J. Knoll - Zoe, Undead

The Captain seemed to grow impatient, but looked down to Colonel Halstead as his arm was tapped and bent down as the Colonel whispered something to him, and this something took a moment. With a nod, the Captain stood fully and looked to Sergeant Morris, raising his chin as he asked, "How many men do you think you'll need to pull this off?"

Glancing around him, Tex shrugged and replied, "I think about ten heavily armed volunteers should do it." He motioned to the girl with his head and added, "And Zoe."

With a nod, the Captain assured, "You have your mission, Sergeant. Come to my office in an hour with a list of your volunteers and we'll work out the details."

Tex nodded back and offered, "Thank you, Captain." As he sat back down, he leaned over the table and looked to Corporal McElroy, smiling slightly as he said, "Thanks for Volunteering, Corporal."

The Captain had taken over one of the hospital administrator's offices and had it a little cluttered with paperwork. Maps of the city hung on the walls in place of some of the administrator's pictures and awards, as did charts of various kinds. The desk was a simple one, a little small for the room but it served the purpose it needed to. One filing cabinet was still there and the couch where the Captain clearly did a lot of his sleeping, as there was still a blanket and pillow lying on it.

The door stood open and he looked up from the report he was reading as a big shadow crossed the doorway, and he bade, "Come in, Sergeant," as he looked to the report again.

Sergeant Morris strode right up to the desk and snapped to attention, his eyes on the window behind the officer.

Without looking up, the Captain simply said, "We should go ahead and dispense with the formalities. I'm a West Pointer, I played football for Army, I served in the last war and I have attained the rank of Captain. Blah blah blah, yadda yadda." He finally looked up, seeing Sergeant Morris standing before him looking back, and the zombie girl standing beside him with her hands folded before her. Raising his brow, he guessed, "This must be Princess Zoe. I've heard a lot about you."

She smiled and just nodded.

"Word is," the Captain continued, "you've been at Sergeant Morris' side pretty much since you came here." When she nodded again, he nodded back, ever so slightly and said, "Maybe you can keep him out of trouble, then."

"I'll try, Sir," she assured.

Looking back to the big sergeant, the Captain asked, "Whose idea was it to circumvent me and suggest another plan?"

Before he could answer, Zoe proudly answered, "It was mine, Sir."

His eyes slid to her, then back to the Captain. "So, hours of planning are about to be brushed aside because of a girl's inspiration."

"Sorry, Sir," Tex offered grimly.

"Don't be," the Captain ordered. "We're all running on empty around here and I welcome any fresh ideas that come my way. Have you assembled your team?"

"I have, Sir."

"Outstanding. Now, let me complicate your life. You won't be just hitting the zombies around the school. I'm placing you in charge of getting the buses and truck fueled and to the school. You'll depart ninety minutes after the force going to the base, park the buses and trucks a block away and then hit the moaners with everything you have. Attack hard and drop as many as you can from the Stryker, then turn up the side road in front of the school and execute a fighting retreat."

"You want me to draw them off," the Sergeant guessed.

"That's affirmative," the Captain confirmed. "Your primary mission is to make contact and knock the hell out of them, and get as many as you can to follow you away from the school. Continue your fighting retreat until you hear from the main force. In the meantime, your drivers will move the bus and truck closer and they'll try and avoid any contact with the enemy. In the event they do have contact, they are to retreat into the school and fight from there as long as their ammunition holds out. I want those people to know that we're coming to get them out of there."

"No problem, Sir. Can I recruit a few extra men?"

"We'll need every soldier we can muster at the base, Sergeant, every one we can get just in case it's overrun with moaners."

With a little nod, Tex suggested, "I can find some civilians who have driving experience and any who know how to fire a weapon. We can have a few extra guns aboard the buses and one at shotgun on the truck, and we can fill in the Stryker with any civilians who can shoot a weapon."

"I'll leave that to you, Sergeant. If you can recruit some civilians to help us out, then do it. I'm leaving this mission entirely in your hands. Just make damn sure everyone comes home, especially any civilians under your command."

"Will do, Sir."

The Captain's eyes slid to Zoe and he asked, "You going to be helping us out tomorrow?"

With a little shrug, she replied, "I guess so."

"Outstanding," the Captain commended. "Just stay close to Sergeant Tex here and he'll take care of you. Okay, kids, dismissed. Good hunting tomorrow, Sergeant."

"Thank you, Sir," Tex offered before he turned smartly and strode from the room.

Zoe waggled her fingers at the Captain and bade, "Bye," before she turned and followed the big soldier out of the room.

They walked to the stairs in silence for a few moments, then she finally looked up at him and asked, "How am I going to help?"

He glanced at her and smiled, assuring, "Oh, we have some plans for you, Princess, but when the shooting starts I'm going to want you right beside me, okay?"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders up, looking forward again as she mumbled, "Yes, Sir."

CHAPTER 5

Morning found the assembly area abuzz with activity and ten soldiers and eight civilians prepared weapons and made adjustments to packs and body armor as they prepared to leave on the rescue mission that all hoped would go as planned.

Zoe, following her morning routines as best as circumstances would allow, was the last to arrive. Back in her shorts, her pink tee shirt with Princess in glitter across the front and her new pink running shoes, she seemed alert and excited as she bounded down the last of the stairs and seemed to dance into the middle of the assembly area as she searched for Sergeant Morris.

"Okay, people," Tex shouted, "listen up!"

Activity and talking ceased and Zoe stopped where she was, turning to see him near the front door of the hospital.

"We're going right out the front door today. Volunteers, you'll follow the two fire teams closely and then get to your designated vehicles. If we make contact with any moaners out there then shoot for the head. Do not waste ammo. There is a gas station about a mile from here that we will be stopping at to fuel the trucks and buses. That area is not secure, so nobody is to leave any vehicle at any time without specific orders to do so. Just remember that this is a rescue mission and the safety of the people we are going after is our top priority. Those of us not driving are the diversionary strike, so let's make it count. Drivers, a hundred people are counting on you to get them to safety. You are all also under orders to get back here alive and not infected. Look out for each other out there." He clapped his hands together. "Okay, let's move out!"

As he stood at the door and watched his troops pass by him, slapping shoulders as they went by, Zoe hurried to him and was the last one he saw coming.

"There you are," he barked as he set his fists on his hips. "You ready to rock, Princess?"

She saluted as best she could and smartly replied, "Yes, Sir!"

Everyone boarded their respective vehicles, engines roared to life and the Stryker led the way as the convoy of four lumbered down the street toward their first objective. Tex sat in the passenger's seat of the Stryker with his weapon ready and aimed out the window, and Zoe sat cross legged between the two seats on the floor of the assault vehicle.