Leo joined her. “Jackpot. There’s enough food here to feed an army. Good job Mercy, I’ll tell the others. This is just what we need.”
They secured the house and brought the tinned food in from the garage. Leo and Tawny split the three SUVs up, parking them in separate driveways facing out ready to go. They retreated to the house and bolted the doors just as daylight faded. Leo posted guards and lookouts at the upstairs windows.
After a meal of tinned soup, tuna and meatballs Leo gathered the group in the living room. “OK everyone,” he looked at his watch. “It’s 10:30 pm, the plan’s to get some sleep and then get to Cole Harbour and then the East Shore under cover of darkness. Keep your weapon beside you, there’s been no further trope activity but we’ll keep a lookout from upstairs. Once we get to the East Shore, we’ll lie low, see what the lay of the land is. I’ve an idea where one of the families is based, but it’s been a while. Anyone got questions?”
A skinny boy with matted hair over his eyes shifted. “What if we’re rumbled on the road on the way in? What’s the plan then?”
Leo looked at the boy. “If anything happens, it’s each SUV for itself, just get the hell out of there. Try and stick together, but if you’re scattered head into the city on foot, all the roads lead there from here on in. If we’re separated aim to get to the Dartmouth Common, the Leighton Dillman Park gate on the south east corner of the Common, say at noon each day. You all know it. If there’s no one there just come back the next day, give it a few days. If there’s still no one, then it’s everyone for themselves.”
A short haired girl put her hand up. “What’s after that then? Once we’re on the East Shore?”
Leo looked uncomfortable. “That’s where it gets sketchy. The plan is to meet up with the Philips family and work out a way to break our people out from the camp surrounding Fort George. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not going to attack the Citadel itself, it’s too heavily fortified, but maybe with a diversion, if there’s enough of us we could cut a hole in the compound fence outside the fort and get our people out—”
Heads nodded in the room. The short girl pulled a face, “Yeah but how are we gonna get across the water to the west shore? The Woodside Ferry ain’t exactly running anymore is it?”
Leo shrugged. “You’re right Emmy, the NSA will have the bridges covered too. The families should have a way across the water, we’ll figure it out.”
The room fell silent. Rose looked at Mercy, the Doberman had not left Mercy’s side all evening. “Hey Mercy, what you gonna call your dog? He’s taken a shine to you—”
Mercy looked uncertain. “I don’t know Rose, I wasn’t going to take him with us. I mean a dog… in a city, dogs bark, make noise, that’s not good.”
Rose got up and walked over to the Doberman and ruffled his ears. “He hasn’t made a noise since you got him, no barking, nothing. It’s as if he’s learned to be quiet, like us, to avoid tropes. He’s a survivor and besides he led you to all this food.”
The mood in the room changed, faces became animated.
“Call him Spike, he’s got that tooth sticking out—”
“Nah, call him Lawrence, after all this is Lawrencetown—”
“Call him Boogle, we had a dog called Boogle—”
Mercy sat up and looked into the Doberman’s eyes, he blinked and yawned. “It’s Murphy, his name’s Murphy, there it is. Murphy’s with me—”
The kids digested the name, smiles of approval broke out across the room.
“Murphy it is then,” Leo confirmed. “Right everyone, get some sleep, guards you know what to do. We’ll move out at 3:30 am, we should be in Cole Harbour, the East Shore by 4 am or 4:30 am depending on the state of the roads. We may need to ditch the SUVs so keep the keys in the cars and remember where you’ve parked them in case we need to bug out.”
Leo stood up and closed the meeting, he went around checking the doors and spoke to the guards briefing them. He came back downstairs to see three candles left burning, his kids asleep in the living room, kitchen and hall. Tawny, Rose, Murphy and Mercy were together in a corner. Mercy was cleaning her pistol, Murphy’s chin on her leg. He caught Tawny’s eye and held her gaze for a moment feeling awkward; he could not read her. He recognised something in Tawny, something good lay under the damage.
Leo broke eye contact and found an unoccupied corner to lie down in. He set the alarm on his watch for 3 am and was asleep in minutes.
Chapter 17 Approach
Mercy was woken by Murphy licking her hand. The room was stirring, torches flitted in the darkness, she saw Leo go outside with a few of the others. Mercy looked for Tawny and Rose but they were gone. She wanted to be with them for the final push to the city, they were a team. She smiled to herself, where had this come from? It wasn’t so long ago she had sworn she’d be a loner. That was then, this was now; a lot of water had passed under the bridge.
She ruffled Murphy’s ears and stood up, stepping across some still sleeping kids. Outside she heard subdued voices and nearby SUV engines. A few seconds later the SUVs pulled alongside the kerb in front of the house. She went up to Leo as he climbed out of the lead SUV.
“What’s the marching order?” Mercy asked.
Leo stared at her for a second his face tense. “I’ll take the lead car, you and your crew take the rear, one of my guys will take the middle. You good with that?”
Mercy nodded, “Yeah, that works.”
People filed out of the house and into their respective cars. Leo pulled out and re-joined Route 207 turning west with his headlights dipped. The others followed, Leo kept his speed down watching for pot holes and trouble ahead. The road was clear for three miles then started to fill up with abandoned and burnt out cars. The city stretched out in darkness before them, Leo struggled to get his bearings, he slowed to a crawl and looked out his window. After a minute or so he stopped the SUV, the road was blocked by cars and trucks. He left the SUV and went over to a sign on the side of the road.
“Highland Acres… goddammit,” Leo muttered. “Christ, we’ve come further than I thought.” He started towards the second SUV but stopped and stared at the night sky. A star was moving, becoming brighter, shimmering. Then he heard the rotors.
“Shit,” Leo shouted, “NSA chopper overhead, get out and scatter.” He ran to the second and third SUVs banging their bonnets repeating the order. “Get out, find cover, scatter now—”
The kids needed no encouragement, they jumped out of the SUVs and ran in all directions into the streets either side of the main road.
Mercy looked up and saw the helicopter searchlight on the road behind her SUV.
Shit, how did they find us?
Mercy followed Tawny, Rose and some of the others as they scrambled around the tangle of abandoned vehicles in the road ahead. Tawny headed left onto a gas station forecourt, they continued around the back and ran towards a coffee shop. The helicopter hovered over the main road its searchlight probing the abandoned SUVs, the noise from its rotors destroying the silence of the night.
“Fuck, that’ll bring every trope this side of the city down on us,” Mercy said.
A single shot rang out from the opposite side of the road and the helicopter swung its searchlight away from them.
“Shit, who’s firing? One of ours? They’ll give away their position, idiots—” Tawny said.
“Maybe they’re trying to hit the searchlight,” Mercy speculated.
“Either way we need to get the hell out of Dodge, that chopper could have thermal imaging, let’s go—”
Mercy turned her back on the helicopter and ran along the side of the café and through some low bushes into a carpark. Behind her the helicopter had levelled out and was returning fire with a side mounted M134 minigun. The night lit up with tracer rounds.
Go, go, go—
Mercy ran across the carpark weaving around abandoned vehicles. She was vaguely aware of Rose and Tawny following. She saw a row of windows and raised her AR-15 shooting out the nearest pane
. The glass imploded, shattering into fragments, she ran through the opening leaving the carpark behind. The shop was dark, she knocked into a clothes rail and fell to the floor.
Mercy lay stunned for a moment, she tried to find her bearings, Tawny and Rose stumbled in behind her. Light from the helicopter searchlight danced across the floor, a gloved hand appeared in front of her face.
“Come on, let’s get away from the windows,” Tawny said.
Mercy grabbed Tawny’s hand and pulled herself up. They staggered to the rear of the store and watched as the helicopter flew up and down the road strafing the side streets.
“How did they know?” Mercy repeated.
“Fuck knows”— Tawny said. “We dug out all the GPS tracking chips so it must be something else.”
“Leo said something about the families maybe raiding the Shearwater Air Force Base, that’s why our flight was diverted to the Porters Lake airstrip,” Rose said.
“Maybe, maybe, I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting this warm a welcome,” Mercy retorted. “Don’t forget we’re in trope country now so eyes and ears open.” She looked back at the helicopter. “Looks as if they’re concentrating on the road, let’s move.”
Mercy switched on her rifle torch and picked her way through the store checking the ground and ceiling ahead. They made it to the mall adjoining the store, the store’s door was unlocked. She pushed the door, its hinges screeched, she waved Tawny and Rose through. They stood in the concourse, the helicopter still audible. Mercy shone her light up and down the mall.
A cluster of desiccated bodies lay sprawled around a table outside a burger restaurant. Mercy faced Tawny and Rose and brought her index finger to her lips, she pointed at the dead. Tawny nodded and pushed Rose towards Mercy. They edged down the mall, their backs to the wall.
Ghostly mannequins loomed behind glass shopfronts, their eyes dead, their faces smiling. They reached the end of the mall, stair and fire doors lay off to one side. Mercy pushed the fire escape door, it was stuck. A sharp metallic clang came from the mall behind them followed by voices. Mercy tried the fire door again, it held fast. She cursed and went to the stair door. The voices became louder, men’s voices, someone was shouting orders.
“They went down there, after them—”
Flashlights and jerking red laser beams cut through the dark.
Tawny joined Mercy and pushed the stair door open, they bundled through. Rose closed the door behind them, Mercy pointed her torch up the stairs, the way was clear. Gunshots echoed from the mall on the other side of the door followed by screams.
“The dead—” Rose said.
Mercy waved Tawny and Rose up the stairs and pointed her gun at the door, “Go on Tawny, use your light, find a way out, I’ll—”
Tawny grabbed Rose by the arm and pushed past Mercy. They rushed up the stairs disappearing into the darkness. Mercy looked around, something caught her eye in the stairwell. She shone her light in the corner and saw cleaning equipment. She took the floor polisher ramming its rear end under the door handle then jammed its front end against the stairs. It wasn’t a flush fit but was close enough and would buy some time.
The gunfire had died down but the screams continued. Mercy swore, the dead were reanimating just like in New York City. She ran up the stairs two steps at a time. The darkness was oppressive.
Shit— where’ve they gone?
Mercy tried the first floor door, something blocked it from behind, it would not open.
Not there then—
Mercy pressed on up the stairs and came to the second floor door, sweat rolled down her forehead into her eyes. She blinked, her eyes stinging, a loud bang echoed up the stairwell from the ground floor, followed by more banging.
Shit, shit, shit—
Mercy opened the second floor door a crack, shielding her torch light with her hand, a terrible stench wafted out of the darkness.
Fuck—
She closed the door and backed away from it, her gun raised.
“Mercy? Mercy, up here—” Rose’s voice whispered from above.
Mercy blinked and backed up the stairs. The banging on the ground floor became louder, her barricade would fail any moment, she turned and ran up the stairs to the next level. It was the final level, the stairs ended at an open door which led out onto a flat roof.
“Go Rose, go. I’m right behind you,” Mercy shouted.
Rose waited for Mercy to pass through the door, then she shut it. She wound some utility cable around the door handle securing it to a loop on the door frame. “Won’t hold long, Tawny’s scoping out a route for us, that’s her over on the right, let’s go—”
Rose ran towards Tawny’s light and Mercy followed. It was good to be in the open air again, Mercy looked around for the helicopter but could not see it. She saw Tawny in the distance on the edge of the flat roof, on her hands and knees.
What’s she doing?
Screams behind, coming from the roof door, more banging. Mercy reached Tawny and saw the problem; the adjacent flat roof was about twelve feet away; not safe to jump. Tawny was wrestling with an extendable ladder.
“Found it over beside that aerial mast, here give me a hand—” Tawny said.
Mercy glanced back checking the roof door was holding, she put her rifle down and helped Tawny push the ladder across the gap. The ladder started to drift down just short of the far side.
“Sit on this end to keep it pinned down, I’ll extend the rest from the edge,” Tawny ordered.
Mercy sat on the base of the ladder and watched as Tawny slid the second section across the remaining gap. With a last heave Tawny managed to get the top of the ladder over the edge of the far roof. Mercy pushed the ladder another couple of feet forwards to make it safe.
Tawny looked relieved. “Rose, you first, go ahead.”
Rose went to the roof edge and without hesitation took off across the bending ladder. A loud bang came from the roof door as the cable tore free from the handle. Mercy picked up the AR-15 and shouted at Tawny.
“Go Tawny, you next, I’ll handle the skinnies—”
The dead burst through the door in a sprawl. Mercy pointed her rifle at the lurching group, these skinnies were slow, their limbs thin and wasted but one of their number detached itself from the group and sprinted towards her. It was a soldier wearing an NSA uniform, his face and neck bitten and covered in fresh blood.
Mercy gritted her teeth, aimed at his head and pulled the AR-15’s trigger in a short controlled burst. She watched as the soldier’s head vanished in an explosion of gore, his momentum carried him another ten feet before he collapsed to the ground. The dead were close behind.
“Forget them, come on, come across now Mercy,” Tawny shouted.
Tawny’s voice broke the spell, Mercy slung the rifle across her back and turned away from the advancing dead. She reached the ladder and walked across the rungs, she stared at her feet concentrating. The ladder bowed in the middle, she wavered, slowing. Something landed on the ladder behind, she looked up to see Tawny holding the end of the ladder secure, Rose was aiming the Glock 17 straight at her.
“Down,” Rose commanded.
Mercy dropped on all fours and crawled forwards. Rose’s shots rang out a second later, Mercy felt another impact on the ladder behind. She fixed her eyes on the remaining rungs and pulled herself across to the edge of the flat roof.
“Grab my hand,” Tawny shouted.
Mercy reached forwards taking Tawny’s hand, she felt the ladder slip and fall to the ground three stories below. Tawny sprawled backwards pulling Mercy away from the edge. Mercy fell onto the roof and rolled to one side, she glanced back.
The dead were tumbling from the opposite roof to the ground, some leapt towards them, others were pushed by those from behind. Mercy helped Tawny up, they looked across the new roof. The sky was awash with stars which provided some visibility.
“Come on, let’s find a way off this roof, we need to hunker down and lie low, wait for this to blow
over,” Mercy said.
They walked across the roof checking doors and maintenance hatches, everything was locked.
“Over there,” Rose pointed to the edge of the building, “looks like a fire escape.”
They made their way to the spot and saw a caged stairway leading down in a series of zig zags.
“Go for it,” Mercy said.
Rose and Tawny climbed down the fire escape. Mercy looked around, she could not see or hear the helicopter, everything was quiet. She went down the fire escape and joined the others.
“Let’s get away, it’ll be crawling with NSA at first light,” Tawny said.
Mercy led the way through weeds and a hedge, they emerged onto a side street lined by houses. They followed the road, avoiding the houses and headed west. The suburban streets seemed to go on forever. Forty minutes later Mercy stopped, she pointed at a square building, Tawny nodded. They approached the building and saw a sign: WOODLAWN PUBLIC LIBRARY.
They entered the library through an open window and found themselves in a long corridor. Mercy waited, listening, her hand covering her rifle torch. She opened her fingers allowing some light to filter out and looked up and down the hall.
Find somewhere small, near an exit—
She walked to the end of the corridor and came to a set of double doors with inset window panels. She shone her light through a panel and saw three marked doors along the opposite wall.
Offices, record rooms—
Mercy went through the double doors and tried the first room, it was locked. The second room was locked but the third was open.
“Great, we get the men’s toilet,” Rose said, looking at the row of urinals along one wall.
Mercy checked the cubicles and went to the window at the end of the room. “Give me a boost, I want to take a look outside.”
Tawny put her back against the wall and cupped her hands. Mercy stepped up and reached the high frosted window. She found a cobweb covered latch and released it opening the window. Cool air washed against her face and she looked outside. Mercy’s eyes widened.
Shit, we’ve got company—
The Survival Chronicles (Book 2): Angel of Mercy Page 15
