The Division

Chapter 9

I got up at four in the morning. I was dressed in my uniform. The uniform consisted of black pants with a yellow jacket that had many pockets. Hiking boots came with them; I took them anyway even though I had my own. There was also a belt with compartments on it. I went over to Jesse's room. He was asleep next to a pretty girl who was about his age. She had dirty blonde hair with freckles. I thought she looked pretty, I could see why Jesse was dating her. The girl next to him was snuggled up to him like a harness. It was like she wouldn't let go.

I turned on a lamp by the bed and shook Jesse. I knew Jesse slept like a log, but I had no idea about the girl next to him. Accidentally waking her up, she screamed when she saw me. Seeing a six foot tall twenty year old at four in the morning is scary. I could see why she was scared. Jesse bolted up, looking around to see. "Wha-?" He asked, dazed and confused. The girl latched onto him. "Um..." I paused and looked at the girl. "Jesse, I'm going to training, won't be back for a few days, Paul will explain everything." I said as I shut off the light and walked out the door.

A little bit of action to start my day. I went outside and saw Harold waiting for me there. Harold drove me outside the building. We both had some coffee on the way. We didn't talk, we were both tired. When we got there, a few other men were standing around, looking about the same age as me. I got out, giving Harold a good-bye before he drove off into the dark. Bernie came out in his uniform. He had a foam cup with coffee in it. A took a sip and then approached us.

"Congratulations." Bernie said. "You've enrolled as a soldier of Edgewood." "This is boot camp, Get in two lines, single file." We did exactly what we were told. Since there were only eight of us, we arranged in lines of two. Bernie unhooked a radio from his belt and spoke into it, saying something about coming over.

Exactly a minute later, twenty soldiers came out of the building. They all gave us camping backpacks with supplies; I knew that we were going to be out there for a day or two. All of them carried M16 rifles. I was scared already. But I tried my best to not let it show. "March." He ordered. We marched out of the gates, into the deadly hellhole.

We hiked all day. Along the way, we killed a few zombies. We were all given baseball bats, wooden and metal. So we could defend ourselves if we needed to. I didn't like killing them, but we had to. If we didn't, we would be looked down upon.

By the time we made it to our campsite, I was a little tired, but not that much. I was ready for a good night's sleep. But that was not the only thing we needed to do. We needed protection. We dug dirt and made a wall with it. The wall was long and big enough to fit all of us and our tents. With the combined power of all of us together, we did it I under an hour.

By the time we made a fire and set up our tents, I was beat. My roommate looked like he was too. His name was Sam; he joined Edgewood army because he was in the U.S. army for ten years before the apocalypse happened. I lay on my sleeping bag, staring up at the wall. I closed my eyes and took a breather. "So Sam, what are your thoughts on the apocalypse?" "Riley, it may seem fun, but really it's not." "How?" "Well first of all, Edgewood is on a food shortage." "How do you know, Sam?" He sat up and looked at me. "I was eavesdropping." "Where?" "After I had enrolled, Bernie sent me out. Then, someone called him on his phone to tell him that food was low." "It sounded like the person who controls this place, someone who was like his assistant or something."

"So what's going to happen to Edgewood?" I asked in a confused voice. "There will be no Edgewood." "So what will happen once we run out?" "War." Sam looked like he knew the future. "Edgewood will slowly come apart piece by piece." Sam got up and walked out of the tent to the campfire. I would've joined him, but I could only think about Edgewood's future.