The Dead Walk The Earth (Book 3) Page 22

  “Stan said he won’t risk making comms until they had made the RV and confirmed that the heli and crew are good to go,” Taff replied, reminding Bobby of the plan and what they had all agreed upon.

  Bobby knew the protocol and was fully aware of the communications aspect of their task, but the suspense and uncertainty were weighing heavily on his mind. He had wanted to go with Stan and Bull, but his request had been denied, Stan insisting that he remain behind to help with the final preparations.

  “Yeah, I know that, but a simple radio check would’ve been nice. It feels like Christmas, and I’m not sure if I’m on the ‘naughty list’.”

  “I know what you mean,” Taff chuckled quietly.

  The previous evening as it began to grow dark, Samantha had returned from Newport, bringing two members of the operations staff with her. The two young soldiers could not have been much older than twenty or so. They looked scared and unsure of themselves, but Samantha vouched for the pair of them. Neither of them had served in infantry units, and most of their time in the forces had been taken up behind computer screens, monitoring communications and relaying them to their commanders. Out of all the men and women she knew in Newport, they were the only ones she felt she could completely trust, and it had taken a lot of courage on their behalf to join her.

  She had considered asking Gerry, but as of late, he had seemed unreliable. Samantha had already told him what she and Melanie had briefly spoken about, but his reaction had been indecipherable. He had not made any indication about how he felt on the matter. She could not risk telling him that they were planning to leave that very same night.

  The three of them had arrived in two Land Rovers stolen from the command staff and packed with supplies that they had managed to rifle from the stores before deserting their posts. The team were grateful of the extra ammunition, and the group as a whole appreciated the cold weather equipment and army rations that they had brought with them.

  Each member of the group had a pack filled with what they needed to survive. Taff had overseen the storing of the kit, ensuring that only essential items were being taken. They may find themselves needing to move swiftly and could not afford to be dragging any dead weight along with them. A change of clothes, enough food and water to last for a few days, and most importantly, ammunition. Every single round was to be taken, regardless of the weight. Eleven backpacks sat in a neat line in front of the house, ready to be hauled onto the tailgate of the helicopter as soon as it landed.

  Kyle was sitting beside Samantha. She had come along and joined him in the western sentry position almost two hours ago after admitting defeat with her attempts at sleep. Neither of them had spoken the entire time. In fact, he had said very little to her in the whole time that he had been a member of the team. It was not that he did not want to; he just did not want to step on Bobby’s toes and create any conflict within the fragile group. Samantha was most definitely his type, but he was not the sort to attempt to move in on another man’s territory. He had opted for keeping his distance completely, not even attempting to strike up much in the way of conversation and keeping any communication with her cold and succinct. Now, they were both sitting in close proximity with nothing but their thoughts to occupy them.

  “Where do you think we’ll end up?” Samantha asked, finally breaking the oppressive silence and leaving the veteran with no option but to engage her. “When we get to the mainland, I mean. Where do you think we’ll go?”

  He shrugged and remained lost in his own thoughts for a moment. He was not sure about how to answer the question. He did not want to suddenly unleash a torrent of theories and opinions on her, making himself look foolish in the process and as though he had been resisting the urge to speak to her for the entire time. On the other hand, he did not want to come across as being rude or indifferent. It had been a while since he had spoken to a woman properly and alone. He lingered for a short while, trying to think of what he should and should not say. He was out of practice.

  “I don’t really care, to be honest,” he sighed, finally. He had decided to just say whatever came into his mind. The worst that could happen was that his brashness would put her off speaking to him again. “Just as long as it’s far from here and out in the middle of nowhere, and with good views in all directions. City life isn’t for me, I’m afraid. Especially in this day and age. Far too crowded.”

  He turned to her and grinned.

  “Yeah, I agree,” she replied, returning the smile. “Definitely keeping away from the urban areas. I never did like them before all this shit started, anyway. I think a castle would be nice. I always wanted to live in a castle when I was a little girl.”

  “Who didn’t?”

  They both became quiet for a few minutes. Samantha was remembering times from her childhood, dressed as a Princess and dreaming of knights and castles. Kyle’s thoughts were a little less complicated and much more corrupt. He was picturing Samantha naked. He could not help himself, and the images were not doing him any good at that moment. He gritted his teeth and mentally shook himself. He needed to wipe the thoughts from his head and put his mind to better use. He twisted and looked back over his shoulder, checking the horizon and judging the amount of time they had left to wait. He consulted his watch and nodded to himself, confirming that his estimation was correct.

  “It’s starting to get light,” he whispered and then nodded towards the north. “Stan and Bull should be meeting your friends any minute now. You sure they’re reliable, the two chopper drivers?”

  “As reliable as anyone is these days, I suppose. They were friends with Mel and Mike, and it was they who approached me first when they heard that she was missing. I wasn’t exactly spoilt for choices, so I took their offer.”

  “Aye, we’d be swimming, otherwise,” Kyle offered in way of acknowledging the fact that Samantha had actually done well to come up with the goods.

  “We can trust them,” she nodded with conviction.

  “Yeah well, I guess we’ll soon see.”

  The minutes continued to tick by and the point where the sea met the sky, far off to the east, slowly began to grow brighter. Above them, the night was steadily being chased away across the heavens and towards the west where it still held its dominance. The time to move would be upon them very soon. Everyone prepared themselves, checking their equipment and weapons once again and ensuring that every member of the group was awake and alert. The open area in front of the house had been nominated as the landing zone. The wind was blowing in from the north-east, so when the aircraft came in to land, the tail would be facing the house and the two rows of people and equipment waiting to board.

  Richard stepped out from the main door and into the cold air. He shuddered, hunching his shoulders and rubbing his hands together as he continued to shake off the sleep that was stubbornly clinging to his chilled bones. Next, he flung his hands out to his sides and raised himself up onto his toes, stretching the stiffness out of his joints and yawning loudly. He stepped to the side of the door and into the shadow of the house. A few seconds later, and the sound of trickling water could be heard as he relieved himself against the wall. He gasped and groaned, savouring the feeling of the release as his bladder slowly emptied. He zipped up his trousers and turned away, snorting and spitting as he walked across the unkempt lawns and headed for the eastern trench.

  “Now that that’s out the way, is there anything for breakfast?” he whispered loudly and to no one in particular.

  He placed a cigarette between his lips and reached for his lighter and then suddenly stopped. He glanced up and saw the dark sky above them and remembered what the men of the team had taught him about smoking at night. He would wait until he reached the sentry position and hunker down into the bottom of the trench before lighting his morning smoke. He stepped forward and headed for the shallow dugout where he knew Bobby and Taff would be sitting behind the machinegun.

  “I don’t fancy starting our adventure on an empty…”


  His legs, turning to jelly in an instant, fell from beneath him. A sudden crushing force pressing down from above made him drop into the wet grass and curl himself into a ball, clasping his hands to the sides of his head, and yowling at the top of his lungs with his face buried into the dirt. The sky seemed to suddenly crash down upon him with a crunching bang, pushing him into the earth. Richard’s head felt as though it was about to implode from the sudden and violent change in air-pressure. A hurricane had abruptly erupted directly above the house, cutting him off in mid-sentence, and forcing everyone to drop to the floor, clasping their ears and howling back against the shock. The ground reverberated beneath them, and the bricks of the house seemed to rattle against their foundations.

  “What the fuck…” Taff yelled out to Bobby as he twisted his body and turned his head and eyes up towards the sky.

  A blast of heat washed against his face and raged against his eye sockets, drying them instantly, and making him blink rapidly. An intensely bright light roared across the sky just above their positions. There was a short moment of vacuum as the glowing ball of fire displaced the air, rendering the men and women below unable to breathe. Gasping and writhing in the mud, the group became like fish on land, incapable of anything other than fighting to breathe. When the atmosphere returned, the smell of aviation fuel was overpowering as the trail of smoke clung to the airspace above them.

  Bobby and Taff were already scrambling to their feet and watching the missile as it continued along its trajectory, headed straight across the island and out over the sea again. In the distance, silhouetted by the brightening horizon, they could see the cluster of warships that were keeping their vigil on the island and the English Channel. A moment later, and the bomb struck with a mighty flash, sending up a fountain of white flame and black smoke from the HMS Illustrious. An immense hole must have been ripped through its hull, as even from that distance, Bobby and Taff could see the vessel begin to take on a severe list just seconds after the impact. More detonations quickly followed and erupted from the ship as its lower decks began to explode. Chunks of its superstructure were hurled high into the air and crashed back into the sea all around the stricken vessel as huge plumes of fire spouted up from its decks. In the blinding flashes of the bursting munitions, the small armada of vessels were outlined against the backdrop of the burning aircraft carrier.

  More demonic howls washed over the stunned men and women as another volley of missiles raced above their heads. Everyone turned and watched their flight, seeing that they were trailing in the path of the first. There was nothing that any of them could do but look on in complete disbelief as the salvo of rockets slammed into the ships that were anchored in the Channel and presenting themselves as easy prey. The frigates and destroyers surrounding the Illustrious seemed to vaporize as they were hit by a multitude of warheads that ploughed through their sides and detonated deep within their hulls. They momentarily jumped from the sea from the ferocious blasts, their backs broken and their upper decks collapsing in on themselves before dropping back into the water. The booms of the explosions raced out over land and sea, merging into one continuous cacophony of obliteration as the remains of the Royal Navy were wiped out. Within seconds, the English Channel was ablaze as the fleet of warships was quickly destroyed and sent down to the seabed.

  The cries of terror and screamed questions from amongst the group were drowned out as fast moving fighter jets screeched in low from the west, racing across the island at blinding speed. They were almost close enough for Taff and the others to see the concentrated faces of the pilots as they took aim on their designated targets. The fighters began unleashing their ordnance with pinpoint accuracy upon the army and militia positions running through the centre of the island. Tall geysers of earth and shrapnel were flung into the air as the defensive positions were reduced to craters filled with pulped organic material that had once been human beings. There was no discrimination between militia and government forces. All were targeted and marked for total annihilation.

  Taff and Bobby looked on in total awe of the scene. The attack was fierce and sudden, leaving no one with a chance to react. The sky buzzed with the whoosh of rockets and the growl of jet engines as enemy aircraft dropped in from high altitude, swooping in low across the farmlands, and smashing their targets before veering off and making room for the next wave of aircraft to begin their attacks. It was a light show like no other as hell was rained down upon the unsuspecting inhabitants below. The flames of the rockets and the glow of afterburners zipped through the airspace above the land while on the ground, a multitude of flashes, sparks, and flames sprang up from every corner of the island. All that Bobby and Taff could do was to hunker down in their flimsy shell scrape and watch the awesome firepower that was being brought to bear against them.

  In the distance, more bombers were zooming in from the western end of the English Channel and moving towards the positions on the north and central parts of the island. They were headed directly for Newport and began pummelling the town with their guided missiles, aiming for specific points where command and control was centred. Within seconds of the first bomb hitting its target, the streets were ablaze as buildings were blown apart in the torrent of rockets that were unleashed against them. The entire island seemed to be under bombardment.

  To the left of Newport, and from what Taff and the others could see, the airfield was also under heavy attack. Bright flashes spread out from the area followed by enormous fireballs and spurts of debris. It was virtually impossible to be heard over the crescendo of the explosions and jet engines. Some of the group were calling out to one another, unable to be understood amongst the chaos. Others were screaming up at their attackers, close to madness as the assault continued and intensified around them. Emily, Richard, and William were huddled together, terrified and burying their faces inside their clothing. They clung to one another, covering their ears and screaming as they sought protection behind the vehicles. Everyone took what cover they could, sinking low into their trenches or dips in the ground as they watched the modern day Blitzkrieg unfold in front of them. Shock and confusion was complete, leaving them staring with open mouths and blurred minds while the island’s defenders were mercilessly swept aside and engulfed with fire.

  A few minutes later, the distinct thump and whirl of approaching helicopters began to filter through the pandemonium and reached the ears of the survivors clustered on the southern high ground. Everyone dropped deeper into their positions as a group of Chinooks and Apaches drifted by over their heads, looking like giant flying insects headed towards the open and bloodied wounds of a dying animal. They headed straight for the low ground to the east where the refugee camp was situated. The gunships swung out from the flanks and moved forward to begin preparing the landing zone, blasting away with their 30mm chain guns, and pounding the militia and the remaining refugees with their hellfire missiles.

  The defences around the refugee camp collapsed immediately under the torrent of bullets and explosives but for the majority of the men, women, and children within the perimeter, it did not spell freedom. As they attempted to flee, scores of them were caught up in the carnage as the attackers fired into their ranks indiscriminately. Their screams of fear and pain could be heard above the beat of the helicopter rotors and the bark of their guns. Within just a few short seconds, the enclosure was filled with smoke and fire as the low ground became carpeted with the bodies of the dead. The guard units attempted to return fire, but they were soon dead or dying, lying in pools of their own blood and innards as the troop transports hovered in and began disembarking their loads. Soldiers ran from the tailgates and instantly began pushing through the devastation, firing at anything they saw moving, uncaring whether they were dead or alive.

  Next, the circling Apache gunships began a sweep to the north along the front lines of the two previously opposing forces that occupied the island. They ripped up anything in their path with their rapid firing cannons and Hydra rockets, leaving a t
rail of bloody torture and scorched devastation in their wake.

  “Fuck me,” Bobby grumbled as he watched the enemy units fanning out from the rears of the CH-47s. “This doesn’t look good.”

  “Stan, Taff, check,” the team second in command called into his radio as he and Bobby ducked back into their hole and continued to watch the enemy troops below. The whole island seemed to have fallen into anarchy. “Stan, can you hear me? Radio check.”

  The noise and activity from the invading forces inevitably attracted the attention of the hordes of infected that were drifting around in the rural areas. They began to flock towards the nearest sounds and dazzling lights, excited by the prospect of sinking their teeth into the living. They stumbled through the fields, tripping and falling through the ruts and bushes as they stubbornly continued their advance. On seeing the soldiers and refugees running in all directions, the dead worked themselves into a frenzy and staggered towards the animated figures. Many of them were cut down long before they reached the troops, but it was almost preordained that some would reach their goal. They sprang from the darkness, grabbing at the soldiers, and snapping their teeth together. Some had the satisfaction of tearing out a piece of flesh before being blasted by the men and women fighting their way through the smoke and chaos.

  Some of the refugees that had managed to escape the carnage, racing through the fields in search of safety, soon found themselves hemmed in and cut off with a circle of rotting corpses closing in around them. They fought desperately, attempting to fend off the ravenous ghouls, but the dead refused to yield. Others, in shock from the horror that they had experienced and screaming with madness, ran blindly into the clutching hands of the infected and were dragged down into the dirt. The howls of agony and terror mixed with the wails of lustful excitement, exploding bombs, and machinegun fire while the helicopters continued to buzz around overhead. The island’s defences and its people had collapsed. There was nothing that anyone could do to stop the inevitable now.