Zombie & Hell Hound
Ernest Bywater
Zombie & Hell Hound
All rights reserved © 2008
This is a compilation of the previously released books:
The Zombie
Hell Hound>
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. All rights are reserved by the author, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
Product names, brands, and other trademarks referred to within this book are the property of their respective trademark holders. Unless otherwise specified there is no association between the author and any trademark holder is expressed or implied. Nor does it express any endorsement by them, or of them. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark, service mark, or registered trademark.
Cover Art
The background image is Multicam Pattern by Chikumaya with CV9035 Assessment by U.S.Army and Australian SOTG Patrol Oct 2009 by ISAF Headquarters Public Affairs Office. The first two were placed in the public domain while the third is used under Creative Commons Attributions. The trimming, manipulation, and adding of text is by Ernest Bywater. All rights to the cover image are reserved by the copyright owners.
18 May 2021 version
Published by Ernest Bywater
E-book ISBN: 978-1-312-13333-4
__________________________________
Note: UK English is used in the first story, except for dialogue by a US character where US English is used in the dialogue and some nouns. US English only is used in the second story.
__________________________________
Zombie
All rights reserved © 2008
Afghanistan
In March, 2002 Australian troops of the Special Air Service Regiment are part of a multi-national force involved in Operation Anaconda. The operation is to eliminate a large group of al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, most of whom are in the Shahi-Kot Mountains of Paktia Province and some raids are conducted against forces in the surrounding area too. The insurgents' bases and hideouts are well hidden in mountain caves at altitudes near 3,000 metres or more. They've been using hit and run guerilla tactics to attack government and international forces in the area. All over the country the international forces make similar raids on the insurgents when needed in response to attacks by the Taliban.
A column of civilians with serious injuries caused by Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents is moving across the country for treatment by top specialists in military hospitals in Kabul. They're under the protection of a group of US and Australian soldiers while they travel. The column includes some civilians being moved to safety because they're wanted by the Taliban. Only the column leader, an Australian Army Captain, knows who is who in the column; and he's not telling anyone. The column's actual line of travel is known to only three people: the commander, his senior non-commissioned officer (NCO), and the Commander of the Alliance Forces in Afghanistan. The commander of the military sub-base it started from in southern Afghanistan was given the same route as the one set out in the column's general orders. However, the column commander is using the flexibility in the last line of his orders which reads: 'The commander may alter the proposed route of travel as seems prudent for the security of the convoy.' The actual travel route is about eighty kilometres further west on a totally different set of roads, and there's a lots of rough country between the two routes. The route being used is such it's almost impossible for anyone set up on the other route to be able to deploy to this line of march in time to attack the column.
The column is just over an hour into the five hour journey when the officer who's second in command of the column, a US Army Lieutenant, realises the column isn't on the route he was given by his colonel. Since the Captain is at the head of the column and he's near the back of it he activates his radio and says, “Captain Peters, Lieutenant Jackson, we're on the wrong road.”
Peters replies, “We're where I want us to be. Now shut up and stay off the radio, like you were ordered to at base. Maintain radio silence.”
Jackson responds, “Sir, I have the whole route marked on my map, and we're well off the planned route.”
Peters says, “Which word in the command ‘stay off the radio’ don't you understand? Keep silent.”
“But, Sir, we're on the wrong road.” Getting no more response from the Captain the Lieutenant radios his colonel back at the base, and he spends a few minutes giving him a situation report. He's just signing off when the field vehicle Peters is in pulls up beside his and signals for him to stop.
Peters jumps out of the vehicle and drags Jackson out of his while saying, “Don't you understand simple English? Are you a Taliban spy or are you really that fucking stupid?”
The Sergeant in charge of the truck of US troops behind Jackson's vehicle steps out of the truck's cab while saying, “The last option, Sir. He's a base pen pusher we got stuck with when our usual officer came down with appendicitis eight hours ago.”
Peters looks at the US NCO, “Right. Lieutenant Jackson, you're relieved of your command and under arrest until such time as you face a formal hearing for the charge of wilfully disobeying your commanding officer in a combat zone. Master Sergeant Mathis, you're in charge of the US contingent now, and you'll take command when we make it to the US control zone near Kabul. Place Lieutenant Jackson in the back of the truck, under guard.”
Jackson says, “You can't do this, Colonel Smith is my commanding officer and I've obeyed all his orders. I refuse to accept this unlawful usurpation of my authority.”
Peters had been walking away when Jackson spoke. He turns back, “When you were assigned to this column you were transferred to my command until we reach the Kabul control zone. Your idiocy has just placed the lives of every person in this column at risk through you disobeying my orders and telling the enemy where we are by using the radio. Now obey my orders and get into the truck.”
Jackson responds, “I'm not in your chain of command and I refuse to surrender my authority,” while he reaches for his side arm. He has it out of its holster before Peters even starts to move. But it's Peters' pistol that's up and firing first as he blows away Jackson's left knee. The pain causes Jackson to drop his pistol and fall to the ground.
Peters says, “Patch him up and throw him in the back of the truck. Take over command of the platoon, Sergeant Mathis.”
The sergeant salutes while he snaps out a crisp, “Yes, Sir,” as he waves for the platoon medic to put the Lieutenant in the truck and treat him. All three vehicles are soon on their way again and are fast to catch up with the column which hadn't slowed down. Reaching the front of the column Peters increases the column speed by fifteen kilometres an hour. He dare not go any faster for fear of hurting the injured too much. But he must get away from here fast now the Taliban have had a chance to find them by using radio detection equipment or listening in on the radio traffic.
About an hour later the column is travelling along a road on a plateau, the road is near the top of a canyon with the Helmand River in the bottom of it. The plateau is very rough and slow going anywhere, except on the few roads across it. Another road comes across the plateau to the road they're on at an angle and there are several trucks racing along it at high speed. Captain Peters swears. The roads join together further along, and it looks like he'll make that point first. The other trucks don't have injured people to worry about and are moving much faster, so they'll overtake the column unless they're slowed down. Studying the area with his binoculars he can see a point beyond where the roads join where it's extra rough around it. If he can block the road the people in the trucks will have to stop and clear the blockage before they can move after them because the gullies near the road look to be impassable to trucks.
Peters has his driver pull out of line to drop back beside the field vehicle with Sergeant Banners in it, Banners is his platoon sergeant. Peters shouts over the engine noise while telling Banners his plan to slow the enemy down. Peters drops back to his 'Q' truck, which is a truck specially rigged to deal with awkward situations with the insurgents. The truck has over one hundred kilograms of explosives on it with Claymore mines set up along the tailgate and left hand side, there are also three large drums of fuel in it with explosives under them. The contents are well secured and all are set to be detonated by radio control from the unit in Peters' vehicle. This super-sized car bomb is designed to make a section of road totally impassable for an hour or more. The truck and Banner's vehicle also pull out of line to let the column pass them.
When Sergeant Mathis' vehicle pulls up beside Peters' vehicle he explains the plan to Mathis too. Mathis can see the merit of it, but he also knows it's very risky for the person playing Horatio on the bridge in the middle of the plateau. However, the plan is the best they have in this situation because the main security for the column had been secrecy, until Jackson blew that away with his stupidity.
About twenty minutes later the column is coming up on the ambush point Peters has selected and the last three vehicles are now the 'Q' truck then the field vehicles with Banners and Peters in them. The pursuing trucks are going faster and are already overtaking the column. They have to be slowed down and Peters aims to do that. These last three vehicles slow to a stop at the best point to block the road. The 'Q' truck pulls across the road at an angle with its tailgate aimed across the plateau and the left side aimed down the road they just came up. Banner's field vehicle backs up to beside the front of the truck in a way the heavy machine-gun mounted on its back has a clear field of fire along the side of the truck and down the road. Its left wheels are right on the edge of the road and the drop into the canyon is less than a metre away. A good nudge will see it over the side. Banners, his driver, and the driver of the truck are fast to leave their vehicles and climb into Peters' vehicle. Peters is the best judge of when to leave, so he hands Banners the radio control and climbs up to man the heavy machine-gun. He also puts on an extra set of body armour he has in his vehicle. Banners and the others drive off, chasing after the column while leaving Captain Peters by himself.
Another soldier won't improve the defences, but it will increase the losses if things go wrong. The plan is to shoot up the incoming trucks with the heavy machine-gun while working at delaying them as much as possible. When that becomes too dangerous Peters will drop into the driver's seat and drive off, the engine has been left running to make this easy for him to do. When the insurgents are crawling all over the truck to shift it, which they'll have to do because its tyres have been shot out and are now flat, Banners will set off the explosives by radio control. Banners needs to do this since he'll be able to see the truck while Peters is busy driving fast to get away from it. The exploding truck will kill many insurgents, hopefully it'll damage some of their trucks as well, and it'll leave a burning wreck that'll take them an hour or more to put out then shift out of the way. It may even damage the road surface and make the road impassable for some time to come.
Contact
Fifteen minutes later the insurgents are close enough to make it worthwhile opening fire on them. Peters takes aim and shoots up the cabin of the lead truck. The driver and the other person in the cab are killed. Their twitching bodies cause the vehicle to make a sharp turn left then go into a roll. Thus throwing its occupants all over the place where many make awkward landings and don't get up again. The second truck slams into it because it's unable to stop in time. They form a blockage on the road as five more trucks pull up behind them. Insurgents deploy from all of the trucks and start moving toward Peters. They spread out in good combat order in a much better way than he's seen the insurgents use before, and they're almost as good as regular troops. The machine-gun is in constant use as he rakes their advancing forces to kill men with short and accurate bursts while they move up both sides of the road.
Peters often switches back to where others are working to move the wrecks off the road. Fifteen minutes later the two wrecked trucks are on the side of the road and the rest of the force is moving forward. They have a steel plate up in front of the windscreen of the front truck and troops are firing at Peters from the back of the lead truck while it drives toward him at a slow walking pace. He's very busy alternating his fire between the force on the road and the two forces beside the road. They all slowly advance while losing men with each accurate burst from his machine-gun.
The trucks are almost to his blockade when Peters thinks, I'll finish off this current belt of ammunition in one long burst then take off. He's raking the trucks with the final long burst when a small group of five insurgents charges out of the gully beside the road on his left and they're almost at the back of the truck. While he swings the machine-gun toward them he thinks, How the heck did they got that close without me seeing them. He doesn't make it as the lead insurgent opens up with the M16 assault rifle in his hands before Peters can get his machine-gun onto the new target. The full-automatic burst hits Peters in the left chest then it moves up to hit his arm, face, and head on the left side. The impact knocks him staggering backwards from the machine-gun. He falls over the side of the field vehicle instead of into the front seat. If he'd landed in the seat he might have had enough time to drive away, as per the plan.
With the machine-gun going silent all of the other attackers surge forward to the blockade as the trucks accelerate while the ground troops run. Peters falls onto his back beside the field vehicle, he gains his feet just in time to catch another full-automatic burst in the chest. The second burst knocks him backwards a couple of paces and over the edge of the canyon.
Banners has been watching the combat through binoculars while the column has continued to make north at high speed. On seeing the Captain take two bursts and get knocked over the lip of the canyon he knows the Captain has had it. He pushes the button on the detonator. He smiles when the truck explodes in a huge sheet of flame a fraction of a second after the Claymore mines go off. Because the road has curved slightly with the canyon he can see the steel balls of the anti-personnel mines tear up the ground and many of the insurgents beside the road just before the main explosion flips the lead truck up and over its tail to land on the truck behind it to squash the troops in both vehicles. The third truck is too close to stop, so it drives into the pile at its current speed. The truck pushes the combined wreck into the ball of flame created by the exploding 'Q' truck. The explosion was so violent the field vehicle Peters had been on is blown over the side into the canyon. The ball of flame expands when the fuel in the other trucks catches fire with a lot more explosions when the ammunition in them goes off in the fires. Banners smiles. He figures somewhere between fifty and seventy insurgents are now dead, and it'll be a couple of hours before the insurgents left alive will get the fire out and the wreckage cleared. They won't catch them again. He's sad about losing the Captain who is one of the best officers he ever served with, and the Captain will be missed by all who knew him. It's all the fault of that stupid lieutenant.
__________________________________
Kabul
Four and a half hours after leaving the southern base the column reaches Kabul and it takes all of the injured to the hospital for treatment. Sergeants Banners and Mathis go to the command headquarters to lodge their reports.
Three days later a patrol is in the canyon looking for Captain Peters' body. They find the wrecked field vehicle but they can't find his body. They do find a set of body armour that's been perforated with two long bursts of fire from a M16, the tie down straps on the left side were shot apart too. They figure the body armour must have come off his body and the body got washed away by the river. They also figure it's not likely he survived the eighty metre fall, especially after being hit with two long bursts of fire and losing the body armour. He's officially listed as MIA (missing in action) and probably KIA (killed in action), but they can't make an official listing of KIA without his body or dog-tags being recovered. His next of kin are notified of the events.
Due to the testimonies of both sergeants and some political pressure by Lieutenant Jackson's father, a US Senator, Jackson leaves the service without either an honourable discharge or a dishonourable discharge. The members of both platoons, and many other combat troops, are disgusted with the fact he doesn't have to face a court martial. They accept the compromise reached by the General only because Jackson's father bought the dropping of the charges by changing his position on the military appropriations bill he was holding up in committee. One useless fool in exchange for much needed equipment and funding, not the best way to run an Army, but it's accepted as part of the politics in today's government.
Back in Australia Captain Peters' two daughters are very saddened by the report of his loss in combat.
__________________________________
Australia
Mid November 2007 in a New South Wales rural town of just over 5,000 people the locals are concerned because an eleven year old girl has gone missing while on her way home from a local primary school. She had one kilometre to walk and vanished without a trace in the short distance. No one saw her from when she left the school grounds after her sports group was dismissed for the day. Most of the students went back inside to shower while Mandy decided to hurry home and have a long bath instead as this is what she usually did each week.
Mandy is a striking young girl with long blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. A bright, cheerful, fun loving, and helpful girl. Eleven years of age, a bit tall for her age, and a bit more mature than her classmates, the effects of puberty are just starting to show their effects on her body.
People are very concerned because two girls had been kidnapped and suffered vicious sexual abuse in a city that's only forty minutes drive away. That happened just last month. Now Mandy is missing, and she's not the type to run away or just wander off without leaving a note. So many parents are now rearranging their work and other activities to be at the school to pick up their children because they're afraid the trouble has moved here from the city. A very safe town suddenly feels very unsafe. Every afternoon the police patrol near the schools with a much higher than usual regularity as all of the other duties are being given a lower priority while they watch over the schools and the children as best as they can with the limited resources they have available to them.
The Friday afternoon following the disappearance Senior Constable Walters is patrolling by Mandy's school when he spots a man sitting on the grass opposite the school, the man is leaning back against a curved ramp the kids play on with their skateboards. The man is wearing old and dirty clothes in a brown and tan army camouflage pattern. After pulling over to park Walters exits his car and looks up to see the man is not in sight at all. Looking up and down both the streets that create this intersection he can't see the man. He wonders how he could have vanished so fast. The nearest place to go is a nearby hotel, so Walters walks in to check the people in the pub. The man isn't there and the publican is sure no one has entered for over half an hour. Returning to his car Senior Constable Walters gets in it and he continues his patrol. During the weekend he sees someone who looks like the same man in the distance, but he always vanishes before Walters can get much closer.
The following Monday Walters is patrolling in an unmarked vehicle with Constable Harris, who's a newly posted in officer and being shown around by Walters. When they near the school Walters sees the mystery man again and he parks at the far end of the school to observe him. Walters explains to Harris what he's doing and why. It's obvious the man being observed is paying very close attention to the school, the children, and those around the school: this is very suspicious behaviour in the current situation. Walters is thinking about moving in to question the man when Harris says, “You know, I've been sitting here trying to work out what's wrong with his clothes, and I just worked it out.” Walters turns to him, “Those clothes aren't surplus. They're the new desert camo pattern. The Army hasn't finished issuing them to all of the active Army units because they can't get enough of them due to a glitch in the supply system. That lot looks to be well worn, so they must have been part of the first issue, and that was done back in 2002 to the troops heading to Afghanistan. All issues since then have been to troops heading to the Middle East. I wonder what he's doing here in them?” So is Walters!
Walters says, “Let's go and ask him.” Just as he starts the car the radio comes alive and they also hear the sound of a speeding car with an approaching siren. A stolen car is being chased along the road running beside the school and it's fast approaching the school from the other end of the long street. Two young girls are crossing the road and they stop in the middle of the road while they stare up the road to their left. Walters and Harris can't see up the road because of buildings in the way, they need to go to the corner and turn left to be able to see up the road. When they pull out away from the gutter the man they're watching bursts up and out of his seat like a cheetah taking off after its prey. They can't believe the speed with which he crosses the road as he's like a tan blur.
Walters swears while he watches the man grab both girls and run to the far side of the road. The man is just off the road when a speeding car goes through the space the girls had been in. Walters drives to the intersection and pulls up at the gutter. When he and Harris get out of the car they hear the man saying, “It's all right, girls. Everything's OK. You've just had a bit of a fright. The police or your teachers will see you get home safe.” Walters arrives just as one of the teachers does, as she'd seen the whole thing from the school grounds and come over. The man says, “They're OK, just a little frightened. They just need a cuddle and some comfort.”
Walters and Harris check the girls and promise to drive them home. Luckily for them all Walters knows both girls well, so they're quick to agree to him taking them home, which is just up the street. When he stands to thank the man Walters can't see him anywhere as he's vanished again. However, he's not so sure this guy is a problem. Although he tried, he didn't get a good look at the man as his hat was pulled down, his collar was up, he had a scarf around his lower face, and was wearing thin leather gloves. He sure looks suspicious and acts like he wants to hide his face. But his actions speak loudly of him not being of concern to the police in the current situation.
__________________________________
Sports Day
The next Wednesday sports day, a full week since Mandy went missing, another girl, Janice, is heading home after sport while everyone else is heading for the showers. When she walks along the street away from the school she notices a man in odd tan clothing is walking along on the other side of the road but back a bit from her. She's a bit worried about the man because he seems to be following her. A car pulls up beside her and the driver leans over to open the door while he says, “Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Main Street?” Janice leans toward the car as she starts to point at the next street on the right while she tells him the couple of turns he needs to make. In a flash the driver grabs her arm and drags her into the car. Before she can start to scream he places a gag in her mouth while she struggles, but she's unable to break free of the man's hold. She freezes when he holds a knife up before her and says, “Hold still or I'll stab you.” She cries when he starts to tie her wrists together.
The car engine stops and the man turns toward his right then he grunts in pain. She looks across the car to see the man who she thought was following her has a thin cord around the driver's throat and he's pulling hard on it while he reaches in to take the knife away from the driver. Reaching across the driver the new man is careful when he cuts the thin rope holding Janice's hands together. With her hands free she's fast to remove the gag. He says, “Miss, grab your bag and go back to the school now.” She nods her acceptance of the order while she gets out of the car. When she starts to walk away she hears the man say, “Now tell me exactly where Mandy is.” She's a dozen metres away when she hears a sort of scream and gurgle from the car. Looking back she can see the car sitting there with the driver slumped over the wheel while the man who rescued her is running up the street, and he's running very fast.
Janice races to the school and tells a teacher what happened. The teacher calls the police and goes to the front of the school. She can see the car Janice described still sitting where Janice said it stopped.
The police are fast to arrive and check the car out. The driver is unconscious and is bleeding from a knife wound in his groin. They call for an ambulance, and one officer escorts him to hospital while the other examines the car. Later they find out his testicles have been cut in half and the only fingerprints on the knife are those of the driver. The car also provides a lot of evidence relating to the two murdered girls from the nearby city. So he's eventually convicted of their murders.
Meanwhile Constable Harris receives a phone call on his personal mobile phone. He and Walters are heading toward the school from the other primary school in the town. On answering the phone Harris is told, “Corporal Harris, get your arse to sixty-two Hill Street now. Bring your partner and an ambulance.”
Relaying the message to Walters he adds, “Obviously someone who knew me in the Army wants us there quickly.” Walters heads for the address while he has Harris put in the radio call for an ambulance. They head to the address as they both wonder what's up.
When they turn into and drive up Hill Street they notice the man in the tan camouflage clothes running up the street, he's near the far end of the street while they're still starting up it. The man reaches the last house. It's an old double brick building on a very large block of land with the nearest neighbour about one hundred and twenty metres away. They watch while he charges at the door of the house and kicks it open. Pulling up outside a few seconds later they see this is number sixty-two. Running into the house they can hear another door being kicked down. Racing through to the back of the house they find the man in a heavily padded room. In the centre is a wooden frame and the man is releasing Mandy, the missing girl. She's a mess with blood all over her and blood on the floor. They stare in horror at the bloody scene before them.
The man is working like a whirlwind: he has a military medical kit beside him while he ties tourniquets above some of the bleeding wounds. He says, “Contact the hospital and have them send two units of AB negative whole blood. That's Mandy's blood group and they'll need it before they can stabilise her for transport. I've had med-tech training, so I know that's what they'll need. They have five units on hand.” Walters uses his radio to send the message while wondering how the man knows her blood group and how much the hospital has on hand; and he has a bit of trouble convincing control to do what he says. A police car near the hospital is diverted to pick-up the blood and bring it to the house because the ambulance is almost at the house.
Turning back to the injured girl Walters sees Harris is following directions while both the men go about applying pressure bandages to stop the bleeding. He wonders how things will go with the girl because AB negative blood is the rarest of the blood groups and the blood bank is always short of blood in that group. This looks like they'll need a lot of it. Walters gets back on the radio to tell them the girl will need surgery and they'll need all of the AB negative blood they can get a hold of. They start the wheels moving to get blood from the surrounding communities.
The ambulance paramedics arrive. The tan man gives them a quick update of her condition and what's been done. The paramedics work fast to attach a variety of sensors to get readings. They show great concern about her pulse and blood pressure. A fast approaching siren is followed by the screech of brakes. A police officer races into the room with a cooler holding the blood. Due to having been warned about it the paramedics are set up for the transfusion. In moments the blood is being poured into the girl. Her blood pressure starts to rise, but her pulse weakens.
The tan man is still beside Mandy. He looks up into a corner of the room while saying, in a begging tone, “Please, Michael, not this?” Everyone gives him an odd look because that corner is empty. He says, “OK, then. If the choice is hers I'll make her fight!” They give him another odd look. Sliding an arm under Mandy he half lifts her and speaks to her. “Mandy, I know you can hear me. You have to live, you have to fight for your life. Now is not your time. Live.Fight for it.”
Her pulse weakens further and one of the paramedics says, “I think we're too late. It looks like we're losing her.”
While wrapping his arms around her the man screams, “No. Fight Munchie, fight. You can't go and leave Smurfie all alone. Fight. Sing the demons and pain away, sing it away. Come on, Munchie, sing with me.” They all look on with odd expressions while the tears roll down his face and he starts to sing in a deep baritone voice,
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword.
His truth is marching on.”
When he starts to sing the chorus Mandy's eyes flutter and her mouth opens, then in a very weak voice she joins in singing the chorus. Her pulse strengthens, her blood pressure rises. Her voice is much stronger for the second verse while her system fights back and improves. When the two of them reach the second chorus it seems, to Walters, a full choir of girls has joined in the singing. The paramedics continue to treat her many cuts while they join in singing the third verse. They finish just as the paramedics are ready to put her on the stretcher. The man is very gentle when he lifts her. She opens her eyes and looks at him. She smiles as he says, “Munchie, fight to live. You must live for Smurfie. Promise me you'll fight.” Her eyes go very wide while she gives a slow nod yes.
Walters helps them move the girl to the ambulance. When he returns to the room the tan man is missing. The only evidence he'd been there is the opened packets for the field dressings he applied. While shaking his head Walters tells Harris to stay to brief the detectives on what happened here. Leaving the house Walters goes to the hospital.
__________________________________
Hospital
Walters reaches the hospital a few minutes later, and he finds the doctor examining Mandy. She's in a very bad way and the doctor is not happy about what he's finding. Turning to the nursing sister in charge of the Emergency Room he says, “Call in the theatre team as we'll have to operate immediately. We'll need about twelve to eighteen units of blood, depending upon what we find and how it goes once we get inside. Do you know her blood group?”
The sister nods yes while saying, “Yes, AB negative.”
The doctor swears and says, “Damn, we won't have enough blood. Get all you can from the closest towns and put out a radio call for live donors. We'll need them if we're going to stand a chance of saving her life.” He goes on with getting her ready for the required surgery.
The nursing staff are getting her ready for surgery when her sister and aunt arrive. The staff give them a few minutes alone. During this time Walters sees the two girls have a short disagreement before they grasp hands then the sister leaves the room. Mandy is arguing about the anaesthetic they wish to give her until an orderly walks in, all gowned and ready for the operating theatre. He walks over and takes her hand in his, wrapping it in an odd way. Sliding his left palm over her hand he curls his fingertips within her fingers and then curls his hand around hers. She stops talking, turns, smiles at him, a few words are exchanged, and she's calm when she lets them put her to sleep. When they wheel her out into the corridor she's almost asleep as the orderly says, “Don't worry. I'll hold your hand until they take you to your room and I hand over your care to your sister and aunt.”
Walters smiles because the voice sounds familiar. Looking at the orderly he can see below the theatre gown he's wearing tan trousers and boots. He was right, his missing stranger has turned up here.
Walking over to Mandy's sister, Eve, Walters asks, “Excuse me, but what was the disagreement with Mandy about?” He knows Eve well because they both study with the same martial arts master. He wishes he was as good as she is.
Turning to look at him Eve smiles and says, “Nothing, really, Mandy thinks Dad saved her. But he died in Afghanistan five years ago, he was an Army Captain. She must have been imagining it.”
Slowly nodding he says, “Possibly. Who's Munchie and Smurfie?”
Both Eve and her Aunt Kate go very stiff and stare at him. Eve asks, “Where did you hear those names, and why do you ask?”
“The man who led us to the house Mandy was in had on Army tan camos. When it looked like they were going to lose her he started crying and yelled out no. He then called her Munchie and told her she had to fight for her life and to live for Smurfie. He began singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic and she finally showed some life when she joined in the singing. It even seemed like a heavenly choir joined in the singing at one stage.”
After gulping very hard Eve says, “Munchie was Dad's nickname for Mandy because she was a very small Munchkin, thus a Munchie. And Smurfie is what he called me because I was too big to be a regular Smurf and not yet a Smurfette. Battle Hymn of the Republic is what he used to sing to us when we were scared, so it's become a sort of rallying song for us. But he's dead as he was shot in the face, blown off a cliff, and over into a huge chasm five years ago. His will has been processed and the Army's even paid out his superannuation.”
Walters is very wide eyed at this when he says, “Maybe it's his ghost come to keep an eye on you.” Half joking he adds, “Or he may have returned as a zombie to look after you. Anyway, I'll keep in touch. I've got to go off duty now. I'll see you around.” Back at the station he's signing off when he tells Harris about his day after they split up. When Harris asks who the girl is Walters replies, “Mandy Peters. It appears her dad was an Army Captain who was killed in Afghanistan five years ago, shot in the face and fell into a chasm. The doctors are concerned about her blood group. It's rare, AB negative, and they don't have enough to get through the surgery they need to do to keep her alive. They're putting out a public request for live donors.”
A wide-eyed Harris listens to him. After they finish signing off Harris grabs a phone and calls the nearby Army training base. On being put through to the Regimental Sergeant Major he says, “Good afternoon, Sir. Corporal Steven Harris, I'm not sure if you remember me but I thought you should know we have a little girl undergoing emergency surgery after being tortured and abused. She's eleven years of age and the doctor isn't sure how it's going to go since he's short of whole blood and she needs a lot. She's AB negative, Sir, and her father was an Army Captain killed in Afghanistan. Her name is Mandy Peters, Sir.” He stops and listens for a minute or so then says, “Yes, Sir, I think her nickname is Munchie.” Another pause, “I didn't know you served with him, Sir. You're welcome, I'm sure they can do with all the blood they can get.”
Community Support
As the word about Mandy's condition spreads throughout the town the families of her classmates and Eve's classmates turn up at the hospital to offer their support. About the only people of the town who don't hurry to the hospital are her mother and her mother's current lover; they were phoned but are completing their shopping trip in the city about forty minutes drive away before they'll come to the hospital. Since they can't help at the moment they see no need to hurry over.
The hospital staff contact the surrounding communities' hospitals to find only another five units of whole blood which are on their way to the hospital. They also ring up the two known AB negative donors in the town and they're coming in to give more blood. A public appeal is also going out over the radio for anyone in the region who's AB negative to go to the nearest hospital to donate blood. They now have ten units of blood they know will be on hand within thirty minutes, but they still need several more units and they've no idea where they'll get the blood.
Across the town and the surrounding area people are listening to the radio and local television news flashes of the events of the afternoon, along with the request for AB negative blood donors to come forward.
In one house near the middle of the town a man comes home from work to his girlfriend and her two daughters and asks, “Nancy, have you started dinner yet?” She shakes her head no, then he says, “Good, get your coats on because we're going out for a while. I'll need you to hold my hand at the hospital while they stick me with a needle. And you know how bad my phobia of needles is.” She nods yes while she gets her coat and puts it on.
While putting on her own coat the eldest girl, Betty, asks, “If you hate needles so much why are you going to the hospital to get one?”
He looks at her as they walk out the door while replying, “Mandy Peters is having an emergency operation and they don't have enough whole blood to see her safely through the operation. I'm the same blood group and I couldn't live with myself if she didn't make it because I let my fear of needles stop me from giving blood for her.”
Betty's response is a simple, “Oh.”
Sometime later, when they're leaving the hospital after he gave a unit of blood, Betty says, “Mummy, I've changed my mind. You have my full support if you still want to marry John. To go through all that for someone he doesn't know must mean he's really a nice man. Much nicer than I'd previously realised.” Both adults are surprised, and her mother grabs her up for a hug. When her sister nods her agreement they decide to eat out in celebration of their engagement now it's officially approved by the girls.
In a local motel a man listens to the radio and tells his wife, “Get a coat on and drive me to the hospital, please, Love. I need to go and give some blood.” While smiling at him his wife stands up and she gets her coat on before guiding her blind husband out the door. They're on their first holiday since the industrial accident that blinded him fifteen months earlier. Neither is concerned about an interruption to help someone who needs the help.
The hospital gets a phone call as the Army training base had a base parade and six trainees have given blood at the base hospital which is on its way over by Army ambulance. The trip will take about fifty minutes. In the nearby towns several more people come forward to donate AB negative blood. Once it all reaches the hospital they'll have enough blood, but will they have enough to see them through until then?
The Theatre
In the operating theatre the doctor sees them attaching another unit of whole blood and asks, “How much whole blood do we have on hand now?”
The theatre sister replies, “This is the last unit and the supplies from the other hospitals are still about fifteen to twenty minutes away.”
The doctor swears then says, “At the current rate of usage we'll need it in five or ten minutes.”
One of the orderlies, one no one recognises, sticks out his right arm while saying, “I promised Mandy I'd hold her hand throughout the operation. I'm the same blood group, can you take the blood from me here?” The sister nods her head yes, and one of the nurses ducks out to get the gear. As they're taking the blood he says, “Take two units now and a third if you need more before the rest arrives.” The doctor and nurses look up.
The nurse taking the blood replies, “Taking more than one unit can leave you too weak.”
“You'll take whatever you need to save her life, even if it's every drop of blood I have.” The doctor stops to look up at the steel in the voice when the man speaks. The senior theatre nurse also looks up and is about to argue. Then she looks into his eyes, very deep mid-blue eyes, an unusual colour, one she's seen only twice before; once, years ago in a military hospital in Afghanistan, and again a short while ago while talking to Mandy when she helped prepare her for the operation. The orderly looks directly at the nurse and says to her, “You'll do what's needed, won't you, Lieutenant?”
She gulps, nods yes, and says, “Nurse Miller, take two units now and be prepared to take more as required.” The doctor and nurse look surprised at her response, but go on about their important lifesaving tasks. Three units should keep them going until after the other blood starts to arrive. Turning to the orderly the theatre sister asks, “That good enough for you, Captain?” The orderly nods his head yes and sits on the stool Nurse Miller places beside the operating table for him to sit on while she takes the blood because she knows he's not leaving the girl.
About twenty minutes later the nurse is attaching the second unit of blood from the orderly to Mandy when another nurse rushes in with two coolers as the first units of blood from the other hospitals have arrived and another nurse is carrying in three units just donated by locals as well.
Over two hours later the doctor has finished all of the repair work and is taking care sewing up the last of the wounds. They have three units of whole blood left, and the bag in use is the twenty-fifth unit of blood. There were some bad complications and the doctor had seriously under estimated the amount of blood they'd need, due to that. The doctor looks at the records and says, “It's a good thing the community response was so strong because we needed a lot more than I expected. Those internal injuries were worse than they appeared at first.” He looks up at the orderly who's still holding Mandy's hand. He's half leaning on the trolley when they wheel Mandy out of the theatre. He can hardly stand, but he's keeping his promise and not letting go of her hand. While shaking her head at his stubbornness one of the nurses moves up beside him to help hold him up while they all move off to the recovery ward.
In the nearby recovery ward they transfer Mandy to a bed. Eve and her Aunt Kate take over the bedside vigil. The orderly is taking care walking out the door when Mandy's mother and her lover walk in. The nurse showing them into the room flinches at the hateful glare the slowly exiting orderly gives the arriving women. The nurse gulps while she darts to the orderly when he staggers against the wall. Taking his weight she helps him to a chair. He must be at the end of a double shift to be so exhausted. That happens sometimes, especially during an emergency with a lot of tension like now.
The senior theatre sister strides up and stands in front of the orderly while saying, “OK, Mister, let's get a good look at who you are.” Before he can move she has the face mask undone and dropped to his chest. Both women gasp at the sight before them. The man looks like an extra in a horror film as the left side of the face is badly damaged from a blow and the whole lower part of the face has severe burn damage.
The man looks up and says, “I know you've seen worse, Lieutenant!”
She nods yes as she replies, “Yes, but not on a living person.”
In a cross between a laugh and a snort he says, “You still haven't! Don't you know, I'm dead! They killed me, five years ago.” Both of the nurses are shocked by his statement.
The theatre nurse simply says, “You need a good night's sleep. Let's find you a spare bed.” They lead him to another ward and strip him before putting him to bed with some iron tablets to take with a large glass of orange juice to wash them down with. He's soon fast asleep.
__________________________________
Late Night News
One item of the late night news has the announcer reading, “Tonight eleven year old Mandy Peters is recovering in hospital from emergency surgery after being abducted and tortured by an unknown assailant. The operations took nearly three hours and it required a lot of blood. The hospital and medical staff wish to thank all those volunteers who responded to the earlier call for blood donors because they did need all of the blood donated.”
“Mandy was found when a patrolling police car saw a man break down the front door of a house in Hill Street. They followed him in to find him giving Mandy emergency medical treatment so they called an ambulance. The man disappeared while they looked after the girl.”
“In a separate, and possibly related incident, a man was found in a car near the school Mandy was abducted from. He was unconscious and pinned to the seat by a knife through his testicles. Doctors removed the remains. He is currently helping police with their abduction enquiries.”
__________________________________
Thursday
At 7:00 a.m. the stranger is woken by a nurse entering and saying, “Time to get up and get dressed, Mister Walker. Matron will be making rounds soon so this needs to be empty and ready by then.” Smiling, he gets up and laughs when she shows him the note left for her: 'Get Mr Walker up and out of the ward before matron's rounds.' They both share the joke about naming him after the civilisation nom de plume used by The Phantom in the comic book series of the same name.
He gets dressed and wraps a scarf around his lower face. He goes to check on Mandy, where he finds both Eve and Kate talking to Mandy while she has her breakfast and complaining about it. Grinning, he leaves the hospital and goes to the flat he rents. He has a shower and gets dressed in clean clothes. He goes into the kitchen to cook a big breakfast. He eats a third then packs the rest of the food in a container and puts the container into a thermal carry bag to keep it hot.
He gets back to the hospital at 9.40 a.m. and finds the whole family there. Eve is having a heated discussion with her mother, Alice, about what took her so long to reach the hospital. Alice's lover, Sue, says, “That's none of your business. Come on, Alice, we have to go now.” Alice stands and leaves the room at Sue's heels.
Eve says, “That's it, be a good little bitch and keep to heel.” Both women go stiff, but they don't turn around. The man goes to check out the linen cupboards.
A few minutes later an orderly walks in with a meal tray for Mandy. He swings the stand over the bed and places the tray on it while he says, “Your morning tea, Miss.” Kate and Eve have been in a close discussion since the encounter with Alice, but Kate looks up at this because she didn't think the hospital served morning tea.
She says, “Since when has the hospital provided morning tea?”
The orderly replies, “They don't, Ma'am. This was delivered, special for this young lady by a gentleman. So here it is.”
Mandy lifts the cover on the plate of food to find some very warm French Toast done in her favourite way. She smiles as she starts to eat it. There's so much she offers some to Eve and Kate, who have a bit each.
When she reaches for a second piece Eve says, “This is just like the special toast Dad used to make for us.” She turns and has a close look at the orderly. He stands there in his gown with a mask across his face, the same type as the kitchen staff wear to ensure they don't contaminate the food. He's calm while he waits for them to finish so he can take the plates back for washing. Eve turns to Kate and says, “While they're away shopping again can we move our gear into your house? I'm not staying with them any more and I'm not letting them contaminate Mandy any more, either.” Kate nods yes, “Good. Can you get our solicitor to start the required legal actions to have you made our guardian instead of her. I want nothing more to do with her?” Again Kate nods her agreement. They sit and talk with Mandy about what this means for her. When they finish eating the orderly removes the tray and plates.
Ten minutes after they finished eating the orderly is back and asking if there's anything she wants. Mandy asks for a cold drink. A moment later he's back with a can of her favourite soft drink from the drink machine. He hands it to her and sits down beside the bed while saying, “I'll just stay here to make sure you don't accidentally choke while drinking that, Miss.” Mandy smiles then the others leave.
When they start to drive off Eve suddenly sits up and asks, “How did the orderly know what drink to get Mandy as she never said?” Kate stares at her for a moment before driving off. It takes them just over an hour to pack and move all of the personal possessions of Mandy and Eve. They place them in the two spare bedrooms of Kate's house.
Back in the hospital Mandy and the orderly are talking. She's talking about her friends at school, her sister, her aunt, her sports, her school work, but nothing about her mother or her lesbian lover. Just after 11:00 a.m. they're interrupted by the arrival of Mandy's class. The teacher has brought them all to visit with her for a period and lunch. The orderly leaves to give them all room to be in the small ward.
At 12:15 p.m. the hospital starts serving up lunches to the patients and Mandy's school mates are allowed to get theirs out to eat lunch with Mandy. She's a very happy girl because her lunch is two of her favourite sandwiches with a chocolate mousse for desert and a large glass of her favourite juice.
Kate and Eve arrive back while they're all eating, and Kate gives Mandy's lunch a suspicious look. She leaves the room to check with the staff about the lunch after finding the people in the next ward don't have anything so nice, and Mandy is the only one to get a mousse. When Kate asks the nurse tells her Mandy's lunch was a special delivery for her and the hospital has been informed of a special arrangement made with one of the local eateries. A set of menus was provided to the nutritionist and approved, so now the eatery is providing her meals instead of the hospital kitchen. The hospital normally doesn't allow this sort of thing, but special arrangements for Mandy have been approved by the senior administrative staff.
Kate leaves Eve to go to the eatery concerned, and finds the deal was organised this morning and paid for by a Mr Zebediah Ombee. He's already paid for two weeks of meals to be prepared and delivered, paid very well. Further checks shows the hospital administrator approved the special deal because Mandy is a special case and because a Mr Ombee organised it as well as paying a substantial donation toward the new special wing the administrator wants. It's clear he was bought off. Kate is wondering about this Mr Ombee and his agenda since this is costing him a great deal of money, a great deal. The hospital donation was $120,000 dollars in an immediate cash transfer to the special building fund.
Kate returns to Mandy's room just as the class is leaving and a nurse is removing the lunch tray. She and Eve sit and talk with Mandy. During the talk the subject of her rescue comes up and Mandy is adamant it was her father who rescued her then he was with her again when they readied her for surgery. She held his hand all through the operation as she has a clear memory of holding it until he let it go for Eve to take it later. Both Eve and Kate remember the orderly who had to be helped out of the room, and they wonder what's going on.
That afternoon, after school lets out, Mandy is visited by her main teacher and given copies of all the work done in the last week. The teacher then spends ninety minutes tutoring her. She tells Mandy about three other teachers who'll be tutoring her while she's in the hospital. Another teacher from the school will pop around for ninety minutes after dinner and two casual teachers will be by each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each will spend ninety minutes tutoring her. All paid for by a Mr Ombee.
An off-duty Constable Walters pops in that evening, and Kate speaks to him about her concerns with the mysterious Mr Ombee. After they compare notes both are a bit unsettled with Mr Ombee. They're sure he means only well for Mandy, but they're very concerned about why. Kate is a lot concerned because Mandy is so sure this Mr Ombee is her father, and she's worried how he'll exploit it. Walters is beginning to think this mystery man is her father because that anguished scream of 'No' was like what only a father would do in that situation. He wanted to come visit earlier in the hopes of meeting his mystery man, but he was tied up most of the day doing paperwork from yesterday, plus a few short patrols. Now he's more determined than ever to catch up with the mystery man and to find out more about him.
When he nears his car Constable Walters is surprised by a shadow leaving the tree near his car. It makes no sound as it approaches, until an almost familiar voice asks, “Got time for drink with a stranger?” He nods yes and unlocks his car. Kate is in the hospital entrance watching Walters leave and she sees the encounter. Just before the shadowy person climbs into the passenger seat he looks up and waves at Kate. There's something familiar about the action, and before she can think about it she waves back. When they drive off she returns to the room Mandy is in.
Drinks
Walters and his passenger go to the nearest pub and the man buys the first round of drinks: Bitter Lemon for him with a light beer for Walters. They sit in a corner and the man unwraps the scarf around his lower face. Walters tries not to stare at the terrible damage that's displayed. The man sips his drink and says, “It's all right. I've been in here before and they've all had a good stare. They now accept me for what I am, badly damaged.” Walters slowly nods while he has a large drink to steady himself. The man says, “In a number of transactions around town today I've been using the name Zebediah Ombee, it's not the name I was born with nor is it the name on my current passport nor the name I lived under for the last few years, but it'll do, for now. No point in checking it as it's false. I mean only well for Mandy. If need be, I'll come forward and confess to the house breaking if that helps you to nail that bastard in the car.”
Walters replies, “I don't think that's needed because we've enough evidence to nail him without that. I think we can afford to not solve one break and enter, especially this one. If you go to judge and jury I doubt any jury would convict you, and the local prosecutor agrees.” Both smile at his statement.
The man asks, “If you came across a person who you found out had an Apprehended Violence Order forbidding him from being within a hundred metres of his ex-wife, her current girlfriend, or his two kids you'd have to enforce it and move him on, wouldn't you?”
Now having an inkling of what's going on Walters replies, “Of course I would. But that requires me to know it's the person in the order and to know of the order. I can't enforce such an order unless I have proof of the order existing and some evidence the person before me is the one named in the order. Now, if someone has an AVO against a dead person, I can't possibly enforce that, can I? Usually orders are rescinded when either party dies. So an AVO against a dead person is unlikely to still be in existence. I think I'll run a check in the computer tomorrow to see what it has to say on the name Peters.” He smiles while he has another drink of his light beer.