by Hatchett
Holding a finger to his lips, he took a look though the small gaps in the structure then checked over the top. All he could see were a couple of soldiers standing about thirty metres away by the main T3 entrance doors, obviously working the graveyard shift and looking totally relaxed. He saw their heads turn to each other from time to time as if in conversation, but they were facing outside rather than inside.
Mamba went back to his group to explain what he wanted to do. When he had finished, they all dropped their rucksacks and stashed their knives and other weapons in their pockets. Mamba, Ayla and eight of Volkan’s men helped move the barricade quietly aside and watched as Ahmed and the other of Volkan’s men entered the hall and slowly strolled towards the exit and the two soldiers guarding it.
Mamba had a pistol in his hand just in case it was needed as a last resort; he really didn’t want to use it because he wanted to keep things nice and quiet for as long as possible. He noticed the CCTV cameras, but they were high up near the ceiling so there was no way they could be reached. He just had to hope they weren’t in use.
With fifteen metres to go, the guards noticed the two men in overalls heading in their direction. They didn’t think much about it because there were always maintenance people roaming around at all hours of the day and night. They watched the men approach and wished them a ‘morning’ and were turning back to look outside when the knives pierced their hearts.
Ahmed and his colleague quickly dragged the two dead men outside and placed them next to a parked car which sat in the shade of the airport spotlights. They relieved them of their Heckler & Koch SA80 combat weapons and sauntered back into Terminal 3.
Mamba emerged from behind the barricade to take the weapons and watched as Ahmed and Volkan’s man separated and headed in different directions. Once they were out of sight, Mamba let another two men out onto the concourse and watched as they split up and went in different directions. He then did the same for the next pairings, and another after that. Once the smaller teams started coming back from releasing their zombies, he did the same with them.
Mamba kept Ayla, Basir, Faruk and Ismet with him, still pleased that Faruk and Ismet had managed to rein in their natural tendencies to go on some homicidal bender around the airport and give them all away.
“What did ya do?” Mamba asked.
Faruk: “We followed the corridor…”
Ismet: “Like you said.”
Faruk: “And ended up at…
Ismet: “A bus station.”
Faruk: “We saw one person…”
Ismet: “Who we called over to help with the zombie.”
Faruk: “And stabbed him.”
Like you do.
“Did ya let the zombie go?” Mamba asked.
Faruk: “Of course…”
Ismet: “We did.”
“Good lads,” Mamba praised them, and Faruk and Ismet beamed with pride.
Mamba turned to Basir. “Ya got the bombs?”
“Yeah, in the rucksack,” Basir replied.
“Good. Betta put it on,” Mamba ordered, and Basir did as he was told.
They waited for around twenty minutes and then heard Ahmed on the other side of the barricade. They opened the gap and let him in.
“Well, what did ya think?” Mamba asked, desperate to hear what Ahmed had found out.
“It’s a nice airport, never bin here afore,” Ahmed said.
“Not that ya fuckin’ idiot,” Mamba hissed, “I meant what did ya find out.”
“Oh. Well, this floor is check-in, customs, arrivals ‘n Level 1 is chock-full of shops, restaurants, departures ‘n lounges. Level 2 is the gates, whatever they are.”
“Great,” Mamba said sarcastically. “If I wanted a fuckin’ map of the airport drawn, I know who to come to, don’t I? Where the fuck is security?”
“Oh. On level 1.”
“Well, why didn’t ya jus’ say that?”
“Ya didn’t ask. Anyway, I thought it would be obvious,” Ahmed said.
“Tell me ‘bout the security area,” Mamba ordered. “That’s all I’m interested in.”
“Not much to tell. Big metal door along the wall near the lift.”
“Did ya see anyone goin’ in or comin’ out?”
“Nah, no one ‘round this time of the mornin’.”
“Did ya try ‘n get in?”
“Nah, bro. Ya said ta keep a low profile. Anyway, it looked locked ‘n there was some sort of panel right next to it.”
“What else is up there?”
“Not a lot,” Ahmed replied.
“Fuckin’ great,” Mamba hissed. “Looks like we gotta wait for some fucker to open it. Come on, time ta do some maintenance.”
With that, Mamba led Ahmed, Ayla, Basir, Faruk and Ismet from behind the barricade, being careful to ensure there was no one around.
“Lead the way, Ahmed. Everyone spread out.” The last thing Mamba wanted was someone to be curious about a group of people wandering around the airport at this time of the morning.
Ahmed led them up the stairs and they followed at intervals.
When Mamba reached Level 1, he spotted Ahmed near the lift, pretending to be working on the call button. He surreptitiously pointed in the direction of a door with ‘Security – Authorised Personnel Only’ on a sign above it. Thankfully, there was a maintenance access panel in the wall a couple of metres away from the door, so Mamba went across to it, opened it and pretended that he was doing some sort of work. As he did so, he looked around the area, noticed the steps and escalator to Level 3, the passageway towards the departure lounges and the CCTV cameras dotted around. There were too many and most were out of reach, so there was nothing he could do about them.
Faruk came over to Mamba and pretended he was helping with whatever was being fixed, while Ismet went to join Ahmed, much to Ahmed’s obvious discomfort. Ayla decided she was going for a wander around the airport.
Mamba looked at Faruk and was a little concerned by the manic look in his eyes. He looked like he was right on the edge, over-excited and clearly anticipating some action. Mamba had to whisper to him to calm down and be patient.
64
Day 19 – 05:00
Heathrow Terminal 3
The Major brought the Jeep to a stop next to the bollards at the entrance to Terminal 3. He had woken an hour earlier and just couldn’t get back to sleep, so he decided he would make an early start and find out if there had been any developments overnight. He told himself that he would’ve been notified if there had been, but you never knew. At least if he was in the Security Command Centre, he would be on hand if there were any decisions to be made.
He climbed out of the Jeep and started walking the last few metres across the large paved area towards the entrance when his heart leapt in his chest.
He’d spotted movement from the corner of his eye and quickly turned to see who it was. He immediately recognised two of his soldiers from the uniforms they were wearing. He suspected they were on duty but had slipped from their post to have a quick cigarette. He was about to berate them when he noticed their shuffling gait and the grunting coming from their mouths. He immediately withdrew his knife and advanced towards them, swerving to his left to try and keep one behind the other.
He met the first zombie with a stab to the head and it dropped straight to the floor. The second zombie fell over the first and, before he had the chance to line up his knife for a second time, the zombie’s momentum caused it to head-butt him in the chest and he fell back onto his backside.
He sat there momentarily stunned with his knife in his right hand and a writhing zombie on top of him. Without thinking, he brought the knife down on the back of the zombie’s head and, when it went limp, he let out a large sigh.
The Major scooted backwards and got back to his feet, carefully watching the two dead zombies on the floor in case, by some miracle, they tried to get back up. He wiped his blade on his trousers, trying to figure out how these two had turned. Perhaps one h
ad died then attacked the other? He moved closer but couldn’t see any obvious bite marks. Then he noticed a dark patch on the first body, near the centre of its back. He crouched down and quickly checked the other body and found a similar patch. He immediately realised that they must have been stabbed in the back, so from his crouched position, he scanned all around to see if he was being watched but couldn’t detect anything suspicious.
The Major realised that he needed to raise the alarm quickly but didn’t want to start a panic this early in the morning. Instead, he clicked his comms as he stood up and started striding quickly towards the entrance doors.
“Is Tom there?” the Major asked when his call though to the Security Command Centre was answered by one of the operatives.
“Sorry Major, he’s asleep. Is there anything I can do?”
The Major thought about it. He knew he really should raise the alarm but was reluctant to do so. “Can you patch me through to Jack?”
“Can do Major, please wait.”
The Major entered Terminal 3 and strode across the concourse towards the stairs, nodding to a maintenance man as he passed.
“Major? What’s the problem?” Jack’s weary voice came through his comms.
“Just found two zombies outside T3, both soldiers, both stabbed in the back.” He heard Jack sitting up in bed.
“Did you know them?” Jack asked.
“Yes, but I can’t remember their names. They must have been on duty overnight as there’s no one on the doors. I think they may have nipped out for a quick smoke and someone took them out.”
“Why would someone do that?” Jack asked, confused. “Even if someone disliked them both, and that’s a big ‘if’, surely they’d make sure they were stabbed in the head?”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” the Major agreed.
“I’m getting up,” Jack said, “I’ll be over there in less than ten. Can you call medical to get them to pick up the bodies?”
“Yes, but what about sounding the alarm?”
“Not yet,” Jack said. “Let’s try and figure out what’s going on first.”
“OK. See you in a few minutes,” the Major confirmed. He clicked off then asked to be patched through to medical before explaining what had happened and what they needed to do. The Major clicked off that call as he started up the stairs to Level 2 and, by the time he was at the top, some doors further down the corridor swung open and four medical staff came rushing past pushing two stretchers.
They stopped at the lift and appeared to be talking earnestly to a couple of maintenance guys before the maintenance guys nodded and stepped out of the way so the medical staff could call the lift.
The Major thought nothing of it as he headed towards the entrance of Security Command, thinking to himself that it had been a good idea to come in early after all, otherwise there could’ve been another minor zombie outbreak to deal with. He was oblivious to the other two maintenance men working on an access panel nearby.
He placed his hand on the scanner and the door clicked open. He pushed the door and the next thing he knew he had a knife at his throat.
65
Day 19 – 05:15
Heathrow Terminal 3
Mamba held on to the Major tightly and pressed his knife against his throat. “Make one sound ‘n yer fuckin’ dead!”
The Major gulped and nodded slowly.
Ahmed, Ayla, Basir, Faruk and Ismet came running across from different directions and followed Mamba through the door and slammed it closed behind them.
“Ya two stay here ‘n secure anyone who comes through that door,” Mamba ordered, nodding at Faruk and Ismet. “Don’t kill anyone yet, but ya can still hurt ‘em a bit,” he added. “Ya got cuffs?”
Faruk: “Never leave home…”
Ismet: “Without them.”
“Good. Let’s go,” Mamba ordered Ahmed, Basir and Ayla.
Mamba pushed the Major ahead of him and turned right when he reached the corner, seeing another long corridor ahead of him. He stopped again and looked at Ayla.
“Stay here. Ya can pass on messages ta ‘em two,” he advised, nodding in the direction of Faruk and Ismet, “’n ya can tell us if anyone else comes in here. Gotcha gun?”
Ayla nodded and leant against the wall.
Mamba pushed the Major on again and stopped after a few metres. “What’s behind these doors?” he hissed in the Major’s ear.”
“Common Room, Briefing Room, Jack’s office, Command Centre, Armoury, Holding Rooms and Interview Rooms,” the Major whispered, trying his best not to move his mouth or throat at all.
“How many people ‘n where are they?” Mamba hissed.
“Not many. It’s nightshift. All in the Command Centre.”
“Take me there,” Mamba ordered and pushed the Major on, with Ahmed and Basir following behind.
They passed the Common Room, Briefing Room and Jack’s office then arrived at the door to the Command Centre.
The Major hesitated, so Mamba put a bit more pressure on the blade and whispered, “Don’t fuck me ‘bout!”
The Major placed his hand on the scanner and the door clicked open. Mamba pushed the Major ahead of him, the commotion startling the seven operatives who were working at their consoles. When Ahmed closed the door and put a bullet in the roof, their hands shot up into the air.
“Stand up, now!” Mamba screamed, and the operatives did as they were told.
“Come here,” Mamba ordered before turning towards Basir and telling him to secure the Major.
Basir took out some plasticuffs and bound the Major’s wrists then pushed him into one of the seats and used another set of cuffs to stop him from moving. The Major had tried in vain to reach the comms device in his ear by pretending he wanted to scratch an itch, but his hands had been grabbed and bound before he could do so. Now, there was no way he could reach the device without sliding off the chair, and that would look a bit obvious.
As the operatives came over under the watchful eyes of Mamba and Ahmed, Basir secured their wrists as well and indicated they should sit on the floor.
Mamba looked around at all the screens showing various views of the airport and the large one opposite showing a satellite view, though he couldn’t tell where it was aimed at. He noticed that none of the cameras covered the underground, which had been lucky.
He turned to look at his prisoners.
“So, who the fuck are ya, soldier boy?” Mamba asked.
“I’m known as the Major,” the Major replied.
“Ya the leader?”
“Yes.”
“Nah, yer not man! I know the leader is Jack. Ya lie to me again, ya die.” Mamba said. “Where’s Jack?”
“On his way,” the Major replied, “and we’re joint leaders.”
“Don’t kid yerself, Jack’s the main man. Heard a lot ‘bout him. Heard nothin’ ‘bout ya. ‘Bout time I met him face to face. How many ways ta get in here?”
“Three,” the Major said, nodding to the door to the corridor which they had come through, then towards the doors on the side walls, one of which led to Jack’s office and the other to the armoury.
“What ‘bout this whole area?”
“Just one,” the Major replied. “Where you came in.”
“Bit dangerous if there’s a fire… ‘n there could be a fire,” Mamba commented, looking around.
“There are fire exits, but they’re not accessible from outside. In fact, you can’t even tell there’s an exit from the outside because they’re hidden.” The Major nodded towards some green ‘exit’ signs.
“Good boy,” Mamba said. “Now ya learnin’.
The Major closed his eyes, realising what a dangerous position he was in. But, how had Mamba managed to get in?
“Basir, go get me rucksack,” Mamba ordered, and Basir quickly left the room, propping the door open with a spare chair. “If ya see any of the boys, send a few this way, he shouted up the corridor after him.”
Mamba turned bac
k to the Major. “Do these lot run the cameras?”
“Yes,” the Major confirmed.
Mamba pointed to a female operative sitting on the floor. She must have been in her fifties, not very tall with short brown hair and glasses. “Get up, Gert,” he said, pointing at her. “Ya look like a ‘Gert’ to me, like one of my Aunts, may her soul rot in Hell for eternity.”
‘Gert’ got to her feet shakily and Mamba used his knife to cut away her restraints. “Answer me questions ‘n do as I say ‘n I won’t kill ya. Do ya believe me?”
Gert nodded, tears falling down her face.
“I don’t think ya do, Gert,” Mamba said, shaking his head and pulling a pistol out of his pocket.
“I do, I do,” Gert implored, nodding her head as if that would convince him.
Mamba raised his arm and shot one of the men on the floor in the head, the blood, brain and bone splattering all over the other prisoners before the body slumped sideways.
“That’s what happens if I don’t get what I want!” Mamba shouted, turning back to a shaking Gert. “Ya listenin’?”
Gert nodded enthusiastically.
“Ya set off any alarms, I’ll kill all of ya. Got it?”
Gert continued nodding and Mamba wondered if her head was going to snap off.
“There’s no need to kill anyone,” the Major said. “We’ll cooperate.”
“I know ya will Major,” Mamba replied. “But no harm in makin’ sure. I wanna see pictures showin’ this buildin’. Inside and out. Can ya do that?”
Gert nodded.
“Go on then!” Mamba shouted in her face, and Gert quickly moved to the nearest console and started tapping on the keyboard and using the mouse.
Within seconds, the screens around the room showed external and internal views all around Terminal 3. Mamba looked at the screens and noted the helicopters sitting on the apron and smiled. Then he saw Basir heading to the tube station entrance to pick up his rucksack, then he saw some of Volkan’s men wandering around in the building. Time for them to do something.
“Can I talk to everyone in the buildin’?”
Gert nodded and pointed to a standalone microphone next to her console. “Y-y-you c-can p-ress the button when you want to talk.”
