Hatred (Collpase, #1)

Chapter Three – 23 years and 9 months before the collapse-3

Jim had asked Carter whether he would introduce him to Walker, more to call his bluff about his so-called connections than anything else, so it came as a surprise to Jim when one day Carter came to see him and said that the Walkers were going over to his place for coffee that evening and why didn’t Jim and Annabel join them.

They went over to Carter’s full of expectation and were a little disappointed to discover that only Walker’s second wife and the daughter from his first marriage were there.

“I’m afraid it is impossible to tear my husband from his work,” Walker’s wife apologised. “But his efforts are rewarded.”

She spoke of him more like a missionary than a politician.

“Nobody who hears him speak can resist him,” she continued. “Even the most hardened of strikers have wept at his words.”

Jim remembered the cheers he had heard at the meeting where he had seen Walker speak, and he could not disagree now that Walker could move people.

“I would love to meet your husband at some point,” said Jim.

“My husband is a big friend of Carter,” she said. “I am sure that he will make up for having missed today.”

Despite the disappointment of not having seen Walker, Annabel and Jim enjoyed the evening at Carter’s and went home speculating about a possible next occasion where they might meet him.

“I’m sure it’ll happen,” said Jim. “Are you okay?”

Annabel was clutching her cheek.

“I think I have an abscess.”

“What? You need to go to the dentist.”

“I will.”

A few days later, Jim was trying to make progress on his lectures in the university staff room when the door swung open and a security guard burst in.

“Please stop working and leave the building,” he said in agitated tones. “We are closing the university; they have assassinated the President.”

There was a commotion among the staff and a barrage of questions directed towards the guard.

“I know nothing,” the guard protested. “I’ve just got my orders to clear the building so if you could please all leave so I can lock up, thank you.”

Jim garnered what he could from the gossip in the corridors, which was that a student had shot Walker, so it was understandable that the university was going into lockdown.

As Jim made his way through the city, stores and restaurants were already closed, expecting the, now all too predictable, riots. The clusters of people Jim had seen when he arrived in the city were forming once more.

A procession of adults and adolescents was already marching towards the centre shouting: “To the square” and “Revenge for Walker”, but the atmosphere was not tense and no-one was carrying weapons. The mood soon changed, however, as the police vans arrived.

In St Andrew’s Square, the crowd was smaller than Jim had imagined, and both protesters and police remained calm. Police drones flew overhead, filming the gathering.

Around the square, he saw the adverts encouraging people to inform on illegal immigrants.

SMS messages lit up the protestors’ flips, appealing for calm and announcing martial law. There would be a curfew at 7 pm.

Deciding nothing more would happen, Jim returned home. The city became calmer as the streets emptied.

There were shots and looting in the night, according to the news sites. The news that the European Bank had failed and that monkey flu was on the rise again hardly got a look in. It was at times like these that Jim wished the old BBC was still around.