Capital Falling (Book 3): Resurgence

by Winkless, Lance

  I spray the whole magazine into the legs of the oncoming Rabids. Many have their legs taken from under them. Others behind fall over the ones that go down but not enough of them. There is no time to change the mag again as a Rabid launches at me. Its eyes are filled with hatred and determination, not to feed but to kill the betrayer.

  I am no zombie, I think to myself as I bring the butt of the M4 swinging around and smash it into the back of the Rabid’s head. The beast’s skull cracks from the force of the blow and it crashes to the ground at my feet, headfirst. I release the empty M4 to drop to the floor.

  Most of the Rabids are dead or down but more still come and are on me. One slams into me as I reach for the Sig in my shoulder holster. Hit backwards, my hand comes away empty as my arms flail backwards to try and break my fall. Managing to save myself from the brunt of the fall, I recover enough to bring my arms back up to defend myself from the vicious Rabid snarling inches away from my face. My arms push, trying to force the determined creature away. The fucker has gripped hold of my shoulders though, and is pulling itself down; no matter how hard I push, it is too strong, it is winning.

  Gunfire erupts from back in the foyer. I hope I have given Josh enough of a chance to kill the rest of the Rabids and protect Emily, I think to myself as my arms weaken and the Rabid nears its victory.

  Wretched Rabid blood splatters across my face as the sound of cracking bone fills my ears. The attacking Rabid is sent rolling sideways off me as its head is whacked sideways. My head is spinning as I try to recover myself from the attack, unsure what has happened. Blood is in my eyes and my hand comes to my face so that my fingers can wipe it out.

  My senses start to return, and my eyes focus. A figure is standing over me, holding their rifle like a baseball bat. They are talking to me and finally, I hear what the female American voice is saying. “Are you okay, buddy?”

  “I wipe my eyes again, “Alice, is that you?”

  “Captain Richards, it can’t be, you’re alive?” she replies as another figure comes and stands over me. “Yes, it’s me, Alice,” she tells me as she drops her rifle and bends down to me.

  Her hand comes across my face and she starts to wipe it, mopping up the Rabid blood.

  “How did, erm—I didn’t recognise you with that blood over your face. I can’t believe it; can you sit up?”

  I push myself up with Alice’s help and sit up. Alice stays next to me and there are two other sets of legs in my view. My head rises to see Winters and Dixon standing over me with looks of disbelief etched across their faces.

  “Josh and,” Alice cuts me off.

  “They are safe, back there in a conference room with Stacey,” she tells me.

  “We need to get out of here, now!” I tell them all. “Ask your questions later.”

  “I have an evac, we need to get down to the loading bay on the ground floor,” Winters says, immediately getting on point.

  I go to stand up and again Alice helps me. Back on my feet, I look around the floor.

  “Looking for this?” Dixon says as he bends down to pick up my rifle.

  “Thanks,” I say as he passes it to me. “Alice, Winters, go and get the others while we secure the route to the lifts. We haven’t got time for Josh and Emily to see me now. More Rabids are one floor down and they could be here any second, especially after all that noise.” I don’t mention the possible impending nuclear bomb that could arrive at any moment.

  Alice and Winters move without question, going back up the corridor. I reload and then Dixon and I move out to secure the lifts. The route is clear and halfway to the lifts, I speak to Dixon.

  “Opinion on Winters’ evac?” I ask.

  “It’s the only one we have,” he answers bluntly.

  “Fair enough, any details?”

  “We need to get the lower ground floor, which is separated from the main building, so it should be clear. I’ll fill you in with the rest of the details when we are off this floor, okay?”

  “Okay, I’ll go down first as soon as we hear them coming to save any drama,” I tell him.

  “Yes, they are going to be elated, when they see you, especially one little girl I know. I’m quite pleased to see you myself,” Dixon informs me with a grin across his rugged face.

  “Thanks, mate. They aren’t the only ones who are going to be excited, I can’t wait to see them. It has been a very long road,” I tell him, exhausted.

  “I can imagine and I’m looking forward to hearing all about it, with a cold beer in my hand. Here take these, I think you’ll need them before you see your children.” Dixon delves deep into a pouch in his body armour. His hand reappears holding a small packet of wet wipes, a soldier's best friend.

  “Ideal, thanks,” I say as I take them from him.

  “Here they come, see you down there,” Dixon says.

  “Okay, watch that stairwell, that’s where they will come from,” I tell him as I go.

  “You got it,” he replies.

  The lift door pings open just as the rest of the group turn the corner, back down the corridor. As tempting as it is to steal a look at them, I don’t take the risk. The last thing we need right now is noise and confusion. I step into the lift and look for the button for the lower ground floor. Funnily enough, it has the letters LG printed on it and that’s the one I press.

  Thankfully, the lift’s buttons have a mirrored panel above them, and I take a look at myself in it. I’m not surprised Alice didn’t recognise me straight away, what with my new wounds down the side of my cheek and the blood on my face, which is still considerable even after Alice has wiped it. I rip open the packet of wet wipes and quickly go about trying to clean myself up. The small packet of wipes manages to last long enough to clean off the blood from my face and around my neck. I can still feel blood in my hair, and it is still splattered across my body armour. There isn’t much I can do about that now; I doubt Emily will notice when she sees me and hopefully Catherine won’t notice how haggard I look.

  I am poised behind my reloaded M4 as the lift door pings open onto a confined, narrower corridor than the ones on the floors above. All is quiet as I move to the lift door and aim the M4 up and down the corridor. There is no sign of any Rabids and no Rabid noises. I exit the lift, covering the corridor while I wait for the other lift to arrive.

  Butterflies dance around in my stomach as I anticipate the lift opening and my children seeing me. I find myself trembling nervously. There was a point when I thought I would never see them again; in fact, there were several points and I tell myself it is only to be expected.

  Eventually, the second lift pings and I step back from it. To give everyone room to get off, but also out of trepidation, my trembling increases rapidly.

  Dixon and Collins disembark the lift first. Collins looks so surprised to see me, for a second I think he might actually shoot me with his raised rifle. He gathers himself quickly, gives me a nod and moves past me to cover the corridor beyond, like the consummate professional he is.

  In quick succession, Emily and Stacey appear, closely followed by Catherine and Josh. Emily has her head down and doesn’t even notice me to start with, and Stacey’s concentration is taken up with Emily. Catherine and Josh behind them come to a sudden stop as soon as they see me, with looks of disbelief and bewilderment on their faces. Stunned, neither of them says a word; they stand there like statues, eyes wide, their brains trying to process who is standing in front of them.

  “Dad?” Josh finally manages to utter.

  Emily’s eyes come up to my face, her small face appears frightened and afraid. She cannot understand that it is me; she looks like she has seen a ghost and she even takes a step back towards Josh.

  I move down to her level, onto my haunches. “It’s okay Emily, it’s me, it’s Dad.”

  Her eyes start to well up, as she begins to understand that it is her Dad in front of her and not an apparition.

  “Dad?” She takes a small step forward. “Dad?”

&nbs
p; “Yes Emily, I’m here. I am not dead, I survived.” My eyes well up too and tears start to roll down my cheeks as I hold my arms out to her.

  “Dad!” Emily shouts and runs into my arms.

  I pull her to me, tears streaming down my face and savour having my little girl in my arms again. Emily sobs as I lift her up, her legs moving around my body as she grips hold of me tightly. I look over to Josh whose eyes are red and wet. He looks unsure, guilty, I hold my arm out to him. Josh comes over and I put my arm around him, pulling him in.

  “I’m sorry dad.” He says, quietly to me.

  “Don’t say that. You did what you had to do. You did what I wanted. You couldn’t have known,” I tell my son.

  “But.”

  “No Josh,” I cut him off. “There is no way, I’m proud of you for the decision you had to make.”

  Josh pulls away and looks at me as if to double-check he isn’t dreaming.

  “Forget it, son, it had to be done,” I tell him earnestly, gripping his shoulder.

  He gives a small nod of acknowledgement as Catherine comes over. She puts one arm around Josh and one around me.

  “You are full of surprises,” Catherine jokes, which breaks the tension slightly.

  “I like to keep you on your toes,” I retort and kiss her on her forehead.

  “Sorry to break up the party, but we need to move,” Dixon says.

  He is right and he doesn’t know the half of it.

  “Come on Stacey,” I say as we all follow Winters down the corridor. I feel a pang of guilt that I haven’t time for her now, but I will when we reach safety.

  Dixon catches up to Winters and I see them talking as we go. Something tells me the evac isn’t going to be straightforward. I need to get in on that conversation and that isn’t going to be easy, what with Emily clinging onto me.

  “Emily, I’m going to have to give you to Josh. I have to talk to Sergeant Dixon.” Emily makes a long grunting protest. “Josh, take your sister please.”

  “Let them handle it, Dad, you’ve done enough,” Josh replies.

  “Now, Josh,” I order him sternly. He has no idea and I haven’t the time to explain.

  Josh relents and goes to take Emily off me as we go. Emily won’t release her grip and I have to prize her off me. She protests again but I have no choice but to ignore her.

  Free of Emily, I break into a jog to catch up with the two men ahead. Skirting around Alice and Collins, I reach the backs of Winters and Dixon. They turn to look at me but don’t break their stride or stop their conversation, thinking they have the situation under control, without my input.

  Unfortunately, on this occasion, they don’t know all the facts, so I have to barge my way into the situation. I put my left arm out and push my way between the two men, taking them by surprise.

  “Steady on, Captain, we have things under control. You can’t keep out of it, can you?” Dixon half-jokes.

  “I’m sorry, Sergeant but things are happening you aren’t aware of.”

  “Like what?” Winter asks as the two men walk on either side of me.

  “It looks like they are planning to stem the outbreak at Heathrow with a tactical nuclear device. It could be inbound as we speak,” I inform the two men, who both go quiet. “What is the evac plan?”

  “l have cars in the loading bay, ready to go. Unfortunately, there are approximately twenty Rabids also trapped in the loading bay, which we will have to clear. One of them is Colonel Reed,” Winters says, and I look at him shocked. “I’ll tell you later,” he says.

  “I will clear the loading bay,” I tell the two men.

  “No fucking way, you wouldn’t stand a chance against that many,” Dixon insists.

  Telling these two wily operators just to trust me isn’t going to cut it. There is no way they are going to let me go into that loading bay alone unless I tell them, so I tell them straight.

  “Since I got scratched, the Rabids think I am one of them, I don’t know why but they do. I can get into the loading bay and set them up,” I tell them.

  “What do you mean?” Dixon asks.

  “I’m invisible to them, like camouflaged.”

  “It didn’t look like that when one was about to bite your face off before Alice intervened,” Dixon points out.

  “That was because I was attacking them and making a lot of noise. Believe me, they walk right past me unless I threaten them. I’ve just walked out of the city surrounded by them for god’s sake.”

  “Are you infected, then?” Winters asks.

  “Look, I don’t understand it and didn’t believe it myself until it happened, but it’s as if they think I’m one of them.”

  “What do you suggest then, Captain?” Winters asks.

  “I go in and kill them, that’s it.”

  “No way, your little girl would never speak to me again if I let that happen and you didn’t survive.”

  “It’s the best plan we can’t afford to delay,” I tell them.

  “Okay, a compromise, you go in, set them up and as soon as the shooting starts, we come in,” Dixon suggests.

  “Agreed,” I say. “Just don’t shoot me in the crossfire!”

  “Funny fucker.” Dixon smiles.

  “That’s the entry door on the right,” Winters points out.

  “Okay, get ready, I’ll speak to Josh and Catherine to stay back with the girls,” I tell them.

  Dixon and Winter move to brief Alice and Collins, while I go back towards the others.

  Emily is still in Josh’s arms when I get back to them, her head is up though, and she is looking at me. Heaven knows what is going on in her mind, but there is no time to spend with her now.

  “Can you two move back with the girls?” I ask Josh and Catherine. “There is going to be shooting, so be ready for it, okay?”

  Josh and Catherine nod and start to move back. Emily looks at me and I think she is about to say something, but her head turns away and she buries it into Josh’s shoulder. I try to give them a reassuring smile before I turn back towards the loading bay door.

  “Is everybody ready?” I ask. They all nod and I look at Winters. “Open it up,” I tell him.

  Winters punches a code into the keypad on the wall, next to the door. My hand takes hold of the handle as the keypad beeps, showing a green light. Winters nods and my hand pushes the handle down.

  Slowly, the door pushes open. Winters moves back, his rifle coming up to aim at the opening gap. Nothing springs out at me as I open the door ready to slip through into the loading bay. I scan the bay and sure enough, Rabids are inside, milling about as they do when they are waiting for something to happen. One close to the door, in a green General’s military uniform, looks at me through the gap. The former General bares its teeth at me before turning its head away. That is all the invitation I need, and I slip through the open gap and into the loading bay.

  There are indeed about twenty Rabids shuffling about inside the large loading bay. On my left is a roller shutter that has two black cars and Colonel Reed’s Defender lined up behind it, our transport out of here. On my right is an open space that has wheeled storage cages and a few pallet trucks scattered around. Then in front on the opposite side are a couple of offices with a forklift parked up beside them.

  The Rabids are spread out across the loading bay. I wish I had the silencer reattached to the front of the M4, I could take them out a few at a time if it were. I need to get them together into one bunch so that we can deal with them easily, in one place. How to do it without getting attacked again—I’m not sure I have the strength for another fight?

  The solution presents itself on the wall on my right; a bonded storage cage is attached to the wall there. I presume it is used to store valuables in when they arrive, and it will be perfect. I slowly go over to it, not wanting to re-energise the Rabids with any sudden movements until I am ready. As I move, I look at each of the Rabids, looking for Colonel Reed. I definitely owe him one, but I’m just not sure I wanted it
to be like this. He appears, shuffling out from the back of his Defender as if he is waiting by it to be driven somewhere. He is unmistakable, with his tall stature and short-cut grey hair, I could spot him from a mile off.

  Reaching the bonded cage that has boxes of various sizes stored inside, I see it is padlocked shut. I release my hand from the M4 and go to reach for my Sig, but I stop before I take hold of it. If I shoot the lock off, the others will bowl in too soon. Instead, I unclip the M4, take aim and swipe it down, handle first, smashing it into the body of the padlock.

  The loud crack is followed by the body of the lock hitting the floor with a thud. A screech sounds out behind me. I don’t look around, but unhook the remainder of the lock from the doors clasp and quickly pull the door open and move inside.

  Pulling the door closed, I don’t delay and start banging my fist against the steel mesh; at the same time, I shout “Come and get it!”

  In no time, the Rabids are heading towards the new noise and coming back to life. I hope that the others don’t mistake the banging for shooting as I carry on hitting my fist on the mesh. Glistening yellow teeth and angered black eyes are quickly piling up on the other side of the mesh, their throats belching out high-pitched noise and foul smells.

  Waiting for them all to crowd around, I move back a few paces from the mesh, still shouting. Colonel Reed is one of the last ones to join the fracas, his head bobbing around above the others.

  Finally satisfied, I take aim. I have Reed’s head in my sights, his face looks angry and tormented. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, I think to myself as I pull the trigger.

  The Rabids are quickly despatched; it’s like shooting fish in a barrel, especially when Dixon, Winters, Alice and Collins join in on the action. It takes a minute to shift some bodies away from the door of the cage so that I can get out, but I am soon leaving the loading bay to go and get the others.

  Emily is standing next to Josh as I emerge, and she runs down to me as soon as she sees me, and I sweep her up in my arms gratefully.

  Quickly, we all get into the cars, without delay. Winters is behind the wheel of the Defender, Dixon next to him with Alice and Collins in the back. Josh is behind the wheel of one of the other cars that is nearest to me, with Stacey next to him. Emily and Catherine are in the back of Josh’s car with the back door open, waiting for me to press the roller shutter’s button and run over.