley soldier joined the Captain behind his desk, handing some papers across to him. “The nearest town is Lefton, ten miles away. Is that where you were?” the soldier asked.
“It must have been,” Bucky replied, “we didn’t walk through any towns or villages on the way here.”
“This is Sergeant Hopkins. He does most of our reconnaissance within the area,” Cardell stated.
Hopkins ran a hand through his greying beard. “So, explain to me which way it was you all come from?” Cardell requested.
“We came along the road but got chased off by a gang of clowns,” Aaron informed them.
Cardell lifted his eyebrows. “Clowns? Really?”
Aaron nodded. “Honest, sir. We got away and decided to cut across the countryside to try and lose them, but we got attacked by the crazies whilst on some farmland and had to escape. We came back to the main road because we didn’t know which way to go, and followed the signs here.”
“It’s true,” Bucky added.
“Well, not that I’m calling you liars,” Hopkins began, folding his arms, “but last night we tracked a herd of over six thousand brain deads flocking along the road heading to Lefton. How did you manage to avoid them?”
“That’ll be the ones that passed us in the underpass,” Lacey explained.
“We found a car that was unlocked. Inside there were blankets and coats. We were hiding from the clowns who had caught us up. They were out scavenging and, lucky for us, the infected appeared and scared them off. We locked the doors, hid beneath the blankets and waited for them to pass. It took hours.” The sincerity in Aaron’s voice came through clear as a bell.
Cardell nodded and raised a hand for silence. “Well, you’re a long way from home, kids. Your school is about twenty miles away. The good news is that it’s a refugee camp, like this. The bad news is that there aren’t many people taking refuge in there. A few of our smaller camps have fallen to attack, but we don’t know by whom. We do know that larger camps such as this and your school have been relatively safe, due to their size and the military presence that they have. But, being realistic, you should forget any possibility of seeing your families again. I’m just being straight up honest with you.”
Bucky nodded. The captain’s words struck a chord, but deep down he knew that was always going to be the outcome.
“Are you in contact with the school?” Lacey asked.
“Yes, miss, we are. We’ve got something of a trade route running between our facility and a handful of other camps in the area. Their medical centre is the main reason we run back and forth to the school. It has doctors, surgeons and medicine that can treat most injuries and ailments, except of course for the virus. We ferry any of our sick and wounded out to them from the camp. It’s surprising how many people arrive here with broken limbs or flesh wounds. I’m surprised none of you have suffered from anything like that, to be honest. Now, the trucks are scheduled to head out there tomorrow. Sergeant Hopkins is leading that particular task. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind running you four back there, would you?”
“I would be delighted,” Hopkins replied in a sarcastic tone.
“Then it’s settled. Sears, come here.” Cardell gestured to a young man sat at a table. “Book them in, take them to the shower block and get them cleaned up. Give them a meal, too. Looks like they haven’t eaten in a week. Once all that’s done put them in the temporary accommodation for the night. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
And so it was. They filled out their details and followed Sears to the shower blocks that had previously been used by football players after a match. The hot water felt like nothing else in this world when Bucky stood beneath it. For that moment, his troubles washed away. Sears had given them all surplus army uniforms and discarded their battle stained cricket whites. Bucky stepped from the shower block feeling like a million bucks. The positivity of hot water and clean clothes expelled from his friends when they met together in the dining area. They checked each other out and laughed. Lacey still had her hair in the ponytail, which now shined when caught by the light. The people they met had been more than courteous, speaking with them, finding out about their journey and just listening to their encounters. Even though he had no idea who these people were, just talking about his journey and everything he’d witnessed and done relieved a pressure and stress that Bucky didn’t realise he carried.
After a hot meal of tinned steak and mashed potatoes, Sears escorted them all to their quarters for the night, a room with five camp beds ready for the offering. While they sat talking, Bucky returned to the bathrooms to open his bowels, something he last remembered doing back at the hardware shop. And just when the day couldn’t get any better, a full roll of toilet paper hung in its holder.
Bucky returned to their quarters to find Lacey and Aaron off somewhere else.
“They’ve gone to try and find chocolate,” Johnny informed him upon his return.
Bucky slumped down on to the camp bed he’d claimed and rested his hands behind his head. Back in the old world, this camp bed would likely have felt like a breezeblock, but after God
