by Hatchett
The noise of all the vehicles had attracted the interest of zombies in the vicinity and as they moved towards the vehicles and the coach, the Killing Crew did what they were becoming very proficient at doing; stabbing the zombies in the head and leaving them dead on the floor. The Killing Crew blended in very well and it was difficult to tell them apart from the real zombies at any distance; it was only the uniform and the lack of injuries which gave them away, not that a zombie would notice such things.
Once the first vehicles had driven away and the nearest zombies had been dispatched, the Killing Crew spread out again and started checking the next set of vehicles. Once they were happy and had signalled to Joel, the coach’s doors were opened again and another dozen of the Procurement Crew moved to acquire a vehicle.
The Killing Crew had found several cars where there were no keys; the drivers must have taken them when fleeing for their lives. They identified these ‘no-go’ vehicles by lifting a dead zombie and placing it on top of the roof or bonnet. During their searches, the Killing Crew also found half a dozen delirious civilians who were too scared and exhausted to make any noise. They left these civilians in the cars but moved them to the passenger seats, ready to be driven back to Terminal 3.
The same process was followed until the third group had driven off, and despite a few immovable vehicles still sitting in the way, there was sufficient space for the coach to move forward. The coach driver started the engine and began to move forward, steering around stationery vehicles where possible. At one point, there were two immovable cars close together, so the driver nudged one of the cars out of the way, the zombie on the top sliding off the roof and onto the floor. The driver then continued along Camberley Road.
At the next corner, Joel could see further blockages up ahead and realised that it would be some time before they reached their destination. As he considered his options, the first of the minibuses pulled up next to the coach and a dozen members of his Crew got out, ready to move more vehicles. To save some time, Joel instructed them to park some vehicles on the side of the road or the pavement, rather than taking them back to the main cordon. This decision speeded up the process considerably, but it still took until 14:30 until they finally arrived at the Central bus station.
After the clearing up of the surrounding area, they managed to secure fifteen coaches and four buses. They also found more than two dozen survivors hiding in the coaches, the waiting room, and the offices. The vehicles and survivors were all taken back to Terminal 3 where they arrived shortly before 15:00.
Joel thanked both Crews for their hard work and gave everyone an hour to get some food and rest; he cautioned that there would be more work to do later that day, so they needed to make the most of their time off.
76
Day 2
11:30 GMT
Heathrow Terminal 3
Dave knew it would take time for Joel and the Procurement Crew to reach the bus station and secure the coaches and buses he would need to secure the perimeter, but he had no idea how long. He stood with Issy, Andy, Bear and Irish in the main cordon as they watched Joel head off and it wasn’t long before they heard Joel’s voice through their earpieces when he reached the first blockage.
“I can’t stand around here doing nothing,” Dave advised. “We’ve got another coach here and I might as well use it to do what Joel is doing but on different roads. I’ve got forty in my Crew and I could use fifteen of Issy’s Killing Crew.”
“Good idea,” replied Bear. “Irish and I have got twenty plus another fifteen from Killing Crew, so I intend to make use of the bus and go scouting the other terminals if we can reach them.”
“I’ll clear up after you all,” Andy added helpfully.
“I’ll stay here and help coordinate,” advised Issy.
They all split up, Dave and his Crew heading to the second coach, Bear and Irish taking their Crew to the bus and Andy taking his Crew to search for any baggage handlers who might be able to find them some baggage trains to move the dead.
As they were all getting organised, the first vehicles driven by Joel’s Crew started to arrive. Rather than let them park haphazardly, Issy decided that it would make sense to simply turn the whole of the Inner Ring into one massive cordon, so she started directing the incoming vehicles until a new, bigger area started to form. She thought it would make life much easier to park vehicles safely inside a new large cordon rather than having to worry about accessing those same vehicles if they were outside the cordon.
The minibuses proved very useful in ferrying the soldiers back to their respective groups and it didn’t take long before more minibuses were found. ‘It would probably be a good idea to have a Transport Crew,’ Issy thought to herself, especially as at least a dozen soldiers from various Crews now found themselves as permanent drivers.
77
Day 2
15:00 GMT
Heathrow Terminal 3
The Leaders of all the Crews had taken Joel’s lead and brought everyone back to Terminal 3 for an hour’s free time. The Leaders decided to go up to Level 1 and find some food which was being prepared by the chefs on what now seemed like a 24/7 basis. They settled into some seats in one of the restaurants as Sarah and Gina joined them and ordered some food and soft drinks.
“Good idea expanding the cordon Issy,” Andy noted. His Crew had managed to find what they were looking for and had been hauling bodies onto the baggage trains which they had brought within the cordon earlier. The next step would be to take them to a corner of the airport which wasn’t used and burn them. Before doing so, the bodies were stripped, and all personal effects collected. Decent undamaged clothes and shoes were kept; the Coordination Crew took them away to clean before making them available to anyone who needed them. Car keys were also set aside: as some point they would be needed to try and identify cars in the car parks, another painstaking and lengthy job.
“Yeah, great idea,” Irish added. He and Bear and their Crew had managed to get to Terminal 5 and other parts of the airport and had found hordes of trapped zombies, not much different to how Terminal 3 had been the day before. At this stage they hadn’t managed to check the train or Underground stations because there were simply too many zombies around and they would need the help of the other Crews to get them cleared. They had also been to the Cargo areas and towards the Hilton Hotel with the same result. They had managed to pick up a few survivors on their travels and brought them back to Terminal 3.
Joel and Dave’s Crews had done a great job clearing access roads and bringing the cars back for Issy to build the new cordon.
“It’s not finished yet,” advised Issy, “but it shouldn’t take long now. I have placed a gate on the corner of Camberley Road and will do the same at the corner of Camborne Road. I will also put another gate by the entrance to the Short Stay car park, so we can get access to the vehicles when the time comes. The main cordon area will be massive once its finished and with just two main gates in and out, it will be easy to defend. The biggest problem I can see is that so many of the roads around here are on different levels, so we need to be very careful that once they have been cleared there is no way rogue zombies can find their way back in. What’s everyone got planned this afternoon?”
“Much of the same I think,” replied Joel. “There’s still a lot to do. I reckon it’ll take the rest of today and most of tomorrow to secure the airport, then we have to clear all the buildings. Then we have to start thinking about the rescue of relatives.”
“It’s all taking longer than first expected but there’s nothing we can do about that,” Bear advised. “It’s far more difficult to coordinate than I could ever have imagined. The sooner we clear this airport, the happier I will be.”
“I meant to mention,” added Issy. “We have so many soldiers now driving around from various Crews that I think we should set up a separate Transport Crew.”
“Another good idea,” Irish advised. “I can take that on and leave Bear with the Rescue Crew
. I can provide a taxi service with the Coordination Crew acting as the controller.”
There were nods of agreement from around the table and Issy suggested that rather than Irish taking soldiers from the Crews, he should see if there were any civilians who were willing to drive, especially any who had experience of coaches or large vehicles. The Leaders agreed, and Irish left to go and find some volunteers.
Within half an hour, Irish had over sixty volunteers, mainly people who would prefer driving to cleaning or cooking or waiting tables. Irish first selected all those with experience of driving coaches or other large vehicles then selected others until he had forty drivers. He advised those not selected that he would come back if he needed more.
Irish took his new Crew into the cordon and allocated them vehicles and communications equipment. “The keys should already be in the vehicles,” he advised. “You may be called upon by any of the Leaders, but instructions will mainly come from myself, Sarah, or Gina. In the meantime,” Irish passed around some maps of the airport, “try and familiarise yourselves with the airport and the various routes. Call it ‘The Knowledge’,” Dave said smiling, referring to the well-known phrase used to identify people trying to become black cab drivers in London.
At 16:00, the Leaders returned to the cordon and prepared their Crews for more clearing duties.
78
Day 2
17:30 GMT
Heathrow Terminal 3
Issy was finishing off the main cordon with the last few cars when Sarah came through on her comms.
“Issy, Simon in the Control Tower has advised us that there are half a dozen small planes heading in our direction. He has contacted them, and they say that they’re just searching for a safe place to land. Simon has instructed them to land from East to West on the Southern runway and to park in a group at the far end and turn off their engines. He’s also told them not to leave their planes.”
“Ok, leave it with me.” Issy replied. She called over to one of her Crew and instructed him to continue finishing the cordon. She then stopped two taxis about to take eight soldiers back to their group and ordered them to follow her. She then ran quickly to the Panther which had been brought into the cordon earlier in the day and ordered the driver to head to the end of the Southern runway. The soldier set off towards the Camborne Gate, closely followed by the two taxis, one a silver BMW 5 series and the other a Mercedes S class; obviously the drivers had selected their cars wisely.
The driver of the Panther waited for the gate to open then took off along Camborne Road before taking a couple of smaller roads until he accessed the Apron. From there, he hurtled along the Southern Airside Road past all the aircraft parked at the gates, knocking over the odd wandering zombie as he went along, and headed towards the far end of the runway. The two taxis had no problem keeping up with the seven-ton armoured patrol vehicle, which could only reach a maximum speed of fifty miles per hour. Another soldier was standing with the top half of his body through the purpose-built hole in the roof of the vehicle, manning the 7.62mm L7 General Purpose Machine Gun.
Within five minutes they had reached the end of the runway and prepared to greet the incoming planes. Issy noted that there were no zombies in this area and the nearest she could see was hundreds of metres away. She climbed out of the Panther and gestured to the soldiers in the taxis to do the same. Issy walked over to the eight soldiers and ordered two of them to keep an eye out for zombies while the other six were to shield themselves behind the taxis and have their weapons ready.
“You should see them in the next minute,” Sarah advised through Issy’s headset. Issy moved away from the soldiers and stood in front of the Panther. She felt perfectly safe with the machine gun above her head.
As promised, six dots appeared in the distance, gradually increasing in size as they got closer. They appeared to be flying in some sort of formation and touched down within seconds of each other. Issy noticed that they could easily have stopped and turned around about halfway down the huge runway and thereby avoid the welcoming party. This was an oversight and a concern which she would consider in more detail later, but thankfully the pilots of the planes were doing what they were told and taxied to where Issy was waiting. They stopped a little distance away and turned off their engines.
Issy gestured that the pilot of the first plane should get down from the cockpit. She saw the pilot take a look around the area before deciding it was safe. He then took off his earphones and undid his safety harness before opening the door and stepping down onto the tarmac. Issy could see one of the other pilots looking to do the same but she stopped him in his tracks with a firm and universally known stop sign.
She beckoned the first pilot towards her and he did as he was instructed. He was a short middle-aged man with a receding hairline and the beginnings of a gut. He stopped three metres away and said, “Hello, I’m Alan Rudd and that’s my family in the plane,” he gestured over his shoulder to the Cessna Stationair he had just arrived in.
“Who are in the other planes?” Issy asked.
“My friends and their families. We’re all part of the same flying club from Biggin Hill in Kent.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because of what’s happened. We were originally trying to fly to France and there were hundreds of planes headed in the same direction. As we started to fly out over the English Channel, we saw some planes in front of us being shot down, so we quickly turned around and headed back. I can’t believe the Navy is killing its own citizens.”
“If the Navy didn’t get them, the French would,” Issy noted. “No one leaves. Why didn’t you go back to where you came from?”
“We couldn’t. We only just managed to get off the ground in the first place. Zombies were swarming all over the airfield, so we were very lucky to get out.”
“Why here?”
“There weren’t too many options left for us once we turned back at the Channel. We heard over the radio that most, if not all of the smaller airfields were unusable and overrun, and with the amount of fuel we have left, our options were limited even further. This was the only airport we could realistically reach. We didn’t want to land in a field somewhere because we wouldn’t have been able to refuel, and we’d have been stuck there.”
“Why didn’t you go to Gatwick or Southampton?”
“By the time we decided what to try next and because of our position at that time, we didn’t have the fuel to get to those airports. We’re running on fumes as it is.”
“What is it you’re looking for?”
“I’m just trying to find a safe place for my family and friends. If you would be kind enough to let us refuel, we’ll try one of the islands mentioned on the news.”
“Do you have any weapons? Guns?”
“No. We have the clothes we’re wearing, some spare clothes and a few useless kitchen knives. Can I ask a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Who are you and what’s going on here?”
“That’s two questions.” Issy paused. “Get everyone out of the planes, one at a time, slowly. Any false moves and my colleagues won’t hesitate to shoot.”
Suddenly a shot rang out and Alan dived for the floor. Issy looked around quickly and saw that it was one of her two sentries who had taken out a zombie who was getting a bit too close. “Knife if you can,” Issy ordered. The soldier acknowledged her with a nod of his head, taking out his knife at the same time.
When Issy turned back to face Alan he was slowly getting to his feet, his face as white as a sheet and he was shaking.
‘He’s no threat’, Issy thought to herself with an inward smile. ‘Still, it was useful to show him who’s boss’.
Alan looked towards Issy and she motioned for him to get a move on. Alan quickly turned and beckoned his family to get out of the plane and join him. His wife was the first out then she helped his three children; two boys and a girl. They looked like teenagers. The mother put her arms around her kids and they mo
ved to join Alan.
Issy nodded to one of her soldiers who put down his gun and moved across to search Alan and his family. He looked at Issy and shook his head before walking over to the plane to search the interior. After a couple of minutes, he stepped back out and again shook his head.
“Next plane,” Issy instructed Alan.
“W-What are you going to do to us?” Alan stammered.
“Nothing as long as you do what you’re told.” Issy replied.
Alan thought about that for a moment. He didn’t really have any choice. He turned and motioned for the occupants of the next plane to disembark. They did so and moved forward to join Alan and his family. In this plane was a man, a woman and two girls. The soldier went through the same search routine with the people and the plane and again shook his head.
Issy went through the same process with the remaining four planes until she was satisfied there was no threat. The other planes produced ten more adults and six kids of various ages, making fourteen adults and eleven kids in total. Issy clicked her comms and asked for six taxis or two minibuses to be sent to their location.
“You can relax,” Issy advised. “We had to make sure you were who you said you were, and that you weren’t a threat to us. Welcome to Heathrow.” The families visibly relaxed, hopeful that their ordeal was over. “You’re welcome to stay and help us, or we can look to get you some fuel and send you on your way.”
“Where would we go?” one of the women asked.
Issy shrugged her shoulders. “One of the islands maybe? I doubt they will be safe for long though. We’re slowly making this area safe, but if you want to stay you’ll have to muck in.”
“Fair enough,” Alan replied. “What now?”
“I’ve ordered some transport to take you to our base. You’ll be able to freshen up and get some food and drink, then you can tell our Coordination Crew what skills you have, other than flying, and what jobs you can do. We might also need to use your planes.”