Thrust & Parry: Z Day

by Luke Ashton

  The second zed was getting very close now so Jim pulled up the net in front of him. As the zed ran headfirst into the net Jim dived to the left, landing heavily on his side. The zed attempted to recover but tripped over a dangling piece of net and fell headfirst. It tried to get up but got tangled in it. Jim rolled back to his feet before sprinting to the pile of netting and stabbing it repeatedly. He trust his knife in again and again, hoping to find a head in the tangle. Pausing for a second he checked the net for movement, there was none. He stood up and turned to his last zed, Rim. As he stepped forward at the zed in front of him, with its arms outstretched in a last ditch effort to get to him, he chanted the same words over and over again in his head.

  “That is not Rim, That is not Rim. That is not Rim!” He realised he was now shouting it aloud. “THAT IS NOT RIM! IT’S NOT RIM IT’S FUCKING NOT!” Without breaking his stride he stuck the dagger into Rim’s head. He didn’t even see his head drop before turning and moving back the middle of the arena. He stood there glaring at the emperor as a crowd burst into a crescendo of applause and yells. In amongst the clapping a chant of ‘Lion Heart’ swelled until it took over. Eventually the emperor held a hand up and the audience fell silent.

  “Well It seems Lion Heart has once again bought his right to live. He has so far slaughtered any competition we have put in front of him. He has brought happiness to our entire family with his actions. He shall be rewarded greatly tonight. Our gladiators…” Jim had stopped listening by now. He was weighing everything in the room up. Assessing the best plan of action for the next time he was here. There were only two armed personnel other than the emperor and they stood either side. The gap between the floor and the emperor was around 10 feet high. There was nothing on the wall to help him climb. He wanted to get the emperor first, he had noticed several fights ago that the emperor carried Jim’s weapon. The sharpshooter rifle hung loosely in his right hand. Jim had thought he had seen the Gimpy by his feet. The guards had an SA80 and a sharpshooter between them and the armorer had the other. Jim planned on relieving them off all the weaponry but he wanted his daysack back. He had tried to look for it as he was marched from his cell to the arena and back but had no luck.

  “Anyway, Lion heart, you may return to your bed for now. If you will step back into the cage we will whisk you away.” Jim obeyed and the cage slid closed behind him. As the other door slid open the armorer ushered Jim out with the rifle. He was lead back to the armoury and relieved of his dagger sling before being locked back into his cell with another hunk of bread and bottle of water. Several hours later his door slid open again and a girl was pushed in. She was no older than sixteen and wore only a sheet. This was the usual procedure for winning a fight. Every time he was given a different girl to do what he wanted with. Jim waited for the guard to disappear.

  “Are you ok?” He asked her. She just looked at him, a terrified, innocent look. “I am not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure you’re ok.”

  “My shoulder hurts and I have a headache but I’m ok.” She said in a quiet voice. “They told me when that when I came in I had to do this.” She dropped the sheet, ran one hand through her hair and the other she placed uncertainly on her hip. Her naked, young virgin body aroused nothing inside Jim. She would still be in school. He picked the sheet up off the floor and handed it back to her.

  “Put it back on, you don’t have to do anything for me. I’m not like these guys.” Jim explained as she wrapped herself in the sheet. Jim looked round his cell. It was once an office and now had corrugated iron over each wall. There was a camp bed in one corner that Jim had been made to put up when he was brought here. He had been given a cheap sleeping bag that was now rolled up at one side. Opposite the bed was a pile of plastic plates and empty bottles from the meals. Jim was using them to keep count of how long he had been there, as long as he assumed that he was being fed twice a day. Currently in front of this were half of the hunk of bread and half the bottle of water. The rest of the room was comprised of floor space, a bucket he used as a toilet, and the door. Jim shuffled over to the rubbish corner and picked up the food and water. He offered it to the girl.

  “Here, I knew they would send you here, are you hungry?” She nodded and took it. He motioned for her to sit down and she sat on the floor against one wall and dug into it. While she ate they chatted. Her name was Rebecca and she had been snatched off the street with her friend as they left her parents’ house to get food from the shop. It seemed to be the same detail as Jim had seen. A bus had appeared being chased by zeds and she had been given no choice. Once she was on it they had held her at knifepoint until they had got back to the warehouse where she was stripped and fondled before being told she was a part of the maternity program. When she refused they beat her and told her she was the gladiators’ whore. This was the first time she had left her cell since then. She had not been fed or anything for what seemed like days to her.

  “Look, your here for the night. Take my bed and the sleeping bag, I’ll have your sheet and the floor.” Jim offered and she nodded. She dropped the sheet and walked across the floor naked before climbing into the sleeping bag and falling asleep. Jim pulled the sheet over him and used his arm as a pillow. He lay there trying to understand why women in an apocalypse were treat with such a lack of respect. He was still attempting to work this out as he fell asleep.

  Chapter 13

  Jims was awoken with a kick to the stomach from a heavy boot. He coughed and spluttered as he was dragged to his feet.

  “Wakey, wakey Lion Heart.” Sneered his attacker. Every bone in Jim’s body told him to lash out but he stopped himself. He knew if he started kicking out he would just get his head kicked in. He looked round the room. One of the guards had pulled the sleeping bag off Rebecca and was stood over her as she tried to make sense of what was happening. He began to pull at her and grope her and she kicked out. It was a good kick and caught his square in the nose. He recoiled and landed heavily in Jim’s bin pile, clutching his now bleeding nose. The guard stood up looking enraged and started towards her. She balled herself up, ready to receive his retaliation. As the guard reached her a voice from outside the cell stopped him in his tracks.

  “Leave her be. Come now brother, we must not treat our women as anything less than our equals.” The emperor stepped into the room. This was the first time Jim had seen him up close. He looked to be in his early thirties with short black hair that he had swept back with some form of gel, his nose was broken in several places and he had bad acne scars down both cheeks that made his face look like an old warzone. He wore a floor length toga and sandals. Jim could see that he wasn’t scary in any sense of the word. He stood about 5’10” and was a naturally scrawny bloke. Even in the toga Jim could see a beer belly forming though. The emperor turned to Rebecca.

  “My dear if you could follow my brother here back to your cell I must have a word with our champion here.” Rebecca stood up, retrieved the sheet and followed the guard that had given Jim a kicking out of the room. He now turned back to Jim. “We have noticed a decline in the initial response to our little entertainment section and so we would like to spice things up a bit. I won’t ruin your surprise but I do want you to get your strength up. Everyone involved will not be fighting for 3 days now and in that time you will get 3 meals a day with meat from my table. You will come to learn that I am a merciful and fair leader.” Jim said nothing, simply stared into his eyes. He had a hatred for the man. Because of the man stood in front of him at least one of his men were dead and what is worse, the one that he knew of had to ultimately die at his own hands. “I thought I would come and see you personally to wish you good luck as the next time you see me I will be back in my rightful place on my throne watching you do what you do best. May the gods smile on you.” And with that he whipped round and strode out of the room. The guard with the bleeding nose followed and second later returned with a plastic plate with an entire ham joint on it. It had been cooked and glazed in honey. He set it
down just inside the door with a bottle of water and left.

  Jim hid the ham under his sleeping bag in case the guards decided to take it back off him and ran through his workout. Pushing himself beyond the limit he had before. Knowing there was soon to be much needed nutrients and protein in his body to repair his muscles. Once he had finished he took a large gulp of water and dug in with his hands. He looked like an animal as he carelessly ripped meat apart and stuffed it in his mouth. He didn’t care though, there was no one to see him and this was the first meal he had eaten that wasn’t bread for, by his calculations, 15 days. Meat juices dripped down his bare chest and onto his dog tags as he rammed more meat into his mouth. They had taken his top, once he had awoken after his fall on the bus he had found they had taken everything from his pockets, his webbing, his daysack, his shirt and t-shirt.

  He finished the ham and threw the plate onto the pile before downing the remaining water. The bottle joined the pile and he lay on his bed feeling very sick indeed. He refused to vomit though. He wasn’t wasting this food. He lay there for around 5 minute before sitting up and pulling the sleeping bag on once more and drifting back off to sleep. He was awoken every time food was brought to him and every time it was something different. They ranged from plates full of steamed vegetables to giant chunks of chocolate cake. Each time they arrived he followed the same process. Hide the food, work out, eat, drink and sleep. As he lay on his bed after his 9th meal a sudden apprehension hit him. He had been too pleased to get real food to care why he was getting it. The emperor must have something interesting planned for him tomorrow for him to go to all this effort. He decided he would need all the energy he could muster for it and pushed the thoughts from his mind before falling soundly asleep.

  Chapter 14

  Jim woke alone for the first time in days by a banging on his door.

  “Get the fuck up you lazy swine. Food in ten minutes, armoury in 30, show time in 45.” Called the voice from the other side of the door. Jim rolled out of bed, stretched and composed his thoughts.

  “Today was the day” He thought and even the voice in his head seemed to quaver slightly at the thought.

  Jim was pissing in the bucket when the door swung open and a plate with two chicken legs was dropped on the floor with his usual bottle of water. He took them both and sat on the bed. No workout today, he needed all his strength. He took his time with the chicken, savouring every last morsel as if it was his last. Well, let’s face it, it could be. He was just downing the water when the door swung open once more and he was led to the armoury. Something was different though, usually the armorer took him here but today it was just one of the guards. The guard led him into the room before stepping out and closing the door. Jim looked around and there at the other side of the room, weighing up a trident was Paddy. He too was topless and several large bruises covered his back. Jim strode over and tapped him on the shoulder. Paddy instinctively flinched as he spun round but his expression changed to shock as he recognised his section commander.

  “Twitch?” Paddy asked as though it was not real.

  “Yeah Paddy it’s me.” Jim replied beaming. They hugged.

  “I’m guessing you have a plan boss?” Paddy whispered as they embraced.

  “Follow my lead.” Jim replied as he let go. The armorer appeared holding another trident and two nets and passed them to Jim. Jim passed the net on. He was then passed two daggers on belts, again, he passed one to Paddy and clipped his own in place. They were both led across the warehouse and into their cage. As the door slid shut behind them the emperor chirped up with his usual bollocks about his new world we was creating, advertising the great opportunities that people are missing out on.

  “Right, As the gate opens I want you to hit the right hand guard with the trident, Il get the left. Hopefully they should fall into the pit, if that’s the case we can grab the rifles and, hopefully, take the emperor out. From there it’s an assisted lift up to his throne and grab the sharpshooter and the Gimpy before we leg it back through the armoury, find our kit and fuck off. Clear?” Paddy simply nodded as he zoned into the job at hand.

  “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for. I am proud to present, Lion Heart and Leprechaun!” The emperor finished with and the crowd erupted into applause as the gate was lifted. From the other side of the arena Jim could see two cages similar to the one he was in with at least 5 zeds in each. The cage was still closed for now. This was how the battles usually went, the gladiators were given time to parade around and prepare themselves before they had to fight. Jim stepped out and took aim. As he launched his trident with a grunt the emperor realised something was wrong. The right hand guard had seen it too, just as Jim’s trident struck home just below his targets neck. He began to raise his weapon on Jim but Paddy trident hit him in the chest and he jolted back. They both staggered for a moment, as the emperor fumbled with his weapon, trying to pull it from under his toga with little luck, before falling forward into the pit. Jim sprinted forward with Paddy seconds behind him and hauled his guard over, Jim’s sharpshooter wasn’t slung around the guard and Jim took it from the floor where he laid. He cocked it just to make sure and a round flew out of the side, it was already cocked.

  “Better safe than sorry.” Thought Jim as he jammed the butt into his shoulder and turned to face to the emperor.

  “Release the beasts!” Cried the emperor as he gave up on the weapon and turned to flee. The gates slid upwards.

  “Bollocks! Paddy!” Paddy was already in place against the wall, his knees bent, and his hands clasped ready to receive Jim’s foot. Jim ran and bounced into Paddy’s foot. He grabbed the ledge and the sharp edging of the corrugated iron dug into his skin. He fought through the pain and threw himself over the ledge, rolling onto his front and held his hand out for Paddy. He was already 5 feet back and ready to run. The zeds were closing on him fast in a frantic attempt to feed on him. Paddy burst forward and threw himself towards the wall, hand outstretched. Jim caught it and yanked with all his strength. His hand was now covered in blood from the cuts on his palms and Paddy’s hand began to slip. He found the strength somewhere down below and with one massive haul Paddy was up. The zeds hit the wall a second later with an almighty clang that made the whole platform wobble.

  Jim jumped to his feet and turned to see the emperor running towards the armoury door. He didn’t even see Jim raise his rifle, or hear the shot. He simply dropped. All Jim could see now was a mess of toga with a spreading red patch on it. There was a makeshift stairwell formed from a ladder and, oh guess what, some corrugated iron that let back down to floor level, Jim took it down and sprinted over to the body while Paddy retrieved the Gimpy. The stands were in disarray by now and there were people trying to escape from every direction except the one Jim and Paddy were in. Jim swung the sharpshooter around his back before grabbing his Sig and untangling it from the mess of toga and blood that was now below him. As he slipped the blood-dampened strap around his leg Paddy appeared next to him with the heavy gun in his arms. It was still loaded with the same belt of 200 rounds wrapped round the barrel.

  “Right, I’ll take point.” Was all that needed to be said before Jim jogged towards the armoury door. It wasn’t locked in any way but the armourer would undoubtedly have heard the gunshots and be on guard. He flattened himself against the wall to the left of the door and Paddy slid in behind him. Jim motioned for him to drop the Gimpy there and he obeyed. Paddy gave Jim a tap to signal he was ready and Jim yanked the door open and began to sweep the room. The armorer was at the end of the room, crouched behind a pile of boxes with his rifle rested on top. Jim fired several shots in his direction before ducking behind an improvised weapon rack made from more corrugated iron. These guys must have raided a factory roof to get all this stuff. A burst of rounds pinged over his head as Paddy joined him. It was an untrained and scared burst. There was no aim to the shot. Jim motioned for Paddy to move to the weapon rack on the other side of the doorwa
y and Paddy nodded and turned, waiting for his covering fire. Jim crouched up and began firing at the boxes. The armorer disappeared from view, undoubtedly cowering from the volley of fire. As Paddy got into place there was a scream from the armorer. Jim held his hand up before standing up, Paddy followed and they both moved down opposite sides of the room, weapons trained on the pile. As Jim drew level he could see that one of his rounds had caught the armorer in the gut. He was not clenching the wound hard with both hands and the weapon lay on his lap. Jim took it from him and slung it over his back before giving the armorer a kick in his wound to keep him down.

  “Paddy, get the Gimpy.” Jim said as he moved back to the door. Paddy ran out the room and appeared as Jim reached the door with another trident. He stuck the trident in the door handle so that it couldn’t be opened from the outside and moved back to the armorer.

  “Where are the other prisoners?” He asked and the armorer just looked at him, he put his boot on the armorers blood soaked hands and he cried out in pain. “Tell me!” Jim ordered.

  “Ok, ok.” The armorer croaked. “There are no more gladiators but the whores are out this door and to the right.”

  “And our kit?” Jim asked applying a little more pressure with his boot.

  “Opposite the whores.” The armorer said as he winced in pain.

  “And finally, the bus?” Jim asked, starting to sound like a human checklist.

  “End of the corridor there is a metal door, through there is our garage. The keys are on the table to the right.” The armorer would tell them whatever they needed to know now.