Chapter Four...........Take Me To Your Leader

[moonglum]

The three Wolves reached the opening and peered into the passageway. “There’s nothing here!” said the first one.
“I tell you I thought I saw something,” protested the second.
The first one slapped his friend on the back of the head. “Your bloody seeing things, you are.”
Laughing, the trio turned and went on their way.
Inside the hidden room, Hector and the boys stood staring at the woman seated in the corner. He leveled his crossbow at her and said. “Who are you and what is this place?”
Helen eyed the crossbow nervously. At this close range, if that thing went off it would go straight through her, she thought. Shifting uneasily in her chair, she replied. “My name is Helen, I’m a scientist and this is, or rather was, a sanctuary of sorts.”
The younger-looking of the two boys grinned. “What’s a sankchewy.”
Hector lowered his weapon and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Quiet Tazer.” Looking around the room he continued, “It doesn’t seem very big!”
Helen nodded. “Most of it is beneath us, underground. There was an earthquake I believe, and nearly all of it is now buried.” She deliberately did not mention the possibility of contamination. Changing the subject, she asked. “Who were those men outside and why were you hiding from them?”
“Wolves!” The Ferret, who had been quiet up till now, piped up. “Scavengers, killers.” He continually scanned the room, looking for anything that might be useful. He walked over to the small view screen and gently touched the image in its glass. “What’s this?”
Helen sighed, she realized this was going to be a very long day. “It’s a way of seeing outside.” She changed tack again. “Who is in charge now?”
Tazer pointed towards Hector. “He is.”
“No, I meant who is running the country?” She saw by the blank looks on their faces that, they had no real idea what she was talking about. Emotion was beginning to grip her again as she lowered her head in her hands. “There must be someone, something,” she whispered, the words catching in her throat.
Hector shook his head. “We have to go. We need to find a way across the river-bed. We have to find Mary” he said.
Helen raised her head. “A woman?”
“A child,” Hector replied. “The Wolves took her.” He felt the guilt return at having left her alone with the old man.

[moonglum]

Half an hour later, the four were perched at the window overlooking the bridge. Helen looked horrified as she peered over the ledge and saw the riverbed below.
“My God, what happened here? What happened to The Thames?”
The Ferret screwed up his face and said. “The what?”
“The river Thames! Where has all the water gone?” Helen’s brain was going into overdrive. If the city’s major river had dried up, what had happened to the oceans?
Tazer broke in. “That’s the Teme. It’s been like this forever.”
“No, it hasn’t!” Helen felt panic rising. She turned and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. The world she knew was slowly beginning to fade from view, as reality began to spin a confusing pattern in her mind. She held her head in her hands to try to stop herself from shaking and slowly began rocking backward and forward, murmuring to herself.
“Nearly four hundred years. Supposed to have been twenty.” She couldn’t stop the panic that rose in her throat and trembled her lips as it escaped her mouth. “Twenty years. Twenty years, not four hundred, just twenty.”
“She’s mad.” Tazer whispered.
Hector looked at the woman huddled against the wall then, to the two boys, he said. “Keep her quiet. She’ll give us away.”

[moonglum]

Hector decided they should spend the rest of the day in the hidden room for safety. There were too many Wolves about, it would be safer to move at night. Putting his arm around Helen, he helped her to her feet.
“Come on, we have to go,” he whispered.
She looked up at him and asked. “Where?”
“Back to your shelter. We can’t stay here, it’s not safe.
They climbed down from the building and set off across the square. Hector half carried and half dragged Helen, trying to keep up with the boys. Reaching the passageway, He looked for some trigger to open the rear wall.
“Helen, how do we get in?”
She laughed and mumbled. “You won’t find it. Hidden!” She stood up straighter and said, “Turn around.” Her earlier amusement had subsided and the look on her face was stern, like a mother scolding a child. “Turn around,” she repeated. Hector looked at the two boys and nodded his head to indicate they should do as she said.
“Told you, mad!” said Tazer as the three turned to face the square.
A click told them the wall was opening and they turned back and entered the small room. Hector pointed to a corner and told the boys to rest and get some sleep. He sat Helen down and looked around the room.
“What’s through there?” He said, indicating the steel door leading to the stairway.
Helen sighed, trying to fight off her despair. “Bunker,” she mumbled.
Hector opened the door and stepped through. He found himself on a landing with a spiral stairway corkscrewing its way down into the earth. Peering over the handrail, down the open central core, he could see it was lit all the way down as far as he could see.
“You said you needed to cross the river?” Hector started, he hadn’t realized that Helen was standing next to him. “There might be a way!”

[moonglum]

Hector stared at the heavy steel door. Helen had led him down the stairway to a landing about halfway down. The pair sat on the stairs while Helen told him about the tunnels. He couldn’t figure this woman out. One moment she was mumbling to herself and rambling on about the river and oceans, the next she appeared lucid and calm.
“It was intended as an emergency escape route. There is a network of small tunnels under the city. They carry communication cables between all the telephone exchanges.” She looked up from her hands and could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t fully understand. “People had machines that let them speak to each other over great distances. These machines were called telephones and were connected by wires that run through these tunnels!”
Hector slowly shook his head. “Why …..? How does this help us?”
Helen put a hand on his and continued. “The tunnel behind this door goes north and south. North it goes into the city, but south goes under the river!”
It took a minute or two but, finally, Helen saw it sink in. “Under the river?”
“Yes,” she said. “There is one problem, however. I don’t know what’s behind that door. The tunnel could be flooded. If the riverbed is mud then that could indicate the presence of water below the surface. There could also be gas trapped in there!”
Hector stared at the door again. “How do we find out?”

[moonglum]

Helen stood on the metal landing, facing the door. After returning to the top, she had donned the bio-suit and collected the air tester. Locking Hector and the boys in the top room she returned back to the landing and studied the door. It had a central locking wheel and, on one side, two steel securing clamps. The wheel had to be turned in order to unlock the door and under normal circumstances, the door would be free to swing open. However, the landing, and tunnel behind the door, were below the level of the river. It was reasoned therefore that if the tunnel were flooded, the pressure of the water could fling the door open inwards, killing the person opening it. Hence the clamps. The clamps allowed the door to open about an inch, letting in a small stream of water and allowing the operator to lock the door tight again.
Helen reached behind her and turned on the small air cylinder on her back. Then she began turning the wheel slowly and watched as the locking bars retract from their recesses. The bars cleared and Helen tensed, expecting the door to slam against the clamps. Nothing happened! The door stayed shut. She grasped the wheel and in earnest, pulled with all her might. Just when she thought her muscles would explode, the door creaked open and caught against the clamps. Shaking from the exertion, she staggered back and sat down on the stairs. She looked at the gap around the door. No water! The tunnel must be dry, she thought. After a few minutes, she retrieved the air tester from the stair where she had left it. The device was chemically activated so she had left it some twenty or so steps up the stairway, so as to keep it dry. The designers had reasoned that a portable battery device would probably be useless after twenty years as the batteries would degrade too much. So a chemical device was designed. It had six compartments, each of which contained a variety of chemical compounds designed to change color in the presence of various gasses. It also had a small Geiger counter to measure radiation levels.
Returning to the door, Helen first tested for radioactivity. When this showed zero traces, she then held the tester against the crack in the door and opened the second compartment on the device. None of the compounds changed color. She put the device down on the stairs and turned off her air supply. Taking off the helmet, she put her nose to the door and wrinkled it. The air in the tunnel smelled slightly musty. Turning her attention to the clamps, she pulled at the release lever and they ground slowly back with a squeal of dry metal. She then pulled again at the door until it opened wide enough for her to walk through. Before stepping into the tunnel, Helen opened a small metal box on the wall next to the door and threw a switch inside. The tunnel flickered with light and she walked through into the tunnel.

[moonglum]

Helen had faltered climbing back up the stairs. Her anxiety had gripped her once more and she sat down as breathless sobs began to form. This can’t be happening, she thought. Her hands were shaking and she suddenly felt claustrophobic in the confines of the stairway. Looking back down, the stairway began to shimmer and twist in her mind. She gripped the edge of the step until her knuckles turned white. She wanted to run, but there was no place for her to run to. A scream echoed in her head. Was that her? Did she scream out loud? Releasing her grasp on the stair, she started to tear off the top half of the bio-suit. Helen gripped the flesh of her arm between her fingers and squeezed with all her might until the pain overcame her fears. Looking at her bruised arm she drew her knees up, wrapped her arms around them and sobbed once more.
She had no idea how long she spent on that stair but eventually, from somewhere deep inside herself, she found the strength to stand up and resume her climb.

[moonglum]

Bang. Bang. Bang.
Her arms shaking, Helen pounded on the door with the signal all was well. She turned the wheel and opened the door. Brushing past hector and the boys, she opened the door to the outside and gulped in lung-fulls of fresh air. After a few minutes, she closed the door to the outside world and turned to Hector.
“Tell me there is order out there somewhere. Tell me that somewhere there is sense amid this chaos.” She gripped his shirt, her hands still shaking. “Tell me there is someone in charge. Damn you, give me some hope!”
She could feel the shrug building, even before his shoulders started moving. He placed his hands on her shoulders, even as they began to sag.
“I’m sorry! I don’t know what you want from me. It’s always been this way.”
Helen sighed and straightened. Looking into his eyes, she said. “No. It hasn’t!” They continued looking at each other until a young voice broke the silence.
“We going then?”
The spell broken, Helen laughed and looked down at Tazer. “Yes, we are going.”

Twenty minutes later, the group entered the tunnel. It was small, about twelve feet round, with cables on bearers along the sides. Looking north, they could see the tunnel was blocked by a cave-in. South, however, the floor started to slope downwards and, what lights were still working allowed them to see their way.
Ferret led the way with Tazer as his sidekick. The two adults trailed a little way behind. “I’m sorry for …. back there!”
Hector smiled. “S’alright.”
Helen was still struggling to come to terms with this world. But now, there was something else. She looked at the boys in front, at the man by her side and felt the warmth of companionship. Possibly for the first time since Tom had died, she did not feel alone anymore. She suddenly laughed out loud, her voice echoing in the confines of the small tunnel. The boys in front stopped. Looking back, Tazer said, “You're bloody mad, you are!” Still laughing, Helen put her arm around his young shoulders and said. “Young man, you may well be right.”

[moonglum]

They continued on for some time and found the tunnel beginning to slope upwards once more. When the ground leveled out once more, they came to a fork in the tunnel. Small enameled plaques on the walls indicated destinations. Helen brushed the dust off the signs and read aloud. “Vauxhall/Kennington to the right and Lambeth to the left.”
“Do you know where Mary is?” Helen asked.
“A place called The Anvil,” Hector replied.
Helen stared at the signs. “Why do they call it that?”
Tazer butted in. “Gramps said a long time ago they put up huge stakes in a field an’ tied people to them, then threw round rocks at them while a man with a hammer defended them. He said it was a game.”
Helen looked at the boy open-mouthed, as the truth slowly began to dawn on her. She looked again at the sign, then back to Tazer. She began to laugh. Tazer, stern-faced, looked at Hector. “She’s off again!”
Helen put her hand on Hector’s arm to steady herself, “It’s called the Oval!” and continued laughing.

[moonglum]

They took the right-hand tunnel, the two boys walking ahead exploring. The adults walked slowly some distance behind, talking. Helen found herself holding onto Hector’s arm. It felt comfortable, safe even. She was aware of feelings she had not felt before. She had never let herself become close to anyone other than her brother before, but she felt drawn to this man. Hector was no Adonis. His looks were rugged, unshaven, his clothes were well worn and his hair lank, yet he conveyed both an inner and an outer strength which made Helen feel secure.
“What was so funny?” Hector recognised the difference between genuine mirth and Helen’s panic-stricken laughter of earlier.
Helen smiled. “Tazer’s description of the game of cricket.”
Hector looked bemused. “Cricket?”
“Yes. Tazer was right in one sense, they did erect thin wooden stakes, but they were only this high.” She put her hand down to indicate about knee height. “They balanced smaller pieces of stick on top of the stakes and a person would throw a ball at them to try to knock the smaller pieces off. A second person would stand in front of the stakes and try to knock the ball away with another piece of wood, called a bat.”
Hector looked even more bewildered. “Sounds confusing.”
Helen smiled. “Well, it was probably invented by a man.”
They both stopped and burst into laughter. Then, as the laughter died away, they found themselves staring into each other's eyes.
“It’s blocked up ahead!” Neither had noticed the Ferret's approach. The spell broken, a flustered Hector said. "Let's have a look then."

[moonglum]

The lights were flickering a dim yellow glow. Helen squinted in the gloom as panic began to work its way up from her chest, constricting her throat and strangling her voice. A figure was slowly advancing up the tunnel towards her. Its blackness floating in and out of the pools of light, appearing and then disappearing in the darkness between. She tried to scream, but no sound emerged. Helen sat open-mouthed, squirming inside as the figure edged closer and closer.
“Helen.”
The voice sounded familiar.
“Helen.”
She tried to stand, her arms pushing against the floor, but for some reason, her legs refused to work.
“Helen.”
The figure kept on coming at her, softly calling her name. She tried to shuffle herself along the floor but the figure was quicker. Suddenly it was there in front of her and extending its arms towards her. She felt its hands on her shoulders and realized she had found her voice.
“Helen.”
A scream erupted from her mouth and her eyes snapped open.
“Helen, it’s alright! You were having a bad dream.
She found herself staring at Hector's face and threw her arms around his neck pulling him towards her, toppling him from his kneeling position beside her. He laughed as he untangled himself and knelt once more.
“What were you dreaming about? You gave out a terrible scream.”
Embarrassed, Helen lowered her arms and shuffled back against the curved tunnel wall.
“I don’t know it’s all a bit blurred.” She was shaking, her eyes darted back down the tunnel, as mentally she tried to calm herself.
“Come on, Ferret has found a way through.”
She slowly stood up, holding on to the old cables running along the wall and his outstretched hand. She could not stop shaking and felt as though her legs would buckle under her at any minute. Fighting back tears, she stammered. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. We did this. It’s all our fault. We’ve destroyed everything!”
Hector gently lowered her back down and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her toward him. “What are you saying? I don’t understand.”
The tears finally flowed and ran in streaks through the dirt on her cheeks. “The war did all this. Our war!”
Hector laughed. “There has been no war. You’re being silly.”
She bristled and pushed him away, hitting him on the chest. “Don’t patronize me! How would you know? How could you possibly know! I’ve been down here for four hundred years. I know!”

[moonglum]

Hector stared at the metal structure. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. It sat at one end of the short tunnel. Square in shape, it was a cage that extended up and through the roof, presumably to the surface. A metal stairway wound its way around the structure and disappeared up into the darkness. Ferret had found a gap near the top of the cave-in which led to a side tunnel. Clearing away enough debris to crawl through, Ferret found one light still working, enough to see by. Working on both sides, Hector and the Ferret cleared enough rocks and earth to enable them all to squeeze through.
“What is that?” Tazer’s youthful curiosity was working overtime. He walked around the cage, touching the metal. The Ferret stood at the front.
“This looks like a gate of some sort.” He gripped a handle and tried to pull the lattice-work of metal towards him. When it didn’t move, he pushed at it and jumped when it screeched slightly to on side.
“It’s a lift!” Helen sat on the floor, back against the wall and knees drawn up to her chin. “They used it to bring large reels of cable down here.”
Tazer was getting excited. “It’s bigger than my one. Does it work?”
Helen snorted. “No, of course it doesn’t work.” She stopped and stared at the youngster. “Your one?”
Hector growled. “Oh yes, Tazer has a lift. And his does work!” He was growing tired of the woman’s mood changes. One moment she was holding his arm and laughing, the next, pushing him away and ranting. He turned away from the three and walked toward an opening in the wall. A doorway led to a small room off to one side. In it he found a workbench, some metal cupboards and in the corner, a sink. He remembered the one on the farm. Turning the stiff taps, he was met with a trickle of brown, foul-smelling sludge. He turned off the taps and wandered over to the bench. There was an assortment of old rusty tools. One, in particular, caught his eye. It was a large, double-handled pair of shears. Hefty enough to cut metal, he thought. Picking up the shears, he turned to leave when something made him stop. In the corner was another door, he had almost missed it in the gloom. He walked over and pushed open the door. The smell made him recoil and, holding his nose, he entered the room. In the darkness, he stumbled over things on the floor. What felt like twigs, snapped under his feet. As his eyes slowly adjusted to what little light filtered in from outside, he looked down and saw he was stepping on skeletons.
“What’s in here then?” The Ferret stood in the doorway behind Hector. “Oh shit!” The boy suddenly realised what Hector was standing on.
“Outside!” Hector ushered him out and closed the door behind them. He gripped the boy by his shoulder. “Not a word. Do you hear. They don’t need this”.

[moonglum]

Back in the tunnel, Helen was in her usual position. Sitting against the wall with her knees drawn up under her chin. Hector looked around for Tazer. “Where’s the boy?”
Helen pointed to the stairs but remained silent. The Ferret set off after the youngster. “I’ll find him,” he called as he began to mount the stairs.
“Be careful!” Hector said and looked back at Helen. He slid down and sat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders he pulled her to him until she rested her head on his shoulder. Her earlier remarks puzzled him. “What did you mean before, when you said you’d been down here for four hundred years?”
Helen sighed. There it was. The question she’d been dreading, hiding from even. How could she hope to make this man understand? Half the time she was not even sure she understood herself. She had all but convinced herself that this was a bad dream. As long as she clung to that belief, she could make this horror go away. The trouble was though, the scientist in her knew, deep down, that it would not go away. It, she, was here to stay! She sighed again and raised her head from his shoulder.
“I am not four hundred years old if that was what you were thinking. Neither am I mad. At least, not yet! Scientists invented, we invented, a machine which would put a person to sleep for a long time, but that person would not get any older. Time outside the machine would pass normally, but the person inside would not age. We thought that if the war ran it’s course then some form of order would establish itself and the world would need people like us to build anew.” Helen paused to let this sink in. She looked at his face, searching for that expression of puzzlement, or that blank look of confusion. Instead, she herself was confused by a thin smile forming on his lips. His next words absolutely staggered her.
“You know, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that!”