Distressing Incidents

C partnered up with Fredrick in the search for vehicles, and the two went to check on the cars near the west part of the area. While they were searching through the lot, C decided to break up the monotony.

"Hey, Fredrick."

"Hm?"

"I didn't really have time to do so earlier, so I wanted to thank you for saving me."

"I just have to do that one more time. Then we'll be even."

"Oh…" C thought to himself.

C could not forget the last time he had saved Fredrick, but the previous time always slipped from his memory, much to his dismay.

Before C could recall the event, the two were interrupted by the sudden commotion near the middle of the lot. The two of them went back to the middle along with some of the other soldiers, and saw a large, armored truck roll up next to the group at the entrance. The soldiers went up to it, and were met by another squad of soldiers that came out from the back of the truck. While he did not understand some of the military jargon, C was able to hear the conversation between the soldiers; they simply updated the others on what had happened so far in the town. Of notable loss was the APC left near the front of the hospital, as was nearly the entire population of the town - being turned into "zombies," as C heard the soldiers say.

"They're part of the squad Apex. Well, the new squad Apex." Fredrick explained before C could ask, "As you could tell from the name, these are our military's best soldiers."

"Wait," C interrupted, "Which squad are you in?"

"Squad Eta. I think they are ranked by their first letter." Fredrick said, before he started to mutter to himself, "But there is a squad Epsilon… maybe they rank it by Greek letters. Then again, 'Apex' isn't a Greek letter."

C and the rest of the group went to sit in the back of the truck, waiting for almost half an hour for the soldiers to report their findings and then plan out what to do next. Without anymore distractions, C was finally able to think about the situation again. He remembered F, and wanted to tell Fredrick about her, but Fredrick was at the front. Without anyone to tell anything to, C simply let his mind wander. He recalled when Fredrick told him about the new type of aliens, and realized that they were the ones that chased him down in the forest. C shivered at the thought of them, which lead him to a new train of thought.

Remembering that the aliens chased him not only through the city, but also for a decent distance through the forest, C had a sudden feeling that they might have let him live only to have him lead them to other humans. He then had a thought that they could have reached F while she was in the bunker, but was thrown back to reality as the truck suddenly stopped. C wondered why he was getting so paranoid, and decided that it was either the lack of sleep or the head trauma from before.

As C shook himself back to his senses, a few people were already getting off the back of the truck. C also climbed out to see why they had stopped. C followed them, and, upon walking to the front of the truck, saw a tank blocking the road. The tank was flipped upside down, and was missing a large portion of its main body. Surrounding it were the inert bodies of soldiers scattered around the immediate area. C went closer, and found a wide dirt trail coming from near a line of felled trees.

"This was… squad Zion?" A soldier said, checking the I.D. of one of the deceased soldiers.

"We sent them in as back-up." One of the squad Apex soldiers said, "…What the hell could of done this?"

"We have to go back to the hospital." One of soldiers commanded, wielding boldly an insignia that signified higher ranking, "If we stay out here after nightfall, we're pickings to whatever did this. After dawn, we abandon the truck past this point and walk to the nearest base. In the meantime, we'll report what has happened here and mark a 'danger' condition to this town and the nearby area. Now let's go!"

The group went back towards the hospital, and were forced inside as a large number of parasite zombies appeared out of the forest from both sides of the lot. C inferred that the noise from the truck had drawn them here, and noticed that there was much more zombies around then he had thought; he previously assumed that they had all kamikaze'd themselves against the charger. C helped barricade the door, and the group moved further inside once the exit was fortified. As C was adjusting to the situation, him and most of the other people in the group felt a mild shake. Everyone went silent, and the ground shook again after a brief pause. C noticed that the shaking was rhythmic, and heard a horrifyingly familiar roar from outside.

"Its the charger!" A soldier alerted.

"Everyone!" shouted the squad leader from earlier, "We have to move to the center! Its too dangerous to stay near the walls!"

As the leader said, the group started to move through the halls toward the center of the building.

"Hope he knows what he's doing." One of the civilians said under his breath.