Chapter 9
Jake and his group reloaded their weapons and readied themselves outside by some of the walls. Nick's group also took cover behind some walls and some vehicles. Sam took the other survivors to the mess hall where they took cover there.
The raiders took the first shot, killing one of Nick's men.
Pow!
Brandon started picking off the raiders one by one, while they were trading rounds with everyone else. Fighters were hitting the ground left and right.
One of the raiders started shooting at the mess hall, attacking the survivors hiding there.
"I'm going for the mess hall!" Jake shouted. "I need some covering fire!"
Miller, Nick, Arnold, and Brandon started giving Jake covering fire as he dashed behind the man shooting up the mess hall. When he was close enough, Jake speared the man to the concrete floor and drove his blade in the back of the man’s head.
One raider had his eyes on the young girl. He aimed his rifle at her, about to pull the trigger. Arnold saw the man and ran to the girl, tackling her to the ground just as the raider fired. The bullet pierced through the brick wall behind him and the girl, barely missing Arnold. Arnold pulled out his sidearm and fired some kill shots at the raider.
"Are you alright?!" Arnold asked.
"No, I'm not alright!" the girl shouted. "You just tackled me to the ground!"
"Next time, watch your surroundings! That raider almost took your head clean off!"
Suddenly, a bullet flew by, puncturing Arnold in the head. Most of his right skull and his right ear splattered on the wall. The power from the mystery shooter's gun caused Arnold to whiplash, slamming what was left of his skull on the same wall, then toppling over on the girl.
When the girl started screaming, Miller looked to her direction to see the girl trying to push herself out from under Arnold's body.
"Riley! Stewart! Man down!" Miller shouted.
Brandon's adrenaline started rushing when he saw his friend Arnold fall to the ground.
Pow! Click-click! Chck-chck!
He shoots a man hiding behind one of his vehicles. His aiming was more precise, and his fire rate was much quicker. He takes a quick breath, nearly hyperventilating, and aims his sights at a raider that spots his position.
Pow! Click-click! Chck-chck!
Brandon hits the man in the mouth, and parts of his skull fly back as he nearly back flips into the grass.
While he was picking off the raiders one by one, Jake and Matthew gave covering fire so that Miller could run to aid the girl. Miller was then followed by Jake, who was then followed by Matthew.
Jake picked up Arnold's body with a fireman's lift. Miller and Stewart gave him and the girl covering fire so they could run to the medical bay.
Pow! Click-click! Chk-chck! Pow! Click-click! Chck-chk!
Brandon kept firing. Eventually, the raiders started falling back. Brandon aims his scope at a raider that fell behind as he was running away. Brandon takes one last, shuttering breath.
Pow!
The fleeing raider falls instantly.
Click-click!
Brandon pulls back the bolt on his rifle, releasing his last round. He then shoots up from the grass and rushes to the base.
Miller, Jake, and the girl finally made it to the medical bay. Jake laid Arnold down on one of the unoccupied beds. Arnold's body was still shaking and his voice was a light groan, indicating that he was still alive... and suffering.
"Just hold on, Arnold," Jake replied as he was holding on to Arnold's quivering hand. "You're gonna be ok."
Matthew got a towel that was nearby and applied pressure to Lancaster's head, which was gushing with blood. Miller assisted Matthew in applying pressure, and the young girl stood back with her hands cupped over her mouth.
Arnold's blood was flowing much less His body began slowing down, and he started getting colder.
"Arnold, don't you dare go!" Jake whispered to Arnold.
Arnold's eyes started dilating. His hand that Jake was holding started losing its grip and slowing down to a twitch. Then... Silence
"Dammit, Arnold, I'm giving you a direct order!"
"Jake," Miller whispered. "He's gone. I'm sorry."
Brandon made it to the medical bay. "Arnold?" he started.
Matthew looked up at Brandon with a sad look and just shook his head. All Brandon did was put his fist in his mouth, biting his index knuckle to hold back the tears. A moment later, he rushed out of the room and leaned against a wall a few yards away. As he slid his back against the wall, he covered his face with his arms and began to bawl his eyes out.
Miller removed Arnold's dog tags. He then proceeded to remove his wallet, but the girl stopped him.
"What are you doing?!" she asked intently.
Miller looked into her eyes. "What is your name?"
"Alana Lyons."
"Well, Alana," Miller continued. "This is memorabilia of a fallen brother."
Miller continued to remove Arnold's wallet. He took the seventy-five dollars out of the wallet, rolled it up, then placed the money in Arnold's chest pocket. He then proceeded to shut Arnold's eyes and covered his body with a sheet that was laying nearby.
After Miller saluted the corpse of Arnold Lancaster, he, Michael, and Jake left the room to check up on Brandon, who was sitting silent up against the wall. His cheeks were red from mourning. Miller walked up to him and reached out his hand to Brandon. After Brandon was pulled up, the two gave each other a brief, blank stare. Miller patted Brandon’s shoulder and nodded, then walked away. Michael did the same thing and walked off.
“You need anything?” Jake asked.
“Nah,” Brandon uttered. “I’ll live. I just need a minute, and I’ll be right behind you guys.”
“Sure thing.”
Jake patted Brandon’s shoulder and left the medical bay. Jake looked around and saw the aftermath of the invasion. White sheets with bodies under them were lined up next to a wall. Men, women and children were either dead or wounded. Many people mourned beside their lost loved ones. Parents were holding on to their children that were caught in the crossfire.
I gotta find Nick,
Jake thought.
These people can’t take much more of that. Gotta get them outta here.
Chapter 10
After searching all over the camp, Jake found Nick, who was helping Sam give aid to the survivors that were wounded in the mess hall.
"What do you want?" Nick asked. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"
"I came to help you out with some of these fellows," Jake answered.
"Well, you did help us out with them raiders. I guess I can trust you to bandage up a few wounds."
Jake proceeded to give aid to a child that took a bullet in the arm.
"That man that saved Alana... the guy that was shot... he a good friend of yours?"
"Arnold? Yeah, he was. Mainly Brandon's."
"Who?"
Jake chuckled a bit. "The sniper. By the way, sorry about what happened earlier. Me and my group actually thought this place was abandoned a week ago. We didn’t expect anyone here"
"Well, as long as you don’t try any funny business, you can stay. You're not gonna stay permanently though."
Jake turned his head to Nick. "We were only planning to stay for one night. We were just passing through. Now, I'm not so sure. No offense."
Nick was confused. "What do you mean? If it's 'cause of the raiders, then I don't blame you. Honestly, I don't know of any other place that would be safe."
Jake was finished patching up the wounded kid, then handed Nick a map.
"You're in luck. Because I do. Me and my group are heading to Fort Benning, Georgia. They are taking in survivors."
"Yeah, right," Nick scoffed. "That place is also rumored to be overrun, just like everywhere else.”
Jake showed Nick his radio. "I've been keeping in contact with them."
"Military?” Nick responded. “I mean, I kinda figured with the uniforms and all.”
"Navy. So is David Miller, that guy with the eye patch, and Matthew Stewart. Brandon Peterson is a Marine, and Arnold Lancaster..."
Jake hesitated for a moment. "...Was SWAT."
Nick was finished patching up an elderly couple that was wounded.
"Look, Nick," Jake continued. "This place is not safe. Me and my group, we have quite a few supplies and a lot of firepower. You have supplies as well, and people that need to be some place that's a lot better than this. Come with us. We can form an alliance."
"No," Nick answered. "If we go out there, then there's a good chance that we'll be overrun by the undead."
"Nick," Jake persuaded. "I know this sounds blunt, but you have a much better chance out there with the undead than you do here if more raiders show up. If my group wasn't here today, then you would've lost a lot of more people, or everyone at that fact."
Nick thought about Jake's offer for a moment. "Let me talk with my people. Better yet, you tell them your plan. Me personally, I'm not comfortable with it. But I believe everyone deserves a say so when it comes to a big decision like this. I'm pretty sure that as a leader yourself, you know what that's like."
That night, Jake, Brandon, Matthew, and David went to Nick's meeting that he called. Nick, Sam, Alana, the older man, who everyone called Sean, and the black guy, who everyone called Jamal, were at the small meeting, along with a few others as well. The rest of the survivors were asleep. Nick called Jake to the middle to plead his case.
"First off," Jake started. "I wanna apologize for scaring you guys earlier today."
"No problem," Alana replied. "You did kinda make up for it."
Jake then continued. "My name is Petty Officer First Class Jake Riley of the United States Navy. The man wearing the eye patch is my commanding officer, Commander David Miller. The man holding the sniper rifle is Gunnery Sergeant Brandon Peterson of the United States Marine Corps. and to my right is Petty Officer Third Class Matthew Stewart."
Matthew signified who he was by nodding his head.
"We had another man that was with us. He was a member of the Norfolk, Virginia, SWAT team. His name was Arnold Lancaster. He was a brave soldier and a good friend. He lost his life today saving us and many of you."
Brandon slowly fixed his eyes downward.
"But he was not the only one. Many of you lost loved ones today as well. Now, I'm willing to bet that today wasn't the first time you were attacked here by raiders, was it?"
Everyone kept silent.
"Here's the situation: Fort Benning, Georgia is still operating, and they are taking in survivors as we speak. I've been keeping in touch with them everyday. I can already tell you guys that you're not safe here."
"We may not be that safe here," Jamal interrupted. "But if you're suggesting we travel all the way to Fort Benning, then I say that's pretty dumb, Petty Officer."
"Jamal," Sam argued. "He's making a good point. We've already lost a lot of people as it is, and we're low on food and supplies. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of fighting these raiders when the undead is already tough enough to deal with. Not to mention the stores around here running out of supplies. It'll only be a matter of time when we have to either leave or end up dead."
"Might as well go ahead and leave now if that's the case," Sean agreed.
"You guys can go if you want to," Jamal replied. "Me, I don't trust him."
"Jamal, I don't blame you for not trusting me," Jake continued. "I mean, we just met this morning, and not on good terms. You guys don't have to go if you don't want to. That's your choice and yours alone. All I'm asking is that you at least consider this option."
Jamal walked away. Alana walked forward. "I'm in."
"Same here," Sam replied.
"Count me in," Sean said. "These raiders here are getting on my last nerves too."
All eyes were on Nick, who was still silent.
"It's settled, then," Nick finally replied. "I'll let everyone else know tomorrow morning when they wake up."