The United Kingdom, Part 1.

These are diary entries taken from my time in Afghanistan, just before 'The Outbreak' right through the first few months of the conflict.
I'll update more information at a future date, until then I've got to keep on the move.


June 18th, 2007.
Today was the start of my second Tour in Afghanistan. Ironically, also my birthday.
I hate this country.
The only thing less friendly than the locals is the land itself. The desert heat is overpowering and the sheer size of the GAFA (Great Afghanistan Fuck All) is enough to crush a man who thinks too much of greater things than where his next meal is coming from.
That's what war reduces us to - the next meal, the next hill, the next bullet, the next drop.
Always wondering if it's our last, if this is the time our ticket is up. I've never been a religious man, I've never believed in fate but sometimes I still find myself praying.
My Captain says I should hit two and a half stripes by the end of this tour, that would be good. I don't need the extra money but it'd help Jen and I get a bit more comfortable.
Signing off for today - I'm still not sure of this diary business but Jen thought it would be a good idea, let her see what life in the forces was like. I'm not sure I want her to know.

June 20th, 2007
Two days since my last report, not much to talk about. Ended up tabbing back from a failed recon attempt with some Royal Marine buddies of mine. They let us flyboys tag along so they can train us in the ways of 'the soldier'. I think it's self preservation - they want us to know how to fight so if we all go down in a hotspot they don't have to look out for the stupid fucking pilot.
Bad news from home, my parents conditions have worsened. They were hit bad by the 'superflu' and never really seemed to get over it. The NHS is over-stretched as it is, so I got them onto my private health insurance. The only problem with that is that all of the other guys in the forces had the same bright idea so now they're shipping the worst cases over to the Government Run internment and quarantine camps in Glasgow, Belfast and Liverpool. I suppose it's a bright idea by the Government to keep the sick away from their doorstep in London and Edinburgh. My parents are in Glasgow for the time being, I hope they're okay.

July 20th, 2007
The fighting here is intensifying, getting more desperate. Every time we kill Johnny Taleban, they are another two guys willing to take his place. Sometimes makes me wonder if we are 'fighting the good fight'. We've lost all media privs for the moment - some scary news reports from back home about the superflu flashed up on the tv screens a few nights ago and since then there's been a media blackout - no internet, no phones, no tv, no radio. Nothing. They've even been confiscating mobiles - that bastard Petty Officer from Comms took my brand new iPhone. What a dick.
I suppose it's just to keep morale high. No solider wants to be fighting a war and being told his family are coughing up blood back home. Doesn't send the right message to the front lines.
This country keeps you so focused on your own behind I doubt half of us would notice the damn media anyway but now that the top brass are banning it, the boys are paying more attention.
Rumours are flying, but I try to pay no attention to them. We're the ones in the shit, the people back home are fine.
I hope Jen is okay.

September 10th, 2007
Mass recall went out over the tannoys today. All battle group divisions are to start packing their gear in wait of an order to get the hell out of dodge. Kandahar, our airfield looks to be cleared out by the end of this week. The superflu (or 'Campion' as I hear it's now called) has caused a mass panic back home, Police and Territorial Army are outnumbered and need the real army to back them up. I'm not sure how much good I'll do and I'm not sure where there is such a mass recall from here - we'll all need to ship back out when the smoke clears back in the UK.

October 17th, 2007
I've been back in the UK over a month now. Things here are crazy. This 'Campion' virus is some new strain of Rabies or something like that, I'm not sure what to believe, the reports keep coming so thick and fast. I've been flying daily missions over major population centres, spotting for the troops on the ground. We've seen some strange things in the last few days. I'm not sure who else has been briefed on this but I know at least the flight crews in our Squadron have been told to keep south of Manchester and as far East as possible. News reports have been coming out from Glasgow that the people held at the Government internment camps have turned hostile and have started attacking staff.

October 23rd, 2007
There's been no contact from Glasgow in the last two days, only sporadic transmissions from Belfast (all classified) but Liverpool has gone public. BBC news had live footage of the collapse of the Liver building yesterday and lots of assorted shots of the looting and rioting. Reports have been garbled but as far as we can tell it's not just the detainees who are causing the 'civil unrest' - the entire city has turned into a warzone. Men, women, children - running, screaming, clawing each other to the ground. The government are preparing to cordon off the country North of London if reports like this continue.

November 1st, 2007
Liverpool is little more than a flaming wreck now. Scotland has been declared off limits to all non-military personnel, even we've been told that everywhere outside of Edinburgh is off limits to ground forces. The government has kept our flights to a minimum, after we lost a Seaking over Leeds 4 days ago. The pilot put down to let off some Marines to check in with a safety point but before he could lift off again the entire checkpoint was overrun. They're calling them 'The Infected' now. Sounds like something from a movie. They don't let us know much, not even officers like myself but what we've managed to glean is this:
The 'Campion' virus is some kind of mutagen turning regular people into near indestructable killing machines. Nobody knows how it works but we all know what's happening. There are reports that the reason the 'Infected' are so difficult to drop is because they're already dead. Already DEAD. The radio reports we've had sound like something from a bad movie. The country has been cut nearly in two - Everything South and West of Greater London is a no-go area, with road blocks and security stations set up to stem the flow of people trying to flood to the city. The east has been spotted as a 'safe zone', it's where the Government and Seat of Power will go if things get worse. The East coast up as far as Norwich is a 'Green Zone', where we're ushering incoming civilians.
The centre of England is a war zone - any contact made will be assumed hostile until proven otherwise, sometimes that proof comes too late. Manchester is surviving and we're planning an evacuation of the city. America have pledged their military power to help us, but they must be suffering themselves - this seems to be a worldwide phenomena.