2020-When Time Stood Still

Chapter 20-London, The Beginning Of The End

Chapter Twenty

London, The beginning of the end

I slipped on the bike helmet and got myself into a comfortable position behind Ronnie. I adjusted my rucksack and turned to wave goodbye to the small group stood at the front door. Summer was busy comforting Effie who looked somewhat distraught. I put the image out my mind and held on tightly to Ronnie.

"Ready mate, for the ride of your life?" Asked Ronnie revving the engine.

"How do you manage to make everything sound dirty?" I joked.

"Only a likeminded dirty mind would pick up on such a thing! Anyway, jokes aside, are you ready for this?" He asked seriously.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do it."

***

The journey seemed to pass in a flash. I observed the outside world from afar; Queues of forlorn masked people standing outside supermarkets waiting to purchase their rations. Pubs and restaurants boarded up, random stray animals searching for scraps of food in the dustbins. It was a bleak depressing situation.

Things got worse as we entered the outskirts of the city. Few cars on the road, countless police patrols and an obvious military presence. It was eerie as we entered the once thriving city of London. I thought back to my youth, the days when I would roam the city with my friends, sampling the exotic international food, the pub crawls, concerts, shopping, and the buzz of the internationally famous center of culture and creativity. How the mighty had fallen. Those with money and means had fled to their country houses or abroad to safe havens. The rest were left to survive.

Again, I felt that lump in my throat as I thought of the children and youth of today. What had they done to deserve this? What kind of future awaited them? We had to stop this insanity once and for all.

Ronnie pulled down his visor, "We're here. This is the address." He pulled over into an area of the city I recognized from back in the day. An area that had once been affluent and tasteful.

It looked like most of the houses had been abandoned or were being squatted.

I climbed off the bike, pulled off the helmet and looked up at the white four -story house. A face appeared at the window. Seconds later the door was flung open and Kai ran down the front steps. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. I was overcome with so many emotions I could barely speak. It felt like a lifetime since I'd seen him, so much had happened.

He pulled back and looked at me, tears in his eyes. "You made it." He said quietly.

Ronnie cleared this throat, somewhat embarrassed by the intensity of the emotion.

He was about to shake Kai's hand but instead received a strong hug. "Thank you. Truly thank you from the bottom of my heart for protecting Skye and Effie." He pulled back and smiled at us both, the smile faded quickly as he noticed a police patrol car turn the corner. "Let's get inside quickly."

We followed Kai through to a large sitting room at the back of the house. It overlooked a reasonably sized garden lined with towering trees that gave us privacy from any overly curious neighbors. He motioned for us to sit down. We could hear activity from upstairs.

I studied Kai's face. He looked deeply fatigued, with dark rings around his eyes and deep frown lines etched into his forehead. The stress had aged him considerably in a short time.

He poured us some tea and sat back observing us both. "I wish we could have had this reunion in very different circumstances but that was not to be." He leant forward and took my hands, already guessing my first question. "Your family, they are all fine, fine as can be given the terrible circumstances in Lebanon. The day the explosion hit they had gone to our family home in the mountains. Thank god! Others we knew were not so fortunate," He added sadly.