A/N: If you could take the time to review to let me know where I can improve, it would be greatly appreciated. End of comm.
Highschool of the dead: The British Outbreak
Chapter 11: Friends, Duty, Honour.
Chester safe zone
Safe Zone Police Station
Z-day + 38
18:00
Marsden stormed into the police station, accompanied by Staff Sergeant Sale. He'd heard about what happened with Sergeant Rees, and to put it plainly, he was pissed as hell about it.
From what he'd heard, 3 teenagers thought it would be 'funny' to dress up and act like infected in the centre of town after school. And upon seeing 3 'infected' within the walls, Sgt Rees had promptly opened fire and neutralised them. He'd then been arrested and charged with murder, which it effectively was.
He and Sale marched up to the desk and were greeted by a particularly brutish looking police officer.
"Can I help you?" he asked incredulously.
"You arrested one of my soldiers on a charge of murder." Said Marsden. "I want to see him. Now."
"You can't," said the officer. "He's still being questioned. Besides, there's not much to talk about, he straight up murdered 3 kids. You should remind your soldiers who the enemy is."
Marsden was furious and was about to give the policeman a piece of his mind before Chief Inspector Cook appeared from behind a door.
"Ah Major," he said, greeting Marsden. "You've saved me a trip to find you. I need to talk to you about today's unfortunate incident."
"And I you Chief Inspector." Replied Marsden. The Chief Inspector lead Marsden and Sale into the back and to his office. Cook sat down behind the desk in the room while Sale and Marsden took seats in the 2 chairs opposite.
"I'll give you a rundown of what happened." Said Cook. "It seems that the 3 teenage boys got a hold of some zombie Halloween costumes and decided to wear them and act like infected in the middle of town by way of a joke, according to some of their classmates. Sergeant Rees, who was in the middle of town, said he heard a woman scream and saw the boys. He identified them as actual infected and opened fire. It was only after he'd put 2 rounds into each of the 3 that he identified them as uninfected."
"I see." Said Sale. "So it boils down to an accident then?"
"I'm afraid the population doesn't see it that way." Said Cook. "They see it as a soldier gunning down 3 schoolboys in the street. They are pushing for a murder conviction, and we all know what the penalty for that is."
"Death." Surmised Marsden. Once it became apparent that the Chester was indeed alone, the city's council had decided that in order to maintain law and order in the desperate times, the death penalty and other long abandoned punishments would be revised. And for high-level offences such as rape and murder, it was the death penalty. So far it had not been used, but Jason could well be the first.
"I don't think this is just about what he did, though." Said Cook. "I think this incident is acting as a focus point for all the grumblings and frustration that the civvies have towards the military. I think we can all expect this turn ugly."
"How is Sergeant Rees?" asked Sale.
"Fine." Replied Cook. "He stuck to the same story through questioning. Admitting to killing them but only because he took them for infected and for no other reason. And from what evidence we've gathered, we've found nothing to the contrary."
"Where is he now?"
"In his cell below. Still doing press ups probably." Said Cook.
"Go and check on him, Staff." Ordered Marsden.
"Sir." Replied Staff Sale as he stood up and headed out of the office, leaving Marsden and Cook alone.
"Reva has called a council meeting tomorrow." Said Cook.
"I know." Replied Marsden. "What are Jason's chances?"
"If they are objective and focus only on this event, pretty good." Replied Cook. "If they do what I think they will and pick him apart to get dirt on the military and use that against him, slim to none." Marsden glared at Cook.
"We don't do anything that would..." Cook cut him off.
"I know," He said, "But the people want the military brought down a peg or too. And they're going to give anything your Sergeant will give them to do it. Reasonable or otherwise."
...
Meanwhile...
47...48... 49...
Jason felt beads of sweat run down his forehead as he continued to push out press ups. When he'd been taken in, the police had naturally stripped him of his sidearm, knife, spare ammo, gas mask, its pouch and his pistol holster (although they'd missed his boot knife). They'd dragged him off to questioning after emptying his pockets of anything, (ration cards and a few other odds and ends.) and started trying to get a confession out of him. He just kept to the same story of; yes he killed them, but it was an unfortunate accident because they were dressed and acting like infected. After they'd questioned him and he kept stonewalling them with the same answers, they'd taken him up to a cell.
He was actually slightly annoyed to find that the cell had an actual bed with a mattress, something he and his team hadn't seen or slept in for a while. Still, he wasn't about to order them to remove it so he decided to keep it for now. So with nothing better to do, Jason removed his fatigue shirt so he just had his green undershirt and fatigue trousers, and started pushing out press ups.
50...51...52...
"Sergeant." Said a voice. Jason looked up to see Staff Sergeant Sale standing on the other side of the cell's bars. Jason jumped up from his prone press up position and snapped to attention.
"Staff," He replied. Sale smiled, even in the slammer, Jason was still playing the good soldier.
"At ease." Said Sale. "How are you doing?"
"Oh good, thank you, staff." Replied Jason. "The bed is a nice touch but the room service is just atrocious." Sale smirked but then turned serious.
"Sergeant... seriously."
"I'm totally buggered, aren't I staff?" Said Jason. "I gunned down 3 kids in the street, without warning or hesitation. There's no way in fuck I'm walking out of this one."
"You did the right thing, though." Replied Sale. Jason laughed.
"Yeah, but they won't give a damn." He laughed hysterically back, before continuing while degenerating into a manic, almost painful voice. "If it were a military tribunal or court martial I'd be fine! But it's not! I'm going to be dragged in front of and lynched by a bunch of self-centred, self-righteous ass-covering bureaucrats that haven't even seen an infected! Let alone killed one or watched their friends get torn apart by them! Then replay it in their sleep EVERY FUCKING NIGHT!"
Jason finally finished balling and was breathing deeply. He looked Sale in the eyes again.
"I'm not getting out of this one alive. Am I staff?"
Sale flexed a finger at Jason in a 'come here' motion. Jason stepped up to the bars. Sale put a hand through the bars and slapped Jason on the back of the head. It was something Sale had used many times, as a kind of 'reset' for soldiers who needed to get their shit together.
"Thank you staff." Replied Jason, who reverted back to the polite, charming NCO he normally was.
"We'll do everything we can Sergeant." Said Sale as he turned to leave. "Carry on."
Staff Sale departed from the front of the cell, leaving Jason alone to think. After a moment he smiled, before getting down on his face and started pushing out press-ups.
1...2...3...
Marsden's Office
Chester Safezone
Chester Castle
Z-day + 39
09:00
Knock! Knock!
"Come!" called Marsden. Staff Sale entered the room.
Marsden had summoned him when he had returned from the city council meeting, which had in itself had been a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Mrs. Bell had been even more of a pain than usual and dismissed Marsden's argument that Rees should be let off, that he was merely doing his duty. Instead, she announced that a simple murder trial would be brought up to a full, no red tape, enquiry, not only into the incident but as to why Sergeant Rees thought it appropriate to act as he did. (i.e. why he gave no warning etc)
"Sir." Greeted Sale, snapping off a salute to Marsden. Marsden waved him down and Sale sat down in a chair opposite Marsden.
"I'm guessing the meeting didn't go well, sir." Guessed Sale knowingly. Marsden nodded before he explained the meeting's result.
"Mrs. Bell has pushed for and is getting a no red tape inquiry into the incident. Basically, she's going to use this incident to dig into the way we do things and point and call us out on anything and everything we do, and then use it all to condemn Rees and do damage to us."
"Well then, this probably isn't going to help." Said Sale regretfully. "I overheard some of the other soldiers and I've heard similar rumours floating around. The general consensus amongst the military is that Sergeant Rees did his duty and the right thing and personally, I am inclined to agree. If they were real infected then he'd be seen as a hero, not a murderer. But where it get's prickly is that if they sentence Rees to death, the council will be, in the eyes of almost every soldier, be sentencing one of the most experienced and best soldiers on the base to death for doing his job. As soon as they do that, every soldier is going to become concerned that they will be next and executed for killing infected. That, in turn, could lead to mutiny and we both know where that would lead."
"Indeed." Said Marsden. It was doubtless in his mind that a mass mutiny from the army would leave the safe zone in ruins, if not defenceless and overrun by infected.
"I told the council as much." Added Marsden. "Mrs. Bell dismissed this as impossible and that they were 'duty bound' to do as the council commands. I don't think she realizes that the soldiers that make up the army aren't robots, but thinking people, and they will won't follow a leader that is sentencing their colleagues to death for doing their job."
"It seems to me that the best way to avoid all this unpleasantness is to get Rees off free." Said Sale. Marsden agreed.
"But how to do it?"
"We could have him psychologically profiled compared to other soldiers of similar age and experience as well as other teenagers." Suggested Sale. Marsden looked astounded.
"Are you mad?!" he asked, "These soldiers kill for a living on a near daily basis! Some of them enjoy it! What do you think the quack* would make of them?! Next idea!"
"We just put everything on the table," Said Sale, "Let Rees and other soldiers tell them how it is in plain, simple terms, no matter how blunt. It might help to see if we can bring any character witnesses for Rees."
"And when they don't believe him? A good number of civvies still think of the infected as human." Marsden asked. Sale shrugged.
"We bring an infected into the courtroom and see if that convinces them as to whether it's still human." Marsden was silent for a moment before his mouth twitched upwards slightly at the thought of Mrs. Bell's reaction to having an infected brought into the courtroom, and then he chuckled before breaking out into open laughter, Sale joining in eventually.
"But seriously sir," said Sale, "I'll speak to Rees and get some character witnesses for him." Marsden nodded,
"Good. If we all sing from the same hymn sheet, we might get out of this in one piece." Sale nodded and then turned to leave. But paused when Marsden added,
"Staff. Just in case this goes completely tits up, I want you to come up with a way to get Rees out of this quietly, off the record of course."
"Sir." Was Sale's reply before he left Marsden's office. He was going to be damned if he was going to let one of his soldiers be executed for doing his duty, regardless of who got in the way... Mrs. Bell least of all.
Jason
Chester Safezone
Court House
Z-day + 41
09:58
Jason shifted slightly in his combat fatigues. He knew full well that the outcome of today would decide if he was to be returned to duty, or executed. He was in the company of 2 policemen, and his hands were cuffed behind his back. They were to be his escort for the proceedings. As they waited in silence in one of the courthouse waiting rooms, Jason simply ran over what Staff Sergeant Sale had told him to say.
"Tell' em how it is. They won't want to hear it, but tell' em how it is."
"Yes, Staff Sergeant." Mumbled Jason.
"You say something?" grunted one of the policemen.
"Nothing important." Replied Jason. A door then opened and a court bailiff appeared in the door. The policemen stood and brought Jason with them. They lead him into the defendant dock, a wooden cupola surrounded by hardened glass. The 2 police officers pushed him forward and then stood behind him. The courthouse was packed with people. For the most part, they were civilians, all turned out in their Sunday best (or what counted for Sunday best in the zombie apocalypse) to watch the proceedings.
Amongst the crowd, Jason also spotted Sale, Marsden, a few other soldiers and, among them, Akio. She had come to visit him every day in lock up, even smuggling him extra rations and such with her for him. Jason felt lucky, no matter how this turned out, Akio would have his back.
"All rise." Called the Bailiff. Everyone stood as 3 people, 2 middle aged women and 1 slightly older man, filled into the courtroom. Jason did not recognise the man or one of the women, but he did recognise Mrs. Reva, the head of the zone council. She'd taken an inspection of the military some weeks earlier, but hadn't spoken to Jason. She spoke aloud to the room;
"Today's inquiry will be on the subject of the shooting that took place some 3 days ago by the defendant. Would the defendant please state his name, rank and unit for the record?"
"Jason Rees. Sergeant. First Chester Militia Company, Special Operations Detachment, Sniper Team Viking." Said Jason clearly. A scribe noted down the information while Mrs. Reva spoke.
"Very well. Then we can commence proceedings. Please be seated." There was the brief sound of fabric brushing and wood scratching as people sat down. Jason continued to stand, having no chair to sit down in. And so the questioning began. The woman who Jason did not recognise spoke first.
"Mr. Rees, I take it you were offered a suit to wear during this enquiry?"
"I was ma'am." Replied Jason.
"Then why are you wearing your camouflage uniform?"
"To remind the court that I am a soldier. Not the insane psychopath that I have been described as in the rumours. And besides, these combats are far more comfortable than a suit." The remark caused a buzz of conversation in the crowd, the woman looked annoyed.
"Mr. Rees," she pressed, "I am not sure you understand the severity of the situation you find yourself in."
"Oh, I understand perfectly." Replied Jason. "You want to execute me for doing my job." The buzz of conversation returned but seemed slightly more outraged this time. The woman glared at him.
"Mr. Rees! You murdered 3 innocent schoolboys in the street! Your job is to defend this safe zone and its inhabitants! Not gun down those you are supposed to protect!" Jason glared back at her.
"Ma'am. I cut the BS and spell it out for you. Did I kill those boys? Yes. Do I regret that I killed them? No. Because I perceived them as a threat to life and acted with appropriate force. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat, as any good soldier would." The crowd's disapproval grew and Mrs. Reva called for silence, which was headed after a moment. Jason continued before the accusing woman could steal a march on him.
"It's all very well criticizing and judging me with the benefit of hindsight, 'oh he gunned down 3 kids! He's clearly a murdered! Lock him up!' Etcetera! Etcetera!" When I looked at them, I did not see 3 school boys playing a practical joke. I saw 3 of the most dangerous creatures to ever walk this earth. An immediate threat to the lives of every man, woman and child in the safe zone. So I acted on what instinct, training and personal experience has taught me. And if you had had any significant contact with any infected, you would have done the same in my position." The woman was taken aback with Jason's remarks. Then Jason added.
"Also Ma'am. It's Sergeant Rees. I have earned that title and you will address me as such."
Jason took a deep breath, the woman who'd been questioning him was cut off by the gentleman, taking his opportunity to cross-examine Jason.
"Sergeant," he began, "You speak as if those infected with... well... whatever is causing this sickness, are just a bunch of wild animals. They are still people, just sick." A few of the soldiers shook their heads in despair and Jason shook his head at the man.
"They are not people sir," He replied, "They may once have been, but there is nothing left of who they once were. They're killing machines nothing more."
"And what do you base this opinion on?" asked the man.
"Personal experience sir." Replied Jason. "I have seen infected rip into the living with no sign of hesitation or remorse. Tear them to shreds right in front of me. I have seen a mother, rip apart her own infant daughter, a husband his wife and other cases that I do not care to mention. Whatever they may be now sir, they are not people anymore."
"That's crazy!" shouted a man from the audience. Standing up and pointing at Jason. "Of course, they're still people! You're lying to save your murdering hide!"
"Quiet in the stands please." Said Mrs. Reva. The man sat down and Mrs. Reva turned to Jason. "He does have a point, however, Sergeant. What you are implying is farfetched to say the least."
"Is it?" asked Jason. "I suggest you ask anyone, soldier or civilian who's had firsthand close contact with the infected. I doubt they will tell you anything different."
"Your honour, if I may?" said Marsden, standing from his seat. "We have several character witnesses for Sergeant Rees. Some of whom can support his claims."
"We shall hear them later Major." Said Mrs. Reva. "For now, I wish to return to the examining the incident in question. Sergeant, your own testimony and those of witnesses state that no warning was given prior to you firing your weapon. Is it true that no warning was given?"
"That is correct. I gave no warning." Replied Jason.
"So you don't give warnings when you attack a target?" surmised Mrs. Reva.
"Not infected ones, no." Replied Jason.
"But you do to 'living' targets?"
"To human targets, Yes."
"So why not to 'infected' targets?"
"Because the infected take no notice of warnings. They won't stop and surrender if you ask them to. All you would accomplish is letting them know you were there, as well as letting every other infected that heard you that you are there. It would be like standing up in a firefight and shouting and waving to the enemy 'I'm over here! Please kill me!'"
"So, you don't give infected a warning because they are attracted by sound, yet you use a gun to engage them?"
"Only because the threat needed to be removed immediately. Had I have more time, I would have attached my sidearm's suppressor, or gotten closer so I could dispatch them with my knife."
"I see." Said Mrs. Reva. "And what about when you are engaging 'human' targets?" Jason sighed.
"The rules of engagement state that we must give a clear, verbal warning to any target."
"Do you?"
"Yes." Jason lied. The thought of Fat Man and his group came to mind.
"So what applies to one enemy doesn't the other?"
"That is correct."
"So what are we supposed to tell the parents of the deceased?" cut in the first woman again. "That their sons died because they were mistaken for the wrong type of enemy?"
"Officially I'd phrase it more along the lines of 'I regret to inform you that your sons are dead due to an accident.' Unofficially I'd say 'your sons are dead because they were stupid' ma'am. " Replied Jason. The voice of uproar returned but this time, it was Jason who silenced it.
"No!" he almost shouted. "Those 3 boys took a conscious decision to act like zombies in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, specifically in the middle of a place with a large presence of soldiers whose job is to kill zombies on a daily basis. If they had the slightest bit of sense then they would have realized what they were doing was both dangerous and stupid and stopped."
Everyone was surprised by Jason's outburst, and the crowd started throwing open, violent accusations at him. Jason remained silent, he simply stood at ease in his defendant stall. Eventually, Mrs. Reva managed to appeal for quiet and eventually got it.
"Officers, please escort the defendant back to his cell. We shall recall him when we need him. For now, I think we should hear some of these witness statements for the defendant."
One of the police officers pulled over his shoulder, Jason gave one last glance around the courtroom before he turned and left the booth. The cops escorted him back to his cell in the police station. On the way through the streets, Jason saw the eyes and thoughts of on lockers.
'Murderer...'
'Child killer...'
'Monster...'
Jason didn't care. None of them had seen what he'd seen, done what he'd done. They were civilians, it was their prerogative, their privilege to complain, bitch, and whine about every little politically incorrect and accidental incident. It was times like these, he really wished they had something like national service, to make them go out and face and fight the infected, not just hide behind soldiers who were fighting and dying for them. Maybe then they wouldn't be so hostile and understand.
They arrived back at the police station and Jason was put back in his cell. Jason put his hands through the bars and they removed his cuffs. Jason removed his fatigue smock and climbed into bed.
He fell asleep in moments.
...
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Contact front! Contact front!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Here they come! Weapons free! Weapons free!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Man down! Sergeant! Sergeant!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Sergeant!"
Jason bolted up in bed, hands up and preparing for a fight. Instead, he found himself in his cell, one of the policemen outside his cell and banging his baton between the bars.
"Oi, Soldier boy!" he jeered. "Up and at'em! They need you back at the inquest, they're going to give their verdict."
"How long was I asleep?" asked Jason as he rolled out of bed and pulled on his smock.
"'bout 4 hours," he replied "Now come on. Against the wall. "
Jason zipped up his smock and duly put his hands behind his back and faced the wall. The sound of the cell door opening signalled that if Jason was to make a run for it, now would be the time to attack the guard with his boot knife (something they'd missed on their initial search) make his way to the closest gate and get through it and out, but he decided against it. There were too many variables and besides, there was no guarantee that they were going to sentence him to death.
The copper cuffed him and then lead him out of the cell. They met up with one of his colleagues and he was marched back to the courthouse, and back into the same defendant, stand as before. This time, however, amongst the crowd of people, were quite a number of familiar faces, including Mr and Mrs Wilson, Mr. Yates, Kinkaid and Alex. They all looked at Jason as he was lead into the cupola, and Alex offered him a nod and smile. Jason returned the smile but turned to the panel of the 3 judges.
"Sergeant Rees," began Mrs. Reva. "We have heard some 15 character references from that were given in your name. And to be honest, I think that you should be proud. Not many people of your age could be capable of some of the feats you have accomplished, and you have rightly earned your rank and position. However, I cannot in good conscious ignore, not only the incident of which you stand accused but also the bluntness in which you have defended yourself, which has bordered at times on downright rudeness." She paused and took a deep breath.
"On the charge of 3 counts of murder, we find you guilty. You will not, however, be sentenced to death, in recognition of your outstanding military service. Instead, you are sentenced to exile from this safe zone. You will be given a day's worth of food and supplies, and escorted to the east gate, where you will be turned loose into the world as it now is. For as long as you may live. With this sentencing, we conclude proceedings."
Jason was taken away in silence while the crowd of spectators started debating amongst themselves as to whether it was a just punishment, or whether they felt that the council was letting him off easy.
Personally, Jason didn't care what they thought, if they let him out there without weapons, supplies and or a plan, he'd probably be dead by dawn.
Marsden's Office
Chester Safezone
Chester Castle
Z-day + 41
13:00
"So how many pallets do you think he'd need?" asked Marsden
"About 20ish, I'd say." Replied Sale, contemplating the thoughts.
"Make sure they are made ready." Ordered Marsden.
"Sir." Replied Staff Sale. He got up to leave and was just about to open the door himself when it exploded open in front of him. Standing in front of him was a very red in the face, and very angry Lance Corporal Long. She pushed past him and started shouting.
"Sir! You can't let them exile Jason! If they send him out there without weapons he will die!"
"Lance Corporal!" Sale shouted, "You forget yourself. You will not speak to your commanding officer in such a way."
"It's ok Staff." Said Marsden. "I will speak with Lance Corporal Long in private. Carry on with your duties."
"Sir." Replied Sale. He snapped a salute to Marsden before leaving the office and closing the door.
"Have a seat." Said Marsden motioning to the seat opposite his desk. Akio sat down and Marsden explained.
"First off I must say this is strictly hush-hush. You were going to be informed in time but given your relationship with Sergeant Rees, I may as well tell you now." He sighed before continuing.
"I have no intention of letting the council send Sergeant Rees to his death for what was, when it boils down to it, an accident. However, we cannot openly disobey an order from the council. So we have an assignment for him that will keep him out of sight out of mind for a while. The only difficult bit is that he has to get there quickly and quietly with no support."
"Ok, sir." Replied Akio, "What's the assignment?"
"You remember that hotel that you and your team bunked in on that first overnight patrol?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, we want to turn it, along with a few other sites into forward patrol bases. To launch patrols from, train new recruits in the field from and to give us advanced warning of any incoming threats. We want Sergeant Rees to go ahead to clear it and secure it for us, then run it for us."
"So, he just has to get to a hotel about 10 miles from here, with no weapons, no support, with limited supplies." Surmised Akio. Marsden smiled.
"Pretty much. I think you underestimate your boyfriends survival ability." Akio immediately blushed red.
"I don't know..."
"We were all teenagers once Lance Corporal." Replied Marsden with a smile. "There are less than 2000 people in this safe zone and teenagers will be teenagers, it was bound to happen. Don't let us catch you both on the job."
"Yes, sir." Replied Akio. "Permission to go and tell the Sergeant about his assignment?"
"Denied." Replied Marsden. Akio went back to looking annoyed. "I'm sorry, but we need to keep this as quiet as possible. I will brief him later. For now, I need you to pack up his patrol bag and get him some civvies. We need his leaving to look convincing."
"Yes, sir." Replied Akio. She stood up, saluted and left the office for the bunk room.#
Chester safe zone
Safe Zone Police Station
Z-day + 41
18:00
Jason pulled on the last of the civvies that he'd been given for his exile. A pair of jeans, t-shirt and a hoody, not exactly what he'd pick for a night in the land of the undead. But at least, he got to keep his assault boots (and the knife they had in them).
He'd received a briefing from Marsden. All he had to do was get across some 10 miles of zombie infested countryside, with the sun going down.
'Maybe I shouldn't have told him I love a challenge.' He thought. One of the policemen arrived at his cell.
"Let's go, soldier boy." He sneered. Jason frowned back at the man, before standing from his bed. The policeman escorted him out of the station for the last time and led him towards the Safe zone's east gate.
"So how long do you think you'll last?" asked the cop. Even though he was behind Jason, he knew he was smiling. "A day? And hour?"
"A bit longer I reckon." Replied Jason. They rounded the last corner and walked towards the guarded gate.
"Oh, please." Replied the cop, "You're going to be alone, unequipped and unarmed and alone. How are you going to survive?" As they got closer. They both saw that Marsden, Akio and Sale were waiting for them.
"Who said I'd be unarmed?" replied Jason. Marsden acknowledged their arrival.
"Thank you, officer," said Marsden. "You can uncuff my Sergeant and leave us now."
"Can't do that sir." Replied the officer, "I have to ensure that the prisoner goes into exile. Say your goodbyes then I'll get him out of here." Marsden Sighed.
"Very well." Said Marsden. The officer uncuffed him and Marsden began.
"Sergeant. We've calculated the back pay owed to you by the army, and it comes to £2,588.17, enough around here to buy one L85A2 rifle and 6 loaded magazines, an ammo belt for it, as well as a Sig 226 with a suppressor and 4 loaded magazines. I assume you'd like to purchase these items?"
"You'd be correct sir." Replied Jason. Sale stepped forward with the implied weapons and ammo belt. Jason clipped on the ammo belt before excepting the pistol in its holster and clipping it to his thigh. The police officer was having a fit as Jason excepted and loaded the L85.
"You can't give him weapons!" he shouted. "He could turn around and kill someone!"
"Office. If he wanted to kill someone, namely you, he would have done so with the boot knife he's had sheathed in his right boot since you arrested him." Sale told the officer before turning to Jason.
"Good luck out there Rees. Remember your training and you'll be fine."
"Thanks, staff." Replied Jason. Akio then stepped forward holding his patrol bag, which was evidently full.
"I packed up some water, MRE's and some other survival kit that you'll need." Said Akio as she passed him the bag. "It should be enough to get you where you're going."
"Thank you, Akio." Said Jason as he took the bag, put it on the ground and enveloped her in a warm hug with an affectionate kiss. She did not resist but instead just melted into him. He broke apart after a moment and whispered to her,
"I'll see you later."
"I know you will," She whispered back. They broke apart and Jason picked up his bag.
"Got everything sorted then Sergeant?" asked Marsden who was smiling slightly.
"Just one last thing Sir." Said Jason. He pointed to a private who was on guard duty nearby. "Private. Your bayonet please."
"What?" replied the Private incredulously.
"Private! Bayonet, now!" ordered Sale. The private instantly drew his bayonet and handed it to Sale, who took it and handed it to Jason, who fixed it to his L85.
"Ready." Said Jason. He lowered his rifle and snapped to attention before saluting Marsden and Sale.
"It's been an honour sir, staff," He said. They snapped to and saluted him back. He shot a wink to Akio who smiled devilishly back. Jason then dropped the salute, charged his rifle and turned to the gate.
"Into the valley of the shadow of death and all that." Muttered Jason. The gate was opened for him. He could see that there were a few infected closing, maybe 200 meters out. He looked back at Akio and smiled.
"See you in hell."
He charged through the gates, and they closed behind him.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. from some of the reviews and PM's I was getting,
From some of the reviews and PM's I was getting, I got the feeling some of you thought they main characters were a bit too safe, something which the characters really weren't in the anime.
To address this, for now the safe zone will become, I won't say absent, but move more into the background. Still prominent in the story, but not as common a setting for the story... for now. We're also getting a new character next chapter.
Also, to answer one question I got asked, for reasons that will come apparent in a few chapters we're going to say the outbreak starts April 2016. There is a reason for this, and they will become more apparent soon, but is not major for now.
Next chapter will be out... I don't know when, probably sometime during February but that's not a definite.
As ever, if you have any suggestions please PM them to me, keep them on the vague side or realism if you could.
Please drop me a review, follow and favorite, it is greatly appreciated.
Oh, and one last thing, you guys are awesome :)
Jango