Two shadowy forms moved as Merryn and the Corporal took cautious steps into the open space. Merryn took careful aim, fired and one walker fell to the ground. Before the other could moan its displeasure. Chris took a few quick steps, swung the mace, and slammed the zombie into the concrete, its skull instantly crushed. He checked the other and turned to face Merryn. "Nice shot."

"That modified pickaxe thing is brutally efficient isn't it?" she said.

"It does the job." Shaw lifted his radio. "Shaw to King. Hangar clear, and it looks like we have a rather smart-looking helicopter in here too."

Merryn and Shaw looked over the helicopter, a large single rotor machine with the words 'Coastal Rescue' written on it. The ramp at the back of the machine was down and the Corporal walked over to the pilot's door, pulling it open.

Shaw grinned. "I've always wanted to have a go in one of these things," he said and climbed into the cockpit.

Sergeant King walked into the hangar just in time to see a pair of grey arms encircle the Corporal from the rear. There was a short scream and Shaw was pulled back into the darkness of the inside of the helicopter.

King swore and ran towards the back of the helicopter with another marine. They both knelt, took aim with their crossbows, and fired into the back of the machine. Moments later they walked up the ramp and returned dragging the corpse of the Corporal and a walker in a pair of pilot's overalls.

"I'm sorry Sergeant," said Merryn, her face pale. "We thought the hangar was clear."

"It's not your fault Merryn, Shaw should've known better than to get into that helicopter without checking it. He could be impulsive sometimes. And now he's paid the price for that.

"Let's get those hangar doors open and get some light in here."

~

An hour later, Rob, smiling broadly, lifted the helicopter into the sky and hovered for a moment, performing some last-minute checks. He waved, then tilted the machine eastwards, soon disappearing from sight.

The drone's faint buzz brought Merryn back to herself and she waved at it, listening to King reporting in via his radio.

"... he got careless Captain. It was no one's fault but his own. We'll be back with you shortly. King out."

The Sergeant glanced over at Merryn. "I meant what I said Scout 2. It was his fault, not yours. I know that doesn't make it any easier when you see something like that, but Corporal Shaw was unlucky this time. We do however have a bird in the sky now and he will be remembered for that. Come on, let's get back down the hill and get moving."

~

As they moved further northeast, the hills softened and more and more fields appeared as they moved along the Devon coast. Settlements became larger and a few coastal towns appeared, followed by the coast of Wales to the north and the twin isles of Steep and Flat Holm guarding the entrance to the River Severn. Merryn was on the bridge, staring out of the windows as the boat ploughed through the waves.

"I've not been up here before," noted the Captain.

"It's beautiful countryside," said Merryn. "I spent a great deal of my working life in these parts." She paused. "I'm sorry about Corporal Shaw."

"The Sergeant said you'd be beating yourself up about that one. I think we've been lucky so far not to lose anyone else Merryn. We are going to lose people, but we will hopefully save many many more as we go. We will raise a glass to Shaw when we're back at base, but for now, we have to keep going."

Merryn nodded. "I know." She glanced out of the window again. "We'll come around the headland in a moment and you should be able to see the old harbour and marina at Watchet, then beyond that, you'll see the reactor buildings. They're immense. Ah, there you go."

Two massive buildings had appeared on the coast in the distance. Set on the edge of a low cliff so the nuclear power stations could use the water in the wide River Severn for cooling, a muddy-looking beach separated the water from the land, and concrete and metal protected those within. A long jetty protruded out into the river and Merryn pointed at it. "We might want to use that as a mooring point as the tidal range here is impressive."

"Good idea." Sands dropped a hand onto the Cox's shoulder. "Steer us in there please Patil."

The Captain pushed the button on the tannoy. "All hands to stations please. Keep alert. Eddie to the bridge please, bring your drone. Thank you."

Eddie arrived and set up her equipment, and a few moments later the drone buzzed several hundred metres up into the sky. She swung the machine around for a clearer view and gasped as the screen took in the full view of the power station and surrounding area.

"Hell's teeth," muttered Merryn. "There are thousands of them."

Two rows of heavy-duty chain link fencing with razor wire looped across the top surrounded the power station. Rank after rank of walkers stood in a massive crowd around the perimeter. Unmoving, they appeared to be in a state of stasis, maintaining a constant gap of a few metres from the fence.

The undead stood, silent.

"That's not a swarm, it's not behaving right." Merryn peered at the screen. There must be over ten thousand of them. It's like the world's worst ever rock concert."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Eddie. She was pale, her hands sweaty on the controls.

The Captain placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Take the drone in a little closer please Eddie, let's see if we can see any people down there inside the fence."

As the drone descended, Merryn pointed at one corner of the screen. "There, that looks like someone standing on the roof of the reactor."

Eddie took the drone in closer and, as she did, the figure looked up in surprise, grabbed what looked like a walkie-talkie from their belt, then waved at the drone.

A few more people arrived on the roof, a few waved and there seemed to be lots of discussions.

"Can we patch into the walkie-talkies?" asked Sands.

"It's a private setup," said Merryn. "I remember that from when I worked on-site there a few years ago. They have private frequencies for security reasons so people can't eavesdrop over the airwaves. We need to get a radio to them. They have power, but no ability to communicate off-site. Eddie, bring the drone back. Let's write a quick message and attach it to the drone. They can then send a note back if they like and we'll go from there."

"Good plan," said Sands.

Eddie furrowed her brow in concentration, then did a complicated little maneuver with the drone.

"What was that Ed?"

"I wanted them to know that we'd seen them, so I did a little stunt flying to show them we were happy to see them."

"Show off," said Merryn with a smile. "Come on, let's get a note written."

~

When the drone returned, they had a surprise. The people on the roof had set up a whiteboard with a series of questions on it and some instructions. Eddie landed the drone and a woman detached the note from the underside of the drone, read it, looked into the camera, and gave a thumbs up. Eddie lifted the drone to head height and trained the camera on the woman who'd read the note.

"Ok, here we go," said Sands, concentrating hard on the screen. "I hate charades."

"Aye, me too, every family Christmas," Merryn shuddered.

Sands watched as the woman held up her hands, preparing to answer the questions on the note. "Question 1, she answered yes to 'are you all okay.' That's a good start. Two, we asked how many of you are there, she answered three hundred. Wow, that's incredible.

"Supplies. I'm assuming the waggly hand means mostly okay.

"External communication, no. Broken.

"State of nuclear reactor, waggly hand again, well that's worrying.

"Are they looking for help from the government? Yes.

"Are they going to send a note back? Yes.

"Right, Eddie. Land the drone and let them write some stuff down and then we can get things moving."

Sands sat back looking thoughtful. "We can't keep doing this note-swapping thing, it's too time-consuming. We need to get a radio in there. Can the drone carry something that heavy?"

"No," said Eddie. "Carrying capacity of the little drone is pretty much zero."

"There is a way," said Merryn. She drew up her sleeve to expose the bite marks. "I walk in. They'll ignore me."

"You hope," said Eddie. "That's hellish risky Merryn. We don't know how the folks in there will react to you either, look at Rimmer."

"Rimmer was not in a normal frame of mind, and even if he had been I don't consider him a nice example of humanity. We have to try and communicate with them as best we can. If those fences go down then the facility is lost, as are a large group of survivors. If we send the drone in there with a note, telling them they're going to see something unusual, but not to panic, then we'll be okay. It's a risk, but we have to take the chance."

The Captain looked at Merryn. "Are you sure about this?"

Merryn nodded and Lily sighed. "Okay, let's get this done. Merryn, pack your kit bag with radio, spares, and whatever else you need. Make it as light as you can in case you need to leg it. We'll drop a note to the folks inside and see where they recommend you try and get in."