by Hatchett
“How many people’re left?” Ahmed asked.
“Hundred’s.”
“How many are true believers?”
“I don’t know. I know at least fifty who aren’t. There’s a blind woman called Edith who isn’t. She blames God for blinding her so there’s no chance of her following. Would you believe people talk openly in front of her as if she’s deaf or daft? Anyway, she’s managed to identify a lot of the non-believers by listening in to private conversations.”
“What ‘bout ya?”
“Yeah, me too. They think I’m senile so, again they speak freely in front of me.”
“So, what’ve ya done with that knowledge?” Ahmed asked.
“Nothing yet. We keep each other up to date and look out for each other as best we can. But there’s nothing we can do at the moment.”
“Ya in particular’ll be dead afore ya get the chance ta do anythin’ at this rate,” Ahmed pointed out.
“Yeah, thanks for that,” Ernie replied.
“How do ya know I ain’t a spy?” Mamba asked.
“You’re black.”
“Here ya go again with the ‘black’ thing,” Mamba said, “jus’ when I was beginnin’ ta like ya.”
“Just stating the obvious. The Reverend doesn’t like or trust blacks.”
“So, what’s with that Mollie and the man with her?” Mamba asked.
“Mollie is one of the Reverend’s Ushers.”
“Usher?” Mamba asked, confused.
“Like the people who pass the collection plate around in churches, looking for donations. One of the Reverend’s helpers. A gofer. She does whatever he wants, and I mean anything…although she’s a bit big and old for his other tastes.”
“Urgh!” Mamba said. “Not a pretty picture.”
“The man with her helps her and does as he’s told in repentance for his sins. He’s known as an Underling.”
“So, we got Ushers ‘n Underlin’s,” Ahmed said. “What was the other thing ya mentioned? Protection detail? Enforcers? What’s that all ‘bout?”
“The Reverend has given himself the title of ‘Pontiff of New Eden’, like the Pope, but he’s still referred to as the Reverend. Bit easier to say ‘Reverend’ than the longer title. By the way, did you know he changed the name of the place?”
“Yeah, Mollie said,” Mamba confirmed. “Why ain’t he called the vicar, like afore?”
“Good question. I don’t know. Not a grand enough title, I guess. Anyway, so he’s the Pontiff or Reverend. Then he has his twelve Disciples, who are the twelve people closest to him and act as his advisors. They also help him run everything. Then there’s his Enforcers or protectors which he calls the Swiss Guard, like those in the Vatican protecting the Pope. There’s about thirty of them at the last count and they are effectively his army. Sorry, make that twenty-nine after your performance earlier, for which you’ll probably be burnt at the stake. Heresy and all that. Then there’s about twenty Ushers and roughly the same number of Underlings.”
“Fuck me,” Mamba said. “What ‘bout the rest of the people?”
“They do all the work, of course.”
“Do ya know why we’re really here?” Mamba asked.
“No son, why don’t you tell me.”
“We wanna get inta Burlington.”
Ernie started laughing. Hard. Followed by some coughing then more laughing as he wiped away some tears from his eyes.
9
Day 20 – 14:15
New Eden
Mamba and Ahmed were walking along Station Road towards the Hunter’s Arms when they saw Mollie, her Underling and a group of about a dozen large looking men accompanying her.
“I guess the Enforcers are out in force. May the force be with ya,” Mamba said, laughing at his own play on words.
“Shut up, Mamba,” Ahmed hissed, looking cautiously ahead of him. “Now ain’t the time fer ya pissin’ ‘round.”
Mamba kept the smile on his face as Mollie’s group got closer and they all stopped a few metres apart.
“Mollie!” Mamba said loudly, as if he was pleased to see her. “I was wonderin’ where ya’d got ta.”
Mollie stared at Mamba for a long few seconds while he carried on smiling.
“Wassup?” he asked, spreading his arms.
“The Reverend would like to see you right now,” Mollie said, as if she wanted to wash her mouth out with soap and water just to be speaking to him. She was clearly unhappy and uneasy in his presence.
“It’ll have ta be later, I’m tired ‘n busy,” Mamba replied. “Where’s Faruk ‘n Ismet?”
Mollie looked confused for a split second.
“Oh, you mean those men of yours who stayed with us. They’re still with the Reverend, telling him all about you.”
Mamba knew she was lying. He doubted either of them had uttered a word except to each other.
“Never mind them,” Mollie continued. “We’ve heard some disturbing stories about you from our footballers.”
“Oh yeah?” Mamba replied. “What stories?”
“We heard you’d killed a man with your bare hands,” Mollie accused.
Mamba looked to Ahmed then back to Mollie with something approaching shock on his face.
“Ya jokin’,” he said, “but it ain’t funny.”
“No joke,” Mollie snarled, hardly disguising her feelings. “Now you need to come with us and receive judgement from the Reverend.”
“Whoa! Judgement? I ain’t bin on trial yet. Who’ve I allegedly killed?” Mamba asked.
“Sam. One of the Reverend’s Enforcers.”
“Where’s the body?” Mamba asked.
Mollie looked surprised.
“On the football pitch of course!” she replied.
“Ya sure? Ya seen it?”
Mollie looked behind her to two of the Enforcers and nodded her head. They both set off at a run towards the sports ground. The rest of the Enforcers were staring at Mamba and Ahmed with undisguised hatred, the thought that one of their own had been murdered by the man standing in front of them was almost too much to bear.
“We have twenty-two witnesses who saw you do it and will testify to that fact,” Mollie pointed out.
“I got at least fifty witnesses that’ll say I ain’t done shit,” Mamba replied with a sly smile.
That surprised Mollie even more. She had forgotten about Mamba’s men.
“They don’t count.”
“Why? ‘Cos they not white like ya?”
“Because they are biased and will say whatever you tell them,” Mollie retorted, going a shade of crimson.
“But unless ya have a body ‘n can prove it was me….,” Mamba let the sentence trail off.
“Mebbe the referee did it,” Ahmed suggested.
“In the library,” Mamba added.
“With a lead pipe,” Ahmed continued, “or was it a candlestick?”
Mollie bit her tongue, realising she had jumped the gun and had nothing on them yet, and they were now taking the piss big time. She should have found the body first then confronted him.
There were loud footsteps as the two Enforcers came running back, breathing heavily. Mamba and Ahmed turned in time to see them shaking their heads. The two Enforcers joined the rest of their colleagues behind Mollie.
“So, officer. Are we free ta go now?” Mamba asked sarcastically.
Mollie closed her eyes briefly, knowing the Reverend would not be pleased with this outcome and the favour she might have earned earlier was now rapidly slipping away.
“I would like to see your knives,” Mollie said as she reopened her eyes.
Mamba shrugged and went to pull out his two Bowie knives.
“One at a time…and carefully,” Mollie ordered.
Mamba slowed his movements and took out the first knife, flicked it around and offered the handle side to Mollie.
She carefully took the knife and looked the blade and handle over thoroughly then handed it back and went through the same process with t
he second knife.
“Satisfied?” Mamba asked, securing the second knife.
“There’s dried blood on both knives,” Mollie said accusingly.
Mamba looked skywards, getting exasperated.
“That’s ‘cos both knives have bin used ta kill fuckin’ zombies. Lots of fuckin’ zombies. Ya can check Ahmed’s knives as well if ya want ‘n yer’ll see the same thing.”
Ahmed went to get his knife out, but Mollie shook her head. She knew they had killed zombies because the scouts had told her as much when they reported back. The problem was that there was no way she could tell zombie blood from human blood.
“So, was this guy stabbed?” Mamba asked, messing with her.
Mollie ignored the question.
“Mebbe I should’ve asked if he was stabbed with two knives, seein’ as there’s blood on both of mine,” Mamba suggested.
Mollie knew from the witnesses that there was just one stab wound, but only after Sam had already been killed, so it was clear that Mamba was taking the piss again. She’d have to remember that he was one slippery son of a bitch and to get her facts right before accusing him of anything again.
“You can go,” Mollie finally accepted that there was nothing she could do at the moment, although she heard a few snorts from behind her. She knew the other Enforcers were dying to get stuck into these two.
Mamba and Ahmed started walking towards Mollie and her group. They shuffled aside with reluctance to allow them to pass.
“Let me know when ya find the body,” Mamba said with a sly grin as he passed Mollie.
“Where are you going?” Mollie asked in confusion. “I thought you were staying in that field.”
“We’ve moved,” Mamba replied, and he and Ahmed carried on to the end of Station Road.
They both heard Mollie and her group arguing some metres behind.
Mamba and Ahmed jumped over the roadblock and crossed the road. Once they got to the door of the Hunter’s Arm’s, Mamba turned and waved to Mollie before entering the building.
10
Day 20 – 14:45
New Eden
“Bit close fer comfort,” Ahmed said, as they entered the building.
“Nah,” Mamba disagreed. “They’re fuckin’ idiots.”
“Dangerous idiots.”
They followed the route they had taken earlier and followed the signs to the lounge. Basir was there and appeared to have set up some sort of command centre, with equipment in neat piles all around the room.
Mamba and Ahmed went over to him, found a couple of comfy sofa chairs next to a low table and plonked themselves down.
“Got any food or drinks?” Mamba asked, and Emre quickly brought over a couple of plastic water bottles.
“Nice one, Emre,” Mamba said, as Emre went off and Basir came over and sat down in a third chair.
“How’s it goin’?” Mamba asked.
“Good,” Basir confirmed. “We’ve got everything organised. There’s armed men all over the building, and it’s a big building! It goes back miles and there’s even a secluded garden out the back. Plenty of rooms for everyone. I hear you had a spot of bother,” he noted.
“News travels fast ‘round here. How’d ya know so quickly?” Mamba asked.
Basir tapped his ear and Mamba realised that he’d forgotten all about the earpieces they’d taken from Heathrow. He reached up and clicked his earpiece and almost immediately he heard reports coming in from different people.
“The scouts,” Basir confirmed, with a smile. “They have been watching your back the whole time and were ready to start shooting if those big bastards started anything.”
Mamba smiled.
“Good job, Basir.”
Mamba hadn’t seen any of the scouts, so they obviously knew what they were doing. He switched off his comms for a bit of peace and quiet.
“Anythin’ from Faruk ‘n Ismet?” Mamba asked.
“Yeah. They’ve left their comms on, so we’ve heard the conversations going on around them. That Reverend seems a bit tapped if you ask me.”
“What’ve the boys said?” Mamba asked.
Basir laughed.
“As you would expect. Nothing.”
“Good. What did ya do with the body?” Mamba asked.
Basir smiled and tapped the side of his nose.
“Don’t worry. I guarantee no one’ll find it,” he confirmed.
“Right, ya gonna show us ‘round the place?” Mamba asked. “I could do with a kip.”
Basir stood up, held up a finger and tilted his head to one side and appeared to be listening to someone speaking in his earpiece.
While they were waiting for Basir, Mamba and Ahmed moved across to the piles of equipment and found their personal rucksacks. Eventually Basir came over and explained that the locals had put watchers on the building.
“Don’t worry,” Basir said, “we’ve already found some ways of getting out of here without being seen.”
“Who’s worried?” Mamba said with a smile. “That reminds me, we don’t need ta be dirty with all the roadblocks ‘round, so everyone can clean their gear fer now.”
Once Mamba had found a room overlooking the front of the building that he was happy with, he gave Basir a few more things to do before stripping off, soaking his smelly clothes in an en-suite bath, then got into a slightly musty smelling king-sized bed.
He thought of Heathrow, of Ayla, of Mollie, of Ernie. But most of all, he thought about how he was going to deal with the Reverend, because he would need to be sorted out before Mamba could concentrate on the real reason for being there, Burlington.
11
Day 20 – 15:00
New Eden
Mollie and her group had watched with pent-up frustration and fury as that arrogant bastard Mamba and his sidekick had sauntered through them seemingly without a care in the World, with a big cheesy grin on his face which she’d have loved the Enforcers to wipe off. He even had the audacity to turn and wave at them when he reached the end of the road, knowing they would be watching.
“We should have taken them,” Adam reiterated for the fourth or fifth time.
Adam was around six feet three inches tall and had a build which might be considered ideal for WWE wrestling. He weighed in at eighteen stone and was a keen bodybuilder, so his frame was mostly toned muscle. With a completely shaved head, full black beard and various piercings and tattoos, he looked like a criminal but was in fact deeply religious. His arms, upper legs, torso and neck were decoratively inked with scenes from the bible and he had twelve signs of the cross intricately woven into his designs.
His favourite artwork was the massive Latin cross, or Crux Immissa, on his back, the long staff starting at his lower back and rising to the base of his neck, with the shorter bars stretching across his upper back towards each arm. Above the cross at the back of his neck was a portrayal of God with all his angels looking down benevolently on the humans in the centre of his back, below which, at the base of the long bar was the Devil and his demons looking up with fire in their eyes.
Being the biggest, loudest and most devout of all the Enforcers, Adam had naturally taken the lead of that group and he was prepared to do whatever it took to carry out God’s will, and as far as he was concerned, the Reverend was God’s voice on Earth.
“We don’t have any proof,” Mollie replied tiredly, having said the same thing each time Adam had raised the issue.
“We don’t need proof. We have witnesses.”
“So does he, and more of them,” Mollie pointed out.
“But they’re all lying for him,” Adam argued.
“I don’t disagree,” Mollie said, “but we can’t prove it. Come on, let’s go and have another look at the sportsground. There must be some clues there.”
The group moved off and headed directly for the centre circle of the football pitch, where they had been told the killing had happened.
Of course, there was no body as they were already aware, so t
hey carefully scoured the grass looking for anything which might confirm the killing.
“Might be some blood over here,” one of the Enforcers shouted.
Mollie and Adam crossed to the spot and knelt down. Adam touched his finger to a small hole in the ground and brought it up to his face, noting a pink tinge.
“They’ve watered the area,” Adam suggested, looking around.
He noticed boot marks and stud marks all over and realised there was no way they were going to be able to determine which way the body had been taken. He wondered where they might have disposed of it, but nothing immediately sprang to mind. Standing back up, he noticed Ernie sitting on the bench near the clubhouse.
“I see the stupid old fart is here,” he said.
“He’s been here all day…” Mollie started. “Wait a minute. Maybe he saw what happened to the body.”
Mollie and Adam rushed across to Ernie, who was looking straight ahead and drooling.
“Hi Ernie,” Mollie said gently, bending over to break Ernie’s line of sight and bring him back to the present.
Ernie blinked and looked at Mollie, his eyes focusing but his facial features still blank.
“How are you?” Mollie continued.
Ernie seemed to think about the question.
“It’s a nice day,” Ernie said.
“It is Ernie, but it’ll be getting cold soon, so you may want to make your way home soon,” Mollie suggested. “Did you watch the football game earlier?”
Ernie was quiet for a few seconds.
“Who won?” he asked.
Mollie tried to hide her frustration and impatience.
“They didn’t finish. Did you see a fight?”
“Fight? What fight? Where?” Ernie asked, sitting up and looking around, suddenly animated and looking interested. “Remember Frank Bruno? ‘Know what I mean ‘Arry’?” he impersonated. “Is he fighting?”
“The fight was earlier, during the football match.”
“You mean I missed it?” Ernie sounded disappointed and sat back.
Mollie looked at Adam who was shaking his head in disgust as if they were wasting their time.
“You must have missed it, then,” Mollie agreed gently as she looked back at the old man.