Bricks of Ash and Blood

Chapter 3: Alexander Grey

ALEX

I woke sweating. My chest was pounding. I took a few deep breaths, calming myself down. After lying in my bed for a minute, when my heart rate returned to normal, I stood and stretched, feeling the stiffness leak from my body. I slipped on a black shirt, the right sleeve torn off, and headed outside. It was quiet. Barely anyone would be awake this early, just a guard or two. It was the perfect time to exercise. Day after day scavenging, running, fighting, climbing, it was intense. All six scavengers spent time almost every day becoming fitter, faster, and stronger.

I walked down the courtyard, past the canteen, and stopped at the farm. Every morning I would be here, but as winter set in, it was getting darker and darker every day. Beside the rows of plants, was a small shed, and attached to the shed, was a rainwater tank. I twisted the tap, and doused my head in freezing water. The shock took away any vestiges of tiredness left in me, and left me shivering.

I jogged on the spot for a few seconds, before moving towards the crops. I jogged around the farm, I wasn't sure how big the oval was, but I'd believe the circumference was anywhere from 200 to 400 metres. I jogged three laps, before running hard on the fourth. When I stopped, I was puffing, and no longer shivering. I dropped to the ground, to start my push ups.

I continued my morning regime for thirty minutes, until I saw Jared, leaning against the water tank, announcing his presence with a wave. He was dressed similarly to me, a plain shirt, and threadbare pants. I stopped what I was doing, and jogged over to him.

"Hey Alex. How long have you been out already? It's so cold."

"It's starting to warm up." I took a sip of water from the tank. "Is anyone else awake?"

Jared rolled his shoulders. "Yep. Everyone's coming down soon."

The scavengers were a tight knit group, we had to be, you need to trust the person next to you, when you're potentially facing zombies every day. I probably trusted Jared the most. He'd saved me multiple times. "take a lap while you're waiting, I want to get started soon."

He nodded, beginning his jog around the farm. As the other scavengers arrived, they all went for quick run, before gathering in a circle behind the water tank, an empty area, covered in grass. It just the perfect training area.

"Jesus, Alex. It's winter, can we please start training later now?" Sarah was the youngest of the scavengers, only fifteen. She stood 5'4, and was dwarfed by the size of the rest of the group.

"No complaining. It's not even winter yet, but when it comes, we'll need as much daylight as we can get." She sighed. "So guys, we're gonna start with some one-on-one scrims, and a few drills. Find a partner." There were six of us, so it wasn't a huge struggle. I paired with Thomas, probably my fairest match. We were both tall, and broad. We found an empty space on the grass, and I raised my fists.

We sparred, making sure not to hurt each other. After fifteen minutes of this, we all took thick wooden sticks from the shed, and fought with them.

Every day, at sunrise, we head out into the world, looking for supplies, scouting out the area. We run into people, and we run into zombies. I've never met a friendly zombie, and I rarely meet friendly people. Getting into fights is common, and it helps to know what you are doing. Every morning, we scavengers gather to train, to learn to fight. We need to defend ourselves, and the people here in the school.

When the sky finally hinted at morning, pink shades covering the horizon, we stopped. The six of us all swallowed cold water from the tank, before heading back to the courtyard. We would be leaving soon, it was time to get ready.