by Hatchett
Daniel slowly navigated along Tower Hill, noting the start of the Northern wall of the Tower to his left. At the next set of traffic lights, he veered left and continued along Tower Hill, almost mirroring the path of the Northern wall.
At the Tower Hill Memorial, it would’ve been simple to take a left and drive straight down to the entrance at the Middle Tower. However, the old access at this point now had metal bollards on the pavement and large concrete blocks a few yards behind them.
“See what I mean,” Daniel indicated the blocks and continued onto Byward Street, past ‘All Hallows by the Tower’ church and on down the road, looping back towards the river. He took a left onto Lower Thames Street and carried on to the end where it veered left into Petty Wales. Daniel didn’t need to go up Petty Wales; the metal barrier he had been looking for was straight ahead. It had more concrete blocks on either side. He knew the barrier was extremely sturdy but felt this was his best shot at getting the bus to the Tower entrance. He slowly rolled the truck up to the barrier and looked more closely.
“This won’t work,” he advised as more and more zombies moved towards the truck. “The barrier is locked into solid supports either side and has depth to prevent what I was going to try. “Looks like I’ll have to go for the metal bollards on the pavement next to it. At least there isn’t any concrete blocks behind them.” Daniel reversed the truck, crushing several zombies, and rolled it forward until it was touching two bollards.
The bollards were in a ‘L’ formation leading onto Three Quays Walk. Daniel saw that he would need to take out at least four or five bollards to give the bus access, and the truck would only be able to work on two at a time. He didn’t know if the bollards were for show, whether they were concrete filled, or how far below the surface they went. It wasn’t something you generally thought about.
Daniel took the truck out of automatic and selected a low gear. He then pressed the accelerator, putting more and more force on the bollards. The bollards moved a couple of inches. Daniel knew that it would probably be easier to ram them at speed, but he didn’t really want to damage the truck too badly and he certainly didn’t want to cause injury to any of the passengers. Daniel continued to press the accelerator, building up revs, but the tyres began to spin uselessly and started smoking. He stopped, reversed a couple of yards. Perhaps a small shunt would do the trick. “Hold on!” he shouted as he built up revs and released the brake. The truck shot forward and hit the bollards with a loud bang and the truck stopped dead in its tracks. The passengers in the cabin were thrown forward into awaiting airbags as the seatbelts locked. Daniel pulled his now deflated airbag out of the way and reversed the truck a couple of yards. He could see the bollards had moved a few more inches and the tarmac on the pavement around them had started to crack and push up. These bollards were definitely not for show, not that Daniel really expected anything different.
He stopped and pondered the situation. He could ram them again, and this would probably work on the two he had already moved a bit, but he had more bollards to take out and this would only damage the truck further.
“Why don’t you just ram the fucker again?” the Judge asked, becoming impatient.
“It might work, but we need to take out other bollards and we’ll be in deep shit if we smash this truck up. I could try reverse ramming it.
With that, Daniel reversed and did a three-point turn. He lined up the back of the truck with the two bollards he had hit previously and then hit the accelerator and rammed into them. The bollards gave way with a loud crash and the truck shot through the gap before Daniel slammed on the brakes before it could hit a nearby building.
“Two down, two to go,” he muttered as the passengers got their breath back. “I’ve got another idea,” he said as he put the truck in gear and drove back through the gap and lined the back of the truck up with two more bollards. He reversed until the back bumper was touching the bollards. He turned to Bird. “Can I borrow the walkie talkie?”
Bird handed it over and Daniel explained to Mamba what he wanted to try. The bus slowly pulled forward and nudged into the front of the truck. Daniel was looking directly at Mamba through the two windshields and he nodded to Shauna in the bus’s driver’s seat.
“OK, let’s try it,” Daniel said into the walkie talkie. He revved the truck’s engine and released the brake. At the same time, Shauna did the same in the bus. There was now the four-ton weight of the truck and about thirteen tons of bus behind the push. The bollards were no match for that amount of power; they gradually pushed back before suddenly snapping as the ground around them gave way. Again, the truck accelerated, and Daniel had to slam on the brakes. The bus had also shot forward as the two bollards suddenly gave way, but it was too wide for the gap and smashed into another standing bollard, crumpling the front left of the vehicle.
Many of the bus’s passengers were not wearing seatbelts and some were standing in the aisle of the lower floor. They were all thrown forwards by the impact. Mamba had warned everyone about what was about to happen so most had taken a good hold of something in preparation. However, one gang member who was standing in the lower aisle was not holding onto anything. He was propelled down the aisle, taking out two gang members in front of him before hitting the windshield head on. There was a sickening thud and an eruption of blood as the windshield shattered and gave way, the gang member’s momentum sending him through the windshield onto the ground below. As Shauna screamed, Mamba was already on his feet looking forwards. He couldn’t tell if the gang member was still alive or dead; he now had several zombies on top of him, tearing away chunks of flesh. Mamba turned to look back up the aisle and could see that the two other gang members who had been hit were in a bad way and were being helped by others around them. Mamba looked again at the smashed windshield; thankfully the bus was high enough to prevent the zombies climbing in, but the pile of bodies on the ground provided a leg up and other zombies had got hold of the sill and were trying to pull themselves up.
“Reverse!” Mamba screamed. Shauna was dragged out of her shock and saw what was happening. She quickly put the bus in reverse and stepped on the accelerator. The bus moved back with a jerk, three zombies clinging to the sill where the windscreen had been. As Shauna stopped the bus, Mamba sprang forward reaching for his machete. He then stabbed each of the zombies before they had a chance to get onto the bus. Shauna watched in horror, the bus vibrating in neutral. She saw Daniel bring the truck back through the gap and plough through the pile of zombies. He stopped just in front of her, gave her a quick wave, then reversed so that the back of the truck was against the bollard the bus had crashed into.
Mamba’s walkie talkie crackled into life. “Is everyone alright?” the Judge asked.
“We’re fine now,” Mamba replied. “Lost one of the boys though.”
“Let’s get this final bollard down and then we can move on.”
Mamba gave the order and Shauna moved the bus forward slowly until it touched the front bumper of the truck. She saw Daniel had three fingers up which he slowly lowered one by one as a countdown. Shauna matched his timings and together, the truck and bus removed another bollard without much difficulty.
Once the final bollard was down, Daniel continued to reverse but turned the steering wheel until the front of the vehicle was pointing in the direction he wanted to go. He braked, put the truck into gear then moved off past a souvenir shop towards the Middle Tower entrance with the bus following close behind.
23
Day 4 – 14:30
Tower of London, Outer Ward
There were hordes of zombies outside the Middle Tower and the entrance was too small to allow the bus to enter. Ahmed, Nelson and five other gang members were on the ramparts looking down; they had been watching with interest as the truck and bus had knocked down the bollards and were waiting to give the order to lift the portcullis. Skelly was on the ramparts of the Byward Tower and was likewise waiting to give the same order.
Daniel stopp
ed the truck and took the walkie talkie offered by the Judge.
“Mamba, I can get the truck through, and hopefully crush all the zombies in the way, but Shauna will have to park the bus sideways, with the middle door facing the entrance. She can use the railings on either side of the entrance to prevent more zombies getting to you and the gate.
Mamba relayed the instructions to Shauna and went to stand by the middle door. “I’ll shout when it’s in the right place,” he advised.
Daniel handed back the walkie talkie and moved the truck forward towards the narrow entrance. He knocked over and crushed several zombies and squashed another four against the portcullis. He then waited for the bus to move forward and block off the entrance.
Once both vehicles were in place, everyone made a final check to make sure there were no more zombies between the bus and the entrance gate. Once they were happy, Mamba gave the order to Ahmed to raise the portcullis and the truck moved through onto the drawbridge.
Mamba then told Shauna to open the middle door, and everyone started trooping off the bus and quickly made their way to the drawbridge before the portcullis was lowered once again.
The portcullis at the Byward Tower was raised and the truck moved into the Outer Ward, followed by the rest of the group on foot, before the portcullis was again lowered.
Daniel jumped out of the truck, followed by the others. He quickly walked around the vehicle to see what damage had been done but was pleasantly surprised to find that it seemed largely superficial, save for a couple of larger dents.
Ahmed, Skelly, Nelson, and some of the gang members who had stayed behind came down to greet the new arrivals.
“Any problems?” Mamba asked.
“Nah,” replied Ahmed, “nice and quiet.”
“About time we have a betta look around,” Mamba suggested, and the Judge nodded his agreement. “Better get some guns outta the truck first.”
Mamba opened the back door of the truck and the gang members stepped forward to pick up some weapons and ammunition. Once they had done so, Ahmed and Skelly led the Judge and Jury up to the Southern inner wall ramparts overlooking the grass of the Inner Ward, accompanied by twenty or so gang members.
Mamba took Daniel and the rest of the gang members to the locked gate under the Bloody Tower, where a couple of guards were stationed.
“Open up,” Mamba ordered, and the two guards quickly unlocked the gate. Once open, Mamba strode through and ordered the gang members to circle the area with guns at the ready.
There was a lawn to the left, known as Tower Green, but Mamba led Daniel along the path until he could double back onto the main lawn in front of the entrance to the White Tower in the centre of the site. There were still blackened husks of burnt zombies still lying where they had fallen and scorch marks all over the grass. He could see faces in windows surrounding the square, watching their every move.
“We need to clear this shite up,” Mamba commented, indicating the dead bodies.
“What are you going to do?” Daniel asked.
“Well, Danny Boy, as long as everyone behaves, no one gets hurt. You were the boss once, so it’s up to you to get everyone out here. I want everyone on the grass, no one hidin’.”
Daniel looked around. He too, could see faces at the various windows looking out onto the grass. He knew that his colleagues would be in the White Tower, working out ways to take out the gang, but little did they know that there was now around one hundred and thirty of them, not just thirty of forty. They were well armed and, so far, had not dropped their guard enough to do anything, at least, not without getting yourself killed. Any action would have to wait.
Daniel walked towards the steps leading to the entrance to the White Tower. “Rhys? You there?” he shouted.
The door opened, and Rhys stepped out onto the platform at the top. “Here boss,” he advised.
“We need to get everyone out here now, and I mean everyone.”
Rhys turned and said something to someone in the doorway before descending the steps and walking over to where Daniel stood. The two shook hands.
As he did so, people were walking down the steps from the White Tower. Rhys walked a couple of paces then looked in all directions, indicating that people should come out. Slowly, doors of all the cottages and buildings in the Inner Ward opened and people started drifting towards the main lawn. Some were huddled together, obviously frightened and others moved with determination and some with defiance on their faces.
Mamba was watching everyone very closely and so was Daniel, but not for the same reasons. Mamba was checking for any immediate threats whereas Daniel was looking to spot his colleagues. He was pleased to see that they had spread themselves across the various groups and buildings.
Once everyone was on the lawn, Mamba indicated to the surrounding gang members that they should search the buildings to make sure. He waited patiently until they all returned, the people on the grass whispering quietly amongst themselves, not sure what was going to happen.
One of the gang members came out of a cottage dragging a woman. He dragged her kicking and screaming all the way to Mamba before throwing her to the ground and returning to his position.
“I thought I said EVERYONE was to come out here!” Mamba screamed.
The woman on the ground was getting to her feet, “Fucking animal!” she shouted. Daniel quickly stepped forward, grabbed the woman by the shoulders and told her to shut up.
Daniel felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see that Mamba had pulled out his machete.
“There’s no need for that Mamba, she’ll behave,” he begged.
“No, I fucking won’t,” the woman screamed, “they’re animals.”
That did it. With two quick strides, and a flash of steel, Mamba took the woman’s head off, Daniel leaping out of the way to avoid being hit on the follow-through. As the woman’s head fell with a surprised expression on her face, the body remained standing for a couple of seconds, showering blood into the air, before slumping in a heap on the floor. Some of the crowd were stunned into silence, others were trying to avoid being hit by blood, others were shielding their eyes and weeping, and others were trying their best to stem screams.
“Anyone else got anythin’ to say?” Mamba roared as he stalked amongst them with a fierce scowl on his face. He passed a couple of Daniel’s colleagues and Daniel could see them gritting their teeth, forcing themselves to remain calm and not react. Mamba continued his walk, putting his bloody blade inches from some faces so they were in no doubt what was in store if they had the nerve to speak. He used his blade to slice one woman’s blouse wide open to expose her bra and slit another one’s skirt so that she had a split right up to her hip. This brought a smile to Mamba’s face and eventually he calmed down enough to return to his original position before turning back to look at everyone.
“That’s betta! You’ll ALL do as your told, when you’re told, or else….” Mamba let the sentence drift, swishing his machete around and flicking droplets of blood in all directions, making sure no one was in any doubt about what would happen. “Anyone got anythin’ else to say?” he enquired with a grin now on his face. ‘The bastard’s really enjoying this’ Daniel thought to himself. There was deathly silence, except for the odd bird tweeting and the usual background noise of the zombies, albeit subdued by distance and the massive Tower walls.
“Good,” Mamba shouted. “Then we can begin. The man and woman standin’ above you are the Judge and Jury; they are your new leaders. What they say is the new law.” The Judge and Jury smiled and raised their hands to wave as if they were the King and Queen of England, recognising the peasants below them. Daniel caught Rhys’s eye as he looked skywards.
“I am the Judge, and this is the Jury,” came the Judges loud voice as he indicated his partner. “I promise you right now, if you do as you’re told, you will not be hurt. We wanna build a safe place where we can all live in relative happiness. We cannot have anyone causin’ trouble; anyone who doe
s will be dealt with quickly and harshly. All of you here will need to find new accommodation in the Outer Ward. The White Tower is my new home. Generally, you may come and go as you please, but there will be a curfew for the time bein’. Everyone will stay in their accommodation from nine o’clock at night until six o’clock the followin’ mornin’. If you are found wanderin’ around outside your accommodation durin’ the curfew, you will be thrown off the ramparts into the sea of zombies. If you’re not happy with the arrangements, you are free to leave the Tower right now.” The Judge paused to look around and see if anyone wanted to dispute his authority. “Good. My lieutenants will find each of you a new role based on any skills you have. Everyone will have to do some sort of work to help us all survive.”
Both Daniel and Mamba had been watching the crowd; Daniel to make sure no one else did anything stupid and to make eye contact with his colleagues, Mamba looking for any kind of dissent which he could jump on. When the Judge had finished speaking, Mamba told everyone to get their belongings and move into the Outer Ward and that everyone should then come back by four o’clock, so they could be assigned duties.
“I want you to meet one of my colleagues,” Daniel advised Mamba, and called Rhys over.
“I thought you said you were the only one here,” Mamba replied looking at Daniel with suspicion.
“I thought I was, but then I saw Rhys standing there.”
“I was off duty but instead of leaving the Tower, I was in my home when it all happened,” Rhys quickly explained, picking up the direction of the conversation from Daniel.
“Well, is there any more of you here?”
“Not that I saw,” Daniel quickly replied, before Rhys could say anything.
Mamba looked at Rhys. “What about you?”
“What?” Rhys asked feigning surprise.