by Hatchett
He noticed that the stage used by the Reverend and his disciples was still set up near the middle of the square and that the majority of crowd were milling around and taking everything in, cautiously optimistic that things were going to turn out positive. Quite a few of the locals had also turned out to see the new arrivals, and some had already engaged in conversation with the newcomers. Other locals were handing out drinks and food to those that wanted it.
“Lotta fuckin’ people,” Ahmed mused.
“Yeah bro, too fuckin’ many, but it ain’t my problem.”
“We gonna go down there to see what it’s like?”
“No chance,” Mamba replied. “It’s jus’ a big coffin, ‘n I ain’t ready fer that. Plus, I’d prob’ly wanna shoot all ‘em fuckin’ politicians.”
“What’s gonna happen?” Ahmed asked.
“Wait ‘n see, Ahmed.”
69
Day 24 – 16:15
Burlington
By four-thirty, all the soldiers and their families were on the trains, so Dev told Martin’s men to count how many spaces were left. The six soldiers moved across to the three trains to start counting. They eventually came back and confirmed there were seventy-two free seats.
Dev clicked his earpiece and relayed the information to Basir who then ordered Martin to send the Royals to the Northern trains and the politicians and their families to queue in the corridor, ready to board the Southern trains. He also wanted another six hundred of the rich and famous earmarked for the Southern trains and the remaining five hundred to make their way above ground.
Martin made further announcements over the tannoy but made a direct personal call through to the Royals in Sector 30. After much debate, Martin replaced the phone and told Basir that the Royals had decided to stay in Sector 30. Basir shrugged. He couldn’t give a shit either way. The Royals would either die down here or they could go above ground into Corsham. Not his problem. Basir gave the order to send the Northern trains off.
Once the Northern trains had departed and the platforms were still and empty, Dev, Umit, Kiraz and Serkan undid their rucksacks and placed small bombs at the entrance of the three tunnels, enough to block them off but not enough to bring the whole place crashing down. Mamba just wanted to ensure none of the bastards could come back.
Without setting the bombs off, the four returned to the entrance to find a long line of people waiting, many whose patience had run out. They were annoyed and firing off questions and arguing, clearly not used to being told what to do and when to do it.
One particularly well-known MP representing Mole Valley in Surrey was particularly verbal, shouting about it being an ‘outrage’ and trying to garner support from his nearby political colleagues.
Dev wandered up to the man and told him to be quiet. The MP took umbrage about being told what to do, so Dev casually removed his pistol and shot the man at point-blank range in the head, the man’s shattered skull, brains and blood erupting from the back of his head and splattering across the tunnel.
As the gun shot echoed down the corridor, conversations hushed and people further back in the line strained forward to see what had happened. Then there were a few screams which were immediately curtailed when Dev waved the gun in the direction of the noise.
Once everything had settled down again and the screams had turned to crying, Dev turned to Martin’s men and told him to get the people on the remaining three trains.
Martin’s men had been shocked by the quick and callous actions of Dev, and if they had any doubts about who they were up against, these doubts were blown away and replaced by a newfound understanding of their enemy. These were not people to be messed with.
Martin’s men quickly opened the entrance doors once again and started herding the politicians and their families onto the three remaining trains.
All of those in the queue eventually had to pass the remains of the dead MP, some staring in shock and others looking quickly away and shielding their children’s eyes from the scene. They couldn’t get on the trains quick enough.
The politicians were followed by the rich and famous who had been selected to travel, and once everyone was on board, the trains set off. The Turks placed small bombs in the remaining three tunnels and moved back to the entrance area and closed the doors.
Dev removed a detonator from his pocket, armed the bombs and set them off one by one. The muffled explosions were followed by the entrance doors rattling and a mixture of dust and debris swirling around in the enclosed space. They waited for everything to settle before going back onto the concourse to check that all the tunnels were blocked. Dev had brought a few spare bombs in case they were needed, but the damage was sufficient.
He informed Basir that the task had been completed then the four Turks and the six remaining soldiers called some buggies and made their way back to the Command Room.
“What now?” Martin asked, as the ten men returned from the train station.
“Now, you and your men collect your families and personal possessions and make your way up to the surface like the others but leave your weapons here.
“But what about down here and the Royals?”
Basir shrugged.
“Ask Mamba or Evelyn.”
“Who’s Evelyn?”
“She’s the spokesperson for the town.”
Martin considered his options.
Effectively, everyone except for the Royals had been evacuated from Burlington. The soldiers had been sent North, the politicians South and the rest had gone above ground to the town. The train tunnels were now blocked so there was no way in or out that way, so it was either a case of staying down here like the Royals or going above ground. It was clear that above ground was safe, and to be honest, he really wanted to see the sky and feel the wind again rather than being cooped up down here. He outlined the two choices to the remaining operators and his men, then left the room to go back to his accommodation to collect his family and head for the surface.
Within seconds, the operators and the remaining six soldiers were hastily following.
Basir, Dev, Umit, Kiraz and Serkan followed the directions to the lifts in Sector 14 that would take them up to the entrance in the Box Hill Tunnel.
70
Day 24 – 18:00
Corsham
Once the last of the long line of people had emerged into the Box Hill Tunnel and were moving towards the town, Evelyn, Chrissy and the rest of the welcoming committee followed.
As they passed the armed Turks at the entrance to the Tunnel, Evelyn asked whether they were coming, but they said that they’d been ordered to wait for Basir’s group and any potential stragglers.
It was beginning to get dark with around another hour or so before it would be pitch black. Evelyn and her group followed the snaking line of people all the way into the main square where many of those congregated had now been waiting for well over an hour. Many were still chatting amongst themselves; some had decided to sit down on the floor and others were becoming restless, wondering what was going to happen.
As Evelyn passed through the crowd on the way to the lit stage, she noticed that most of the townspeople seemed to have turned up as planned. It had been an extremely busy few hours since Mamba had told them what he was going to do, and all the townspeople had needed to work together getting prepared to receive all these new people.
Evelyn climbed up the steps onto the stage followed by Chrissy and Natalie and made her way to the centre of the platform and the microphone stand. A hush descended on the square as the crowd watched her switch on the microphone and tap it a few times to check it was working.
Evelyn looked over the sea of people, noticing Mamba and Ahmed standing with Ernie off to one side, and a few stragglers turning up towards the back. She had been told that there would be around four thousand new arrivals, but it seemed far more than that and she began to doubt that she would be able to cope. She felt Chrissy’s hand on her leg and smiled inwardly at the show of support
. She was here, now, and had to make the best of it. She hadn’t had time to think about a speech and she was momentarily lost for words. Where to start?
“I’d like to welcome all newcomers to our town of Corsham. My name is Evelyn, this is Chrissy and Natalie, and for the time being, we will be trying to make everything around here work and help you to settle in. You can speak to us at any time.”
Every eye in the square bored into Evelyn, and when she wasn’t speaking, there was silence except for a few younger kids and babies talking and crying and their parents trying to hush them up.
“We have plenty of homes for all of you, but some may need a bit of cleaning up and it may take some time to get everything organised. Please bear with us. There are plenty of opportunities for all of you to use your particular skills to help us rebuild this town to what it once was, make it safer and repel the threat of the zombies. But only if you want to. It’s your choice. Burlington will still be accessible, so you can go back underground if you want. In fact, it might be easier if some of you kept your accommodation down there for the time being and the chefs amongst you kept the restaurants going. All we ask is that we share the power, food and water until our newly planted crops can grow and we can then produce our own food and become self-sufficient. I’m sure you all have a lot of questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them. If you have a question, please raise your hand and step forward.”
Martin, his men and their families were at the back of the crowd, listening to what Evelyn had to say. He thought about their options and liked the idea of being above ground but there were a few things he wanted to check first. He started walking towards the stage.
A man near the front stepped forward and Evelyn crouched down so he could ask his question through the microphone so that everyone could hear.
“I haven’t decided what I want to do but why did you attack us in the first place?”
Evelyn stood back up.
“That’s a difficult one to answer and I will come back to part of it later. What I can say for now is that until a couple of days ago, this town was run by a man called the Reverend. He ran the town in strict accordance with his version of the bible and a few of his own laws thrown in. There was little freedom and punishments were harsh. A lot of good people were thrown out of the town. Some were burned at the stake and some had their hands cut off. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture.”
There were gasps from the crowd, some people looking puzzled and others angry.
“Thankfully,” Evelyn turned and pointed towards Mamba, “Mamba and his men turned up out of the blue and saved us from the Reverend’s tyranny.”
It was clear the man had something further to say, so Evelyn crouched back down again.
“That’s all well and good, and I’m sorry for your town and pleased that this Reverend is no longer in charge, but that still doesn’t explain why you attacked us, or even how you knew about us.”
“I’ll let Mamba explain that later on,” Evelyn replied, looking towards Mamba. “Anyone else?”
Mamba looked surprised. He thought this was her gig and didn’t really want to get involved. He felt he had done his bit.
Evelyn looked back to the crowd and spotted a soldier walking towards her. She crouched down, waiting for him to reach her and ask his question.
“My name is Martin Lane. Most people from Burlington will know me and I would like to volunteer to help get things organised. I do have a few questions though.”
There were a few cheers and applause from the people assembled as Evelyn stood back up.
“I see you have some support, Martin. Please join me on the stage.”
Martin walked across to the steps as more cheers and applause broke out. He walked up to the three women on stage and shook each of their hands. He spoke with all three for a few minutes before turning to face the crowd with the microphone in his hand.
“Like the man before me, I have many questions, but it’s getting dark and I’m sure everyone is getting tired and hungry. We won’t have enough time to get through everything tonight, especially with such a lot to organise. I would like to propose that those from Burlington go back down and continue as usual for the time being. Day by day and bit by bit, you will all have the chance of moving up here permanently, but we simply can’t do everything tonight. I will ask Evelyn all our questions and provide you all with an update over the tannoy whenever I can. If any of your own questions have not been answered, I can be found in the Command Room. I will change the system so that you will have access to the whole complex.”
There were nods all around and the applause started up again.
“OK, I’ll be staying here for a few hours but will see some of you later.”
Martin switched off the microphone as people started heading back towards the Box Hill Tunnel. He turned to the three ladies.
“You do realise that there’s a hell of a lot to get done, and people are going to get annoyed about all sorts of things, from the houses they are given to the jobs they do…”
“It will be no different from normal,” Evelyn said, smiling. “It’s just human nature. We’ll just do the best we can.”
Martin nodded in agreement.
“Boss?” came from below the stage.
Martin turned to find his six remaining soldiers standing there.
“What do you want us to do?”
“It’s Martin, not boss. If you could make sure everyone gets back safely and there are no problems, that would be a weight off my mind.”
“No problem,” came the response, and the six turned and hurried off chatting amongst themselves.
Martin turned to Evelyn.
“I guess it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room,” he suggested.
The three women looked at him quizzically.
“Mamba.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Then you best come with us.”
71
Day 24 – 18:30
Corsham
Mamba and Ahmed were already seated in the lounge of the Hunter’s Arms with a couple of bottles of beers apiece. They’d done a runner as soon as Evelyn mentioned him talking to the people, and they’d missed the last part of proceedings.
Most of Mamba’s men were hanging around despite being tired after such an early start and a long, boring day. They were tucking into the drinks and snacks and someone had turned the music on again. They assumed Mamba had achieved everything he wanted and that it was time for a celebratory party.
The main doors opened, and Evelyn entered with Ernie, Chrissy, Natalie and another man following. They came across to Mamba’s table and Evelyn introduced Martin as the rest pulled up some chairs and sat down. Natalie immediately got back up and headed towards the bar to fetch some drinks.
Mamba and Martin just nodded to each other, neither wanting to shake hands. Martin took the chair between Evelyn and Chrissy, so he was sitting directly opposite Mamba and Ahmed. Ernie sat next to Mamba and Evelyn, leaving Natalie space next to Chrissy and Ahmed at the other end of the table.
“How’s it goin’ ol’ man?” Mamba asked Ernie, with a smile on his face.
“Better when I get a drink in my hand,” Ernie replied.
Mamba turned to Evelyn.
“So, ya got what ya wanted. Ya reckon ya can cope?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll need lots of help and I’ll do my best, that’s all I can do. Thank you for what you’ve done.”
Mamba nodded, not sure if he should be happy sparing all the lives in Burlington instead of just killing them all as he originally intended. Still, he’d sent all the useless fucking politicians South to give Jack a headache and cause him grief before Mamba had the chance to catch up with him again.
“By the way, where’s the PM?” Evelyn asked.
“Dunno. In one of the rooms somewhere, unless Faruk or Ismet got ta him first, then he might be in the garden. Shoulda sent the fucker ta London with the rest of the twats. Ya can take
him with ya when ya go.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Evelyn told me on the way here that you decided to send all my men North and all the politicians South,” Martin said. “Why?”
“Sending yer men North gives ‘em the chance ta start over. They ain’t done nothin’ ta me. Jus’ doin’ their job fer all the knobs.”
“Why didn’t you send them South?”
“’Cos, I didn’t want ‘em joinin’ up with Jack at Heathrow ‘n givin’ him a bigger army. We got unfinished business, me ‘n him, ‘n I’d end up killin’ ‘em. So, I sent him all the politicians instead. By the time I get there, they’ll all be arguin’ ‘til they’re blue in the face ‘n it’ll make my job easier,” Mamba laughed.
“Perfect,” Ahmed agreed.
“Why are you helping Evelyn?” Martin asked, still not sure how that came about.
“She asked ‘n ‘cos I didn’t like the Rev ‘n his lot anyway. I jus’ came here ta find Burlington ‘n I did. The Rev was gettin’ in me way ‘n had ta be put down. What happened ta his people?”
“We gave them a few cars and let them drive away,” Evelyn said.
“Might meet ‘em on the road then,” Mamba suggested, “then we can sort ‘em out properly.”
“I think they headed for Wales,” Evelyn said. “They mentioned something about the Welsh coast.”
“Where’s that?” Mamba asked, receiving confused looks from all but Ahmed.
“West,” Evelyn explained. “I assume you’re heading East to London.
“Yeah,” Mamba confirmed. “Eventually. Might take a detour or road trip first. Always fancied a trip ta Wales.”
Ahmed looked at him as if he’d gone mad. He didn’t even know where the place was.
“What is your problem with Jack?” Martin asked.
“That’s my business,” Mamba replied with a harder tone.