We cut through some property to reach the hotel on foot. As we arrived, the last police and military units were pulling out. They were taking what few civilians were left with them.

The wall of fog was pushing into the residential area and we could see it swallowing buildings. We did not have long. We got into our transport again and soon were heading south. Instead of returning to the airport, we were rerouted into another residential area.

This one was a whole different situation than the first. It seemed the bulk of the population was still present. Greco was soon yelling orders and talking into her mic. Overhead there were far more helicopters. Mostly military or police but a few civilians. I could not help but notice the attack helicopters.

“That’s not good.” I said to Gregson.

“You’re right. That’s not good at all. Looks like it’s angling in on something close to us.”

Just as he said that, the helicopter went forward and a heavy machine gun opened fire, rounds spitting out. Yeah, whatever the firing at was close to us. Getting closer, by the looks of it, we had no radio to try to find out what was going on.

I looked around and surveyed where we were. We were in trouble. Some distance away was a road bridge going over the railway tracks. We are located at the junction near a bar and from what the sign says, it’s a club of some sort. There was a large area with building materials across the street from us. Then also a large grassy area with trees. Whatever the helicopter was shooting at was on the main road. The nearby roads connect to the main road. That’s where the threat will come from.

The helicopter firing off its heavy calibre machine gun has motivated the population to start to panic and get away from the area. Greco is trying to organise the evacuation, but it is clear that we were far too late in getting here. It’s gonna get messy, real messy fast.

“We have a map of the area?” I asked Gregson.

“Yes, I requested it after we landed before we left the airport.” He pulled out a folded-up map. I didn’t ask how.

Spread the map out a car bonnet located where we were. We were on the north end of the very large residential area close to the second airport we flew into. In the distance, we heard the helicopter firing again. Greco came over to us with another five soldiers. She addressed them, giving them their orders before coming to us.

“We need time to evacuate civilians from here. The evacuation manager messed up.” Greco told us, pointing to the map.

“Captain, look at the map. Let’s be honest about this position. We cannot hold it! Sure, we can lure some in, but ultimately, they will go around us.” I point to the areas on the map with wide open green spaces and numerous side roads.

I could tell by the look on her face that she quickly understood that we were in a really bad position. But she had her orders and probably her own conscious was reminding her about the people behind us.

“Then we must lure in what we can.” Her face and voice became hard as she set us on our course of action.

“Roger that.” Gregson and I were realists who knew this was going to happen. “Can you tell us what that helicopter is firing at?” She turned away, talking into her mic to find out.

This gave me a chance to deal with a growing issue. I am boiling alive! The thermal layer of my armour is holding all the heat in. It was designed to work in a cold, damp environment, not the dry heat of Italy in the summer. I take my helmet off and I am just dripping with sweat. I even have to unzip the front of my armour a few inches to help let out the excess heat. I hung the helmet off my belt.

“Several zombie packs have been identified and eliminated just north of us.” Greco told us as she came back.

“How are they identifying the packs?” Gregson asked.

“Thermal imaging cameras. Zombies have a much lower body temperature than humans. Pilots are ordered to engage groups with markedly lower body temperatures.”

Honestly, that makes sense. This will buy us time for the zombies to get to this area. We might have a chance to get the people out.

“Command has confirmed we are to hold here. They are trying to funnel any zombies towards us.” Greco was looking around to set up barricades. She was eyeing up the building materials supplier across the road.

She came to a decision and set off towards it, shouting orders to her nine other soldiers. They quickly leapt into action and joined her opening the gates to gain access to the yard.

I use this time to drink water from the canteen. I looked around, noting the vehicles we could use to help build the barricade. But ultimately it was not my call as long as we were outside a zone it was Capt. Greco’s.

In the distance, we could see so helicopters now firing ground targets. Trouble would soon be here. A forklift came out of the building site guard with a pallet full of bags of sand and cement. The soldiers quickly followed this. Over the next 10 minutes, they moved several vehicles and filled in the space between them with these bags. Gregson and I helped out.

Greco oversaw the construction. We formed a U shape barricade at the junction. We have blocked off three roads, with the one behind us called Via Monte S. Savino the only open one. Our transport truck is located a short distance down it. Greco told us that we are to retreat to it when ordered.

The helicopters were a lot closer now. Greco was talking with her radio mic extensively, trying to understand our situation. It was clear to all that they were close. We could see the zone advancing towards us as well.

The evacuation behind us was continuing. It seemed they had finally got their act together most of those civilians still here were on the move. Arguments and the sounds of crying could be heard.

Suddenly all but one helicopter veered off to the east. Something had attracted their attention and they were engaging it. They were all firing together, focusing on one area. Greco was focused on her job, so we did not distract her by asking what was happening.

We quickly had problems of our own. As from down the Via Incisa in Val D’Arno, a group of zombies came. They quickly spotted us and charged. The sergeant in charge of the line had the troops open fire. The steady crack of the rifles was the only real sound.

There were only four zombies and they were quickly taken down. I did leave the barricades this time as there would be more soon. Another group came down the Via Piteglio and was also taken out. That added another three zombies terminated.

None of the zombies had gotten close enough to give anyone grave chill. This was good news at the moment as I was aware none of these soldiers was rated for zone operations. I didn’t know how they would handle exposure to grave chill.

A third group appeared. Following the route of the first and this was a much larger group. They, too, however, were put down before they reached the barricades. This added another eight to the kill count. Seven minutes between each which allowed the soldiers to reload when required.

The volume of weapons fired from the West and East had also picked up. The sounds pointed to multiple firefights taking place. I could only wonder too how they were doing.

Greco had trusted command of the firing line to her Sargent. This allowed her to concentrate on finding out the overall situation. Looking over at her, she was looking at the map. It seems to be going well.

An explosion to the East drew everyone’s attention. One of the helicopters was billowing smoke as it twisted out of control towards the ground. It was soon lost from sight and another explosion was both seen and heard. There was a pillar of smoke from the crash site.

“What the Fuck!” I exclaimed.

“Did you see what happened?” Gregson asked me. I shook my head negatively.

“I was looking towards the bridge. Did you see what happened?” I asked him.

“No one like you. I was not looking in that direction.”

The other helicopters were still present but were jinxing to avoid something on the ground that had brought down the other. They are still firing at ground targets.

Greco was speaking to her Sargent. I couldn’t make out what was being said, but from his facial expressions, it was not good. She came over to us.

“The defensive positions we try to set up in the eastern part of the estate are being overrun. There is a good chance we will be flanked soon.” She laid it out straight. “The evacuation has not finished, so we must hold here as long as we can. You and Sgt Grayson have been permitted to evacuate.”

A decision had to be made now. I could tell that today would be a bad day no matter what. I might not be able to do a lot today or even survive it. But. I was here. Sometimes in a man’s life, he must make a stand. I could explain why but I knew that day for me was today. It was in the air around me. I wondered if the others felt the same. Strangely I found this feeling liberating when I understood it.

“Sorry, Captain Greco. Unless I am ordered to go, I will stick around if that’s okay.” I told her. I looked over to Gregson, wondering what he was going to say.

“Captain, unless our orders have changed, we will support you in all ways we can.” She nodded gratefully to us.

“Thank you. I wish I could….”

Soldiers around us quickly started firing at targets that had appeared. Whatever she was going to say was quickly lost in the firefight.

Another seven zombies were added to the kill count. To the east, several explosions were quickly seen and heard. It was clear things were going badly over there. Greco was keeping command informed of our status.

This was turning bad like I knew it would. It suddenly dawned on me that the sounds of weapons firing to the east were now behind us, no longer parallel. We could make out screaming in the distance that something bad was happening.

Greco was busy and we didn’t want to distract her. All I could do was wait and listen. The helicopters were now clearly behind us, firing at targets that they could only see.

Looking around, I saw the danger before anyone else.

“BEHIND US!” I yelled. A group of zombies came spilling out of a house behind us. I quickly moved toward them to buy time for the squad behind me to get into a new firing position.

My shield was up and I was holding my Glock in my hand. I calmly walked forward, using the rim of my shield to help stabilise the pistol. As the closest target to them, the zombies focused on me.

As soon as the first was close enough, I squeezed the trigger. The pistol bucked in my hand. I was ready for this from my training. My aim was true and the bullet hit the zombie’s head straight on. It collapsed to the floor. I focused on the next target.

A shot from next to me took that one out as Gregson’s stepped up next to me. Together we took care of the next three zombies that showed themselves. We didn’t say anything. We just did what we needed to. We’ve been flanked. We had to leave. This was clear.

Fighting with firearms was a whole new experience for me and so were the numbers we faced.

Checking to ensure that there were no more, I turned back to where Greco was running the defence. She was already pulling the soldiers back towards us.

“We have been ordered out.” Greco told us.

“Come on, John, let’s get to that troop transport.” Gregson said next to me.

“All right.” Together we quickly moved up to the lorry. There were no signs of any more zombies around us and Greco soldiers quickly joined us. I use this opportunity to reload. Shooting zombies was a lot easier than smashing their skulls in.

We all quickly got into the back of the lorry. As we did, we could see further down the road behind us a large group of zombies coming out of buildings. We can all hear the sounds of smashing glass and the occasional screaming. Too many people were still not evacuated and now they were dying.

We could not follow the original evacuation as that was now becoming blocked with zombies. Greco decided to get a different route. She had the driver go up through our barricade and we drove back down the road over the zombies we had shot down earlier across the bridge and the railway tracks. We were heading back to the airport.

The military-grade tyres quickly drove over the bodies crashing beneath the weight of the lorry. We hardly noticed them.

Looking over to the area of the city we had tried to guard, we could see several pillars of smoke and we could hear the sounds of terror as this part of the city fell. Looking to the north, the zone continued its relentless advance.