Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #20 November 2015 | Page 94

time. The full might of third platoon had time to form
up and the first of the ironsides were advancing up the
street to support them.

His actions saved the lives of many in his platoon and
he gave his life to hold the advance of the rebel forces
allowing third platoon time to reorder and reload.

The walking corpses were no longer trapped in
the alley, they could spread out through the shattered
houses but they stumbled over the piles of rubble and
broken walls making slow and easy targets for the
soldiers. Greyhound had thrown a track on one of the
brick walls and was now unable to move but both of
her maxim turrets faced to her rear and they had clear
arcs of fire to the mass of shambling dead.

In the main street shouts alerted Lieutenant
Fowler that yet more of the walking corpses were
coming down the street from the direction of the
fortress building.

More and more of the shambling dead reached
the Ironside and tried to climb onto it, it was being
buried in a great pile of moving bodies beyond
even its strength to move. The troops behind it had
a moment to reload and to fire, reload and fire. One
round passed through the arm of a walking corpse
and struck the joint between armour plate and steam
boiler casing on the Ironsides back. The joint split and
a great cloud of high pressure steam burst forth, the
closest dead had the flesh boiled from their bones and
the great heaving pile of corpses fell apart as damaged
corpses collapsed.

Firing as they fell back the small group
of soldiers were safe for moments as the corpses
advancing from both sides blocked each other in the
narrow gap. Then they pushed in and shambled a fter
the soldiers. Private Smith fired into the chest of the
closest and it fell at his feet, he had no time to reload
so he bought the barrel of his rifle crashing down on
the head of the next shambling dead, crushing its skull
and throwing it back into the corpse behind it.

“FALL BACK, INTO THE BUILDINGS.”
Fowlers voice was barely heard by the sergeants and
corporals but they took up the shout. Boots, shoulders
or rifle butts were used to smash open the doors of the
Still the walking corpses came on, a hundred or buildings behind the platoon
more had fallen and yet as many again still advanced.
They began to reach the line of soldiers and firing
As many of the soldiers as could do so
slackened off as men no longer had the time to reload
retreated into the houses, others found themselves
and rifles became clubs. A corporal was dragged
trapped on the street and fought on till they were
down, the soldiers either side of him frantically
overwhelmed and buried beneath the wave of
beating on the walking corpse with their rifle butts.
shambling dead.
An Ironside advanced to meet the shambling horde
and smashed one to the ground with a swing of its left
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arm. Then it smashed another with the barrel of its
Further up the street a group of soldiers who
right arm mounted cannon and then fired that cannon,
had been behind the Land Frigate found themselves
the shell punched through multiple corpses. Some
cut off from both the gate and the rest of the platoon
were smashed or torn apart, others just knocked to the by the advancing corpses, they heard the shout but the
ground. A corpse tried to grapple the Ironside but the
door to the closest building was at the other end, they
mechanical warrior was powered by steam pistons and had nothing but the narrow gap between houses to
wrapped in good steel.
retreat into.

Trooper Nathan Clark, 27. Private. Ironside
crewman. Mentioned in dispatches. Conspicuous
gallantry under unusual circumstances. Killed when
the steam boiler of his Ironside ruptured in combat.

Private Smith screamed in shock and pain as
the corpse he had shot grasped his leg and levered
itself up off the ground to sink its teeth into the flesh
behind his knee. Smith’s leg buckled and he half fell,
bracing himself with his good leg and his elbows
against the walls either side.

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