As before, she took careful aim and fired the weapon, and this time the crack was much louder, the flash more intense and the kick rolled the weapon all the way over her shoulder. Wide eyed, she watched in amazement as the top right corner of the cinder block exploded and the whole thing rocked and almost tipped over. With her mouth hanging open, she looked up at Tex with awe beaming from her face.
He smiled at her and informed, "You need to finish it off."
When he motioned with his head to the block, she took aim again and fired a second shot, then a third. Her fourth shot destroyed what was left and she laughed as she lowered the weapon, her eyes on the rubble she had left.
Tex grasped her shoulder and pointed to the targets, shouting, "They're coming! Take 'em out! Quick!"
She raised the gun again and fired her last two shots quickly, one of which hit the center target.
"Nice," he commended with a nod. "Dump that brass. You'll reload yourself, then I'll show you the speed loader."
They fired off many more rounds, and each time she seemed to get better, more confident. Morris drew his own sidearm, a black, semi-automatic and the two of them seemed to enjoy a time of target shooting.
About twenty minutes later, as they were reloading, Sergeant Morris' radio beeped and Colonel Halstead's voice summoned, "Sergeant, come in."
Raising it to his mouth, Tex replied, "Sergeant Morris here. Go ahead, Colonel."
"I need you and Private Princess in the staff room five minutes ago," Halstead ordered.
"On our way, Sir," the Sergeant assured. Putting his radio back, he looked to the girl, then near the door where a table that had a variety of holsters, empty magazines and boxes of brass on it. He walked to the table with her on his heels and stopped there, selecting a holster for her revolver that he had put there for that purpose. "Okay, Princess. Let's get you fitted with this on the way down. Grab that belt."
They arrived in the conference room a few minutes later and Zoe was holding her head up as she proudly wore her pink revolver over her left hip. Her left hand rested on it and her right thumb was hooked in her belt, and she seemed to walk with a swagger that she had not before.
Colonel Halstead was already seated and looking over a couple of papers, and a map lay in front of him that looked like it had been quickly drawn by someone. The Captain and Lieutenant sat at his side, and all three looked up at what they were reading as the Sergeant and girl reached the table.
The Colonel raised his chin and announced, "We might actually have some good news for a change. We got a communication from the Pentagon. Turns out they're still in business over there. Also turns out that this war is going pretty well for a few other areas and we can expect reinforcements and resupply within a couple of weeks."
"From where?" the Sergeant asked apprehensively.
"You'll like this, Sergeant. It seems that Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Texas have all been declared secure."
"Hell, yeah," Tex said with a proud smile.
"Oo-rah," the Colonel added. "Texas is sending us three thousand regulars and about five thousand volunteers with armor, supplies and air power. We can also expect surgical air strikes from Nellis as well as four carriers that finally got home to help us out. Bad infested areas are likely to be naped or nuked, but for now our orders are to hold out here and secure as much of the city as possible." He glanced at Zoe and continued, "We need to remember that these aren't people anymore. The people they used to be are dead and gone, and what's left over is our enemy. We can't let a single one of these things get by us, and that means a building by building search and destroy program until we're done here. We are going to secure this city starting with a two mile radius from our main base of operations."
With a nod, Tex said, "Sounds like a plan, Colonel."
Halstead's eyes shifted to Zoe. "You're our secret weapon, Cupcake. You ready for some payback?"
She raised her chin and loudly barked, "Yes, Sir!"
Looking back to Morris, the Sergeant ordered, "Your platoon will take two Strykers and a bus over to a shopping mall of some kind about two clicks south of here. There is word of survivors but we haven't been able to send anyone in to confirm this. There is also word that the area is thick with moaners, and once you make contact I'll want you to advise Echo Base and get reinforcements before you engage in earnest. Establish and hold a perimeter and await reinforcements."
"Understood, Sir," Sergeant Morris said with a nod. "How far out will our reinforcements be?"
"Allow about fifteen minutes," the Colonel answered, "but don't get yourself in too deep. This isn't just a rescue mission, this is a seek and destroy mission. If we have a lot of moaners in one place then we're going to want to take out as many as possible. Draw them in and give the main force a cluster to take out all at once."
Tex nodded. "Got it, Sir." He looked to Zoe and ordered, "Let's get mounted up."
As with the other mall, the parking lot of their target was virtually empty but for a few abandoned cars and a couple of trucks. The Strykers pulled right up to the front doors and turned around, then backed toward the building as far as they could and stopped.
The back of one opened and Zoe stood ready to jump out and go about her mission. Around her black belt were small pouches, her gun in its holster over her left hip and she wore a black utility vest that was closed and fitting her snugly over her white tee shirt. Tex stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder as they both looked to the shattered glass doors of the mall.
"Just remember everything I told you," he ordered. "Stay in contact and let us know what you find. Use your speed loaders and take shots sparingly. You have sixty rounds so try not to waste them."
She nodded and assured, "I'll be careful, Sergeant William." Her radio was in her hand and she looked down to it, knowing that it was her only contact to those who awaited her in the Stryker. She found herself not afraid, but anxious, and this showed on her face as she stared into the depth of the mall she was about to enter, a place she had been many times.
Looking over her shoulder to the Sergeant, she informed, "We used to come clothes shopping and stuff here. It's cheaper than the other mall, but I like the food court at the other one better. This is where I got my sparkly princess tee shirt."
He nodded and looked down to her. "Just remember we're looking for zombies and survivors this time, so try to stay focused."
"Okay," she sighed as she looked to the mall again.
There was shattered glass from the doors all over the floor and she walked gingerly over it, looking around her for any movement. With the .357 Magnum on her side, she felt rather safe and was sure that there was nothing inside that she could not handle. Turning right, she followed the pathway along shops that were familiar to her. Like the last mall, many stood open, but many had the cages down and were locked down tight. Bad memories of the last two times were still with her and her eyes panned around nervously as she felt her confidence begin to shake, and just the inklings of a nervous crawl in her belly.
Reaching the end of the path where a major department store sat, she looked to the cages that sealed the glass doors, gently grasping one with her hand as she looked inside. There was no movement, but there was quite a mess in there. She tried pulling up on the door, but found it locked. Time to move on.
Halfway back to the middle of the mall, she saw something ahead of her that was very familiar, a tee shirt shop that had always been one of her favorites. This one she went into and her mission would have to take a back seat to something else for a while.