Z-Series (Book 4): Z-Takeover Read online

  To the reader….

  This is the fourth book in my ‘Z Series’ so, if you haven’t already read them, I would recommend you read the previous three books in the series in order because the characters, locations and storyline all interact. Further, in this book I have not repeated the background to the regular characters as I have done in the previous books - I expect you know them well enough by now.

  This book follows on directly from Book 3 and, as usual, I have tried to avoid too much gang-talk to help the narrative flow more easily. There is still a lot of bad language in this book and some sexual content.

  This book is mainly fictitious, hopefully non-libellous or breaching any Copyright©, and I hope you enjoy it.

  Whilst I have tried to be as accurate as possible, all mistakes and inaccuracies are all mine.

  Here goes….

  Hatch

  The Story So Far….

  ‘Z – Arrival’

  (Book 1 of the Z Series)

  A virus inadvertently escaped from the CDC in Atlanta, USA.

  It was unwittingly carried by a retired US scientist who ‘turned’ during a flight to England, infecting well over a hundred passengers and crew.

  The plane managed to land at Heathrow, but the Security Services on the ground were wholly unprepared to deal with the situation, and the infection quickly spread.

  With the Government and key public figures going into hiding, there was little help for the survivors at Heathrow, but against the odds, they managed to re-group, start a fight back and made Heathrow their safe haven.

  From ‘Z – London’

  (Book 2 of the Z Series)

  The second instalment goes back to the start of the zombie outbreak with a violent East End gang making the most of the advanced warnings to prepare for the zombie apocalypse.

  The gang managed to secure the Tower of London and the people trapped within its walls, but the gang’s reign of terror was swiftly thwarted by a combination of the people in the Tower and the survivors based at Heathrow.

  Some of the gang’s key members managed to escape but were hunted down.

  Only two survived.

  From ‘Z – Payback’

  (Book 3 of the Z Series)

  Returning to consciousness after being attacked, Mamba and Ahmed needed to find safe shelter quickly. They also needed to find new allies if there was any chance of them defeating their new enemies.

  They fled towards North London where they met up with the Turkish Mafia. Mamba was well known to them and was not liked nor trusted, but the promise of guns and power were sufficient to tempt them into helping him.

  Together, they tested the abilities and resolve of the people at Heathrow, whilst simultaneously distracting them by attacking the Tower of London and the Green Park Estate in the East End.

  With differing levels of damage inflicted on their targets, Mamba began to learn how his enemies operated and, when they started tracking him down, devised a plan to make them think he was dead.

  Mamba is now ready to try again, but this time he knows what he is up against...

  1

  Day 16 – 07:00

  Heathrow Terminal 3

  In the dull gloom of early morning, Issy walked purposefully across the empty drop-off zone onto the paved area and through the main door into Terminal 3. She was wearing her full black combat clothing and, with no expression on her face, looked like she meant business.

  She crossed the concourse, the noise from her black boots echoing with every step. She nodded to some of the civilians who were cleaning the area or just preparing for another day in the new World. She stopped and chatted briefly with an Asian man she recognised, before moving on to the stairs in the Arrivals Hall and climbing them to Level 1.

  She turned onto another concourse and headed straight to the Medical Centre; there was nothing wrong with her, she just wanted to see if Ben Maynard, Head of Heathrow Medical, was in and whether he had any update on the two bodies brought in from the night before, supposedly Mamba and Ahmed, the two gang members who had caused them so much trouble.

  She reached the entrance and pushed straight through the door, then stood and scanned the large room, looking for Ben. There were people sitting randomly in rows of chairs, reading magazines as they waited to be seen, just like any normal doctor’s surgery on any normal day. It briefly made Issy wonder if she was in a dream until one of the doctors or nurses buzzing around the room dropped a metal tray, the crashing sound making her jump and refocus. She finally spotted Ben at the far end of the room, talking to another doctor, so Issy headed in that direction. A few people watched her as she strode across the room, but other than the odd nod of recognition, no one spoke.

  As if he had a sixth sense, Ben looked over his shoulder and didn’t seem surprised to see her. He pointed towards an office and held up two fingers indicating that he’d be a couple of minutes.

  Issy looked where Ben had pointed and changed direction. She entered the office and took a good look around before selecting a comfy looking leather chair to sit in. She tapped her feet as she waited and noticed files sitting on every available surface; it was clear that Ben was either very messy and disorganised or a very busy person, and Issy suspected the latter. There seemed to be a never-ending stream of people seeking medical attention for one gripe or another.

  Ben entered the room and headed over to Issy and gave her a quick hug as she rose to her feet.

  “Please sit,” Ben offered, indicating the chair Issy had just risen from.

  Issy sat back down as Ben walked around to the other side of a desk and plonked himself down into a similar chair.

  “You need a secretary,” Issy suggested, indicating all the files lying around.

  “Fancy a job?” Ben retorted and was met by a scowl from Issy. “Didn’t think so.”

  Ben made himself comfortable then placed both hands on his desk.

  “Let me guess, you want to know if there’s any more news about Mamba and Ahmed?”

  “We don’t know for certain if they are Mamba and Ahmed,” Issy replied.

  “Well, from what I heard about the scene, I don’t see how it could be anyone else. Plus, all the evidence we have fits.”

  “Is there anything new?” Issy asked.

  “A couple more test results are in and they don’t change our position. We’re still waiting on the results from a few more tests, but I don’t expect them to show anything new or different. Obviously, we can’t be 100% certain without a DNA test, but all indications are that they are Mamba and Ahmed.”

  Issy didn’t look convinced, but reluctantly nodded her head in acceptance and rose to her feet.

  “Thanks Ben, let me know what else you find.”

  “Will do,” Ben replied, as Issy left the room and headed for the exit.

  2

  Day 16 – 07:15

  Heathrow Terminal 3, Medical Centre

  Issy left the Medical Centre and walked down another corridor until she reached Security Command. She placed her hand on the scanner at the side of the door before it clicked open and she entered. She walked along the corridor, turned right at the end then continued on, passing the Common Room, the Security Briefing Room, Jack’s office, the Security Command Centre and the Armoury before the corridor opened out into a large open area with various heavy-looking steel doors which accessed holding rooms and interview rooms.

  There were similar rooms near Passport Control in another section of Level 1 and also in the Customs area down on the ground floor, but they were for interrogating illegal immigrants and passengers overdoing the duty-free allowances, hardly the sort of people who were likely to cause too much trouble, and what trouble they did cause was easil
y contained.

  These holding rooms were different; they were for suspected terrorists and the like, so they were far more secure.

  Issy entered the first door on her left and found that Jack, the Major and Gina were already there, waiting for her.

  “Ah, Issy,” Jack acknowledged her. “Everything OK?”

  “Yes thanks, Jack,” Issy replied, “I just took a quick detour on the way here.”

  Everyone could guess where Issy had gone, but no one said a word.

  “Are you ready?” Gina asked.

  “Yes,” Issy confirmed as she glanced through the one-way mirror to the room beyond, “let’s go.”

  Gina led the way out of the room, carrying a folder, and entered the room next door, holding the door open for Issy to follow. She walked to the metal table bolted to the floor and took the right-hand seat as Issy took the left. The walls were concrete grey, the lighting harsh from overhead spotlights and there were no windows, just the one-way mirror in the wall to their left.

  They sat and stared at the young Turkish woman sitting in the solitary chair opposite for a few seconds before Gina spoke.

  “So, Ayla, everything OK?”

  Ayla nodded slowly and looked the two women over. She took in the jeans and shirt the blond-haired woman to her left was wearing and the all-black combat gear the pink, spiky-haired hard-looking woman to her right was wearing.

  “Good cop, bad cop time?” she suggested with a sarcastic grin.

  “I’m Gina,” the blond introduced herself, “and this is Issy,” she indicated her partner. “Can we get you a drink or anything?”

  “I’m OK for now. What do you want?”

  “Well, first we have some bad news for you,” Gina said. She opened her folder and proceeded to place different bagged items onto the desk between them, explaining what each were. “We have a pistol, a knife with the initial ‘M’ on the hilt and a ‘2012 Good Pub Guide’. Do you recognise them?”

  While Gina was detailing the items and placing them on the table, Issy was watching Ayla very closely for any hint of a reaction. As it happened, Ayla was like an open book and her eyes widened with each additional item, and by the time Gina had finished, her eyes had begun to well up with tears.

  “W-where did you get them?” Ayla stuttered, reaching out for the knife.

  Gina quickly grabbed the knife then the pistol and moved them out of Ayla’s reach. Instead, Ayla picked up the plastic bag holding the Good Pub Guide and studied it carefully.

  “They were found in a rucksack in the canal after Mamba’s boat exploded,” Gina explained. “I take it you do recognise them.”

  Ayla look confused as she bit down on her lower lip and the first tears slid slowly down her cheeks.

  “What were you doing there?” Gina asked quietly.

  “I was supposed to meet Mamba and Ahmed in the pub,” Ayla explained, “but in the short time I was in there I couldn’t find them and the next thing I knew, there were soldiers everywhere and I was handcuffed and dragged out, marched along the path to a helicopter and brought here.”

  “You must have heard the explosion,” Issy accused harshly. “The one that blew up the pub and killed several of our friends.”

  Ayla’s head whipped towards Issy, concern now spreading across her face.

  “Yes, I heard an explosion, but I didn’t know what it was. I thought your soldiers must’ve caused it. Were Mamba and Ahmed in the pub after all?” she asked worriedly, then she recalled what Gina had said. “What did you mean by ‘Mamba’s boat’? I didn’t even know he had one! Are they dead?”

  Issy could see that the girl really had no idea what had happened.

  “Yes, they’re dead,” Issy butted in.

  Ayla looked confused.

  “I don’t understand. How did they die?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Issy replied. “Why do you care?”

  By this time Ayla was crying and she bowed her head and raised her hands to her face.

  Gina rose and moved around the table to console Ayla, leaning over and putting an arm around her.

  “Are you OK?” Gina asked sympathetically as Issy looked on blankly.

  After a few minutes, Ayla seemed to recover her composure, letting out a long sigh. Gina gave her a tissue to wipe her eyes and watched as the young woman gathered herself. She looked to be in her early twenties, probably not much younger than Gina herself or could even be the same age at twenty-four. Whilst she felt for her, they needed to find out what she knew, so she returned to her seat.

  “We know your name is Ayla,” Gina started. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three,” Ayla replied, still sniffing.

  “And what’s your connection with Mamba?”

  “He’s my boyfriend,” Ayla whispered.

  Gina and Issy quickly glanced at each other in surprise, both thinking the same thing; Mamba wasn’t the sort to have a girlfriend, he just took what he wanted when he wanted. Perhaps Ayla had been conned into thinking she was something special to him…until she wasn’t. Perhaps she was just another of Mamba’s victims, time would tell.

  “So, how did you meet him?” Gina asked gently.

  “He came to visit my father in Dalston.”

  Again, Gina and Issy shared a brief glance. She was Sully’s daughter! This just got better and better.

  “So how did you become his girlfriend so quickly? I’ve heard of love at first sight, but it’s a load of crap, so you’re obviously not fussy” Issy goaded.

  “It wasn’t that quick…” Ayla automatically rebutted the implied accusation, then stopped, realising she had already said too much.

  Issy smelt blood.

  “So, if it wasn’t that quick, then you must have been with him for a while,” Issy pointed out. “When was this visit to Sully? How long have you been with him?” she asked bluntly.

  Ayla was quiet for a few seconds, thinking about what she could say or do to change the direction of the conversation, although it was clearly fast becoming an interrogation with Issy taking the lead from Gina.

  “Had,” Ayla corrected to give herself more time, allowing some more tears to fall down her face.

  “What?” Issy asked, confused.

  “Had. Not ‘have’,” Ayla clarified. “How long ‘had’ I been with him. He’s dead so what does it matter?”

  Issy was tempted to give the girl a slap, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. She’d have put money on Ayla being with Mamba when the attacks on Heathrow took place, but as the girl had said, what did it matter now? Issy couldn’t see Ayla having much, if any, involvement, but she reminded herself that looks could be deceiving.

  “Were you with him when he attacked us here in Heathrow?” Issy asked.

  “No!” Ayla protested loudly, but it was clear from her body language that she was lying. “What are you going to do with me?” she whispered.

  Issy stared accusingly at Ayla, forcing the girl to look away.

  Ayla looked towards Gina, begging her with her eyes for help, but Gina’s face had lost its smile and she was also staring hard at Ayla. Ayla looked down and started wringing her hands.

  Issy looked at Gina and nodded and they both rose and left the room without a further word.

  3

  Day 16 – 07:30

  Heathrow Terminal 3, Security Command Area

  Issy and Gina returned to the room next door and walked across to the one-way mirror to see what Ayla was doing now that they’d left her. The girl had her forehead resting on the table with her hands cupped behind her head. They could hear her sniffles through the hidden microphones dotted around the room.

  “Well, what do you think?” the Major asked.

  “She was here when the bombs went off,” Issy replied with certainty, as she continued looking through the mirror.

  “Do you think she was directly involved?”

  “Possibly. It’s hard to tell. She’s not going to volunteer that sort of information unless we resort
to threats or worse.”

  “I agree,” Gina added, “and I can’t see the point in escalating the issue. Even if she was fully involved, we can’t prove it and I’m not sure how that knowledge would be any good to us in any case.”

  “She would be able to tell us who else was involved,” Issy pointed out, “and it could give us some leverage with Sully.”

  “I think we can guess who was involved,” Gina suggested. “There was only Mamba and Ahmed until they visited Sully. Mamba and Ahmed couldn’t have bombed us, the Tower and the Green Park Estate at the same time by themselves, so they had to have had help. And the only way they could have got that amount of help was from Sully. Don’t forget, a few days ago we spotted a group including Mamba abandoning three Land Rovers just down the road from the Dalston Estate. And those vehicles contained bomb making equipment. So, all we did was disrupt and delay what they had planned all along.”

  Jack, the Major and Issy considered Gina’s reasoning and couldn’t fault it.

  “I think you’re right,” Jack agreed, “which means Sully is playing both sides, which shouldn’t come as any major surprise. The question is what we do now.”

  4

  Day 16 – 08:00

  Islington, London

  Mamba came awake and slowly opened his eyes to stare at the flat white ceiling of the bedroom he had been sleeping in, a small satisfied smile beginning to trace its way across his face as he thought back to the day before.

  He could hear snoring coming from the bedroom next door. Ahmed always was a noisy bugger.

  “Shut the fuck up!” he shouted, but the snoring continued unabated.

  The double bed Mamba was lying on was soft and comfortable. The only thing missing was Ayla and he turned his head to look at the spot next to him which she should’ve been occupying. It was a shame as he was feeling quite horny but accepted that he couldn’t have everything his own way. Being without Ayla for a little while was a small price to pay for outwitting those arseholes from Heathrow once again. He knew that she would be in safe hands with those do-gooders.