Most immediately responded with positive tones and nods, but with the odd grumble. But Elliot knew he had the core on his side, and he felt confident that his chiefs of police and army command were very much a part of and in support of his regional government.
“Good. Make it quick, Dylan. I think we’ve been crammed into this room long enough.”
“Tomorrow, we start the recruitment process for our labour force. For the evening meal, everyone, except children, at this point in time anyway, will need to be in possession of a meal chit. Those agreeing to work will receive a blue chit, and those not will have a red chit.”
“And the difference between them?” asked Edward Cox, the deputy PO.
“A blue chit will equate to roughly 1,400 calories per day whereas the red chit will only be 1,000.”
“And the sick, the children?”
“Children will receive 600 and the sick… well, it has been agreed to give them the same as the children, and families will be responsible for their care.”
“There’s going to be some unrest over this,” warned Superintendent Collins.
“If we give out any more, we’ll run out before we can replace the stocks we have,” defended Cliff.
“You’ll both need to be prepared,” jumped in Elliot. “We have to have a labour force if we’re to survive the months and years ahead.”
“Have we had any contact yet with a more senior organisation?” asked Mathew Gray, part of the finance set-up. The only person present, apart from Colonel Bannister, wearing a tie. “Surely, central government must have surfaced by now and will want to take control of the reins.”
“I understand your frustrations, Mathew,” responded Elliot, mild impatience showing through. “I’m sure we’ll hear from them when they’re ready. In the meantime, we need to prepare for the worst.”
“Can’t we send some of the soldiers to the city, to London? Make contact? They can establish communications with some of the other counties maybe.”
Elliot chose not answer immediately, gathering his thoughts, wanting to choose his words carefully. He recognised that many of the members of the RGC wondered why they were planning to make the effort of clearing the towns and villages, preparing farms for use again. They genuinely believed that they would get a call from some Downing Street official who would tell them all was well again and they could go back to their nine-to-five jobs. But he thought differently. The world was never going to be the same again, not in his lifetime anyway. In fact, he felt sure it was going to get worse before it got better.
“Mathew, Mathew, please. We’ve had this conversation before. If central government rises from the ashes, I will be the first one to raise a cheer, believe me. I’d like nothing better than the country to return to its former glory. But, until then, we carry on as if we are on our own, because at the moment that is exactly what we are. We have nearly 4,000 people out there who are depending on us. The safety of this centre rests on a knife edge, and I’m certainly not sending our soldiers on a wild goose chase. We need them here to protect us. Any last questions before we bring this meeting to a close?”
Alan indicated he had a question.
“Yes, Captain Redfern.”
“Just about the feeding centre — when is the opening planned?”
“Apart from issuing some cold rations presently, I want the centre in full swing the day after tomorrow. I want to have a hot meal waiting for the labour force when they return from their first day’s work. Is something worrying you, Captain?”
“No, sir. Just thinking ahead. Security of the food being transported from the warehouse and the feeding centre itself.”
“I have every faith in you and your men, Captain. Right, gentlemen, I’ve taken up enough of your time as I’m sure we all have lots to do.”
As the meeting dispersed, Colonel Bannister caught Alan’s arm and pulled him aside while the occupants of the room slowly made their way out. “How do you plan on having the food regularly moved to the site?”
“We’ll use the civvy trucks and move the supplies across at about four.”
“Why so early?”
“Most of the population will be asleep and we’ll need the trucks at six to start moving the labour force.”
“Escort?”
“Just two Land Rovers, sir. We’ll have speed on our side.”
“Good. The last thing we need is an incident that holds up their meal when they get back from the fields.”
“I need to go through the shift rota with Sergeant Saunders. The food centre and the work parties will put a lot of extra pressure on my lads.”
“Liaise with Superintendent Collins. We need to make better use of the police constables. I want to keep our unit free as much as possible.”
“Something coming up, sir?”
“The feeding centre and workforce are a start, but we need to start looking further afield.”
“Fuel, vehicles, spares, food?”
“Yes, Alan, we need to cast our net wider. Resources will get scarcer by the day, and we need to start and replace as much of them as we can. Survival isn’t going to be as straightforward as some people imagine.”
“And the PO knows that.”
“He does. We’re lucky to have him in charge. It will need someone strong to lead us through this mess. Our support is key to that.”
“The army is behind him, Colonel.”
“I didn’t doubt you’d be behind him, but it’s good to hear it all the same.”
“When does the wider search start?”
“We want to give the feeding station time to bed in, and allow the workforce to get used to a daily routine. But no more than a week. We can’t afford to wait any longer.”
“I’ll start the planning with Sergeant Saunders first thing.”
“I’ve got a meeting with the PO now so I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Sir.” Alan saluted and the colonel returned it. Bannister went to meet with Elliot, and Alan went in search of his number two, Sergeant Saunders.
CHAPTER 10
Keelan left the woman whimpering face down on the bed and dragged on his clothes. He slapped her arse, thanking her for sharing his first experience of anal sex. His body was soaked in sweat, and he was in need of a drink, and not just water. Checking his watch again, it showed 1130pm. It would be dark outside, not that there was much light in daylight hours, but he wanted them to have the full cover of darkness for their next move. They had eaten a good proportion of the food that had been stocked in the house, packing the rest in any bags they could find. Water, a life-saving commodity, was also running low. The four men had repeatedly raped the two women, the mother and daughter, during the last forty-eight hours. But Keelan had kept the mother to himself these last eight hours, the daughter having been suffocated by Todd in a frenzied attack. His black and swollen right eye was testament to Keelan’s rage on discovery of the event — not because he valued the girl’s life, or even felt sorry for her, but for the waste, preventing the group pleasuring themselves with her body for a little while longer. The rest of the group were pretty pissed off with Todd as well, depriving them of their entertainment.