Zombie Dawn Apocalypse

by Michael G. Thomas

  “Come on, people, fall back!” shouted Nick as he leapt onto his motorcycle.

  Those on foot jumped down from the wall and started running off to the castle, whilst the ones on bikes picked up as many people as they could to carry back with them.

  The collapse of the defences came quickly as the fighters left their positions to retreat to the safety of the ancient fortress. Without firearms to covers the gates and doors some zombies were already tearing their way inside.

  Nick and the rest of his mounted group made their way slowly through the retreating fighters, all converging on the one place. The rain was now coming down even harder and to make matters worse the sun was going down, reducing the light and visibility even more.

  As the column rounded the last bend they spotted the castle, flares still launching off into the sky. Defenders trickled in from the bridges, heading through the great gate where the mobile reserve had gathered just hours before.

  The mobile column rode up the main path and inside the castle courtyard to find about fifteen ragged defenders waiting for them. Nick jumped off, looking up at the great tower, noting the flares still launching but no people appeared to be visible. He turned to Artur who was close behind.

  “Help get everybody inside. We need this place secured in the next ten minutes. Get guns on the walls and make sure the rear gate and sally ports are secured,” he ordered.

  Artur nodded and ran off, taking two of the reserve fighters with him. Nick headed for the spiral staircase at the great tower whilst more fighters returned to the castle. He ran as fast as he could, determined to get to the top to see for himself what was happening. As he reached the top level he found nobody, just several crates with burning matchcords and another dozen rocket flares. Another whooshed off before he could pull out the burning cord.

  As he stood at the top he looked across the horizon, noticing the last of the defenders making their way inside the castle. What worried him the most though, was that there didn’t appear to be any people at the bridges and the zombies were making their way across and towards the castle. Movement near the water caught his eye.

  “The bastard!” he swore as he spotted Davies pushing out a boat, along with half a dozen of his comrades.

  Artur appeared next to Nick.

  “Nobody knows what happened. They assumed it was you sending the signal.”

  “It wasn’t me, it’s that asshole Davies and look, he’s leaving by boat! He must have triggered them to get people away from the river and the boats.”

  Artur looked over the ledge, spotting the men making their way to the water. He pointed out near to them.

  “Look, the dead are already there, they must have broken through at the small bridge.”

  The barricade was partially knocked down and a group of at least a hundred zombies advanced past the bridge and towards the boats. Davies and his people had almost got the boat into the water when the zombies cut them off. A desperate battle started but Nick turned back to Artur.

  “Serves the bastards right, we have our own problems.”

  The two looked down to the perimeter of the castle, hundreds more zombies swarmed around the entrance and it looked like they were circling. In just a few more minutes the castle would be completely surrounded. Gunfire erupted along the walls and from the towers as the survivors did their best to force back the zombies.

  “Come on, back to the courtyard, we need a new plan,” said Nick as he headed down the staircase.

  The battle continued around them and by the time they reached the courtyard the entire outer wall was covered in white smoke from the battle. They met in the middle where they were joined by Zack and Gary who were both covered in gore from close quarter combat.

  “The drainage tunnel and sally ports are not going to last long, the numbers are too great. Also, there are two groups at the main doors, I don’t know how long the doors will last before they can get in,” said Gary.

  The sound of the creatures smashing their bodies against the ancient wood was terrifying to the less than sixty people still left from the start of the battle.

  “Jesus, we’re missing so many people. That arsehole Davies really screwed us over. There’s no way we’re going to hold them from in here,” said Nick.

  A group of people came rushing in from the back section of the castle, they pulled the inner door shut behind them, whilst more of them fired their weapons at whatever was inside that part of the castle.

  “What about the convoy? Could we use them to break out?” asked Gary.

  Zack pushed forward.

  “Yeah, I think we’ve got about seven cars and trucks still running. We were checking them earlier in case we needed them to move people around the town. Trouble is they’re outside.”

  “Hmm, how do we get to them?” asked Carter.

  “There’s only one way, we need a diversion to give us enough time to get the civilians out,” replied Zack.

  “I have an idea,” said Artur. “If I take a team of six we can go down the wall and draw them away from the main doors. That will give you time to assemble the convoy, just don’t go without us!”

  “I don’t like it,” said Nick.

  Screams came from the weakened wall in the main courtyard. It was part of the wall that had been blown apart by cannon in the 1600s but had since been repaired. The zombies, with their weight of numbers, seemed to have forced a small hole in it and several arms were pushing inside.

  “Gary, plug the breach!” shouted Nick before turning back to Artur.

  Gary and Zack ran to the breach, quickly followed by one of the Johnson brothers and Jake, still wearing his medieval armour.

  “Do it, fire a flare when you’ve drawn them away, then we’ll get everybody down the side of the castle to the car pool,” said Nick.

  Gary shook Artur’s hand, “Good luck, you crazy bastard.”

  The man turned around and ran to the rest of the defenders in the courtyard to assemble his people for the diversionary attack.

  At the breach the wall had crumbled enough that two zombies at a time could climb through. Gary and Zack forced the horde back with their shields whilst the defenders on the walls dropped rocks and fired hook guns at those pushing behind them. The rain continued and it did nothing to help the defence of the castle, other than reduce the chances of fire spreading. Nick ran to the breach, picking up one of the dropped riot shields and slammed it against another two to create a strong wall. There was a cry as Jake fell, his legs pulled from beneath. Zack tried to pull him back, but at least a dozen arms pulled him back through the breach and out to the horde on the other side.

  “Come on Artur, pull them away!” he muttered whilst striking another creature with his blade.

  “We can’t hold for long!”

  * * *

  It had been nearly half an hour since Artur and his party had climbed down the outer wall and attacked the horde. Incredibly, they had pushed over a hundred yards away and had occupied the old Tourist Information Centre. The cracks and bangs from their firearms indicated they were alive and fighting hard. Nick and his group waited next to the castle gate, whilst Carter watched from the walls immediately above them. He shouted down.

  “There are only a couple of them left!” he cried.

  Nick turned around, the rest of the defenders, now only just over forty, were waiting with the few weapons and supplies they could find. Zack and Gary waited at the front along with what was left of the mobile reserve. The inner doorway was still shaking from the horde trying to break inside.

  “Ready?” shouted Nick as he turned.

  A shout came back that was immediately followed by the bars being removed from the castles doors. As they swung open they revealed a mass of bodies, the consequence of the recent battle. A small number of zombies staggered around but it was nothing like the previous numbers.

  “Now!” shouted Nick as he rushed through the doors with his blade drawn.

  The rest rushed after him, peop
le with supplies in the middle and the armed combatants on the outside to fight off any attackers. They ran down the main path and around the castle to the motor pool. Already the number of zombies was increasing and the arrival of this many living was certainly drawing attention.

  The motor pool contained a dozen vehicles that were always kept in a state of readiness. It was covered on three sides by a low wall, though in recent years gaps had appeared and some of these were already sheltering a number of the undead.

  Nick, Carter and another seven fighters rushed forwards and hacked their way through the zombies at the front of the area and in seconds reached the first vehicle, a heavily armoured bus. Carter tore open the door and signalled for people to get in. They then moved on to the next vehicles, hacking and slashing as they went.

  As Carter reached an old 1970s Land Rover, two zombies lurched out of the rubble and knocked him hard against the thick-skinned aluminium body. Nick jumped in, striking the first zombie with his armoured glove. More of the fighters arrived and dragged the other zombie, stabbing and hacking the creature. Some of the survivors climbed aboard the Land Rover leaving the fighters to move on further. One jumped in the back and Zack quickly followed.

  “They’re coming!” shouted one of the Johnson brothers, as he waved out to the river and small bridge.

  A large number of the undead were moving from out of the cover of the housing along the water’s edge, probably drawn by the sound of the battle. The survivors were now at the motor pool and most had climbed inside the nearest vehicle. Nick hung onto the side of the Land Rover and banged on the door, indicating it was time to leave.

  The vehicles pulled out slowly with the Land Rover at the front and closely followed by five other vehicles including the armoured bus. The Land Rover was equipped with an armoured plough fitted to the front, as well as more armour plating and a weapon mount on the top. The other vehicles were all modified in a similar fashion.

  As the vehicles rounded the corner they were stopped by the horde, their numbers were immense and blocked the entire road leading through the town.

  “Fuck!” shouted Carter as he looked out from the driver’s seat in the Land Rover.

  Nick climbed inside, turning to him.

  “We have to get through, can you force through?”

  “No way, not this many, we need to thin the horde and fast!” he said, sounding a little excited.

  Several plumes of white smoke blasted across the street and holes appeared in the horde. Behind the smoke a number of shadows could be seen along with the movement of weapons.

  “Look!” shouted Carter, “Looks like Artur and his team.”

  “Step on it, we need to help them,” said Nick.

  Carter pushed the pedal down hard and the V8 engine revved angrily. With a lurch he dropped the clutch and the truck pushed ahead and towards the battle. Zack climbed up through the hatch in the roof and to the mounted weapon, a World War II vintage Bren light machine gun. He pulled back the bolt and opened fire, each heavy bullet easily tore through the soft flesh of the zombies and helped clear the path. Artur and his small group were now only fifty feet away and were fighting in the middle of the road. Every few seconds the blast from a hook gun or shotgun exploded in the street and sent blood and gore against the walls of the abandoned homes. Some of the zombies broke away and staggered towards the convoy. Several more bursts from the Bren Gun tore through them. As the Land Rover arrived it slammed into the few surviving zombies, their soft bodies smashing onto the heavy plough.

  The arrival of the vehicles wasn’t soon enough though, and at least fifty more zombies stood between the Land Rover and Artur and his fighters. Nick opened the door and made to jump out when more of the horde pushed through from the side streets. He slammed the door shut as one of the creatures pulled at the handle. Grabbing a sawn off shotgun from the mount on the dashboard he pushed it out through one of the slits in the door and fired a blast that sent the first three zombies backwards in a spray of blood.

  “Fuck, we can’t get to them and we can’t go forward either, there are too many of them!” shouted Nick.

  The vehicle started to rock as more zombies pushed and pulled the vehicle. Nick looked behind, noting the rest of the convoy was close behind him and in the same position. Blasts of smoke came from all sides as the bogged down convoy turned into a long metal fort.

  Out in front, Artur and his group were retreating up the hill and towards an abandoned hotel. As they fell back the zombies pushed after them, eager to reach the fresh blood of his team. One of the men, possibly one of the Johnson brothers was dragged down, yet he continued to hack away with his blade until he disappeared under a mass of zombies. The rest of them were desperately moving slowly backwards, now just twenty feet from the entrance.

  “Floor it, we need to help them!” ordered Nick as he reloaded his shotgun.

  Carter revved the engine as hard as he dared and pushed forward, the plough forced many out of the way, yet the mass of bodies chocked the convoy and reduced their speed to just a walking pace. Nick fired more shots, trying to clear those in front so they could build up some momentum.

  The road came to a wider section suitable for larger vehicles and the armoured bus pushed up alongside the Land Rover and added its own mass and firepower to the battle. Several of the passengers had climbed onto the roof and were hurling rocks and firing crossbows at the undead. The rest of the vehicles moved up slowly behind these two.

  “Where are they?” asked Carter.

  “Look!” shouted Nick, as he pointed to the hotel.

  Carter lifted himself, looking through the gaps in the armoured slats running down the windscreen. He could just make out the small group of fighters working their way inside the hotel, followed by a stream of the undead. He turned back, seeing the reduced number of zombies on the road.

  “They’ve done the job though, I think we can get through.”

  What about them though, we can’t abandon them?” said Nick.

  “Maybe! But there are more coming. If we don’t go now we’ll never get out,” he said.

  Gunfire continued from the rooftops of the vehicles as they kept up the slow pace. The door on the driver’s side tore open to reveal another four zombies that quickly grabbed Carter. Nick leaned over but it was too late, one of them had already bitten down hard onto his leg and another had half dragged him out. Nick jumped over, striking the closest with the butt of the shotgun. Carter was now out of the Land Rover and on the ground with three zombies on top of him.

  Nick made to jump out but with nobody controlling the Land Rover it stalled and stopped in the road.

  “Fuck!” shouted Nick and he jumped into the seat and restarted the engine. He reached out to the door to see Carter trying to stand up only to be cut down from a shotgun blast. Either he’d been mistaken for a zombie or one of the shooters behind had put him out of his misery.

  Pulling the door shut he gunned the engine and pushed forward and up the road, the hotel now just off to his right. More zombies were staggering inside and flashes could be seen from the broken hotel windows. Before Nick was able to decide what to do a massive blast tore the building apart. Half of the ground floor collapsed and the rest of the building caved in on top. The explosion filled the road with dust, smoke and debris.

  “That’s it, time to leave!” swore Nick to himself.

  With a final push of the accelerator he moved off down the road, leaving the hotel, river and the castle behind him. He checked his mirror to see the bus and the rest of the vehicles following. Zombies were still trying to get in their way, but as they built up speed they were more easily able to brush the zombies aside. As they moved past a burning supermarket Nick spotted the old town walls and the gate leading out to the west. A group of about thirty zombies were staggering around near the wall. They must have heard the convoy, as they started moving along the road.

  A burst of fire from the roof mounted Bren knocked a couple to the ground but not
enough to make a difference.

  “Hold on!” shouted Nick as the zombies and the gate loomed ever closer.

  The impact of the zombies was less than expected, but as they ploughed through them, they came up against the gate. With a sickening smash the Land Rover battered through the ancient wood and forced its way out onto the open road. The route ahead was littered with abandoned cars and small groups of zombies wandering around like drunks in the early hours of the morning. Nick had to turn the wheel hard to avoid a truck before recovering and continuing ahead.

  “Everybody okay?” he asked.

  Zack popped his head inside from the top hatch, “Yeah, okay here.”

  “Yeah, great,” said Johnson as he sat in the back cradling a crossbow.

  A loud crashing sound came from behind and from his mirror Nick spotted a Land Rover behind them swerve off the road and rolled over.

  “Shit, did you see that?” said Nick as he tried to see what was going on.

  Zack lifted himself back up, watching behind before shouting down.

  “Yeah, they hit the truck. The rest made it though, just,” he said.

  “Are we going back?” asked Johnson.

  The Land Rover shuddered as they smashed through another group of the horde. Nick looked briefly at him then carried on driving. The vehicle shook several more times before Nick looked back at him.

  “No chance, we don’t stop till we see the open road,” said Nick.

  Johnson turned around and watched the burning town falling away behind them before he pulled himself forward to Nick.

  “What do we do now?” he asked.

  Zack appeared at the hatch, looking down at Nick. There was silence for a moment while Nick considered their situation. Blasts from the firearms continued behind them as the rest of the convoy kept up their fire.

  “West, we just keep going west and maybe we’ll find something better,” answered Nick.

  “You think so?” asked Zack.

  “No, not really,” Nick sighed, “we don’t have any choice now.”