Z - Arrival / Z - London / Z - Payback: Books 1, 2 & 3 of the Zombie Apocalypse

by Hatchett

  “The thing I don’t understand,” advised Irish, “is how there are so many. I thought there was a maximum of one hundred and fifty or so from the Economy section of the plane and, it may be my imagination in the circumstances, but there seems to be hundreds more than that.”

  Sarah lent forward. “If you look closely again at the monitors, you’ll see what we’ve seen. All those people left for dead eventually get back up and have effectively turned into a zombie. Some seem to get back up quicker than others, but we have no idea why. If you look back at the footage from the concourse on Level 2, you’ll see the passengers who were attacked getting back up after just a few minutes. Some of these are now trying to get into Gate 7 and others just milling around.

  Jack let Sarah’s words sink in and thought aloud. “Heathrow has seventy-six thousand employees spread across the entire site, dealing with two hundred thousand passengers a day. Terminal 3 itself deals with nearly fifty thousand passengers a day. What a nightmare.” After a brief pause, he asked “Right, let’s list what we know.”

  “We can kill them with shots or blows to the head,” Irish advised.

  “Anyone who’s bitten by a zombie gets back up as a zombie,” Sarah added.

  “They’re attracted by noise,” put in Kelly.

  “Good,” Jack advised. “We’re starting to get somewhere. “We need to fight back quickly and effectively to try and contain this. Bear, Irish, if you’re up to it get what’s left of your teams up to Gate 7, take out as many zombies as you can on the way and get those passengers to safety. All other security personnel should be ordered to move towards the exits and ensure no zombies get out of the building. The policy is to shoot on sight, even if there are civilians around. We cannot afford for the zombies to get out.”

  With that, Jack left the room and went back to his seat in the Security Command Centre.

  Bear and Irish left to pass on the orders, gather up their teams and re-arm their weapons in the Armoury.

  37

  Day 1

  09:45 GMT

  Heathrow Terminal 3

  Gina led the way up the jetway with the two Americans trailing behind her. The noise coming down the tunnel towards her was fairly muted, nothing like the noise earlier when there had been a significant amount of screaming and shooting going on. She could still hear a lot of screaming in the distance and suspected that it was coming from the floors below.

  As she reached the last few feet of the jetway, she held up a hand to stop her companions before slowly inching her way to the end and peeking around the corner. She could see that the concourse after Gate 7 was almost deserted save for a few zombies either feasting on bodies or wandering aimlessly around the concourse. Gina considered that the zombies might move in packs and that these few had been detached from the main group. However, her biggest problem was Gate 7 itself; there was several zombies congregated around the gate, pushing, and banging against the glass, obviously trying to get in. She shuffled back to her companions.

  “The concourse is fairly deserted, just a few zombies wandering around and a few dead people. The main problem is Gate 7, about thirty meters along the corridor. There must be people in that Gate because there are about a dozen or so zombies trying to get in.”

  “Can we get around them without them seeing?” asked the woman.

  “No, the corridor at that point is too narrow. In any case, I think we’ve got the firepower to take them out, especially as we should have the element of surprise. If things don’t work out, we can always run back to the plane and lock ourselves in.”

  “I’m in,” the man advised.

  “Me too,” added the woman who seemed to have made an amazing recovery, “but we don’t have enough weapons.”

  Gina handed the woman her Glock. “You’re more qualified to use this than I am.”

  “Thanks honey, but what about you?”

  “I’m fine. I have my knife and the zombie in the plane didn’t seem too interested in me, so who knows?”

  “Honey, you probably just weren’t his type” the woman said with a smile.

  Gina smiled back, the first time she could remember smiling since this all started. “I’m Gina,” she said, holding out her hand to shake the woman’s before turning to the side and shaking the man’s hand.

  “I’m Kasey and this here’s my brother Milt,” she replied. “We’re from West Crossing, a little place next to Tallapoosa, just a few kilometres up Interstate 20 from Atlanta. We’re supposed to be here on business but that isn’t looking too promising now.”

  For the first time Gina got a good look at the pair. Milt was taller than his sister, but both had dark hair, brown eyes and were around the same age, somewhere in their early thirties.

  “Yes, we’re twins,” offered Kasey as she saw Gina frowning as if she was struggling to make the connection, “but not identical,” she added, looking up towards Milt with a smile.

  “I guess we better get going,” Gina advised. “I’ll go first and ease to the right of the corridor where the glass partition is. You go along the left-hand wall. We need to move quietly and get as close as possible to surprise them. I’ll try to distract the zombies. This should break them up and give you a chance to pick them off without putting any bullets into Gate 7.

  They moved back to the end of the jetway and Gina took a quick look around the corner to make sure nothing had changed since the last time she looked. It seemed the same, so she looked over her shoulder and nodded to Kasey and Milt. She then took a deep breath, held her knife tighter and she set off diagonally across the corridor towards the glass partition a few feet away. She then started moving in the direction of Gate 7, her eyes never leaving the zombies outside the gate. She could see Kasey and Milt moving along the opposite wall out of the corner of her eye.

  Gina managed to get within twenty feet of the zombies, thanks to the carpeted floor which made her approach almost silent. Her heart was working overtime and it felt like a ticking time-bomb in her chest. She took a final deep breath then started yelling obscenities at the zombies and started frantically waving her hands around in the air.

  The zombies turned slowly and started to move in her direction, attracted by the noise she was making. They did not notice the stationery Kasey and Milt on the other side of the corridor who had their arms outstretched, aiming their guns towards the targets.

  As the zombies turned and moved, the passengers and two Alpha Team officers moved closer to the window to see what was happening outside the gate.

  The first zombie got to within six feet of Gina, and just when she was starting to panic and was preparing to run, it stopped. This was all Milt needed as he pressed the trigger on his pistol, the bullet penetrating the first zombies head and exploding on impact. The zombie was thrown against the glass partition a few feet from Gina and went down in a heap. Kacey had lined up a second zombie and hit it side on in the chest. Again, the round made a huge hole and threw the zombie against the glass close to where the first one landed. But, she saw to her horror that it was starting to get back up.

  “Head shots,” Milt ordered.

  Neither Milt nor Kacey needed to worry about the second zombie getting back up because Gina had moved a couple of paces and sunk her knife into its head before straightening up to face the rest.

  Milt and Kacey looked back to the horde and were surprised to see how close they had gotten in just a few seconds. They frantically let off a few shots and started to panic as some of the precious bullets missed their target.

  “Take it nice and easy,” soothed Milt as his next shot hit his target, but they were both now backing away at an ever-increasing speed.

  Gina heard the shots coming from Milt and Kacey, but her attention was on the zombies coming towards her. With the glass behind her back she didn’t have any choice but to stand and fight; there were just too many of them. The first one got to within four feet of her before it stopped. It tilted its head and seemed to sniff the air, just like the one
on the plane, before turning and moving off in the direction of the gunfire. Gina stood still as two more zombies approached her and moved off in a similar manner. Despite her confusion, Gina saw her chance and ran up behind the latest zombie to turn away from her and embedded her knife in the back of its skull. The zombie dropped to the floor and remained motionless. Gina quickly looked around but none of the zombies nearby were taking any notice of her.

  She looked towards Milt and Kacey and could see them backing towards the jetway, firing rounds as they went. It was clear that they could shoot pretty well as the corridor was littered with corpses; Gina had obviously miscalculated the numbers as there were still a good number of zombies hunting them down. As Gina moved towards another zombie with her knife raised she heard a click and Kacey shouting “I’m out.” That left just Milt and he must also be low on bullets. Gina stabbed her knife into another head as she heard the second click. She looked up in time to see Milt and Kacey turn and disappear down the jetway. As they went, more shots rang out and zombies started dropping all around. Gina turned and saw with relief that two armed police officers were standing just outside Gate 7 and were rapidly picking off zombies with head shots. It didn’t take them long before all the zombies were down, and a relative hush fell upon the corridor, the smell of cordite strong in the air and smoke drifting as the air was circulated by the air conditioners.

  Milt and Kacey cautiously popped their heads around the corner of the jetway before retracing their steps, carefully skirting the corpses on the floor. They came up to Gina and hugged her before all three turned and walked towards the officers.

  “Thanks for your help,” Gina said. “It was starting to get away from us there until you stepped in. I’m Gina, Cabin Crew, and these are Milt and Kacey.” There were nods all around.

  “We’re Security, Alpha Team, Sean and Travis,” came the response from the first officer as the second turned and shot two more zombies that had just entered the corridor from beyond Gate 7. “We saw what you were doing from inside there,” Sean pointed towards Gate 7, “but we couldn’t get out to support you until the zombies moved away from the door. And, you’re welcome.”

  “Do you have any spare rounds for these pistols?” asked Milt.

  “Where did you get them?” asked Sean suspiciously.

  “We found them lying on the floor in the Forward Galley of the plane” Gina explained. “We thought it was sensible to be armed under the circumstances.” She could see that Sean had instantly understood where and how the guns had gotten there as a brief look of pain crossed his face before settling back into one of determination.

  “Looks like you know how to shoot,” he noted as he reached into his pocket and produced two new magazines and passed them over. Milt and Kacey took the magazines gratefully and ejected the old ones before inserting the new ones with a comforting click.

  “We saw that you had to hit the heads,” noted Travis as they all moved back towards Gate 7 and the passengers staring through the glass. A round of applause broke out and smiles began to appear on their faces. “That’s where we went wrong earlier; we were firing into the bodies and it was having little effect. We also noticed that they didn’t attack you. Is there any reason for that?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” replied Gina, “but I suspect it could be the smell of me.”

  “Yes, it is a bit ripe,” Travis commented holding his nose. Gina laughed and punched him playfully on the arm.

  “You should have laid on the floor in amongst blood and guts for hours,” she replied. Travis looked at her again with renewed admiration.

  “I’m impressed,” he said, with a nod of his head.

  As the passengers from Gate 7 cautiously started exiting the gate, they heard footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs. The passengers froze as the two officers plus Milt and Kacey trained their guns towards the noise.

  “Hold fire!” Sean shouted when he recognised Bear and Irish as they appeared at the top of the stairs, closely followed by two more Alpha Team officers and six from Bravo Team. They approached the group, surveying the surrounding area as they moved.

  “Good to see you, Boss,” Sean said.

  “Likewise,” replied Bear. “I see you managed to sort yourselves out here.”

  “We’ve got these three to thank for that,” interjected Travis, “especially this one here,” he said indicating Gina. Thankfully, they couldn’t see her blush under all the grime on her face as quick introductions were made.

  “I see you’ve figured out that head shots are the only way to put them down… that we know of anyway,” noted Irish.

  “Yes, but a knife will also do the trick,” Travis replied, smiling at Gina. “It also seems that they won’t attack you if you’re covered in blood and guts.”

  “Have you swept the area?” Bear enquired.

  “Not yet,” replied Sean. “From here to the plane is clear; that’s the direction these three came from. As for the rest of the gates, we have no idea.”

  “Right, we need to sweep the area,” ordered Bear. “Gina, Milt and Kacey, can you stay with the passengers? You two’ re with me,” he gestured to Sean and Travis. “We’ll take the corridor with gates 13 to 22 and Irish and his team will take the corridor with gates 23 to 40. One thing to note; people who have been attacked and look like they’re dead have been getting back up as zombies. So, we need to put a bullet in anything lying on the ground. If they don’t talk, shoot them in the head. We’ll meet back here ASAP then make our way back to the Security Command Centre. Right, time to start our fightback people.” With that, the two teams set off down the corridors and Gina, Milt and Kacey herded the passengers back into Gate 7, closed the door and fell into the nearest seat.

  38

  Day 1

  09:45 GMT

  Heathrow Terminal 3

  The large Arrivals Hall was packed as usual with waiting relatives, taxi drivers and chauffeurs holding up name cards, travel agent reps and a variety of airport staff.

  The large room was unusually quiet as people listened worriedly to the sound of screams and shots being fired from the other side of customs. The two security guards standing by the exit had received their orders and had taken their weapons off their shoulder and were now actively sweeping the crowd looking for targets.

  The mood in the room was one of mounting concern and tension; all had seen previous footage of terrorist attacks on the television and were concerned that this was happening right here and now.

  The first passengers from Baggage Reclaim came sprinting through Customs into the Arrivals Hall, chased by a handful of Customs officials who hadn’t seen what was going on and thought these passengers were just ‘doing a runner’. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened, and it wouldn’t be the last, but they were determined that no one was going to get away. It was just a surprise to them that so many people were running at the same time; it was usually just the odd one or two.

  The sprinting passengers made no effort to slow down or stop and cannoned into the waiting crowd, knocking people over like a giant game of ten-pin bowling. Those that fell during the contact swiftly scrambled to their feet and, all pleasantries forgotten, resumed their headlong rush towards the exits without a word. The people waiting within the Arrivals Hall who were still standing quickly parted like the Red Sea as more and more passengers came hurtling through the area. The security guards at the exit could do little but watch them run past.

  Within minutes zombies were following the fleeing passengers into the Arrivals Hall and began attacking anything in sight. It didn’t take long for the people waiting to see what was happening and join the fleeing passengers. There didn’t seem to be any end to the stream of zombies coming into the Arrivals Hall, chasing people towards the exit, or following those who had found other passageways leading to the check in counters and the escalators leading down to the tube and train stations.

  The security guards at the exit started picking off obvious tar
gets, being as careful as possible to miss anyone alive. They paused as they saw two of their colleagues coming towards them before, much too late, they realised that they had turned.

  39

  Day 1

  09:55 GMT

  Heathrow Terminal 3

  Bear, Irish and their teams had finished their sweep of Level 2 and had wiped out any remaining trace of stray zombies on that level; they had left a lot of dead bodies lying all over the place behind them.

  They slowly descended the stairs from Level 2 to Level 1, their MP5’s raised and eyes scanning the area ahead. Gina, Milt, Kacey, and the passengers from Gate 7 were following at a discreet distance.

  As they neared the bottom of the stairs an officer would stop to steady themselves before firing their weapon and then continuing onwards. Gina couldn’t see what they were shooting at, but she didn’t need any guesses.

  Again, the number of zombies in this part of Level 1 was low. The ones that were still there must have been stragglers who hadn’t kept up with the main horde. The officers picked them off at a rapid rate.

  “Let’s get you all into Security Command where you’ll be safe,” Bear advised as he moved to the entrance in the alcove. The rest of you keep cover and then follow us in.”

  There were only fourteen passengers left so Bear escorted them along the corridor to the ‘Common Room’, the place where security staff tended to take their coffee breaks. He pointed out the fridges and told them where they could find cups and cutlery then told them to make themselves at home, but stay put. He gestured that Gina, Milt, and Kacey should follow him, and they stepped back into the corridor. Irish was standing there with Sean and Travis waiting for them, but the rest of the officers had gone off towards the armoury to reload their weaponry.

  Jack had been watching and listening to what was happening to the teams and had earlier ordered Bear and Irish to join him in his office. He opened the door when Bear knocked and allowed his new visitors to enter.