Life in an Apocalypse

Chapter 2

     We had been staking out the red tent until nightfall for better cover. I kept myself hidden for a bit, but looked around to make sure Jack and Damien were still within site. Sure enough, I saw a glimpse of Damien's pistol in the moonlight to my left and heard the click of a pistol switching from the safe to semi setting to my right, which I presumed was Jack. I had left my gear in Jack's care so that I would seem more vulnerable, but was advised to at least have my kitchen knives on me. "You may still be intimidating if they saw you with the bayonet," Jack had told me before disappearing into night's cover. "Keep it here. I'll pass it to you if you ever need it back." Considering that I had been with these two for a few months now, I could easily trust in Jack's advice. Plus, knowing Damien, he would definitely approve of giving me the more vulnerable look. I placed my hands right above my two trusty knives, making sure they were with me by my sides. I took a deep breath, exhaled to ease my tension, and headed in the direction of the red tent.
    
    As I approached the tent, I began to hear voices talking softly. They were deep and haggard, like a man's. Most likely in the thirties or forties, I noted to myself. This could mean that they had experience in the type of trick I was about to pull, so I made a mental note to be extremely cautious when handling the situation. As I inched closer to the tent, the voices turned into conversations. They sounded concerned and worried, as if they needed something quickly or suffer major consequences. Since I was merely there to stake out a bit of information to give me and the guys leverage, I made my way towards the back of the red tent out of sight of the campfire in case of others. I tried to get as close as possible to the tent; their conversation could help us with negotiating a deal for supplies. 

    "What are we going to do? We don't even know if the sickness is still around," I heard one man whisper in a panicked manner. He seemed frantic, almost desperate in the situation he was apparently in. From the groans that followed next, I had a feeling this wasn't the first time this guy has been worried.
    "Don't be ridiculous, man. Ever since the 'Reanimation Catastrophe', no one has caught that sickness unless they were bitten by one of the dead," another man retorted back angrily. The first guy must have been constantly worried to the point where this guy's literally just pissed off that his buddy didn't shut up yet, I mused trying hard not to laugh. 
    "Oh come on, Max! It's still a possibility!" the first man shouted suddenly. It caught me off guard but thankfully I didn't make too much noise from falling onto my butt in the grass. 
    "But it's highly unlikely!" the second man, Max, retorted with equal volume. The conversation began to devolve into shouts and pity fits until a third voice spoke up. 
    "Max! Rodney! Will the two of you kindly shut up so the poor girl can rest?! For the love of God...," a third voice growled loudly. It sounded feminine, calloused with the experience of major loss. Her voice was brash and stern; it gave me a feeling that she was most likely the leader of this small camp, if you could call it that. On that thought, I decided to take a look around the area. There was a campfire in front of the red tent, with a purple tent set up to the right. There was a soft light being emitted from that tent, which made me more curious. I wonder what's in there, I pondered, it might be worth checking out after this. The two men had apparently ceased their useless bickering, muttering what I assumed to be apologies to the third voice. There was a soft huff, and a sigh of frustration from the female voice. "Get back to your tent. I'll take first watch tonight. Max will take second, and Rodney will take the last. Any objections?" Yeah the female is definitely the leader of this group, I thought. "No objections from me," Max had said. The guy named Rodney gave something similar to a grunt, and then I heard the shuffling of feet towards the direction of the purple tent. I quietly rushed back to the shadows of the forest line surrounding the tiny camp, and decided to head back to Jack and Damien when suddenly I heard the female speak again.

    "I know you're out there. Why don't you come in? I promise I will not harm you so long as you do the same for me," the voice called out. I froze in place. Did she know I was here? Or was it just a farce? I decided to stay still, hoping that she would pass it off as her imagination. A few very elongated moments passed, and there was still silence. I let out a breath I had been holding in and turned to walk back towards Damien and Jack and bumped into something. I staggered back and looked on to see what I had bumped into and met face to face with a woman about a few inches taller than me. She had a slender build, yet I could tell from the look in her eyes that she had been through a lot to get to where she was now. Her posture screamed authority, and she wasn't about to let me go willy-nilly off into the night. "Why the sudden rush, kid? Aren't you cold?" she asked in a deadpan tone. It was obvious sarcasm; I might as well be one of those "reanimated" at this rate. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure. This reminded me of my ousting so many months ago that I decided to take on my cold demeanor of that time. When you had to sneak into your own house to get things, you're sometimes caught. It brought back some horrid memories I don't wish to remember. 

    "I was just passing through. I don't want any part of what you have here. Just let me be on my way and their won't be trouble," I replied coldly. She raised her eyebrows, obviously not expecting my reply. She remained stoic though, and continued our little chat.
    "You can stay with us for the night if you'd like. It's a bit chilly tonight and we're more than welcome to help out a fellow survivor," she said, her tone deviating a bit from sarcasm to a sliver of truth. I had the feeling that although her words appeared genuine, there was a chance that I could be in for a fight for my life. I knew Jack or Damien had to be aware of my situation at this moment, and I could only hope that they could at least remain hidden just a bit longer. At least until I felt the need for them to help me.
    "I appreciate the offer, ma'am, but I'm going to have to politely decline," I responded, noticing a glimmer of metal in the treeline behind the woman before me. I recognized that glint anywhere; it was the bayonet Jack gave to me. I knew that he was considering a time to attack her now. With her guys in the other tent Jack could be in danger, I thought. I needed to act fast, and so I clenched my fist and aimed the palm side of it towards Jack, hoping he would understand my signal.
    "And why is that? It seems as though you travel alone," the woman pressed on. She really just won't give up will she? I decided to continue playing the vulnerable victim for a bit longer when suddenly I heard a low groan. She must have picked up on it too, because she began to quickly scan the area around us. She took a step closer towards me, and said the following words into my ear:

    "I know this is an act, and you got two others with you. Have them bring all their gear towards the red tent and we'll talk after this passes. Clear?"

    I could only nod. What else was I going to do? There was possibly a reanimation in the area, she was already onto the three of us, and she picked this all up from my eavesdropping just outside her tent. If I continued my little ruse, me, Jack or Damien could end up dead. These guys weren't kidding around.
    "Jack! Damien! Gig's up! I've been caught," I called out. The two of them immediately rushed over towards me and the woman, remaining tense in case she planned something whilst scanning the area to find the source of the low groans.
    "Now you two can relax. We all don't have time to be playing cops and robbers at the moment," the woman tried to reassure us, "Let's head over into my tent to at least drop off you're gear so that we can deal with this mess. Sound good?" Damien nodded quickly and Jack just headed off towards the tent, passing my bayonet over to me as he went to place down our gear with Damien covering him. I flicked the blade in my hand to a defensive position, changing my posture into an offensive stance. If the woman was surprised about my sudden change in demeanor, she hid it pretty well. She remained still for a few moments before taking out a knife of her own, readying herself in the process. 

    Jack and Damien met up with us with guns already drawn when the groans became louder and more frequent. "Starting to sound like a horde, if you ask me," Damien said aloud. Jack nodded in agreement, and in response I took out one of my kitchen knives to compensate for the incoming mass numbers. The woman remained silent. A few moments later, she motioned for my attention and pointed behind her towards her camp. Confused, I looked back, and realized what she was talking about.

    "Jack! Damien! Stack on me!" I called to them. They immediately responded, facing their backs towards my own, forming a circle of defense with me and the woman. This kind of teamwork style was how the three of us had survived and fought together for so long. It was what built up the strong trust I had with these two. We would call out commands that we trained ourselves to understand so that we could move efficiently with precision. It never failed us so far; it definitely wouldn't now. "Horde at ten! My front!" Damien called out. Since he was directly behind me, it meant that the horde we had been hearing was now in the direction of the woman's camp. To be more specifically, the purple tent where her two others stayed. The woman huffed in frustration. She must have just realized it too. 

    "Hey lady. We don't know you, but we can at least help you out. Seems like a pain for just one person to take on an entire horde," Jack said to the woman. She sighed, knowing his statement was true. 
    "Fine, I'd appreciate the help. But don't think I will forget about your people eavesdropping on my personal matters," she replied. Damien gave out a hearty chuckle,"No worries. We got it." I nodded my agreement.
    "I say it's best we head towards the camp in this fashion. We don't know how many there are," the woman spoke quickly. "I trust that you two are accurate shots?" 
    "They'll be able to handle it, ma'am. Don't worry," I assured her. "All we need to do is make sure no rogue ones come too close."
    "Fine by me, so long as I live," the woman remarked. 
    "If that's the case," Jack chimed in, "Let's go."