I’m running before the ejected grenade levers have settled, dropping the last grenade where I stood. I can’t feel the pain that must be charging through my legs as I sprint for the fire exit on the other side of the storeroom. Adrenaline courses through me, carrying me and I welcome it as sure as a junkie welcomes the needle. The trolley’s wheels squeal against the floor as it is pushed inwards.
I reach the fire exit as the two grenades explode. The shockwave from the explosion hits me and forces me forward. I hit the fire exit door, smashing into the door’s emergency release mechanism. The door flies out, taking me with it and suddenly I’m outside. Hot gas follows me out of the door from the explosion and manages to singe my hair. I whip around and slam the door closed, anticipating the secondary explosion of the grenade I dropped to the floor. I’m just in time, as the door slams shut, the second blast hits and is massive. I can tell, even from outside. The grenade I dropped to the floor takes the whole trolley with it, including all of the other grenades it was carrying. The fire exit door visibly bulges in its frame from the force of the blast. For a moment, I think it is going to shear free and explode out. It doesn’t, it holds in place to my relief, just. I’m not under any illusion that the two blasts will have killed all of the Rabids; they don’t die that easily and I don’t want them to see where I went. If they did and they come through the fire exit after me, that would be the end, I’m sure of it.
I have to keep moving before the adrenaline wears off and my body starts to shut down. I’m on a path at the back of the Orion building. In front is the water of one of the Paddington Basins canals. Bodies still float in the water and some of those bodies still move. My only option is to go left, away from the building. Right is a dead end, with only more water.
The small bridge crosses the canal at the end of the path on my left, and that’s where I go. A familiar ache starts to form in my legs, and walking is going to be very hard any time now. I’ve got to rest. Approaching the bridge, the span of which is across from me, I see a possible place to hold up for a while. There is a gap under the bridge, between it and the concrete bank of the canal. It’ll be tight but I’ll fit.
Chapter 12
Another huge explosion rocks the Terminal 4 building to its core. There is no sign of the devastation ending, Dixon thinks as he looks around at the rest of his patrol, as all of their heads duck as if the roof is about to collapse in on them. All three look back at him, waiting for him to tell them what they are going to do. Dixon is at a bit of a loss, though, as the team was told to wait in the hangar for further orders that never materialised.
A strong smell of smoke has been building in the hangar since the first explosion hit and it is starting to become visible in the air. Dixon is positive that the building is on fire and spreading their way. They can just wait here like rabbits in the headlights; the orders they have been waiting for are clearly not going to arrive now.
Standing next to the table where he and his patrol had been sitting around chewing the fat, Dixon re-evaluates. Firstly, he notes that his fresh tea is fucked and full of dust, but nonetheless, he picks it up and takes a large scaling gulp from it. Nothing concentrates the mind like a fresh brew.
One thing that Dixon doesn’t have to concentrate on is the fact that their position is compromised. They are in a burning building which also happens to be full of ordinance waiting to blow it to kingdom come.
The situation outside the hangar does require his brain to work as the banging on the doors and roller shutters keep reminding him. They were lucky to make it back inside and secure the doors before the Rabids got to them. That is one thing Dixon has decided, to call them Rabids. He had thought the term was apt when Andy had first said it, but since he has seen them and fought them, it is even more so. The creatures literally are Rabid people.
If it weren’t so terrifying, it would be comical the way they had all run outside to look when the first explosion went off, only to hightail it back inside when the Rabids came at them. Luckily, two of the roller shutters were already down and the open one made it down just in time.
Their situation would be easier to calculate if it was just the four members of his patrol in the hangar. The patrol would gear up and get the fuck out of Dodge, but there are other people in the hangar with them. Of the seven others, some are civilians and some military, and even the military personnel are more used to loading bombs than fighting.
Dixon knows they have to evac their position, but how and to where?
“Suggestions?” Dixon asks the rest of his patrol.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Kim volunteers.
“Brilliant idea, Kim; any suggestions on how?” Dixon growls at
