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The fear that had been racing around inside of her for so long had finally exhausted her ability to care, at least for the time being – perhaps while her mind recharged itself. Her emotions were being overridden by her physical needs for sleep and warmth. She shivered and yawned almost simultaneously as if her body wished to reiterate its demands.
Just a couple minutes now and I’ll be nice and warm. Just a couple more minutes...
Jess descended the stairs to the cellar, Harry lighting the way with his candle. At the bottom they entered the cellar and were immediately met by Steph, who seemed to have recovered partially from her ordeal. Old Graham lay on the floor under a blanket, seemingly drunk from the quiet little song he was muttering to himself and the empty beer bottles that surrounded him. At the edges of the room sat Nigel, partially shrouded in shadow from the lack of candlelight reaching him. Kath also sat nearby, but Jess didn’t care to pay attention to that old cow.
Steph took a step towards Jess and Harry and it became obvious that she was still a little shaky. There seemed to be something she needed to say though. “We have a problem,” she said directly to Harry as though Jess were not even there.
Harry’s happy demeanour seemed to sour slightly and it made Jess feel unsafe again. Please no more problems. She thought. Not tonight.
Harry sighed. “Steph, you should be resting. What’s so important that it can’t wait?”
Steph raised an arm behind her and pointed to a makeshift fire in the centre of the room. The steel barrel was half-stuffed with flammable materials from around the pub, mostly cardboard boxes, some cushions, and wooden legs from the chairs upstairs.
Jess knew straight away what Steph was going to tell them and she didn’t want to believe it. She shook her head in despair. “That’s all we could find to burn, isn’t it?”
Steph changed her focus to Jess and nodded solemnly. “The cardboard recycling was done yesterday morning and we’re all out of coal. I was going to buy some from Kath’s supermarket tomorrow to stock up. We have a couple of crisp cartons that went empty today, and some handtowels from the toilets. But even if we burn the tables it won’t be enough for both fires. In fact it’s barely enough for one.”
Jess was still shaking her head as she blurted out, “We’re all going to freeze to death.”
Chapter Twenty-SIX
“What the Hell do we do?” asked Nigel from the floor, still shrouded in shadow.
Harry thought for a moment. “Steph, you’re absolutely sure that there’s nothing else we can burn? What about in Graham’s place upstairs?”
Steph shook her head. “Nigel already checked. It’s like a closing-down-sale up there. Barely enough furniture to fill one room. We’ll burn what’s there, but it’s not much.”
Harry thought again, shivering as he did so. He wondered whether he was as cold as he felt or if it was just his mind exaggerating. Before he had time to decide which, his musings were interrupted by Jess.
She asked a question, “What about the supermarket?”
Harry looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“Yeah,” Kath chimed in from the other side of the room. ”What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Jess said, impatiently, “that the place is full of, like, a thousand cardboard boxes, plus all the bags of coal in the warehouse. If we grab one of the trolleys we can cart it all over here. There’s painkillers and other stuff too that we could give to Peter.”
Old Graham piped up from his resting place in the middle of the room. “Don’t bloody forget about me!” he slurred. “I could use some pain relief too.”
Harry smiled. “Excellent. Then we have a plan?”
“Not yet we don’t,” Kath objected. “That is supermarket property you’re talking about. I can’t just let you in to ransack the place. It’s theft.”
Jess cursed out loud. “God sake, Kath, you still don’t get what’s going on, do you? Screw the supermarket! Our lives are more important.”
Kath snickered. “That’s debatable.”
Harry was starting to see why Jess hated the woman so much – she was wretched indeed – but before things got out of hand again, he decided to butt in. “Come on, the both of you. Fighting isn’t helping, is it? Enough people have already gotten hurt tonight.”
“Yeah,” said Kath, rubbing the swollen cut on her forehead. “I’m well aware of that, thank you very much.”
“Look,” said Harry in his calmest tone. “We’re lost without you here, Kath, and if you were kind enough to let us into the supermarket then we’d all be in debt to you. Our survival would most likely be down to you and we won’t forget that.”
Kath immediately seemed smug, as if her previously sour expression was just painted on and was now melting in the heat of the candle she held in front of her. “Well,” she said. “I guess I can’t just let you all freeze, but I hope you realise the sacrifice I’m making. I have responsibilities that can’t be taken lightly.”
“Thank you,” said Harry. “So, you’ll give us the keys?”
Kath laughed, as if he’d tried to convince her that the world was made of mashed potato. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “The store keys are to remain on an authorised key holder at all times.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked Steph.
“That should be obvious. I’m going to have to be present at all times. I’m coming along.”
Harry bit his lip, seeing no other way to proceed. Great, I get to be escorted by Cruella Deville.
“I also must insist,” Kath added, “that Jess is to remain here. Her employment was terminated earlier tonight and ex-employees are prohibited from entering the premises. Petty vindictiveness is all too common these days, I’m afraid.”
Harry caught the sight of Jess about to explode and quickly moved the conversation on. “Okay, that’s fine. It’s too important that Jess stays here, anyway, to keep watch over Peter and Damien. We can’t risk her going outside.” Jess seemed to settle down, but Harry couldn’t help but wonder how long he could keep the two women from each other’s throats. No time to worry about it now though. He clapped his hands together, ready to get going. “Okay. Let’s get to work then. I’ll go ask Lucas if he’s up for the trip too. Nigel would you be okay to watch over the women and our two wounded?”
Steph laughed. “Oh thank you, kind sir. What would we ladies do without a man to protect us?”
Harry leaned in close to her and spoke so that only she could hear. “After what you’ve been through tonight there’s no way I’m going to leave you on your own. Nigel’s a big guy and I’d feel safer with him around. It’s more for my peace of mind more than it is yours.” Steph seemed emotionally affected by Harry’s words but he didn’t have time to wonder about how she felt. He turned back to Nigel, who had now stood up. “You okay with that, Nigel?”
The big man nodded. “I’ll protect them with my life. You can count on me.”
Harry reached forward and shook Nigel’s hand. “I know I can. Thank you. And if that thug tries to get free, you have all of our permissions to throw him on the fire.”
Nigel nodded and Harry made towards the stairs, starting to climb them one by one. As he ascended, he thought about whether or not it was really a good idea to leave the modest safety of the pub. After what Jess and Jerry had said happened to their friend, Ben, and the fact that something outside was strong enough – and crazy enough – to throw a human being through a window, Harry was half-expecting to be met by fire breathing dragons the moment he set foot into the snow. Not to mention giant plumes of impossible fire climbing into the sky while people burn to death on crosses. He tried not to think about it too much, but deep down he understood that something was very wrong with the world, or at least his small part of it. One thing for certain though was that they would all freeze to death without a constant fire going, so there was little choice really. Any way Harry looked at it, the risk of death was definitely better than the certainty of death. Whatever it was outside, he would have to face it.