“Let us satiate that bloodlust of yours, General Seaberg.” Ferrari said.

The Allied leaders were gathered in the war room once again.

Seaberg grinned, “You finally ready to take the gloves off?”

“I am, but not Arenzano. The enemy is dug in too deeply now.” Ferrari said.

“If there was a window of opportunity, it’s closed now.” General Seaberg acquiesced.

Ferrari raised his voice and addressed the whole room, “Gentlemen, it is time that we retake lost territory. We will take Parma back and we will do it in one fell swoop.”

Ferrari proceeded to lay out his plans for an attack on Parma. The other Generals had received the same drone reports that he had received. They were, for the most part, in agreeance on their course of action before the meeting had even begun. Ferrari received some pushback on minor points of strategy. He made concessions on non-essential points. Overall, however, his plan was good and everyone in the room knew it. Nevertheless, they still proceeded with the ritual of contribution. Each General would contribute his ideas. Without contribution, the plan would be Ferrari’s plan alone, but with contribution from each General, even insubstantial contribution, the contributor would take ownership of the plan. The buck would stop with everyone in that room. Everyone would be mutually responsible and accountable for the plan’s outcome.

“We need more ghouls, for our research.” Chinese General Zhāng interjected toward the end of the discussion.

Of the ghouls found at Bobbio Pellice, most were kept by the Italians. Those that could be identified were quarantined. The public was altered that family members could visit once any risk of contagion had been dealt with. Those ghouls brought over from Africa faced a far different fate. They were whisked by the Allied Forces to clandestine military facilities. The nations divided them up amicably enough. Each nation receiving ghouls had its top scientists furiously studying the creatures.

The spoils from the victory at La Spezia were not divided so amicably. The western nations had taken the lion’s share of the enemy corpses and prisoners. All nations were eager to get their hands on the hoverboards, the ray guns, the armor, and even the bodies of the fallen ghouls. The Chinese Generals felt that they had been short changed.

“Do not go down that path General Zhāng.” Ferrari shot him a glare that would melt ice. “I have twenty ghouls in full armor on the Levitano. I will personally arrange for their transport to the Yinglong. Do not test me.”

Zhāng scowled at the young man. He read the man’s face and saw no weakness. Zhāng wanted ghouls, but he did not want to derail the discussion.

“For now, that is acceptable. Transfer the ghouls and our army remains with you.” Zhāng said.

“How about we take what we kill?” Seaberg said. “You think ya’ll can keep up?” Seaberg taunted competitively.

Zhāng took it in stride. “We welcome friendly competition. Next time, you will be the one negotiating with Commander Ferrari.”

The whole group laughed, a rare moment for the most grizzled veterans in the world, a room full of men whose veins carried nothing but ice.

• • •

The attack on Parma went as smoothly as it could have gone. Waves of tanks and armored personnel carriers were vaporized by electromagnetic bolts. The Allied onslaught was, however, relentless and the ghoul cannons were eventually overrun. The streets of Parma filled with Allied soldiers. Ghouls were shot. There were few prisoners taken. Most of the ghouls were unrelenting. They fought and died until the bitter end. A small number of them, however, realized when they were surrounded and outgunned and they surrendered. The surrendering ghouls did not talk; they just dropped their weapons and stared vacantly at the invaders.

News of the Allied victory choked out everything else on the airwaves. The entire world watched as a leap was taken toward defeating an enemy that, until recently, they did not know that they had. He no longer seemed indomitable.

The victory did wonders for morale. The doomsday predictors and the soapbox preachers who had flooded street corners all over the world put away their signs and went back to their normal, daily lives. Babies were conceived. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained five thousand points. Church attendance dwindled. Companies began hiring again.

• • •

After the battle, Commander Ferrari debriefed back on the Levitano with his tech chief and his CIO .

“Two howitzers, three armoured personnel carriers, five lorries, two tanks, five Humvees, and one small infantry fighting vehicle.” Commander Ferrari said. “These went missing in the cloud. Some of them were American, others British, some were ours, and they are all missing. Vanished. Into thin air.”

“Well, we haven’t found them yet.” His CIO told him.

Ferrari responded, “A multinational assortment of vehicles went missing. Over a thousand tons of equipment just whisked away into the cloud.”

Ferrari found this information interesting. He was not angry, just curious.

“He can use them against us.” The CIO added.

“I don’t think so.” Ferrari retorted. He went on, “Up until now, they have gotten all of their equipment elsewhere. From where, I do not know, but I am sure that this all started at the Port of Genoa for a reason. One of those international container ships could have carried all of their tech. Those ships are enormous. They can carry over ten thousand containers.”

“Maybe they ran out?” The CIO suggested.

“It is a possibility. I doubt it though. I think that our opponent is going somewhere. Or at least, he thinks he is going somewhere.”

“In our vehicles?”

“I think so.”

“What do we do about it?”

“For now, we wait.”

Commander Ferarri smiled. Things were getting more interesting.