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continued to stare out at the burning horizon, his headset blared with the voice from battalion command.  They were receiving new marching orders—orders that he couldn’t believe.  They were being sent south to Chelyabinsk.  He passed the order on to the other vehicles and he looked down at his driver below.  “Alright Kuzma, let’s head back to the main highway.  The division is being sent to Chelyabinsk.”
    “Chelyabinsk?” questioned the driver.
    “Yes, Chelyabinsk.”
    “Uh, who’s going to hold this area?” asked his gunner, Radimir.  “We just can’t leave this place unsecured.”
    “They didn’t say.  Anyway, that’s for them to figure out.  Our job here is done, so we need to get moving.”  Kozlov himself had many questions about what was going on, but he knew that he didn’t have the time to discuss it with his crew.  He flipped down his night vision, grabbed onto the turret mounted heavy machinegun, and aimed it out into the darkness.
    “Sir…how do you explain those people coming back to life?” the frightened driver asked.  “The ones we first ran into outside of the Antov.”
    “What?” Kozlov asked as he tried to ignore his trooper’s question.  In truth, he had wanted to avoid having such a conversation, but he knew that eventually they would have to talk about what they had experienced.  He didn’t want to add any extra distractions to his crew and his unit, and he felt that if they didn’t discuss what they were thinking—keeping them sharp and focused instead—then they would be better off in the long run.
    “I can’t really say that the dead are coming back to life.”  Kozlov knew that he couldn’t allow his crew and his unit to become unraveled because of speculation and fear, so he was trying to choose his words carefully.  “But something is happening…something beyond explanation.”
    “That’s what Borya said back at division,” Kuzma explained.  “He said that somehow the dead were returning to life and that they were killing everything in their path…that no one could explain it.”
    “Look,” Kozlov said as he sighed, “it would be wise if you don’t spread those rumors to any of the other units.  We don’t need to start a panic over a bunch of ghost stories.  Now, just focus on your job and get those thoughts out of your head.”  Kozlov peered down into the tank and pointed at the driver to make his point.  “Now let’s get going.”
    “Yes Captain,” Kuzma said.”  He looked at Radimir in the dim red light of the tank interior.  Fear was splayed over the man’s face.
    The tanks and carriers slowly rumbled down a dirt track that weaved through the woods, connecting with one of the roads that linked Ozersk and Kyshtym.  As Kozlov struggled to balance himself in his open hatch, three helicopters buzzed over the top of their formation.  Through his night vision he could see their bright navigation lights and dark forms as they headed towards the burning town.  Flying fast and low, the aircraft were out of his view within a matter of seconds.  A few moments later, the sound of rocket fire could be heard, followed by the resonating thumps of explosions.  The helicopters were firing into Ozersk.
    As the captain contemplated the sudden order to withdraw from their position, his thoughts were broken by the loud and fear-filled voice of his driver.  “Contact at our ten!”
    Spinning around in the hatch, Kozlov looked to his left and began scanning for targets.  His heart was racing and he was desperately searching through his night vision for any signs of movement when one of the carriers behind him began to fire at something off to his right.  The captain immediately recognized that he had action on both sides of his column.  More guns began to fire and the vehicles were illuminated by the bright flames that were leaping from the ends of their barrels.
    Kozlov was able to catch sight of a group of people running full speed