Aftermath

you are on this island of yours?”
    “Over fifty, including the five of us.”
    “Five of you?”
    “We left a couple of men back at the port. Apart from the lack of seats in the helicopter, we didn’t want to risk bringing Michael over here until we’d checked the place out, no offense.”
    “None taken. But why? What’s different about this Michael chap?”
    “He’s going to be a dad.”
    The caravan fell silent. Jackson, taken by surprise, wasn’t sure what to say.
    “How…?”
    “Jesus, how d’you think?” Donna mumbled.
    “I mean, was it before everyone died or…?”
    “After,” she answered. “Emma and Michael got together after it had happened.”
    “Bloody hell.”
    “It’s not that incredible,” Richard said. “Women used to have kids all the time.”
    “I know that, but since the world fell apart … I don’t know what I’m trying to say. An hour ago it felt like everything was coming to an end, then you turn up here out of the blue in your bloody helicopter, telling us about your island where there are no dead bodes, and then that you’ve got a woman who’s pregnant and … and it’s like you’ve come here from another world. Truly amazing.”
    “I wouldn’t go that far,” Jas said.
    “Well, I would. It sounds like these folks have achieved a huge amount. There’s a lot we could learn from them.”
    “With the greatest respect,” Jas interrupted, looking at each of the new arrivals before turning toward Jackson, “we don’t have anything to learn from anyone. All this lot is doing is what we used to do, and it’s what we’ll do again once the bodies are gone and we’re out of here.”
    “No one has to learn anything from anyone,” Donna said. “You make it sound like we’re from different tribes. We might be all that’s left, and that’s the main reason we came back here with Harte. We think it makes sense for us all to group together. We think you should all come over to the island.”
    “I’m not sure…” Jas began to say before Jackson spoke over him.
    “Makes sense, providing we can all get there.”
    “We’ve got a couple of boats ready in Chadwick,” Cooper explained. “That’s one of the reasons we came back, to get some alternative transport and take the pressure off Richard here.”
    “Sounds good.”
    “Just wait,” Jas said, his voice louder and more forceful this time. “You can’t make a blanket decision on behalf of all the people here, not without consulting them and not without thinking it through. There might be some who don’t want to go to an island. Not sure I do, if I’m honest. It sounds a little risky to me, a little cut off and exposed.”
    “It’s not perfect,” Cooper admitted, “but I’ve yet to find a better place. As good as this castle looks to have been for you all, I think the island is better. You’ve still not got your freedom here.”
    “Doesn’t matter if we’re surrounded by sea of dead flesh or by the ocean itself, sounds to me like we’re all still prisoners.”
    “Jas is right about one thing,” Jackson said. “I was wrong to assume. Everyone has the right to make their own choices. We’ll get everybody together and give them the options. We’re talking about decisions which will affect the rest of everybody’s lives.”

 
     
    26
     
    “Harte? Harte, is that you?”
    The voice caught him by surprise. He didn’t think anyone else was out here. He’d been sitting in a quiet corner where he could see the helicopter, not wanting to stray too far in case Cooper and the others upped and left without him.
    “Lorna?”
    He got up and walked over to her. It was getting dark, and he followed the noise her boots made crunching through the gravel. When he saw her he grabbed hold of her and held her tight. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her. She led him over toward the row of caravans and sat down with him on a pile of discarded wooden pallets. In the light coming from the window of the nearest caravan, he thought she looked tired, old even. Her face appeared angular and stark in the gloom and her hair was scraped back. She looked pensive, and it was out of character from the Lorna he remembered. Previously she’d always seemed relaxed and comfortable in herself, regardless of how bad everything else was around her.
    “I looked for you earlier,” Harte said. “You okay?”
    “Fine,” she replied, sounding less than convinced. “I was working. I’m on my break right