Chapter 9

The smell of something approaching fried bacon was the first thing I noticed as I woke. It made my mouth water. I could hear the gentle hum of a wordless tune over the sounds of kitchenware clattering together. I kept my eyes closed for a few minutes longer, enjoying the sensations before my stomach gave me away by doing its best impression of a steam train.

"Morning!" Keri's chirpy voice and the sounds of steps towards me made me open my eyes and pull myself up till I was seated. "Coffee?"

In her hand I could see a mug of something steaming, and on her face I could see a tentative smile.

I tried to reassure her with a smile of my own and reached out for the cup. I took a long sip.

"Mmmm thank you. What are you cooking?"

Her smile still looked unsure.

"Well I wanted to do a fry up but… well there's not so much to work with. So fried spam, powdered eggs and beans."

To me, it sounded delicious, we hadn't had a warm meal since leaving the guild. I told her so and she beamed at me. I got the feeling she was feeling some guilt about Jacques, much like I was.

"It's nearly ready… more coffee?" I handed her my mug and she busied herself while I got out of bed and made my way over to the table. As I sat down, Keri set a plate and my drink in front of me. I tucked in as Keri joined me.

"This is…" I started to say delicious, but then I was hit by the taste and my words turned to a spluttering cough. Keri eyes me with concern as she began to chew her first mouthful, but then her eyes bulged and she spat a mix of spam and eggs across the kitchen.

I forced my mouthful down with a large swig of coffee. It was the wrong decision and I almost choked as it slid very slowly down my throat.

"This is fucking terrible" Keri said, half laughing, half choking.

"I'm sorry." I laughed too. "It is fucking terrible."

I stumbled up out of my seat and went to raid the cupboard. After rummaging through for a while I held up a tin of peaches and a granola bar. "Reserve plan?"

Our meal didn't take too long, and although the clean up took longer, we'd packed the day before so before long we were ready to get back onto the road. I'd found a canister of petrol that Keri was holding, waiting by the door while I made sure we had left everything as close to how we had found it as possible. It felt like the right thing to do. We took our time emerging from the dark tunnel, finding a bright and mild day had broken outside. After checking the coast was clear several times, Keri led me to where she had stashed the bike in a clump of trees not far from the bunker.

We didn't waste any time leaving, as soon as I had refilled the tank, we loaded up our bags and took the long way out, avoiding the remains of Jacques' bar as much as possible.