“Well done lads, form up, let’s get ready for the next lot. That’s it, lads, spread out, good job. Does anyone need ammo?” he encourages as he climbs up onto his raised platform behind his men and the barrier is shut.
Behind him and on both sides, the 50-cal machine gun posts will be reloading and getting ready for the next wave. The big machine guns haven’t been very effective, as the zombies move too fast over the wide space for them to react. They are deadly when the enemy bunch up though and they first start firing, the awesome firepower also reassuring the men.
“Report, Eagle Eye, over,” Walker says into his radio as he looks over his shoulder.
Behind the Captain, perched thirty meters up in the air on top of a swaying boom lift, two troopers act as spotters for the offensive. Nobody had wanted to volunteer for the task when Walker had asked his men, ‘who wants to go up?’ He suspects most of the men now regret their decision not to volunteer, after fighting off zombies since the early hours. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t have wanted to be up there when the jets had flown over low and the explosions had started.
“Nothing to report yet, Sir. The dust cloud is too thick, but it is starting to dissipate slowly, Sir, over.”
“Let me know as soon as you can see anything. Over and out,” Walker orders.
“Keep your eyes peeled and shout if you see anything. No one fires until ordered,” he tells his men at the barrier in front of him, as he walks along their lines.
“Nest 1, give me a short burst.” As soon as Walker gives the order into his radio, the machine gun on his right fires its 50-cal for a couple of seconds, the noise designed to draw the zombies to them.
Nothing emerges out of the shadows of the dust cloud. The whole area has gone eerily quiet since the jets flew over dropping their ordinance. Walker doesn’t allow himself to think that the worst is over—he knows better.
“Eagle eye to Captain Walker, receiving, over?”
“Receiving, over,” Walker replies into his radio, his anticipation building.
“Sir, there is a figure in the cloud coming this way. It is running, but it looks like it is waving a light. Over.”
“Waving a light, is it a friendly? Over.”
“Uncertain, Sir, over.”
“Is it alone? Over.”
“Yes, Sir, it would appear so, over.”
“All positions, hold fire, let’s see what we’ve got,” Walker orders into his radio. “Hold fire, lads, possible friendly approaching. Send it down the line!” he then shouts to his men in front of him.
“Multiple shadows moving behind the possible friendly, Sir, it could be a trap?” Walker hears through his radio from the nest above.
Shit, Walker thinks to himself, deciding how to play it. What are the odds on there being a friendly out there amongst the zombies? He can’t take any risks with this position.
“All positions continue to hold fire until I order,” Walker reaffirms into his radio. “Corporal Jenkins, report.”
“Sir, I have the target in my sight. It could be a friendly; it's waving a torch and holding a rifle. The shadows behind him are gaining on him and closing in on our position though, Sir, over,” Walker’s best sniper tells him from his sniping position away to the Captain’s right.
Walker’s brain aches as he thinks what to do. He cannot and will not take any risks with his men or this position. If this position is overrun, it would have ramifications all along the operational lines and could bring the whole operation down. An Apache flies over and past their line, Walker has no doubt it is about to engage the enemy and it forces him to give his orders to his men.
“Walker to all positions. Fire at will but try not to hit the possible friendly.” He barks into his radio as he sees the waving light through the haze and jumps down off his platform to get to the forward barrier.
Nearly there, I think to myself, my legs burning and my arm aching from waving the torch above my head. I trip again over something on the ground and nearly go down. Debris and body parts litter my path forward, but I daren’t slow down. Rabids are closing in on me. I can hear them behind. I haven’t been shot yet, but if I get swallowed up into the pack, I can expect to be filled with bullets along with the rest of them.
Tracer fire flashes through the air on my left, quickly followed by the loud cracking of a heavy machine gun. The volley wasn’t aimed at me and it gives me a glimmer of hope that I’ve been seen. Bright lights ahead through the haze show me the way and are getting closer. I begin to make out objects coming up, there is a barrier right across the road by the looks of it, with various platforms and positions set up behind it.
As I get closer, the air clears considerably, and I can see what is coming up. It is a barrier across the road that has to be about a couple of meters high, too high to jump over. There is movement all along the top of the barrier. I can feel the rifles aimed at me by the troops positioned there. I trip again, over a leg and now I do have to slow. Dead bodies are piled up all over the road and the piles get deeper as I move forward. I work around them as best I can, trying to find solid ground. The
