Steve was about to speak again. Breanne’s temper flared and she stepped right up to the boy, who cowered despite standing a head taller than the stocky woman.
“No! Listen to me, Steve! Yes, there are zombies. There are fucking millions of them. Billions, probably! And yes, they’re all after us. We’ve seen that now. But you’re going to have to grow up real quick and not freak out every time one shows up!”
Steve dropped his gaze to the floor. His face was flushed. Breanne wasn’t done.
“I think the three of us” –she grabbed Steve’s sleeve and gestured towards Tammy with her other hand– “are going to have to learn to take care of ourselves. It might come down to ‘kill or be killed’. We got soldiers around for now, but they aren’t going to last. You know that.”
She let go of Steve’s sleeve and stroked his arm with a reconciliatory look.
“I don’t know why, but the three of us seem to be immune or something. So eventually it will just be the three of us. Or at least until we find others that are immune. We need to plan ahead. We should try to get some weapons. Does either of you know how to shoot a gun?” She asked. Tammy shook her head. Steve was still staring at his feet.
Breanne shrugged. “Yeah. Me neither. Shooting’s not my thing.”
She patted Steve on his back. “Come, I’ll make some tea. Let’s sit at the table and think about what we might need to... well, to survive.” Steve gave a half-hearted smile and Tammy got up from her cot to join them.
They were still contemplating when they heard the tell-tale noise of vehicle engines approaching.
“They’re back.” Steve stated excitedly. The teenager leapt to his feet and was out of the tent before his tentmates had gotten out of their chairs.
“Be careful, Steve!” Breanne yelled after him.
The two women followed after the boy. They just made it to the open area near the main gate when the first soldiers started trickling in. The majority of the soldiers were still milling around the vehicles, which were parked outside the main camp.
The spirits of most of the soldiers appeared to be high. They entered the camp in twos and threes, clapping each other on backs, smiling and joking. Several leered at Tammy as they walked by.
She was used to that, so ignored it with cool indifference.
Not all soldiers were in good spirits though. Some looked stunned. Others looked troubled.
“There’s Mike and his guys!” Steve said, his face lighting up.
“How did it go? Shoot first and ask questions later?” Breanne ventured as they got close enough.
Mike shrugged. “BB and I were pack mules all day.” “We had to run supplies and ammo to the main force from our supply truck. Didn’t see much. Never had to shoot my gun.”
“Thank god for that or you woulda shot one of our own!” Abi pushed past the two men and hugged each of the three civilians. “I didn’t have to do much either, just hang out with a radio”
She turned serious for a second. “What I saw though... it wasn’t pretty.”
The threesome moved on, but not before promising to come visit later.
Tammy had seen the next familiar face in the crowd of soldiers. Garcia made a beeline for them as soon as he got through the gate.
“Can we talk? In your tent?” He asked the three civilians. Without waiting for an answer, he started towards the tents. Breanne and Tammy exchanged a concerned look. With a shrug they turned to follow the soldier. Steve had already caught up to the man.
GARCIA ZIPPED UP THE door when they were inside. He walked around the tent for a few moments, lost in thought. He noted the supplies with a small nod before turning to Tammy and her friends.
“Brown is gone.” He said with an anguished look. Tammy took a step forward but was forestalled when Garcia raised his hand.
Garcia struggled with his emotions for several moments. The soldier groaned with the effort, clenching his fists as the others looked on with concern. He punched his own thigh, his eyes shut tight. He took several quick, powerful breaths and finally managed to master his emotions.
“He was a fucking hero.” Garcia stated with vehemence. He took another deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth.
“But that’s not what I want to talk about.”
“Ok... What’s going on, Esteban?” Breanne asked hesitantly.
“Y’all need to get out of here.” He said, then continued before anybody could say anything.
“These guys are being held together by a silk thread. Most of them know that they’re dying. We lost some of our leadership today. Now we got barely anybody left to keep the rest in line, and most of those guys probably don’t care anymore either.”
He sighed. Then looked up with a serious expression.
“Today was a tough one. No support... We lost a bunch of guys. They had to fight for their lives today. They really got into it...” Garcia’s stare was far away.
“It was a real battle. Those guys saw some real shit. And they saw some of their friends die.”
Garcia returned to the present and looked at the threesome in front of him. “They will be looking for something now. A release. I can tell.” He paused and his face became impassive. “I can feel it too.”
“Some of them will want to drink. Or smoke up. And before you say anything; hell, yes we got that stuff here.” He paused to take a breath. His hand grabbed his gut unconsciously. Tammy and her two companions were silent and waited for him to continue.
“They’re mostly good people. But they’re going to let go. They’re going to want to party, or fuck,” –he looked at each of them as he said this–
