Zombie Dawn Apocalypse

by Michael G. Thomas

  “Well don’t wait too long, this is a hungry crowd!”

  Madison sat comfortably watching her friends dig into the well-deserved and welcome meal. The camp was vibrant and beaming with conversation and laughter, it was hard to feel down when there were so many positive waves in the air. Everyone was enjoying themselves as much as the best parties she had ever attended before the Apocalypse, and they had no alcohol, no fancy clothes, nothing more than a roaring fire and some fresh meat.

  Words had done nothing to affect Madison’s mood, but seeing the community before her hammered the words of Jack and Wells home. Life wasn’t all bad, there were probably as many good times as there ever had been. She began to feel annoyed with herself for having such a quitter’s attitude, and so publicly. She had assumed life should be good all the time, but perhaps the goal of life was simply to live.

  Content with her improved outlook on life and finally eager to join in the fun, Madison leapt from the wagon and strolled over to the pig roast. The evening went on, more like a camping party than an apocalyptic survival camp, with dancing and chat until all but the guards were asleep.

  CHAPTER 4

  The March, United Kingdom

  Nick and Carter stood in the doorway of the church in the heart of the town. Since the fortification of the town during the zombie outbreak it had been pressed into service as a hospital. There was something about its thick walls, stained glass windows and silence that helped instil calm amongst even the most badly injured. Lying on the beds were the survivors brought back by Nick and Carter. One of the medics walked over, whispering quietly.

  “They’re all undernourished and one has broken ribs. No signs of infection though. The woman says they were part of a convoy that tried to get away from Reading,” he said.

  “Reading? I thought we brought the survivors from that outpost here about twelve months ago,” said Carter.

  “The woman says they’ve been trying to get here for the last month. There were thirty four of them when they left, now just the three you found,” the medic replied.

  “Man, that sucks.”

  Two men entered the church. Both wore thick coats and carried edged weapons on their belts.

  “Nick, Carter, the council is meeting. Your presence has been requested.”

  Carter looked over to Nick who didn’t appear terribly impressed with the news.

  “Why? They’ve had my report,” asked Nick.

  The first man shrugged.

  “Let’s go,” said Nick as he turned back to the medic, “thanks for the information, we’ll check up on them later.”

  The four men walked the short distance from the church to the town’s council chambers. They were still being used in much the way they always had been, to talk, argue and discuss, but rarely to do anything.

  “We’ll be in shortly,” said Nick, as he dismissed the two men that had come to find them. He turned back to Carter.

  “These things are always screw-ups and politics. Let me do the talking and keep calm, ok?” Carter simply nodded in agreement.

  The two approached the doors that opened as though they were automatic. They stepped inside, noticing the men holding open the doors. Inside the small building were around two dozen people in a semi circle, listening to information from another of the scouts.

  “Ah, welcome, Commander,” said Davies, a short bald man who stood on the far side.

  The rest of the room went quiet as Nick and Carter moved inside, the short man beckoned for them to take the podium where everybody could see them. As they moved into position the man continued.

  “We have read your report, Commander, and have grave concerns about our ability to repel such a substantial number of attackers. Our scouting parties to the east have established the main roads are still populated by small numbers of the dead and the main cities of Newport, and possibly Cardiff, are massively overrun. What is your assessment of the situation?” he asked.

  Nick looked to Carter who nodded, indicating he should speak. Nick took a step forward, addressing the group.

  “Council members, I have been with this outpost now for nearly ten years. When I first joined we controlled most of this region, along with the outlying villages and even some of the castles. Each year our territory and numbers have fallen, while the numbers of our enemies grow stronger. The creatures we found are, in my opinion, the single greatest threat we have faced since the razing of the cities nine years ago. The west side is, as you know, strongly protected by the river and cliff. Providing we protect the bridge we are safe. The east however is an entirely different matter,” he said, before being interrupted by Davies.

  “So we need to leave then?”

  “No, I didn’t say that. Some tried to leave last year, and we found their bodies a week later when they came back as the dead.”

  “But what about the signals from Fishguard, why don’t we pack up and travel there?” he asked.

  “I just told you why, the roads are impassable, and it would sacrifice all we have left on a fool’s errand. The signals have been the same repeated message for over a year now, there is no guarantee there’s anybody alive. Carter and I have examined our perimeter and our defences in detail. We need twenty-four hours to ensure this town is defensible against a major attack and we will need the entire population to work on it.”

  “What if we can’t hold them?” asked a woman at the back of the room.

  “If we fail then we have the emergency boats, but they can only carry a dozen at most. Realistically we’re boxed in and we don’t have the resources to escape in any numbers.”

  “A dozen, I thought we had plenty of boats? When we first came here all the boats in the area were tied up for emergency use,” asked another in the group.

  “You are of course correct. We did, but Mr Davies decided their upkeep was too much and we needed to put our time into setting up the council chambers and market, remember?” he answered accusingly.

  A murmur spread around the people as they felt the pangs of fear and doubt regarding their situation. Carter moved up to Nick and whispered in his ear.

  “The council is gonna screw us, you know that, right?”

  Nick nodded in agreement, turning back. Before he could speak an older looking man stood and addressed the crowd.

  “So, this seems pretty straightforward to me. We have three choices and we need to choose one of them before they get here. The first is we get every last land vehicle and evacuate to Fishguard. The second is we stand and fight them and the third is to leave by boat.”

  “Why shouldn’t we get the vehicles and make a break for it before the horde arrives? It’s probably safer there,” asked one of the men.

  “Are you not listening?” Carter asked.

  “Look. The boats are no good. We have too many people. The land escape is dangerous and we could get to Fishguard and find it either empty or overrun, either way it would mean the end for us. I say we stand and fight,” said Nick.

  At the back of the room a man in his thirties approached, it was Artur, an old friend of Nick’s from the early days of the outbreak.

  “I agree with Nick. We’ve stopped them before and we can stop them again. We have strong walls, supplies and weapons. If we can’t beat them here then we’re fucked!”

  Davies raised his hand.

  “I have heard all you have to say, let us deliberate for a while, we will inform you of our decision shortly,” he said as he dismissed Nick and Carter.

  The two stepped down and marched to the door, Artur joined them as they left the building.

  “What’s the plan?” asked Artur.

  They stood silent for a moment whilst they considered the situation.

  “Okay, we need to put the defence plan into action. We put our militia forces on the perimeter, the most experienced in the centre with the mobile reserve. How are the weapons and ammunition?” asked Nick.

  “Weapons are okay, we have fourteen shotguns and rifles in working order, as
well as two of the Bren Guns from the convoy. As for ammunition, we have lots of our own manufactured shells but the rifle bullets are not good,” Carter explained.

  “Yeah, I thought as much. How about the improvised weapons?” asked Nick.

  “Well, we’ve had mixed results on them, as you know,” answered Carter.

  “Yeah, I do, just give me the numbers.”

  Carter looked a little flustered as he fumbled in his jacket. He fished out a small leather notebook, the one he recorded all the defence details in. He turned a few pages and ran his finger down a column.

  “Okay. We have a total of thirty four crossbows and eighteen muskets plus another fifty of the improvised hook guns.”

  The hook guns were crude hand guns reminiscent of fifteenth century hand guns and were basically a piece of scaffold pole with the open end blocked off and a basic wooden tiller fitted to rest under the arm or on the shoulder. In their tests they had been very inaccurate, but when loaded with ball bearings from the factories they acted like giant, powerful shotguns.

  “You want to use those things?” muttered Artur.

  “They’re not pretty and their accuracy sucks, but at close range they do the job,” said Nick.

  Before they could get any further, the door to the council building opened and three people came out, followed by Davies. From what Nick could see he didn’t look pleased, not by a long shot. The oldest of the group stepped forward.

  “We have voted and decided that the defence of the town is of paramount importance. We also want the boats readied in case things go badly. We suggest no more than six people work on the boats to get as many ready as possible. Every other resource is yours, Commander.”

  Nick nodded to them and then turned back to Artur and Carter.

  “You know the drill, we’ve practiced it often enough. Artur, get everybody here, it’s time to get started. Carter, you’re on kit check, I want everything double checked and the list updated. I need to know exactly what we have, and where, in the next hour.”

  Nick turned back to the small group outside the door.

  “I am going to need everybody, young or old, weak or strong. If we’re to hold the town we must use every resource.”

  “You’re in charge, Commander,” said Davies, with a hint of a threat in his tone.

  “Yes,” said Nick. “I’m in charge.”

  * * *

  It was the middle of the night and a light mist drifted down the river past the town. Though the town was a hive of activity, most of it couldn’t be seen from Nick’s vantage point on Tutshill directly across the river. It was only a short distance from where Nick and Carter had first spotted the people in the distance. He stood atop a ruined house that now acted as an observation point. Carter stood nearby, drinking from a flask.

  “Well, at least the gear is in good shape.”

  “Yeah, though I’m still not sure on that swivel gun you found,” said Nick with a grin.

  Carter feigned hurt.

  “Why not? The re-enactor that brought it here used to use it for displays. I know we haven’t tested it loaded yet but it looks well made.”

  “You just want to use it because it’s the biggest gun we have, don’t you?” said Nick as he laughed.

  The two men looked back to the distance, straining their eyes to spot any signs of the undead. It was a pointless exercise though. With the fog and the low light the visibility was so poor a zombie could probably reach the hill without being spotted.

  “You know we can always try the diversion plan. It’s risky but there’s a chance it could work,” said Carter.

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. Trouble is, the last time we tried it the zombies were pulled away, but after a day they were back on our trail.”

  “True, but wouldn’t an extra day give us an even better chance of winning here?” asked Carter.

  “Interesting,” Nick replied, “show me the map.”

  Nick examined it carefully, making a mental note of the red markings that indicated people and equipment.

  “Give me the status of the preparations.”

  “Well, in the last six hours we’ve repaired the walls so that we have a complete, breach free perimeter. Artur has split everybody into shifts, as in the plan, and they’re cleaning and testing all the weapons. Gary is getting the mobile reserve ready along with Zack and the Johnson brothers.”

  “That’s good. What is the situation with fighters? What’s the total?” asked Nick.

  “Out of our two hundred and twelve we have one hundred and seventy four capable of fighting. The rest are either injured, sick or working in the hospital. Out of those we have twenty trained close quarter specialists and the rest have varying amounts of training and experience.”

  “It’s critical that we keep the mobile reserve in the centre, the area in front of the castle is best as it gives quick access to the rest of the town. Get the quads and motorcycles there as well, in that way we can respond to problems quickly,” ordered Nick.

  “What about the other hundred and fifty odd?” asked Carter.

  “I want them split into groups of thirty. That will give us five units of thirty men with one at each of the bridges, two on the walls and one in reserve at the castle,” said Nick.

  “You sure you want to keep that many in the castle?” he asked.

  “Definitely, that’ll give us about fifty people in reserve. Don’t forget the mobile reserve can only be in one place at a time. Once we plug the gaps we’ll use the group in the castle to replace the losses.”

  Carter nodded in agreement.

  “Come on, we need to get back, by my calculations the first of them could be here by daybreak,” said Nick.

  * * *

  Nick stood in the open ground in front of the castle. The sunlight burned through the fog to create a cool but clear view of the town. The mobile reserve stood waiting with their armour fitted and their weapons at the ready. It was an odd collection of people, each of them wearing different equipment ranging from Jake in his full harness of medieval armour through to the policeman Gary in his riot armour. One thing they all had in common was their experience in fighting the undead.

  “The first of the dead will be at the bridges this morning. We’re well prepared and equipped but it’s our job,” he pointed at the group, “to plug the gaps and provide help where it is needed. You’re in your two groups, the first as usual will be led by Gary, the second by Tony,” Nick said.

  Nick turned and pointed to the four corners of the town.

  “Each of the zones is equipped with flares as per the plan. They are to be used in emergencies only. A green flare will be fired to indicate help is needed immediately. You are to respond to a help request one group at a time, I do not want all our reserves in one place. When you have finished use a red flare if you need the castle reserves to replace the casualties. Any flares from the castle will indicate a general retreat to the castle. If this happens don’t mess around, grab what you can and run, because that will mean the walls are breached. Understood?”

  “Sir!” came the shout.

  “If you need to check on the status of the battle the flags on the tower behind you will duplicate what is going on around us. Just remember, if the castle launches any flares it means business.”

  Almost on cue a whining sound came from the main tower of the castle. The noise became louder as a siren started, it was one of the World War II style air raid devices that was powered by hand. Nick looked up to the tower and then back to the group.

  “This is it. Make sure your vehicles are ready and your guns are loaded. You’re the best we have, don’t do anything stupid and we’ll make it through this. Wait for the signals and good luck!”

  The two groups of fighters moved off to their quads and bikes and readied them for the coming battle. Nick headed inside the entrance of the castle and towards the lower tower, the largest tower in the castle. He ran up the spiral staircase with Artur and Carter close behind
him. It took almost a minute to reach the top but the view was excellent and allowed him to view the entire town. Both bridges were visible, as was most of the town wall. Each of the key parts of the town had a flag flying, an idea suggested by Zack and his video gaming friends to indicate the status of the areas without expending resources. All the flags were green, indicating their zones were clear.

  “Nick!” shouted Artur.

  He turned to spot the flag at the main bridge had shifted to a red one, that meant the enemy had been spotted. Nick pulled out his binoculars and trained them along the bridge to the end. On the barricades he could see a number of people standing along the top with a variety of close quarter and ranged weapons. Each of the groups was mainly armed with hook guns and a number of muskets. The shotguns and rifles were almost all being held by the reserve.

  Nick scanned up and to the left where the road disappeared into the ridge, and then he spotted the first creature. It staggered slowly towards the bridge along with three others. A flash lit up the front creature and a second later the report from a musket echoed down the valley. Nick scanned back to the barricade and spotted a plume of white smoke drifting away. Another fired and he looked back to see one of the creatures on the ground.

  “Good shooting, makes a change for the muskets!”

  He scanned the horizon, so far there were no other signs of the zombies. Off to the left he noticed the lower bridge was defended by Davies’ group. It wasn’t ideal, but he’d been overruled and at least it kept him out of his way. At least it did until he spotted a problem.

  “Carter, look at the bridge down there. What do you see?”

  Carter took the binoculars and looked down at the bridge.

  “It looks like Davies is taking most of the guards from the bridge to the boats. Yeah, look, they’re moving down to the water. Fuck, look!” he shouted.

  They both looked down at the bridge and over to the other side. From the woods a large group of creatures emerged, making their way to the bridge. Back at the barricade on the small bridge the three remaining men opened fire way too early with their two muskets and a hook gun.