“Do you have any requests?” Copeland asked.
“Just one, sir,” the young man said politely. “I would like to go out a warrior.”
The Sergeant shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that, son.”
“I do, sir,” the kid replied. “If you… do what you need to do right now, it won’t feel like I’m a warrior. It will feel like I’m being put down like an old dog.”
Copeland nodded thoughtfully. “What would you like, then?”
The young soldier set down his guns and ammo and pulled his knife. “With your permission sir,” he began, “I would like to hop that barrier and go slaughter as many of those things as I can before they overwhelm me. Using my knife only, so that none of the ammunition goes to waste. Even if there is enough to me to reanimate, I won’t be a runner.”
Copeland pursed his lips. “You know that goes against direct orders,” he said.
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” the soldier replied.
The Sergeant cracked a smile, impressed at the young man’s quip. He contemplated for another moment, weighing his options, and then nodded.
“Happy hunting, soldier,” he finally said, and saluted the kid.
The young man saluted him back, and then hopped the barricade, hobbling towards the zombie horde. Copeland watched, eyes shining, as he stabbed a couple of stragglers in the back of the head before moving up towards the bulk.
The Sergeant turned around and walked away from the barricade back towards the Super Center for a bite to eat.
END
Up next: The next phase of the operation. Corporal Herrera joins a team air dropping onto Mercer Island to create a diversion zone in “Seattle - Part 2”.
Seattle - Pt. 2 can be found at this link
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HY4GX2X
