Captain Scott didn’t hesitate, “Drop him!” he shouted and repeatedly squeezed the trigger on his automatic.
Smith joined in, as did Lewis who worked the bolt of his Enfield so fast he was able to put three bullets into Martinez before he hit the ground. Wilks held down the trigger on his Sten, emptying a full magazines worth of thirty rounds into him. The sound of the weapons’ fire was deafening in the church, a building created with perfect acoustics that on this occasion simply accentuated the noise. A total of nearly fifty bullets of different calibres tore holes in Martinez, his right arm was cut clean off whilst multiple rounds ripped open his throat and chest. Gore flew all over the altar and Martinez was thrown up against it. He slumped to the ground, still sat up but lifeless once again.
With the body on the ground the soldiers reloaded, each of them making sure they wouldn’t be surprised again. Captain Scott bent down to check on Harvey when the creature started to move again. It opened its eyes and started to move. Before it was able to do anything of note the old Frenchman stepped out in front of the creature and pointed his army issue pistol directly between the eyes of Martinez. He fired one shot that blew out the back of the man’s head and he fell down, for the last time. M. Poulain turned to the Captain.
“I think this is the only way to kill the beast.”
Chard added the final bit of news that they all dreaded, “He’s gone, Sir.”
The soldier slumped down next to the dead Harvey and then jerked in surprise before getting up and joining the others. Captain Scott looked bemused but Sergeant Smith knew exactly was the soldier was thinking.
“You think he’s going to go crazy like Martinez, don’t you?”
Chard nodded, too shocked and pumped up on adrenalin to actually speak.
Smith pointed the pistol he had taken from the now dead officer, he looked at him carefully, looking for any glimpse of movement. The body was completely lifeless, he eased back on the trigger, perhaps he was just dead. He almost smiled to himself at the thought as though death now meant something different to just hours before. Wait, he saw something on his face, was it movement? Smith squinted, looking down the barrel of the pistol, and then he saw it. Lieutenant Harvey opened his eyes, the same glassy look they had seen on Martinez and then open his mouth in the shrill cry of these undead monsters. Without hesitating he pulled the trigger, putting a single round into the base of the brain. The officer’s body snapped backwards, joining Martinez on the floor.
Chard, who by now was starting to get enough oxygen back into his lungs to calm down, voiced his observations.
“Looks to me like these creatures have some kind of venom, like a snake. If they bite you it somehow turns you into one of these.”
Humphreys looked less than impressed.
“What the fuck do you mean it turns you into one of those things?” he pointed to the bodies on the ground.
Chard looks a little confused at his outburst before spotting the bandages on Humphreys, “Oh shit!” he swore, realising both the risk he saw in the man and also the insult he had just announced. He added an uncomfortable, “Sorry,” to the end of his little speech.
Humphreys carried on with his rant.
“Look, I’ve been bitten and I feel fine, nothing wrong with me, look!”
Captain Scott looked unsympathetic. “I agree with Chard here, those things do something to you but, and this is a big but, it only seems to affect people when they die. Look at Harvey and Martinez, they both died from their wounds before turning, maybe that is what happened to the ones outside.”
M. Poulain joined in, “I agree. Everything I have seen shows me these things always attack you after another one has hurt them and after they have died. It looks like devil’s work.”
“Or Nazis’ work?” called Captain Scott.
“Same thing isn’t it?” Smith interjected.
Captain Scott spoke to the old man. “What did the girls have to say?”
“Well, it seems they were out with a group from the other village, they’ve been waiting for you to arrive,” explained the old man.
“Waiting?” asked Captain Scott.
“Yes, the girls and their family have been working with the resistance for some time now. They were working with, I think you call them pathfinders or something?” asked M. Poulain. Captain Scott gave a look of acknowledgement.
“They say they were attacked by these things when they were heading to meet their friends. They were the same ones, same movement, smell and noise. It seems they are the same things.”
“So based on what you know, how many of these things do you think there are out there?” asked Captain Scott.
The old man continued. “Well, so far I have seen more of these things than there are people in any of the surrounding villages. From what the girls have told me though, I think I know where the rest have come from.”
“The source of what makes them act like this or the source of the people?” asked Sergeant Smith.
“I think the answer is the same for either, Sergeant,” said M. Poulain in a matter of fact tone.
“Madeleine was telling me that they have been recording the movements of lots of lorries in this area. Normally this would not be unusual, as the Germans are always up to something. The strange thing this time though is that they have been bringing lots large wooden containers.”
“Where are they taking them? To one location or lots?” asked Smith.
“That is the interesting bit, there’s a German military base not far from the village,” he pointed out to the north. “Madeleine says they have a small number of soldiers there, but also lots and lots of these containers she keeps seeing. They have been storing them in large numbers but she doesn’t know why.”
Smith turned to Captain Scott, “Do you think we’ve destroyed them all?”
He turned to M. Poulain for clarification, “Did the girls say if any of the containers were broken?”
Without checking with the girls he answered the sergeant, “No, they didn’t stay long enough. I do know where they are though.”
“Don’t forget, if these things bite you it seems they can spread it to anybody. If they have got out, and it seems they have, they could be anywhere by now,” said the Captain.
“Actually, that is not entirely true,” said M. Poulain. The creatures that attacked you and your men seem to have come from a wide area.”
Captain Scott looked intrigued.
“That makes sense, and so far we have seen locals as well as Allied and German soldiers. Interesting, so either they were sent to attack us and have been killing and creating these creatures on their way or they have been heading towards us for another reason.”
“Could it be something we did or are doing, is drawing them here?” added Smith.
Captain Scott continued questioning M. Poulain, “You said some of the local people here have been hiding from these things. Have they been attacked since hiding?” The old man shrugged.
Scott carried on, “We need more information, and I don’t think it wise to wander around this area till we know more.”
“I agree,” said Sergeant Smith. “If these things are out there in larger numbers they could wreak havoc on the invasion. I think this takes priority over the bridge right now.”
Chard piped in, “Also, if we’re all dead we can’t help anybody.”
Captain Scott grinned, “Hell, you’ve got that right!”
CHAPTER SIX
In less than half an hour, following the death of the Lieutenant, the airborne soldiers had already started work on converting the church into a more substantial base of operations. Whereas before they had been guarding just the perimeter, they had now moved all their heavy equipment inside and were working on stacking heavy furniture so that the men could reach up to the windows to watch the open space around the church. The bodies of the Lieutenant and Martinez were in a discrete corner of the chancel. Using wood salvaged from broken up pews the men had boarded up a number of
the windows, just leaving enough spaces for them to use as firing positions for when the time came. The base of the church tower had quite a narrow access point from the nave and made an ideal position from which to establish a fallback position, should the chancel and nave fall in any follow up attacks. The tower also featured a much smaller door on the western wall that gave the soldiers the equivalent of a medieval sally port if they needed to abandon the position at any point in the future. Using a series of ropes the men had pulled up some of the captured German equipment, including the prized MG42 and lots of ammunition.
Near the porch the soldiers had piled up all the heavy furniture and boxes they could find, ready to push against the doors should they need to block them at any point in the future.
Captain Scott and Sergeant Smith were busy discussing their plans with M. Poulain whilst the rest of the men continued working on the church.
Captain Scott outlined his plan;
“We need to establish five things before we can take effective action in this area. First, we need to know how many of these things are still out there. Second, we need to know how far they have spread, assuming there are more of them. Third, we need to know for sure where the source is. Fourth, we need to find any survivors and get them here, Fifth and finally, we need to work out how we can contain them and even more important, how to keep them away from our forces arriving soon.”
Sergeant Smith looked at the rough map they had drawn up. It consisted of the maps of where they had dropped in, along with with substantial markings in pen where they had encountered various groups since they landed.
“So we’ll keep the church as a forward base. I’ll take Lewis and Gardner with me and scout the German base. We’ll look for the containers and report back.”
Lance Sergeant Jones then added, “I’ll take Wilks and Clarke, we’ll search each of the locations that Monsieur Poulain has provided, we’ll also take Adrienne with us. If we hit trouble we pop a flare and then retreat back here immediately, Archer and Trent will provide overwatch and provide assistance if required.”
Captain Scott turned to M. Poulain. “How many buildings are there altogether?”
The old man checked the rough map.
“The places where I know they are hiding are the old vicarage and the row of houses back past the garage. That makes…” he counted on the sheet, “five houses and the vicarage.”
Smith spoke to the two groups of men, right, all clear with the plan?” he was greeted by nods of agreement from the soldiers.
Smith added, “We can’t hang around on this one chaps, in a few hours we’ll have men on the beaches who are depending on us. If you hit any trouble, remember, pop flares and then back here, pronto,” he looked to Captain Scott who stepped in front of the men.
“When we have brought the survivors back we’ll work out a solid plan for a breakout to the Orne Bridge and the rest of our units. We cannot do this until we know what is out there. Be careful and don’t take any risks. Good luck gentlemen.”
With a signal from Smith the six men and Adrienne exited the church through the porch. Once through the doorway Humphreys moved a broke wooden pew up to the doors to help block it up. He then turned back and helped the others with improving the defences of the church.
The sky was already a little lighter than when they had first landed. It was now getting critical; an airborne unit caught out behind enemy lines in the day would be in serious trouble. The two groups crouched low down behind the small wall outside the church. With a simple hand signal they leapt over the wall and headed off in opposite directions. Smith helped lift Adrienne over and proceeded to lead his group closely along the church perimeter until they reached the northern face. Adrienne followed Jones and his group out into the street. They kept low and to the right hand side, staying in the shadows as much as possible. At the front on the group was Jones with his Sten gun, next to him was the young French girl. Behind these two Wilks and Clarke protected the rear with another Sten and Enfield rifle. Moving down the road they approached the garage with the old vehicles parked at the front. Jones signalled for them to continue, lurking at this place was the last thing they needed to do after what they had heard from the old Frenchman.
Their mission was simple, get to each of the houses on the map, search for survivors and get them back to the church. Nothing more and nothing less would suffice. A short distance further along the road was the houses, each one close together and sheltered by more trees and a hedgerow on the other side of the narrow road. Jones opened the gate to the first house and moved up to the door. Wilks and Clarke fanned out to check on the windows. Adrienne kept close to Jones. He turned and spoke quietly to her, “How many live here?” She held up her right hand, indicating three. Jones nodded and placed his hand on the door knob, with a gentle twist the door opened and he was able to peek inside. So far it all looked clear.
He gestured towards the other two who proceeded to form up behind him and the girl. Clarke pulled his pig-sticker spike bayonet from its sheath and clipped it onto the lug at the front of the rifle, turning his rifle into a wicked steel tipped spear. The small group crept inside whilst Wilks knelt down and watched the street, keeping a lookout in case anything untoward occurred.
A few hundred feet away the second team under Sergeant Smith had now reached the northern face of the church. From this position they had a clear view of the open space before them. In the distance was the armoured vehicle Trent had seen from the church tower. He looked back to check the group were with him, so far it was looking good. He double-checked the locations Trent had described before he left. He knew the route and wanted to avoid contact whilst they made their perilous journey to the German base. From what Smith could see, the creatures seemed worse when there was a lot of commotion, perhaps they were attracted by the bright lights or maybe the sound of battle. Either way he intended to be extremely quiet. With a hand signal the group moved off, keeping low but moving fast.
This mission reminded Smith of the escape and evasion exercises they’d been practising back home. Just a few weeks before he’d been part of a unit that had been training in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in Wales. The weather, as usual, had been awful and the hills and mountains of the Beacons provided treacherous conditions for them to work under. What really reminded Smith though, was that they had to reach their objective quickly, but in the knowledge that a small number of soldiers were out looking for them and if they were caught they failed. It wasn’t easy and over three quarters of those on that exercise had been caught in the first twenty four hours. Back in France he was at it again, ducking through undergrowth whilst always keeping an eye over his shoulder for a potential enemy. To make matters worse he now had these flesh eating creatures hunting them as well as the Nazis.
Smith was the first to reach the low wall near the road. He ducked down behind it whilst the others moved up to him. They double-checked with the map and then looked to the north, making sure the landmarks were correct. Smith spoke to Gardner and Lewis.
“I’ll go first, wait ten seconds then follow, remember, we don’t want to engage any hostiles. If you spot something, keep low and use the signal.”
The two nodded in agreement. Smith lifted himself up slightly, looked over the wall and then moved off. Crossing the road he moved into the opposite field and then rushed ahead, keeping the tree line to his right so as not to leave himself lit against the skyline. Out into the distance Smith could just make out what looked like manmade objects. He kept running, checking once to see the distant figures of the other two men following.
* * *
Jones had now checked the ground floor of the small house and so far had found no sign of any people. He pointed to the ceiling, letting Clarke know he wanted it checked. Clarke moved up the stairs, watching carefully for any signs of movement. He held his rifle low; tracking from left to right with the bayonet pointed out to the front, ready to ward off any potential threat. He was now at the top of the sta
irs and could see three rooms. He moved forward and approached the first door. Pushing the gun forward he pushed the rifle bayonet against the door. It swung slowly open to reveal an empty room, bare other than a few cupboards. Jones was now at the top of the stairs with Adrienne in tow, he gestured to the girl to stay in the open whilst he moved ahead, past Clarke to the next door. Swinging his Sten gun out of the way he drew out his pistol and entered the doorway of the room; nothing again. He moved back out and met up with Clarke. The two men approached the last door, this one looked different in some way. Jones indicated to wait whilst he examined it from a few feet away. He couldn’t work out what it was until he spotted two shadows moving along the gap at the bottom of the door. There was something inside the room! Clarke stepped back, pointing his Enfield rifle at the doorway. Jones moved up close and placed his ear on the door, listening for what was inside. Based on what he heard there were at least two people in the room, the question that really burned in Jones’ mind though was, were they friendly or were they the creatures? Adrienne moved towards the door, Jones waved her forward. She called out to the room and almost instantly the movement stopped in the room. The girl kept talking for another half a minute before finally stopping. A sound came from inside, heading towards the door. Jones pulled Adrienne back as he held up his weapon. The door creaked open to reveal the faces of two old people, a man and woman. They looked terrified but the look on Adrienne’s face immediately put his fears to rest. She ran forward, hugging to the two.
* * *
Smith and his group could now make out the German base in the distance. He was surprised that it was so close; surely being so near they would have responded to the battle taking place at the church. The total distance could have been no more than half a mile to the north west of the church. The three men were lying down low in a ditch running along the side of the narrow road. Out into the distance, about another hundred yards ahead, was a low ridge behind which was the small German base. There was what looked like a pillbox at the entrance and then a metal fence running around the perimeter. From their position they couldn’t get a good view inside, other than the tops of a number of trucks and a few temporary buildings, presumably barracks or storage facilities. There were several floodlights, one at each corner though none of them were operational.
Night of the Nazi Zombies Page 10