Hellspawn (Book 6): Retribution
Page 28
“Joan will be staying with you to continue the training. She’s keen to ensure her children are safe.”
“Children?” Kurt groaned.
“Long story,” she replied. “You can also count on some fierce fighters to add to your ranks. There’s a pair of twins you’re going to love.”
“I don’t want to break up our group.” Kurt moaned.
DB squeezed his shoulder. “It’ll only be for a week or two. Our guys need us more than you right now, brother.”
“Did you not hear about the several million walking corpses headed our way?” Kurt laughed, a sickly sound of resignation.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a hundred million, they can’t get inside the walls. You just need to sit tight.”
“That means you can’t get back to us either.”
“Captain Hayward has authorised the use of Chinooks to facilitate the drop of the civilians and goods on your say.”
“Why not just use them to pull out your soldiers?” Kurt asked.
“We don’t have enough transports to do it in one sweep. Anyone left after the first rescue will be overwhelmed. Once the battle is won, he’ll drop these two back as well. You have my word.”
“Until they’re needed to retake Portsmouth.”
“Aye, until then. But that leads me on to my next request. I’d like as many of you to helps us as possible when the time comes. You’ll have been through intensive weapons training by that point, courtesy of Joan. If we can secure the naval base, our warships can dock and we’ll have a real foothold on the mainland again, a whole city in fact. We can start to push back and clear the land of the dead.”
“This is all well and good, but we still have four hundred lunatics trying to kill us,” Kurt murmured, before standing and leaving the room without a further word.
Sarah apologised, and DB explained what the man had seen and done. The soldiers gave their sympathy and made it clear they weren’t offended in the least. “The strongest of us has our limit,” Holbeck added.
“You’ll have all the assistance we can give,” Sarah assured the sergeant. “Kurt will agree to it, I can assure you.”
A dull crump from outside broke through the conversation. Every person in a uniform became instantly alert, while the unattuned civilians continued to look on obliviously.
Sarah saw the immediate change in the soldiers. “What was that?” she asked.
“That was an explosion, and not from anything normal. That was a proper high yield detonation,” DB explained. The hellish sounds of murderous IEDs came back to him from Afghanistan.
“It came from the south,” said Eldridge.
Everyone made for the tower in a blur of bodies. Looking out from the battlements, a plume of black smoke rose into the air. The lazily drifting cloud was a good distance away from the castle, somewhere in the town of Ford.
“It’s the prison,” Sarah gasped.
“What the hell’s happened?” DB asked, leaning from the wall as if the extra few inches would provide an explanation.
Jonesy looked from face to face, but no one had an answer to give.
Sarah looked at the pillar of smoke and fire. The conversation with Matt played again. Gypsies. Heavily armed. Dangerous. Looking for revenge. Psychotic. Those poor families.
“We need to go and see for ourselves,” she said to the group. “We have one of theirs locked away. He could be of use.”
Holbeck nodded. “He comes with us.”
“He’s recovering from being shot. I doubt he’d be able to make the journey.”
“He’ll be sat the whole way. We need him.”
“I’ll go and get him ready,” Sarah replied, hurrying away.
The others watched the distant fires on the horizon, preparing themselves for the fight to come.
The End
AUTHOR BIO
Ricky Fleet has been a lifelong horror fan. One dark night, many years ago, he ‘borrowed’ a copy of Salem’s Lot from his mum’s bedside table. Sneaking it into his room, the terrifying visage of Barlow gazed out from the cover. Doomed townsfolk stretched into the distance, and in bold, silver font was a name - Stephen King. The story contained within those pages spawned an appetite for horror that has yet to be sated. Masterton, Lumley, Koontz, Laws, Herbert, Hutson, Laymon, Barker, and many more have influenced both his life and his writing.
His career took him into the plumbing and heating sector, keeping Britain’s homes warm and watered.
Born and raised in the UK, cups of tea are a non-negotiable staple of the English life and serve as brain fuel for his first love - writing.
With the Hellspawn series being enjoyed across the world, the growing saga has a dark edge that begins to explore the true horror of a world without rules. A nod to the master, George A. Romero. The only thing running on his zombies are the fluids of decay. What they lack in velocity, they more than make up for with utter remorselessness and insatiable hunger.
Infernal – Emergence is the first in his new demon series. A tale of conspiracy, untapped powers and the vast armies of Hell who yearn to tear our world apart. Only one man stands in their way; he just doesn’t know it yet.
His latest release – Devoured World – takes a new and terrifying look at the question ‘Are we alone in the universe.’ It appeared to be a gift; it was, in fact, a terrible curse. Nuclear Armageddon. A dead world. Billions of mutants roaming the darkened wasteland. These are the least of the survivor’s problems. The aliens are coming, and then the true war will begin.
You can find Ricky at the following places:
On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ricky-Fleet/e/B072C2GX6X
Author page
https://www.facebook.com/Author-Ricky-Fleet-751475768315453/
Hellspawn fan group page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/175304226349208/
And at my publisher: http://optimusmaximuspublishing.com
Hellspawn
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellspawn-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01A2LLELA/
US - https://www.amazon.com/Hellspawn-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01A2LLELA/
Hellspawn Odyssey
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellspawn-Odyssey-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01EJ0OQ5G/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Hellspawn-Odyssey-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01EJ0OQ5G/
Hellspawn Sentinel
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellspawn-Sentinel-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01LYST98B/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Hellspawn-Sentinel-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01LYST98B/
Hellspawn Requiem
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellspawn-Requiem-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B071YB2MLS/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Hellspawn-Requiem-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B071YB2MLS/
Hellspawn Dominion
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellspawn-Dominion-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B076CS8Y75/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Hellspawn-Dominion-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B076CS8Y75/
Infernal Emergence
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Infernal-Emergence-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01N78QYE0/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Emergence-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B01N78QYE0/
Infernal Revelation
UK- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Infernal-Revelation-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B07NJGLJ33
US- https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Revelation-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B07NJGLJ33
Devoured World Volume One
UK- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Devoured-World-One-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B07J5YRDP1
US- https://www.amazon.com/Devoured-World-One-Ricky-Fleet-ebook/dp/B07J5YRDP1
Maximus Shock
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maximus-Shock-Collected-Madness-Terror-ebook/dp/B01N9W6Q6J/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Maximus-Shock-Collected-Madness-Terror-ebook/dp/B01N9W6Q6J/
Tales from the Zombie Road – The Long Haul Anthology
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Zombie-Road-Long-Anthology-ebook/dp/B077CD7VBJ/
&n
bsp; US – https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Zombie-Road-Long-Anthology-ebook/dp/B077CD7VBJ/
Treasured Chests – Breast Cancer Charity Anthology
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasured-Chests-Anthology-registered-Charity-ebook/dp/B075DGW3PZ/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Treasured-Chests-Anthology-registered-Charity-ebook/dp/B075DGW3PZ/