Chapter 1
In the underground safe house, the atmosphere was not good and was filled with anxiety and malaise. This was the typical atmosphere these days. A scouting team had been dispatched to gather supplies and for basic reconnaissance. Veronica and Harry were discussing things they’d heard about the outside as they played a game of cards and smoked cigarettes to kill time and take their minds off things. It had been a long time since anyone had really ventured out and witnessed anything.
“I’d heard that there’s a new model of them wandering about” Veronica said.
“New model? What are you talking about?” Harry asked.
“A new type of the machines have been spotted” Veronica explained.
“Bullshit” Harry countered with, “It’s only the big bulbous ones that look like an overweight deep sea diver”.
“I’m telling you that they are evolving or something” Veronica said.
“How can they evolve? They’re basically just big pieces of metal” Harry said.
“Their numbers are growing and they are getting more aggressive” Veronica said.
“How would you know? When was the last time you saw one?” Harry asked with derision.
“They told me over the radio, one of the other survivor groups” Veronica said.
Harry scoffed at the thought. “They’re in the same boat we are” he said, “They’re just imagining things”.
“You know that they are getting more powerful, you’ve heard all the noise they’ve been making” Veronica said, “And other safe houses have gone dark. They’re doing something”.
George, the safe house’s commander, decided to interject. “That’s all speculation. You don’t know about any of that”.
“Yeah, but….”
“I don’t want any speculative talk” George said sternly, “Hearsay is not helpful and it creates more fear”.
Veronica went silent and carried on with the game of cards and smoking. She was tense but so was everyone else and the tension was palpable and everyone was on edge and high alert. Hyper-vigilance was in the air and the noises and sounds of commotion was clearly audible within the safe house. The clankers, as they had become colloquially known, were up to things but what exactly was a mystery but they had left this safe house alone, for now.
The small group who had been sent out for scavenging had finally returned but they had ran into problems and only two of the four had come back, and neither of them were in good shape.
One of them was barely conscious and the other was severely limping when they got back. “Open the door, open the door” the one still conscious and walking called out as he hammered frantically on the metal door and the door was promptly unlocked and swung open to let the returning pair inside. “Quick, he’s been hurt badly” said the conscious man as he struggled to carry the other and placed the barely unconscious man on to a table.
“Oh, fuck. What happened?” Veronica said in fear of seeing this dramatic scene of the two returning scavengers. “Where are the other two?” she then fearfully asked.
“We ran into them when we got to the market store” Terry, the conscious of the two recently returned scavengers, said frantically as he began to explain the situation, “It seemed quiet and empty of anyone else, but I think they saw us or something and they jumped us and they grabbed Billy and Nadine”.
The others listened intently and Veronica began cursing and swearing at hearing the news.
“How’d you get out?” Harry asked.
“It was a god-damn miracle” Terry said, “I began swinging the crowbar in panic and I think that I managed to take one out, or knocked it out cold, as it came for me and another had tried to grab Boris here but I swung as hard and as fast as could to get it off him and I managed to knock it back and off him but not before it knocked him out cold and it tried to get me and it took a chunk out of my leg as I beat the shit out of it in a blind panic”.
As Terry was explaining the events Siobhan, the closest thing they had to a doctor, had grabbed a first aid kit and some other things to have a look at Boris lying on the table. “Concussion” she said as she looked over Boris’s head, “And a fractured skull, I think”.
“Will he be okay?” George asked with some distant stoicism, as he tried to remain calm and rational in this time of crisis.
“Hard to tell right now” Siobhan said as she shone a small flash light in Boris’s eyes and checked his head, “I think so but until he regains consciousness I can’t be certain of the damage”.
Paul, who had been on radio duty the for the last few hours, came over and said something to George and George nodded as he took in what Paul had just told him.
