Molly and the Captain sprinted to the parking lot of the camp hospital, it was an instinctive move to try and find the rest of the Unit which they left behind when they medevac Sohail.
Running past one of the trucks, they recognised the familiar shape of Smurf, apparently intent at assembling and disassembling his automated rifle. He wasn't looking in their direction, probably lost in his thoughts.
"Oi! Smurf!" Molly shouted "you would not believe what just happened!"
He didn't answer straight away.
CJ tensed instinctively and hold tighter Molly's hand, which he had not left since the jump from the window.
"Come on, you Welsh wanker! Look at me, I may need some of that looking after you promised me!"
Smurf's head turned slowly and only then did they see a bullet hole right in the side of the neck, from where a large, pulsing wound was gurgling blood onto his shirt.
"Captaiiiiin Jaaaaaamessss" he muttered menacingly, with blood-stained eyes and a ferociously stern expression on his emaciated face
"Dylan said at the memorial that you loved me...what he didn't know is that I loved youuuuuuuu" and with a sudden move he tried to jump closer and embrace him, knocking Molly away.
"Sod off, you shortie cockney muppet! He's miiiineeeee! I want the right end of the stick!"
Captain James wrestled with the animated cadaver and eventually managed to push him away, so that he stumbled and fell. Shouts rang out from the other end of the parking lot followed by the sound of running feet. Several figures emerged from the darkness and resolved into Kinders, Smurf, Fingers and Dangleberries.
"Sir, are you all right?" Said Kinders "We heard there was trouble at the hospital and doubled over to check you and Dawes were ..."
Kinders trialled off as he followed Captain James' fixed stare to the nearby figure struggling to rise from the dusty ground.
"Oh my god...Smurf? No it can't be...Geraint?
Smurf also now looked down at the figure, his expression changing from curiosity to confusion to shock.
"Geraint ... Is that you?... Please nooo!
Captain James grabbed Smurfs shoulder. "It's not him Smurf, it's just a shell, a husk being used by some evil agent"
"It's not that sir, I know it's not him. It's just that even as a zombie, he's still better looking than me!"
Then before anyone could stop him Smurf grabbed Geraint discarded rifle and brought the butt down repeatedly on the head of the struggling figure until it lay still.
Molly touched James arm "Boss I don't understand, how can Geraint be here"
Captain James bit his lip, then ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth.
" I suspect" he said "that this is an unforeseen plot twist and that we will need to wait until Chapter 3 to get an explanation"
"What do you mean sir?" Molly queried
Captain James smiled "as I have said before Molly we will need to trust those higher up in the chain of command to see the bigger picture"
"Bossman!" called Fingers "we got trouble!"
As they looked up they realised that a large group of shuffling, moaning figures were converging on them from all sides of the parking lot.
Suddenly one of the figures fell forward, a crowbar protruding from the back of its skull and from behind emerged the smiling face of Mansfield Mike, followed by the rest of two section.
"There you all are!" He said. "It's like a Saturday night in downtown Newport around here"
"Fuck off...it's not that bad!" Put in Brains.
Captain James restored order "let's focus up lads we're not out the woods yet"
As they looked around them more shambling figures had appeared and they soon realised they were surrounded and outnumbered.
"Molly" he said, "Stay behind me, I don't want any of these disgusting creatures touching you"
"They're all right sir" said Molly, " I spent six months in a FOB with them and never had any trouble"
"What?...no not them Molly" said James "the zombies"
Just then the sound of screeching tyres was heard from the far side of the parking lot and the bright headlights of a jeep came into view. It accelerated into the ring of zombies and sent a number sprawling across its bonnet as it cannoned into their ragged ranks.
Major Morley emerged from the drivers side and shouted "get in now!"
Two section piled into the jeep pell mell and with a final rev of the engine the vehicle accelerated into the night.