All That Remains

Playing Soldiers

The girl stepped forwards. "HANDS UP NOW!" She was a young asian woman of about 17. She stared ferociously at Justin a predator would to its prey. Justin dropped the knife and raised his hands, shaking like a leaf. I stood up. "Who are you?"

She frowned. "Up! Hands up!" I did as she asked and asked again. "Who are you?" The others began to wake up and cluster around me. Ben helped Ryan to his feet and I could see the pain in his eyes. "Are any of yours bitten?" The girl asked abruptly.

"Who..?" I began but she cut me off.

"ARE ANY OF YOU BITTEN?"

I stared right into her eyes furiously. She had no right to- "No, none are bitten." Said Ryan weakly, lurching forwards.

The girl noticed Ryan limping and turned to one of her companions, a short dark haired lad. "Fred. Run to Laila and let her know we have some more, one will need medical assistance, looks like a sprained ankle to me."

"Yes Officer Lang!" The boy nodded eagerly and ran off.

"Who. Are. You." I repeated angrily. She stamped her foot and the group got into a line facing us. We did the same. They had more people than us. "My name," Began the girl. "Is Lilly Lang. Officer Lang to you." I studied the girl closely as she introduced the small crowd that flanked her. She stood with the proud, tall stance of a soldier. Her ebony hair was restrained into a tight bun, so tight in fact, that her face was pulled upwards slightly. Her nose was crooked and I could see traces of old scars criss-crossing her face. Most unnerving of all, were her eyes. They were a cold slate blue shade and empty of emotion. Her gaze was hard and fixating and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I introduced my group and Starla padded forwards, sniffing the air. Officer Lang smiled slightly. Starla growled defensively. I scanned the wood around us. There was a lone zombie wandering towards us. Expertly, I threw the knife into its pus-dripping eyeball. Officer Lang looked at me with a new level of respect as I returned, having collected my knife. She turned and gestured for us to follow. The boy called Ash approached me. "I wouldn't let her bother ya, she is normally less strict." He flashed a wide toothed smile as he assisted me in helping Ryan limp along and soon we had arrived at a courtyard with a few military trucks on and encircled by black buildings with windows all around. "This," Officer Lang proclaimed proudly. "Is the camp." It looked like a military base, which would explain the guns. Dale turned to Ryan. "We need to get you to the infirmary." He was taken off. Ash and a girl named Clea lead us to where we could sleep. 'For now' Lang hissed. I doubted that this was a very trustworthy place to be.
Clea pushed open the door to the room and we all piled in. It was plain, with three bunk beds, a desk and a chair. "It's not much. I imagine all the other beds will be filled quickly so you'll be a little cramped but it shouldn't matter." Clea smiled warmly and I managed a slight curve of the lip back.

Lang called a meeting in the building that they call the 'Centre'. Everyone sat on benches and Lang stood at the front with a tall dark boy whose name, Clea told me, was Keiran. "Hello everyone. This is certainly a difficult time for us all but if we pull together we can be strong. Today more survivors joined us." She gestured for us to stand up and we followed her lead. "This is Zoey, and her group. In time they can earn their ranks, just like the rest of us. And, if they prove to be valuable then we will initiate them into our team." Confused, I sat down and turned to Clea. "What is that supposed to mean? 'Earn their ranks?'" I whispered. "This building is an army training station. Lilly and Keiran worked here. She had to kill the rest of her unit, including her boyfriend. I think she's not realised the whole world is going to hell around us whilst we sit here playing soldiers." I looked around the room. There were even really young kids in there, two small twins who looked about four. Did she expect them to be her toy soldiers?

Afterwards, I showed Lang our gear, all the packets and cans of food from mine and Ryan's houses and our weapons, a ton of knives. She looked it over with a stone-cold face. "You'll have to double this. -If you want to stay that is." I was speechless. "You and the rest of your group will scavenge the towns and villages until you have doubled this gear."

"But..." I stammered, unsure of what I should do. "The kids..."

"If you wish to you may do the work on your own, but I wouldn't. The streets are dangerous without someone to protect your back."