After The Rising by T.D Jackson (free novel reading sites .txt) 📕

on some much needed sleep, then my phone rang I rolled over and picked it up with out looking at who was calling "Mike if this is you piss off I did my shifts give Stokes some coffee and stop calling me" "And good morning to you" Kane replied "You were my second guess do you want to hear the response I had lined up or should I just put the phone down?" "Now I see why the outpost commander loves to hate you" I was still lying face down on the bed eyes closed "Yeah I'm certainly something allright" I yawned "Hmm yes you are we have the resuilts back on the knife" "Does that mean I can have it back I like that knife" Knife was a mild way of putting it my knife was a kukri, it was used in Nepal as a multi tool and by the Nepalese Gurkhas as a weapon when I saw it for sale I had to have it even though I had to do double supply runs to afford it "Yes you can have it back but we have a problem" "If you lost it you are paying for a new one" "The DNA is not on our database" I sat up "Everyones on there you cant get in with out being checked are the walls compromised?" "I don't think so I think it is more likely that this back up the theory of being an inside job, they removed themselves from the database" "Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a long day" I sighed heavily before continuing "You need me to walk out on to the street with a targeton my back again?" "No this has become more how can I put this? Above youre pay grade" "Boss don't you love me any more?" "I'll be in touch" He hung up. I threw the phone on to the bed, Clio my silver tabby cat opened one eye squinting at me with annoyance "Don't you start" Almost immediatley the phone rang again I picked it up "Bat Cave" "Cut the shit" "Oh goody I wondered when I would be hearing from you again Commander I hear you wanted to arrest me?" "You are a lucky man" "Yeah I get cheered in the street where ever I go I think some people are in my garden again trying to erect a statue of me I told them to stop but.." He cut me off "I don't have time for this Tom I have a job for you yes or no?" "What needs doing?" "The job you turned down yesterday I sent Stoke's and a couple of guy's out they havent come back" "Probably drinking in a ditch some where have you tried yelling Stokes here boy got a bottle of gin for ya" "Cut the crap Jackson youre new bff can only help you so much you will respect me dam it!" I tried not to snigger down the phone but could not stiffle it completely "O.K what was he meant to be doing before his highly likely booze cruise?" "We sent him to the fire station in Tonbridge you know it?" I went there when I was a kid, met the firemen sat in the fire engine tried the hose one of my earliest childhood memories "Yeah I know it why was he at a fire station any way?" "We needed spare parts for the engines a couple of ours have been on the fritz lately" "So what takes priority the parts or Stokes?" The Commander took a moment to think "Parts first Stokes is second priority" "All right I will do the job but if I find him drunk I get to punch him" "Deal" "O.K I'm just waiting for Jon to get back and we will head out" "Tom?" "Yeah?" "Be careful" "Please it's my middle name well actually it's" "I'm serious Stoke's is a drunk but he is not a fool he has not made contact in almost 24 hours if something got him" "Don't worry I'll come back in one piece who would you yell at if I wasn't here?" I hung up. Clio looked at me through squinting eyes "I said don't start" 

"You should really learn to drive man" Jon said as we left the safety of the outpost "Why when I have a driver?" "What if I don't make it on this trip" "I'm sure I can figure it out, that's the go pedal that's the stop pedal and the big circle thing turns the wheels" He chuckled St Elmo's Fire clame up on the ipod and Jom moved to shuffle the song, the one thing we never agreed on music. Eventualy we settled on a playlist of songs we both liked Bowling for Soup it is.

As we pulled up Punk Rock 101 finished. The Fire station was a large two storey brick building. The paint on the once red shutter doors was peeling badly, just behind the station was a brick tower where the former residents of this place would do their drills. No sign of Stoke's or his car. The song changed over and Mark Collie's In Time started to play "Well that's not ominous" Jon said "Do you think they will accept that as an excuse for not going in?" "Probably not" "Better prove why we are the A-Team then"  The undead presense was minimal but we would need to be in and out as quick as possible, Groups reguarly herded the dead to this area before speeding off and the undead being to dumb to make there way back to the original location. We got out and moved quickly to the station heading round the side. We came to a wooden double door with safety glass. Jon moved to smash the glass with his Crichete (A cricket bat that was split down the middle was bat on one side and a blade on the other) I stopped him moved forward and pushed the door it swung open "After you then" Jon said waving me through I stepped in "Ladies first" Jon said "Men just before" "Cock" "Baldie" After that fantastic exchange of opinion we looked around. We were in a stair well concrete steps lead up to the firemans sleeping area, and there was a double door on this floor leading to the fire engine garage "Where do we start?" Jon asked "Priority was getting the parts" Jon could see from the look on my face that I did not agree with that. We decided to clear the fire engine area, there was a lot of blood around but we could not find any dead and ues we checked under the engines and inside I have seen the movies. Jon opened up the compartments and set to work taking out the parts we needed, I headed back in to the stair well closing the door behind me so nothing would suprise Jon and started up the stairs.

More blood here on the white bannisters the stairs the walls but it was all old and rust coloured. I got to the top and entred a corridor. I stopped to listen. No groaning or moaning. I knocked on the 1st wood door, no response I opened it. Beds and not much else the whole place was a mess beds that looked as if they had only just been recently abandoned all though there lat occupants had not been back for 2 years. I closed the door and procedded to the next a broom cupboard radio room nothing interesting in either. Then the last door, I knocked no sound, I opened the door. The first thing that hit me was the smell of blood. This was a medium sized kitchen area, a basic one with plastic chairs crowded round a table and a full size snooker table further back next to a large red sofa in front of an ancient TV. Blood was all over the kitchen the chairs, as I moved further in to the room I could see the source 3 bodies laid out on the floor side by side. I cautiously approached extending the batton. This was not the deads doing I could not see any bite marks but bite or not we all turn in the end. I nudged Stokes who was in the middle of the three with my foot no response I did the same with the other two nothing. I squatted down next to them and saw why they were not turning, a small bullett hole dead centre of the forehead on all of them burns surronded the entry wound, the shot was point blank more useless knowledge I had picked up from CSI. It was difficult to see the wounds until you were close. But the gun shot seemed to be an after thought cuts stabs covered the mens arms faces throats that explained all the blood but what got them? Thoughts ran through my head the door opened behind me "Done all ready?" I asked, no respone, stupidly I didn't turn around "Some one shot them who would do that?" "Me" A voice said softly. I knew that voice I turned and saw that balaclava face just as the butt of a gun hit me in the temple. 

"Get up!" The words cut through my daze, I sat up. The room was blurry it looked smokey. A burning smell filled the room, the bastard he set the place on fire. I looked to the door, Jon wa there pounding on the glass, it was double glazed and it was taking a while. I went to the bodies and took a picture with my phone and then moved to the door. It was locked, a large explosion rocked the building  and we struggled to maintain our balance "Get out" I said to Jon through the glass, his face was shocked "I can get out don't worry" "You sure?" "Yeah I'm fine meet you at the car" He nodded and left. The room was starting to fill with smoke now, I moved to the windows they were not double glazed, I picked up my baton and swung it at the glass it shattered. I looked out and 15ft below concrete greeted me, I  pushed out the glass around the edges and moved to the sofa. It was heavy as hell and difficult to manouvere, eventualy I was able to push it out and I braced myself to make the jump, God I hate heights but I have jumped from higher, in the back of my head I wondered if the oxygen tanks had blown yet, almost in response to this thought the bang kicked up again, time to go, I jumped the sofa rose to great me and I landed awkwardly driving my knees in to my stomach winding me. As I got to my feet every single window in the building was blown out chased by flames as the tanks ignited, glass covered me. I heard Jon honk and ran to the car and got in, the noise was going to attract dead for miles "What did you do?" Jon asked flooring the accelerator "That fucker was here the one with the balaclava" "How did he know we were here?" "I don't know I'm not bloody psychic"

We stopped a half mile away from the station in an empty car park, we got out and checked each other fior injury and had a smoke and a snack "Did you get the parts?" "Yeah there in the boot" I nodded "Did you see any one hear anything?" "No nothing but I was totally occupied with the engine" "How the fuck did he know where we were" The question bothered us all the way back to the outpost, the commander would no doubt be upet about the lose of tokes arsehole or not, and the fact we had destroyed another building even though it was technicaly