We left Ted and his brother in Lulu, grabbed some food and bandages, and got comfy on the couch. Eve’s wound was only open a little at one end, but needed disinfecting and wrapping. I told her about what I’d seen on the airfield as we ate and she went silent as she played the scene out in her head.
Then she said, ‘We’ve done better than we could possibly have expected, but I doubt the base is completely empty, it’s big and a Talkers range is limited. We still have to get inside the perimeter, preferably in a vehicle. I don’t think either of us are in the mood to try today, but I don’t fancy sleeping in such an open area without walls and doors between us and the Zeds. The Talker could still make mischief, and we don’t know if your senses will wake you up, it’s never been tested.’
She was right on every count. The thought of sleeping on the couch was scary as hell and we both needed sleep to be fresh for the next day. Even sleeping in Lulu was scary. I considered our options and knew we were being stupid in an attempt to be heroes.
I looked at Eve and said, ‘I have one of my fucking brilliant plans, not the usual kind of plan that leads to acts of derring-do and near death experiences, but a brilliant plan none the less. We’re going home and coming back with reinforcements. We can make it back by dark and we know this area and the road home are clear, so it’s not the high-risk unpredictable mission it was. Between us and the pilots we’ve killed hundreds of Zeds, so although the base won’t be empty, it has to be a lot better than it was. If there was a Hybrid, we’d know it by now. This area should still be clear tomorrow or the next day. Dragging Ted around has its uses, but he’s not actually an asset we should be risking just to make ourselves look heroic by doing all this alone.’
Eve smirked, ‘I’m not sure such a wimp-ass plan can also be brilliant, but I take your point, and of course you’re right. I can’t wait to see Esme’s face when we introduce her to Ted.’
We had a few minutes to relax on the couch and as I was in better shape I followed Eve in the white Range Rover; it was too good a find to leave behind. The trip home was uneventful and everyone was obviously surprised to see us when we rolled up. I got out of the Range Rover, Eve got out of Lulu, and Esme ran up and hugged us both, then stood back and said, ‘What’s happened, what did you find? You both look smug.’
Eve looked at me and said, ‘Go ahead, you can do the introductions. He’s on form for a bit.’
Everyone was quiet but the crowd closed ranks around us so everyone could see. I opened Lulu’s back door, lifted the blanked off Ted, and undid his blindfold. Ted looked up at me blinking, ‘Are we there, are we safe?’
I said softly, ‘Yes Ted we’re safe, and there are quite a few people who want to meet you. I know you don’t have long, so don’t be overwhelmed, just be yourself.’
I helped Ted climb out of the foot-well and checked his hands were still securely tied. Everyone but Esme backed off a step when they saw him. It was tempting to pause for dramatic effect but Esme didn’t deserve that. I said, ‘Everyone, this is Ted. He’s a Talker quite a lot of the time, but right now he’s Ted and he saved our lives today.’
Ted looked around the crowd and swallowing to exert control he said, ‘Hi, it’s nice to meet you all, thank you for taking us in, and keeping us safe. I don’t have long, it’s been a long day, so I just wanted to say thank you.’
Then Ted shuddered and I stepped behind him and held him firmly before he began to writhe and try and get free. I looked at Max and Track, ‘A little help?’, while the familiar tingling surged through me.
Esme had silent tears running down her face and Eve already had her in a strong hug. Giving Ted to Max and Track I went over and put my hand on Esme’s back and said, ‘You were right, you were right from the start, and so was Andrea. Ted turned straight away I think, and it was only a couple of weeks later when Andrea turned, so I think you’ll be able to talk to her soon.’
Then there was a shout and I whipped my head around to see people backing away from Lulu in fear. I jogged over and said, ‘Sorry, Sorry, my mistake. This is Ted’s brother and I’m afraid he’s a shambler. They come as a package deal and we’ve promised to keep them both safe. I think Ted managed to start winning his fight because he and his brother are very close and he wanted to protect him. We need to find them somewhere to stay that’s suitable for both of them, neither of them will hurt the other.’
Jim took control of what was becoming a bit of a show and I was grateful. He said, ‘Show’s over and by the look of Lulu these guys have had a long day. Let’s let them get some rest. I’m sure there will be more to tell tomorrow.’
Chapter Seventeen – The Mission
Eve was already leading Esme away from the crowd with her arm around her shoulder. I caught up with them. Esme was still crying, ‘I’d let you guys go, I’d prepared myself for the worst, to be a single parent. I hadn’t even had time to start taking myself down and building hope. And now you’re back and you bring a Talker who’s losing the battle. Bastards, I’m in love with inconsiderate fucking bastards.’
Eve giggled as we approached our van and I opened the door, ‘And we love you too.’
Esme replied, ‘That’s it, you understand, never again, you’re not leaving me alone ever again. I thought it was the right thing, but it wasn’t.’
Eve nodded, ‘We know. We need to go back to the base but we think it’s much safer now so you’re coming with us, and so are a few others.’
Esme backed into the van, ‘I didn’t even have time to miss the sex. If you came back I’d promised myself some earth shattering reunion sex, but I haven’t had time to miss you, you really are bastards.’
Eve pulled her top off and carefully rolled it up into what I knew was a blind fold. I stood behind her and undid her bra strap while she said, ‘We may be bastards, and even more so because we had some earth shattering sex without you, but right now we have something to share with you, so shut the fuck up and don’t struggle.’
Eve went to tie her top over Esme’s eyes and although she instinctively put her hands up to stop her, she let them drop again and mumbled softly, ‘Bastards.’
Eve told Esme to stay still then started kissing her softly all over her face. I finished undressing Eve then undressed myself. I was about to start undressing Esme when Eve smiled at me, ‘Slowly and softly. She needs to feel your hands on her but only just, but don’t tickle.’
As I undressed Esme, Eve started kissing the skin I revealed and I joined in too. Esme was already quivering when Eve told her to lie down and she continued the torture, slowly ramping up the stimulus we gave her until Esme was moaning and tensing with every touch. Eve kept the blindfold on the entire time and we made the entire session about Esme. When it was finally over, I knew she’d experienced the same thing we had, because it was several minutes before she could speak or look at us. She was exhausted from the tension and fell asleep quickly with Eve stroking her hair, just before she fell she whispered, ‘Bastards…..’
Eve and I had been fighting off the tiredness of a day filled with Zombie killing stress since we returned to base, and we slept hard. Esme woke us up with breakfast and was what can only be described as chirpy, ‘You’re still bastards but I still love you. Now tell me the plan, tell me what happened?’
Eve and I imparted the previous day’s events as we ate, and Esme listened intently. When we were done she said, ‘I’m not even going to comment on just how stupid you guys are. I know it’s different when you’re there, and you have to trust your instincts and let the adrenalin flow, but really! So it sounds like there should be a lot less Zeds in the base now. You said we’re going back and taking a few others with us. So what’s the plan?’
Eve looked at me to reply, ‘I’m still convinced there will be some worthwhile finds on the base. There’s no way these places don’t have some kind of apocalyptic emergency plan that involves enough supplies for anyone still alive to stay that way for a while. I’ve been thinking about it, and there must be gene
rators and some serious radio gear to be able to communicate between bases or with anyone else who has similar equipment. For all we know there is already a network of people communicating across the country and making plans. We know there must be other survivors, and some could be armed forces.’
‘I think we need to take enough people back to be sure we can clear it safely, and organise anything we find. If there is a radio transmitter, we should consider staying around for a day at least. Depending on what we find, it might even be an idea to leave two or three of people there to man the radio and send regular messages. If we can clear the place completely, it would make a good base itself. The wall around it is heavy duty and it has a flight control tower that with binoculars probably has a view of the whole perimeter. There is nothing but farmland and small towns and villages for miles, but it’s only minutes from the A1.’
‘I know I’m jumping the gun, and we’ve done loads here, but it might be a better place to move to permanently. With all the surrounding farmland and a low population density, there could still be animals left live and meat is something we’re still missing, even with a few sheep. Having our own airfield if we do make contact with other groups can’t be a bad thing. We know that the chance of survivors having pilots among them is pretty good. Most importantly, it gets us away from the Hybrid.’
Eve looked at me with wide eyes, ‘Wow, you’ve really run with the ball haven’t you. Not that I’m complaining or necessarily disagree, but wow…’
Esme giggled, ‘Wow indeed. It sounds like you have an idea about what to do next, and I know everyone is waiting to hear it, so let’s put them out of their misery.’
The communal area was full. Although Jim looked stressed from a break in his finely oiled schedule, I knew him well enough to know he wanted to hear it too, or he wouldn’t have allowed everyone to abandon their duties.
Eve let me talk and I briefly recounted the short version of what we’d done and found. Then I repeated where my head had gone as far as a plan was concerned. Unusually Bill was the first to speak, ‘I like it. This place is good, but it’s still small and easily surrounded by a big horde. We probably have enough people to keep the place secure, and with all the open land the potential for gardening, keeping any animals we find, and setting traps for hordes, is massive. There will be loads of covered space for keeping vehicles in good shape and there’s bound to be a load of heavy maintenance equipment, generators, and who knows what. If we can properly clear the roads, we could easily take a load of the caravans with us. They all have individual toilets and cookers and inside a hanger or another large building, they could still be warm over the winter. I know there will be disadvantages, but escaping this place if a huge horde attacks takes a precision plan that could easily go wrong. With all the space, escaping that place would be much less risky. For me that’s the most important thing.’
Knowing Jim ran security and had organised the current base, all eye’s turned to him. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I trusted that he wouldn’t hesitate to tell us. I could have sworn he deliberately paused for effect, but I guess I’ll never know. He said, ‘This place is good and we’ve done a lot of work to make it better, but Bill’s right. I lay awake every night knowing that if we got completely surrounded, we’d be lucky to make it out. That would never happen with a huge base.’
‘Getting the place organised will take months, and patrolling it won’t be easy, but I think it can be done. I agree there must be the backup equipment and supplies to deal with a serious event, even if it’s the total loss of power or a world changing pandemic flu or something. We lose a lot by leaving here, but I think we have a lot to gain, and this would still be a backup base. Either way we don’t need to decide now, and I imagine what we find will make the decision easier. Right now I think committing enough people to secure the place and find out what’s there is the right thing to do.’
‘We can’t leave this place too vulnerable with the Hybrid out there and I should stay to keep things running, but as it should only take a few days, I’m happy for most of the current work to be suspended. To some degree, escaping with only half of us if we got attacked is easier.’
We spent the day organising ourselves to leave early the next morning. Jim was right about leaving some fighters behind, but it was hard to decide who to take. We split up the hockey guys and only took Max and Track with us. With me, Eve, and Esme going, and taking plenty of guns and ammo with us, we left Chris behind.
We took Tony the mechanic and Ben and Izzy, but left all the other people who had become fair fighters to defend the base. Bill came, and after heated discussion, so did Mandy our doctor. We figured it could still be a hard fight and there could be injuries. Don stayed so the base had his Zombie sense, and Fern insisted on coming.
Fern was becoming quite a strong character within the group and I knew she was starting to feel like we had before we left; stir crazy. She had also become a very competent HGV driver. I hadn’t spent much time with Mutt for a while and I missed him. He generally joined whoever was on patrol and spent time playing with the children. When I told him he was coming his ears pricked up and he seemed to understand, that something exciting was happening at least. He jumped up at me and I bent over so he could lick my face. It felt good to know he was still my dog.
The final discussion was around whether we take Ted or not. He was certainly a double edged sword, but he had undoubtedly made things easier for us the previous day, perhaps even saved our lives. The argument wasn’t so much if he could be useful or not, even in Talker mode, if he called for backup, it was still easier than going building to building and room to room. The argument was whether he as too valuable to risk on the mission. The thought of having to drag his brother around with us was also an unwelcome factor, but he refused to leave him behind.
We eventually decided to take him with us because fighting a horde out in the open when we were all in decent vehicles was always safer than going hand to hand. That made twelve of us, excluding Ted’s brother and Mutt who conveniently didn’t count when someone came up with the great idea of calling us the dirty dozen. When we heard about the name, Eve smiled a dirty smile and I found my trouser less comfortable.
With the additional scavenging from the previous few weeks the group had its pick of vehicles. Eve, Esme and I travelled in Lulu, who had undergone some rapid repairs. Bill and Tony handed her over but Bill couldn’t hide his concern, ‘She’s done us proud, and she will again, but she’s showing her battle scars. I’ve removed and unbent some of her suspension components too many times and there are bits we can’t replace. Something will snap at some point, and if she’s in the thick of it that could not only kill her, but whoever’s inside her. When this mission’s done, I’m afraid she needs a total re-build and we’ll have to put normal suspension on her. The upgraded body, engine, and glass, is probably worth it, but she won’t be Lulu any more. Even then her frames bent so new parts will wear much more quickly. We might even have to ditch her completely and just salvage the engine, glass and wheels. I think we can get the wheels to fit under a standard suspension if we remove sections of the wheel arches and raise the suspension a little with a simple bodge.’
Eve went to hug Bill, ‘It’s ok Bill, we all knew she wouldn’t last forever, and you’ve been a superhero patching her up for this long. We’ll go with whatever you think’s best.’
Bill, Tony, and Track travelled in Mary who was also worse for wear, but several horde encounters behind Lulu. Ben and Izzy went in an eighteen wheeler with an empty container we’d hurriedly cut a couple of windows into and covered in mesh. We figured the mission would take more than a day and the container would be really secure to sleep in if we couldn’t find anywhere better. If we did end up wanting to transport a load of gear back to the caravan base, there was nothing we’d want that the rig wouldn’t haul.
Fern drove another rig without a container but Tony fitted it with a tow bar and we’d found a car trailer so we p
ut one of the Unimogs on it. We hadn’t been using the Unimogs much as they were thirsty and slow and really uncomfortable. It was a squeeze to put three in the front and the backs were even more uncomfortable than the front, and weren’t Zed proof. They were really sturdy however, and their four wheel drive was good, so we figured one would be good on the grass of the airfield. Fern’s rig had been fitted with an extra-large plough and Mandy and Max rode with her. Fern took Ted’s brother in the back and Eve, Esme and I took Ted. We tied Ted up in the back and someone had sewn us a black hood to use on him when we needed to.
It took a little while to get the eighteen wheeler through some of the tight spots on route, but there were no incidents. We hit one petrol station on the way and with twelve of us we cleared it with barely a scratch. It was useful for everyone to work as a team and see each other’s fighting style. We had a lucky find under the counter of an old but obviously well maintained shotgun and a box of ammo.
We arrived on the road outside the main gates into the base by mid-morning and the area was clear. Eve and I hadn’t taken any time to scout out the front of the base, so we climbed on top of Ferns cab and used the binoculars. The hairs standing on end all over my head and neck was a little distracting as Ted called for backup, but I’d got used to it. Ted’s call did summon a small horde and I wondered if the Talker part of him had any idea that calling Zeds out actually made it easier for us.
I went through our experiences with Ted in my head and realised he had never really seen us deal with many Zeds, and therefore he didn’t know how we did it. I wondered if now he had some control, Ted could seal off parts of his memory. We weren’t eve really sure how much actual memory the Talkers could access passed how to open doors and get out of buildings. The Talker had only seen us nearly get killed by the Sprinters before Ted took control. Keeping him blind was obviously a good idea. If he worked out that sending out a call actually helped us, well usually, we would have to rely on Ted to do it. Ted was still present much less frequently than the Talker.
Zed Days (Book 3): Zed Days III Page 16
