WalkerZ - A Zombie Apocalypse Story

Chapter 24 - Pilots of Penzance

"If there's a flare dead ahead, that might be the old lighthouse," said the Coxswain.

"There!" said the Captain pointing. "Patil, take us in, but watch those rocks."

"Aye Captain."

Patil guided the boat towards the flare and as they got closer a white-bearded man in a heavy wool jumper came into view, standing on the rocks waving at them, the slender column of the lighthouse looming behind him.

"Fancy a trip?" said Lily looking at Merryn.

"Yup. Can I take your Sergeant King and the Corporal with me?"

"Good idea. We don't want too many there, but it may not be just him."

Merryn nodded and went to find the two men.

~

As the dinghy drew up to the sea polished granite rocks forming the foundation of the lighthouse, Merryn threw a rope to the lighthouse keeper who pulled them in and tied off the boat on a massive iron ring set deep into the rock.

A tanned and lined face split into a wide smile and he came forward with his hand outstretched. "My name's Jan, I'm the keeper here."

"Merryn, and this is Sergeant King and Corporal Jansen. We're from the base at Exeter, attached to the government on the Isle of Wight."

"Well it's blooming good to see you." The man turned and whistled and a tall dark-haired man stepped out from behind the door of the lighthouse, shouldering a rifle and holding out his hands to show he meant no harm. A teenage girl and younger twin boys stepped out from behind him.

The man strode forward to greet them. "I'm Rob. It's good to see a Navy ship. We thought you looked official, but we wanted to make sure you weren't pirates or scavengers before we came out to say hello."

"Is that a pilot's badge Rob?" asked King, pointing to an emblem on his jumper.

"Yes. I flew helicopters out of Penzance airport to the Scilly Isles back in the day. Come on, come inside and we'll get a brew on. We'd love to hear any news you have."

As the kettle boiled Merryn updated the group on the state of the world, with both Jan and Rob asking occasional questions. After a few minutes, the two boys got tired of the discussion and went into another room to play, joined by the Corporal who got pulled into a noisy game involving wooden blocks.

The girl watched the conversation, her dark eyes missing nothing.

"So how does a pilot end up stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with their family?" asked King.

"Well, the kids aren't officially mine." He smiled at the teenager. "I picked up Jenna and her brothers along the way."

"He saved us," said Jenna. "Then Jan took us in." She moved over to the kettle and poured out mugs of tea, placing one in front of Jan.

The old man took a sip of his tea and sat back in his chair. "When it kicked off it was me and my mate Ken who looked after the station here.

"We'd spend weeks out here, nothing but us and the seagulls, and they're noisy buggers. Back then we were in constant contact with everyone through modern technology and they were talking about automating the lighthouse, so I think our days were numbered, but it was an amazing job and I was nearing retirement so I wasn't too worried.

"We got ferried in via the helicopter pad up on top of the tower. That made it easy to drop in people, supplies, visitors, you name it. Even Prince Charles and his missus popped in once and had a cup of tea. Nice people they were, interested in everything.