Ah, I love the smell of a freshly baked chapter, all warm and ready to cover with cream and jam...errr sorry I think I'm confusing that with something else. Anyway, here's a new instalment to get your teeth into...oh bugger I've done it again. Ok, cutting to the chase I have written some more stuff for you to read if you like. Your kindness, generosity, forbearance and endurance in reading my inane ramblings never ceases to amaze and encourage me. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on what I have written (provided its repeatable of course!)

"Wyatt, wait you can't go in there alone!" called James, but the sheriff would not be stopped and was soon out of sight between the ranch buildings.

James turned to his section. "Brains, Baz, Molly with me. Mansfield wait out here with the zombies and the rest of the men until I radio in. Dangles, you've missed a bit... just behind your ear...that's it, good. Right let's go."

The four soldiers doubled away after the sheriff and in the direction of the farmhouse. The dwelling lay some distance away, on the other side of the complex, its dark mass just visible between two large barns. Light shone from its downstairs windows like beacons in the night and as James watched he saw them suddenly joined by a pair of car headlights which briefly illuminated the side of the building before swinging around and away along the approach road.

A running figure emerged from the rear of the house and charged after the receding vehicle. However, the chase was in vein as the car accelerated away in a cloud of dust, leaving the forlorn pursuer in its wake. James and his companions changed direction to close with the figure, who was now doubled over in the road trying to catch their breath.

As James got closer he recognised a panting Wyatt, gun in one hand and a scrap of paper clutched in the other.

"The bastard's taken them..." Gasped the sheriff and passed the paper to James who examined it by the light of his torch. The beam revealed a hand written note which read:

Bring the doctor. 22.00. Try anything and they die.

There then followed a set of map coordinates.

James grimaced and passed the note to Brains "Get me a location for those coordinates and a route to get there." He then activated his radio "Corporal, can you bring the zombies up to the farmhouse. I think we need to have a little talk with Doctor Kyung-Sook"

Wyatt shook his head "There's no time, we just gotta take her there and get them back." He growled

James put his hands on his hips and ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth "Sheriff, we can't just blunder into the desert in the middle of the night with no idea of who we are dealing with. The sniper wants the Doctor for some reason and we need to find out what that is. She may hold vital information which will help us get Lizzie and Tom back safely."

Wyatt glared at James, grinding his teeth in frustration before taking a deep breath and then nodding reluctantly. " OK, OK let's do it your way, but if she don't know nothin' we saddle up pronto. Agreed?"

"Agreed" said James and led the way towards the farm house

As James climbed up onto the veranda and approached the front door he saw signs of the forced entry which had preceded the kidnapping. The lock to the door had been shot away and the frame was splintered. Inside a side table had been overturned and a vase lay smashed on the floor, its flowers scattered, water pooling on the linoleum. In the kitchen an evening meal lay on the table half eaten, an upset chair rested on its side, pots and pans were collected around the sink, waiting to be cleaned.

James righted the chair then walked into the sitting room. Wyatt paced impatiently while Molly and the others loitered uncomfortably, their combat gear and equipment looking out of place in the domestic setting.

A moment later Mansfield walked in followed by the zombies and the rest of three section. Smurf stood close by Doctor Kyung-Sook, shirtless and making loud grunting noises whilst the female zombie studiously ignored him.

James turned to Mansfield "What the bloody hell is going on there?"

"Don't ask" replied the Corporal "Just after you left Smurf rips his top off, starts beating his chest and dancing around like a lunatic. Next thing he gets his todger out and pisses all over the place. When I ask him what he's up to, he says he has to commence the courtship ritual by marking his territory or something"

James looked at Smurf in astonishment "That's just ridiculous, why would any man think that would be attractive?"

Molly turned to James and smiled "My first two boyfriends did pretty much the same thing"

"Really? Said James " I must have been quite a refreshing change then"

"You have no idea" she confirmed with a grin

"I think the doctor's actually quite enjoying it sir. Must be a zombie thing" commented Mansfield

"Well this is neither the time nor the place corporal. I need him focussed so he can translate." Said James who then approached Smurf and the female zombie. On seeing James draw near, the private turned and proceeded to pull a series of grotesque facial expressions whilst flexing his chest and arm muscles.

"Oh for goodness sake Smurf, I'm not your love rival, I just need to talk to her. So get your top back on, get your mojo under control and ask the doctor to join us in the kitchen."

James then strode out of the room followed shortly after by the two zombies, Mansfield and Wyatt. In the kitchen he had Kyung -Sook sit down while he took a seat opposite.

"Smurf, can you ask the good doctor here why someone is so keen to have her dead...properly dead that is"

Smurf translated the request into zombie and waited for the response. Kyung-Sook was silent for a long while as if collecting her thoughts and then started to tell her story which was relayed to the others through Smurf and Mansfield Mike.

She explained that she had been a doctor of biochemistry at the University of Pyongyang and considered a world leader in her field. However, she was also a vocal critic of the North Korean regime and was active in the underground opposition movement. Unfortunately she had been discovered and arrested by the secret police and accused of sedition. A show trial was held where she was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in a labour camp. Only one year into her sentence she had succumbed to hunger and exhaustion.

At this point Kyung-Sook bowed her head and closed her eyes as if recalling the pain and suffering she must have endured. Smurf drew close and set a comforting hand on her shoulder which she seemed to draw some strength from as shortly after she raised her head and continued.

Just days before her demise the regime had acquired, at great expense, a quantity of the zombie pathogen on the black market but it had proven to be of low quality since, although it produced high functioning zombies, they lacked the violent tendencies required. The Supreme Leader had, therefore, issued the order to launch a domestic development programme. A national search was launched to find the expertise required to implement the programme and Kyung-Sook was identified as the only North Korean scientist capable of leading such a project. However, by this time she had already died at the hands of the regime.

The generals, terrified of the wrath of the supreme leader had used a quantity of the faulty pathogen to revivify her and put her to work under threat of torture. She had reluctantly complied, but had focussed her research on making more of the same flawed product to ensure the resulting zombies would be ineffective. The corpses brought to her were victims of the regime like herself and once transformed where encouraged by the doctor to display violent behaviour to maintain the ruse. She then bided her time, waiting for an opportunity to escape, which eventually presented itself when one of the corpses she transformed turned out to be a former pilot.

The regimes plan was to parachute the zombies into enemy territory and wreak havoc. As a result the laboratory was located on an air base to facilitate their airbourne training. Kyung-Sook had learned that the zombies she had created were to be sent on a clandestine mission to attack America and had convinced the regime that she needed to be present on the plane as they prepared to depart to monitor their reaction so as to gather data for the programme. It had been a relatively easy matter to seize the plane from the crew, eject them from the aircraft, take off and make good their escape. They had then flown east out into the Pacific towards America and freedom.

With few navigational aids they had simply continued flying eastwards until they hit the US mainland and then kept going in the hope of finding somewhere to set down. They had eventually run out of fuel and crash landed in the desert, which had resulted in the death of their pilot. The violence of their reception following the crash had caused them to flee the scene and hide out ever since, concerned that their appearance would prompt further animosity towards them. After wandering the desert for some days they had stumbled across the old barn and gained Tom's help in finding food.

All present were silent for a long while after Mansfield Mike had finished translating, each taking in the full import of the zombies experience.

James then asked "Why fly all the way across the Pacific to America? There were other options which were much closer...Japan, Australia..."

Through Smurf and Mansfield Mike, Kyung-Sook explained that America was one of the two recognised zombie powers and they'd hoped to find the knowledge and support there they needed to build a new life. Although the UK was nearer to North Korea, it would have meant flying over land, including China and Russia, to get there with much greater risk of detection.

Wyatt nodded his head assertively and said "OK, got that, now can we go trade her in for Lizzie and Tom?"

Smurf briddled and moved between Kyung-Sook and the sheriff but James intervened quickly "Stand down Smurf" he ordered then turned to Wyatt "Jed, it is obvious that the North Koreans saw reports of the plane crash and recognised the wreckage. They have dispatched one or more of their agents to regain or neutralise what is a very valuable asset to them. We can't just let them have her, she and her people have asked for asylum. They may also be able to provide useful intelligence of benefit to both our countries."

Wyatt flung his arms up in the air in frustration "Alright, I see that but how the hell we gonna get them back if we ain't gonna give the Koreans what they want?"

James thought for a moment then called through to the other room "Brains, have you got a location for me yet?"

The private walked into the kitchen carrying a map and placed it on the table having moved some of the abandoned crockery out of the way. "Looks like its at this cross roads in the desert" said Brains pointing to a junction on the map.

James looked at the spot then turned to Wyatt "You know it?"

Wyatt nodded and said "Its about a half hour drive away. Place called Drovers Crossing"

James looked at his watched and grimaced "Well there's no time to get any help, so we'll have to find a solution ourselves."

Kyung-Sook suddenly got up from the chair and started to grunt emotionally. Smurf placed a hand on her arm and responded with a series if moans and snorts. There then followed what appeared to be a highly charged conversation between them.

James look at the two zombies and then at Mansfield "What are they saying?"

Mansfield frowned "I'm still finding it hard to follow her Sir but I think she said that she will give herself up, 'cos she doesn't want to be the cause of anyone getting hurt...Smurf said he will go with her and sort the guy out...she asked if he's got a death wish...he said maybe but that it would be good to get some quality time together..."

Mansfield then paused and listened to the continuing discussion "she asked if that's why he's risking his neck...Smurf said that he never thought that someone like her would look at someone like him, that he thought she was out of his league...she asked him what he is trying to say and Smurf admitted that he is fond of her and that he wanted to tell her just in case he didn't get another chance..."

"Oh for Pete's sake" cut in Wyatt exasperated "What kinda stupid assed conversation is that to have in a life or death situation?"

"Indeed" said James a little uncomfortably and then turned to Doctor Kyung-Sook "I do not intend to let anyone give themselves up if I can possibly help it" He then turned to the map on the table once more.

"This crossroads looks to be in the middle of a pretty featureless plain. There will be little chance of sneaking up on the sniper, particularly if he has night vision equipment, which we have to assume he does" James reasoned.

He then moved away from the map and paced the room before stopping by the window and gazing out into the farm yard. "We need to find a way of getting close without him suspecting..." James' eyes wandered from the yard to the livestock buildings "We need to use something for cover which he will not be suspicious of if he sees it on the open plain..."

James span around and looked at Mansfield "Corporal, I need you to find out which of our people has any experience of riding a horse"

"A horse sir?"

"Yes, a horse"

The corporal nodded, a bewildered look on his face.

The Major then turned to Wyatt. "I will need you to take the Doctor here to the rendezvous point but don't make the exchange until I arrive"

"Until you arrive? But I thought you said you wouldn't be able to get anywhere near them without being seen" queried the Sheriff

"That was until I discovered our trojan horse or should I say our trojan cows" replied James with a smile. "Oh that reminds me" he said and turning to Kyung-Sook asked "Why are you killing cattle and removing their stomachs?"

The Doctor listened to the translation and looked confused. Mansfield then relayed her response which was that they had not killed any animals since crashing, although they had fed off a couple of dead cows they had found in the desert when they had first arrived.

"Well what the hell is that all about then?" James asked to the room in general before shaking his head, turning to Mansfield Mike and saying "Go find me our riders corporal"

He then returned to studying the map until Mansfield came back from talking to the others.

"Right sir, I think your going to be pleasantly surprised." Said the corporal " Brains says that he got on a horse once when he was about 12 and thinks he can still remember what to do while Molly has had lots of experience from her summer holidays ...of riding the donkeys on the beach a South End"

"Ok" said James uncertainly "anyone else?"

"Weeell, Baz said that he had a rocking horse when he was a kid and I can ride a mo-ped, which can't be that different, can it sir?"

James stared at the corporal "Errr, I was hoping for a bit more...relevant experience but we'll have to work with what we've got. Tell Dangles to get the other zombies back to base and to fill Captain Dwight in on the situation. You can then meet me by the stables with the others. Smurf, you stay here with the Doc."

Mansfield nodded and left the room while Smurf stood close to Kyung-Sook, a protective hand on her shoulder. James then turned to the sheriff once more "Think I might need your help getting us saddled up"

"Oh Jesus, we are so screwed" replied Wyatt.

Ten minutes later James stood in front of the stable block with Molly, Mansfield, Brains and Baz while Wyatt led out and saddled up the horses.

"Big buggers aren't they" said Molly nervously "I might gonna need a step ladder"

"Right, whose first?" Said Wyatt, holding the reigns of the first animal

They all looked at each other before Brains finally said "Ok, let me at it" and strode over to the horse before confidently placing his foot in the stirrup and hoisting himself up into the saddle.

"Bloody hell, where's its head gone?" said Brains when he was mounted

"Behind you, you moron" growled Wyatt " You need to put your right leg in the stirrup and lift your left leg over"

Brains dismounted sheepishly then tried it again, this time managing to end up facing in the right direction.

"OK, whose next?"

Mansfield stepped up and placed his foot in the stirrup then started to hop about on his remaining leg making the horse dance nervously sideways "The things leaving without me" cried the corporal "whose left the hand break off?"

"You're making the horse nervous, stop acting the fool and mount up!" Said Wyatt as he fought to keep the animal still.

Mansfield eventually managed to scramble on and sat in the saddle as if he was sitting on a land mine, his knuckles white as he gripped the reigns.

Baz was not much better, approaching the horse at a charge and vaulting up, over and down the other side with a dispairing cry before hitting the ground with a bone crunching thud. He was eventually helped on by Wyatt, James and Molly in an ungainly tangle of arms and legs.

When it was Molly's turn James met her by the horse and gave her a leg up. She swung over gracefully and sat on the animal like a natural.

"Very good" commented James

"I'm a dab hand at mounting, you should know that" she replied with a grin.

James returned her smile then climbed onto his horse with assurance.

"Nice work" said Molly

"Always wanted to be in the cavalry" he said then motioned them forward. All four soldiers just stared at James before Molly asked "How do you get them to move, sir?"

James looked at each of them in despair "Hold the reigns lightly, squeeze with your lower leg and push forward with your seat muscles"

They each tried it and their mounts walked forward sedately.

"Errr, now how do you get the fucker to stop!" Cried Baz in a panic.

"Sit back and deep in the saddle, gently pull on the reigns and say whoa" instructed James.

Baz followed these steps and the horse came to a stop, the private slumping in relief at the success of his efforts.

"OK, let's take a couple of turns around the paddock for practice then we'll try it with some cattle" said James

Thirty minutes later they were out on the plain with a few hundred head of livestock, slowly driving them towards Drovers Crossing. Wyatt sat astride the paddock fencing and watched them go.

"They're true shit more'n true grit but they got spunk, I'll give em that" he said to himself. He then swung down and headed towards the house. As agreed he would wait until 21.30 then set off with Doctor Kyung-Sook and Smurf for their deadly rendezvous...