J. Knoll - Zoe, Undead

The two looked to each other, then one asked her, "Do they need help in there?"

"I don't think so," she replied, "but there are a lot of them in there." The door burst open and she barked a scream a she wheeled around and retreated from it.

The soldiers began to charge out, then they turned to form two lines between the Stryker and the school, aiming their weapons back at the door.

Sergeant Morris was the last one out and he grabbed onto Zoe's arm as he strode toward the waiting Stryker, dragging her along as he stormed toward the Stryker, barking, "Get ready to put some fire on that door!" He continued on, pulling Zoe into the Stryker as he yelled to the driver, "Get the engine fired up and secure the front, then get on top to those MG's and watch our flanks." He sat the girl down and ordered, "Stay put. This is about to get messy."

She watched him load a new magazine into his rifle and stride to the back of the assault vehicle. Even in this frightening, high stress environment, she wanted to be involved, but she had been brought up to do what she was told. As the guns began firing again, she covered her ears and balled herself up in her seat, watching as the soldiers cut down the zombies that charged from the school. As they were funneled through the school's front doors, they were easy prey for the soldiers who fired steadily in short bursts. She could not know how many zombies were in there, but they seemed endless and just kept coming!

Zoe looked around her, flinching as the big fifty caliber machine guns on the vehicle's roof fired a few bursts. Her eyes fixed on ammo cans that were under the seats across the Stryker from her, and she remembered helping the soldiers before at the mall by taking them more ammunition. Springing from her seat, she grabbed onto the first can and pulled it from under the seat, dropping to her knees as she opened it and began removing magazines. She shoved one in each pocket and stood with two in each hand, then she cringed under the deafening noise of the machine gun fire. Looking about, she found a first aid kit, dropped the magazines into the ammo can and sprang up, darting to the box. She fumbled with the latch and finally opened it, then she reached in and pulled out some packs of gauze, which she tore open as soon as she got them out. Shoving a wad of the gauze in each ear, she stared blankly ahead as she assessed their effectiveness against the noise of the rifles. Satisfied, she turned and took the magazines from the can before she trotted to the men who fired on the zombies from inside the Stryker. For a moment she just stood there, watching the horror before her as zombies dropped one after another, many with exploding heads, and she shuddered as a sick feeling washed through her. Hearing the gun to her left fall silent, she looked to that soldier and tapped him on the soldier with the magazines in one hand, offering them to him as he looked to her.

In moments she had handed out all of the magazines and gone for more. Sergeant Morris did not scold her for getting up as she offered him one and instead kept fighting.

Within five minutes she had emptied two ammunition cans and was going for the third. She heard the heavy machine guns fire again and looked up. She remembered that he was guarding the flanks of the machine, the sides, and a nervous crawl started in her stomach. With a magazine in each hand, she turned and crept toward the front of the Stryker. She looked out the windshield, and her mouth fell open as her widening eyes found hundreds more zombies staggering toward them, and they seemed to be coming from everywhere!

With a cry of fear, Zoe turned and sprinted to Sergeant Morris, tugging on his shoulder as she tried to warn him, but she could not make words, only child-like whimpers as she tried to get his attention.

Holding his weapon ready, he looked over his shoulder at her and barked, "What!"

She was half turned, pulling on his shoulder as she pointed to the front of the Stryker.

Impatiently, he looked that way, then he raised his head as he saw what she was warning him about. Thinking quickly, he ordered, "Go get strapped in! We're leaving!"

Zoe obeyed quickly as he rallied his men and ordered them all inside, then she watched him run to the front and jump into the driver's seat. With the back still open, the Stryker lurched forward, turning hard to the right to get back onto the road. The men at the rear continued to fire on the zombies that still came out of the school, and many of them had started to run after the retreating assault vehicle. The big fifty caliber battery on the top fired ahead of them and toward the left side, cutting the advancing zombies to pieces.

As planned, the Stryker slowly retreated from the school and drew most of the zombies in the area right to it. Almost all of them from the school were now in pursuit of the big attack vehicle as it slowly drove away.

One of the other men hurried to the front of the Stryker and took the passenger's seat, aiming his weapon out the window and firing a few short bursts. Zoe joined them there, holding onto the backs of their seats as she watched where they were going, and watched them run over zombies that were not cut down by the heavy machine guns. When the gun beside her stopped firing, she patted his shoulder and yelled over the continuing gunfire, "Would you like some more bullets?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "That would be great, Sweetheart!"

Once again she found herself shuttling ammunition to the soldiers who were firing on the zombies that pursued them.

"Well," Tex confirmed as he turned the Stryker to the left to lead the Zombies away. "It's working."

Another soldier appeared behind him and informed, "We've already blown through half our ammo, Sarge. You got a plan B?"

"Yeah," Sergeant Morris confirmed, "Keep blasting the hell out of them! We're only part of this mission!"

As that soldier retreated, Zoe, who had been listening behind him, took his place and asked, "What happens when we run out of bullets?"

Tex looked to her and raised his brow. "Then we'll have a real problem, won't we? Keep handing it out and remind those knuckleheads to use it sparingly!"

Zoe nodded and said, "Yes, Sir," as she went about their task.

The chase lasted about a mile as the Stryker slowly led the hoard of zombies away from the school, away from the hospital they called home and toward reinforcements.

Zoe ended up sitting in the floor at the front of the Stryker after the last can was empty.

A soldier came up behind her, grasping the Sergeant's seat as he informed, "Okay, about two magazines left per man. It's pistols after that, and I should remind you that we only have three magazines of pistol ammo per man."

"Tell everyone to hold fire," Tex ordered. "I'll circle back toward the school and try to keep them about fifty meters behind us. Don't fire unless they're right on top of us."

Without responding, the soldier hurried to the back and shouted, "Hold fire! Hold fire!"

The soldier in the passenger's seat looked to the Sergeant and barked, "What now, Fearless Leader? Ammo's about dry and we still have a lot of moaners out there to deal with."

"I'm working on it," Tex grumbled as he looked around the front of the Stryker.

"Why don't we just get more bullets?" Zoe asked.

"We don't want to lead them back to the hospital," Sergeant Morris replied. "Besides, we're running pretty low there, too, and we have to keep a crap load of ammo there in case the moaners find the place."

"Let's just go to a store," she suggested.

The two men slowly turned their full attention on her.

"My daddy goes to this big hunting and fishing store a few miles from the house," she went on. "They have lots of bullets there."

"Unless they've been cleaned out," the other soldier countered. "The civilians were going nuts when the moaners moved in."