Zombie Dawn Exodus (17 page)

Since the outbreak a year earlier, most of the
personnel and naval vessels normally stationed at the joint base
had been used in actions throughout the Pacific. It was normal to
find a dozen destroyers, frigates and cruisers and the same number
of submarines there at any one time. Now the only vessels remaining
were those that had been undergoing major work or that had been
abandoned in the first three weeks. Without supplies and personnel
these mighty grey vessels were just lumps of steel, left to rust.
The number of personnel now numbered just a few hundred, and many
of these were out manning outposts on the numerous islands or
guarding key buildings and ships.

Three Los Angeles class, nuclear attack submarines
were tied up together. Each of them moved gently in the waters,
vessels now without a role and impotent without a crew. A jetty ran
from the boats to the mainland where a small barracks and several
vehicles were parked. Around this area ran a tall wire fence with
just one entrance, itself guarded by a three man Marines unit.

“Ok, there they are,” said Jackson.

At the security point a substantial metal barrier
blocked the road inside. Sitting in chairs nearby were the three
Marines, each of them wearing little in the way of personal armour
or protection. They were laughing and playing a game of some
kind.

“You know the plan, Ford doesn’t want casualties.
The important thing is we need to get into the armoury. Don’t
forget, from our information they could have up to another five or
six men inside,” he said seriously.

“Are we sure the weapons are there?” asked
Jonathan.

“No reason to think they aren’t. The last
information Ford received said all the ammunition for the flotilla
and the garrison was being stored at this site. Come on, let’s get
started,” he said, as he crept forward towards the fence.

CHAPTER TEN

ENGLAND

Nick opened his eyes but everything stayed as a blur.
He shook his head and the pain hit him immediately. He closed his
eyes and then opened them again slowly. Everything was dark, apart
from a bright object to his right. He tried to reach out to the
light but he couldn’t move. Darkness replaced the light and he felt
something brush past him. He started to struggle before hearing
what sounded like voices. He kept still and listened, it was almost
as though it was his name. He concentrated then something struck
his cheek, it stung but amazingly his hearing improved a
little.

“Nick, Nick, can you hear me?” asked the voice.

Once again he tried to open his eyes, the light was
starting to break up into colour and it looked like he was still
inside the ambulance.

“Nick?” came the voice, it was now starting to sound
like Artur.

With a final shake of his head the view started to
improve and he could see the inside of the ambulance. To his right
Artur was cutting at the seatbelt that he must have put on during
the struggle. Moving his head over to the left his attention was
brought to the scene through the cracked windscreen. There were two
motorcycles and a trike along with several bodies nearby. What
looked like Jim and one other were walking along, checking the
bikes, probably for ammunition or supplies. Off to his left was the
Land Rover, and at the side was the bus though it looked like it
had taken some damage in the battle.

Artur loomed up close to his face.

“Nick, are you okay? We have a problem,” he
said.

There was a ripping sound and Nick was finally free
of the belt. Artur helped him up and out of the vehicle. Nick
looked around at the scene of the battle. There were bullet casings
and blood all around as well as a good many more bodies than he
would have expected.

“Problem?” asked Nick. “Where did all these bodies
come from?”

“Okay, actually we have several problems,” said
Artur with a grin.

Nick was still feeling a little light headed and his
hand reached out to the ambulance to steady himself.

“Where are the bikers?” he asked.

“Dead,” answered Artur, “well, apart from the one we
captured.”

“Captured?” asked Nick.

“Yeah, the fight was pretty much over after you
crashed your ambulance here into their van. The last guy tried to
get away on his bike. Jim shot him in the shoulder and he crashed
over there,” said Artur, as he pointed out into the distance.

Nick was feeling much better already and was glad to
take a few gulps of water from Richard when he appeared.

“You feeling a bit better? Some nice moves there!”
he said.

Nick tried to smile.

“Any news on the rest of the convoy?” asked
Nick.

Artur looked solemn and then waved over to Jim who
joined them at the ambulance.

“Good to see you back, thought we’d lost you for a
while there,” he said.

Jim took pad of paper from his jacket and handed it
over to Nick. It was small and the cover was folded back to reveal
hastily written details of some kind of camp.

“What is this?” asked Nick.

“We’ve been getting information out of our prisoner
for the last twenty minutes. It looks like they’ve set up a raiding
camp nearby, just off the motorway. They’re vultures, feeding off
travellers on the main routes,” he said with a disgusted tone to
his voice.

Nick examined the pages in detail. The first page
showed the motorway and a series of roads leading to an area
described as the camp. He turned the page to find a list of
vehicles and numbers.

“Holy shit, you got this from the prisoner?” he
asked.

Jim nodded in acknowledgement. Looking back at the
pad Nick was astounded at how large the operations were that these
people were running.

“It says here they have over forty prisoners
including our people. It also says they have over fifty people, all
armed?” asked Nick.

“That’s what he says,” said Jim.

“Why are they taking prisoners?” asked Nick.

“I don’t know. They do have two buses though on the
inventory lists. Maybe they’re slavers?” asked Richard

“Slavers? Raiders? You believe this shit?” asked
Nick.

Jim and Artur both shrugged then Artur spoke.

“There’s more, a lot more. They’ve been using the
zombies as their foot soldiers, that’s why they’ve been so
successful.”

Jim interrupted, “Look, they’re using the things to
drive people into ambush zones. Remember we heard about that
compound near Stroud getting wiped out last month?” Nick
nodded.

“Well, they used the zombies to attack the place
then picked off the survivors when they tried to escape. The
prisoner says he was one of the people in the compound that was
caught,” said Jim.

“Bullshit!” said Nick. “Where is he?” he asked.

Richard pointed to the armoured bus near the Land
Rover. With an effort Nick pushed himself up and staggered over to
it with Richard going with him. The prisoner was tied up in the
back of the bus being carefully watched by one of the passengers.
Nick moved up closely, examining the man. He wore the typical biker
gear, gloves, jacket and trousers plus the over sized leather
boots. He didn’t look like a biker though.

“What’s your name?” asked Nick.

The man looked terrified, he fidgeted with the ropes
but they were tied down firmly. Nick picked one of the food bags
and swiped it across the man’s face.

“I asked you a question!” he shouted.

“Jenkins! Don’t hurt me!” the man stuttered.

Why did you attack our convoy? We’ve got enough
problems in the Zompoc without you adding to them. Why?” he
shouted.

“I didn’t have a choice. We were told we either
joined up with them or we would be made to join the zombies,” he
continued.

“Rubbish, why would they let a zombie get to you?”
said Nick.

The man shrugged, ignoring the question. Nick raised
his hand as though to strike again.

“Okay, okay. Look, they use the zombies to help them
attack towns for supplies. Anybody they can’t feed or use for their
raids they turn into a zombie and then use them anyway,” he
said.

“What do you mean, turn?” asked Nick.

“They put…they put you in a cage with zombies and
let them attack you. They made us watch it happen. In the end you
turn and you’re one of them,” he muttered.

Nick stepped back, looking at Richard.

“Do you believe this shit?” he asked.

Richard shrugged and then pulled out a map from his
pocket. He showed it to Nick. It was the route that they sometimes
used for their convoy runs to the north of the country. Along the
main motorway, a good distance north of Manchester, was a series of
villages and towns that were circled in red. They were all in a
similar area of no more than fifty square miles.

“These are all areas we’ve lost contact with over
the last year. What this man has told us confirms that this group
has raided and destroyed five compounds and villages near Lancaster
in the last three months. They’re making their way south, look,”
said Richard as he pointed to the map.

Nick looked carefully. Though they rarely travelled
that far north anymore, it was still worryingly close to their own
safe areas if these people kept moving south.

“If this is true, then why are they so far from
home?” he asked.

Before Richard could speak the prisoner
answered.

“Food. Plain and simple. They don’t make anything,
they take what they need and move on. From what I’ve worked out
they started near Glasgow but were forced out of the city. They’ve
been growing in numbers and ransacking towns all the way south on
the main roads. They sent a small group of us to set up here to
watch the east and west routes for people and supplies, and to see
if it’s worth coming down this far south,” he said.

How long have they been doing this?” Nick asked.

“About three months now, that’s what the guys told
me anyway.”

“How do you communicate with the rest of them then
if you are so far away?” asked Nick.

“The old army truck has a radio in it, we use it
once a day with updates,” said the prisoner.

Nick climbed back out of the vehicle and faced
Richard whilst he thought for a moment. Richard spoke first.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“Well, our first job is to try and rescue those
people, the second is to get back to the Green Zone and fast,” said
Nick.

Richard nodded in agreement as the two of them
walked back to the Land Rover. The rest were still loading weapons
and supplies into their two vehicles. Nick unfolded his map onto
the bonnet of the Land Rover and made some notes. After a few
seconds he leaned back, deep in thought and then looked up to the
sky, noting that it was already starting to darken.

“Shit!” he muttered as he turned to Richard.

“Get everybody here, I’ve got a plan and we need to
move fast,” he said.

* * *

Nick steered the large trike as he pulled off the
main road. The large number of lights proved their worth as with no
streetlights the route would have been impossible to navigate at
this time of night. As he turned the bend he could see the fires of
a large encampment up ahead, it was exactly as Jenkins had
described it. The site was an old service station with ample space
for people and vehicles. He turned around and gave a signal to the
three men hanging onto the back who in turn flashed red torches at
the Land Rover and bus following them.

The trike continued forwards until met by the first
of three guards patrolling the outer perimeter. The men signalled
for him to slow down which he did. As he approached they recognised
the trike and waved him on through. They were obviously more
interested in looking out for the undead than the living. This was
probably a good idea on most nights, not this one though.

“So far so good,” whispered Nick to Richard who was
holding on to the frame right behind him.

Nick maintained his speed and rode straight into the
camp, noting that little attention was given to him, probably
because they were all too familiar with the bizarre and over the
top contraption. The vehicles following slowed down and waited
ready at their allotted location.

Nick whispered over to the three on the back.

“Remember, we hit the truck first then the tyres of
the rest of their vehicles. After that the zombies and the very
last job are the prisoners. Got it?” he said.

The men on the back nodded in acknowledgment. Each
wore the garb of the bikers that had been recently killed in the
battle on the motorway. Providing they didn’t get too close they
should be okay. Nick moved on past the fires and pulled up
alongside the rest of the motorcycles. He switched the engine off
and was pleased to hear the loud noise of heavy metal music and
laughter from the campsite. The more noise the easier it would be
for what they had to do.

The truck was easy to spot. It was the largest
vehicle, apart from the two buses. He walked towards it with the
other three men following a short distance behind. Nick counted a
dozen bikes, the truck, two buses and a dozen heavily modified
pickup trucks and cars.

At the end of the line of vehicles was the first
bus, it was being guarded by two men, each armed with rifles.
Richard spotted something ahead and gave a signal, the four moved
quickly to the side of the nearest truck.

“Five minutes then meet at the last truck to deal
with the guards. Ready?” asked Nick.

With a nod the group split up for their tasks, the
Johnson brothers heading over to the motorcycles and vehicles
whilst Richard followed Nick to the buses. With the first two gone,
Nick moved to step back into the open when another man stepped out
in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. The man looked dazed
and confused to see Nick.