"What the hell?" muttered Merryn, and reached for the microphone. "Captain, this is Merryn. What the heck is going on?"
"Before you get angry with me Scout 2, you need to calm down and listen, please. May I proceed?"
Merryn ground her teeth in frustration but replied in a more measured tone. "You may sir."
"Right. The options we have here are as follows:
"One. We carpet bomb Cardiff and try and take out as many walkers as we can, but end up destroying a large part of the city including major roads to the west which leaves the city impossible to reclaim in the future.
"Two. We nuke the area which would nullify the threat but breach every treaty going, shatter the entire area for generations to come, and endanger the power station on the other side of the river to the south.
"Three. We try a riskier plan first. One that gives us options for the future, including Option 1 should we need it.
"So, the PM has decided to try something different to blowing things up and has discounted nukes entirely. Our scientists have been working with Stan and Hope, and please note I say 'working with' here. Hope is a remarkable young woman and has helped our scientists gain a deep understanding of both her and Stan in the process as well as suggest a few ideas of her own. She will make an amazing scientist herself one day. I will be clear with you here Merryn, we are not intending to sacrifice them for the greater good or anything daft, I want them both back again. But, at this point in time, they can do something no one else can, with the possible exception of you and Darcey, and that is to get close enough to infect this swarm with something that could help us free this country from the walkers. We have to try this. We have to give ourselves a chance to take out as many of these things as we can in one go so we can live."
Merryn remained quiet for a moment, her face pale, her breathing shallow. "You promised me she would not become a test subject Captain, that she would be looked after and treated as a human being, not some sort of lab rat. Yet instead she's been developed as some sort of super-weapon? What have you done to Stan, attached a machine gun to him, and added tank tracks?"
"Merryn, do you trust me?" Mal's voice came over the radio, stopping her tirade dead as she was about to take a breath and launch another stream of invective.
She gathered herself and clicked the button on the microphone. "I would trust you with my life Mal, you know that. I trust you every time I leave Calstone barracks. You are my friend, the closest thing I have to family now and I love you."
"Then trust me now and please listen to the Captain. You know he's a good man, one of the best. Please let him explain. I trust him with my life, as you trust me with yours."
Merryn passed the mic to Lily and nodded, dropping into the Coxswain's chair.
"This is Sands, please go ahead Captain, we're listening."
"Thank you, Captain," replied Summers. "Merryn, you are worried for your friend, I understand that. I worry every time you leave this barracks, worry every time Mal knocks on my door with a request to come to the control room. And Hope worries for you. She asked for updates from Mal every single day she was on the Isle, took in the information you and your team gathered in your travels, and came up with an idea, one she knew only she and Stan could help with. We have done extensive research and testing, and we're as sure as we can be that this will work, but Hope herself asked to take on this task so she could help the people she loves: you, Eddie, Andrew, Tom, and Mal. And Stan wants to be there too.
"You'll be pleased to know that Rob made it to us in one piece and our RAF mechanics have given the helicopter a quick once over, Rob has tested it again and he is flying Hope and Stan to you now."
Merryn reached for the mic. "Thank you, Captain. I'm sorry I lost my cool. What do you want us to do?"
~
The helicopter landed on the tarmac of the empty car park, ignoring the parking lines and direction arrows, litter and leaves, and dust flying into the air as its whirling blades slowed and then stopped.
Hope descended from a door on the side of the machine which had "Coastal Rescue" painted on it, helped Stan out of the helicopter onto the ground then turned and ran across to Merryn. For a few moments the two of them hugged, then Hope broke away and hugged Eddie, Andrew, and Tom in turn.
Rob, disengaged his headgear, dropped onto the tarmac, and wandered across to the group with Stan in tow, ripping off a jaunty salute.
"Ooh, someone's got some new clothes," said Eddie flashing Rob a grin. "I do like a man in uniform."
"Oi," muttered Andrew. "Behave yourself."
Rob grinned at her. "Well, when I got to the Isle they offered me clean clothes, but the only ones they had were RAF gear so I thought I'd better join up. Flight Sergeant Robert Mackay at your service."
Merryn clasped his hand. "It's good to see you back again so quickly Rob, welcome to Newport. Good to see you back in the air too."
"It's similar to the one I flew out to the Scilly Isles back in the day, but this one's got a load of medical gear in it too which is handy. How much time do we have Merryn?"
"Captain Sands is making her way up the River Severn in the Cruiser now. We got a little ahead of them by using an inflatable with an outboard motor that we salvaged from the dockyard. They've got the speakers onboard blaring out a load of eighties pop at the moment and several hundred thousand moaning fans are following them up the coast. I reckon you've got about an hour before you need to get up in the air.
Rob nodded. "Ok, grand. I'll check the helicopter over, then get the speakers working and lead them here." He glanced around the group. "Anyone fancy a ride?"
Before anyone could say anything, Hope spoke up. "You all need to go with Rob. Stan and I have got this." She looked at Merryn. "Please don't argue this one Merryn. I know what I'm doing, as does Stan. We'll see you on the other side."
Merryn's features warred with indecision for a moment, then she walked over, hugged Hope, and nodded. "Okay Hope, it's your show. Be safe."
"I'm not sure 'safe' covers this, but I intend to be sitting down with you later and having a chat over a cup of tea."
"Sounds like a plan." Merryn looked at the others. "Okay team, you heard the lady. Let's get airborne."
~
The helicopter had lifted off and headed southwest, leaving Hope and Stan at the site at Newport, and was following the coast back towards the cruiser.
"I've not been up in one of these things for years," shouted Merryn over the din of the rotors. "I'd forgotten how noisy they were."
"Fun though!" shouted Rob. "I've missed this. We've done a few test flights from the base on the Isle of Wight, but this is the first long flight we've done."
"Oh, great!" shouted Merryn. "Now you tell me."
"Down there!" shouted Tom from the seat behind Merryn. "And you can see the Cruiser in the River."
"Cruiser, this is Rescue 1, we'll take the crowd from here. I hope you like a bit of heavy metal."
"Rescue 1, this is Cruiser. They're all yours, Lieutenant. They've been moaning about us playing pop music, so let's see if your music blows their minds."
"Can but hope Cruiser, thank you for bringing the party this far."
Rob dropped the helicopter to near ground level, hit a switch and a fast-paced drum solo lured the walkers onwards along the Welsh coast. As Rob toured his audience through both classic and more modern heavy rock, their path took them over several miles of green fields that briefly gave way to an overgrown golf course, and then the outskirts of Newport came into view.
"I'll need you folks in the back to keep your eyes out for things like overhead wires please," shouted Rob. "We don't want to hit anything at this point."
Tom, Eddie, and Andrew nodded and craned their necks for a better view out of the windows.
"Another couple of miles due east Rob, we're almost there," shouted Merryn and the pilot nodded.
Merryn looked down at the horde of deadheads below. They were moving at a slow walk, a sluggish grey wave shuffling through the streets below, their progress hindered by obstructions in the road or narrower streets.
"I'm going to try and steer them onto one of the wider thoroughfares so we gather them in more of a clump," shouted Rob. "They're getting too strung out and spread apart at the moment."
Merryn nodded and soon the helicopter was hovering over an ever-growing group of walkers as the slower ones pooled behind the more complete zombies. Despite the noise of the helicopter and what sounded like an impressive dual guitar anthem, Merryn could hear the moans of hundreds of thousands of the undead and the hairs on the back of her neck rose and her skin crawled.
"Ok, I think we've given them enough time to catch up," shouted Rob. "I don't want to be up here above them for longer than we have to be, it's giving me the jitters."
The pilot's face was pale with fear and concentration and Merryn placed a hand on his arm, squeezing it in support. Rob leaned the stick over and the rotors tilted them towards the east.
"I can see Hope and Stan!" shouted Andrew who was watching out of the starboard window. "To your right Rob."
The pilot corrected his course and brought the helicopter to a halt, hovering some fifty metres above the pair of figures below them.
Merryn watched as the walkers closed the distance between them and the two stationary figures. Stan's backpack sat on the ground in front of him, and as they watched, he pushed it over, the top of the bag flapping open to reveal a large plastic tub inside. Grey sludge splattered across the bare earth, spreading away from Stan's feet, the liquid moving and pulsing, a faint sheen reflecting the late afternoon sun.
"What the hell are they doing?" shouted Merryn. Rob remained taciturn, his gaze downwards through the glass floor beneath his feet.
She reached over and shook his arm, repeating the question.
"You have to trust her!" he shouted. "Watch."
The horde closed the gap, the noise of the helicopter drawing them in, then, when they were mere metres away from Hope and Stan, Rob cut the sound on the speakers and lifted them upwards.
As one, the walkers stopped, their heads tilting to follow the reducing noise of the blades in the sky above them, and, as one, they gave voice, a low guttural moan that shook the air and chilled the soul. As one, Stan and Hope took a step forward into the grey liquid pooling on the ground in front of them.