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suddenly that he hadn't voiced his thoughts, 'that is . . .'
'You take your orders from me, Private.' Walters wheeled and for a second the
swinging barrel of the pistol took in all of them. ll said fire at will
because those fucking animals up there are fighting backV They don't have any
business trying to drop cars on us. They should run the moment they see us
coming. 'Anybody not obeying orders will be court-martialied when we get back
to base. Get it, all of you lousy fuckers?' They all nodded because they
didn't have any option.
Up there, above them on the top elevation, was a group of very frightened
people, people who had once been ordinary peace-loving folks now horrifically
transformed into primitive Man by terrible germs released into the atmosphere,
were now trapped like rabbits in a dead-end burrow. They could be taken alive
but Walters didn't want it that way. He was glorying in a one-sided battle,
lusting for a massacre. In a way perhaps the poor wretches would be better off
dead. Kenny King was sure he would throw up before it was all over. Afterwards
he might even desert at the first opportunity.
The second and third storeys were devoid of life. So was the fourth. Only the
fifth remained now and they were up there all right. The soldiers could hear
them as they fanned out into an arrow-shaped formation and began to ascend the
steep sloping concrete ramp. Textbook perfection in their approach, ready to
unleash a hail of fire at the first sign of trouble.
Kenny's eyes focused on the sergeant's broad green and brown blotched
camouflaged back. You bastard!
A crash from far below, muffled, lingering like the sound of a coin tossed
into a deep wishing-well. Another car had gone over the wall. And then the
floor levelled out on to a giant sunlit balcony, a line of cars on either
side. The top elevation and the throwbacks were right here.
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Seven or eight of them were struggling to lift a Ford Escort up on to the
rampart, powerful muscles bulging as they took the strain. Some more were
dragging out a Metro. All had their backs towards the oncoming soldiers except
a bunch of children who huddled together beneath an awning.
No! Kenny King felt every scrap of decency and fair play in him rebel.
Helpless youngsters ranging from five to possibly ten; they could have been
mistaken for trained chimpanzees at a cursory glance, hairy creatures who were
busily filling an empty ice-cream tub with sand and unsuccessfully trying to
make a castle from it on the concrete floor. Each time it crumbled, powdered,
and they tried again.
Kenny didn't care any more, didn't want to be any part of this. Something
inside him took over, had him rushing forward with pistol raised,
marksman-style, trained on the back of Sergeant Walters. 'No, you're not going
to murder them. I won't let you. I. . .'
A shot rang out. Walters should have died instantly because the young rookie
was already taking a trigger pressure, hesitating at the last second because
that same spark of decency which had hurled him forward was also quavering, a
fleeting flash of conscience that said, *You can't shoot a man in the back.
You can't take human life!'
The slug fired by the corporal close behind took Kenny in the back of the
head, tore a jagged hole through his skull and spewed brains and blood out of
his forehead; threw him forward so that when his own pistol exploded the
bullet flew harmlessly into the air.
Walters dropped to his knees. A glance behind him told him the whole story; he
had seen it before, it would happen again, a boy's nerve giving out, an animal
gone berserk and having to be put down.
The throwbacks turned, the Escort started to slip. One of them wasn't quick
enough, screamed as it rolled over on to him. The others scattered, found
themselves caught up in a hail of pistol and rifle fire. A blonde bearded male
crumpled up, clutching at his stomach, was dead before he rolled over. Another
had his throat torn out as though it had been savaged by a fierce dog.
The soldiers alongside Sergeant Walters were lying on their stomachs firing,
those directly behind him kneeling, the rear ones shooting from a standing
position.
Seven or eight dead lay in the foreground, the rest leaping up on to the
rampart, running agilely along it. More shooting, a fairground game now; you
collect your prize when they're all down.
Only three left, stopping because there was nowhere else to run. Sitting
ducks. A single shot and the far one crumpled. Two to go. It was target
practice now.
The last two jumped, defiance in their wild shrieks as they leaped into space.
You found yourself listening, counting, wincing in anticipation of the crunch
far below.
Sergeant Walters rose to his feet, dusted himself down, a half-smile on those
swarthy features. 'I guess that about wraps it up, Corporal.'
'The kids, Sarge . . .'
Walters turned slowly, saw how the youngsters were bunched under that awning,
half-raised his pistol.
'We still need more prisoners, Sarge.' The other's tone was nervous, his voice
quavering, staring at the bloodied shot-up corpse of Kenny King, the lad from
Wakefield. He had ended up that way because he couldn't stomach massacring
women and kids. And you were the one who shot him, Corporal! They said they
needed kids as well. To experiment on.'
What experiments? Oh, Jesus Christ Alive!
'Yeah, they do need kids.' Walters lowered his weapon. 'Round 'em up. Take 'em
down and put 'em in the van with the others.'
The sergeant noted with contempt the way some of the rookies moved to carry
out his orders. Fuck 'em, they weren't paid to think, to reason. Just to obey.
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He watched the way they took the children down the ramp, almost reluctantly.
We don't want to do this to you but if we don't then we'll be
court-martialled. They're the enemy, you fuckers, prisoners-of-war. And when
we get 'em back to base in Hertfordshire they're going to be guinea pigs,
injected with Christ-knows-what. They'll either live or die, they've got two
choices, 'Hurry along there, you lot. We don't have all day.'
The sergeant's stomach knotted, felt like he'd got an appendicitis coming on.
He couldn't have, though, because he'd had his appendix out, peritonitis when
he was a rookie, like this rabble, on the Rhine. That kid had come close to
chopping him, a matter of a second, maybe two. He'd buy the corporal a drink
in the Mess tonight. Or maybe he wouldn't, the others might see it as a sign
of weakness. You saved a colleague because it was your duty, and for no other
reason. He'd do the same for any of them and not feel anything personal, just
see that it went down on record.
On the drive back he would scribble out his report Just a brief encounter:
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