POV: Captain Jacob Hector, 1st person

"Alright," I said "Let's go. I want to get back to 19 before dark, and we only have about half the day left."

I looked at the people with me, one by one. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Badger. They all looked confident.

We set off. Slowly creeping our way up the highway. I was concerned by the fact that we didn't see any zombies less than half a mile from us. It meant that either something happened, or the zeds were hiding.

The cement of the highway ground against my gear. It was uncomfortable, but not extremely so. Hey, at least there aren't bugs flying into your nostrils I smiled a little at the thought.

One thing you usually don't think about, is why the cars all look burned up and destroyed, but what's a little amusing, is that it was one maniac who burned and blew them all up. I thought back to what we'd seen at the beginning...

2 years ago

Why is he carrying a lit torch in broad daylight? I watched from a nearby rooftop through my sniper scope. I was doing recon on the area with Sanchez. We both watched, me through a scope, and him through binoculars, as he walked up to a car and put the lit end of his torch onto it, and stood there.

"No fu**ing way..." Sanchez mumbled.

"Yeah, what is he, an anti-industrialism club member?" I said rhetorically. Sanchez gave a single chuckle.

"Your getting all smart on me, Jake" He replied. I laughed.

"Good for you, maybe it'll rub off." I smiled.

"Yeah, as if! So are we gonna keep watching this guy, or-"

BOOM

"What the fu... He's blowing up the cars!?!" I yelled in disbelief

"Alright, how did he get explos... how the he** did that a**hole get C4!?!" Sanchez yelled, staring at the guy through his binoculars.

Present

We watched him for another half hour, until he had destroyed every car on the highway for about a mile. Then we packed up and left, I mentally chuckled. I still don't know why we didn't just shoot the guy. I reached a car and crouched next to it, aiming into the window to make sure the interior was clear.

"Alright, I don't see any zeds, so you can stand up," I said, "but keep your eyes open. They might just be hiding behind the cars. Or inside of them."

1 1/2 miles later

"Alright," I said, looking around, "We've only got about half a mile left, So keep your eyes even more open than they were! This section of the city got infested first, and has always been the most infested, since!"

I could actually see the two newbies stiffen. Badger, of course, just clenched his rifle tighter for a second, making sure he was ready.

"Remember, stay calm, if you see one, use the radio, and be as quiet as possible! I'd rather sneak past these things than blast them all. Let's go!" We set off at a relaxed standard pace.

1/2 mile later

"Alright, keep a lookout, and don't make a sound, if you can help it." I ordered. We looked around, and started stealthily moving off the highway, onto a road, and down to the end of the road.

"Okay," I said softly over the radio,"Stronghold 21 should be at the other end of the street around this corner." I motioned for Badger to move up.

"I've got at least 15 zeds on this road, go prone!" He whispered a few seconds after disappearing from view. I went prone, and watched the newbies do the same. We crawled up slowly and turned the corner.

How the fu** is the other street completely clear, and this one has at least 20 zeds? I did a head count. At least 30 zombies, on one street. Shi*, I didn't realize it was this bad! I crawled forward until I reached Badger.

"Alright, single-file, follow my lead!" I whispered through the radio. I crawled ahead of Badger, found a clear route on the side of the street, and went for it.

I really hope these zeds don't care about things crawling around... I stopped to let one walk out of my way, before I got within a couple feet of it. It walked off. I started crawling again.

5 minutes later

"Regroup on me, and crouch. I'm entering the code!" I waited until they'd all gotten to me, and were hiding behind something, before I sneaked over to the keypad. I stood up slowly, careful not to make any noise or fast movement. I entered the combination, and pressed unlock. The keypad flashed green, and I heard a soft click as the door's multiple locks, bolts, and entrance alarms automatically disengaged. I crouched again and sneaked over to the door, motioning for them to come over to me. "Badger, you and Fluttershy make sure it's clear! Rarity, you go in after they radio in the clear!"

Badger and Fluttershy moved to the door, and Rarity positioned herself next to Fluttershy. Badger opened the door slowly and silently, gun raised in case the room was occupied by hostiles. As soon as Badger was out of the doorway, Fluttershy raised her gun and went in.

"Clear" Rarity went in. I backed in after her, and shut the door.

"Okay, let's check out what's for sale!" Badger said.

I went to the door leading to the main section of the warehouse. I peeked in, and my breath caught.

“Whoa!” I breathed. The room was literally filled halfway to the ceiling with all sorts of things; Ammo, imperishable foods, various medicines, tools for construction, repair, and maintenance, and even books. The list went on and on.

“Yeah, I think we won’t need to go scavenging anytime soon…” I said in awe.

Author's Note

Standard pace meaning, they take 60 steps a minute, usually of the same size. In marching, the steps would be synchronized as well, and - at least if you're in my marching band - Each step is 1/8 of a yard (not sure what that'd be in meters). Relaxed meaning the only requirement is that you get the distance you need to get in the amount of time you need to get it: 38.75 yards per minute is the only requirement. Steps and such aren't needed. I'm in a marching band, and I'm interested military stuff. What can I say?

Weird thing: Apparently, snuck is slang, and isn't recognized by Microsoft Word. The correct word is sneaked. -shrugs- Who knew?

As I said in the comments right before I started on this chapter, I'm writing this for my friends and anybody else who likes this story. If you don't like it, it's not my problem. I mean no offense at all to anyone. I'm just saying that if you criticize, I'll read it, and if I find anything that I think is worth changing, I'll change it, but other than that, I'm going to ignore that comment.
If I change anything that you criticized I might reply saying what I changed, but other than that, don't expect a reply.
Again, no offense meant.
If this story for some reason gets taken off, there are other websites I can write on. And I have this story in a Microsoft Word Document, so I won't lose it.
If it does get taken off, I'll post on my profile what website I'll use.