The City

were dragging themselves along with painful effort and a lack of any speed and almost all coordination. It was as if they’d given up all hope.
    They had reached the city centre.
    The driver slammed on the brakes and for a second the only sound which could be heard inside the transport was the driving rain pounding against the metal roof just above the soldier’s heads. The troops sat back into their seats and waited apprehensively for the order to move to be given.
    ‘Okay,’ the officer in charge yelled from his position at the front of the powerful machine, ‘I want you outside now. Get a perimeter formed around the transport. Move!’
    The nearest soldier pushed open the heavy door at the back of the vehicle and led the others outside. In a well rehearsed manoeuvre the troops fanned out and formed a loose circle around the machine. The driver remained behind the wheel -
    ready to get them away quickly - while the officer in charge stood shoulder to shoulder with the men and women under his command.
    Cooper stood motionless and stared into the city. Torrential rain drenched the grim scene like a mist. He watched the water run down a gutter towards him. A short distance from his feet lay several rapidly decomposing bodies. The world looked completely alien and unfamiliar. He had been to this city before.
    He had driven along this road. Today it was unrecognisable.
    The people were approaching. Difficult to see at first because of the gloom and the low light of the day and their drained and ragged appearance, they dragged themselves towards the soldiers. Silent, awkward and desperate, they neared the troops.
    ‘So what are we supposed to do?’ hissed Lance Jackson, a twenty-two year old soldier who looked no older than seventeen.
    He shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, holding his automatic rifle tight against his chest.
    The commanding officer forgave his lack of discipline. He was scared too, although he didn’t allow himself to show it.
    ‘Keep your nerve, son,’ he said from close behind, resting a reassuring hand on Jackson’s shoulder. ‘Just remember that these  people are going to want help and answers from us, and we’re in no position to provide either. Stay calm and alert and we’ll…’
    His words faded into silence as he watched the first bodies stagger ever closer. They were near enough for the soldiers to be able to see their pained faces, ravaged by disease and decay.
    Each one of the troops seemed to focus on whichever one of the pitiful, bedraggled creatures was nearest. The commander watched a dead thirty-eight year old office worker lurch towards him. What remained of the woman lifted its weary head to look in his direction. It seemed to fix him with a cold, emotionless stare from dark, sunken eyes.
    ‘Fucking hell,’ the commander cursed, letting his guard and his nerve slip for the first time in seventeen years of active service with the forces.
    The bodies continued to shuffle forward. The soldiers were becoming increasingly anxious. Amanda Brice, standing four men round to Cooper’s right, lifted her rifle and took aim. Others did the same. Cooper cleared his throat and readied his own weapon.
    ‘Stop moving,’ the commander shouted towards the helpless people. ‘Stay where you are. We’re here to…’
    No response. The figures continued to move.
    ‘I repeat,’ the commander bellowed again, ‘stay where you are and no harm will come to you…
    Still no response.
    The nearest body was now little more than a couple of meters away from Brice. Terrified by the cold and unnatural expression on its drawn and pallid face, she aimed her rifle into the air just inches above the diseased man’s head and pulled the trigger.
    Ignorant to any danger, it staggered forward again.
    ‘Jesus Christ,’ she cursed under her breath. ‘What the hell is the matter with them?’
    The figures continued to advance, closing in on the circle of soldiers. Filled with fear and confused and disorientated by her increasing panic, Brice aimed at the body in front of her and fired, sending a single bullet thudding into the dead flesh just above the creature’s right knee. It crumbled and fell to the ground but then immediately began to drag itself back up again,  seemingly oblivious to its injury. Brice stared into the dead face approaching her. There was no expression of pain or any display of emotion whatsoever. She fired again. And again. And again.
    The bodies were close now, just feet