Protecting the realm

It’s not every day you survive the apocalypse.  Then it’s not every day they have one.   It was meant to be the journey of a lifetime.  I was in Scotland when the news announced that a large meteor was to hit the Earth in three weeks.   I thought at first it was something out of a Hollywood movie.  However things changed overnight, people were scrabbling to stock up on food, trying to get home or find a safe place.  I wanted to go home, however it was near impossible to get a flight home.  The phone lines went down as so many people were using them.  I only got to speak briefly to my family.

I knew I could not get home and tried to make it to my cousins home.  I didn’t get far as we were all to go into lockdown.  The plan had been that we went into lockdown and organise just where people could be sent for safety.   I was in a hotel when word came out that we were on the move.  I was with 80 other people,  all with their families but me.  A lady Sara took me under her wing and brought me into her family.  It was a large family, Sara, her husband, five children and their parents plus aunts, uncles and cousins.   I didn’t feel lonely as there was always someone around.  A week before the meteor hit we were in the basement of this castle.  It was cold and damp.  However I was so busy,  sorting out where to put the food,  building shelves,  cleaning and genuinely making the place livable. Two days before the meteor hit 50 more  people arrived.  They brought food and a backup generator,  we had a small radio when we heard nothing could be done and to brace for impact.

Impact wasn’t what I thought,  I was expecting a loud bang but there was nothing just silence.  We wondered if it hit,  we tried the radio over and over,  there was always nothing.  It must have been day 4 when we heard a loud knocking on the door,  a voice called out and a couple of the men opened the door.  Standing in the doorway was a man.  My first glance at him, he appeared to be fine,  a few scratches.  Everyone tried to gather around him,  I scrambled to the front eager to hear his story.  

He explained his name was Matthew and that he had come up here with his brother, they couldn’t get back home and when they heard it would be safer up here they came up and stayed at a small cottage.  When the meteor hit, like us the heard silence.   They decided to head to London and had only been on the road for an hour or so, when a wind blew up.  It was strong and the car they were in rolled over.  He got out and tried to pull his brother out when the wind blew harder and took the car along with his brother.  He tried to chase it but the wind would not allow him to get anywhere.

Eventually the wind died down and Matthew explained he looked for his brother before coming across this castle.  So his story concluded.  Like me he was now alone.  I sat staring at him as he cleaned his face.  He was fairly handsome, with gorgeous green eyes.  He smiled at me and his face lit up, his eyes seemed to sparkle and I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach.

Sara brought him some soup and he devoured it.  I didn’t move, I was mesmerised by him.  After he finished he looked at me,  “So do you have a name?”  Matthew asked me.

I nodded.  “Gillian,” I replied.

“Pleased to meet you Gillian.  Who are these people?

“We were sent up here.  We were told the castle had a basement.  It’s more than a basement, it has quite a few tunnels.  Little rooms off the tunnels.  It’s given us extra room and we are not falling all over each other. “

“How long can we stay down here?

“Years,  we brought plenty of food and water.  We have rooms filled with them.  Oxygen gets down here, we are trying to find out where.  We don’t want any bad air getting in.”

“It seems I have come to the right place,” Matthew said before standing up. 

Matthew walked away to talk to some of the men.  Sara came over.  “You like him,  good we need a little romance right now,” she said to me.

I shuttered inside with joy at the thought of romance,  I looked at Matthew,  I wondered what he was like.  I had to get to know him.   From that day on I made it my mission getting to know Matthew.   He was kind, caring, intelligent and like me had a goofy sense of humour.   I could feel that my feelings were developing into love,  I would do anything to be near him.  He had a talent for carpentry and I practiced carpentry as often as I could.  

One day he asked for my help to make bunk beds for the children.   The outside was dusty, but at the same time every day for 3 hours the dust would be less.  We could go outside and hunt and forage for food and things we needed.  We had plenty of wood and decided to use it to make furniture.  

As each day passed we started to know more about each other.  We were building a bunk bed together and we were laughing as the wood wouldn’t stay in place,  instead of getting frustrated he laughed making me laugh.  He then grabbed me and kissed me.  I melted into the kiss.  We kissed for quite a while and got lost in each other.  After the kiss, I noticed a strange man standing in the doorway.  “Matthew,” the man said.

Matthew looked over at the man and smiled, “Bro,” he called out, as he ran over to the man and hugged him.  

Without a word to me Matthew walked away with his brother.  I felt dejected and started to cry.  I wiped away my tears and walked out of the room.   I didn’t see Matthew for hours and I was beginning to think he left.  I couldn’t concentrate on anything I tried.  In the end I found a small corner and sat down.  The world had all changed, I didn’t know if I would see my family and friends again, I didn’t know if I would see my homeland.  At this point I never felt so alone.

I had drifted off to sleep when I was awoken by a sound.  I looked up and there was Matthew.  “You know I’ve been looking for you for hours?”  he confessed.

“You walked away ….”

Matthew interrupted.  “Sorry I was so excited to see my brother.  I went back and you were gone.   I have some great news. My family is fine,  living in a house not far from here.  It’s got a basement and they survived there.  After the accident Henry was taken to this house by a farmer.  He stayed there,  the farmer left to go and live with his daughter so he left the house to Henry.  My parents and other brother Billy survived and they are here.  I’m going to live with them.

“I’m happy for you Matthew.  I’ll miss you.”

I could feel the tears in my eyes were starting to pour down my face.  Matthew walked over and wiped the tears from my eyes.  “I love you, come with me.” he surprised me with these words.

“I love you,  yes I’ll come with you.”

Matthew smiled and kissed me.  I thought how strange it was I was no I had found the love of my life and all it to was an apocalypse.