Surviving the Apocalypse

Confrontation

Hanna and Camp Hope kept out of the intercamp squabbles for the most part, focusing primarily on the research labs and sites that would increase their capabilities like the airfield and Depot Oscar that gave them very tangible gains. By the time August rolled around, they had increased their numbers even further than what she had managed the first time, all because they didn’t worry about clearing every last shop with the Scavenger Teams or even the Wall teams. Normal gatherers were expected to step up and do their share, clearing the actual buildings by taking the wall out before they entered. So when the call came in from the other Camps to harvest the goods from the very depot that Epsilon had told them about before, Hanna decided now was as good a time as any. Crystal and her team that had all joined and proven invaluable already were given the task of clearing the 5th research lab that the information from her father was in.

When she arrived at the first lab they had cleared near Camp Epsilon, it was with only 2 SUVs as they had only send two squads totaling ten men. She knew full well what was here already, and knew that with their increased power level that it would be a simple matter for them. When the other Camps scoffed, she looked at them like their equipment was a joke.

“What, you think you can do this without us?” Hanna asked the man from Camp Epsilon that was now in charge. The loss of Crystal and her team a major blow to their firepower and ability to actually gather supplies. Especially since she was refusing any trade with them whatsoever.

“Every other Camp has sent at least 20 men, some of us 40 or more. You think 10 is adequate?” he asked.

Hanna shrugged as she looked at them. “I would think the quality of those men would count for more than quantity. I would put my 10 men against your 40 and walk away the winner every time. Especially if your people are as pathetic as the zombies we killed the last time we were here. How the hell do you lose an entire team in one go?” she asked as he looked at her shocked as she shook her head and walked over to the pile of ashes. She used her wind ability to finish blowing the small bits of bone away before she grabbed the 3 sets of dog tags off the ground and tossed them at him. “Those are from your people aren’t they?” she asked as his face paled.

“You said you killed them?” he asked.

“We kill every zombie we find. 2 months ago we came here for the equipment, and 20 of the zombies we killed wore uniforms a lot like yours. If you have an issue with that, take it up with whatever moron that sent them here without proper weaponry. Speaking of which, I hope you don’t intend to go into zombie Central with those guns and plan on walking away alive. You shoot those on the other side of that wall there, and you will attract every zombie within a mile on top of your ass.” She replied evenly daring him to challenge her.

“What, you think those pretty decorations are going to work any better?” he sneered at her making her laugh.

“These decorations as you called them, killed every zombie between our base and here. You think these zombies are killing themselves and building walls to claim their territory? Ask any of the other Camps how much of these walls they built. Or better yet, how many zombies they have killed away from their Camp.” Hanna answered crossing her arm as each of them shook their heads when he looked at them before he turned back to Hanna.

“Anyone can claim to do something, it is far different to prove you are capable.” He needed making his men laugh.

Hanna smiled as she looked at him. “Major Thorpe, challenging those who are better than you is a mistake. I would be glad to demonstrate my capabilities on you, but I have a feeling your Camp needs you more than you need to prove a point. If you are set to go in there guns blazing until you run out of ammunition and get eaten. More power to you. We will make popcorn and watch before we clean up the mess with anyone of these fine people willing to listen to reason. Than we will split the goods with the survivors and go on our merry little way leaving Camp Epsilon with nothing from this depot.” She said before crossing her arms. “So, what will it be? Listen to reason and return to your crappy little Camp with food you desperately need? Or keep up the brave asshole routine and die with an audience watching you make a fool of yourself because you are too arrogant to listen?”

“We can’t afford to wait for the supplies here. Some of our Camps are already on the edge of collapse, this food could very well mean the difference between survival and extinction.” Thorpe said not realizing his name wasn’t displayed on his uniform anymore. “We will split the goods with anyone who joins us.” He declared.

Hanna looked at him with a smile. “We will give everyone who joins us equal shares in the food, as well as proper weaponry to ensure we actually survive. Anyone intending to go in there and use guns, is asking for a death sentence. You may not realize what is out there, but there is a hospital not half a mile from that depot with 30,000 zombies. You use those guns there and attract them, you are as good as dead.”

Timothy Thorpe looked at her with a mocking grin. “What, you think the weapons you have on you are going to be enough to equip everyone here?” he asked clearly mocking her.

Without a word to him she waved her hand making 10 crates appear. “The weapons on me are mine, no touchy. You want weapons, there are swords, axes and maces in those crates. Don’t load yourselves down or pick weapons you can’t reasonably use. Those axes require a strength ability to use properly.” She told them all. “Anyone uses those guns on them without a suppressor while we are in there, I will kill you myself without question or hesitation. Anyone with an ability, feel free to use it. Most zombies won’t respond to them.”

“Why do all this?” Thorpe asked her. “Every time we have tried to contact you we only get silence in return.”

Hanna laughed as she looked at him. “Just because we broadcast on the general channel doesn’t mean we actively monitor it. As far as contact with your Camp, you have nothing to offer us that we can’t get elsewhere.”

He looked stunned at her response to that, knowing full well they didn’t have a clue what her frequency was. Camp Delta had invited them when Epsilon said they needed more manpower. “We have a lot to offer another Camp. The location of this depot for one.” He said defending himself.

“We knew it was there already, we just knew it would take more manpower than we have available. If you had waited another month however, we would have had the necessary manpower to take it ourselves and done so. As far as everything else, I would be willing to bet our Camp is closed to self sufficiency than your is.” She replied as everyone got the weapons they needed. “Now, if we are done measuring d***s and comparing notes on how pathetic your Camp is, we can move out to get these supplies that we all need.” Hanna said leading the way to the wall they had created to separate the lab from the depot.

The other Camps all pulled out hooks and were preparing to throw them up the wall when Hanna waved her hand and used her Earth ability to make it dissolve into the ground, laughing as they launched their hooks high into the air before she used a telepathy ability she had found just a few days ago to catch them before they made a bunch of noise.

“If you had paid attention, you would have known that wasn’t necessary. We built these walls using abilities, we can destroy them even easier. Now, put your little toys away and follow me. Before you get us f*****g killed.” She emphasized just loudly enough for those around her to hear without drawing the attention of the zombies. They all followed her, Major Thorpe doing so with barely concealed fury as she walked right up to the fence and had one of her people use their fire ability to melt the chain link fence like a hot knife going through soft butter as someone else took it and carefully placed it to the side without so much as a noise.

The closest zombies charging at them when the wind shifted and blew the scent of everyone else to them, her people killing them cleanly with blows straight to the head, not a single movement wasted as the other Camps watched in awe at the difference between quality of man and sheer manpower. Just one squad of her Camp killed a dozen zombies and harvested the crystals in the time it took the team from Camp Epsilon to get through the fence without making noise. For the ones able to watch while the next group moved through the difference between them was night and day. The Scavengers from Camp Hope were controlled, calm and collected. Not allowing the pressure of the situation affect them as they killed the zombies with quick, clean and efficient strikes. The soldiers of Camp Epsilon were clumsy, inefficient and clearly trying to use brute force to replicate the same results and failing miserably as the body count moved in favor of Camp Hope the longer it continued.

Thorpe even got a nasty surprise when he turned to see the zombie that had got behind him, just to watch the upper half of its head fall off because Hanna had cut clean through the skull with a single stroke of her sword. Her laughter as he felt his pants get warm and wet letting him know she had spotted the surprise had made him wet himself as he had believed for a moment he was going to die on this mission.

Hanna watched as they all got better at using the weapons she had provided, as they all learned in the baptism of fire how to use them as efficiently as possible. Every one of the teams holding their own by the time they entered the warehouse where hundreds more zombies waited for them. Not one of them faltered as they moved into the sea of zombies that were intent on eating them. The part they hadn’t counted on, was that in that extra time a zombie had leveled up, its speed and strength combo level 3 making it hard for most of the Camps to get a bead on it as it would slam into them like a bowling ball would pins.

Thorpe was even too surprised to move when he saw a blur that flashed when it caught the light just right, bits and pieces of decaying flesh flying all over the place like a zombie had been thrown into an industrial sized blender before the full cache of supplies disappeared when they all saw the zombie go flying. Standing in the center of the now empty warehouse was Hanna, her sword covered in gore from the fight as the zombie roared as it scrambled to its feat. The rest were still falling dead as her hands caught fire before it spread down the length of her blade.

“Clear the center.” One of her men yelled into the mass of people who were standing like statues before they ran for the walls. As soon as he said it the battle between the two speed abilities waged again, the pieces of zombie yuck flying as some of them felt the wind go past them as a flash generally was within feet of them. The ones with a speed ability knew this battle was beyond them, though they were able to see just how close some of the people in the room came to unceremonious deaths if not for Hanna using her blade to stop the beast she faced from taking them out one by one. They knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that without her they would all be dead.

For 10 minutes they wondered just how long she could go when the zombie went flying from another impact. With the last bit of her energy, she uncorked the Evojuice she had been carrying, drinking the contents and throwing the vial on the ground to smash to bits as the power courses through her. Her men knew that look as her entire body engulfed itself in flames before anyone could say a word. The blast of flames so intense that they could feel it searing their flesh despite no one being within 100 feet of her.

The light was so intense they had to look away from her body, as it looked like she had become the sun and was shooting a flare at the zombie that let out a pitiful scream before it fell to the ground. It’s head was turned to ash, Hanna dropping to her knees once she was done as she used her second dose of Evojuice within minutes. She had pushed herself to the brink with that one, every person on the team sporting new sunburns from just a few seconds of exposure to her fire ability.

“Do we want to know exactly what happened?” Theodore Winslow of Camp Delta asked carefully walking over to her.

“Better question is what the hell happened to all the supplies?!” Thorpe demanded as she sighed and waved her hand to return them all to where they had originally been.

“Figured we wanted them intact, not smashed to smitherines. As far as what happened, a zombie met it’s match.” She said as she stood up as her body recovered its strength.

“Ummm, how many abilities do you have exactly?” one of the people she hadn’t remembered the name to asked her.

“Enough to make this mission successful.” She answered as one of the speed users walked over to her.

“Better question would be what level. My speed ability is level 2, and I could barely keep track of what exactly was happening.” Carlos Montoya said shaking his head. “Speed, strength, fire, storage. That’s atleast 4 abilities, I would say level 4 at least on the low end.”

“You forgot the earth ability from before we actually entered the area. Speed and Strength are indeed level 4, which was a good thing as that zombie was a level 3 in both those and had a level 2 hardening ability as well.” She said as she looked at her sword that was chipped and bent before she tossed it aside. Fortunately it wasn’t the one she liked, as it was being examined by their new weapons maker as it was a stronger metal than the steel one she had just mangled in one battle.

“Is this everything?” Thorpe demanded making her glare at him.

“Every last crumb that was here before. You will find 14,250 tons of food, the same amount as when we entered. Split evenly between the 5 Camps, gives us 2,850 tons each. One person from each Camp will divide each item into equal piles, down to the ounce. If there is only one ounce left over, we go to the gram. Everything equal, as without me you would all be dead.” Hanna replied making him look at her in surprise. Most of them would barely be able to carry that much in the rigs they had brought.