Disclaimer: This is a work of original fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 6.1 -- Escape (Part 1)

Residential District, Grand Isle Safe Zone, Grand Isle, Vermont, USA, 8 November 2020, 0135 hrs

On an unknown street…

As the Young Templar captain walks down the pathway, a sense of delight plays through her mind as she sees the unfolding chaos surrounding her. Screams of despair echo throughout the pavement as zombies chew on some of the unlucky civilians. “Please…Please, end my suffering…” One of the bitten civilians raises her hand to the Young Templar captain for mercy. “Very well, miss.” The Young Templar captain agrees. “In return, you will forever be bound to me as a permanent mindless servant.” .

Without hesitation, the Young Templar captain forces the zombies to stop biting the civilian lady before walking towards her. Then, she orders the zombies to restrain the civilian lady in a kneel-down position and force her mouth to be wide open. After that, she takes out her knife and removes her right-hand military-grade gauntlet before slashing her wrist. With blood oozing out, the Young Templar captain puts her wrist above the civilian lady’s mouth, where she forces her to drink the Young Templar’s blood.

While watching the poor civilian lady turning into a special mutated zombie, two Young Templars approach her. “Madam,” The Young Templar master sergeant calls out to the captain. “We have eliminated all the enemy human soldiers in the safe zone. However, we are still separating the young ones from the adults. Should we release the Grudgies to roam the safe zone?”

“Don’t release them yet,” The Young Templar captain opposes his request. “I believe some adults are still hiding their young ones in some buildings. Inform every squad to comb every room for potential hidden spots and leave no building untouched. I want all the young ones taken into our custody for their liberation. Leave not a single one of them behind!”

“Roger that, madam. We will be on our way.” The Young Templar master sergeant acknowledges his new order before he and another unmanned Young Templar soldier leave to disseminate the message to others.

As she turns back to see the civilian lady, the Young Templar captain is happy to see her transformed into a Banshee. With bloody claws protruding from her fingers, she poses a formidable threat and will not hesitate to attack both humans and zombies alike. “Congratulations on becoming a Banshee.” The Young Templar captain says in an amusing tone. “From now on, I’m your only master, and you will follow all my commands without question. Failure to do so and I will extinguish you with a snap.” .

Immediately, she orders the Banshee to follow her as she continues to walk down the pathway. ‘It’s over, pathetic humans. We destroyed your safe zone and killed all the National Guard personnel protecting you. Now, we will convert all your young ones to our kind, and they will follow our ideals to replace humanity.’ .

Food Storage Area, Mess Hall, Grand Isle Safe Zone, Grand Isle, Vermont, USA, 8 November 2020, 0137 hrs

Upon staffing the last US MRE into her Molle backpack, Eleanora counts the number of days she, and her adopted son and daughter, can last while journeying across the mainland. ‘4-5 days’ worth of supplies for the three of us. Still, I need to make some detours to towns and military checkpoints for supplies.’ The lieutenant thought as she secured the straps of her Molle backpack. ‘I hope we don’t run into trouble along the way and safely reach Seattle.’ .

Suddenly, one of the mess hall doors swings open, which alerts 1st-Lieutenant Freida. ‘Ah, shit! Intruders!’ Eleanora curses as she assumes the Young Templars barged into the mess hall. With quick thinking, she carries her Molle backpack in her right hand and walks to a door before softly placing the backpack on the ground. Then, she leans near the edge of the door and cocks her M4 Carbine Rifle to ensure there is a live bullet in the gun chamber before turning off its safety function. As footsteps are approaching the food storage area, the lieutenant plans to ambush them by appearing at the last minute and firing her assault rifle at those foes.

“Hold on, Sergeant. We are almost there to treat your wounds.” A familiar voice echoes through the mess hall. ‘Is that Kodey?’ Eleanora wonders. “Just leave me here, Kodey. I’m too far gone with my current injuries and will only slow you down further if you continue your efforts to save me.” The unknown sergeant tells him. “Just leave me here with a grenade and escape while you can. I will deal with those evil Young Templars.” .

‘It’s Kodey!’ Eleanora felt relieved after hearing his voice. She thought the Young Templars were barging into the mess hall searching for her. Thank god, it was just her adopted son coming in.

Without hesitation, she picks up her Molle backpack and walks through the door to the mess hall. To her surprise, she sees Kodey supporting an injured Sergeant Connor while walking towards the food storage area. “Kodey! Sergeant Connor! Over here!” Eleanora calls out as she directs them to the food storage area. As they help lay the injured sergeant on the floor, Freida asks Kodey, “What happened? Did both of you encounter the Young Templars while heading here?”

“Yes, we are about to leave the armoury with weapons and ammunition. Then, two Young Templars appeared out of nowhere and fired their guns upon spotting us. It was Sergeant Connor who shielded me from the shots, and I killed them with return fire.” Kodey answers.

As she opened up the injured sergeant’s military uniform, she was stunned to see several bullet wounds in his body. “Ah damn! He has too many wounds, and he needs to seek medical treatment soon, or he will die. We may need to treat your wounds here, Sergeant Connor.” Eleanora informs him. However, the injured sergeant pulls one of the lieutenant’s hands before warning her — “Don’t waste your time trying to save me. The Young Templars are killing all surviving adults and taking the surviving children and teenagers with them. Leave while you can with your family. Just give me some explosives. I will deal with them so that you and your family can escape. Please, lieutenant.” .

Before Eleanora can argue back, she hears several voices outside the mess hall. “They must have entered the mess hall earlier. Search every corner of the mess hall. I want them found!” Not wanting to get into a gunfight with the Young Templars, the lieutenant reluctantly gives Sergeant Connor some grenades before saluting and departing with Kodey. “Thank you, and good luck, Lieutenant Freida,” Seth mutters a few words with a smile as he sees them exiting from the backdoor.

Seconds later…

“Over here! I found a live one!” A Young Templar alerts his comrades. 

Soon, three more Young Templars enter the storage area. Then, they gather near Sergeant Connor to decide his fate. “Well, well, well.” One of the Young Templars speaks in a scornful tone. “Look what we have here. A lone, dying human US soldier trying to hide away in a storeroom after losing a gunfight with us. I thought human soldiers from the US military were unbeatable in combat, yet they fled after seeing us. What a bunch of cowardly chickens they are, especially this one lying right here.” .

The other three Young Templars chuckle with laughter in agreement. To them, they saw humans as an inferior species and regarded them as mere pests to their kind. They wished for the complete eradication of humanity and their brethren to rule the world.

“Any last words, pathetic human.” A Young Templar soldier tells Seth as he points his assault rifle at the injured sergeant. On the verge of his death, Seth planned to take them down in a suicide attack by detonating grenades. Not wasting the opportunity to kill them, Seth pulls out the safety pins before pointing both middle fingers at the Young Templars. “Fuck you!” Seth curses in his dying breath. “Oh crap, grenade!” One of the Young Templars shouts to warn the others, but it is too late for them to evade. The grenades explode directly at them, sending all four of them flying before hitting the shelves, killing them.

To be continued...

End of Chapter 6.1

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