‘It’s a shame there isn’t a log-burner in here, rather than a fire,’ he said. ‘They’re far more efficient with fuel. Trouble with an open fire is that most of the heat is lost up the chimney.’
‘Still, a girl can’t have everything she wants! On balance, I think the fact that it’s next door to you outweighs that.’
‘I agree. And it could be a possible project for the future to install one; who knows?’
They went out through another door into the hall. Opposite was a dining room behind the kitchen, a small study to the front, and a cloakroom with toilet between them.
‘There are four bedrooms upstairs,’ Jamie said, ‘and a large bathroom, with an en-suite to the rear bedroom. There’s not much point going up, unless you want to.’
She shook her head. ‘Not right now, anyway.’
They went outside and carried the ladder back to the garage, then went inside to make some tea. While making it he turned to Jane. ‘Well, what do you think?’
‘I think it will do fine. It’s not perfect, from a purely survivalist point of view, but it’s got a wood-fired range and an open fire, which are the most important aspects. Strange, isn’t it, how our viewpoints have changed, and everything we look at now is from a utilitarian perspective?’
‘I know what you mean. It’s a big house, though, and it’ll be difficult to heat in the winter.’
‘I thought of that, too, while we were looking round. One solution would be to bring a bed downstairs into the lounge in winter, or I could sleep on the sofas. If the doors to the hall were kept closed it would prevent heat from being lost upstairs. With just the door between the kitchen and lounge open, and between the range and the fireplace, I’m sure it will be warm enough.’
‘Yes, I agree; that might be the best thing to do. So, is that a thumbs-up for your new home?’
She smiled. ‘Definitely! The pros easily outweigh the cons.’
Jamie smiled back. ‘Good. We’ll get started straight away in removing the bodies.’
He gave her a cup of tea then took his outside for a smoke and sat in the porch. She came out to join him and said ‘What shall we do with them?’
He shrugged. ‘I’m not sure; any thoughts?’
She thought for a few seconds. ‘Well, I saw a stack of old tarps in the garage. We could make some body-bags from them, put them in the Toyota and take them to the skip where you dumped the others and burn them.’
‘That’s a good idea. It would save us having to drag them through the garden and down the steps to the beach.’ After a while, he added ‘Something’s bothering me, Jane. I’m not a scientist or a doctor, and I don’t know whether we’re now immune from the plague because we caught it and survived, or if we can catch it again. I know with some viruses you can build up immunity, but the plague isn’t a virus, it’s a bacterium, and I don’t know if the same thing applies.’
‘Oh God! I never thought of that. I just kind of assumed that I couldn’t catch it again; but now you mention it, I’m not sure.’
‘I know bacteria can’t survive out in the open for more than a few hours, so touching things and surfaces isn’t a problem. But those bodies might still contain the plague bacteria. Or would they? Do the bacteria need a living organism to survive in and die off at the same time as the host body?’
Jane shook her head. ‘I haven’t the faintest idea, but we can’t take the chance, can we?
‘No, we can’t. I think when we remove the bodies we should be booted and suited, with rubber gloves, masks and visors, just to be sure. Then we’ll burn everything afterwards. We can go to Screwfix to get boiler suits and the rest of the stuff. It’s in Beeching Road, not far from the skip, and just around the corner from my flat.’
At that, he had a thought and groaned. ‘God, I’m stupid!’
‘What is it?’
‘Well, I’ve been driving the Land Rover around for the last week, and now the Toyota as well, and it didn’t occur to me that my car is still sitting outside my flat with about three-quarters of a tank of petrol in it! It’s a Seat Ibiza 1.4, and much more economical than the trucks. If there are trips we have to make where we don’t need to carry big loads, we can use that. It’s got to be good for around four hundred miles.’
Jane tutted then grinned. ‘You’re not the only one who’s stupid! My car’s still sitting round the back of my block and the same thing applies. I haven’t used it since before I got infected, and forgot about it!’
‘Ha-ha! Okay, I’ll walk back to my flat and get my car, then go round to Beeching Road to get the stuff we need and drive back here. I should be about forty-five minutes.’
‘In the meantime, I’ll make three body-bags from those tarps. There are rolls of duct tape in the garage, and plenty of twine. Would you pick up some more tarps while you’re there in case we don’t have enough?’
‘Okay, no problem,’ he replied.
Jamie got his rucksack and put the sawn-off in it, along with a hammer and a wrecking bar, and found his car keys. His knife in its sheath had become a permanent fixture on his belt, as had his Leatherman multi-tool. He put on his coat and hat and just before leaving remembered to check Jane’s shoe-size.
He walked to the end of the road and turned left into Richmond Avenue, then crossed Cooden Drive and under the railway. He turned right into Terminus Avenue, walking at a steady pace. As he went, he saw blossom on some fruit trees along the way, which was a good sign. Hopefully, by the end of summer they would be laden with apples, pears and cherries for them to pick, store and preserve.
Arriving outside his flat, he was tempted to go inside but decided not to. That was his old life, and he had everything he needed from it anyway. His new life lay ahead, at the bungalow and with Jane. He unlocked his car, got in and turned the key in the ignition. The engine turned over slower due to the battery being run-down, but it caught after a while and fired into life. He patted the dashboard and smiled, then drove round to Screwfix on Beeching Road and parked outside, leaving the engine running to charge the battery a bit more.
The front door was locked, so he got the hammer and smashed the glass, reached in to turn the latch and went inside. After searching up and down the aisles in all the racks, he found what he wanted. He got Wellington boots, disposable boiler suits, several pairs of thick rubber gloves, industrial dust masks and two face visors. He also took several packs of tarps in various sizes, rolls of duct tape, two yard brooms and two shovels. As a last thought, he picked up a few bottles of methylated spirits.
He loaded the car and after a couple of trips was ready to leave. He was back at the bungalow in less than five minutes and parked on the drive beside the Toyota. The door was open and Jane came out to help unload the car.
‘Hiya; any problems?’
‘No, it was pretty straightforward, really. Didn’t take much to break in and I found everything we needed.’
On the driveway were three improvised body-bags made from blue tarps. They were taped all round with duct tape to seal the edges. All they had to do was to push the remains off the bed and onto the tarp, pull up the sides and ends and then seal them with more tape.
Jamie looked at them, nodding. ‘Excellent – they should do the trick.’
‘Right, let’s get this bloody thing over and done with!’ to which he agreed.