Suddenly, the hold seems to close in on the team and everyone starts to feel slightly claustrophobic as they know their journey is coming to an end. Some of them get out of their seats with nowhere to go. They all get fidgety, eager to leave the cramped space behind.
Parked up beside LZ1, Winters is also getting fidgety as he anticipates the imminent landing of his team back at base. He can see that the landing is imminent because a squad of armed soldiers has moved into position, encircling LZ1. He was expecting a welcoming party to be in place for the landing but admits to himself, he didn’t expect it to look so menacing.
Measures have to be taken to prevent the virus from spreading onto this base at all costs. A huge gamble has been taken at Heathrow. The military has invested an inordinate amount of manpower and hardware here. Should Heathrow fall, it is difficult to see how London could be saved and should London fall, surely it would take a miracle to stop the whole country from following.
Winters has played his part in formulating the plans and measures to protect Heathrow. They included these greeting parties, but times have moved on since those actions were implemented. New, nervous personnel have arrived on base. Personnel who have seen Zombies on their TVs and smartphones and have no intention of joining those ranks. The whole atmosphere on base has changed, suspicion and aggression becoming the norm and a shoot first, ask questions later attitude is coming to the fore.
There is one positive and hugely important development that Winters has seen in a briefing. As if by chance, a miraculous new easy method of testing people to see if they are infected has been discovered. An eye doctor from John Radcliffe University Hospital Oxford discovered he could establish if somebody was infected by scanning their eyes. The algorithm he used has now been adapted and written into an App—and now, any phone with a camera above 16 megapixels can be used to do the eye scan.
Winters is highly suspicious of how this Nobel Prize level winning discovery actually happened, but no matter; it means blood tests are no longer needed and neither is quarantine in most cases. That means that personnel returning to base can be scanned for infection immediately, and that includes his team.
Winters checks his watch. Alders will be landing anytime now. The rain has all but stopped, so he decides to get out of the Defender to watch their arrival, he opens the driver’s door and starts to get out.
“Stay in your vehicle!” an overzealous Corporal shouts in Winters’ direction.
“Excuse me, Soldier?” Winters replies, taken aback.
“Stay in your vehicle, Sir,” the Corporal repeats angrily, not backing down. “Until the landing party is cleared,” he adds, his rifle starting to turn in Winters’ direction.
Winters pauses for a second, debating to pull up the Corporal for his insubordination. The second passes and Winters lets it slide, getting back into the Defender. He hasn’t the time or inclination to pull him up on it now, since he has more important matters to attend to. On shutting his door, he does roll his window all the way down, however, in part as a show of defiance but mainly so he can get a better look at the Lynx now descending to land.
The Corporal and his rifle have turned back to the LZ, taking no notice of either Winters or his act of defiance.
Slowly and deliberately, Alders brings the Lynx over and down towards his allotted LZ. Noise and wind start to billow through the Defender’s open window, bringing with it rain as the helicopter closes in, Winters ignores all three as he watches. The soldier’s heads that surround the LZ automatically duck, their faces turning away from the barrage as the downdraft reaches its peak and the helicopter nears touchdown.
The Lynx touches down with a jolt. Finally, Alice thinks to herself as she is jarred by the landing, a small price to pay to be almost out of this flying cocoon.
Dixon is up and pulling at the hold’s door handle almost instantly on touchdown, even before Alders has killed the helicopter's engines. Maybe Alice isn’t the only one hiding their dislike of helicopters—or is it the mission that has Dixon eager to exit?
Another wave of relief passes over Alice as the Lynx’s door rolls speedily back and fresh air flows into her; she fills her lungs greedily.
Dixon jumps straight down onto the wet tarmac, but he is stopped in his tracks as he is ordered to ‘halt’ by the agitated Corporal pointing a rifle at him.
“Fuck off, dickhead, I ain’t in the mood.” Dixon barks back at the Corporal.
“Stay where you are Sergeant, or I will fire!” The Corporal ducks lower behind his rifle and takes a step forward, showing he means business.
Perhaps the Corporal doesn’t realise who he is dealing with or perhaps the bit of power he has been given has gone to his head. Under different circumstances, he would know not to fuck with Special Forces, or at least show them a bit of respect. On this occasion, the Corporal has decided to play with fire, risking getting burnt and burnt badly.
Dixon has played before and stays calm, even if he does have a slightly smug look on his face. He knows that his team is not going to let this pass, especially the members of his SBS patrol.
Without noticing, his concentration focused on Dixon, the Corporal is already in the line of sight of two assault rifles. Kim and Collins have their team leader covered from the shadows of the Lynx’s hold.
“Lads,” is all Dixon has to say.
Slowly and deliberately, Kim and Collins stalk out of the shadows, moving gradually forward showing themselves and their trained rifles to the Corporal.
