Apocalypse [1]

Day 2- 18.56pm

Night was falling fast on the farm, and most of the residents were gathered around the large wooden dining table, tucking into a magnificent roast dinner that Poppy and Kerry had cooked for them, using all the vegetables and meat that would soon be going mouldy. 

“Does anyone want some more gravy?” Poppy offered, getting to her feet with the empty jug in her hand.  Laura and Rori nodded, too busy shovelling the delicious food into their mouths to respond.  Poppy smiled fondly.  She loved being able to cook for them all.  They had only been living at the farm for two days, but, even now, watching them all eating together, Poppy felt that they were her family now.  With me as the mother, she reminded herself rather smugly, pouring more gravy into the jug. 

Hayley reached across Ginge for some more carrots, and looked down at her plate suspiciously.  She was certain she had had two Yorkshire puddings on her plate moments ago.  Everybody knew that nobody touched Hayley’s Yorkshire puddings in a hurry and got away with it.

“Right,” Hayley said loudly, and the chatter died down, everyone turning to her.  “Who has stolen one of my Yorkshire puddings?”

Everyone burst into laughter. They’d been so sure that Hayley was going to make an important announcement.  Giggling, Laura slid Hayley’s stolen Yorkshire pudding back onto her plate, and slapped Rori a high-five, grinning mischievously.

“Sorry,” Laura laughed.  “It was too good an opportunity to miss.”

Hayley rolled her eyes, much to the amusement of her friends.  She covered her Yorkshire pudding in gravy and shoved it straight into her mouth.

“Blimey,” Rori chuckled.  “Just when you thought you’d seen all the unattractive faces in the world…”

Hayley mumbled something that sounded like “wanker”, her mouth still full of Yorkshire pudding.  She swallowed, and cleared her throat.

“Where are Luke and Megan?” she asked the others.

“They’re on watch,” Warren told her.  “I don’t envy them much, to be honest.”  Outside, a storm was still raging; rain plummeting by the bucket-full from the sky, and thunder rumbling in the far distance.  Once or twice, a fork of lightning had sliced the sky, lighting up the surrounding fields in a bright, eerie light.

“It’s a shame they’re missing this,” Hayley pointed out thoughtfully.  “But I suppose it means more for us!”
“Their dinners are keeping warm in the oven,” Poppy said, and Hayley nodded.

“Can we expect food like this every night?” Laura asked Poppy, finishing her food and relaxing back in her chair, her hands behind her head.

“Definitely not,” Poppy replied, shaking her head.  “I just thought this was the best way to get rid of all the veg and meat, to be honest.  Plus, Kerry wanted to help out too.”

“I made the gravy!” Kerry announced proudly.  To her right, Ginge casually used her fork to scrape some of the gravy off her chicken.  She, more than anyone, knew Kerry’s lack of culinary skills, and didn’t fancy risking eating it.  She remembered one occasion where Kerry’s cooking had landed her, Anna and Jack in bed for two days, throwing up constantly from food poisoning.  Ginge was not going to forget that experience in a hurry.