14/1/2028 - Time 20:30
The battle ragged on in some form or another all night, making it difficult to get any sleep, gunfire and mortars particularly annoying. So when I got up on the fourteenth, I was still rather tired, and my head was banging. The smell didn’t help either, human excrement, BO and rotting food, not a good combination. No one had slept well, we ate some breakfast in silence, feeling unprepared for the coming days fighting. Even Keane was quiet, and he always had something to say. We moved out for the frontline around seven am, leaving rows of terraced houses behind, heading for the industrial estate, and our next objective. The factories were strangely quiet, very different to when I was last here, when work was going on in every building I was shown. It put us on edge, wondering what Torriero might be planning, what had they been doing in those restricted buildings. We walked into the industrial complex, through the abandoned security posts, and split our battalion up to search the nine buildings. The factories were constructed from a mouldy red brick, that looked damp, with moss and fungus the only thing thriving. There were a couple of large articulated lorries left in the car park, some still had supplies partly stored in the trailer. We searched through the large factory buildings, all of which had been abandoned quite recently. Our engineers confirmed they had been working on tanks, based on some of the parts left behind. In two of the smaller buildings we found a couple of tanks they’d been unable to get back on the road, one had its entire engine in pieces surrounding it. There was no sign of any fighters, we searched the building used to house the stockpile of weapons and ammunition, I was shown on my guide around the camp. It was empty, bar a few broken rifles and boxes of random bullet casings. One of the other companies also discovered a chemical laboratory in one of the buildings, which looked to have been in use as recently as last week. Rumours spread amongst the soldiers that evidence had been discovered of chemical and biological weapons, but it was denied by Lieutenant Colonel Carter. But the rumour persisted, and thus so did the paranoia. We could hear the sounds of war all morning, but we didn’t see any fighting until midday, when we left the industrial estate, and reached the memorial gardens, where the training facilities had been previously set up. Some of Torriero’s men had been waiting for us, first gunfire was put on the tanks leading us through the deserted streets, and a shell whistled yards over our heads, exploding into a building behind us. We spotted the tank as it moved out of sight, around a bend in the road, and gunfire rained down on us from the buildings around us. It opened out ahead, where Torriero had set up his defences in the gardens, training ground and woodland surrounding us. They had dug up the area, creating metres and metres of trenches, where their men were positioned. The tanks moved forward, firing shells into the buildings, bringing walls down, scattering bricks and stones across the road in front of us. There were rows of concrete blocks stopping our progress, which were also blasted by the tanks, sending the fighters hiding behind them, catapulting through the air. The Riversiders Company were sent ahead to clear a path through the rubble for the tanks to pass, which they did while we covered them. Once past the buildings, we were open on both sides, and that was the moment Torriero’s men chose to play their hand. The sky opened up as bullets rained down on us from every direction, with mortars and grenades, exploding around us. We took cover, as our tanks gunners worked overtime, laying fire down on all positions. Most soldiers retreated back to the remains of the buildings, thirty yards behind us, where they set up a defence to fight from. An enemy tank appeared again, driving out of its hiding place, through a clump of trees in the gardens to our right. It fired shells at our tanks, and was joined by two more behind it. Our vehicles moved into the gardens to meet them, as the anti-tank unit ran across a car park towards the public toilets, to set up position to launch an attack from. The vehicles drove straight at each other, firing shells, most of which missed, due to evasive measures taken by our skilled drivers. We took one of their tanks out pretty quickly, with a combination of shells, and a bazooka rocket fired across the gardens from the toilet block. As the tank battle played out, fighting continued on foot, as we tried to take the initiative, putting sustained gunfire on their closest positions. The two remaining enemy tanks had singled out our second tank, and went after it, hitting it full on. Clarets Company managed to get their men into the first trench, and moved through it, killing any enemies they encountered. This enabled us to move forward, taking the fight to the enemy, through the muddy trenches, featuring more close combat fighting, and ending up in hand to hand combat. As the two enemy tanks tried to finish our damaged vehicle, it manoeuvred around them, until our other tank arrived, and then they both attacked Torriero’s tanks. Out in the open, our tank operators were to skillful for the opposition, literally driving rings around them on occasions. We destroyed a further tank, before the last one retreated, heading back towards Headrow Road, still controlled by Torriero. The rest of the days fighting through the memorial gardens and woodland was brutal, with too many men dying on both sides. The battle chewed up men and spat them out at an alarming rate, from both sides of the war. It was evident from the identity of the bodies covering the ground, the most likely to be killed were the new recruits, men with no previous military experience, I must have been one of the lucky exceptions. Today’s fighting had been a frustrating affair, with very little ground made, at the cost of too many lives. I even feel sorry for some of the enemy, dying for what? The will of one man, certainly not something to fight for. Many may be loyal to him, but just as many are simply desperate. After six plus hours of fighting, we’d worked our way through the gardens and woodland, cleared out hundreds of metres of muddy trenches, and approached Park Cross Road. Our approximations on Torriero’s numbers must have been wildly inaccurate, as over one hundred enemy died today in our battle alone, and there is at least another three major fighting points around Leeds. The final fifty or so enemy retreated in the direction of Headrow Road, heading in a north easterly direction, towards the last known area still in Torriero’s hands. It appeared as though the days fighting had come to an end, and there was a noticeable improvement in the atmosphere. We’d made it to the end of another day, and were still alive, and more importantly we could actually see an end to the war. We were ushered into a posh looking housing estate, and told to get some rest before tomorrow’s final push. It had security posts at the entrance, which had been abandoned, leaving a twelve foot metal fence around the properties. Beyond the estate was Headrow Road, but an area occupied by the army, as Torriero had seen his territory squeezed from all sides. We were shown to a property by Captain Shaw, a member of the controlling battalion, who packed soldiers into the houses as tightly as possible. The house’s were beautiful, a far stretch from what we had been used to. Captain Shaw explained they had been recently occupied by Torriero’s men, possibly members of Bringer Mortis Unit, who had been driven out earlier in the day. The houses were huge, with impressive gardens at the front and back, the inside was immaculately clean, fresh smelling, with pictures on the walls, just perfect. In the kitchen, the cupboards were stacked full of food, tins of everything you could think of, there were even a few bottles of beer.
‘I’m having one of them!’ Shouted Keane, as he pushed past everyone, and grabbed a bottle. He pulled a bottle opener out of the draw, as Murphy and Keane picked the other bottles up. ‘Sorry Sergeant Davis’ Keane smiled opening his bottle, and throwing the top onto the work top, as Little D entered the kitchen. ‘There’s none left.’ He put the bottle towards his mouth, but Little D stopped him.
‘Where did you get that?’ He asked.
‘Just off the work top, there were three of them, just sat there.’
‘Don’t drink it’ he said, grabbing it from his hand and pouring it down the sink.
‘What the fuck?’
‘Why do you think there would be bottles of beer sat out for us to find?’ We looked at each other a little puzzled, until Little D continued.
‘I’m not touching a
nything that could have been tampered with, food or drinks. Torriero’s men were staying in these properties just last night, what’s the chances they left a little surprise for us?’
That was enough to temper our excitement at the prospect of a beer, but it didn’t curb our hunger, and soon we were rifling through the cupboards for food. They were stacked full with cans, particular favourites were spaghetti hoops, ravioli, hotdogs, and fruit. We grabbed tins from the back, and checked them over, to make sure there was no puncher marks, or anyway of contaminating them, before feeling comfortable enough to eat them. We moved into the living room to eat, and sank into the leather sofas, as Little D told us about a special mission we’d been nominated for, and we should grab an early night as we would be up at three am. I wrote up the days diary entry as I ate, and then went to try and get a little sleep.
15/1/2028 - Time 21:35
It felt like my head had only just hit the pillow, when Little D appeared at the side of my bed, waking me up. I grabbed a couple of nutrient bars out of my pack, and left the house with the rest of Blue and White Company, finding Lieutenant Colonel Carter and Captain Shaw waiting for us outside. Lieutenant Colonel Carter gave us a brief outline of what the mission involved, to capture one of Torriero’s men to interrogate. He gave us a map of the area, warning us not to go too deep into enemy territory, just far enough to gab a soldier, and then get back undetected. We were given silenced hand guns and knives for the operation, but they were only to be used as a last resort. Captain Shaw walked us to the edge of the army controlled area, and explained there could be enemy anywhere from that point on, before he headed back towards the moderate safety of our camp. The ash clouds had parted enough for a rare glimpse of the moon, something I’d not seen since the attack. It looked beautiful, sometimes you don’t realise the beauty of something until it’s gone. I have to say, for a few seconds I did stare at the cold, dry orbit, and wonder if what Torriero had said was true. Are the creatures really on the dark side of the moon? Completing their operation to mine its resources, readying themselves for an attack on earth. We can only fight what is in front of us, and right now that is Torriero. Captain Shaw told us to continue along the housing estate for a hundred yards, and then go through a back garden and onto Headrow Road, where we’d be in enemy controlled territory. If we came out opposite a shopping centre, we’d gone to far, the latest intel was telling us Torriero’s men were using this shopping centre to sleep in. We walked down the silent street, to house number forty one, where we went through the side gate and into the back garden. There were large wilting conifers at the end of the garden, fenced in by a four foot stone wall, which we positioned ourselves behind. It had worked out pretty much perfect, the start of the shopping centre was a further fifty yards from our position, and we could see the guard patrols as we remained hidden in the darkness. As luck would have it, Little D was surveying the area when the perfect opportunity presented itself. One guard appeared on his own, walking towards us, he stopped two houses up and started to urinate next to a lamppost, as he leaned on it with his left arm. Quickly and silently, Keane and Murphy moved through the gardens into the property opposite the man, who had now finished urinating, and had turned his back to the garden as he lit a cigarette. Murphy grabbed him around the neck with his left arm, putting a blade under his chin as he dragged him over the wall and into the conifers. For a moment we waited, making sure it had gone unnoticed, before moving back onto the estate, where we met Keane and Murphy with their prisoner, who didn’t seem a bit concerned he’d just been arrested.
‘You’ve done me a favour’ he said, as Murphy patted him down for weapons. We continued walking back, as the moon disappeared again, and the ash clouds rolled overhead. Back within the relative safety of the army controlled zone, Little D took the soldier to Lieutenant Colonel Carter, and we grabbed some breakfast. There was a rumour around the men that there had been a few casualties overnight, and Lieutenant Colonel Carter confirmed four deaths from poisoning, and seven from tripwires set up on doors, all inside buildings the army had chosen to camp down in. It had made the death toll for the days fighting look much worse, and the generals wanted an explanation. We were warned to be vigilant, and it was described as a desperate move by an army losing every day of fighting. Which might be the case, but I’m just thinking about the clean up operation that will have to take place once this war has concluded, every building is going to have to be checked and secured before it can be considered habitable. The man we grabbed was quizzed by Lieutenant Colonel Carter, and apparently quite happy to talk. He claimed he’d been a Leeds resident, when he’d been seized by Torriero’s men, and forced to help construct the camps defences before being ordered to fight in his name. He believed Torriero had around two hundred and thirty men left, but only half that were loyal, the remains of the so called Bringer Mortis Unit. The rest were Leeds residents, who would surrender at the first opportunity, and would offer little threat. He drew a map, showing all the key positions, and the current locations of the three tanks he knew Torriero still had operational. There were four buildings of note, the headquarters in the town hall, a weapons stockpile, shopping centre and a building where he claimed more than fifty women were being held prisoner. He said Torriero was in the headquarters, and hadn’t been seen outside for over a week. Previously he would like to be visible, influencing the residents of Leeds, convincing them to fight for him. But there was an attempt on his life a few weeks ago, when a civilian managed to get within six feet of him with a knife, before Keenan intervened. He of course made an example of the individual, in a typically horrific way, but it affected his confidence.
The days objectives were agreed between the sergeants and Lieutenant Colonel Carter by nine am, and we set off with the aim of finishing the job by the end of play today. The tank that had formed part of our offensive yesterday, was moved to another battalion after receiving orders to join an assault on the remaining Bringer Mortis fighters, and help take out the final enemy tanks. The Lancashire Fusiliers Seventh Battalion’s first objective was to gain control of the weapons stockpile, cutting off their supplies, after securing the shopping centre. We met resistance as soon as we hit Headrow Road, finding enemies in gun positions in the shopping centre, and across the roads using concrete bollard as cover. But this was not the main body of their army, and we soon swept them aside, and secured the shopping centre, which consisted of around twenty premises of varying sizes. The intel was correct, the shopping centre had been used for the enemy to bed down in, with the remains of food and clothing scattered throughout the buildings. Lieutenant Colonel Carter tried speaking to the Leeds residents who had formed part of Torriero’s army directly, over a public address system, in the hope they could be convinced to desert. His message told them to take any opportunity to surrender, the army knew Torriero was forcing them to fight, and they would be protected. But it’s questionable how successful it was, as Torriero’s men were seen shooting anyone who tried to leave, and as we progressed towards the centre we found the bodies of those that did. Some managed to flee to safety, and were soon leaving camp in the back of army people carriers, heading to the safety of Camp Blue. We could hear the sounds of war further into the centre, but had to rely on brief updates from Lieutenant Colonel Carter on how the battle was going. By mid morning, we were approaching the weapons stockpile, and Torriero had lost two tanks in the battle for the town hall, that was still in full flow. The building that housed the stockpile of weapons was a large factory, an old biscuit company famous for its long history in Leeds. It was well guarded, by around twenty men, and was the hardest fought battle we’d participated in over the past forty eight hours. But we didn’t take risks, we didn’t need to, we just held our ground, and put sustained fire on their positions. They fought to every man, and had no shortage of weapons, but we were too well organised. Not one would be taken prisoner, by three pm they’d all been killed, and we’d secured the compound. Lieutenant Colonel Carter requested vehicles
to transport the seized weapons, and take them back to Camp Blue, a job that would take the remainder of the day. It was the largest collection of weapons I’d ever seen, even some of the seasoned military looked surprised at the size of the collection. It took around an hour for the trucks to arrive, before they did, a vehicle approached down Albion Street, from an area still in Torriero’s hands. For a minute, we thought it was one of ours, but as it tried to turn around, we realised what was happening. It was quickly surrounded by armed men, who arrested the driver and passenger, and seized the vehicle. Lieutenant Colonel Carter left The Lancashire Fusiliers Ninth Battalion to oversee the dismantling of the weapons stockpile, while we were given new objectives. With the bulk of Torriero’s army dealing with battles in numerous locations around the centre of Leeds, our next objective was to get into the building being used to house the females, while their army was occupied. We were the closest battalion to the building, which was around half a mile along Albion Street. It was positioned right in the centre of the camp, a stones throw from the town hall, and where most of the fighting was now taking place. We followed Albion Street onto Great George Street, where the building was located, a hundred yards on the right. We met no opposition before it, with Torriero’s men stretched to breaking point, they didn’t have the man power, as the army pushed them back towards the Town Hall / Headquarters. The building had two floors, with all the windows boarded up, and little way for light to get in. There were four guards around the front doors to the building, who were obviously nervous about the approaching battle, as they completely missed us until we were on top of them. We quickly rounded them up without a shot being fired, and removed the keys from one of the guards before they were taken away. Inside the locked building, we found squalid conditions, dirt and general rubbish covering the floors with an odor of human waste. There was one large room on the bottom floor, with a small corridor and a wooden stair case at the end. It was too dark to see anything, so we turned our torches on, as we searched the floor. There was food, dirty pots and pans, and an area to wash and defecate. But there were no women, so we left the room and headed upstairs, where we found a locked door, with the sound of movement behind. Little D shouted to anyone inside, ‘We are the army, and we’re here to help,’ as he opened the door with the keys. Inside the room, as dust rose off the floor, floating through beams of light coming through the boarded up windows, we could see the females cowering in corners, hiding in the darkness. We explained we were the army, and their ordeal was over, as they slowly started to come forward. We covered them with blankets and helped them outside, where they would be evacuated. They covered their eyes from the light, so accustomed to the dark they’d become. They looked healthy considering what they’d been through, fed, watered and somewhat looked after. There was sixty three women, one of whom explained they were relations of men fighting for Torriero, maybe the reason they hadn’t been brutalised in the way some we’ve seen. Lieutenant Colonel Carter made a call to the generals, who organised for the women to be picked up. We left them in the protection of The Riversiders Company, and followed the sounds of war to join in the offensive against Torriero. We continued along Great George Street for around thirty minutes, securing any buildings we past, until we reached the battle zone, close to Thoresby PI. The buildings were replaced by rubble, bullet holes and impact craters from explosions. Bricks, debris and a layer of dust covered everything. The streets looked like they had been hit by a tornado, destroying everything in its path. We past the burning remains of one of Torriero’s tanks, burning flesh the only thing I could smell. There were bodies everywhere, scattered around the battlefield, blood and guts colouring the dusty floor. We came across the odd confused fighter who didn’t know where he was, or what he was doing, just wondering the streets in a daze. We’d completed our objectives, the army had tightened their grip around Torriero’s army, destroying their vehicles, and eliminating any soldiers who didn’t surrender. We received confirmation from Lieutenant Colonel Carter that Torriero’s army had unconditionally surrendered, as of six pm today. The agreement was signed by Paul Blake, the man who claimed responsibly for Torriero’s camp defences, and had been one of his most trusted men. The declaration came with the arrest of the final fifty plus soldiers, with the manhunt now on for Torriero. Thoresby PI was to be our final destination, we followed it north, where we could see two of our tanks ahead, and hundreds of soldiers. Thoresby PI is a strange looking street, shaped like a lollypop, with the road following the stick up to the head, continuing around the radius until it reaches the stick again. Inside the centre was the Town Hall, and three other council buildings. A few fighters had taken up positions around the perimeter, but we were told most had retreated inside. There were burning remains of Torriero’s final tank in the centre, still sending plumes of smoke into the ash covered sky. The only road leading to the centre was the one we were positioned on, every other approach was covered in fields and countryside, now covered with soldiers and military vehicles. There was a stand off with the final few fighters lasting around twenty minutes, we exchanged fire with each other, until we killed a couple with sniper shots, causing the rest to flee into the building. Lieutenant Colonel Carter stepped forward with a public address system, and proceeded to try and speak to inhabitants.
Aftermath: The Complete Collection (Books 1 & 2) Page 56
