THEM (Season 1): Episode 1 by M.D. Massey

Gabby and saw both fear and anger in her eyes. Apparently, this kid hated punters, which told me there might be more to that story about her uncle leaving her than she’d told me. I could worry about that later; right now I just needed to keep her and these people safe.
    “Stay here and watch Bernie’s back. There’s only one approach, unless they get tricky and swim up on you. Keep an eye everywhere that Bernie isn’t looking, and plant a bullet between the eyes of anyone who comes over the side of the boat.”
    Giving her something to do appeared to be the right thing to keep her mind occupied. “Yeah, I can do that. What’re you gonna do?”
    “Me? I’m going hunting.” I gave her a wicked grin, and then slid silently over the far side of the boat into the water.
    - - -
    Y ears before the Great War, I was a soldier. Uncle Sam spent a few million on me, unwittingly training me to be the perfect candidate for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Of course, the government had no intentions as such, as they planned on sending me and a few hundred of my closest friends to hunt for terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan. And although it cost me part of my vision in one eye, what I got in return were certain skills that have come in handy since the proverbial shit had hit the fan. Hopefully it’d be enough to save our bacon and smoke these punters.
    I fully submerged myself and swam about fifteen yards, coming up under the dock at the midway point between the shore and Bernie’s position. My only concern was that the boat would provide insufficient cover and that he’d be taken out by return sniper fire. The most likely place for a sniper to set up would be up on the deck, so I needed to get up there fast and ensure that no one got the jump on him while he was covering my ass.
    I counted boots on the shore while I was slowly working my way forward under the dock. Four sets of feet on the ground, and I could hear one more approaching on the planks above me. I pulled myself up under the edge of the dock and waited until he passed my position. Then I knocked on a boat hull and remained still until I heard his footsteps approach me. Through a crack in the planks, I could see him crouch down as if to look under the dock...
    Just as soon as he leaned forward, I reached up and pulled him in and under the water. Most people who haven’t practiced fighting while submerged panic, and that was what I was counting on. As he went under I slid behind him and crawled up his back, pushing him further under the water beneath me. While he was fighting to reach the surface, I grabbed his hair with one hand, drew my bowie knife in the other, and inserted the knife in the side of his neck to the hilt. Then I cut away from me in a forward motion, nearly severing his neck completely; it only took a few more seconds for him to stop struggling. Once he quit moving, I pulled him up under the dock and pushed his body over a cross support. Then I listened for any movement that might indicate someone had seen or heard him go down. Nothing. I pushed off and hugged the underside of the dock until I reached the shore.
    Now, on to the four remaining punters that were between me and the main building. The one thing that could work in my favor is that most people freeze up when faced with a sudden, overwhelming display of violence. That’s what military and SWAT operators used to call “shock and awe,” also known as rapid dominance. Rapid dominance is a military doctrine that works well, both on the macro level when dealing with a larger theatre of operations, as well as with squad-level unit tactics.
    On an individual level, the doctrine of rapid dominance dictates that when you’re outnumbered you hit hard, hit fast, and hit them when they aren’t looking. As far as the current situation was concerned, there was no way I’d survive without the element of surprise and aggressive action; I’d be FUBAR if I didn’t run straight over these guys