by David Whaley
Leon and Natalie turned and headed back for the stairwell shooting more as they fell down the stairs. Although the added impact undoubtedly hurt the officer still beneath the pile, they were dead and therefore less of a risk.
More rounds were expelled from the barrel of most of their firearms and eventually the officer was freed and all the zombies killed, yet, this was little consolation for the officer who had sustained a bite to his left cheek. John held him in his arms having run back to assist in retrieving him.
“I’m scared, John,” the injured officer said, the shouting family still heard in the background.
“I know. Don’t be. It will be over soon.”
“How? It… I can’t go on.”
“I know what you think but look down the stairs at the bottom by those two dead zombies.”
The injured officer looked to the side and down the stairs where he laid at the top. The two dead zombies with brain matter splattered against the wall behind them was the last image he saw before John fired a single shot into the side of his head allowing him to die as a human.
Natalie felt the urge to argue a point as to why killing him was necessary, and she could see by the expressions on some of the other officers faces that she wasn’t alone in this, but decided that the only way to save his life was to kill him. She knew that they all agreed on that point despite their initial thoughts.
“Back to our objective,” said John coping with what he had just done but not without heart. He knew that they must continue.
The family continued to shout through a door along the walkway and soon half the team were stood outside, the remainder still on guard but stood away from the staircase slightly to avoid a repeat of recent events.
“The balcony’s clear. Open the door. It’s the police,” said John.
“You sure,” said the male voice.
“Yes, but we need to leave now. We have a safe place for you and a way out of the UK.”
“Thank goodness for that. Okay, hang on.”
The sound of bolts sliding open and locks turning with the use of a key indicated that the door was soon to open and the person inside had put his entire trust into the strangers standing beyond. Natalie assumed the reason being that zombies don’t talk and considered that if he and his family knew of Marcus’ associates, they would’ve thought twice before opening their only form of protection.
The door opened and, sure enough, an adult male, female and a young girl stood in the hallway.
“Sir!” shouted Leon angrily.
“Leon, calm down,” said Natalie also annoyed but with the ability to be more reasoning.
“That’s not gonna happen anytime soon, Nat. I have been on the streets with the public and fellow officers whilst he goes into hiding. Didn’t you think of leading a team through this crisis? You know what? Don’t bother.”
Leon stormed off leaving Commander Gibson, the Commander for the North East of the MPD, red faced and embarrassed in front of his family.
Chapter 40
“Leon, wait,” said Natalie chasing after him out of the block of flats where Leon punched a zombie square in the face before shooting it with his pistol at point blank range.
“I can’t believe the nerve of that bloke expecting to be rescued as he cowers in an empty flat. We have continued to try and protect the public and now trying to save the rest of the world. Hell, even a protected member of the public is helping us. Not to mention the Hertfordshire officers standing by the oath they made.” Leon shot another zombie in the head from distance with his Glock, replacing it into its underarm holster. “He’s above borough rank… it pisses me off.”
“I know, Leon. But he was trying to protect his family. Different things take priority during this kind of situation.”
“What? And I never had a family?”
Natalie hesitated before responding noting that Leon hadn’t divulged any information about his life since they had met. Maybe she hadn’t looked hard enough at the way he was being affected, she thought.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she offered.
Leon grunted, this time using his MP5 to perform a long range take down of yet another zombie that rounded the corner of an opposing building via an alleyway. He then walked off, back towards the road where they had parked their vehicles. Natalie was not going to let him go alone and they made way in silence.
Every so often, they would take turns killing a stray enemy that lurked in the shadows, their position given away by the throaty nightmarish groans they let out. Although lying in wait, and what they had in infectivity and lethality, the zombies lacked in stealth.
They approached the Transit van recalling them having parked quite close behind it where they came into contact with a person they hadn’t expected to see again quite so soon, who happened to be sitting on the bonnet of their BMW X5.
“Mind the paintwork,” said Leon gazing upon the bloodstains that had near already repainted their vehicle and scratched it in many places too.
“Wouldn’t dream of damaging it,” said Bravo two.
“Listen, we know about the Preternatural Investigative Unit, your name being Sarah Dunton and that you are undercover,” said Natalie. “I suppose we are going to have to trust you.”
“What? You hadn’t learnt to trust me with the note I put on your windscreen, the radio transmission?”
“To be perfectly honest, we only recently learned of your status.”
“Fair enough. Anyway, I’m here to offer my help again but first put on the radio to 97.3 FM.”
Leon obliged and turned the ignition of the BMW, tuning into the requested radio station. He then turned the volume up.
The station crackled as they were slightly out of FM network coverage and was without access to a DAB version, but the speaker’s words could be heard. The voice unmistakably belonged to that of Marcus.
“That’s right,” said Sarah sensing that Natalie recognised the voice. “That’s Marcus. He is in London right now but will be making his way back to the military base right here in Hertfordshire.”
They confirmed the military base was the same one they had discussed with John before listening to the enemies broadcast.
“… residents of the United Kingdom. You have been privy to a new age of mankind where the dead awake and disease no longer a worry. With this new species of man, we can be stronger, faster with no weakness. You have served the planet well. Thanks to your efforts in being the test subjects, we were able to revamp the antidote, if you will, to the current state of humans and have learned to introduce it without causing the decomposition that all of you have run from. Try not to be upset about the state of play. Through your sacrifice, I will rule the rest of the world and that world will be a better place. Those that commit crime will be sent to the UK to live forever in torment. Be proud of such achievements. I would also suggest that those of you planning on leaving the UK in the coming days do not attempt to. That will be your destruction. Take what you will from my advice but there is nothing that can be done.”
Marcus then stopped transmitting, allowing the radio to hiss whilst Natalie felt her anger rise once again.
“He knows about the extraction points,” said Leon. “There are thousands of survivors, how are they going to leave safely? How does he know?”
“Marcus and his heavy men intercepted a transmission from the American Air Force that there were due to be five extractions, in actual fact there are now only four after an incident in Scotland that I have no idea about. Me and the other two Bravos are supposed to lead a team to three of the four extraction points and take out the aircrafts and the army personnel. Marcus himself will lead a team to you, knowing that you are here, where he will do the same.”
“Let him come. I’m not afraid.”
“No. That is not how we are going to stop him,” Sarah said in the most sympathetic voice she could muster. “Tonight at seven he will be at the military base and most of his mercenaries will be away from the s
ite conducting a little side mission of low importance. This is when he will be at his most vulnerable with minimal firepower. However, he will have the Bravos.”
“I think I’d rather the Mercs,” said Leon.
“Be that as it may, you will have to make do whilst I come up with a plan that involves something to do with his level of selfishness, playing that against him. There’s something else. He has a plane and I suggest this be your initial focus. It needs to be disabled. I don’t care how but it needs to be done. The aircraft is already on the runway and we can’t have him leaving or it will be the end of the world as we know it.”
“We understand,” said a calmer Natalie.
“He needs to be stopped today!” said Sarah before walking off up the road. “Be there at seven, sharp!”
***
The rescuers arrived Back at Bishops Stortford police station with the rescued family, the other survivors not too happy with the addition in an already cramped environment but at least some were kind enough to introduce themselves to make the newcomers feel less insecure. This also helped in making them feel less of a burden.
“Meet in the briefing room in an hour,” said Natalie to her own team as well as to John’s.
This was agreed and Natalie made way with Leon to the yard where he lit a cigarette. Natalie sat on the ground with her back against the wall and her eyes closed. She was exhausted, as was Leon who had sat down beside her.
Natalie didn’t mind the smell of the smoke despite not normally taking part in the social habit except during that one moment of weakness, and this was another.
“Fuck it. You got a spare one there?” she asked.
“I’m assuming you mean a fag? Sure.”
Leon retrieved the box from his jacket and handed it to Natalie with a lighter before removing his arm and leg guards.
Natalie ignited the end of the cigarette before removing her own safety equipment.
“I feel almost anxious and excited,” said Natalie.
“You would do,” replied Leon. “It’s actually relief. Relief that it’s almost over.”
“I suppose,” said Natalie closing her eyes again.
An hour later and the Hertfordshire officers gathered in their briefing room with Natalie and her associates, including Heather.
Natalie gave the officers a run down of what Bravo two had said and the best time for attack was at seven that evening. She followed this up with the intel that there would be a plane that needed to be taken down in the first instance.
Discussions immediately circulated the room in hushed tones that grew louder and louder as they each tried to speak above their neighbours.
Some officers deemed Bravo two as being untrustworthy whilst others were just scared. There were even suggestions of a double cross planned by Marcus and relayed by Bravo two.
Natalie tried to reassure everyone by informing them of their run in with the Prime Minister and the information obtained about the Preternatural Investigative Unit which seemed to settle at least a couple of the skeptics.
By the end of the briefing, that had been conducted well in advance, there were a clear set of officers that were willing to undertake this dangerous and final task. The officers that didn’t feel up to it were tasked with transporting the survivors using the minibuses and vans to the extraction point starting at midnight tonight to ensure everybody gets there in time for collection at eight in the evening the following day.
That left Devlin, Leon, Natalie, John and four other Hertfordshire officers. Heather insisted that she would also accompany them armed with, as she called it, her ‘faulty cure’ as it may come in handy. She also persuaded them that she knew a bit about computers and may be able to assist in an analyst capacity.
She considered it important that they obtained as much information as possible to ascertain if there were already plans in process elsewhere in the world or if Marcus’ team had developed their own antidote which could assist with curing the UK.
Natalie tried to reason that it was too dangerous and the cure possibility was extremely unlikely including the fact that they were testing the zombie virus and adjusting it accordingly. Nothing worked and Heather was in the team. She was provided with one of Devlin’s Glock pistols and he was given an MP5 as its replacement of which he was extremely happy about.
Thanks to John’s knowledge, the plan was finalised that they would approach from the East, furthest away from the runway and hangars but with enough abandoned buildings to provide cover to get close. Beyond these buildings they would encounter dismantled parts of aircraft dating from world war two neatly assembled as monuments and tributes to those that fought and for what they achieved, providing further cover.
“Okay, so three teams of three spread out across the East side. We leave at six thirty tonight,” instructed Natalie.
It was decided that Natalie would be with Devlin and Heather; Leon would lead two of the Hertfordshire officers leaving John to lead the final two.
The officers left the briefing room where they tended to the final needs of the survivors whose spirits had been lifted with the impending extraction to safety, nor did they care whether they ended up in the US or France.
Now, all they had to do was to wait until they could save the world.
Chapter 41
The officers left the yard not knowing if all, some or none would make it back or not. Adrenaline was coursing at a maximum and their hearts were pumping fast.
They agreed that they would split into their teams of three when they arrived at the military base parking out of sight and around the corner, taking the long way round to avoid unnecessarily passing by its perimeter fence. This also prevented the risk of anyone seeing their approach.
Leon was driving the BMW with Devlin, Heather and Natalie sitting in the passenger seats. The five Hertfordshire officers, driven by John, were cooped into the unmarked Ford Focus estate.
The officers gazed out of the vehicle windows paying little attention as they focused on their objective of taking Marcus down. However, their objective wasn’t clear; do they kill him, detain him or just disable the aircraft. They knew, of course, that their hand would be forced when they came face to face with him.
They drove at a steady pace; half hour was more than enough time to drive ten miles on the deserted streets of the UK and, sure enough, they were early.
John was ready to address all of the officers with the help of Natalie well out of sight of the military base as planned.
“Just around that corner is the base surrounded by a metal chain link mesh fence which we will cut through using these bolt cutters,” started John.
“From what we know, there shouldn’t be any activity this side of the site facilitating our silent entry,” continued Natalie. “We get as close as possible and take out the aircraft. We won’t be able to get too close, so, I suggest we shoot it out. One team will undertake this task causing everyone to focus on your location like the rescue op this morning. When they are distracted by the gunfire, the second team will start shooting. The third team will attempt to move around the side of the perimeter and attack from behind. That will be my team.”
“Agreed. We should end up taking them by surprise but it won’t be long till they start gathering themselves hence the three diversionary tactics. From then on, we play it by ear. Just make sure we have each team in our sights to provide assistance if required.”
None of the officers, nor Devlin or Heather, could find fault in the plan and they moved forward in their three teams; John’s leading, Leon’s second and Natalie’s third.
Sure enough, there was no sign of any movement and it appeared safe to proceed.
John was first to approach the metal perimeter fencing and, with many quiet snapping sounds, had cut a 4x4 foot square enabling the teams to continue past the point of no return. They were in.
They gathered behind one of the small derelict warehouses, likely used during the war as an ammo store.
�
�Leon, take your team down the middle to the side of this building. John, take yours to the far end over there,” said Natalie pointing to the North end. “And we’ll take this end, South.”
Everyone nodded understanding what was required of them and their positions.
John and Natalie led their teams to opposite ends of the expanse. Leon waited until the teams were far enough away and led his own down the middle ensuring they were all in position at the approximate same time.
Natalie could no longer see the other two teams and they started to head West having reached the same metal fencing heading off at a right angled direction.
“Stay close,” she instructed Devlin and Heather.
“We will,” they said in response.
They crouched low, heads ducked down as they cleared the buildings trying to utilise the growing darkness as it started to rain lightly, gathering momentum gradually.
The rain was cold as it ran down their backs, Natalie tightening her black jacket to prevent future intrusions.
They were making good progress, the tributary wrecks of aeroplanes providing excellent cover. However, they had encountered a problem.
None of the officers thought to consider where the entrance was which happened to be about ten foot in front of Natalie and her team guarded by two mercenaries with machine guns; AK47s no less. They had little choice but to wait for the assault on the aircraft.
This wait took longer than anticipated and Natalie pleaded with them telepathically not to turn in their direction. The rain, getting heavier, prevented them from doing so as the guards refused to move from the two small huts they were huddled under. These huts were barely deep enough to provide full cover but it was better than nothing.
Pockets of activity were evident. These mercenaries too were trying to remain dry, sheltering within hangars and some under the wing of the large aeroplane situated at the start of the runway. However, none of the teams were able to see Marcus from their positions.
