their own survival, people didn’t give a shit about
the long term. Every selfish second was precious to those who counted them.
“Tried that
once,” I said. “Didn’t work.”
Victoria
drummed her fingers on the desk, her nails tapping on the wood. They were rough
and jagged, and she'd bitten most of them down. “What happened?” she asked.
I put my
hand to my chin. My beard felt scratchy on my fingers. “People are too damn
selfish to think about the future.”
Alice leaned
in. “I never saw Vasey before it collapsed, but surely some people were willing
to help?”
I nodded. “A
few. But their voices were drowned out by the selfish ones.”
Victoria
closed her eyes, nodded. “That’s what I found too. But when I got to Bleakholt,
I saw something here. Not much, just a thread of survival at first, but I knew
that if someone could unravel it, there was something great underneath. That
was seven years ago. Now, everything is different. This really is salvation.”
Lou arched
her eyebrows. “Seen a lot of places promising that.”
“Oh?” said
Victoria. “How many places have you seen with a hundred acres of flourishing
crops? Renewable wind energy? Solar power too, or as much as our shitty weather
permits. Fuel generators, a school, engineers, carpenters. A science programme.
Even children.”
It sounded
too good to be true. It was everything I had planned, and failed, to do in
Vasey. Yet if she were to be believed, Victoria had managed it. I hadn’t seen
much of Bleakholt since arriving here, but it seemed like a place where the
people had purpose. Maybe all it took was a strong leader to follow everything
through. Perhaps I had been too weak in Vasey.
“I’m
impressed,” said Melissa.
“Don’t stoke
her ego,” said Billy.
Lou gave him
a glance, and then shot her eyes straight at the floor.
“It sounds
good,” I agreed.
I meant it.
I wanted more than anything for this to be true. I wanted the promise of
Bleakholt to be real so much that my chest hurt. But I knew what waited out in
the Wilds; the infected desperate to feast on flesh, stalkers creeping under
the twilight. It made any kind of hope hard to cling to, like trying to stay
in a dream when your body wants to wake you up.
Victoria
leaned forward and straightened her bony shoulders. She probably weighed less
than eight stone, but her posture made her seem bigger than she really was.
“So with
that in mind,” she said, “you’ll understand why you can’t stay here. Our
resources are too precious, the balance too fragile. And we’ve already got a
stranger problem that I’ve yet to sort out.”
“What kind
of stranger problem?” said Alice.
Billy took a
step forward. “Bunch of travellers turned up outside the settlement a month
ago. Fuck knows how they got here, but we can’t get rid of them.”
“When I was
younger, I worked in a hotel kitchen,” said Victoria. “We had a rat problem.
They came day after day scavenging food, and no matter how much poison we left
down they always came back. Once we had a business delegation in the hotel on a
conference. They’d ordered a grand dinner for all fifty of them. It looked like
a royal feast. But the rats got into the food. They squirmed through the
spaghetti, gnawed on the meat. They ruined everything.”
“You should
have joined a union,” said Lou.
Victoria
ignored the sarcasm. “Once people see an easy meal, there’s nothing that can
turn them away. The strangers that turned up at our gates expected sanctuary.
They expected us to feed them, no questions asked. They didn’t even stop to
think that we had our own people to worry about.”
I started to
get an idea of who these strangers were. I hoped I was wrong. “Who are they?” I
asked.
Victoria
shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, we’ll deal with them somehow. Only, I can’t do
it by force. I just won’t do
the long term. Every selfish second was precious to those who counted them.
“Tried that
once,” I said. “Didn’t work.”
Victoria
drummed her fingers on the desk, her nails tapping on the wood. They were rough
and jagged, and she'd bitten most of them down. “What happened?” she asked.
I put my
hand to my chin. My beard felt scratchy on my fingers. “People are too damn
selfish to think about the future.”
Alice leaned
in. “I never saw Vasey before it collapsed, but surely some people were willing
to help?”
I nodded. “A
few. But their voices were drowned out by the selfish ones.”
Victoria
closed her eyes, nodded. “That’s what I found too. But when I got to Bleakholt,
I saw something here. Not much, just a thread of survival at first, but I knew
that if someone could unravel it, there was something great underneath. That
was seven years ago. Now, everything is different. This really is salvation.”
Lou arched
her eyebrows. “Seen a lot of places promising that.”
“Oh?” said
Victoria. “How many places have you seen with a hundred acres of flourishing
crops? Renewable wind energy? Solar power too, or as much as our shitty weather
permits. Fuel generators, a school, engineers, carpenters. A science programme.
Even children.”
It sounded
too good to be true. It was everything I had planned, and failed, to do in
Vasey. Yet if she were to be believed, Victoria had managed it. I hadn’t seen
much of Bleakholt since arriving here, but it seemed like a place where the
people had purpose. Maybe all it took was a strong leader to follow everything
through. Perhaps I had been too weak in Vasey.
“I’m
impressed,” said Melissa.
“Don’t stoke
her ego,” said Billy.
Lou gave him
a glance, and then shot her eyes straight at the floor.
“It sounds
good,” I agreed.
I meant it.
I wanted more than anything for this to be true. I wanted the promise of
Bleakholt to be real so much that my chest hurt. But I knew what waited out in
the Wilds; the infected desperate to feast on flesh, stalkers creeping under
the twilight. It made any kind of hope hard to cling to, like trying to stay
in a dream when your body wants to wake you up.
Victoria
leaned forward and straightened her bony shoulders. She probably weighed less
than eight stone, but her posture made her seem bigger than she really was.
“So with
that in mind,” she said, “you’ll understand why you can’t stay here. Our
resources are too precious, the balance too fragile. And we’ve already got a
stranger problem that I’ve yet to sort out.”
“What kind
of stranger problem?” said Alice.
Billy took a
step forward. “Bunch of travellers turned up outside the settlement a month
ago. Fuck knows how they got here, but we can’t get rid of them.”
“When I was
younger, I worked in a hotel kitchen,” said Victoria. “We had a rat problem.
They came day after day scavenging food, and no matter how much poison we left
down they always came back. Once we had a business delegation in the hotel on a
conference. They’d ordered a grand dinner for all fifty of them. It looked like
a royal feast. But the rats got into the food. They squirmed through the
spaghetti, gnawed on the meat. They ruined everything.”
“You should
have joined a union,” said Lou.
Victoria
ignored the sarcasm. “Once people see an easy meal, there’s nothing that can
turn them away. The strangers that turned up at our gates expected sanctuary.
They expected us to feed them, no questions asked. They didn’t even stop to
think that we had our own people to worry about.”
I started to
get an idea of who these strangers were. I hoped I was wrong. “Who are they?” I
asked.
Victoria
shook her head. “Doesn’t matter, we’ll deal with them somehow. Only, I can’t do
it by force. I just won’t do
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