Necrocide by Jonathan Davison Page A

swayed, his eyes closing. He could barely stay awake.
    “Wakey, wakey.” Granger prodded him with his long barrelled machine gun.
    “My name is Bauer, you have already worked out the rank, I commend you” The German spoke and to the surprise of all, in very clear English.
    “Blimey.” Granger exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
    “Blimey, yes. I see you are from the south east of England.” Bauer replied casually catching George unawares.
    “Bloody hell, how did you know that?” Granger inquired. Bauer cocked his head to one side and smiled. Clearly he had a grasp on the dialect of the region.
    “How bad is the leg?” Hawkins interjected. His thoughts were always about moving forward.
    “I do not think it is broken, thank you for asking.”
    “Fuckin' ell'! He's a bit polite this one!” Granger said chortling to himself.
    “We may be enemies but we are still human beings.” Bauer replied. Hawkins stared at the German who attempted to stand but stumbled. Aiding his attempts, the German finally stood upright with Hawkins assistance although a little gingerly. It was then that Hawkins realised that this man was huge in comparison to himself.
    “Go on then big man; tell us what's going on.” Granger asked, his interrogation techniques lacking somewhat. Bauer smiled as he leaned against the rear of the truck.
    “Well, it started this morning when the Allied invasion failed...” Bauer smiled again and shrugged his shoulders. He was a humorous man who seemed unlikely to be rattled by a couple of grunts posing as interrogators.
    Hawkins looked at Granger and smiled. This was going to be an interesting relationship.
    Everybody's attention was drawn to the body of the SS soldier as he lay upon the asphalt. Several small twitches were followed by a larger one and it seemed incredible there was still some kind of nerve activity possible considering the amount of brain damage.
    “I see you met my friend. I thank you by the way. I did not yet thank you for what you did.” Bauer spoke softly and appeared genuine. The Brits had indeed saved his life. Ironically, without Genevieve's interjection, they might have allowed this man’s execution. Hawkins felt particularly uncomfortable with his choices and was glad of the unexpected actions of his fair French maiden.
    “What is that?” Granger asked as he poked and prodded the body with his boot. “It stinks.”
    Bauer hobbled forward.
    “I think it best to leave it be at this moment...” Bauer offered advice which Granger failed to heed. Suddenly, the SS officer's corpse convulsed as if having a grand-mal seizure and guns were once again trained on the writhing mass.
    “Do not waste the bullets.” Bauer called out. The perceived inefficiency of their weapons at killing the thing did cause the soldiers to pause before unleashing more fiery wrath.
    “At the nape of its neck, you will find a metallic device. You need only remove it...” Bauer spoke calmly as if confident of his advice. Hawkins rolled the soldier over with his boot and indeed, the glimmer of metal shone from beneath a dark, congealed mass of blood and tissue.
    “Pull it out then, George.” Hawkins said as the body twitched.
    “I'm not touching it. You pull it out.” Came the reply, the smell was acrid enough to persuade anyone to not come into contact with it. Hawkins sighed and reached down. Grasping the rectangular object tightly, he yanked at it. Realising he would need significantly more force, he tore the flesh with his fingernails and ripped it away causing the freakishly cool body to immediately rest limp. Hawkins immediately threw the small metallic device down to the ground and wiped his hands furiously upon his trousers. Trying not to vomit, Hawkins spluttered and spat bile.
    “That's disgusting.” He croaked.
    “Quite.” Bauer said serenely. Genevieve stood impassive, watching cautiously with her hand over her mouth and nose.
    “Come on then, Colonel. Spill the beans. What was that?”