Aftermath

been quiet, watching the conversation from across the cabin.
    “Forgive me, Ian,” he said. “I know we’ve only just met, and I might be making a hell of a presumption here, but everything you’ve just told us is a load of bollocks, isn’t it?”
    “Come on, Mike,” Harry protested. “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
    “You think?”
    “No,” Harte said, “I swear. We were here looting, I blew up the petrol station and—”
    “Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Michael interrupted. “It’s everything since then that I have a problem with. How long ago did all this happen?”
    “About two weeks ago, why?”
    “Because you would have got back by now if you’d really wanted to, I know I would. You planned to stay out here on your own, didn’t you?”
    Harte looked down into his beer,up at the others again.
    “So what if I did? What difference does it make? I made a choice, that’s all.”
    “What choice?” Donna asked.
    Another hesitation.
    “Okay, I’ll admit it. There was never a plan. I don’t know if I really made a conscious decision or whether I bottled it or just made a stupid mistake. I’d been stuck with those fuckers for weeks, and I was sick of all the fighting and arguing. I don’t know what you lot are like, but even though there are hardly any of us left alive, the group mentality gets a bit suffocating, you know? Whether you’re with five people or five hundred, you always seem to end up with some cocky fucker who thinks they’re in charge, and you know it’s only a matter of time before things turn ugly. That’s why we were fucked over at the hotel, and that’s what I could see happening again at the castle.”
    “So there’s a cocky fucker like that back there?”
    “At least two, with a few more waiting in the wings. There’s Jackson, the guy who found the place, then there’s Jas.”
    “Jas?”
    “I’d been with him virtually since day one. He was always a good guy, but I’d been starting to think our time trapped in the hotel sent him a little stir-crazy. Him and Jackson were constantly at each other’s throats, and I could just see things heading down that same old slippery slope again. So I took a leaf out of Driver’s book and did a runner.”
    “So what’s it actually like at this castle?” Cooper asked.
    “Basic, but pretty good, all things considered,” Harte admitted.
    “Twenty-one people, you say?”
    “Twenty now.”
    “Supplies?”
    “They should have enough to get them through the winter, assuming the truck got back, that is.”
    “And the bodies are held at a safe distance?”
    “The place is built on a rise, so they physically can’t get up to it. There’s an access road leading up to the main gate that some of them manage to get up, but they’re nothing that can’t be handled with a couple of vehicles and a little brute force. Anyway, what about this island of yours?” he asked, keen to redirect the conversation. “Many bodies left there?”
    “None,” Richard told him. “We cleared them all out when we first arrived.”
    “You cleared them out? All of them? Jesus, how many was that?”
    “Three or four hundred, give or take.”
    “So you’ve got plenty of room?”
    “Loads of space. Why, are you trying to hitch a lift now?”
    “Wouldn’t say no,” Harte immediately said, needing no time to think about his answer.
    “Just one thing before you get too carried away,” Cooper said ominously, “and I don’t want to piss on your parade or anything, but this is important. Whatever your real reasons for being out here alone are, we can’t ignore the people back at the castle. There’s no reason why you can’t come back with us, but we need to make the same offer to them too.”
    “Sounds reasonable,” Michael said. “The more the merrier.”
    “I’m not sure about this,” Harte said. “They think I’m dead. When they find out I ran out on them, they’ll have my balls. Jas will go fucking mental.”
    “You reckon?” Cooper asked. “I think you’re the one holding all the trump cards. From where I’m sitting, you’re in a much better position than you think.”
    “And how do you work that out?”
    “Well, when you turn up there tomorrow morning in a helicopter and offer to help whisk them all away to a place where there are no bodies and where they’ll be completely safe, they’ll think you’re the best fucking thing since sliced bread.”
    “Sliced bread—remember that?” Richard said to