Disintegration

34

Bloodied and exhausted, Webb and Sean returned to the hotel hours later to find the rest of the group gathered in the Steelbrooke Suite—a large, bright conference room with floor to ceiling length windows along two sides, located toward the rear right-hand corner of the hotel complex, overlooking the grounds and the boundary fence. The two men stashed their soiled clothing in an empty bedroom before joining the others, hoping to hide the evidence of their excursion like naughty schoolchildren. They needn’t have bothered. Hardly anyone looked up when they arrived.

“Where’ve you been?” Harte asked, only slightly interested.

“Exercising,” Webb replied before Sean could say anything which might incriminate them. He walked toward the back of the room where Hollis, Lorna, Martin, and Gordon sat looking at a map of the area. He stopped first at another table, upon which a pile of food had been left. He helped himself to a bar of chocolate, threw one across the room to Sean, then began cramming food into his mouth.

“Take it easy,” Martin complained as Webb almost immediately picked up a second bar and unwrapped it as he walked toward the others.

“Why?” he protested with his mouth full, showering the map in chocolate and spittle. “There’s plenty left.”

“We’ve only got one more box left in the stores,” Ginnie piped up from where she sat nearby, sewing a pair of trousers.

“I’m not talking about what’s in here,” he explained. He pointed out of the window. “I’m talking about out there.”

“I’m working on them, Webb, give me time,” Hollis told him. Intrigued, Webb looked down at the map.

“Where’s this, then?” he asked, still chewing.

“You are here,” Hollis answered, tapping his finger on the top right corner of the page.

“So what’s here?” Webb wondered, drawing a large circle in the air above the map. “Anywhere worth going?”

“Bromwell,” Gordon volunteered, pointing out the small town a few kilometers east of their present location.

“So that’s where we’re heading?”

“We’re not sure yet,” Martin quickly interrupted. “That’s what we were talking about, but no decisions have been made.”

“Well, I’m sure,” Harte said from across the room. “Forget all this bullshit, that’s where I’m going.”

“And that’s what bothers me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. I saw how you were with the Swimmer this morning. If you go out there making as much of a disturbance you’ll end up bringing thousands of bodies back here with you.”

“Whatever,” Harte mumbled, far from interested.

“We are going to make some noise,” Hollis said. “It’s inevitable.”

“Yes, but I don’t think you understand how dangerous that might be.”

“I don’t think you’ve got any idea how dangerous it might be,” Harte said, obviously annoyed. “How would you know? You haven’t been out for weeks.”

“That’s right, and we’ve done perfectly well so far. I’m starting to think we should just delay this and see how long we can last.”

“But there isn’t enough food,” Harte sighed.

“You’re right,” Martin agreed, “but there is some food. If we ration ourselves properly we could make it last for a while. Then when we do leave here the bodies will be weaker.”

“And so would we,” he protested. “Why the hell should we ration anything? Christ, we’re probably the only living people for hundreds of miles. There’s never going to be a queue at the fucking supermarket, is there?”

“No, but—”

“You’re out of your damn mind if you just want to sit in here and do nothing. Like we’ve already said, half a day’s effort now and a little risk will make the difference between us living like beggars or living like kings.”

The strength of Harte’s outburst surprised the others, even those who had spent the last few weeks living with him.

“Nicely put,” Hollis said.

“Well I’m not going back out there,” Caron mumbled from behind the pages of one of her books. “I’d rather starve and be safe.”

“Me too,” Ginnie agreed.

“I’m going,” Sean said defiantly. “I’m sick of sitting here doing nothing. This isn’t living, this is just existing. We’re no better off in here than those poor bastards out there. Christ, they’ll have a better quality of life than us if we stay locked inside this bloody hotel any longer.”

“Do you have any idea how stupid a comment that was?” Martin complained, belittling Sean and trying unsuccessfully to put him in his place.

“Piss off!”

“Don’t you dare use that kind of language with me.”

“You see,” Webb interrupted, “that’s half the problem here. You’re not his fucking parents, you know.”

“We’re looking out for him.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all going to come to nothing if you starve to death,” Harte said, silencing the argument. Hollis rubbed his eyes and wearily looked up from the map again.

“The way I see it,” he began, “is we don’t have enough food to last. We need to get more and I’d rather go out there now than wait until I’m half-starved. We’ve got a town just a few miles from here which has probably been left untouched. If we can get there and fill the bus, that’ll do us. Harte’s right, half a day’s effort will make a massive difference to all of us.”

“I know that,” Martin reluctantly agreed, shaking his head sadly, “but I just—”

“No one has to go outside if they don’t want to,” Harte continued.

“I’m going,” Sean quickly said again, desperate to secure his place. Harte glanced up at him, then carried on speaking.

“As long as there are enough of us then we should be fine. We’ll get in, get what we need, then get out. We’ve done this loads of times.”

“I know you’re right,” Martin said again, his voice suddenly frightened and quiet, “but just be quiet. For Jesus Christ’s sake, be quiet. Make as little noise as you can.”