The Grand Tour

Bryan shows Carl around and introduces him to the residents.

The grand tour

 

 

“So, here we are, this is the corridor. Nothing special about it, it’s just a corridor”

 

Bryan seemed incredibly confident yet the way he spoke seemed nervous and uncomfortable. He seemed to just want to talk about everything for the sake of talking. The room started with a door immediately in front.

 

“So, here we have door number one! Let’s take a look behind door number one!”

 

Bryan proudly exclaimed as he placed his hand on the brass handle and turned, revealing a dark room with a box shaped machine, emanating a light blue glow. The box stood at about two feet tall and two feet wide.

 

“Here’s our Echo Transmitter, ain’t she a beauty!”

 

Carl’s face drew blank with confusion, he looked at Bryan with a look that urged him to explain.

 

“You don’t know? It’s an Echo Transmitter, the thing that keeps everyone alive? How did you go this long without knowing what one is? Did you not have one? Oh, f*****g hell, mate! Well, I suppose I’d better explain. So, the Echo Transmitter lets off a high pitch sound that the Demons can hear which throws off their senses and they scatter from the sound which is why we can talk and make some noise without worrying. Someone said it’s something akin to Dolphin Sonar, which is why we can’t hear it. It was given to us by our resupply boys at drop point Romeo.”

Carl seemed uneasy as Bryan talked without allowing a response until he found his voice.

 

“That’s pretty amazing, I guess that explains why you’re able to live comfortably here. You said about resupply people. What’s that about?

 

Bryan smiled and tilted his head back as if to suggest to follow him. He closed the door, turned left ninety degrees and pointed both fingers to a door that was directly to the left of the Transmitter room.

 

“This is the ladies bathroom. No entry for us lads, I needn’t say more on the matter, c’mon ‘en!”

 

The corridor twists to the right again leading parallel to the Ladies bathroom. The pair walked through until Bryan pointed to a map on the wall to the right. Directly behind the wall of the map would sit the Echo Transmitter. The map was of the local area, some areas lay blank, the parts that had been drawn in had been coloured, green, blue or red. Carl browsed the map for the area Brian had first met him. Judging from the journey they took to Home, the area was blank. Bryan begun to explain.

 

“This is the war map. This is Lewis’ baby, as head of our scavengers he uses this map to draw where he’s been and what the regions contain. If it's blank, he ain't been, in green, area clear, all supplies have been looted. In blue, supplies remaining in area and worth returning for. In red, danger zone. Lewis checks those area’s out 3 nights in a row before determining whether to make them red, he’s very thorough. This little area up here marked with “RS” is the resupply zone. An agent from a nearby outpost heads there with a buggy and a trailer full of supplies. They get safe passage thanks to their Echo Transmitter. They hang around for about two hours but have to head back to recharge their transmitter otherwise they are going to get wrecked on the journey home.”

 

Carl seemed to be unaware that Bryan was talking, staring at the blank space he believed he was rescued from. He turned to Bryan and pointed at the area.

 

“Is this where you rescued me? I wasn’t alone, did you see anyone else?”

 

Bryan shook his head slowly. Carl looked down at the floor, a tear trickled down his cheek. Bryan put his hand on Carl’s shoulder and his voice became comforting and soft.

 

“Look mate, we’ll help you look for whoever you’re missing. It’s a tough world nowadays but I’ll make sure you don’t go through it alone.”

 

Carl couldn’t help but feel better after hearing those words. He felt Bryan lightly pull him down the hallway, leading him to a door on the left where his voice returned to it's low boom.

 

“This is the gent’s toilet, shower and toilet works, not well admittedly but it works. The girls bathroom is right next door and there’s a cheeky little peep hole in the shower"

 

Bryan followed this sentence with a wink shortly followed by ruffling Carl’s hair and shouting

 

“I’m only joking mate! You were excited then, weren’t you, you little perv!”

 

Bryan closed the door and led Carl further down the corridor leading to two doors. One in front and one to the left. Directly besides them, stairs led upwards and twisted to the right but nothing more could be made out. A table sat at the bottom of the stairs with a hand bell atop. Bryan lifted the bell and rung it, waited then rung it again.

 

 

 

Shortly after, a faint light appeared through the darkness up the stairs, followed by an elderly lady slowly stepping down. She was wearing a long flowery nightie, hemmed just above the ankle, a pink fluffy apron and bright white hair atop the head of a lady with a big beaming smile. Wrinkles sat across her face, showing her age, despite this she seemed very spry. Her mouth opened and a soft voice flowed from within.

 

“Hello there sweetheart, you’re a new one. What’s your name?”

 

Carl struggled for words as his mouth opened and closed. To his relief, Bryan stepped in.

 

“This is Carl, he’s not much of a talker. Carl, meet Mother”

 

“Nobody is much of a talker in comparison to you. Nice to meet you Carl, dear. Who’s this little guy?”

 

Mother gestured towards Prince who slept, nuzzled into Bryan’s chest. Carl had forgotten Prince was there until now.

 

“This is Prince, the Prince of Home! Catchy name, ain’t it. I found him on the way home tonight and was thinking you could take him upstairs for, well, you know”

 

“I’d love to, he’s gorgeous, come here beautiful”

 

Mother plucked Prince from Bryan’s arms and rested him comfortably onto her chest. Mother was plump which must have made Prince feel like he was lying on a cloud.

 

“Right, now you can pop back upstairs while I finish Carl’s tour”.

 

Mother gently stroked Bryan's cheek then quickly pinched his ear. Bryan let out a howl followed by low grunts of pain.

 

“Watch how you speak to me boy, I can still kick your a*s.”

 

Mother let go of Bryan’s ear, gestured with her index finger for Bryan to approach. Bryan leaned forward and tilted his cheek towards Mother as she planted her lips and gave him a kiss. Mother leaned back and gave a soft smile to both Bryan and Carl as she turned and ascended the stairs, coddling Prince.

 

“You must be so happy having your mother with you, even in these times.”

 

“She’s not my mother. We just call her Mother because she takes care of us. She cooks, she cleans, we couldn’t do a lot without her."

 

“What did you mean when you said “You know”. What’s upstairs”?

 

Bryan turned towards Carl.

 

“Don’t worry about it”

 

Bryan’s response was sharp indicating this wasn’t a conversation he was interested in continuing.

 

 

 

 

Bryan pointed towards the two doors that remained.

 

“The door on the left here is our Med room. If anyone gets injured or isn’t well, this is where they go. The door on the right, is our living quarters”

 

Bryan opens the door to a large room with curtains. The pair walked forward and turned left to a long room that looked like a hospital ward. Lots of curtains separated the beds allowing for privacy.

 

“This is where we all sleep, we’ve done it like an army camp but with curtains to allow privacy. Jade demanded it because apparently she doesn’t want us all to see what her and Lewis get up to. I think it’s fair, really but also quite selfish. Yours will be bed 7, you have a bedside table to put things on or in. If you have anything that needs washing or cleaning, pop them in the box by the door and Mother will sort it. That’s about it for the tour to be honest. I’ll let you get acquainted with everyone else at your own pace, I’ve got stuff to sort out. See ya!”

 

Bryan rushed out the door, leaving Carl to go to his bed section.

 

 

 

 

Bryan hastily walked towards the gate outside the entrance to Home and up the stairs where Lewis was sat on a camp chair overlooking the entrance.

 

“How’s the new guy? He settling in alright?”

 

Lewis asked as he stared into the darkness.

 

“Yeah, he seems okay. He’s met almost everyone, the others will introduce themselves in time”

 

“What’s the plan?”

 

“Well, we need to get that house patched up. See if we can re-open it, the route is too good to let go. Get Jade to lead a team to repair it as much as they can.”

 

“You avoiding her because you saw her getting changed?”

 

“You spoke to her, huh? Yeah, pretty much, sorry dude, I didn’t know.”

 

“No worries. Don’t forget, tomorrow night is resupply night. Once Jade has done the repairs, we’ll get some rest and make our way. Sound good?”

 

“Good call, I’m heading off now, I am f*****g pooped. Tell Jade, she’s got two hours, we're not going to be able to do a resupply if you two are knackered. No sex, either!”

 

The pair smirked at one another as Jade walked up the stairs and glared at Bryan. Bryan chuckled to himself, patted Lewis' shoulder, walked passed Jade and entered the house where he headed to the sleeping quarters to rest.

Author's Note

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