Infected

by Rolfe, Michael I

Part Four was the plan for securing the base from other threats. From an enemy whose identity, strength and disposition were unknown.

  Part Five was a provisional but comprehensive list of men, resources, equipment and stores needed to set up and maintain the new base. There was a caveat or more of an acknowledgement that not all on the list would be forthcoming.

  Part Six was a detailed description of primary and secondary road routes between Porton Down and the new site and included a plan and listed the resources needed to open both routes to road traffic.

  The Colonel read the document, then read it a second time, making notes and comments as he did so, he knew that opening a second base would be a moderate to large undertaking, but he had not fully appreciated what a massive and dangerous enterprise opening a road route between two bases some 80 road miles apart would be, Alan Browns report spelt this out in no uncertain terms.

  There was a knock on the door, “Come!” said the Colonel, upon which the door opened and one of his bodyguards stepped in, saluted as he said, “Major Brown to see you Sir.” “Thank you, please send him in and tell the cooks we are ready for our meal.” replied the Colonel. Alan Brown walked in and the Colonel motioned him to sit at a table that had been laid earlier.

  The two men sat in silence as the food was served, then the Colonel dismissed the waiter saying “Thank you Pope, that will be all for tonight, no sense you waiting around. The Major and I will be working late into the night, you can clear the table in the morning.” Pope smiled and said, “Thank you Sir!” as he made his way towards the door, thinking to himself “The old man is a good bloke!” most officers that Pope had served in the past would have made him wait on them all night.

  Once the door was closed the Colonel asked “So, how are you Alan?” which disconcerted the Major somewhat, “I’m fine, thank you.” He replied hesitantly. The Colonel pressed on saying “More specifically, how are you dealing with the loss of your family and friends?” He did not reply immediately, but looked directly at his Commanding Officer, and seeing his own sadness reflected in his eyes, he then ventured, compassionately “I am probably doing as well as you are Sir…” The Colonel nodded, then said “Yes. It hurts like hell, doesn’t it?”

  The two men worked on into the night and were surprised when at midnight there was a knock on the door, Pope walked in with a tray complete with a pot of tea and two large mugs. “I thought I told you to take the night off?” said the Colonel and Pope responded “Did you Sir? I really can’t recall! Still, no harm in a mug of tea, is there Sir?” “Bloody paratroopers always think they know best, and I think in this case you are correct Pope.” said the Colonel as he tried to keep a straight face.

  It was almost light by the time the two officers had completed their plans for the new base and clearance of the road routes. “Get some sleep, we will reconvene with the junior officers and the RMS at 13:00 hours. And Alan, if you ever need to talk about things… you know where I am.” said the Colonel.

  Brown was tired, but he had one more thing that he had to do before getting some sleep, he walked towards the civilian compound and spoke to the guards on duty. Last time he was here there were thirty-five people residing within the protected area, and now that number had now grown to over one hundred and fifty, the odds were slim, but he looked down the list of the new arrivals and compared them with the one compiled by his men of their friends and relatives, there was not find a single match. Knowing that it was pointless he still passed through the quarantine “Air lock”, entered the compound and walked around in a forlorn hope that he might find his family. After half an hour, he had to admit to himself that they were not there and were never likely to be. He shook his head, thought to himself “Stupid idea!” and walking back towards the exit he realised the whole exercise had made him feel even more despondent.

  The meeting for orders started promptly, in true military fashion, at 13:00 hours. Major Browns force was to be enlarged to help clear and then man the new base, once established one third of Porton Downs military and civilian personal would be transferred including some of the civilians that had been rescued. A contingent of scientists would also make the move, their brief being to replicate the work at Porton Down, just in case the base was lost. Lt Colonel Curtis said “Gentleman, this is going to be a difficult and dangerous undertaking, especially in establishing a road route between our two bases. Make no mistake, we will lose people, but it is vital that we do this. We still do not know who attacked us, or why they did so, so we need to re-establish our hold on our own country and this is the first step in doing so. Setting up and connecting to our new base is now our top priority, I do not like having all my eggs in one basket. One more thing, and on a lighter note, after taking a poll the overwhelming consensus is that the new base be called Camp Pegasus.”

  All the available ten helicopters were tasked with supplying Camp Pegasus and Major Brown was on one of the first to leave, being keen to get on with the task of clearing the site of the Infected. After his earlier malaise, he had a feeling, a good one, that they were taking the fight to the enemy and this was a first step on the road back to normality and perhaps a better future!

  Although large, the single building that had already been cleared and secured was not sufficient to accommodate the force assembling at Camp Pegasus, so it was vital to take and secure the rest of the site. This would not be a simple operation, but Brown had a plan that he believed could be implemented with minimal loss to his men and it would start with the perimeter. The fence was robust and intact throughout, the front and rear gates were of a substantial steel construction and could easily hold back a horde of Infected, unfortunately both were open and would need to be closed. There were twelve large office blocks and several other smaller structures, in addition there were five massive warehouses that were situated to the north, with four storey office complexes to the south. These were connected by high enclosed walkways, linking the buildings and affording access from one flat roof to another, these would make ideal vantage points for lookouts and snipers.

  Brown ordered that each roof be taken, and access secured to prevent the Infected from getting on the rooftops. The task of clearing the roofs was easy, no Infected were up there and all the access points were easily sealed. Now the more dangerous task of securing the perimeter could begin.

  Brown was getting ready to lead the first team to close the gates when the Patrols Platoon Sergeant Tomlinson approached him, “Might I enquire what you are doing Sir?” he asked in a very formal voice. Brown knew what was coming but chose to duck the question by asking one of his own “Sergeant, are the snipers in place to cover my gate team?” Without even pausing to think Tomlinson replied “Yes Sir. They are in position ready to cover the team, however Sir, and respectfully, I do not think you should joining them.” The Major knew he was right, but he was a man of action and wanted to be with his men on the front line. Sensing the indecision Tomlinson pressed home his advantage saying “Sir, you are no longer a platoon commander, you are the Commanding Office of Camp Pegasus and as such you should not be risking yourself on operations. I don’t have to tell you of the upheaval that would result if you were lost. And Sir, I for one would not want to be the person to inform Lt Colonel Curtis of your demise or the manner of it!” The Major knew he was right and was fully aware that this day would come, but now that it was here he was regretting his promotion, he knew he would have to acquiesce and it put him in a black mood. But then a smile broke across his face as he looked at Sergeant Mick Tomlinson and said, “Sergeant Tomlinson, I shall be needing a Base Sergeant Major, you are just the man I am looking for, congratulations RMS!” Sergeant, now Sergeant Major Tomlinson just stared back at his commanding officer with his mouth open, there was a pause while he assessed the implications of his promotion and then he said, “Oh no Sir, please not that!” Alan Brown laughed as he said, “I know, promotion is hell, get used to it Sergeant Major!” then he wandered off to brief his men, leaving his new RSM to
ponder further the implications of his promotion, one of which was in the absence of any other officer, he was now effectively the 2IC (Second in command) of Camp Pegasus.

  The look on Sergeant Major Mick Tomlinson’s face was enough the lift Alan Brown’s mood as he made his way to the rooftop position to supervise the operation to secure the gates. However, upon arriving he became serous once more as he looked over the sprawling car parks towards the first of the two gates. The whole area was crawling with Infected and more were arriving along the road, having been attracted by the increased noise levels, particularly the helicopters. It was obvious that the gates would have to be closed quickly or the entire camp would be overrun, so he could not hesitate any longer and keyed the button on his radio, giving the order to start the operation.

  A helicopter with an eight-man team swept down towards the main gate, the door gunner opened fire on the mass of Infected in the area, then the chopper touched down just long enough to allow the team to disembark and take a position outside the main gate. These eight men seemed terribly exposed as they fired into the massed ranks of the Infected and they just managed to hold them at bay while a second helicopter swooped and deposited another eight-man team, taking on the Infected inside of the gate.

  A third chopper dropped a team of combat engineers who went straight to work on the gate which was seven-foot-tall and of a heavy steel construction. Designed to roll across the road on a rail, it was operated by an electric motor and was almost fully opened and retracted into an alcove between two steel box section fences, this area had trees planted around it to soften the appearance. With the loss of electrical power, the motor was effectually locking the gate in the open position, so the engineers went to work disengaging it. This took longer than expected but the two eight-man fire teams on either side of the gate were holding the Infected at bay, and now that the choppers had left the area the men lining the roofs added to the fire power. The Infected never got closer than twenty metres from the teams on the ground, the snipers picked off any that managed to make further headway toward the ground teams. The sound of rifle fire was unremitting, and Major Brown was starting to worry about the ground teams ammunition when at last the combat engineers manager to disengage the drive motor from the gate. The four engineers used their combined weight to pull the gate out of the alcove, but it would not move.

  Shouting over the noise of the rifle fire the Corporal in charge of the engineers said “Try pushing it fully home first, then try to retract it! They pushed on the gate and it slid back a few inches before stopping, “Right pull!” shouted the Corporal, this time the gate moved and slid freely out of it alcove and rolled across the road. “Move!” shouted the Corporal at the Fire team who were outside the perimeter. This team were stood in a row and they peeled off from the right, one at a time, each slapping his comrade on the shoulder as he passed to notify him that he should move next. As the last of the fire team ran through the entrance the Combat engineers slammed the gate into the solid steel post and secured it in place with a heavy chain and padlock and quickly moved away as the infected surged forward and reached through the bars.

  All twenty of the soldiers stood in a row across the entrance road facing into the site and fired at the Infected, combined with that coming from the roofs it had a dramatic effect of on the Infected, they were not only held at bay but were now falling at a phenomenal rate. The twenty men walked forward together until there was enough area behind them for the helicopters to land and pick them up. As the first chopper landed the four Combat engineers disengaged and ran for it, as soon as the last man was aboard the aircraft pulled rapidly away and was replaced by a second chopper, eight of the men ran back to it and embarked the helicopter and it too lifted away. The last helicopter landed, and the final eight-man team ran back to it. The Infected were no longer held back by a substantial rate of fire, they surged forward, climbing over the bodies of the fallen and chopper door gunner opened up and slowed the forward momentum, but still they came on. The last man hurtled into the helicopter and the engine noise increased as the aircraft stated to lift from the ground. A relieved shout of “We made it!” was heard over the din, but then there was a loud bang, the noise of the engine changed and the helicopter shuddered to its core.

  The pilot instantly knew that the gearbox would tear itself apart if he tried to take off and so having no other choice, he shut down the engines. As the whining of the engines reduced the first of the Paratrooper started to climb out of the chopper, the door gunner was still firing into the Infected, but they were almost on the stricken aircraft. The Paratrooper lifted his rifle to fire but as he did so the first of the Infected ran into him at full pelt…

  Tom Sheppard had been a security guard at the Business Park for five years and was on duty on the day of the outbreak, he had been on the night shift and was looking forward to going home but the day shift had not turned up, so he and his fellow guard Mark Jones had stayed on. Tom had walked to the far side of the site to open the rear gate and had been returning to join Mark in the security building by the main gate when he had encountered the Infected, it had run up to him and attacked. Tom was a large man and had fought bravely and managed to push the Infected away before running across a road, pursued by his assailant who was then hit by a speeding car. Realising that he could not make it back to the security building Tom had headed in the trees by the main gate to hide from the other Infected, it was while he was there that he realised that he was bleeding. He fell to the ground in convulsions and his right arm slipped though the steel box section fence and was trapped the by the gate as it started to close. When Tom opened his wild eyes, fury was his only emotion, from where he was he could see people running and being attacked, and his only desire was to join the hunt. He made to go forward but found that he could not move because his arm was trapped in the jaws of a metal beast. His frustration mounted as he tried and failed to get towards his prey, then his luck changed and his quarry came to him. Jane, a pretty, petite young woman of around twenty-five and dressed in smart office wear, had run into the cover of the trees. Like Tom had she was also trying to find a place to hide, sadly, the only thing she found was her death. The hunter’s instinct told the wild animal that Tom had become, to remain still and let the woman come to him. Jane had not seen him in the gloom and she was looking back toward the scene of carnage that was taking place just outside her hiding place, with each new horror she witnessed she backed further into the trees, within a minute she had backed straight in to the clutches of Tom. Even with one arm trapped in the gate Tom easily over powered the diminutive Jane and pulled her into him, sinking his teeth into her neck ripping through her carotid artery, then bit and bit again. Jane fought back with all her might but within a few seconds she felt her strength ebbing away as her life-giving blood hosed out of her neck, then her vision dimmed and she no longer felt the further bites that were assaulting her, within a few seconds it was all over.

  Two months passed by and the Infected that had been security guard Tom Sheppard survived by eating the body of his first victim, then by catching and eating rats and carrion eating birds attracted by the smell of rotting flesh. With no prospect of attacking another victim, his body and what was left of his brain shut down to almost a comatose condition, in this state he was able to survive for weeks without any nutrition.

  The sound of the helicopter engines and the wind from the downdraft started to wake Tom from his coma like state, then the rifle fire and shouting woke him further. He tried to move but his trapped arm still held him fast and his frustration mounted when he saw the soldiers, he wanted to get to them, tear them apart and devour their flesh, but he just could not move. Then suddenly the metal jaws that held his arm moved and released him and fell to the ground free at last. Although he was very weak and at first his legs would not carry him, his rage spurred him on, with shaking legs, he slowly made his way toward a line of soldiers, all with their backs to him. A large flying beast swooped down from the sky
and the wind from it knocked the weakened Tom to the ground, the beast flew away, and Tom was attempting to stand when he was knocked to the ground again by the wind from another beast. He could see his quarry climbing into the belly of the flying beast and again they escaped from him, and Tom’s fury mounted. A third flying beast landed in front of him and the men ran towards it, this time Tom would not be denied, he stood and stumbled forward and walked headlong in to the helicopters tail rotor. The blade cut through his left trapezius and continued down, slicing the ribcage and smashing his heart, the second blade hit his head and tore it from the trunk.

  Major Brown watched as the last man climbed into the third helicopter and started to relax as he heard the engine tone change as the pilot brought on the power to climb. The Infected were running towards the chopper and Brown watched as they were cut down by the door gunner. Some of them kept on running towards the aircraft but the battle clock was running in the Majors head and he knew that they would not get to it in time, his men were safe, and the first part of the mission was a success. It had gone better than he had thought possible, not a man had been lost. Then he watched in horror as the catastrophe unfolded before his eyes. An Infected wearing a dishevelled security guards uniform stumbled out of the tree line towards the last helicopter and walked straight into the tail rotor, a second or two later the engine shut down and the Infected surged over the stricken aircraft like surf breaking on the rocks. The men, his men, never stood a chance as they were engulfed by the surge of inhumanity. All the guns on the roof tops were firing rapidly but it was a futile attempt at stopping the inevitable, Brown and his men were helpless as they witnessed the doomed paras being torn apart. He let the firing continue for another ten seconds and then he shouted “Stop!”, and slowly the sound of rifle fire came to an end, and the only sound was of the two surviving helicopters closing their engines down.