by Hatchett
“Pick a group of twelve, includin’ you, and then we start plannin’. The rest of you, back to your duties.” The lieutenants except Mamba rose from their seats and left the tent, clapping Mamba on the back as they passed him and high-fiving each other. Isaac, Zak, and the other spotters were about to leave when Mamba ordered, “You two stay!” Isaac and Zak turned back and saw two fingers on Mamba’s right hand pointing in their direction. The other spotters fled the tent before the fingers could be pointed at them; they could see that this was going to be dangerous and wanted no part of it. Mamba indicated the seats and Isaac and Zak sat down.
Mamba rose, nodded to the Judge and Jury, and approached the boys. From his pocket he produced a list of names. “Find these people and bring them back here,” he ordered. “No rush. You can leave the guns with me,” he added before turning away. Isaac and Zak quickly put their rifles on the chair and went off in search of the names on the list. It was obvious that this had all been pre-arranged but staged to look like an off-the-cuff decision.
9
Day 2 – 10:30
Green Park Estate, Stepney, East London
Isaac and Zak were back on the roof, sitting in the main tent with the nine other gang members named on Mamba’s list. Luckily, one of the names had been Nelson so the boys had had the chance to go back to the flat to get him and, at the same time, advise Samata what was going on. The one big surprise was that Grace’s name was also on the list, but she didn’t seem at all fazed when Isaac told her. Instead, she had just changed into jeans, trainers and a hoody and told Isaac that she was ready whenever he was.
The Judge and Jury had been in their seats talking to Mamba when they all arrived, and Mamba now stood in front of them. He looked at each of them one by one. When his eyes fell upon Grace he smiled and said, “Alright, little niece?” Grace smiled back and nodded her head in response.
Isaac and Zak looked at each other. “Niece?” Isaac mouthed to Zak who shrugged his shoulders in response. Perhaps their inclusion might have nothing to do with ‘Call of Duty’ and everything to do with the fact that Isaac was shagging Mamba’s cousin. ‘Well, only recently,’ Isaac thought to himself. He looked up to see Mamba smiling slyly at him again. ‘Oh fuck!’ he thought to himself, ‘He knows and I’m dead.’
“You bunch of tarts are comin’ with me,” Mamba said. “We’re goin’ on a little journey, so there’s a few things you need to learn, and learn fast. First, how to slide down a zip wire, second, how to set up a zip wire, third, how to shoot. I assume you all know how to use a knife?” There were nods all around. “Ridin’ a zip wire is a piece of piss, as long as you don’t mind heights. We’ve got loads set up around here, but we’ll need to sort out a few more. This,” he indicated what looked like shortened bicycle handlebars, “is a pulley. You fix the pulley onto the wire and then push off. Simple. This,” he indicated what looked like a bullet-proof vest, “is a harness which you’ll all need to put on. You attach a safety cable from your harness to the pulley. This,” he indicated a metal loop in a roughly pear shape, “is a cara-somethin’-or-other and is used to slide your bags along the zip. It is also secured to either your harness or the pulley and it drags along the zip behind you. As I said, a piece of piss. I won’t bore you with how we set up new zips, there’s people here who can do that. Questions?”
“How do we stop at the other end of the zip?” someone in the front asked.
“You crash into the side of the fuckin’ buildin’ and break a few bones,” Mamba replied, looking deadly serious. “Only jokin’,” he advised with a smirk, although no one there thought he was joking at all. “Some of the zips have a smooth run onto a buildin’ roof and you’ll slow down and stop automatically. Some, you will need to use the brake on the pulley.” He indicated the brakes. “In some places we have crash mats or paddin’, but this was hard to do so not many places have them. You also need to wear a pair of these gloves if you wanna keep the skin on your hands. Anythin’ else?” There were no more questions. “Follow me and let’s get you kitted out.”
Mamba left the tent with the twelve gang members following and headed for one of the trestle tables. He then started handing out the pulleys, harnesses, gloves, bags, and walkie-talkies.
“Don’t fuckin’ lose anythin’ or you’re on your own!” he cautioned. He gave Isaac and Zak longer bags than the rest saying, “Here’s the special bags for our sharpshooters and their long guns. Choose carefully boys!” He turned so everyone could hear. “Everyone should fill their bags with food and water as we don’t know how long we’ll be away. You should all get some hand guns and knives. I’ve got some other zip equipment which will need to be shared amongst you.” He indicated another trestle table loaded with weapons. “Go get your toys!”
Isaac and Zak approached the weapons table and selected a rifle and an automatic weapon each. They were amazed at the options available. They then selected a couple of pistols, knives and loads of rounds for the guns before moving off to get some food and drinks. The bags were getting pretty heavy and thankfully Mamba didn’t allocate any more equipment to them. Once they were satisfied with their choices, they helped each other put on their harnesses as did the others around them.
“Make sure they’re fuckin’ tight or you’ll do yourself an injury,” Mamba shouted.
Grace and Nelson came over. “Ready guys?” asked Grace innocently.
“You could’ve fuckin’ told me you were related to fuckin’ Mamba of all people!” Isaac spluttered.
“But then you wouldn’t have spoken to me or ….” She let the sentence hang.
“Dead fuckin’ right I wouldn’t have!” Isaac retorted. “I don’t have a fuckin’ death wish.”
“Too late now,” Grace replied with a smile before heading off to get some food to put in her bag. The three boys looked at each other, shrugged and followed. Isaac was still pissed off, but underneath, he was kind of pleased.
Once everyone was ready, Mamba checked everyone’s bags and, in a couple of instances, removed objects stating, “too heavy.” Once he was satisfied, he led them across the roof to a part of the Western wall. Those who had not previously been aware, now recognised a zip line attached to some sort of ventilation block; effectively a metal rope which bridged the gap between the buildings. The wire stretched out over the building’s edge and ran about fifty metres down to an eight-story building on the opposite side of the street.
“Here’s where we start. You all do everythin’ I say straightaway and we’ll be fine. Now, Pinky and Perky need to understand their roles,” he said looking at Isaac and Zak to some muffled laughter. “Before we go anywhere, Pinky and Perky here will scan our target and take out any problems before we zip. Got it?” Isaac and Zak nodded. “One of you will be second down the wire so you can provide cover on the other side. The other one will be the last but one to go, and all the time the rest of us are crossin’, you’ll both be on guard and protectin’ us. The last person to go will be Ahmed, who will stick a knife up anyone’s arse if they’re not quick enough and don’t do what they’re told. Got it?” There were nods all around. Ahmed smiled at the thought of using his knife. He was a lieutenant, a violent and sadistic person in his late twenties and at six feet five inches, was the tallest in the group and very intimidating. Some would say that he had a screw loose or was a can short of a six-pack, so it was a good idea to keep on his good side - if you could find it. He was also as ugly as sin, not improved by the permanent scowl on his face.
“Come on then girls, show us what you’ve got,” Mamba teased. With that, he turned and walked to the wall and waited for Isaac and Zak to organise themselves.
Isaac looked at Zak and said, “you get the rifle, I’ve got the glasses.” Zak nodded and pulled out a bolt action rifle from his bag and checked that it was loaded. The boys looked around the group and got nods of encouragement from some and blank stares from others. They moved across to where Mamba was standing whilst the other members of the group lined
up against the wall on either side to watch.
As Zak readied the rifle, Isaac looked along the zip line and scoured the roof of the building opposite where the zip ended. He then used the binoculars to take a closer look. When he was finished he nodded.
“What about other buildin’s?” Mamba asked. “There could be snipers all around us.”
“What?” Isaac asked in puzzlement.
“We’re in the jungle now people so rules of the jungle apply. We don’t know if there are other gangs out there doin’ what we’re doin’. There’s an enemy out there somewhere. So, you need to look for danger everywhere, not just where we’re headin’.”
Isaac nodded his understanding and resumed his search of the area. This time, he checked the roofs and windows of all the surrounding buildings, looking for the slightest movement or reflection.
“You take as long as you need,” Mamba stressed, “cos this could be the difference between life and death. People won’t be expectin’ to see us zippin’, but by the third of fourth person we could become targets.”
Zak stood up from his position leaning on the top of the wall. “Just thought, a bolt action rifle is no good if there are a lot of targets.” He moved across to his bag and selected a light semi-automatic and inserted a magazine.
“Now you’re thinkin’,” Mamba encouraged. “See anythin’ Pinky?”
“Nothin’ apart from the zombies on the ground,” Isaac replied begrudgingly. He didn’t want the ‘Pinky’ name to stick but knew if he reacted then Mamba would just keep using it as a stick to bait him with.
“Good, but we betta check that Perky here is as good at shootin’ in real life as he is in a game.” Mamba looked around and selected a zombie milling about on the other side of the road and ordered, ‘hit that bastard!”
Zak followed Mamba’s instruction, made sure the safety was off the gun, set it to single shot and then looked for his target through the scope. He lined up the cross-hairs on the zombie’s head and slowly loosed off a shot.
The crack of the bullet echoed around the nearby buildings, with several of the zombies looking around to try and figure out where the noise came from. The zombie which Zak had shot had been thrown to the ground but was in the process of getting back up, blood all down the front of its chest. Mamba had been watching closely through a pair of binoculars and commented, “Good shot, but not good enough. You need to hit these motherfuckers in the head and you just hit that one in the neck or chest.”
“I think it’s the angle,” Zak muttered, “I had the head in the cross-hairs.”
“It’s not just the angle,” Mamba replied. “Gravity will drag the bullet down and wind may also make a difference, so you need to take these into account. Have another go.”
Zak put his eye to the scope and centred in on the same zombie. He considered the wind, which had eased off so was not much of a concern and then considered where he had aimed the last time and where it hit. He decided that he should place the cross-hairs a few inches above the zombie’s head. He did so and loosed off a second shot. The zombie’s head exploded in a cloud of red, with the body thrown back and down onto the pavement where it continued to leak blood.
There were cheers and hoots from the group and Mamba clapped Zak on the back. “Nice one Perky, piece of piss!” he exclaimed with a broad smile of his face. “Now, it’s your turn Pinky,” he said turning to Isaac. “Swap over. There’ll be times when you both need to be shootin’.”
Isaac handed over his glasses to Zak as he took hold of the rifle.
“Aim a coupla inches above the head,” Zak advised.
Isaac placed the scope to his eye and scoured the pavement across the road. The rifle was wobbling a bit, so he decided to rest it on the top of the wall. He then selected a target, and taking Zak’s advice into account, centred the cross-hairs just above a zombie’s head. He held his breath and slowly squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the zombie in the mouth, the bullet going straight though the zombie’s tongue and down through the jaw and out though the throat. Again, the zombie was thrown back and down onto the pavement. On this occasion, it was clear the zombie was still alive but could not get back up, so its spinal cord must have been severed.
“A bit higher,” Mamba commented, “but it did the job.”
Isaac was pleased that he hadn’t made a complete fool of himself and was quietly pleased when he turned and saw Grace smiling and applauding him.
“Get scoutin’ boys,” Mamba ordered. “Time we was movin’ out.”
Zak raised the binoculars to his eyes and started scouring the area while Isaac did the same through the gun’s scope. After a few minutes they confirmed that everything was clear.
Mamba stepped away from the wall, showed everyone how to attach the pulley to his harness and to the carabiner which would hold his bag. He first attached the carabiner to the wire then attached his pulley in front of it. He then walked towards the wall, the pulley and carabiner trailing along the wire just behind him. He shortened the length of the cord between the pulley and his harness, climbed on the wall, grabbed hold of the pulley, and pushed off from the wall screaming “a piece of piss!” as he went.
Mamba slid smoothly along the wire, picking up speed. As he neared the other building, the natural sag in the wire slowed his descent and by the time he was over the other building’s roof he had slowed right down and came to a natural stop. He applied the brake and quickly unclipped his cord before withdrawing a pistol and scanning his immediate area. Once he was satisfied that he was alone, he removed his pulley and the carabiner holding his bag and stashed them a few feet away. He then took a last look around and unclipped his walkie-talkie.
“Send them down Ahmed!” he ordered.
Isaac and Zak had decided to ditch the bolt action rifles and get another semi-automatic each, so they dashed across to the trestle table to make the switch.
“Where the fuck are they?” Mamba growled through the walkie-talkie. “I’m standin’ here like ‘Billy-fuckin’- no-mates’. We’ve gotta be quicker so stick that knife up their arses!”
“Just swappin’ guns,” Ahmed muttered, “they’ll be down in a sec.”
When they returned, Isaac decided that he should go before Zak, the big brother leading the way sort of thing. He followed the same routine as Mamba had shown them and he was soon on his way down the line. It was the first time he had done anything like this, and although it was a bit scary at first, especially when you first left the safety of the building behind, he found the experience quite exhilarating.
“Nice of you to fuckin’ join me Pinky!” Mamba snarled when Isaac landed. “Get your shit outta the way and get scoutin’.”
Isaac quickly unhooked his attachments, placed them to one side and grabbed his glasses and automatic before moving to the edge of the building to continue scouting. He could see another gang member was already on his way down the zip then noticed Grace looking in his direction; he quickly scanned elsewhere, not sure what he should do about her. She was a nice girl and he liked her, but the Mamba connection had him seriously worried.
Once everyone was down Mamba asked, “Well, anyone sick?” There were shakes of the head all around. “Any questions?”
“How do we get back up there?” asked one of the group, a lad in his mid-twenties known as ‘Knocker’, or ‘Knock’ for short. He was around five feet ten with skin which was as black as coal, light shining brightly off his cheekbones. As was the case for most of the gang, no one knew his real name or, in this case, his correct age. He was known as ‘Knock’ simply because that’s what he did; he knocked off or stole anything that wasn’t bolted down.
“Well, Knock, me ol’ son,” Mamba started, “see that second line Ahmed brought down with him?” The group looked back to the zip and there was indeed a rope now attached to the wire. “You attach yourself as before and you either use the rope to pull yourself back up or if there’s people on the other end, they will pull you. It gets a bit harder the steep
er the zip. Time to get goin’.”
Mamba moved to the other side of the roof where they found the next zip wire and Isaac and Zak set about scouting the area. This zip went across to a housing estate, similar to the Green Park Estate, but only seven stories high so it was still downhill, but at a much shallower gradient. The beauty about the next building was that it’s length covered the whole of the next block. Once they landed, they would be able to walk all the way across the roof to Jubilee Street, about four hundred and fifty metres away from where they now stood. Mamba had studied his maps the previous night and worked out the quickest way to the Tower of London; wherever possible he selected these types of buildings; flat roofs heading East / West and routes that had already been tried and tested so he knew they were safe. The last thing he wanted was for anyone in his group to fall to their death. Mamba knew that at Jubilee Street they would be faced with their first problem; a much taller building would be opposite and there was no zip in place.
10
Day 2 – 12:00
Jubilee Street, London
The group had paused for a drink while Isaac and Zak scouted the area. There were now far more zombies in the streets below and they had seen several scared looking faces peeking out of nearby windows. Some of these faces had even spotted them and opened the windows to call out for help but there was no time to waste. Once they landed on a flat roof, they could, of course, look for an entrance into the building and go knocking door to door looking for survivors but they had better things to do, and the longer they could stay away from zombies the better. They didn’t need any survivors in any case, they would just be slowed down by them.
The odd plane or helicopter flew nearby, causing the group to duck down and find cover wherever possible, but often they were in the distance and fewer and fewer were seen as time went on.
When he was sure Mamba was otherwise engaged, Isaac sneaked a quick look around the group; Mamba, Skelly and Ahmed, all lieutenants and veterans of the gang with matching tattoos on their necks to signify their seniority, were in a huddle having a private discussion. Then there was himself, Zak, Grace, and Nelson, all tattoo-free and the new generation to find themselves automatically inducted as gang members. Then there were the regular foot gang members; those who were not equipped to be leaders but had the necessary skills required for gang membership. Isaac didn’t know any of them, except by sight, although he knew most of their names, and for those he didn’t, he picked them up over the past few hours. There was Knock, who had asked a question earlier, and Fish, Dodge, Bird and Smiley making up the twelve.
