have any weapons?"
"Crowbar ," the man said . "In my belt. K nife in my pocket. Look man…we gotta hurry… "
Lee made eye-contact with the sentry and nodded. As the sentry moved towards the stranger, Lee spoke again. "The sentry is going to take your weapons. If you move, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
"Yes. "
The sentry rifled through the man's thick layers of clothing, then paused and looked at his own hands, which were dark and glistening. "Jesus," the sentry exclaimed. "He's fucking covered in blood!"
"Keep going," Lee said steadily.
The kneeling man looked at the sentry. " I had to kill two of them to get here,” he said , but did not elaborate .
As the sentry extracted the crowbar and knife, Lee stepped closer to the man. "You can stand up now. What happened?"
The man reached out for Lee as he drew closer and his eyes were sharp and dark as obsidian, chipped to some primitive arrowhead . "Please! We don't have time…t hey're in the truck! They're in the back of the truck, and they're surrounded!"
" S low down." Lee helped the man to his feet. " Explain. "
The man's eyes flashed back and forth. "They tracked us, the crazies. We ran from our camp and we made it to this big truck and we hid in the back, but they tracked us down." The man breathed rapidly and pointed out into the dark dirt road that led away from Camp Ryder. "I was able to fight my way out and run to you guys. Please, you gotta help!"
" Where’s the truck?"
"It's maybe a mile from the end of this dirt road. I...I don't know." The man made a miserable noise and his hand went to his head and raked through his hair. "It's dark. I was disoriented."
The sentry leaned into Lee. "There's an overturned tractor trailer out on Highway 27, near Outpost Benson."
Lee took the man by the shoulder to get his attention. "Are you talking about infected?"
"Yes, the crazy people!"
"Not real people with guns?"
"No...the ones that try to eat you."
"How many of them were there?" Lee asked.
"I don't know. Maybe ten? I killed a few. Or maybe I just wounded them." He began to breathe heavily again. "Shit, I don't know… "
"Alright, calm down." Lee turned and saw Harper jogging towards them down the dark Main Street of Camp Ryder. He held his rifle in one hand and was in the process of pulling on his parka with the other. Lee looked over to the Humvee, parked just a few yards from them. He didn't want to just rush out into the darkness. He didn't know this guy, didn't know his family, didn't know wha t the threat was. Was it a pack? W as it a horde? How many were there? Ten ? Fifty? A hundred?
Maybe there was no infected at all.
Maybe this was just a trap to draw Lee and his team out of Camp Ryder.
But a decision had to be made.
"Alright," Lee said with finality. As Harper pulled up next to him, breathing hard and rubbing sleep from his eyes, Lee pointed to the Humvee. "Get that thing ready to roll. We're headin' out as soon as the others get here."
" Okay,” the man slapped his hands together. “But we gotta go fast!”
Lee looked at him, tight-lipped. "We'll go as fast as we can safely go."
"Uh, Lee..." Harper said quietly.
The two men made eye-contact.
Harper jerked his head over towards the Humvee.
Lee stepped to the side with Harper, already knowing what was coming.
"What the fuck is this about?"
"Look, his wife and kids are trapped in the back of a truck. Surrounded by infected. It's the guy from the road earlier."
Harper peered over Lee's shoulder at the man, as though to confirm that it was the same person that had run away frightened when Jim had tried to make contact with him only hours ago. "It doesn't matter. Are you thinking clearly right now?"
Lee rubbed his hands together for warmth. "Yes, I'm thinking clearly. The guy's been banging and yelling at our gate for the last five minutes. If we refuse, he's going to keep freaking out at our gate and draw infected in and we'll have to fight them anyway. At least this way, we
"Crowbar ," the man said . "In my belt. K nife in my pocket. Look man…we gotta hurry… "
Lee made eye-contact with the sentry and nodded. As the sentry moved towards the stranger, Lee spoke again. "The sentry is going to take your weapons. If you move, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
"Yes. "
The sentry rifled through the man's thick layers of clothing, then paused and looked at his own hands, which were dark and glistening. "Jesus," the sentry exclaimed. "He's fucking covered in blood!"
"Keep going," Lee said steadily.
The kneeling man looked at the sentry. " I had to kill two of them to get here,” he said , but did not elaborate .
As the sentry extracted the crowbar and knife, Lee stepped closer to the man. "You can stand up now. What happened?"
The man reached out for Lee as he drew closer and his eyes were sharp and dark as obsidian, chipped to some primitive arrowhead . "Please! We don't have time…t hey're in the truck! They're in the back of the truck, and they're surrounded!"
" S low down." Lee helped the man to his feet. " Explain. "
The man's eyes flashed back and forth. "They tracked us, the crazies. We ran from our camp and we made it to this big truck and we hid in the back, but they tracked us down." The man breathed rapidly and pointed out into the dark dirt road that led away from Camp Ryder. "I was able to fight my way out and run to you guys. Please, you gotta help!"
" Where’s the truck?"
"It's maybe a mile from the end of this dirt road. I...I don't know." The man made a miserable noise and his hand went to his head and raked through his hair. "It's dark. I was disoriented."
The sentry leaned into Lee. "There's an overturned tractor trailer out on Highway 27, near Outpost Benson."
Lee took the man by the shoulder to get his attention. "Are you talking about infected?"
"Yes, the crazy people!"
"Not real people with guns?"
"No...the ones that try to eat you."
"How many of them were there?" Lee asked.
"I don't know. Maybe ten? I killed a few. Or maybe I just wounded them." He began to breathe heavily again. "Shit, I don't know… "
"Alright, calm down." Lee turned and saw Harper jogging towards them down the dark Main Street of Camp Ryder. He held his rifle in one hand and was in the process of pulling on his parka with the other. Lee looked over to the Humvee, parked just a few yards from them. He didn't want to just rush out into the darkness. He didn't know this guy, didn't know his family, didn't know wha t the threat was. Was it a pack? W as it a horde? How many were there? Ten ? Fifty? A hundred?
Maybe there was no infected at all.
Maybe this was just a trap to draw Lee and his team out of Camp Ryder.
But a decision had to be made.
"Alright," Lee said with finality. As Harper pulled up next to him, breathing hard and rubbing sleep from his eyes, Lee pointed to the Humvee. "Get that thing ready to roll. We're headin' out as soon as the others get here."
" Okay,” the man slapped his hands together. “But we gotta go fast!”
Lee looked at him, tight-lipped. "We'll go as fast as we can safely go."
"Uh, Lee..." Harper said quietly.
The two men made eye-contact.
Harper jerked his head over towards the Humvee.
Lee stepped to the side with Harper, already knowing what was coming.
"What the fuck is this about?"
"Look, his wife and kids are trapped in the back of a truck. Surrounded by infected. It's the guy from the road earlier."
Harper peered over Lee's shoulder at the man, as though to confirm that it was the same person that had run away frightened when Jim had tried to make contact with him only hours ago. "It doesn't matter. Are you thinking clearly right now?"
Lee rubbed his hands together for warmth. "Yes, I'm thinking clearly. The guy's been banging and yelling at our gate for the last five minutes. If we refuse, he's going to keep freaking out at our gate and draw infected in and we'll have to fight them anyway. At least this way, we
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