Titanic 2020: Cannibal City

29 Decisions

Jimmy and Ronni, propped up against each other in the thick branches of a pine tree, woke damp and sore to a grey, misty dawn. They had just kept running until they could go no further. When, in the early hours, all sound of pursuit ceased, they could only presume that the soldiers had given up and returned to Fort Hope.

Jimmy lowered himself cautiously down on to the forest floor. As he yawned and stretched — while looking vigilantly around him, obviously — Ronnie slithered down the trunk, completely out of control, crashing through branch after branch and snapping each and every one of them before landing in a heap at his feet.

'In case any of you weren't aware until now,' Jimmy announced to anyone who might be in the general vicinity, 'we're over here. Hiding.'

'Sorry,' said Ronni.

By way of further apology she delved into one of the pockets of her khaki jacket and produced a small plastic bag, inside of which were two large, round, chocolate-chip cookies. She took one out and offered it to Jimmy. 'Breakfast?' she asked.

Jimmy took it and immediately bit into it. He gave her the thumbs-up. 'Well done,' he said, spraying her with crumbs. 'But is this all we have to get us to New York?'

'If you remember I tried to suggest—' And then she stopped. She swallowed a mouthful of biscuit, but having bit into it with enthusiasm it suddenly looked as if she was forcing herself to swallow sawdust.

Jimmy's cookie was delicious. 'What's wrong, has it gone off or . . . ?'

Ronni shook her head. 'I'm not going,' she said.

'You're not what?'

Her eyes flitted up, then down again. 'I'm not going — to New York. You never mentioned New York. Not once. You never said it. I'm not going.'

Jimmy gave a short laugh. 'Why not? What's the problem?'

She kicked at a dead fern on the ground. 'It's not funny!'

'OK — I didn't mean . . . it's just—'

'I'm not going. Not back there.'

'Oh. Right. I see. That's where you came from. That's why you were so upset when you arrived at Fort—'

'I wasn't upset! I was . . .'

'Traumatised. Yes. I know. I'm sorry.'

They both looked at the ground.

'Do you want to tell me about it?' Jimmy asked after a bit.

Ronni shrugged. Then, 'If you want.'

'Let's walk while you do. At least we'll be further away from the fort.'

'I'm not walking in the direction of New York.'

'That's fine. I've no idea which direction it is. We'll just go . . . this way.' He walked forward.

Ronni watched him for a moment, then shook her head. 'No.' She nodded in the opposite direction. 'That way.'

'That would be back to the fort. This way.'

Ronni changed her stance some forty-five degrees. 'This way.'

'No — that's back where I came from. This way.'

'That's towards New York.'

'You don't know that.'

'No I don't,' she admitted. 'But you do.'

She studied him for several long moments.

Jimmy threw his hands up. 'OK, you got me — that way's probably New York. But Ronni, please listen to me. We escaped together. We're a good team. I think wherever we go we can probably look after ourselves pretty well. I have to go to New York. The Titanic might not even be there, but if there's even a small chance that she is, then I have to warn the captain that the President and his stupid army are going to try and seize the ship. It's my home, it's my life, and I think you'll love it too. To get there we have to go through New York. If you don't want to go, that's your choice. But I have to.'

Jimmy gave her an encouraging smile, but when she didn't respond he just gave a disappointed shrug before turning and walking away.

Towards New York.

She stood where she was.

He didn't look back.

Ten minutes later, walking down a hill only sparsely covered in trees, with a cold rain falling and a breeze making it feel even colder, Ronni fell into step beside him, only slightly out of breath, and said, quite simply, 'Cannibals.'

'Yeah, I heard there were odd bits of cannibalism after the plague.'

'Not odd bits!' she exploded suddenly. 'There were hundreds of them! I watched them! They chased me! They caught me! Jimmy, please, you have to understand what they're like, what you're walking into! They kept me prisoner in a dark hole! They fed me to fatten me up! Slash said he was going to have me for supper!'

'Slash?'

'Yes! He's like . . . he's like . . . a lion. He's their king!'

Jimmy cleared his throat. 'Their jungle king?'

'Yes, I know what it sounds like! But it's not a comedy, Jimmy, it's not a cartoon! They eat people! Slash has these two men — he calls them the Royal Butchers — and they're the ones who take people away and execute them, and then they're roasted on barbecues and served up . . . It's horrible and mad and I never want to go near them again — do you not understand that?'

'Yes, I understand . . .'

'But no, you're not going to change your mind.'

'I can't. And I should point out that you're still alive, aren't you?'

'Only just! I escaped! I was very lucky. I was in a cage. And the night they were due to . . . eat me . . . they fed me first and this guy didn't lock the door properly and I got out, but they spotted me and chased me, they hunted me for days and days and they came so, so close to catching me . . . Jimmy it's really, really awful — they're . . . they're . . .'

'Cannibals. Yes, I gathered that.'

At the bottom of the hill they came to a set of railway tracks. Jimmy looked along them, left and right.

'Left,' he said.

They turned that way, and began to skip along the overgrown sleepers, hugging their sides to try to keep warm.

'I hid in the sewers for days. There were billions of rats. If I fell asleep I'd wake up covered in them. There were wolves. I can't even remember most of it.'

He said nothing.

'Jimmy, please. Do you even have a plan? I can't go through that again. How do we get through to your ship without being captured? Please, Jimmy, what's your plan? You must have a plan . . .'

'My plan is to just keep walking.'

'That's no good!'

'Best I've got.'

They walked for another hour. Then they sat down on the track for a while to rest.

'No more magic cookies?'

'No more magic cookies.' She had her hands in her pockets. She was looking truly miserable. But there was nothing he could do.

They got up and started walking again. Perhaps another thirty minutes later they became aware of a dull vibration beneath them. At first they thought they were imagining the sensation and said nothing to each other, but then it became more pronounced and they exchanged glances before turning as one to look back down the line.

About a mile away: a train, coming towards them.

Wordlessly they darted off the tracks and into the trees. They threw themselves down as flat as they could and peered out from behind the thin pines as the train approached.

As it rattled past they saw that every carriage was filled with teenaged soldiers, bristling with guns. Missile launchers and mortars were mounted on the roof.

The President's army — or part of it — aiming straight for New York.

As it began to shrink into the distance Jimmy and Ronni raised themselves and scurried back to the track. They felt just the faintest of vibrations coming up through their boots.

Jimmy blew air out of his cheeks and looked at his friend.

'I have a new plan now,' he said.

'What is it?' Ronni asked.

'We walk faster.'