Resurgence, p.18
Resurgence, page 18
part #5 of Hell on Earth Series
Smithy started downward, David right behind him. Mass turned and grabbed the door handle and saw a dozen demons rushing towards him. He slammed the door closed and the demons struck the other side, rattling the door in its frame. The wood was thick, the handle made of heavy iron.
A demon screeched in pain.
Then another one.
The thudding against the door stopped. Mass frowned.
The iron!
Iron was some kind of kryptonite to demons. They couldn’t touch the door handle. Their only option would be to smash in the thick wood panels. Mass joined the others in the basement. “We have a little time. Enough to try to think our way out of this.”
“There’s a hatch,” said Harriet. “Whenever Naseem and the others brought back supplies, they would head in and out through a hatch at the back of the house.”
“It’s over here,” said Addy, pointing up at a trapdoor overhead. There was a stubby wooden ladder attached via hooks.
“We have a way out,” said Mass, breathing a sigh of relief between heaving gasps for air. “We’re not done yet.”
Smithy started rooting around, moving aside boxes and examining various antique firearms. “We need to rearm. I doubt we’ll get an easy— Yah! Jesus!”
As Smithy had shoved aside a stack of food crates, he uncovered someone hiding. Gemma cowered, holding up a shaking hand in defence. “P-Please!”
Addy’s face turned to stone. She threw down her shotgun and pulled out the knife she always carried. “This bitch is mine.”
Gemma moved behind Smithy as if he would protect her. Of course, he wasn’t about to do that, and instead he shoved her into the centre of the room. “Don’t know you, sweetheart.”
“Sorry, love,” said Mass, “but I think Addy’s earned a little payback. Don’t worry, I won’t let her get too carried away.”
Addy stalked towards the woman with her knife. “Gross was worth ten of you,” she snarled. “I’m going to make this hurt.”
Gemma shook her head, looking for help but finding none. “No,” she begged. “No, please. I… I can get us out of here. There’s a way!”
“We already know about the hatch.”
“I don’t just mean out of this basement. I mean I can get us off this farm. I can get us out of here in one piece.”
Mass moved to Addy and placed a hand on her arm. “One sec, Addy. We’re going to hear what this bitch has to say.”
Maddy was dead on her feet. Time was an imprecise thing nowadays, but her body told her it was closer to dawn than dusk. The fact she was fully armed and about to travel beyond the barricades for the first time in months was surreal. That she was doing so to help rescue a bunch of soldiers who had arrived, uninvited, only yesterday was even more bizarre.
The gunfire in the city had continued for about ten minutes before the first maydays started coming through the radios. The calls were unfiltered and went to both Thomas’s and Wickstaff’s men, which meant everyone knew what was happening. The soldiers outside the barricades were being slaughtered, surrounded by the enemy on all sides. They needed rescuing. Thomas’s face had turned pale at the news, but Wickstaff went to work with grim determination. “I still think you should stay behind and man the fort,” she told Maddy. “There are more than enough of us heading out on this fool’s errand.”
“No way,” said Maddy. She was a survivor but not necessarily a fighter, yet she couldn’t sit this one out. It felt like vindication. The men and women of Portsmouth were banding together to save Thomas’s men because that was what they did. They rescued people. She couldn’t sit by while others risked their lives. “I’m going, ma’am, unless you object.”
Wickstaff cocked the lever on her SA80. “I would never tell a woman not to fight. Having you next to me will be a comfort, but don’t you dare die on me. I forbid it.”
“And I forbid you doing the same. You’re our leader and we can’t lose you. Why are you going out with us at all?”
“So that everyone can see I’m willing to get my hands dirty, hierarchy be damned. We all need to fight together when the time comes. Now, let’s get on with this grim task, shall we? The sound of screaming is not something I enjoy.”
Maddy agreed. The constant screams and shouts coming from the ruins were disturbing, and the only positive was that it meant men were still alive out there.
Wickstaff moved to the front of her cohort, a hundred men and women of varying ages, creeds, and colours. “Okay, you lot. We all know what we have to do. There are a bunch of idiots out there who need our help. They might be brave, professional men, but when the shit hits the fan, it’s always us who has to clean up the mess. We’ve been cleaning up other people’s mess for the best part of a year, and while the rest of the country went and died, we held out. We faced the monsters and told them to get back under our beds, to go back to hiding inside our closets, to banish themselves only to our nightmares. We refused to accept their new reality. We refused to be afraid. Tonight we will remind them of that.”
The cohort cheered. They were about to face monsters in the night, but every face was determined. Every weapon was loaded. Portsmouth did not cower.
Wickstaff raised her assault rifle to show she was ready. “You people of Portsmouth make me proud to be human. Now, let’s go send some demons back to Hell.”
Another cheer, but as it died down, a shouting voice took over. “Stop this at once.” General Thomas marched through the crowd, a group of uniformed soldiers trailing behind him as well as Colonel Cross. “Brigadier Wickstaff, you are under arrest for insubordination and incitement of mutiny. You are to stand down immediately.”
Wickstaff chuckled. “And I say, fuck you, General.”
Thomas’s men raised their weapons, but they were met with the cacophonous clicking of a hundred weapons being cocked and primed. Wickstaff’s army aimed at Thomas and his men.
In the white glow of the spotlights, Thomas looked like an enraged phantom. “This is treason! I am in charge of what is left of this ruin of a country and I will restore it. If you oppose me, you will be shot.” He lifted a pistol and pointed it right at Wickstaff.
Wickstaff opened up her body, presenting a larger target. “So shoot me, General. If you think that’s the right call, do it!”
Thomas’s hand shook as though he would actually do it. Maddy went to step in front of Wickstaff, but the woman shook her head and shooed her away. “I don’t need a bodyguard, Maddy. Not inside my own city.”
Thomas’s moustache flickered in anger. “Colonel Cross, you are to relieve Brigadier Wickstaff from her duties and lead these men out yourself. We are wasting time, and our men need rescuing.”
Colonel Cross was clearly not happy with the unfolding events, but he obeyed the command, although he left his rifle hanging from his neck strap and approached Wickstaff with his palms out. He was forced to stop when a guardsman stood in his way. It was Tom, the guardsman. He didn’t aim his rifle but held it firmly across his chest. Then another three men stepped up beside him, forming a wall. Cross didn’t know what to do. He still kept his hands off his weapon.
“This is mutiny,” Thomas screeched. “You will all be shot.”
Tom smiled. “I was a painter and decorator when the world ended. I never made an oath to serve anybody. I serve General Wickstaff because I choose to, not because I have to. No matter what happens, I won’t serve an asshole like you.”
Thomas pointed his pistol at Tom, but Tom didn’t flinch.
Cross turned to his superior. “Sir, I advise caution.”
“You do not caution me, Colonel. You were nothing but a grunt when you staggered out of the desert. Don’t you see what’s happening here?”
“Yes, sir, I do, and if you pull the trigger on any of these people, I fear things will continue to happen. Let’s just focus on the priority right now. We need to pull our guys out of the fire.”
Thomas bristled. His grey-white moustache twitched. Meanwhile, more men stood beside Tom, obscuring Wickstaff with a bigger and bigger wall. Maddy could no longer even see the woman, but she hoped she was smiling. She hoped that General Wickstaff appreciated what was happening here. Portsmouth was voting. And the result was a landslide.
Thomas lowered his pistol with a growl. “This isn’t over. There shall be a reckoning.”
Wickstaff parted the men in front of her so that she could face Thomas. “That, you can guarantee, General. Now, get your men out of my way. We have a mess to clean up.”
Wickstaff turned and climbed one of the ladders leading up onto the top of the parked lorry and that prompted everyone to get going. There were four ladders in total, with the same amount leading down over the other side. Many of the barricades were dependent upon parked vehicles and ladders like this.
Maddy made it over and joined the assembly on the other side. Despite their eagerness, everyone fell to silence and caution. They spread out in a line and began to stalk the main road. The screaming was less than a mile away. The gunshots sounded close. So did the monsters.
Maddy heard hurrying footsteps behind her and turned to see Colonel Cross beside her. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What’s it look like? I’m going to rescue my men.”
“Does Thomas know?”
“It was his idea. Wants me to keep an eye on Wickstaff. Probably hoping I’ll put a bullet in her back.”
Maddy glared at him. “I’d put one in you first.”
“Relax. There’s only one reason I’m here, and that’s because a bunch of my men need help. I wasn’t always an officer. I served with those soldiers. Maybe if I’d gone out with them in the first place…”
Maddy saw the torment and knew it was real. Cross had a face that seemed incapable of fallacy. “We’ll get them out of there,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
“Looks like Wickstaff was right about everything. We went rushing out for a fight without knowing a damned thing.”
“The demons have changed back to what they were,” said Maddy. “I think we’ve been sensing it in the wind for a while here, but you and Thomas had no way of knowing. It should’ve been a routine search and destroy. Maybe it’s no one’s fault.”
Cross grunted and then nodded. “You have a nice way of looking at things. I hope we can keep this from turning bad.”
“I think we’re beyond that, Colonel.”
“Yeah, I know. Sorry. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll die out here tonight.”
She looked at him. He wasn’t apologising for anything he’d done, he was apologising for the man he served. He was a similar man to Tosco. Both men had their beliefs and stayed true to them for better or worse.
Wickstaff gave a hand signal to halt. Everyone took a knee and raised their weapons. Then Wickstaff gave another signal to advance. The line moved forward, weapons pointing towards shop windows and alleyways. Whatever had befallen Thomas’s men, it had happened nearby. The screams were dying out and the gunfire had reduced to a trickle, but it was close. Another block or two. The Spinnaker Tower jutted out of the ruins less than a mile away and they were nearing the city’s pleasure pier. Its tall Ferris wheel was undamaged, and Wickstaff often spoke about her desire to reclaim the area for morale.
A man ran out into the road, a soldier dressed in fatigues. He didn’t see the advancing army as he was utterly terrified and focused only on running. A moment later, a primate leapt out from a doorway and pinned the man down, tearing into his back with ferocious claws. Wickstaff raised her rifle and emptied four rounds into the demon, enough to see it dead.
Then the battle began.
At the sound of new gunfire, demons spilled out from the roads ahead, the usual variety of primates, burnt men, and zombies. One zombie was articulate enough to shout out in garbled tones, “Tear their throats!”
Wickstaff fired again, which prompted her army to do the same. Before long, the streets were lit up with gunfire and spotlights from the boats. The demons came in droves, leaping from roofs and emerging from alcoves. In the harsh light, their skin seemed translucent and serpentine.
Maddy hadn’t fired a weapon in some time, and her hands were shaking as she aimed her MP5 and pulled the trigger. Her very first shot hit a burnt man in the chest. After that, her confidence quickly grew. She knelt and started picking her shots while Cross did the same beside her. “There’s more than I expected,” he said as he pumped round after round through his rifle. “There’s fifty at least, if this is any indication.”
Maddy knew he was right. In this one street alone, Maddy estimated a few dozen demons, and there must have been more that had attacked Thomas’s men. It was the biggest enemy congregation in Portsmouth since the Great Battle. The smell of rancid flesh filled the air as yet another wave of them rounded the corner.
“Hold fast,” shouted Wickstaff. “Stay together.”
The gunfire increased, demons dancing and jittering in the street as they were ripped apart, but as was always the threat, they kept on coming. Their advantage had always been in numbers and lack of fear.
The first soldier went down, torn apart by a sprinting zombie. Thankfully, his screams were drowned out by the gunfire. More men fell. The sight of so much blood took Maddy back to the battle against Lord Amon. There had seemed no hope back then, but somehow they had survived, even if the cost had been significant. It’d been the last time she’d seen her friend, Rick. She wondered if he was still alive somewhere, still fighting. Or did he have the peace of death?
A man to Maddy’s left hit the ground as a primate leapt on top of him. Immediately, she aimed and fired, killing the demon with her first shot to its skull. The man beneath was already dead though, his throat torn open.
“Heads up!” Cross shouted.
Maddy glanced up to see another demon coming from the direction of the first, slinking out from behind a parked minibus. She raised her rifle to fire, but an ear-piercing blast stunned her into inaction. Cross pulled her back behind him. His aim had been deadly, and the approaching demon now lay dead with a smoking bullet hole between its eyes.
“Thanks!”
“Don’t mention it, but you owe me a pint.”
“I owe you a bottle.”
“Advance,” yelled Wickstaff, signalling by throwing an arm forward. The crowd of demons was thinning. Thomas’s men were still alive and shouting for help. The line moved at a quick march, popping off shots left, right, and centre. Demons came from everywhere, but the balance had shifted and they could no longer swarm in sufficient numbers to overwhelm. Every time one appeared, they put it down with a deadly barrage of gunfire.
They found Thomas’s men at the next intersection, holed up inside a corpse-littered petrol station. They were trying to maintain cover inside a small supermarket at the back of the forecourt. Its glass panes were thick and reinforced, but the sliding entry door was lying shattered on the ground. A stream of demons had already fought their way inside and were now stalking the remaining men around the aisles.
Wickstaff sent everyone forward, and men and women rushed inside the building and shot up the demons from behind. The breathing room allowed Thomas’s remaining men to recover and fire from the front. Eventually, between them, they mopped up every demon and then the two groups met in the middle of the aisles, jubilant and grateful. Earlier that night, they had been untrusting strangers. Now they were battle-forged allies. Maddy still didn’t know what would happen later, but she knew that, if anything, tensions would at least be eased by this rescue mission.
Cross came up behind Maddy and placed a hand on her back. She was full of adrenaline, so the sudden contact made her flinch. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad most of us are still alive.”
“Your people are warriors. I’m not surprised, but it’s still impressive to see. They put their necks out for a bunch of men who tried to look down on them.”
Maddy studied the scene inside the petrol station, saw Wickstaff’s men and Thomas’s men exchanging handshakes and pats on the back, and suddenly felt a pang of hope. She felt what Diane had spoken of: that she was a part of making sure there would be a tomorrow. There was more to do though – much more. She turned to Cross, all seriousness. “I’m going to kill General Thomas.”
Smithy sat on a crate eating stale biscuits while the others talked. The door at the top of the stairs was holding up well, and every now and then a demon would screech as it accidentally made contact with the iron handle. They still wouldn’t have long, which was why he had thrown down his empty shotgun in exchange for a handgun he’d found in a carry case with twenty-four short round bullets. Until tonight he had never fired a shotgun or a handgun. It was surprisingly easy once you got used to the pure, explosive force of pulling a trigger.
Gemma was still pleading her case, going over her plan for the third time. “I have keys to the coach,” she said. “We make it to the barn and drive the fuck out of here. Nas and I reinforced the coach inside and we have an iron chain wrapped around the front bumper. We’ll mow down any demons stupid enough to get in our way.”
“Why don’t we just kill you and take the keys?” asked Addy quite reasonably. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the woman once in the last five minutes – barely even blinked.
Gemma swallowed. “You could kill me, but you people are better than that, right? You can take me back to Portsmouth and lock me up. That’s what the good guys do, isn’t it?”
Mass smirked. “We ain’t the good guys, love. Sorry.”
“Wait,” said Smithy. “If the plan is to escape this basement, all guns blazing, then it would be better to have another pair of hands. We can’t afford to be killing our potential allies.”
“Oh,” said Addy, “so we’re going to arm her now as well?”
“We need her,” said Harriet. She too was glaring at Gemma. “Some of the girls in the containers are chained up. The ones who misbehaved, or the newer girls who haven’t been beaten into submission yet. There’s no key on their chains, just a padlock. A padlock only she and Naseem know the combination to.”
