“It’s OK, it’s OK. I’m here now with some help. We can soon get things cleared up.” He prised their bodies apart, wincing again as the pain lanced through his left shoulder.
She recognised something was wrong. “You’re hurt,” she gasped.
“It’s nothing serious. A guardian angel has patched me up.”
“Who’s that with you?” asked Alison.
“Just some badly needed help. Are there others here with you?”
“Yes, Anjali and Jill. We were all in the kitchen when the place was just swamped with people. They stripped the place of food and just about everything. Then a couple of men decided we would provide them with some entertainment. It was then that our rescuer arrived.”
“Do you know him?”
“No, Alan, but if it hadn’t been for him I dread to think what might have happened.”
“Step forward,” ordered Glen, the beam of the torch attached to the end of his HKG lighting up the man’s face. “And don’t do anything stupid.”
The large man moved forward, covering his eyes to protect them from the glare of Glen’s torch. The dark, straggly, shoulder-length hair, with a hint of grey but with a well-trimmed goatee beard looked somehow familiar to Alan. He racked his brain to put a name and location to the face.
As the man brushed some dishevelled hairs from the front of his eyes, a picture was immediately dragged from the depths of Alan’s memory. “Eddie?”
“Captain.”
When they had last met, the man leading a labour group helping to clear the houses of Chilmark of bodies, Alan had held the rank of captain, “decided to rejoin then?”
“Looks like it.”
Alan slid his SA80 off his shoulder, not without some discomfort, and handed it to Eddie. “Can you handle one of these?”
“Bit rusty, but I’m sure it’ll come back pretty quickly in the circumstances.”
“Best look after the women here then and watch our backs.” Alan turned to Glen. “You can lower that. He’s one of us.”
“Must say, I like your recruiting technique, Major,” responded Glen as he lowered the HK, the beam of light striking the floor and no longer blinding Eddie.
“Eddie is ex-REME, but would love to serve his country again.” Alan smiled. “Anjali, Jill, you can come out now. You’re safe.”
Two middle-aged women appeared from a dark recess, tears in their eyes and a little fear still etched on their faces.
“Sorry to butt in with your reunion, Major, but we could do with clearing out this nest of thieves.”
“OK. Alison, I’ll leave you, Anjali and Jill in Eddie’s capable hands. Just keep out of sight until we’ve made the bunker safe again. Eddie, let anyone out, but no one back in. But watch out for my lads. They’ll be a bit trigger-happy. Just give them plenty of warning and tell them you’re under the authority of Two-Zero.”
“Gotcha, Major.”
“We need to move on, sir,” Glen reminded him. “OK out there, Rolly?”
“Got it covered.”
Half a dozen figures rushed down the corridor, heading out, Rolly moving inside the canteen to allow them to pass. “Rats are leaving,” he warned.
With that, Alan, followed by Glen, with Rolly as tail-end Charlie, turned right and headed deeper into the complex. They cleared the four male and two female dormitories, ordering out anyone that couldn’t prove they were part of the RGC. Two dead bodies were found in one male dormitory, Alan recognising them as staff belonging to the RGC. The rooms had been stripped of bedding, and even some of the mattresses had been dragged out. The store holding supplies for the bunker had also been cleared out. They emptied the upper level of intruders, shooting two who chose to attack rather than succumb to the soldiers’ orders. The section allocated for government departments revealed a third dead body, stabbed to death, a dozen wounds to his face and body.
“We need to go to the lower level. Bottom of the steps and we turn left. The first room is for more government types,” Alan informed them.
“You’re not short on bureaucracy,” suggested Glen.
“I know where you’re coming from, but the system was working. Well, up to now, at least.”
Alan led them down the concrete steps, his torch providing enough light for them to get to the bottom safely. Glen was close behind, and Rolly was still covering their back. Alan nearly stumbled as his foot caught on the legs of a body prostrate at the bottom of the steps.
“Watch your step,” he whispered.
He placed a foot on the concrete floor, and peered around the corner, his flashlight showing the corridor was clear. The government room on the right had two doors, and the strong room was on the right. Alan moved left, keeping central in the narrow corridor. He could hear Glen behind him, the soldier’s torch beam shining past Alan’s shoulder, moving in line with the gun it was attached to.
Alan stopped. The solid steel door of the strong room was still closed and secure, but the door to the department opposite was wide open. He could hear movement, but no lights were visible. Alan looked round and pointed at the door, indicating he would enter the first doorway and Glen was to watch the second one further down. Both led to the regional Government offices.
Alan moved quickly. The door had already been pushed aside, and he slipped through the gap as he heard Glen move past the entrance, Rolly moving up to watch their backs. Alan’s torch lit up three figures at the other end, a flickering match enabling the intruders to rifle through the desks and cupboards in their search for anything that would aid their survival or prove valuable enough to trade. He held his right arm out straight, his pistol steady, the torch wavering slightly as he held it with his wounded shoulder, but the beam fully on the three looters.
“Army. Stop what you’re doing and put your hands on your head.”
Before there was a verbal response from the looters, or before Alan could take any further action, a blinding flash of light lit up the long room, his eardrums pounded by the blast of the shotgun as pellets rattled overhead, peppering the ceiling. Alan threw himself to the floor as the gunman, one of three intruders, fled out of the farthest door, knocking Glen aside in his haste to escape.
Bang… bang. A double tap from Glen took out one of the two men left. Two further shots from Rolly took out the second intruder, the third managing to escape, fleeing down the main fifty-metre long corridor.
Glen called out. “You with us, Major?”
“Y-yes. He pulled high.” Alan pulled himself up, using one of the desks for support, and joined Glen and Rolly at the far entrance.
“You’re a lucky guy, Major. Nine lives, eh?”
“Rolly, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I hope so. I’ve just used two up in the last couple of hours.”
“Sorry to push you, Major. Time’s not on our side. I’ll take point, Rolly backing me, and you can have tail-end Charlie.”
Alan looked at Glen and nodded. “Before we turn the corner, a quick outline of the corridor. Around fifty metres long, similar layout to upstairs. On the left, six rooms, civilian radio, room comms, equipment, HQ radio, the boffins’ room, and the military. On the right, conference room, accommodation, secretariat, toilets, our radio shack, and more government areas.”
“What’s at the end?”
“Oil tanks, generators, control gear, and our water supply.”