Claire Marie sat in the middle of another gravel driveway, this one within view of the local Wal-Mart, chewing on a handful of the jerky-flavored trail mix. Orion, Artemis, and Chun Li were sitting behind her, facing the opposite direction, with their weapons within range of a quick grab. Achilles sat in front of her, his armor thickly-coated with sludge-like blood and bits of flesh, teaching her about Warrior-Hunter Sign and terminology.

He flashed his fingers at her, "Meaning?"

Claire swallowed her mouthful slowly and thought for a moment before she spoke, "Risen. Changed."

"Threat level?"

"High?"

"Why?"

Claire grimaced, "Whoever the Risen had been, got bitten but managed to escape. They crawled somewhere and the virus Changed them into Risen. So their muscles are relatively undamaged and that makes them a lot stronger and faster than they used to be."

Achilles nodded, "Very good." He flashed another sign, "And this?"

"Devoured. They got chewed up really badly when they were alive. Threat level varies depending on how badly they got swarmed."

Achilles nodded, his lips quirking upwards in a near smile, "Very good, Claire. I-"

Achilles stopped talking and turned his head with a smooth, deceptively fast, motion that made Claire think of a lion catching scent of a deer or whatever the hell lions ate. The top of someone's helmet appeared at the steep drop-off where the driveway met the main road. Claire didn't recognize the person but their armor was liberally splashed with blood. They carried a spear-club in their right hand and punched their chest with it when they screeched to a halt before a slowly rising Achilles.

"Achilles," the woman paused to pant for a second, "Shaka requests your team's presence at the primary objective as soon as you clear this domicile."

Achilles placed a gentle hand on the messenger's shoulderpad, "We have already cleared all of our objectives. We will rush to Shaka's detachment. Rest here, Paige."

Claire and the others were finished tidying up their impromptu picnic area when Achilles turned back to them. She handed him his pack and seconds later they were jogging up the road together. The heat coming off the asphalt was stifling and Claire was having a hard time breathing through her nose but she didn't complain as the rest of the group kept up with Achilles relentless pace. Soon they were turning left, like a small flock of birds, and entering the Wal-Mart's parking lot. It was a relatively small lot, the Wal-Mart wasn't a supercenter, but there were dozens of cars scattered haphazardly inside. Some of them had crashed into trees or other cars. The team passed through the maze, Claire tried not to look at the long smears of dried blood on more than a few windows, towards where Shaka was waiting with a number of other Warrior-Hunters. Scattered around the perimeter were pairs of Warrior-Hunters studying the area with bristling intensity. Claire took a glance at the front entrance and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the doors had been completely blocked by tall metal plates of some kind.

"Achilles, glad to see we've lost no one so far," Shaka said, his voice was dry and rough.

Probably from all the screaming.

"The day's not over yet, Shaka," they clasped each other's bracers, "What is going on?"

Shaka spit to one side, "The parking lot had about a dozen. I called up bow-snipers and then we found the plates had been welded into place. Or bolted. It's hard to tell." Shaka turned back to the Wal-Mart, "Anyway, we already knew about that but what no one knew is that Wal-Mart's don't have upstairs offices of any kind."

Achilles grunted, "Roof access?"

"There's a caged ladder in the back," Shaka answered, "We're going to have to do a two-pronged strike. I'll put bow-snipers up top and have them rip out the roof vents or hatches or whatever they can to get lines of fire in there. I'll send in a twelve Warrior detachment with you in command, Achilles. The snipers won't be able to get them all. I'll meet you around back when you get your team together.

Shaka slapped Achilles on the shoulder and jogged towards the left side of the store.

"How come he didn't use Sign?" Claire whispered to Chun Li.

Chun Li replied in the same tone but that was natural for her, "None of the People are deaf. Alexander taught American Sign Language before the Day Of Rising. Some of us, those trying to learn, tend to use it a lot but mostly we use it only in unsecured areas."

Claire nodded and grinned as Achilles rattled off a list of names and the other three team leaders jogged off to collect those that would be needed for the assault. Achilles gestured for his team to follow him and led them around the lefthand corner of the building.

"Claire, you will post guard with Shaka. Artemis, you're on the roof. I'm taking you two with me."

Claire nodded along with the others and a small knot of anxiety melted away. Of course that left the moon-sized ball of icy dread that was always there but she could deal with the familiar feeling. Artemis pounded her fist on her chest and jogged along the wall to disappear around the back. Quickly, the other members of Achilles chosen arrived. They all wore their helmets with their faceguard's up so she only recognized Ajax out of the group. She was almost positive that Xena was in there somewhere.

Shaka and four Warrior-Hunters stood patiently in front of a garage-door type shutter. There were raised sections at intervals down the wall that had similar shutters. The back of the Wal-Mart was fifty feet, maybe more, from a steep hill. There was a low concrete wall along the perimeter but the tall grass seemed vaguely menacing. Apparently Shaka thought so too because one of his men was keeping a close eye on the hill.

Shaka came forward, gesturing with his arm high, and Claire looked up to see someone's shadow disappear as they scrambled out of sight. Seconds later, a muted screech of metal made everyone around Claire tense. Even Achilles posture stiffened slightly.

"Claire," Achilles gestured to a spot near the rear guard.

Claire looked at Achilles and was surprised at how suddenly fearful she was for him, "Be careful."

Achilles nodded, "As I can be."

Claire nodded back and walked past Shaka to stand next to the imposing bulk of a guard. Her skin felt wet, sweat-slick, and hot at the same time. There was a bit of a breeze blowing along the alley but the body armor prevented her from getting even a little relief. None of the Warrior-Hunter's seemed to feel it so she resolved not to show her own discomfort.

Shaka spoke to Achilles again while the rest of the group tightened their armor straps, or readjusted them, and armed themselves. Ajaz passed his big sledgehammer to Shaka , only to hold up a shorter hammer whose head was just as big. The rooftop messenger appeared and waved twice before disappearing. Shaka saluted the group with his tomahawk before jogging to Claire's side. He didn't acknowledge her presence as he wheeled around to watch one of his Guard's jam the edge of a crowbar beneath the shutter. Two heaves and there was a sharp crack. The Guard raised the shutter with the crowbar until he could use his hand without bending.

It was nearly pitch-black inside the Wal-Mart's back room. The light from outside illuminated a small space but the rest was lost in gray-black gloom. Out of the darkness lurched a zombie that lunged at the Guard with a screech. The Guard spun away from the grasping arms and swung the crowbar like a short baseball bat. The metal cracked the zombie's skull wide open, she could see the splatter from where she stood, and it stumbled forward completely off-balance. Achilles jogged past the zombie but swung his tomahawk in a wide loop that caught the zombie in the back of its already pulverized skull. The zombie slammed facefirst into the asphalt and didn't even twitch as the group surged over it. When the last was inside the Guard slid the shutter back down. The man... no, it was a woman, walked unhurriedly back to Shaka. She slid the crowbar into a holder on her shinguard a few feet in front of Shaka.

They waited.

Claire had thought waiting in line at the DMV was intolerable but this was far worse. Her mind began to conjure horrible images of Achilles being swarmed by zombies as she stared at the shutter. She had no idea how much time had passed before the heavy silence, broken occasionally by the cries of wild animals, became too much.

"Uhm," Claire unlatched her faceguard after quietly clearing her throat. "Excuse me, sir, but why do you have those marks on your throat?"

Shaka turned to her and stared with wide brown eyes. His faceguard was hanging loose at the right side of his jaw but he remained silent as he gazed at her. Claire's skin was beginning to itch just before he spoke in that rough voice of his.

"This," he ran a thumb across the pattern at his throat, "-means that you have been trained by me or by one of my Trainers. It means that you are one of The Guard and also what rank you hold." Claire nodded, her eyes uncontrollably opened wider as she fell into Shaka's gaze. "Only Warrior-Hunters, Leaders, are allowed to have Training Marks."

"Why?"

"Excuse me?" Shaka's head reared back as though he was unused to unprompted questions.

"Why are only Leaders allowed? And why do you need them at all?"

There was another moment of silence as Shaka once again gave her a penetrating stare.

"It's a matter of pride, I suppose. At first we were the only ones who could teach anyone our way of close-combat. As we gathered people it became necessary for us to let chosen pupils train Initiates. Shaka actually chuckled as he glanced at the shutter door. "It all started with Xena. Achilles and I developed the two-handed fighting style. Xena took to it like a fish to water. Rivalry started between her and Julia, who was Alexander's star pupil in the tomahawk-and-buckler style, and the rivalry spread to the other Initiates. Eventually Alexander and I came up with the Sparring Circle to let them prove who's teaching methods were better. Now its become its own beast and none of the Leaders have much control over it. The Artisan-Laborers like the competition among the Initiates anyway. It gives them something to take their minds off of things."

"How many People are there?"

"You're very quick, aren't you, Initiate?" Shaka nodded respectfully at her, "Far more than you've seen."

Claire returned his nod, "If Achilles is the best fighter then why doesn't he have a Mark."

Shaka shrugged, "Originally it was because we came up with the fighting style together. But Achilles, and now Xena, have put their own mark on it. Xena uses a more passive style, like Tai Chi or something. Achilles' could be called passive-aggressive. He looks small, weak, but he'll come crashing down like a goddamn tidal wave if you're not careful." Shaka visibly shuddered, "Xena could be a Leader and has already been given a Trainer Mark but she won't take an Initiate until she feels her own training is as complete as she can make it. Achilles just hasn't seemed interested in choosing an Initiate or even helping train any since Xena. Well, until you."

"Why does everyone keep looking at me like that!?"

Shaka started as though he was unaware of the hungry look he was giving her, "My apologies. Has anyone explained to you just how Achilles got his Warrior-Hunter name?" Claire shook her head, "When the original group was preparing back in Pennsylvania, Alexander and Hannibal made a bet that Achilles couldn't learn their fighting styles since he was so small. He and I were thinking up small-unit tactics and better ways to make lightweight body armor. Achilles not only learned their styles, he beat them in sparring matches, and convinced me to help him develop our tomahawk and spear-club style. None of us ever came close to beating him in anything except grappling. Even then only Alexander can beat him." Shaka crouched to remove a water bottle from his pack and took a long drink.

"There are maybe a dozen Guards who use my style. Which is far more aggressive than Achilles. The rest have rudimentary training but most go for the tomahawk-buckler style. It is possible to have dual Marks but if you're not proficient in your Trainer's style, then you don't receive the full one. Anyway, Xena is our star pupil, and I think her training'll only be complete once she beats Achilles, but I did most of the technique work with her. Achilles is a little intense, eerie even, and he always said that the Initiate he took would make him look like a leopard compared to a lion. Hell, it's become something of a prophecy."

"You've got to be shitting me," Claire croaked, "I'm short, skinny, and I've thrown a total of two punches in my life."

Shaka shrugged and the shutter door slid upward to reveal a blood-covered Ajax. His faceguard was unlatched and dried blood stained his chin. He waved them forward and waited while they jogged toward him.

Sign passed between Ajax and Shaka as they entered the Wal-Mart. Brilliant beams of light came from little tubes clipped to the shoulder straps of everyone's pack but Claire's. The backroom was liberally splashed with blood but only a few zombie bodies. Claire walked in the back of the group as they walked down a short hall and into the store. They emerged somewhere near the electronics sections. Wide lances of sunlight from rough-cut looking holes in the ceiling made the store bright enough to see but just barely in some places.

The smell was gut-wrenching. A combination of shit, rotted meat, and a compost heap left out in the sun. Claire gagged noiselessly as Ajax led them to where a similarly blood-covered Achilles stood next to Xena as they stared at the blocked exit.

No, they were staring at the floor where-

Claire retched, bending over with the pain, and croaked, "Bathroom-"

"I got her," Achille's voice accompanied his hands on her back and elbow as he led her away.

Someone, Xena she thought, barked laughter, "Some phenom."

Achilles led Claire to the bathroom and waited outside while she puked in a dry toilet. There was no water to help absorb the smell so she backed away quickly.

Something clamped onto Claire's ankle hard enough to arrest her momentum. She fell backwards and hit her head on the stall door. Stars burst in her head and, nearly simultaneously, something foul-smelling bit into the top of her helmet.

Goddamnit!

Claire raised her other leg and kicked the heel down into the head of the thing that had her shin gripped in its teeth. It worried her leg after the first hit and Claire felt something snap in its jaw after the second. She kicked it off her leg, but felt it grab the shinguard with a hand. Claire reached up and tried to grab the zombie biting her head by the throat. Unfortunately it couldn't resist the target her hand made and it latched onto the appendage.

Claire let out a moan of pain as the bones in her hand were compacted by the pressure. Nothing was broken... she hoped, but it hurt. Claire slipped her spear-club from its holdings, tilted her back, and stabbed the bastard through the neck. She angled the thrust towards his brain and could barely believe it when the zombie flew off her as though she were suddenly electric. Slimy, disgusting fingers gripped her helmet by the cheek-flaps and what had once been a nine-year old girl snarled as she opened her broken mouth to bite Claire.

Claire rolled over, grabbed the zombies head, and slammed it into the floor. She began grunting, definitely not like a nice girl, as she pulverized the zombie's skull into the tiled floor. When the zombie stopped twitching she looked up to see Achilles watching her.

"I got bit," she admitted reluctantly.

Achilles knelt and examined her hand, "We don't wear these dumb gloves for nothin'."

Claired laughed and hugged Achilles tightly.