Spiteful (The Infected Book 3) (5 page)

Chapter Six

Everyone was quiet for about ten minutes before Jake spoke up. “First thing, I want to thank you for bringing my family here safely. Secondly, there is no way in hell that I am going to let Tracy or whoever it is out there put them at risk. With that being said, I would like to put forward we head out there and get rid of them in any way we can.”

I could see nods coming from other members of our group. I saw Amy stand up.

“I agree with Jake, but before we go outside all guns blazing, we need to find out who and what we are dealing with.” She said, looking at everyone.

“I agree with Amy.” David said. “It might be an idea that we find out where they are camped and do a recon.”

“Who the fuck are you and what have you done with David?” I asked. “Recon? Bloody hell! Since when have you been Rambo?”

Everyone burst out laughing, even David, although he was a little red in the face.

“No, seriously I agree with what you’ve said. So we now need to figure out how to find them and to do the recon.” I said, smiling at David.

“There’s something in the armoury that might help with that.” Tom said.

“Like?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah, right. There are some trackers that are in magnetic boxes. If we can get one on a car we will be able to track them with the hand units.” He said.

“Okay, that sounds good but how do we get them to stop so we can get it on the car?” I asked.

“We don’t. The magnets are really strong. All the car has to do is to drive over the top of it.” Philip said from beside his mom.

“How big are they?” Amy asked.

“Not much bigger than a packet of cigarettes.” Tom answered.

I sat and thought about it and I could see a huge hole in the plan.

“That sounds great but we might have a problem about that. What if we place the device and they don’t drive by anytime soon.” I asked.

Chris turned to look at me and said “Well, stands to reason they will have someone watching the drive and they will have a car nearby. Let’s say we take the A.P.C. out for a little joyride. We could drive round with them following us and when we get homesick, we just head back. They’ll follow us and we know they haven’t got anything that can take on an A.P.C. They’ll head back to their little hideout and drive right over the tracker that one of us places out there whilst they are gone.” Smiling as he finished talking.

“That might actually work.” Tom said.

“Okay, so next thing we need to decide on is who is going to do what? Chris of course will drive the A.P.C. and I want another rifle with him just in case they have managed to get something that can take out the A.P.C. Amy, I’d like you to go with him. You’re the next best shot here…..”

“What do you mean the next best shot?” She asked before I could continue.

“Well, next to me you’re crap.” I said, smiling.

“You’re going to pay for that one.” Whispered Chris.

I could see the tightness round her eyes and to tell you the truth I was a little worried.

“Anyway, next point is we need someone to creep down there and place the tracker and because I haven’t done anything for the bunker in a while, I’ll do it.” This little statement caused all kinds of shouting.

I waited for the room to calm slightly before standing and shouting “Will you all shut up?!”

When the room was finally quiet I said “Look, I need to do this. I want that bitch out of our lives more than anyone else. It was my fault by letting her go thinking and hoping that it would be the last we saw of her and that mistake turned round and bit us all in the arse. Now we may have a way to get rid of her once and for all and I am going to be part of it either way.”

“But, Marc, we only just got you back.” Amy said with tears in her eyes.

“I know but this is one debt that I personally want to cash in. That bitch has hurt so many people and it has to end.” I said.

Before anyone else could say a word I walked out of the room and headed to the dining room. It had been awhile since I had drank a hot drink of any sort. Making a mug of coffee, I sat as far away from Mike’s group that were probably eating their first hot meal since the infection. I was sitting watching the doors wondering who they might send after me and I wasn’t surprised when I saw Chris walk in. He stood at the doors looking round the room. When he saw me sat in the corner he walked over and sat down opposite me.

“Marc, you’ve got to understand how they feel.” He said.

“Look, I do, but you need to realize that I was held hostage by her all so she could come here and take over the bunker. It was only by pure luck that she got me and not you.” I said.

“I think David would be better coming with me and for Amy to plant the tracker.” He said.

“No. If you and Amy take the A.P.C. then I will feel a hell of a lot better. If David goes and you get into trouble, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want him freezing up and god forbid you or him getting killed. And before you say it the same goes for this end of the mission, I can look after myself better than any of the others. I have proven that three times up until now.” I said, lifting the mug of coffee to my lips.

He looked across the table at me and said “You’ve just got back; don’t you feel like having a rest?”

“Yes, I want to have a rest, but I know I’m not going to get a rest until that fucking bitch is either dead or…..fuck, I don’t know.” I said, feeling pissed off with everything.

“Look, we won’t be doing anything till tomorrow anyway. So why don’t you come and shoot your new rifle and have some fun on the range.” Chris said, standing.

“Fine, but you and the others aren’t going to change my mind.” I said.

“You do know that you sound like a spoiled child?” He said, laughing at me.

“Fuck you!” I said, standing up.

He was right and I was acting like a spoiled child, but Tracy had to be dealt with and I wanted to be there when it happened. If only to be able to look into her eyes as she got what she deserved. Following Chris down to the range I passed a few people who thanked me for saving them. I felt really uncomfortable when they heaped praise on me. I didn’t feel like I had done anything special. I just wanted people to survive the mess that I had caused. Yes, I still blame myself for letting that cat out of the lab and for the death of Tony. So I struggled on with the hope that if enough people survived then things would at one point get back to normal.

We entered the range and there on the bench was a brand new just out of the wrapper MP5 sub machine gun with tactical harness and webbing. Picking it up, I made sure it was clear and then proceeded to load several magazines. Chris just stood and watched as I fired shots down range and made adjustments to the iron sights. It wasn’t till I was halfway through my third mag when I heard another set of shots coming from further down the range. Clearing the MP5 and ejecting the mag I decided it might be worthwhile having a look see. I came to the last alcove and nearly fainted, as I watched Philip taking shots with a SA80 at the targets on the range.

“Hold the fuck up!” I shouted.

Philip stopped shooting and made the rifle safe before placing it on the bench in front of him. Chris walked down and stood just behind me.

“I thought he wasn’t suppose to fire anything?” I asked Chris as I turned round.

“Well, Jennie said that if he was helping Tom in the armoury then he should know how they fire and how to use them correctly.” He said in a quiet voice.

“Okay! So why did she change her mind. Because before we left for Throne she was dead against him having anything to do with weapons in the first place.” I said.

Philip spoke for the first time “Well, mom freaked out a little when you didn’t come back. She said that if you had problems out there, what about the rest of us? It took her a few day to calm down and then one day she just said that Maddie and I needed to learn how to defend ourselves just in case there was no adults around to protect us. So Chris has been teaching us how to maintain and fire our rifles safely. Amy has been teaching us a little unarmed combat in the gym. Dad has also been doing the unarmed combat with us.”

“Shit, man, what are we doing raising a child army?” I said looking at the ceiling.

“No. We are just preparing them for the worst. Marc, you have to admit that if the adults die, then the kids would have to learn these things on their own and that’s more dangerous than what we are doing now.” Chris said.

Sighing, I looked at him and said “Suppose you're right. It’s just I never wanted the kids to go through any of this.”

“I agree but you also have to think that this situation may go on for a long time.” He said.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s something we noticed whilst you were being held by Tracy. The infected are not rotting anymore. Jake thinks that it might have to do with the green slime they produce.” Philip said.

Could today get any better? First we have kids getting taught how to use semi-automatic weapons and now the infected are not rotting away to nothing like I hoped that they would.

“When did he come up with that idea?” I asked.

“The other day we had a visit from the infected. There were eight coming up the drive, so David, Amy and I went out to deal with them. Afterward, David made a passing comment on how fresh a corpse looked. When we looked closer we saw a sort of green shine to its skin. When we got back inside and talked about it with the group, Jake came up with the idea that the green slime is acting pretty much like a super sun cream. It’s protecting the infected from the elements. A bullet or trauma to the brain still kills them, just Jake feels the weather won't.” Chris said, leaning against the wall.

I couldn’t believe it. The infected were here to stay if what Jake said was correct. If only Jane had come with me instead of running off with the company. She might have been able to give us more information. Then a light bulb lit in my head.

“Has Jake managed to get in contact with any other groups?” I asked.

“He hasn’t he complains that all he hears every day is static. Why?” Chris said standing up.

“Do you remember Jane?” I asked him.

“You mean the doctor from the labs?” Chris said looking puzzled.

“Yup. Well, she and the company bosses went running for some ship or something. If we can get in touch with them then we might get some more information on the infected.” I said.

“Yeah, and they might try to come and take over the bunker.” He said.

Chapter Seven

I hadn’t thought of that. I was saved from having too many ideas running round my head when Amy came into the range and said “Dinner's ready. Jennie has a few more people in the kitchen since you brought that new group here so we now have a bit more variety on offer.”

I smiled at her and she gave me a puzzled look in return.

“Something up, Marc?” She asked.

“No, no, everything is okay.” I said.

To tell you the truth, since the shower incident every time I see her I go weak at the knees, and before you say anything, yes it is a sad thing to behold, but I still felt that way.

“Come on, let’s get some food and I’ll talk to Jake later.” I said, grabbing the MP5 and attaching the tactical harness to my webbing.

We all headed to the armoury so that Philip could put his SA80 back onto the rack. Then we headed for the lifts and went up to the dining room for something to eat. As we entered the dining room, the smell from the kitchen hit me and my stomach rumbled. I hadn’t had a decent meal in days and I was looking forward to what Jennie and her team had cooked up.

Grabbing a plate, I joined the end of the queue behind Amy and slowly worked my way toward the counter. From where I stood, I could see a curry of some sort and a thick broth. I got to the front and grabbed a bowl of curry and boiled rice. At the other end of the counter was a fruit crumble and custard. Now I was in heaven. I couldn’t remember the last time I had crumble. Grabbing a large bowl I headed over to a table in the far corner. Sitting down I felt a large shadow fall over the table. Looking up, I saw Chris grinning at me.

“Mind if I sit with you?” He asked.

“Mate, that is the most stupid thing I have ever heard you say. Of course you can sit here.” I said, laughing.

Next came Amy and then David. Mike and Tessa walked over and sat down at the table near us. I started on the curry and found that it was a vegetable curry. I still ate it even though I felt it could do with either beef or pork. I had almost finished the bowl of curry when Mike cleared his voice.

“Marc? I know this is probably the wrong time to ask but is there any way I could get trained up on a rifle?”

“I’d like to get some training as well.” Tessa said.

Speaking round a mouthful of curry, I said “You need to ask Chris about firearms training, but I also suggest that you do some unarmed training as well.”

“Who do we ask about that?” Tessa asked.

“Me.” Amy said from beside me.

“Oh!” Tessa replied.

I pushed the empty curry bowl away from me and picked up a spoon to dive into the fruit crumble.

“Do you train anyone?” Mike asked.

Looking up, I said “Me train anyone? Are you nuts?”

“Why not? You seem to be able to handle yourself.” Tessa said.

I hadn’t even got a spoonful of the crumble in my mouth. I sighed and put the spoon on the table in front of me.

“Amy and Chris were in the infantry and I used to be what was called a blanket stacker in the Army. So they are both best trained to help you. I, on the other hand, just wing it half the time and the other half take advice from the others.” I said.

“Er…I would like to say that you are also pretty good at being a sneaky bastard.” Chris said.

“That’s a given. I’ve always been a sneaky git.” I said, laughing.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. Time and time again you have gone up against the infected, usually on your own and survived. There are not many people at this table that could say they have done that.” Amy said, reaching out to hold my hand.

“Just luck.” I said in my defence.

“I remember what you did for me and my family in Thirsk and that wasn’t luck.” David said quietly.

“All this is moot because I can’t teach anyone how to be a sneaky bastard.” I said, picking the spoon up again.

Everyone went quiet around the tables and I finally managed to get a spoonful of fruit crumble and custard in my mouth.

“What about teaching people on how to kill the infected?” Mike asked.

I shook my head and mumbled “Amy is doing the unarmed combat training.”

“Yeah, but is that going to be the same as fighting the infected?” He asked.

“The training I will be doing will concentrate on getting out of holds and how to inflict massive head injury.” Amy answered.

I had finished the crumble and pushed the bowl away and leaned back in my chair with a satisfied groan. Chris just laughed and Amy smiled.

“We need to go over what we are doing tomorrow.” I said.

“I still think that I should take David and Amy should plant the tracker.” Chris said.

I was about to have another go at Chris about the plan when Jake came rushing through the doors. Spotting us in the corner he headed straight over.

“What’s up, dad?” Mike asked, climbing to his feet.

“I think that you all might want to come down to the comms room.” He said turning to leave.

Standing I said “Jake, what’s up?”

Turning, he looked at me and said “Not here.”

I shrugged and started to follow him. I heard the scrapping of chairs as the others stood to follow.

Exiting the lift we walked down to the comms room. With all of us in the small room it was a little cramped. Jake sat down in his chair and started turning dials on the radio sets in front of him. Lifting a set of headphones, he listened to one speaker as he used his other hand to do fine tuning. After a few minutes he reached over and pulled the cable free from the radio.

A burst of static filled the room and then faded to a female voice.

“…is Tracy calling the bunker. I know you are listening.”

“Bollocks, what does that fucking bitch want?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She has been repeating that message for the last hour.” Jake said.

“Have you spoken to her?” Mike asked.

“I thought it best to find Marc before I did anything.” Jake said to his son.

“You did the right thing.” Amy said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Suggestions.” I asked.

“Tell her to fuck off.” Chris said.

“I think the best course of action would be to ignore her.” David said.

I stood thinking about what I should do and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to speak with her.

Walking over to the desk I picked up the mic and keyed the transmit button and said “What do you want?”

“Hello, Marc. Nice to see you managed to get away okay.” Tracy said, her voice sounding tinny coming from the speakers in the room.

“No thanks to you and your bunch of dickheads.” I replied.

“Well, you can’t blame a lady for trying.” She said.

“You, a lady?!” I said, laughing “How many of those men did you have to fuck in order for them to follow you?” I asked.

“I HAVE DONE NOTHING LIKE THAT.” She screamed.

“Yeah, right. Anyway, what do you want?” I asked.

It must have taken her a while to calm down because it was a few minutes before we heard her voice again.

“You and your little gang are all stuck in that hole in the ground. I have a proposition for you.”

“Let me guess, you let us go and we give you the bunker. Correct?” I asked.

“Exactly. Of course you can take supplies and weapons for defence but everything else stays in the bunker.” She said, sounding smug.

“Did one of the biker’s fuck you in the ear and cause you some brain damage? We are fine down here you and your little band are stuck out there with the infected.” I said.

“You know, I am trying to be nice about all this and you are being nothing but nasty about it. Have a think about it and get back to me in the morning.” She said.

She was up to something. I dropped the mic and ran over to the security room. Slamming the door open I quickly change the monitors from internal view to external. The others quickly ran into the room behind me. Looking at each camera in turn I finally stopped on four images.

“That fucking bitch.” I said.

“What’s the matter?” Amy asked.

Chris leaned over my shoulder and looked at the monitors.

“Are they doing what I think they are doing?” He asked.

“Yeah, they’re covering the air intakes.” I said, watching figures carrying things and placing them on the ground. All four monitors showed nearly the same activity.

“So?” Mike said.

I turned to him and said “Look, we are underground, right?” He nodded “Well, we need air to breathe. Where do you think we get that air from?”

His eyes went wide and he said “I never thought of that.”

“Well, it looks like Tracy or one of her goons had thought of it.” Chris said.

“We have to get those intakes cleared soon.” Amy said.

“Okay. it’s starting to get dark out there. Chris, do you know if we have any night vision gear in the armoury?” I asked.

He thought about it, smiled and said “Yeah, we do.”

“Okay, this is how we play it. David and Chris are Team One, Amy and I are Team Two. Using the night vision gear and supressed weapons we converge on the intakes from different directions. I want one of her goons alive. I think we have found an easier way to find Tracy. Okay, let’s get geared up and outside.” I said heading for the door.

Chris, David, Amy and I headed to the armoury and got the night vision gear and a silencer for our rifles. We also took a tactical radio each. I knew that even with the silencers our rifles would be loud enough to hear so we were going to have to time our shots. As we headed up in the lift we checked our rifles and the radios.

Stepping out into the lit entranceway, I said “Chris, turn these lights off. I want us to leave once it gets dark and the last thing we need is a bright light announcing that we are coming.”

He nodded headed over to light switches. David, Amy and I went to stand next to the hatch. When we were in position Chris turn the lights off, bathing us in darkness.

There was a grunt, then “Fuck!”

The three of us at the door started to laugh. We all knew that Chris had hit his leg or something in the dark.

“Shut up.” He said sullenly.

We waited whilst our eyes got used to the dark before opening the hatch and stepping outside. Lowering the night vision gear we looked around. Not seeing anyone, we slipped round the back of the bunker and toward the flat area that had the air intakes.

“Chris, you and David head right. Amy and I will take the left.” I said barely above a whisper.

Chris and David split off and moved off into the green lit night. Amy and I headed out and circled in from the left. We could see lights and the red glow of cigarettes in the distance and slowly headed toward them. The bright light from the torches flared in the green glow from the night vision gear.

“Team Two to Team One.” I said quietly.

There was a crackle in my ear then I heard “Team One here.”

“The torches are making it hard for me to get a head count. Any luck on your side?” I asked.

“Only just we can make out six. Confirmed six of them.”

“Okay, that makes this a bad night for them then. Remember, we need one alive. How about the one with the torch that’s furthest away from the others?” I said.

“Fine with me, Team Two. Ready on your mark.”

“Let us get set up.”

“Okay, waiting on your go. Team One out.”

Turning to Amy, I said “Why don’t you head about ten meters off to our right and I’ll stay here? Once you're there, let me know and we hit them.”

“Okay, and, Marc, be careful I only just got you back.” She said before slipping into the darkness.

It wasn’t long before I heard “Ready.” In my ear.

“Team One, this is Team Two. Let’s light them up.” I said, sighting on the nearest target. Firing a quick two shot burst I hit him high in the stomach and chest pitching him on to his back. I was aware of other shots coming from round the intakes and it was over as quickly as it started. Walking over to the fallen bodies I looked round hoping to see Tracy’s right-hand goon Thomas, but my luck wasn’t with me. Dragging the bodies out of the way David, Chris and I set to work clearing the intakes. We all turned as Amy walked in with our hostage. He wasn’t anything special. He wasn’t much taller than Amy and was skinny to the point of looking malnourished. Dark hair, dark eyes and a long pointed nose. The word rat came to mind just looking at him.

“The little turd started running when his friends started to fall over. I had to run the little shit down.” Amy said.

“Get him to sit down.” I said, turning round to help move some more stuff off the intakes.

I heard a grunt and a body fall to the ground. Smiling, I carried on working beside Chris and David. It took us about half an hour to move everything out of the way. Turning around, I looked down at Mr. Rat and shrugged.

“Okay, guys, let’s get this scumbag back into the bunker.”

Chris and David pulled him to his feet and pushed him toward the bunker entrance. Amy and I walked behind them and every now and then either David or Chris would lean in and whisper in Mr. Rat’s ear and when they moved away I would hear a whimper. I’m sure if it was something important Chris or David would say something. We got to the hatch without any problems and Chris keyed in the code and the hatch unlocked. Sooner or later I’m going to have to ask for the code. Stepping inside we closed the hatch and Chris turned the lights back on.