by Hatchett
“Yes,” I’m fine. Just wondering how we managed to get into this mess and why we seem to be going from one disaster to another instead of trying to rebuild for the future.”
“That’s because there will always be people out there who want what we have or want to cause trouble just for the hell of it,” Sarah replied. “There are probably more bad people in the world than good, especially now,” she added. “We’ll get there,” she added, as an afterthought.
They were both silent for a few moments as they stared at the jumbo screen. There was one main satellite image of the Dalston Estate then various picture in picture footage of the teams on the ground. Those outside the estate were moving carefully between zombies as they shuffled from one building to the next.
“Have you thought anymore about asking Hendon or Whale Island for help?” Sarah asked. “Ultimately, this is their problem as well as ours, as they could easily be next.”
“Yes, I have considered it some more, but I’d prefer not to get them involved at this stage. I’d rather hold them in reserve in case we really need some help.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Bear who spoke through their comms. “Jack, you there?”
“Here Bear. What have you got?”
“One of the locals has approached us to offer information in exchange for our protection.”
Jack sat forward eagerly, feeling like this might be the break they had been waiting for.
“Go on,” he ordered.
“The woman’s name is Rasha. She says she is one of Sully’s many daughters who served him but wasn’t in the church when the shit hit the fan.”
“And?”
“And she says that she was supposed to be in the church and should’ve gone with them. She says that she has numerous brothers and sisters who had been helping Mamba on the QT. She says she knows what they were planning to do and where they were planning to go. Get this, Mamba planned all along to get rid of Sully.”
“Is that so?” Jack asked rhetorically. “Do you believe her?”
“Yes, I think I do,” Bear replied.
“OK, tell her we agree,” Jack ordered. He felt Sarah squeezing his arm in growing excitement. “Where are they going?”
The was a pause while Bear spoke to Rasha then said, “She won’t tell us until she’s out of there and safe. Oh, and she wants to bring her mother as well.”
“OK, I’ll arrange for a Lynx to pick you up and bring her here,” Jack confirmed. “Get here as quick as you can, meet in my office.”
“Roger,” Bear confirmed.
Jack turned to Sarah to find her smiling brightly. “Just the break we needed,” she suggested. “Told you we’d get there.”
“We’re not there yet, but it’s a start,” Jack pointed out as he rose to his feet. “Are you coming?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Sarah replied and jumped up ready to follow Jack to his office.
25
Day 17 – 10:30
Broadwater Farm Estate, Tottenham
Mamba had filled Volkan in on what had happened to him since the zombie outbreak, avoiding much, but covering the essential bits to suit his story. He had then gone on to explain the options as he saw them, and between them they reached agreement on an arrangement which suited them both.
Volkan had been surprised a few times during Mamba’s storytelling; there was no doubt that Mamba was embellishing parts, but there was at least a grain of truth in most of what he said. Even the most creative person would struggle to come up with some of the things Mamba had spoken about as if they were just everyday occurrences.
Volkan had also learnt a few new things and Mamba’s words had inspired him to a few new ideas of his own.
Mamba was clearly prepared to do whatever it took to get what he wanted and didn’t care what was required or who might get trampled underfoot. If he was being honest, Volkan envied Mamba his attitude and the fun he seemed to have trying to achieve his aims, even if they didn’t always work out as planned. He had read somewhere that it was better to aim high and fail rather than not aim at all. Too true. For too long, Volkan had rarely left his ivory tower and he missed the hands-on experience, instead having to rely on third party accounts.
Mamba had tried to persuade him to take an active part in their plan, but the simple fact was that he felt too old and would slow them down, even though he was only sixty-three. Instead, he would stay here in comfort and await the outcome with interest. He just hoped that Mamba didn’t try to cross him as he seemed to have done with pretty much every other person he had made a deal with. Volkan had long arms and there wouldn’t be a place on Earth that Mamba would be able to hide if he did.
“You had better get going,” Volkan suggested as Mamba finished his beer. “Everything is in place and has been since Basir first came to speak to me. Did you know that we nearly shot him on sight?”
“Why do ya think I sent him?” Mamba said with a laugh.
Volkan couldn’t tell if he was being serious or joking, but it didn’t really matter either way.
Mamba stood up and Volkan followed suit. They shook hands and Volkan wished Mamba a safe journey and success in his mission. He handed him a phone which Mamba looked at with some suspicion.
“It’s a satellite phone so you can contact me direct day or night,” Volkan explained. “Best to keep it off unless you need to use it to save the batteries. No one will be able to detect it or listen in.”
Mamba nodded and headed for the the door leading to the lifts, picking up his rucksack and hiding the phone near the bottom.
Volkan thought of something and asked, “what happened to the dog?”
Mamba turned and smiled, “I put him out of his misery.”
26
Day 17 – 11:00
Heathrow Terminal 3, Jack’s Office
Jack was sitting behind his desk with Sarah, Bear and Rasha sitting in chairs on the other side. Rasha’s mother had been taken to the medical centre to have a wound looked at and then she would be given some food and provided with a room in the Holiday Inn to get some rest. Rasha had been promised that she and her mother could stay, providing she was able to give them something useful on Issy and Gina’s whereabouts.
Rasha took a sip out of a can of Dr Pepper she had been given, clearly savouring the taste. She could only have been around seventeen but looked even younger. Although Jack was in a rush to get the information, he could tell that Rasha was nervous, so he tried to break the ice by asking what she did back at the Dalston Estate.
“I, and many of my sisters and friends waited on my father,” she explained.
“Didn’t you want to do anything else?” Sarah asked, earning her a frown from Jack who had been happy with the short answer.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Rasha explained. “The pretty girls waited on my father, and those not so pretty were given the more menial jobs like washing.”
“So, you had a fairly good role in comparison?” Sarah prompted.
Rasha was silent for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “Hardly. He made us do things we didn’t want to do. He arranged for my friend to marry a man in his seventies and many other girls had to marry men more than twice their age. He made us entertain him, his friends and business colleagues if we were selected.
Sarah stared at Rasha in horror and muttered, “I’m sorry to hear that.” Then she added more loudly, “but you will be welcome here and you will get to choose what you want to do. You will not be forced into anything you don’t want to do.”
Rasha looked at Sarah solemnly, “Thank you,” she said quietly.
Jack coughed and attracted their attention. “I don’t mean to sound blunt,” he started, “but two of our friends are missing and we need to find them. We think they may be in danger.”
Rasha looked into Jack’s eyes and asked, “Do you promise that my mother and I can stay here and that you won’t send us back to Dalston?”
Jack stared straight back
at Rasha. “You have my word that we won’t send either of you back to Dalston. Whether you stay here at Heathrow will be up to you.”
Rasha nodded. “My brothers and sisters were going to my uncle Volkan.”
Jack, Sarah and Bear almost spoke at the same time, all focus on Rasha.
“But what about our friends?” Jack asked.
“They were being taken there as well.”
“Who is Volkan?” was Jack’s next question.
“He is my father’s younger brother. I’ve never met him, but he and my father hated each other and never spoke for years.”
“Sully’s brother?” Sarah asked for clarification.
“Yes,” Rasha confirmed.
“And where does this Volkan live?” Bear butted in, desperate to hear the answer.
“I don’t know the address,” Rasha began, and Jack closed his eyes in prayer, “but it wasn’t far from us. I heard someone saying, ‘Spurs’ football ground’.”
Bear didn’t know the area well, but from what he did know, this information wouldn’t be a massive help. But, the area around the stadium was built up and they could be anywhere. “Is there anything else you can think of which would help us narrow it down?” he asked gently.
Rasha thought about it for a minute then nodded and said, “Yes, one of my brothers said uncle Volkan lived in a massive pyramid. Does that help?”
“I don’t know,” Jack confirmed, “but we’ll check it out. If you think of anything else, then please let us know. Thank you for your help.”
Jack nodded at Sarah and she led Rasha out of Jack’s room and past the Security Briefing Room to the Common Room where she introduced Rasha to an American lady called Kacey, who would make sure Rasha would be well looked after. Sarah thanked Rasha for her help, winked at Kacey and quickly left the room to go back to the Security Control Centre.
She placed her hand on the scanner and the door clicked open. Jack and Bear were already seated in the Command Ring and Sarah quickly joined them.
The jumbo screen was currently showing an aerial close up shot of the area around Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane stadium, but the surrounding area just looked like row upon row of housing.
“Found anything?” Sarah asked.
“Nothing yet,” Jack replied. “A bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we’ve redirected the heli’s in that direction so hopefully one of the Apache’s might pick up some heat signatures. One of the Chinooks is ready to go to the Dalston Estate at a moment’s notice to pick up the teams if we find anything useful.”
They watched the screen and before long they could see the heli’s in the picture.
“Can we zoom out a bit?” Sarah asked, and Jack gave the order to Tom.
Seconds later they could see far more of the area, but it didn’t seem to help much. They sat there watching, listening to the heli pilots as they provided their updates.
“I can’t see anything that looks like a pyramid,” Sarah noted, having done a grid search of the whole screen. “Do the pilots know about a pyramid?”
Jack quickly relayed Sarah’s question and suggested that she use one of the comms devices so she could hear and speak with everyone online herself.
“Can’t see anything that looks like a pyramid around here,” came a comment from one of the heli pilots, “just row after row of houses, a bit of green, a bit of industrial.”
“Nor me,” said another.
“Can we zoom out a little more?” Sarah asked and the screen zoomed out.
Sarah started another grid search. She knew that if Rasha had used the correct description, she was looking for a square building. She was halfway through her search when she spotted a possible target.
“There,” she almost shouted.
Tom came over and quickly passed her a laser pointer.
Sarah quickly turned it on and pointed it to where she was looking.
“Is it possible to get a 3D view?” Sarah asked.
Within a couple of seconds, the screen changed, and they could see the football stadium towards the top of the screen and a possible pyramid towards the bottom left. Sarah kept the laser pointer on the building and asked if they could zoom in on that spot. Within another couple of seconds, a close up of the area showed up on the screen, and there in front of them was a large pyramid.
“That’s got to be it,” Sarah stated.
“Looks good,” Jack agreed. “Where is that?” he asked. The place in question looked to be about just over a kilometre from the stadium.
“It’s Broadwater Farm,” Tom said.
“Zoom in,” Jack ordered.
The screen changed again, and they could all immediately see that the pyramid and surrounding area was devoid of zombies, and indeed, there were people walking around in shot, looking like they didn’t have a care in the world.
“That has to be it,” Jack suggested, and both Bear and Sarah agreed.
“Get the heli’s over there for a closer look, but not too close just yet,” Jack ordered. “Recall all teams to the Dalston Estate and send the Chinook to pick them up. Oh, and keep scanning the area in case there are any other pyramids that we might have missed.”
“Roger,” Tom acknowledged and started implementing Jack’s orders.
Jack turned to Bear and Sarah with a small smile on his face. After all the stress of the last few hours, he finally felt that they were getting somewhere.
“I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he said, getting to his feet.
After he had gone, Bear looked at Sarah.
“I think he’s taking all this way too personally. He seems to be aging right in front of my eyes.”
“He feels like he is responsible,” Sarah explained.
“That’s bull!” Bear stressed with feeling.
“I know, but try telling him that,” Sarah explained. “I’ll go see if he’s OK.”
With that, she left Bear in the Command Ring and headed for Jack’s office.
27
Day 17 – 11:30
Broadwater Farm Estate, Tottenham
As the heli’s moved from White Hart Lane towards the Broadwater Farm Estate, Mamba and forty-one others were already near the junction where the A10 met the North Circular Road, about two kilometres North of the estate. They still had a further four kilometres to walk to their rest stop, a Travelodge hotel, which Volkan’s people had already cleared and also arranged some transportation for them to use.
They had split into small groups of five or six. Mamba, Ahmed, Ayla had taken Issy and Gina with them, much to Ayla’s annoyance. She wanted the two women as far away from Mamba as possible.
Basir took another group including Umit, Emre, Faruk and Ismet, while Temel took Khalid, Mesut and three of Volkan’s men.
There were five other groups of five and one group of six which were also made up with Volkan’s men.
Whilst Mamba had explained what they needed to do, they weren’t used to the way Mamba operated, so although they followed at a short distance and watched him carefully, it wasn’t long before they had lost him and his group completely. They had also lost track of Basir and Temel’s groups. Thankfully, some knew where they were heading as they’d been to the hotel the previous day to help clear it. Despite their suspicion and misgivings about Mamba, and being led by him, they had to admit that he knew what he was doing, and the first seeds of respect started to grow.
Mamba reached the roundabout which sat above the North Circular road and stared at the carnage in front of him in awe.
Mamba heard the helicopters in the distance still hunting around in vain and smiled to himself. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he could’ve sworn the direction from which the sound was coming had changed. It didn’t matter as long as the noise didn’t get any louder as that would signify that they were heading in his direction, and that would be a concern.
The roundabout was one massive car crash. Vehicles everywhere, some on their side and others overturned and sittin
g on their roofs. The section to his left was fairly free of traffic so he headed in that direction, a length of cord tying his left wrist to the plasticuffs being worn by the Princess. Ahmed had a similar arrangement with Issy and that left Ayla to bitch and whine with almost every step they took.
As he got close to the barrier overlooking the North Circular Road below, Mamba found that some of it had been ripped away and was dangling over the edge. He crept closer to the gap and looked down to find that a massive petrol tanker had taken a nosedive over the edge and spilt its contents causing what he imagined would be a massive fireball. Cars, vans and lorries were burnt out shells and there were burnt husks all around. ‘Fire obviously did the trick’ he thought to himself, ‘probably burnt their brains to a crisp. Then he remembered what Volkan did with people who pissed him off and decided that a flamethrower might be a useful piece of kit. Then he realised that the fuckin’ zombies would still be moving even if they were on fire and the last thing he needed was a burning body trying to give him a hug and a kiss. Still, it was worth thinking about, especially if there were loads of them trapped somewhere and that gave him a new idea for his current plan.
Gina had approached the edge to take a look and she suddenly slipped on some loose concrete and almost went over the edge. She scraped her hand and arm as she snagged part of a metal barrier before she could lose her balance and fall, then Ahmed and Issy were on her and pulling her back.
Mamba had been jerked forward with such force that he thought he was about to lose his arm. “Fuckin’ Hell, Princess,” he scolded her. “Ya coulda got us both killed.”
As he went to pull her back, Mamba felt a searing pain in his shoulder and immediately realised that it had been dislocated. He quickly took out his knife and slashed the cord so that Gina couldn’t do any further damage. He pointed his knife and told Ayla to attach the cord to her own arm.
Ahmed came over to see how bad it was and gave Mamba’s shoulder a light squeeze. Mamba gritted his teeth, perspiration beginning to form on his brow.
