8) Spoils of  War

According to Jenny, it is now 3-4 months since our three survivors  first got together. Their community is up and running. Greg and  Price are attempting to get an old tractor to work. Abby and  Jen make a poor attempt to plough a meadow near the house.

They are watched by a stranger who, after a while, comes over  to offer assistance. His name is Paul. He lived in a commune  before the death, and knows something about self-sufficiency.  He'd been to London to try & find his father, but finding  it in chaos, full of snipers & other undesirables, he's now  wandering the countryside aimlessly. He offers them some advice  on how to organise, and reveals that they haven't started very  impressively . Greg is rather resentful about not being the fount  of all knowledge any more.

Greg and Price are having little success on the tractor. Greg  remembers the tractor which was in the quarry (in Episode 2),  and also the stockpile of food that had been collected there.  The quarry is within a day's return trip, so they send Price  & Barney off in the van to see if there's anything left there.

By nightfall, they haven't returned. Greg's opinion of Price  falls even lower, as he assumes that he's taken advantage of  the liquor stored up at the quarry.

That night, another couple of survivors arrive at the house.  A woman driving a land-rover, towing a caravan, inside which  is her boss - they were boss & secretary before the death,  and have maintained that relationship afterwards. The man is  Arthur Russell, a successful businessman, his secretary is called  Charmain. They're heading northwards to live on an island Russell  owns off the coast of Scotland.

Greg and Abby don't hide their dislike of Russell, and Greg  commandeers the Land Rover so that he and Paul can go after Price.

They find Price and Barney pinned down by gunfire from a hut  at the end of the quarry. They've been unable to move without  being shot at. Greg and Paul climb to the top of the quarry to  survey the scene. There are several guns pointing out of the  hut down the quarry, but it is undefended at the rear. Greg doubles  round and climbs down the quarry side behind the hut.

He peers inside and sees there is only one man in the hut,  and he has several guns rigged together, fired by pulling strings.  Greg bursts in and overpowers the man, who he recognises as Vic  Thatcher, the man Anne Tranter had left to die in Episode 2.

Vic has survived thanks to the food supplies in the hut, but  his legs are useless. He rigged up the guns to protect his stockpile.  Greg convinces him that he hadn't realised what Anne had done,  and offers him a place in the community. Vic is tempted to stay  where he is, as he's convinced that Anne will one day return  to claim her stockpile of goods, and he wants revenge. However,  as he's seen no other people since being abandoned, he decides  to go back with them.