They Came in the Dark

Part One

Section Two

The doorknob slipped from her slender fingers as she stood with her back to him controlling the rising urge to tell him to go to Hell. Cambell watched, as she became ramrod stiff in stance before she faced him

“I’m sorry I thought the meeting was finished.” Dorian spoke curtly.

“Jacob and I will conclude our meeting later. I’m not done with you yet.”

“Interesting,” her eyes narrowed, “I thought you were done with me when you left in the middle of the night.”

“I can’t discuss this with you. I was given orders and had to leave that hour.”

“And waking me up to say, ‘I’ve been called away, don’t know when I’ll be back.’ That would’ve been to difficult.”

“It would have led to questions. Ones I didn’t have the time or answers for.”

Dorian sniffed at his response. “I knew you were in the military and I knew the deal. I just thought I might get a forewarning of the blow. That’s all.”

“Does it help to know that I was disciplined for trying to sneak out a letter to you to explain everything. The only reason why they didn’t court marshal me was because of my expertise.” He leaned back against the desk crossing his muscular arms across his broad chest.

Dorian tried to push down the memory of Cambell shirtless wearing only a pair of jeans doing her dishes in her little flat. The man had an abdomen rippled and ripped of solid of muscle. Her fingers clenched remembering the feel of his skin underneath her touch. She took a long hard deep breath and exhaled expelling the thoughts leading wayward.

“It’s a start.” She cocked her head to one side. “I think it would depend on how harsh the punishment was.”

“Harsh enough to make me wonder if you were worth it.” Cambell shot back.

“I would think I was worth a second try.” Her pert nose went up into the air.

“You were, and third, fourth and a fifth.” He heard a sharp intake of breath. “This is the sixth attempt at contact.” His hands fell to his hips and his gaze to the floor with a shake of his head. “I volunteered our squad for this assignment.”

Dorian remained quiet for a few moments as she absorbed what he was saying. Her anger boiled up.

“So you volunteered for this mission, so you could what?” She asked between clenched teeth, “Tell me that you can’t tell me why you left the way you did? Try to make me feel slightly guilty about some punishment you went through after ripping my guts out and spread them out for the crows to eat? Pulleeze, my compassion for your situation isn’t quite there.”

“Once my squad has secured the safety of their families and I have reviewed my orders, I will report back to you.”

“Have your squad ready for inspection at o’ one hundred.” Cambell stood up and moved behind the desk. He flipped open a file on his desk.

“That won’t give us enough time to secure the families.” She argued.

“I presume you have a plan in place for evacuations.” It was statement more than a question.

“Of course we do.” She retorted hotly, “But some have elderly relatives and more than one house hold to secure.”

“You’ve been given your orders Captain. I will only take moments of their time.”

“Yes Sir.” Hissed from her mouth before storming out of the office.

Omar stood waiting anxiously outside as Dorian came out. He approached her with his hands wringing.

“What is happening?” His brows were knit with worry.

She stopped and tried to give a reassuring smile but some how she didn’t feel it.

“Well, the Government just issued a Stage One Alert.”

“What is that? I have never heard of this.” His shoulders shrugged as waved his palms.

“It means that the bacteria has reached our borders. At this point you have the choice to evacuate the city or remain and bunker up your house with food and water. Stage Two Alert if it comes to that, is that the bacterium has reached our counties and we are to bug in. No movement or travel. Stage Three means it is mandatory evacuation to safe zones set up by the military. The inner city squads will be the ones to execute the evac if it comes to that.”

“And what here?” Omar was almost afraid to ask.

“I’m in Command, which means any shift changes, any transports or recievements must have my approval.” She put a hand on the scared man’s shoulder. “Go home Omar, get some sleep and we will discuss everything in the morning. We should have a clearer picture of the situation by then.” She dropped her hand back to her side.

“You will probably see my set up in the parking lot though.” Dorian referred to her truck and fifth wheel mobile home.

“I would feel much better knowing that you were parked out. Just no camp fires.”

“Right up until the Zombies come.” A grin spread across her face. “Then its pyromania, all the way.” She waved her arms and the contents of the folder she held fell to the floor.

Omar helped picked up the papers and an slightly worn brown envelope. “I think this belongs there too.” He held it out.

She recognised the scrawl of her former address even upside down. It was his handwriting. She took the envelope and crammed it into the folder trying to deny its existence whilst keeping her rousing curiosity at bay.

“Thanks. I’ll catch you in the morning.”

He gave her a nod and turned around heading to the door. He stopped just short of the exit and turned back looking out at the sales floor sadly as if he had lost his entire life in just a heartbeat. Dorian felt for the man. This couldn’t be easy for him she decided as she made her way to the nearest phone.

“Paging all night shift staff to the training room please. I repeat all night shift staff to the training room please.” The soft page cut through the air.

***

Cambell listened to Dorian’s voice over the intercom. Her voice was a little too calm for his liking. He gathered his papers and left the office for the safety of his own make shift one the military provided for field ops. He left the store and walked across the parking lot with thoughts of his first encounter with Dorian. Her anger he hoped was a good sign.

Gloomy clouds overhead threatened to hide the light of the moon leaving the parking lot in total darkness. The sound of his footsteps bounced off the pavement and into the thick night air. He had forgotten how hot the breeze coming off the prairies could be as he tugged at his shirt collar. Cambell surveyed the circumference of the parking lot and decided a chain link wall would be needed for security reasons.

Dorian, he surmised, was going to fight him every step of the way. A heavy sigh was absorbed into the night air. Did he really expect any less? She was hurt and angry and no less so than he would have been had the roles reversed.

“No blood.” His partner greeted him with a big smug grin on his face. “How’d it go?” The tall dark man observed and chuckled as he went back to the screen. “Now that I don’t need to call the medics.”

“Hostile.” Cambell answered tossing his files on the empty desktop ignoring the last taunt. He dropped back on to the makeshift sofa slash bed crammed against the walls of the shack. He was careful not to hit his head on the boards in case one fell out.

“Hostility is always a good sign in a woman. Right up there with disdain.” Alex smiled. “Why if you’re lucky she might fall head over heels in luke-warm like with you.” He leaned back in his chair folding his massive arms across his chest. “Tell me again why you volunteered us for this mission. Baby-sitting a small town isn’t up our sniper’s barrel.”

“It was this or Red Flag Labrador. I didn’t think the boys would appreciate the sub-zero summer temperatures even if they are above normal. I didn’t think I’d be face to face with Dorian.” Cambell raised up into a sitting position resting his forearms on his thighs. “I thought I could somehow explain it to her. You know, mend the bridge when I  did"

A snort filled the room, “Buddy, you done blowed up that bridge.”

“From her reaction, it seems so.” He stood up and reached for a rancid cup of coffee.

After smelling the pot, he headed to the door and opened it. After checking for any possible victims, he dumped the coffee and watched it sizzle and bubble under the parking lot lights.

“I only made that an hour ago.” Alex commented.

“The water here sucks.” Cambell commented making a fresh cup of coffee. “Do we have an ETA of the equipment and supplies?”

“The supplies should be here tomorrow and the…” The door opened interrupting the answer, “equipment in three.”

“Wrong.” A hawk-nose, shifty-eyed wiry man corrected as he shut the door. “Try three weeks for the equip and four days before our supplies even hit the border.”

“Explain?” Alex looked at him expectantly.

“Somebody wasn’t doing their job again.” George reached past the larger man for the freshly brewed taking the first cup. “I mean, is it so hard to ensure that a request order gets issued sometime, you know, before the mission starts.”

“When did you find this out?” Cambell took a mug and filled it.

“Tonight at the Interior Mess, I ran into Rodney from the North East quadrant. He was the messenger.”

George pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to the Leftenant Major who took it. Read it and then crumpled it up then tossed it in the general direction of the waste paper basket.

“So where does that leave us?” Alex asked looking at the wrinkled ball on the floor.

“Blind.” George snorted. “And all Billy has leftover from the last mission, is headcheese and sardines, a ton of bread and a bucket of Mayo. And if we get thirsty, we have a shit load of blue H2 sports water.”

“Oh God,” Alex groaned clutching his stomach.

“Any surplus with the other quads?” Cambell asked.

The wiry man shook his head. “They are in the same boat we are. We at least have food.”

“If you want to call it that.” The darker man sat down his chair and faced his computer. “What about your team Alleycat in there.” He gestured towards the store.

“Doubtful.” Cambell answered. “All their wires are from us.”

“What’s a bunch of two-bit wannabe zombie squad night stockers going to have that the military doesn’t. For Christ Sake, they burnt down their own security shack.” George snarked reaching for the coffeepot. “This is good stuff.”

***

Dorian entered the training room to everybody waiting for her. The four backroom workers sat to her left, the four stockers with two maintenance workers on her right and her core squad leaning against the wall in the middle. She wondered how many would be left standing with her at the end of the meeting. They stared at her expectantly. Dorian wasn’t sure where to start.

“So what’s up?” Brindle asked after a long minute of silence.

The folder Dorian held went down on the table with the stockers and she took a deep breath. “We are in Stage One Alert. Only issued an hour ago. All civilian squads are now under the command of the military and that includes us.” Everyone groaned in reaction. “We knew this day might arrive when we signed up. At least we have back up because by the looks of them, we will be the ones leading the charge.” Dorian looked around the room before continuing.

“This is the point, before we get rolling, that any of you who do not wish to stay, now is the time to bug out. I have not submitted the list of our squad to our leaders. I know some of you have young families and some of you have family members who need aid.”

Nobody moved. Her sapphire eyes widened when a couple of the men just leaned back into their chairs.

“Okay then on that note, the next order of night, we have until one, to start the procedures of securing our families. At that time we are to meet with our esteemed leftenant major,” the words dripped with noticeable venom, “who has the need to inspect the troops. Once all families are secure, we are to meet back here and we will formulate our plans. Any questions?”

All but one shook their heads. An older woman with dark hair and sparkling blue eyes that held a concerned expression.

“Shoot Marion.” Dorian smiled

“Does this mean you want my rig?”

“Hell yes and you too!”

Another worry flashed in her eyes. Dorian knew immediately what her concern was. Marion’s mother was in her nineties and the rest of the family was more than a day’s car ride away.

“We will talk more in a minute.” She said to Marion glancing at the clock on the wall.

Time was precious and they couldn’t afford to waste any of it. “Take care of your families, please be back by at least quarter to one.”

Three men stood behind as everyone left. Dorian looked over at them.

“Well, we don’t have family to worry about so we were thinking…” Walt the older of the three began.

Taylor picked up where the first left off. “We though it would be an idea to set up camp out back, we’ve got our gear.” He was a cop by day and a stocker by night. Taylor was considered the most wanted, by single women at Alleymart and drunken teenage girls when in uniform.

“When the store closes, we can moved it all in and, you know, bug in.” The youngest of the trio, Jay spoke up. The three nodded in agreement.

“Go for it.” Dorian said before turning to Marion. She waited until the other three left the training room. “So it’s your mom right?”

Marion nodded, “I can’t leave her with a bunch of strangers.”

“Then bring her here. You’ll have your rig and the team will look after her. She will be safe with us and you won’t worry.”

“She might get in the way.” Marion warned.

“Look, if all else fails we will put her in charge of the boys.”

The older woman smiled at Dorian. “Where do you want me to park it.”

“Garden Centre. You can monitor our blind side. I’ll be the one around the corner.”

Marion shook her dark head. “I don’t know if the gear still works. I got the damn thing in my divorce settlement in exchange for the cash. Never marry a storm chaser. All that electricity in the air fries their brains.”

Dorian chuckled heading towards the door. She saw Taylor in the corridor leading to the back room. She called at him to wait for her.

A set of keys flew from her hands over to him. “Take the door for an hour?”

He caught the keys. “Yeah, just for you. Bringing in the rig?”

Dorian nodded turning to the exit to the front through the chemical department. “And parking it right up front and centre just to annoy the boys in cammo.”

***

“What about the Bedford squad? Don’t they have any surplus?” Cambell was wearing a line clean on the floor from his rapid pacing as he thought.

George was sitting puffing on a hand rolled cigarette on the edge of his leader’s desk. “No man, I already talked to Russ on my way over. They are just as blind and deaf as we are.”

“I’ll contact head command in the morning and see what can…” A disturbance outside stopped Cambell in mid-sentence.

Suddenly a very loud blast of a horn broke through the barrier of the shack and vibrated everything inside as though a shock wave had slammed into paper-thin walls. Once he recovered from the impact and regained his hearing, he reached for the door. Cambell could discern a female and a male shouting at each other over the rumble of a very big engine.

“Lady! You can’t bring that in here!” A loud voice penetrated the thick air just before the horn blew again.

“To hell I can’t. Move you’re ass before I run you over!” Cambell heard Dorian’s voice yell back.

“You don’t have authorisation! Now back it up!” Met his ears as he rounded the shack corner.

“I don’t need your authorisation! This is my command station, you idiot! Now move it aside soldier!” A truck engine revved.

Did he hear that right? Cambell stopped for a moment. She might have radar at least. He bolted for the main entrance into the parking lot with George and Alex in tow. A large black super-cab four by four with twinned tires on the rear was parked in front one of his men aiming a rifle at the driver. Its load was a fifth wheel the height and twice the length of a double-decker bus. He stopped short of the barrel of the rifle and lowered it.

“Stand down.”

“But Major…” The barrel went back up again.

Cambell pushed it down again. “Stand down soldier” was uttered through his teeth. “Keep it lowered and that’s an order.” He moved over to Dorian’s window.

“What the hell are you doing?” He demanded to know. The vein in Cambell’s jaw was twitching.

“Parking my command centre but your boy here seems to think I do not have permission. As Squad Leader may I remind you Major that I am to use all tools at my disposal. And this is part of my tool kit.”

“What does this do other than house you?” Cambell was getting annoyed with her attitude.

“Only watch weather, communicate with satellites, and track mobile masses like zombies.” Dorian could not keep the smugness out of her voice.

Just then, another horn blasted from behind. It sounded like a duck call in the middle of a tin can rattling marbles. Cambell stepped back to see what could be pulling up. This time the noise emanated from a beaten up motor home whose hood bounced as the engine geared down. A satellite dish barely hanging on to its base drooped over the driver’s door while the attenna on the passenger’s side was bent and pointing to the rear of the rig. It was the solar panels hanging from ropes off of the roof rack that made Campbell question what kind of set up these women had.

They Came in the Dark

All places and names are fictious. Any resemblance to persons or places past and present is coincidences. All work is the imagination of the author and therefore copy righted material.

For the Night Stalkers

Prologue

In the year Twenty-twelve the world under went a global shift. This fifteen-degree shift was the direct result of an nine point nine earthquake in the South Asian Sea. It seemed to Mother Nature that wasn’t punishment enough for the humans so she sent a wall of water. The tsunami that followed in the quake’s aftershocks damaged four nuclear power plants on a small but densely populated island country. Two of the nuclear plants did not survive the ocean’s fury and started the slow descent of melt down despite the efforts of the scientists who tried in vain to stop the catastrophe. It resulted in ten years of chaos on a global scale and a readjustment of lifestyles.

In the year Twenty-twenty-two the world had a different map from the turn of century. Rivers cut the landscape down different valleys while dams that once held back their natural flow sat dry. Toothpicks stood where once a forest flourished and parts of the Great Desert became tropical paradises. Countries once hot and dry were wet and cold. Some were lucky enough to have the temperate weather it envied of its Southern neighbours, some of which didn’t survive. Some countries remained in tacked whilst others lost limbs, coast lines and major cities.

Inland, civilization managerd to carry on but only just so. It was up to the new generation to make sense of the choas the world had just survived. They maintained the infrastructure left standing from the past, and tried to improve upon it bearing in mind the sensitivity of their new eco-system.

While the scientists of the world mapped the change of migrations, reversed ocean currents, and the shift of air currents, they ignored a corner of what was once a Northern Pole. Prior to the melting and the dawn of mankind, an asteroid crash landied. After the Great Shift, the site had been exposed to the warm rays of the sun. They were oblivious to the black rock that slowly weeped into the melting ground water as it and the surrounding terrain warmed. If they had they may have had the skills and technology to avoid what lay ahead for the future of mankind. For what lay weeping was a mixture ready for the right microbial to find and merge, thus becoming one of the biggest threats that mankind would know.

It was in the year Twenty-twenty-four the reports started to leak out although; Countries not wanting to admit they had a problem denied them; repeatedly. A zombie-like disease did existed and it was affecting humans. Scientists were frantically tracing its DNA in the attempts to understand and stop the disease. They had learned it mutated from a bacterial virus that caused arachnid insects to become drones as the bacteria sought out nutrients for its survival. With global warming, exposure to nuclear radiation and whatever other elements that laid within the black rocks made for a lethal biological weapon engineered for the human brain; Bactirious Zombus was the new pandemic that nobody could stop.

In the year Twenty-Twenty-six the previous reports denied by countries first affected, were being confirmed as the epidemic grew and could no longer be hidden. Borders closed around the globe and imposed a mandatory quarantine on all recalled citizens. The old Twentieth Century iron curtain was back but this time it draped worldwide. Still the epidemic grew.

The Western Americas from the South to the North decided to handle hit the good old fashioned way; Decapitation followed up by a good ol’ dose of torching. Studies had shown any engagement with persons infected with Bactirious Zombus that resulted in decapitation instantly starved the Bacteria of oxygen and nutrients thus retarding the virus. The torching of the victims’ head and body ensured the disinfectant and eradication of the bacteria. In the Americas it became a military matter and not a medical one.

To the military the victims were already dead without a chance of survival. The human brain was the perfect environment for the bacteria to breed while the body possessed the nutrients for the bacteria to feed and the means to seek out such nutrients.

Military Zombie Squads became a fact of life in every community no matter how big or small. A squad was essential in both defence and evacuation. Larger cities took it upon themselves to start civilian squads working with the military to bolster both confidence and security. Companies with facilities on the outskirts of towns and cities also formed squads that worked with both the community and the military. The Federal Government funded them all. Zombie Squads were no longer a laughing matter for the lunchroom; they had become part of company training for night crews all over.

Part One

Section One

Dorian sat in the quiet of the white walled lunchroom lined with lockers waiting for her shift to start. Birthday streamers from a celebration long forgotten hung in a corner by the coat rack holding empty coat hangers. The cat faced clocked ticked above the door to serve a reminder of shift changes and breaks. Beside the clock, a calendar hung displaying the wrong month in the year Two Thousand and Thirty-two. The rectangle tables lined up to form an “H” with the chairs spaced for the human comfort level of three feet apart until the right hand upper corner with six chairs mashed as close together as they could be. Above hung a banner with the company name, logo and one-liner.

“Alleymart” in once bright green against a faded black back drop with “We bring Back Alley Prices to Main Street” in a dulled vibrant orange underneath. It was trashed and tattered, reminding only the veterans of the grand opening of days gone by.

It was in this corner that Dorian sat drumming her fingers on the bleached surface of the food and coffee stained table. Her long dark hair was held back in a ponytail. Perched on her perfectly rounded ears were tear drop pearl earrings. Long slender fingers rubbed her temples as a tense sigh release from her rose petal lips. She closed the lids shielding her sapphire blue eyes and wished her night were over with before it had even begun. She didn’t like the reports coming in.

Voices came down the hall breaking the peace and quiet of the moment for Dorian. The door swung open with zest as two others of Dorian’s crew entered in.

“Evenin’ Girl.” A short curvy woman came in. She headed straight for her locker with a second glance.

“You look like hell. You sleep?” Dark brown almond shaped eyes framed with thick lashes peered over at the slumped figure.

“Yeah, I did.” Dorian rolled her eyes; “I’ve been called into the office.”

“Uh oh.” Brindle turned back to her locker. “What did you do?”

“Knowing Dorian it could be anything.” The third quipped taking off her jacket. “I’m so sick of black. Just once I’d like to wear lime green and daffodil yellow to work.”

“Of course you would Helena, and then we can all play in the sandbox together.” Brindle looked over to Dorian, “Could it have to do with those dudes over in corner of the parking lot?”

Dorian shook her head hoping she was right. “It’s just a change of guard. They’ve done it before without notification. It’s the Military, they do what they damn well want, when they want without any regard to anybody.” Her last words she spat out.

“Whoa Girl” Brindle raised her hands. She grinned to Helena, “I think somebody is a little bitter.”

“Not bitter just sick of the red tape when I need to get something done from all sides.”

“Dorian Gray to the front office please,” came over the intercom of the building, “Dorian Gray to the front office.” The voice sounded urgent.

“That was your full name twice. Must be pretty important. You better get your sorry ass butt down there before they come looking for you.” Brindle grinned. Her white teeth gleamed in contrast against her dark coffee complexion that hid her age.

“She’ll just find a nook and disappear.” Helena sat down beside Brindle and started to undo her waist long braid. “Just bring us back the details of what we aren’t allowed to do anymore.”

“Ah” Brindle chimed up, “That would be everything we do for training. No bats, no blades, and now no fire. What next? No strings and buttons?”

“To be fair, we did accidentally burn the security shed down.” Helena shot at her as she began rebraiding her hair.

“Nobody got hurt, and besides we needed the fire practise. We put it out.” Her deep husky voice rose an octave.

“Explain that to the guys in the shack.” Helena grinned at her.

“Yeah, well they screamed like little girls so I don’t gotta explain nuttin’ to those guys.”

Dorian let the shut the door behind her before she could hear Helena’s retort. Normally she would have stuck around for the entertainment the two provided but she had a date with the front office. Something in the back of her brain told her it wasn’t going to be work related. She tried to shake the feeling as she made her way to the front of the store.

“Hey Dorian.” A soft voice from the glass entrance met her. “Gotta second?”

“What’s up Dawn?”

She was taller than Dorian by four inches and was heavier set with a soft brown tone. She was as fast and quick on the draw as she was lovely. But her wit and aim with a blade were deadly. She smoothed back a tendril of coal black hair and looked out the clear doors.

“A convoy showed up just as I was coming in to work.” Dawn glanced back to Dorian. Her chestnut coloured eyes were narrowed and her lips pursed together. “That can’t be good.”

“How many trucks you figure?”

“About five. They park over where the guard shack used to be.”

“There you are Dorian.” A male voice from behind her. “I need to speak with you.”

“I’ll find out what’s going down.” She gave a nod to her friend before turning around with a grim expression.

The look on her store manager’s face was equally grim. “Come for a walk with me.” His voice was low and whispered. She didn’t miss the fear in his words.

Dark blue eyes glanced over to her boss. “Omar you are scaring the crap out of me.”

He stopped a few feet away from the cosmetics counter, “You should be. Sitting in my office waiting for you is the lead of Prairie Town’s Zombie Squad and some Leftenant Major Cambell Blake.”

Dorian’s heart leapt to her throat making it hard to breathe. She felt like she had been kicked hard in the stomach. Let there be two men by that name, she silently prayed to herself.

“They won’t tell me what is happening and just insist they talk with you. They have only given me some papers saying that my store is now under the control of the military but I am to operate as normal.”

“Maintain the status quo.” Dorian muttered. The reports were true and she knew she was going to put on alert, which meant her boss had to listen to her before making any decisions.

“Omar.” She gave him a reassuring smile, “Let’s find out what they have to say and what I can tell you they say before we start jumping to any conclusions.”

“So what they said was true on the net, that Zombies have reached the Americas?”

“I don’t know. Maybe that’s why they’re here.” She shrugged, “but I had better not keep them waiting any longer.”

Dorian took a deep breath turning to face the dingy white closed door of her manager’s office. She didn’t know what to expect or how she would react to him. It had been a couple years and in that time her grief turned into anger. It was in the remaining three feet of the walk that she chose to ignore the fact he was the only man that ever made her scream from the passion of his love-making. And then ripped her heart out when he just left without a word after three years of togetherness. Dorian wasn’t angry, she was seething. It was best, she decided to be as professional as possible.

***

The office door pushed open a little to easily and hit the wall with a loud bang startling the two men inside. Dorian hadn’t expected the door to move when she gave it the customary shove open past the sticky point. She made a mental note to thank Tom, the head of maintenance.

“Apparently somebody fixed the door.” She said coming through.

A tall blond greeted her with an extended hand. “Hi, I’m Jacob Jackson, Squad Captain of Prairie Town’s Zombie Units. It’s finally nice to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about your squad.”

“And you said that with a straight face. Thank you Jacob, Dorian Gray at your service.” She shook his hand trying to ignore her heart beating inside her throat.

Steeling herself against all emotional onslaughts she turned to the large figure leaning against the desk with his arms folded across his chest. He hadn’t changed. Same piercing grey eyes, same cropped dark hair and same smug, arrogant look. Dorian fought the urge to walk up and slug him.

His chiselled features were observing watching her; sizing up her reaction to him; and wondering at the same time how much she hated him. Cambell admired her self-control but the flash of her eyes gave away her emotions. Her fury was a good sign. At least she still cared about him.

“Leftenant Major Blair.” She addressed him coolly.

“Dor…” He glanced to the other gentleman in the room, “Ms. Gray, thank you for coming. Please take a seat.”

“I prefer to stand, thank you.” She stepped over the side of the door and leaned against the wall.

“As you wish.” He stood up and picked up a file off the desk.

He handed them each a file folder with an official seal stamped on the top of the hemp papers inside. There was a lot of fine print with too many columns for Dorian’s liking. And her file was a lot thicker than her city counter part.

“As of now, you and your squads are no longer citizens, you are now part of the military and will conduct yourselves as such. Those are your orders. You and your squads are under my command,” The Leftenant Major was avoiding looking at her.

“Since when?” Dorian went rigid.

“Since our Government and the rest of the Americas’ have declared a Stage One Alert.”

“That was an hour ago.” Jacob informed Dorian.

“Shouldn’t there be others in on this conversation?” She glance over to the Leftenant Major, “What about the other side of Tramlaw?”

“Their Quadrant Commander are having this conversation with them as we speak?” He paused and glared at Dorian. “Please let me continue and I will explain everything that you need to know.” He walked around behind the desk and pulled down a map of the community and surrounding areas sectioned off into four sections.

“Great,” she let out a disgusted snort, “we are operating on the Military’s need to know basis.” She wanted to spit.

“You have a problem with that Squad Leader?” Grey glinting blades met sapphire ice.

“Yeah, I do.” Her voice was cold and harsh addressing him, “I have a real problem with that. I don’t like the unexplained or being sent into a situation being only half informed. I don’t operate on blind faith any more. Sir.” She straightened herself to her full height of five feet and three inches in defiance.

“I’m not asking for blind faith just some measure of trust. We don’t want panic.”

“Well your going to get panic if people don’t have answers. Their reasoning alone will drive the fear. You bloody well know it.” Dorian hotly debated. “The military assumes we are all idiots and can’t handle things like the truth.”

She didn’t stop as she pointed to the map behind him.

“According to that, Jacob’s teams are all internal and we are it for the outpost for the lower right corner. If that convoy of five trucks are all the men you’ve got outside then your going to need and want our help. You can decide here and now how you want to play this out. If its on a need to know basis then you will get, I promise you only minimal support from my squad. They don’t like to operate that way. You bring us in on every stage and you will get one hundred and ten percent from us.”

“And don’t forget,” She hissed adding, “after you guys slip away in the middle of the night without so much as a good bye,” she quietly spat the words at him, “we are the ones left behind to pick up the pieces and put our lives back together. This our turf, military or not.”

The Leftenant Major knew he should have expected some kind of backlash from her. Some where in his simple alpha male brain he had hoped that she would have forgiven him; that time had tempered the wound. The furious woman scowling at him made him realise she was owed an explanation. Cambell also knew if he didn’t get the upper hand of the moment, she would make his life a living hell.

The tall blond man cleared his throat in the attempts to interrupt the deadlock of anger glares.

“Perhaps we should hear the Leftenant Major before engaging in forward procedures.”

“Fine.” Dorian leaned stiffly back against the wall and put her nose in the air.

“As Ms Gray pointed out we are the scout post for this sector and the first line of defence from this direction. At this point of the Alert we are asking that all Squads and their captains ensure the security and safety of their families so that we can have their full attention during training and possible engagement if it comes to that.”

“And after that?” Dorian asked.

“We prepare for the worst. At this point we are maintaining the status quo. The store and community will operate as normal but we will be stepping up security and training.”

“Where’s the breach Leftenant?” was her next question.

“What makes you think there is a breach?” Cool grey eyes met hers.

“To begin with it’s all over the net and we wouldn’t be having this conversation if there wasn’t a breach.”

“Port City Washington. Two cases but they think there was more. And before you ask how, its thought the bacteria was in the water system of a freighter that docked for twenty-four hours in Swimmer’s Bay. It refuelled and picked up supplies, among them water.”

“Then we don’t have much time to prepare; what’s the rate, three per mile and add two for every five?” Jacob questioned. “I know we are central but we are still only talking a matter of weeks.”

“Which is why we are having this conversation. So I take it all traffic on the roads will be minimal?”

“Except for necessities. Water, food, bedding and what ever else is under the category.”

Cambell watched as Dorian’s mind began to race. He knew the signs. Her head tilted to one side; hypnotic blues eyes fixed on one spot in the room; her fingers drummed against what ever they rest on. In this case, it was her shapely thighs, as she remained leaning against the wall.

Dorian was adding up the stores supplies in the back room and sitting on the shelves out front. She was trying to remember the number of trucks anticipated for the week and their loads. Once the word was out that Zombies were a clear and present danger, people were going to want to stock up or bug out while they had a chance.

“And when is the public going to be alerted?” Dorian frowned.

“Once we are all in position. We’ve been given forty-eight hours before they raise the alert. We are requiring the internal squads to prep for evacuations or evacs as we call them, also back up if needed.”

He looked to Jacob “Can you have all teams gathered by ‘o’ two hundred?”

The blonde head glanced to his watch and gave a nod and then responded with a smile, “If I start now.” He stood up and headed for the door. “I will have everybody at the Main Town Bunker.”

“We’ll talk in twenty-four and touch base with each other.” He stopped in front of Dorian who gave him a nod as he left.

She took a step forward catching the door to follow Jacob out the door. She wanted out of the office and back to the security of her lunchroom. There she could deal with the impact of the night’s punch.

Cold hard words smacked her in the back of the head.

“You were not dismissed Captain.”