The German soldier, still carrying his Kar98K rifle stepped forward, holding out his arms to Jones. It was pretty obvious that he wanted to take the weapon but Jones hesitated. He looked to Smith who nodded, ever so slowly. Handing the weapon over he pointed to the gate and then ran back, shouting at the others to take cover. The German, obviously well trained in the use of the weapon, stepped back a good distance to avoid the detonation and then quickly checked his surroundings, presumably to ensure nobody was hit by the blast from the weapon’s discharge. He finally depressed the launch trigger and with a quick flash the weapon launched the projectile directly at the gate. The sound was deafening and the impact shook the foundations of the church. The entire basement filled with dust and small chunks of debris.
Without pausing Jones and Smith moved past the wrecked gate, Smith carrying the burning torch and Jones staying close with his Sten. As they left the catacombs and disappeared into the darkness Captain Scott gave the order. The civilians followed with Archer at the back, covered their rear with his Bren gun.
* * *
Inside the vicarage Steiner and the other three men had spent the last fifteen minutes getting their weapons and equipment ready. They had also been checking the area carefully for signs of the creatures. So far the majority seemed more interested in what was going on at the church. This wasn’t a problem for them as it gave them a better chance to escape than they had previously expected. Even the sounds from out in the hall had stopped, though none of them was brave enough or perhaps stupid enough to open the door to check.
Outside near the outbuildings there appeared to be a truck of some kind. Steiner hadn’t noticed it before due to the fact that the building was dark and couldn’t easily be seen from his current viewing position. Though he’d wanted to get to the church, the amount of fire coming from there didn’t fill him with confidence as to its safety. Also, the idea of climbing into a working truck and making a break for it was very, very tempting.
They had decided on a simple plan. They would leave the old house through the window and out onto the roof of the southern annex. This roof was low and they should be able to climb down whilst one of two of them stayed up high to watch for any sign of the creatures. There were a few problems, one of which was that they had no idea if the truck would start or not. Also, they didn’t know what lay to the north on the main road or even back into the village.
As Steiner worked the window, trying to open its old and stiff frame, a familiar groan came from inside the house followed by the crashing of glass. The photographer looked at Steiner and then back at the door.
“Shit, it looks like they’re back!”
Steiner grinned and continued his work.
“Seems we have two options, either we stay in this room and fight or we get out of the window and go somewhere else.”
With a crunch he freed the window and slid it upwards. The blast of fresh air was refreshing and for a brief moment the men almost forgot the trouble they were in. More sounds from inside the house soon reminded them of their perilous situation. Without hesitating, Smith climbed out onto the window ledge and started moving towards the low roof. Carefully balancing himself he moved along until he reached the corner. Looking back he saw the photographer climbing out. He turned back and lowered himself carefully down to the low roof. He dropped with a thud, luckily not breaking anything though his left foot stung for a moment. He then moved to the southern edge of the roof, being extra careful to keep his body as low as possible so that he was not highlighted against the horizon. In a matter of seconds he was there and had a perfect view of the gravel drive and outbuildings near the house. The truck was resting inside the one of the shelters, more like a lean-to with a simple wall and galvanised metal roof.
Looking about he spotted no more than three of the creatures wandering aimlessly around. They must all either be at the church or inside the house. He looked back to see the photographer finish lowering himself down to the roof. The other two men were close behind, the last one having just climbed through the window. He noticed the last man failed to close the window. Whistling as discretely as he could he tried to get the attention of the man but to no avail. He was obviously way too concerned trying to make sure he didn’t fall off the ledge.
Steiner was about to turn back to looking at the truck when a loud crashing sound came from the room they’d just left. In seconds an arm came through the window, quickly followed by the full torso of one of the creatures. He swore under his breath whilst he lifted the shotgun to his shoulder, taking careful aim.
Back on the low roof the photographer was trying to help the one man down whilst the other kept moving back and for in a state of panic. Steiner called over to him to stop moving and calm down but he wouldn’t listen. More of the creatures left the window and started shambling to the low roof, now only feet from the two men trying to climb down. The first, in his haste to get down lost his grip and even though the photographer tried to help he couldn’t stop the two of them collapsing to the ground. The older man cried out in pain, his ankle twisted at an impossible angle. Steiner moved over and helped drag them both away. The last of the group refused to climb down, both terrified of the creatures and also the drop. The man lifted a pistol and aimed it at the first creature.
“Don’t shoot, you’ll bring more of them!” Steiner shouted out.
The old man ignored him however and with a click, cocked his pistol and aimed it directly at the head of the closest one. He fired a single shot, the bullet going wide, completely missing the creature. It was now just feet from the man who now panicked and started firing, one shot after another. Most of the bullets missed but a couple did strike the undead monster in the chest and knocked it down. The old man turned to Steiner, bizarrely pleased with his little victory. Steiner however knew this was no victory and with a single blast sent a chunk of lead pellets the short distance to the creature and right into its upper body and head. Now it was dead!
The old man looked up from the body only to see another three of them following. He pointed his pistol for it to click, he was out of ammunition. Looking back as Steiner he stumbled to the edge, moving to jump down to the same level as the others only to trip, sending his body over the edge and then down to the gravel floor below. The fall either killed him or knocked him out. Either way it was best as in seconds a dozen creatures moved out of the darkness and started tearing at his flesh.
Back on the roof the three survivors made short work of the three remaining creatures and then turned back to their plan.
“We can’t go back, those things are taking over the place,” said Steiner.
The photographer checked his pistol whilst replying.
“If we are going to make it to the truck we’re going to need a diversion to draw them away.”
Steiner didn’t seem impressed by this development.
“We need to check the rest of the roof, maybe we missed something.”
Steiner lifted himself up and moved cautiously along the roof, heading to the eastern part of the house. In the distance, slightly to his left he could see the flashes of a big battle going on. Tracer fire lit up the sky as the ground based guns poked at the aircraft overhead. He could just make out the shape of parachutes off into the distance.
The photographer crept up to him, speaking quietly.
“Anything?”
“No,” replied Steiner.
“Then we need to get out of this place,” he said, repeating his earlier train of thought.