Two weeks ago, it had been my twentieth birthday. Today, I was going to join one of the local patrol groups with my friends. It was so far sort of relaxed. There have only been three outbreaks, all contained, in Chicago. However, that didn't mean it all wasn't scary as hell. There were some more serious outbreaks in New York, and San Fransisco. Coastal regions, as the illness spread to the US.
Patrols were asked to be a minimum of four people, and we had four. James, Victoria, Laurent, and myself. We had met in classes, and while we weren't extremely close, we all got along. It was definitely better than the alternative of Tanya and some of her friends. Although, she had just said that they were going to a 'safe' location. But there was no way I'd do that. I had told Carlisle two days ago when he called, asking me to join him in California, that I was going to be in Chicago until the end. If it even got that far. So far, things were still calm. Most patrols were the 'reserve'. They weren't needed right now.
"It's important that when you are called up, you all stay together. If you do split up, you split into pairs. At least one person in each pair needs to be armed." The general instructor was a middle aged cop. We were in a large auditorium, and it was well filled. We listened for another hour as he lectured about the infected: their appearance, weakness (aim high was repeated again and again), and the fact that just because we may think we know them doesn't mean they're harmless.
"Okay. As you leave, make sure each group registers. We need first and last names, phone numbers, and an e-mail address would be useful as well."
We registered, and had (in our minds) everything planned out. Laurent and James would carry guns, and if we needed to, I would go with Laurent, and Victoria with James. Piece of cake.
Again, I don't know when my next update will be. I don't have a lot of work to do tomorrow, but Wednesdays are always rather busy anyways. So, if I don't update tomorrow, there should be two more chapters by Thursday.