Tony Littlejohns: The Hoffmann Plague

They all agreed that this was great and would be very useful in the future. They talked for a while more, before Harry said they’d better make a move and get the house cleaned. Bill said he would go with them to show them where it was. They said goodbye and that they would see them later when they’d finished.

Bill got into the Land Rover with Tom and Karen and, back on the road, directed them towards the village and pointed out the house. They pulled into the gated entrance and parked by the side of the house, then got out and walked around the property, ending up at the back. They saw that there were, indeed, two large water butts at the rear corners of the house, collecting run-off from the roof.

‘Well, that’s good news,’ said Karen, ‘and one less job for us to do!’ The others agreed with her. They all commented that the house and grounds looked good from the outside, and that the out-buildings would be useful. Maria tried the back door and it was open.

‘If you don’t mind,’ said Bill, ‘I won’t come in with you. I’ve seen my share of bodies this year, but they were friends and I’d rather not see them like that. I’ll walk back to the farm and you can come over when you’re ready. If there’s anything you need give us a shout.’

They thanked him, saying they would see him later. Karen gave Bill the bag with the pheasants to cook for them later and he headed back to the farm.

It was dark by around four p.m. and the four of them arrived at the farm just after six, having walked there with torches. Bill invited them inside and ushered them through to the kitchen, where introductions were made to those who hadn’t yet met. The younger folks went and sat in the conservatory.

Maria had a British Army combat shotgun slung over her shoulder and Harry had his Glock 17 pistol on his hip. They removed them and asked Bill where to put them, so he said in the hall up by the door. Jamie asked Maria about the shotgun so she handed it to him.

‘It’s an auto-loader; twelve-gauge with seven-shot capacity. It fires 9mm buckshot or solid slugs – great for combat but not very good for pheasant, really! There’s only nine pellets per cartridge, so you’ve got to get pretty close to guarantee a hit.’

Jamie smiled and said ‘Nice!’ before handing it back, then she took the two weapons and put them in the hall. Karen handed Emma two bottles of wine and she thanked her and got them all a glass. They stayed in the kitchen so they could talk while preparing the meal and Jamie went back to chopping vegetables with Jane while they chatted. Tom said they’d cleared the bodies and burned them out back and would bury the remains the next day. Between them they’d cleaned and disinfected the relevant areas and the place was liveable now. There were four bedrooms, so they didn’t need to use the ones where the bodies had been yet.

‘Everything’s a bit musty at the moment,’ said Karen, ‘but we’re used to that and we’ve all slept in far worse places! There’s a good supply of logs out the back and also inside, so we’ll be okay for heating and cooking for a while.’

‘The first thing we’re going to do tomorrow,’ said Harry, ‘is to go shopping for some new clothes. None of us has any civvies and we’ve been living in three sets of musty uniforms for nearly a year! We noticed an M&S and a Next at the retail park in Bexhill, so we’ll go there in the morning.’

‘Amen to that!’ said Maria.

It was a relaxed evening; the guests were great company and interesting to talk with, and they discussed many plans for the future. Later on, Jamie went out for a smoke and Maria said she’d join him. They stood in the cold air and chatted, the only other sounds being the calling of a tawny owl in the trees nearby and the horses in the stables. The sky was clear and filled with stars.

‘I guess this is going to be a huge lifestyle change for you after the army,’ said Jamie.

‘Oh, man, tell me about it!’ said Maria, laughing. ‘But I’m looking at it as a new challenge; we all are. We’ve got a lot to learn in the years ahead about growing stuff and we’re looking forward to learning from you guys.’

She hesitated for a second. ‘I’ve heard from Harry and Tom that you and Jane have had some difficult moments and seen action. I just wanted to say good for you for looking after yourselves and doing what needed to be done. It’s not easy for civilians with no training to do those sorts of things.’

Receiving praise and respect from this tough army career-woman was unexpected and Jamie felt a bit self-conscious. He smiled and mumbled slightly with his reply, looking down. ‘Thank you, Maria. Well, you just have to do what’s necessary sometimes.’ They smiled at each other and went back inside.

The radios were proving extremely useful for exchanging news and arranging visits between them all, as they had imagined. They had agreed between them three times in the day when they would turn on the radios for thirty minutes in case anyone needed to get in contact, but said that they should keep the talking to a minimum to conserve the batteries. When the days lengthened and there was more daylight for the solar panels they would be able to talk for longer periods.

In the lead-up to Christmas they were able to make arrangements and discuss what they would all bring. Bill and Emma had decided to have everyone over to the farm; Matt and Zoe and their army friends had no fresh produce yet and it would have been a bit dismal for them to have Christmas dinner from tinned food. Megan and Sally scoured the area around the farm, collecting holly and fir-tree branches to make wreathes to hang in their houses. Bill, Peter and Jamie took the van to Tesco’s warehouse and loaded it up with plenty of drinks and food. There were many sweet and savoury products that were still within their use-by date, which was good.

Maria said that she and Harry would provide Christmas dinner and asked Jane if she could borrow one of their hunting rifles; the L85A2 rifle they had was a decent weapon but it was no match for a proper hunting rifle over long distances. Two days before Christmas they came back with a fallow deer, which they butchered and hung in an outbuilding at the farm, and Max was happy to get the off-cuts they didn’t need.

Christmas day was a joyous occasion, with Bill and Emma having a full house of nineteen people. Sarah and Georgie came, and Matt and Zoe with the twins, along with the four army folk. Emma and Jane split the cooking between them as they needed both ranges for all the food. Karen prepared various dishes at their place and brought them over, as did Zoe, Sarah and Georgie. They only got presents for the kids, which were mostly books and board games. Jamie and Jane found pocket identification books on trees, plants, wildlife and fish for Megan to carry when she went out, plus her first knife, which she would need for the future: it had a fixed four inch blade and a nice leather sheath. Jamie said he’d give her instruction on its safe use and she grinned and thanked them both.

After their Christmas dinner Bill got up to say a few words. ‘Emma and I are so pleased to have you all here; Merry Christmas, everyone!’ They all cheered, raised their glasses and said Merry Christmas! He went quiet for a few seconds and his face changed as he became serious. ‘Well, it’s been a very difficult year for everyone, to say the least. We’ve all lost family and friends to the plague and experienced hard times. Some of us have seen and done things that… Well, you know what I mean. No one in their wildest dreams could’ve imagined this happening eighteen months ago.’

He looked on the verge of tears and paused to compose himself. ‘I’m not a religious person, but my mother was. If she were here now she’d probably be quoting from the Book of Revelation about The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with Death riding out on his pale horse to kill with sword, famine and plague, and how it’s come true. I don’t know about that, but an apocalypse has certainly happened.