Military Figures Meet

When Sgt. Michael Woo and Pvt. Matthew Kuss went to the safe house, they wondered how they got lucky to survive being around the zombies, in which got more powerful after being ingested with gas. Their lead sergeant, Dwight Boykin, escaped from the Silver Strip and left behind some of the dead soldiers he had with him. Some were still alive but weren't as lucky as Woo and Kuss.

Private Kuss was lucky enough to walk on a bad leg when he and Sergeant Woo followed Chuck and Rebecca, who was being carried by Chuck because she was injured as well. Sgt. Woo and Pvt. Kuss wondered why the zombies were too strong to kill.

When they had arrived to the safe house, the two soldiers had realized that there were a lot of survivors and how all those people managed to stay in the bunker for the few days before the military came to rescue them.

Some survivors came up to the two soldiers and asked what had happened out there and they told them that they don't know. They are glad that they are away from all the zombies despite fighting them off with as much firepower as they had.

Kuss still limped a bit, which caught the attention of Sven, who went up to him so that he could look at his leg injury.

"What happened out there?" Sven asked the two soldiers. Sven started to look at his leg and while the leg was injured, he tells Kuss that it could be a lot worse.

"All these zombies started getting stronger," Sgt. Woo told Sven while standing nearby because Sven was looking at Kuss' injury. "We tried fighting them off but it took a lot of bullets to take a few down. Some of our fellow soldiers died out there. I wonder if our lead sergeant is alright, even though I thought he was a little crazy."

"Who, Boykin?" Pvt. Kuss said. "I thought he was already a little crazy. But then again, from what he has been through, I think anything would make a soldier crazy."

"You don't know the half of it," said someone from out of nowhere.

"Who said that?" said Sgt. Woo, turning his attention to the doorway of the room that they were in. The guys were in a different room than the medical office because TK was in there.

"I did," said Dean as he was limping his way into the room where the two military officers and the EMT were. "I see you two are soldiers. State your names."

Woo stated name. "Sergeant Michael Woo, at your service."

"Private Matthew Kuss, at your service," Kuss said. "What might your name be, sir?"

Dean limped a little more into the room. "My name is Dean Wayne, formerly of the US army. I was a soldier like you two before. I have fought in the Cold War and I have fought in the Gulf War. I've seen my share of nutjobs in the service. You never forget your first kill. It gets easier every single time you do it."

"I know what you mean," Woo said. "This sergeant who we came here with, we think he was a little nuts. There were times when I thought he enjoyed killing. He even had to kill the first zombie we saw."

"You think you've seen crazy people?" Dean said. "Try fighting a bunch of commies with some guy who thought he could take down a bunch of Soviet scumbags. This guy was ready to go into a Russian embassy with guns blazing and ready to bomb the place. This guy was a real maniac."

Kuss added. "Man, this guy sounds like a real nutjob."

"I have fought in the most dangerous battlefields out there in my time," Dean said. "These zombies who I shot out there were nothing compared to the horror that I had to endure when I was in the service. I have seen my share of deaths on the battlefield. Seeing people die is nothing new to me. Shooting through the undead was like a walk in the park compared to the Iraqi soldiers and commies that I had to fight back in the day."

"Hold up," Kuss said. "Did you just say that the zombies were a walk in the park? It took a whole clip to shoot two zombies. They were strong as hell."

"Maybe you guys don't know how to shoot right," Dean said. "It only took two shots from my CZ 75 9mm. That's killing, boys. What did you use?"

"We used assault rifles, and no, we knew what we were doing," said Woo. "We used SIG SG 552 models. These guns are effective in battle. These zombies probably fused with some kind of gas. They seemed different before this green stuff started coming out. It's like they were more powerful than before."

"Yeah, these zombies were hard to kill," said Kuss.

Sven was listening to their conversation and decided to add his input. "So these zombies are stronger than ever? When I was out there before, a lot of the zombies were easier to kill because I used some weapons on them. They were a piece of cake. It's a good thing that none of you, nor a lot of people were infected by the zombies. Do you know how much Zombrex costs? I was lucky to have some on me."

Sven looks at Kuss' leg one more time. "By the way, private, you're fine. You just need to take some time off for a bit. There isn't any bullet damage. Just a sprained knee."

Sven walked out of the room to go drink a little more of the liquor Chuck brought him.

"A sprained knee?" Dean said. "That's nothing. The reason I walk this way is because I got shot in my leg when I was in Iraq back in 1990. I am lucky that I am still here and walking, but when I was 26, I fought through hell and back, and on this bad leg, too."

"Mr. Wayne, sir," Kuss said. "With all due respect, let's not compare each other's experiences, okay? Myself and Sergeant Woo would be dead if it wasn't for that guy Chuck Greene. Those zombies were out of control. You would be dead, too."

"I am not afraid to die," Dean said. "I have cheated death every single time I went out to battle. Do you think that some zombies would have been a problem to me? I don't think so. Killing is so easy to me that I have done it so many times. You boys don't know what killing is until you set foot in a battlefield with guys ready to kill you."

Sgt. Woo added his input. "To put it lightly, we were the only two surviving members of our unit who came here to rescue all of you. It all went sour because the zombies were out of control. Our lead sergeant disappeared. Both Kuss and I don't know what happened to him. He could have died for all we know. We don't have any ways to contact other people. Kuss and myself are damn lucky to be alive. And believe me, Mr. Wayne, I have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know what it's like to fight in hellholes like that. I have seen my share of deaths of fellow soldiers. It's a tragic sight for anybody, not just civilians, not just soldiers, ANYBODY! So don't give me any shit about what I know and don't know. Do I make myself clear?"

Dean smiled and chuckled a bit. "You know, I like you guys. You guys have a lot of balls being out there and fighting off zombies and you, Kuss, I have a feeling you still fought hard with that sprained knee of yours and still managed to get here. That's exactly what happened to me, even though I think that guy Chuck got tired of waiting, so he pushed me on a wheelchair, but no way in hell was I going to let him carry me from his shoulder. I am a soldier, not a cripple. I am tough as nails, enough to shoot zombies while being rolled on a wheelchair."

Sgt. Woo and Pvt. Kuss looked at each other with confusion but then looked at Dean again with a little more confusion

"You boys have my respect," Dean said, putting his hand out, waiting to be shook.

Woo and Kuss are a little reluctant, but still shake Dean's hand anyway.