Bellman

Bellman's POV

Bellman had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and many other places before the collapse but this whole ordeal took the cake in all his experience serving America. His survival skills assisted in surviving the collapse as well as after the collapse. He kept his men alive as well for a good period of time by being smart.

The six others in his squad, Johnny, Jake, Charlie, Noah, Elijah and Oliver were good men. They had been through hard times trying to contain the Pale outbreak. Having served in many losing battles in many different cities of America. They were the ones to go in when no one else would, into the heart of Pale dens and behind lines in the war ten years ago and two years before the collapse.

They had grit and mettle, the things most common soldiers did not possess. Bellman was almost forty at this point and so were the men in his squad. He never wanted to come off the front lines in the past for promotions so he stayed as an infantryman.

It was almost 02:00, Elijah and Charlie are on shift with him. Elijah was about 5' 9 his features were unknowable to the others but Bellman knew them. He has a freckled face with brown eyes and a nicely toned body for his age.

He also has brown shaven hair, Elijah is their SMG carrier he likes to spray bullets with good accuracy. Charlie is a shaved redhead with blue eyes and also has a nicely toned body. He is their shotgunner. He was also the breacher when they had the equipment.

Johnny was the squad marksman, he carries a long range rifle. He is a 5 '9 man with brown shaved hair, he has green eyes and a finely toned body. His shots were nothing to laugh at for sure. Oliver is a demolitions expert, when they have explosives he's the guy. He was a tanned man standing at 5' 6 with hazel eyes and shaved blonde hair, with finely toned muscles.

Noah is 5 '9 with amber eyes and light brown hair with a large amount of muscle. He's the light machine gunner. Like the others he's also a good shot. Bellman knows he can rely on him in a firefight to lay down cover.

Jake is 5 '7 with shaved black hair and gray eyes. He was a communications expert and hacker. Back in the day when there was hacking and communications needed to be taken out he was the guy. He carries an assault rifle. All of Bellman's squad have pistols as well.

Elijah, Charlie and Bellman are alert, listening for signs of Pales. They would know if any were close they always shriek and scream as they hunt. Maybe it was for communication, Bellman didn't know but one thing is for certain they let you know they are there.

Their squad was a balanced team and they trusted each other with their very lives. Bellman just hopes these guys they escaped with don't get them all killed in their journey to find sanctuary in the comfort of a base.

Suddenly Bellman heard it, the shrieks and howls of Pales! It broke him out of his deep thoughts. Bellman turned to Charlie and Elijah and told them firmly "Wake the others up we got to move." They opened the doors to the Humvees and started rousing everyone. Having filled them in that the Pales were approaching and they got inside their respective Humvees and turned them on.

As soon as the engines turned on the sound of the Pales got closer. They had just given their position away! Rolling out of the base as a convoy and as soon as they left Bellman could hear the Pales from across the base getting closer.

Taking the nearest highway out of there and beginning their journey to Area 51. It would take more than a couple days and they had only just about 51 liters of fuel and enough rations to reach their destination. Driving away, the Pales' shrieks and howls got further away.

Daniels POV

It was early AM, around six o'clock and the convoy was driving down the main highways, there were occasional scattered vehicles. The highways did not become cluttered up as one would have expected, as there were organized evacuations in the beginning. As they were driving the sun was rising in the sky with no clouds. It was mid spring so rain could follow at any point.

Following the highways they could hear the occasional shrieks and howls of the Pales in the distance, likely returning to their dens. As the sun got higher in the sky the highways got more quiet.

Eventually passing through a little town that was desolated, the houses stood in ruin and the roads full of potholes making a bumpy ride. As they were leaving the town there was a radio transmission that one of the Humvees needed to refill. All the Humvees pulled over to refill tanks for about twenty minutes.

After this they were back on the road again a few more hours passed and the convoy reached the main highway. This highway would take them to Nevada and to the destination in mind. It was about noon at this point and the trip had been silent up to this point.

Daniels was tired having had started driving early in the morning, So he made a request to stop over the radio. The convoy pulled over to stretch legs. Daniels figured he would ask Richards if he wanted to drive now as he walked up to him:

"Want to take a crack at driving?" Daniels asked him very tiredly.

"Sure I will drive for a bit, you need some rest by the looks of it." He replied.

Daniels said his thanks and got in the backseat to take a nap, within five minutes the convoy was on the road again. As they started driving, he got comfortable and started to nod off into a deep sleep.

It was about six hours later when Daniels woke up again. They were still driving, the sun was about to set in one to two hours. The Pales would be active again at night looking for food. The convoy was approaching New York, but still a fair distance from it.

The area around them is mostly farmland and it is pretty well overgrown with weeds and crops. The crops are getting choked out from the weeds in the soil. The sun was projecting a yellow glow over the landscape as it was nearing its descent into a sunset.

The convoy is still a few hundred miles from New York. It would take another day of driving to get there. Zane is in the front seat taking a nap, Daniels figured Zane and himself would be the first watch at this point. Richards' eyes were fixated on the highway looking for vehicles to avoid. They had plenty of ammunition and food for the journey should trouble run into them.

The radios are running low on charge at this point, considering they were no longer attached to home base as well, they would eventually only have the Humvee radios. Home base was a sad thought in Daniels mind, seeing how the Pales easily infiltrated it and destroyed what he had worked to protect for years. Daniels was still distraught from having seen his mentors and friends killed and being eaten. He wanted to cry but couldn't after seeing death so often. He was almost used to it…

Shoving his emotions down Daniels looked out the window, it is a beautiful yet pitiful sight the way crops were being choked out in the soil. The sun was lowering itself in the sky getting ready for night. It wasn't quite sunset yet but it could be in an hour.

It must have been about 18:00 hours and it was the middle of spring so the sunset should be soon. Daniels was glad to be alive and if it weren't for Zane, Anderson probably wouldn't be alive either. There was no way Daniels could have reached him in time to kill the Pale that was on top of him.

A half an hour passed and the sun was beginning to set, Daniels guessed he was wrong about it being an hour more. A request came in to pull over and rest over the radios. The convoy pulled over to take a rest for the night per the request.

Zane woke up as we pulled over. Daniels radioed that Zane and himself would take the first watch. A response came saying they were okay with it. Zane and Daniels exited the Humvees and began their watch. The rest of the survivors in the group settled in to sleep for the night.

***

The night went by with no disturbances. The convoy was on the road by 08:00, the convoy was getting closer to New York and Daniels didn't know what to expect. Ruined city view was expected but how ruined? Were there any survivors still in the city or was it overrun with Pales? If there were survivors, would they be friendly or hostile, having survived eight to ten years on their own? These questions flowed in his head as he fell asleep.

Bellman's POV

Bellman and the convoy are on the road again after a good night's rest. He knows his squad and himself slept with their ears perked listening for any sound of Pales. Bellman didn't know what to expect in New York but he had an idea from what he's seen in the last ten years.

The buildings would be shelled, due to the war with Pales from before the collapse. Debris might be everywhere as well. New York had been a hot battle for control of the city back in the day.

He hadn't been stationed to fight there but heard the stories. The stories of men struggling to take control of the city. The operations that went bad. It had been a hellhole to fight in. Not many conscripts survived or lived to tell tales of New York. Only the smartest survived and that wasn't many. Boston had been one of the few cities not shelled, and humans had regained control of the city, but not everything lasts forever.

Boston had been safe for years but that was through hardened individuals working hard to secure it. Individuals who had adapted to the world around them and fought to secure what little peace they had. But in this new world it doesn't take long to lose everything you loved. We were approaching New York now and Bellman could see it in the distance.

The tops of the skyscrapers were missing, having been shelled. The skyscrapers still intact had their windows blown out. There was concrete dust everywhere and shelling had left gaps in the roads. There weren't many cars left in the city so the only thing we would have to dodge is potholes. This city wasn't as beautiful as Boston.

Boston had thrived because humans regained control of the city and kept that way for ten years. Now it belonged to the Pales again. Bellman could only imagine how the wildlife would suffer due to that.

The convoy is starting to get close to New York now and what was once a thriving city of abundance was empty and desolate. The city that never sleeps had become a city where no one sleeps, except for Pales perhaps.

Bellman had heard mention of two different alphas in the city that had been the source of conflict in which the military had been fighting against. He assumed they were still here only they were competing with each other for resources. They could have multiplied since the collapse eight years ago but he wouldn't know until they entered the city.

Bellman had no idea what to expect once the convoy entered the city. He, a hardened veteran and survivor of ten years. He highly doubted any humans resided in the city anymore, there would be no food or way to farm.

On top of that there would be no place to shelter themselves at night from the Pales. Bellman estimated they could lose at least eight people if the convoy did not move through the city quickly. The convoy definitely wasn't here to sight see.