They decided to leave the road sweeper with its pressure washer to protect the garage. Peter set about converting the large Army lorry and one of the pickups that had been abandoned by John Smith, he fixed grills over the windows and bull bars to the front to protect their radiators. Before the outbreak, Peters father had used a small pressure washer to wash the cars that were for sale on the garage forecourt, Peter managed to get this to operate by using a generator that was already aboard the Army lorry. They loaded drums full of water and strapped them down securely on the bed of the lorry, then filled up the fuel tanks of the vehicles, and loaded extra Jerrycans of fuel on to each.
To everyone’s surprise Kevin asked if he could go on the expedition, he was undoubtedly the best lorry driver they had, and once Salim said that he could manage without him at the garage it was quickly agreed that he should drive the Army truck. They would take three vehicles with them, Dan would lead in his 4x4 with David Peterson as his passenger, Kevin and Janet would be in the Lorry, while Peter and Amanda would bring up the rear in the pickup. All three of the vehicles were robust and had four-wheel drive which Dan thought would be a distinct advantage in getting themselves out of trouble.
By the end of the fifth day the plans, vehicles and supplies were ready, and they agreed that they would leave at first light the following morning. The expedition team were exempt guard duty so that they could get a good night’s sleep and an hour before first light June was up and making them all a full breakfast. An hour later Pamela was stood at the west roadblock with tears in her eyes as she watched Dan drive away yet again, she turned and walked back towards the garage anticipating yet another long wait before Dan and Co. would return.
The expedition had been on the road for less than an hour when David Peterson noticed a familiar vehicle parked in the grounds of an out of town industrial estate, he tapped Dan on the shoulder and pointed. Dan looked in the direction that he was bid and saw a pickup truck with scratches down the side and the drivers mirror missing. The pickup was the vehicle that John Smith had used to make good his escape.
Dan did not even slow down, he drove passed the industrial estate for another half mile before stopping. As soon as they had stopped Janet came running towards his 4x4, only slowing her pace by a fraction as she used her scythe to virtually decapitate an Infected that ran towards her, she barely showed any sign of having the altercation as she said, “Did you see that pick up?” Dan nodded as he replied “Yes, let’s go get him.” Dan turned to Peter and said give us twenty minutes to get back there then bring all three vehicles and block the exit from the industrial estate with them, don’t let Smith escape again, and don’t take any risks shoot him on sight!”
Dan and Janet jogged slowly back toward the industrial estate, there were a few Infected around but Dan took them out silently with the sword while Janet covered him with her bow. They were soon at the edge of the estate, and after checking that the pickup was still there they made their way around to the rear and then waited for the vehicles to block only exit route.
The sound of their vehicles arriving and blocking the road would alert Smith, and Dan hoped that he would make a break for it out of the rear of the site and straight into the waiting clutches of Janet and himself, but nothing happened, and Smith did not emerge from any of the buildings. “Looks like we are going to have to do this the hard way.” commented Dan in a matter of fact way, they would have to go into the building and find Smith, this would be very dangerous! They had no way of knowing if and how many Infected there were in the building, and Smith may well be lying in wait.
Dan said, “We could walk away?” Janet replied, “We both know that is not going to happen!” Dan said, “I know, but I thought I would give you the option, right let’s get this bastard!” Janet stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder and said “If the situation allows, I want to be the one to kill him! Dan nodded “If the situation allows.”
Dan stalked up to the nearest building and tried the door, it was locked and made of steel and so there was no way he was going to get it open, he was just about the walk away when the door flew open, catching him off guard and was knocked to the ground, the massive bulk of John Smith was on him a second later and the man’s strength was immense, he lifted Dan of his feet and held him in front of him like a shield so Janet could not shoot her arrow then he backed into the building, threw Dan to the floor then slammed and locked the door leaving Dan’s sword and rifle lying on the floor outside. Dan rolled to his feet to meet the charge that he knew would follow, but Smith just stood there smiling.
Smith knew he had the advantage and so he would take his time and make this guy suffer, he remembered the humiliation and fear that Dan had instilled in him when he had been captured, so now he had that him at his mercy he would make him pay. Smith sneered “I am going to squash you like a slug!” Dan was now on his feet and looking straight into Smith’s eyes, and he calmly said “Well, you can try.” John Smith was stunned, he was twice the size of this guy, yet he was not scared, in fact there was no expression on his face at all and Smith found that unnerving. Smith needed to say something to boost his deflating confidence and so he shouted, “I promise you I’m going to kill you slowly!” Dan did not even blink as he replied nonchalantly “What a coincidence, recently also I made a promise to someone, I promised not to kill you, but allow them that pleasure.” Smith could not believe what was happening, this little prick believed that he could win, and what was starting to worry Smith was that he was starting to believe it too! Smith was starting to get nervous, he was starting to have second thoughts, he needed time to think, he wanted to say something to turn the tables and regain the upper hand to rebuild his confidence and regain the advantage that until a few seconds ago he thought was unassailable, but he could not think of anything clever to say so he just aggressively shouted “Fuck you!” Dan remain totally passive as he said, “As much as I am enjoying this witty and stimulating tête-à-tête, I do have someone waiting for you and I believe the lady has waited long enough, so might we get on with it?” Smith was confused, he had never met anyone like this before, normally men feared him, his sheer size was enough to ensure their dread and compliance, but this guy just did not give a shit, this guy did not seem to even know what fear was, this guy was just not normal! And what did he mean by “The lady has waited long enough?” He took a step forward and said “What lady? It was as he was saying this that the pain from his left knee exploded in his head like a hand grenade going off in his brain and he fell to the floor, he tried to get up, but something hit him in the side of his head and darkness engulfed him.
Smith had a confused expression on his face as he said, “What lady?” and took a step forward, if was what Dan had been waiting for and soon as Smiths weight was on his front leg, Dan took two quick steps forward, then sent a side kick to straight in to Smith’s left knee, the leg collapsed, and Smith fell to the ground. Dan let Smith lift his head before hitting him in his right temple with a hammer fist, Smith fell to the floor once again and this time lay still.
Amanda had just picked up Dan’s sword and rifle and was looking for another way into the building when the door that Dan and Smith had gone through suddenly swung open to reveal Dan, she heard him say “Miss me?” then turned around and dragged a huge body into the sunlight, “It appears the situation allowed” he said and stepped aside so Janet could see the inert form of John Smith, “Dead?” accused a concerned Janet “No, very much alive!” replied Dan.
John Smith woke with a sore head and a great pain in his leg, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and once his vision cleared he reached down to investigate the damage to his leg. He looked around and saw a beautiful woman holding a bow, she looked like an Amazon princess. Smith looked around but there was no sign of the little bastard that had got the better of him, he looked back towards the Amazon and said in a lurid tone “I must be dreaming.” Janet paused before replying “This dream is going to turn into a nightmare!�
� Smith’s jaw dropped as he recognised Janet for the first time, “How the fuck are you still alive?” he gasped in surprise. Janet said “Remember Jake McKendry? He asked me the same question, just before he died… its now your turn… Stand up!” as she threatened him with the bow. Smith clambered up and stood unsteadily on his good one leg, and he tried to dominate the woman in front of him as he had always dominated women in the past, and he said “Bullshit, you did not kill Jake! And what are you going to do with that, little girl?” as he looked at Janet draw her bow. Janet replied, “I’m going to send you straight to hell!” Smith started towards her as best as he could on his damaged leg and Janet let the arrow fly.
The arrow flew past Smith, grazing his left arm as it went, Janet stood frozen still and did not attempt to load another arrow. Smith laughed out loud “You silly bitch! You missed, now what are you going to do, little girl? Janet still made no attempt to reach for another arrow, but she said “I did not miss, the arrow that grazed you has been covered with the blood of the Infected. I told you that I would send you to hell, I hope you don’t enjoy the trip!”
The horror was visible in Smith face as realised the enormity of what she had just said, he opened his mouth the say something to her but before he could get the words out he fell to the floor and started to convulse. The last thing he heard was Janet saying was, “He is all yours.” And the last thing he saw was death walking toward him and death carried a sword.
The expedition team spent an hour scavenging from the industrial estate, and they took the hoard that the late John Smith had acquired before continuing towards the west, they had only been back on the road for some forty-five minutes when there was loud noise overhead and a helicopter flew along the road ahead of them and landed in the carriageway with the machinegun that was mounted in the side hatch pointing directly at them. Men instantly spewed from the machine and spread out in all round defence of the aircraft. Dan stopped the convoy a hundred metres from the chopper, he looked up and saw another helicopter hovering nearby.
Dan knew that these were well trained professional soldiers and that his team were out matched, out gunned and out of options, so he stepped out of the 4x4 leaving his rifle behind, the last thing he wanted now was to start a firefight through a misunderstanding, but he carried his sword to deal with the Infected that he knew would be enticed by the sound of the helicopter engines. Dan signalled the rest of his team to stay with the vehicles, and then he walked towards the chopper to meet a soldier wearing the rank of Major who was flanked by two bodyguards.
New Beginnings
Major Alan Brown had not left Camp Pegasus for weeks, and he was becoming a little “stir crazy”, so he decided to take a trip in one of a pair of helicopters that were heading to the less populated area to the west. There, unlike the east, the roads that they flew over were not all gridlocked, yes, there were abandoned vehicles everywhere, and there were places where the highway had been blocked, but someone had pulled the obstacles aside to open the roads. The helicopters mission was to lookout for a building that could be used as a satellite fort and to perform a recon of agricultural land in the region with a view to locate a suitable place to restart farming. Major Brown had taken this excursion against his second in commands advice, Sergeant Major Mick Tomlinson had not been able to persuade his boss to stay within the safety of Camp Pegasus, so he had assigned his commanding officer a close protection unit and these body guards rarely left their Boss’s side.
The helicopter door gunner was a little over awed to have the CO in such close proximity, but the Major had a way of putting his men at ease, and the young gunner soon relaxed and was concentrating on the task of looking out for movement on the ground when he spotted a white pickup truck that he had been told to keep an eye out for. The pickup was parked in small remote industrial site and he pointed this out to his commanding officer.
Major Brown recognised the vehicle as one of those used by the so called “John Smith” so he instructed the pilot to land. The pickup had sustained damage since Major Alan Brown had last seen it, there were scratches down the side and the drivers mirror had been ripped from its mount. No one was in sight, so the Major ordered a search of the grounds and minutes later a voice came over the radio “Hello, Papa one two, this is Papa one three, we have found something that “Sunray” may be interested in at the rear west corner, over.” Sunray was code for the commanding officer, Major Brown answered himself “Papa one three, this is Sunray, could you be more specific? Over.” The answer that came back got his heart racing “We had found a freshly decapitated corpse, over.”
Major Brown and his bodyguard quickly made their way towards the location of the body, Brown looked down and said, “So Mister Smith, we meet again, and it looks like you have run in to “Mister Stone Cold” and come off worse!” Major Brown felt no remorse or sorrow for the passing of Smith, he had only met him once before but had quickly summed the man up, and if his assumption about the character of the man was accurate then the world would not miss Mr. John Smith!
The Major estimated that Smith had been dead for less than an hour, he keyed the button on his radio and said, “Hello all units, this is Sunray, return to the aircraft, we have a new mission I believe Stone Cold is in the area, find him!”
Major Alan Brown did not think that Stone Cold would be on foot, and he and his men had seen no vehicle movement to the east, so he ordered the two aircraft to fly and long the road leading towards the west, it was only thirty minutes later that a convoy of three vehicles was spotted, there was a 4x4, leading a large Army lorry that was being followed by a pickup truck. “Pilot, land well out in front of the lead vehicle. All units, no one is to return fire even if we are shot at, we need these people alive and in a friendly disposition.” ordered the Major over the radio.
As soon as the helicopter touched down the Paratroopers deployed to defend it from any threat. Major Brown jumped to the ground and was followed by two bodyguards, he looked towards the lead vehicle and saw a man of average size step out on to the road and his pulse quickened as his saw that the man carried a Katana, the Japanese Samurai Sword. Major Brown strode towards the 4x4 with a smile on his face and the man with the sword strode towards him. Brown held out his hand and said, “I can’t tell you how pleased I am to meet you!” and as he looked into the other mans emotionless and unblinking eyes he knew beyond all doubt that he was looking in to the eyes of a natural born killer, he had found the man that could look in to the face of an Infected and not be attacked, he had found the man he was looking for, at long last he had found “Stone Cold”!
Major Brown knew that this was a delicate situation, he wanted this man to return with him to Camp Pegasus and then on to meet Professor Thompson at the Porton Down research facility. However, he assumed that Stone Cold would be an independent character and he knew that he was more that capable of surviving on his own, after all he had seen this man take on and slay multiple Infected and walk away without a scratch. What’s more he had this group behind him and they were surviving on the road and from what Brown could see they were thriving, this was the biggest single group that Brown and his men had come across. They had obviously had a run in with John Smith and his group of merry men and got the better of them and would have survived many encounters with the Infected. Major Brown suddenly realised, that for all the fire power that he had at his command, all the facilities that he and his men enjoyed back at Camp Pegasus, he needed Stone Cold more that Stone Cold needed him. The Major realised that he was playing with a weak hand and he would have the tread carefully or Stone Cold could well walk away and there would be little that he could do about it!
The Major said, “My name is Alan Brown, do you think we could talk?” Dan looked around and could see that several Infected were running towards their location, he said “I’m Dan, yes we can talk but we cannot stay here, we will have to move on, we can talk in the back of the lorry once we are underway.” Brown gave his assent without hesitation and Dan
signalled the vehicles to turn around and return the way they had come because he knew the road behind was clear. Dan, Major Brown and his bodyguard all climbed in to the back of the lorry and the Major radioed the rest of his men to return to the helicopter and the choppers to take off and give top cover to the road convoy.
Major Brown did not tell Dan that he had been looking for him for months or the reason why, but he was totally honest about all other aspects, he told him about Camp Pegasus and Porton Down, he said “They are both safe havens from the Infected, you and your group would be most welcome.” Dan was thinking fast, he knew that if this Major Brown wanted him and his people dead then they would already be so, so Dan had no reason to disbelieve what he had been told. Dan was also thinking about the wounded people he had back at the garage, both Lee and Tom need the facilities that the Major could provide. Dan asked, “Do you have a hospital at your camp?” Alan hesitated, they had all the hospital facilities they could need and medics too, but no doctors! However, he decided to tell the truth, and it was the one thing that swung Dan’s decision in favour of going to see this Camp Pegasus for himself. Pamela was a doctor and if Camp Pegasus was as good as Alan Brown said it was then Pam would have a safe place to live and a job that would fulfil her. Dan looked at Major Alan Brown and said, “I think I would like to see this Camp Pegasus for myself.” Alan Brown smiled with relief and said, “You would be most welcome.”
Infected Page 26
