The Hurst Chronicles (Book 1): Hurst (12 page)

Chapter twenty-six

It was Stella’s idea to head to New Milton. They couldn’t risk going back to Hurst that night. Chances were their pursuers would try to follow them, or worse, get ahead of them and lie in wait to ambush. Now they all knew full well what ‘being a prisoner’ really meant at the hospital, none of them wanted to see the place again. New Milton was as good a route as any. It was a longer way round, but the road through the forest would be deserted and safe.

Stella sat in the back seat of the Land Rover Defender with Mila’s head cradled in her lap. Mila was inconsolable at leaving Sean behind and kept shaking her head and repeating every few minutes “I can’t believe he’s gone.” Stella’s own relief at escaping the clutches of her captors had given way to what Riley said was post-traumatic shock. Her mind seemed to have disconnected itself as a precautionary measure from the vivid memories of her ordeal. She sat there mechanically stroking Mila’s hair staring unblinking out of the passenger window in a semi-catatonic state. She gave no indication that she was listening as they replayed every moment of their escape and debated their options for the night. Staying out in the open sleeping in the car was high risk. They could break into a farmhouse off the main road and hope it was unoccupied, or drive through the night on unfamiliar roads to make it back for dawn.

“Chewton Glen.” Stella’s voice startled them and they all looked round.

“What’s that Stella?” said Riley. “Do you mean 
the
 Chewton Glen?”

Joe waited for someone to explain, but it seemed he was the only one in the dark and not from around these parts. “Can someone please tell me what the Chewton Glen is?”

“It’s a big country hotel not far from here. Is that the one you were staying at before you were caught?”

Stella nodded, avoiding eye contact, preferring to look out the window into the forest. “They know me there. They’re good people, they’ll take us all in. We’ll be safe there.”

Zed looked at Riley and Joe who both nodded. No one had a better plan. “Works for me,” said Joe.

Zed drove in silence, hunched over the wheel trying to see where he was going through the windshield in near darkness. They couldn’t risk turning on the headlights, but it was a relatively clear night and a crescent moon cast a pale light that penetrated the tree canopy in places. The Land Rover was bumping along the forest road at a slow crawl heading away from Lymington. There was barely enough moon light to see much of anything, but he found his eyes adjusted quickly and if he took it really slow then driving in the dark was manageable. The road surface had been completely washed away in a couple of places and they had to ford a fast-running stream amongst other obstacles. Where it was still intact the road was badly broken up by tree roots. Fallen trees littered their path, but so far they had been lucky and were able to go round them where the forest floor was dry and firm and they avoided getting stuck. The forest was doing its best to reclaim the road. In a couple more years, this whole heavily wooded section would be completely impassable. It already looked more like a farm track than a major highway.

It was past midnight and while the rest of them dozed in the back, Zed and Riley took it in turns to drive.  Traveling at walking pace, it took them more than an hour before they reached the outskirts of New Milton. They skirted the main town centre, sticking to smaller country lanes, completely deserted as they had hoped. Approaching New Milton from the West, Zed stopped the car in the middle of the road by a small bridge over a brook and switched off the engine. In the silence, they could hear the sounds of the stream and a light breeze that made the tall trees to their right sway gently. They were not far from the entrance to the hotel and Zed put his hand on Stella’s shoulder to wake her. She startled, crying out in alarm before remembering where she was.

“Are we there already?” she looked around her in the dark, but didn’t see anything obvious she recognized.

“It’s just up here on the left,” he said pointing up the roadway.

“It’s your call Stella. It’s the dead of night, so we don’t want to go surprising anyone. How do you want to play this?”

“Just turn your lights on and approach the gate so they know you’re coming,” said Stella naively as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Sure that might work,” said Riley sarcastically. Stella stared back at her puzzled. “Why wouldn’t it? Isn’t that what normal people do?”

Riley shrugged and nodded at Zed.

“OK, let’s do it your way and just drive up and see what happens?” Zed sounded exhausted. He’d lost a lot of blood and was clearly in a lot of pain but was keeping it together. The thought of a good meal, some hot water and a bed for the night sounded too good to be true and worth the risk. “But if this doesn’t work, let’s make sure we’re ready to return fire and high-tail it out of here, yeah?”

“These are my friends,” reassured Stella, who seemed to have perked up a bit, so close to home.

They switched their headlights on together with the spot lights mounted on the roof of the Land Rover to ensure even a half-blind person would see them coming. Zed revved the engine a couple of times, its diesel notes straining and insistent, just to make sure they could hear them too.

Stella leaned forward in her seat, recognizing the high brick wall that surrounded the stately grounds to her former home.

Their headlights flooded the front gates that led to the drive with stark white light. In front of the gates was parked a large grey delivery truck completely blocking the way in. Zed left the engine running and half opened his door peering out to see if there was anyone around. The front gate looked deserted, there was no one out front, but he was certain they were being watched. Someone powered up a large searchlight and directed it towards the vehicle, blinding everyone in the Land Rover, who sat shielding their eyes with their hands.

A female voice on a megaphone cleared her throat and instructed them to get out of the car. The four doors opened wide and very slowly Zed and Riley stepped away from the protection offered by the door and put their hands up high. They were taking no chances. They both stood squinting into the light, trying to make out the silhouette of a person on top of the truck.

The rear passenger door opened and Stella jumped out, waving her hands above her head, a big smile spreading across her face.

“No way. You have got to be kidding. Is that you Stella?” said the surprised voice through the megaphone. Stella nodded, she could barely contain her excitement, hopping from foot to foot. “We thought you were dead. I don’t believe it. You made it back. Look at that.”

Despite her exhaustion, Stella clapped her hands excitedly at the thought of seeing her friends again.

The megaphone voice continued. “Wait, where are the others: Jean, Martha? Are they with you too?”

Stella shook her head, squinting back. “We were captured a couple of weeks back. Four guys jumped us when we were searching for stuff in town. They took us to the hospital in Lymington and kept us there. I don’t know what happened to Jean and Martha, I’m sorry. I think they’re still there. These guys got me out tonight and we came straight here.”

The search light powered down and for a moment the entrance was lit only by the Land Rover’s lights before some lower level sodium flood lights flickered on, bathing the group in a soft orange glow. The woman disappeared from view for a few seconds as she climbed down the back of the truck, squeezed through a small gap between the wall and the bumper and strode over to Stella. Standing a few feet apart she looked her up and down before throwing her arms round her. “Welcome back, girl. It’s good to see you.” She slapped her a few times on the back heartily.

They did a little dance together jumping up and down, clutching each other.

“Thanks Mary. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back. These are my friends. Joe, Zed, Riley, Mila and the little one there is Adele. They rescued me. I promised them shelter for the night.”

Mary strode over to the rest of the group who were standing there awkwardly and shook each of their hands. The warmth of her welcome cooled somewhat when it came to Zed and Joe. She looked them up and down and shook her head: “The boss ain’t gonna like you being here. But hey, any friend of Stella’s is a friend of mine. Let’s leave that till the morning.”

She fished the keys to the truck out of her pocket and climbed into the cab to move it out of the way. Winding down the window, she shouted over the noise of the engine starting up. “Come on, let’s get your car inside. I’ll meet you by the main entrance, if you park up outside we can unload your gear.”

The truck rolled a few yards backwards, just wide enough to allow the Land Rover to pass and she leaned out the window and waved them through. They headed up the long gravel drive towards the main hotel building in front of them. The bulk and grandeur of the hotel were implied in the darkness, though not immediately obvious.

There was a welcome party waiting for them on the stone paved grand entrance. Two figures stood warming their hands in the cold night air, rifles slung over their shoulders. One wore a long winter coat and a beanie hat, with leggings and trainers. The other was wearing a puffer jacket and jeans, a Russian-style fur hat with flaps covering her ears. It was nearing the end of their shift and they were both chilled to the bone despite the relatively mild spring morning. It was after all still very early. They paced around, stamping their feet, waiting for the Hurst group to bring their gear in.

The one in the fur hat looked kindly on Adele standing their shivering, rubbing her eyes. “Come on, come on, let’s get you inside. Emily will look after you and find you a place to sleep for tonight.”

She looked back at Zed, with mild surprise on her face, like she hadn’t seen a man in a long time.

“You’ll need to surrender those weapons, OK? You can’t bring those in. Knives, guns and whatever that thing on your back is.”

Inside they stood next to the reception desk lit by a large kerosene lamp. Emily, a worldly-wise grey-haired woman, efficiently patted them down in turn. She way tiny and had to reach up to unhook Zed’s mace, which clattered on to the wooden counter, leaving a mark in the highly polished surface. When it got to Riley’s turn, Emily repeatedly raised her eyebrows, as she discovered additional weapons secreted about her person. Zed winked at Riley as Mary missed the smaller blade concealed inside her belt buckle. For the first time in as long as he could remember he felt naked without a weapon.

Stella was whispering with Mary who had joined them in the lobby, watching the group being searched. Mary looked troubled and shot a couple of glances at Joe and Zed. Riley watched out of the corner of her eye, as the woman gave Stella another hug and returned to her post at the front gate, wrapping her coat tightly around her light frame. Emily coughed loudly to get their attention and gave them both a nod to signal she was satisfied that the group was unarmed and safe to enter.

Emily and Stella led the Hurst group through the hotel by torchlight. She unlocked a door and the beam from her torch revealed an extravagantly furnished drawing room with plush armchairs and soft leather sofas spread out against the walls, hung with gilded framed paintings showing Victorian water-colour scenes. 

Zed collapsed on the sofa and swung his legs up, not even bothering to unlace his boots. He was dead on his feet.

She handed Riley the torch together with a pile of folded grey blankets. Stella stuck her head round the door but didn’t go in. “I’ll see you all in the morning for breakfast.”

Her head disappeared but Adele called after her.

“Are you not staying with us?”

Stella popped her head back around the door again. “No sweetie, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. You’ll be fine here. I’ll come and wake you in the morning. Sleep well.”

She turned and left. Riley draped a blanket over Zed who was already snoring, his mouth open, and bedded down for the night in a red leather armchair. Her head flicked to the door as she heard the key turn in the lock. Perhaps it was just a precaution to stop them roaming the hotel in the night. Or were they prisoners here? She pulled the blanket up around her chin and was asleep within seconds, her head slumped to one side. 

Chapter twenty-seven

Soaring above the city, she caressed the clouds with her wings. Arms stretched, diving down just above the rooftops, wind ruffling her hair. She skimmed the grass and slowed to a hover, one hundred feet above the ground.

Out of the houses along a short residential street poured dozens of people. Families emerged dazed but smiling from their hiding places. They stood staring at Adele, dazzled by the light that radiated from her eyes. They were drawn to her, like moths to a night-light. She was their beacon, their salvation.

Her eyes burned with a fire from within her over which she had no control. Her body was a vessel, a conduit towards some higher purpose. There was no way of stopping it. It poured from her unabated. Her fingers tingled. She felt hundreds and thousands of pairs of eyes staring at her. She was elevated, carried higher and higher by their hope.

A cloud passed in front of the sun and a chill settled over her. A coldness that grew darker by the second. She was being pulled silently towards a blackness. Her arms and legs thrashed in mid-air as she tried to escape its pull, but it was no good. She was drawn inexorably downwards, to hell itself.

Adele sat up, her forehead damp with perspiration. She told Riley she had been having this dream for the last few days. The details were marginally different, but always the same. The light from within and the darkness enveloping her, suffocating. Sometimes she was drowning, other times she was falling. She always managed to wake before the end though.

There was a momentary look of alarm as she hunted for something no longer in her pocket. Searching around her in the folds of the blanket, she found a treasured memento of home and family. She clutched the keyring in the shape of a rabbit’s foot to her breast, closing her eyes and mouthing a few words in gratitude that it was not lost, before inserting it deep into a jean pocket for safe keeping. Zed was still dead to the world but the others were stirring, yawning and stretching, taking in their unfamiliar surroundings. Outside, Riley noticed pink roses brushing against the lower half of the window. There was a red dawn, scattered clouds hurrying across the horizon. Was red sky a good or bad omen? She could never remember. There was a quick-fire rap on the door.

Adele was first to the door, and rattled the round brass handle but found it locked. Stella’s voice from the outside sounded flustered and told them to stay put while she grabbed the key from reception. Riley heard footsteps receding down the corridor before returning more slowly. She stood back as the white panelled door swung open to reveal Stella standing there, smiling. She picked Adele up off the floor and hugged her tightly whilst apologizing to the group. She explained that the Sisters in charge here were very particular about their rules.

Stella showed them to a large bathroom down the hall on the ground floor where there was a chemical toilet, buckets full of fresh water from the stream for washing and towels that were clean if not exactly fluffy by hotel standards. The Hurst group washed together, taking it in turns to use the toilet. They were relaxed in each other’s company. Joe blushed and averted his gazed as Mila stripped to her underwear to wash. Riley unwrapped some lavender soap from the shelf, where several dozen bars were stacked. Releasing the sweet-smelling bar from its waxy cover, she stopped to inhale the fragrance. It had been some time since she’d smelled anything so delicious.

When they had finished washing, their hands and faces scrubbed clean, they put their dirty clothes back on. The clothes felt stiff and scratchy against their skin.  They trouped back out into the hallway where Stella was waiting to take them to the large dining room. Inside around a hundred people were eating their breakfast at tightly packed tables set for groups of four and eight. Something seemed odd to Riley as they navigated between tables. All the eyes in the room followed them. The room fell quickly silent, heads turning. One person dropped their knife clattering on to the table and floor, but didn’t reach to pick it up, a look of surprise frozen on her face. They seemed to be staring at Zed and Joe. Riley was puzzled. What was this place? Had they not seen strangers before?

Stella knocked at a door with frosted glass that led into a small private dining room at the far end of the main room closest to the gardens. Warm sunlight bathed this end of the room and a large window with a single pane of glass looked out over orderly, well-maintained flowerbeds and tidy lawns with lush grass newly mowed.

On the opposite side of the table facing the door sat Sister Theodora and two other nuns, one on either side. She was a formidable lady with a handsome face, that some would say was a little too masculine, long and angular. She reminded Riley of Princess Anne. She sat stiff and upright in her chair, studying each of them carefully as they walked in single file and stood in a disorderly line facing her. She was conservatively dressed in a spotless black habit and white wimple. She held her head high, neck stretched peering down her glasses. Her thin almost colourless lips were expressionless, waiting for the group to settle. Riley noticed clear intelligent blue eyes that would once have been striking. She found herself staring at a wart on the Sister’s forehead.

“Thank you Stella, that will be all.”

Stella paused as if she was expecting to stay with her new friends, smiled weakly at the group, did an odd sort of curtsy and left again.

“Please have a seat.” She gestured to the six seats facing her. “Do help yourself to coffee.” She slowly stretched out her hand to extend their hospitality to the new arrivals. “There is milk, freshly baked bread, apples and pears too.”

She waited for them to take their seats before continuing. “Stella tells me we owe you a debt of gratitude for returning her to us. For that we thank you. As I’m sure you can imagine, we are not normally accustomed to receiving visitors in the dead of night.”

She watched in silence as the group gave in to their hunger. They devoured the bread and fruit, eating hungrily for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours. When there was nothing left, they slumped back in their chairs satiated. The men wiped their faces with frayed sleeves where juice and milk had dribbled down their chins.

She leaned forward, demanding their full attention. “Now I need to be perfectly clear. We have bent our rules and agreed to let you stay for one night and to feed you before we send you on your way with our blessing. Stella of course stays with us.”

Zed glanced at Riley, puzzled. “That’s up to Stella, don’t you think?” interjected Zed.

The Sister continued to address Riley, ignoring Zed. “The rest of you ladies are most welcome to stay with us. We can offer you comfortable accommodation, good company and security.” She smiled her best, most welcoming smile.  “You will find that we are mostly self-sufficient. We have unlimited drinking water supplied from the local stream, a small generator for electricity, sustainable crops, livestock in the fields nearby. We even have a swimming pool we fill in the summer. We have beautiful grounds to grow vegetables, to live and breathe, free from the worst excesses of man and the evil he had brought upon us.”

Riley blinked, her eyes narrowing, not entirely sure she had heard the Sister correctly. “Wait, you said the women only were welcome to stay. What about these two? Are they not welcome?”

The Sister cleared her throat, her eyes remained fixed on Riley, piercing and cold.

“Oh dear. Perhaps Stella did not explain. This is a sanctuary for women. We do not usually allow men here at all.”

“I must have missed something,” said Zed accusingly. “Since when did men become the root of all evil?”

The Sister laughed, covering her mouth, her eyes wide and seemingly amused by the naivety of the question. “Since the dawn of time. Since Adam corrupted Eve. Since men began subjugating women to their will.” Zed stared open mouthed, shaking his head, but allowed her to continue. “Men have no place in our lives here. We reject all that is male and have chosen to live a life free from violence, brutality, rape and murder.”

The two nuns on each side nodded their approval, but remained silent.

“So while men, women and children are dying in their millions outside these walls, you sit here, having passed judgment on half the population?” continued Zed, rising angrily from the table, his chair scraping loudly on the stone flagstone floor. 

“We must all make sacrifices if we are to survive and rebuild, mustn’t we?”

“But how do you expect to rebuild? It’s hardly a balanced community is it?”

“I assure you, we’re more than self-sufficient. Our residents have learned the skills they need from books and we have no need for the brute strength of men.”

“What about the next generation? It’s not very sustainable is it? How do you expect to have children and reproduce for goodness sake?” offered Riley.

“Oh men still have some small role to play in our future. And for that we keep two for breeding.”

“Breeding?” snorted Zed. “We’re not animals you know? You can’t just lock people up like that, like you would a bull or a stallion and let them out when you’re ready for them to breed.”

She ignored his attempts to provoke her. “I assure you that is precisely what we will do.” Her smile struck Riley as wholly incongruous. Her mouth opened baring even white teeth, unblemished by the vices of nicotine, sugar or alcohol. She looked vaguely sinister, like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. 

“You’re off your rocker, you are. Stark raving bonkers.” Zed wagged his finger at the Sister, but his eyes had started to wander and glaze over. He seemed to sway a little on his feet and slumped back on to his chair, clutching his wrist. He winced with pain, blood pumping, throbbing in his ears, a spent force.

The Sister’s thin lips relaxed a little in triumph seeing Zed's weakened state. “In the circumstances, we shall forgive you your ingratitude and lack of manners. You are clearly not a well man. You should get that arm looked at immediately. Tell Stella to take you straight to the infirmary. Of course, this is God’s work. He works in mysterious ways. No doubt you brought this all on yourself, through your own choices. But we are not monsters, we will not deny you medical attention. ”

“You really are a piece of work,” Riley was shaking with rage, incensed by the Sister’s condescension and intolerance. “Since when did the principles of kindness, charity, forgiveness, generosity and all those other things they teach you in Sunday school cease to apply?”

“My child, the world has changed. We are in unchartered waters. Rather like Noah and the Ark, the sickness is God’s way of purging the world of men of all its vices: wealth, power, and violence. God created this virus to punish men for centuries of wickedness. The world will be washed clean, so we can start again. Here at Chewton Glen we are doing God’s work, building a new Ark, if you will.”

Adele coughed into her sleeve, her childlike voice defiant. “My mum told me there’s no such thing as God.”

The Sister stiffened. “Silence, child.”

She raised her hand to strike the girl but thought better of acting on impulse. She softened her tone and started to lecture Adele about how children should be seen but not heard, but was interrupted by Riley, who was shaking her head. A sarcastic laugh escaped Riley’s lips.

“But don’t you see? The virus is ruthless. It does not discriminate between good and evil, between black and white, between men and women. The virus doesn't judge. It kills everyone. The few that survive run and hide, like you, here.”

“I can assure you we’re not hiding from anything or anyone. God watches over us and protects us here. We are simply waiting until the purge is complete and we can start again. Stella is very much a part of that rebirth and regeneration.”

“I don’t know why you think Stella is. But I can assure you she’s not the person you’re making her out to be. She’s has had a tough time in captivity. She’s seen things no girl her age should see. They had her locked up there, at the mercy of her captors. She was abused, mistreated, God knows what.”

Riley pulled up Adele’s sleeve, who was sat next to her, swinging her legs on her chair and staring at the funny lady opposite her with a large pimple on her chin. Riley pointed to the collection of red marks that covered Adele’s arm. “They experimented on them at the hospital. Took their blood, injected them. They had hundreds of prisoners there. These two are the lucky ones.”

“That’s unfortunate,” replied the Sister looking down, adjusting the folds of her dress. “But there’s nothing I can do about that. Now she’s back with us, Stella’s safety and wellbeing is up to me, not any of you. Perhaps you don’t realise but Stella means a lot to us here. She is special, one of the chosen few, and we are pleased to have her back. I’m afraid it’s out of the question that she should leave with you. ”