I stepped into a small area with a large blanket being used to block outgoing light. Beyond in candlelight was not what I was expecting.

Inside the house was to my surprise were a lot more people than I was anticipating. The man with the gun was positioned behind me at the now-closed and locked door. The front part of the house was several rooms that had been knocked into a large one.

Facing me were four more adults three women and one man. A teenage girl around fourteen was also here. The room had several candles lit to provide a meagre amount of light. I set of stairs leading up to the next floor in a passageway that led deeper into the house. On top of the stairs, the faces of four children all under the age of ten looked down on me.

The room’s windows were all covered with heavy material or boarded up. The smell of sweat and fear hung in the air. The looks from all those in the house were afraid. The zone was no doubt doing a real number on their mental states. It was clear that they had all been here since the zone expanded. The other man went back to a small gap that allowed him to see out of one of the windows.

The teenage girl hesitantly stood forward and began speaking.

“You…you Euro Corps?” She asked in English about the level of secondary school education. Hell, it was better than my French.

“Yes, I am.” I replied slowly to help her understand. I lifted my faceplate to allow better communication.

“You….er…...English?” She asked after a few moments.

“Yes. Euro Corps asked for help.” I replied. I noticed the slight lag in her reply as she was translating what I was saying in her head. An older woman behind her who looked like her mother began to question her in rapid French. She turned and began replying. Looking back to me.

“You…. are here….to help?”

I nod yes and the room loses some of its tension.

“We…. can go?” She continued.

I could tell them right now but I needed to know where all the hostiles were. I knew that something was here from all the damage I passed entering the town.

“I need to know what happened here.” I said to her. She quickly got what I was asking.

“Fog… fog came fast…. fast…. things in fog….” That was all that she could explain. I knew from the look on her face that I could imagine the rest. That town just getting its day started when the zone expanded. That still did not explain the quiet on the hostile front.

The man at the window suddenly hissed causing everyone to freeze in fear. He covered the gap he was looking out from and backed away from the window. The other man turned and backed up further into the room bringing his shotgun up. His focus was shifting between the windows and door trying to cover them all at the same time.

The shotgun was probably not going to fire as the zone quickly degraded the ammunition. This is why we Zone Operatives use close-quarter weapons. Zones affect chemical thermodynamics making the combustion of bullet propellent more unreliable as it spends longer in a zone. The same goes for napalm and chemical that burn the zones suppress them faster than normal.

See I do pay attention in briefings that matter!

Looking around I realise that my axe is more of a threat to us all so I drop it and pull out my gladius. The metal gate outside the front door rattles as something seeks to open it. Shit! It means what is out there has basic intelligence. I slam my faceplate down.

A sound of ripping metal is heard as the gate is removed as a hindrance. I quickly move to the side of the little entryway ready to attack whatever is coming. The man with the shotgun aims forward with everyone else running upstairs. They are so scared that they are quiet. That could change quickly.

The door only holds up for a few seconds are the sound of wood splintering is heard. Cold damp air from outside begins flooding in and the candles begin to fade. The shotgun wielder slowly backs up to the stairs as only the blanket is left in front of whatever is coming. He is terrified but holding his nerve for now. I am ready.

The blanket is ripped away and the man pulls the trigger.

Click!

Shit!

I surge forward block the entryway and thrust my gladius forward from my hip. I make contact and the blade enters the body of the creature. I quickly twist and withdraw only to attack again.

The whole thing is the first blur of motion. I focus and as I attack for the third time, I know what is in front of me. The Ghoul is howling in pain and surprise as I push it back wounding it. It attempts to flee but I press my advantage.

I inflict wound after wound on it quickly overwhelming it with injuries. As it collapses, I keep attacking. Until it is still.

I pull back my sword arm is covered with black gore and so are my lower legs. My shield held covering my torso protects the rest of me. My blade is covered as well.

I turn back to the man and see his white face from shock. It is then that I get the stench of rot and the old familiar….

Grave Chill

Its effects flow over me. Everything loses colour and light. The cold comes on stronger and the clouds of depression gather. It does not help that the candles all have guttered out.

I know that it’s bad for me it will be a hell of a lot worse for them. I quickly take stock. The ghoul may have known they were her or followed me here. I just couldn’t tell. I was thinking about what needed now to be done when I heard wrenching from behind me.

It looks like the smell of the Ghoul has reached them. My stomach is not happy with the aftermath of the fight. Luckily, I have been exposed before and I know what to expect.

I move to the doorway and look around the outside as far as the fog of the zone will allow me. After a few seconds, I do not see anything and moved back into the house. I put my blade back into its sheath and pick up my axe. I head to the bottom of the stairs and motion for the teenage girl down. She is hesitant but does come down. She goes extremely pale seeing the body of the Ghoul.

I wipe my hand to get the gore off it. I pull the map supplied of the area out of my belt. I open it up and made sure it was the right way up. I look at the girl and realise that she is close to freaking out. Her eyes are fixed on the body and almost popping out of her head.

“Hey.” I speak as calmly as I can to have her focus on me. She does not listen. I wave my hand in front of her face. This breaks her focus and blinking rapidly looks at me.

“You need to leave.” I tell her talking slowly. “Euro Corps is here.” I hold the map so she can see. I point to the location of the base camp located outside of the Zone.

“Safe?” She asked trying to understand what I was saying.

“Yes safe.” I confirm. I put the map into her hands.

I head back to the door to the outside and look around again. Where there is one Ghoul there will be more, I am sure of it. I need to get these people moving. I stop and think about it again we will be ripped apart on the way out of here. I control my breathing and realise that I will need to make a distraction big enough to have all threats in the zone focus on me. This means I need to get an idea of numbers and location.

Ghouls it has been discovered form nests around an “Alpha”. If I can find the nest, I can get them to focus on me over the civilians leaving. It was a terrible plan but the best I could come up with.

I go back in to talk more. The adults are freaking out from their body language and increasing the volume of arguments brewing.

“Quiet!” I speak as loud as I dared. This has them turn to look at me. I point to the girl still holding the map. “You all leave. Go to a safe place.” I tell her. She translates as best as she could.

I point to the Ghoul and ask. “How many more?” I need an idea of what I am dealing with. The girl looks at the corpse and goes green then white. She however looks back and puts the map under her arm. She lifts her hands and used her fingers to tell me how many she thinks are out there.

“Fuck!” She indicates that there can be ten more out there. I look at them all. “You know where?” I ask. She shows me the map and indicates the cathedral. “Ok. You all go now.”

It takes a good ten minutes to get them out and moving. We head up through the Place and they continue along the road I came from. They head away and are quickly lost in the fog. I wish I could go with them. I instead turn and head to the location of the gate to enter the original zone. I fire off a blue flare into the sky alerting the Euro Corps drones flying above to the fact I have encountered civilians. The blue light intermingles with fog creating weird shadows.

It is a risk with the flare but I need to be as much of a distraction as I can. If I had time, I could come up with better but I don’t have it.

Walking across to the other side. I see the barriers emerge from the fog and seem fine. I turn left and head to the gate. I find a white van parked across the gate. This is odd. The gates are no parking areas normally.

I move past it to the gate. The two metal gates are open. The chain and padlock that should be secured are on the floor. I kneeled down to look at them. It is clear that the lock has been cut. Standing back up I think about this.

I look back to the van and decide to investigate it more. I walk over to it and wipe a window of moister. I look inside. The van’s front two seats are visible with plenty of debris from human activity around them. I notice that the door is unlocked.

I open it up and begin digging around. The van had more than one occupant it seemed with more seating in the back. Two laptops were present but dead and a printer was. A lot of paper was scattered about all in French but I quickly got the basic facts of it. However, this van belonged to was a zone denier.

Zone deniers were a thankfully diminishing problem for worlds zone commands. They were a group that believed that the zones were Government/Illuminati/Zionist (depending on who you asked) creations that were being used to hide something. At the start, they were a major issue but were losing support making those left more radical. They were obsessed with exposing the “truth” about the zones.

I get out of the van and look up the road that leads to the cathedral. I walk the road a lot tenser but strangely relieved now that I know what I am dealing with. I pace homes with fences and overgrown gardens all abandoned. Numerous doors and windows have been smashed in. I continue walking now to the turn that will lead me to the cathedral.

I am ready for action and again the lack of threats is quickly playing havoc with my nerves. I wonder where the lesser threats that are normally found are. Following the overgrown hedgerow, I reach the path that will lead me to the cathedral. I can just make out the shape of a building in the distance. Walking up the pathway the gravestones are visible on both sides of me. I am constantly turning my head seeking anything that could indicate trouble. The cathedral slowly emerges from the fog and I can see the doors. They are open and the inside is dark. The breach is located in the back of the cathedral near the main altar.

Well, here we go!