Birds of a Feather (Apocalypse AU)

Chapter 9 - Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill

TW: guns, violence, blood, injury, cursing

Kor whistled softly as they sat on the hill overlooking the camp. They had been watching for at least an hour, and they were starting to get hungry.

Kor nudged Zii, and crunched over the yellow and brown leaves to a log on the opposite side of the hill, so they were hidden from view. Zii got up and stretched, letting out a yawn as his back cracked in more places than seemed healthy. Slouching back over, he slumped over to the log, gratefully taking Kor's outstretched bag of chips. Opening them, Zii munched happily as Kor talked about their observations.

"Okay okay. So, we know that there are at least 30 people there, most of them carrying weapons and wearing body armor. Given the number of tents, I'm sure that there's not that many more people than those who we saw just walking around."

Kor tapped on his forehead with a short stick, mimicking a habit that he picked up while drawing with a stylus. Zii nodded, staring off into the distance and finishing off his bag of chips. Grabbing a bottle of water, Zii hummed thoughtfully.

"Why do you think they're here? I find it hard to believe that they're here for some good reason like helping survivors. Also, why would they need that kind of defense? There's no zombies out here yet."

"I don't know... that's the hard part. My guess is that they're some sort of government organization that was established as a last-resort or emergency establishment after the outbreak?"

Zii shrugged, taking a gulp of water and spilling a little on the ground. A bird trilled in the distance as he put the bottle back in Kor's bag, dueting the soft rustling of the leaves above them. Taking a deep breath, he was surprised to smell the slight scent of smoke and gasoline from the camp wafting over the hill. Standing back up, he rubbed his back, turning around and taking in the scenery.

Kor sighed and threw the stick away, but stopped as he saw a flash of movement in the side of his vision. Turning quickly, he saw two black figures running over the hill, guns raised and pointing at them. "ZII," Kor yelled as his friend turned and saw the approaching figures. Eyes widening, he barely reacted as Kor rushed to pick up his bag and put it on his back.

"ZII GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Kor yelled, grabbing his spear and turning his back on Zii, holding it in front of him menacingly in an attempt to buy time.

Zii backed away, turning and nearly tripping over a forgotten tree stump as he slid down the hill, grabbing his bag and dropping the remains of his long-forgotten chip bag in the dirt.

Turning around quickly, Kor snarled at the two dark figures, who were close enough for him to notice in their tactical slings across their chests and observe their guns, both of which had one round loaded and pointing at him. Their mouths were set in hard lines as a dark visor covered their eyes, reflecting Kor and the tranquil scenery behind him. He gripped his staff tighter, hoping that he would be able to distract at least a little with the time that he had.

He was just about to charge when he saw another "soldier" rush past him to his left, chasing after Zii down the hill. "NO," he gasped, turning around to throw his staff like a spear when he was tackled from behind by one of the two figures.

Kor grunted as he hit the ground hard and dropped his staff, which rolled away and down the hill. After twisting and pushing against the ground to release the soldier's hold, he stopped solid when he felt the cold hard barrel of a gun against his temple. "Shut UP and listen kid. We're not gonna hurt you or your friend if you just fucking SIT STILL."

Kor carefully pushed his hands out to the side, leaving himself prone on the ground. He knew that, if he needed to, he could probably overpower the soldier; unfortunately, the second stranger was probably still pointing the gun at him, and it was too risky to try and escape when being called.