Chapter 3
“Delta 1, be advised we have arrived,” Amanda called over the radio, as she and Megan looked at each other.
“Ten-four. Please stay in your vehicle after you have pulled through the gate.”
“Ten-four.”
Amanda put the radio back in the cup holder and then she nervously looked at Megan. Something didn’t seem right to her. Eagerly, Megan smiled at her as the gate opened slowly. As Amanda pulled through the gate, she noticed that there were guys dressed in army gear standing around, and they all looked at her and Megan with hard expressions. Amanda pulled her truck to the side, and immediately, the guys pointed their automatic rifles and surrounded the truck cautiously.
Seemingly, Amanda and Megan looked at each other and Megan’s smile faded as she looked out of the windshield at the guards.
“What is going on?” Megan asked, as she studied the guards pointing their guns at them.
Swiftly, Amanda hit the lock button, and suddenly a voice came over a loudspeaker from outside.
“Keep your hands where I can see them and exit your vehicle,” the man on the other end of the microphone demanded.
Immediately, Amanda grabbed her radio and she put it to her lips.
“Delta 1, what is this? We will not comply,” she stated, angrily, and Megan gave a quick nod.
“Unless you have sergeant DJ come speak with us,” Megan said flatly into the radio.
“Delta A, what is your location? Over?”
Amanda and Megan looked at each other in question.
What the hell was going on? Megan thought to herself.
“Delta 1, we have entered the basecamp and there are snipers pointed at us. Be advised, we will use deadly force if you do not call off your men!” Amanda said matter-of-factly, and Megan reached for her hand gun.
For a moment, there was radio silence and then another man’s voice came over the radio.
“Delta A, stand down. Be advised that the sergeant is in route.”
“Ten-four,” Amanda said, and then she smirked at Megan.
Suddenly, they heard shouting and they turned their heads and looked out of the window.
“Put your guns down! Stand down!”
A familiar voice demanded, and surprisingly, DJ and two privates from their squadron were running toward them. Private Brian and Private Charlie. Brain was tall and muscular with creamy white skin and sandy blonde hair. On the other hand, Charlie had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck. She was tall and had a slender muscular build. Definitely, she was pretty tough for a girl who grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth.
“Meg, Mand!” cried Charlie, as she ran toward the truck.
Quickly, Megan and Amanda got out and they ran to her. Relieved, Charlie wrapped her arms around Megan, and Brian stuck his hand out to Amanda.
“Corporal,” he greeted her, as he straightened.
At that moment, Amanda took his hand and then she pulled him into a hug. After that, Charlie hugged Amanda and Megan hugged Brian.
“I am so glad that y’all are still alive,” said Charlie in her thick southern accent.
“We are glad that you guys are still alive and that we were able to find each other,” Megan said happily through misted eyes.
“DJ!” exclaimed Amanda, as she ran over to him. Immediately, she halted and saluted him.
“At ease,” he chuckled, and then Amanda threw her arms around his neck.
For a moment, he held onto her as she sobbed.
“I know. I know,” he whispered, as he rested his head against the top of hers.
Megan, Charlie, and Brian looked at them sadly as they approached.
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A month had passed, and Megan and Amanda were given hand-built rooms on a hand-built tree platform that the base had put together. Amazingly, large steel platforms were supported by steel beams and it was level with the tall trunks of the trees. There were about twenty rooms that were big enough for one person to live in.
The grounds of the camp were on an old prison that had been abandoned long before the apocalypse even began. Some of the buildings were half caved in, but the kitchen area and the shower area were untouched.
Surprisingly, there was running water, but it wasn’t warm water by any means. It was good to have a way to shower and at least clean some of the mutant gunk and daily sweat off. There were two perimeter fences reinforced by steel walls put in place by DJ and some of the other members of the camp. Evidently, everyone and everything behind the walls were safe from the outside decaying world for the time being.
***********************
One day, Amanda was in the cemetery when DJ approached her and he had a serious look on his face. It wasn’t an actual cemetery, it was a place in the back of the prison where they buried their fallen. Amanda had made a small grave site for Eddy by burning one of his t-shirts. When she felt the need to talk to him, or when she had missed him so much that it hurt. She wound up in the cemetery next to his grave. Concerned, she looked up at him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and he looked down at her.
“Come here, and listen to this,” he said, and she nodded.
Amanda and DJ walked over to the communications tent and they went inside, and immediately, the two privates that were sitting at the radio, stood up and saluted them.
“At ease,” DJ said, and the men sat back down in their chairs.
“Play that broadcast back,” he said, and one of the men nodded and then he flipped a switch on the radio.
“May day, may day. Is there anyone out there that can hear me? There are six survivors here in the southern tier of Florida. I repeat, there are six of us and the mutants are everywhere,” said a man’s deep voice in distress, and Amanda looked at DJ for a moment.
“Do you know who they are?” she asked, and after a moment, DJ shook his head.
“The broadcast came in yesterday and then this one came through,” he said, and then he nodded to one of the privates.
“This is Overwatch broadcasting over all the emergency broadcast frequencies. We have food, water and shelter away from mutations and infection. We are…”
Suddenly, the broadcast cut out and Amanda looked at the sergeant in question.
“That’s it?” she asked in disbelief, and he nodded.
“Sir. Ma’am. We have another broadcast coming in,” said one of the privates, and he flipped another switch.
“Is there anyone out there? Things are starting to get real bad here,” said a deep, exhausted voice, and immediately, Amanda hit the talk button on the mic.
“Hello, sir, are you there?” she asked, and then she let go of the talk button.
“Oh, thank god, there is someone alive out there,” the man breathed in relief.
“What is your name?” Amanda asked.
“Joe.”
“Okay, Joe. This is Amanda. I am a corporal of the U.S. Army in Delta A. Can you tell me your location?” she asked, as she looked up at DJ oddly.
He looked like he had seen a ghost and she wondered what was the matter with him.
“Amanda, thank you for answering. There are four of us left, including myself, and we are at the Villa Condominiums on the Lake Shore. We are on the twentieth floor,” stated Joe, and Amanda saw that DJ was frozen in shock.
“DJ!” she shouted, not realizing that her finger was still holding down the talk button.
“DJ?” Joe asked, and Amanda shook her head.
“Yes. He is my sergeant. Okay, Joe, you and the other survivors stay there. Whatever you do, don’t leave. We are coming to get you,” she said.
“Thank you,” Joe whispered gratefully.
“You are welcome. Over and out.”
Quickly, Amanda took her finger off of the talk button and then she looked at DJ in question.
“What is it?” she asked, and he looked at her in awe, as he swallowed hard.
“I think that was my cousin,” he stammered in disbelief.
“Wait, what?”
Suddenly, DJ straightened as he snapped out of his trance.
“Get Megan. We are going to get them as soon as possible,” he ordered, and Amanda saluted him.
“Yes, sir,” she said, and then she quickly ran out of the tent.
*****************
“John, Faith, Josh!” Joe called ,as he set the radio down on the coffee table.
He and his cousins were trapped by the mutants on the twentieth floor of their apartment building. Joe and his wife had bought one of the apartments because it was right off of the beach. Unfortunately, his wife died before the apocalypse even began. He, John, Faith, and Josh were part of the entertainment industry before everything went south.
Joe was tall, handsome, very muscular, tan skin, with blue eyes and dark hair that hung down past his shoulders. Josh and John had the same muscular build, handsome, tall, with brown eyes, but each kept their hair a little different.
John’s hair hung to the back of his neck and he kept the sides shaved underneath. Josh had shaved the sides of his head but he kept his hair short on the top. Josh and John were brothers and they were both Joe’s cousins. Faith, John's wife, was medium height with a muscular build, and dark skin and long dark hair.
Josh and John were brothers and they were Joe’s cousins. Josh was married once, but his wife didn’t make it through the first wave of the infectious parasite. She was infected and then a couple weeks later, instead of turning, she died. Josh looked at Joe as he entered the living room from the other room.
“Help is coming,” Joe said, relieved, as he looked at the deep gash on his arm.
“Is it any better?” Faith asked, and she looked at him with care as she and John sat on the couch.
“A little, but I am going to need stitches.”
Evidently, Joe had sliced his forearm open the night before when he chased down some of the other frantic survivors, but unfortunately, the mutants overpowered the two. He did everything he could to try and save them, but unfortunately, they were bitten and turned.
“Well, then, I guess it is a good thing that helps on the way,” stated John with a half chuckle, and Joe nodded.
Then he looked at his cousins oddly and Josh and John looked at him in question.
“What’s wrong, cous?” asked Josh with concern.
“There was something strange the girl had said right before she told me that she was coming to get us. She yelled the name DJ,” said Joe thoughtfully, and his cousins looked at each other with a hopeful look.
“Do you think it is our big cous?” asked John, as his eyes lit up, and Joe gave him a steady look.
“I guess we will find out soon enough,” he said, and then Josh looked at him.
“What was the girl’s name?” asked Faith, as she sat back on the couch.
“Amanda. She said she was a corporal with the U.S. army. Not for nothing, her voice was like music to my ears. It’s a relief to know that there are other survivors out there,” Joe said, as he laughed lightly, and the others nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, the building shook and it began to make groaning noises. Fearfully, Faith grabbed onto John, and Josh and Joe held onto the arms of the chair and sofa they were sitting on.
“I hope that she is not far from us,” Faith exclaimed, as the building shook again.
****************
Evidently, Megan, DJ, Charlie, Brian, and two other privates piled into Amanda’s truck and they headed out of the camp and drove south on the highway toward the Villa. The other two private’s names were Reggy and Thomas. Reggie had dark skin, brown eyes, and neatly dreaded hair. Thomas was fair skinned, with black hair and light brown eyes. Seemingly, the Villa was not that far from camp, maybe a two-hour drive at the most. Nonchalantly, Amanda popped one of her burned cd’s into the player and played the music softly.
“Oh, I haven’t heard music in forever,” stated Charlie happily, and DJ looked at Amanda in surprise.
“Wait, isn’t this the song from…”
He asked with a grin on his face and Amanda grinned and nodded.
“Yes, it is! This is that song!” Megan cheerfully exclaimed, as she began to lightly head-bang to the beat and Amanda and DJ laughed.
“Yeah, it’s my mood music,” Amanda said, as she chuckled.
“That is some pretty heavy mood music, there darling, if you ask me,” said Thomas from the backseat. Laughing, Megan and DJ turned to him.
“This is soft compared to what really gets Mand going. She can get a little psycho,” Megan teased, and then she faced forward.
Evidently, Megan sat in between Amanda and DJ in the front seat and the four privates were sitting in the back. DJ looked down at Megan as he gave her one of his famous eyebrow raises and then he leaned down to her ear.
“Corporal, please stop scaring the rookies,” he whispered, and she straightened.
Amanda couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at them.
“Is that an order sarge?” she asked, as she saw a group of daywalkers ahead of them.
“Could be,” he said with a grin, and she shook her head.
“Mutants straight ahead, Mand!” exclaimed Charlie, and Amanda smiled, as she slowed the truck.
“We call them daywalkers,” Megan said, and Charlie nodded.
“What are you doing?” DJ asked in alarm, as the truck came to a stop.
Silently, Amanda changed the song on the cd and then she slid her sunglasses on. She smirked at Megan and she grinned widely.
“Watch this!” Amanda said, as she stepped on the gas and brake, as she revved the engine and Megan giggled with glee.
Evidently, Megan and Amanda had gone off on a few supply runs on their own a few times and they made up their own little games. One of their favorite things to do was to turn on heavy metal music and plow through the dumb, disgusting daywalkers.
“Ready!” exclaimed Megan, and Amanda nodded, as she pulled her foot off of the brake and shifted the truck into a higher gear.
At that moment, she pushed down on the gas and the truck took off and sped toward the herd of creatures that stood in the middle of the road.