Infected

by Rolfe, Michael I

  Towards the end of each day, well before last light, the recall signal would be sent, and the Aura team would retreat towards the road head, they made an odd sight, like something from a futuristic road movie with their swords, bows and silenced weapons. Once the Aura team was safe whole of the clearance team would return to the security of the nearest fort to rest during the dark and dangerous hours of the night.

  It took another month of hard and unrelenting work, and it was not without loss of men, but eventually Dan’s road clearing team that were heading east, met up with the crew that were heading west from Porton Down. The latter had not had the protection afforded by the Aura teams and had suffered far greater losses having been harassed by the Infected for the entire duration of the operation, they were haggard, but happy as they had achieved their objective. The road between the two bases was completed and ready.

  Both Lt Colonel Peter Curtis and Major Alan Brown had travelled to witness the meeting of the two road heads, and while the Aura teams prowled the perimeter to dissuade any of the Infected that were insolent enough to try to interrupt, the Colonel gave a speech stating how history would record this as the day that civilisation took a big step forward to re-establish itself.

  Dan and Janet returned from stalking the perimeter, the Colonel shook Dan’s hand and said, “I understand that you and your Aura Platoon have been instrumental in expediting the clearance of the road?” Dan replied, “We just helped protect the road crews, they are the guys who did all the heavy lifting.” The Colonel nodded, he appreciated the self-deprecating way Dan acknowledged the compliment and passed the credit on to the road crews. He then turned to Janet and said “I understand that you are responsible for making Alan a very happy man? Please don’t tell me that anyone else is responsible for that that little miracle. A smiling Major Alan Brown answered for her as he said, “No sir, that is totally down to Janet!”

  With the ceremony to celebrate the opening of the road route over, the two officers and their entourage travelled towards Porton Down, forgoing the helicopters in favour of using the road. Dan and Janet accompanied them, while the rest of the Aura team returned to Camp Pegasus. The Colonel wanted to inspect the newly opened route and the forts that were along the way. Traveling in the dark was not sensible, so they spent a night in one of the forts and could hear the howling and demented sounds of the Infected emanating from beyond the fort walls. The intimidating sound was a reminder of how much work there was still to do and that that work would be bloody!

  At first light the following morning the convoy of APCs left the remote fort and continued east toward Porton Down, for safety reason all vehicle movement was restricted to 30MPH and so it was another hour before they were within low power radio range of the base. However, the convoy commander, reported to the Colonel that he was unable to make radio contact with Porton Down. The Colonel frowned, thought for a few seconds and then said, “Stop trying, impose radio silence, halt the convoy and send two vehicles forward to investigate.”

  The two reconnaissance APCs could tell from a distance that something was wrong at Porton Down Base, there was smoke billowing from the direction of the camp, and as they drew closer they could see that most of the buildings were on fire and the helicopters had been destroyed on their landing pads.

  One of the ACPs returned immediately to report to Lt Colonel Curtis, while the other stopped in cover, the troopers debussed and went forward on foot to do a closer reconnaissance on their burning base. The perimeter fences had been deliberately targeted and destroyed in several places to allow the Infected in, and they were roaming around the base looking for victims. Shots rang out from within the camp, so there were people still alive and trying to defend themselves and bodies of Infected littered the ground. The recon team noted that some of the bodies were that of their former colleagues and friends who had not managed to avoid infection. The ACP was called up and it drove around the camp “mopping up” the remaining Infected, some of whom were wearing the same uniform as the men doing the shooting. Once the Infected had been quelled within the camp the ACP patrolled the perimeter keeping the Infected at bay while the survivors patched up the fences.

  The Colonels convoy arrived but Major Alan Brown, Dan and Janet were no longer with him, they were returning to Camp Pegasus at speed to prepare for an attack, they were all hoping that it would not be too late!

  Lt Colonel Curtis was flanked by his bodyguard as he jumped from the APC and he strode toward the smoking building that had housed his office, he was met by the RSM. Although the Colonel was relieved to see that the Regimental Sergeant Major was unharmed he did not show it “What the hell happened?” he barked. The Sergeant Majors face was full of rage, but he composed himself and reported to his commanding officer, “Sir, we were betrayed by Major Jensen, if that’s even his real name.” the RSM continued “It was at 08:00 hours that we observed several inbound British forces helicopters, the Major ordered us to stand down and allow them to approach. One chopper landed while the others hovered. Jensen went forward to meet the helicopter on the landing pad, then he climbed aboard and sat in the front seat, the chopper took off immediately then all hell broke loose, I could see that Jensen was directing the attack from his chopper and he knew just where to hit us.” the RSMs face flicked in to a deaths-head grin as he said “We gave as good as we got, I know at least two of their choppers went down and we hit others as well.” then his face changed again as he said “But we have lost some good people today!”

  Lt Colonel Peter Curtis looked around his ravaged base; flames could still be seen flickering from within the shattered buildings and smoke billowed from the windows and holes in the roofs. The destroyed helicopters lay smouldering on their landing pads, the worst of the flames having died away as the fuel had burnt off, and everywhere there were bodies of the fallen.

  The odd shot rang out as someone put down yet another Infected, the Infected that had until a few hours ago had been people under the Colonels command. He had let his men down, he had made the wrong choice in trusting Major Jensen, and his men had paid the price! However, this was no time for self-recrimination, that would come later, what was needed now was action, action to secure the camp, look after the injured and get what little information they had to Camp Pegasus.

  The Colonel rapidly took stock of the situation and ordered a list of all survivors to be made. The enemy had targeted the military assets in the camp and most although not all of the civilians had survived. He was pleased to see that Professor Thompson was on the list of the living, and when he enquired as to his whereabouts, was informed that he was tending to the injured.

  It soon became apparent that Porton Down was too badly damaged to remain viable as the main base of operations, perhaps with time and resources the camp could be rebuilt, but that was something for the future, what was needed now was a secure base for his command, and a haven for the wounded and the only place immediately available was Camp Pegasus.

  Every vehicle they could muster was pressed into service and each was bursting with people and equipment ready to leave. The heavily armed convoy left Porton Down in the mid-afternoon and they drove nonstop, forgoing the roadside forts and made straight for Camp Pegasus, hoping that it would still be there when they arrived.

  Recriminations, Reorganisation and Reconnaissance

  The Colonel ignored his own rule about not driving at night and ordered the vehicles to keep moving as twilight fell, the convoy arrived at Camp Pegasus at 22:00 hours but it was well after midnight before the last of his people cleared through the quarantine procedure and were admitted to the base. And it was getting light before the last of them were found a place to sleep.

  Alan Brown had ordered machineguns to be positioned on the surrounding hills; these were well camouflaged and were manned only by Paratroopers that had been with him from the very start of the outbreak. The positions would give a very nasty surprise to any enemy that chose to attack Camp Pegasus from the ground, or from the air!<
br />
  The Colonel and Major Brown spent the night reviewing the security situation, the first thing they did was order the detention of all the men that had arrived with the traitor Jensen. These men may well be innocent but until they were interviewed and cleared by the MPs, the officers would not take any risks. Both men were acutely aware that there could be and probably would be other traitors that had infiltrated their ranks and finding them would not be easy, and the firepower secreted in the hills surrounding the base would do little to fraught an attack or sabotage from within.

  “Alan, I should have followed my instinct and kept that bastard Jensen on a short leash.” said the Colonel, Alan Brown countered “Sir, you had no way of knowing what his disposition was, and no way of knowing that he was a plant. We will just have to learn from the experience and now we have something that we did not have before.” “What is that?” asked the Colonel, and Alan Brown explained, “Well, the enemy have shown their hand, we now know they exist and are based somewhere close probably, on the UK mainland. We know that they do not have a force sizable enough strike with a decisive blow, and we know that we can hold our own against them.” The Colonel smiled and said “I knew there was a reason that I kept you around. Let’s start looking at the maps and try and figure out where that bastard has gone.”

  A large map of the UK was laid out on a table in the Operations Room; the Colonel drew a line across the nation from Aberystwyth on the west coast of Wales, through Birmingham in the Midlands to Great Yarmouth on the east coast of England and said “I think we can safely discount any areas south of this line. Our scavenging and rescue teams have operated extensively here and would have come into contact with the enemy if they were there.” “That still leaves a massive area to search for an enemy that does not want to be found.” said Alan Brown. The Colonel smiled and said, “Now who’s being negative?”

  There was a knock on the door and an MP entered and said, “Sorry to interrupt you sir, but I have been interviewing the men that came in with Major Jensen, and they are all saying the same thing, I think you should sit in on an interview and hear first-hand what they are claiming”.

  In the interview room the MP started the recording device and stated for the benefit of the tape who was present in the room, “Interview with 24858546 Private Rodgers P. This interview will be conducted by Me Sergeant Holliday; also present are Lt Colonel Peter Curtis and Major Alan Brown”. The Sergeant then continued “Private Rodgers, please tell us where you were during the weeks prior the initial outbreak of the infection, and what the circumstances were.” Private Rodgers did not hesitate to tell his story “We were meant to go on leave, but our orders were changed, and we were told to prepare for a live firing exercise. Once we were ready to leave we were formed up in the carpark to wait for the transport, this was the first time that any of us had seen Major Jensen, we were told that he would just be observing the exercise, but he ordered us to hand over all our personal electronic devices. Each of us and all of our equipment were searched before we were allowed on to the transport, anyone found with anything, a phone, tablet or laptop was given a hell of a rollicking and the device was confiscated.” Lt Colonel Peter Curtis interjected “How long before the initial outbreak of the infection was this?” Rodgers replied, “A week or more Sir.” “A week, are you absolutely sure about that time frame?” questioned the Colonel. “Yes Sir, at least a week before the outbreak! The Colonel pressed on and said “Rodgers, I am sorry to have to ask again, but to clarify, Major Jensen ordered that all of your electronic devices be confiscated, and this happened at least a week before the outbreak?” Rodgers nodded and said, “Yes Sir!” The Colonel glanced inquiringly at the MP who nodded, indicating that Rodgers story concurred with that of the other men that had been interviewed. Both officers looked shocked, if what that had been told was true, then Major Patrick Jensen was directly implicated in the outbreak of the Infection, the end of civilisation and the deaths of seven billion people on planet earth!

  Apart from the confiscation of the troop’s electronic devices, the interviews revealed little other useful intelligence, and no clue as to the location of the enemies’ main base. A week before the outbreak the troops were taken to, and confined, in a remote training camp with regular searches of their belongings to ensure that no electronic devices had been missed. Two days before the outbreak, the troop’s regular officers were recalled to their permanent base, leaving Major Jensen in overall charge, the infection then took hold throughout the nation and their officers never returned. The men survived behind the fence of their isolated training camp, then just over a month after the outbreak were discovered by a detachment of Lt Colonel Curtis’s paratroopers and were taken to Porton Down.

  Major Brown said, “But why would Jensen ensconce himself with just thirty odd men, when he could have had a bigger force?” The Colonel surmised “Perhaps a larger one would have drawn too much attention, I think Jensen waited for the infection to kill off the majority the British Forces and then is plan was to use his men to mop up any surviving UK forces, but we came upon them before Jensen could spin them a story that we were the enemy and our force was more sizable that he had planned for. So instead of engaging us, he did the next best thing and infiltrated us, then called in a strike when we were at our weakest.” The Colonel then continued “However even that raid did not go fully to plan, Jensen or his Masters, did not account for the sheer grit, determination and fighting spirt of the men of the Parachute Regiment, and that is a mistake that we will make them regret.”

  The Scavenging Teams along with two helicopters were now re-tasked to acquire as much offensive and defensive military equipment as possible, the five remaining helicopters were ordered to search for the enemy, going further north than they had done since the outbreak of the Infection and flying together for mutual support, they were told to find the enemy but not engage. The reason that the search force was ordered not to engage was because the Colonel was convinced the Jensen and his masters were using unsuspecting British Forces to do their bidding, and he also suspected that their plan was based on the assumption that the British Forces would have been crippled by the Infection within a few days of the outbreak so there would be no effective opposition. Following on from this the Colonel reasoned that they had husbanded their resources and left the Infection to do its worst. But, as with all the best laid plans, it had not gone as expected because the Colonels forces had not only survived but they had grown and thrived, survived the attack and were now, more than likely, the stronger force.

  The Colonel said “Once we find their base we are going to use an old trick, I am planning to drop leaflets on them explaining who we are and how they have been misled and are being manipulated by their leaders. It may not cause an immediate collapse of morale and discipline, but it will sow the seeds of dissent that we can use to our advantage. The opposition have had the upper hand for too long, it is time that changed, we are going to take the fight to them and if we can win without bloodshed so much the better.”

  It took a few weeks for the searchers to find the enemy camp, located in North Yorkshire and when they were fired upon the commander of the flight was left in little doubt that this was their stronghold, and so after taking aerial photographs of the camp, he ordered his aircraft to return to base. Less than twenty-four hours later that Patrols Platoon had set up an OP (Observation Point) overlooking the enemies base, and only three days later the photos that they had taken were on the Colonels desk. The photos showed the layout of the base, the assets such as vehicles and aircraft, there were also images of key enemy personnel. The Colonels blood boiled when he picked up a photo of Major Jensen, accompanied by another man the Colonel thought he recognised but could not place.

  The Colonel had not seen Professor Thompson since they had evacuated to Camp Pegasus as he had been busy helping Doctor Charles in the hospital, tending the wounded from Porton Down, they had been working non-stop to save the victims and had not been successful in all c
ases. Men had died and although the Professor was a professional he was run down and despondent, he reported to the Colonel, and told him “I am sorry to report that we were unable to save four of the wounded, the last of them, a Corporal Young died a few minutes ago.” The Colonel placed the hand to the Professors shoulder and said “Thank you, I know you did all that could be done. You should go and get some rest.” Oliver Thompson nodded, he was too tired to argue, and he turned to leave, but then stopped in his tracks as he noticed the photographs on the Colonels desk. The Professor stood there looking at a photo of two men for a full thirty seconds, his brain was racing as he absorbed the enormity of what he knew that photo meant. He must be wrong, but the more he thought about it he knew that he was not mistaken. He was looking at a photograph of the man who was responsible for the death of just about every person in Great Britain and possible the world, he spat out the word “Bastard!”

  The Colonel saw that he was looking at the photo of Major Jensen and said “Yes, we have found that Bastard Jensen, and we will make him pay for what he has done.” The Professor was shaking with rage as he said, “Of that I have no doubt and I also have no doubt that he is indeed a bastard, but I was referring to the other ‘Gentleman’”. The Colonel picked up the photo and said, “I have been trying to place him, you know who he is?” The Professor answered, “I do indeed, you are looking at perhaps the one man who could have pulled off a crime of this magnitude and managed to keep a military force intact, you are holding in your hand the image of someone I thought long dead, that is The Grim Reaper, The Devil, Hitler and Stalin combined and incarnate, that is the Major General, Sir Anthony Butler, The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defence and a traitorous and murdering bastard!”