“The gate is breached, but it’s holding for now, it’s a major bottleneck.”
“The Yanks have to be here soon, we just need more time!”
Bruce moved to the southern side of the tower.
“Amy! Get your people on the ground, spread out across the inner wall, they could breach at any point, we must hold!”
He turned to the northern side, seeing Christian stood watching the fight at the breach.
“Christian! Spread out along the ground!”
“What do you want me to do?” asked Hackett.
“Grab a weapon and be ready to go where I go.”
As the words left his mouth he saw a section of the northern wall, a long way from him, smash down and several creatures tumble through the breach.
“To the north! To the north! Fill the breach!”
Bruce slid down the ladder and ran towards the north where Wilson and Bart were taking the first strikes at their new foes. Thirty fighters converged on the opening and smashed the zombies before them, slowly hacking their way back to the opening. Bruce reached the fight and immediately threw himself into it, smashing a creature with his mace. The other fighters were boxing in the creatures with their shields, driving them back to the wall and stamping over the bodies of their victims.
“Bruce, we must retreat!” called Hackett.
“No! We must hold as long as possible!”
In their push to drive the creatures back, two of the foul monsters grabbed hold of Gordon and pull him through the breach with them as they were forced back. Blood spewed from his neck as within seconds they bit into him.
“Bruce, we can’t hold!” shouted Hackett.
Before Bruce could respond, a loud booming sound rang out around the valley, the sound of a ship’s foghorn. The survivors and the creatures stopped for just a second, all as curious to see the source of the sound as each other.
“It’s the fleet!”
“Fight on! Give them all you’ve got!” shouted Bruce.
CHAPTER 20
USS Harpers Ferry
The sky was clear and the Island was starting to take form in the distance. On the deck of the military vessel the marines were lined up and checking their gear. Running to the side of the small ship was the old Coast Guard vessel Jarvis, the Hamilton-class high endurance cutter. Of the marines that had originally joined the Flotilla many had been killed or injured over the years. Luckily, their number had been bolstered by new recruits. Even so, the total number of combat effective marines was now just forty-two though they all had additional jobs when not on combat operations. A small colony could not afford to all be warriors. As well as the marines another two dozen volunteers from the other vessels had come aboard to help with the relief of the island. This extra crew was armed with a variety of mixed armour and weapons. Each of the marines wore the now distinctive custom combination of combat fatigues and modified armour. Captain Black wore his well-used combat gear, as well as a few extra modified pieces from the metal armour he’d salvaged at the abandoned camp just over a week before. He especially liked a small breastplate that he wore in place of his old ballistic body armour. It may not offer any more protection than he already had but he liked the idea of making use of something from the old world that was still effective. The two hovercraft were ready and their engines were growling away as they were prepped for action. They looked more like small ferryboats than hovercraft and were used to transport men, vehicles and equipment directly into action. Captain Black turned back to the men and women on the deck.
“The latest radio report says they have a breach to the right and the barricades are being torn down near the causeway. I’d say they have an hour tops, after that we may as well not bother,” he said.
“Shit, can we go any faster?” shouted Carlo over the din of the hovercraft.
“No, they can though,” said the Captain as he pointed to the hovercraft.
Captain Black gave a cutting hand signal and the engineers cut the engines of the craft, instantly lowering the sound on the deck. The Island was getting closer.
“This is the plan. Carlo and Reinier will lead the first hovercraft to the breach to the right. I want your squad to hit the gap first. You’ll need the assault gear for this one, as you’ll be driving right into the breach from the outside, the same side as the undead! You can expect close quarter fighting. Take most of the marines with you but you must hit hard and hit fast. Get on the breach through the gaps and clear the perimeter, then sweep towards the causeway. You can reinforce any gaps with your reserves on the second hovercraft, just make sure your assault team pushes onto the causeway and meet us. The second hovercraft will move in behind the wall and help push back any that have made it through the breach.
I will take the Jarvis, as she can hit almost thirty knots, right down the waterway connecting the Island to the peninsula. We will hit the causeway, sever the connection and halt the undead reinforcement. We will then meet at the breach and ensure it is properly sealed. Between the Jarvis, the deck weapons and your assault squad we should be able to solve this little problem. Understood?”
The marines let out a gutsy “Ooh-rah” before turning to their allotted vessels. Captain Black made for the small motorboat waiting to take him to the cutter. Fernanda and Kowalski flanked him as he climbed down the rope ladder to the boat. As it moved off Fernanda leaned over to the Captain.
“You think we’ll fit down the channel?” she asked.
“Yeah, according to our charts we’ll be ok, but it might be a bit tight,” he said.
“Oh great,” groaned Kowalski.
The first hovercraft was already moving away from the Harpers Ferry with the second close behind it. On the deck were two dozen marines, all heavily equipped and ready for action. At the front was a small six-man unit, comprising the Afghan veterans Carlo, Reinier, Talia, Ken, Ian and Veya. This unit was the most heavily armoured of all, each carrying additional plating and armour on their limbs and shorter ranged weapons. They looked like some bizarre mix of a combat veteran crossed with a medieval soldier. Behind this group were the more conventionally armed marines, though all wore armour to one extent or another. The shoreline was now only a few minutes away and as they moved closer the importance of the Island became clear to them all.
Along the causeway side of the Island was what was left of the multi-layered single barrier that was marked with a number of watchtowers that could maintain a vigil over the perimeter. Behind the barrier the roofs of various structures and chimneys could just me made out though the Island was substantial. From the satellite maps they had seen the dozens of crop fields and buildings that had been built and erected for the community. Of more importance though was that there were signs of movement along the edge of the Island. Carlo lifted his binoculars to the right hand part of the island, looking for the breach that Captain Black had described. The left hand side was a narrow channel that separated the Island from the main land mass of larger undead occupied island. There was a slight break in the outline that drew his attention a dozen or so metres to the side of where he was looking. Then he spotted the breach.
“Man, they’ve got trouble,” he said as he passed the binoculars to Talia.
She looked carefully whilst Carlo shouted to those behind him.
“The last wall is about four or five hundred metres along. In the middle where the main gate is you can see a major fight going on. Further along the wall though, near the water’s edge is the second breach. It’s about four metres wide and it looks like they’ve broken in through the outer perimeter. Yeah, I can see damage and gaps along the entire length of that section. They must have fallen back to a secondary defensive line. We are going to go in hard and fast. Take us right up the beach and to the gap, we can’t wait any longer. We’ll hit the breach from both sides and then move along the wall to help with the main fight,” he said.
“Yeah, I can see them fighting inside. From what I can see the main action is as we thought, at t
he damaged causeway and the breach further along in the secondary defences, looks like they’re using hand weapons, not much if any in the way of firearms,” she said.
“Just as well we’re here then,” said Reinier, as he lifted up an improvised metal warhammer. He carried a police riot shield on his left arm.
Carlo looked to the left as he spotted the foam spraying up from the Coast Guard Cutter. It looked like a small, sleek military vessel and though rough looking it was well maintained and moving at a good rate of speed. He could just make out the shapes of Captain Black and Kowalski who were preparing the weapons on the bow of the vessel. A tap on his shoulder from Reinier let him know they were only a few seconds from the shore. He turned around and signalled to the rest of the team. They returned the hand signal, they were ready to go. He looked forward, the shore came racing towards them and the craft moved smoothly up the beach and towards the barricades. Carlo stopped counting at twenty-four zombies before they slowed down and without pausing he leapt off the front, closely followed by the other five assault marines. Behind them followed the rest with their weapons at the shoulder and ready.
As Carlo hit the ground he found scores of the undead in front and to both sides, all of them pressing into the breach. He didn’t pause but simply lowered his automatic shotgun and fired round after round into them to clear a path. The other five did the same and as each creature fell they took a step forward. Though space was being created in front creatures still tried to overwhelm them from the sides. The marines following poured fire from their rifles and carbines into this mass and through sheer weight of bullets they reduced their numbers enough to get up to the breach.
“Come on!” shouted Carlo, as he slung his shotgun and moved to use his mace and small shield.
A group of the creatures pushed him to the right but Talia pushed back, keeping him steady. He had already taken a few bites to his armour but it was holding. A quick swing of the shield created a little space and he followed it up with a heavy strike with the mace. One more step and he was at the barricade. He continued to swing his weapon whilst Reinier and Talia rushed in to protect his flanks. One of the zombies managed to reach the second line and dragged Ken to the ground. Though his armour saved him from the initial bites it couldn’t help him from being buried under the weight of yet more of them. Ian rushed in, swinging his machete and reaching down, trying to pull Ken to safety.
Talia moved close to Carlo, helping to protect each other with their weapons and shields. Carlo shouted whilst pushing forward.
“We have to keep moving forward, we need to reach the causeway!” he shouted as he stepped inside and struck down another of the creatures.
“We need to help clear this breach or they’ll retake it,” cried Veya as she tried to fight off the creatures closing in on them from their left side and rear.
The gunfire from the wave of follow-up marines was helping but even they couldn’t stop all of the creatures from making it to the breach. A gap had developed between the two groups as scores more of the undead arrived from the causeway and swarmed around the perimeter to their second breach.
Carlo turned around to see the danger of their situation. Until the causeway was cleared the horde would continue to pour around the flank and towards this breach. Though a good number were undoubtedly fighting along the barricades it was this secondary breach that could provide an easy way in for the creatures. Inside the base he could see a number of the civilians rushing towards them, obviously hoping to help push back the undead.
“Ok, thirty seconds, then we leave!” he shouted as he turned and locked himself down firmly in the middle of the breach and facing outwards. Reinier, Talia, Ian and Veya joined him in a small block of armour and weapons. The horde crashed into them and with mechanical efficiently they cut, smashed and hacked their way at the oncoming tide of creatures.
Veya was thrown back to the ground but Talia stepped in her place, swinging her shield to smash back the creature that had reached their position. Another pair of hands reached out, grabbing her shield and ripped it away. A shotgun gun barrel appeared next to her face, held by the now standing Veya who pushed it forward and emptied both barrels. The sound at this distance was deafening but it cleared the area in front of them. Almost half of those approaching them were cut down by the second wave of marines but it wasn’t enough. Carlo tried to decide what to do, he needed to leave but if they turned their backs they would be overrun in seconds. The help from inside had arrived but even their modest numbers weren’t enough to give them the time they needed. Then the second hovercraft hit the perimeter. Ether by accident or design they ploughed through the creatures and smashed directly into the barrier, tearing down a chunk before coming to a stop.
“Get back!” shouted Veya as she pulled them back from the breach.
As they fell back inside the compound a mighty roar from the heavy machineguns on the second craft tore a swathe through the horde. The hovercraft had made its way inside the wall and arrived just metres from the breach. With the second wave of marines jumping out they rushed in to seal the breach from the inside and started to push back the creatures. As the smoke cleared an injured Ken dragged himself clear of the bodies and into the compound.
Talia knelt down, checking for wounds.
“Did they get you?” she asked, with a hint of both concern and dread.
“I’m ok, a couple of them landed on me, I think one of them broke my leg. I’ll take it from here, you keep going,” he said as he lifted himself up into a seated position.
Carlo patted him on the shoulder, relieved to have not suffered yet another pointless casualty. He turned to the other four.
“Okay, they’ve got this, we’re heading for the causeway, come on!” he shouted.
The small group, bloodied and exhausted didn’t hesitate as they staggered off along the inside of the barricades where the defenders were desperately trying to hold back the growing numbers of creatures attempting to break through. As they ran Carlo slid his mace into its holder and pulled out his 1911 automatic. It was a solid, reliable weapon that he had modified and improved over the years. It wasn’t as fancy as some of the gear the other marines had picked up but it had saved his life on more than one occasion. As they ran up to the barricade he took note of over a dozen civilians, all wearing improvised protective gear and a mixture of hand weapons and crossbows. It wasn’t much. At the barricade there were multiple gaps and scores of hands and heads could be seen trying to work their way inside. Without pausing he pulled back the slide and fired shot after shot into the heads of the closest creatures. Once he reached the wall itself he slammed in another magazine and fired literally less than a metre from the creatures’ heads and he knocked down one after another. The other four lifted themselves up onto the fighting steps and using their firearms and close quarter weapons did what they could to help.
Part of the barricade was already tearing open and from the breach poured in a more creatures. Two of the defenders were trampled down as the horde piled in. Part of the fighting platform collapsed as the section of wall gave way and Reinier fell down into the waiting hands. Talia and Veya jumped down, swinging their blades and pushing hard with their shields as they tried to hold back the tide.
A great blast like a demon’s howl came from the left and Talia pointed out towards a large grey shape rushing down the narrow waterway and towards the causeway.
“Holy shit, it’s the Captain!” shouted Veya, as the vessel rushed past at what must have been almost thirty knots. The waterway was only double the width of the vessel and the wake threw water along both sides as it rushed past. On the deck they could see the Captain and the small group of marines firing the heavy weapons at both sides of the water. The undead in the gap between the breached wall and the water were shredded by a long burst of machinegun fire as the vessel sped past.
“Get down!” shouted Carlo as he jumped away from the barricade.
There was a mighty crashing sound as the
small ship slowed as it hit the shallower water and started to grind along the surface. Almost simultaneously the heavy weapons on the bow opened up on the causeway and the debris that blocked it. At first the heavy machine guns simply tore the undead apart and took chunks out of the earth but then the automatic cannon started. With just a few rounds of high explosive ammunition the debris was blown apart and the water started to flow more freely. As the water rushed through the newly cleared causeway the undead became trapped on both sides of the water. The vessel had now slowed to a halt and was grounded about fifty metres from the connecting land mass. With it halted the marines onboard opened fire with every weapon they had against targets on both sides of the water. In just seconds hundreds were shredded.
“Hell, yeah!” shouted one of the defenders as they rushed up to the breach and fought the remaining undead in one last push. Carlo and the rest of the marines waded in and within seconds they had cleared the last few that were trapped on their side of the water. The cutter slowed as it steamed off to the right but its work had been done. As the pitiful number of surviving undead lifted themselves up the jubilant defenders rushed amongst them, easily finishing them off on the ground. As the butchering continued the first wave of marines arrived from the second breach and joined in with the clearing.
Carlo stopped for a moment, regaining his breath before looking to the filthy but happy defender stood next to him. Carlo grinned back but was too tired and too surprised to have anything useful to say. Before he could come up with something another loud blast from the left signalled the arrival of the Harpers Ferry as she came closer to the shore. The man lifted out his hand, shaking Carlo’s.
“The name’s Dylan, welcome to Resolution Island. Man, could you have timed that any closer?!” he said before stepping up and grabbing Carlo around the shoulders.
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