by Hatchett
“What have you told him about us?” Issy asked.
“Not much,” Jack replied. “He knows we’re at Heathrow and roughly how many people are here, but that doesn’t do him any good. I’ve told him we can help with provisions and some weapons if he needs them, or his group can come and join us. He knows we have a helicopter because I had to explain how we could get stuff to him, and that’s about it. He doesn’t know the extent of our weaponry, especially the two Apache’s sitting on the tarmac outside.”
“What does he want?” Bear asked.
“He seems more interested in fuel and weapons than anything else,” the Major replied. “He doesn’t seem at all interested in joining us and there’s something about him that Jack and I simply don’t trust.”
“So, how do we play this?” Issy asked.
“We managed to find out his location, so we asked Tom to get his team to carry out surveillance and find out what they could about the Judge and his people. Perhaps Tom could give us an update?”
Tom nodded. “The guys have managed to get CCTV and satellite coverage of the area. If you look at the TV,” he pointed to the flat screen on the wall, and as he did so, various shots of the Green Park Estate in Stepney and the surrounding area popped up ‘picture in picture’ on the screen. “This is the Green Park Estate,” Tom advised, shining a laser onto the screen. “We believe this is where they live, and you can see at the front it has been well barricaded.” The pictures were live, and the Leaders could see people guarding the barricade and spotters on the roof. “We estimate that there could be around fifteen hundred people in the building; that’s a lot of mouths to feed, so it probably won’t take long before they start running out of supplies. The general area doesn’t lend itself to providing replacement supplies, so I have no idea what they plan to do.”
“The guards have guns,” Issy pointed out. “I wonder where they got those from?”
“Yes, considering that guns are, or were, banned in this country, it suggests that we’re not dealing with regular law-abiding citizens,” the Major added. “Still, we’re in a different world now so what they got up to before is sort of irrelevant. It’s what they do going forwards that counts.”
“We can easily land a heli on the roof or the patch of ground behind the barricade,” Joel noted.
“I guess we speak to the Judge in a few minutes and see what happens,” Jack advised. “Tom has set up the radio so that it is more like a conference call; we will all be able to hear what he says and can all chip in if there are questions. Tom will also be recording the call, so we can analyse it in more detail later. At any time, we can mute our end if we need to have a discussion.”
26
Day 4 – 20:00
Heathrow Airport, Security Briefing Room
The Leaders and Tom were still sitting around the conference table, chatting idly, and drinking tea and coffee when the speakers crackled, and the Judge came online.
“Good evenin’. This is the Judge. Are you there, Jack?”
“I’m here Judge. I’ve got my team here with me, but it’ll take too long to do the introductions. Just so you are aware that you may hear other voices.” Jack didn’t want to name names and he didn’t want to give the Judge any idea how many people were listening to the conversation at his end.
“That’s fine, I have some of my group here as well, and a coupla new faces. Like you, I won’t go through everyone, but I should introduce the two new ones. They are Danny Boy and Rhys and they were in charge until we got here.”
Jack had a puzzled expression on his face as he looked around the table. “What do you mean ‘got here’? Where are you?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Some of us have relocated to the Tower of London.”
Jack was momentarily confused, so Issy butted in. “How did you manage that?”
“Oh, we have our ways of movin’ around,” the Judge advised.
“So, who are Danny Boy and Rhys?” Issy asked.
“Danny Boy was the boss here before we came along, and Rhys works for him. I’ll let them talk for themselves.”
There was a brief pause before Daniel spoke. “Hello, this is Daniel Gittens. I was Chief Yeoman Warder, and Rhys Jenkins is one of my larger team. We’re tour guides.”
“Good to hear from you Daniel,” put in Jack, “How’s it going?”
“Fine at the moment.”
“How many people are there?” Jack asked.
“Just over a hundred of the Judge’s people and about the same from our side. We have a few staff, visitors, Tommy’s; a bit of a mix to be honest.”
“Anything you need urgently?”
“We could do with some fuel for the vehicles and the generator, otherwise we’ll lose power.”
“We’ll see what we can do. Keep in touch Daniel,” Jack ordered. He looked around the table before saying, “Judge, just give me a minute,” and muted their end.
“We need to be quick but what did you make of that?”
“He’s army,” Dave answered. “He’s obviously got more army guys there but he’s keeping that from the Judge, so you have to wonder why.”
“What makes you think he’s got more men there?” Jack asked.
“He mentioned ‘Tommy’s’, which means soldiers and he mentioned his ‘larger team’. The Yeoman Warders or Beefeaters are all from the armed forces with a long service, so they will know their stuff. In any case, there can’t be just two of them; the Tower usually has thirty or forty of them. They act as tour guides and live there. I like the way he said they were ‘tour guides’,” Dave replied laughing.
“We better talk to the Judge,” Jack advised as he turned the communications back on.
“Sorry Judge, I was interrupted. Just the usual hassle trying to keep this airport safe.”
“No problem,” replied the Judge. “I’m always bein’ hassled. Is there any way we can get some fuel as Danny Boy said? We’ll be in real trouble if we run out.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Jack replied. “Are all your people with you? I thought you were somewhere in the East End.”
“Nah, there’s still over a thousand back at home and we need to look after them somehow.”
“OK, leave it with me. I’ll get back to you at 9:00 in the morning. Is there anything else you need?”
“Only if you have some weapons spare to kill these fuckin’ zombies. We’ll be doin’ some scavengin’ for food and other supplies tomorrow, so I think we’re sorted there.”
“OK, speak later,” Jack advised as he muted the line again. “Observations?” he asked.
“I don’t trust him,” Andy advised. “Daniel wouldn’t have been so cagey if there wasn’t a problem.”
“So, what are we dealing with?” Jack asked. He had his own views but wanted to see what the Leadership Team thought.
Gina sat forward. “I think we have a problem. I think the people back in Stepney are probably normal people just trying to survive. The Judge has obviously left a few thugs with guns behind to keep them in order or to protect them; we don’t know which and we don’t know how many he left behind.”
“Tom’s surveillance team can monitor the building and try and figure out how many thugs are there using facial recognition or simply by clothing or something,” Jack suggested.
“Then there’s the Tower,” Gina continued. “Daniel said there were just over a hundred thugs there…”
“He said just over a hundred of the Judge’s people,” Irish pointed out. “Can we really assume they’re thugs?”
“I think we have to,” Issy said. “Daniel would’ve just said there were over two hundred people without separating them out between the Judge and himself if there were no problems.”
“I agree,” said Jack. “Carry on Gina.”
“Where was I? Oh yes, so there are just over a hundred thugs and the same number on Daniel’s side. If we assume he had thirty of his Warders there, that still means around one hundred staff and visitors who got
stuck there. If we had to deal with the thugs, those civilians are going to be a real problem, especially if they start using them as hostages.”
“Don’t you think we’re getting ahead of ourselves?” Travis asked. “Shouldn’t we take them at face value? Playing Devil’s advocate, for all we know, there’s nothing wrong there and Daniel has just had his nose put out of place by a new leader in town.”
“That’s all true, but I still don’t like it,” said the Major.
“Maybe we should carry out a trial,” Jack suggested. “Take them some fuel and at the same time get an opportunity to have a good look around. In the meantime, Tom’s team can also monitor the Tower and see what’s going on.”
“Sounds good,” remarked the Major to nods all around the table. “What exactly should we send and who wants to go?”
“I’ll go, since the heli’s are my responsibility,” Joel advised. “I suggest I take just a couple of plain-clothed soldiers with me because we don’t want to go mob-handed or look threatening. I think I should just take some drums of fuel for the first trip then see where we stand.”
“Everyone agreed?” Jack asked. There were nods all around the table. “Ok, I’ll let the Judge know that our heli should be arriving about 10.30 in the morning.”
27
Day 5 – 10:15
Tower of London, Inner Ward
The Judge had ordered Mamba to make arrangements for the arrival of the helicopter at the Tower at 10.30am. Mamba had heard the discussions between the Judge and Heathrow and, like the Judge and Jury, he didn’t particularly like them, and agreed that they were a bunch of snobs who needed teaching a lesson. Mamba’s paranoia helped magnify the Judge and Jury’s already biased views, so anyone listening to them would believe that they were about to be invaded by aliens.
Mamba had made sure there was a show of strength with all gang members armed and on duty. Some were spaced along the entire inner and outer ramparts, a few were patrolling the Outer Ward, a few would be watching from buildings in the Inner Ward and the rest were walking around the Inner Ward. The gate under the Bloody Tower had been closed so that no one in the Outer Ward could interfere. Non-gang members except Daniel and Rhys had been ordered to stay in their cottages; anyone disobeying would be harshly dealt with later.
It was a relatively mild September day with the sun shining, not a cloud in sight. Mamba was pleased because it meant he could get away with wearing a tight vest which showed off his muscles and tattoos; he had every intention of making their visitors uneasy. He had arranged for Ahmed and Skelly to meet the helicopter; he wanted to stay behind them, look menacing and get a good look at his enemy.
*****
The Lynx helicopter was flying low over London from West to East. The Lynx was mainly a passenger helicopter, although it did have a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun as standard, but on this occasion, it was specifically left unloaded. It could accommodate six people in addition to the pilot and co-pilot and had sufficient storage space for what they needed on this trip.
Apart from the pilot and co-pilot, Joel only had two other soldiers with him and half a dozen large jerry cans filled with fuel. He had specifically chosen coloured soldiers like himself with a view to blending in better with the people he was about to meet. He also made sure they were all wearing civilian clothes to make themselves look less threatening and to hide the fact that they were all army personnel. He expected the people at the Tower to be less alert if they thought they were dealing with civilians. Each of them carried a knife and pistol, but this was really just for show rather than serious protection. Joel had made sure that they equipped themselves with the worst examples from their armoury and left the good stuff like the Heckler & Koch MP5’s with silencers and night vision optics at home; he didn’t want the people at the Tower to see the sort of toys they had access to; you never knew when surprise might be needed.
Joel had a window seat and had been looking down at the death and destruction on the streets of London below him. It was Day 5 and there were thousands upon thousands of zombies, if not millions, still moving around and smoke was still rising into the air from old fires. There were also thousands of large birds sitting on buildings or feeding on bodies. He was not particularly into birds, but he could pick out various eagles, harriers, falcons, buzzards, and hawks. It seemed that nature was already beginning to reclaim what it had lost through man’s progress.
Joel was brought out of his reverie as the heli dipped and the pilots voice came through his earphones. “Sir, we’re coming in to land.”
“I’m not Sir, I’m Joel,” he admonished the pilot.
“Yes sir…er, Joel,” came the response.
Joel smiled to himself as he got his first look at the Tower; it was a magnificent sight, especially from where he was sitting. He had spent some time with the other Leaders the previous evening, going over floorplans and assessing the place but seeing it in the flesh was nothing but awe inspiring. Joel forced himself from admiring the place to focusing on the security; he could see guards dotted around the walls and the ground and he could also see the grass area where they had been told to land; you couldn’t miss it because there was a large reception party all around the area.
The pilot brought the heli in smoothly and landed with hardly a bump. The engines were turned off and while the pilot and co-pilot stayed in their seats, Joel and his two colleagues opened the sliding doors and stepped down onto the grass. Joel stretched and took a good look around. He waited for the rotors to slow a little before walking towards who he assumed to be their senior people. As he got closer he nodded, held out his hand and said “Hi I’m Joel. The two behind me are Drake and Curtis. Pleased to meet you.”
28
Day 5 – 10:30
Tower of London, Inner Ward
Mamba watched carefully as the helicopter came in to land. As the engine was shut down, three men emerged and made their way towards Ahmed and Skelly.
The tall one at the front smiled and held out his hand as he got closer. As he did so, the gang members near Ahmed raised their weapons. The proposed handshake became two hands in the air, and this was mirrored by the two other men behind him. At the same time, a group of gang members pointed their guns at the helicopter’s pilots and indicated that they should get out. They did so and were herded to where Joel, Drake and Curtis were standing. The gang members quickly frisked the new arrivals before taking away their knives and pistols.
“Welcome to the Tower,” Ahmed said sarcastically as he moved forwards. “I hope for your sake that you’ve brought the fuel.”
“I thought this was supposed to be an amicable meeting,” Joel replied, his smile long gone.
“Don’t you talk posh?” Ahmed commented. “Fuel? I won’t ask again.”
“In the storage compartment of the helicopter,” Joel replied.
Ahmed nodded to a couple of the gang members and they quickly went to the helicopter and opened the storage compartment. They pulled out the six jerry cans and lined them up on the grass.
“Not much,” Skelly commented.
“We couldn’t carry too much weight,” Joel explained.
“Should have left your boys behind then,” Skelly suggested. “Take them away.”
The five men were grabbed by gang members and marched towards the entrance to the White Tower. Mamba had found a lockable room in the basement which was suitable as a prison and this was where they were being taken.
“What are you doing?” Daniel asked as he walked up to Mamba.
“None of your fuckin’ business Danny Boy,” Mamba answered, still staring at the backs of their new prisoners.
“But Mamba, these people came here to help us.”
“They’re the enemy,” Mamba replied as if that explained everything.
Daniel walked away shaking his head and joined up with Rhys, Isaac, and Grace.
“I don’t understand what he’s playing at,” Daniel said in frustration.
“He’s
completely paranoid,” Grace noted, “and he’s the one advisin’ the Judge and Jury. God help us!”
“We need to speak to those guys,” Daniel advised.
“Wait until Mamba disappears then we can try,” Grace suggested.
The four of them stood there, watching to see what Mamba was going to do next. After the prisoners had disappeared, Mamba took a quick look around and then headed towards his cottage; there had been shouting and screaming and sounds of a struggle coming from the cottage the previous night and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what Mamba was up to, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. At least, not yet.
Once he was out of sight, Daniel, Rhys, Isaac, and Grace hurried towards the entrance of the White Tower.
They entered the building without any interference from the guards and quickly moved towards the stairs. They descended to the basement and rushed to catch up with the echoing sound of footsteps.
The guards were about to lock the cell door when Grace walked up to them and told them to wait a few yards away.
“We’re supposed to lock them in and keep guard,” the shorter of the guards stated.
“Well, we need to speak to them first,” Grace responded, “so do as you’re told, or I’ll have to tell my Uncle Mamba that you disobeyed me.”
“Whatever!” the guard snarled. He certainly didn’t want any attention from Mamba, so he and his colleague did as they were told and moved along the passage to wait.
Grace entered the cell, followed by Daniel, Rhys, and Isaac.
Joel looked up in surprise and concern until Daniel stuck out his hand and said, “Hello, I’m Daniel,” before making introductions.
“Well, it’s good to see some friendly faces,” Joel replied, before he made introductions of his two colleagues.