0125 Hrs.

She looked with disbelieving eyes towards the town limits.

The dead were everywhere, they were all that was left.

She shook her head slightly, more to clear the tears that were there than anything else. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; when they had left they had seen some of the infected but not this many, she wasn't even aware that there had been this many people in the entire village.

She saw all this and knew one thing was certain, as sure as she had ever been in her life...they would not get back to the house without first being ripped to pieces.

They couldn't get back to the others.

Mary turned and sank down to the ground, they were sheltered for now behind a large hedge, but they couldn't stay there forever. She turned and stared at her companion.

Mason sat slumped against the bole of a large tree, his eyes still fluttering every now and again from the knock to the head he had received, but he was getting better...slowly.

He noticed her looking and opened his eyes wider struggling to look more aware.

'I'm sorry...about...what happened.'

'It's okay, it wasn't your fault. I was driving. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. Those...those poor men. They would be alive if it...it wasn't for...'

Mason leaned over and put his hand on her shoulder, she reached up and closed her fingers over his. A small nod and a smile and that was all it needed.

'So...what's the plan?'

Mason shook his head. 'Well, obviously we can't go back, if...if they have any sense they would get somewhere safer.'

He lifted his head and stared straight ahead.

'Somewhere they could get supplies. I know where they will be.'

Mary looked at him again.

'Let's hope it's not too far. If we run into a group of those...things we won't do well.'

Mason got to his feet leaning on Mary a little more than he should have.

'Not far...not far at all.'

They started off at a slow walk keeping to the shadows once more.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Philip sat against the door of the house they had found.

His son lay on the sofa, a light cover thrown over him, uncaring of their current plight.

The colonel looked out the window, his colt held tightly in his hand. It had not seen the inside of its holster since they had left his home.

Philip knew they were running out of time, less than two hours by his count. The colonel hadn't said much but Philip knew that the man had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Not only had he lost most of the men under his command, he was now the only man who could get the two of them out of the deep shit they found themselves in.

Philip leant back and found himself thinking of Mary. Where was she? Had she gotten away? Was she one of them? Was she dead? So many questions, so many unanswerable variables. He was sure that the shots they had heard before had come from the scout Wilkes had sent out. He had to assume that they were the only three uninfected left in the village.

If that were the case then their odds had just progressed from really, really bad to somewhere south of impossible.

He looked across to his sleeping child and wondered if he had the courage to do what would be necessary if...when the time came. He knew he would have to to save the boy. The fact that he might not be able to bring himself to do it...

He left the thought unanswered. Best not to think about it at the time.

Wilkes looked through the gap in the window careful to keep himself out of view from anything on the street. By his count everything on the street was either dead or very dead. The very dead didn't concern him, it was the dead; the walking around kind, that were the worry.

One bite, one scratch from any of them and he knew they would be toast...or rather dinner. He found himself smiling slightly at the thought and then immediately chastised himself over the thought, this was no time for frivolity.

He knew that in less than two hours a missile was going to hit the village that would wipe it from existence.

As he saw it there was only two choices left; hunker down somewhere deep and hope for the best, or get the hell out of dodge. Neither option looked very appealing as things stood but he couldn't just sit here and wait.

He looked over to Philip.

'You want to get out of here?'

Philip looked from where his son lay and met the older man eyes.

'Thought you would never ask.'

Wilkes stood and walked over to him.

'Do what I say when I say it. I may tell you to do something that you aren't going to like but you have to do it. You understand?'

Philip could only nod in response.

'Okay then. Wake the boy and lets get started.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mary watched out from the tents flaps as Mason rummaged through the equipment that was left.

She held a pistol in a tight grip, the safety off and her finger curled around the trigger guard. Mason had shown her how to use it. She had three spare magazines as well, a total of forty-eight shots. He had told her to count to forty-seven then use the last on herself. If she was going ton go through that many shots then the last would be better off doing some good.

He had strapped on two handguns and a waist pouch with as much ammunition as he could carry. In a back pack he had placed what MRE's he could find and the last of the bottled water that the team had bought with them. He just hoped they would get to use it.

The plane would be on its way unless it was already in the air. They would have to get as far away from there current position as they could. He knew it would most likely not matter; he didn't know what the ordnance would be, but was aware it would be large. Maybe nowhere would be far enough to escape it.

But they owed it to everyone who had died to at least try.

'Uh...Mason?'

Mason turned at the sound of her voice.

'You might want to shake it...they're coming.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The water behind the camp rippled and broke, the hand that emerged swollen and rotten, the tattered remnants of a marine uniform hanging from it. The water logged fingers clawed at the bank and slowly but surely started to drag itself ashore.

AN.

So anyone want to hazard a guess at who the new arrival might be? Here's a clue...anyone who remembers chapter 1 will have an idea...anyone who hasn't read it or has forgotten, go back and read it again.

Next chapter should have plenty of action.

Stay tuned for the carnage.