Thrust & Parry: Z Day (20 page)

Chapter 17

Jim awoke in his bed space. He had no idea how long he had been out but when he opened his eyes he found his head wasn’t swimming as badly as before. He was laid on his side so he rolled onto his back and immediately regretted it. There was a large welt on the back of his head that was now covered with a bandage. The second it touched the pillow stars shot across his eyes. His head throbbed a nasty splitting pain. He opened his mouth as he winced and felt the bruising on his jaw. He sat up slowly and looked around, Sam was asleep on her bed space but no one else was in sight, He pulled his sleeping bag off him and realised he had been stripped down to his boxers. He shuffled to the end of his bed and found his clothes neatly folded on top of his day sack and webbing. His sharpshooter rifle was laid on the floor under the bed with the barrel just poking out. He dressed quickly and, slipping the webbing and daysack over his shoulders, grabbed his rifle.

He moved to the bar doors silently and froze as he saw that the front door was now unlocked. He cleared the three offices and found nothing before moving over to the corridor and slowly moving through. He cleared the storeroom before sliding over to the hatch and climbing up, taking care not to let anything bang. He reached the top and spotted a new structure on the rooftop. It was a square structure made up of a wood frame with walls that came up to about nipple height made up of sandbags. The roof was a camouflage tarpaulin known as a Bashar that was nailed to the frame. It looked like a Sanger and Jim wondered how long he had been out for. He kept his body low and moved over to the Sanger entrance, weapon up and ready. There were 3 figures in the Sanger and Jim hoped to god they were Paddy, Monica and Laura. He reached the entrance, dropped his weapon down and breathed a sigh of relief. It was them. Paddy was in the middle of teaching them how to clean the Gimpy and had each of them take a piece and start working off the layers of black carbon that had formed over the last few weeks. There just hadn’t been time to clean it.

“I never thought I’d see the day that my own little Paddy had pupils of his own.” Jim chirped up and Paddy span round. His face looked concerned until he saw Jim and it creased into a smile.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes boss.” Paddy replied, the smile growing a few centimetres. Jim stepped into the hanger and hugged his 2ic briefly before stepping back and getting to business.

“Why is the front door unlocked?” Jim asked his voice filled with concern. 

“The TAC is now secure. All entrances have been checked and all buildings are zed free.” Paddy replied with a sense of pride.

“Even the RLC block?” Jim asked.

“Yeah I gave the girls some FIBUA training and we cleared it yesterday with minimal issues.” Paddy replied, the pride swelling inside him.

“Wait, yesterday? How long was I out for?” Jim asked looking alarmed.

“3 days in total mate. We got a lot done while you were out. The ladies are now zeroed and have taken down at least 25 zeds each. With the exception of Sam who has a few more under her belt from the alarm fiasco. We stopped the alarm with a few well-placed shots at the wire and popped all the zeds in sight. We loaded the truck up with all supplies from here and drilled on an emergency procedure in case we get overrun.”

“Wow, fucking hell mate. I’m proud of you.” Jim was genuinely shocked. Paddy had progressed well without him. The girls must be coming along nicely as they seemed proficient in picking up anything thrown at them.

“How are you feeling?” Laura asked and Jim jumped slightly. During his discussion with Paddy he had forgotten the girls were here.

“Like I tried to out drink the incredible hulk and he punched me in the jaw.” Replied Jim rubbing his jaw tenderly.

“Well, the bruising’s coming out nicely.” Monica said looking him over. “Nothing broken but it will be uncomfortable for a while. There is still a chance that you have concussion but nothing serious.”

“Turns out Monica has a talent for first aid.” Paddy said over the girls shoulders.

“Thank you guys.
By the way why are you both having lessons while Sam’s asleep? Have you been wearing her out?” Jim smiled and glanced over at Paddy who had gone a shade resembling beetroot.

“I checked her bullet wound a day or so ago and found it had begun to become infected. She had a fever so we have had her sleeping as much as she can. Antibiotics are about the only thing we don’t have readily available.” Monica explained.

“Has she been checked for bites since after the alarm fiasco, as it’s now known?” Jim asked with the concern returning to his voice. Paddy just gave him a look that said ‘I’ve been a dickhead’ and shook his head. “Right, carry on with your lesson I will be right back.” Jim strode over to the hatch and slid down before moving through to the bar. He drew his pistol and leant it, out of sight, against the bar chair walls.

“Sam, you awake love?” He asked in a soft, cooing voice. No movement.
“Sam, wakey, wakey.” He gently shook her shoulder. She stirred and squinted up at him.

“What? Jim? You’re awake!” She seemed more shocked about Jim than the fact she was being woken up.

“Yeah I am and I’ve been filled in on the last few days by Paddy. I understand you have a bit of a fever.” Jim asked. His voice had a nurturing quality.

“Yeah, I think my war wound got a bit infected.” Sam explained, holding up her bandaged arm to emphasise the point.

“Well, I hate to have to ask again but I am going to have to ask you strip off for me. I don’t take any pleasure in getting you naked against your will but I need to ensure that this fever is not down to a hidden bite wound.” Jim explained and Sam looked shocked at him.

“What? You checked me already. I’ve not been bitten. You just like gawking at my body don’t you.” Sam was straight on the defensive.

“I know but you got very close to the zeds while closing that gate and you know we have to be safe.” Jim tried to calm the situation the best he could. It was understandable when someone is telling you to strip off so he can look at you and if he sees a bite mark he will shoot you.

“Well, how do I know you haven’t been bitten?” Sam replied giving Jim a sceptical look.

“Once, I’ve checked you your welcome to check me over. I’ve been in my boxers for the last three days so I would guess any bites would have been spotted but I guess it’s only fair.” Sam nodded at this before standing up. She was wearing her t-shirt and shorts and slipped the t-shirt off. She still didn’t have a bra on which wasn’t surprising. She couldn’t really nip down to La Senza and pick a few up.

“Satisfied?” she asked holding her arms out to one side.

“And the rest, If you would.” He asked motioning at her shorts with his pistol.

“You can get fucked soldier boy.”
Replied Sam with an attitude that could only have come from several near death experiences.

“You know the drill. I need to make sure you don’t have love bite on your arse or something.” He replied.

“You are correct but I have more dignity than Laura and I don’t sleep in underwear.” Replied Sam, making an obvious dig behind her best friends back.

“Even so, I must ask you to lose some dignity. I assure you I have little interest in getting you naked at gun point.” Jim replied feeling a little ashamed.

“For fuck sake fine.” Sam dropped the shorts to her ankles revealing what was once neatly kept pubes. Several weeks in the apocalypse had taken their toll and she now had a small bush growing between her legs. She unhooked one leg and gave Jim a spin to prove the point. There was no bite marks. “Now, you’re turn.” She said holding her hand out for the pistol. Jim obliged and handed it over before taking his kit off and making a neat pile. He then sat on it and removed his boots before stripping down to his boxers. He mimicked Sam with a little spin.

“Well, you’re clean.”
Replied Sam lowering the pistol. At that moment Paddy and Laura walked into the bar chatting and froze mid-sentence at the spectacle in front of them.

“Bite checks.”
Jim explained as Sam tried to cover herself up. Paddy smiled at his section commander and began to giggle while Laura simply scowled at her best friend.

“Is that what we’re calling it now
boss.” Paddy giggled to himself as Jim held his middle finger up.

“Fuck off Paddy you know the score.” He replied as he grabbed his trousers. Paddy and Laura went about their business while Sam and Jim redressed. Laura kept stealing concerned glances at Jim the whole while.

“Right, what’s the plan then mucker?” Jim asked Paddy once he was dressed again.

“Well, we could do with raiding a pharmacy to get Sam some antibiotics but I don’t think that will be easily done. We just have to do the best we can and hope she can sleep it off.” Paddy explained looking at Sam, concerned.

“Shit, wait one.” Jim dropped his daysack on his bed and rummaged through before pulling out his pill pack. He dug through it before pulling out a half used strip of Erythromycin. “it’s a broad spectrum antibiotic for those allergic to Penicillin. I had some left over from a chest infection a while back. Completely forgot about them.” Paddy instantly perked up and took them over to Sam.

“Sam, take one four times a day until you run out. Hopefully we should have either killed the infection or found an alternative by then.” He explained as he re-packed his daysack. Sam took one and climbed back into her bed. Jim pulled out his cigarettes and lighter and lit one before passing the pack round. Paddy took the last from that packet and Jim checked the top of his daysack and tucked a fresh one in his arm pocket before nodding to Paddy and moving back up to the Sanger. Monica was looking round the area bored. He greeted her by holding the packet of cigs and lighter out to her as he took deep drags from his own cigarette. They stood and chatted for a while as they smoked, talking about nothing in particular. It was mainly family and their past, in amongst it they chatted out what they thought different areas would be like and if there were other units doing the same thing as Jim and Paddy. After around an hour or so Jim headed back down below and got his head down, assuming he would be on stag soon enough as he noticed Paddy revising the stag list.

Sure enough Jim was awoken several hours later to take his time up in the Sanger. His hour passed uneventfully as he gazed out into the murky depths of what used to be a bustling city. He was relieved by Paddy and wandered wearily back towards his bed space when he heard a voice whispering his name.

“Jim, Jim, over here.” Monica was motioning from her bed space. Jim snuck over and crouched next to her pillow.

“What can I do you for little lady?” Jim replied sarcastically. He was never in the best of moods when deprived of sleep.

“Laura approached me earlier asking all sorts of questions about us. She was asking why we were up in the Sanger for so long so I told her we were just chatting and that you had come up to keep me company on stag. She then started asking what we were talking about and if there was anything going on between us. I think she might have a soft spot for you.” Jim’s puzzled look turned to a smile as his ego got the better of him.

“Jim, well is there something going on with you and Laura?!”

“No, no.
Nothing at all. I’ll tell you what, I’ll have a word with her tomorrow and set things straight.” And with that Jim stood and climbed into his bed.

Laura had been listening to the entire conversation from her own bed space and was now thinking deeply, she hoped Jim had only said what he’d said to hide their love. She couldn’t lose him. She had to try harder.

Chapter 18

The polo pulled up outside Emily’s place, it was an old red brick house with a bay window. Her garden was well kempt with flowers arranged in colour co-ordination. All the windows on the polo were rolled down at least half way as evidence of the aftermath of one of David’s legendary methane explosions, Vicky was still complaining about it as they stepped onto the road. David was first to wander up the garden path and reached out to put his hand on the door knob as the door flung open and Emily stood there wearing a blood stained floral dress. She had foot long rolling pin that was broken on one end exposing splinters coated in a layer of fresh blood that matched the stains on her dress.  Her face was coated in the residue of tears and her eyes were puffy and red, it was clear she had been crying.

David instantly stepped forward to comfort her and attempted to get the full story from her when Gary chirped up.

“I know I’m being a tad insensitive here but can we have this conversation on the road please? Am I to understand your family is staying here?” All Emily could manage was a nod as she stepped through the door pulling a large maroon suitcase behind her. It had a small carrier bag hanging off one side. David took it from her and packed it in the boot as she climbed in next to Vicky. Gary and David took their seats and they pulled out.

While on the road they had managed to coax a brief version of the day’s events out of Emily. It turned out Emily’s Father had turned during the night and proceeded to turn her mother; her brother had gone to investigate the noise and was confronted by his undead parents. He had managed to re-kill his parents but not before becoming infected himself. Emily had been awoken by the scuffle and so already had her weapon of choice in her hand by the time her brother began to bang on her door. She had opened it and, realising it was no longer her brother, opened his head.

Vicky had done her best to calm Emily down while David and Gary discussed the slight alterations to the plan. They had originally planned to take Emily and most of her family to a safe place, leave them there and go back for the rest. David found it difficult to hold back his tears as he thought about the losses he had witnessed. Not only had he lost his own family but lost his future in-laws also. Pushing all thoughts to the back of his mind as the tears that had pooled in his eyes compromised his vision and he didn’t want to crash and kill off the only he family he had left. Gary noticed his brother’s discomfort and gave him a sentimental pat on the back and a nod. Gary wasn’t an overly emotional person. Whatever tragedy occurred he let himself breakdown when he knew he was truly alone.

“David, my good sir, what is the direction in which we are heading?” Gary asked, trying and failing to sound posh. He asked with a small smile. He wanted to make sure he distracted David from the nightmare that they’d all lived in for the past few weeks especially the last 12 hours.

“Well, Mr. Winston, our destination is to be Leeds City Centre.” David laughed. He felt much better knowing he had his brother to cheer him up.

“Puffs, both of you” Vicky interjected.
Leaving Emily in fits of laughter. It was what she needed to forget the morning she’d had.

“Ohh you bitch” David replied as camp as he could and Gary turned to face the girls with a shocked expression, this left them laughing so hard tears filled their eyes.

The rest of the journey towards Leeds was in silence only ever interrupted by David’s explosive arse followed immediately by laughter. As they approached the centre of Leeds David chirped up.

“Guys any sign of movement I need to know whether it’s alive or dead. I’m guessing with it being a city there will be more survivors than at home.” His leadership shone through and all of them listened intently, not taking their eyes off the streets of Leeds.

“Nothing over here Dave” Gary replied, wanting to feel some importance in the survival of his remaining family.

“Same here bud” David replied. He felt confused he assumed the volume of survivors and zombies would be greater than in Halifax, his home town, but it was a ghost town. He heard nothing. A strange feeling overcame him as he felt as though the car was being watched.

“Errr guys straight ahead. Zombies. Lots of them.” Vicky screamed, scared at the sheer size of the group, but also smug to have been the one to spot them.

“Fuck. There’s gotta be at least 30 of them!” Gary replied, armed ready with his table leg.

David knew there was no chance of them all surviving if they were to try fighting them. He knew from an earlier experience that hitting them with his Polo was a bad idea. He had been charged by one of them as he hit the M621 and the large dent that had taken his left headlight out was proof it was a bad idea. He swerved wildly as he attempted to pick his way round the horde and the car began to slew to the left. Vicky ducked into the middle seat as her side of the car approached the zombies. The Polo impacted 3 of them simultaneously with a jolt that smashed both side windows and threw David sideways. His seatbelt catching him before his head bounced off Gary’s shoulder. The car was now at a standstill and becoming slowly engulfed in the horde. The zombies were clawing into the car through the broken windows and grabbing at anything they could get hold of. David floored it and several of the zombies came with him. He made it about 10 feet before the ones at the front lost their footing and slid under the car. There were several bumps as the wheels bounced over them that jolted everyone in the car.

“Dave, head back. Good old Gary to the rescue!” Gary screamed and David pushed his head into the head rest just time to see the table leg thrust in front of his face. Catching the clinging zombie in the shoulder and pushing it out of the car. It hit the tarmac and rolled several times before attempting to stand again. There was now only one zombie left attached that was now attempting to find the grip to clamber on top of Vicky. Gary slid his seatbelt off and, realising the table leg was too large to use, threw a punch at the zombies jaw line. It connected, hard, and the zombie reeled back slightly and lost several inches of car space. Gary threw another punch that hit it in the top of the head and it disappeared from view. David threw the Polo into third gear as he accelerated up to forty.

“Vicky, get onto Ajay. We need them ready to go. This car is no longer safe.” David shouted back over the rush of wind coming from the exposed windows. Vicky pulled her phone out and dialled Ajay. The phone rang several times before skipping to voicemail. She cursed and dialled again. Ajay answered on the third ring and the distant echo on the line told Vicky she was on loud speaker.

“Vicky, please tell me you’re here. I don’t think these undead bastards have ever heard the phrase ‘FUCK OFF!’” The last part was clearly aimed at whatever zombies were attacking her.

“Nearly, what’s going on?” Vicky asked with a concerned twinge. There were several grunts and curses before Ajay answered.

“They must have seen us through the window and are making an effort to get through the door. These shitty plastic doors can’t handle six bodies pressed up against them so we had to improvise with a wardrobe door, holding it to the door to stop them… Oh no you did not just swing for me you ugly mother fucker.” Vicky couldn’t help but smile as Ajay got more and more pissed off.

“Right, We kind of need you ready to leave when we get there. You and Tom all packed up?” Vicky knew it sounded stupid given their current situation but she had to try.

“Yeah ok.
I’ll just explain to these fuckers we need to leave and I’m sure they will find another walking meal.” Vicky could hear Tom’s grunting in the background followed by a slam that she assumed was the makeshift door closing again.

“Fuck it! If they can hold them off for another 5 minutes the cavalry will be here.”
Shouted David from the front as he veered around a burning car.

“Did you get that love?” Vicky asked and heard several thuds before Ajay replied.

“Yeah, I ain’t getting bitten today.” Ajay answered as the thudding continued. David pulled onto their street and saw the issue instantly. There were only six zombies on Ajay’s street and they were all clawing at the wood in front of the apartment door. Tom and Ajay had moved in together around 3 weeks before the apocalypse had begun. They had moved into a small apartment in Leeds, just outside the centre. It was a house that had been horizontally split into two apartments. David skidded to a halt a few doors down and he and Gary pounced out of the car. Vicky and Emily joined them as they moved towards the clawing horde. The closest two had never even seen them coming as the back of their heads disappeared under the men’s weapons. The remaining four barely had time to turn as the table leg caught both of them across the back of their head in a sweeping motion.

“See Dave.
I don’t really need you here. I can do this all on my own.” Gary called as he watched the two zombies fall. David caught the second zombie across the temple as he tried to stand back up.

“Are you certain little brother?” Was all David said before he flattened the nose of one of the remaining zombies with a well-placed jab of his
bat. Gary shrugged and punched the other one in the jaw before stepping back and raising the table leg. Both brothers brought their weapons down simultaneously and the zombies dropped. They checked each zombie in turn to make sure they were not getting back up before turning back to the girls. They had been watching the street, weapons up and ready.

“Shall we?” David asked as he motioned towards the doorway. He walked up to it and knocked in the wardrobe door.

“Avon, I would like to speak to you about our half price offer on lipstick.” David called and the girls began giggling once more.

“Fuck off David.” Tom said with a smile as he lifted the door away.

“Shall we err…” David made a motion with his hands. “Piss off then?”  Tom nodded as he turned and picked up his Jeep bag and laptop case. Ajay wheeled a battered looking green checked case out and they moved swiftly to the car.

“Where are your weapons?” Asked Gary realising they were empty handed.

“Haven’t needed them until now.” Tom explained as he pulled the bags into his boot. He drove a red Vauxhall Astra that was his pride and joy. He had skinted himself on the monthly repayments since he had bought it but he thought it was worth it. Gary wandered over to the Polo and pulled out the carrier bag. He passed it to Tom who dug through it before pulling out a sturdy looking copper pipe. David turned to Gary with a confused look.

“Where the fuck did you pull that from?”

“It was attached to the boiler at home. I figured our boiler didn’t need it anymore.” He replied as Tom passed the bag to Ajay. She rummaged for a little longer before pulling out a crowbar and passing the bag back to Gary. He stashed it back under his seat before ushering everyone to the cars and climbing in himself. He dug in the glove box and pulled out a set of hands free ear phones. He took David’s phone and plugged them in before dialling Tom’s number. Tom had just set his own up and answered. They checked it was working ok before Gary passed an earphone over and tucked the phone back in David’s pocket. This now meant that the two cars could communicate instantly. They used it like a radio. David pulled off to lead the way in the Polo with Gary and Emily, Tom followed behind in the Astra with Ajay and Vicky. It made sense for Vicky to go in the Astra, it evened the numbers out.

“
What’s the first move then Dave?” Tom asked through the hands free kit.

“Well I don’t know about you but I could use some fuel. There’s a station not far from here, just over the road from that army barracks thing.” David replied as he swerved round a legless zombie that had decided it could take on a car.

“Works for me buddy.” Tom answered.

“Ooh look at you two working harmoniously and shit.” Gary chirped up after the exchange with a grin.

“Oh shit Gary mate, what’s that?” David was glancing between Gary’s chest and the road with a shocked look. His left hand had left the wheel and was now pointing at a spot in the centre of Gary’s shirt.

“What? What is it?” Gary fumbled with his shirt to try and see.

“A Twat!” David laughed and Gary shot him an evil look before bursting out laughing with him. Tom had picked up the gist of the conversation and there was now a wheezy laugh in David’s right ear.

“What’s so funny?” Ajay asked watching him.

“Her brothers are.” He replied jerking his thumb behind him to Vicky on the back seat. David pulled round and onto the main street. He could see the petrol station around 200m away on the right and what looked like dead bodies strewn wildly across the street. They all seemed to be heading towards the army barracks David mentioned earlier that was across the road. There was something on the roof of the barracks that David could see. It looked like a bunker of some sort.

“Tom you seeing this?”
David asked over the phone.

“Yeah, I could place bets on the fact there are survivors in that building to the left. From the looks of it I’d say some pretty successful ones too.” Tom replied.

“We could go for it? It looks secure enough. They will probably be able to help us fuel up too.” David asked.

“Do it.” Tom said as they got around 50m from the turning. David swerved round a clump of bodies and threw his indicator on. It made life easier for Tom to follow him. As he passed the petrol station all hell broke loose. Zombies began pouring out of the petrol station shop and into the forecourt.
Intent on the new noises passing them by.