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 -- Escape
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.
Unknown Area, Grand Isle Safe Zone, Grand Isle, Vermont, USA, 8 November 2020, 0140 hrs
Both Kodey and Eleanora arrive at the place where she parked her personal Humvee. “Quick, help me open this shutter, Kodey,” Eleanora tells him. Kodey nods in acknowledgement, and they together lift open the gate. To their surprise, they see Erika standing before them and are about to hit them with a crowbar. “Erika, what on earth are you doing?! Aren’t you supposed to stay inside my personal Humvee for safety?!” Eleanora scolds her. “I’m sorry!” Erika apologises in panic. “I thought the Young Templars found me in here so…” Before she could finish her statement, her brother Kodey took the crowbar and threw it away. “No time to explain. Get in the Humvee now, Erika. We are leaving.” Kodey orders his sister as he opens the door for her. “Mom, we have no time to argue with her. We must leave now, or the Young Templars will catch up to us.” .
With the threat of Young Templars closing in on them, Eleanora hurriedly opens up the rear cargo hatch of her personal Humvee to put in their essential bags. In less than a minute, they put in all their necessary bags and military equipment before the lieutenant closes the cargo hatch. Then she boards the Humvee through the driver’s seat and starts its engines. “Has everyone fastened your seatbelts?” Eleanora asks them as she quickly fastens her seatbelt. “Yes, Mom!” Both Kodey and Erika reply in unison.
“Good. Here we go!” Eleanora says as she turns on the Humvee’s engine. Then, she pushes the clutch to drive mode and slams her foot down onto the accelerator. The engine roars to life as the Humvee exits the garage in a flash before performing a sharp left turn onto the road. As the Humvee races down the road, it encounters several zombies and Young Templars scattered across it. “Get down, you two! We are in for a bumpy ride!” Eleanora warns as she presses down the accelerator to speed up further.
With great speed, the Humvee can knock out the zombies with ease. However, several Young Templars spotted the vehicle and opened fire towards it with their weapons. ‘Shit!’ Eleanora curses in her mind as she navigates the road, trying to avoid knocking down the Young Templars.
Meanwhile…
While walking down the road, the Young Templar captain spots the incoming Humvee racing towards her. Not wanting the vehicle to go past her, she orders the Banshee to attack it. “This is Foxhound reporting in! I spotted an enemy Humvee trying to flee the safe zone. Stop that vehicle by whatever means necessary! Do not let it escape!” The Young Templar captain orders with a sense of determination coming from her voice. As the Banshee charges at the Humvee like a mad bull, the lieutenant tells herself not to be afraid and drives towards it for a quick ram.
Not wanting to get rammed by the oncoming Humvee, the Young Templar captain dashes for the roadside to avoid getting hit. To her dismay, the Banshee got rammed by the Humvee so hard that it died upon impact. Angered that the Banshee failed to stop the Humvee, she activates her Communication Headgear to warn the other Young Templars and the Ravens operating nearby. “Attention all units! A lone Humvee is trying to leave the safe zone by heading straight for Checkpoint C-2. Use whatever means necessary to stop that vehicle from escaping!”
Moments later…
As the Humvee approaches Checkpoint C-2, shock enters Eleanora’s mind as she sees two M2 Bradley IFVs and several Young Templars guarding the checkpoint’s exit. ‘Crap!’ Eleanora grumbles in anger. However, she has no other choice. If she can’t drive past the two IFVs, the Young Templars will direct all their firepower towards their vehicle, killing them. Hence, she has no choice but to do a daring but reckless dash. “You will never stop us!” Eleanora shouts as she drives recklessly to avoid the oncoming gunfire shots.
To her luck, the Humvee crosses through the checkpoint despite sustaining some damage from the gunfire shots. As the vehicle speeds down the roadway, Eleanora is glad that she and her adopted son and daughter left the fallen safe zone with their lives intact. However, they are still in danger as they have yet to cross the North Hero Bridge.
“Are you two alright?” Eleanora asks them in concern while driving. “Both of us are fine, Mom,” Kodey replies after checking on his sister. “That’s good to hear. We are almost out of this island. Once we cross the bridge up ahead, we are safe. Hang on, you two,” Eleanora says in a comforting tone. While driving the Humvee, she hoped that no Young Templars were hiding at the roadside to ambush them after crossing the bridge later.
Abandoned Building (Rooftop), US Route 2, Alburgh, Vermont, USA, 8 November 2020, 0200 hrs
Twenty minutes later…
Sally is on the rooftop building eating a YTA MRE Choco PowerBar while looking through the scope of her M110 SASS sniper rifle. While looking at the bridge, an alert pops up on her Ballistic Facemask, notifying her that a nearby Humvee is approaching her location. “Sergeant Hass!” Sally calls out to her comrade through the Communication Headgear. “I spotted the escaped Humvee! It is speeding so fast that it will dash past our position if we don’t take it out now!”
“Negative, Sergeant Flannery!” Antoine’s voice echoes through the headgear in objection. “The enemy Humvee is too fast for us to disable it by shooting. Leave it to our Demolition Specialists at the rear to take it out.” However, Sally is not listening to him as she plans to take out the Humvee with her seasoned sniper rifle. “You will never escape from me, stupid humans!” Sally mumbles to herself as her eyes track the Humvee through the scope. While aiming at the Humvee, an unknown energy flows into Sally as she prepares to perform a powerful shot.
As the Humvee crosses the bridge, Sally intends to take out the vehicle, passing halfway through it. “Eat lead,” Sally mutters with enmity as she adjusts her sniper rifle’s scope reticle to aim below the Humvee. Then she pulls the trigger, and her gun produces a powerful shot with the bullet exiting from the edge of the rifle’s suppressor.
The bullet lands on the road just inches away from the Humvee, causing a notable explosion that results in the Humvee veering uncontrollably before flipping over in a series of barrel rolls and landing near the abandoned building.
“Enemy vehicle taken out!” Sally reports in a delightful tone. “Should we step in, Sergeant Hass?”
“Well done, Sharp Hawk!” Antoine praises her over the headgear. “Come down and meet me at the crash site. Let’s check the crashed Humvee for any survivors.” .
“On my way, Antoine. Over and out.” Sally acknowledges his message and takes off her camouflaged Young Templars military cape as she stands up. Then she picks up her cape and wears it again before descending from the building’s rooftop with her sniper rifle.
As she rendezvous with Sergeant Hass, Sally takes out her M45 MEUSOC pistol and cock it before turning off its safety function. “Well, well, well. Look what we got here.” Antoine says in an amusing tone as he scans through the wrecked Humvee.
“Look at those poor humans, Sally. They failed to escape from us despite using a military vehicle.” Antoine jeers at them before looking at Sally. “Sergeant Flannery, don’t you mind lifting them from the wreckage? They can no longer run away from us.” .
Sally nods and slowly approaches the wrecked Humvee while clutching her M45 pistol tightly in her hands. ‘It’s over, foolish humans.’ Sally gloats in delight as she removes a Humvee’s door with her left hand. Unknown to Kodey and Erika, they will be in a rude awakening when facing the Young Templars later on.
To be continued...
End of Chapter 6
Note: All the characters, places and storylines are owned by Jeremy Mountbatten. All rights reserved by the author. Feel free to give some feedback and don't forget to vote for this chapter. If you want to support me, you can tip me on Ko-Fi (link provided below).