Aftermath

were full to overflowing. There’d also been a fire in one of the caravans; he’d noticed after talking to Lorna earlier. There was smoke damage and black scorch marks around several of the windows, but no attempt had been made to do anything about the wreck.
    Harte positioned himself at the edge of the group, quite near the front, not completely sure where he should be sitting. He took comfort in some of the familiar faces he could see—Lorna, Caron, Driver, and Howard—but he now found himself aligning more with Donna, Richard, and Cooper. He hadn’t seen it, didn’t even know for sure if it really existed, but their idyllic island of Cormansey, despite its apparent bleakness and basic lifestyle, seemed his idea of heaven tonight. Too bad a vociferous handful didn’t seem to share his opinion. He could tell that Cooper was getting annoyed.
    “I don’t see what the problem is. We’re offering you a place that’s safe and free from walking bodies and all the complications they bring.”
    “Well, why don’t you just fuck off back there, then?” Jas said unhelpfully. He’d been increasingly obstructive since this “town hall” meeting had begun what felt like hours ago now. Unfortunately he seemed to have plenty of vocal support. “Listen, I agree with what you’re saying in principle, but this island of yours is completely the wrong place. You’re cutting yourself off.”
    “Cutting ourselves off from what?” Donna demanded, unable to believe what she was hearing. “There’s fuck all else left.”
    Jas continued. “I think it’s better to stay here and wait a little longer. Here we’ve got access to what’s left of the entire country. Better than some barren little island with half a dozen houses.”
    “But can’t you see? The island is much more than that. It’s the best bet for all of us. I’ll be honest, there’s still plenty more work to be done, but with more of us there it’ll be finished quicker and we’ll be self-sufficient. It’s clean and safe.”
    “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life living in some hippie-loving, new-age commune,” Kieran said.
    “Seems to me we’re all going to have to become self-sufficient whether we like it or not,” Jackson interrupted, beginning to sound as frustrated as Cooper. “There’s no alternative now, is there? There’s no government anymore, no benefits system, no McDonalds, no utility companies, no Internet…”
    “No government.” Ainsworth smirked. “Sounds pretty good to me when you put it like that.”
    Jackson sighed. “Come on, grow up.”
    “All we’re trying to do is be realistic, that’s all,” Donna said, exasperated. “The supplies here on the mainland will run out eventually and—”
    “—and by then we’ll all be dead and buried,” Jas said. “With only this many of us left, we’ll be picking meat off the bones for years yet. There’s nothing you’ve got on your island that we haven’t got here, but there’s plenty here that you’ll go without. You’re isolating yourselves unnecessarily. Cutting yourselves off like this seems bloody futile.”
    “I think you’re looking at this completely the wrong way,” Donna said, refusing to give up. “You’re still thinking about things in terms of your old life and all the stuff you used to need. All that’s gone now. Everything’s changed. Here’s an example—cars and roads. We don’t need them anymore to any great extent, because you can walk the entire length of the island in a couple of hours.”
    “I understand that, but why should I do without cars? There are millions of them just lying around. I could have any car I could ever dream of, it’s just a question of finding it and getting it started. What you’re suggesting is limiting yourselves to some kind of medieval lifestyle.”
    “You’re the one living in a castle,” Richard said under his breath.
    “No, we’re not limiting ourselves,” Donna protested. “Bloody hell, Jas, what do you think’s going to happen when the bodies are completely finished and you finally pluck up courage to go back outside? Are you just going to flick a few switches and turn the world back on again? You won’t get the power working, or the gas. What happens when all the batteries in all the cars finally run flat, or when all the fuel’s used up and you’ve drained every tank dry? What do you do then? You’re going to end up building yourself an island of your own, and you’ll be as