Safe Haven, page 23
The women who had escaped the raiding party had been smart and capable, and both Fry and TJ knew that they would put up some resistance, but Fry wanted to make a statement, which was, you mess with his army and you will be annihilated. That was the simple purpose of this mission, to obliterate this area of coastline.
TJ felt the vehicle come to a halt. He stepped down from the Winnebago as two of his men approached.
"There're a couple of croft houses set just back from the road there, but it doesn't look like anyone has been living in them for a while," said one of the men.
"Doesn't matter," replied TJ, "Fry wants it all gone."
The men nodded and walked up to two waiting bikers. The bikes headed up the incline and within a minute, flames could be seen lighting up the night sky as muffled explosions sounded. The bikes re-joined the convoy, and TJ climbed back into the Winnebago before the convoy rolled off once again.
"Doesn't this all seem a bit...much?" asked Jason, the driver of the lumbering motor-home, as TJ climbed into the passenger seat.
"Fry wants to send a message," he replied. "He's the boss, we do what he says."
"Y'know the men would follow you anywhere, don't you TJ?" said Jason.
"That's good. The men follow me, I follow Fry's orders, the job gets done, and everybody's happy," TJ replied.
"People are talking about what happened to The Don. A lot of the men are...unnerved," said Jason, glancing towards TJ before looking back to the road.
The convoy of vehicles slowed again, and the bikes went off in different directions. One of the houses was close to the road, and TJ and Jason watched as a Molotov cocktail arced through the air, smashing through a downstairs window exploding into a ball of flames as it washed everything in the room with a fiery coating.
"Oh?" said TJ. "Who exactly?"
"Erm... no one really, erm... y'know, it's just talk," he said, putting the vehicle into gear again and avoiding further eye contact.
"Loose talk does nobody any good," replied TJ. "It can get people killed around here. We have some good guys, I'd hate to see them coming to a bad end because of chit chat."
They continued the drive in silence. TJ looked in the wing mirror. The convoy had been climbing for a while, but now they were on a straight stretch. There was a steep incline to their left, way too steep for the possibility of any housing plots.
"Bloody hell," said Jason, craning his neck and looking down at the shimmering water forty metres below.
"What?" asked TJ.
"It's a sheer fucking drop, I bet this road sees a few nasty accidents in winter."
"The council would have been obliged to keep it open. There'll probably have been more grit used on this stretch of road than they used in the whole of Newcastle centre," replied TJ.
"Yeah, but still, it's fucking st..."
Jason stopped as he saw a flash in his mirror. TJ saw it too and leaned closer to the wing mirror to see what it was. The flash became a fire, and then he saw a small flame travelling through the air, before another blinding flash.
"What the fuck is that?" demanded TJ looking out at the bay.
Jason put his foot on the brake as he saw flames in the middle of the water. Suddenly the flames appeared to turn into flying balls of fire that were scorching a trail through the night in their direction. The lead bus exploded into a rolling inferno as two of the burning missiles hit it. A third crushed two bikes before splitting into a hundred blazing pieces, spreading the fire further. The parade of vehicles came to an abrupt halt, blocked to the front and blocked to the back by burning wreckage. TJ and Jason sat frozen, their mouths agape. This was meant to be a pushover, a walk in the park, just a handful of escaped women and maybe the odd one they'd missed from before, but nothing like this. They'd seen the signal flare go up earlier, but they thought that had been a warning to the survivors to run.
TJ ran into the back of the motorhome and grabbed the radio. "Fry, we're under attack!" There was no response, not even static. TJ checked the battery and hit the test button. The radio was not faulty. "Fry for fuck's sake!"
"Boss!" shouted Jason.
TJ looked out of the window to see more flames flying through the air towards the convoy. He opened the door and climbed out just as another bus close to the back exploded. He heard the whoosh of flames and the screaming men despite the distance. He ran round the Winnebago to get a look at the weapon that was firing at them. All he could see from this distance was the fire and possibly the outline of a boat. TJ ran to the pickup carrying the mortar. The men were already climbing into the back, they realised what was happening.
"Can you take it out?" TJ shouted over the increasing volume of the spreading panic.
One of the men was already looking through a night vision scope. "Too fucking right we can," said the other as he picked up one of the mortar shells.
Just then there was a rumbling sound, and TJ turned to look at the steep incline to the left of the road.
"Oh fuck!" he whispered as he saw a huge cascade of boulders and logs thundering down the hillside.
On a darker night he would have seen nothing. How he wished for a darker night now. Then, the air above the full length of the convoy lit up as a flurry of Molotov cocktails were launched. He heard some of his men begin to fire shots, but it was pure panic. There was no way they could pick a target.
The missiles landed setting vehicles and men alight, and the whole stretch of road glowed brightly enough for the invaders to see the wall of debris as it collided with them, crushing men, crushing vehicles, forcing others from the road, over the edge of the cliff face to smash and burn on the rocks below before eventually being washed out to sea. It was carnage. TJ stood for a moment taking in the full extent of the destruction. When he saw the huge bouncing pine log heading towards him he did not even bother moving. He just lowered his head and closed his eyes as it smashed his torso to a bloody pulp, wiping him and the surrounding vehicles from the road and to their end.
Shots rang as Barnes took out a couple of the bikers who were trying to get around the burning wreckage of the lead bus. More Molotov cocktails were thrown, exploding against anything that hadn't been swept from the road by the avalanche. The victory was emphatic. Brutal, unforgiving, but emphatic.
When all movement ceased, when there was no man left to kill and no vehicle left to burn, Jules launched a red flare into the air. Red to stop. They had won.
They were safe for now.
***
Dawn was breaking and the air was thick with the smell of burning vehicles, burning logs and burning flesh. The clean-up was going to take some time. They were cut off by road for now, but that meant nobody could get to them as well. They would have time to rebuild, to fortify. They were few, but eventually, more would come. They would build a proper community, a proper life. Whatever difficulties they would have to face, they would face them together.
Epilogue
It had been a long time since people had been to a party, but everybody, everybody but the lookouts anyway, was present.
Lucy gave Mike a big wet kiss and laughed. He rolled his tongue around his mouth to try and figure out the taste.
"What have you been drinking?" he asked.
"Blackberry brandy," she said with a wide smile on her face. She pulled him towards her and kissed him again. "Just so you know, I think you might get lucky later," she said and giggled.
"I'll hold you to that,"
"To what?" asked Sammy as she crept up behind them, only hearing the end of the conversation.
"Sammy Bear," Mike said, lifting her into the air and twirling her around. "You're like a ninja." Sammy laughed, as did Jake who had joined them. Lucy laughed loudest and winked at Mike playfully putting a hand on her breast and moving it down her torso. Mike's eyes nearly popped out of his head and Lucy doubled over laughing before taking another drink from her glass. "Sammy Fletcher, Ninja Warrior Princess. How does that sound?" he asked.
"That sounds like trouble," said Emma, as she and Sarah walked up together holding hands. Mike put Sammy back on the ground.
Richard, David, Ruth, and George came up to the growing gathering. Ruth had her arm looped around George's. "I think everybody is here," she said.
"I'm not used to giving speeches Ruth, just give me a minute," said Mike.
She let go of George's arm, took hold of Mike and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll be fine. There are no enemies here, only friends. Proud friends."
"I couldn't have said it better," said Jenny who had walked across to join them.
Mike nodded, "Thanks, Ruth. Thanks, Jenny."
"C'mon then, Mikey boy, we're wanting to get to the grub," said Hughes, nodding towards a line of trestle tables filled with an array of items no one would have thought possible. But everyone had contributed. Some had gathered, some had fished, some had picked, some had cooked, some had baked. It was a community. That was the whole point of this day.
Shaw had a walking stick for support, but he was getting better every day. He walked up to Mike and put out a hand in friendship. Mike knocked it away and put his arms around Shaw.
"You saved my sister, you were there in the school when I needed you. We're good, you and me."
Shaw didn't say anything but returned Mike's firm embrace.
"Good luck," said Beth kissing Mike on the cheek. Barnes didn't say anything, he just grinned and gave him a bear hug, before ruffling his hair. John and Annie went to join Jake and Sammy and Sarah's pupils all came to stand with them.
Jules's brothers all nodded as they passed Mike and Jules walked up to him and straightened the collar of his polo shirt. "Jesus, look at the state of you, y'bloody scruff."
Mike laughed. "My throat's gone dry. I hate this stuff."
"Who're you trying to kid?" said Jules. "In my life, I've never met anyone who loves the sound of their own voice so much,"
"You are such a cheeky cow," he said smiling and shaking his head.
Jules broke out into a huge smile. "Give us a kiss," she said before pecking him on the cheek. "Proud of you Mike," she said and went to join her brothers.
Mike climbed onto the big rock that was to act as the podium, and everyone assembled suddenly stopped their conversations and looked in his direction.
He looked around at all the faces. Ruth was right. He was talking to friends—no, they were closer than friends.
"It was just three months ago when we faced the fight of our lives. I remember that night like it was yesterday. I think I always will."
He swallowed and signalled for Emma to pass him a drink. He took a few gulps and handed it back to her.
"We did what many thought would be impossible...but impossible starts with believing you can't, not believing you can. A lot of people have said to me time after time that I've done the impossible, but I haven't, I've just believed." Mike looked around at the faces and saw that all eyes were fixed on him, he gulped again. "Belief is a powerful thing. It makes some people do terrible things and some great things. It all depends on the person and the belief. My belief was in my family and one simple truth and that is there is no greater weapon than the will to fight for the ones you love."
People in the crowd began to look around at each other and smile. A few clasped hands, a few others put their arm around family members. The love radiated off these people, and Mike could feel the warmth wash over him. These people were his family in every sense of the word. This thought stirred painful old memories, and an idea formed in his mind.
"We had no mortars, very few guns and just a handful of people compared to a huge army. But we knew we would fight to protect our own with everything we had. Em and me didn't have a great childhood."
Mike looked towards his sister. The pair of them locked eyes and smiled—a sibling's smile, all knowing. Lucy suddenly sobered up, Mike had practiced the speech on her and this was a definite deviation.
"We had a real bastard of a father," he continued, "and so many times when I was ashamed of him or enraged by him, people would say to me, you can't choose your family, Mike. But that's not true is it?" He said looking around at the crowd. "Because I chose, Lucy. She's my family. I chose Ruth and Richard and David. They're my family. I chose Beth and John and Annie and Barnes and Bruiser and George and Sarah and all the girls and now...now I'm choosing you. You're all my family, and I'm yours. And we might argue, and we might get on each other's nerves. But if we aren't family after what we've been through together, then it's time to rewrite the dictionary."
People applauded and cheered and shouted, and Mike choked up at the outpouring of emotion. It was a few minutes before the commotion died down enough for him to continue.
"Today, we're continuing to do the impossible, you and I. Today we're establishing a town."
He stepped down off the rock and picked up a fence post mallet before walking across to the roadside. Everyone followed him and watched. Hughes, grabbed a six-foot fence post with the spike already attached. There were two signs nailed to it, covered by blue towels. Mike hammered the post into the ground and stood by the side of it.
He waited until he was sure he had everybody's attention and then pulled away the bottom towel. It read POPULATION 138.
"Ladies and gentleman," he said pulling away the other towel. "Welcome to Safe Haven."
THE END
Acknowledgements
First, last, always and forever, I want to thank my wonderful missus, Tina. She's always there to put me on the right path, and she never lets me down. I am so lucky to have her.
Thank you to Alina - someone who has helped me time after time. Without her incredible friendship and honesty, I would be stuck on the starting blocks.
Of course... the professionals. Roma Gray - a brilliant editor, and a brilliant friend. She is a real joy to work with, and truly understands what makes the heart of a story beat. And the awesome Dean Samed - a magical artist who can give you a universe in a single cover.
And finally... A huge thank you to all of you. I will never take a reader for granted. Time is something we can never get back and for someone to spend theirs reading one of my books leaves me in a state of humbled gratitude. Thank you so much!
A Note from the Author
I really hope you enjoyed this book and would be very grateful if you took a minute to leave a review on Amazon.
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Other books by Christopher Artinian:
Safe Haven: Rise of the RAMs
Safe Haven: Realm of the Raiders
Anthologies featuring short stories by Christopher Artinian
Undead Worlds: A Reanimated Writers Anthology
Featuring: Before Safe Haven: Losing the Battle by Christopher Artinian
Tales from Zombie Road: The Long Haul Anthology
Featuring: Condemned by Christopher Artinian
Treasured Chests: A Zombie Anthology for Breast Cancer Care
Featuring: Last Light by Christopher Artinian
Christopher Artinian
Christopher Artinian was born and raised in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Wanting to escape life in a big city and concentrate more on working to live than living to work, he moved to the Outer Hebrides in the north-west of Scotland in 2004, and has lived there ever since with his wife and dogs.
He released his debut novel, Safe Haven: Rise of the Rams in February 2017. This was the first instalment of a post-apocalyptic zombie trilogy. Book two, Safe Haven: Realm of the Raiders continues the fast moving and often terrifying story and book three, Reap of the Righteous concludes the first chapter in the gripping saga. With a new Safe Haven story in production, fans can rest assured that Mike and his family are going to be around for some time to come.
In October 2017, he won the prestigious Zombie Book of the Month Award for Rise of the RAMs. In December 2017 he was also awarded with the prestigious, "Best New Author" prize by the Reanimated Writers group. In addition, Safe Haven won the "Best Series" award in the popular GMZ poll.
For fans of the Safe Haven books, a stand alone short story featuring one of the main Safe Haven characters was published as part of an anthology (Undead Worlds). Christopher was also featured in the Treasured Chests anthology and another of his stories, "Condemned" was released in the Zombie Road anthology.
Artinian, Christopher, Safe Haven
