Mass squinted. “No, they’re going to drag this out. We’re in for a long night.”
“And I don’t have any more gum,” said Smithy. “Anyone fancy running to the shops?”
“Maybe later,” said Mass, and then fired a shot out into the growing darkness.
9
A cheer sounded from all corners once word got around that General Wickstaff was in charge again. Maddy didn’t hear an objection from a single man or woman, and none seemed worried by General Thomas. Portsmouth had faced worse monsters.
General Thomas, unwilling to take the insult lying down, had ordered his men to secure Portsmouth immediately. The armoury, the port authority building, and most of the guard towers were now controlled by him. But Wickstaff’s loyalists were unconcerned. They gathered on the docks, fully armed and full-spirited. Maddy wondered how long it would be until things came to blows.
It was fantastic that Wickstaff had stood up to General Thomas, but Maddy was smart enough to know things wouldn’t end there. Civil war was inevitable, and neither side would back down. Everyone would fight each other while far greater threats went ignored. Surely only disaster lay ahead?
For tonight, however, Maddy allowed herself to feel good. Good about the woman she had vowed to serve. Wickstaff valued every life under her command, and there was comfort in that fact, while General Thomas cared only about his own agenda. His plan to send men outside Portsmouth’s barricades was still in full swing despite the strong objections.
What Maddy estimated to be a hundred armed men now congregated in the main road leading away from the waterfront. It would take them all the way to the barricade near Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower. There, they could climb ladders up and over a massive supermarket lorry blocking entry into the docks. Then they would be alone in the dark ruins of a corpse-littered city. Maddy shuddered at the thought and felt an ominous weight attach itself to the air as she watched them head off. Unlike Portsmouth’s militia, Thomas’s soldiers were professional and silent, using hand signals and whispering into radios. Whether or not they were scared was a secret only they knew, but Maddy was afraid for them.
As much as she didn’t want the men here, she hoped to see them return.
With a yawn, she decided to head to her room for sleep, but then realised it was inside the port authority building. Would she be allowed to get inside her own quarters? Or would Thomas’s soldiers prevent her access? She supposed she’d find out.
On her way back across the docks, she spotted Commander Tosco – that dickhead – and made a beeline for the man. He spotted her coming and stood to attention. “Maddy,” he purred. “What can I do for you?”
“Absolutely nothing, you spineless shit. How could you betray Wickstaff like that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You chose General Thomas over her.”
Tosco sighed and let his shoulders slump. “I obeyed the chain of the command. Just like I have always done. Just like I pledged to do when I joined the service.”
“Bullshit! The chain of command doesn’t mean anything any more.”
“It does to me and it should to you. If people pick and choose who they follow, it’ll lead to factions and infighting. That should be obvious from what’s happening now. Wickstaff went back on her word and now we’re split in half – enemies within and enemies without.”
Maddy’s fists clenched. “General Thomas went back on his word first! How can you serve him after all we’ve been through? We’re family at Portsmouth.”
“My family is most likely all dead,” he said flatly, “but I have others to consider. Over a thousand people are under my command. I can’t get them involved in a pissing contest. I owe it to Guy to keep them all safe.” He shook his head and looked away. “To keep Alice safe.”
Maddy hadn’t seen Guy’s daughter for a while, and she suddenly felt ashamed of it. The young girl had lost everyone. “How is Alice doing?”
“She’s tough – really tough – but I worry that any more bloodshed will make her too tough. I was really hoping General Thomas’s arrival might have bought us some breathing room, an opportunity to focus on things besides merely surviving. It seems it’s only made things worse.”
“Of course it’s made things worse. He had no right to come here and take command.” Maddy looked around the docks, at the scattered chairs and tables, at a child’s football lying near a makeshift goal. They had made this place a home. “He had no right.”
“He had every right,” said Tosco. He seemed angry for a moment, but then his gaze softened. “Look, Maddy, I have the utmost respect for General Wickstaff, and I would die fighting for her – for everyone here. It’s not a question of loyalty. It’s a question of what I believe in and what you believe in. We don’t have to fall out over it.”
Maddy smirked, and it clearly confused Tosco, because he asked her what the joke was. She told him. “You said General Wickstaff. Maybe you’ll come around. Until then, I still think you’re a dickhead.”
Tosco huffed and then rolled his eyes. With his slightly overgrown dark hair, he reminded her of Tom Cruise. It led her to wonder whether the actor was still alive. Would there ever be actors again?
He cleared his throat and looked at her. “Whatever happens going forward, I am dedicated to protecting what we have built here. I won’t do anything I believe would cause more harm than good. You should know that by now, Maddy.”
Maddy sighed and suddenly she didn’t hate the guy any more. While Tosco was known for being arrogant, he had done as much as anyone had over these last few months to keep Portsmouth safe. “I do know that, Tosco. You’re a good guy deep down. Hey, it’s late, and I’m not sure I have anywhere to sleep, so do you fancy going to get a cup of—”
“Maddy!” Colonel Cross came marching across the dock. At first he seemed confrontational, but once he neared her, he smiled warmly. “I was hoping to run into you,” he said. “When the top brass bicker, it’s the likes of you and me that have to keep things from getting out of hand. We should talk.”
Tosco gave a slight bow to the colonel and then bid Maddy goodnight. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow,” he said.
Maddy gave a short wave. “Yeah, erm, I’ll see you around, Tosco. Good night.”
“Sorry,” said Cross. “Was I interrupting something?”
“No, just an argument. What can I do for you, Colonel? I don’t really want to get caught fraternising with the enemy.”
“The enemy? You offend me! As far as I’m concerned, we’re still all friends here.”
“And what about Thomas? Does he think that?”
Cross folded his arms and leant in towards her. “Thomas is a stuffy old Etonian who thinks he was born and bred to lead lesser men. Anyone lower than a major might as well be a gnat on his nut sack.”
Maddy was taken aback. “I… wasn’t expecting that. You don’t like Thomas?”
Cross shrugged as if what he had said shouldn’t be so surprising. “I spent my entire career disliking men like Thomas, but they’re a necessary evil, unfortunately. Leave too much room up top and everyone will want to call the shots. Like it or not, people respect those who respect themselves, and Thomas is a legitimate commander.”
Maddy groaned. “You sound like Tosco.”
“The handsome young American you were just talking to?”
“I can get his number for you if you’d like?”
Cross broke out in smiles. “That won’t be necessary. I could use a coffee though. It’s going to be a long night.”
Maddy had been about to ask Tosco to join her for a coffee, but she supposed Cross would have to do for company. It was late, and she was tired, but she wouldn’t sleep. “Well, your people are probably in charge of our supplies by now, but I might be able to hook us up somewhere on neutral ground.”
“You’re a woman with means. I like that.”
She wasn’t sure she could get her hands on coffee, but she took Cross to a place that Thom
as and his people wouldn’t have yet discovered. A secret place.
Commander Klein came ashore twice per week, and whenever he did, he played poker. For weeks now, he and a small group of eager gamblers had been meeting inside a train carriage parked at the far side of the docks. It had once been destined for service on the country’s railways but had never made it that far. Its many windows were still covered in protective foam, which made it completely private inside.
“What is this?” Cross asked as she took him inside the open engineer’s cabin at the front of the carriage.
“Portsmouth’s best-kept secret.”
From the driver’s compartment, she squeezed through a slim metal door and entered the carriage’s interior. Commander Klein looked back at her without concern, even though the other dozen men inside all flinched.
“Madeline, how wunderbar to see you. Shall I deal you in?”
“After last time? No thanks, I’d rather keep the shirt on my back.”
Klein frowned. He was the quintessential German, tall with floppy blonde hair, but despite his gruff accent he was constantly smiling. “You English have such strange expressions, ja? Who is your friend? A colonel, it vud seem?”
Cross took a step forward into the aisle. He saluted Klein, but it made the German grimace. “Colonel Cross. Pleasure to meet you, Commander Klein.”
“We are all equal at ze poker table, Colonel. You may call me Hans.”
“All right then, you can call me Tony.”
“Tony, ja. A good name. Do you play, Tony?”
There were several bench set-ups in the carriage, but Klein’s table was full, so Cross remained standing. “I’ve been known to play a few hands, but what I really came for was coffee and a chat with Maddy.”
“You come inside my train, you play.” Klein waved a hand and the men in his booth moved to other seats. “Sit, both of you. We shall play, chit-chat, and drink coffee, ja?”
Maddy put a hand on Cross’s back and eased him into the booth. “Take a load off. You could be dead tomorrow.”
Cross gave her a look that suggested she shouldn’t tempt fate, but he did as she asked and sat opposite Klein. Maddy slid in next to him. Their thighs pressed together, and it made her realise how chilly she was.
Klein started dealing cards, smiling as he did so. Someone brought over two steaming mugs of coffee and a tumbler full of vodka for Klein. Cross palmed the hot coffee and sipped at it. “Christ, that’s good. We ran out of the stuff early on in the Middle East.”
“I hear they call it East Germany nowadays,” said Klein with a playful smirk.
Cross rolled his eyes. “That’s what your lads call it, yeah, but Chancellor Capri didn’t liberate the place all by himself.”
Klein started the game, pushing in a stack of chips. “Capri always was an ambitious man. I knew him when he was Federal Minister of Defence, but it was obvious he would climb higher. I doubt he will rest until he’s conquered ze entire world. Perhaps that is a good thing considering our current enemy. He is as relentless as the demons.”
Cross picked up his cards and examined them. “Maybe. Or perhaps he’s no better than all the other tyrants who use a crisis to give themselves power. What’s the point of surviving this nightmare if it leads to more of the same?”
Maddy sipped her coffee and placed it on the table. “Because the alternative is the extinction of the human race. We can’t fix everything right now, but by surviving we at least give future generations a chance to do better.”
Klein lifted his vodka in salute. “Vell said, Madeline. A wounded dog smells better than a dead dog, ja.”
Cross chuckled. “Looks like you Germans have some strange expressions of your own.”
“A few, ja. So, Tony, tell me about your superior, General Thomas. Is he a good man?”
“He makes it hard for people to see, but, yeah, he’s a good man. A good leader.”
“You like him?”
“No.”
“Vy not?”
“For the same reason I don’t like Chancellor Capri. He’s a tyrant. He does whatever he thinks is for the greater good, but the thing about the greater good is that it shits all over the small good affecting normal people’s lives. Sacrificing a hundred men to kill a thousand demons might seem worth the loss, but not if you ask those hundred men. Thomas has sent thousands of brave soldiers to their death for the greater good. Now that we have the upper hand, it’s time to focus on the little people and the smaller goods.”
Klein placed his cards face down on the table and leant back in the bench. “Tony, we are all equal in this train, yes, but it is alarming to hear you talk so disrespectfully about your commanding officer. What if I were to tell him your vords?”
Cross huffed. “I’ve heard a lot about the German submarine commander who refuses to pay fealty to anyone but himself. I’m thinking that if I can speak freely to anyone, it’s you.”
Klein grinned. “But what about ze other men here?”
Cross glanced at the other men in the train carriage. They were a chilled-out, laid-back bunch, but they were clearly listening to the conversation. “I imagine only a certain type of person gets invited to play poker on this train. Those with big mouths probably don’t make the guest list.”
Klein swigged his vodka as if it were beer. “I like you, Tony. We are both men in authority who hate authority, and nature loves a contradiction. Here’s to a future without leaders.”
Tony lifted his coffee in salute.
Maddy realised something, sitting here with these two headstrong, moralistic men. They could be allies, senior officers with common interests. “Wickstaff should be in charge of Portsmouth,” she blurted out. “She doesn’t like authority either. The reason she took charge is that there was no one else, not because she wanted to. When Thomas arrived, she stepped down rather than see people hurt. Now she’s stepped back up for the same reason.”
“Thomas won’t take it lying down,” said Cross. “I’m sorry, Maddy, I like Wickstaff a lot already, but she’s going to come off badly. Thomas will have her shot once the dust settles.”
“He does that and half of Portsmouth will rebel.”
Cross looked at her and raised his patchy eyebrows. “Greater good, remember? Thomas will consider it acceptable losses.”
“I have an understanding with General Wickstaff,” said Klein. “I doubt I would extend it to this new man, Thomas.”
“Thomas doesn’t reach understandings,” said Cross, running a hand over his shaved and scarred head. “You’re either with him or against him.”
“Then I am, unfortunately, against him.”
Maddy nodded. “So am I.”
“I’m a colonel under his command,” said Cross. “I know we’re talking freely here, but there’s still a line.”
“No,” said Maddy. “The lines have been blurry for a while now. In fact, I think they’ve been rubbed out. There can only be one leader in Portsmouth. We’re all going to have to pick a side.”
Cross sipped his coffee then placed it down carefully. He rose slowly and studied Maddy and Klein. “I understand where this conversation is going, and it ends with us all lined up against a wall. Trust me, it’s better to let the top brass sort it out amongst themselves. I might be a colonel, but that’s only because all the qualified people went and died. I’m nothing more than a sergeant at heart, and this conversation is a little above my station. Look, Maddy, General Thomas is a bastard, I agree, but he’s no idiot. If Wickstaff is serious about opposing him, a lot of people will die. Best thing anyone can do is convince her to step down. Even that might not be good enough after what she did tonight.”
“Thomas is sending people into danger, Tony. Wickstaff is trying to keep them alive.”
“Well, she’s going to achieve the exact opposite. Talk to her, Maddy, before the skid marks won’t wash out.”
Maddy glanced at Commander Klein, and she was crestfallen when she saw him shrug noncommittally. “Talk at the pok
er table cannot be taken too seriously, Madeline,” he said. “I believe Wickstaff would be safer stepping down, but I wish her the very best whatever happens, ja? If it makes you feel better, she is my pick to win. God help anyone who crosses zat warrior of a woman.”
Tony raised an eyebrow at that, but Maddy got up and shoved past him before he could say anything. She left the carriage in disgust. It was irrational, but she was just so… overwhelmed. For months, she had fought alongside Wickstaff and the people of Portsmouth.
Then some dinosaur arrives and threatens everything.
Screw you, Thomas.
Cross caught up with her on the docks, despite her attempts to hurry away. It was late now, and the moon was a rare gem sparkling overhead. It made her want to cry even more, so she turned towards the sea and stared at the silvery glint of the waves to disguise her expression. Her attempt to ignore Cross failed. He put a hand on her back and made her shudder. “Don’t think what you’re thinking, love, okay?”
“And what am I thinking?”
“That you would die for Wickstaff. Kill for her.”
It was true she would like to march up to Thomas and shoot the old bastard in the face, but she wouldn’t seriously do it. She didn’t have it in her. No way.
Although there are a lot of things I never used to have in me. Truthfully, I don’t know what I’m capable of any more.
“I just wish you people hadn’t come here,” she said. “We were fine before.”
Cross removed his hand from her back and sighed. He stood beside her and looked out at the sea. “But for how long? I’m well aware of what people did to survive here, but you’re undermanned and undergunned. It really is a good thing Thomas came here. You just need to stop resisting.”
“Because resistance is futile, huh?”
“No, because resistance is never as good as cooperation. I understand you don’t like Thomas, and I admit he’s not my cup of tea either, but he is here to help. He wants to put a stop to the demons and make the world safe again. I wouldn’t serve him if I didn’t believe that.”
Hell On Earth Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 127
