Chapter 8 - Zac
It had been a few days since the group moved into the Camp with the Preppers. Even though they were safe, there was always that sense of urgency with danger being so present. Hailey and Kyle were not shy being affectionate towards each other. Even moving two beds together to sleep beside each other. But for Kyle, the nightmares were getting worse. Each night about Hailey, or his family, or the camp. Dead. Or worse, a brain eater. He couldn't bare the thought. And would rather stay awake knowing the girl he grew up to fall in love with, Hailey, was going to be ok. Miss Summers was able to bandage Trent from his fence fall around his arms, hands and chest. He was on the mend, coming out to sit in the sitting area for daily discussions. He was clean shaved, toned, tanned but bruised with a shaved head. No more than 30 years old and he, as well as Steve wore stand military camouflage uniform which implied his background to the others. During one of the earlier discussions with the group, it was revealed Steve met Trent through a local club as they were previously in the military.
Around mid-morning, majority of the group gathered for their daily discussion in the seating area. After going through numerous topics such as basic Prepper guides, survival guides to favourite fast food, Rob's watch timer had beeped. He looked down and turned it off while standing up, "Ok guys, My shift to walk the perimeter," he says, checking his knife hostler to make sure he had it on him. The Preppers had a daily routine of checking the fence line. It was long, a fair walk, but worth the perimeter checks to ensure no signs of entry from brain eaters. Rob, being one of the younger Preppers, he volunteered to complete the task around 11:00am each day. Making sure to return for lunch around noon. He knew how to handle a gun thanks to his Uncle Trent, but it didn't stop James putting Steve in 'The Lookout', a crows nest built in at the top of the warehouse. It gave the sniper a 360 degree view of the property. And seeing as Steve was a sniper in the military, it seemed only fair for him to get that responsibility which he spent most of his time in besides reloading weapons and cleaning guns. "Before Rob," Betty, his mum, said, "I will mum," he walked over to kiss her. "Oh hey, Zac, you should come with me, Might be good to share this with someone else," Rob said looking at him, he jumped up immediately with almost a pep in his step, "Sure," he said smiling, "Good idea son," James said nodding at Rob, which he mirrored. Rob walked over to the racks and grabbed a small pistol, he walked back to his Dad, "I'll just take this," he put it in his empty holster," "Ok son, be careful," James replied. Zac followed Rob out of the door and Kyle followed behind, ensuring to close in the concrete wall behind them. Rob checked the nearby Monitors surrounding the property first, as his Dad taught him on his many weekend and school holidays training for. Despite against his own protest. Everything was clear and Rob gave Kyle the go ahead to open the door. As Kyle opened the door, sunlight flood inside the warehouse. Although they had installed a heating and cooling system within the warehouse, the warm sun was refreshing against Kyle's skin. But moments later, he shut the door behind Rob and Zac who ventured towards the fence line. Kyle walked up to the monitor and saw them walking away side by side, he noticed Rob, who is taller than Zac, put is arm around him and pull him in for kiss. Kyle stepped back a little, almost oblivious to this new relationship he just discovered. He felt prying on their intimate moment and turned away, to see Hailey approaching nearby and grabbed her hand upon greeting her, giving it a quick kiss on the back and holding it with their fingers intwined. But he couldn't help but think how much Zac had changed form the kid he new in school. Hailey and Kyle walked together back towards the seating area, where Betty and Sarah had just left to start preparing lunch staples for everyone. As they have a process when removing and using the Preppers stock. Something Steve insisted be done by two people in order to ensure even distribution of stock and so no one was forging the figures and using more than what was written down. Especially seeing as Steve couldn't be in The Lookout and keeping an eye on stock levels. In his mind, it was a greater advantage to the group and himself if he focused on the enemy surrounding them rather than small variations in figures or stock.
Rob and Zac had made it to the back corner, where a small concrete hideout was built with cut out long rectangular holes to allow rifles to sit and shoot as well as a form of protection. It was the one spot on the property not directly covered by CCTV cameras, allowing the Preppers some privacy as they needed to overlook the areas they couldn't see from the ground without getting too close. They always kept a series of different rifles along with long range snipers for extended vision and protection. However, the guys hadn't even batted an eye at each other after slipping in the small area. They didn't hesitate to embrace each other, making out. Zac had never openly admitted to being gay in high school, but he couldn't resist the charm of Rob. Rob however had two very religious parents who believed in the scarcity of marriage between a Man and a woman, although they never openly were homophobic, it was something that was never discussed between them. As Betty often commented on getting grandkids prior to the brain eater takeover. As their passion heated, Zac started to kiss down Rob's body. He leaned against the back wall, facing the rectangular holes. He quickly helped Zac undo his belt buckle as he let his head lean against the wall. With Zac's attention elsewhere, Rob was staring out into the distance and noticed within 50 metres a small group of brain eaters were slowly walking past. They weren't overly threatening as they moved slowly. If anything it excited Rob knowing the danger of the situation they were in as he let out a sigh of pleasure, feeling the warmth of the sun coming in through the windows and the rise of his body heat against Zac's mouth. After a few more minutes of enjoyment, Rob noticed another small group of brain eaters walking past, moving at a faster pace then the previous. However, as the wave of satisfaction wash over Rob, he wasn't thinking of the group of brain eaters as what they were. And for a moment, forgot about the troubles growing outside of the camp. He was more interested in what Zac was doing with his hands. After what felt like a quick hour of fun, the boys skipped the perimeter check and headed back for a hearty meal after a workout.
As the clock struck 12pm, Betty and Sarah had prepared the table with an assorted of sides with a plate of cold chickens. Fresh from the camp ground small farm, on the property beside the warehouse which James had prepared the day before, picking veggies, herbs and butchering two chickens for the group from the holding pen of three dozen, alongside a large veggie garden able to be exposed to intense rain that can sometimes spring on Perth overnight. The automatic watering system from the bore system took care of the work James and Trent would dedicated hours to installing and hundreds of dollars for during the hotter weather. But after 18 months of work, the benefit is paying off. A red light by the door started to flash, creating a loud beeping. "Whoa!" Kyle wailed shocking by the sound, as James walked over to the door. Rachel, who had been busy doing some math homework Betty insisted she continue to do came out of the room. She wasn't aware Zac and Rob had left seeing as she was preoccupied. "It's okay hunny," Betty said, giving her a hug, "It's just Rob," "Is he okay?" He asked worriedly, "He's fine, just went on fence duty," she said with a smile. James pulled out a keychain and pressed a button, stopping the sound and flashing. "That's our defence system" Betty answered the obvious question. "It goes off when someone gets near the main entrance," Trent continued on her behalf. "Do you have that all the way around the property?" Kyle questioned, Trent shook his head, "Too expensive, we just never had the time to get the money together to install it. We're just glad we were able to get at least the main entry into the property under lock," He continued, sitting down at the table across from Kyle. Hailey was helping setup the table around the two gents talking as Betty put the food on the table. James let Rob and Zac inside and Steve appeared from The Lookout ladder. Smelling the freshly cooked hot chicken smell rise through to the warehouse roof. "Rob!" Rachel yelled a little too over excited to see her brother, she ran up to him and gave him a hug. He hugged her back, watching Zac walk past him towards the table. She recoiled from him and said, "Pee-Yew! You stink," pinching her nose. He laughed, kinda sounding a little too forced but only he was conscious of it, "It's a bit warm outside sis," He said, putting his arm on his shoulder and held her against him playfully as an annoying big brother would do. She pushed him off playfully as they both headed towards the table. The Preppers insisted on the newcomers that they, as guests on their property, must obey the rules of the Camp site, one of which was being included in saying Grace before eating. Hailey, Kyle and Zac didn't complain as they were thankful for the shelter and the good food. "Bless us, Oh lord, and these your gifts, for which we are about to receive from your bounty. Through Christ out Lord. Amen," James announced loudly, proud of his religious faith and maintaining his prosperity throughout the recent changes in life. Everyone replied, "Amen," and began to dig into the hot meal. It was easier while eating for everyone to speak in smaller groups. Hailey and Kyle were eating, but clearly flirting back and forth between one another. James turned to Rob and Zac who were sitting at his side opposite Betty, "How did the perimeter search go son?" he questioned, "All good, the perimeters secure," Zac replied bluntly, stuffing his face with some salad. His father thought nothing of his short reply, as usually Zac was terrible at conversation when there was food in front of his face. He put it down to being a teenage boy with a fast metabolism. Zac couldn't help but have a little smirk on his face which he kept hiding behind a chicken drumstick he sunk his teeth into. "Did you see the freaks?" Rachel asked excited, Rob who didn't look up, "Naah, all good," he said as he scoffed down another mouthful. Once the group ate, they broke off in different areas. The next rest half of the day was fairly mellow, similar to the previous few days. With everyone gathering again at dinner, and calling it an early night.
Most of the group would get up in the early hours of the morning, usually while its even still dark. Partially due to Trent waking Sarah up as he swaps shift with Steve at 3am. Steve was a strong guy, be even he needed his beauty sleep. And Sarah being up, usually made noise preparing a tea in the kitchen for her husband however as the floor was an open plan it allowed the open single mattress area to be exposed to sounds from the other side of the warehouse. Didn't matter for Kyle who had another nightmare during the night, he was holding Hailey with his arms around her and embracing the beauty of her as she slept peacefully in his arms. He woke her up after sitting up in a haste and forcing her to move with his as she was laying on his chest. She heard the kettle boil, something the Preppers didn't prepare for the sound travelling throughout the warehouse as they wanted to avoid using more electrical appliances then necessary in the event their generator of power runs out. Hailey woke slowly, wriggling in the bed and moving closer to Kyle for warmth. He kissed her forehead and she buried her head into his chest, "What time is it?" He pulled away from her and leaned down the side, picking up his watch. He looked and replied, " 2:58am," He rolled back over and she had her eyes open, "Did you get back to sleep?" He shook his head slightly, "No.. I was too busy staring at my dream to need to go to sleep," She soaked up his cute affection just as the red light by the door started to flash, flooding the darkness of the warehouse not lit up by the kitchen lit. The sound of the beeping flooded the silence in the air, waking up the camp group. It's sound almost deafening as they weren't awake enough to prepare for the decibels of the siren. Trent ran over to the monitors, "Steve!" he called out, facing towards The Lookout not too fussed about waking anyone up as safety always came first. Steve quickly dropped as he noticed the hatch lift up. The group slowly emerged from there rooms to see what the fuss is, "Must've been freaks!" Steve yelled with a haste, sliding down the length of the ladder with his boots on either side. Trent looked at the monitors, he could see the from entrance into the warehouse were covered brain eaters. At least two dozen. James ran over to the gun shelves, turning off the siren as he did so, picking up two rifles and passing Steve as he walked quickly, handing a rifle to Trent. Sarah flicked on the warehouse lights as Steve walked over to the gun rack and picked up an .40 Cal SMG, removing the safety and preparing it for fire. James peered at the monitors just as Steve walked up behind to also assess the situation, "I can't get the from the lookout, too close to the wall for me to do it unless I climb on the roof," he paused, "But even then… i'll be shoot directly down with no safety edge," Steve said, scratching the small coarse hair on his chin looking perplexed. "We need to draw them away from the door so we can go out there and take them down," Trent laid out the plan, knowing a thing or two about tactical engagement in frontline combat. Rob came out of the single mattress area, followed by Zac. They joined the guys as they thought about the plan, "Dad, what's going on?" Rob questioned, James turned around as did Trent and Steve, "Ahh good," Trent said, happy to see the guys, "we need you two to bang on the warehouse wall down the end," as Trent advised them, they were able to see past James of the brain eaters at the entry door. "How did this happen?" Zac questioned, "Let's just do this first and work out how later," James rushed, wanting to ensure his priority, his family were safe. Rob and Zac moved to the end of the warehouse, with Hailey and Kyle eventually joining them to assist. Hailey went with Rob and Zac while Kyle stayed with Trent and James, as they watched intently by the monitors to see when to strike, meanwhile Steve stood behind the door. He had his SMG at a relaxed position but was easily able to shoot if necessary, waiting for the opportunity to go outside, he was just waiting for the go ahead.
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