After It Happened (Book 1): Survival Read online

  ‘Damn that dog’ thought Dan as he reached into his bag for a snack to share with him. He was growing so fast and eating so much that an extra item was added to the scavenging list; big bags of dog food. His paws were still ridiculously oversized, making him think that this puppy was going to be a small bear before long.

  Ash suddenly turned his head away and stopped chewing, alert and tense. Dan froze, waiting to find out what the dog’s far superior hearing had detected. A low growl rumbled from Ash’s chest as he got to his feet, staring intently in the direction they had come from.

  That was enough for Dan. He threw down the cigarette and tipped the coffee, throwing all his things back into the Land Rover via the open window. He readied his weapon and double-checked the Sig. As he took position behind the bonnet of his vehicle, he called Ash’s name and was rewarded by instant eye contact. He threw his left arm out and shouted “GO”, as Ash launched himself low and fast across the forecourt to hide in the shadows. To make sure Ash knew what he wanted of him, he followed up with “DOWN! STAY!” the dog obediently lay down flat and watched him intently. He was confident that Ash would stay there until either he called him to heel or shouted a ‘go’ command, at which point he hoped he would attack whatever he was looking at. He also hoped that he would take the initiative if he was incapacitated, and protect him.

  The diesel engine came into Dan’s hearing, followed a short time later by a muddy 4x4 coming towards him at speed. The engine note halted, like the driver had lifted off the throttle at the surprise of seeing his Land Rover. There seemed to be some hesitation, then a decision as the driver turned in sharply to stop alongside Dan’s vehicle.

  A vaguely familiar blonde ponytail was showing behind the mud spattered window. Although the 4x4 was a different one than last he saw her in, the woman was unmistakably the same frosty vet.

  She was momentarily speechless at recognising him, but gathered herself.

  “I’m being chased!” she said, annoyed “I caught the bastards shooting horses to eat!”

  Great, he thought, some hungry Frenchmen are heading this way. He snapped into gear.

  “How many?” he said, loosening the velcro strap on the pouch where two spare magazines sat snugly.

  “Three. No, four” she blurted out

  “Still got your shotgun?” he asked her as he scanned through his optic at the limit of his view on the road.

  “No. They took it. I, er, I bit the one holding me and stole one of their cars” she said, almost embarrassed.

  “Ok” said Dan “so we’re not ‘negotiating’ with them then?” he asked with heavy emphasis to make his point understood.

  “No, we are bloody well not. They shot my horses. They would probably have eaten me too, fucking inbred bastards” she spat angrily

  “Open the passenger door, look on the dash” he told her, still looking through his scope.

  She did as he said, and retrieved the new shotgun. She looked at it uncertainly.

  “Pump-action. Hell of a kick so hold it tight, ok?” he said

  Sera nodded, which Dan couldn’t see. He was thinking of where to send her so that she was a tactical advantage, but wouldn’t shoot him or Ash by accident. He brought up a picture of the area they were occupying in his mind, and came up with a plan. He could hear engines in the distance, so had probably a few seconds to make it clear what he wanted.

  “Stand here. Let them see you. Get them in close to talk” he said as he vacated his position for her.

  She raised the gun as he moved backwards, reaching back past her to flick the safety catch on the shotgun she held.

  “And don’t, for fuck sake, shoot my dog!” he called as he ran behind the vehicles to hide across the road.

  Sera was scared and confused. More confused than scared in truth; she couldn’t see a dog and was worrying that the man – she couldn’t remember his name – was possibly insane. Frying pan; fire?

  Her wandering mind was brought to heel when a pickup truck sped into view. She tightened her grip on the curiously sticky shotgun and wondered where the crazy man and his imaginary dog had gone.

  WE DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH ARSEHOLES

  Dan heard, then saw the green twin-cab Hilux scream over the crest of the road. He had positioned himself opposite his Land Rover, with a field of fire that hopefully wouldn’t hit Sera or Ash.

  As he expected, the idiots drove straight for her without the first sense of self-preservation. He prayed they didn’t disappoint him by being clever. Four men piled out of the truck, angry. One was holding his right hand with a rag pressed to it. Two others had firearms; long guns. The last was empty handed.

  “That’s far enough” yelled Sera. Jesus, thought Dan, this is getting far too like a wild west film to be true.

  “What’s the matter, girlie?” said one of the men holding a gun, in a very thick country accent. No longer caring at all if he were accused of stereotyping someone, Dan decided that this serial underachiever had probably spent his formative years sexually abusing a sibling. As this was the one to speak first, he very much doubted that any of them were the clever one of the group.

  “GO AWAY, OR YOU WILL REGRET IT!” she shouted

  The idiots laughed amongst themselves. Typical bullies.

  He started to move his optic slowly from left to right, between the heads of the two holding guns. Running through the practices in his head, he was sure he could drop both primary threats within a couple of seconds.

  “You sick fucking bastards!” Sera yelled at them “Killing horses? What’s wrong with you?” she was angry. Perfect, thought Dan, keep their attention on you.

  “Put that down and come with us, you’ll see we can be nice” idiot number one said, prompting sick chuckles from idiots two to four inclusively. That was enough for Dan. He had a disagreement on principle with rapists.

  Flicking the safety catch to semi-automatic, he dropped idiot one with a shot to the head. It wasn’t difficult from that range as his face took up most of the scope. He swung the optic onto where idiot two was still stood in perfect profile to him, frozen in shock. He shot him just under the left ear killing him instantly as his brainstem fountained from the ruined base of his skull.

  He rose from his hiding place like a predator emerging from cover and advanced towards the remaining two idiots, neither of which had yet figured out what had happened. Idiot three finally woke up, and made completely the wrong choice. Bellowing like a branded bull, he dove forward to get the shotgun from the lifeless hands of idiot one. Dan flicked the selector to automatic and fired two bursts. All of the rounds hit the man in the chest, who fell to the ground like a ragdoll rasping his last few bubbling breaths.

  Idiot four was still holding his badly bitten hand, and now had idiot two’s blood splattered on the right side of his face.

  Dan lowered the M4 and slung it on his back. Sera marched forward, livid.

  “This doesn’t work!” she shouted, waving the stubby shotgun at Dan.

  “That’s because I put the safety on. I told you I didn’t want you shooting my dog” he replied

  “What dog? You’re insane!” she shouted

  Idiot four thought this was the perfect time to make his escape, and ran. Dan and Sera stopped arguing to watch the ridiculous sight of a man sprinting in panic; the fear scrambling his ability to coordinate limb movement.

  Dan turned to face her and smiled.

  “VORAUS!” he shouted, and a streak of grey and black bolted from behind her, bringing down the running man in a swirl of snarls and screams of pain.

  It seemed that the vet was very touchy about animals dying. She was less concerned with people, as she made clear to idiot four before she dispatched him using Dan’s Sig. It was a kindness in a way; Ash had proven himself quite the hunter when given the chance.

  “Don’t think I’m like that all the time” she told him, still quite aggressive in her tone. “That piece of shit was going to rape me, and God knows how many others” he
guessed this was her form of guilt at taking a life; the aggressive justification coping method.

  “No argument from me” he said as he dragged the last of the four bodies off the road “What now?” he asked, collecting the guns and ammunition.

  Sera didn’t know. Dan suggested that she come back with him, but she immediately started to list excuses. He held up a hand but she continued to rant, even breaking out into a change of octave. He had heard enough and the now waning dose of adrenaline made him snap more harshly than he intended.

  “SHUT UP!” he said in his most commanding voice “Christ, you would give a deaf man a headache! No wonder you spend your life with animals!”

  That shut her up, briefly. Before she launched into another tirade, he cut her off “You aren’t safe on your own. The end. We have farm animals that need tending to. You can be useful to us and be safe. You are coming back.”

  “Well I’m not going in your car with that!” she said pointing at Ash, knowing that he was the subject of discussion, he cocked his head again and waited forlornly for praise.

  “He’s not dangerous” Dan yelled

  “Tell that to him!” she replied, pointing up the road to where Ash had brought down the man.

  “You’re the one who killed him!” he shouted back

  “THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” screamed Sera back at him as tears sparkled at the corners of her eyes.

  He bit back his next line. They were obviously those kind of people who will argue over anything and everything. Plus, he recalled, there is little to gain from arguing with a woman under any circumstances.

  “What then?” he asked, deliberately lowering his voice. “Stay here? Become a victim of people like that?” he gestured towards the bodies.

  “I don’t know!” she said, the first tears breaking through her prickly exterior.

  “Then come with us” Dan said, pleading.

  Sera thought for a minute, before holding up her head and cuffing away her tears.

  “Please will you help me get my things first?” she asked

  “Yes. Where and what? Because we need to move soon” he replied, relieved.

  “Back where they found me” she said, and got back into her stolen vehicle.

  A few minutes later, Dan drove into a small equestrian yard behind her. He saw two horses immobile on the ground in a paddock, and another was prancing around in fear.

  She abandoned the stolen car and went to a small lorry marked ‘HORSES’. She started the truck and began piling in boxes from her own car marked with the livery of the veterinary company. She caught the scared horse and led it into the back of the lorry up the noisy ramp before going to catch three more.

  Dan had left Ash in the Land Rover as he had that canine obsession of picking fights with animals ten times his size the second you took your eye off him. He scanned the area constantly through his scope, wary of another countryside relations meeting.

  Sera announced she was nearly ready, but needed a hand with some hay bales. Dan lifted a few but space was soon running out. He threw another eight on his roof rack and hastily tied them down with the ratchet straps he had used to secure the spare wheels.

  He set off with Sera following in the lorry. Progress was slow as she was careful of the four horses in the back as well as the storm of hay flying from Dan’s roof load towards her windscreen.

  The light started to fade as they were still at best an hour away from home, maybe two with their current rate of progress. He slowed and hit his hazard lights briefly to warn Sera that he was stopping. He rolled to a halt on a large, wide stretch of empty road.

  He walked up to her window, lighting a cigarette.

  “Won’t make it back before pitch black, we can either go on slowly or plot up for the night somewhere” he gave her the choice. She couldn’t decide, so he offered more reasoning.

  “It’s slightly more dangerous moving at night now – there’s no lighting for a start and we would be very easy to follow with the noise and the light we’re putting out”

  She told him that they should do whatever he thought, and he realised that all of her infuriating bluster had gone. Exhaustion and stress probably.

  He led on slowly, eventually finding a small field off the main road with a stable block. Sera let the horses out into the paddock. Dan let Ash out after they were shut away, but he still ran over to them for a closer look.

  “NEIN. FUβ” he called and the dog reluctantly trotted back to his side.

  “Show off” Sera muttered.

  Dan fed Ash, boiled some water on a camp kettle and broke out his rations. He realised Sera hadn’t brought any clothes or sleeping bag. He brought out his emergency bag, giving her a sleeping mat and bag. He heated tins of food in a pan and they shared the meal in silence, watched carefully by Ash who was waiting for any leftovers.

  He lay there fully clothed in his sleeping bag, Ash pressed lengthways alongside him for warmth and snoring happily. He could not sleep, so he quietly shifted and lit a cigarette.

  As the flame briefly illuminated their shelter, Dan saw that Sera was awake too and looking straight at him. “Can’t sleep?” he asked softly, not wanting to wake up Ash.

  “No” she replied in almost a whisper. “Can I have one of those, please?” she asked

  He silently passed the lit cigarette to her and lit another. She made no complaint, accepting it in silence. The two lay there smoking, no words passing between them. He was sure that if they did speak, it would rapidly turn into an argument anyway so he was happy she wasn’t yelling at him.

  She shifted position and stubbed the cigarette out on the timber wall behind her.

  “Thankyou” she said warmly. He was sure she meant for more than just the smoke.

  EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MAN!

  Dan led Sera to the gardens by late morning where she put the horses into the stable block and unloaded the hay. In their haste to leave she realised she had only brought head collars for them, and no tack. Dan asked what ‘tack’ was, inviting a patronising explanation that it meant saddles and bridles. Dan was about to bite back that they – the horsey types – should just say that instead of inventing another word to confuse the lower classes, but they were interrupted by Maggie and Cedric arriving in their new old Land Rover defender and a smiling Matty sat in the back.

  Introductions were made and Dan excused them as they were very tired and needed to get back to the house. Sera let the horses out and Maggie promised to put them away before they came back for dinner. The horse transporter was left in situ and Sera had to accept a lift in Dan’s Land Rover, much to her disgust as Ash was made to stand on the boxes in the back and didn’t take his eyes off her.

  Penny was her usual effusive self as she greeted her newest duckling to the nest. She sat with them around the remnants of the breakfast spread and spoke as Dan and Sera ate. The story of how she had come to be with them had not yet come out, but his claim of having found thousands of rounds of ammo and the mention of Sera being a vet finally put the ducks in a row.

  “Sera?” she said coldly “Would you kindly please give us the room” It was an instruction not to be ignored, not a question indicating a choice of compliance.

  Sera gave an amused look to Dan, probably relishing the fact that he was in trouble and walked out followed by Cara and the other couple of people left around. No doubt they would all hear what was to be said, but Penny was too polite to rip someone a new hole in front of others.

  “Tell me” she began softly “Exactly where you have been, Daniel.”

  He decided to get it all out in one go. “South. Into the area I declared was out of bounds. I checked the area where Lexi and I killed the two bikers, then our old camp. No sign that our presence was discovered or followed. I then went back to the army base and found the soldier dead”

  “You stupid, reckless man!” Penny interjected, unable to contain her indignation any longer.

  “We rely on you for our safety and you go and break your o
wn rules made expressly to keep us all safe? You said yourself that this soldier had skills far superior to your own – who is so dangerous that they could have killed him? Do you not understand the danger you put yourself and all of us in?” by this point she was almost turning purple with the effort of keeping her voice below a shout.

  Dan cut in “He blew his own damned head off, Penny. Literally. No head. Gone. Ever seen what that’s like? Would you like me to describe it in detail?” he asked nastily. Penny never did cope well with the gory details. She didn’t start in again, so he continued.

  “I then managed to get more guns and ammunition – enough to last a hell of a lot longer than we could have. Then I saved a vet from being raped and brought back a very useful person and four horses”

  “How exactly did you save her?” Penny asked warily, expecting the answer that he had killed someone.

  “I shot the two with guns in the head. Another one tried to shoot me so I shot him first. The last one tried to run away, but seeing as I’m no longer bound to catching rapists only for them to get away with it, Ash chased him down and Sera killed him.” He finished angrily, breathing hard as his voice had raised with each line he spoke.

  A curious look fell over Penny, like she had just learned something valuable, and was gone as soon as he saw it.

  “And besides” he said more gently “I never said it was out of bounds for me”

  “You deliberately deceived us” Penny answered “You failed to follow your own protocols and leave your route and itinerary with Leah – believe me I checked and the girl tried to cover it up for you!” That seemed to annoy her the most.

  He was secretly very impressed that Leah had tried to have his back. He must make that up to her.

  “Penny” Dan said quietly. He was tired. He needed to carry a lot of boxes of brass and clean four weapons – two of which had congealed brains on – before he could settle down to rest.