"She's with us," Sergeant Morris informed with harsh words. "For right now that's all you need to know. Make a move against her and we'll drop you like a hot rock, got it?"
Another of the men, in a red tee shirt, sneered, "Oh, so now the army's protecting moaners? I thought you were supposed to be looking out for the rest of us!"
Tex's eyes narrowed and he growled, "You'll be told what you need to know when you need to know it. We're out here…" He trailed off as he heard something toward the front of the store.
The three other men wheeled around and raised their weapons that way.
Zoe stepped slowly around Sergeant Morris, her eyes wide and fixed across the store. Breathing in through her nose, she could smell that faint carrion scent and whimpered slightly.
"What do you see, Princess?" Tex asked in a low voice.
"I can smell them," she replied in a little girl's voice. "They're coming in. I think they heard us!"
"Okay," Sergeant Morris said as calmly as he could. "Everybody fall back to the defensive position. You three, come with us."
The three men nodded and retreated slowly with the soldiers.
Right outside the door to the stock room, Tex ordered, "Right here. We'll set the first line here and take the edge off of them, then we'll fall back into the break room. New guys, fire three rounds into them and get into the break room. You'll see where our second defensive line is set up. Get behind it."
With a nod, the man with the bandanna answered, "Sure, man."
"Stay sharp," the Sergeant murmured to them as the first of the zombies came into view. "Zoe, get back to the break room."
Hesitantly, she complied, backing away at first, and then turning to run to safety.
The firefight outside sounded horrible and she sat in the far corner of the room near the emergency exit, balled up as tightly as she could be with her hands covering her ears. Still, as close by bursts would sound and rattle the room she would cringe and tightly close her eyes. Anxiety welled up in her and she found herself shaking, and eventually she started to cry. The zombies did not frighten her as much as the noise did and she found herself wanting to get up and flee. Before, the excitement had overridden her fear. Now, that was reversing.
Even over the deafening sound of gunfire and even with her hands over her ears, she heard the radio blare to life and Colonel Halstead call, "Sergeant Morris, come in."
There was no answer and it was easy to conclude that Tex could not hear his radio over the gunfire.
"Sergeant Morris," the Colonel called again. "Come in. We're responding to gunfire at the sporting goods store. What is your position?"
Zoe finally took her radio and loudly answered, "He can't hear you! He and the other guys are fighting some zombies that came after us!"
There was a hesitation, then Colonel Halstead demanded, "Where are you, Princess?"
"I'm in the break room," she replied. "They're right outside and there are a lot of zombies out there."
"Okay, we're coming in," the Colonel assured. "We're at the back of the building. If there is a door you can open to give us your exact location then do it."
"I think there are zombies out there," she informed.
"Negative," he corrected. "We've cleared the back of the building. I have fire teams ready to move in. Open any door you can find and do it now!"
"Yes, Sir," she complied. Pushing herself up, she looked to the emergency exit and hesitantly placed her hands on the red bar, and after a few seconds to gather her nerve, she pushed on it. The alarm sounded, but it did not open right away, and she could feel a few pangs of panic welling up in her. With a childish whimper, she pushed again, then again.
One of the men who had entered, one in a white tee shirt, rushed in and hesitated when he saw her trying to open the door, then shouted, "What are you doing?" as he charged forward.
Right as he reached her, the latch finally gave and the door opened.
As it swung fully open, he reached her and grabbed her arm. He turned and forcefully hurled her into the middle of the break room where she crashed into one of the tables and tumbled over it to the floor as it overturned. He pulled the door shut, then turned on the girl again, holding his handgun ready as he snarled and said, "I knew we shouldn't trust some moaner!"
As he leveled his weapon on her, Zoe pushed herself up and cried, "But I have to let Colonel Halstead and the other soldiers in!"
"You just want to let more moaners in," he snarled. Aiming his weapon, he pulled the trigger.
Zoe screamed and turned away from him, covering her head with both arms as he fired. She felt the first round impact her back, then the second and she fell flat against the floor.
Someone banged on the door and he swung around, training his weapon on it. Three hard knocks and he panicked and fired through it a couple of times, backing away as he did.
Pushing herself up again, Zoe looked over her shoulder as he retreated and fired through the door again. She knew she had to let the soldiers in and that was her driving thought, her only thought. Pulling her feet under her she staggered up to her feet, and when the man was an arm's length away she lunged into him and pushed him hard, watching him stumble to the floor before she ran past him and to the door. With the alarm still blaring, she pushed against the red bar again and this time it opened right up, and as it did someone shot through it from the other side and both rounds lanced right through her belly.
Zoe stumbled and fell, catching herself on her hands on the concrete outside before falling all the way to her belly.
"Hold fire," someone shouted.
She slowly raised her head, her eyes finding a number of black clad soldiers, and she screamed, "Would you quit shooting me?" As she pushed herself up, two of the soldiers took her arms and helped her to her feet, and one of them barked, "Colonel, she's hit!"
"Get her to the Stryker!" Halstead ordered as he stormed to them. "The rest of you, get in there and relieve Sergeant Morris. Delta Squad, take the other Stryker to the front and hit them from that side, and stay out of Truent's line of fire for God's sake!"
One of the soldiers slung his weapon over his shoulder, then he reached down and took Zoe behind the knees, sweeping her from the ground in one fluid motion. Before she realized, she was cradled in his arms and being carried to a waiting Stryker."
"I'm okay," she assured. "I got shot four times but it didn't hurt at all."
"I have my orders, Miss Princess," he informed.
"Why does everyone call me that?" she asked as they reached the assault vehicle.
"That's what it says on your shirt," he replied.
She looked down at herself, a little disgust on her face as she cried, "Oh, no! This is my only shirt and it's one of my favorites!" With one arm around his neck, she held the other away from herself as she saw the two holes in the front of her shirt and the black red blood that stained her belly. "Do you think this will come out?"
He laid her down on a stretcher inside of the Stryker and reached for a first aid kit. "You've been shot, so I think that shirt is the least of your problems. Hold still. I'm going to cut it off of you."
When he turned to her with a pair of medical scissors, she gasped and sat up, holding her palms to him as she barked, "No! I'll just take it off!"
The soldier watched in disbelief as the teenage zombie girl in front of him stripped her shirt off, and he shook his head as she held it in front of her.
"It's full of holes," she whined. "I wonder if we can still cut it and make it a crop top?"
"Um," he stammered, "should you be wearing a bra or something?"
"Nobody told me to," she replied as she laid the shirt down beside her against the wall of the Stryker.