An Alien Rescue Read Online Free Page B

burning fuel, desolate areas where cold gale force winds and frequent rain persuaded most refugees never to venture. Winters were as big an enemy as was the violence, with as many dying from each. Open-cast coal fields were the new gold mines, with the black stuff becoming more valuable than people. The desperate, with a level of sense and aptitude, attempted to cross the English Channel by whatever means was available. They understood that the further south they could travel the better and healthier the climate would be. Everything from homemade rafts to ballasted bathtubs were tried, anything that floated was seen as a possible means of escape to the continent. A few who considered themselves fit and healthy enough to do so tried swimming, towing whatever they treasured wrapped in buoyant watertight plastic bags. Their bloated bodies were frequently washed-up on the southern-most coasts, alongside the broken wreckage of their own and others’ makeshift and foolhardy vessels. The remains provided small amounts of support to the scavengers who scoured the waterline. Small territorial dictatorships sprang up, with bloody battles being fought over the rights to claim whatever was found. The seaport of Hastings involuntarily returned to its earliest historic beginnings where, once again, kingdoms were either won or lost. It was recognised that southern European countries were the best places to head for, where warmth and forested mountains afforded the best chances of survival. But the unforeseen danger was that bandits roamed everywhere for easy pickings, with peace-seeking and hungry foreigners being the easiest to manipulate and to rob. Across the entire planet, people were being slaughtered like sheep, their remains either fed to fatten animals like pigs or left to rot above ground for carrion. The killers rejoiced in whatever spoils could be taken, savouring the moment before they needed to hunt again. They were the new predators.
    Scott passed over the English /Scotland border, noticing the new fence and walls that divided the two countries. Scotland had taken on a new roll at an early stage, it seemed, as the English government had passed away in an instant. The Scottish Parliament hurriedly moved itself into action, recognising the danger it was about to find itself in. The Scots were a population of hardy people, a race who had provided the world with first-rate engineers and scientists from time immemorial.  The proud Scottish Army Regiments that Whitehall had attempted to disband had amalgamated with the country’s police, forming a formidable force to be reckoned with. It was this move that stopped anarchy in Scotland, with new laws quickly voted in to the country’s constitution to help thwart any attempts to overrun those who supported the Executive. Execution was one of the new bylaws, with many being convicted and shot or hung for crimes against the state and its people. The border between England and Scotland was heavily protected on the Scots side to prevent hordes of refugees from crossing. Gangs of immigrants tried to gain access by following aged drovers roads, mistakenly believing the enforcing army couldn’t possibly cover all the land between the two countries. They were sadly wrong, with many bodies left unburied as a powerful deterrent to any who might try and follow the same routes. The black-hooded carrion-crow now thrived in this part of the world, feasting on the dead and breeding like never before. The Scot’s formed new agricultural establishments, one each for the various regions. Each establishment was responsible for growing and harvesting cereals and livestock within their boundaries, concentrating on whatever was best suited for their particular soil. Black-marketeers were publicly hanged in Edinburgh’s ancient Grass-Market area, resurrecting a Dickensian time from the annuls of Auld Reekie, the Victorian-era name for Edinburgh. The same city, with its own castle and elevated city with