Chapter 114

The first thing was checking in Hills. I found her with one of the medics next to the sealing device. She was the only injured member of the group at the moment. The faceplate was up at the moment and I raised mine as I approached.

“How are you?” I asked as I approached.

“Ok.” She said. Her face was pale and the arm was banged across her chest. She was in pain, but we could not give her powerful painkillers as they could affect her to the point that she would become a liability.

“Really?”

“Well, as much as I can be.” She indicated to her arm.

“Good to know; you be ready will be moving out shortly.” Nodding in understanding to me as I move on to speak to Patterson.

Patterson had gotten the device and its trolley around the car wrecks. We were taking a few minutes to get reorganised and move on. With Hills injury, we needed to reorganise how we would be positioned as we advance. I noticed that Davids was heading over to join us. Patterson turned and saw me approaching him, sending those he was talking to away as we would have a pretty meaningful conversation.

“Alright, that could have got a whole lot worse.” I said to them.

“True. I’ve heard about the Tigers from the reports, but nothing even close to that.”

“We should have been ready anyway.” Davids said. We both looked at him questioningly.

“How are we supposed to do that?” I asked.

“We should have had three operatives in the front, not the back.” He said challengingly.

“You’ve seen the report are more likely to be attacked from behind than the front.” I reminded him. In this conversation, Patterson could not say anything as the chain of command clearly showed that it was me, then Davids. I suspect he would voice his position or opinion on something important without being asked.

“If me and my team were upfront, we would have been able to deal with the threat.” He said. I looked at him for a few moments before answering many to get my anger under control before it stirred too much.

“Really?” I asked him.

“Yes. We would have identified and engaged the threat aggressively to contain it.” Some part of me was amazed that he could say that with a straight face and confidence.

“That’s incorrect, Operative Davids.” Patterson spoke up. Davids turned to look at him, surprised that he had joined in the conversation. “I was just behind Operative Hills. That was an ambush, plain and simple. We all did the best we could in the circumstances.”

“I’m sure it looked that way, Sargent. But with those with greater experience in zone operations, there are always additional factors to consider.” Davids reply was almost a sneer.

He had been questioning small things here and there the whole operation, nothing too egregious but…... persistent.

“Well, you’re not in charge, so there’s always that.” I told him. He flashed slightly at my comment. I knew he could force the issue as it was clear that Patterson would back him. And if Patterson did not back him, the rest of the support team would not either.

“Well, I think…….”

“That we should get moving. That’s a brilliant idea.” I overrode him. “Sargent Patterson, let’s get that flare fired off and everyone moving. I want to be finished with this mission in a few hours.”

“Roger that!” Patterson added enthusiastically. He knew exactly what I had done and why and his reaction hinted to Davids that he should shut up and get on with it.

“Patel, your upfront with me. Davids and Holden have the rear.” I pulled over to the other two operatives, who were hanging back at the moment. They looked to Davids for confirmation but realised that everyone else was also looking at them and they quickly followed orders. Patterson got everyone else moving.

I turned and walked over to the trolley again. Several storage containers along the side contained various items that we might need. One of these containers can have two spare shields. I unstrapped the one from my arm, tossing it aside and replacing it with a new one. This was slightly smaller than the one I usually had, but looking at the damage to my original, I knew it was impractical to keep using it.

“Ready to roll.” Patterson called out.

“We move on the flare.” I pulled my flare gun from my utility belt. Checking that the cartridge in the gun was red, I pointed it to the sky and pulled the trigger.

Click.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” I changed the flare for another and heard a few sniggers, which I ignored. Once I had reloaded, the gun pointed at the sky and this time, it fired off with no issues. We started walking as I loaded another red flare shell and put the gun into my utility belt.

We were again bathed in the red glow from the flare, which caused the fog shadows to dance around. It was always a risk firing off a flare because it alerted any hostiles in the area, but we had to keep command at least partially apprised of why we were and what we were doing. We were walking along the Rue Gabriel Peri and apart from the initial pile of wrecks Road was surprisingly clear. The tramlines on the other side were also clear, with no signs of any trams. The trolley was being manoeuvred down these lines as they were broader than the road.

The buildings on both sides of the road were mostly close up with their shutters down, but here and there was a building that had been smashed in. We did not bother to investigate whether by people or by other things.

Patel was quiet and I got the impression he was purposely avoiding conversation. I didn’t know how long he had been working with the others; I didn’t want to disrupt what looked like to be a competent team. He was on the left-hand side of the road while I was on the right.

We continued down the road passing more buildings and a junction. But the size of the zone and activity around it was suspiciously quiet. And that had been getting increasingly worried because the mission had progressed and honestly, I expected to be attacked many more times than we had. The twisted alterations we had encountered were not a good sign of what was ahead. I did voice his concerns; I didn’t want to jinx us. But I suspected that a few of the others had similar worries.

“Contact left!” Patel suddenly said. We had reached another junction and found we were expected.

Zombies charged out of the fog in numbers. I quickly joined Patel and we clashed with the first in the wave.

The zombies were warped like the earlier ones we fought. Tentacles protruded from different places and were lashing around.

I ran straight into one of the zombies, using my shield as a battering ram. The impact was jarring and my arm and shoulder screamed in pain but I stayed standing as a zombie was knocked backwards onto the ground.

As it was getting up, I leaned in the second attack. My axe collided with the skull, causing it to collapse with brain and black blood splattering around.

Another zombie attacked me again as I yanked out the axe from the skull. This one had three tentacles protruding from its arms. One on one side and two on the other. It was attacking me with all five limbs.

I received several impacts from the tentacles and the thorns on them only scratched the outer part of my armour. My show was soon up and I was blocking the fists as the zombie pounded on my shield.

My shield arm was starting to go numb in places from the continuous pounding. The relentless assault has pushed me back and I have been looking for an opportunity to manoeuvre myself into a better position.

Other zombies were passing me by, attacking the support team behind us. I knew Patel was also engaged and unable to help.

As the zombie started to pull back to strike again, I pushed forward, colliding with it. I did not have the advantage of momentum this time and did not knock it back or down. It grabbed onto my shield and the tentacles swung around and started to hit me across the shoulders and head.

The thorns were scratching my armour, helmet and face plate. My armour is protecting me, but I gave feel the sting of the blows. I was wrestling to free my shield from the zombie clinging to it.

It was gripping tight as I fought to keep my shield up. Pushing forward, I tried to knock over the zombie over. The zombie stayed with me and did not fall over. The tentacle’s attacks increased as the strikes became wilder.

Around me, I could hear the sounds of fighting. I could not tell how we were doing at the moment as I was too preoccupied with the threat in front of me. I need to end this one and get a good look around to help the others.

I pulled back with all my strength catching the zombie by surprise as it fell forward. Its head collided with my shield as it was still gripping it. Pushing forward again, this time, I was able to knock it over because it was off balance. It fell back in and was briefly prone on the floor, and I didn’t allow it to get up.

I lashed down at it multiple times with my axe. The tentacles try to protect the zombie’s head and blocked several strikes. But I got through the end and caved in the skull.

Turning around, I quickly assess the situation. Patel was nearby, holding off a zombie. It had several injuries but was still fighting. I quickly moved up behind it and ended the fight with a solid impact from my axe to the back of its skull.

Patel nodded to me in thanks and without a word, we both moved on to aid the support team fighting.

Members of the team were down. Two were dead, the others fighting for their lives. Davids and Holden have moved up from the rear guard to help. Hills was doing what she could, protecting the sealing device and its team.

Patel and I began to systematically take out the left and right zombies, freeing up the others to treat the wounded or help in killing the others. It didn’t take long for us to finish what was left of the zombies.

Now we had to count the cost.

Patterson was unharmed but his armour and shield for damage from the fight. He quickly got everyone organised to treat the wounded. No operative was injured in the battle and we became the perimeter guard. In less than ten minutes, he approached me to give me a report.

“Four wounded and two dead.”

“Okay. How badly wounded are they?”

“All walking wounded. They can fight, but I recommend that be an option of last resort.”

“So, we have effectively lost over a third of the support team.”

“Basically, yes. Normally I would recommend we scrub the mission, but …….”

“But we are deep in one of the largest zones in northern France.”

“That’s right.”

I took a few moments to think over my option, limited at the very least. I couldn’t fool myself because I knew what needed to be done.

“Give everyone a ten-minute break. Put the two bodies into bags and I will administer the last rites. Then we push on and finish the mission.”

“I will administer the last rites if you want.” He offered.

“No. I am in command and it must be me.” He paused at this but then nodded. He turned and got to work getting everything organised.

The British Army had a streak of dark humour running through it. It existed to help people up with the horrors and stresses of combat. One example of it in the present times is what we now called “the last rites”. It is not a religious event that used to be; now, it is used on fallen soldiers from rising again and involves a blade in the brain.

Several looked on as I performed the rights as overall commander of the mission. No one held it against me or was angry that I did it. Because it was one of their worst fears, fighting someone they knew as a zombie. The psychological damage from Apple was known to be far worse for the survivor.

The trolley carrying the sealing device has several containers that store some of the excess equipment we would need for the mission—body bags with one of these things.

I zipped up the bag after performing the rights. Looking at Patterson, I nodded that it was time to get moving. His voice quickly barked orders everyone got moving. I pulled my flare gun out of my utility belt and fired another red flare. I briefly looked down at the bodies of the two who died under my command with mixed emotions. Taking a deep breath, I pushed them aside and joined the group.