Momo was ecstatic at the news.
Over 400 of his troops had survived!
He almost ran to the control
room, desperate for any information.
The rest walked slowly to the
mess hall. It was amazing how stress and pressure can suppress your
appetite, but now with this good news, they all discovered how hungry
they actually were.
“The Admiral asking Momo to
find his son, is a big honour you know.” John said to Jim, “It
means he trusts him.”
“Ah” said Jim in return.
“He did seem ready to send Momo back to Nigeria, services no longer
required and all that.”
John, Jim, Dave and Clara were
all sat in a crowded coffee shop. The army had turned several of them
into twenty four hour mess halls. John and Jim were sat on one side
of a small table. Dave and Clara were sat opposite them, and Clara
couldn't believe how fast Dave was shovelling food into his mouth.
“Are you even breathing?”
Asked Clara. The group burst out laughing, and Dave stopped eating,
scrambled egg was stuck to his chin.
“What?” he asked, “I
haven't eaten in days!”, he continued his race to empty his plate,
amid more laughing.
“Right guys, it's 23.15.”
John said.
“Eh?” Dave said, food
escaping from his mouth.
“Quarter past eleven” Jim
said rolling his eyes.
“Why didn't you just say
that then?”
“I did!” John responded
laughing. “Anyway it's time we all get some shut eye. The trains
start leaving at 05.30, that's half five to you Dave!”.
“Go on, pick on me!” Dave
laughed back.
“Momo and I are on the first
one, then the troop train will leave at 05.45, then yours will go at
06.00. It will not wait for you, so don't miss it.”
“Don't worry John, I
wouldn't miss it for the world.” Jim replied. A strange excitement
filled his eyes.
“Right, I shall see you guys
in Manchester then.” John stood up and shook their hands in turn.
He walked away from the table but then turned before leaving.
“Jim, If your father in law
and your daughter are made like you guys, then I’m sure they will
be fine.” He waved then left the shop.
Jim wiped his eyes.
“Oh don't start that again!”
Dave said, but he still patted Jim on the shoulder.
“I'm fine” Jim said, “The
sight of your eggy chin made my eyes water is all!”
Dave and Clara laughed, his
bravado was transparent, but still meant something.
They were shown to one of the
waiting rooms. All of the plastic seating had been removed, and steel
bunk beds were arranged in neat rows, thick itchy green blankets were
thrown on top of each one. All but one set of bunks was occupied.
“Mine!” Dave said and
promptly jumped onto the lower the bunk.
“Ours you mean!” Said
Clara, and jumped in next to him.
“Oh!” was Dave's surprised
reply.
“He's a good lad, but not
very quick!” laughed Jim, who was left with the option of climbing
into the empty top bunk, or sleeping on the dirty floor.
He opted for the bunk, and
knew he wouldn't be awake for long. Adrenaline and tension could only
keep a person awake for so long, and he knew the days ahead were
going to be tough, if only the giggling from below would stop.
Any thoughts of over sleeping
were rudely disrupted. It felt like every soldier in the station
needed to walk through the waiting room. Jim snapped awake with the
first stomp of army boots. He lay there for a few seconds, then swung
his legs out onto the cold floor. Clean sets of clothes sat in three
folded piles, a white note paper clipped on top stating who they were
for.
He found his pile, and quickly
got dressed, safe they may be, but it was incredibly cold in the
room. He noticed a large metal bin marked 'Dirty', and assumed it was
for the dirty clothes. The only thing he had retained, was his black
trainers. He made the bed and then gave Dave a slight shake.
“Dave, it's time to get up.”
Dave meanwhile was quite
happily asleep, and didn't respond in the slightest.
Clara had her arm over his
chest, and a sleepy pale face peeled itself from behind his back.
“What time is it?” She
asked.
“Time we were up and moving”
Jim said. “Dave, Dave!” he hated waking people up, especially
those who ignored him.
“I'll get him up.” Clara
said, “You go find some coffee or something.” She could hear the
impatience in his voice.
“OK.” he said simply, then
left the busy room.
“OOO there's a girl in
here!” an excited voice said from somewhere in the room.
Clara dropped her head back
down with a groan. None of them had realised this was a male only
sleeping area.
“OOO give us a kiss then
darling!” A Cockney voice called out.
“Fuck off action man!”
Dave retorted loudly. Clara had jumped at this, she hadn't know he
was awake.
Loud laughter filled the room,
but it was all good natured enough.
“Come on then 'Darling',”
he said sarcastically, “lets go and find some breakfast.”
The station was a hive of
activity. Hundreds of soldiers were lining up. The platforms were a
sea of dark green with black shiny weapons mixed in. The troops
themselves were in three distinctly different groups. The line
closest to Jim was heavily armoured. Black helmets covered their full
faces, and several of them were dressed in what looked like shark
suits. Large heavy looking machine guns were carried by what could
only be described of, as very big men. This group were talking
quietly amongst themselves, and not many were left on the platform.
Special Forces Jim guessed, professional warriors from god knows
where. These men must be going on the first train, tasked with
clearing the line for the following two.
From where he was standing he
couldn't really see much, so he looked around and found an empty
staircase. He quickly climbed the steps, and turned to look at the
spectacle below.
Three trains sat along each of
the platforms. The closest one to him was to be the first one to
leave. The front of the train was a large steel box. The size of a
normal passenger carriage, with steel covered windows running along
the sides. Following this, a large folded yellow crane dominated the
whole section. Another steel box and then two engines followed, all
heavily coated in shiny steel plates. The rear of the train was yet
another steel box. Jim stood staring in awe. Although the train
itself was only 6 carriages long, he knew hundreds of well armed men
had filled the compartments. He almost wanted to travel with them,
just to see how the defences would work.
The last of the Special Forces
had been secured by now, and Jim could see John and Momo walking
along the platform. At each steel window, they were stopping and
shouting something. As if in reply, the steel panel would snap
upwards, and several machine gun barrels would appear. They were
obviously testing the windows, ensuring they would allow the troops
inside to use their weapons.
Jim tried to shout to John and
Momo, but the noise was just too loud.
He gave up after a few
attempts, they had climbed aboard the middle container anyway. He
looked around, and saw Dave and Clara standing near the middle train,
they seemed to be arguing. He quickly went down the stairs, and
pushed his way through to his friends.
“Why can't you just do as
your told woman!” Dave said gruffly.
“I am not your woman!”
Clara said, her hands on her hips, “Tell him Jim, I can come to
Manchester if I want to!”
Jim stood still, unsure of
what to say. Both of his friends were staring at him. Both of them
wanted his support.
“I don't know, I......”
His voice was drowned out by a
loud siren. Flashing lights appeared everywhere, and the surrounding
soldiers all stopped their talking at once.
Weapons were brought up by
everyone present, and a pregnant silence befell the station.
The station public address
system crackled into life.
“We have a breach on the
south side hospital wing, could station security please attend. Could
the trains please continue loading, T1 is due to leave in 2 minutes.”
With a loud crackle, the metallic voice went silent.
Around thirty men ran towards
the hospital wing, each one disappearing through the double doors.
Following the new developments
within the station, Dave seemed to have changed his mind.
“OK, you can come, but you
have to stay with us right?” He looked straight into Clara's eyes,
“No popping off to do any shopping OK?”
“OK” she replied, between
his overpowering sexist display, and his shopping comment, she was
more than a little confused.
The loud distinctive two tone
sound of a British train filled the air, and a loud roar challenged
it in volume. The remaining soldiers raised their arms and shouted
encouragement as T1 started to leave the station. The atmosphere was
contagious, and the three friends found themselves cheering too.
Only the sound of gunfire had
an effect on the crowd. Heads started to turn, and soldiers moved
away from the hospital wing corridor. T1 slipped away with less and
less funfair now, but the noise of fully automatic weapons could be
heard chattering away.
“Must be close.” A soldier
said to another. They were directly behind Jim and the couple, he
couldn't help but hear him.
“How would you know that?”
Jim asked him.
“He's on full auto. If they
was far away, he'd be using single shots.”
Jim turned to look at Dave and
Clara. They were now holding hands, but Dave still gripped his
shotgun with his free one.
The firing stopped, and a loud
scream rang out. Clara buried her face into Dave's shoulder, “Why
aren't they helping them?” She cried.
“Cos we got no ammo yet!”
The soldier snapped back.
“We have!” exclaimed Dave.
He released Clara's hand, and pulled on Jim's sleeve, “Come on, we
can help them!”
The waiting crowd had
retreated further from the doors. The two friends pushed their way
through, and stood silently for a few seconds.
“Remember your safety, and
follow me!” Dave said quietly to Jim.
They advanced through the
double doors, the heavy wooden and steel closing with a bang. Smoke
could be seen swirling up towards the strip lights, and the corridor
was in a strange semi darkness. They couldn't identify it, but the
sharp smell of cordite filled the air, and empty bullet casings
littered the floor.
With Dave leading, they walked
slowly down the corridor, Dave trying the door handles of several
doors, before finding one which would open.
He whispered for Jim to stay
in the corridor, and he entered the room alone.
This was the room where Clara
had been. He recognised the bed, only this time, the patient hadn't
walked out of here. Four of the undead were busily pulling pieces of
flesh from the dead patient. Her head lay to one side, blood
spattered up and along her face, and her blonde hair was now a
mixture of red and gold. They hadn't noticed Dave enter the room, but
when the head of the closest zombie to him exploded, they all looked
at once. He fired a second time, and another fell, half of his rotten
face disappearing in a brown slimy mist. The remaining two zombies,
tried to walk through the bed. Their arms were stretched out as if
trying to reach for him. Dave aimed and destroyed another attacker,
leaving just one. This time Dave hesitated.
The zombie appeared to be a
child. She looked to be around 12 years old, and her flowery pyjamas
gave Dave a clue to as to how she had become infected.
The girl had died whilst in
bed, then found her way out of her home, and into the streets. Now
she was here, and was actively trying to get to Dave.
She had bumped and bounced her
way along the bed, and now she was clear to approach him. Her dead
grey eyes stared straight into his soul, and her jaws banged together
in a never ending chewing cycle. She moved to within 3 feet of him,
and then he fired.
Her head flew up into the air,
and landed with a bang on the floor. He had missed her head, and shot
her in the neck. Her mouth still moved, but her body had ceased all
functions, falling to the floor in a strange kneeling down position.
Dave stood sickened for a few seconds, and only the sudden movement
of the dead patient shook him from his thoughts. Another shot from
his gun soon made her still again.
He pushed his way out into the
corridor, and Jim stood there waiting. He looked terrified, and Dave
patted him on the shoulder in a reassuring manner.
After pushing more shells into
his shotgun, Dave took the lead, but before they could move any
further down the corridor, running footsteps approached from behind
them.
The corridor was full of
troops, each one carrying a large looking rifle.
“Leave it to us lads!” One
said as they ran past.
Jim breathed out loudly in
relief, Dave looked at him and said, “Its OK to be scared mate, it
means you still care”.
“You don't look scared!”
he answered.
“You've not seen inside my
pants!”
After leaving the corridor and
meeting up with the anxious Clara, the three friends boarded the
train. The soldiers on the platform had hastily passed out
ammunition, and quickly boarded the train too.T2 was being used to
transport much needed supplies to the Manchester forward base. The
same steel box sat at the very front, but this time the two engines
followed immediately behind. 6 passenger carriages then another
steel box made up the rest of the train. Hundreds of soldiers had
boarded at the same time, and they had struggled to stay together.
Inside the carriages, the seats had been removed, and steel boxes had
been stacked up against the ends. The last passenger car had been the
most accessible, and this is where they found themselves.
“Thought this was the supply
train?” Dave said.
“It is” Jim replied. They
were all looking out of the windows, vertical steel bars had been
fitted down every pane.
“Maybe these boxes are all
the supplies they need?” Clara said.
“Well it won't keep a city
fighting then.” Dave replied.
Speculation and thoughts of a
dead city filled their heads, and silence soon filled the car.
The two tone train horn filled
the air, and T2 jolted to a start.
The journey to Manchester had
begun.
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