Necrocide

Chapter 56

DAY THREE OF THE OUTBREAK...

Once the AIS had put down every Deadman in the building, Mrs. Hecox and her children were escorted out of the basement by Zachary Shaw. The entire foyer was obliterated, a massive hole replacing where the front door used to be. Dozens of fallen Deadmen were scattered all over the floor, and bullet holes covered the walls and windows. Mrs. Hecox had finally composed herself, but she still did everything she could not to look at the remains of her husband. She held Natalya's hand as she and the rest of the children walked out of the building. The AIS officers walked beside them with their guns in hand, still determined to eradicate the undead threat.

Aaron stared at the floor as he followed his companions out of the building, his heart breaking a little more every time bloodstains appeared. He hardly said a word the entire time once the Deadmen had attacked. And he wondered how things would've been if he had just stayed put instead of heading to the Distribution Center. Would they have survived longer? Shorter? Or at all? Aaron wouldn't have met Kat, so they would've let an innocent child die, which certainly didn't help the fact that hundreds of children were probably getting slaughtered by the Deadmen elsewhere.

They were escorted through the front door (or rather the crater where it used to be). The bodies of fallen Deadmen littered the streets. Mrs. Hecox urged the kids not to look at the mess of gore that used to be their friend Scotty before quickly returning her view to the road in front of her, lest she would resume her tears.

"Aaron," Nika said softly. The gun Mr. Hecox gave her was holstered in her pocket. "Everything is going to be fine."

"Doesn't feel like it," Aaron replied, wiping away a tear.

"Actually, the lass is right," another voice said, that of a male. "All of you are gonna be safe in no time."

Aaron looked to his right to see Colonel Schaefer himself walking next to him and Zachary Shaw. He had only seen propaganda posters and news footage of him. And now the first person to witness the origins of the Deadmen was right there beside him.

And just like everyone else who lived long enough to believe his lies, Schaefer was the good guy in Aaron's eyes.

"Troy Schaefer?" he asked.

"In the flesh," Schaefer replied with a grin as he stroked his beard. "And like my comrade Shaw said, we're here to rescue you and your friends, lad. Everything will be fine."

"But hardly anything has gone well today," Aaron replied.

"Really?" Schaefer said. "Not a single thing? You seem to have made a new friend."

Aaron and Nika glanced at Kat, who was more towards the front of the line. She looked back at them with a small smile before returning her view to the street.

"Yeah, me and the other AIS officers were acquainted with Kat," Schaefer continued. "She'd constantly run away from home, so we would take turns inviting her over for dinner. Sadly, we had to stop giving her Ration Cards once the shortage began."

"Poor girl," Shaw added.

"But I'm glad she seems to have found a little group to call her family," Schaefer said.

"Welcome, bruv," Jonah told Kat, followed by an awkward nudge. She rolled her eyes and chuckled at the gesture.

"And all of you are together, so there's another plus. My own wife and son are my motivation for getting out of here, so let these kids and your caretaker be your motivation, too, lad."

Aaron smiled. "Thanks, Colonel Schaefer."

"You can call me Troy, lad," Schaefer replied. "And the pleasure is all mine."