Creeping quietly they moved with caution along the corridor together. Behind them the inferno took hold rapidly engulfing the enclosure. They were in a long passage which had a number of doors and other cages opening off from it. Everything was deserted.
Reaching a wooden door at the end of the corridor Siobhan signaled with her hand for them all to stop. They were bunched in a tight group behind her and she turned giving a shushing gesture with a finger to her lips.
Opening the door slightly the Irish girl peered out through the crack. People everywhere were hastily making their way back to their huts, for most of them the excitement was over for the night. Others meanwhile were running to help fight the fire that had taken hold under the main platform. At least a dozen guards ran by, swarming towards Martin and Holly’s chambers.
In the distance Siobhan found what she was looking for. Nodded to herself and closed the door.
“Ok,” she whispered to the others, “the foyer seems like our best option. We should be able to find some sort of transport there to use to get away from there.”
Heads nodded.
“It’s chaos out there. Lots of people, lots of guards.”
“How will we get through?” asked Colin, “blend in?”
“Yes, that’s exactly how we will do it. We need weapons though, just in case shit goes south. Honestly, we won’t stand a chance out there if we can’t defend ourselves.”
Suddenly, there was a murmur of voices on the other side of the door. Fate intervened, forcing their hand. Two guards burst through the entrance, both men were young inexperienced and stood no chance against the surprise attack that awaited them. Everything happened swiftly and silently as Colin and Josh overpowered the men quickly, Siobhan grabbing hold of their rifles as they fell to the ground.
Brief silence.
Passing the weapons to the two men, Siobhan said, “Right, take a deep breath and get ready to run.”
“Hey, before we go,” said the man, who had been rescued from certain death, “I’m Rory and this is my wife Nikita.” Pointed to the woman next to him. “Thank you for what you have done. We are just so...”
“Listen bud, there is no time for pleasantries, we have to move. Just follow me.”
Nikita stepped forward looking looked absolutely terrified. She whispered a prayer before they set off.
Keeping low and following a direct route they moved as one towards the foyer. Paths converged at a roundabout where a large directional signpost protruded from a circular garden in the center. It contained mostly useless information, cheetahs and big cats to the right, reptiles and arachnids straight ahead. They followed the sign to the left and headed to reception.
Out of nowhere one of Martin’s henchmen stumbled across the group on the path as he ran towards the arena. Recognizing them immediately the young guard grabbed Colin by the arm, raised his rifle with the other. “Do not move, any of you.”
Colin moved deceptively fast for a big man. Knocked the guard out with a single punch, breaking his jaw.
Siobhan crouched down on the balls of her feet, checked that the road was clear. Dragging the unconscious guard into the shrubbery to one side she rolled him out of sight. As she picked up his rifle something came over her – a feeling.
“Josh,” she said, looking serious, “you lot make your way out, I have some unfinished business to take care of.”
“What? Wait! No way!”
She scowled at him.
“We stick together!” exclaimed Josh.
“This isn’t your fight.”
“And it isn’t the time for it to be yours either. You wouldn’t even make it back to the arena. We stick together,” he said, adamantly.
Siobhan’s face reddened.
“This is the best chance I will have to kill him,” she spat out through gritted her teeth. “To avenge her!” It took everything she had to control her emotions at that moment.
“There will be another time,” Josh said, “I can guarantee it. But this,” placed his fingers on the rifle in her hands pushing it downwards, “this is not the time.”
Tense seconds ticked by.
Seeing reason, she eventually relented.
“Arrghhh... alright!” She was pissed though. “You win, ok! Come on, let’s go!”
Turning her attention back to their escape route she trudged off towards the reception building. Josh was right and she knew it but her stomach still churned as the painful memories of losing Lisette came flooding back. She had vowed to take revenge against all of those who had played a part in her death. Killing Shaun had given her enormous satisfaction, a great victory in her quest for justice, but there were others still who had to pay. Many more of them in fact.
Siobhan cared not how she worked her way through the list, she was quite prepared to eliminate each individual whenever and wherever the opportunity presented itself. The name at the very top of this list was that of Martin Webber. Siobhan swore at that moment that he would not escape her again.
Martin’s militia for the most part had deserted the reception building. The action was unfolding at the arena and most of the guards were there, whilst all high-ranking officers had been called to an emergency meeting. Only skeleton staff remained behind.
The five of them stood in the deepest shadows outside, hidden from view. Time was fast running out for them to make an escape and it was growing more difficult for them to now do so undetected.
“How many are there?” Josh whispered.
“I count two,” Colin reported. “Yep. Only two.”
“Ok. When you’re ready, let’s do it.”
No sooner had Josh invited the assault Colin had set off, rifle in hand storming into the building. By the time Josh and the others showed up the whole thing was over. Without so much as a whimper the two guards had laid down their weapons and surrendered to the fat-bellied butcher, dropping to the floor in fear.
Using an electrical extension cord Colin hog-tied the two men. Sunk his boot into the face of one of them for good measure, causing him to cough as he spat blood over the floor.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
Making it to the reception desk the five dropped down into cover. Together they peered over the large wooden table. The coast was clear. As one they bolted through the foyer, throwing caution to the winds.
Outside a stiff breeze had picked up fanning the flames around the arena. Dry hay and rotted wood made the perfect fuel for the fire, which had taken hold and spread rapidly. Devoted volunteers worked tirelessly, forming human chains passing pails of water to each other in a desperate attempt to douse the flames. It was a lost cause. Eventually the main platform became completely engulfed, before buckling and collapsing in a mangled heap onto the arena surface below.
Death spilled out onto the streets of the sanctuary, causing a new threat to the living. Stepping through the breach, breakaway packs of the undead swarmed forward, overrunning the 4Horsemen clan. The creatures were out of control, crazed and driven by instinct, feasting on the fallen, ripping, tearing and mutilating. In an ironic twist the Lamb of God’s flock had become the victims of the very sacrifice they had been demanding less than an hour earlier. The sounds of screaming were now lost in the howling wind, it was utter mayhem at the zoo that evening.
Colin fired up the army transport, choking the air with dirty exhaust fumes that were as black as the night they were fleeing into. The truck lurched forward violently sending the couple in the rear sprawling. Slamming his foot down hard Colin accelerated down the road desperately trying to gain separation from the 4Horsemen. He bought them a decent head start.
Martin’s men arrived at the carpark seconds too late, approaching with rifles at the ready. Sporadic firing broke out, bullets ricocheted around the truck skimming off the road as it sped off into the darkness.
Through the headlights a large obstacle loomed before them. It came upon them quickly, much faster than Colin had anticipated. With a huge crash the truck ramme
d the main gate, tearing it off its hinges sending it flying through the air.
Josh glanced in the wing mirror half expecting to see the headlights of a pursuing mob, a posse. Nothing but darkness greeted him.
“Nice driving,” complemented Josh.
“Thanks. We’ve got a slight head start, some breathing room. Where to now?”
“Just keep driving, we’ll get our bearings as we go.”
“Roger that.”
Colin forced the accelerator hard to the floor.
17
Fugitives
Thick black smoke poured from the wide exhaust pipe behind the army troop carrier. Colin’s enormous hands cradled the wheel, gripped the gear lever and worked hard as he negotiated the tight course ahead of him. Chopping down a gear he veered sharply to miss an abandoned red Porsche, deliberately clipping the front right headlight, sending glass shattering over the road. The engine roared loudly as the butcher urged the vehicle forward.
Inside the four passengers held on for dear life, having been flung in all directions as the truck sped away from the zoo. Thanks to Siobhan they had dispensed with the Dark Rider, obliterated an army of the undead and had managed to escape with their lives. They had literally set the stadium alight with their defiant stand against Martin’s tyranny, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Siobhan’s lip still hurt but she fought back the pain enough to smile contently. Having made this much of an impact on Martin’s cult and freeing herself from his grasp once again, gave her tremendous satisfaction. Having been humiliated publicly he was wounded and she knew his retaliation would be swift and brutal, but honestly couldn’t give a shit at this moment. Whilst Siobhan was satisfied with what had transpired she still felt slightly aggrieved that she had not finished what she needed to do by removing his name from her hit-list.
Josh was still buzzing from the escape. Only minutes before he had been disabling the other vehicles in the carpark, ripping off distributor caps – he did not want to take any chances. The rancid smell of smoke and fire that had filled the air when they had pulled out from the zoo reeked on their clothes, not that anyone cared.
After a solid hour on the road Colin eventually slowed, allowed the engine to hum as they hit a long unimpeded stretch of bitumen. “So where the bloody hell are we?” he asked, peering out into the dark.
“No clue,” said Josh.
Siobhan shrugged, she literally had no idea where they were.
A few minutes of near silence passed. Engine hummed, metal creaked, canvas flapped. No-one spoke as they peered out into the gloom looking for something, anything that they might recognize.
“Ok, I honestly think we’re lost.” Josh wound down his window, felt the cool night air rush in through the gap. “We need to find some landmarks and get our bearings,” he said, raising his voice to compensate for the noise of the wind.
Colin had tried as best he could to take a direct route towards the compound, but with many of the roads completely blocked by abandoned vehicles and other debris he had been forced to make frequent detours. This had thrown them way off course and now no-one knew where they were, aside from out in the dark in the wastelands.
The truck’s headlights illuminated the road ahead, catching stray creatures moments before they wandered across their path, colliding heavily. They felt the bump as each dead thing spilled out under the rear wheels as road kill.
Rory and Nikita sat in the rear, holding each other tight. It had been a nerve-racking few hours, tense, traumatic and emotional. At their feet was a large canvas bag, the same one that contained the weapons which the three in the cab had relinquished when captured at the bank. Four similar bags lay there, each filled to the brim with weapons and supplies, loot that had been plundered from the Armstrong’s caches.
Spotting the walkie in the first bag Rory grabbed it and passed it through the window into the cab, handing it to Josh. He believed it belonged to the 4Horsemen and thought that they might be able to track any pursuers who were chasing them. It had far more importance.
Tyler sat at the window staring blankly into the darkness. He was restless, had been for hours. All he could think about was his brother and the others who had been missing for more than a day now. He and his group had searched feverishly from sun up until after dark, returning to the bar with little more than a few small clues to go on. Undead corpses inside the bank building and the pool of blood at the rear indicated that there had been some kind of altercation. With who, or what they weren’t quite sure and Tyler was gripped with fear thinking that something bad had happened. He simply hoped for the best – it was all he could do.
Unable to sleep he had sat on his own in the dark long after the rest of the others had nodded off. Hoping that it might take his mind off things, he eventually decided to go for a walk. Everything was just the same as it was when he was here only days ago, the barricade at the front of the stairs was untouched and fully intact. The unhinged door lay flat on the floor inside the first floor room, which caused him to chuckle to himself. He shook his head. They were indeed bunch of clumsy idiots.
Attaching the flashlight to the barrel of his rifle just like his father had taught him Tyler set out to explore. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular nor was he expecting to come across any trouble, but he did not want to take any chances either. Kept his finger on the trigger just in case. Stepping cautiously forward he took his time and avoided making any noise whatsoever.
Each room was a treasure trove with box after box of dried food stacked from floor to ceiling. Peanuts, potato chips, biscuits and chocolates filled every space in each makeshift storeroom. Tyler was in junk food heaven. Opening another door at the end of the narrow hallway his eyes widened, nearly fell from their sockets. As the room lit up he smiled broadly exhaling a sigh in amazement. Crates of soft drink and beer greeted him. It just kept getting better.
Vaguely recalling Siobhan mentioning another room upstairs he pushed on, slowly making his way to another set of stairs that led up to the second floor. He couldn’t quite remember the specifics of what she had said, a manager’s office or something like that. He was having too much fun exploring and discovering to really care and so shining his light ahead of him he climbed the stairs.
With a creak the door to the top room opened slowly. The gold plate with the word MANAGER etched into it reflected in the beam of his torch. Inside Tyler was surprised to find a fully converted bedroom inside, complete with mattress and blankets. A bathroom in a small adjacent room acted as a quasi ensuite. Clothes still hung on racks on one side of the room and were strewn all over the floor. The large office desk had been pushed up against the opposite wall, above it hung a large map of the city was affixed to a pin board.
A musty odor hung in the air making Tyler gag a little as the stench filled his lungs. It reminded him of his room at college, dirty socks, week old pizza, spilled beer. Walking to the window he opened it slightly inviting in a gust of wind that ruffled loose papers on the desk. He rubbed the hairs on his arms that were now standing to attention. Stepping over to examine the map he tried to decipher the markings, locations and routes were scribbled all over it in a variety of colors. Reminded him of his father’s handiwork.
Crackle.
“Tyler... are you there?”
The voice caught Tyler off-guard. Totally surprised him. He spun around in fright, tripped on a chair and landed on the mattress. Raised his rifle and lit up the room with his flashlight. Despite the fact that he was alone he still tried his best to look like nothing had happened as he sat up, embarrassed.
Crackle.
“Is anyone there?”
“Shit!” Tyler exclaimed to himself. “Josh!” Grabbed for the walkie clipped to his hip.
Click.
“I’m here bro!” he transmitted, in panicked excitement.
Static.
Crackle.
Silence.
Tried again. “Josh Are you there?”
Crackle.
“... here... trouble... truck...”
“You are breaking up Josh. Say again?”
Crackle.
Hiss.
“We’re here mate. Heading towards home. Where are you?”
“Tyler was ever so relieved to hear his brother’s voice, so much so that he fist pumped the air with excitement. Provided Josh his location and told him who he was with.
“Get everyone ready. We’re a bit lost, but we will be there as soon as we can.”
“Are you ok bro?”
“Yeah, we’re all ok. See you soon.”
As he jumped off the bed Tyler caught sight of the large wall map again. Thought it might come in handy so he ripped it from the pins that held it in place folded it into a pocket then made his way down the stairs to alert the others.
Veins protruded from Martin’s neck. He wore a scowl across his distressed, reddening face giving the impression he was about to explode. It was obvious to those in the room that he was clearly distraught. Fuming. Livid.
No matter how hard she tried Holly was unable to settle her husband. He was totally inconsolable, fueled with rage. Ignoring his wife’s pleas for him to calm down the leader of the 4Horsemen furiously paced the floor of his office. He had been humiliated, embarrassed and made to look like a fool in front of his own people. The only thought that occupied his mind now, was revenge.
“Lucas,” he said, addressing his number two. “An update!”
A deep furrow appeared in the grey old man’s monobrow. “It is bad, very bad,” he said, with a croak in his voice. “Most of the northern perimeter is gone, the platform is demolished and half a dozen buildings are still burning.”
With a deep, audible sigh Martin squeezed his fists closed tight. “Casualties?”
Lucas delivered the news in a dull, somber tone. “Many have perished. There are unconfirmed reports that a few of our sentries have fallen, battling the undead as they tried to hold them off. Some of the flock have perished as well fighting the fires. We have things under control now, but there is great loss.”
Dark of Dawn 4Horsemen: Book one in the Dark of Dawn Series Page 19
