The Fight for Life Read online

  ‘You have the right antibodies but with the equipment we have out here it will take three days to get enough to use.’ Sharqe answered.

  ‘Then we must start now! I do not want to kill my brothers but we must work quickly!’ Mustapha exclaimed.

  They took blood from him and set up the equipment, to try to extract the substance they needed. Then they had to make sure it could to be given to anyone, not just to Mustaphas` blood group. As they worked Mamoud grew worse and Sharqe started coughing. On the third day Mamoud died with no antidote available. Sharqe worked on but also started answering Mustapha’s questions about the inner caves door and how thick it was. How it was sealed and how to open it. He found out that it could only be opened from the inside which the great one would do in one year’s time, to make sure the virus had mutated sufficiently.

  Sharqe tested the sample in the tube. ‘One more run through this machine and it should be ready for me.’ He said weakly. ‘But you must do it, I no longer have the strength!’

  Mustapha willingly took over and hovered round the machine until the first batch was ready but when he took it over to Sharqe who sat at his desk, he was dead. Mustapha wailed forlornly, he had killed his friends. He walked up to the door to the inner cave.

  ‘I am coming in there to shake your hand great one.’ He warned.

  He walked to the store where they had plastic explosives and carried several packs up to the door, with a fuse. He placed it where Sharqe had said he should, for maximum effect, wound out the fuse wire and retreated to outside the cave. If it all collapsed the Great One would indeed have to be great to get out! He pressed the plunger and watched. Nothing moved when the explosion took place. He waited for the dust to clear, then walked inside. The door had a deep gouge out of it but it was still sound. Mustapha collected more explosives and put them in the gouge. He attached the wires to the new fuse and walked outside into the sunshine. Another loud explosion and more dust poured out of the cave. He watched the mountain wobble slightly but nothing fell. As he walked back inside after the dust had cleared a bullet parted his hair.

  He dived for cover behind the nearest rock.

  ‘Is that you Abdul?’ Mustapha called.

  ‘This is Abdul, is that you Mustapha?’

  ‘It is I Mustapha and I am very sad. You see I have killed my friends. Not that I wanted to, the antidote is a lie, it does not work.’

  ‘It does not matter, I will gladly die for the Great One!’

  ‘I am sad that you said that Abdul. Now I have to kill you my friend.’

  ‘You do not have to Mustapha, you can go away and leave us in peace.’

  ‘I wish I could, the Great one lied to me and that means he is not a great one, just a man who lies. He will die my friend. Stand aside and stay alive.’

  Another bullet ricocheted off the wall near him as an answer. Mustapha slid backward and hurried outside. He walked to his new jet to find something to use as a shield. The steps to get inside were ideal and he dragged them across to the cave, with one other thing he found on the plane. Something small innocuous and lethal in the right circumstances. He slid the steps before him with bullets clanging on the top as he inched forward making sure he kept everything hidden. When he was far enough inside, in a place Abdul could not see him, he ran for the wall by the door. Abdul fired blindly, hoping for a lucky hit but his luck was out. The hole in the door was big enough to take what Mustapha brought with him and he blew the balloon up. He slid along and pushed in through the hole. Letting his breath inside in rush out as it dropped, causing it to fly inside.

  ‘In three days you will be dead!’ Mustapha cried.

  ‘Then in three days you will get inside, if I do not kill you before then!’

  Mustapha slid under the hole and walked into the back of the cave he was in. ‘I can wait!’ He called from his bed.

  Ray drove to the local village, it had a post office stores in the middle. He forced the door open and was surprised when the alarm warned him it was about to go off, then did. The battery still had some life in it but he did not mind. If someone came to investigate, at least he would have someone to talk to, but no one did. He started loading the car of anything he found that was still usable. The freezer was off but the food inside was still frozen, at least he would eat tonight, and by now he was getting very hungry! When he had loaded what he was taking, he pulled the door closed and screwed it shut, using two screws and a piece of wood. He drove back to the big house, climbed out of the car to push the gate open, drove in and closed it again, this time tying it closed. He did not intend to go out again today.

  It took him an hour to light the range, after turning on the oil but he lit it that was the main thing! With the top warming up and potatoes cooking on the hob he chose to look around upstairs, it was then he realised there were no beds in there at all. He looked at the lateness of the day and forced himself to drive back to the post office. Upstairs he found, who he presumed was the owner and his wife dead in bed. He left them there to rest in peace. In another room a single bed solved his problem. He took it apart and dragged it downstairs a bit at a time. With it tied precariously on the roof with the quilt from the bed stuffed inside, he screwed the door shut again and drove back to his new house. He still had to get it upstairs and put it back together, but as he was doing that at least his food was cooking! The range was hot by now and he put a lump of meat in the oven to cook. The pipes by the range were hot and he checked the hot water cylinder, to find that it was getting hot! He could have a bath tonight, probably by candle light but he could have a bath!

  Mustapha waited impatiently, often walking closer to the hole in the door and calling to see how Abdul felt. Even though he coughed and spluttered through his answer, he always answered that he felt fine. When one day he did not answer Mustapha checked the diary on the wall and walked back to the hole.

  ‘A good try old friend, but even the weakest victim lasted longer than two and a half days!’

  He walked away even though Abdul still did not answer.

  After three and a half days he crept up to the hole with a mirror and used it to peer into the room beyond. Abdul sat there, his gun aimed at the hole. His arm resting on a chair with a cushion on it to keep it aimed but he would never fire again, he was dead. Mustapha thrust his arm through the hole and used the mirror to look at the other side of the door but there was no obvious way to open it.

  He collected more explosives and stuffed them in the hole, wired the fuse in place and retreated outside again for safety. He sat behind a rock and pushed the plunger, then watched for falling rocks. None moved.

  Satisfied that it was safe, he waited for the dust to clear before walking back inside. The door was not open but the hole was big enough for him to climb through easily. He climbed through with more explosives to open the last door. But with this one Sharqe had been able to help, this door was so strong that it would take a long time to blow it open, whereas the wall to the left, although it looked stronger than the door was a weak spot and that was where he put the explosives. If he did this right he would be able to kill the Great One and to enlist the talents of his followers, well the female ones anyway.

  Before he fired his explosives he ran a hose from inside the middle cave as close to the outside as it would reach. Now he walked outside and pushed the plunger.

  When the dust cleared he walked inside but stopped by the end of the hose to peer round the corner using the mirror. A bullet smashed the mirror! He blew down the hose until he became giddy, then rested and blew again. When he could no longer blow air through the pipe he knew they had found it, and he knew they were going to die.

  He sat there his gun ready in case they rushed him and pondered his next move. To tell them the antidote was a placebo might get the same reaction of Abdul but he did not think so. The remaining two men, being as close as they were to so many pretty women and possibly already having tasted the fruit, would be upset at the thought of dying because the Great On
e had lied to them. They might well go in and kill him and the girls! Mustapha wanted the girls alive for obvious reasons! Yet to attack might mean the end of them all! He retreated to the cave opening and realised it had been a bad idea to blow the wall before he had provisions out there. All he had available was what was in the plane and to go to the plane and come back might be suicide. He sat there his gun trained on the cave and came to a decision, he could outlast them without food and water. In two days they will know they are ill and then was the time to go into the cave and kill them.

  Ray woke when the sun shone through the window and into his eyes. Curtains were called for but for now he needed a generator! He ate breakfast and had a morning cuppa before driving to the gate. He studied the area for wild dogs and when he was satisfied there were none about, opened the gate, drove through and closed it again. Tying it closed with rope. He also needed a chain and padlock to make sure that no one else could climb in and open the gate, without breaking the lock.

  He drove along keeping a lookout for anyone alive or any dog packs if any were about. If he saw dogs, he decided he should kill them to try to keep the numbers down early on. In one field he saw dogs chasing sheep and stopped. Through the open window of the car he fired again and again until all the dogs were dead. Three sheep were injured, so he shot them as well before driving on. He found the main road and followed the signs to a supermarket, just to see what it looked like now.

  He drove up to the front doors and tried them, they were locked. The large gate which led round the back was open and he drove round there. There was only one car there and the man inside was dead.

  Ray looked at him, he looked like a manager. He decided to look for keys after he found the back doors were locked and searched the dead man. A set of keys on a ring looked promising and he walked back to the doors to try them but stopped. He realised that if there was a dog pack about, the gate would be an invitation. He walked over to close the gate, his gun at the ready. With no dogs about he closed the gate and walked back to the shop door. As he walked back he became aware of a hum and realised that it was the refrigeration units, they were still working! There was a generator in here! He slipped inside and closed the door again. The lights worked and where it was necessary he turned them on. Now came the hard work. He checked dates on the fresh food in the refrigerators to see if they were still in date, then loaded the in date food into a trolley and wheeled each trolley into the big freezer. He thought back to his house, the garage would hold a lot of freezers and this generator would run the house easily but when he saw the size of the generator, he knew it would not be an easy thing to move! It ran on diesel so he needed a bigger diesel tank or more than one! He needed freezers but he also needed something to transport them in, his car needed to be exchanged for something bigger!

  He took provisions for the day and even though he had closed the gate, he checked outside, before he wheeled them out and put them in his car. He drove to the gate and peered through it to make sure it was safe to open it then threw it open and drove through. Once outside where he could see all round he walked back and closed the gate. Now he was a man with a mission!

  He drove around until he came to a hire shop, there he found generators he could handle and generators he could tow behind a van. All he needed now was the van to tow them with!

  Again he drove round until he saw a box van. The driver was dead on the side of the road but he had left the engine running and it was out of diesel! He drove on until he found one with diesel in it. He parked the car and took the van, loading the weapons inside it so that they were near to hand! Now he returned to the hire shop and collected all the generators he could lift into the back, he tied one on the back with a chain and drove off in search of deep freezes. He found a shop which sold them and loaded three into the back of his van, then drove back to the car to load the food he had with him onto the van before driving back to the house. He had to loosen the bolt on the second gate this time to get the van through but every time he opened the gate he made sure no dogs were about and he closed them again as soon as he was inside.

  He unloaded the generators and the freezers into the garage, then tried to start a generator. It hummed into life but he turned it off again as it was not a good idea to turn on a freezer after they had been thrown about like they had been. It would have been easier with some help! He dragged the bigger generator round the back to where it was going to sit and give him lights indoors, then stopped to unload and eat. When he had eaten he drove back out to collect more freezers, he figured that the time it took to get then there and unloaded it would be worth trying one of the freezers he had brought back the first time. He loaded on as many as he could fit inside the van and returned to the house to unload. As soon as he had unloaded he switched on one of the freezers. His next journey would be going to somewhere where he could find wire to run from the consumer unit out to the generator. With it he would bring a trolley of frozen food to stick in the working freezer.

  He walked back out to the freezer he switched on, to check it and found it getting very cold inside.

  He had left one milk carton in the refrigerator in the super store to use, the rest he had put in to freeze.

  He drove away and looked for an electrical shop where he took whatever he thought he might possibly need, then drove to the super store to collect some frozen food. The time was getting on the this would be his last outing today but his first port of call tomorrow would have to be a garage, to fill up with diesel. He now had a portable generator in the back of the van which he could use to drive the pump and fill up the van with diesel. He also brought a chain and padlock home with him and once he was inside, he locked the gate closed. He unloaded the frozen food and put it into the freezer. He carried any edible fresh food into the kitchen to prepare it. He was going to eat well tonight, he thought he had earned it. With darkness closing in he decided to cook first, then explore using the batteries and torches he had salvaged from the electrical shop. As darkness overtook him he turned on a lamp type torch which stood on a shelf and bathed the room in light. He had several of them and lots of spare batteries. When it grew fully dark he turned on another. The hob gave some more light and he ate sitting in the kitchen as there were no other places to sit. By the time he had washed up and put his meagre utensils away it was very dark outside and his mind went to anyone else who was out there in the dark, alone and afraid. Still there was no shortage of houses to go into for shelter. He had a bath, then, after washing his underclothes in the bath water, he walked about the house with two lights trying to find the consumer unit. It took him a while to try the cellar and he not only found the consumer unit in there but the cold water main as well. At least he now knew where to run the cable from the generator but whether or not that was done tomorrow remained to be seen. In the cellar he heard running water and assumed it was the water draining out of the bath. Now he had seen all he wanted, he went to bed. He could have sat reading as the owners had left two books behind but he decided that it would be a waste of batteries.

  Mustapha waited two days, then walked back into the cave. He was hungry and thirsty. He dived for cover as soon as he passed the point of no return but there was no shot. He made it to the wall and squirmed under the hole to the water. He picked up a bottle of water but the seal was broken, had they been in here while he was out there and poisoned it all? Is that why there was no resistance? By now they would be bad but still able to fight! He silently retreated to the plane without trouble and used the water there to refresh himself and what food he had left to fill the hole in his stomach. He returned feeling a lot better but this time moved quietly to the refreshments.

  ‘Aargh!’ He cried loudly and writhed on the floor.

  The two men walked out and looked down where he lay.

  ‘Shall I put him out of his misery?’ One man asked, he himself looked and sounded very ill.

  Mustapha produced a gun and shot them both.

  ‘I have helped you in
stead.’ He declared and walked past them.

  He stepped into the inner sanctum and the Great One fired at him but he was ill. He was also not a very good shot. Mustapha disarmed him and pushed him to the floor.

  The girls were lying on plush beds all looking very ill.

  ‘Do you see the Great One? He is dying and you are dying. He is no Great One but Mustapha can save you. Who would rather live than die with this liar?’

  One girl raised herself up. ‘How can you save me?’

  ‘I have a natural resistance to this killer and I have made a vaccine.’

  ‘Then you can save the Great One!’ Another girl cried.

  ‘Were he truly great I would save him but look at him. The antidote was a lie to get gullible subjects to go and do his bidding, thinking they would be part of the new world but all his plans were for you and your bodies to live with him for you to produce his babies. The girl tried to grab the syringe but Mustapha dodged her easily.

  ‘I will live and have your babies.’ The first girl said earnestly.

  Mustapha injected her.

  ‘You will live now but it will take time for you to get your strength back. Is there anyone else?’

  He injected anyone that asked him to. Some did not, preferring to die with the Great One. In the end he injected twenty of the girls.

  Ray woke when the sun shone in his eyes again.

  ‘I must get some curtains today.’ He said as he dressed.

  After breakfast he walked out to the garage. He walked in past the generator but fumes from the generator, which stood in the doorway with the exhaust poking out, had still be blown into the first garage. He turned the generator off and walked back outside. He stood there for a few seconds, it made more sense to wait for the fumes to dissipate than to try to go in there now! He pictured a lean to type of cover over the generators when they stood outside and made a mental note to put that on his shopping list.