The small number of soldiers continued their fire though their ammunition was now starting to look a little desperate. The number of hostiles in front of the wall had dropped to a scattering, the numbers having been thinned by the combined firepower of the Bren gun and 2” mortar. Out on the flanks things were fairing a little differently. Leaving just Gardner and Harris with their Enfield rifles on the wall, Lieutenant Harvey ordered the rest to the flanks. He joined Archer with his Bren gun as well as Smith and Clarke at the wall overlooking the cemetery and vicarage. Captain Scott and the remaining soldiers took the east side facing the road into the village. As soon as they were in position they resumed firing and the battle continued.
CHAPTER FIVE
The dark, solid church appeared unfazed by the unfolding battle. Though bullets and grenades exploded nearby it seemed to have no effect on the aging stone and glass. Up high in the tower was Trent, the unit’s marksman with his precision built Enfield No.4T sniper rifle. These rifles were standard No.4 rifles, selected for their accuracy during factory tests and then modified by the addition of a wooden cheek-piece, and telescopic sight mounts designed to accept a No.32 3.5x telescopic sight. In the hands of a man like Trent they could place a powerful .303 bullet into a target with both power and accuracy.
In his high position he had the best viewpoint, and what a view it was. He had a perfect view to the south where he could see the two riflemen guarding the wall, whilst off to the west Captain Scott was out with a handful of men to cover the corner of the wall where it turned off to the right. In the opposite direction Lieutenant Harvey could not be seen due to the rest of the church structure obliterating his view. What did interest him though was the view to the north. Though he could see none of the enemy from here, he could see various sites of interest. First of all he could make out the shape of an armoured vehicle, probably a tank that had crashed or been abandoned on a narrow lane. A short distance from this was a farm, along with some kind of workshop and several trucks. There were no lights or telltale signs of life anywhere off to his horizon.
Trent turned back to the north, he could see a couple of figures far off into the distance. Lifting the rifle up to his shoulder he zeroed in on the targets with the telescopic sight. Watching carefully he could see what looked like an old man. Trent wiped the sweat off his brow and checked again, it was definitely an old man and he was moving normally, not like those undead things they’d been shooting at for what seemed days. Where was the second figure though? He moved the scope just few inches in each direction until he spotted the shape; it was one of those things! Before he could move the rifle he spotted another one also following the man. Looking back at the old man it was obvious he was being chased.
Trent was an expert marksman and after months of training he was adept at making fine adjustments whilst keeping his eye on the target. With a twist on the scope he adjusted for distance and then took aim. The first of the creatures was just feet away from the old man, Trent slowly pulled the trigger as he exhaled. Before the final click of the trigger though the old man turned away from him and pointed something big at the creatures. Trent looked at with an amused fascination, it looked like a shotgun no, not a shotgun, something much more unusual, it was an antique blunderbuss. There was a bright flash and then all three of them vanished in a great haze of white smoke. A moment later came a loud roar that sounded like a small cannon being fired. Trent couldn’t see to lend his support; he could only hope the old man still lived. He waited, checking the surrounding area for signs of any more of the creatures. It all looked clear but still no sign of the man, he lowered the rifle, now looking at the area closer to the church until he spotted movement, there he was. Now only a short distance away the old man continued his progress towards the church. The two creatures were nowhere to be scene. Trent muttered to himself, “Crazy old man!” showing just the slightest grin at this man’s exploits.
Back in the church’s nave, Adrienne and Madeleine had been hiding in the corner of the aisle for over half an hour now. The sound of the battle continued with all manner of guns and explosions. Every now and then one of the soldiers would run inside, usually the Sergeant to make sure the building was safe. Privates Lewis and Wilks had stayed inside to protect the wounded as well as the girls. Lewis, with his Enfield rifle and loose helmet kept walking back and for in the nave. He was the most nervous of all the soldiers there and was not helping the nerves of the two girls. Wilks on the other hand was far more excitable and had piled boxes up to one of the windows so he could watch the north of the church, an area that was totally unguarded. Martinez was on his stretcher, still on the altar whilst Humphreys had lifted himself off and had propped himself against the altar so the two men could speak. Martinez was by now extremely pale, his skin had an almost translucent sheen to it.
“Hey, Humphreys isn’t it?” he asked.
The British soldier nodded in acknowledgment and shifted a bit closer to him.
“How are you feeling now? You’re not looking so grand,” he asked.
“I’ve felt better. At least the pain has stopped now. How’s the fight going?” said Martinez.
“I can’t tell from here.” He called over to Wilks, “Hey, how’s it looking out there?”
The soldier was still up on the boxes, busy watching to the north. He was quiet for a moment, obviously busy watching the unguarded fields. He spotted movement off into the distance.
“Wait, there’s a man out there!” he called out.
Humphreys lifted himself up and started moving towards him. From his position up at the window Wilks could make out the shape of the old man making his way to the church. More shapes were following in the distance.
“Shit, this is a problem.”
He climbed down from the window and headed for the porch, he called out to Lewis as he reached the door, “Watch the girls, I’ll be back.”
As Lewis opened the door the scene of the battle between the soldiers and the creatures greeted him. Literally just outside were three bodies that had made it over the wall. A short distance away was the low wall that ran three sides of the church. The soldiers were firing but not as frequently as before, it looked like they had killed most of the attackers but small groups were still heading for the wall. Every four or five seconds a crack from a rifle would signal the death of another of those monsters. Lieutenant Harvey and Sergeant Smith were talking when Lewis interrupted them.
“Sir, we’ve spotted a civilian to the north of the church.”
“Is he one of them?” Smith asked as he pointed to the few remaining creatures out in the open space.
“No, he’s been fighting them. It looks like he’s armed,” said Lewis.
“This could be the break we’ve been looking for. A local man will have local knowledge. He might be able to tell us what’s going on, even better he might be able to get us out of here,” said Captain Scott.
Lieutenant Harvey spoke, “I’ll take Smith and Lewis, the rest of you hold the line here, Captain Scott is in charge.”
Scott nodded in agreement, “Good luck, Lieutenant.”
The three men moved off to the western wall facing the churchyard and vicarage. Smith led, carrying his Sten gun out and ready for action. Harvey followed, his automatic pistol ready, Lewis brought up the rear with his Enfield No.4. After only a short run the men were at the wall and the small group of men that were defending it. With just a few short words to the defenders they leapt the wall and were out into the cemetery. It wasn’t a substantial area but was quite poorly maintained. Many of the headstones had fallen down or were chipped and damaged from the elements. Now that the principal battle was pretty much over, there was little gunfire apart from the occasional Enfield rifle knocking down another creature at long range. The three men however had seen enough of these things to make them extra cautious and they kept the church close to their left and followed it around till they were on the northern side.