Anyone Out There

Posted on Fri Jun 6th, 2025 @ 1:40am by Lola ‘Myth’ McDowell & Chloé Rouen
Edited on on Fri Sep 12th, 2025 @ 9:33am

2,164 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Safe Harbour
Location: Rouen Family Estate
Timeline: 22 September 2012

Chloé Rouen was bent over the work bench soldering connections together on an old shortwave radio set. Beside her, sat an older gentleman with gray hair who closely watched Chloe work. She was meticulous in soldering each connection. Every few minutes she would stop and shift out of the way so the older man could inspect the work.

Henri Rouen took a jewelers monocle and carefully inspected each new soldering connection. He would give a satisfied nod every time he straightened back up and allow his granddaughter to continue. He was very proud of the young woman. She had proven to become quite the Renaissance Woman since the Risen Dead had begun to appear nearly three years ago.

Chloé resumed her work and a few minutes later she finished the repairs that the old diagram indicated were required. She fidgeted slightly as her grandfather took several minutes to give a complete review of her work.

It had been nearly two months since Chloé had found the old shortwave radio set gathering dust in the basement. She had asked Henri what the thing was and what it was for. He explained that he had used it many years ago, but that it had fallen into disrepair and he had never found time to fix the radio. Now, with the way the world was, being able to communicate over long distances was possibly the only way to learn how to fight, survive, even take their world back.

Chloé watched as her grandfather slid the repaired radios innards back into the housing case and hooked up the power cable, microphone stand and speakers. Henri turned to Chloe and gestured to the shortwave radio set. “You found it, you repaired it. It's only right you should be the first one to send a message.”

Chloé took a deep breath as Henri turned on the power. Several lights came on and the quiet crackle of static came from the speakers. Chloé slid her chair closer and depressed the transmit button at the base of the microphone stand. “Hello, I am transmitting from France. Is there anyone out there who can hear me?”

Lola spun on her chair around and around. It was boring, but she had a job, and she was safe behind walls from the undead. She hated the walls, but if things were never going to go back to normal, she supposed she could change everything in her view. Did she need the poster of some run-down disc jockey who had not worked there in 20 years, or a former weather girl who had left the station at the beginning of the undead because she did not want to stay in such a small village with no hope?

She span one more time lazily before the console came alive, and she heard a woman's voice speaking what she could only guess was French, as it was the only country that she had been able to reach so far. "Parlez-vous anglais?" She asked hopefully.

Chloè exchanged a surprised glance with Henri. She had not actually expected a response of any kind, much less an immediate response.

Henri’s expression was one of concern. He turned to Chloè. “Do not tell this person where we are. No last names either. Not until we know more about who this person is.”

Chloè acknowledged her grandfather with a single nod. She watched him head to the stairs to go get her father. She turned back to shortwave radio. “I speak English. I’m Chloè. Who are you?”

"Lola... I am in the UK. I did not think I would get any signals from France." Lola said softly, putting her headset on so she could hear properly. Shortwave broadcasts could be easily transmitted over a distance of several thousand miles, including from one continent to another, but she had not had it happen often.

Chloé thought of her brother, René. He had left for London, just before the world had completely gone insane from plague that had ravaged the Earth in a short period of time. "The UK. Are you near London?"

"Unfortunately, not. London was one of the first places that fell." She could remember the news reports on the BBC and the reporters that were on the streets delving into the chaos, trying to keep the information flowing. It was one of the moments that led her to prefer voice over seeing the images live on the screen.

Chloé sighed. "Paris was the same. My father and I barely escaped. My mother...didn't make it. She gave her life making sure we would escape."

Lola bit her lip for a moment as she listened to Chloé. It was the story of any major city: you either got out early or were stuck, and either fought to get out or were added to the masses of the undead. "I am sorry to hear that," Lola said honestly. She did not know if her family had survived, but they were not at all close but it would be nice to see anyone from her former life.

Chloé appreciated the sentiment behind Lola's words regarding her mother's passing. She still missed her mother immensely and it was sometimes difficult to deal with the grief. She often fought despair over her missing brother. "I appreciate your concern, but at least my pere and grand-pere know what happened to mother. My brother was in London just before it all went to merde. We...all worry about him. Is he alive, is he dead, is he...not entirely dead. It's hard not knowing. It's hard...maintaining hope for him."

“That is one of the hardest things about our new realities.” Lola admitted. “But hope is so important. London whilst it fell quickly lots of people got out.” She said thinking of Bartholomew and his journey from London to Thistledrift.

Chloé, despite Lola's inability to see it, smiled. The woman on the other end of the wireless was being kind in trying to give her hope. Both were very rare commodities in this world. "Merci Mademoiselle Lola. I...want to believe René's still out there and looking for a way to get back to us. We aren't in Paris anymore though. Even if he could get across the English Channel, it's more than 200 kilometers from Calais to here. Travel is dangerous, even for well armed groups. The Dead Ones aren't the only danger either. The living ca be far more dangerous."

Lola shook her head and wished that it was video so that she could show her expression and sympathies. The girl on the other end of the radio sounded so much younger than her but it could be deceiving. “There is so much going on in the channel right now.” She sighed. The crew of the Europa had told her about the piracy and trouble in the channel.

"We've heard the same." Chloe gave a long sigh that could be heard over the wireless. "Fishermen sometimes venture down the Seine to open water and come back with stories of finding yachts and sailboats adrift, sometimes with noone aboard, sometimes with a Dead One or two. I don't know what's worse. The Dead Ones, the Brigands that roam the countryside or the Channel Pirates."

Lola felt relieved that it was not just the United Kingdom that was having those type of issues and that it was becoming a theme across Europe and beyond. It really showed that humans no matter where were the same when the going got rough
.
“It’s a tiring time for anyone just wanting to thrive and not just survive.” She sighed softly thinking of all the plans and ideas that she had to make things to help people.

"Oui, that it is." Chloé had wanted to see the world growing up. Meet people from different countries. Now her life revolved around farming, making wine and learning how to use a sword to protect herself. "Lola, may I ask you? What do you miss most from before?"

That was such a good question that left Lola silent for a long moment that might he assumed she was gone but she finally coughed awkwardly. “Sorry I needed to think about that. I guess being able to go to the shop and just get something when I fancied it. What about you?” She wondered.

A sad smile crossed Chloé's face. Memories of shopping for clothes with her mother came to mind. Pleasant memories, but she realized that she would never get to do it again. "I miss back-to-school shopping for clothes with mon mère. We would spend the entire day getting new clothes and mon père would pick us up and we would go to a nice restaurant."

"We had uniforms, so there was not really much to get, but it has been a few years since that, even before the undead came along." The girl had to be younger than she thought. "How old are you?" Lola wondered grateful that this young voice out there had male protectors. It was tough for women.

Chloé's laughter could be heard over the wireless. "We too had uniforms. Mon frère, my brother, and I attended Catholic school, but on Friday we could pretty much where what we wanted. Provided it did not violate the dress code. As for my age, I am 20. I will be 21 soon thogh. My birthday is the 22nd of December."

“My school had nothing like that. It was uniform unless we ever did something for fundraising where we got to wear what we wanted.” Lola laughed not having thought on Red Nose Day or Children in need in years. It made the nostalgia rise in her stomach. “Not long till the big 2 0.” At least Lola was sure it was September.

Chloe chuckled slightly. "I believe you mean the big 2 1. Three months from today. Grand-pere has maintained a calendar. He says it is necessary for knowing precisely when to plant and harvest crops. Especially the grapes we grow for making wine."

“Apologises misheard the number. That is handy to know I do not have a calendar but maybe I need to sort one out.” She chuckled looking at the dials and where they were set. She was enjoying the conversation to say the least which led her to write down the frequency. “You still make wine even now that is impressive.” What she would give for a decent bottle of wine.

Chloé had never been one to indulge much in alcohol. She had gone out for dinner with the family on her sixteenth birthday and had a glass of wine, but found alcoholic beverages not to her liking. "Grand-pere still produces wine. It's actually quite a valuable trading commodity here. I am not a big fan of wine or any alcohol drinks, but it does fetch good trades on market days in the city."

“I bet it is.” Lola commented quickly trying to move the conversation from the mention of market day. She did not want to know where the woman was in France, it would be too easy to accidentally compromise her location and it seemed like that they had a good set up. “I would do a lot for a good wine right now. Maybe next supply run.” She laughed.

Chloé was mindful of her grandfather’s words to not reveal their location, but he had not said she couldn't speak of other places. "Perhaps there is a way to get you some of the best wine in Normandy. Do you have a means of crossing the channel to Le Havre? It's a port city at the mouth of the Seine. It's actually a safe bastion and probably the last open port and major trading post."

Lola smiled. "Afraid not. Far too North in the UK, but maybe one day." Lola said, noting what the woman said about the mouth of the Seine and Le Havre to pass on to Cassandra and the Europa as a place they might be able to get supplies and support.

The basement light flickered off and on twice. Chloé gave a sigh and keyed the microphone. "Sorry to have to end this. Grand-pere wants me upstairs now. Erm, we usually use Sunday as a day of rest after attending Catholic service at the Cathedral. Perhaps we could speak more next Sunday?"

“I would like that.” Lola said smiling at how normal things sounded there, market, trading, Catholic Church service. It was a beautiful thing to hear that somewhere in the world it was a little better and a little more hopefully. “Same time.” Lola added so there was something more set in stone.

Chloé smiled. She keyed the microphone one last time. "Same time. Au revoir mon ami." She powered down the shortwave radio set. She rose from the stool and headed upstairs to let her family know that they were no longer alone in their little corner of the world.

 

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