Chapter 8
The rest of the morning passed with Ray giving bulletins from HQ, Gerry using Annie’s computer to access a very limited internet and Branwen and Owen watching the intermittent news broadcasts on the television.
Annie, was organizing sleeping arrangements. She had busied herself with making up the four bunk beds and Ray had said that he would sleep on one of the couches in the main living area. She made some sandwiches for lunch but only Owen and Ray ate anything.
The food supplies that they had bought from the village had filled the store room. The freeze-dried survival meals were stored at the back and would only be used if they really needed them.
Branwen had commented on how nice the bathroom was and Annie had showed her the food supplies and limited kitchen facilities. Both women were engaged in a conversation about different types of meals that could be produced on a two-ring cooker when another attack warning sounded from the television.
“This is it!” Said Ray. “They’ve launched against us. Estimated arrival six minutes.”
“They’ve launched five missiles.” Gerry said, reading from his computer screen.
Branwen looked a little less worried. “Well that’s not many, is it? Maybe it won’t be as bad as we thought it would be.”
Gerry glanced at Ray. He didn’t want to speak and be reprimanded again. Ray turned his swivel chair round to face Branwen and Owen.
“Each missile carries fourteen warheads. Each warhead is set to hit a different target. They’ve probably sent the SS-18 so they’ll be carrying decoys as well. Our anti-missile defense shield might get some of them but not all.” Explained Ray.
Everyone fell silent. They sat waiting with their own private thoughts. The television suddenly went blank. Then, the lights flickered and went off before coming back on as the back-up power system kicked in. The computer screen went blank and Ray bashed a few keys to see if he could get them to come back on. He picked up the telephone but it was completely dead.
“Fuck!” exclaimed Ray.
“Ray! Don’t start!” Said Annie but not with as much enthusiasm as she usually put into her rebukes.
“We’re deaf and blind! We’ve got no information.” Ray stormed out of his chair and into the bathroom.
Annie felt she must explain his behavior. “He’s just become scared. Whilst he had got information coming in, he felt in control but now that he doesn’t know what’s happening. This is what’s going to be happening to people all over the country.” Annie passed a box of tissues to Branwen who was now crying.
“The problem is that we have all become accustomed to being told what to do and when. Most of us have lost the ability to think for ourselves and make decisions on instinct.”
Gerry suddenly had an idea. “I wonder if the outside cameras are working. We should be able to bring them up on the TV screen.” Gerry pushed the remote control and immediately the scene from the long driveway came into view. Everyone peered at it silently. Confusion showed on their faces.
“Nothing’s happened.” Said Branwen. “Oh, thank the Lord! We must have shot their bombs down before they got to us.”
The scene was of complete normality. They could see the Polytunnels still standing towards the main entrance and on the other side of the drive, the preserving room stood untouched. Behind that, they could even see the hillside where the sheep had huddled into a tight group.
“Switch to the west view” said Ray, as he came out of the bathroom.
Gerry clicked the remote and this gave a view across the fields towards Cardigan Bay. Once again, the scene was normal except for a couple of stationary cars on a road in the distance, there was nothing unusual.
Another click of the remote and they got the southern view from the camera high up on the cliff. It was then they saw the huge mushroom cloud. They could only see the top of it but there was no mistaking what they were looking at.
“That’s either Cardiff or Swansea.” Said Gerry. “It looks like it’s blowing east. With any luck, we’ll miss out on the worst of the radiation cloud.”
“That’s Jason and Maggie gone” said Branwen with a shake of her head. “They owned a farm just outside Newcastle Emlyn but they retired to Cardiff to be near their son and his wife.”
“So how come we’ve missed it all? I don’t understand.” Said Owen. “I thought a nuclear war would wipe out everything and everyone. That’s what it’s like in the movies.” Owen scratched his head.
Ray put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m afraid it isn’t like in the movies. The reality of nuclear war has been over-shadowed by the myths. England will have been hit pretty bad and London won’t exist anymore. The big cities like Birmingham and Manchester will have copped a packet but there will be pockets all over the country that won’t have been touched by blasts or the thermal flash. The problem is now, to find out where the radiation goes. That’s going to be the thing that will kill survivors unless they can get to a place of safety.”
“How long will the radiation last” asked Annie. She had a fair idea but she asked on behalf of Owen and Branwen.
“To be honest, after the first couple of weeks the radiation won’t be capable of killing people. It degrades very fast and these bombs will have been air-bursts, so they won’t have sucked up a huge amount of earth and debris to make massive amounts of radioactive dust.” Annie was impressed by how Ray explained things in words that people could understand.
“So how many people do you think will have been killed?” asked Owen, once again, eager for information. Gerry stepped in to answer.
“Obviously, we can’t be sure but government estimates for this kind of situation was that about half the population would be either killed or injured so badly that they would die in the first few days. Then over the next six week, it is anticipated that a further twenty per cent would die from radiation exposure, murdered for food, infections and other causes.”
Once again, Gerry was completely matter of fact about the numbers. He really didn’t care at all, thought Branwen. All he’s concerned about is that he has survived.
They all went and sat down on the sofas. For a short time, everyone was silent. Annie watched them trying to work out what this would mean for their individual lives. She sat and thought about her family. She was sure that her father would have made adequate preparations and taken her mother and other family members to a place to safety. As she looked across at Ray was suddenly struck by the amount of similarities there was between him and her father. Ray was not as sophisticated as her dad but their fundamental values and attributes were very similar. Both men were used to being in control, protective, in charge and totally incapable of making a cheese sandwich for themselves.
Suddenly, the telephone rang, making everyone jump. Ray got up to answer it and listened before speaking.
The voice asked for his status and number of survivors.
“We are not in the blast zone. Five survivors.” He listened again. “Yes, five.” He repeated. “No. Three agents and two civilians.” He listened again. “What do you mean, why have we got civilians in the shelter? They came here for safe-haven. I thought the whole point of this farm was as a rescue center!” Ray looked exasperated. “Where are you calling from and what’s the situation in the rest of the country?” Once again, he listened but his face grew darker. “How the fuck can that information be confidential? How bad is it? Where was the closest bomb to us? Have we got any information on radiation levels?” After listening for a few seconds, he slammed the phone down.
He turned to the group. He mimicked the voice at the end of the phone. “I’m sorry, sir, but we cannot give out confidential information at this time.”
They all settled back onto their sofas except Owen who was looking through the books on the bookcase. He browsed through the titles until he came to one on survival farming. He took the book and returned to his place on the sofa.
“Do you think it’s safe for me to go upstairs and get the clothes that I left in the kitchen?” Asked Annie.
“No way.” Replied Ray. “We don’t know if there is radiation out there. I’m afraid you’re stuck here with the clothes that you’re wearing. We’ll be here for at least ten days so you’ll just have to rinse them through.” Ray sat rolling a cigarette.
“You can’t smoke that in here!” cried Annie.
“No, I’m going to stand by the ventilation duct, so don’t start nagging.”
Branwen looked across at Annie. “Have you got any polythene bags? Like food storage bags?”
“yes, I think there’s a roll underneath the sink. Why?” asked Annie.
“Put one cup of water into the bag with a squirt of detergent. Let all the air out and seal the bag. Then agitate it with your hands for about a minute. Then empty the contents and put them in another bag with one cup of plain water and do the same to rinse them. They’ll come out lovely and clean and it won’t take much water. You can do six or seven pairs using the same detergent water.” Explained Branwen.
“Wow! That’s a good tip. Thank you, I’ll try that.” She turned to Ray. “You could use the same bag to do yours.”
Ray grinned at her and said “I’m not wearing any”
Annie couldn’t help but glance down towards his crotch. His loose fitting sweat pants had settled to reveal the outline of … Oh Lord! thought Annie. She looked up to see that Ray was still grinning at her. She blushed and looked away.
Again, Branwen had a solution to a problem she could see was troubling Annie.
“When we have a shower, we can quickly wash our clothes. If you’ve got a spare blanket, I can show you how to make a dressing gown out of it. You could wear that whilst your clothes dry.” Branwen was a useful source of information. Annie supposed that living in such a remote place, she had to be resourceful.
Annie contributed to the idea. “If we hang them in the generator and battery room, they’ll dry in no time. It’s quite warm in there.”
Gerry looked up from the magazine he was reading. “For God’s sake keep the wet washing away from the electric circuits. We don’t want to lose power.”
Ray sat listening to the women speak about such normal things as washing and drying clothes, food that can be cooked on a two-ring burner and other mundane things. His thoughts were on the bigger picture. He was considering the issues that they were going to face when they finally came out of the bunker.
Their world will have changed totally. The farmers in the local area would probably be able to survive, at least in the short term. They would have stored food and animals to slaughter but what about the people in the small towns of Cardigan and Newcastle Emlyn? The people who lived normal lives and relied on the supermarket for their supply of food and drinks. Ray wondered how long it would be before they came into the countryside looking for food.
Ray also knew that the stocks of supplies they had in the cave wouldn’t last long if they began distributing to the local population. He looked around the room at the four other people. They could run this place and maybe take in another five, at the most. He stoked the stubble on his chin. He wished that he had brought more guns with him.
“Owen?” Owen looked up at the sound of Ray’s voice. “Have you got a gun?”
“I’ve got a shotgun locked in the house. Why?”
“We may need it later. It’s probably going to be a good idea for us to stay together in one house when we get out of this bunker.” Ray chewed his lip.
“What?” said Branwen. “Not go home?” She looked horrified. They had lived on their farm for all their married life. “What about the animals? We can’t just stay here. We’ve got our own farm to run”
“I’m just concerned about security.” Explained Ray. “It won’t take long for people from the towns to come into the countryside to find food.” His face showed concern and Annie looked quizzically at him.
It was Owen who picked up the thread of his thoughts.
“You’re worried they might be armed, aren’t you, Boy? Owen was understanding of Ray’s fears.
Ray nodded. “At first, they’ll come begging. They’ll be polite and frightened and hoping that other humans will help them in their hour of need. Unfortunately, when they realize that no-one is going to help them, they’ll start to help themselves.”
Annie was incensed! “Why can’t we help them? Isn’t that what we were put here for? To make a supply farm?”
Ray closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in before answering her. “How many do you think we could help before we have no stocks left?” He knew that Annie would think with her heart.
“But, we could…” She didn’t have chance to finish her sentence because Gerry stood up and pointing at the screen on the wall that showed the outside of the property, said,
“Fuck me! A man in a HASMAT suit!”
The screen on the wall showed a man in full protective gear hosing down his suit from the outside water tap in the yard. He then went out of shot but it looked like he was heading for the kitchen door. He obviously couldn’t get in because he walked back into shot and stood looking around. He walked around the side of the building and Gerry pressed the remote control to show the south view of the property.
“He’s going for the patio doors into the lounge!” Shouted Gerry.
He flicked to the East view which showed the view up the drive and there was another HASMAT suited figure standing by a motor bike.
“Do you think they are two of ours?” Ray asked referring to them possibly being MI5 agents.
The figure by the motorbike began walking around, aiming a silver tube that was attached to a box that they held in their hand. The figure approached the house.
“It’s a Geiger counter!” said Gerry. He glanced at his wrist watch. “4pm” he said. “Two hours since the bombs hit us. Where are these guys from?”
Ray flicked through the different views of the outside of the farm and found the two figures outside the kitchen door again. The taller one began to unzip his HASMAT suit. They watched as the other one did the same.
“They’re taking their suits off! That must mean there’s no radiation.” Said Ray.
Both had their backs to the camera as they unrobed but as the tall one took down the hood from his suit, Annie gasped and he mouth dropped open.
Ray looked at her questioningly.
“That’s my Dad” said Annie, in a disbelieving voice. “And that’s my mum!” She looked horrified but excited. “Let me out so that I can let them into the house!” She ran to the door that joined the decontamination room. Ray ran after her and pulled at her arm.
“I’ll go.” He said and moved her out of the way.
Ray arrived in the kitchen and saw the two-people standing outside the kitchen door. They had left their HASMAT suits on the ground by the wall. He unlocked the door.
The man was tall, very muscular and looked younger than his sixty-four years. His silver, steal coloured hair was worn in a military style of short back and sides. He stood upright and had an air of authority about him. His blue eyes held Ray’s gaze for a few seconds before he spoke.
“Patrick McGrath” He introduced himself. “I won’t shake hands, if you don’t mind. Can’t be too careful.” With that, he swept into the room, followed by Annie’s mother.
“How on earth did you get here?” Ray looked bewildered.
“Motorbike.” Patrick went through the kitchen door into the lounge. “Annie!” He bellowed.
Annie’s mum closed the back door, turned the key and then put the bolt across. She was slim, brunette and appeared to be highly efficient. “Where’s Annie?” She fixed Ray with a hard stare and he could see where Annie got her attitude from.
“Come this way.” Ray lead them both down into the bunker. When she saw him, Annie ran to her father’s arms.
“It’s okay, Pumpkin, I’m here. Nothing will happen to you now. You’re safe” Crooned Patrick and he held her close. Annie disengaged from his arms and hugged her mother. Ray felt a pang of jealousy as he listened to Patrick. Did he really think that she wouldn’t be safe with him? Thought Ray. I’d have protected her. We don’t need you! Obviously, he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Now what’s everyone doing down here?” boomed Patrick “It’s safe upstairs. There’s no radiation.”
Owen introduced himself and Branwen and then spoke directly to Patrick. “But I don’t understand. I thought a nuclear war would produce lots of radiation.”
“Noooo!” pronounced Patrick “These modern bombs explode high above the ground. They flatten everything within a ten-mile radius but produce very little long range radiation. The poor sods that are within fifteen miles of the blast have had it but we’re okay here. Maryanne with keep an eye on it, won’t you dear?” Maryanne was Annie mother, a scientist by profession.
“Certainly will.” She replied efficiently.
“How did you get here so quickly?” asked Annie.
“We bugged out, the minute I saw the news. We were just north of the Brecon Beacons when the bombs came. The mountains protected us. Your Mother was monitoring the radiation levels from the back of the bike and I just opened up the throttle and went like the clappers!” He said proudly.
“Why wasn’t your motorbike affected by the EMP?” asked Ray shrewdly.
“She’s an old girl. Made in 1977, so she hasn’t got the electronics that would be damaged by an EMP”
“Did you see any people? Was anything happening?” asked Annie, eager for any kind of information from the outside world.
“We did pass a petrol station shop that was being looted but we stuck to the country roads so we avoided any … unpleasantness.” Patrick replied.
The telephone on the desk rang. It’s shrill sound making everyone jump. Ray picked it up and everyone listened.
The voice at the end of the voice said “Can you check your terminal, you should have a limited connection to us now.”
Ray tapped some keys on his keyboard. The screen came to life. They (whoever they were) had a map on screen. Ray put the telephone onto loud speaker so that everyone could listen.
“Yep! I’ve got you!” said Ray, “But what’s this map? Is it where the bombs dropped?
“Yes, it’s not pretty, is it?” said the voice. “London, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull, Leeds, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Southampton, Cardiff, Plymouth… You can see what I mean. They’ve hit our ports, airports, military bases and main cities.”
“Were they all airbursts?” asked Ray. He was determined that he was going to check out Patrick’s explanation of why there was no radiation.
“Fortunately, yes, so the radiation levels will be manageable. Of course, around the bomb sites, anyone who wasn’t killed by the blast or burnt to a crisp will have received a lethal dose but the blank areas will be relatively safe. However, we are advising that people stay in their bunkers for the next three days. The other problem is going to be the smoke from the fires that have been generated. That is likely to stay in the atmosphere for a few weeks. The pollution from the fires will probably block out a lot of the sun for a while.” The voice was clearly knowledgeable and appeared happy to answer any of his questions.
“Has any of the government survived?” asked Ray.
“Yes, we have a few Ministers that are safe in shelters around the country but we haven’t got much of an infrastructure left to govern. All major roads and transport networks have gone. The EMPs have fried the electricity grid, there are no available police and very few military personnel. Fuel and food supplies with be damned near impossible to distribute and we’ve had a few survivors turn up at the gates with the most appalling burn injuries”
Patrick approached the telephone. “This is Sir Patrick McGrath, former Director of Counter Terrorism. Are you at the cockpit or backstage?” Patrick used the code words for two known locations of government bunkers.
For a second, there was silence at the end of the telephone and then the voice said, “Sir Patrick, could I have your clearance code?”
“Delta, Foxtrot, Alpha, Indigo, Bravo, One, Nine, Charlie Victor.” Replied Patrick.
The vice responded immediately “Paddy, It’s me! Martin Fowlkes. We’re at The Stock Room. We’re pretty much intact but we can’t raise The Cockpit or Backstage. Absolutely no response at all but we do know that the area took quite a pounding.”
Ray was not happy that Patrick was interrupting but he said nothing.
“I’m glad it’s you, Martin. Who’s the commander down there?” Patrick had now sat down in Ray’s computer chair. Ray flung himself onto the sofa in temper. Annie noticed this and gave him a sympathetic look. She was used to her father taking full control in any situation.
“It should have been Simon Peakes but he didn’t arrive, so I’m the most senior here. There’s twelve of us from a variety of different backgrounds. We’ve got a nuclear scientist, a local doctor, the head of the council, but he’s injured.” Martin replied.
“Simon’s a slimy bastard! He probably got a plane out to save himself. Okay, listen carefully. Can you send me through a list of all identified safe locations and supply farms in Wales? I’ll direct operations over here. I’ll need details of all known stocks of resources… Oh! And I’ll need contact details as well.”
Gerry stood up and marched over to the phone. “Now listen to me! I’m the most senior active agent here, so I should be in charge.” He looked like a petulant child.
In unison both Ray and Patrick said “Shut up, Gerry.” Annie thought, at least they agreed about something.
Patrick pressed the button to disconnect the call. “They’re in Brighton.” He said. “It’s small but has excellent communication facilities. It doesn’t look like Corsham survived. That’s bad because that was where the main food stocks were kept for the southern area.”
Owen held his hand up as though he was in school and Patrick indicated that he should ask his question.
“If there’s no radiation outside, can I go and milk my cows? I did them this morning but they’ll be more than ready for milking again now. If I leave them, they’ll get mastitis.”
“How many have you got?” asked Patrick.
“I’ve got 130 beef castle but only 20 milkers.” Replied Owen.
“Okay, we need them bringing over here. You won’t have any power over at your place so we’ll have to milk them by hand. There’s also the two goats to milk over here.” Patrick turned to his daughter. “Annie, have we got anything we can make cheese in? It’s a damned good source of food.”
“Yes, we’ve got some large pans up in the preserving room and the cheese will mature well in the cave.” Replied Annie.
“Do you actually know how to make cheese?” asked Ray who was bewildered by the way Patrick had suddenly taken over organizing everything. “Don’t you need something called Rennet?” Ray looked pleased with himself at demolishing Patrick’s plan.
Maryanne came forward “Rennet is just a coagulating agent for the milk to turn it into cheese. The same enzymes are found in nettles. We could use them instead.” There was no malice in her voice. She simply imparted her knowledge and went back to looking through the books on the bookshelf.
Owen was already on his feet, ready to get to his cows. “I can bring them down to the bottom field which is just across the lane from the entrance to this place. It’s going to take about twenty minutes to milk each cow.”
“So that’s going to take all of us to do the milking in two hours?” said Ray.
“Hey! Count me out!” said Gerry. “I’m not going near a cow. They’re horrible beasts.”
Ray grabbed him menacingly “After the stunt you pulled this morning, you aren’t leaving my sight!”
They all walked up to the field with buckets and bowls to milk the cows. Things were so normal that Annie couldn’t believe that such a dreadful catastrophe had befallen the UK. The only indication was a large cloud that was drifting their way. It was a smoky, brown cloud in the distance, moving very slowly.
Once the cows and the two goats had been milked, they fed the pigs and the chickens and collected the eggs before putting the chickens into their coop for the night.
Maryanne was monitoring the atmosphere for radiation but levels had remained normal. Thank God for airburst weapons, she thought.