Cody wakes up to see that Zack was still asleep but Mike was nowhere to be seen. Cody knew that Mike always would always sleep late at night and wake up extremely early in the morning. The twins knew that he had become accustomed to sleeping for only a few hours at a time. Cody slowly sits up and rubs his muscles to ease the tension. Cody knew where Mike was. Cody walks into the elevator and takes it all the way to the roof. Cody walks out to see Mike sitting on top of a large crate of food and watching the sun rise. Mike always did this and no one understood why. He would just sit on the same box and watch the sun rise for however long it lasted. Cody saw that Mike was cleaning the M16 while watching the sun this morning. There was no sound other than Mike occasionally shifting his position or removing another part of the rifle to clean. Mike looked out to the sun with eyes that showed exhaustion with dark circles under them but his movements showed otherwise. When the sun was finally above the horizon, Mike put the rifle back together, clambered down from the box and slung the rifle strap over his shoulder. He looks at Cody and lets off a slight smile.
"You're up early."
"Thought I might give you some company." Mike looks over the destroyed city and lets out a deep breath and mumbles something that Cody can't understand.
"What was that?"
"Something from an old movie I saw once. It was just like this. It was called Dawn of the Dead. My dad showed it too me and I thought it was so cool. Little did I know something like that could happen. I remember a famous line. It was 'when there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.' Makes you wonder if that is really true." Cody just nods as Mike walks past him. They take the elevator down to find out what will need to be done today.
The twins join the meeting that is held every morning and they discuss what to do. The twins would have to add to the barricade and then a food and water run would happen right after that. When the barricade was put fixed, everyone on the food squad armed up. The squad consisted of Zack, Cody, Mike, Arwin, and Kerry's pal Tom. The group leaves through the back entrance and search the area to make sure no one saw them leave the area. Mike takes point and checks the corner. Tom follows close behind as Mike runs across the street and then checks the next corner. There was a wanderer in the street. Mike rushes up behind it and the sharp cleaver pierces its skull and it falls to the ground silently. Mike pulls out a rag from his pocket and wipes some blood from his face and puts the rag back in the pocket. Tom and the others follow as soon as Mike gives the ok. Zack suddenly sees one come out of a dark alley. Zack quickly pulls out a hunting knife and hurls it forward. The knife impales the zombie's skull and it falls to the ground with a thud. The group rush towards the old grocery store and quickly enter it and disappear off the streets. They kept the doors locked with keys found in the store so that no zombies could get in. They see that this store is really getting low and will need to head out and search for a new food source as well. Tom saw this and decided to make a decision.
"Alright, this source has been used up. We need to find a new source. Zack, Cody, and Mike will go out and find a new place." Arwin interjects.
"You can't send them out alone, I'll go with them."
"No, I need you to help carry the food. They'll do fine." Arwin just nods and grabs what he can. Mike and the twins exit through the back door and start to move through the back alleys. Stragglers were found here and there and disposed of with relative ease. Mike and the twins run across streets as they go block by block and finally discover a large food market about 15 blocks from the original place. The three of them try to open the door but it is locked. Mike goes round back and finds that the back door is locked as well. Mike has the twins search for any stragglers and it is clear. Mike smashes a window and crawls inside. He finds the keys and the store is jam-packed with food and water. The milk was all soiled and that wasn't a shocker. The twins find boards and board up the window. They are about to walk out when they hear something fall to the floor. Everyone spins around and sees a man in worn out army camouflage and with an assault rifle in his hands.
"If you're living, say something." Mike had his rifle pointed at the soldier as well.
"Don't worry, we're alive." Says Zack. The soldier slowly puts his rifle down and sits down on the floor.
"I thought I was dead for sure when I saw you enter. I thought that the zombies had learned how to use rifles and other such things."
"Don't worry, it's alright. Who are you?"
"Private James. Who gave this kid a rifle."
"Trust me," says Zack, "This kid probably knows more about that rifle than you do."
"Who's he?"
"He is a survivor of the first infection that happened two years ago. This is Mike Voortman." The private's eyes seemed to grow wide.
"I heard about you, kid. You're the one who traveled all the way from Pennsylvania to Rhode Island, right." Mike just nods. The private stands up and actually shakes the kid's hand.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was sent here a few weeks ago and my entire group was killed on the way in."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"A large group of those things are coming back. Big Daddy is at the front. We tried to take him out but he just shot the driver and sent us into a ditch. I managed to get the hummer out and make my way out here till it broke down. I've been moving from place to place ever since. What have you been doing, you're just kids?"
"We've been at the Tipton. It has been our HQ since the initial infection. You can come if you want. However, you need to be very quiet since everything is done with careful precision. By the way, how long have you been in the army."
"Six months," Zack looks at Cody and Mike with a certain look that said 'that's it'.
"Only six months. You weren't even in the army when the zombies started to join together," James nods.
"I was stationed at Fiddler's Green and was sent out just days before the zombies broke through and took over the Green. I thought that I was the only one alive in the city."
"Come with us, we need someone who knows what is going on in the world to help us out." The four of them leave the store and sneak back to the Tipton.
When they enter the building, everyone leaps to their feet when they see Private James walk in. Mike introduces him and soon James is swarmed with questions.
"I only know one thing, and that is that Boston is going to be cleaned out and become the new Fiddler's Green." Everyone cheered but are quickly shushed by Kerry, who has just walked in and seen James.
"Just who in the hell are you?" James immediately puts a stern face on and looks at Kerry in the face.
"Sergeant Williams. And who are you?"
"Kerry Underwood, and I lead this group. You do what I tell you, alright."
"And I say you can go to hell." Suddenly, both men pull out pistols and point it at the other. Maddie leaps in between them.
"We can't fight like this," Kerry suddenly backhands Maddie but Zack leaps forward and grabs Kerry's hand with the pistol. Kerry's two buddies try to intervene but Cody and Mike get in the way and rip their rifles from their hands. Tom pulls out a knife and tries to stab Cody but his hand is met by Mike's cleaver and Tom suddenly sees the cleaver impaled his palm. Tom screams and falls to the ground as Mike yanks the cleaver out. Kerry turns and suddenly is pistol-whipped right in the face by Mike and he falls to the ground. James and the twins stand over Kerry, whose nose was bleeding quite badly.
"Time for a change in authority, Kerry."
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