Part 24 (1/2)

'Why not?' asked Billy, who was standing near Tommy.

'Look at them! They ain't in control of themselves,' he replied. 'It's like they've been brainwashed. Somebody else is pulling the strings the coppers are just their puppets.'

The policemen began marching towards the mobsters, all repeating the same meaningless mantra, over and over.

Tommy ran forward and punched the leading policeman in the face. He staggered before the blow but then came forwards again. Tommy smashed the policeman over the head with the hilt of his sword, then drove his knee into the crumpled constable's stomach. Still the policeman tried to stagger onwards.

All around the same scene was being played out as Tommy's men attacked the policemen. Brick smashed the heads of two constables together, knocking them unconscious. He went to Tommy's aid, clouting the constable with the b.u.t.t of a shotgun.

The policeman finally fell to the ground.

'Thanks Brick, I appreciate it.'

A shot rang out as Billy blew a hole through the head of a sergeant who ignored all attempts to subdue him. The headless corpse lunged at Billy and locked its hands around his throat in a deadly grip. Charlie came to his brother's rescue, tearing the fingers away from Billy's neck. Charlie smashed his rifle down on the back of the headless corpse's legs, breaking its knee joints.

The dead sergeant collapsed on to the road, its hands still clutching at the air. The effect would have been comical were it not so macabre.

Tommy realised the stricken policemen were getting up again too soon. The two Brick had knocked out were clambering back to their feet. His own attacker was trying to get up once more. 'What's happening? These plods should be out for the count!'

'I killed one and it kept on coming!' Billy shouted.

It was Brick who first realised what was happening. 'They're already dead. These policemen they're already dead!'

Tommy knew Brick was right. The policemen didn't have gla.s.sy eyes they had lifeless eyes. They were already dead, somehow brought back to a sort of life and sent in to quell any resistance from local residents.

'Fire at will!' Tommy shouted. 'These things aren't the old bill they're walking corpses! Take them out any way you can!'

He lashed out with his sword, slicing the head from his own attacker. Two more flashes of the blade severed the zombie's arms. They lay twitching on the road, grasping and grabbing at anything within reach.

Tommy's men turned their guns on the advancing policemen, blowing holes through the walking corpses. But several of the mobsters were too slow to react. They fell beneath the feet of the zombies. The screams of the dying men chilled the hearts of their friends. Tommy's men were holding their own but the oncoming policemen were slowly driving them back. A second van filled with reinforcements pulled up behind the first.

Tommy recognised that his men were slowly losing the battle. He yelled for everyone to retreat to the house and stood guard while the others ran back down Tabernacle Street. When the last of his men had pa.s.sed him, Tommy ran after his men, back towards number 15. He wondered how the others were doing.

Page soon realised the horrific nature of the foe his men were facing. 'Give 'em both barrels, boys! It's the only way to put them down!' He unloaded his shotgun into the chest of a sergeant but the lifeless body kept lumbering towards him.

Norman tried to slot new cartridges into the shotgun but the sergeant was on him before he could snap it shut again. Norman lashed out with the heavy b.u.t.t, knocking the zombie sideways.

The others were faring just as badly. Two men had been overrun by the policemen, others were blasting away with their guns but making no impression on the slow advance. Norman realised they had to get away from this relentless enemy.

'Fall back! Everybody, fall back to the house!' he shouted.

He turned and began running back towards number 15. But someone was coming out of the smog towards him. 'Tommy, thank G.o.d it's you ' Norman began. Then he realised the figure emerging from the mist was another policeman. Norman and his men had been outflanked.

'They must have come along Epworth Street, got in behind us,' he said. But no-one was listening. The mobsters were caught between two advancing lines of lifeless policemen, with no side street to escape into. Norman tried banging on the front doors of several houses but n.o.body would open up.

He snapped shut the shotgun and took aim at the nearest policeman. 'Come on then! Come and get me! Come on!'

Tommy got back to his front door to find the Doctor waiting for him with the rest of the men. 'What are you doing here? How did you get here?'

'I came up a side street. This place is crawling with police patrols,' the Doctor replied. 'It took me more than an hour to get here from St Luke's. I've been banging on the front door but n.o.body answers it.'

Tommy unlocked the front door and let everyone inside.

Once in, he bolted the front door and stationed two men in the hallway to stand guard. 'Jack, you still here?' he yelled up the stairs.

The young man appeared at the top of the flight. 'You're back quickly! What was all that shooting about?'

Tommy ran up the stairs, pursued by Brick and the Doctor.

'Change of plan. Those monsters are using dead coppers against us. They keep getting up again, no matter how many times we shoot them!'

'But that's impossible!'

'So's nearly everything that's been going on! I want you downstairs guarding the front door. n.o.body gets in without my say so got that? Good. Jump to it!'

Jack went downstairs to join the rest of the men on guard duty. The Doctor and Brick followed Tommy into the dining room. Mrs Ramsey was sitting in her favourite chair, knitting happily.

'Mum! Am I glad you got back home safe it's madness out there!' Tommy said. He glanced around the room. 'Where's Sarah?'

The Doctor looked alarmed at this. 'She's not here with you?'

'She went with Mum to a special service at St Luke's this morning,' Tommy explained. 'Where's Sarah, Mum?'

'I don't know, dear,' the little old lady replied. 'We must have been separated in the fog on our way back.'

'What happened at the service?' the Doctor asked, concern in his voice.

'Father Simmons never turned up. We waited a few minutes and then decided to come back home,' Mrs Ramsey said with a smile. 'Silly me, I forgot to take my knitting along.'

Tommy rolled the rug away from the floor at one corner, revealing the floorboards underneath. He pushed one of them and it pivoted upwards, revealing a secret compartment beneath the floor. 'I imagine you've got something to tell me, Doctor,'

Tommy said as he reached under the floor.

'You don't seem very surprised to see me here.'

'No. Sarah and me had a little chat last night. She explained a few things, about you two being travellers if you know what I mean.' Tommy pulled out a sawn-off shotgun and threw it to Brick. 'Fixing watches ain't the only kind of time problems you repair.'

The Doctor stroked his chin thoughtfully. 'An interesting way of putting it. Yes, what she told you is true. We came here to stop a tragedy. I need your help.'

Tommy fished another shotgun out from under the floorboards and threw it to Brick. 'You've got it. But right now, I'm not sure how much use I can be. Looks like those coppers have taken out half my men already. So whatever you're planning, you better make it snappy.'

'I have a weapon that may stop these creatures, the Xhinn.

But I need to get close enough to them to use it,' the Doctor explained.

Tommy got two boxes of ammunition from the hidden compartment before putting the floorboard back into place.

'This weapon, it better be more use than our shotguns.'