Surviving the Apocalypse

Training

Hanna spent 6 hours performing administrative tasks as her system tracked the abilities of each member, making sure they all had tasks in the Camp that would be beneficial to the Camp itself, while also being work that the person would enjoy to do. So far each person had been genuinely grateful for the opportunity to have somewhere safe, even when they heard the guns going off at the walls indicating there were more dead zombies that they would be gathering when the sun was out and their safety could be reasonably ensured.

After finishing everything she went to the office where the vet had just finished the surgery on Lucas' dog, he had waited impatiently the entire time before she came out just as Hanna walked in.

"She will be just fine Captain Smith, she will have a long recovery ahead of her though. She most likely will never be able to handle combat operations again, but it will take time to know for sure." Emily Hansen said as he smiled and nodded before she returned to the back room.

All 8 of the soldiers were with him, all of them having been told as military officers they would have to wait for Hanna to assign them their tasks. Lucas saw her and nodded to her. "Thank you for this, I don't know what I would have done if I had lost her."

Hanna nodded as Storm sat by her, the other dogs slightly nervous despite their training. "It is no problem, I would do it for any animal. Now however the 8 of you have a choice to make, and it is not a small one. You of course are welcome here, or you are welcome to leave if that is what you would prefer. As I understand she will be sedated for several more hours, we should take you on a tour here."

Lucas nodded knowing he needed to walk and collect himself before he joined his girl in the recovery room where she was resting. "Before we agree to anything, you should know we are officially deserters. If the military-" he began as she held up her hand.

"No, you just transferred commands. As I said, I am officially a Colonel. This Camp is a registered safe zone for military and civilian personnel in an emergency situation. As I understand it, the President announced a state of emergency on the day the outbreak started, since Command beyond the base level has been severed, it is up to each officer to determine the best way the squads under their command can be useful. You left your previous command after being illegally ordered to abandon military personnel, within minutes of that decision you joined my command. Now I am telling you that you must choose. Remain here and help this Camp be the best hope humanity has of surviving this tragedy, or continue on your path and determine the best way you can do that." she said as she led them to the dining hall where everyone had just gathered for lunch.

All of the newcomers nervous as they walked through the line, amazed at the amount of food that each of them was given to eat. Lucas and the team were surprised as well, as over the last few days they had learned that most of the supplies they had been counting on had been left behind at bases that had become overrun in the beginning hours of the outbreak. When they sat and began eating with her, he looked around and saw that the now 425 people here were all eating very similarly.

"How long has this Camp been established? Everywhere we have been the last few days has been clearly scrambling. Here it seems as if everyone knows that despite the horrors out there, they are relatively safe." Matthew Stark asked her, his rank clearly showing he was a Lieutenant.

"A month, and it is still a work in progress. They know they are safe here, as for the last several days the zombies haven't even managed to reach our walls before they are eliminated. The rest, is something you will learn in time as our secrets don't reveal themselves to outsiders. You 8 haven't yet joined the Camp officially, so there is only so much I can tell you." Hanna told them as they nodded knowing all out operational Intel and how dangerous it could be to have things leak.

"What if we have questions before we decide if we will join you or not?" Corporal Harold Michaels asked.

"Feel free to ask, but I won't reveal everything just to get you to join. As far as my plans for what you would do, training will be the first priority. The rest of the Camp needs to be whipped into shape, and despite all of our preparation there are still supplies that we will need to go out there and scavenge."

"What is your overall plan?" Lucas asked as it was clear he was trying to save some food for his girl as one of the kitchen workers wheeled over a cart filled with food for the dogs. Each of his men were amazed when they saw that the dogs would eat as well as the people who made up the Camp, not expected to share meals with their handlers.

"Priority number one is survival of as many people as possible. Second, expand the Camp boundary and secure it against the zombies any way we can. Third, reclaim the city so we can begin producing what we need in order to end the zombie threat once and for all." she told them vaguely as they looked at each other.

"You are aware we don't have enough weaponry to kill even a swarm of zombies, let alone the hordes that are all over the city. 15,000 men weren't enough to prevent what happened." Brian Henderson said as they remembered the friends who had fallen in the battle.

Hanna looked at him while she chewed her food. "What happened would have happened whether you had 15,000 men or 15 million. That however doesn't mean that all of us are as unprepared as Military Command was. You failed because you didn't understand the enemy you faced, nor were you properly equipped to deal with what happened. This Camp however is in no rush to make this happen in the next few weeks. We aren't even talking months, but possibly years and decades." she told them all evenly as the one scoffed.

"We hit them with everything we had and it wasn't enough. What more could we have done?" Lucas asked her as she smiled.

"Just because you used every modern weapon in the arsenal against them, doesn't mean a thing if you cannot kill them. You could empty a tank arsenal into the chest of a zombie all at once, if the brain isn't damaged, all it will do is scream at you and keep coming. As far as using everything in the arsenal," she said drawing a sword from her side and laying it on the table. "You hardly tried everything. Make noise, and you attract every zombie that hears it. Those guns you have, will attract hundreds of them from within half a mile. Unless you have the ammunition and the aim necessary for head shots, all you did was sign your death warrant because you will be overrun. Bash their head in, and maybe you attract the attention of 3 or 4 that can be dealt with easily with several people. Tactics matter, all using bigger guns does is make more noise and attract more of them than you can deal with." she said flatly before taking another bite as they all realized that she wasn't bluffing even a little.

These 8 men knew for a fact that the only way to kill them was headshots, as even a tank round blowing out the entire chest of one had resulted in it screaming at them and attacking. Lucas shook his head as he reviewed everything they had seen while they battled the horde of undead monsters, and everything she was saying made perfect sense. "So what exactly would our job be?"

Hanna smiled as she looked at him. "At first, mornings will be spent training the residents of this Camp so that they become combat effective. You 8 and I will be the first two Scavenger Squads, exploring the world out there, securing the territory we will need, killing the zombies and scavenging whatever supplies we need while rescuing other survivors. Once we have other Squads ready, each of you will be given Command of them so that we have experienced soldiers leading what used to be civilians. Later on, we will determine the best way for everyone to serve using their skills." she told him honestly.

"What do we get for it?" Gregory Hammond asked.

"Safe place to call home, shelter, food and whatever you need to live life to the fullest. We haven't yet setup an economy, but once we do you will be given compensation to match the risk you take and the benefit to the Camp you provide." she told them as Lucas nodded.

"I'm in." he said before he was automatically added to the list of residents by her system as each of the men nodded and agreed.

The next morning all 8 men trained with Hanna leading everyone like normal, surprised that she was relentless for the entire 2 hours that they trained. Strength, resistance, speed, everything they would need in order to effectively fight the zombies. The night before she had watched as she trained hand to hand, weapons as James and Peter taught those who would be guards how to shoot.

By the time they finished, Lucas was ready to collapse as she had made every person wear 10 pound weights strapped to each ankle and wrist for the session as well. When all 8 of the soldiers fell to the ground as soon as she called time, they took off the weights like everyone else before they did anything else. "Is it always that intense?" he asked as she walked up and laughed at the question.

"We are just getting started, eventually it will be 30 pounds for each ankle and wrist. Feel glad I decided to start everyone off simple with only 10 pounds each." Hanna replied making them groan as they saw the weights on her wrists and ankles were 20 pounds each. "Come on, breakfast time before we get you properly equipped for our first day."

Lucas groaned as he stood, watching as she walked with her weights still on. He realized she had them on the entire day yesterday as well, only removing them when she had rescued them and the others.

2 hours later they all stood in the Squad Room that was where they would learn of the days mission, their weapons now swords, maces and whatever else they could want, their guns literally added as a last resort weapon when everything else fails. The armor was something none of them were used to, as they were used to kevlar to stop bullets. Now however it was geared towards slashing damage from the zombies claws and bites, as well as something to absorb physical impacts from punches and that kind of thing. Even their helmets had face shields to protect them, the air being blown into it so that they had no issues breathing through it. They watched Hanna enter in her own armor, the exact set she had worn the day before when she rescued them.

"Gather round." she said indicating the table as she powered the holographic projector on and a map of the local area appeared. "This is the area around the Camp for a mile in every direction. Our objective today is going to be these six buildings here. Squad 1 under my command with Smith, Hammond, Drummond and Jackson. Squad 2 will be everyone else, each of us taking one side of the street. We will be using the SUV's we have for transportation to the area, Cargo trucks positioned here to haul any supplies we scavenge. Remember, those guns on you are last resort only. If you fire them, every zombie in this area," she said as a zone highlighted itself in red. "Will be attracted to the sound. That will be considered mission failure which will cause the guards to come to our rescue. Any questions?" she asked.

"If they are attracted to noise, won't the engines draw them to us?" Hansen asked.

"The SUVs we use are electric and nearly silent. The cargo trucks will not approach the area of operations until we have completed our objectives. As for the supplies, food, medicine and weapons are items of priority today. Document everything else so we can make a log of it and send other teams at a later time. Once you sweep is finished, you will make this mark on the door." she said displaying it for them as she indicated two cans of spray paint on the table behind them.