“It’s
okay,”
I
called.
“I
won
’t
hurt
you.”
“Did
any
of
them
follow
you?”
A
soldier
asked.
He
was
a
young
man,
probably
no older
than
twenty,
with
dark
brown
eyes.
The
skin
that
wasn
’t
smeared
with
black soot
was
tanned,
and
his
light
brown
hair
was
shaved
close to
his
head.
I
glanced
over
my
shoulder.
“I
don
’t
think
so.”
“You
bit?”
I
shook
my
head.
He jerked
his
head
toward
the
four wheeler.
“What
do
you
got
in
those
boxes?”
“Some
canned
goods
and
water.”
I
pulled
out
a
bottle. “Would
you
like
some?”
The
soldier
stepped
forward
and helped
me
take
the
supplies
off
the
back
of
the
vehicle.
As
we
handed
out
the
food,
I
examined
the
group.
The
oldest
couldn
’t
have
been
more
than
forty-five,
and
the
youngest
was
six.
It made
my
stomach
churn
to
see
that
there
were
only
three kids.
When
everyone
had
a
can,
I
sat
and
spooned
out
the
cold
contents.
I
wasn
’t
really
hungry,
but
it
’d
been
almost
a
day
since I
last
ate,
so
I
figured I
needed
some
food.
We
were
too
afraid
to
start
a
fire,
so
we
huddled
together
for
warmth.
After
the
sun
went
down,
we
climbed
into
the
back
of
the
truck
and
crawled
under
our
blankets.
The
soldiers
were
relieved
by
the
civilians,
and
they
lay
on
the
benches
to
sleep.
“What
happened
at
the
complex?”
I
asked
quietly.
The
soldier
who
’d
helped
me
earlier
stirred.
“We
were
attacked
by
zombies.”
“How
did they
get
into
the
base?”
“They
were
already
in
there.
They
came in
with
the
ambulances.”
He
took
a
deep
breath,
and
I
was
sure I
heard
a
shudder
in his
voice,
as
if
he
was
trying
to
hold
back
tears.
“I
shouldn
’t
be
telling
you
this,
I
was
sworn
to
secrecy,
but
who
’s
going
to
reprimand
me?
All
the
commanders
are
dead.
We
had
scientists
at
the
base,
people
who
were
studying
the
creatures.
There
was
never
supposed
to
be
any
civilians,
just
infected.
When
they
showed
up
at
the
gate,
we
couldn
’t
turn
them
away.
Somehow
the
secret
got
out
that
we
were
experimenting
on
the
undead,
and
a
rumor
started that
we
actually
had created
them.
The
people
threatened
to
riot,
so
we
locked
the
complex.
No
one
in,
no
one
out
until
order
was
restored.
“They
attacked
in
the
middle
of
the
night.
I
don
’t
know
if
it
was
one
of
the
subjects
or
a
civilian
who
got
bit
and
turned.
I
don
’t
even
know
how
many
there
were.
I
was
on
patrol
in
the
building
closest
to
the
gate,
and
we
heard
the
screams
from
the
far end
of
the
complex.
We
were
given
orders
that
if
anything
happened,
we
were
supposed
to
gather
up
the
people
in our
bunker
and
head
out.
There
were
protocols to
make
sure
the
zombies
didn’t
get
out.
I
followed
orders. I
tried
to
get
everyone
to
leave,
but
most
of
them
wanted
to
stay
and
help
the
others.”
He
leaned
forward
so
his
face
was
inches
from mine. “They’d
set
up a
failsafe.
Bombs
had
been
planted
in
the
sickbay
and
lab
just
in
case
anything
like that
happened.
“Tha
t’s
why
everyone
was
supposed
to
be
evacuated
, but
those
things
wouldn
’t
die.
They
kept
running
around
the
yard,
trying
to
eat
people,
and
catching
everything
on
fire.
The
only
way
to
put
‘e
m
down
is
to
put
one
right
between
the
eyes.”
He
emphasized
his
point
by
placing
his
finger
on
his
forehead.
He
leaned
back
on
the
bench.
“Did
the
military
create
them?”
The
man
took
a
breath,
moments
passing
before
he
answered.
“No,”
he
said
flatly. “We
were
looking
for a
way
to destroy
them.”
“There
was
a
man
with
short
black
hair
about
forty
years
old
who
would
have
showed
up
the
other
morning
on
a
four wheeler
like
mine.
Did
you
see
him?”
“I saw
a
lot
of
people
come
into
that
place.
And
a
lot
that
didn
’t
come
back
out.”
“So
you
don
’t
know
what
happened
to
him?”