Story Arc One: If You Want Peace, Prepare for Survival

A/N: Just wanted to let you all know that I edited the previous chapter quite a bit when I realized that I mixed up the 1st and 2nd person there several times. My bad, but in my defense I was sleepy and by that point, I had posted 3 chapters a day for 3 days straight. It's fixed now though, and I edited several parts with phrases that I endded up liing more with my more rested state of mine mind, just so you know in case you want to reread it at some point later.

Finally, now that the prologue stage of my branch is done, we can officially start Story Arc One: If you Want Peace, Prepare for Survival. Hope you like the title and what comes next, as I have some interesting plans ahead, if I say so myself.

Finally, with the new arc that opens in this chapter, I will be taking some bits and pieces of inspiration from Decadent Empire's branch; specifically from certain events, descriptions, and developments that take place from the 21st to the 29th chapter. With his permission, of course. So, if some things look similar at first, there is your answer. Planning to take my plotline in different directions though, so don't assume it will be too similar past a certain point.

Well with that out of the way, sit back, relax, and enjoy the beginning of the next stage in the adventures of the MC, Michael, and his group in this chaotic, zombie-infested world.

Let it begin.

When your eyes open to the daylight streaming into your room, the first thing you see is a smiling Lieutenant Mills still lying in bed next to you. Gently, you shook her shoulder and spoke. "Time to wake up."

She yawns and pulls the covers off. "Get cleaned up and dressed, then have the squad meet me in the lobby in an hour. Let Jeremy, Walter, and Allen know to be there, too."

"Yes, sir. I'll let them all know." The squad leader responded and stood up.

You had to admit, it was going to be a shame watching her ass disappear into her camo pants. But needs must. You watch her get her clothes on with practiced ease and once fully dressed, she saluted at you and before walking out the door.

You took a moment to think about the fact you are loving it every time they formally regarded you as their commanding officer and wondered if perhaps you should have a formal ceremony of sorts after a big win to increase morale among the residents and to at least make it official. Then you shook your head and decided it was time for you to get up, too.

It didn't take long to shower, even if you still hadn't become as quick as the soldiers under your command but you were inspired by their example and so did your best to hurry and save water. Once dressed, you realized that you still had 50 minutes before you needed to be downstairs. And so, you decided to head down early.

As you walk through the building, you smell something delicious. Tracking the source of the smell, you find yourself in front of Carter's apartment. About to knock, you remember that you own the building, along with the residents and just walk right in. You find Jeremy sitting down at the kitchen table with his son, Jonathan eating breakfast while Melissa is in the kitchen, cleaning up. You did raise an eyebrow, however, when you noticed Natasha Petrov on the table with them as well.

"Hey Boss," Jeremy said before you could comment. "I got the word from the Army lady. I can leave now if you need me to." You waved him down.

"No, no, I was just interested to know who was cooking such a delicious-smelling breakfast." Melissa smiles at your compliment. "Now that I know who the chef is, I'm even more jealous, your wife is gorgeous and a great cook. You're a very lucky man." Melissa blushes.

"That I am, Boss. I still don't know how I managed to find such an amazing woman."

"I certainly can't complain," Natasha replied with a shrug, "as it is the best dish of biscuits and gravy I have ever had. Hopefully, we will be able to find you more ingredients because it would be a crime to let this taste fade."

"Oh, stop it. All three of you," Melissa says with a little wave of her hand, but clearly pleased with the compliments.

"You know, I've been eating mostly premade dinners for a while now, and I'm going to be a lot more busy now, especially. Would it be too much to ask for you to cook for me? And my guards since they won't have time to cook either." You speak the words, knowing full well that nothing is too much to ask.

"I'd love to, Boss! Honestly, I should have offered way before now, I just never thought about it," She replied.

"Thank you. You're the best. If you could bring it down to the lobby when you're ready, that would be perfect" You added before turning to look at the attractive bombshell of a Russian immigrant. "I wasn't expecting to see you here," You acknowledged.

Natasha smiled lightly, her dark blue eyes brightening a little as you regarded her. "I came for the food, and stayed for a conversation with the chef, sir."

"Oh? About what?" You asked.

"She wanted to see if we had a drill by any chance so that she could use it to make holes inside the wooden handle she was building for a zipline," Melissa responded. "The answer was yes, by the way."

Tilted your head at that, growing more curious. "Tell me more."

"Well, sir, we are in the tallest building in the neighborhood because we are at the top of the hill," She began. "So, it occurred to me two days ago that if we get the chance to clear the nearby building right down the street from us of any lingering zombies, we could make a zipline between one of our floors and the other building's rooftop in case we ever need to make a quick getaway out of reach of a horde," She explained. "And really, we could even use it in a pinch without clearing the building if we absolutely had to, as it doesn't seem like any zombies have reached that complex's rooftop down there. "

You blinked at that, turning your head to look at the buildings down the street. "That's a great idea. And once that's done, we could make a final connection with another zipline from that building to an area of the street below to put further distance between us quickly. That way, we could get to safety quickly should the need arise."

Natasha nodded, looking pleased you agreed. "Yes, and you never know when you are going to need a quick exit, so preparing one in advance provides some peace of mind. Besides, I have actually built something like this before, so I know how to do it myself. It would be best if we had sturdy material to make it as tough as we could do, though."

You nodded in response, as you knew it wouldn't do to jump on a zipline to escape zombies only to eat pavement because you were too fat for it. "What else do you need?"

"I already have most of what I need with the drill in hand, sir," The blonde woman explained. "And I am pretty sure that Mr. Walter will have the duct tape and the wrench I could use back in Maintenance, sir. The tricky pieces would be the steel cables and the pullies, sir."

You mulled on that. "Allen would probably know of a nearby construction site where we could get such cables. I will ask him, but we are spread thin enough as it is, so that scavenging mission may have to be pushed down to another day. I do like the way you are thinking though, so I will keep your request in mind."

Then you thanked her for her initiative and started eating your portion of biscuit and gravy, making you sigh in contentment at the taste, making you make a mental note to get Melissa more ingredients as a significant, just not crucial, priority.

You looked back at Natasha, pleasantly surprised at finding her less cold than you remembered and you had to admit you liked the fact she preferred to call you sir than boss without your prompting, despite not being a member of your military guardians.

"Very well then, I have to go, but you have my permission to keep working and thinking of ways to help us make quick getaways. Jeremy, I'll see you downstairs." You added with a polite nod and walk out the door.

Then you frowned, realizing it took you this long to think about a way to use your possessions that wasn't sex or protection oriented, such as using their talents for cooking. Tells you a lot about where your mind has been at lately. But soon, you decide to make the rounds and check up a bit on some of the other residents.

On one of your last checks, Amelia answers the door. She has on what looks like a hunting jacket and cargo pants. Inside, you can see her husband still fast asleep. "Hey, Boss. Can we talk real quick?" Amelia asks, walking out of the apartment and closing the door behind her.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I heard Allen say that there was a meeting downstairs with you, Jeremy, Walter and that the soldiers would be there, too. I didn't hear anything, so I wasn't sure if I was invited..." Looking into her eyes, it seems almost a little hurt that you left her out.

"It's not that you aren't invited, I just figured you got your fill of adventure already. But you're more than welcome to participate if you'd like," You assured her.

The hurt disappears, replaced by a beaming smile. "Great! I'm ready now. Is it alright if I walk with you?"

"Sure, I'm headed there now."

The two of you walked downstairs to find the soldiers, Walter, Jeremy, and Allen waiting for you. You clap your hands together to get their attention. "Good morning, team. We've got some planning to do for the next couple of days." The group grabbed whatever chairs are left and sits in a semicircle around you. "Let's start with a report from our sentries of last night."

LT Mills stands up to speak, "We took down a couple of lone zombies that wandered nearby, sir, but other than that, there were no other dangers to report. We didn't even need to waste bullets to shoot them either, as the ax from the fire extinguisher deposit of the Maintenance level that Mr. Walter let me use during my shift more than sufficed," She explained, nodding at the now smiling, valued old worker. "We saw no other living humans down the street either, although we could spot a huge fire in the distance from our high ground, several miles away. It seemed to have burned itself out a couple of hours ago, though, based on Sergeant Foreman's report."

"Good to know," You said slowly as you took that in. "And nice thinking there, Walter," You added in praise, knowing that initiative and wins were good for morale. "In that case, let's talk about what we need."

You start a discussion about what supplies are needed most. Allen and Mills argued for more weapons. Jeremy and Foreman pushed for more food and water. Unsurprisingly, the medic, Zhang, wanted more medical supplies, and the building's mechanic, Walter wants more fuel and spare parts. Amelia and Garcia stay quiet for the most part. Then, after letting the discussion run for a short time and starting counting the abled bodies in the group as you thought things over.

"Four soldiers and three civilians," You thought to yourself. "Walter could fix stuff great, but I don't think he is fit for the field. If we include the other fit males in the building such as Jeremy's son, Jonathan, and Zachary, the computer guy, that makes nine..."

You stood up from your seat.

"Okay, listen up," You said, calling for attention. "We are going to get Zachary and Jonathan and make three groups of three. One group to stand guard and two to scavenge for supplies. I'll tag along with whichever group I choose."

Everyone nods at that. "We will try to mix up our experience levels for each group, so Team 1 will be LT Mills, PFC Garcia, and Amelia." Mills visually assessed her team and seemed pleased. But Garcia seems even more pleased if the brief, suggestive smile she threw Amelia's way was any indication.

You suppressed the urge to chuckle and continued. "Team 2 will be Jeremy, Jonathan, and SPC Zhang."

Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief that he will get to look after his son. "That leaves Team 3 with SGT Foreman, Allen, and Zachary." You check Allen's reaction to see if he is upset about Foreman being in charge of him, but he seems fine with it. He struck you as more of a follower than a leader and looks like you were right, or at the very least, that he didn't mind following people with more experience than he did into complex and potentially dangerous situations. Which was more than fair, really.

"Team 1 in the Stryker to get weapons. Team 2, you take the SUV and look for food and medical supplies. Team 3 is on guard duty. Everyone understands their assignments?"

You get a round of yeses and nods and just then, Melissa appears with plates of delicious-smelling food. "Thank you, Mrs. Carter. Let's eat and then meet back here at 10:30." You and the squad dig in as the others grab their teammates and equipment, knowing that after eating, it was time to roll out.

Once again, everyone is gathered up in the lobby, this time fully geared up for a mission along with the two, nervous-looking additions. "Ok, you all know your missions. I'll be going with Team 1. Team 2, don't stray too far from home base, and use the radio if you need help." You told them, distributing three spare sets of radios that were in the Stryker. They were certainly a blessing to have since cell phones didn't work anymore. "Just keep the chatter to a minimum among you if you can help it, the noise from the radios may attract zombies to your position if you use them outside the SUV.

More nods followed and you cleared your throat. "Does anyone have any questions before we head out?" You added.

Jonathan raises his hand. "Anything specific we should be on the lookout for, Boss?"

"Good question. The obvious answer is canned food: long shelf life and easily storable. I imagine most of those will be gone by now. Keep your eyes peeled for water filters, whether that's Britta filters or single-use straws at a camping store. On the less obvious side, look for olive oil. It has lots of nutritional benefits along with having a long shelf life. And most importantly, when you combine it with other foods, it usually satiates your hunger in a more with less kind of way, which is good for rationing. Most people might have ignored it, too."

"Last but not least," You continued, "Salt. It does more than just flavor food. If we ever manage to get our hands on some meat, we can preserve it with salt." You look around to see if anyone else has questions.

Soon, Foreman raised a hand. "Yes, Sergeant?" You said.

"Since Team 3 will stay here, is there anything else we should tell the other residents to do with their time while Teams 1 and 2 are away?"

You pondered that for a long moment, then nodded. "When we are done here, make sure you and Allen remain on the lookout first but then send Zachary to inform the other residents that anyone that wants to make themselves useful now so that things get better later after we get more resources can start taking stock of any food, medicine, clothing, towels and cleaning supplies they have on their own apartments," You began. "Make sure they know I want them to be detailed and honest as they can and have Melissa share pens and papers from Jeremy's office if they need them. I expect we will be able to scavenge much more in the coming days but it would be good if we made an record of how much stuff we have to work with so we know who needs what more than most. Then, we would be able to look for it later while distributing the excess supplies we have from one apartment to another."

Then you scratch your chin. "And be sure to have them check how many condoms and birth control pills are left in their apartment building. Until our situation is more stabilized and we are better equipped to feed and defend ourselves for the long term, it would be better if we were able to avoid any unplanned pregnancies," You added, to an audience of nods in agreement. "By that matter, add birth control to the list of things you should loot if you get the chance, Sergeant Zhang," You added. "Just don't treat it as a higher priority than more potentially life-saving medicine."

The alluring Asian soldier voiced her agreement at that. Then you turned back to Foreman.

"Make sure they know that once they are done counting those things in their own apartments, they are to hand the notes over to you for a report. Read it when you are able and then make some recommendations based on what we have to work with," You ordered, making her nod immediately.

Then you looked around, wondering if anyone else had any questions It didn't look like it. "Alright, time to go. Best of luck."

With an explosion of chatter and activity, the teams split up and get into their assigned positions and vehicles. Following Team 1 into the Stryker, Garcia hops into the driver's seat up front while Amelia, after a short tutorial from Mills, mans the 50 cal. You take a seat near the front while Mills sits near Amelia, in case she has any questions. Then, with a loud rumble, the vehicle starts up.

Garcia gave you a thumbs-up and then she took off, into the streets that the walking dead now ruled.