"Red signal smoke, eight o clock. I think we've found 'em!"
Rescue for the stranded aircrew had arrived.
Laura's heart raced as it struggled to drive enough blood around her body to maintain the extended sprint. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears as she approached the end of the road. The yellow helicopter was now hovering less than half a mile away. The red signal flare in her hand burned brightly, but the chopper ignored it, dipped its nose and flew away in the opposite direction. Laura screamed franticly into the radio. The reply was white noise.
"Answer me you bastards!" She screamed at the diminishing chopper in the distance.
Looking back toward her hideout she saw dozens of creatures spilling out onto the street, staggering like drunken Saturday night revelers. The street was quickly choked with them. No going back she realized. She'd been rash trying to signal the chopper like this. Still it wasn't hopeless, Laura knew of another safe place to hide up, and it was just a couple of streets away. She threw the burnt out flare to the ground. The radio did not follow though, and Laura placed this back into her pocket. She trotted forward and unslung her rifle. The creatures would not let her through easily.
KIXONS ELECTRICAL STORE, READING
The stairs had blown away almost perfectly, leaving the zombies with no route to the 2nd floor. As an added bonus the wooden splitters from the blast had riddled several of the creatures to true death. They lay twitching whilst the remains of the mob listened to Sky News emanating down from above. With Danny's shrapnel wound patched up, and Sam guarding the destroyed stairs, the other survivors watched TV. Tim stared intently round the presenter trying to see his wife in the background. He knew she was still working at the Sky News tower, which had been afforded the level of protection normally reserved for nuclear power plants and military installations. The temporary military government felt that information was almost as vital as firepower. Tim would agree to any philosophy that kept his wife alive and well. The presenter droned on about the latest news from the States. It seemed that all major cities had become infested and were unlikely to be retaken anytime soon. A graphic filled the screen, showing the movement of the undead around the UK. The ever-present list of rescue stations fed across the bottom of the picture. The presenter returned and began a story about the Army's problems with Challenger tank tracks.
"We told those dick heads this years ago." The Major muttered, clearly annoyed his criticisms had gone unheeded.
"What's that?" Said Tim, cocking his ear into the distance.
"The tracks are useless in built up areas, that's what happened to us. The track broke and we got stranded."
"No, in the distance, sounds like a chopper." Tim said, as he stabbed the remote's volume button.
The room filled with quiet as all four men listened to the dull thudding of rotors.
"Must be search and rescue!" Grinned Tim.
"Quick Danny, get the skylight open and chuck out a flare."
Danny discarded his mug of coffee and jumped onto the oak desk. Twisting the key round, and pushing up sent the skylight creaking open. He lit the flare and tossed it out onto the roof tiles, where it burned fiercely.
"Can you get out through the gap?" Asked Tim.
"Only just, you'll have to give me a leg up." Grunted Danny as he struggled beneath the small opening, his wound throbbing painfully.
Neil and Tim grabbed a foot each and pushed up hard, and Danny clambered out across the shop roof.
"They're heading this way." Danny shouted excitedly, waving his arms at the approaching helicopter. As it flew in parallel to the building Danny saw the door gunner raise his dark visor. It was Stevo, one of his old mates from basic. Stevo mouthed the word "Wanker!" and accompanied it with the correct gesture. He then grinned and gave a thumbs up as the chopper flew above the besieged building to lower its winch.
Laura was beginning to panic; she should have gone left not right. She cursed again her foolish impatience for escape. The damn zombies were at every side of her now, all intent on the same thing. She ran forward changing magazines on the move, this was her last one, a couple of dozen ghouls had fallen foul of her now. An elderly dead blocked her path, shaking with the effort of movement. His face stowed in, as the butt of Laura's weapon met with it. Ignoring the falling corpse she ran to the end of the road, and finally recognized where she was. Swiping her matted blonde hair from her eyes she turned left and dashed onward toward alleged safety. With all the distractions around her, Laura never noticed the battered traffic sign, which declared the road a dead end.
With Danny pulling from the roof and Neil shoving from inside, Tim quickly escaped the confines of the office. The SAR chopper continued to fine tune its hovering position as the Stevo made ready to be lowered. The din was becoming unbearable; the entire roof felt like it would shake apart as the helicopter resonated above. Danny sat fingers in ears while Tim shouted down to the Major.
"You ready, Sir."
"Hang on. I'll get the Private up first." Was Neil's reply.
"Private, get your arse in here."
Neil could hear no response above the chopper's thunderous engines. He snatched his rifle from the desk and strode out of the doorway. The scene that confronted him was as unexpected as it was horrifying. Sam Monroe was held up in a sitting position, his rifle lay discarded at his side. The butt of it covered with crimson gore and gray matter. Holding him up was a ghoul, its face that of a young man. The creature appeared normal apart from its excessively pale complexion and blood caked mouth. With its free hand the creature rummaged around inside the Private's opened skull for further sustenance. Neil felt cold as he realized what he was seeing. The number thirty one was sprayed on the brain eater's shirt. Thirty one had been one the few nerve gas test-subjects not accounted for. It had been assumed it was destroyed in a napalm strike. Evidently this theory had proved wrong, way wrong. It must have been able to jump up and grab hold of the soldier, who had assumed he was safely out of reach.
The subject dropped Sam's brainless body and looked up at Neil. It let out a wild snarl threw the dead soldiers rifle at the Major. Chips of plasterboard showered down as the rifle narrowly missed and slammed into the wall. Leaning against the opposite wall, Neil fired a volley of shots from the hip, hitting the now charging ghoul in the heart. The creature jerked back but barely slowed. It reached out and grabbed Neil's rifle with parts of Sam's uneaten brain still dripping off its hands. The weapon jerked back three times as Neil fought to aim at the monster's head. Two shots went wide, but the third splattered the monsters left ear across the white ceiling. Undeterred by its loss the creature continued to wrestle with the Major, bashing the rifle against the wall until Neil's bruised and bloodied fingers were forced to concede their grip of it. With the rifle in it's fiendish hands the growling ghoul bared its bloodied teeth and threw Neil to the floor. It stood over him rifle raised high to crack Neil's head and gain another satisfying meal. Neil's foot flashed up into the monster's groin, and slammed into a mass of blood and torn flesh.
"Fuck." Gasped Neil.
The creature ignored his attack and sent the rifle down at his skull. Neil raised his arms and screamed as the hard butt thudded against them. The ghoul was poised to raise the weapon again, when the right side of its head split open and sprayed the wall in bright red blood and pale nutmeg brains. The rifle fell from its lifeless hands and it slid down the wall leaving a trail of gore.
"What the fuck was that?" Yelled Danny from the doorway, smoking pistol forgotten as he took in the bloodbath before him.
Neil stood up and rubbed his assaulted arms.
"Someone's bad idea." The Major replied, just loud enough to be heard through the noise of the chopper. He reclaimed Sam's rifle and ammunition, then his own. Crouching over the young soldier's body, he said his final words before departing.
"Bad luck, Private, I'm sorry."
A dead end was the right description; the smooth concrete block wall easily rose fifteen feet into the air. Laura ran back around the corner to find the only way out saturated with zombies. Every single one of them sighted her and continued their relentless march for food. Snapping off two shots, Laura killed the fastest of the gang, two men in tatty suits. They fell and were trampled by their advancing associates. There was no way out, all the buildings that faced onto the street were warehouses, no doors or windows to break through. Just imposing steel shutters. Laura fought for control, she was beginning to lose it. She ran back to the wall and tried to scale it. The sheer structure was impossible to climb, Laura looked at her grazed arms and felt warm tears stream down her face. She was going to die, just because she'd rushed out without planning what to do. It made her angry to think she'd have been fine if she'd just waited. She might have seen Danny again and lived through this nightmare, but no, not now. All because of her stupid impatience. The horde of creatures appeared round the corner and moved forward as one, arms outstretched to capture her in a deadly embrace. Laura aimed through her tears and sent three more crashing to the ground, blood pumping from neat head wounds. Others stepped over the fallen, competing for limited space in the packed alleyway.
The creatures were still forty feet away when Laura resolved not to let them take her.
"Goodbye Danny." She sobbed, whilst raising the hard rifle to her chin
With that Laura Robins closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
With Danny and the Major safely winched aboard Philips spun the chopper and headed back toward base. Danny sat on the hard canvas seat, thinking about Laura's death back at the crash site. He would say something to Tim when they landed. The man had done the right thing; Laura wouldn't have wanted to be wondering round like one of those things. This day had easily become the worst of Danny's young life. He almost wished he hadn't survived, Sam had had more to live for than him. Still, there was one thing he wanted to know before he died. What the hell was that thing attacking the Major? If there were more of them running around then humanity really was screwed. Perhaps one of those things had gotten to Laura. Danny sat tormenting himself with images of her being caught. He shivered and shook his head, trying to hold back the grief that threatened to break him.
"Hold it!" Yelled Jarvis "We've got a live one down here."
The Sergeant directed the chopper back over the spot he had seen the survivor. Danny and Tim rushed to the door, where Jarvis was already blazing away with his machine gun. A blonde woman with a rifle was below, backing away from a baying horde of re-animated corpses. Stevo hooked himself to the winch and tapped Jarvis.
"Let's go mate, they've nearly got her!" Yelled the winch-man.
"Take the gun." Jarvis shouted at Danny. Quickly getting into the fire position, Danny expertly carved down the front row of the Dead's ranks. The large rounds blew a fine scarlet mist from each of the foul horrors. The woman continued to back away, throwing her rifle at the crowd. Jarvis lowered Stevo down, using the winch console to make fine adjustments to the helicopter's position. The winch-man squeezed off rounds from his pistol, and more Deads fell clutching their leaking heads. Tim and Neil were at Danny's side now emptying their rifles into the fearless mob. The foul creatures fell by the dozen faces holed or smashed away, but the mob was nearly on the woman. A stinking corpse broke ranks and went for her. Nearly making it, until Stevo's booted feet collided abruptly with its head. The ghoul hit the concrete wall headfirst and its skull disintegrated like an egg, its red yolk spilling out. Perhaps inspired by its fellow's bravery another zombie shambled toward the woman, hands outstretched to rend her warm body. But Stevo was there first, and grabbed her roughly round the waist. Philips instantly increased the turns hauling them both upward out of reach. The creature looked up longingly at its denied meal until a round from Danny's weapon punched through its forehead.
Danny's blackened face drained white as he gazed at the woman they'd rescued.
She looked back at Danny equally astonished.
"How…but?" Danny muttered, his confusion mind melting.
"Danny!" She cried, as the Sergeant swept her up in a hug. She placed her tear stained face against his warm chest, and squeezed him tighter.
"You're not hurt are you darling?" Danny asked, almost wishing he didn't have to.
"I'm fine." Laura sobbed. "They never got to me. I'm OK."
This time it was Danny who squeezed tighter.
The Merlin continued to fly over the battered City, as Laura recounted her tale to Danny the best she could, with the booming engines, and occasional gunfire from Jarvis' weapon competing to drown her out. Danny found himself particularly interested in the fact that Laura had lent her lab coat her assistant shortly before the girl was shot, and that her attempted suicide was thwarted by running out of bullets. He could barely believe it all; the day had gone from a nightmare to a dream.
"Have you seen the inside of the Sergeant's Quarters?" Danny inquired.
"Does it have showers?" Laura asked, the staccato howling of the engines hiding her coy tone.
"Yep."
"What about a bed?" Laura's tone and _expression became alluring.
"Yep." Danny was grinning now.
"Then I'm all yours." Laura cried, planting a kiss on Danny's lips.
If Danny's smile had gotten any bigger his head would have fallen off.
Rescue for the stranded aircrew had arrived.
Laura's heart raced as it struggled to drive enough blood around her body to maintain the extended sprint. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears as she approached the end of the road. The yellow helicopter was now hovering less than half a mile away. The red signal flare in her hand burned brightly, but the chopper ignored it, dipped its nose and flew away in the opposite direction. Laura screamed franticly into the radio. The reply was white noise.
"Answer me you bastards!" She screamed at the diminishing chopper in the distance.
Looking back toward her hideout she saw dozens of creatures spilling out onto the street, staggering like drunken Saturday night revelers. The street was quickly choked with them. No going back she realized. She'd been rash trying to signal the chopper like this. Still it wasn't hopeless, Laura knew of another safe place to hide up, and it was just a couple of streets away. She threw the burnt out flare to the ground. The radio did not follow though, and Laura placed this back into her pocket. She trotted forward and unslung her rifle. The creatures would not let her through easily.
KIXONS ELECTRICAL STORE, READING
The stairs had blown away almost perfectly, leaving the zombies with no route to the 2nd floor. As an added bonus the wooden splitters from the blast had riddled several of the creatures to true death. They lay twitching whilst the remains of the mob listened to Sky News emanating down from above. With Danny's shrapnel wound patched up, and Sam guarding the destroyed stairs, the other survivors watched TV. Tim stared intently round the presenter trying to see his wife in the background. He knew she was still working at the Sky News tower, which had been afforded the level of protection normally reserved for nuclear power plants and military installations. The temporary military government felt that information was almost as vital as firepower. Tim would agree to any philosophy that kept his wife alive and well. The presenter droned on about the latest news from the States. It seemed that all major cities had become infested and were unlikely to be retaken anytime soon. A graphic filled the screen, showing the movement of the undead around the UK. The ever-present list of rescue stations fed across the bottom of the picture. The presenter returned and began a story about the Army's problems with Challenger tank tracks.
"We told those dick heads this years ago." The Major muttered, clearly annoyed his criticisms had gone unheeded.
"What's that?" Said Tim, cocking his ear into the distance.
"The tracks are useless in built up areas, that's what happened to us. The track broke and we got stranded."
"No, in the distance, sounds like a chopper." Tim said, as he stabbed the remote's volume button.
The room filled with quiet as all four men listened to the dull thudding of rotors.
"Must be search and rescue!" Grinned Tim.
"Quick Danny, get the skylight open and chuck out a flare."
Danny discarded his mug of coffee and jumped onto the oak desk. Twisting the key round, and pushing up sent the skylight creaking open. He lit the flare and tossed it out onto the roof tiles, where it burned fiercely.
"Can you get out through the gap?" Asked Tim.
"Only just, you'll have to give me a leg up." Grunted Danny as he struggled beneath the small opening, his wound throbbing painfully.
Neil and Tim grabbed a foot each and pushed up hard, and Danny clambered out across the shop roof.
"They're heading this way." Danny shouted excitedly, waving his arms at the approaching helicopter. As it flew in parallel to the building Danny saw the door gunner raise his dark visor. It was Stevo, one of his old mates from basic. Stevo mouthed the word "Wanker!" and accompanied it with the correct gesture. He then grinned and gave a thumbs up as the chopper flew above the besieged building to lower its winch.
Laura was beginning to panic; she should have gone left not right. She cursed again her foolish impatience for escape. The damn zombies were at every side of her now, all intent on the same thing. She ran forward changing magazines on the move, this was her last one, a couple of dozen ghouls had fallen foul of her now. An elderly dead blocked her path, shaking with the effort of movement. His face stowed in, as the butt of Laura's weapon met with it. Ignoring the falling corpse she ran to the end of the road, and finally recognized where she was. Swiping her matted blonde hair from her eyes she turned left and dashed onward toward alleged safety. With all the distractions around her, Laura never noticed the battered traffic sign, which declared the road a dead end.
With Danny pulling from the roof and Neil shoving from inside, Tim quickly escaped the confines of the office. The SAR chopper continued to fine tune its hovering position as the Stevo made ready to be lowered. The din was becoming unbearable; the entire roof felt like it would shake apart as the helicopter resonated above. Danny sat fingers in ears while Tim shouted down to the Major.
"You ready, Sir."
"Hang on. I'll get the Private up first." Was Neil's reply.
"Private, get your arse in here."
Neil could hear no response above the chopper's thunderous engines. He snatched his rifle from the desk and strode out of the doorway. The scene that confronted him was as unexpected as it was horrifying. Sam Monroe was held up in a sitting position, his rifle lay discarded at his side. The butt of it covered with crimson gore and gray matter. Holding him up was a ghoul, its face that of a young man. The creature appeared normal apart from its excessively pale complexion and blood caked mouth. With its free hand the creature rummaged around inside the Private's opened skull for further sustenance. Neil felt cold as he realized what he was seeing. The number thirty one was sprayed on the brain eater's shirt. Thirty one had been one the few nerve gas test-subjects not accounted for. It had been assumed it was destroyed in a napalm strike. Evidently this theory had proved wrong, way wrong. It must have been able to jump up and grab hold of the soldier, who had assumed he was safely out of reach.
The subject dropped Sam's brainless body and looked up at Neil. It let out a wild snarl threw the dead soldiers rifle at the Major. Chips of plasterboard showered down as the rifle narrowly missed and slammed into the wall. Leaning against the opposite wall, Neil fired a volley of shots from the hip, hitting the now charging ghoul in the heart. The creature jerked back but barely slowed. It reached out and grabbed Neil's rifle with parts of Sam's uneaten brain still dripping off its hands. The weapon jerked back three times as Neil fought to aim at the monster's head. Two shots went wide, but the third splattered the monsters left ear across the white ceiling. Undeterred by its loss the creature continued to wrestle with the Major, bashing the rifle against the wall until Neil's bruised and bloodied fingers were forced to concede their grip of it. With the rifle in it's fiendish hands the growling ghoul bared its bloodied teeth and threw Neil to the floor. It stood over him rifle raised high to crack Neil's head and gain another satisfying meal. Neil's foot flashed up into the monster's groin, and slammed into a mass of blood and torn flesh.
"Fuck." Gasped Neil.
The creature ignored his attack and sent the rifle down at his skull. Neil raised his arms and screamed as the hard butt thudded against them. The ghoul was poised to raise the weapon again, when the right side of its head split open and sprayed the wall in bright red blood and pale nutmeg brains. The rifle fell from its lifeless hands and it slid down the wall leaving a trail of gore.
"What the fuck was that?" Yelled Danny from the doorway, smoking pistol forgotten as he took in the bloodbath before him.
Neil stood up and rubbed his assaulted arms.
"Someone's bad idea." The Major replied, just loud enough to be heard through the noise of the chopper. He reclaimed Sam's rifle and ammunition, then his own. Crouching over the young soldier's body, he said his final words before departing.
"Bad luck, Private, I'm sorry."
A dead end was the right description; the smooth concrete block wall easily rose fifteen feet into the air. Laura ran back around the corner to find the only way out saturated with zombies. Every single one of them sighted her and continued their relentless march for food. Snapping off two shots, Laura killed the fastest of the gang, two men in tatty suits. They fell and were trampled by their advancing associates. There was no way out, all the buildings that faced onto the street were warehouses, no doors or windows to break through. Just imposing steel shutters. Laura fought for control, she was beginning to lose it. She ran back to the wall and tried to scale it. The sheer structure was impossible to climb, Laura looked at her grazed arms and felt warm tears stream down her face. She was going to die, just because she'd rushed out without planning what to do. It made her angry to think she'd have been fine if she'd just waited. She might have seen Danny again and lived through this nightmare, but no, not now. All because of her stupid impatience. The horde of creatures appeared round the corner and moved forward as one, arms outstretched to capture her in a deadly embrace. Laura aimed through her tears and sent three more crashing to the ground, blood pumping from neat head wounds. Others stepped over the fallen, competing for limited space in the packed alleyway.
The creatures were still forty feet away when Laura resolved not to let them take her.
"Goodbye Danny." She sobbed, whilst raising the hard rifle to her chin
With that Laura Robins closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
With Danny and the Major safely winched aboard Philips spun the chopper and headed back toward base. Danny sat on the hard canvas seat, thinking about Laura's death back at the crash site. He would say something to Tim when they landed. The man had done the right thing; Laura wouldn't have wanted to be wondering round like one of those things. This day had easily become the worst of Danny's young life. He almost wished he hadn't survived, Sam had had more to live for than him. Still, there was one thing he wanted to know before he died. What the hell was that thing attacking the Major? If there were more of them running around then humanity really was screwed. Perhaps one of those things had gotten to Laura. Danny sat tormenting himself with images of her being caught. He shivered and shook his head, trying to hold back the grief that threatened to break him.
"Hold it!" Yelled Jarvis "We've got a live one down here."
The Sergeant directed the chopper back over the spot he had seen the survivor. Danny and Tim rushed to the door, where Jarvis was already blazing away with his machine gun. A blonde woman with a rifle was below, backing away from a baying horde of re-animated corpses. Stevo hooked himself to the winch and tapped Jarvis.
"Let's go mate, they've nearly got her!" Yelled the winch-man.
"Take the gun." Jarvis shouted at Danny. Quickly getting into the fire position, Danny expertly carved down the front row of the Dead's ranks. The large rounds blew a fine scarlet mist from each of the foul horrors. The woman continued to back away, throwing her rifle at the crowd. Jarvis lowered Stevo down, using the winch console to make fine adjustments to the helicopter's position. The winch-man squeezed off rounds from his pistol, and more Deads fell clutching their leaking heads. Tim and Neil were at Danny's side now emptying their rifles into the fearless mob. The foul creatures fell by the dozen faces holed or smashed away, but the mob was nearly on the woman. A stinking corpse broke ranks and went for her. Nearly making it, until Stevo's booted feet collided abruptly with its head. The ghoul hit the concrete wall headfirst and its skull disintegrated like an egg, its red yolk spilling out. Perhaps inspired by its fellow's bravery another zombie shambled toward the woman, hands outstretched to rend her warm body. But Stevo was there first, and grabbed her roughly round the waist. Philips instantly increased the turns hauling them both upward out of reach. The creature looked up longingly at its denied meal until a round from Danny's weapon punched through its forehead.
Danny's blackened face drained white as he gazed at the woman they'd rescued.
She looked back at Danny equally astonished.
"How…but?" Danny muttered, his confusion mind melting.
"Danny!" She cried, as the Sergeant swept her up in a hug. She placed her tear stained face against his warm chest, and squeezed him tighter.
"You're not hurt are you darling?" Danny asked, almost wishing he didn't have to.
"I'm fine." Laura sobbed. "They never got to me. I'm OK."
This time it was Danny who squeezed tighter.
The Merlin continued to fly over the battered City, as Laura recounted her tale to Danny the best she could, with the booming engines, and occasional gunfire from Jarvis' weapon competing to drown her out. Danny found himself particularly interested in the fact that Laura had lent her lab coat her assistant shortly before the girl was shot, and that her attempted suicide was thwarted by running out of bullets. He could barely believe it all; the day had gone from a nightmare to a dream.
"Have you seen the inside of the Sergeant's Quarters?" Danny inquired.
"Does it have showers?" Laura asked, the staccato howling of the engines hiding her coy tone.
"Yep."
"What about a bed?" Laura's tone and _expression became alluring.
"Yep." Danny was grinning now.
"Then I'm all yours." Laura cried, planting a kiss on Danny's lips.
If Danny's smile had gotten any bigger his head would have fallen off.