The Undead Day Eighteen

by RR Haywood

  Of course the ammunition will eventually run out so the use of bows and arrows is an obvious choice and I can only surmise that the officers in charge of this unit decreed for some of the soldiers to practise the use of the bow during this skirmish.

  The second reason for my hurried note and something I wish to note are that I found several detached arms littering the ground all of which had teeth marks. Not human teeth marks but those from a large predatory animal.

  Again I can surmise they have trained attack dogs and the use of the detached arms were for training purposes. Why else would they rip the arms from the corpses?

  I need to find this group and join forces with their officers. With their protection and working in tandem with such a disciplined army we should progress seeking those on my list, and of course I need to also inform the officers that a certain dark haired soldier appears to be immune.

  It is still not raining. But it is now very bloody hot.

  NB

  Nine

  ‘Right. So the way I see it is that we’ve let the infection think we’re doing a particular thing to the extent its planning something cunning and horrible for us but now we’ve realised it knows what we’re doing and we’re still going to do it so it thinks we’re still doing it and that way we can screw it over…while it thinks we’re still doing the thing we’re doing even though we know what we’re doing and the infection thinks we’re still doing the same thing even though we’re actually not doing it but pretending to do it…Is that right?’ I look across to the passenger seat and get a blank stare in response.

  ‘Dave?’

  ‘Yes, Mr Howie.’

  ‘Why aren’t you at the back?’

  ‘Marcy said she wanted some air.’

  ‘Oh…right…so much for giving orders then. Anyway, did you hear what I said?’

  ‘Yes, Mr Howie.’

  ‘Did it make sense?’

  ‘Yes, Mr Howie.’

  ‘So we’re going to keep doing it and the infection is thinking we’re still doing it so we can let the infection think we’re doing it and then we can screw it over. Is that a good plan?’

  ‘It is a plan.’

  ‘Is it a good plan?’

  ‘A plan is only good if it works.’

  ‘Okay. But in the world of planning, is this a good one?’

  ‘If it works the yes, it is a good plan.’

  ‘What if it doesn't work?’

  ‘Then it is not a good plan.’

  ‘Figures. But…do you think the plan will work?’

  He stares at me then looks ahead without a flicker of expression adorning his face, ‘the enemy is predicting a course of action and one that we are going to adhere to in the pretence of maintaining that course of action so the enemy continues to believe in the accuracy of the prediction.’

  ‘Yes! That’s what I said.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Yes. That’s the plan. Is it a good one?’

  ‘It is a plan.’

  ‘A good plan. Is it a good plan?’

  ‘It is a…’

  ‘Right. Stop it. Do you think the plan we have is a good plan and you are not allowed to say it is a plan.’

  ‘But it is a plan.’

  ‘Yes I know it is a plan. We’ve established it’s a bloody plan. Is it a good plan?’

  ‘A plan is only good if…’

  ‘Fuck’s sake. Do you think the plan will work?’

  ‘There are considerations.’

  ‘What like?’

  ‘We have to act as though we know nothing of the plan.’

  ‘But we’re doing that by still doing er…that…er…still doing it.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘Yes, Mr Howie. We are still doing the thing the enemy has predicted we will do but we must be sure that we do not subconsciously alert the enemy to our knowledge of the fact we are aware of their prediction and are working towards a bluff.’

  ‘Double bluff,’ Clarence says from behind.

  ‘Bluff,’ Dave says.

  ‘Double bluff.’

  ‘Bluff.’

  ‘Classic double bluff you’ve got right there.’

  ‘Bluff.’

  ‘It’s a double bluff. The infection thinks we’re doing one thing…which is what we’re doing…’

  ‘Bluff.’

  ‘But we’re only doing it to bluff it, I mean bluff the enemy so that’s a double bluff.’

  ‘One bluff. We are bluffing the enemy.’

  ‘No. Dave. We are double bluffing. The first bluff is by knowing the enemy knows what we know. The second is by doing it anyway. That is a double bluff.’

  ‘It is a bluff.’

  ‘It’s a sodding double bluff.’

  ‘It is a bluff.’

  ‘Boss, it is a double bluff.’

  ‘You telling me or asking?’

  ‘Asking.’

  ‘Christ I don’t know. Er…so we’re doing what the enemy…fuck it…the infection thinks we’re going to do while knowing it’s thinking we’re going to do it…is that a bluff?’

  ‘Yes,’ Dave and Clarence both answer.

  ‘Is it?’ Marcy calls out, ‘aren’t we just tricking it?’

  ‘That’s what a bluff is,’ Clarence says.

  ‘Why is it called bluff then? Why not just call it a trick?’

  ‘A trick is something else,’ Clarence says, ‘but this is a double bluff.’

  ‘What’s a trick then?’

  ‘We’re talking about bluffs right now.’

  ‘But a bluff is a trick.’

  ‘No. A trick is a trick. This is a bluff and because we’re doing it twice it is a double bluff.’

  ‘I’m with Clarence,’ Nick says, ‘we know the infection has worked out what we were going to do but we’re doing it anyway to trick…’

  ‘Ha!’

  ‘Still a bluff,’ Clarence says.

  ‘Nick said Trick.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Nick says, ‘but the trick is part of the bluff.’

  ‘So the bluff is the trick,’ Marcy says.

  ‘No the trick is the bluff,’ Nick says, ‘we’re bluffing the infection by tricking it into thinking we’re doing the thing we were going to do even though we know it was going to end badly but now we know that we’re doing something else…’

  ‘Are we?’ Cookey asks, ‘I thought we were still doing the same thing.’

  ‘We are, but we’re tricking…bluffing the infection into thinking we’re still doing it,’ Nick says.

  ‘So,’ Cookey says then pauses, ‘so we are doing what it thinks we were going to do.’

  ‘Yes and that’s the tr…bluff.’

  ‘But, how the fuck is that a bluff or a trick if we’re doing what the infection thinks we were going to do anyway?’

  ‘Only until Stenbury you thick twat,’ Blowers says, ‘weren’t you listening?’

  ‘Yeah but…fuck I’m confused. What’s happening in Stenbury?’

  ‘Fucking hell, Cookey,’ Blowers groans, ‘what were you doing?’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Fucking hell! At the table we were all sat at?’

  ‘Oh. Yeah I was miles away. I lost it when Charlie stood up.’

  ‘What?’ Nick asks.

  ‘She was right in front of me,’ Cookey says, ‘like right there. Holding the map…like right there…’

  ‘You were watching her arse instead of listening to the plan,’ Blowers says.

  ‘Yeah pretty much,’ Cookey says, ‘why? What’s happening in that place you said?’

  ‘Stenbury.’

  ‘Yeah there. What’s happening?’

  ‘The infection is getting a shit load of zombies ready to kill us.’

  ‘Oh. Oh right. Yeah. That’s bad. She has a lovely arse.’

  ‘Oh my god,’ Blowers groans, ‘Mo, were you listening?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘So you heard it all?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Bluff
or double bluff, Mo?’ Nick asks.

  ‘Er…’

  ‘Is it a single bluff by tricking the infection by doing what it expects or a double bluff by doing it because it knows we’re going to do it?’

  ‘Er…’

  ‘Mo was sat next to me,’ Cookey says.

  ‘Really?’ Blowers asks, ‘Mo?’

  ‘Er…’

  ‘Fuck’s sake, Mo. Blinky, were you listening?’

  ‘No I zoned out.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘When it got boring.’

  ‘Humanity is fucked,’ Blowers says plaintively.

  ‘What’s the first place we’re going to again?’ I ask.

  ‘Foxwood,’ Cookey says, ‘see I was listening.’

  ‘We’ve been to Foxwood you dumb twat,’ Blowers says, ‘we’re going past Foxwood to Hydehill.’

  ‘We’re going past Foxwood?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So in effect we are actually going to Foxwood, but just not stopping.’

  ‘I’m going to shoot you.’

  ‘We’re going to Foxwood and then to Hydehill.’

  ‘Dave, can I shoot Cookey please?’

  ‘I bet you want to shoot me…’

  ‘Oh god noooo.’

  ‘Shoot all over me more like.’

  ‘Fuck…’

  ‘I’m not bending over for the soap in the showers I tell you that for free.’

  ‘What? Where did that come from?’

  ‘You big dirty brute.’

  ‘What the fuck? You’ve lost it, mate.’

  ‘Yeah, you want me to lose it don’t you…eh? Don’t you? Yeah got your number.’

  ‘You’re such a dick.’

  ‘You like dick.’

  ‘Fuck off!’

  ‘You like…er….fucking off.’

  ‘Cookey…stop…’

  ‘You like stopping…especially after starting when someone has dropped the soap in the showers…’

  ‘Co…’

  ‘You love cock.’

  ‘I give up.’

  ‘Yeah you like giving up and being submissive.’

  ‘…’

  ‘Your mum,’ Cookey adds with a finale of a nod and grin while sitting back to interlock his hands behind his head, ‘Cookey one, Blowers nil. So anyway, stop fucking about. What’s going on in Stenburyshireville or whatever it’s called? I think Charlie and Reginald need some help. I could hold the maps for them or like…just stand there and fan them or something.’

  ‘You need to know what we’re doing,’ Clarence says, ‘we are going to Hydehill first…’

  ‘Oh I got that bit,’ Cookey says, ‘we’re doing every other town until we get to Stenbury…I just didn’t listen after that.’

  ‘Cookey. Quiet now,’ Clarence says.

  ‘Roger, being quiet.’

  ‘Hydehill first, then er…’

  ‘Brookley,’ Marcy says.

  ‘Then Brookley then…was that it?’

  ‘We’re you listening?’ Cookey asks cheekily which draws a sharp intake of breath from everyone else.

  ‘You are a cheeky sod today,’ Clarence says, ‘and we’re going to fall out if this carries on.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Switch on, shut up and listen.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Marcy,’ Clarence says, ‘do you remember the town names?’

  ‘Hydehill first, then Brookley, then Flitcombe and Stenbury is after that but we are stopping before we get to Stenbury to reassess.’

  ‘But,’ Clarence says and even though I’m facing the other way I would bet a million he is glaring at the lads to make sure they’re listening, ‘the infection knows we are coming. Reginald, however, is confident that we will be allowed to win each fight until we get to Stenbury.’

  ‘Allowed?’ Blowers asks, ‘I don’t like that.’

  ‘What?’ I call back.

  ‘Being allowed to kill them. We’d kill them anyway.’

  ‘We’re going along with it,’ I say, ‘and we’ll act normal and not give anything away that we know that they know what we’re doing.’

  ‘Fucking confusing,’ Blinky mutters.

  ‘We’re going places to kill things,’ Marcy says.

  ‘Got it, fucking awesome,’ Blinky says.

  I glance across to Dave staring out the front windscreen, ‘so mate, good plan then?’

  Ten

  ‘I really don’t know what they want us to do. Really I don’t. What are we meant to do? How? I don’t know. Really I don’t know. It’s too much. Too much I say.’

  Charlie listens patiently, waiting for the nerves to ease while she sits to one side of the desk and glances from Reginald to the monitor and the quadrant of images on display. She looks round at the interior and notes the rail running along the walls that will be perfect to hook or pin the maps up on. The desk is big enough for one map to be opened out if it’s folded a bit to show the relevant area. Actually, if they fold them correctly they can have two maps on the desk and the rest pinned to the rail.

  ‘The pressure is just terrible. We are holding the lives of others in our hands…’

  His feet tap on the floor causing his knees to bounce and with his legs closed tightly together it gives him an almost comical appearance, if you don’t look at the angst so evidently etched into his face that is. His hands keep moving to do something at the base of his neck and only after the fourth of fifth time does she realise he is trying to adjust a tie knot. They tremble too, his hands. Tremble and shake as he drums his fingers nervously on the desk and fidgets.

  ‘What you said was amazing.’

  ‘One wrong decision and everyone dies. How can someone work under that pressure? I mean…what? Sorry, what did you say?’

  ‘I said that your ideas are amazing, what you said back there.’

  ‘Oh, oh gosh that was a simple logical thought process but the…’

  ‘I am sorry to interrupt you, Reginald. But it was more than a simple logical thought process. None of the others had the same thoughts or followed them through to the conclusion that you did.’

  ‘Ah yes but you see they are ensconced within the action as it were so they lack the perspective of someone watching in from the outside. Should any of them have been in my position then I am sure, given time, they would have reached that same conclusion.’

  ‘They would have been dead by then.’

  ‘Well yes, a valid point and I will concede to that fact.’

  ‘But now they will not be dead because you were brave enough to speak out and therefore you have saved them, us…you have saved all of us.’

  ‘Indeed yes, for now perhaps I have taken action that has altered the proposed course which may well prevent such an immediate loss of life. However, because I presented my thesis it is then not fair to impose such a burden of responsibility by assuming I, or indeed we, have the capability to plan for them.’

  ‘Yes I see that point but may I say, respectfully, that I do not believe they are imposing the burden. If you, or we, were to present back to Mr Howie that, after careful consideration, we are not able to provide any assistance in planning then I am sure he would accept that decision without prejudice or judgement.’

  ‘Ah but then herein lies the rub that if left to act alone without the guidance of planning that yes, he may well make decisions based on what is known at this time, but what if it changes? What if the other player works out they we have mitigated their plan and then plans something else?’

  ‘In which case we will have to continue to monitor, albeit, we, or you, may not play an active role in the planning, execution or direct combat but more work in a passive overseer, almost consultant role of monitoring and reporting when the need arises.’

  ‘Ah yes, yes I see. So perhaps I, or we, shall not be able to present a military plan in the format that Mr Howie requires but rather we observe, such as I have done already, and verbalise our concerns or opinions as and when the need arises.’
/>
  ‘I think so, however, we do not know that you, or we in this case, cannot do what is requested without first trying. Surely intelligence is not based on what you know now but rather the ability to continue to learn and advance your understanding and knowledge.’

  Reginald pauses, thinking, nodding slowly, ‘indeed, intelligence does come from the continual use of cognitive function to enhance one’s own understanding and knowledge. He who ceases to learn may well cease to know.’

  ‘Who said that?’

  ‘I said that.’

  ‘Your quote?’

  ‘Indeed.’

  She pauses, thinking, nodding slowly and noticing without looking that his feet have stopped tapping and his hands are now interlocked across his stomach without tremble or shake and the expression on his face is changing from fear riddled to contemplation.

  ‘Perhaps, as an exercise,’ she suggests casually, ‘we could follow the teams advancement through the next…say we call it the next target location? What was the name?’

  ‘Hydehill I believe, yes, yes it was Hydehill,’ he leans forward and taking one of the maps he starts to unfold it on the desk. Taking her cue she reaches for the map underneath and she too starts to unfold it.

  ‘The desk is only big enough for one map,’ she says as though somewhat disappointed.

  ‘Not if we fold them to show the section required, here,’ Reginald finds the area he needs and refolds the map to half size and lays the map flat’

  ‘Oh I see,’ Charlie copies his actions and grasping the lip of the desk she pulls herself in closer as she lays her map down next to his.

  ‘One in twenty five,’ Reginald says tapping the map on the right in front of him, ‘and yours is one in fifty?’

  ‘Yes, one in fifty,’ Charlie says, ‘have we two one in twenty fives?’

  ‘I believe we do,’ Reginald replies leafing through the stack, ‘yes we have another one here.’

  Instead of taking it from him she tentatively holds her hand out, ‘may I?’

  ‘Of course,’ Reginald hands it over and waits as she opens it out to the same folds as his one in twenty five scale map before laying it on the desk.

  ‘There,’ she says, ‘we’re both looking at the same thing.’

  ‘Indeed. A duplication,’ Reginald says glancing between the two, ‘and a pity the scale is so vast.’