The gap between the back of the van and the leisure centre door was several metres wide. Big enough, Scott thought, to be able to make a run for it if he wanted to. But even though the barrels of their rifles were pointing at the ground, there were enough armed guards around to deter anyone thinking about trying to make a break for freedom.
Dr Kerr was just ahead of them. ‘Is anyone going to tell us what’s going on?’ he demanded of one of the soldiers. Scott couldn’t hear what the reply was, but it was clearly insufficient as far as the doctor was concerned. He continued to rant, oblivious to the proximity of their weapons, sounding increasingly angry, winding himself up but, it appeared, no one else. None of his questions or demands seemed to warrant even the most cursory of responses.
When they reached the inside of the leisure centre, Tammy stopped walking, dumbfounded. It looked as if the entire population of Thussock was already here, that they were late to the party. She remembered how this room had felt like a vast, cavernous space when she’d first come in here, bigger than the rest of the school combined. Right now, though, it felt uncomfortably cramped. It looked like something out of a film, one of those old disaster movies, she thought, or maybe something she’d expect to see on the TV news after an earthquake or tsunami. The floor was covered with row upon row of people lying on metal-framed camp beds or sitting on thin foam mattresses and bedding rolls. Thussock had seemed like such an insignificant place in comparison to Redditch, but the sheer volume of people gathered here in close proximity made it feel horrendously overcrowded. She was feeling claustrophobic, and the fractious atmosphere wasn’t helping. People were uncertain… afraid. Considering how many people were trapped in here, it remained unexpectedly quiet.
‘Chelle!’ someone shouted. Michelle looked up and saw that Jackie, Dez and the twins were camped on the far side of the huge room, leaning up against the back wall. There was a space next to them. Without waiting for anyone else, Michelle marched over to her friend. The girls sat down in silence, still in a state of shock, but Scott remained where he was, reluctant to follow. His heart sank when Dez got up and walked over to him. There was no escape, no way of shaking him. Between Dez and Dr Kerr (who’d also followed them across the gym and who was setting up camp with his wife just a couple of metres away), he imagined he’d be struggling to breathe if they were stuck in here for any length of time.
‘How long have you been here?’ Scott asked Dez.
‘Couple of hours.’
‘And have they told you anything?’
‘Nothin’. You got your pack yet?’
‘My pack?’
Dez pointed to a half-demolished mountain of cardboard boxes in the diagonally opposite corner of the hangar-like room. More were being taken away as Scott watched. ‘You get a couple of pillows and sheets, some water, a bit of food, and this,’ Dez explained, pulling a laminated card from his pocket and handing it over. Dr Kerr intercepted it. He adjusted his glasses to read it, flipping it over first, holding it up to show Scott the biohazard symbol printed on the reverse.
‘Residents of Thussock… We apologise for any inconvenience. A biological concern has been identified in the immediate area.’ He stopped and looked from Scott to Dez and back again. ‘A biological concern? Who wrote this garbage?’
‘What else does it say?’ Scott asked.
‘Blah, blah, blah… not a lot really. It’s all just bullshit and flannel. All very vague… all residents are required – by law – to remain on these premises until such time as the hazard has been successfully contained and neutralized.’
‘And that’s it?’
‘Pretty much.’
‘Shit.’
‘Well, there’s not a lot we can do for now,’ the doctor said, and he handed the card back to Dez, then ambled back over to sit with his wife.
Scott realised Michelle had gone. He looked around and found her on the other side of the leisure centre with Jackie and Tammy, collecting boxes. He watched her every move.
Bottles of water, pillows and a few chocolate bars kept the girls and George occupied temporarily. Michelle walked over to Scott. ‘Mind if I sit here?’
‘If you want,’ he grunted.
‘What’s happening, Scott? You’ve been talking to the doctor… what does he say?’
‘He knows as much as I do. Nothing. You see the card?’
‘This thing?’ she said, picking one out from her cardboard box and studying it. ‘Doesn’t say much, does it?’
‘Not really.’
‘Look, Scott, I just—’
‘Do me a favour, Michelle, just don’t even talk to me. In fact, just stay away.’
26
The last time Scott had seen Barry Walpole, the two of them had almost come to blows over the death of Ken Potter. Barry had been full of anger then, ready to defend his late friend’s dubious honour. He’d been a formidable creature that day, all piercing eyes, bulging veins and flared nostrils. Not now, though. Today Barry was a shadow of his former self. He was quiet and subdued, timid almost. Scott didn’t even notice him there until he almost tripped over him on the way back from the bizarrely heavily guarded toilets. ‘Strange how they’ve got armed guards round the toilets, isn’t it?’ Barry said. His voice was drained of all its former energy. He was sitting cross-legged on a mat, holding a frail-looking old woman’s hand, his other arm around her shoulder, his size dwarfing hers. He carefully let her go and stood up. ‘You all right, Scott?’
‘I’m okay,’ Scott replied, perfunctory. ‘You?’
‘I’m all right. Mother’s struggling, though, aren’t you, Mum?’ The old lady barely looked up. ‘You been here long?’
‘Few hours. You?’
‘Since first thing. I was only just out of bed when they started hammering on the door. Requisitioned a load of stuff from the yard, they have. Buggers. You got any idea what’s happening?’
‘Not a clue,’ Scott answered quickly. Having seen what happened to Jeremy he felt sure he probably knew more than most but he couldn’t bring himself to explain. Besides, he thought, what good would it have done other than to push everyone closer to the edge than they already were?
‘What about Doc Kerr? I saw you with him. Does he know anything?’
‘If he does he isn’t saying. It’s all just speculation right now. Look, Barry, I have to go. I need to get back.’
‘Course you do. Got to look after the people nearest to us, eh Scott?’ he said, crouching again and giving his mother’s hand another tender squeeze.
‘Absolutely.’
‘Sorry,’ Barry said unexpectedly.
‘Sorry for what?’
‘For being so hard on you after Ken…’
‘No problem. You weren’t to know. None of us were.’
‘Right. Okay. Hopefully see you back at the yard in a couple of days when all this has blown over?’
‘Yep. Almost looking forward to it, Barry.’
‘That’s the spirit. Look after yourself, lad.’
‘I always do. You too.’
Scott continued back across the hall, watching his family as he weaved between the rest of Thussock’s refugee-like population. People had continued to be herded into the leisure centre continually through the day, but their numbers had reduced to a mere trickle now. Space was at a premium, the narrow gaps between each family’s individually claimed area of floor steadily reducing. In places it was difficult to get through.
Scott didn’t feel scared, he decided, just uneasy. He didn’t like not knowing, not being in control. He sat down next to Michelle, not knowing what else to do. As much as they’d pissed him off today, his family was all he had left.
‘The atmosphere’s changed in here,’ she said. ‘Can you feel it? It’s like there’s a storm brewing. It’s making my head hurt.’