Michael Thomas - Night of the Nazi Zombies

Sergeant Smith looked at the rough map they had drawn up. It consisted of the maps of where they had dropped in, along with with substantial markings in pen where they had encountered various groups since they landed.

“So we’ll keep the church as a forward base. I’ll take Lewis and Gardner with me and scout the German base. We’ll look for the containers and report back.”

Lance Sergeant Jones then added, “I’ll take Wilks and Clarke, we’ll search each of the locations that Monsieur Poulain has provided, we’ll also take Adrienne with us. If we hit trouble we pop a flare and then retreat back here immediately, Archer and Trent will provide overwatch and provide assistance if required.”

Captain Scott turned to M. Poulain. “How many buildings are there altogether?”

The old man checked the rough map.

“The places where I know they are hiding are the old vicarage and the row of houses back past the garage. That makes…” he counted on the sheet, “five houses and the vicarage.”

Smith spoke to the two groups of men, right, all clear with the plan?” he was greeted by nods of agreement from the soldiers.

Smith added, “We can’t hang around on this one chaps, in a few hours we’ll have men on the beaches who are depending on us. If you hit any trouble, remember, pop flares and then back here, pronto,” he looked to Captain Scott who stepped in front of the men.

“When we have brought the survivors back we’ll work out a solid plan for a breakout to the Orne Bridge and the rest of our units. We cannot do this until we know what is out there. Be careful and don’t take any risks. Good luck gentlemen.”

With a signal from Smith the six men and Adrienne exited the church through the porch. Once through the doorway Humphreys moved a broke wooden pew up to the doors to help block it up. He then turned back and helped the others with improving the defences of the church.

The sky was already a little lighter than when they had first landed. It was now getting critical; an airborne unit caught out behind enemy lines in the day would be in serious trouble. The two groups crouched low down behind the small wall outside the church. With a simple hand signal they leapt over the wall and headed off in opposite directions. Smith helped lift Adrienne over and proceeded to lead his group closely along the church perimeter until they reached the northern face. Adrienne followed Jones and his group out into the street. They kept low and to the right hand side, staying in the shadows as much as possible. At the front on the group was Jones with his Sten gun, next to him was the young French girl. Behind these two Wilks and Clarke protected the rear with another Sten and Enfield rifle. Moving down the road they approached the garage with the old vehicles parked at the front. Jones signalled for them to continue, lurking at this place was the last thing they needed to do after what they had heard from the old Frenchman.

Their mission was simple, get to each of the houses on the map, search for survivors and get them back to the church. Nothing more and nothing less would suffice. A short distance further along the road was the houses, each one close together and sheltered by more trees and a hedgerow on the other side of the narrow road. Jones opened the gate to the first house and moved up to the door. Wilks and Clarke fanned out to check on the windows. Adrienne kept close to Jones. He turned and spoke quietly to her, “How many live here?” She held up her right hand, indicating three. Jones nodded and placed his hand on the door knob, with a gentle twist the door opened and he was able to peek inside. So far it all looked clear.

He gestured towards the other two who proceeded to form up behind him and the girl. Clarke pulled his pig-sticker spike bayonet from its sheath and clipped it onto the lug at the front of the rifle, turning his rifle into a wicked steel tipped spear. The small group crept inside whilst Wilks knelt down and watched the street, keeping a lookout in case anything untoward occurred.

A few hundred feet away the second team under Sergeant Smith had now reached the northern face of the church. From this position they had a clear view of the open space before them. In the distance was the armoured vehicle Trent had seen from the church tower. He looked back to check the group were with him, so far it was looking good. He double-checked the locations Trent had described before he left. He knew the route and wanted to avoid contact whilst they made their perilous journey to the German base. From what Smith could see, the creatures seemed worse when there was a lot of commotion, perhaps they were attracted by the bright lights or maybe the sound of battle. Either way he intended to be extremely quiet. With a hand signal the group moved off, keeping low but moving fast.

This mission reminded Smith of the escape and evasion exercises they’d been practising back home. Just a few weeks before he’d been part of a unit that had been training in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in Wales. The weather, as usual, had been awful and the hills and mountains of the Beacons provided treacherous conditions for them to work under. What really reminded Smith though, was that they had to reach their objective quickly, but in the knowledge that a small number of soldiers were out looking for them and if they were caught they failed. It wasn’t easy and over three quarters of those on that exercise had been caught in the first twenty four hours. Back in France he was at it again, ducking through undergrowth whilst always keeping an eye over his shoulder for a potential enemy. To make matters worse he now had these flesh eating creatures hunting them as well as the Nazis.

Smith was the first to reach the low wall near the road. He ducked down behind it whilst the others moved up to him. They double-checked with the map and then looked to the north, making sure the landmarks were correct. Smith spoke to Gardner and Lewis.

“I’ll go first, wait ten seconds then follow, remember, we don’t want to engage any hostiles. If you spot something, keep low and use the signal.”

The two nodded in agreement. Smith lifted himself up slightly, looked over the wall and then moved off. Crossing the road he moved into the opposite field and then rushed ahead, keeping the tree line to his right so as not to leave himself lit against the skyline. Out into the distance Smith could just make out what looked like manmade objects. He kept running, checking once to see the distant figures of the other two men following.

* * *

Jones had now checked the ground floor of the small house and so far had found no sign of any people. He pointed to the ceiling, letting Clarke know he wanted it checked. Clarke moved up the stairs, watching carefully for any signs of movement. He held his rifle low; tracking from left to right with the bayonet pointed out to the front, ready to ward off any potential threat. He was now at the top of the stairs and could see three rooms. He moved forward and approached the first door. Pushing the gun forward he pushed the rifle bayonet against the door. It swung slowly open to reveal an empty room, bare other than a few cupboards. Jones was now at the top of the stairs with Adrienne in tow, he gestured to the girl to stay in the open whilst he moved ahead, past Clarke to the next door. Swinging his Sten gun out of the way he drew out his pistol and entered the doorway of the room; nothing again. He moved back out and met up with Clarke. The two men approached the last door, this one looked different in some way. Jones indicated to wait whilst he examined it from a few feet away. He couldn’t work out what it was until he spotted two shadows moving along the gap at the bottom of the door. There was something inside the room! Clarke stepped back, pointing his Enfield rifle at the doorway. Jones moved up close and placed his ear on the door, listening for what was inside. Based on what he heard there were at least two people in the room, the question that really burned in Jones’ mind though was, were they friendly or were they the creatures? Adrienne moved towards the door, Jones waved her forward. She called out to the room and almost instantly the movement stopped in the room. The girl kept talking for another half a minute before finally stopping. A sound came from inside, heading towards the door. Jones pulled Adrienne back as he held up his weapon. The door creaked open to reveal the faces of two old people, a man and woman. They looked terrified but the look on Adrienne’s face immediately put his fears to rest. She ran forward, hugging to the two.