A Pair Of U.S. Military Soldiers

You and Hannah slipped out of the door and quickly followed Andy to the left into the overbrush. Andy laid down and began to crawl further down until he reached a large rock, which he used for cover to sneak around to a tree he could use for protection, giving him a flanking position on the upcoming Humvee. You turned your head back towards Hannah and saw her looking right at you; you could hear the hum of the engine as it got closer to you three, Hannah lifted her free hand, motioning for you to stay calm and stay still. You nodded in response and closed your eyes taking a deep, steadying breath; you weren't stupid, you knew that things had been turning back over the last few months and looters were part of it.

You thought back to the early days, during all the pandemonium, how many chose to go around taking whatever they could from the stores. This was followed up by people fighting each other for those supplies, and before you knew it, you had groups of bandits wandering the streets just stealing and killing for everything. You were lucky, you didn't meet these groups during your months alone, but now, the first day you joined a group, that may be changing.

The rumbling of the Humvee grew louder until you were sure that it was just a few feet in front of you. You took in a deep breath, tightening your grip on your revolver, suddenly you heard a voice, "We noticed a few folks sneaking out the front gate if you're still around, please listen!" The voice called out, "We are not here to hurt you, we are part of the US military. We are a two-man squad sent by a group of military officials set up near Richmond. Part of our assignment was to help as many citizens as we can, including bringing them back with us!"

You glanced over to Hannah who had a look of confusion on her face that matched yours, "How do we know you're telling the truth!?" Andy suddenly called out,

A silence lasted between the men for a moment before the same voice said, "I suppose you don't, but I urge you to take a chance. We are not staying in this town long, and if you chose not to listen, then we will be **** to leave you."

You waited for nearly a minute before the front gate suddenly burst open, a tall man with slicked back hair came storming out into the open, you and Hannah looked at him in shock, "Eli, what the fuck are you doing?" Hannah asked in a hushed, urgent tone,

"You are members of the US military?" Eli asked as he stared at the Humvee,

"That's correct, sir." The voice called back,

"Everyone get out here, weapons down!" Eli commanded, a few moments later you followed Hannah out of the over brush, Andy was just on the other side of the dirt road, "It's a miracle that you are here, you need to protect and bring me to safety."

The men in the Humvee slowly got out, one a younger clean-shaven black man and the other an older gruffer looking white man. "And why's that?" The black man asked,

"My name is Eli Woods, and I have information that could lead to a cure for this thing," Eli replied to your shock,

The men looked at each other for a moment, "Were you at the town hall?" The older one asked,

"Yes, I was, my business partner Hailey and me were there. We helped record the process of the scientist stationed there. I still have the footage and will hand it over to you as soon as I am somewhere safe." Eli explained,

The older man ran his hand along his chin before nodding and walking forward, "Very well Eli, we can work with that." He stuck out his hand, "Sergeant Alex Reed," Alex said as Eli took his hand, he motioned his head to the other man, "That is Corporal Scott Green. It's fortunate that we have found you, part of our mission is about the town hall."

"What about it?" Andy asked as he took a few steps forward,

"Sorry, specifics are classified information, all I can say is we need to get inside and gather up some sensitive documents," Alex explained,

"Well then I'm sorry to tell you hoss, but that plan of yours isn't gonna work out," Andy replied as she crossed his arms,

"How's that?" Scott asked with a raised brow,

"That town hall is filled to the brim with those flesh eaters, ain't no getting in without getting yourself killed," Andy explained,

"He's right, the military did herd people there early on," Hannah added on, "It was like fish in a barrel."

"That...complicates things." Alex sighed while rubbing his brow, "Scott grab our equipment from the back." Alex quickly said causing Scott to jump into action, "I expect that this location is safe?" Alex asked the four of you,

"Yeah, but why are you unpacking, shouldn't we be packing up and leaving?" Eli asked,

"No, we need to get into that Town Hall before we return to our superiors, that means we'll need to hunker down here and come up with a plan," Alex explained as he walked towards the front gate. The rest of you waited a few moments, letting it sink in before quickly following him inside.