The Undead | Day 25 [The Heat]

by Haywood, RR

  ‘We don’t have a stash point here,’ Henry said.

  ‘But we can’t just fucking leave them there,’ Blowers said.

  ‘Sergeant. I respect your passion, and I’ll give leeway to your tone, but again, what choice do we have?’

  I can’t quantify how that moment touched me. I don’t have the words to use. Maybe it was the heat or the fact I’d taken a step away from Henry and I wasn’t a core member of Howie’s team and therefore I was something more akin to Reginald, but I was looking at everyone the way Reginald did. Staring outside the van to everyone captured within the square frame of the doorway.

  Paula. Marcy. Clarence. Frank. Roy. Bash. The lads. Charlie, Tappy, and Joan. All of them covered either in brick dust or blood and gore and all of them drinking water or Lucozade.

  And there. Right at the front standing side by side were Howie and Henry. Two leaders. Two egos. Two sets of pride – but truthfully? In all the years I had known Henry, I’d never seen him more alive than at that moment. He just had this aura of energy about him. Standing there in full tac-rig with his gloved hand clutching a bottle of water with his rifle hanging to the front.

  There was this energy in the air too. Like it was crackling and fizzing, but you couldn’t see it. You could only feel it.

  Then I looked at Reginald and felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up from the way he was studying them. I’d never seen someone so poised. Jesus. You’ve heard of apex predators, right? The beasts that sit on the top of the food chain. We were all apex predators. But Reginald? He was on another level. He was what sits above an apex predator. They don’t even have a name for that. He was the fucking alpha, and he was just waiting to make his next move – which duly came when Howie frowned and reached the conclusion that Reginald obviously wanted someone to reach.

  ‘Then why are they there?’ Frank asked as Howie opened his mouth and blinked in surprise at someone else beating him to it. We all glanced at Frank as he bit into a melted Snickers and started chewing. ‘They ain’t there for their health, are they?’ he said between munches while everyone else looked at him and I looked at Reginald and saw the gleam in his eye.

  ‘But people don’t live at airports,’ someone said. I don’t know who. I was too focussed on Reginald.

  ‘Have you checked it?’ I heard Howie ask.

  ‘For what?’ Paula asked. ‘Marcy just said people don’t live at airports.’

  ‘What about the terminals?’ Charlie asked. ‘They would have been packed.’

  Cue every head snapping back over to Reginald as he showed an outward expression of well I didn’t think of that!

  ‘Check them now,’ Howie said as Henry nodded and then everyone else all moved in a step closer to see the screen as the drone started moving over the heads of the infected.

  ‘Shit!’ Howie said as the jet airline came into view. The front end buried in the broken remains of the boarding gate stem. The drone went lower. Giving us a view of the blood stains inside the cockpit windows. ‘An infected got into the cabin,’ he added quietly.

  ‘Must have been one of the crew,’ Henry said as we all figured the captain would only have opened the cabin door for an injured colleague. Especially as they were still on the ground. Whatever happened – it caused the jet to taxi into the boarding gates and rip a wing off before making the propped-up gates all fall down, which in turn made a handy slope for the infected to get up.

  Which they did, and recently too by the looks of it because Reginald flew the drone in closer for us to see the people in the south terminal had made a barricade from the long heavy metal bench seats and whatever else they could find. Big travel bags and suitcases. Lockers and desks. All of them jammed in to seal the boarding gate off, and all of them now ripped away from the infected breaching the barricade and getting inside.

  Reggie went in only for a few seconds, but it was enough to see people had been living there and the blood and carnage as they met their end. It was fresh too. The blood on the floor and walls was still wet, and the infected inside had fresh wet injuries.

  But they too were as still and silent as all the other thousands of infected. All of them staring towards those two CP’s in the middle of the runway.

  ‘Seen enough?’ Henry asked with a glance at Howie.

  Howie nodded, giving his own heavy sigh as the energy seemed to vanish from them all. I saw it happen. I saw the slump of shoulders and the grim looks steal across all their faces.

  Which is when Reginald made his move and quickly flew the drone out of the south terminal into another position.

  ‘Oh shit,’ I whispered as he shot me a look that urged me to silence.

  ‘This has to be done right,’ he whispered as I looked out to see everyone turning away.

  I looked back at the screen and felt my heart thudding. I went to speak. To say something. To voice what I had seen, but again, Reginald just lifted a finger. Telling me to be silent. I shouldn’t have done what he wanted. I was an agent for the British Secret Service. I had no loyalty to Reginald, but yet I stayed silent and watched on. Mesmerised at the way it was happening and how Reginald was waiting for the perfect time, because the second Howie and Henry turned away is when he uttered three quiet words. ‘Children, Mr Howie.’

  Jesus H Christ.

  You should have felt the electricity spark as the whole lot of them stopped and looked back to see the monitor giving view to the interior of the north terminal. A glimpse to a world within. A world now filled with hundreds of people.

  People who worked there. People who were waiting for flights. People who managed to get off incoming flights but never left the airport. People in crazed panic, herding kids together. People breaking down and weeping. Mothers clutching babies.

  ‘That’s why they are still there,’ Reginald said. ‘And that is where they will attack when they re-animate.’

  ‘Reggie. We cannot kill thirty thousand infected,’ Henry started to say but Reginald cut him off. Speaking oh so very gently.

  ‘We don’t have to. You said it, Henry. Howie can bait them and soak the damage up while you and Paula go wide and come in from the north to get those people out. Roy takes the south side for overwatch, and I’ll keep the drone up. We’ve established the objective and now we have a tactical response, Henry. And we have the means, and the capability to achieve it.’

  ‘Reggie,’ Henry said quietly.

  ‘There is nobody else, Henry,’ Reginald said, cutting over him. Not shouting. Not using force because all the force had been used to get to this point. ‘There’s just us. We are all that is left. Major Dillington, You need to do your duty.’

  Reginald fell silent as every single one of us looked at Henry.

  ‘Mr Henry?’ a voice asked from behind as Henry turned to see Tappy looking at him. At everyone looking at him. All of them, including his own team.

  ‘Boss?’ Mo asked as Henry half smiled and shook his head in defeat as the rest started to grin. ‘One condition,’ Henry said firmly. ‘We do this. Then we go for the Panacea. No arguments. No distractions. No more anything. Howie, I want your word.’

  Howie looked at him. The leaders. Two sets of egos. Two alpha wolves not paying the least bit of attention to the wolf in the van hiding his enormous teeth. ‘I’ll give you my word, Henry,’ Howie said.

  ‘Okay. Listen in,’ Henry called. ‘This is going to be a hot brief…Mo, translate please. I’ll take Paula and Marcy with me in the SUV. We’ll go wide and get into the north terminal from the eastern side. Roy, take the van with Reggie to the south side of the airfield. Find a high point and get overwatch on. Reggie, keep the drone up and keep us informed. Howie, you hit the airfield at the southwest corner which is the furthest point from the north terminal. Go in hard and make some noise. You must draw their attention. We’ll find a high point for Joan from our side and start working to get the people out. Questions?’

  ‘I’ll leave Jess in the trailer,’ Charlie said. ‘It’s so hot and if we’
re doing hit and run then I’ll jump in the Saxon.’

  ‘Good point. Concurred,’ Henry said.

  ‘Reggie needs a guard,’ Howie said.

  ‘I don’t mind going with Reginald,’ I said as Frank and Cookey coughed the word mayonnaise into their hands as everyone else laughed. ‘Jesus. You two are like father and son.’

  ‘Oh god. I can’t unsee that now,’ Paula said, giving them both a look while they grinned toothy grins.

  ‘I’ll go with Reggie,’ Marcy then said. ‘He needs a guard and I’ve already chipped one nail today. I’m joking! Besides, we won’t all fit in the SUV.’

  ‘Right then. We have our teams,’ Henry said. ‘Tappy? I’m serious. I want to hear you from the north terminal. And Howie? Don’t go too deep.’

  ‘He likes it deep,’ Marcy said with a wink before poking her tongue out with a funny cross-eyed look. ‘Sorry. That was my Cookey moment.’

  ‘Howie, seriously though, don’t go too deep,’ Paula said as she moved off towards the SUV.

  ‘I don’t go too deep!’ Howie said as he opened the front passenger door of the Saxon and got a face full of Meredith telling him to fuck off. ‘That bloody dog!’

  ‘It’s those biscuits,’ Charlie said, leading Jess into the trailer.

  ‘Biscuits don’t make dogs aggressive,’ Clarence said.

  ‘Gateway drug!’ Marcy sang before slamming the sliding door closed and then opening it again. ‘Oh, and good luck everyone! And Howie?’

  ‘Don’t say it!’

  ‘Don’t go too deep, honey.’

  ‘Boom!’ Cookey said as the laughs rolled around and Clarence slapped Howie on the back.

  ‘Oops, sorry, boss,’ he said, picking him back up. ‘I’ve got to stop doing that.’

  ‘Yeah, you bloody do,’ Howie said, clambering into the Saxon before getting an idea and leaning back out. ‘Yeah well, don’t hide too much, Henry!’ he called with a grin and a wink as the tumbleweed blew past and Marcy winced before slamming the van door closed again.

  ‘Howie,’ I said, giving him a look while I shook my head.

  ‘What?’ he said. ‘It was funny! It was! Danny laughed. Danny, am I funny? Whatever. Right. Let me choose the music.’

  We set off with all three vehicles pulling out to take different roads.

  As far as we were concerned it would be a hit and run. Make some noise. Get the survivors out and end the day on a high.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  THE BATTLE FOR GATWICK

  45

  Diary of Reginald

  We reached our position first with Roy driving the van through side roads to get into the industrial estate bordering the southern side of the airport.

  Thankfully the whole area seemed deserted and so once Roy parked the van behind some industrial units and gathered his bags of arrows and bow up, he quietly slipped out of the van.

  Which, of course, left Marcy and I alone with her perched on some crates filing her nail while I contacted the other two teams for location updates.

  ‘We’re in position and ready’ Tappy said.

  ‘ETA five minutes,’ Frank relayed.

  I could feel the tension climbing in the same way I could feel Marcy’s eyes boring a hole into the back of my skull. I even turned to see her staring at me. She didn’t blink. She didn’t move a muscle. Nor did she smile or show any humour at all.

  ‘It’ll be fine,’ I said and turned away. She didn’t reply.

  ‘SUV to the van. We’re approaching position now,’ Henry transmitted. ‘This side of the target location is clear so far. Repeat. This side is clear so far. Update on the Saxon.’

  ‘We’re ready,’ Howie said as I felt that tension climb another notch.

  ‘Give me a minute,’ Roy transmitted, his voice a little breathless from climbing or running.

  ‘Standing by,’ Howie said.

  ‘We’ll get in closer and start on foot. Essential comms only from this point. No chat. And no names. Henry out… And yes, I know I just said my name. I’ll do brew duty tonight as punishment.’

  I couldn’t help but turn to share a smile with Marcy, but she was still glaring at me and showed such little trace of humour I cleared my throat and turned back to my desk.

  Charlotte

  We did laugh at Henry’s transmission, but it did nothing to break the tension that was mounting by the second.

  Our route in had been easy. But then going anywhere in the Saxon is easy. Especially with Tappy driving, and by that point, we were tucked up in the large long-stay parking area bordering the southwester fringes of the airfield.

  I’d got onto a bench seat next to Maddox. The heat was intense, and we were all dripping sweat. I certainly was and I ran a hand over my head and felt the stubble of my hair and then fingered my scarred ear again while thinking how unattractive I must be. That made me think of Jess and how beautiful her ears were, and I don’t know why but I suddenly missed her terribly. It brought a lump to my throat, and I thought I might cry. I wasn’t scared of the fight we were going into. Not at all. But my emotions were yoyoing all over the place. Then the next thing I knew I was thinking about Blinky and how she would have loved going in to fight so many infected, and that gave me another great surge of pain.

  I even had to keep my head down and blink the tears away. Which is when I felt a hand on my leg and looked up expecting to see Cookey staring with concern, but it was Maddox leaning in to ask if I was okay.

  I said I was. ‘I’m just missing Blinky… And Jess,’ I said quietly.

  ‘You’ll see Jess again,’ he told me and patted my leg again. But not in a groping way. Maddox isn’t like that at all. ‘You got this, Charlie. You’re strong. You’re going to be okay.’

  His kindness almost made me cry again but I managed to swallow it down and pat his shoulder and say thank you.

  ‘You sure you’re good?’ he asked me. ‘You want me to speak to Howie? You can go with Paula or jump in with Reggie. You don’t have to be here.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I told him and thanked him for his concern.

  He nodded but kept looking at me for a while like he could see the pain inside. Then he glanced at Cookey, and his features hardened. I thought he might say something, but instead, he turned back to me. ‘Hey so Books and me are gonna get a freezer truck later. You know. Couple of bowls of cold water for our feet and some wet towels on our heads with a few beers. Fancy it?’

  ‘I’d love that. Thank you, Maddox.’

  ‘What’s that?’ Booker asked as he leant over Mads to hear our chat.

  ‘I invited Charlie into our freezer truck,’ Maddox said.

  ‘Yeah? Cool,’ Booker said as he gave me a big smile and held his fist out to bump, which, I noted was something he’d started doing since hanging out with Maddox.

  It was nice of them to look out for me like that. I appreciated it. I did catch Cookey glancing over with a funny expression, but what could I do? I’d made my intentions clear, and he didn’t want to know.

  ‘I’m almost there,’ Roy then transmitted as that tension rose even higher.

  Carmen

  We heard Roy transmit that he was nearly in position and got the nod from Henry to debus the SUV. Paula was loving it. Especially now that she had our spare carbine with a suppressor and some scrounged knee and elbow pads, then she tied a bandana around her forehead to keep the sweat from her eyes and looked full on badass.

  ‘Cor. If I was younger,’ Frank whispered, giving her a wink. ‘And if your boyfriend wasn’t a seven foot tall ex-para.’

  She smiled at the joke as I motioned for her to slip in behind me while we positioned with Frank on point and Bash on our six and the SUV parked up beneath an underpass. We couldn’t risk the engine being heard, so we were on foot for the final approach.

  But it was cool. This was urban warfare which is where people like us excel.

  A moment later we breached the edge of a car park bordering one of the airport hotels an
d used the abandoned minivans and cars as cover to filter our way to the building line.

  We saw that the hotel had been hit as soon as we approached it. We didn’t go inside but we did see old bodies as we skirted the outside. They looked decayed and eaten by rats and covered in litter swept up by rains and storms.

  And by then I knew another storm was coming because the air pressure had changed. It was crushing us. We could hardly breathe.

  Anyway. We got across the next road and over the wall then into the ground floor of the multi-story car park which we knew connected to the north terminal. All we had to do was follow the ramps up and find a way in.

  ‘We’re on the final approach,’ Henry transmitted.

  Charlotte

  ‘Beyonce? Actual fucking Beyonce?’ Nick said.

  ‘Strong independent woman with the best arse ever who can sing like Whitney. What’s not to like?’ Tappy said.

  ‘She has got the best bum ever,’ Cookey said.

  ‘Fact,’ Blowers said.

  ‘I’m not disagreeing about her bum,’ Nick said. ‘My point is we can’t attack thirty thousand zombies while listening to Beyonce.’

  ‘It’s a classic!’ Tappy said. ‘All the single ladies has an awesome beat.’

  ‘Not a fucking chance,’ Nick said. ‘Seriously. I’ll hotwire a Micra and fight them on my own before I attack a horde listening to Beyonce.’

  ‘What do you want then?’ Tappy asked him. ‘Some shitty rock thing like Status Quo or Queen, or some grungy shit like Nirvana.’

  ‘Whoa! Nobody dis’s the Quo,’ Clarence said.

  ‘Whoa. Nobody dis’s Nirvana,’ Nick said.

  ‘And what’s wrong with Queen?’ Howie asked.

  ‘I mean, they made good tunes, but they’re not battle anthemic,’ Tappy said as we all agreed that indeed, they were not battle anthemic.

  There followed a brief and rather silent pause as we all gave weighty consideration to the most appropriate tune to use when attacking a horde of such a size.