I went back to check on Frank who was sleeping soundly. I hovered over him, unsure of what to do… night was falling rapidly and it was getting very cold. We would be better off in the house. I leaned over him and shook his shoulder gently, ‘Frank?’ I whispered, ‘Frank, are you ok?’
‘Zoe?’ Frank opened his eyes and his face screwed up in pain.
‘Frank, we need to move inside’ I said.
He sat up slowly, and then crawled out of the tent. He lent heavily on me as we walked round to the house at the back of the plot. I got him settled into a large upstairs bedroom and went to collect our stuff.
When I returned for the final time, I checked the water in the Jacuzzi. It had warmed up nicely and it seemed like the filter was still working as the water was clear and smelt fresh. The temptation proved too much. I deserved a treat.
As I lolled in the Jacuzzi in my spare t-shirt, letting my stiff muscles relax, I wondered what tomorrow would bring. We were about four miles from the pickup point. I could go out early, take Franks pack, return and then we could set out together. I packed up the tent and everything else we wouldn’t need next morning into Franks pack. Then I set my phone to wake me at 5am and fell into bed.
Ten hours of solid sleep later I woke stiff and achy but fully rested. I checked on Frank who looked much better, and let him know I was going before slipping out of the building into the night. I had taken a good look at the map before I left; the first part was easy, staying on the main road until I got to a T-junction, then I needed to jink right and then left again. After walking a good few minutes I stopped; I had missed the turning. I backtracked and continued northwest, again missing my turning and only realising when I checked my luminous compass and saw I was now walking southwest.
Luckily the sky was beginning to lighten otherwise who knows how long it would have taken for me to get there, but eventually I arrived at the junction with the A41. I stashed Frank’s bag behind the nice big sign that said PICK UP POINT 6, then headed back. The return journey was much quicker but by the time I got back I was ready for breakfast. Frank had tidied up so the place looked immaculate again and had warmed up army ration breakfasts; sausages and beans, I fell on mine in delight and we were ready to leave by nine.
The final leg was much quicker than the previous day, Frank seemed to have regained some of his former strength, but I was careful to keep it slow. It wasn’t as sunny and there was a cold wind, so we took fewer breaks but we were there by half ten. By the time we saw the green of the army land rover we were freezing. I had half expected there to be others waiting but we were the only ones there. As they pulled up, a soldier jumped out with a riffle covering us both, looking extremely competent.
He took barely five seconds to ask us our names before he was striding up onto a vantage point and searching into the distance with binoculars.
The driver turned off the engine and got out more slowly. although he was wearing army fatigues and carrying a gun, he was young, he looked like one of my students, although he must have been at least eighteen. Or did the army recruit at sixteen? I could never remember.
He ticked us off a list and patted us down, but only in a cursory sort of way, ‘sorry sir, ma’am, but it’s just procedure.’ Frank collapsed into the back seat and I grabbed our packs and waited in anticipation to see where we would be taken.
We sped down the road for about ten miles and then took a couple of left turns. The signs had been removed but I recognised the area from some Duke of Edinburgh camping trips, we were near Wendover woods. The trees lining the road were stark, not yet in leaf this early in the year and I could see the army base as we passed. Further on there was a new chain-link fence on the left and then we came to a roundabout with a gate across the road and the chain-link fence continuing on the right, parallel to the road. There was a guard at the gate who waved at the soldiers in the land rover and pulled the gate open.
Inside was the settlement camp. I don’t know what I was expecting, tents maybe, or barracks-style housing, but it was just a town. It looked familiar… was it Wendover? I was sure I had been here on an expedition with the kids at school. There were residential roads leading into the town centre, but it looked tidier somehow; there weren’t the usual post-outbreak weeds and rubbish around. And as we approached the centre, the difference to other towns we had walked through became even more apparent.
It looked like a normal town pre-outbreak; there were people about on the grey streets in the cold wind, scurrying between shops, going in and out with bags full of goods. People were calling out to each other, stopping to exchange news. They turned to stare at us as we passed, curious but not hostile, some with welcoming smiles.
The Land Rover pulled up beside a clock tower and we got out. Beneath the tower was an arched doorway and on the doors was a large round sign; ‘Chiltern Camp Parish Council’. One of the soldiers pulled open the right-hand door and we walked into a tiny room with windows round two walls. Most of the space was taken up by a large counter that divided the room into two. Behind it a large bearded man looked up and beamed at us. He stood, ‘Welcome to our Chiltern settlement camp. I’m David, have you been here before?’
‘No,’ I said reflexively, then realised he probably meant had I been to Wendover before, I dithered, should I say something?
‘No,’ said Frank, as he sank down in a chair by the window. He still looked frail.
David looked concerned and picked up a file from his desk; he opened it and glanced down, paused, then picked up the phone on his desk. He pressed a number on speed-dial. ‘Don’t worry Frank; we’ll get you to a doctor as soon as possible. How are you feeling?’ he look up as he spoke, blue eyes gleaming warmly behind round metal framed glasses.
Frank pulled a face ‘Ok, I’ll be fine once I get my pills.’
I shook my head. ‘He had a heart attack on the way here,’ I interjected; I hoped it was true that they had hospitals and medical facilities, Frank really needed some proper medical help.
‘Oh,’ said David, ‘It might be best if we take you straight to the medical centre.’ he called one of the soldiers over, Frank stood, slowly. The soldier opened the door and stood back, it was the younger soldier and he had an odd look on his face as he ushered Frank back into the land rover. David looked at me appraisingly and glanced down at the file in front of him. He picked up a pen, tapping it on the form. ‘Ok, on your form you said you were a science teacher and have some food growing experience?’ he phrased it as a question.
‘Yes, I used to work in a high school, and I grew some carrots and potatoes last year,’ This was a bit of an understatement, but I had grown cautious when talking about food.
‘That sounds fine,’ said David, looking down at the forms on his desk ‘and I see you’ve been allocated a house in Manor Crescent, which is convenient as it’s right next to the school. Quite nice houses with good sized gardens. As a teacher you will be working for the council, so you’ll have the place to yourself.’
To be honest it sounded perfect ‘That sounds amazing,’ I said ‘what’s the catch?’ I was joking but David looked up sharply.
‘There is no catch; we’re just providing what the government promised ‘A place for everyone.’’ He seemed a little put out.
‘It seems fantastic,’ I said hurriedly, ‘I can’t believe how much you’ve managed to achieve, I’m really grateful to be here.’ He seemed mollified, but I was surprised at his reaction. Maybe there was a catch somewhere; I would have to look out.
The phone rang and David picked it up, he listened carefully, nodding in response to whatever he was hearing. His features in neutral radiated bonhomie, with ruddy cheeks and crinkles in the corners of his eyes. Eventually he put the phone down and smiled at me, the crinkles deepening. ‘That was the receptionist at the medical centre,’ he said, ‘Frank had been allocated a place in the care home off the high street, but we’re going to keep him in the hospital temporarily, whilst the doctors monitor his condition.’