Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever

by Winkless, Lance

  With only a few meters remaining until we are within striking distance, if the figure is Rabid, I purse my lips. Wanting to draw attention and hopefully tempt the lowered head up, I whistle gently. Conscious of any noise that we make I don’t go for a full-on wolf whistle, that would only ask for trouble.

  The head waivers, coming to life. That’s it, I think, wakey wakey, let’s have a look at you. Another gentle whistle breathes more life into the slumped figure and gradually, the top of the head moves back until a face is revealed.

  Inhuman grey skin, broken with dark bloodied lines sits on the bones of the face like an unwanted membrane, telling me all I need to know. The Rabid fixes me in a haunting, hungry stare to confirm its undead state and its cracked black lips begin to part.

  The M4’s bullet whips the head ferociously backwards where it thumps into the boarded wall behind it. Only for a moment does the head stay upright before it flops back down taking the hideous face out of my sight. I see blood, pieces of bone and brain sliding down the painted boards of the building site’s perimeter wall as I move past the creature’s carcass.

  “Sorry, Karen,” I say quietly, having not answered her question. “No, it can’t be far now.”

  “Don’t apologise, Andy,” I hear her reply.

  I see another main road ahead as we near the end of the side street, and by my calculations, this should be the road I used to move up to the junction with the pile of burnt-out cars, filled with charred bodies. A grim sight that I daren’t let my eyes fall on again.

  I am right, the corpse laden road is the one I used. We now have only two blocks to tackle before we reach the wharf, where Josh and Alice will be waiting for us, floating on the river.

  Wind your neck in, I tell myself, that is still two blocks of Rabid infested city to get through. This is not the time to get overconfident and think we have made it, the time to relax is when we have travelled back up the river and gone back through the military cordon. Then and only then will it be time to pat yourself on the back, I think, cursing myself.

  I poke my head out from the end of the side street, the breeze deciding to change direction just as I do and the gust of air hits me directly in the face, bringing with it the stink of rotting corpses that number far too many to count on the roadside of our latest challenge. With my stomach trying to ignore the horrendous smell, I nervously look left, along towards the junction where I collapsed. I wonder how Karen and Tanya would feel if they knew about my fragility. Would they have stepped onto the tightrope we are walking, so willingly, if they knew what was behind my mask? I seriously doubt it, hence, I have kept it to myself.

  The junction is just out of my line of sight, and thankfully, so are the incinerated cars, only drifting smoke moves in that direction and it is the same when I look right from behind my rifle. On the other side of the road, I recognise the side street with the trendy wine bar I used on my way out. The street is to the left and towards the junction, but it’s too close to the junction and I look elsewhere for a route south. Just on the right across the road, and away from the junction is another side street that I decide to use.

  So many twisted bodies cover the road that I take a second to pick a path through them. A bit of zigzagging will be required to ensure we stay well away from any corpses that might suddenly reach out to grab hold of a fleshy ankle. The path is there though, and with a quick check behind, we move off.

  “Stay away from the bodies,” I tell the women as we approach the first of many strewn in the road, as if they needed telling.

  An ominous quietness hangs over us as we begin our long winding route across the road. The M4 swipes through the air from left to right, searching for targets, stopping to look forward and into the side street we are heading for with each sweep. Each peak of its arch left reveals more of the junction and its monument of incinerated death to me.

  Perhaps, I quicken my sweep when I swing left to avoid what waits, or perhaps my reluctance to look upon the carnage again makes me miss seeing the threat.

  Whatever the reason for my lapse, what my vision blurs from my fragile mind, my ears do not.

  Chapter 20

  Despite our distance away from the junction, the first deathly screech rings out as though the Rabid was stood next to me. The noise, a call to arms to its kindred, rushes along the road to stop me dead in my tracks and I freeze, instantly, facing the route south that we are winding towards. My rifle floats in the air in front of me like a mirage. I must turn to the left and face my foe, but time stands still, as my mind reels in dread and shock.

  A second chilling cry of the hunt ricochets off the surrounding buildings and I force my body to snap out of its stupor. My back twists to bring my rifle to bear left, the object suddenly feeling like the powerful weapon it is, once more. My heroic turn is ridiculed, it is met by a crescendo of ear-piercing Rabid noise, as dozens of the undead screech out to announce their readiness to attack.

  My feeble fear at laying my eyes on the carnage of the incinerated cars is dispelled at once, as I finally look towards the junction. Any sight of my phobia is overwhelmed by the army of the undead racing away from the junction, the horde converging onto the road that we stand upon.

  Once more, the power is stripped away from the M4 that I hold out front, the weapon no match against the terrifying mass of figures chasing towards us. My rifles bullets would be chewed up and spat out by the fearsome creatures unless I happened to hit one or two in the head. One or two dead Rabids will not make a dent in the horde and would not let us escape our fate.

  My last single grenade hangs idly from the front of my combat vest. Another futile thought, one single grenade will not cut it, not this time. Maybe if I had a box full of the handheld explosives I would be in business, but I don’t, I have only one.

  “Andy?” a petrified voice asks from my right.

  Karen’s quivering voice forces me to drag my eyes away from our impending doom, the undead horde beginning to get close enough to come into sharp focus.

  Karen and Tanya, cower behind me to protect themselves from the Rabid creatures that are about to stampede us and tear us to ribbons. They are fatally mistaken if they believe that I can protect them from such an overwhelming force, and their panic-stricken faces tell me that is not what they believe.

  Both women look at me in desperate expectation to see what I am going to do next and in my own desperation, I shout my order at them.

  “RUN!” I shout at the top of my voice in a fit of panic, spittle flying from my mouth.

  My legs spring to life instantly, driving me forward, aiming for the side street that will take us south and to the river. Visions of Catherine and Emily waiting for me with bated breath in the cottage rush through my mind, I cannot let them down and leave them behind to fend for themselves. I must not die now, here in this godforsaken place, they need me to return to them, they need my protection.

  My protection is what Karen and Tanya are relying on, at this moment. I glance behind to see if they are with me and I see Karen’s legs split to hurdle over a corpse blocking her path, all caution thrown to the wind. Tanya is beside her, her legs moving as fast as she can muster.

  We will make it into the side street, that much I am confident about, as I too spring over bodies in front of me to land onto the pavement. On landing, I race to the cusp of the street where I spin around to take cover behind the corner of the office block, firing the M4 into the oncoming horde that is now only meters away, desperately trying to win us a few seconds of time.

  “Run!” I shout at the women as they arrive at my position. “Keep going!” I add as the M4’s magazine empties itself into the undead.

  One or two Rabids go down but they are only replaced by other ferocious beasts, as I knew they would be. I eject the mag and my muscle memory changes it out in a flash to get the rifle firing again. I keep my finger depressed on the trigger until the second magazine is spent, then I turn to run, ejecting the next mag as I go.

  Kar
en and Tanya are a short distance in front of me as I push another magazine home, and I’m desperately trying to catch them up. The narrow side street’s light changes subtlety as the chasing pack of zombies burst onto it behind me, their shrieks of death making sure I know that they are still coming to feed.

  That is when I pull the last of the grenades from my front and pull its pin. With my legs pumping, I gradually catch up to Karen and Tanya who are neck and neck in front of me, sprinting for their lives.

  The street narrows slightly, and the solid walls on either side of me to contain and deflect the explosion, indicate that is the time to drop my last grenade. The grenades destructive force is now our last hope of outrunning our hunters, who are closing in fast behind.

  “Grenade… keep going!” I shout as the device hits the ground behind my feet. I can only hope that the women hear and understand my warning and don’t break their stride when the explosion hits.

  With the grenade dropped, I concentrate on running and increase my speed. Lactic acid pumps through my muscles, providing them with energy to catch up to Karen and Tanya and then to move past them. Ahead of us, the street is cut off by a building and the road turns sharp right and I look for cover as I sprint towards the latest obstacle.

  The almighty explosion erupts behind, with a shattering BOOM, moments before I arrive at the right turn. I don’t turn to see what damage the explosion has managed to create and how much time it has bought us, if any, until I reach the cover of the corner.

  Pieces of rubble rain down into the road as I spin to watch the women chase by me. “Turn next left,” I shout as they go by and I begin to fire the M4 blind into the cloud of smoke clogging the street where the explosion erupted.

  Another magazine is emptied into the smoke and dust without me knowing if I have hit a single Rabid. I eject the mag but just as I reach for another from my combat vest the first Rabid comes through the dissipating smoke.

  The creature stumbles out into the open, its torso cut to ribbons, the beast looking unsure of what its objective is. Other shadows move behind it and then emerge to join the first Rabid. A snarling sound emanates, and I turn to look at the creature making the sound. I find myself locking eyes with the culprit, its evil eyes drilling into me.

  Launching forward, the creatures snarling escalates into a wailing screech and I turn to run, knowing that their deathly pursuit has resumed.

  Only a short distance away is the turn left, that I told Karen and Tanya to take. I can only hope that the chasing pack don’t see me turn before they round the corner. As I steal a look behind, I see the creature again for just a second before the building cuts off the view.

  Ahead, the women have made good progress, they are nearing the junction with the main road ahead. Across the main road marks the last block of buildings before we reach the wharf. We are close but I have no idea what might wait for us on the main road and the women are about to rush out onto it.

  “Left” I shout, with the hunting pack at my back. I was praying there would be a road straight ahead down to the wharf but no such luck, another building stands in our way blocking the final part of the route.

  There is no time to stop and clear the way ahead, I will have to let the women run blindly onto the main road. The gamble pays off, I see as I round the corner to join them on the main road, it is clear.

  “Right,” I shout at the two women ahead, as they near a road that will lead us down to the wharf. I see them disappear behind the building as they turn into the road and I quickly look over my shoulder.

  Terror rips through me. The swarm of Rabids, their fearful eyes fixed on me, are only a meter or two behind. I turn the corner, legs pumping and see the two women in front, the wharf beyond them and then the embankment wall.

  We are so close to reaching the beach where Josh and Alice will be waiting ready to come in and pick us up, but we have no chance of making it. At any moment now the pack will catch up to me, take me down and rip me apart. Karen and Tanya might make it to the wharf, but where do they go from there? They will not know about the stairs to the left that will take them down to the beach, even if they had time to use them, which they won’t. Their fate will ultimately be the same as mine.

  I stretch my legs as far as I can, pushing off the tarmac behind and reaching for the next piece to use in desperation. My muscles burn, threatening to burst as I use every ounce of energy I have remaining. Our fate is sealed, I know it in my gut, a gut that will be greedily torn out of my stomach. Karen breaks through onto the wharf and into the light, but I look beyond her and I strain to increase my stride still further. If only I can get one last glimpse of my son over the embankment wall before the undead take me—doesn’t my sacrifice deserve that much? Please God let me lay my eyes on my son, one last time before the end!

  My pitiful prayers go unanswered, Rabids are upon me, snarling into my brain and I am still meters away from the embankment wall. This is it; I tell myself, there will be no moment of joy before the excruciating end.

  A shadow interrupts the light of the wharf ahead coming to block any chance of me seeing the river and my son who waits there.

  High-velocity rounds streak past my head, they thud into the horde directly behind me. A glimmer of hope brings me back to my senses and my fight returns. My legs push again as I look forward, expecting to see Josh firing, taking out the Rabids at my back. I told him not to get off the boat, he stands no chance of saving us from so many of the undead. This will be the end for him too, I begin to panic.

  But it is not Josh that has made the shadow ahead, I suddenly see as I finally focus. Remarkably, the high-velocity gunfire is streaking down from a helicopter hovering just off the embankment wall.

  Movement from the left as I near the wharf startles me, have Rabids somehow got in front of us? My arms lift the M4 to bear as I run to aim at the sudden threat just as tracer fire speeds past my head from the helicopter and into the pack behind me. My finger moves away from the M4’s trigger as I see that the sudden movement ahead is not the undead outflanking us.

  A team of Special Forces operators, dressed from head to toe in black ops combat gear stalk past me, their rifles ablaze. Miraculously, I emerge onto the wharf to join Karen and Tanya as the team shuffle past me. Keeping low, their rifles sweep deliberately to seek out new targets, the weapon’s muzzles lighting up instantly as they identify and engage their targets.

  My head spins as I try to come to terms with our incredible survival and my amazement at the sudden appearance of our military salvation. Karen and Tanya look on, clinging onto each other, eyes wide in astonishment. The downdraft from the helicopter behind us swirling their hair into the air.

  Bullets fly from above and behind the three of us, and from the men on the ground ahead of us. The Rabid horde is not defeated; however, figures still stream into the fight from the main road beyond, no matter how hard the Special Forces press their advantage.

  Gathering some semblance of sanity, I decide that it is time that I get into the fight and raise my M4. Just as I do, the roar of an unseen low flying jet engine streaks from somewhere above. The sound booms as it travels through the enclosed streets, echoing off the surrounding buildings.

  Blinding light erupts from the direction of the main road, instantly flashing down the narrow street of the battle. The shockwave from the ordnance dropped from the fast jet slams into me as the eardrum splitting explosions shake the ground beneath my feet.

  “Duck!” I shout at Karen and Tanya, not knowing if they will hear my cry as blisteringly hot air rushes down the enclosed street. I pull my head down and my knees bend to let the burning air burst across me.

  Behind, the helicopter has already taken evasive action and lifted away from the embankment wall to let the explosion escape and erupt out over the River Thames.

  The moment that the explosion dissipates, and before my arms have left my head, the sound of dull gunshots is already sounding, their volume feeble after the almighty explosion.
/>
  My head comes up to watch the professionals in front of me press ahead again, guns blazing. A downdraft buffets the three of us as the helicopter comes back in to continue its support of the troops, retaking its position off the embankment wall over the beach below.

  My M4 sits idly in my hands as I watch the Special Forces in awe as they methodically finish off the Rabid horde remaining on the street. If only the whole of London could be cleared as readily as this one small part of the city, I think as the troops do their work.

  Gradually, the gunfire begins to diminish as the undead are slaughtered one by one. Nothing is left to chance, the dozen or so troops move in amongst the bodies firing bullets into heads until each and every one is eliminated.

  Josh. Alice, I suddenly think, my mind all over the place as the troops run out of Rabids to fire bullets into, and they begin to form a perimeter.

  I turn away from the carnage, looking to check on Karen and Tanya as I go. The two dishevelled women are still clinging onto each other in astonishment and shock, their eyes wide looking at the troops, dressed entirely in black, shooting down at the last of the undead.

  The downdraft from the helicopter hovering above thrusts into me trying to push me back, but I resist and push against it. I see the river, but the embankment wall still cuts off my view of most of it and I step over to the wall. Placing my hands on top of the wall, wind buffeting me, I apprehensively look out across the water to find my son.

  It takes me a moment to get my bearings, the scene is not as I left it. Three black Special Forces rigid inflatable fast boats have been pulled up onto the sand of the small beach below. The boats sit close to the corpse of the first Rabid I killed early this morning after I had jumped onto the sand.

  I turn away from the beach and look out onto the water where two military patrol boats are positioned meters apart from each other on the river. The two boats flank each side of another smaller boat, our boat, and I see Josh and Alice stood inside its hull.