Becoming Them: A Zombie Novel

Four

     "I'll just take one of the cars and we'll do a quick run-through of the shop," Cara negotiated with Adrian. By the look of his expression, he did not look convinced.

     "Why couldn't you have mentioned the shop during the run? It's such a waste of time and gas," he said.

     She shrugged. "It was surrounded by zeds, but it should be fine by now. We'll find gas elsewhere and it'll just be me and Megan. It should be worth a try since you didn't find much in your previous runs."

     Today was supposed to be the first day of my training, but Adrian could not know about it. So Cara espoused to coming up with the excuse of scoping out a small shop to see if there was any food or supplies left behind that Adrian and the rest were desperate for, but really she was going to take me to a secluded place, empty, especially of zeds, so that they wouldn't be able to hear us if we ever decided to practice how to use the handguns, but that was unlikely. She wanted to ready me for what the world had become. I was prepared to adapt to whatever I needed to survive.

     "It's risky, Cara."

     "Nothing would go wrong. Plus, I have Megan with me, just in case."

     I stood next to Cara and looked up at her, just about missing the wink she sent Adrian. He seemed to understand what she was trying to get at.

     He glanced between me and her and thought for a moment when his eyes stopped at Cara. "So, you're not ... " he didn't finish, only pointed between me and her.

     Cara shook her head, her expression hard. "No."

     Sighing, Adrian finally said, "Fine, but Aaron and Paula will accompany you."

     "Fine," Cara replied with a huff.

     I could understand why Adrian chose Paula and Aaron. They were both so agile and professional in their fields. Paula was efficient at knife-throwing, her being the one with the largest collection of knives and was able to thrust a blade into a zed's forehead from over thirty feet away. I didn't know her very well; she hardly spoke unless spoken to. Paula was quiet most of the time. Cara told me no one still knew how she came about to learn her knife-throwing skills. Most of the group had already known each other before the outbreak, but they had found Paula in one of the places they had looted and welcomed her because of her rare skills.

     Her, Jamie and Luther were the previous outcasts who were taken in and had proven how they'd be great additions to the group; Jamie with her quick thinking and ability to get out of problems, and Luther with his large body frame able to protect, along with his fighting abilities. That conclusion made me wonder what happened to people who didn't qualify or didn't have many or no special traits that could be useful to the group. Do they turn them away? Probably not because they took me in. Well, they just took me.

     Aaron was skilled with his sight, which was why it was easy for him to learn how to use an assortment of guns in a short amount of time. Well, the amount of time it took for the epidemic to get out of hand. However, since the group didn't carry many guns, he didn't have to use that skill right now. Instead, he was also a pro at boxing, using his slick moves to dodge zeds and get them where he wanted before going in for the kill.

     "Megan," Adrian called and I craned my neck to look up at him. "Go get Aaron and Paula, please."

     "Okay." I checked in the kitchen for the duo, finding it void of everyone except Caleb who was rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. He glimpsed at me momentarily, a look of guiltiness on his face, and I shook my head. We had just eaten lunch, and he was still hungry.