Thrust & Parry: Z Day (16 page)

Chapter 14

Jim woke alone for the first time in days by a banging on his door.

“Get the fuck up you lazy swine. Food in ten minutes, armoury in 30, show time in 45.” Called the voice from the other side of the door. Jim rolled out of bed, stretched and composed his thoughts.

“Today was the day” He thought and even the voice in his head seemed to quaver slightly at the thought.

Jim was pissing in the bucket when the door swung open and a plate with two chicken legs was dropped on the floor with his usual bottle of water. He took them both and sat on the bed. No workout today, he needed all his strength. He took his time with the chicken, savouring every last morsel as if it was his last. Well, let’s face it, it could be. He was just downing the water when the door swung open once more and he was led to the armoury. Something was different though, usually the armorer took him here but today it was just one of the guards. The guard led him into the room before stepping out and closing the door. Jim looked around and there at the other side of the room, weighing up a trident was Paddy. He too was topless and several large bruises covered his back. Jim strode over and tapped him on the shoulder. Paddy instinctively flinched as he spun round but his expression changed to shock as he recognised his section commander.

“Twitch?”
Paddy asked as though it was not real.

“Yeah Paddy it’s me.”  Jim replied beaming. They hugged.

“I’m guessing you have a plan boss?” Paddy whispered as they embraced.

“Follow my lead.” Jim replied as he let go. The armorer appeared holding another trident and two nets and passed them to Jim. Jim passed the net on. He was then passed two daggers on
belts, again, he passed one to Paddy and clipped his own in place. They were both led across the warehouse and into their cage. As the door slid shut behind them the emperor chirped up with his usual bollocks about his new world we was creating, advertising the great opportunities that people are missing out on.

“Right,
As the gate opens I want you to hit the right hand guard with the trident, Il get the left. Hopefully they should fall into the pit, if that’s the case we can grab the rifles and, hopefully, take the emperor out. From there it’s an assisted lift up to his throne and grab the sharpshooter and the Gimpy before we leg it back through the armoury, find our kit and fuck off. Clear?” Paddy simply nodded as he zoned into the job at hand.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for. I am proud to present, Lion Heart and Leprechaun!” The emperor finished with and the crowd erupted into applause as the gate was lifted. From the other side of the arena Jim could see two cages similar to the one he was in with at least 5 zeds in each. The cage was still closed for now. This was how the battles usually went, the gladiators were given time to parade around and prepare themselves before they had to fight. Jim stepped out and took aim. As he launched his trident with a grunt the emperor realised something was wrong. The right hand guard had seen it too, just as Jim’s trident struck home just below his targets neck. He began to raise his weapon on Jim but Paddy trident hit him in the chest and he jolted back. They both staggered for a moment, as the emperor fumbled with his weapon, trying to pull it from under his toga with little luck, before falling forward into the pit. Jim sprinted forward with Paddy seconds behind him and hauled his guard over, Jim’s sharpshooter wasn’t slung around the guard and Jim took it from the floor where he laid. He cocked it just to make sure and a round flew out of the side, it was already cocked.

“Better safe than sorry.” Thought Jim as he jammed the butt into his shoulder and turned to face to the emperor.

“Release the beasts!” Cried the emperor as he gave up on the weapon and turned to flee. The gates slid upwards.

“Bollocks! Paddy!” Paddy was already in place against the wall, his knees bent, and his hands clasped ready to receive Jim’s foot. Jim ran and bounced into Paddy’s foot. He grabbed the ledge and the sharp edging of the corrugated iron dug into his skin. He fought through the pain and threw himself over the ledge, rolling onto his front and held his hand out for Paddy. He was already 5 feet back and ready to run. The zeds were closing on him fast in a frantic attempt to feed on him. Paddy burst forward and threw himself towards the wall, hand outstretched. Jim caught it and yanked with all his strength. His hand was now covered in blood from the cuts on his palms and Paddy’s hand began to slip. He found the strength somewhere down below and with one massive haul Paddy was up. The zeds hit the wall a second later with an almighty clang that made the whole platform wobble.

Jim jumped to his feet and turned to see the emperor running towards the armoury door. He didn’t even see Jim raise his rifle, or hear the shot. He simply dropped. All Jim could see now was a mess of toga with a spreading red patch on it. There was a makeshift stairwell formed from a ladder and, oh guess what, some corrugated iron that let back down to floor level, Jim took it down and sprinted over to the body while Paddy retrieved the Gimpy. The stands were in disarray by now and there were people trying to escape from every direction except the one Jim and Paddy were in. Jim swung the sharpshooter around his back before grabbing his Sig and untangling it from the mess of toga and blood that was now below him. As he slipped the blood-dampened strap around his leg Paddy appeared next to him with the heavy gun in his arms. It was still loaded with the same belt of 200 rounds wrapped round the barrel.

“Right, I’ll take point.” Was all that needed to be said before Jim jogged towards the armoury door. It wasn’t locked in any way but the armourer would undoubtedly have heard the gunshots and be on guard. He flattened himself against the wall to the left of the door and Paddy slid in behind him. Jim motioned for him to drop the Gimpy there and he obeyed. Paddy gave Jim a tap to signal he was ready and Jim yanked the door open and began to sweep the room. The armorer was at the end of the room, crouched behind a pile of boxes with his rifle rested on top. Jim fired several shots in his direction before ducking behind an improvised weapon rack made from more corrugated iron. These guys must have raided a factory roof to get all this stuff. A burst of rounds pinged over his head as Paddy joined him. It was an untrained and scared burst. There was no aim to the shot.  Jim motioned for Paddy to move to the weapon rack on the other side of the doorway and Paddy nodded and turned, waiting for his covering fire. Jim crouched up and began firing at the boxes. The armorer disappeared from view, undoubtedly cowering from the volley of fire. As Paddy got into place there was a scream from the armorer. Jim held his hand up before standing up, Paddy followed and they both moved down opposite sides of the room, weapons trained on the pile. As Jim drew level he could see that one of his rounds had caught the armorer in the gut. He was not clenching the wound hard with both hands and the weapon lay on his lap. Jim took it from him and slung it over his back before giving the armorer a kick in his wound to keep him down.

“Paddy, get the Gimpy.” Jim said as he moved back to the door. Paddy ran out the room and appeared as Jim reached the door with another trident. He stuck the trident in the door handle so that it couldn’t be opened from the outside and moved back to the armorer.

“Where are the other prisoners?” He asked and the armorer just looked at him, he put his boot on the armorers blood soaked hands and he cried out in pain. “Tell me!” Jim ordered.

“Ok, ok.” The armorer croaked. “There are no more gladiators but the whores are out this door and to the right.”

“And our kit?” Jim asked applying a little more pressure with his boot.

“Opposite the whores.”
The armorer said as he winced in pain.

“And finally, the bus?”
Jim asked, starting to sound like a human checklist.

“End of the corridor there is a metal door, through there is our garage. The keys are on the table to the right.” The armorer would tell them whatever they needed to know now.

“Thank you. Paddy, let’s move.” Jim called and they jogged out of the other door. Jim had brought another trident but this door was a push door so he had to try dig the trident into the wall. They were only plasterboard from this side so it went in fairly easily. They took the first right and were confronted with two doors, one was the whores and the other had their kit in. Jim took the kit room first and as he stepped in he realised this must be the emperors office. The walls were full of maps of the area and ideas for expansion as well as lists of people for different programs he had going, it seemed every survivor had a job, even if that job was a whore. There was a table against the right hand wall and on it were Jim, Whethers, Rim and Paddy’s daysack and webbing, still packed up, as well as the items that were in their pockets and several other sets of keys and wallets that must have been taken from different people.

“You take Whethers’ kit, I’ll take Rim’s.” Jim stepped forward and slid his own Kit on before shouldering Rim’s. It wasn’t ideal but he wasn’t leaving it. He also took the map of the area and handed it to Paddy. They moved to the opposite door and tried the door, it was locked but it opened inwards. Jim gave it a hearty kick and the splintering wood told him the frame had given. The room inside was another office that had six bed spaces comprised only of sheets on the floor. 4 were unoccupied but 2 had people in them. They both looked up, startled, as Jim stepped in. One of them, a twenty-something red haired girl that was impossibly skinny, looked petrified at the sight of the weapons whereas the other girl looked relieved. It was Rebecca, she was still here.

“We’re here to get you out.” Jim explained. “Sorry girls but I’m going to have to ask you to leave the sheets, they will only slow you down. I also need you each to carry a set of kit.” The girls looked confused and simply sat there staring at him. “Please, we need to leave. Now!” The last word had the desired effect as they both jumped up looking awkward and very embarrassed at their nakedness. Jim dropped Rim’s kit at Rebecca’s feet and she picked it up. She struggled with the webbing so Jim stepped in to give her a hand just as Paddy dropped Whether’s kit at the red haired girls feet. The ladies slid the kit on quickly and looked towards Jim for instruction. They looked rather strange wearing only a set of webbing and a daysack. “I’m also going to need you to carry a weapon.” Jim said as he slipped off one of the rifles and handed it to Rebecca. She took it and held it as if it was going to bite her. Jim gave her a 10 second lesson on how to fire it.

“Point this end at the target.” Jim explained pointing to the barrel. “Push this button in with your thumb.” He pointed to the safety catch on the side “And
pull the trigger hard. If for any reason it doesn’t fire just shout me.” They both looked a little more confident now. Jim nodded at Paddy and he grabbed the Gimpy once more before they charged down the corridor to the metal door. It had a metal handle on it but didn’t look to be locked. Jim turned to Paddy who was whispering at the girls to stay here while they checked the room. He dropped the Gimpy at their feet before turning back to Jim and nodding at him. Jim turned the handle and pushed the door hard with one swift motion. The door swung open and two oil covered mechanics looked up at them, startled.

“Get this door up now!” He ordered at him, pointing at the large metal door. Paddy now had the other one covered and ushered him into a corner.

“Ladies, bring the weapon on the floor and get on the bus.” Paddy shouted through the doorway and they appeared seconds later, lugging the Gimpy between them awkwardly. They slowly got to the bus and put it down while they worked out how to open it. Jim watched as the mechanic hit a button to the right of the door and it began to move. Jim dropped his rifle to his side, grabbed the keys off the table and jogged over to the bus. There was a small control panel to the right of the doors which required a small key. Jim tried the smallest one and it slid open. He jabbed the door release button and they slid open with a hiss. The girls rushed onto the bus while Jim took the driver’s seat and started it up. Jim could give this society one thing; they kept their vehicle in good order.

“Paddy, let’s move!” Jim called and a second later Paddy appeared at the door and scrambled on. As Jim hit the switch and the bus door hissed shut the garage door reached head height. Jim could see now that the noise had interested several zeds who were now slowly shuffling towards the garage. Jim willed the door to open faster as the mechanics bolted through the open metal door. He rammed the bus into gear and edged forward up to the door. There was now less than an inch of clearance between the bus and the door. Jim floored it and the bus scraped under the door with a sickening screech. He pulled past the zeds as they began to charge at him, obviously greatly interested by the sudden noise and movement. Jim circled the car park searching for an exit and finally found one to the right. He took it and pulled onto the street.  Once there he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the daysack next to his chair and lit one. Paddy began talking to the girls while dropping Jim directions sporadically.

“Now the mad rush is over we can have some proper introductions, I’m Paddy. Next left. And the handsome fellow… Left again then right… The handsome fellow driving is Jim.”

“I’m
Rebecca, I’ve met Jim a few days ago. I was taken to his cell as a gladiators whore.” Paddy raised his eyebrows at Jim before turning back to the map.

“Shit it was that last right. Sorry boss.” Paddy apologised realising he fucked up.