“Isn’t it twenty-two hands?” Daniel asked.
“You know what I mean,” I said, rolling my eyes. “These people have suffered through a month of hell and survived. How motivated would they be to help us if they see hope?”
The Lieutenant glanced at DJ.
“He’s gotta a point, Campbell,” the big man told him as he scratched his beard. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and not a lot of people to do it.”
Campbell turned to Fish. “What do you think?”
“Your call, sir,” Fish said evenly. Any opinion he had was masked underneath his stoic face.
Campbell looked around the group. I was reminded of how young the Lieutenant was. We were the same age. But I don’t know if I could handle making these types of decisions, knowing that the wrong one could mean death to one or all of us.
“Christian’s right,” he said and turned back to Enrique. “We will go warn them and invite them to come back with us. But we go in the morning. It is far too dangerous to try and go into the city at night.”
Enrique’s shoulders sagged and he let out a deep breath. “Thank you.”
“Hey, Lieutenant?” Cecil called.
“Yes?” Campbell said.
“That post office is across the street from the West Melbourne Police Station. Since we’re going that way, maybe we could raid it. There’s a good chance it has already been picked clean, but it could be worth a shot.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Campbell conceded. “We’ll put a plan together.”
A few people volunteered to go on the rescue mission, while others still held reservations about inviting more people into our group. That was understandable. We didn’t know the type of people we were going to go save.
“Sir, can I borrow you and DJ for a minute?” Fish asked the Lieutenant. Campbell nodded and the three sought privacy around the corner of the building.
I was a little insulted. For the last couple of weeks, Fish and I had been a team. Normally, we would be the ones going off somewhere to talk. But as we incorporated into this group, our relationship seemed like it was waning.
I didn’t like being left out so I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.
I prowled my way over to the side of the building. I sat down so I could at least give the appearance that I was being casual.
I caught them just as they started talking.
“What’s on your mind, Master Sergeant?” Campbell asked wearily.
“
That’s
on my mind,” Fish responded.
“I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”
“I think it’s time I came out of retirement,” Fish grumbled.
I heard DJ chuckle. “No offense, Fish, but does that really matter anymore?”
“I have to agree with DJ. Maybe there is some military out there, but it might as well be on another planet as far as we’re concerned,” Campbell sighed.
“Sir, if we’re going to make this place work, we’re going to have to have some sort of order,” Fish explained. “As long as we choose to take in refugees, they have to see some sort of structure.”
“I think I see where you’re going with this,” DJ said. “Are you talking about militarizing the whole camp?”
“Some civilians may not like that. Hell, if we do get enough refugees in here, they might want to hold elections,” Campbell pointed out. “Our form of government was meant—”
“Our form of government is dead,” Fish said flatly. “And we need to get that into our heads. Look, I’ve been to places where clans fight amongst themselves when a leader dies. It can be treacherous and bloody. I’m not saying that might happen here, but I would never discount it, either.”
“Okay, so where are you going with this? Tell it to me straight, Master Sergeant,” Campbell ordered.
“First, you get a field promotion to Captain. And don’t give me that ‘I’m not authorized’ bullshit. You pick an XO. You’ll need a second in command.” XO in military speak means Executive Officer. They were the second in command, usually one rank lower than the commanding officer.
“Is that XO going to be you?” DJ asked.
“Fuck no,” Fish cursed. “I was thinking of you, big guy. The people here respect you. You have a decent head on your shoulders and you have a heart. XO’s need that shit. Trust me, I don’t fit into that last category.”
“Okay, I’m with you so far,” Campbell said. “But what about everyone else? How do we organize this like a military camp without ruffling feathers?”
“Sir, no offense, but feathers will be ruffled no matter what happens. The good thing is, just about everyone here respects you as a leader. They will fall in line. And yes, that means they are drafted, for lack of a better term. We don’t need to assign rank to everyone, but we can form units. Form a chain of command. If we rescue these assholes tomorrow, they won’t have a choice but to get into step with us.” Fish stopped talking. I could almost picture Campbell considering what he was saying.
Fish brought up a lot of good points. I thought of Private Gonzales. He was already becoming a problem soldier, ignoring orders sometimes, and being disrespectful toward authority most of the time. He didn’t think there was a military anymore. I wondered how he would take this. After all, in his mind, the military mindset was fading. Fish was talking about bringing it back in full force. If anyone could force that on people, it would be Fish.
“Alright. That makes you First Sergeant,” Campbell said. I could tell by the sound of his voice he was smiling.
DJ laughed. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
“Of course you do, XO,” Campbell responded.
“Shit,” DJ swore. “I’ll go along with this, but don’t call me that!”
I decided it was time for me to move. I was eavesdropping long enough, and really would have rather not been caught.
At least I knew what they were up to. I thought the reorganization of our group was a great idea. Honestly, if we hadn’t started down that path, things would have turned into a major cluster in the coming days.
I walked over to the fire where Boomer was still laying. He snapped to his feet and galloped over to me. He ran between my legs in hopes that I would scratch his hind quarters. I did, and he responded with his usual euphoric expression.
Chad was still there, sitting on a bucket. Everyone else had left and gone to their various sleeping areas. Most were sleeping in the main hall for the time being.
“What do you think about this shit?” Chad asked me. The former convict hadn’t exactly been friendly to me since I’d known him. “Hell, why am I asking you? This was your idea.”
Chad took a long drink from a bottle. I wasn’t sure if it was water or alcohol. He didn’t seem drunk, though. I mentally prepared for a confrontation before I spoke.
“It’s the right thing to do,” I said confidently. I thought Chad was irritated that the Lieutenant had chosen to save those people at the post office. He surprised me, though.
“Fuck, Christian, I agree with you,” Chad said with a smirk. “Don’t be such an asshole.”
I was taken aback. “You agree with me?”
“Fuck yeah, man. If the Lieutenant hadn’t come to save my ass, I’d be zombie food.”
“Does that mean you’re going with us tomorrow?” I asked.
“Hell yeah. I also wanna to keep an eye on that pig. I don’t trust him for shit.” Chad said, referring to Cecil.
I smiled, nodded and said goodnight to Chad. I know I’ve shown Chad in a pretty bad light up to this point, but the truth is he was just misunderstood. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. I’ll get more into that later.
Boomer and I walked over to one of the small buildings in the common area of the resort. I call Camp Holly a resort loosely. The structures were old and it wasn’t exactly a five star establishment. More like a one star. But it felt secure. Feeling secure and actually being secure are two different things, though. Fish told me earlier that he and I would be bunking in the building I was approaching. We were to take turns pulling guard throughout the night.
Once inside, I took off my gear and found my bags that Fish must have brought earlier. Either he thought I was going to survive or thought I was going to die out there and decided to keep my gear for his own use. I don’t know which, and never asked him.
Boomer took a nap on some blankets that I laid out for myself and I rifled through my gear to prepare for the next day’s events.
About an hour later, Fish opened the door to the small building. Originally, it had been used to store tools and back-up equipment. Fish had already cleared the equipment out.
Fish opened the door and saw me cleaning my AR rifle.
“You should have been asleep by now, kid,” he said gruffly.
“Sorry, I was waiting for you.”
“I’m not your wife, you know,” he commented as he took his own gear off. “Every forty minutes, we’re supposed to walk this side of the perimeter. Captain’s orders.”
“Captain?” I asked, trying to sound naive.
“Don’t bother. I know you were listening in on our conversation.” Fish sat down and took off his boots.
“How did you know that?” I asked, figuring there was no reason to lie about my eavesdropping.
“The way you breathe. Don’t worry. The others didn’t know you were there.”
“Sorry. Just kinda felt left out.” I wished I wouldn’t have said that.
“You can be such a bitch sometimes,” Fish said as he flopped back onto a pillow.
“Well, I don’t like being out of the loop.”
“Jesus,” Fish snorted. “Look, kid, I’m not leaving you out. You and I are still a team. It’s just that the dynamics have changed and we have to adjust. Besides, inviting those people at the post office was your idea. My idea of promoting the Lieutenant, making DJ the XO, and all that other garbage about militarizing Camp Holly came to me at the last minute. Just a gut reaction to bringing more survivors here. We have to be organized.”
“Hey, I’m not saying I disagree with you. It makes sense.” I started putting my boots back on, figuring I would have to do a patrol soon. Boomer stood up and moved to the door. He knew that when my boots came out, we were leaving.
There was a moment of silence as I donned the rest of my gear and grabbed the MP5.
“Why do you want to save those people anyway?” Fish asked. I thought he had fallen asleep, but he was just lying there, eyes closed with a hand wrapped around the grip of his .45.
“I gave my reasons why.”
“Bullshit,” he chuckled. “The real reason.”
I considered for a moment, remembering what Karina had said when we rescued Enrique.
I let out a breath. “Well, I guess it was something Karina said to me yesterday.”
“What did that little troublemaker say?” Fish wasn’t exactly keen on Karina. He thought she was to blame for Chuck dying. If she had been where she was supposed to be, none of the previous two day’s events would have ever happened.
“She said every life matters. And you know what? She’s right. If she wouldn’t have convinced me to save Enrique, he would be dead. We’re a dying breed. Every person we save means a better chance of us making it as a species.”
Fish chuckled again. “Heh, she’s right. But she’s still a troublemaker.”
I laughed, “Yeah. She is that.”
I put my hand on the door and stopped.
“Can I ask you something?” I said, still staring at the door in front of me. I didn’t want to look him in the eyes for the question I was about to pose.
“What’s that?” he grumbled.
“Are you going to be okay to go tomorrow?”
“That’s a stupid fucking question, kid,” he growled.
“No… it’s not,” I said, almost whispering.
“What the fuck do you mean?”
I heard him sit up, but still did not want to turn around. I raised my head and looked at the ceiling.
“Something has been bothering you. And I know you don’t want to talk about it. But we’re going to rescue those people tomorrow. There’s a good chance we’re going to run into those scabs I faced yesterday, and we’re damn sure going to run into zombies. I want to make sure your head is in the game.”
“You’ve got a lot of balls, kid. I’m pretty sure it’s me who has kept your dumbass in
the game
these last couple of weeks.”
At this point, I should have just walked out the door, but I couldn’t. I was confronting Fish, not because I thought he was going to be a hindrance, but because… well, I cared about him.
“Fish, man, I know you better than you think,” I said, finally turning around to face him. “That last night at Ace Hardware, you weren’t with it. When I mentioned Enrique’s wife, you went into Neverland. When we were by the fire talking about the scabs retaining some of their memory, you were a zombie. I know what you’re thinking.”
That was something he didn’t want to hear.
“You don’t know shit!” he barked. He was standing now and his posture told me that he was ready to pounce on me. I had no delusions of being able to repel an attack by the former Special Forces Operative.