The Zombie Room

by R. D. Ronald

  Small groups congregated to discuss what they’d witnessed. Cell phones flipped open as emergency service calls were placed to report the incident. Sadiq felt hamstrung. Would he even have a chance to retrieve the money? Forcefully he stepped forward, determined to seize what would undoubtedly be his last chance, but the sight of one couple caused him to pause. They weren’t chattering like the others. In fact they were cool and alert, eyes not on each other, nor the squalling Mercedes.

  The man, slightly taller than his female companion, looked up and saw him. His arm rose smoothly to his ear, his lips moving soundlessly as he spoke into his sleeve.

  18

  When Mangle went through to the living-room the next morning he didn’t need Decker and the others to tell him what they had already been discussing. It had obviously been on everyone’s minds, and Tatiana, Decker and Tazeem looked resolute in a decision that had been made in his absence.

  Three cups of half-drunk coffee steamed on the table and Decker went into the kitchen to pour a fourth. There was no jubilation or self-righteous indignation, just a silent acceptance of their fate.

  ‘So what’s the plan?’ Mangle asked, as Decker put the cup of coffee down in front of him.

  What Tazeem had overheard of Steiger’s conversation looked to be pretty accurate. A fat Port Authority guard paced back and forwards at the entrance to Eastgate docks, repeatedly checking his watch. At a few minutes before eleven, two vans advertising frozen foods and a dark blue Bentley pulled up outside. A man stepped out of one of the vans and approached the gate. He wore a jacket and cap sporting the same logo as the vans.

  ‘Are the cameras down in the cross section to the shore?’ he asked the guard.

  ‘Yes. Now please hurry up. I already said I didn’t want to do this any more. At the very least I’ll lose my job if anyone finds out.’

  ‘We’ll be in and out in ten minutes,’ the man confirmed, walked back and climbed into the van.

  The three vehicles pulled forward as the guard unlocked and swung open the heavy gates with a shriek of metal. He began to close them again after the vehicles entered, but cast a look over his shoulder and thought better of it. He hurried over the cold, uneven ground to catch up with his visitors.

  ‘Decker, if we’re gonna make what they did to John right, we’ve gotta get in there now,’ Brian said grimly.

  He broke cover and ran, hunched, out of the scrap yard they’d waited in next to the docks. Tony, not waiting to hear whether anyone else agreed, followed.

  ‘This is what we came here for,’ Mangle said. He took Tatiana by the hand and followed the first two. Decker and Tazeem, a few steps behind, made up the rear.

  They were equipped with a pistol each at the insistence of Decker’s friends, except Tatiana who refused to hold one after shooting the technician at The Club, but none of them had anticipated the number of assailants they would have to face. The idea had been to try and avoid a firefight like the one they had endured in securing Tazeem’s release, but Decker now wondered if that would be possible.

  They could still hear the overweight guard puffing, his breath expelled in clouds like a steam engine and his stubby arms swinging furiously as he rushed to where the vehicles had halted further down the track. Past a large brick reception building and a shuttered warehouse marked Collection Point D, they’d parked behind another warehouse a short distance from the river.

  Once inside the gates, Decker and the others kept out of sight behind rows of huge metal shipping containers and worked their way towards Steiger’s men. The guard hovered around nervously as four men wearing the matching caps and jackets got out of the vans and walked the remaining 30 yards down to the shoreline.

  Jupiter walked around and opened the rear passenger side door of the Bentley, and Steiger climbed out. He stood straight-backed and confident, inhaled deeply of the cold night air, and then exhaled, his breath a pluming column from each nostril.

  ‘Just ten minutes then. I said after the last time I wouldn’t be doing this again,’ the guard said again, trying to assert himself over Steiger, who didn’t reply and simply held up a hand to silence the man. ‘I mean it, I’m not gonna lose my job over this,’ he steadfastly repeated, and a cursory glance from Jupiter wasn’t enough to deter his protestations.

  ‘Here is your fee,’ Jupiter said and tossed him a fat envelope. ‘Five thousand.’

  ‘Plus special time with Maria whenever I’m in South of Seven,’ the guard added.

  Jupiter laughed and nodded.

  An old 80-foot fishing boat chugged quietly up the river. Mangle hadn’t noticed it at first, as there were no lights on board. The four men in jackets and caps guided the boat in and secured its moorings. A carbon fibre gangway was folded out, wheeled forward and fastened onto the side of the boat. A man in thick, dark grey waterproofs with fluorescent orange stripes strode briskly across the gangway, shook hands and spoke directly to Steiger. Another man followed him and briefly addressed the group of men on the shore before two of them followed him back on board and disappeared below deck at the stern.

  ‘What the hell do we do now?’ Brian asked. He was obviously eager to avenge the shooting of his friend, but any direct confrontation would surely result in their deaths.

  ‘I guess we wait for some kind of opportunity,’ Decker said unconvincingly, never taking his eyes from the shore.

  They positioned themselves behind the final row of containers, peering cautiously around them. Mangle felt Tatiana’s hand clasp his own. It might have been the tentative touch of one seeking comfort, but it felt more that she was trying to reassure him that they would be OK.

  He turned to look at her and asked, ‘Is that the man?’

  Tatiana’s concentration etched lines in her forehead. ‘I can’t tell. It’s too dark and he is too far away.’

  The first two men reappeared a few moments later and walked down the gangway, followed by a procession of slender young women in single file.

  ‘If we are to save the girls we must do something before they are taken away,’ Tatiana said as they were led toward one of the vans.

  She looked searchingly from face to face but nobody spoke. They knew she was right but none of them could suggest anything that might help.

  ‘There are more girls than you said there’d be,’ the guard protested weakly. ‘But it’s done now, just pack up and go.’

  Steiger broke his silence and addressed the guard for the first time: ‘We have some crates to offload as well, and then we will leave.’

  ‘This wasn’t what we agreed. You said half a dozen women who weren’t able to get work permits. You didn’t say anything about crates.’

  ‘What is it you want, more money? What is your problem?’ Jupiter growled at him.

  ‘No, what’s in the crates anyway? Drugs? Guns? I won’t do this any more, no, no, no. You need to leave right now before I call the police,’ he blustered.

  Jupiter withdrew his right hand from his coat pocket, clutching a snub-nosed revolver. In one fluid motion he cocked it, lined up with the guard’s head and shot him dead before the man could say another word. Reaching down, Jupiter plucked the envelope of cash from the guard’s jacket and slid that and the revolver back into his coat pocket. Then he followed Steiger towards the boat.

  The remaining two men continued with their work unaffected; only squeals of fright from the girls acknowledged the shooting had taken place. They were loaded up one at a time into one of the vans. The last in the line continually looked back over her shoulder as they walked from the boat. ‘Sasha,’ she cried, ‘where is my Sasha? I want my sister.’

  Tatiana’s nails almost drew blood as they sunk reflexively into the back of Mangle’s hand. ‘It’s Polina, oh my God, no. It’s Polina.’

  Tatiana was on her feet, about to sprint towards them, when Mangle grabbed her arm and Decker helped to wrestle her to the ground.

  ‘Shut the fuck up,’ one of the guards yelled at the girl, and slapped her across the s
ide of the head. She staggered but did not fall, turned her tear-streaked face and glared defiantly back at him, bereft of any fear.

  ‘Bring me my sister, you son of a whore!’

  Tatiana struggled to get free as Mangle and Decker held tight to her, Decker’s hand covering her mouth. ‘Any noise we made was probably covered when the guard yelled at that girl,’ Decker said quietly.

  ‘She can’t be more than 13 or 14,’ Tazeem said, shaking his head.

  The man laughed as he bundled the girl into the back of the van. His accomplice climbed into the driver’s seat while he locked the rear doors and walked around to the other side. Tatiana shook herself free and took off running towards them.

  ‘Fuck, she’s gonna get herself killed,’ Tazeem said.

  Mangle started to run after her, and a step or two behind followed Brian and Tony. They covered the open space between the containers and the van quickly, without being spotted. Tatiana stopped at the back of the van to catch her breath. The engine started up. The cold metal vibrated softly against her shoulders as it idled. Mangle arrived at her side, Brian and Tony too, looking uncertain that following her had been the best course of action. Brian signalled to Tony and both ran around to the opposite side.

  Tatiana strode forward until she became visible through the windscreen. She spun around and stood perfectly still. Within seconds, both doors were thrown open as the two men in the van struggled to comprehend how one of the women had got loose, and aimed to rectify the situation before she was noticed by their superiors. Mangle brought the butt of the pistol down onto the back of one man’s neck. He slumped into a heap at Mangle’s feet. The crunch and succession of muffled thumps he heard from the opposite side of the van indicated that the other man hadn’t got off so lightly.

  ‘Take off their jackets and caps,’ Mangle said, hoping a surprise attack might give them the edge they needed. The guards’ hands and feet were bound with zip ties Tazeem had insisted they bring along. Like Mangle, he did not relish the prospect of more deaths, and given the opportunity they would prove a better alternative to shooting.

  ‘We have to get the girls out of here,’ Tatiana insisted, as Decker and Tazeem made it across to where they stood.

  ‘Brian, Tony, drive the van out and blow the whistle on what’s been happening,’ Decker said, taking charge. ‘Take them straight to the press. That lot in the back will be undeniable proof of what’s been going on. Once it’s all over the TV, no matter how many police Steiger has in his pocket he won’t be able to buy his way out of this.’

  Polina looked out through the small rear window and pressed her palm against the glass. Tatiana began to cry as she pressed her hand up against Polina’s through the glass, and tried to reassure her that she would help Sasha.

  Brian and Tony looked uncertain about leaving him in the lurch so Decker spoke up again. ‘If none of us make it out of here then all the girls in the van are done for, and besides that, John will have died for nothing.’

  ‘You’re still trying to make up for what happened years ago, Decker,’ Brian said softly with a shake of his head. ‘You didn’t mean to kill that guy despite the threats he was making against your sister. You need to let it go, already, and stop trying to be a hero.’

  ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Decker snapped, but his hand instinctively moved to the back of his neck and rubbed the tattoo John had inked all those years before. ‘This has got nothing to do with what happened back then.’

  ‘It’s true, Decker,’ Tazeem said. ‘You went out on a limb for me and Mangle when we were in jail, and we thought you’d died so we could get out of Sadiq’s place that day. You can’t keep on like this, man, you should leave with these two now.’

  ‘I’m not leaving till this is done,’ he said firmly. ‘You and Mangle are still here, we came together, and we’re leaving together.’

  Brian and Tony could see there was little point in arguing any further. They bundled the two bound and unconscious men into the cab and climbed in after them. Tatiana backed away from the van as Tazeem kept watch to alert them if any of the other men approached.

  ‘It’s still clear, but the stack of crates they’re unloading is growing by the minute. Once they have them off the boat they’ll come and load them into the second van,’ Tazeem informed them.

  ‘Watch what you’re doing, Decker,’ Tony said as he rolled down the window. Decker nodded and the van pulled away.

  ‘Hopefully they weren’t supposed to wait for the other van to be loaded up as well, or we’re gonna have company up here a lot quicker than we’d hoped,’ Mangle said as the van accelerated out of the docks.

  Decker, Mangle and Tatiana moved to where Tazeem was keeping watch by the edge of the warehouse. Steiger and Jupiter must have gone aboard with the man who they guessed was the captain. One man struggled over the gangway, carrying a wooden crate, and stacked it along with the others. He walked back onboard, presumably to fetch the next one.

  ‘Now,’ Decker instructed.

  They ran along the side of the warehouse and through the open doorway. The air smelled damp and crisp from salt and oily deposits. Large coils of rope, floats and mooring buoys were piled haphazardly alongside various-sized gangways, loading trolleys and a fork-lift truck. They retreated to the darkest corner just in time before the man made another laboured trip ashore with a crate.

  ‘Do you have something in mind or are we in here just to get out of the wind?’ Mangle whispered as the man went back to collect another.

  Decker motioned for them to stay put. He crept outside and ducked down behind the stack of wooden crates. After a few moments the man returned. Decker waited until he heard the heave and scrape of wood as the crate was lifted and placed atop the last. He stepped out, grabbed the man by the neck and thundered a hammer-like punch into his solar plexus.

  The startled man crumpled like paper. Decker pulled him forward head first into the crates before he had any chance of recovery. Mangle and Tazeem ventured to the doorway and took this as their cue to drag him inside out of sight. Tatiana fastened zip ties around his ankles and wrists in case the damage Decker had done wasn’t sufficient to keep him unconscious.

  ‘I need to go on board,’ Tatiana said as Tazeem and Mangle waited for Decker to take charge on what happened next.

  ‘I need to look at the man with the scars to see if he is the one that planted the bomb. If these are the men responsible for my family’s death then I have to make them pay. And I must do what I can to free Sasha.’

  ‘Just wait until they leave the boat,’ Mangle protested.

  ‘There is still a girl onboard who needs our help. And what if they don’t leave the boat? This could be the way Steiger and the other man are to leave,’ she snapped.

  ‘Even if it wasn’t beforehand, once they see they have a man missing they might cut their losses and run,’ Tazeem said with a shrug.

  ‘Alright, but I’m coming with you,’ Mangle insisted.

  ‘If anyone comes out looking for the guy we just hid, Tazeem isn’t gonna pass for one of them even from a distance, whether he wears the jacket and cap or not.’

  ‘Decker’s right, Mangle. Not unless one of them has been spending way too much time in a tanning salon.’

  ‘Tazeem, if Tatiana’s determined to get a look at Jupiter, then you go with her. If you’re spotted, get off the boat as quick as you can, whether you’ve found the other girl or not. Me and Mangle will try and find a way to slow them down, hopefully give enough time for Bri and Tony to get word out and for the cops to get down here.’

  Tatiana nodded and started toward the gangway before anyone could disagree with Decker. Tazeem scampered after her, muttering what a stupid idea he thought it was. Once onboard, Tatiana walked along the narrow platform inside the gunwale towards what she believed to be the bridge, where a light now shone through foggy rectangular windows. Standing outside, the tremors she felt through the deck as the men moved around inside were enough t
o convince her that a change of approach was needed in case any of them made a sudden appearance.

  She turned back suddenly, startling Tazeem who gripped a support rope tightly to avoid losing his footing.

  ‘Where are you going now?’ he hissed at her, but Tatiana pushed past and began to climb up to the observation platform above. Moving as delicately as she could so as not to alert the men below her, Tatiana inched forward and hung over the side, trying to look through the windows below. Catching on, Tazeem followed and held tight to the backs of her thighs, enabling her to edge down a few more inches.

  She squinted and peered inside. The captain faced roughly in her direction, but the inside light shining on the smudged glass would show him nothing but a blurred reflection even if he looked directly at her. With their backs to Tatiana were two more men. One she knew immediately as Steiger. The features of the other, the larger man called Jupiter, remained elusive. She could see them talking as their conversation continued, but could make out little of what they said. She felt Tazeem tapping on her leg, evidently keen for her to give up on the suicidal notion and return to the others.

  Tatiana didn’t hear the loud splash in the harbour behind them, but the men on the bridge did, and so did Tazeem. His hands fisted as they gripped tightly onto Tatiana’s jeans and hoisted her back up. Reluctantly, she allowed it, but before the men charged out from the bridge they’d turned their faces in the direction of the sound. Even through the scars, she recognised the face of the man whose actions brought about the end of her previous life.

  Decker waited until Tazeem and Tatiana had boarded the boat and he could no longer see them before he stepped onto the gangway. Mangle had been instructed to wait by the pile of crates, and had been told – pointlessly, Decker realised immediately afterwards – to try and look inconspicuous.

  His main aim, along with bringing Steiger to justice, was to ensure that all of the explosives were seized. After seeing the devastation they had caused at Latif ’s restaurant and computer shop, it was unthinkable that any could remain in the hands of men who would use them to bring about huge numbers of casualties. He hoped Tatiana and Tazeem would be able to free the girl, but right now he couldn’t let himself get distracted with thoughts of anything else.