Zombie Exodus: Aftermath, scene 29

Continued from scene 28 

Not wanting to let Megan be captured and punished for helping you and your friends, you break towards the south, armed with your new M-16 rifle. The siren still blares overhead but cuts out as the generator dies with it. Across the southern hill, several soldiers form a line against numerous infected attracted by the noise. You slip from tent to tent, using them as cover until you come to the last one before the group of West Pointers holding Megan on her knees with her hands tied behind her back.

“What the hell kind of prank was that?” the captain shouts at her. He is a tall man with a noticeable limp in his right leg. Reddish gray hair sits below a captain’s hat, though his mustache is a bright red like it’s been recently dyed.

“I was just checking the generator. It wasn’t a prank,” Megan says in a trembling voice.

He backhands her across the face, and she tries to fall sideways, only to be yanked up by a soldier behind her. Even from a distance of twenty feet, you can see a red mark on her cheek.

The captain raises his hand again but hangs his hand over her. “God damn liar! I won’t have liars in my ranks. Put her in the stockades.”

Shouts explode on the north side of the camp, and automatic gunfire erupts. 

“Captain, the prisoners have escaped!” someone shouts.

A scowl comes over the captain’s face as he spins towards the sounds of shooting. Looking back to the soldier holding Megan, the captain says, “Stay with her. You two, help secure the southern hill. Kill those infected. The rest of you are with me. Let’s move.”

The West Point soldiers hustle to meet their objectives, with two splitting off from the rest of the group to head south with their assault rifles raised, while the majority follow the captain. The one remaining soldier, a man close to your size with a bald head and shaggy beard, holds Megan’s shoulders and keeps her kneeling in front of him.

“You stupid, bitch,” he says in a southern drawl. “You had it all: a warm cot, plenty of food, and medicine if needed. We rescued you from that pit of despair, and this is the thanks we get, drawing infected to camp. Do me a favor and try to resist. I want you to try to escape. In fact…” He takes a few steps back and turns to face the south. “Go ahead. Run. Be my guest.”

“You’re going to shoot me in the back, Cooper.”

“I’ll give you to the count of five. That sounds fair to me. Of course, I’m the best shot in this camp. But you’re a quick girl. All you gotta do is make it to those trees, and you’re home free. This may be your last chance before you spend the rest of your days in the stockade.”

Megan looks to her left and right and brings one leg forward quietly to stand. You don’t have much time but need to help her.

Continue to scene 30