There'll Always Be an England

[Dogs231]

(He came from I Vow to Thee, My Country.)

He and the girl - he had silently resolved to avoid using her name when possible - had wandered away from the coast. He was now sure that they would need to find shelter, as it had begun to drizzle since their departure, and it was growing colder as the sun lowered. He noticed the threshold of a natural cave system, and walked towards it, then entered. He found himself in a natural atrium, and he saw what remained of the dying sunlight through openings in the ceiling, and he heard the patter of the rain against the stone.

He knew that the area was clear and motioned for the girl to enter. He found a small alcove in the wall - a position from which he could remain in shelter and still receive the remaining natural light of the evening. He knew it would be better to stay for a short while, to regain their bearings before they moved onward.

He opened his bag and began to sort through the items. He looked through his rations, counted them, and sorted them by how much sustenance he felt they would provide. His inventory had a total of four two-litre bottles of water, four meal replacement drinks, two meals-ready-to-eat, and assorted snacks. He quickly determined that the rations they had each received would be insufficient to survive a prolonged duration of time, likely to provoke competition. He decided he would start by consuming the meals with less nutritional value to conserve the more valuable supplies for when he needed them.

He also inspected the medical supplies, identifying the items and their purposes. He then removed the lighter from the package and separated it from the rest of the first aid kit - he felt that he could find a use for it outside of medical purposes. He saw that the remainder of his bag's contents consisted of the map and compass he had taken note of earlier and a torch. He took all the items he had splayed across the ground and neatly stored them within the daypack, except the snacks and the torch, and then zipped up the canvas container.

He took the bag of Irvins-branded salted egg potato crisps and the bag of White Rabbit-branded milk candies. He felt that they would be the least nutritious foodstuff provided to him - and thus, of poor long-term benefit. He concluded that the two items were of Singaporean origin, which identified the nationality of the violent boy he had encountered earlier. He consumed the crisps, which tasted good, and the confections, which were solid as stone but serviceable, then disposed of the plastic bags and wrappings.

He heard a noise from a speaker just after he had eaten and lingered within the cave to avoid interrupting it. He gleamed several pieces of information from the announcements - performed by the same man who had done the briefings. He now knew that there were twenty-nine competitors total, and two of them had died. He ran a quick calculation in his head - twenty-seven, including him and the other girl, continued to live.

He chose to discount the American boy who had perished in the briefing. He was silently thankful that, unlike the others, he did not know the name of the American. He did not want to attach a name to the loud shouts or the collapsing skull or the spatter of blood on his windbreaker. He could not have said the same about the faceless carcass on the beach.

He did not want to think about these matters anymore. He decided that it would be best to advance to a better shelter. He picked the torch off of the ground, turned it on with a click, then shined the beam of light into a pitch-black passageway. He saw that it was clear, then motioned to his companion and walked forward. He left without waiting to see if she would follow him and tried to ignore the fact that his hands trembled.

(He went to The Company You Keep.)