Where is Josh? He should be with me by now. I look towards the doorway and see that he has gone back into the small room and his back is to me. What the hell is he doing?
“Josh, move now!” I shout at him and turn back to the stairs.
More eyes are visible, maybe five pairs but farther back, waiting for something, waiting for their chance. Then another pair appears. I rip a grenade off from my body armour, pull the pin and throw it. It arches through the air and through into the stairwell.
“Grenade!” I shout.
Straight after my shout, two Rabids fly out over the body pile at incredible speed, and both Alice and I open fire. The grenade goes off, the dulled explosion echoing around the room as do the squeals that follow it, coming out from the stairwell.
Concentrating on my target, I shoot but miss with my first shot, while my second hits its left shoulder knocking the beast sideways. My next two shots hit its body, slowing it more and then finally my fifth shot is a head shot, killing the Rabid outright.
Alice’s target is also down so I again check on Josh. He had better be on his way. Josh is just exiting the room and I now see what he was doing. Josh approaches with the arm of another badly limping soldier over his shoulder, supporting him. Josh’s comrade is grimacing badly from pain. His left leg is limp and blood has soaked through the material of his trousers, and the soldier is struggling.
Checking the stairs again, I can’t see any Rabids at the moment, but I can hear them in there, the screeching is reaching fever pitch. They are going to be breaking through to us at any minute; Josh is moving too slowly.
“Lift him, Josh!” I shout.
With that, Josh pulls his mate’s arm with his left hand and, with his right arm around his waist, Josh lifts him off the ground and staggers as fast as he can across the room, having to weave around Rabids. I can’t risk going to help even with Alice covering the stairs, in case they break through.
Josh is, at last, moving past my back and closer to Alice, the sound of screeching now horrendously loud; how many of those fuckers are down there?
The three grenades I have left are in my hand. I pull the pins on all three and then swiftly throw them one after the other down into the stairwell. Immediately, I turn, not waiting for the fireworks. Grabbing my radio as I go, within seconds I am level with Josh and move under the soldier’s other arm to help carry him out, with Alice covering us the whole time.
Lifting the soldier with Josh, I virtually drag the two at speed out of the room past Alice as the explosions hit one after the other. Alice remains in place until we are past her, her rifle not moving from its aim at the stairs.
“Anything, Alice?” I shout still moving forward.
“Clear, for now,” She replies.
“Okay, move!”
Lifting my radio, I now shout into that, “Evac, evac, A-SAP Dan. Over!”
We reach the same stairs that we came down as my radio sounds.
“Received, ETA three minutes, over,” Dan’s voice comes back with great relief.
“Received, coming it hot, over.” Dan needs to know we are under attack.
“Copy that, over and out.”
Dan will be there when he says, I’m sure of it, and I move to cover our rear with Alice.
“Josh, fireman’s lift. Up, then left, straight to next stairs, then up to the roof. Dan will be coming in on the east wall. It’s clear up there, now move,” I bark at him.
Josh is lifting the man into position almost before I finish and then starts to climb up the stairs in almost a run.
“Give me your grenades, then up you go, Alice.”
“I’ll wait for you,” Alice replies.
“I’ll be right behind you, Josh may need help, now move.”
Alice pulls off the three grenades she has and hands them to me, then she starts up the stairs.
“See you up there,” she says as she goes.
“You can count on it,” I reply.
The screeching is again at full volume and loud even from here. I will give them a minute head start. Not taking my eyes off the openings to the other room, I unclip the strap from my M4.
Then it happens; even though I can’t see it from here, I know that they are coming through out of the stairwell and into that next room. I wait a couple of seconds, then pull all the pins and roll the grenades across the floor in a spread towards the entrances. But before the grenades go off, a Rabid flies into this room, landing in the middle of it.
Just as I see more Rabids coming, the explosions hit, taking at least some of them out. I flick the M4 to auto, then aim and shoot the Rabid that is looking slightly confused in the middle of the room, cutting it down to pieces. Even if I didn’t get a head shot, it won’t be following.
As I turn to start up the stairs, I see more Rabids, many of them, and coming this way. They must have seen me shooting the other. I don’t wait to greet them.
Just up around the corner of the stairs is the gate. As I go through it, I spin and push the gates closed. The Rabids are at the bottom of the stairs, their depraved noise tells me that, and they will be on me at any second. The strap from my M4 is already fed through the bars on the gates and the first part of the knot is tied when I see the first Rabid coming at me. His evil twisted face sees me, its eyes locking onto mine and it lets out a bloodcurdling, deafening scream as it comes. My hands tremble but I pull the end of the knot tight just as the Rabid hits the gate.
Jumping back away from the gate and onto the next steps, I raise my M4. The first Rabid hits the gate hard and the gates open slightly with the force but then the strap takes the strain and, thank God, it holds. For now.
More Rabids smash into the gates and into the first Rabid. The strap strains, it can’t possibly hold this tide of Zombies back. I’m mesmerised for a moment though and don’t turn and run. The first Rabid is still locked onto my eyes and whilst its mouth gnashes through the gate at me snarling and dribbling, its eyes full of rage, I see something else behind the venom. I see pain, a deep pain, a human pain.
My finger squeezes the trigger and I shoot the Rabid in the forehead, releasing it from its torment and it slumps held up against the gate by the Rabids pushing behind, as dark blood pumps out from the hole left by the bullet.
Now I do turn and flee, racing up the remaining stairs as rapidly as my legs will allow. In seconds, I’m at the top of the stairs but there’s an almighty crashing behind me as the strap gives way and the gates smash against the walls.
Screeches and screams rush up to me, but I don’t stop or look around. I sprint down the narrow passageway towards the stairs that lead to the roof. Reaching the stairs, I hear them in the passageway behind me, gaining on me. The first few stairs are taken in one leap and then I power up, my leg muscles burning, my lungs heaving… but I don’t slow. The stone steps in the dark stairwell are awkward and slippery. My left hand helps by steadying and pulling me along the narrow walls but no matter how fast I go up, it isn’t enough.
The exit onto the roof and the dimmed sky beyond comes into sight; the Rabids are right behind me now, their speed and power awesome and frightening. All I can do is keep going, but impossibly, I still need to get across the roof!
Breaking through onto the roof, fresh air fills my lungs which I gulp down thirstily but that won’t save me, since the Rabids are only feet behind.
Dan has the Lynx hovering exactly where it dropped us off, ready for me. It’s close but too far away for me to make; I can’t outrun the beasts at my back.
Sparks flash from the helicopter and then the cracks of gunfire hit my ears. Alice and Josh kneel at the hold door, rifles pointing in my direction as they unleash automatic fire into the Rabids behind me. Ignoring the thuds and screams behind me as Rabids are hit and go down, my legs burn but keep going. Not slowing, I run straight at them.
Somehow, I reach the battlements of the wall and without breaking step, jump and plant a foot into the gap between the battlements. Josh’s arm is reachin
g out, and I grab it. He pulls me into the hold. The gunfire from Alice and Josh intensifies and I swivel around ready to take action, but I’m not needed.
As soon as I’m in, Dan starts to lift the Lynx up and away from the Tower walls.
Rabids still come at us, most getting cut down by gunfire, yet somehow a few make it to the walls and jump over the battlements in a desperate last-ditch attempt to attack. The gap increasing is too much though, even for these creatures with their arms stretched, reaching out at us. They plunge down to the ground below. The three of us watch in silence, following them down until they smash into the concrete concourse far below, the Tower shrinking before us in the remaining low light of late dusk as we float away.
Chapter 19
Alice pulls on the hold door which races along its rollers and bangs shut, cutting the noise blasting into the hold down considerably. She gets up and goes over to the injured soldier who sits in one of the hold seats. She bends down to look at his leg and talks to him, but I can’t hear what she says.
Josh is just in front of me by the closed hold door, his back to me. It’s still sinking in with me that he is actually here. We found him against all the odds stacked against us and I’m finding it hard to believe we did.
He is still for a time, obviously gathering his own thoughts, thoughts that surely were very dark only minutes ago when he was trapped in that room in the Tower with no means of escape and all hope seemed lost.
Eventually, he turns around to me and although I know my son is now a man, I see a glimpse of my little boy looking at me, looking forlorn and needing his dad.
“Dad, I can’t believe it, how…”
Before he can finish, I’ve grabbed him and am hugging him so tightly, he is probably having trouble breathing.
“I thought I’d lost you, son.”
Tears well in my eyes and again, a few escape but this time in relief and joy at finding Josh alive and well. Moments pass, then my arms relax, and I lean back. I straighten my arms whilst keeping my hands on his shoulders to get a good look at my boy. Josh is looking a bit teary too, this doesn’t surprise me in the least considering what he has been through.
“We knew you were in this area because of your messages. We ‘acquired’ this helicopter to get here which is a long story. Then eventually, we saw Alice on the roof of the Tower. We managed to get her on board, and she said that she’d seen you inside the Tower… and here you are,” I tell him above the noise, with a broad smile across my face.
“I thought we were done for in that little room. Tim’s leg was bad, I couldn’t leave him, and we had no ammo. I didn’t think there was a way out of there," Josh's head drops.
"Josh, you have done well, you've survived, when a lot of people haven't today. I know you both must have been through hell, but you survived," I try to reassure him, squeezing his shoulders.
Josh's head lifts slightly. "I know, Dad, couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you. Thanks for coming for me."
"Don't be silly, that’s what fathers are for?" I joke to him, his head lifting a bit more and a small smile appearing, before a look of confusion crosses his face.
"Where is Em?" he asks urgently.
"She is safe, she flew out in another helicopter. She is with Catherine and Stacey; we need to get to them though. She will be so happy to see you." Josh looks relieved.
"Right, I'm going up front with Dan so we can get underway; we need to make a couple of stops en route to your sister, okay?" I give Josh another quick hug then we both get up.
Dan is looking over as I get up and I give him a thumbs-up, then hold up one finger, mouthing to him, one second.
Alice is tending to Tim, cutting his trouser leg open and then cutting away a makeshift battlefield dressing Josh must have applied. I go over to her with a pair of scissors from a Medi Kit she has open on the seat beside Tim. She has a look of concern on her face and I can see why. It looks like a bullet has smashed through Tim’s shin bone; there is a hole at the front with bits of bone sticking through. Blood is pouring from the wound and pools onto the hold floor. Tim himself is oblivious to the state of his leg. He is out of it with his head tipped back. It’s good stuff, the morphine Alice has given him. He definitely needed it.
“Are you okay there, Alice?”
“Yes, I’ll get his leg dressed properly. That should stem the bleeding until we can get him to a doctor,” she tells me confidently.
“Good, well done, get some fluids in him too,” I advise.
“Yep, as soon as I finish here.”
I give Josh a nod and he tells Alice he will get the IV ready.
“I’ll be up front if you need me,” I tell Alice and then tell them both to get some headphones on before I go. Neither Alice nor Josh reply. They are both busy attending to Tim, so I leave them to it.
When we both have a minute, I will speak to Alice properly and thank her for backing me up in the Tower and for helping me get Josh back. I seriously doubt that would have happened without her. She acquitted herself expertly. She has immense courage and now she is tending to Tim professionally without any fuss and my estimation of her keeps rising, we have been extremely lucky to find her.
Leaving the lights of the hold and entering the dimmed cockpit, I give Dan a couple of quick friendly slaps on his arm then climb back into my seat. It feels good to take the weight off my feet, I have to admit. There is no time to relax, however; we are currently in a holding pattern back over near Tower Bridge, and Dan needs to know our next move. So I grab my headphones.
“How was it in there?" Dan asks as soon as my headphones are in place.
"It was fucking bad, mate!"
"I can imagine, but you got Josh out," Dan points out.
"It's a bloody miracle he survived, the bodies were literally piled up in there. Let me fill you in later with the details. Right now, we need to get moving, then you can tell me what Colonel Reed had to say. How are we doing for fuel?”
“Fuel is okay, what is our destination?” Dan asks.
“Good. First off, let’s take a look at the Leadenhall Building. Where Stacey’s parents are, it’s virtually on our way.”
Dan looks confused. “Which one is that?”
“The Cheesegrater building!” I tell him.
“Yep, okay,” Dan says.
Dan pulls the Lynx around and accelerates, taking us over the top of Tower Bridge between its two turrets. The dark hulk of the Cheesegrater is then in sight through the windscreen, its roof rising with the other skyscrapers that circle it. I take one last look across at Dan and out of his window at the Tower of London, the silhouette of the White Tower at the centre now a tomb.
The Cheesegrater is one of the new skyscrapers that seem to be popping up on a regular basis in London. This one is in the cluster of tall buildings in the Square Mile, the financial centre of London. The building was given its nickname for obvious reasons, suffice to say, it is very tall and has a sloping side.
The sky is now quite dark as night starts to take hold, the usual countless lights that brighten the buildings and streets having failed tonight, plunging North London into virtual darkness. Light does exist in odd windows of the occasional building, coming from unknown sources, while fires light up too many buildings and areas of the city. This is not a London I recognise; it has become a ghost city full of death and torment. Is there any hope for it?
“Colonel Reed was irate,” Dan starts, “he was banging on about the safe and your agreement with him to get it. They haven’t got anything off the computer as of yet, and he wants to know what we are going to do about getting it?"
"What did he say about the girls and Stan?" I ask Dan, ignoring the safe for now.
"He didn’t seem to know much, only that they had landed and have been moved to quarantine. He did say they were being looked after."
"We need to get to them. I don't like leaving them any longer than we have to."
"No, I know what you mean," Dan replies.
Within minutes, the Lynx is flying into the financial heart of the city, the Cheesegrater—which since completion is one of the tallest building of the cluster now rising in front of us—still seems intact. There is no light from the building, however, which at least means it doesn’t seem to be on fire. It almost looks abandoned.
In front of the Cheesegrater, smoke still rises from the Lloyds building. There are now no visible flames from it, but the famous building still smoulders away to itself.
I reach and switch on the Lynx's spotlights, and immediately they throw a wide beam into the sky in front of us and light up a portion of the building, but reveal nothing of interest.
“Let’s circle around it a couple of times. I told Stacey to tell her parents we would if she spoke to them, so they would know it's us,” I tell Dan.
Dan breaks the Lynx right, flying over the smaller towers and in between the skyscrapers as he takes us around. The Gherkin looms to the side on our right and is only briefly lit when our spotlights hit its glass, but it too is dark inside and also seems abandoned. We circle around to the back of the Cheesegrater, but the view doesn’t improve and darkness engulfs everything. We haven’t seen any sign of life since entering this part of the city.
Our first circle around the building reveals nothing, and I tell Dan to take us higher the second time so we can get a look at the roof. Should Jim and Karen still be alive and have heard or seen the helicopter, that is where they will be to meet us if Stacey managed to get a message to them. But we don’t even know if she did.
“This is so strange,” Dan’s voice says as he comes through my headphones, but I’m not sure if he is speaking to me or to himself?
“You’re not wrong, the whole area looks deserted,” I reply anyway.
“What do you want to do then, Boss?” Dan says as he completes the second go-around, which also reveals nothing to us. There is no sign of anybody on the roof and my heart sinks as I feel for Stacey.
Capital Falling Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 21
