Baltazar tried moving the body of the corpse in front of him to recover his Spatha. He saw movement out of his left eye and looked down. Zosimos bit Baltazar in the leg. Feeling no pain and confused Baltazar tried to shake Zosimos off of him but couldn’t. As luck would have it, Zosimos had bitten down into the leather strap holding Baltazar’s shin plate in place.
Baltazar abandoned trying to recover his Spatha and instead drew his ax. In one fluid motion, the ax was pulled from its holster on his back, and made a half circle. At the end of the arc, the flat of the ax impacted Zosimos’ helm knocking him free from Baltazar’s leg. The creature formerly known as Zosimos lunged for Baltazar’s throat. Baltazar raised his shield with his left hand, and Zosimos slammed into it. The strength of the creature on Baltazar’s shield was pushing Baltazar down and back. The Skutatoi behind Baltazar shoved his Spatha into the opening of Zosimos’ helm. Zosimos slid slowly off of Baltazar’s shield leaving a stream of purple sludge in his wake.
The men of Constan’s Kontoubernion used every bit of their training during the ensuing minutes to survive the relentless crush of the dead trying to feast upon their flesh. As the undead fell at their feet, they began forming a wall of corpses in front of the nine remaining members of the Kontoubernion. This began to create a problem as the creatures would ascend the growing pile of bodies and launch themselves down into Kentarchia from the top. This once again afforded them the opportunity to land in the rear ranks causing chaos.
Nikas, his horse long since abandoned to its fate during the sand storm, saw the danger and yelled, “2nd Kentarchia begin fighting withdrawal!” Athos saw movement above him. He snapped his head upwards and saw a creature that had launched itself from the corpse wall hurtling toward him. Athos took a step backward to maintain the line as the 2nd Kentarchia withdrew. The beast landed chest first on the ground right in the spot Athos had just occupied.
For a moment Athos and the woman locked gazes with each other. Snapping out of it, he brought the bottom of his shield down onto the undead woman’s neck severing the head from the body. The head used the momentum it still had to sink its teeth into the edge Athos’ sandal. Panicked he brought his right foot down onto the head. In an explosion of purple sludge, the woman’s head was crushed and stopped moving.
Athos took another timed step back. He saw movement out of his right eye as another creature hurtled toward him. His right side was still exposed after stepping on the woman. This new undead man was dressed in the flowing robes common to Arabia. He flung himself into the air straight at Athos. Just before the rotting man’s head made contact with his exposed side, a Spatha came down on its neck. The head now bounced harmlessly off of Athos’ side, followed by an eruption of purple sludge.
Athos smashed the head with his right foot and sighed in relief, “Thanks, Constan.”
“That’s one you owe me!” Constan then turned and shoved his Spatha through the face of a man reaching for him. Athos fell back into his place in the line and took another step back. After slowly marching backward for about twenty steps Nikas cried out, “Halt, hold what you got!”
Athos looked in front of him. His eyes beheld a truly ghastly sight. The undead continued to pour over the mound of corpses that showed the 2nd Kentarchia’s original position. Bodies of creatures and several Skutatoi lay on the ground across the twenty feet that now separated the 2nd Kentarchia from the original corpse wall.
It had seemed like hours since the undead first attacked, but in reality, it was barely five minutes. Already Athos panted with fatigue. He took a deep breath and brought his shield up to deflect the next crazed apparition throwing itself at him.
Like many of the creatures that he had seen so far, it was garbed in tattered robes and a turban. The robes had once been white but had turned dull and now resembled the color of sand. The undead man hit the shield with a thud. Athos brought his ax down onto his head. Now covered in purple sludge, the turban, along with the rest of the man fell to the ground in a limp pile.
As Athos withdrew his ax, he looked over at Constan, who was shoving his Spatha into the gut of what once was a woman. Her dress was in tatters exposing her left breast. The breast was a sickly gray, purplish color. Undeterred, the woman pushed herself along the length of the Spatha to bite Constan in the neck.
Athos’ mind filled with a new sense of focus that he could have only dreamed of twenty-four hours ago. Seeing the danger to Constan, he brought his ax down on the woman’s head. The woman immediately fell to the ground limp. Recognition dawned on Athos’ face. He screamed, “Aim for their heads!” He then smiled at Constan. “We’re even old man” and winked at him.
“Indeed lad! See what you can accomplish when you’re paying attention?”
Purple sludge erupted across his face. “Pay attention, Athos! This is no time for one of your daydreams.” Baltazar had just saved his life.
Constan, yelling so his voice could be heard over the tremendous noise of combat said, “He is finally paying attention, lad. In combat, there is often simply too much going on for one person to keep track of. This is why you need to have your brother’s back.”
Athos and Baltazar nodded in response to Constan’s words of wisdom. The two turned and faced the horde once again. Minute after minute they fought and slew the walking dead. A human enemy would have broken and run given the casualties that were being inflicted on them. These creatures didn’t seem to care. The undead had one goal, to feast on the flesh of a Skutatoi.
Chapter 18
Afternoon, August 9th 636 Yarmouk Valley, Palestinia Province, Byzantium
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Constan yanked his Spatha out of a creature as it fell to the ground. To his left, Athos was dispatching undead after undead with his ax. “Steady, lads. You’re doing well. Just remember your training, aim for the heads, and you’ll get through this.” The bodies of the putrid creatures continued to pile up in front of the 2nd Kentarchia.
Will this tide of darkness ever end? Constan thought to himself as he beheaded another with his Spatha and kicked the still biting head away as hard as he could. The head and the jaw separated from the blow and flew in different directions. The pile of corpses had reached about shoulder height in front of them again. Constan could hear the undead behind the wall growling and crying out in frustration.
To Constan’s right, Ilais looked shaken but continued to fight on. A creature launched itself at Ilais from the top of the pile. From behind him a spear sailed through the air and struck the beast in the face arresting its forward motion and putting an end to the danger. Ilais took a deep breath, “That was close.”
Damon to his right responded, “Yeah, these bastards don’t seem to ever quit.” The time Damon took to make the statement almost cost him his life. Once again, a creature launched itself from the pile. The putrid woman, with a rotted hole in her cheek, landed squarely on Damon and tried to get past his shield and bite him. Damon, not expecting the sudden weight that slammed into him, fell backward to the ground. Ilias turned and stabbed his Spatha into the back of the snarling woman’s head. Purple sludge erupted and slid down her neck dripping on Damon underneath.
As he saved Damon, Ilias did not see the creature sailing toward him through the air. His left side was turned toward the pile with his shield held up to provide him a measure of protection. The former Skutatoi landed right on the shield. The waist of the creature hit the edge of the shield so that its legs were on top of the shield and the torso was between Ilias and the shield. The creature bit down hard on Ilias’ exposed arm behind the shield.
Ilias screamed in disbelief as blood erupted from the veins of his left arm. Constan, not able to get at the creature’s head, swung his Spatha and cut it in half. Separated from its legs, the former Skutatoi slid forward and was able to bite Ilias again in the neck. The spray from his ruptured jugular vein squirted over Damon’s face as he stood up. Disgusted, Damon vomited.
Time f
roze for Ilias. He looked up into the sky and there hovering over the creature that was chewing on him was Iva. Surrounded by a glowing white light, she smiled at him and gestured for him to come. He reached for her. It was growing dark, so dark.
Losing consciousness, Ilias fell to the ground with the armored Skutatoi that had slew him still on top. Damon brought his shield down into the back of the creature’s head crushing it. Before Damon could think to make sure Ilias stayed dead, Nikas yelled, “Fighting withdrawal!”
Not wanting to expose himself, Damon took a step back with the rest of the front line. The Skutatoi directly behind Ilias simply stood still to fill the gap in the line left by him. Damon took one final look at Ilias as his life blood drained into the earth. Good by my friend. May you finally know peace.
Constan saw Ilias laying on the ground as they slowly backed up, That’s two of me lads so far. How many more will need to fall here today to secure our victory?
After backing up another twenty feet, Nikas cried out, “Halt, defend!” They did this several more times as the afternoon continued. As the sun got low on the horizon, Athos began to hear panic coming from behind him. Dispatching a creature with his ax, he looked behind him for a second and asked, “What is going on back there?”
The reply made his blood run cold. “Somehow the bewitched cannibals have gotten behind us. We are under attack from both front and back now!” The Skutatoi said his voice laced with panic.
Nikas yelled, “Fuck! What the hell happened to the Tagmata and the 1st Kentarchia to our right? For that matter, what in the nine hells happened to the Toxatoi back there?”
A voice from the back of the 2nd Kentarchia responded, “When the dead attacked their right flank the Toxatoi broke and ran!”
Nikas roared in rage, “I knew it! Fucking good for nothing Imperial candy arses are going to get us all killed!”
Another voice chimed in. This time from the vicinity of their right flank. “We lost contact with the first Kentarchia about three minutes ago. The bastards drove a wedge between us when they started attacking from behind.”
Nikas ordered the Skutatoi behind Constan to take his place in the line beside Athos. Athos overheard the conversation that was taking place right behind him. “I think we are truly fucked if we aren’t able to somehow break out and reestablish contact with the 1st Kentarchia or the Imperial Tagmata that should be maybe three hundred feet from our right flank,” Nikas said to Constan.
“Aye sir, we’ve been in some rough spots before and pulled through. We just need to figure out which direction we need to fight and do it.” Athos paused from listening for a moment and swung his ax at a undead Skutatoi that was threatening Baltazar. The ax caved in the left side of the creature’s head, and it fell to the ground. Luckily it had lost its helmet at some point.
Ilias came at the Skutatoi to Athos’ right. Oh God, not Ilias! The man beside him, whom Athos believed was called Otis, brought his ax down trying to hit the gap between the nose guard and side plate of Ilias’ helmet. He missed!
Ilias grabbed Otis’ shield, ripped it from his fingers, and then sank his teeth into his exposed left-hand biting off four fingers. Otis fell backward screaming as the stumps of his four fingers spurted blood. Collapsing to the ground, he screamed in agony.
Ilias turned from Otis and launched itself at Constan who was still talking to Nikas. Constan, startled by the sudden attack, brought up his Spatha just in time to deflect Ilias. The metal of his helm clanged as it struck Constan’s blade. Undeterred, the creature lunged at Constan again, but this time Nikas shoved his sword into the Ilias’ mouth putting an end to the threat and his unholy existence.
Constan quickly turned to face the oncoming horde once more. Nikas spoke into his ear, “Hold the front Constan while I try to stabilize our right flank and rear. Try to keep us in contact with the 3rd Kentarchia. We don’t want to be separated from them too.”
Constan nodded in response and then removed the head of a creature reaching for Damon. Baltazar smacked Athos on the side of his helm with the flat of his ax, “Pay attention Athos!”
Athos replied, “Just trying to figure out what is going on behind us!”
“I think we have plenty to worry about in front of us,” Baltazar said grinning, his humorous look helping to alleviate some of the desperation Athos was beginning to feel.
Constan directed one of the 2nd rank Skutatoi to take the unfortunate that lost his fingers to safety. Otis was moved to the center of the formation and treated by Esculapio, the Kentarchia’s medic. Esculapio stanched the flow with a bandage and tied it down with some string. The fabric quickly became saturated with blood and was soon dripping. He tried to get Otis to sip some of his special wine. The wine had herbs mixed into it to dull his senses. This helped numb the intense pain from his severed fingers. Otis went into shock and lost consciousness as Esculapio stood over him.
Athos, Baltazar, Constan, and the rest of their comrades fought on for several more minutes. They discovered a rhythm operating as a team against the dead and the amount of corpses piling up in front of them grew at a precipitous rate. As the pile in front of the pair of friends reached chest level, they heard cheering coming from behind. “What’s going on?” Athos asked the Skutatoi behind him.
“The Toxatoi reformed and are firing volley after volley of arrows into the heads of the creatures behind us. They are killing them by the hundreds,” came a reply.
Athos was unsure who had replied. Five more minutes passed, and the surviving members of Dekanos Constan’s Kontoubernion were once again struggling. With nowhere to retreat, the corpses of the slain were again being used by the creatures to launch themselves into the 2nd Kentarchia. Finally, Nikas’ voice boomed out from somewhere behind them, “Our rear is clear men, begin withdrawing!” A cheer erupted from the surviving members of the Kentarchia as they step by step began backing up to put some distance between themselves and the pile of corpses in front of them.
Athos, Baltazar, and the rest of the front line withdrew another twenty paces and stopped. The pair of friends were both panting from their continuous efforts over the last three hours. Athos took out his canteen and took a few sips. Baltazar did the same. Athos put the canteen back into his pack and said, “The creatures seem to be slowing down.”
Baltazar smiled, “Thank God. I thought we would never see the end of them. If the entire front line of the army was like it was here, we must have slain tens of thousands of these bastards.”
Athos nodded, “I don’t even know what to call them exactly. Hellspawn, creatures, undead, who knows? They are certainly the result of some foul magics or a pact with Satan gone awry.”
Baltazar thought for a minute and replied, “Once they were human, they are clearly not human anymore or alive. That makes them creatures or undead.”
Chaos erupted behind the friends. Athos turned around to see the problem, and it made him quiver with rage. The Skutatoi that had lost his fingers, Otis, had become a Bewitched Cannibal and was now on top of the medic and feasting on him. The man screamed and then gurgled as his mouth filled with blood.
Nikas nearby swung his Spatha at Otis. The former compatriot brought its head up for a moment and Nikas’ swing, originally intended to be a neck strike, hit it in the armor of its right arm. Otis then turned and lunged at Nikas, who sidestepped with his left foot. The former Skutatoi, off balance, swept past him. As it did so, Nikas swung his Spatha once again at its neck. This time the Spatha struck home, and Otis’ head toppled to the ground. The head rolled to a stop at the feet of a Skutatoi who promptly stomped it with his sandal, ending the danger.
Esculapio suddenly sprang back to life and bit the leg of a nearby Skutatoi. The man howled in pain and drew his ax to try and get the bewitched cannibal off of his leg. As he swung downward with his ax, the former medic blocked it with his left arm. The arm was severed and dropped to the ground.
Esculapio, seemingly unaffected by the loss of the appendage, leaped at the
Skutatoi. Nikas swung his sword at the creature, once again trying to hit the vulnerable spot between the helm and chest armor. At the same moment, the Skutatoi brought his right arm up to block the creature from reaching his throat. The creature bit down hard into his leather bracer. With its teeth momentarily stuck in the bracer, Nikas’ swing struck home and removed the Esculapio’s head. Thick red blood with a hint of purple erupted from the body as both head, and the body fell to the ground.
The undead kept coming by the hundreds. Athos looked to their right and saw nothing but bobbing masses of creatures. The left flank of the 2nd Kentarchia began crying out in alarm to Nikas. Turning to look at the cause of the disturbance, Athos’ blood froze in his veins. The 3rd Kentarchia had disintegrated under the constant onslaught.
Sudden movement startled Athos, and he looked up to see one of the creatures running toward him. Athos then raised his shield causing the creature to crash into it. Athos raised his ax above the woman’s head and swung downward. The ax penetrated into her head, and she slowly slid down Athos’ shield leaving a purple trail of goo on the shield in its wake.
Nikas began bellowing orders, “First rank and second rank on all four corners listen up. We need to fight our way forward fifty feet to create a square. As the square expands, I need the remaining men to fill places in the expanding line. When you reach fifty feet, all Skutatoi not in the first and second rank of the line will form a reserve. Each time a man falls in the first rank, a man in the second rank will take his place. Each man in the second rank that moves forward to replace a man in the first rank he must be replaced by a man from the reserve. Every five minutes the first and second rank are to switch to provide periods of rest. Kontoubernion Dekanoses see to it!”
“All right you sluggards, you heard the man! Begin advancing!” Constan yelled, the volume of his shout somehow drowned out the sounds of fighting.
Byzantium Infected Box Set Page 22
