The Dead Walk The Earth (Book 3)

by Luke Duffy

  Tina needed to go through with her decision and accept whatever came with it. She did not have their experience or knowledge in tactics, but she had been in the army for long enough and attended enough courses to know the basics. It was a raid, and she would follow their lead and do as she was told. She had already experienced her baptism of fire that same morning. She figured that if she was not a quivering wreck by now, then she had the resolve to deal with it.

  She made up for her lack of frontline experience and knowledge with her determination and aggression. She could feel her blood begin to pump around her body, filled with adrenaline. Her body began to tremble lightly and her head tingle. She was going in the helicopter with the assault team. Al was supposed to be the one going with them, but now it was down to Tina. There was no one else to take his place. Every man and woman had their own part to play, and Tina had been the only one who did not have a set role.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “Fuck it. I’m up for it. Let’s go.”

  “Outstanding,” Graham grinned.

  11

  Samantha studied the expressions of the men. None of their faces were easy to read, but she was confident that they felt enough loyalty to the young American helicopter pilot to make them want to help. However, and as always, Stan’s unblinking eyes showed no indication of what he was thinking. It was him that she really needed to convince. The team were his, and he gave the orders. The man was a closed book. He was methodical and never did anything on a whim or as a knee-jerk or emotional reaction. For that, he would have needed emotions in the first place.

  She had told them the details of Melanie’s mission, and that for an unknown reason they had lost all communications with her. There had been no distress beacon, and the transponder was not relaying her aircraft’s current position. All that they had received was a partial message from her informing the operations room that her aircraft was in trouble. That had been almost fourteen hours ago and nothing had been heard since.

  Gerry had made it clear that command was ready to write off Melanie and her co-pilot. She understood that his hands were tied, but that did not make her feel any less angry. The two missing Americans had become yet another statistic in the ongoing war against the dead. Hundreds of thousands, millions of people had already been lost, so what did two more matter? They were clearly more concerned about the loss of the helicopter than they were of the human beings that were flying it. As it was made clear that the MoD were unwilling to do anything, Samantha turned to the men out of desperation to help her. She knew that they had suffered a great deal and were less effective than they had once been having lost nearly half their team over the months, but there was no one else that she could rely on.

  “You sure it’s not a comms issue?” Bobby asked as Samantha finished her round up of the events leading to Lieutenant Frakes’ disappearance.

  Samantha shook her head. She considered the question as being rather stupid, but she understood that it needed to be asked. Before they made any kind of decision, the team would want to rule out all possibilities.

  “Definitely not,” Samantha replied with an assured shake of her head. “They were in a Gazelle. They don’t have enough fuel to still be flying around for that long. They were supposed to have returned to base at last light. If it was just a case of bad comms, we would’ve known for sure by now.”

  “And you don’t think she and Mike could’ve just fucked off into the sunset together?” Bull queried, anticipating the next question but with far less refinery in his delivery.

  Samantha opened her mouth, about to speak. She paused for a moment and looked at each of them in turn. She had considered the possibility of Melanie and Mike running off together, and she was still unsure whether or not to consider it. After a short moment of doubt, she shook the thought from her mind, relying on the friendship that had developed between them to keep Melanie from leaving her behind. It was time for Samantha to inform them about the plan she and Melanie had begun formulating to escape from the island together.

  “I’m one-hundred percent sure it’s not that. At least I hope not,” she said, but her tone held a note of uncertainty. Before anyone could argue with her confidence, she spoke again. “We were making our own plans for that.”

  Bobby’s head spun around on hearing her words, and he fixed her with a hard stare. She had never given any indication that she was planning on leaving or even that she wanted to. He believed that she was totally committed to continuing the fight and standing at her post within the command centre, no matter how bad things became.

  Nobody spoke. Stan and Bull looked from Bobby to Samantha, waiting for the anticipated domestic argument to break out between them.

  “Oops,” Danny blurted mockingly from his side of the table. “Sounds like someone just let the cat out.”

  “Fuck off, Danny,” Bobby growled angrily under his breath but keeping his eyes locked on Samantha.

  “It wasn’t going to be just the two of us,” Samantha continued with a dismissive nod towards Bobby whilst her attention remained focussed upon Stan. “We were waiting for the right moment, and we were going to put it to you all about us leaving together.” She turned and looked at Bobby, her brow creased and an annoyed expression in her eyes. “What? You thought we would consider going alone? Just the two of us?”

  Bobby’s shoulders relaxed a little, but he still felt wounded at the fact that he had not been brought in on their little secret sooner. His attention remained fixed upon her, but she refused to meet his gaze. She did not have the time or the patience to bow to his bruised masculine ego. Melanie, and gaining the help of the team, were her priorities at that moment.

  “Okay, you two can finish the foreplay later,” Stan began after having listened to and considered everything that Samantha had told them. “So it’s not comms, mechanical, or the fact that they’ve decided to make a break for it on their own. If that’s the case, then there’s only two real possibilities; either they’re trapped somewhere between here and London, or they’re already dead.”

  “Yeah, give it to her straight, Stan, don’t sugar coat it.” Kyle remarked, leaning back in his chair and interlocking his fingers behind his neck.

  “It’s definitely London,” Samantha replied with confidence. “Her last transponder signal was from the city before it went blank. I’m pretty sure that her heli went down, and here’s what I’ve come up with.”

  She pulled out a map and showed them the rough location of where the signal was last seen in the operations room. Bobby and Stan leaned in closer and stared at the ring that Samantha had drawn around the centre of the suspected crash site, the same place from where the last transponder ping was received. A red circle denoted the possible range of the aircraft from the central point.

  “So, with the time between transponder update relays and the average speed of a Gazelle helicopter when cruising at low altitude, we’re looking at a search grid of roughly two square kilometres?” Stan asked, rubbing his chin.

  “About that, yeah,” Samantha replied.

  She knew that it would be difficult to find the crash site, especially within a partially destroyed city that was teeming with reanimated corpses, but she had to try. She just hoped that the team were willing to assist her.

  “Okay then, we’re going out there,” Stan announced.

  He stood up, having made his decision, and turned to the others. They had already began preparing for a bug-out from the island so their plan did not really change, only the method of how they were doing it and the time frame.

  “We’re going to need a lift,” Bobby said, hoping that someone else had already thought of that aspect. They did not have the time to go searching for boats. “Or are we planning on doing this whole thing on foot?”

  “I already have that in hand,” Samantha replied. “I have a Chinook and two pilots ready to move at first light. They know what they’re doing and what they’re getting into. Regardless of the consequences, they’re willing to help.”
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  “First light? Can you not get them sooner?”

  Samantha shook her head.

  “Fuck sake. The longer we wait the less chance of finding either of them alive. Especially if they’re in London.”

  “I wanted them to be ready to move within hours, but they need to pull quite a few rabbits out of their hats in order to get the heli ready. They need to be very careful and think up a very clever, bullshit story about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. I trust them, though, and they’re reliable. They’ll be ready for first light. I just hope that Mel and Mike can hold out for a little longer.”

  “You’re sure they’re alive, aren’t you?” Danny acknowledged, nodding towards Samantha and smiling at her unflinching loyalty to her friend and determination to find her.

  “Well, we need to work with what we have. If they can’t get the heli sooner, then we have to make do. Gives us more time to prep. First light it is,” Stan nodded.

  He understood perfectly that it would not be easy for the pilots to get off the island without clearance. It had been tried in the past, and before the aircraft had made it out to sea and over the Solent, they were shot down by the anti-aircraft defences aboard the HMS Illustrious. The burning wreckage had crashed into the water, killing all thirty of the men, women, and children on board.

  “A Chinook… excellent,” Bobby said to himself.

  He stood and arched his back, rolling his shoulders and stretching his limbs, grimacing as he did so. He was still having trouble with the injuries he had sustained at Manchester airport when he flung himself out of the control tower many months beforehand. He turned to Stan and raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s a big aircraft with a large fuel capacity and long range. The world is our lobster now, mate. What do you think?”

  Stan nodded. He knew exactly what Bobby was thinking and gave him his approval to inform Samantha about the decision they had made and what they had already put into motion. The ‘how’ part of their original plan had now been answered. They had an aircraft to take them to wherever they wanted to go.

  “We’ll go into detailed planning later,” Stan announced. “For now, continue with prepping weapons and equipment. Danny, start looking at all the potential hold up areas within that radius. If Melanie’s alive, we need a place to begin the search. Large flat areas, preferably above ground level, should be our starting points. With the hammering that London has taken over the past few months, I don’t think there are all that many buildings left standing that’ll fit that description, so it shouldn’t be too hard to narrow it down.”

  Kyle looked up at Stan and then turned to Samantha. His eyes appeared sad, as though he had bad news that no one else was yet aware of.

  “You do understand, Sam, that if their aircraft isn’t safely parked on some rooftop somewhere or we find it at street level, there’s no hope of finding her?”

  “Yeah, I know. But we at least need to take a look, just to be sure,” Samantha nodded solemnly before turning towards the door.

  Bobby followed her out into the open air while Stan and Bull went off to re-check on their weapons and ammunition.

  “What was that you were saying about sugar coating?” Danny asked, turning to the veteran once that Samantha was out of earshot.

  Kyle shrugged but did not reply immediately. He was still sitting with his hands clasped behind his head and looking transfixed as he watched Samantha leave. He eyed her as she was silhouetted by the light filtering in through the doorway. Even in the British Army uniform that he had always suspected was specifically designed to cancel out any pleasing figure he could see that her body was in great shape. A moment later, and Bobby stepped into the doorframe, ruining Kyle’s view.

  “Needed to be said,” the veteran replied in a distant voice as he admired the image imprinted upon his mind of Samantha’s shapely hips and long legs. “It’s a shame that Bobby’s name is stencilled on her arse, though. I’d love to wear it as a hat for the day.”

  “Don’t be getting any ideas, mate.”

  “Nothing wrong with having a look,” Kyle replied with a sigh as he stood up and headed towards the door that led out towards the cliffs. “And on that note, I think I’ll go and have some ‘special reflection time’ before all the fun and games begin.”

  Danny grabbed the map that Samantha had circled and began sifting through the other aerial photographs and mapping that he had already acquired. He found a large scale map of London detailing its streets and rail networks. Kyle had given it to him earlier, before their mission had changed and became focussed upon the city. The map was tattered and stained with patches of dried blood and gore, but enough detail could still be distinguished for it to be of use. While the others filtered out to begin their preparations, Danny set about scouring for Melanie’s potential whereabouts.

  Out in front of the house, Bobby pulled Samantha to one side. She was expecting him to begin lecturing or scolding her for not informing him about her plan, but judging from the expression on his face, she quickly realised that Bobby had other things to tell her.

  “You’re coming with us on this trip, right?” He said it as more of a statement rather than an actual request.

  She nodded and stared back at him. His features beneath his thick beard growth were hard and lined, showing the strain of the previous months. His face was drawn and appeared to have aged dramatically since the start of the outbreak and she could understand why. She herself felt drained and worn down. However, Bobby’s soft and warming eyes remained filled with life, as they had always done. They were the thing she had always liked most about his features. He looked back at her, and she could see that there was more to follow, and that Bobby was just going through the preliminaries.

  “Yeah, I’m coming with you. You’ll need all the help you can get, and I wouldn’t consider sitting here while you did all the work.”

  “Good,” he nodded, happy in the fact that he had that element cleared up from the outset. “There’s another reason why you need to come, Sam. We were planning on running, too. We decided it this morning and were thinking about bugging out within a couple of days. We were still in the early stages of prep, but I was going to speak to you about it later.”

  “No kissing, you two,” Taff’s voice called from the area of the sentry position, twenty metres away.

  He was standing amongst the low wire entanglements, having dragged the corpse of the woman that Bobby had dealt with earlier from his field of view, dumping it to the side before returning to his position. Bobby turned his attention back to Samantha, shaking his head.

  “And now you’re all thinking that we go find Melanie and then just keep going? Is that what you mean?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Exactly.”

  “Who’s going with you?”

  Bobby looked around him and saw the others moving about, carrying kit into and out of the house, busy with their own jobs.

  “Us, and anyone else we thought should come along and could be trusted. You, Melanie, Mike, and the rest of their crew. Possibly Gerry and some of the ops staff?”

  Bobby glanced to his right, back towards where Taff was standing. The short Welshman was busy, animatedly explaining something to Richard with sweeping gestures. The once civil engineer was sitting in the exact same place he had been during the past four hours, smoking endlessly, and making insulting remarks.

  “Goes without saying that Rich will be coming, too. We wouldn’t even consider leaving without Emily and William, either.”

  “How were you planning on getting off the island?”

  Bobby shrugged and grinned back at her.

  “We hadn’t got that far into the plan. But now, seeing as you’re providing us with a nice shiny helicopter, that question’s been answered.” He paused and fixed her with a serious expression. “Get back to HQ and grab what you need. Once we take off, we’ll not be coming back, Sam. We’ll only face charges of desertion if we did. You’ve seen the examp
les that are being set to prevent who they consider as ‘essential personnel’ from running out.”

  She nodded, visualising the court-martials that had been carried out against scientists and soldiers accused of desertion and cowardice. The lucky ones had been shot by firing squad but others had been less fortunate. Some of their bodies still hung from the gallows, serving as warnings as they swayed in the wind, kicking their legs and wailing loudly.

  “Tell only those you can trust, and then get back here as soon as possible. And for fuck sake, be careful. Everyone on this rock is out to screw each other over these days.”

  Within hours the equipment preparation was completed. Only what was needed was going to be taken. Food and water that could be carried, a change of warm clothing, and the rest was taken up with weapons and ammunition. A lot of personal items that had been accumulated over the months would be abandoned and left behind.

  While the team prepared themselves to go into the planning phase, Emily stood watching them from the kitchen doorway. She was worried about what the future may hold, and even more so for William, her son. There was no question in her mind that she would stay with the men and follow them wherever they went, but she could not shake the thought from her head that they were about to leave the relative safety of the Isle of Wight. She admitted to herself that the island was far from being a secure place to bring up her boy, but compared to the mainland, it was the safest option.

  Taff moved past her, having made himself a drink before sitting down with the others to begin hashing out their concept of operations. Emily reached out and gently placed her hand on his forearm, bringing him to an abrupt halt. He turned, glanced at her hand, and then turned his attention to her anxious eyes.