He clapped a hand over his mouth and retreated from the edge, holding his breath. He had never really liked his superior but he knew one thing for certain.
Colonel Cruikshank was no fool.
He tapped a button on his own handcom. The Communications Officer appeared on the screen.
“Start evacuating the base and then get me Headquarters,” he rasped. “Tell them to get a missile ready.”
At 8 o’clock in the evening, on Friday, 24th of December 2039, Pinewood Military Installation was destroyed by a massive explosion. The blast ripped apart acres of forest and devastated the remote highland valley where the base was located.
No official cause was given for the incident.
Epilogue: 2060
It was Christmas Day.
Madrid stood in the doorway of the ranger station, looking out across the forest. The building was a ruin now and the woodland was different too. The original trees were gone and, in their place, Douglas Firs had been planted in neat rows, like troops lined for battle. The new woods must have been here for some time, however, for they had grown to near maturity.
Earlier that day she had walked through the forest where Pinewood had once stood, but the military base was gone. There weren’t even any ruins, only more trees. They looked somehow sinister, darker and thicker than other parts of the woodland and she had quickly left.
A cooing started up from the broken masonry behind her. On the crooked remnants of the chimney stack two pigeons ruffled their feathers and nestled against each other.
She turned back and gave a start.
A man was walking through the trees towards her.
He was dressed in a dark top, jeans and boots and wore a heavy black leather jacket. In one hand he carried a package wrapped in blue Christmas paper. As he got closer she studied his face.
Jimmy Hicks hadn’t grown much; she judged that he was only a couple of inches taller than her. But he had filled out, his shoulders and chest were broad, and he no longer stooped when he walked. His floppy hair was cut short and had turned grey at the sides
He had become a handsome man, Madrid thought, though she could see he had a large scar running down the side of his face. Madrid wondered how he got it.
She realised with a shock that he looked a bit like Sherman.
Jimmy closed the gap between them, puffs of condensation scooting from his mouth. He stopped a few feet away.
“We finally get our date, Hicks,” Madrid said casually.
“Yeah. Sorry I’m late.” Jimmy moved forward until he was standing in front of her. “Hope it was worth the wait.”
Madrid looked around the forest. She stared up at the sky, then down to the ground. The man in front of her stayed motionless, waiting. Madrid put both hands behind her back and shuffled her feet. Finally, she tilted her head and tentatively glanced at Jimmy Hicks through long, thick lashes.
He gave a small smile.
“Ah. There you are Leslie.”
Leaning forward he kissed the woman gently on her lips.
And they held each other for a long, long time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jan-Andrew Henderson (J.A. Henderson) is the author of 24 teenage, YA, adult and non-fiction books. Published in the UK, USA, Germany and the Czech Republic, he has been shortlisted for twelve literary awards and is the winner of the Doncaster Book Prize and the Royal Mail Award.
Copyright
First published 2007 by Oxford University Press
Reprinted 2019 by Black Hart
Black Hart Entertainment.
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The rights of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been ascertained in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the authors’ imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Cover by Craig Thomson (Thomson art n sketches) and Panagiotis Lampridis (BookDesignStars)
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Bunker 10.
ISBN-978-0-9928561-7-5 (print)
ISBN-978-0-9928561-8-2 (eBook)