Free Zombie Dawn Apocalypse by Michael G. Thomas Page B

on foot jumped down from the wall and started running off to the castle, whilst the ones on bikes picked up as many people as they could to carry back with them.  
    The collapse of the defences came quickly as the fighters left their positions to retreat to the safety of the ancient fortress. Without firearms to covers the gates and doors some zombies were already tearing their way inside.  
    Nick and the rest of his mounted group made their way slowly through the retreating fighters, all converging on the one place. The rain was now coming down even harder and to make matters worse the sun was going down, reducing the light and visibility even more.
    As the column rounded the last bend they spotted the castle, flares still launching off into the sky. Defenders trickled in from the bridges, heading through the great gate where the mobile reserve had gathered just hours before.  
    The mobile column rode up the main path and inside the castle courtyard to find about fifteen ragged defenders waiting for them. Nick jumped off, looking up at the great tower, noting the flares still launching but no people appeared to be visible. He turned to Artur who was close behind.
    “Help get everybody inside. We need this place secured in the next ten minutes. Get guns on the walls and make sure the rear gate and sally ports are secured,” he ordered.
    Artur nodded and ran off, taking two of the reserve fighters with him. Nick headed for the spiral staircase at the great tower whilst more fighters returned to the castle. He ran as fast as he could, determined to get to the top to see for himself what was happening. As he reached the top level he found nobody, just several crates with burning matchcords and another dozen rocket flares. Another whooshed off before he could pull out the burning cord.
    As he stood at the top he looked across the horizon, noticing the last of the defenders making their way inside the castle. What worried him the most though, was that there didn’t appear to be any people at the bridges and the zombies were making their way across and towards the castle. Movement near the water caught his eye.
    “The bastard!” he swore as he spotted Davies pushing out a boat, along with half a dozen of his comrades.
    Artur appeared next to Nick.
    “Nobody knows what happened. They assumed it was you sending the signal.”
    “It wasn’t me, it’s that asshole Davies and look, he’s leaving by boat! He must have triggered them to get people away from the river and the boats.”
    Artur looked over the ledge, spotting the men making their way to the water. He pointed out near to them.
    “Look, the dead are already there, they must have broken through at the small bridge.”
    The barricade was partially knocked down and a group of at least a hundred zombies advanced past the bridge and towards the boats. Davies and his people had almost got the boat into the water when the zombies cut them off. A desperate battle started but Nick turned back to Artur .
    “Serves the bastards right, we have our own problems.”
    The two looked down to the perimeter of the castle, hundreds more zombies swarmed around the entrance and it looked like they were circling. In just a few more minutes the castle would be completely surrounded. Gunfire erupted along the walls and from the towers as the survivors did their best to force back the zombies.
    “Come on, back to the courtyard, we need a new plan,” said Nick as he headed down the staircase.
    The battle continued around them and by the time they reached the courtyard the entire outer wall was covered in white smoke from the battle. They met in the middle where they were joined by Zack and Gary who were both covered in gore from close quarter combat.
    “The drainage tunnel and sally ports are not going to last long, the numbers are too great. Also, there are two groups at the main doors, I don’t know how long the doors will last before they can get in,” said Gary.
    The sound of the