Thrust & Parry: Z Day (18 page)

“It’s ok ladies.”
Paddy smiles. “If I may be honest you all have really nice bodies.” Monica and Laura blushed and looked at the floor whereas Sam stared him straight in the eye and smiled. Her hands slowly dropped back to her waist.

“To be honest I’d rather stay topless until this is done with.” Sam said as Paddy turned. He stopped in his tracks and stared at her looking confused. Sam saw this and explained. “I just don’t want to get one of my only two t-shirts covered in blood.” She smiled.

“Well there not exactly in short supply but don’t let me stop you.” He replied with a wink. It was Sam’s turn to blush now. Paddy left her stood there as he moved to the store room. Jim already had a length of sturdy looking rope over one shoulder and was heading toward the ladder.

“Anything I can help you with boss?” Paddy asked.

“Yeah follow me up will you.” Jim replied as he scaled the ladder. As Paddy reached the top he looked round. Jim was over on the side that looked into the car park. There was a flag pole around 5 feet out from the building and he was trying to hook the rope around it.

“You got weapon oil?” Jim asked as he stopped.  Paddy dropped his day sack off his shoulders and rummaged in it for a while before producing a large rectangular tin with a screw off lid on one side. “Good pour it over the parts of the rope that will come in contact with the pole.” Jim explained as he laid out the rope to simulate what it would look like once round the pole.

“First bodies here Paddy!” Called Sam from the bottom of the ladder. Paddy moved back to the hatch.

“Good work. Bring the rest and queue them up like they are waiting for a bus. And try not to shout, we don’t want to attract unnecessary attention.” Paddy explained and she slumped off looking crestfallen. Paddy couldn’t help but watch her tits jiggle slightly as he walked. He snapped back into focus and started pouring the oil over the rope. Within about a minute it was covered in oil.

“Good work. Hold my webbing while I get it round.” Paddy grabbed the back of the webbing belt as Jim leaned out to the pole and slotted it neatly round before pulling it back. He fed one end down the hole and tied the other end round his waist. “I’m the anchor, we tie the bodies and drag them up using the rope. When they are all up we will throw them off.” Paddy nodded and moved back to the hatch.

“OK ladies, I need you to tie this rope around the bodies chest and under the arms. If there is enough spare you can tie it between their legs too.” Sam peered up stunned for a moment before grabbing
Rebecca and, with the help of the others, moving her to something of a standing position at the bottom of the ladder, facing them. Laura grabbed the rope and tucked it behind her and under her left armpit. She reached round to grab the rope from the other side and visibly recoiled.

“Oh fuck. Ewww I touched her boob.” Laura complained as she stepped back, shaking her hand like it was covered in spiders. Sam groaned at her friend before stepping forward and finishing the job. She had around 8 foot of spare rope when she had finished so she tucked it between Rebecca’s legs, reached round and pulled it through. She tied it off at the back and gave Paddy
a thumbs up. Paddy nodded and moved over to Jim. They pulled together and the rope started to move. After about 4 feet the remainder of Rebecca’s face appeared in the hatchway.

“A little more and I can hold it while you grab her.” Jim told Paddy through gritted teeth. They both gave a massive tug and Jim dug his boots in. She now had down to her belly button stuck out of the hatch and Paddy used the rope to haul her up before dumping her on her front on the roof. He quickly untied her and passed the rope back down. They repeated this process for all the bodies, Jessica, Rebecca, the Rupert and the three zombies that attacked Graham. All that was left to do was to bring Graham himself up. The ladies had left him till last as he was the heaviest and by the time they had him in place Jim could hear them all panting like dogs on a hot day.

“Laura, Monica. I need you up here. Sam, if you could get him tied up and come join us please?” Jim needed all the hands on the rope he could for this one. Laura and Monica appeared in the hatch and, a few moments later, Sam followed. They were all sweating profusely now and their breasts were glistening in the setting sun. Jim tried to ignore it as everyone got into position. Sam had grabbed the front spot followed by Paddy then Monica. Laura had made sure she was close to Jim, as usual, and Jim was still tied in at the back.  They all hauled as best they could, Sam was only hauling with her good arm, until Graham’s arse reached the hatch. Paddy released and jogged over to him to secure him on the roof. He struggled and strained but eventually lay panting next to the body. Jim untied himself from the rope and knelt next to Graham. He paid his respects before giving his next set of orders.

“Right ladies, if you would pull the rope in and coil it up we need to take care of the bodies.” The girls got to work with the rope while Jim and Paddy grabbed Graham by the arms and legs and carried him over to the edge. “Goodbye buddy.” Jim said as they ‘leg and a winged’ him over the edge and into the road. He landed heavily and bounced slightly before settling half on the pavement, half off, a very sad sight. They repeated the process with the other bodies until a small pile formed. Well, technically just Graham
on his own formed a pile but the others added to it. Jim turned and walked back to the girls. They were now sat in a little circle panting. Monica, once again, had her arms across her, attempting to cover herself up. Sam and Laura were leant back on their arms without a care that they were exposed. Jim and Paddy joined the circle and cigarettes were passed round. As the sun set it began to spit and everyone soaked in the cold water. They had been sweating profusely for the last hour or so as they sorted the bodies out and now it was brilliant to feel it hitting them. Jim tilted his head back, as did Sam, Monica and Laura. Paddy, however, did not. He took the chance to take a sneaky glance at Sam’s body. Sam was first to look back down and caught Paddy’s stare. He didn’t see her at first and it gave her a chance to do some staring of her own. She glanced down and caught sight of the bulge in his pants before staring him straight in the eye. He smiled at her and blushed as she returned it with a twinkle in her eye and bit her lip playfully. Jim, Monica and Laura lowered their heads and the moment was gone. It was raining fairly heavily now and Jim stood up and moved down the ladder. Monica, Sam and Laura followed but Paddy didn’t. Jim moved over by the door where a set of kit still lay that Jessica had been wearing next to the Rupert’s kit. It had been moved out of the blood but was still stained in it. He carried it as he moved into the bar and dropped his daysack and the spare kit off before digging out the rations he cooked back on the M621. He dug out his ration cooker and took it into the big office and checked for smoke alarms. He light another block and warmed up the rations once more, adding a few more from his stash to feed everyone and heated them up two at a time before packing his cooker back up. He passed them round as people sorted themselves out in the bar and waited for Paddy to give him one. Paddy didn’t follow.

“You guys seen Paddy?” Jim asked as he span round. The girls were drying themselves off and all shook their heads. Jim got to the ladder at a jog just as Paddy was climbing down.

“Where the fuck did you go?” Jim asked as he saw him.

“Nowhere boss I just needed a minute.” He looked slightly ashamed. Jim gave a knowing smile and handed him a boil in the bag. They walked back to the bar in silence just as the girls were taking off their boots. Sam and Paddy exchanged glances as they entered and Sam began to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Laura asked as she unbelted her pants.

“Nothing.
Just… Nothing.” Sam replied with a smile as she grabbed her towel out of her daysack.  She loved the effect she had on Paddy. Jim slid his boots off and his trousers before sitting on his bed with his back against the wall and ate his rations. He watched the ladies change into fresh kit as he sat in his boxers and ate something that once resembled chicken curry.

“Funny.” He thought “The girls seem so comfortable naked around us now. I wonder if it was Rim putting them off. Then again, they had been forced to be topless for the last…” Jim couldn’t finish that sentence and it dawned on him that he didn’t actually know how long it had been since he left.

“Ladies, how long were we gone when we went on that patrol?” Jim asked across the bar. There was a second’s pause before Monica chirped up.

“Two weeks exactly.”
It dawned on Jim that his meal timings while incarcerated weren’t as accurate as he first imagined. He had calculated 15 days if it was two meals a day, three during the build-up to his big battle, but had only been gone 14 days.

“Right, we aren’t going to get any more done tonight. Paddy, sort me out a stag list for tonight.
Laura, if you would man the Gimpy and take the first hour. Everyone else get your head down, It may end up being a long day tomorrow.” Jim passed the orders round. “Any questions?”

“Could you go over how to use it follow me please?” Laura asked shyly.  Jim nodded.

“No worries, anyone that wants to know how to use the Gimpy follow me.” Jim stood up just as Paddy cut in.

“Do you want the same detail as last time boss?” He asked.

“No, we are a bit short staffed now, make it one on for 45 minutes at a time.” Normally Jim would ensure that two people were on to reduce the risk of both people falling asleep but if he did that then no one would get any proper sleep.

“Can do boss.” Paddy relied and buried himself back into writing. Jim slid his trousers back on before wandering out to the bar to find all 3 ladies waiting for
him, they all now had fresh kit on including a t-shirt.

“Right,” he started as he lifted the Gimpy back onto its homemade stand. “The GPMP (General Purpose Machine Gun) or Gimpy for short is a 7.62mm belt fed light machine gun. This means the rounds it fires are standard 7.62mm NATO rounds.” He snapped one off to show them. “It is capable of great suppression against an enemy and devastation against anything it hits, as you have already seen.” Jim proceeded to reel off any knowledge he could muster about the weapon before going
into basic load and unload drills as well as NSP’s (Normal Safety Procedures) and firing. He then fully unloaded the weapon and let the girls give it a go. They all picked it up fairly quickly and within 30 minutes they were working the weapon with minimal mistakes.

Jim finished by going over the stag brief. “Your job on stag is to alert the section commander of any changes. In this case it will have to be via comms cord tied to my leg. Anything changes you tug on it until I come running. When you’re on stag you have what’s known as
arc’s. Your arcs while using the Gimpy are between the doorframes but if anything changes anywhere you let me know. For example, if a zed suddenly starts break dancing in the drill hall and you hear it, I want to know.” There was several little giggles around the girls. “Paddy will bring you the stag list. It will show you who you are waking up. You wake them up, bring them to the stag point and give them their arcs, the stag list and anything that’s changed from now on. Any questions?” The girls shook their head and he left Laura to it. She looked nervous but Jim didn’t blame her, first time on stag alone makes you feel like you’re responsible for the world.

Jim wandered back into the bar, dropped his pants and fell back into his bed space, shattered. He forgot his bed was just bar chairs pushed together and they slid apart as he hit them. He landed on the floor hard and laid for a minute listening to the bar around him
erupt in laughter.

“Fuck me!” He called as he stood up and rubbed the back of his head. He pushed them back together and laid back down as it started to die down. Just as he was getting comfortable Monica wandered over to him, she was now wearing her shorts and t-shirt.

“Jim, would you escort me to the toilet please?” She asked him with a little smile. Jim knew what was coming and nodded before following her into the toilet. Laura gave her a puzzled look as she walked past and she explained.

“I didn’t want to ask but we can’t go anywhere alone. You don’t mind waiting by the sink do you Jim?” She asked him.

“No, no not at all.” He replied as she held the door open for him. 15 minutes later and another explosion over the bathroom floor and Jim was back by the sinks wiping his mouth as Monica sorted herself out to look less bedraggled. Jim waited for her to finish before following her into the bar and bedding down for the night. Jim fell asleep with a smile that night.

Chapter 15

Jim was awoken a few times that night. The first of which was Paddy shortly after he had fallen asleep to give him the stag list. He wasn’t on it tonight at all and Paddy explained that section commanders shouldn’t stag on. Jim was grateful for the extra sleep after the last two weeks but couldn’t help thinking that he was giving everyone else more work to do. Paddy had given himself the next stag to give him maximal sleep. He was next awoken as Sam finished her stag. His watch was one of the only items that he hadn’t managed to retrieve as he escaped from his gladiators’ adventure. He guessed it was about 4 or 5 o’clock as the sun was just starting to throw some light on the car park. It wasn’t the car park that caught his eye though. There was movement in the bed next to him. As he glanced over he saw a figure hunched over Paddy’s bed and he could hear quiet whimpers and a sort of squelching sound. Something wasn’t right. He sat up ever so slowly and looked left for another look. At that moment whatever was in Paddy’s bed space suddenly sat up, back arched, head back.

Jim reached slowly for his rifle before noticing something peculiar. His eyes were drawn to its chest and he watched for a moment as its small perky breasts bounced rhythmically. Jim felt like a dickhead now. It was Sam, she was riding Paddy. As he watched for a moment he realised the whimpers were Sam trying to stay quiet while the squelching was her pussy as she ground against him. Jim smiled to himself as he glanced round. Laura was trying to slyly watch. Jim was sure he could see some hand movement under the sleeping bag but didn’t want to disturb anyone by checking. He slid back down and dosed back off to sleep.

The next time he was awoken was at 8 o’clock by Monica as she woke everyone up. He stretched and climbed out of his bed space before throwing his clothes on and giving his weapon a quick check over. He routed through his day sack and realised there was no food left in it. He pulled out several bottles of Lucozade and handed them round before calling another meeting in the bar. Technically there should always be someone on stag to protect the area but Jim needed everyone today.

Jim Passed Monica and Sam a set of kit each and started by going through each set and sorting out what should go where and how to use everything. Once he had finished he got everyone to put their kit on so it could be adjusted to them. After that it was SA80 lessons on using and firing before Jim took Paddy up to the roof to try and find a spot to zero the ladies on. He found it a few minutes later over the road from the gate. If they stood on top of the large office with the key safe in it then the building would be directly opposite them. It was a white walled industrial unit and it had a small alarm system on the wall. Jim figured the alarm system could be the marker for them. Paddy went back down to bring the ladies up while Jim set out a firing lane with bits of wood and crap from the roof. They appeared through the hatch and Jim explained what he needed them to do.

“Right ladies, I’ve brought you up here to make sure the rounds you fire with these weapons hit where you want them to. What we are basically going to do is take it in turns to move up to the firing point and shoot at that alarm system with five rounds. When you have fired all five we will check where the rounds are landing and adjust your weapon accordingly. You will then fire a further 5 rounds to check this. We will repeat this process until the rounds hit the alarm and then move on to the next person.
Any questions?” The ladies said nothing, just stood looking nervous. “Good, who wants to go first?” Sam stepped forward first and Jim motioned for her to move up to the firing point.

“Have you done any range safety Paddy?” Jim asked.

“No but I’ve seen it done enough.” Paddy replied. Jim nodded and motioned for him to take the lead.

“Ok, you will be firing a 5 round check grouping. Pick a memorable point on the target and fire 5 rounds at it. There is no rush so take your time. Even if the rounds are not hitting it keep the same point of aim. If at any point I call ‘Stop’ you are to apply your safety catch and look into me for further instruction. Your weapon is already loaded and ready so in your own time carry on.” Paddy called to Sam although he was stood right next to her.

“Does that mean I can start shooting?” Asked Sam looking a little confused.

“Yeah, knock yourself out.” Jim and Paddy watched closely for a minute in silence while the girls idly chatted behind them.

“I can’t pull the trigger babe.” Sam called as she turned to Paddy. Paddy blushed a little before responding. He obviously didn’t want anyone to know about his little encounter.

“What do you mean?” paddy replied as he regained some composure.

“It’s all stiff.” She replied with a wink in his direction. Paddy ignored it but Jim raised an eyebrow and turned to see the girls reaction. Laura was giggling but Monica looked most confused.

“The little button by your thumb is the safety catch remember.” Sam nodded and looked back down the sight looking sheepish. She fired off 5 shots fairly rapidly before turning back to Paddy.

“Stop!” He called. And there was a small click as Sam applied the safety catch. Jim brought his rifle up and checked her shots. They were a little spread out but her shots were landing high and left. Paddy stepped back to talk to Jim about it.

“I’m thinking down 2 and right 1.” Paddy said as he reached Jim.

“I’d make it right 2 mate. Your call.” Paddy nodded and made the adjustments to the rifle before chirping up again.

“You will now keep the same point of aim and fire a further 5 round check group. In your own time carry on.” Paddy called. Another small click and Sam was ready to fire. This time there was more of a gap between rounds.

“Stop!” Paddy yelled once more as the fifth round was fired.  Sam applied the safety catch and turned to Paddy as he and Jim checked the shots. She was firing slightly high still so Paddy adjusted once more. He went through the shoot again and stepped back to let her fire another five rounds. The first round hit the alarm square in the middle and it set off.  A loud warble rang from the building and an echo bounced off the surrounding buildings. The din was unbearable and it didn’t take long to attract the zeds. They came from all directions, charging and squealing at the alarm. They surrounded the gated compound over the road in an attempt to attack the noise. Jim pulled everyone together into a huddle before talking.

“Well I think Sam is zeroed. As long as that alarm keeps going we are safe from zeds. This may be the best chance we have to get things done. I say we move down and get the truck inside, from there we can try find where these zeds are getting in. After that it’s just a case of zeroing the rest of you ladies and checking mine and Paddy’s weapons before dropping as many of these fuckers as we can. Monica, Laura, can any of you drive the truck?”

“I moved house once and drove a Luton truck, I can’t see it being much bigger.” Monica said. It wasn’t the experience Jim needed but it was the best he was going to get.

“Good, Monica can drive. Laura, I need you by the garage door to the drill hall to open and close. I’ll be here. Sam, I want you over by the
gate, stay low and keep an eye on the zeds. Anything changes you let me know. Paddy, grab the Gimpy and move over opposite the gate.” He pointed to the rooftop overlooking the car park opposite the gate. “Only engage targets that are a threat to Monica, if they are the other side of the gate they can stay there, headshots where possible guys. Everyone grab their PRR’s. I want a comms check in 5 minutes time. Any questions?”  No one said anything so Jim nodded. Paddy jogged off to the hatch while Sam waited at the top for him to return. Laura was close behind Paddy and disappeared with him. Monica stood for a moment looking a bit dazed.

“What’s up darling?”
Asked Jim as he noticed her.

“Nothing I guess I’m just a little nervous.”
Replied Monica looking him straight in the eye.

“We have you covered, between us we will do what we can to keep you safe. You just need to block out any sound and concentrate on getting that truck into the drill hall in one piece. ” Jim replied putting his hand softly on her shoulder. She smiled at him and began to wander towards the hatch just as the barrel of the Gimpy appeared out of it. Monica and Sam hauled it up before Monica disappeared from view. Paddy took her place a second later and shouldered the heavy weapon. He moved over to their over watch position and Paddy threw himself behind the weapon. Sam had moved behind Jim and over to the firing point and was now crouched by the edge watching the horde of zeds that had amassed round the pounding alarm. Everyone, including Jim, now had a head mic so Jim threw a quick comms check about, moving across his section to make sure everyone could talk. Everyone passed and Jim was starting to feel la little better about their situation. He may
seen some fucking good soldiers go to waste but he still had his 2ic and he had a fighting troop that was shaping up to be pretty good.

The whine had managed to cover the noise of the truck and Jim only noticed it when it pulled forward. Monica seemed to be doing fairly well at this. She began to reverse it and Jim could now hear the whine of the engine over the top of the alarm. He glanced over to Sam and she was motioning for him. He sprinted over to her, staying low and out of site.

“Jim, a couple of them have started moving over to the gate, I think they can hear the truck.” Jim nodded and glanced back at the truck just as Monica released the brake. The truck shot backward and hit the garage door causing an almighty crash. Jim winced, he knew what was coming. “Here they come.” Jim mimicked Sam’s shout over the PRR net and he knew everyone had braced up. Jim didn’t see where the zeds came in but they were suddenly swarming the truck. There must have been 30 of them clawing at the truck trying to get at Monica. From his position he could see her mouth open in what would have been a blood curdling scream but the noise from the truck, zeds and alarm drowned it out. She was curled up in the middle seat of the front cab in the foetal position, her head dropped to her knees as she began to give up. The zeds were not getting close though, they just clawed at the metal work of the door and the tires in a vain attempt to break through. Jim got on the PRR as Paddy opened up with short, controlled bursts. He wasn’t going to follow radio etiquette with this as he needed to calm Monica down.

“Monica,
it’s Jim. You can do this. They aren’t getting in. I don’t think they can. I just need you to keep driving. Get the truck in the drill hall. We can take the zeds out we just need you to do your part.” Jim waited for a minute and only got a small squeak in response. “Remember, your safe. Once you’re in we just…” a thought hit Jim at that moment that cut him short. He turned and sprinted round to the hatch before throwing himself down. He could still hear the rounds going down from Paddy and now Sam as in-between the thunder of the Gimpy he could hear the SA80 popping. He threw his rifle into his shoulder as he barged through the store room door. He found Laura sat against the double door, her rifle was wedged in the handles and there were several unfriendly faces smearing partially dried blood over the reinforced glass in the doors. Jim breathed a sigh of relief.

“Did you get the door open?” He asked as Laura looked up, her face a mask of fear.

“Yeah it’s fully open but I couldn’t stay in there to close it. I’m sorry.” She spluttered as tears rolled freely down her face.

“It’s ok. No-one expected you to.” Jim cooed as he tried to calm her down. “You did
good. Now, do you think you can hold them off until we can kill them?” He asked sounding unintentionally patronising. She nodded and shot him a small smile.

“Paddy to Jim, message over.”
Jim’s radio sparked into life.

“Jim, send over.” Jim replied.

“I can see the zeds entrance point. A side gate next to the unloading pit to my 11 o’clock, over.”

“Roger mate.” Jim thought for a moment before continuing. If the gate was at Paddy’s 11 o’clock that would mean that it was right next to Sam. She might be able to get it closed and stop the flow of zeds. “Leave it with me, out to you.
Jim to Sam, message over.”

“Hello, yes go ahead Jim.” Sam chirped up and he could hear the firing returning over the distorted line.
“Over.” She added as an afterthought.

“Jim to Sam, if you look down to your right as you look at the alarm you should see a small side gate that is open. That’s where the zeds are coming from. If you can lean down and get it closed we will have a secure car park to work from, over.” Jim tried to make it sound really important to urge her to try harder. In reality it was quite
important, with that gate closed they could expand out to the car park and set up a wider defensive position.

“Hold on, I’ll see if I can reach it.” Sam said and then went quiet. There was several minutes of silence disturbed only by the thunder of the short bursts from the Gimpy. Jim moved up the hatch to watch her progress. As he moved over to the edge he saw the cause of the delay. Sam had leant over the edge and used her rifle to reach the top of the gate. A zed had seen her as she struggled with it and grabbed the rifle it now lay uselessly on the floor next to what was left of a zed blocking the gate. Jim made a snap decision. He opened comms chat.

“All call signs. Rapid fire. Cover me!” Jim yelled into the mic as he moved to the edge. Paddy’s fire turned to a near constant stream and as Jim watched most of the zeds hit the floor. Most began to rise again but were cut down once again as wave after wave of rounds slapped into them. Jim pounced down and sprinted to the gate. Without slowing he slammed his boot into the zeds and watched his body leave the floor and land near the middle of the road. The impact of the hit left an almost unbearable throb in Jim’s ankle and he had to stop himself shouting out in pain. He slowed and scooped up the rifle in his arms before slamming the gate shut. He realised his mistake as soon as he did it and several zeds began to charge at the gate. He held it, waiting for the locking mechanism to kick in, and moved away just in time as they bounced off the gate, several thrusting their arms through the bars in an attempt to grab him.