Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat II

Part Two: The Morning


The call to arms sounded just after sun up. Larcius rubbed the sleep from his eyes but he was already slipping on the heavy leather kilt and armoured belt before the second call went out ten seconds later. He pulled the tunic over his head and began working on putting on his grieves and arm guards when a knock came at his door.
"Enter," he said gruffly as he continued to do up the straps on his armour. The night-watch sergeant stepped into his quarters, a short and somewhat small Serb the man was named Boian. "Three men sir, approaching on horseback. Moving slow and showing signs of battle, they are definately some of ours Commander," Boian said.
"I will be with you presently Boian, please send a squad to open the gate for these men," Larcius instructed as he saw Ruffus move into his quarters to do up his chestplate, the final piece of his armour. As Ruffus began to work on tightening the straps, Larcius remained silent.
"Thank you Ruffus, now, let's go see what the excitement is all about shall we?"
They both left Larcius' quarters and moved at a brisk pace to the platform built beside the wall so they could look out over the field in front of the fort. The place was buzzing with activity as three hundred and fifty foot soldiers readied themselves for combat. His battle group was one hundred legionnaires and fifty archers in support as auxilaries. The other two infantry groups were commanded by his two senior lieutenants, Ruffus being one and the other a gruff Serb named Viktor. Viktor was stalking towards them as well and saluted as he approached.
"Commander my men are equipped and ready for battle," he said smartly with a thick accent.
"Viktor let us pray it does not come to that, come with me gentlemen let's take a look," Larcius said taking the steps quickly, they again groaned in protest at his bulk.
The blank stares amoung the soldiers who were on the watch duty fell upon their commander. Larcius spotted the three men quickly, they were moving very slowly, within four hundred feet from the gate. His dark brown eyes squinted to better see the men moving towards them, the sun was at his back and he thought he recognized all three faces although battered and bloodied they were.
"Zombii..." One of the Slavic men whispered a little more loudly than he'd thought as he hissed it out with a sharp breath.
Larcius snapped his head towards the man and was about to scold him when Ruffus tapped his shoulder and pointed back towards the three men. One was jerking violently and was actually attempting to grab one of his companions from his horse.
"What the hell," Ruffus said.
Viktor leaned forward to whisper to Larcius and Larcius twisted his head to provide a better angle and as he looked over his shoulder he saw the stable master, Dragan, standing amoungst the gathered troops, he clutched an aged sword, longer than the short sword worn on the hip by the legionnaires and there was a fire in his eyes.
"That man is no fool, those horsemen could be zombii-" Viktor could say no more as the flailing horseman finally grabbed hold of his exhausted victim and pulled him to the ground roughly from the saddle. This startled the third horse and the rider seemed to wake somewhat and he kept the horse moving towards the fort at a good pace.
There were three archers on the wall, they immediately began fumbling for arrows from their quivers. At this distance they would do little good, these men were by no means highly skilled archers and there was no sense in firing at both men.
"Hold," Larcius barked.
"They couldn't get a kill shot anyway Commander," Viktor said. This remark only earned a silent look from Larcius.
There couldn't possibly be anything to merit this folly of zombii. It was a myth and a superstition handed down to each generation to scare obedience into poorly behaved children.
"Stay here, I'm taking a squad out there," Larcius said. He pushed past his lieutenants and walked down the creaking stairs. His personal guard, a squad of ten men stood waiting for him.
"Dragan could you please fetch a horse for me," he said meeting the old man's stare. Dragan shuffled off in the direction of the stables, still clutching the old cavalry sword in his hand.
Pacing over to the squad he instructed them to secure the third rider and make sure his injuries were attended to. Dragan had lead his horse over by the time his instructions were dealt the the wooden gate stood open with the lone rider nearly to the fort.
Heaving himself onto the back of the horse he kicked it forward, Viktor and Ruffus stared down at him and he felt their eyes on him as he left the fort. He passed the third rider on the field, the man was barely able to lift his head to meet Larcius' eyes. He recognized the young man as a promising young Roman named Marcus. Marcus' appearance was ragged, his helmet was missing from his head and his fighting dagger was the only weapon he appeared to still possess. His dark skin was covered in dirt from the road which was caked with blood and sweat as well from what had obviously been a laborious fight. There was scratch marks down his cheeks and arm as though a jealous lover had taken her wrath out upon him. There seemed to be a large bite mark on his bicep, it was not a bite from any animal Larcius knew. It looked like a man had taken a piece of his arm away with that bite. The arm hung loosely by his side and his head rolled to look up at Larcius.
"They are not men anymore Commander, nor shall I be for much longer if they have both turned. Kill me, please Commander kill me. I must have my head severed from my neck, please I beg you. I cannot become one of -" there was an odd groaning noise from deep inside the young man and his body began to convulse. He fell awkwardly from his horses' back and Larcius could hear the snap of his neck as his head struck the ground.
Larcius leapt down from his horse, calling to his squad to hurry to his side. He rolled Marcus onto his back and he continued to convulse, making that odd noise in his chest. His eyes weren't moving however, they remained mostly closed nor did he appear to be breathing, just as well as his neck bone was protruding from his neck. Larcius leaned back on his haunches and looked up at the faces of his men. Marcus finally lay still and when Larcius looked down on him again he noticed that the dead man's eyes were now completely open, and darting around in a rapid pattern.
"By the gods," Larcius whispered.
One of his squad members stepped forward and prodded the dead man's side with the end of his pilum, the javelin carried by all foot soldiers of the legion.
"He's moved on this one, " he said as he pushed a second time against Marcus' side but this time what had been Marcus rolled over and bit the legionnaire right on the ankle through his sandal.
"Fucker!" the man shouted and he brought his shield smashing down on the zombii's head, again and again until there was little left. Larcius could hardly believe it but there was no point in denying it now. He felt a terrible sinking feeling in his gut as dread poured into him as he considered their chances of survival is this was a tool of war unleashed upon them. He had to assume all of his light cavalry had been turned as well...and that they were coming this way.
"Can you walk and fight?" Larcius asked the man who had taken the bite.
"I think so sir," he said bravely. When they met eyes it was clear what the legionnaire intended to do. Larcius nodded his consent. The legionnaire turned round and the other two zombii's were approaching, within one hundred yards of their current position. Larcius turned to see Ruffus and Viktor, side by side on the wall looking out at he and his squad. Both faces looked completely drained of colour.
The legionnaire clenched a fist to his chest and nodded to the men around him saluting his squad members for what would be the last time.
Turning towards the zombii's he taunted, "Alright you bastards, let's have it now," and he stalked forward until he was within twenty feet of them. The legionnaire cocked back his arm and threw his pilum with the strength and accuracy of a veteran and professional soldier and it struck the lead zombii square in the chest, a killing blow for a man however this seemed to only knock the creature to it's back from the momentum of the pilum, carrying through it's body. Larcius could see the zombii's head and arms still moving, attempting to reach out to a victim that just wasn't there. The legionnaire advanced on the second zombii, hitting it with his shield, it stumbled and again with the ease of a man of arms he stepped forward with a striking blow across the arm that reached out for him. The razor sharp short sword severed the arm cleanly at the elbow and the man carried the momentum of that strike through to a second slash across the neck. The head fell from it's body and there ceased to be activity from that body. Larcius watched with grim satisfaction as the struggling zombii trapped with the pilum buried in it's chest was dispatched as the trooper smashed his shield onto it's skull.
"Inside, all of you and take my horse," Larcius ordered the rest of the squad as they marched back into the fort.
"What's your name soldier?" He asked the legionnaire.
"Jovinus Orcta Silvanus, Commander I know what you must do but promise me something first Commander," Jovinus said, his brown eyes alight and burning with passion.
"What can I do?" Larcius asked.
"If you survive what is to come and you make it back to Aquincum to report to the Legate what happened here look for the house with the long green banner out front. It is down the street from the Legate's headquarters and is where I lived with my wife and son, it is her fathers old house. My wife, Alexa, will be there minding the place and my seven year old boy will be there as well. Tell her I died in service to my Emperor and that I shall wait for her on the other side," tears were in his eyes as he knelt before his Commander.
"I shall tell them you died with honour, a soldier's death," Larcius said. He stood behind the legionnaire and placed his gladius at the base of the neck, he brought the blade up and pushed it through his neck. Completely severing the spine and major arteries from reaching the brain, it would be a sufficient wound to prevent the man from turning into a zombii.
Larcius carried the body back into the fort with him.
"We shall burn his body tonight upon a pyre," he said as the gates closed behind him.
"Commander," Ruffus called from the battlements, "he won't be the only one...take a look at this."
The early morning sun had risen sufficiently to give the field before the fort a large dose of sunlight and along the beaten path the three men had come this morning there tracked a large body of slow moving men. Very large. And they were not men, it was an army, an army of zombii.