Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation by Joshua Jared Scott

shifts too. That gets really, really dull after a while.
Minds start to wander. Even being careful, someone might get through.”
    “All
right,” said Briana, apparently not liking what she heard. “Go ahead and
increase the watches. You should probably set up some response groups too. We
can keep the full time militia members in the main valley, those not on watch,
and fly them over in the helicopters if we need them. How about using the
ranchers and farmers for back up? The food valleys are all around this one, and
the people there are closer to the borders than us.”
    Renee shook
her head. “I’ve already figured on using some of them for the watches. I can’t
have that many militia members spread out, too much of that already. I’ll station
a team to the south, maybe eight men, and have another to the west. Those are
the most likely areas the raiders would come from. A third will be here in the
valley. What’s left will be at our existing watch posts. If anything shows up
needing more firepower to deal with, well, it’ll be me grabbing whoever is
closest and shoving a gun in his hands.”
    “I can
spread the news first, Briana,” suggested Steph, “get the rumor mill going
about how the raiders tried to sneak in. Word of the attack is already making
the rounds, but I’m sure I can make it seem more dire than it is.”
    “That
would help with getting volunteers,” agreed Renee. “I need to work on some
rosters, get a firm grip on what I’ll be needing, watching definitely, likely
some full time militia too, until Jacob gets back.”
    “Girl,”
said Marcus, addressing Steph, “for all we know it might just be that dire.
Best for the people to be worried. Last thing we need is them thinking the
portion of the militia still here is all it will take.”
    “Have
the soldiers hold a new round of training for everyone,” added Briana. “Make it
mandatory. That should help with the taking it serious thing, and it won’t hurt
if we do get hit. Or would you rather they fight instead?”
    “Tough
call,” considered Renee. “They’re mostly instructors by training. I take that
back. David is a seriously experienced vet, but he’s all banged up and can’t
fight anymore, not in this terrain. I think we’re better off with them handling
the training. They know more about that than any of us.” She sighed. “All the diehard
combat guys are off in Yellowstone.”
    “That is
where they expected the war to be,” pointed out Steph. “From the very beginning
it looked like they would get attacked first.”
    “Yeah,”
agreed Marcus. “It made sense.”
    “Okay
then.” Briana slapped Renee on the shoulder. “Get our lot organized. I’ll make
an announcement tomorrow afternoon that the raiders know we are in the Black
Hills and have begun scouting the area in force. We will have to make
preparations so we can respond if they attack and that it will inconvenience
people so be prepared to put up with it, blah, blah, blah.”
    “They’ll
do what they have to, Briana.” Marcus tipped his cowboy hat. “I would leave off
the blahs if I were you. Not good form for a politician.”
    “I am
not…” She looked over at Steph. “Do you think I’m a politician?”
    The
redhead shrugged. “Well, you haven’t actually been elected or run a campaign
making all sorts of promises you don’t plan on keeping, but you do talk and act
like one.”
    “Oh,
God.” Briana felt sick to her stomach. “And to think, making fun of them was
one of my favorite pastimes when I was in high school. I even made jokes about
the kids running for student council.”
    “Karma,
girl.” Marcus laughed. “That’s what it is.”

 
    Chapter III
     
     
    The rotating
patrols continued for over a week without incident. Two squads went out at a
time, generally sub-divided into four groups of five each. Ranging as far as
twenty miles a trip, my people were quickly familiarizing themselves with the
terrain, and I was confident this