Chapter 17:

Station Meeting

The next few days Paula really enjoyed the security of the station.

Well they didn't exactly go out for a day or two, the feeling of safety was too tempting and the new arrivals couldn't resist enjoying relaxation for a few days even if it involved household chores. Everyone had also been assigned a weapon which they were going to practice with that day after the meeting, even Jamie and Duane were going to practice.

The station was a great place, comfortable to live in, safe from the walkers and with good supplies. The boiler and water supply meant that they could afford to take a shower every two days (men one day, woman the other and then a free days to balance water levels).

The weapons people had brought in stayed with the owners (Hannah's pistol, Morgan's revolver) but since there were spares at least all the adults had one. The cops (Shane, Lam, Leon and Rosie) were all trained so they all took possession of a shotgun each and a standard issue Glock, Fred and Morgan had been promised practice with rifles, Lori, Hannah, Paula and Cindy were going to be practicing with their pistols (Paula deciding that Rick's Python was a bit too powerful for her). Carol didn't want to start shooting things and refused the offered gun, however after a talk with the group she agreed to at least practice aiming.

Of course the kids got in on it, they didn't keep their weapons but Duane and Jamie were also promised practice with Glock's as well, Carl had wanted a go but Lori was very against it (reluctant herself to shoot again) but after urging from Shane and Hannah she caved and said he could practice. Sophia didn't want to practice (Carol didn't want her to anyway) and Billy was way too young to handle a gun.

But first they had a Station Meeting. This was their first one where everyone was present, even the children.

It was sat in what used to be a room used for staff meeting and the like before the dead started walking. They all sat around the big table as Shane and Lam spoke, they had become the unspoken leaders of the group since Shane was the leader of Lori's group before and Lam outranked Shane, Leon and Rosie in being the senior officer.

"Ok let's get straight down to business; we've done a stock check on food, water and toiletries. Water is good but we've been burning through food and toiletries faster than predicted." Shane broke the news.

"How badly?" Carol asked.

"Badly, I'm afraid we haven't been rationing very well. If we continue at this rate we will be out of food and toiletries in 3 or 4 days and out of water in two weeks." Lam said drawing a gasp from several of the group; Paula knew this meant one thing. Supply run.

"Supply run?" Paula asked and Shane nodded.

"You got it. Me and Lam have talked and we agree a team of 5 would be perfect, they should take one of the stations armoured vans just in case. Volunteers." He said looking around the room, Leon's hand was in the air before anyone could breathe.

"I'm in." he said instantly.

"Good. Anyone else?"

"Count me in." Fred said drawing a saddened look from Cindy.

"I'm right with you." Morgan said as well.

"I'll go as well, can't let the men have all the fun." Paula remarked and Shane nodded his head but not as confidently as with the others.

"You sure you're up for it Paula?" he asked and Paula felt a ripple of annoyance, did he not think she could do anything?

"Sure I can, not the first time I've done it." She said confidently staring him down, he conceded defeat and added her name to the whiteboard under the list Supply Run.

"Fine, I'll tag along to make 5. We'll hit that new Costco that opened near the K-Mart." Shane said but Lori spoke up.

"Could you hit that as well? Some of our clothes aren't holding as well as we had hoped."

"True, I can't keep borrowing Cindy's clothes forever." Hannah remarked drawing a chuckle from the woman.

"No problem, we'll go tomorrow early morning, I want to get Fred and Paula trained with their weapons before we hit a big store." Shane said drawing nods from around the table. Shane moved to sit and Lam took main point.

"Right now target practice, we'll do it in two teams in the range, it's soundproofed so the walkers won't hear but I want two people on watch in case that doesn't work."

"I'll do it." Rosie said.

"Me too." Leon said but Lam shook his head.

"I need officers in the range to teach." He said but Rosie spoke up again.

"How about you and Leon take one class and me and Shane take the others?" she said, Lam pondered it and slowly nodded.

"Good idea, now I want Team 1 to be those with basic weapons training already or who are using stronger weapons like rifles." Lam said looking around the room doing a quick count before heading back to the whiteboard and creating two lists for Team 1 and Team 2.

"By the looks of things then this is how the Teams will be set out." He said and drew names on the board. By the end Team 1 consisted of Shane, Rosie, Fred, Morgan, Hannah and Paula, Team Two was Lam, Leon, Lori, Carol, Cindy, Duane, Jamie and Carl.

"Looks good. Team 1 will go when we finish then Team 2 can go after lunch." Shane said standing back up as Lam sat.

"Anything else?" Lori asked and Shane nodded.

"Yeah, we've designed a new watch roster to help stability. We drew up a basic one. We change on the third hour and there are always two on watch." He said avoiding Lori's gaze, Paula knew something did happen and she was picturing the worst thing already.

"What is it?" Carol asked as Shane Blu-Tacked the new roster to the board and read it off.

"Okay here it is. We devised groups essentially then blocked 5 groups to a day with one group getting a respite, the kids don't go on every watch but can be called on as replacements in their group. The groups are Shane/Fred, Leon/Lam, Lori/Carol/Carl/Sophia, Morgan/Hannah/Billy, Rosie/Jamie/Duane and Cindy/Paula." He read out, Paula was happy about being partnered with Cindy, she was a nice person and could be easily engaged in conversation albeit when not around Fred. Hannah raised her hand however.

"Why isn't Jamie with me?" she asked, Jamie looked nervous and slightly embarrassed at her mother's question.

"And why isn't Duane with me?" Morgan asked invoking a similar reaction from Duane.

"Because the numbers wouldn't match if we attached each kid to their parent. Besides they are both mature enough and Rosie will be there anyway." Shane said and Rosie nodded.

"Anything goes wrong and I will send them back inside, don't you worry." She reassured, Hannah was accepting of this and sat back but Morgan looked more worried.

"You okay with that Duane? It's perfectly fine if you don't want to…" he said to his kid but Duane nodded his head.

"I'm okay with it Daddy." He said and Morgan said back with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Then it's settled, me and Leon will do our shift now. We've left outside unwatched for too long as it is. Shane, you and Rosie take the first team to the shooting range for their practice." Lam said as he and Leon moved, with that the meeting was adjourned, everybody stood and filed out. Paula stuck close to Fred and Paula as they followed Shane to the shooting range, Fred peeled off to retrieve his rifle but Hannah already had her pistol on her.

"In here." Shane said opening another door, inside was a very grim looking shooting range, there was 7 rows and in each one there were targets at different ranges. Rosie walked in behind them carrying a box of pistols and several rifles that were the stations, Shane closed the door behind him once Morgan stepped in behind Rosie and turned to face the group.

"Okay everybody choose your weapons." He said and Paula approached the box with the others. Fred picked up some ammo from the box and checked his rifle and smiled before picking a row, Morgan picked up a rifle similar to Fred's along with ammo and chose a row next to him. Hannah drew her pistol but picked up a revolver as well with some bullets before taking the row next to Fred. Paula picked up a heavy feeling pistol, she enjoyed the weight of it and the hard texture, she picked the row next to Hannah and waited for the lesson to begin.

Paula found it easy, she hit the head clean on her 3rd attempt and got it many times after that. She followed Rosie's instructions to breathe first and let go of all emotions, she found that last part slightly difficult… Every time she fired she remembered the recoil from shooting Tom which (disturbingly) stung less each time.

Hannah meanwhile wasn't so clean; she clipped the head a few times but really only managed body shots. Despite Shane's instructions she couldn't master even the less powerful revolver; however he said she had enough skill to put up a decent fight if she needed to. Fred was a natural with the rifle hitting the target dead on each time and Morgan said he liked the feel of the rifle. The class was considered a success by Shane who said they all could shoot very well and that he considered them some of the best.

Paula had smiled at that comment, she kept the heavy Glock for herself as she walked out of the range and despite everything that had happened lately she felt better about herself. For the first time since this thing had started she felt like she could defend herself well.

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Carl pulled the trigger and the revolver jumped in his hand, he was ready for it though, this was his third shot and this time it hit somewhere in the neck region. He smiled and looked back at his Mom who gave him a strained thumbs up, he knew she didn't like it but Shane had wanted him to do it, it was a shame he wasn't here to see Carl shoot.

On his left Jamie fired a shot, it hit the target in the chest region, the old cop Lam whispered in her ear and readjusted her gun before she fired again. Carl didn't know much about Jamie but Sophia had told him that she was a nice person, he didn't care that much but she seemed nice to him all the same.

"Okay Carl tag out." Leon said to him, Carl saw the cop grin at him as Sophia stepped out from behind Carol.

"Is your Mom shooting?" he asked but she shook her head.

"No, I am." She said shyly, Carl clicked on the safety and handed it to her, Carol looked at her daughter worryingly as Leon informed Sophia about parts of the gun.

"Didn't she say she didn't want to?" Carl asked Carol, he looked at his Mom but she was being told by Lam how to aim properly as she had just switched with Cindy.

"She did… But when she saw the other kids doing it she wanted a go…" Carol said delicately, Carl could see the disapproval in her eyes and hear it in her voice.

"Don't worry. Sophia's a good kid, she'll be fine." Carl said, Carol looked at him and smiled.

"I know." She said ruffling Carl's hair; the moment was interrupted by a bang then a squeal. Carl turned and saw a smoking gun in Sophia hands and the small girl breathing fast, Leon looked hard at the target and Carl did to, he saw a bullet hole dead centre of the targets head.

"Wow! Sophia got a headshot on her very first go. Would you look at that?!" Leon all but shouted, everyone stopped firing as the shocked girl looked at the target and laughed.

"Whoa…" Carl expressed next to her, who would have thought little Sophia would be such a good shot?

"Um… Good shot honey…" Carol said awkwardly, one hand on her daughters shoulder. Everybody was in the range except for Shane and Fred who were on watch duty so when the applause came it was generous. Sophia turned and smiled at Carl and spoke in a dazed voice.

"Can't believe I got it in the head…"

"Well you're a good shot." He said as the crowd dispersed, everybody was otherwise occupied and Leon was whispering to Lam. Sophia spoke to Carl in a much more hushed voice now.

"Carl, I don't want to shoot the gun again." She said in a scared voice, Carl looked at her confused.

"Why? You're so good!"

"Because I don't want to shoot anybody… it's scary." She said, she looked behind Carl to see Carol walking towards them with Lori at her side.

"Everything okay honey?" she asked but her daughter shook her head.

"I don't want to shoot anything anymore, can I go?" she asked and Carol nodded.

"It's okay sweetie, let's go." She said taking the gun and handing it to Leon, after a few hushed words Leon nodded as the pair walked outside, Billy said something Carl couldn't hear over the resumed banging and she nodded allowing Billy to follow them.

"You okay?" Carl's Mom asked and he nodded his head, suddenly he wasn't in the mood for shooting anymore.

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Billy had asked his mother if he could go back to his room away from all the gunfire, he didn't like the loud noises and his head hurt. He tried to find the nice lady Carol or her daughter Sophia but he couldn't find her after they left.

He stopped dead in his tracks after the third turn as he realised he was lost in the station; he couldn't see Carol or Sophia.

Where was his room again? He remembered it was near a drinking fountain but he couldn't see one, he opened a set of double doors and walked through but the hall looked the same as the last one.

He began to feel a bubble of fear as he realised he was fully lost. He didn't know this hall… Where the hell was it? He saw a door at the end of the corridor and remembered it as being vaguely familiar…

He ran to it and pushed it, he found it hard to open. It swung open with a rusty squeak as he remembered why it was familiar; it was the door to outside where they came in.

"Damn." He cursed as he looked around, he could slightly remember the trip to the reception office from where he was now but he didn't quite know…

There was a sudden rustling outside and a shape ran quickly near the RV, it kinda looked like a dog… It was too small to be anything else.

"Max?" Billy called out; he hadn't seen Max since the bad people had come to King County. His Dad had told him Max was outside, maybe he saw Billy and followed him here, Billy walked into the parking lot towards the RV looking for the shape, he looked around and saw no 'walkers' around so he ran to the other side of the large vehicle.

"Max?" he asked aloud again but again nothing answered, he heard a rustle coming from behind a large tree that stood in front of some woodland. He ran around it expecting to see his dog but something caught on his food and he fell over, he skinned his knee and it stung with pain.

"Ow!" he cried out as he fell, he heard the rustling again and got up quickly looking for his dog, a shape emerged from behind a tree and Billy stood still.

It was a person but he was wrong, he smelled bad and looked dirty… Just like the other bad people.

A walker.

He turned and ran, trying to get away from the growls and roars behind him. However another one was cutting him off from the RV, he looked around him and saw what could be 10 coming out from the woods.

Billy screamed.

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Hannah felt weird letting her son walk around the station by himself, but he was 9 and not completely stupid. He could make it around without a chaperone.

Jamie was still shooting nearby, Hannah had stayed to support her daughter but it looked like she didn't need any support, she looked comfortable enough firing the small gun.

"Weird isn't it?" Lori said sitting down next to Hannah.

"How so?" she asked she thin woman, she was looking over at her own son who was being guided through reloading by Lam.

"Seeing our kid shooting guns, one minute they're playing a Nintendo DS and the next their shooting paper targets…" she said in a somewhat sad and concerned voice.

"I know. Then again it's been more than a minute since this whole thing began." Hannah commented and Lori sighed.

"I know, I know… I just don't want my baby in danger and I don't see how a gun can solve that." She vented, Hannah turned to the woman and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me; I feel the same way about my kids. You gotta realise it isn't just about the guns or the knives, it's that they know what to do if they are in danger or they know how to survive." Lori turned to her and smiled slightly.

"God forbid they ever has to use those skills of course, didn't think I'd have to face the reality of Carl growing up for at least another 5 years." She said with a wry laugh, Hannah chuckled as well as she saw Jamie remove her goggles and hand the gun to Leon, she walked back over to her mother.

"That was fun." She said with a half grin.

"It isn't supposed to be fun, it is supposed to be a lesson…" Hannah scolded before adding, "Doesn't stop it from being fun though does it." She said causing her daughter to giggle, Hannah and Lori joined in the laughter as well. Hannah saw Leon walk past and give her a cheeky grin, he had been trying it on for the last few days and Hannah could say she didn't mind that much, when she had first met him after the apocalypse she had only seen the more negative elements of his personality but in the last few days she couldn't help but bond with him…

"So what's going on with you and Leon?" Jamie asked, Hannah turned to her daughter with what felt like a look of incredulity on her face.

"Um, nothing. And besides that isn't your business young lady." She said poking her daughter with the last few words, they both giggled and a mini poking war commenced.

To her right Hannah heard radio static from Leon who was pressing the walkie talkie to his ear, he waved a hand and shouted loudly.

"CEASE FIRE!" he yelled and the room fell silent, he raised the radio to his ear as Hannah listened closely.

"You gotta get out here now, someone screamed outside, sounded young. Where are the kids?" the voice of Shane was frantic on the other side, Leon looked around as did Lori, Carl was removing his goggles, Jamie was next to Hannah and Sophia was with Carol… Billy…

"Oh my God, Billy!" Hannah shouted as she ran to Leon, ignoring his protests she grabbed to walkie and pressed the button.

"Billy's missing. Where is he?!" she screamed and Shane was back on the walkie in seconds.

"We heard the scream coming from the woods area, Rosie is heading down now…" He hadn't finished speaking before Hannah was sprinting towards the back door, she turned in the corridors and ran as fast as her legs could carry as she heard footsteps behind her, she didn't know who was following and she didn't care. She had to reach her child.

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Special thanks to my readers hope you enjoyed this chapter and the others.

Bad news, from late December to late January production will go down severely due time constraints.

And please review, I want to know what you think so far and what you wanna see