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

by Hatchett

  “Please help us,” a blond-haired woman shouted. “We’ve been stuck in here for days and we’re hungry and thirsty.”

  “What are you hungry for woman?” Mamba shouted back, “there’s a fuckin’ restaurant right below you!” Mamba started laughing at his own joke.

  “Please!” the woman wailed.

  “Who’re you with?” Mamba asked.

  “Just me and my boyfriend,” she replied.

  Mamba had wondered who the second person was. He couldn’t see them that well so quickly checked through his binoculars. She looked young and was obviously quite pretty despite her current haggard appearance. As for the man, he didn’t give a shit. Mamba ordered Daniel to back the truck up to the Indian restaurant.

  “What the fuck for?” came Dodge’s response. “Sittin’ here with the engine running is makin’ us the centre of attention,” he added, referring to the gathering crowd of zombies.

  “We’re savin’ a damsel in distress,” Mamba responded, “so just fuckin’ do as you’re told!”

  Daniel moved the truck forward and then reversed so that its rear bumper was almost touching the glass of the restaurant’s front windows. Handy things those reversing cameras.

  The truck was just below the height of the restaurant and the window was on the next floor up, so about two to three metres.

  “You’re gonna have to jump. Don’t worry, I’ll catch you,” Mamba ordered.

  The woman climbed onto the windowsill before turning and lowering herself until she was hanging straight down.

  “Let go!” Mamba ordered and after taking a quick look over her shoulder, the woman let go and fell a metre and a half into Mamba’s waiting arms. The woman had started to say ‘thank you’ when she realised that Mamba had hold of one of her breasts. She put it down as an accident as Mamba let go and turned back towards the window. The woman moved out of the way towards Isaac, who looked the least threatening of the three men on the truck.

  “I’m Isaac,” he introduced himself smiling.

  “Shauna,” the woman replied.

  “This is Bird,” Isaac indicated his colleague, “and the one who caught you is Mamba.”

  She turned to look towards Mamba and saw that her boyfriend had just manoeuvred himself, so he could hang down from the window. As he did so, she saw Mamba say something into his walkie-talkie and the truck suddenly moved forwards a few metres before stopping again. Shauna had not been ready for any movement and stumbled. If it hadn’t been for Isaac’s quick reaction in grabbing her, she would’ve fallen off the side of the truck. She smiled gratefully at Isaac as he let her go and she quickly turned back towards Mamba and her boyfriend.

  “What are you doing?” she screamed as she heard Mamba telling her boyfriend to let go. Her scream stopped him just in time, and he looked down over his shoulder.

  “What the fuck?” he shouted as he realised that the truck was no longer beneath him. He started to try and pull himself back up to the window, but his arms had been fully extended for a few seconds and he didn’t have the strength. He tried to find some sort of purchase for his feet but there was nothing to latch onto. His sweaty hands were starting to slip on the windowsill and moving around wasn’t helping. He looked down again and saw Mamba smiling up at him.

  “Move the truck back!” Shauna screamed, “he’s going to fall!”

  Mamba continued to watch in amusement as the man stopped struggling and tried to keep his grip. In slow motion, the man’s fingers slipped until the point where gravity won, and he screamed as he fell four metres onto the pavement and the waiting zombies below. The zombies piled onto the man, ripping him to shreds in a matter of seconds as Mamba watched on with interest. The man’s screams slowly died out, but Shauna was still screaming, trying to get to Mamba, but being held back by Isaac. Isaac was whispering urgently into her ear to calm down, but it was having no effect.

  Mamba turned to look at Shauna, his smile gone. “Shut up bitch!” he hissed, “or you get to join your boyfriend.” Shauna stopped screaming but stayed close to Isaac.

  “Seems all the bird’s like you, Pinky,” Mamba commented, “but this one’s mine.”

  “What the fuck is goin’ on?” Dodge asked through the walkie-talkie, “we’ve just had front row seats to watch some poor bastard gettin’ eaten on the TV screen.”

  “He slipped,” Mamba replied. “We’ll be off again in a mo.”

  Mamba was still staring at Shauna. “Come here and sit down!”

  Shauna was naturally reluctant to move until Mamba shouted ‘MOVE!’ then she slowly shuffled towards the back of the truck, tears streaming down her face.

  “Sit down!” Mamba ordered, and Shauna did as she was told. Mamba sat himself behind her and put his right arm around her, his right hand cupping her left breast. “Don’t want a pretty thing like you fallin’ off now, do we?” he whispered in her ear before licking it. Isaac and Bird quickly settled back down, and Mamba gave the order to move off. Isaac looked across at Shauna and could see she was still crying silently but any resistance had gone for now.

  In the cab, Daniel had watched the man get taken apart on the monitor; there were several cameras around the truck and he could select any of the views. The only view he didn’t have was the roof space. Whilst he didn’t know exactly what had happened, it didn’t take a genius to work out that Mamba was up to his usual tricks. He hadn’t seen the woman fall off the truck, so he was pretty sure she was still alive. Grace had grabbed his hand when the man fell, and he wished that Dodge wasn’t in the cab, so he could talk frankly to her.

  He put the truck in gear and pulled away, once again heading East along the A1203. He intended to keep going on this road before turning onto Butcher Row, double back along the A13 towards Whitechapel, then take a right up Arbour Street until he reached their destination at Aylward Street. According to the Satnav, the journey was two and a half miles and they had done about three quarters of a mile. They were now expected to arrive at around nine o’clock but, of course, the satnav wasn’t aware of the current road hazards or Mamba’s temperament, which was an even bigger hazard.

  Daniel drove the truck to Butcher Row without further incident, although there had been various blockages which he’d had to navigate along the way. At least these main roads were dual carriageways so there was more chance of finding gaps. If it wasn’t for the zombies everywhere, it would’ve been like driving through a ghost town. He thought about the song ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘this town, becoming like a Ghost Town, all the clubs have been closed down’ and thought about turning on the radio before remembering that there was no more radio.

  On Butcher Row – appropriate name, Daniel thought – the truck was approaching the railway bridge which led to Limehouse Station just around the corner when suddenly the walkie talkie squeaked into life with an urgent ‘STOP!’ coming from Mamba.

  “What’s the problem bro?” Dodge asked.

  “Just heard shots,” Mamba replied.

  “Can’t hear shit in here bro,” Dodge commented as the windscreen in front of him was hit by a round, which then bounced off without leaving the slightest mark.

  “Thank fuck the armoured glass works,” Dodge commented with relief. The round was followed by two or three more, each creating sparks as they bounced off the armour.

  On the roof, Mamba, Isaac, Bird and Shauna were lying flat and looking around wildly to try and find the source of the shots.

  “Where’s the fucker?” Mamba demanded as he crawled towards the front edge of the roof, all thoughts about Shauna forgotten.

  “Somewhere ahead of us,” Isaac replied. He had already taken out his glasses and was scanning ahead. Mamba and Bird did the same, being careful not to present themselves as a target.

  “Got him!” Isaac advised with glee. “See the train bridge? Well, slightly to the left and behind it, there’s two buildin’s. There’s someone on the roof of the buildin’ on the right.” Mamba and Bird moved their glasses until the
y were centred on the place Isaac had indicated. Nothing happened for several seconds then a head appeared before darting back.

  “Got him,” Mamba remarked, “Good spot Pinky.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Bird confirmed.

  “Depends what he’s got but we’re sittin’ ducks here,” Mamba noted. He ordered Dodge to get the truck moved forward so they were protected under the railway bridge. “Get it so you can see the roof of the buildin’s opposite, but make sure we’re outta sight. Then tell me what the fucker is doin’.”

  Daniel moved the truck forward as instructed so that just the bonnet and the windshield was in the open. Daniel looked out of his side window and up towards the roof of the building which was now directly to their left. Grace and Dodge had to lean forward to see it through the windscreen. They could see the rooftop, and every now and again, they saw a head pop up then disappear. Dodge relayed the information to Mamba.

  Mamba was now standing on the roof of the truck, looking around and trying to figure out how to take the fucker out. He could’ve instructed Daniel to go on and hope the bastard was a bad shot, but the truck had been hit so he couldn’t be that bad.

  “You got your rifle, Pinky?”

  “No, just the automatic,” Isaac replied.

  “Well, that was fuckin’ stupid.”

  “I think Dodge brought his,” Bird said.

  Mamba checked with Dodge and Bird was right. That gave him more options. If he’d only had an automatic, it would have had to have been a bloody lucky shot or he would’ve had to storm the building, and God knows what that might have entailed. At least with a rifle he didn’t have to get too close and should be able to do the business from here.

  Mamba looked at the underside of the railway bridge. There were actually two bridges, close together, but with a gap between them. One bridge must be the line into London and the other out of London he thought to himself. He reached up but there was no way he could reach the girders underneath the bridge.

  Isaac had seen where Mamba was looking and suggested that he and Bird could pull him up there.

  “And, how the fuck are you gonna do that Pinky?”

  “We throw a rope over the girder and me and Bird hoist you up.”

  Mamba looked again and worked it through in his mind. “Might work,” he conceded before telling Dodge to wind down his window and pass his rifle and a rope from the bag in the area behind the cabin.

  Mamba walked to the front of the roof and was about to step onto the roof of the cabin when his line pulled taut. He undid his line and stepped onto the cabin’s roof and moved towards the passenger window. As he did so, he slipped on some blood and fell off the edge of the truck.

  Isaac and Bird had seen Mamba slip and heard the subsequent thud as he landed. They quickly moved to the side of the truck, expecting to see Mamba being mauled by zombies. To their surprise, Mamba was sitting on the ground next to a couple of zombies who had broken his fall and was surrounded by others. Mamba didn’t move, and other than a few cursory glances, the zombies ignored him.

  Isaac and Bird looked at each other in confusion. At the same time, Dodge was looking out of the cabin’s side window, equally bewildered.

  “What the fuck?” Isaac muttered. “He must have nine lives.”

  “Or he’s the second comin’,” Bird suggested in awe.

  “You ok Mamba?” Isaac asked, the noise attracting the attention of the zombies nearby. Mamba nodded his head and was about to reply when he realised that moving his head had caused the nearest zombies to take a closer look at him. He kept quiet and waited for the zombies to lose interest before he very slowly and carefully started to get to his feet. At one point, a zombie had its face just inches from Mamba’s, but he held his nerve and the zombie moved away. Mamba slowly moved back to the truck and climbed back onto the bonnet, everyone watching his every move. Once on the bonnet, Mamba started laughing.

  “Thick bastards!” he screamed at the zombies before pulling his knife and thrusting it into one of their faces. He wiped the knife on his jeans then climbed back onto the cabin roof, moved to the passenger window again, and took the rifle and rope from Dodge before climbing back onto the main roof.

  “How the fuck did you get away with that?” Bird asked, still in awe.

  “Fuck knows,” he replied, “maybe they don’t wanna mess with Mamba!” Isaac kept quiet but thought he knew why Mamba was still alive.

  Over the next few minutes, the three of them tried to throw the rope over one of the girders and eventually managed to do it. Mamba slung the rifle over his shoulder and attached himself to the rope. When he was ready, Isaac and Bird hauled him up until Mamba could get a grip on the girder and pull himself up. Mamba then moved from girder to girder until he reached the gap between the two bridges. He hauled himself up onto a ledge, careful to make sure that he couldn’t be seen. From there, he unslung the rifle and made sure that it was ready to use. He then picked up his walkie talkie.

  “Dodge, is that fucker still lookin’ up every now and again?”

  “Yep.”

  “Ok. In ten seconds, get Daniel to hit the horn. Hopefully it will attract him.” Mamba clicked off, put the rifle scope to his eye and pointed it up towards the roof of the building.

  When the horn sounded, it was loud, especially in the semi-enclosed space beneath the railway bridge and would’ve made Mamba jump out of his skin if he hadn’t been expecting it.

  As he suspected, the target on the roof couldn’t help himself but look to see what all the noise was about. Mamba got him dead centre in his sights and took his head off. Mamba then surveyed the rest of the roof to make sure no one took his place. He stayed there, not moving for five minutes before he was satisfied that it must have been a stray gunman. He then made his way back along the girders and, with the help of Isaac and Bird, lowered himself back onto the truck.

  “Teach that fucker to mess with me,” Mamba stated before taking the equipment and passing it back to Dodge. He then returned and secured himself back on the rail and made himself comfortable next to Shauna. Shauna had not said a word the whole time and was severely disappointed that Mamba had somehow survived his accident. She was not the only one.

  Mamba gave the order to continue and Daniel set off. He went to the end of Butcher Row and turned left onto the A13, Commercial Road. After a further twenty metres he stopped the truck.

  “What the fuck have we stopped for?” Mamba asked Dodge via the walkie-talkie.

  “Danny Boy says we might wanna use the bus next to us for transport,” Dodge responded. “I’ll pass you over.”

  Daniel came online. “If you look at the newish Routemaster bus next to us, there’s no driver and the bus looks intact.”

  Mamba surveyed the bus. “Yeah, but there’s lots of zombies on it,” Mamba responded.

  “I can get you close enough to the driver’s secure compartment; even with zombies, they can’t get to the driver. Then we can open the doors and do something to attract their attention.”

  Mamba considered the suggestion. He had to admit that a bus would be ideal as he would be able to get loads of people on board. “OK, let’s try it. Get as close as you can to the driver’s side.”

  Daniel manoeuvred the truck so that it was right next to where a bus driver would sit. A couple of zombies had been crushed between the truck and the bus, but who cared?

  “Who wants to drive?” Mamba asked.

  “I will,” Shauna replied, the first words she had uttered since they had set off from where she had been ‘rescued’.

  “Nice try, lady,” Mamba said with a smile, “you’re not gettin’ away from me that easily.”

  “Oh? And where would I go? You’d shoot me before I got away in any case.”

  “You can drive a bus?” Mamba asked.

  “I can drive a car. What’s the difference?”

  Mamba laughed. He didn’t really know if there was any difference, but there must be something to it because he hadn’t se
e many female bus drivers, or lorry drivers for that matter.

  “It’s different,” he replied.

  “I’ll do it,” Bird advised before unhooking himself and moving towards the bus. He leaned over the side of the truck to pull the handle but there wasn’t one. “There’s no fuckin’ door!” Bird announced.

  Mamba and Isaac looked over the side and could see what Bird was talking about.

  “The fuckin’ driver must get in the other side,” Mamba advised, “but we can’t get through all them zombies.”

  “You might be able to,” Isaac suggested.

  “Funny ha-ha!” Mamba retorted. “Maybe I should send you around, Pinky?”

  “There’s a window which we could climb through,” Isaac suggested to draw attention away from himself.

  Mamba and Bird looked at the window, which was slightly ajar. Mamba reached down and opened it as far as it would go.

  “I’m slim but I’m too big to get through that unless we smash it,” Bird noted.

  “Me too,” added Mamba. “So, it’s gotta be Pinky or the bird.”

  “I’ll do it,” Isaac offered.

  “Can you drive? You’re not old enough, are you?”

  “Of course I’m old enough!” Isaac retorted. “I’ve just never tried.”

  “Fuck me,” Mamba replied shaking his head. “What the fuck have you been doin’ except playin’ X-Box or somethin’. Don’t answer that, shaggin’ my niece doesn’t count. Looks like you’re up, girl,” he said turning to Shauna.

  Shauna was twenty-four, very slim and only stood at five feet four inches, so there was every chance she would be able to squeeze through the small gap.

  “In you get,” Mamba ordered, holding her arm as she sat on the edge of the truck and placed both feet inside the window. Mamba took hold of her other arm and slowly lowered her until her feet touched the driver’s seat. He let go of her right arm, so she could grasp the side of the window and get her balance. He still held on to her left arm and suddenly stopped her from going any further. He leant down and whispered in her ear, “If you try anythin’, I won’t just kill you, I’ll make your life a livin’ hell first.” Then he licked her ear again for good measure.