Back at Base, Sergeant Foreman sets the stage...

I A/N: I wanted to take a moment to mention that I have also changed the first name of Sergeant Foreman from Emily to Elizabeth (or Liz for short) because the Swedish resident of the building, Karlsson, was created first by Decadent Empire and on second thought, I think it is less confusing if the two of them do not share a first name.

And yes, I plan to add another posts like the one I made for the original residents of the building after the first chapter of this story arc. That one will list the names of the new characters for ease of reference and for those that want more info on them, their general backstories relevant to the present-day of the tale. I hope you like the interesting tidbits and pieces of foreshadowing to be found there too.

Alright, with that out of the way, let's get started with this new chapter. I hope you like it and if so, please review!

Sergeant Foreman's POV

Twelve minutes later, you continued staring at the video feed delivered by the drone under on your command, committing routes to memory as your eyes narrowed.

By your sides were your new assistants: Anjali Patel, the youngest of the Indian sisters in the building that had told you she was able to rise high in the Girl Scouts of America by earning over 100 merit badges before the outbreak. And Gabriella Sanchez, Alicia's younger sister and newest roommate of your new Nordic friend that was a reservist before the plague got started. She was in turn standing guard alongside Allen, bayonet and axe in hand, while they operated the drones.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Gabriella making a list of places of interest that might be worth the risk of visiting for a future mission and writing them down where they were in her notebook. For your part, you were focused on charting a safer route for Team 2's benefit and mentioned the names of the streets to Anjali. This way, she could write down the sequence of their preferred path back to the apartment building. Still, while Sanchez had spotted some promising options, you had to tell her to write down her notes in silence after they excitedly commented that there were only a handful of zombies near a farmer's market.

That was not to say that it wasn't a potentially great discovery, of course, since that meant they may be able to get some much-needed seeds from there that could allow them to plant crops in the future. But right now, with Zachary helping your boss with his drone and Barnes being the one on the lookout for Nastasha with his, getting your wounded teammate back home was your only mission.

Unless, of course, your Master gave you a new set of instructions that took priority, as was his absolute right. But that was the thing: you knew that you would certainly obey any such order, even if you had would rather not redirect your assistance from your injured friend. After all, the man owned you in every sense of the word, as was right and proper, and it was your life-long duty to follow his commands. So, you fully intended to make the most of your free time and help get Team 2 to safety as quickly as possible. Which was just as well, given that he hadn't given her the all-clear signal to break radio silence yet.

Eventually you nodded, satisfied with your aerial scouting mission. You checked the notebook of your girl scout assistant that had reached the senior, Ambassador rank just to be sure, and soon were pleased to note that her words were beautifully written and very clear, with the route meticulously charted, yet easy to follow.

"Well done," You told her with a wide smile. "And, honestly, you got some great handwriting there. The last thing we need right now is to misread the streets and have the group stumble into a large horde, so that's a plus."

"Thanks," Anjali said in agreement, looking visibly pleased at the compliment. "I worked hard on my Calligraphy Girl Scouts Badge and the lessons stuck, so it's good to see it paid off."

"Making it your business to learn a wide variety of skills has a way of helping you out later in life, even when you least expect it," You pointed out. "So, remember your training and the efforts you put into all your merit badges. The experience may bear fruit in the days to come."

"One can hope," She said slowly, hesitated for a moment as she bit her bottom lip.

You frowned. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no," The eighteen-year-old said quickly. "It's just...I was curious about...well..."

You raised an eyebrow and waited for her to spit it out. She soon started to.

"Is the Engineering Sergeant that Team Two found THE Kristen Vanders?" She blurted out. "The tall and legendary, record- breaking Girl Scout that impressed everyone from the Greater Los Angeles Council about 10 years ago? The Golden Girl of Camp Lakota?"

Despite everything you couldn't help but crack up right then and there, laughing merrily for a good, few seconds at her choice of words.

"Hahahahaha! Is THAT how they started calling her?" You chuckled, feeling very, very amused. "Her blonde hair is bright and pretty, sure, but it's not actually that golden."

Anjali beamed, her eyes lighting up on the spot as her face broke into a wide grin. "I knew it! Oh my God, I am so excited!" She gushed, starting to pace in glee. "She was like, a Hall of Fame level rock star among the Girl Scouts for those of us that studied the lives of our most award-winning predecessors! I can't wait to meet her!" She said, her voice trembling with awe.

You grinned back at her. "Well, rock star sounds about right since, if I recall correctly, my high-energy teammate managed to exceed all expectations almost a decade ago. After all, it's not every day when someone manages to finish earning all the Girl Scout Badges, leaving the prestigious Gold Award as best for last, graduate from high school with honors to get her diploma and then get the written permission from her family, that had a long history of military service as it was, so that she could join the army...and all at the age of 17 years old," You remarked, smiling as you got nostalgic while thinking of your overachieving teammate. "Take all that, then add in the fact that the skills she learned that allowed her to win the coveted Gold Award gave her the right to skip ahead two ranks, and she was able to entered the army as Private First Class from day one. So, yeah, I suppose I can see why her list of achievements would inspire you," You added with a wry smirk.

"Oh, you bet!" The eighteen-year-old replied with an eager nod. "I was always fascinated by her. She was practically my Girl Scout role model growing up into the troop, and I googled and researched all that I could find about her. Both before and after she joined the military too, since I wanted to keep up with her career in army as she rose through the ranks of the armed forces as well."

Then, she looked at the drone's video feed with a serious look on her face. "And that means, I can't let my childhood hero down, especially now that I have the chance to pay her back for inspiring me," She said, her eyes determined. "Let's get her to safety!"

You placed an arm on her shoulder in solidarity and nodded at her with growing respect as your lips curled. "I have decided that I like you," You said simply, but honestly. "So, let's do exactly as you say."

Anjali beamed at you as you grabbed the radio, explaining the route to Zhang and reminding her that they will be following her on the drone from above to report status updates as needed.

And then you chuckled again.

"Come on, Kristen, you better come back safe and then wake up not too worse for wear," You thought in amusement. "Because I swear, after that exchange with your new number 1 fan, you are NOT going to deny me the pleasure of seeing you tease this young woman that hero-worships you by flirting with her."

You smiled fondly at the thought of the usual antics that your highly attractive and confident, openly lesbian friend had a knack for getting into. And then...you saw two purple flares light up the sky, several miles away from your position and shaping the light and smoke into a X shape.

"Is that...?" Barnes asked as his own eyes widened.

You nodded; your stare resolute as you turned back to the fiery, coded signal. "Plan 88 has been enacted. And now, the stage is set."

Your eyes narrowed as you looked at the drone's video feed of the city below. And for the second time that day, you were suddenly inspired by a badass line from the fourth spin-off show of the Game of Thrones Streaming Universe that you were always a big fan of.

"We have called the banners," You said with a slow nod, realizing the truth of it as you thought of your still missing veteran friends. "And our enemies will know great pain if all of them answer the call."

A/N: Yes, as you can see, I am a fan of the Game of Thrones franchise and I still think there is a lot of potential for some wonderful spin-offs in the future even after the hated ending of the original show. What can I say, being a bit optimistic is kind of my default setting lol.

Until next time.