A/N: Okay! This time around, we're going into Blue Skull work. And, a little surprise in store that will change the mood of the story forever. If I say any more, I'll ruin it for you, so just read and enjoy!

The Sound of Silence

"And so, I'd like to promote Red Skull Coates, Red Skull Connolly, Red Skull Brandon Peck, Red Skull Lyndsey Peck, Red Skull Sorrio, and Red Skull Willer to the rank of Blue Skull." The commander announced, handing them all a new patch. A skull, blue in colour. The base cheered and clapped for the new Blue Skulls. They'd come so far, and now it was paying off. They'd get more kills now that they could go on clearing missions. Unfortunately, they knew that Red Skull Bates wasn't far behind them, and Leah was keeping up fairly well. The team of five ran down to meet Carson.

"So you guys finally caught up to me, huh?" He asked. He was still a Blue Skull, and had quite a few more kills to go. He still only had his bronze rectangle, meaning his squad didn't go on as many missions as before. All the previous Red Skulls had them too.

"Not quite. We have to match you in kills to actually catch up to you." Brandon replied.

"That's true. Anyways, lets head over to the mess hall and celebrate!"

"Yeah!" They all said. They began to move, but Lyndsey was caught by the shoulder. On instinct, she spun on her heels and threw her fist at the face she saw. It was stopped easily by Shade.

"You've got impressive reflexes there, Blue Skull. But that won't be enough of you want to be a White Skull. Don't worry about it though. Faster reaction time is something that's beaten into you during training." He told her. The girl blushed in embarrassment. "No need to be embarrassed. You've already got faster reflexes than a lot of the other Blues. Anyways, I came to discuss something with you." Lyndsey cocked an eyebrow. "Your house. Where was it?" Lyndsey motioned with her hands to describe the side of a mountain. "The side of a mountain. Your house was on a mountain?" Lyndsey nodded. "Was it near Dawson Creek?" The girl nodded again. "I found it." Lyndsey jerked away from the White Skull instructor. "I found a bunch of dead Walkers outside, as well as two inside, next to two half-eaten corpses. I also found family photos. I knew it was you because your face hasn't changed much." Lyndsey looked away. "Would you like me to retrieve your possessions?" Lyndsey looked back. "No pictures or anything, but just clothes and other things like that." The Blue Skull nodded. "And then what should I do with the rest of your house?" The look on Lyndsey's face said it all. "That house will look like the Sun by tomorrow afternoon." And with that, he left.

xXxXxXxXx

"Hey Sis, what kept you?" Brandon asked as Lyndsey entered the mess hall. She simply smiled, filled a tray, and sat down.

"I think she got stopped by Shade." Ryan replied. Lyndsey nodded, confirming his answer.

"Oh. Well anyways, we're gonna head to the obstacle course later, okay?" Lyndsey nodded.

"Hey, Carson. What are clearing missions like?" Donaven asked the experienced Blue Skull.

"Scary as fuck. Especially on your first one. All of the zombies are still alive, and they're coming at you at different speeds. Usually the Gold or Black Skulls handle the running ones, but sometimes you have to. The higher ranks are actually there as lookouts for runners. And those things make you shit your pants, because they're fast. They don't feel pain, so going faster than should be possible doesn't affect them at all. But clearing missions are especially scary because your life is really on the line." He explained.

"Have you had to take out a runner?" Tanner asked.

"Yeah, a few. They're kinda hard to miss. They come barreling at you like grizzlies. But you guys already know what that looks like." Carson looked sympathetically at Lyndsey. She let out a small smile. "But yeah, you guys are probably gonna be shittin' kittens."

"Ah. Well that's pleasant." Ryan commented, the sarcasm kept subtle.

"Yeah. Anyways, are we going, or are we gonna sit here with empty trays?" Realizing that their lunch had been eaten, they dropped off their dishes and headed to the obstacle course.

xXxXxXxXx

Now that they weren't so depressed or too focused, they actually got a good look at exactly what it was they were doing. There were about four walls, obviously for jumping over, that increased in height, some old tires, monkey bars with fresh mud down below, a some ropes for swinging over a big puddle of mud, a rope bridge, again with mud below it, nets for army crawling under, posts that were out close together, obviously for maneuvering around, some targets to shoot at, another small wall, more targets, and a long stretch of dirt to dash across.

"Well now, if it isn't the losers who barely managed to get into Blue Skulls." That voice was getting too familiar for comfort. Leah had followed them, and now she had two lackeys. Some Red Skulls from squad five.

"Get a brain implant, Leah. We were the ones who surpassed the count. You're sitting right on it." Donaven instantly reacted. Leah had no comeback. She snapped her fingers and walked away, the other two prep girls following her like lost puppies. Then she turned.

"Hey, Lyndsey." The girl shot Leah a harsh look. "Why don't you race me?" Lyndsey cocked an eyebrow, then nodded briskly. They both set up at the start. Leah had the advantage for the walls, since she was taller, but Lyndsey wouldn't let that being her down. Ryan gave the signal to go, and they both shot of like bullets.

The first wall was easy. Lyndsey didn't even have to touch it. She just jumped it. The second one, the girl placed one hand on it, and jumped over. The third, she actually had to slightly hoist herself over. The there was the last one. It towered over Lyndsey about three feet. It was taller than Brandon! So she decided her best course of action would be to parkour it. She ran up the wall two steps and jumped. She realized quickly that it wasn't enough.

"No..." Brandon muttered. Just then, Lyndsey's fingers caught the top. Using the momentum of the sudden stop, she pulled as hard as she could, and with just one arm, sent herself flying over, even letting go of the wall at the peak of her jump. She landed firmly in a crouch, and looked ahead to find Leah about halfway through the tires, having some trouble. Lyndsey flew through them, having run like this when she played on the mountainside near her house. She jumped to grab the first monkey bar, and took them two at a time.. She swung off and looked back to see Leah speeding to catch up. The younger girl dashed to the ropes, jumped, grabbed one, and swung across. Then she reached the rope bridge. The top rope was too high up for her to reach for most of the obstacle!

"Oh for fuck's sake..." She cussed under her breath. She looked at the bottom rope, then back at the top one. She grabbed the top rope and traveled across normally until just before it was out of her reach. She she swung her legs up and wrapped them around the top rope. She crossed the whole bridge like this, dropping down when her feet could reach the bottom rope. She ran off, and dove into an army crawl, moving quickly. Leah was almost at her now. Lyndsey jumped up as soon as she was out and ran towards the posts. She grabbed them and swung around each one with amazing agility. She was a bit dizzy when she passed through the obstacle, but pulled her .22 off her back and fired five shots at her target. They all hit close to the centre despite her dizziness. The ran at the short wall (which was even shorter than the first one) jumped over it, somersaulted, and stopped in the standard crouching position for shooting. She fired another five rounds with the same results as the first target, and ran as fast as she could, replacing her rifle as she did. She fell to her knees at the finish, panting like a dog. She had won. She beat Leah fair and square. When Leah finished, she collapsed entirely, quickly met by her groupies. They hoisted her up and walked her away to get some water. Lyndsey was hoisted to her feet by Tanner, and he helped her to the benches. Brandon brought her a cup of water. She took it, flashing him a grateful smile.

"That was incredible, Lyndsey!" Ryan yelled. The girl blushed bright red and took a drink of her water.

"It's true. I thought you weren't gonna make that last wall, but you did it." Carson said. Lyndsey put down her cup, closed her eyes, and let her head drop. The poor girl was exhausted.

"Tired?" Brandon asked. Lyndsey hummed a confirmation, and felt herself be lifted bridal style. She rested her head against the shoulder of her brother, feeling completely safe, and in a split instant, fell asleep.

"Did she just pass out?" Donaven chuckled.

"Yes, so be quiet!" Brandon hissed in a friendly sort of way. The tall boy looked down at his sleeping sister. She looked so peaceful. He felt as though nothing could get her as long as she was like this. His gaze softened. It was hard to believe she was older than him. He had always taken the role of older sibling, but that was because her experience had probably stunted her growth in independence. It didn't matter to Brandon. As long as she was alright, he'd be alright.

"Lets get her outta here. I'm sure they'll let you into the girl's barracks. Remember, she's in the farthest one back now." Carson reminded Brandon.

"Yeah, I know."

xXxXxXxXx

The girls had let Brandon in to put Lyndsey to bed. Her stuff, courtesy of some of the nicer girls, had been neatly organized in her barrack box and locker. She was sleeping on the top of her bunk, so he reached up and placed her down gently, ensuring she wouldn't be uncomfortable. Then he left.

"She alright?" Tanner asked. They were headed out to the range next.

"Yeah. The girls organized her stuff for her as well."

"I bet the guys didn't do that for us."

"Nope. Which means we have to go get it ourselves." Brandon laughed. They reached the range in seemingly no time.

"Hey guys!" Ryan greeted happily.

"Hey Ryan! What's up?" Brandon high-fived him.

"Carson and Donaven are having a shooting contest." The shorter guy replied.

"Awesome. Maybe I'll challenge the loser."

"That would be cool. Hey, Willier, you wanna go?" Ryan turned to the other boy.

"Yeah, lets do it." Tanner replied. The two pulled their rifles off their backs, and found two empty targets. It was a little while until Large and Coates finished, but in the end, Donaven was the victor. So Brandon set up to go against Carson.

"You sure about this? It was a close competition." Large asked. All Brandon did was grin at him. "Whatever, Brandon." And their contest began. A little while later, Carson came out on top, winning by one point.

"That was closer than ours! We had a three point difference." Donaven congratulated.

"Awesome! So we know now that Donaven is the best shooter in our group." Tanner said. Donaven fist-pumped. The boys laughed and shot for a few hours, then decided to go for supper.

xXxXxXxXx

"Mmph." Lyndsey grunted. Her eyes fluttered open a bit, then closed again. Then opened. She was in her barracks. She looked around. Her NEW barracks. What had happened again? Right, she'd raced Leah at the obstacle course, then fell asleep in her brother's arms. He must've brought her here.

"Hey, welcome back." A girl Lyndsey didn't know said. She looked over at where the voice came from. A girl with glasses and too many freckles was reading a book. "You're Peck, right?" Lyndsey nodded. "Cool. Your brother brought you in. Your stuff is already in your barrack box and locker." Lyndsey nodded again. "Okay. Well I think your friends are probably at dinner by now." Lyndsey nodded once more, then swung off her bed. Just as she was opening the door, the girl called out again. "Congratulations on beating Sorrio! She needs to learn her place." Lyndsey, turned, smiled, and left.

xXxXxXxXx

"Hey, Lyndsey!" Donaven greeted the girl when she walked in. She skipped over to the table and beamed at her friends.

"Good to see you. Did you sleep well?" Tanner asked. Lyndsey nodded.

"Okay, well you should get something to eat." Ryan told her. So she did. They explained to her everything that happened at the range while she was sleeping as they ate. Then they went outside.

"Hey, guys. I just got news. Your first clearing mission could be tomorrow, if you want." Carson said as he came out of the mess hall. Lyndsey grinned as if she'd never grinned before. Her hazel eyes were alive with light. "Ha, looks like Lyndsey's already decided." The girl nodded quickly.

"I think we all have. You all up for it?" Donaven asked. Everyone nodded. "See? We're all going on our first clearing mission tomorrow!" Donaven practically jumped for joy. Even after being warned about shittin' kittens earlier in the day, they couldn't help but be excited. They were actually going to kill stuff. The whole reason for coming here was about to become reality. And they had never felt so ready for anything in their entire lives.

"Well, if we're going out there, we should probably get some sleep, huh?" Tanner noted.

"Yeah, you're right. You'll at least try, right Lyndsey? I mean, you've been sleeping for hours already." Ryan turned to her. Lyndsey nodded.

"Okay. Let's go."

xXxXxXxXx

"Good morning, Blue Skulls. Today, for the new Blue Skulls, it is your first ever clearing mission. And rest assured, you're all going to need a spare pair of underpants, 'cause you're going to shit a brick." Sgt. Penner told them. Again, they were warned about how scared they would be. The room was all Blue and Gold Skulls. And much to the group's dismay, Leah had also decided to come on this mission. Not that it mattered to them, but she had better hope her instincts said "shoot" instead of "freeze". They received a very brief… Briefing. The mission was on the outskirts of Dawson Creek, close to an old burnt down building. Apparently, overdone bodies of children attracted Infected well. The Pecks knew exactly where the mission was located. And they almost backed out when they received this information. It was their orphanage. The one where they had met all those years ago. But they stayed, and hoped they wouldn't regret going.

"Hurry up, Blue Skulls! We don't have all day!" A Gold Skull called. They were all running towards the trucks. The group of five hopped into one, and was the third vehicle out of the base. Carson was in the truck ahead. The Pecks weren't too excited about where they were going, but they weren't going to back down. In a few hours, they were there. At the place where two best friends met for the first time. The group jumped out immediately, but the Peck siblings held back a bit. They sent worried looks at each other, then walked towards the building.

The undead creatures were everywhere! They were up and "alive", walking around! Donaven almost shit his pants right then and there.

"Holy fuck, those guys are scary as shit." Tanner muttered to Ryan. The other boy was pale in the face, and could only nod. The only half-calm people were the Pecks. They had already seen living zombies in their pasts. But never this many at once.

"Scared?" Everyone almost jumped out of their skins. Carson laughed under his breath at their reactions.

"You stupid fucker! Don't do that!" Ryan hissed.

"I couldn't help myself. You all looked like statues." He continued to laugh

"That wasn't very appropriate, Carson." In an instant, his laughter died. He actually looked a bit ashamed as he turned his gaze to Lyndsey, his eyes apologetic. She simply nodded, then turned back to the monsters they were supposed to kill. She forced her mind to stay on topic, because she knew she would start to wonder about their lives if she let it wander. And that would make her task difficult. They heard a gun fire, and one of the Walkers dropped. That was the signal.

The group rushed in as fast as they could, pulling their rifles off their backs. They kept a good distance away and picked off the Infected, making sure they got headshots so the zombies actually died. Others actually rushed into the fray. Everything was running smoothly until the expected happened.

"Ah! Help!" Leah cried out. Lyndsey was on her feet in an instant and ran towards where the voice had come from. Leah was surrounded, and her rifle lay off to the side. Lyndsey got down onto one knee, and sniped three of Leah's attackers in the heads. Leah didn't move to take the opening, so Lyndsey gave her a jolt.

"Run, you stupid bitch! Run!" Lyndsey screamed. Leah jumped, then dashed away as fast as she could. She somehow managed to grab her .22 in the process. Lyndsey picked off the rest of them, putting her total count as a Blue Skull to thirty-one.

"Lyndsey, behind you!" She heard someone yell. She couldn't place the
voice at the time, but she spun around quickly. When she saw what she did, she dropped her .22 in fright. A runner, coming straight at her. Luckily, her survival instincts kicked in. She grabbed her pistol and ran right back at it, causing everyone who saw to almost freeze up themselves. At the last second, Lyndsey maneuvered slightly to the right, jumped, and slammed the bottom of her pistol, right where one would insert the magazine, into the side of the Walker's head. Hard. The thing collapsed from the impact, and upon landing, Lyndsey cocked the pistol, pointed it at the undead monster's head, and pulled the trigger. All without looking. She holstered the handgun, and went back to retrieve her rifle. When the mission ended, she was bombarded with questions from her friends.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"How did you do that?!"

"What were you thinking?!"

"Do you realize how close you came to dying?!"

"Why would you do something like that?!"

"Sis, what happened?" It was her brother's voice that pulled her from her own head. Truth was, she didn't have answers to any of those questions. It was just instinctive. She'd had no control over what she'd been doing, and her consciousness had shut down in the process. It was almost as if she had passed out, and had still been fully aware of everything. She just shook her head in response to all their questions.

"You… don't know?" Carson asked, understanding. Lyndsey nodded.

"How do you not know?!" Donaven demanded. He received a swift elbow to
the gut, and immediately fell silent.

"That was pretty impressive, actually. I've never seen anyone react like that to a zombie running full speed at them." Carson continued. "Most just scream and run to the nearest higher rank, or shoot it from a distance." Lyndsey looked away, not knowing whether blushing would be appropriate for this situation or not.

"Hey, the Green Skulls are here. Looks it's time to go." Ryan pointed out. Turning, they almost laughed at the gas masks they wore, then remembered that they looked like that once. They all got into the armoured trucks, exhausted. Lyndsey kept her head down, and immediately saw something interesting. It was a hat. A hat Lyndsey remembered far too well. She leaned down and picked it up, her suspicions confirmed. It was the hat worn by the leader of the group of boys that used to pick on her when she lived in the orphanage. It was a basic camouflage mariner's cap, and it was covered in blood and dirt. Yet somehow, it wasn't burned in the slightest. Lyndsey looked it over, shoved it quickly into her pocket, and got into the vehicle with her friends.

xXxXxXxXx

The next day, they all got the day off. Plus it was Saturday, so that went for the whole base as well. Everyone got relax. Only the Black and White Skulls had to be aware of anything. They would be the ones called out for emergencies. So no one else had to worry. Lyndsey had put the mariner's cap through the wash, and it had come out looking as good as new. She had put her name on the inside in the neatest writing she could manage and now she was wearing it. Brandon had recognized it as well, and questioned her about it. But after a short conversation, he dropped the subject. No one else bothered to ask, much to her great relief.

"Hey, Lyndsey?" Brandon asked. She looked at him. The group was their usual hangout spot, and she was sitting as she usually did. On the desk, with her feet crossed at the ankles. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and the hat added a good asset to her overall look. "Why did you pick up the hat in the first place?" The look she gave him spoke enough. She wanted something to remind her that her past was irrelevant. It was for the same reason she changed her last name. "Alright. I'll actually drop it this time."

"Hey, Peck!" The words 'Oh for fuck's sake' ran through the head of every member of the group's heads as Leah walked forward towards Lyndsey. The girl tilted her head at the other girl. "I could've gotten away myself you know! You didn't have to step in and be a hero. In fact, doing that just made you look like a self-righteous bitch." And the cussing began.

"Listen, Leah. Even I saw you. You were frozen to the spot as those Walkers surrounded you. You even called out for help! So you should be thanking Lyndsey for saving your sorry ass!" Brandon immediately stepped in. But Leah wasn't in the mood to stand down this time.

"You shut your mouth! Every day you guys stand up for her as if she can't fight her own battles! But she can! All you're doing is preventing the inevitable! Brandon Peck you receive praise for things you barely even did. You're not even that good of a soldier! Your parents were turned into zombies! That's fan-fucking-tastic! No one cares, Brandon. No one cares about your stupid sister or your stupid problems, and they definitely don't care about your sorry ass! You are useless, you motherfucking Stillborn!" That was taking it too far. Everyone got onto the defensive. In these times, calling someone a Stillborn was the biggest insult you could hand out.

"You better learn to watch your tongue, Leah Sorrio, or else someone will cut it off." A dark voice came from Lyndsey's direction. The girl's head was down, and you could barely see her eyes under the rim of her cap. The shadow cast across them was rather frightening, but it didn't hide the glint of murder inside. Lyndsey was not happy. She hopped down from the desk, and took a few steps to look up directly at the taller girl. But the look she was being given made Leah feel far shorter. The prep quivered a little. "You'd better listen closely because there's a likely chance I won't repeat this. If you thought for even a second that you were better than any of us, think again. You have just barely managed to scrape by, screaming bloody murder at every Walker you've ever seen move. You have no right whatsoever to insult anyone around here! If you ever insult my brother again, I will crush your windpipe. I heard that its a very cruel way to die, because you don't go instantly. You sit there, fighting for air, knowing that you can't get any. And then you die, choking on nothing." Leah said nothing, but walked away with terror filled eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Umm... Lyndsey?" Brandon asked quietly, afraid to say much.

"She needs to learn her place. That was ridiculous! Calling you a Stillborn. Stupid bitch." Lyndsey's tone changed. It wasn't as dark, and it lost that malicious hint. Now it was... Rudely sarcastic? Brandon didn't understand. Lyndsey had never been sarcastic, and she'd definitely never been rude!

"Umm... Yeah..." Lyndsey turned to look at her friends, and cocked an eyebrow at them in amusement.

"What's wrong? You guys look like you've seen a talking zombie." She said with a smirk.

"Almost as scary." Tanner whispered to Donaven.

"Ah, n-no. We're fine..." Ryan replied.

"Sure you are. Anyways, I'm hungry. Wanna go for lunch?" The group nodded, getting a little colour back in their faces. This would be a very new aspect in their lives if it kept up. But that didn't necessarily mean it would be a bad thing either. Everyone was looking forward to how this event would change things in their lives.

A/N: Ooh, I'm evil. But yeah, our mute ain't so mute anymore! I can't believe I write that much dialogue for Lyndsey. But this changes the whole atmosphere of the story for me, and maybe even for you. It's a little less quiet in the group now. I hope you liked this chapter! Next chapter we'll get a little taste of what actual rank training is like, and see how our characters handle it. So please, stay tuned and review! I'm really out of my comfort zone, so I need feedback!