Day of the Z

Bitten

Tony's POV

I turned 16 today. Which means every day at dawn I wake up, gear up, and shoot every Zed I see. I got three in my first hour, all headshots. It will take a while for me to get used to seeing the brain matter flying from their broken skull. That isn't the darkest thing I saw today though. That would be a Turning.

One of the survivor patrols came back three hours early, shouting for help. Once the general calmed them down, they said that one of their men had been bitten, and that they had put him in an isolation chamber and brought him back. This put all Shooters on high alert, no bitten person should be brought back to camp even in an iso chamber. It was suicide.

Which is why we got the order to shoot all five of them.

There was visible shock in all of the people who got the order, as they stiffened, and then started to aim their weapons. I hesitated, then realised that I too would be executed if I failed to follow orders.

"Ready one" was the next thing I heard. The order to aim

" Ready two" finger on trigger

"FIRE"

An echoing noise of simultaneous shots rang out around the area. All five men dropped like flies, crimson clouds floating from behind their heads, when they hit the floor, a scarlet pool spread. The horror on the face of civilian bystanders stayed for a minute as silence hung in the air. Then they snapped back to reality and ran away with tears streaming down their face.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry" said a voice behind me

I spun around and my sergeant was standing behind me.

"I guess, just the shock of having to drop five good lads" I replied.

"Don't worry son, it had to be done." And with that he left.

***

I was on the night shift the day after, when a huge wave of Zeds charged the gate. Tracer screamed through the night sky, lighting it up like bonfire night. Orders were yelled, gunshots rang out, and woken children screamed in the night, shattering the deathly silence.

"Wake up boy, and get up your tower!" Yelled a voice, obviously directed at me. I darted up the service ladder, and set up my weapon. I begun firing, and the recoil battered my shoulder, and my tracer stopped as it burst through zombies.

A deep rumble bellowed out, and the gate started to shake.

The gate fell.

And all hell broke loose.