“Do you want me to take over for a bit?” he said after he’d watched Aaron yawn for the sixth time.
“I’m alright,” he said. “Sol’s up in an hour.”
The plan was to travel non-stop. Going through the night would cut a week off their overall travel time. Aaron hadn’t really elaborated on what they would do when they reached London but it would be prudent to keep as much of their armoury as possible for it.
Ben leaned against the rail at the back of the boat. The sun was at its peak and the water shinned like a mirror. There was no sound in the world except for the gently throbbing motor beneath them.
They ate a dinner of beans and sausages that Anthony cooked over the wood burner. Sol was served his on deck while the rest of them gathered in the open space that passed for a living room. There were bunks on the walls, attached by hinges to keep them out of the way when they weren’t in use. During the night they would all sleep but each of them had a shift booked on deck.
Ben sat between Daniel and Kris, she sat leaning against Sandra. Anthony and Aaron sat opposite. They warmth from the stove made the room muggy and, combined with a lack of sleep, Ben found himself yawning before he got to the bottom of his tin.
“Have you been out this way before?” said Ben to Kris in the hope that conversation would keep him awake long enough to finish eating.
She shook her head. She was a woman of few words. She was slight and young and her red hair was cut short. He thought she resembled a teenage boy. “I’ve never been outside Sanctuary,” she said.
“What? Never?” He wondered what qualified her for this journey, maybe she was an ace vamp killer.
“Her mum was pregnant with her when she arrived,” said Sandra and Ben wondered if Sandra was her mother. She was just about old enough but it would be a push. “Kris was the first person born in Sanctuary.”
Ben watched as Sandra put her arm around Kris and Drew her into her in a not very motherly fashion. She kissed the younger woman on the cheek and he thought he understood.
“How’s Mary?” said Sandra as if she needed to make it any clearer that Kris was hers and therefore off limits to him. Not that he would ever cheat on his wife but love was funny like that, what you knew and what you feared were often two very different things.
“She’s good,” he said but Sandra had already turned away.
Kris mouthed ‘sorry’ and shrugged before turning away as well.
“Ignore them,” said Daniel.
Scott turned around to see the man looking at him.
“You gonna finish that?” he said, waving his fork at Scott’s tin.
Scott looked down as if he had forgotten all about his dinner. “Yeah I am,” he said.
“Shame.”
He looked down to scoop up another fork of beans and when he looked up again Daniel had gone. He finished his dinner and left his tin on the draining board by the sink. No one seemed to be in the mood for talking and within half an hour the bunks were being pulled down. He climbed into his own with weary pleasure, pulled his sleeping bag up high and closed his eyes.
Exhausted though he was sleep did not come quickly to Ben that night. He lay on his back with his eyes closed and let the gentle motion of the boat lull him into a doze that was not quite sleep. He imagined the dark world passing by outside and wondered what they would find in London.
7
The morning was cold. The wind seemed to cut right through his clothes and down to his bones. Ben wrapped his jacket tightly around himself and pulled down his hat. It was just about light enough to see the river ahead, to adjust the tiller and keep them away from the overgrown banks on either side. He scanned the banks continuously but saw no sign of movement there.
He supposed that they hadn’t actually come that far, that any vamps in the area would have been swallowed up by the dam project. Sunrise came and went and he heard people down below walking across the bare floorboards and creaky hinges as bunks were pushed back up against the wall. A while later the door opened and Aaron came out with a breakfast tin for him.
“Any trouble?” he said.
Ben shook his head, but there was one thing. “What do you make of that?” He pointed behind him. In the distance there was smoke rising into the air. The source of it was hidden by the trees and he couldn’t tell whether it was just around the corner or far in the distance.
Aaron stared at it for a long time.
He had been able to see the smoke since first light. That was an hour ago. If it was far away then it was growing, maybe consuming a whole town.
“Someone’s following us,” said Aaron eventually.
Ben nodded, he’d come to the same conclusion. “What should we do?”
Aaron continued to stare at the white smoke billowing up above the tree line. “Guess it depends who it is.” He looked for a few moments longer, as if he would be able to tell something from the smoke itself. “Wait here a minute.”
He went back inside and Ben poured the contents of the tin into his mouth (beans and sausages, well past its use by date but still good). Shortly Aaron returned with Daniel. Ben, Aaron and Daniel stared at the smoke.
“Might be trouble,” said Daniel without looking away. “I’ll keep an eye on it.”
Aaron grabbed Ben’s arm. “Come on.”
He still had another hour left before Sandra was due to relieve him but he didn’t argue with Aaron. He followed him inside. The boat was dark compared to the bright morning light and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust but by the time he had followed Aaron across the room to where the others were standing he could see again.
“What is it?” said Sandra. Ben noticed that Kris was clinging to her side.
“We don’t know yet,” said Aaron. “But we need to be ready. Sol?”
The boy threw a bag across the room to Aaron, something inside it clunked. He put the bag down on the floor and unzipped it. He took out hand guns and handed one to each of them. He hesitated when he got to Kris. “Have you ever used one of these?” he said.
She shook her head.
For a moment Ben thought Aaron was going to refuse to give it to her, instead he stood up next to her. “See this,” he pointed at the safety catch.
Kris nodded.
“Leave it on until you need to shoot. When you want to shoot flick it back like this, aim at what you want to kill and then pull the trigger. Got it?”
She nodded.
“Good girl,” he said and flicked the safety on before handing her the gun. She clutched it to her chest like a child with a teddy. “Alright,” he said, taking a gun out of the bag and checking it over. “Wait here and don’t do anything stupid.”
Ben looked at Anthony and Sol, they seemed quite relaxed about the situation.
He didn’t think he’d seen a gun in five years. They were all supposed to be locked up in the Village Hall, the weapons on his boat were a gift from his father and a secret. Time seemed to stand still. No one spoke or even moved. The engine continued to chug away until all of a sudden it cut out and all he could hear was the water breaking against the hull as the boat continued to drift along the river.
He held his breath as he heard another engine and the windows on the starboard side of the boat darkened as another vessel pulled up alongside them. Then the other engine cut out.
Indistinct voices came through the wooden walls. He tried to detect malice or threat but couldn’t. Even so he realised he was gripping the handle of his gun too tightly.
The others stood still, looking at the door at the other end of the cabin. Then everything seemed to go quiet. The voices stopped. He braced himself for the sound of gunfire.