Zed Days (Book 3): Zed Days III

by Harland, Nick

  ‘Brad might be a bit of a dick sometimes, but he’s our leader and he’s the one whose pulled us together and kept us alive. He’s right about what he said. It’s ok to come out, we’ve already killed most of the Zed’s on the base and the surrounding area is pretty clear too. Are you alone in there or are there a few of you?’

  The voice came back over the speaker and there was a big encouraging sigh before it spoke, ‘I’ve been alone for three weeks now. The Captain in charge of us got ill and we couldn’t help him. He made us stay put and promise we’d stay in here until help came. There were two others. Gordy went nuts a week after the Captain died and was going to open up and try to get out, but Fin tried to stop him and got shot in the process. I didn’t have a choice, I didn’t want to, but I shot Gordy after he killed Fin. He was either going to kill me or open the bunker.’

  ‘We’ve seen what’s out there because we have cameras around the base and a generator back up. We watched the three jets land then fire on the swarm. It was horrid, they waited an hour but they knew they would only get more tired and hungry sitting there so they got out and tried to fight their way through. We only had a distant view of the runway but it was enough, they didn’t last ten seconds.’

  ‘I don’t know how you guys have survived out there in it all. Protocol says I’m never supposed to open the bunker to anyone without clearance, but it also says that the survival of armed forces personnel is the prime directive in an apocalypse. It’s only a matter of time before I go nuts or get ill so I’m opening up. Follow the corridor all the way down and I’ll meet you at the door.’

  The speaker went dead before anyone could say anything and although no one else moved, Eve, as always, took it in her stride. She strode through the gate saying, ‘You heard the man, down the corridor to the door at the end.’

  I followed Eve and Esme caught up to me and walked closer than usual. I said, ‘Dick, really?’

  She nudged me with her elbow, ‘Yes, but you’re my dick and I love you. I liked your speech but figured the guy could use a good cop as well. Dick cop, good cop is a bit of a new one, but it seemed to work.’

  Eve didn’t look around but said, ‘Well that leaves bad ass cop which suits me. This is all very exciting, but let’s still be careful, he could still be nuts and want to kill us the moment he opens the door.’

  The corridor was longer than I expected and I couldn’t judge the distance, but we went pretty deep. There was a tough looking polished steel door at the end with no handle or visible frame. I thought we could probably have got in with welding gear eventually, but I was glad we didn’t have to. As we approached there was a loud metallic click and the lights in the corridor went red, apparently for no other reason than for dramatic effect.

  The door slid open inwards and we could hear the air-seal break. The door was much thicker than I expected and I mentally slapped myself for being naïve; standard welding gear would never have been enough. The sight that met us on the other side of the door was unexpected. The voice we had heard, and the attitude, sounded young. I had imagined some twenty something year old private. The unkempt looking man on the other side of the door was at least middle aged and starting to grey. He was pale looking and thin. The air that oozed out of the bunker was thick and stale, but when you were used to rotting flesh it barely registered.

  Eve held her rifle down, but at the ready. Esme stepped forwards, ‘I’m Esme, what’s your name?’

  The man looked like he might pass out or run away and he wasn’t even holding a gun. He swallowed hard and said, ‘I’m Lieutenant Tim Burns I…’

  The man hesitated and froze but Esme saved him, ‘Hi Tim, it’s really nice to meet you. We’ve all been survivors before so we know what it’s like. I was almost dead and stuck in a clean room when Brad and Eve found me. It will take time, but you’re going to be alright, and everyone will be really glad to have you with us.’

  Looking over at Eve she added, ‘Ignore Eve, she’s just being careful. We’ve lost people along the way and not only to the Zed’s. We came hoping to find supplies and weapons, and maybe some personnel with knowledge of where we could find more. You probably don’t know, but the Zeds have been developing since day one. It’s getting harder and harder to survive and there are what we call Talkers now that can organise hordes and direct them.’

  ‘Last week we met what we’re calling a Hybrid, that is far more human than Zed, but still wants us all dead. She’s really smart and has complete command over as many Zeds as she can find, which is a lot. We were doing ok until we met her, and that’s why we risked coming here. We can help you, but we could really do with some help ourselves.’

  Tim took a few moments to register what Esme had said, and glanced occasionally at Eve, but then his eyes lit up and I guess he was grateful to focus on something other than how he felt. He said, ‘I can help. I’m not a great soldier and never made it passed lieutenant, but because of that I’ve been here for years doing the crap duties no one else wants to. I know the base as well as anyone and bunker duty is boring as hell when you’re the junior in the team, so I pulled it a lot. I know every system in the bunker and I have the Captains pass card. Everyone pretty much ignored me so the Captain was never careful when he used his code in front of me, so I know it. There are enough supplies for twelve people to last a year in here and there is a good stash of weapons and ammunition. We’re a pretty low grade base overall, so we never had the fingerprint or voice recognition stuff fitted to the armoury.’

  He voice speeded up and he looked like he would start to jabber, so Esme interrupted him, ‘It’s ok Tim, there’s no rush, you’ve been through a lot. Why don’t we find you some fresh air and some decent food. I’m sure the rations are very nutritious, but I’m guessing you would rather never eat them again unless you have to.’

  Tim froze and his head turned slightly as if he was reluctant to leave the bunker. Esme added, ‘Or you can show us inside and we can talk there. We can go and get some food and bring it here if you prefer?’

  Tim’s eyes flicked from side to side and for a moment I was worried he’d lose it. I remembered how Don was when we’d found him and how Eve had been hard on him to keep him from collapsing under the stress. Eve glanced at me and I nodded. Eve relaxed her grip on the rifle and stepped forwards. She put her hand on Tim’s shoulder and Esme backed up a step.

  Eve shook his shoulder lightly and his eye’s darted towards her like a frightened rabbit. She looked at him and said, ‘Ok soldier listen up, you’re in shock and you’re about to lose it. But you’ve been trained for this and you know how to follow commands. We can deal with your head later, but right now we need you to stay with us. We’re safe and we’re going to keep you safe, but there are still Zed’s out there that want to kill us. From now on consider me your commanding officer.’

  The man nodded. It wasn’t the time for him to contemplate his circumstances and I imagined he was relived not to have to think. He’d been following ordered his whole life and he looked relived to be back on familiar ground.

  Eve said, ‘Right now you’re going to march us inside and show us where all the supplies are, food, medical, guns, everything. You’re going to tell us exactly what’s in the armoury and we’re going to get kitted out. Then we’re going topside to have lunch and our Doc’s going to look you over. You’re going to map out everything on the base for us over lunch and tell us where we can find any vehicles mounted with heavy guns. Then the Doc’s going to give you something that will relax the shit out of you and probably put you to sleep. You can do the whole nervous breakdown thing when you’re asleep, because when you wake up we’re going to need you again, understood?’

  Tim hesitated and Eve shook his shoulder more firmly and barked at him, ‘Lieutenant Tim Burns, understood?’

  Tim’s eye’s focussed and I’m sure it was a close run thing, but he pulled it together, ‘Ma’am yes ma’am, follow me.’

  The bunker was large and the room that held the food
and water supplies was huge and stacked high with meticulously organised wooden crates. A few crates were open and a variety of supplies had been organised on a table. I didn’t think it was a coincidence that there were seven groups of supplies. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been marked by days of the week. It was fucked up, but I guessed when you had nothing else to do you found something, even if it was ridiculous.

  The armoury was just as well organised but a little smaller than I’d hoped. Tim said the bunker was only meant for twelve and designed for defence and small scale assault only. The assumption was that other forces would be out there to do any heavy lifting. As Tim went over the supplies however, I soon forgot about the disappointing size. There were twenty SA80’s and a crate of extras including the grenade launchers, four times sniper sights, and bayonets that looked like really expensive hunting knives that could also be used by hand. There were three 50 calibre anti-material rifles that Tim said used armour piercing, high explosive, incendiary rounds combined into one. There were ten sharp shooter rifles and ten sniper rifles and three Browning 50 calibre heavy machines guns that could be vehicle or ground tripod mounted and had a range of 2000 meters.

  There were also grenades, mines, two mortars, and six shoulder mounted, guided, single use, anti-tank missile launchers. That wasn’t the best part though. Tim went through the ammo and there were two thousand rounds of 5.56 for the assault rifles, six hundred 7.62 for the sharp shooter rifles and two thousand for the 50 calibre rifles. There were sixty antipersonnel grenades, fifty rounds for the mortars and four hundred grenades for the small launchers under the rifles.

  There were only twelve Glock 17 side arms with 600 9mm rounds but it was hard to be disappointed by the amount of 9mm ammo amongst the rest of the haul. There were also crates of clothing and related gear like helmets, knives and backpacks. The final find was twelve heavy duty looking gas masks and three full sets of respirator gear like the fire crews use with plenty of air tanks. The chlorine spay had proved too dodgy to use with the merge masks we had, but with the full kit that was in the armoury, it was suddenly viable again.

  Eve pretended not to be impressed by the haul as she ordered Tim around, but I knew she was probably exploding with excitement inside. I also knew there was every chance that she’d be horny as hell and I thought of how we could find a little alone time later on. We didn’t take too much with us as we marched up the long corridor and Eve whispered to Esme and I, ‘Is anyone else unbelievably horny right now, cos I’ve never wanted to fuck so much in my life.’

  I whispered back, ‘I knew you would be, and we’re here for you. I’m already thinking about how to organise some alone time. Someone should guard the bunker tonight and it’s completely sound proof.’

  Eve didn’t let Tim stop and take in the fresh air and quickly bundled him into Lulu. She drove quickly back to the container and tried to keep Tim talking as we drove in sight of the mess around the three fighter planes. Bill and everyone were surprised to see us and Eve jumped out of Lulu brandishing her new toy and said, ‘We hit the fucking jackpot. We’ve got a bullet for every fucking Zed that bitch can throw at us and enough explosives to flatten a whole shopping centre.’

  Looking at Mandy she said, ‘This is Tim. He’s in shock and he could do with a break. Dose him up with whatever you have to to put him out, but we need him lucid tomorrow. He should eat before he goes bye bye though.’

  Chapter Nineteen – Guns and Ammo

  We ate lunch and watched as Mandy took care of Tim until he passed out. From what Tim told us there were probably still at least a couple of hundred Zeds left inside the perimeter, possibly more with family and visitors because of the banger race that had been on. The base housing was some distance from where Ted, or rather the Talker, had called for reinforcements, so the remaining Zeds were all likely to be in or around the housing estate.

  We knew we had to deal with a potentially difficult situation in the housing area and I wasn’t sure if or how we should be using our new found weapons. I looked at Eve, ‘I can suggest plans for taking the housing estate as we would have before our find but...’

  Eve smiled, ‘But now you need badass cop’s opinion on the matter.’ She didn’t wait for me to respond and everyone leant forwards in their chairs.

  Eve’s starting words weren’t the bullets and hellfire I was expecting. She said, ‘Guns are dangerous. Even trained soldiers end up shooting each other during urban assaults. We could ask Ted to call them outside but we already know the twisty roads around housing estates aren’t ideal for ploughing Zeds, and it’s too easy to get bogged down when there is a big horde. We also can’t guarantee there won’t be another Talker to complicate things. Emptying a clip into a group of Zeds will injure the hell of them, but it doesn’t stop them unless you break their legs or get lucky with headshots. We’d get some kills and we have a lot of ammo now, but we could end up using hundreds of rounds unnecessarily. There are still millions of Zeds out there and who knows if or when we might find more ammo, so we shouldn’t piss it up the wall.’

  I was just about to sigh when her face lit up, ‘Grenades are quite another matter however, and clearing this place is priority number one. With a bit of care and planning we can make life easy on ourselves. Big hordes of Zeds are the most efficient use for a grenade, so it won’t be a waste. A grenade still might not kill lots of them, but it will cause more incapacitating injuries than a few clips of ammo will. We don’t really care too much about trashing houses and cars, so I say call the fuckers out then blow the fuckers up. Tim, Esme and I can still use rifles while you lot lob the grenades. Esme should stick to a sharpshooter rifle rather than a spray and play. We need to try and do all of that from vehicles in case we get surrounded. Everyone should carry side arms in case of emergency.’

  I liked the idea of blowing up the horde but Eve was right that it was a lot more risky on foot. I looked over at the rig with the plough fitted and shared my thoughts, ‘We should use the rig and Lulu. The rig is high enough off the ground so that even with the windows open the people inside are relatively safe, especially if they have side arms to empty into any Zeds that climb up to say hello.’

  ‘What we really need is something on the roof so the three of us at least can operate from there, in the open air. It’ll be a bit scary, like the classic Zombie picture of people on a car roof surrounded by a sea of Zeds, but we’d be high enough up to be safe as long as we have side arms. Fern will just have to be a little thoughtful about how she drives. With Lulu for support I can’t see it’s any more risky than our usual mischief.’

  I looked pointedly at Bill and Tony. Bill said, ‘I’m sure there is some metal and welding gear around here somewhere, but I can’t help you until we find it. It will also take some time. I can use the rack on top of Lulu for the base, but you’re going to need more than just that.’

  I looked over at Tim and wished we hadn’t put him out. I met Mandy’s eyes but she shook her head.

  Eve took over again, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it’s not like we’re lacking supplies, so let’s take our time. We all need time to practice with the new weapons and we need to lob a grenade or two to get used to it. I’ve never used an under-barrel grenade launcher so I need some practice too. I don’t think anyone else should be using one though, the potential for disaster is just too great.’

  ‘We also need to change the sites on the rifles we’ll be using as the ones on them at the moment are crap. Tomorrow when Tim wakes up we can find welding gear and spend the day organising ourselves. He said there are a couple of heavy machine guns mounted on Land Rovers in one of the hangers we should find, and we can consider if we should use one or not. I don’t think it’s sensible in a built up area though, they aren’t meant for close range assault. It might be useful to have them here in case we have to scarper back here with a horde following though.’

  Then Eve casually added that we should guard the bunker tonight and I felt tingles between my le
gs.

  I would be lying if I didn’t say that the afternoon was fun. Eve was really strict about the grenade throwing part. I always thought the pictures of soldiers throwing grenades with one arm out like Usain Bolt and the other cupping the grenade so it couldn’t fall behind you looked dorky, but that’s what she made us do. I couldn’t argue with the logic of it and we made a makeshift barrier to hide behind in case things went wrong, but it still ended up fun.

  The explosions themselves didn’t look that impressive until Eve let us drive one of the bangers into an open area for target practice. I got to go first so we could see the effect of a grenade, and my aim was pretty good considering we had to be a safe distance away. It landed about four feet from the car, which turned out to be an ideal demonstration. The entire side of the car was pocked with holes, the side windows were all broken, and both tyres burst. Eve had a go with the rifle mounted launcher and it was more accurate with the basic flip up sight. The effect was pretty much similar.

  Then it was a free for all with guns and rifles. To help people who hadn’t tried guns before we set up targets on the car like cans and anything else we could find. Esme had a go with her sharpshooter rifle and apart from being deadly accurate, the high calibre bullets punched straight through the car and out the other side. I imagined a skull and figured in a dense horde it would go straight through and cause some collateral damage.

  After supper Eve, Esme and I made our excuses and took Mary to the Bunker. There were several raised eyebrows but below them were smiles. Ben and Izzy opted to sleep in the back of the rig as we hadn’t attracted any company, and no one argued. We put Ted in the back of Mary.