Alexander gave us a quick briefing on the plane ride to Italy.

“At midnight local time, two additional zones opened up to the north of the city. They took out several local communities before any alarm could be raised. They merged with the pre-existing zone there are now expanding towards the north end of Rome.

UK government has agreed with Euro Corps to send in support. You will meet your equipment at the airfield we will be landing at. Your mission here is to assist in evacuating the city’s population.

The plan is to slow down the zone by evacuating everyone that could be trapped and used to help expand it. I am not going to lie to you. The situation on the ground is fluid and very chaotic. We don’t know what we are walking into here.

Your handlers will be with you the whole time and will be outfitted with sat phones for emergency communication. Avoid entering the zone!”

It was just past 7 AM when we finally arrived at our destination. The plane landed and we were all quickly offloaded. It was a beautiful clear day and the sun was hot in the sky. We were located at the Aeroporto Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci. The airport was swarming with people and aircraft. Mostly military is coming in, but a few civilian ones are heading out.

Shortly after we landed, we were herded into a nearby waiting area and as we entered it, we saw our transport aircraft with our equipment coming in. We would be in it soon.

Looking around the other zone operatives, we all knew the stakes here and that it would be a hellish day. We had all been very quiet or lost in our thoughts on the flight, thinking about what was ahead of us.

Alexander was in a mini-conference with several Euro Corps and Italian military officers. There was a British military officer with him that he did not recognise. After a few minutes, he came over to us and explained the situation.

“Right, the planes will be offloaded in a few minutes and you are to suit up. You will be assigned to local military units to act as support. The zone has almost reached the north side of the city and undead threats identified as levels two and three have been confirmed.”

With this, we were quickly ushered into a more secluded area where we found our equipment crates would be brought in as soon as I saw my crate and quickly headed over to where it was positioned. I undid the locks securing it and cracked it open. Gregson was standing nearby, ready to assist if I needed it.

Inside the crate, I found a surprise. This Glock 9 mm was now part of my loadout. I also found a sat phone which I handed over to Gregson.

“This yours?” I asked, indicating to the gun

“No, it’s yours. The plan doesn’t require you to go into a zone, so you need it to help fight in the streets.” Shit, this was getting better and better. Portland was clear in my mind.

I quickly got changed and loaded up. The gun was an unfamiliar weight on my hip. I had an extra pouch now on my belt with six reloads for the weapon. I changed the gun’s position to my right side with a handle facing towards my crotch. So, if I drop my axe, I can quickly reach in and grab it.

I turned to Gregson and found that he’s been issued a suit of body armour and an assault rifle. I don’t recognise the model, but all the Italian soldiers carry them. He also has a belt with multiple reloads and a water canteen. I noticed that he had a heavy steel topped club. He puts the sat phone into one of the spare pouches.

“Ready?” He asks, nosing my inspection of his kit.

“No, but let’s get this done.” I reply. He nods at this and I can see in his eyes that he knows what is ahead of us.

In no more than 10 minutes, we are all changed and ready for action. Henry and the rest of the RCT are the first to be taken away and assigned to units north of the city. The rest are quickly sent off, leaving just me and Gregson. I hate waiting and this only increased my nervousness.

“Hello, again Operative Harrington.” Came an accented female voice from me. I turned to find Lieutenant Greco. She was all dressed up and ready for war. Helmet, body armour and assault rifle. She also had a large radio unit on her back.

“Lieutenant Greco, this is a surprise. I wish we could have met again under better circumstances.” I say to her.

“I agree. But just let you know it’s Captain now.”

“Roger that. Congrats, by the way.” I acknowledged.

“Thank you. Due to our history, you have been assigned to me. You and Sgt Grayson will join me in the city's north. There’s a lot of chaos up there at the moment and I have been ordered to assess the situation in three areas. So, let’s go.” She quickly turned and started walking away with purpose.

“My squad will engage threats at range and we will need you to take them head-to-head if needed.” She told us as we walked.

“Understood.”

Gregson and I quickly followed her through the airport. Fear was heavy in the air from the civilians trying to get clear. She led us to the airport tarmac and on towards a series of military helicopters. She got into one spinning up and we followed. Soon, we were in the air again, flying over the city.

There were four more soldiers in the helicopter with us. All armed and ready to go

In the distance to the north, I could see the fog wall that marked the edge of the zone. Even from this distance, I could see the zone was massive and was getting bigger.

We landed at another airport in the city. This one was called Aeroporto Roma Urbe-LIRU, according to the signs. This airport was nothing but military personnel moving in and out.

Greco was talking into her microphone in Italian. We were quickly ushered to a military flatbed lorry and we all jumped into the back. We left the airfield and headed along a dual carriageway that ran next to a river. The civilian vehicles were all heading south. Only military and emergency vehicles were heading north. Italian police were doing their best to control the flow of traffic.

We were travelling at speed quickly across some distance. Eventually, we turned off into a residential area. We parked outside a hotel that the local authorities had taken over.

Greco had been in several conversations during the trip in the front of the lorry. We got out of the back of the truck and she walked around to meet us. She spoke quickly in Italian to the soldiers and they all began checking their weapons. I noticed they all carried the same club as Gregson.

“Our job here is to help with the evacuation. Most of the population is already gone, but some people are still left.” She pulled out a map of the area to show us where we were. “We are here. This is the hotel where we are. And this large building over here is the Castel Giubileo.

We are going through these roads to the Hotel Castle here. Once there, we start assisting those who need help. At its current expansion rate, the zone boundary will be here shortly.

My squad and Sgt Grayson will supply you with cover if we are attacked. My team is not rated for zone operations. We will need to rely upon you to do most of the heavy lifting if we are attacked and they get in close.” She calmly broke down the situation for us.

“Okay, then, but we best get moving.” Gregson nodded that he was ready to go as well.

With that, set out on foot through the area. It was clear that most of the people were gone. Abandoned vehicles and luggage were everywhere. Here and there, we passed people still evacuating and a few policemen directing them. Fear was clearly on the face of all those we passed.

It didn’t take us long to reach the hotel. A police unit was evacuating the last few people in the area into vans. They seem incredibly pleased to see us. Greco and the ranking policeman quickly began talking. I use this opportunity to walk further down the road towards the central motorway. Gregson was shadowing me the whole way.

Across the roads, I can see the zone advancing towards us. Minutes away and at best. I turned to Gregson.

“Get ready. It’s about to begin.” Even I hear the weariness in my voice.

“I’m ready.” He tells me.

I turned back to the fog. It has reached the barriers on the other side of the road. I see figures emerging from the fog and heading towards us. I hold my axe in my right hand and pull my gun out.

“INCOMING!” I yelled back down the street. Greco jumps into action, organising her squad. Gregson and I moved down and joined them. Two abandoned cars are quickly set up as a barrier along the road. At the T junction, make our stand. Looking around, I realise we can’t hold this area long. Too many routes to be attacked from.

“Greco, we can’t hold here!” I tell her.

“We’re not. We are delaying only then were moving.”

“Roger that.”

Looking back along the roads you just come down, I see about a dozen figures running at us. I hope to God it is just a pack of zombies, not ghouls. Because if it’s ghouls, we are all dead.

The police units are pulling out, taking the few civilians with them. Many are starting to panic. As the figures approach, I realise that they’re all zombies from how they are moving, so we have a good chance of surviving.

Greco has her squad open fire. The crack of the assault rifles shatters the tense silence that had appeared. The soldiers are firing single rounds, marking targets. Gregson quickly joins in. When fighting zombies out in the open like this is best to aim for the head, as that is the only sure way to put them down. I do not fire as I have a pistol and the chance of me hitting anything is not good at range.

The aimed fire quickly takes its toll. The zombies are not intelligent enough to change tactics and charge toward us. A large group would have possibly spilt and hit us from different angles. This allows the soldiers to mark their targets and take them down. Within several minutes the road is covered with unmoving corpses. The last of them fell too far away to cause any grave chill to affect us.

“I have to check them.” I told Greco, who was next to me.

“Understood. We will cover you.”

I walk out from our makeshift barricade. I advance towards the nearest corpses. With my shield up, ready for action if needed. I get there and expect the bodies from a short distance noting the red blood is coming from some. It is what I feared. These aren’t zone-created zombies, but freshly killed people turned into zombies. This means ghouls will be present in more significant numbers shortly if they are not already. They had said that there were reports, but now I am sure.

I returned to the barricade and informed Greco. She acknowledges my report and speaks into a microphone passing the message along. We hear more weapons fire in the distance to the west and east. Greco speaks to her squad and then turns to us.

“We’re falling back to the hotel and our transport.” I was glad to hear that.

We retreated along a road called Via Montappone. If anyone else left in the buildings we passed, they were hiding. And if there were, they would be dead soon. We should check every building we needed more time to. The zone was crossing the road as we moved these buildings within no more than 10 minutes.

We turned onto Via Lapedona moving quickly. The sound of smashing glass and doors being broken down behind us. There were definite hostiles behind us. We heard a woman scream but kept moving. I wanted to go back, but I knew what was happening and there was nothing I could do now. I hated myself but kept moving.

Looking back about 30 m down the road when another zombie pack turned the corner behind us. There were about six of them.

“Greco! Six behind us!” I called to her.

She quickly ordered the squad to stop and take up positions. The zombies charged down the road and we then quickly eliminated them. I felt somewhat redundant at the moment. The sounds are weapons fire was increasing from both West and East. The assault on the city was beginning in earnest.

What history would record as the battle of Rome had begun?