Tension

Zane's POV

It was a scary experience seeing an alpha for the first time. Those things were terrifying and seemed to be deadly. What Zane couldn't believe the most was how massive it was. He was starting to doubt Daniels' reassurances that the base was safe. They didn't know how many Pales were in the mall in total; it could be hundreds or thousands. And that thought alone was terrifying.

Zane was in his room of the barracks stricken with these thoughts. He looked at the alarm clock and it was 5:20. He had eaten lunch earlier, with Daniels' squad. There was a gag order issued on the topic of the alpha they encountered. The higher ups did not want to cause a panic he could guess. Zane could understand that but all he wanted to do was talk about it, so Zane holed up in his room.

He could handle an average Pale but this thing? This thing was on a whole different level from an average Pale's level. Its aura of dominance was incredible. It's body massive and the fact it had a tail that seemed to be deadly as fuck was sickening. Just learning this type of Pale existed was very humbling about his own survival. It was downright frightening. He was lucky to have never encountered one on his travels.

Zane had a feeling these Pales were here to feed on us. An idea struck him just then. Zane better top up on ammunition just in case the base becomes overrun at some point. He'd have to ask Daniels to let him into the armory. As he was thinking there was a knock on his door. Zane went to the door and answered it. It was Daniels.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"Not so well, that thing was terrifying." Zane answered.

"Yeah it had me shaking for a bit, it was too much." He responded.

"Hey you think you could let me into the armory to top up right now?" Zane asked.

"Yea I could do that, let's go right now." He said.

Zane went back into his room and grabbed the bag which was near the bed. "Let's go." Zane said as he strapped on my backpack. Daniels asked him, "Is there a reason you want to top up?" Zane thought for a moment and answered "Nah not really. Just in case you know?"

"Alright let's go." He told Zane.

We left the rooming area and went downstairs, as they were going down the stairs Zane remembered my encounter with Talons. It was a sad way to go out, the way he did. He shook his head to clear these thoughts and they continued on our way. The pair of them exited the barracks and made their way to the armory. They reached the armory and Daniels swiped his cardkey and entered.

"So what do you need?" He asked.

"Just some pistol ammo and magazines." Zane told him.

"Ahh, okay. Help yourself to it, I'll be outside." With that he left out the door.

Zane walked over to the shelves of ammunition and pulled his sidearm out to reload it. He unloaded his pistol and chambered 13 rounds into it. There were only two rounds left from the patrol and the wall. Zane reloaded his pistol and holstered it. He looked at the shelves thoughtfully. He decided I would take some cartridge boxes too. Zane took two full boxes and shoved them into the bag.

There were fifty rounds in each case, so that was one hundred rounds in case he needed to bail on the base. Zane had five magazines, one in his gun and four in Zane's vest, all of which were loaded. He was set for a journey if need be. Zane figured this was enough and took his leave from the armory.

"Hey you get what you need?" Daniels greeted me as I left the armory.

"Yeah I did." Zane responded.

"Let's get some grub." He said cheerfully.

"Alright." Zane said.

With that exchange they made their way to the mess hall. Walking in silence, breathing in the aroma of food in the air. It smelled like meat. Zane's stomach grumbled and Daniels laughed. "Guess you're hungry after all!" He said laughing.

"It's not that funny." Zane responded with a pout.

"I guess not. But it was funny to me!" He told Zane.

They entered the mess hall and got in line. There were ten people ahead of them and about two hundred people were already eating. After about ten minutes both of them made it to the serving table. Both grabbed a tray and proceeded towards the cooks serving food.

"Hey Judy!" Daniels said to the blonde haired cook.

"Oh, hey Daniels!" Judy said to him.

"What is for dinner today?" Daniels asked.

"Stew and meat kebab." She answered him.

"Sweet!" Daniels said as she put a kebab and spoon on his tray. Zane got a kebab too and they moved onto the next cook.

"Gerald! What's the main course today?" He asked.

"Venison and turkey stew." He said gruffly and put a bowl on mine and Daniels tray. There were cups of water off to the side and they both grabbed one.

"Alright sweet, have a good night guys!" They said their thanks and both of them went to sit at a table. They got to a table and sat down to eat. Zane started on my kebab, it was a delicious mix of rabbit and deer meat. Lightly seasoned how they got seasons he wouldn't know but maybe they grew them. Daniels started to make conversion with him:

"How are you faring?" He asked.

"Well not well. That alpha thing scares me." Zane responded honestly.

"Don't worry man. We got tight security. That thing shouldn't be able to enter the base." He said with confidence.

Just as he finished, a man came and sat at their table with his tray. He sat on the other side of Daniels'. He is a short bald man. He is around 5'5, with green eyes. A skinny face with narrow cheekbones. He's wearing camouflage pants with a vest on top of his shirt and a sidearm at his side.

"Hey Smiths! What's up." Daniels greeted the man.

"Hey what's up, what are you guys talking about?" The man, presumably Smiths, asked.

"Not much, we have a gag order on that topic." Daniels told him.

"Oh a gag order, eh? Must be a spicey topic!" Smiths replied.

"Zane, this is Smiths, he mans the checkpoint." Daniels told Zane.

"How do you do?" He asked me, extending a hand to me.

Zane took his hand and shook it, "I'm fine thanks, how are you?" Zane answered him

"I'm fine, thank you." He said.

Daniels and Smiths carried on conversing as Zane finished my meal. He stood up and began to leave, Zane dropped my tray off and left the mess hall. He figured he would walk back to his room so Zane set off that way. Zane walked through the tented area and came up to his barracks and went inside. He walked up to my room door and inserted his key and went inside.

Zane looked at the clock and it said it was 7:00. He thought about having a shower and set towards the bathroom. I'll crash early tonight, he thought. Zane turned the water on and began to undress. The water warmed and he stepped inside the shower. Zane was once again enjoying the nature of a shower, I could get used to this, Zane thought. He also thought he might not get a chance to get used to this.