The winter was now long gone, with spring coming quite soon. Of course, that just meant that all heck was about to break loose I thought as I sat in the limbs of a tree close to Fort Campbell. I no longer wore any of my winter clothes and had moved on to my spring uniform. I now wore a uniform with sleeves that came to my elbows while my pants were still long. I wore a helmet and my bullet-proof vest and was like I was a few months ago when I had not become a Crossbreed. But, now that I was, it was clear that my crossbreed of a Hunter was truly a thing. My right arm was a mass of purple and dark red and my fingers had long claws curving from them. My boots had some new claws on them, which allowed me o grip the sides of buildings and other things much easier as my gloves had now holes so that my claws could be used. I had practiced some on my jumping and landing and though I didn't get an incredibly long distance, say a few hundred feet, I could get a nice long distance. I still had my sickle blade and my Karabiner 98K rifle with some new bundles grenades that, apparently, Germany had managed to donate to us. My M4, however, had to be scrapped after  almost fatal encounter with an Infected Witch when my team had been combing the remains of a hotel.

Or, more like me combing a hotel alone.

As I sat within the arms of the tree, my rifle across my stomach, I was watching from behind my gas mask while my rucksack was a support for my head. My binoculars were around my neck and though I wasn't officially on recon duty, I still kept it because with the discovery of those bandits in Nashville... Well, one can't be too careful.

Then, my radio blared out, "Hunter Six, this is Hunter Alpha. I need you to return back to the stables, Brony. We got something going on that you need to be in on right now!"

"This is Hunter Six to Alpha. I'm returning to the stables at a gallop. Lover-boy. Hunter Six out." I said with a stifled snicker and I got up as I secured all of my items before I got low and sprang into the air, towards the ground. I was only a little away from the base and as I kept towards it, I made it look like I was on the moon, walking along in the zero-gravity. Of course, that was mostly because I didn't want a bullet in me from the snipers the base just got.

As I neared it, I jumped past a guard tower and managed to say to one of the soldier, "Hey ya!"

I continued past as I finally stopped at my JROTC's tent, which was a bunch if large tents put into a compound, almost. I walked in as I past the many cadets of the battalion around me and as the chatter and noise of the tent washed over me, I looked for my teams room down the corridor. Once I had found it, I took an clawed hand and rapped my knuckles on the door and patiently waited for it to open. As soon as it opened, I walked in and said, "Hunter Six, has returned to the stables. Now where's my hay and water, Lover boy?"

Cody Tippit, who had recently gotten his long lost girlfriend back because of me, looked at me from his desk and rolled his eyes as he said, "Yeah, your waters here, Brony. My goodness, when will this thing end?" He took a nearby mug and passed it to my hands. He was a Hunter crossbreed as well and as I took the cup, I said with a chuckle, "Well you started it. I don't see how you can complain much."

I sipped the coffee, having long since gotten over drinking it without cream and sugar, and I sat on a nearby cot that had my name on its front and asked, "So, what is going on here that has me back here so early? Is something wrong?"

"Well, we finally got our new orders. And this one you sure as heck should pay attention to. We got orders from the general be ready ourselves for the reclaiming of Nashville." Cody said as he looked at me.

I nearly spewed my coffee out of my mouth at that announcement and I looked at him as I swallowed before saying, "Reclaiming Nashville? When? With who??"

"The general is saying that a small force will be taking over garrison for here while the rest of the base goes out and reclaims Nashville. We have other armies coming to help us from other nearby bases and we may even be lucky enough to have some armored divisions to support us in our efforts." Cody said as level as he could get his voice to be.

I was stunned, because this would mean either we were on an offensive or we were in the process of retaking everything within our borders. Either way, this was really big news to me and I took a breath in as I thought about this.

"When are we leaving?" I asked Cody.

"Well, from what I got out of the commander today, very soon. I can't say how soon but I know its very soon." Cody said.

"I'll make sure to pack up my underwear for this trip." I said as I went under my bed and pulled out a crate. I opened it and took out some of the things but not all of it. Inside, the Halo Hazop armor I had acquired from Nashville and the Winter clothing I had worn. I took out the other stuff around them, mainly supply's and extra ammo, before I opened up and organized my rucksack before I zipped it all up and put it back on my back.

"Well, I guess this means I'm going to stick around for a little while. Better go find Addie or Jennifer before my head gets numb from boredom." I said as I went to the door.

"Ooooh..... Um, Keeper?" Cody said.

I stopped. I knew that when he said that, something was up. I turned back to face him.

"What? Something wrong?"

"Well.. How can I say this..." He sighed. Then he looked straight into my eyes.

"Jennifer... We lost contact with her some time ago. She literally dropped off our radar and we can't get anything out of her... We... We assume the worse." He said.

I kinda thought this over. I didn't let it get to my head, since already enough had messed around with it to fill a book or a short story. I finally sighed before I said, "Lets pray we find where she went." And then I left the room to find Adriana.

I found her near the JROTC tent as she shot her M4 at the range behind the tent and I stayed at a distance until she had finished. As she put down her rifle, I popped up next to her and said, "Hey, how are you?"

"Doing fine." She had turned into a Medusa crossbreed and the surprising thing was that it actually made her beautiful in a weird and deadly way. "You heard we're going to be retaking Nashville, right?"

"Yep. Cody actually called me back to base to tell me. As much as I wish I could say it surprises me, I cant really say that since it was us both that had to go and snoop it out." I said to her.

"So you're not really upset we're leaving here to let it be looked after by another garrison?" Asked Adriana.

"Nope. If anything, it means no more patrols. But it does mean lots of cleaning buildings clear of all Infected inside them. Not too mention contending with those Bandits and their Apache." I said.

Adriana fiddle with something on my armor vest and I looked down to see one of the collectible figures she had fastened onto a chain before attaching it to every part of my armor. I also still wore my Brony necklace and as I chuckled as she messed around with a figure of Derpy Hooves, I said to her, "Please tell me you won't do this for too long. It looks really weird is all I'm saying."

"Well, I do prefer to fiddle around with my own that I have now. It's a shame we're the only Brony and Pegasister here." She said as he fiddled around with one of her figure hanging off her vest.

"Nah. I think having two of us is plenty enough for the garrison. Remember, not everyone can appreciate and how we like this fandom."

Almost two days after that day, the orders were given to mount everyone up and to roll out to Nashville. As my whole squad got in, we loaded into the back of a waiting APC as I closed the hatch once everyone was in. The interior was dark and lit by only a few lights but it was enough to see everyone. I could hear the engines of who knew how many other vehicles, everything from trucks to tanks, outside the APC and only after a short bit, the APC got moving from the base as it proceeded with what might have been the biggest convoy ever conceived in our army. Though HMMVW's were to either side of us with various weapons,  tanks rolled next to us while everything with troops inside of them was  going straight up the middle of the highway. Above us, everything from Little birds and Blackhawks  to Ospreys and Chinooks were flying over head and I knew that some large C130's with airborne packed inside of them was also above us. I leaned my head back against the APC's interior and began to drift off to sleep. But just as I did, I noticed someone lay their head against my shoulder and I peeked an eye open as I saw Adriana surprisingly silently sleeping the day away.

I felt a tap and I looked over to see Cody grinning and making a silent laugh. I stuck my tongue out at him and rolled my eyes as I understood all too well what he was trying to say. Of course, I kind didn't care as my head went up against the APC interior and my eyes drifted closed before I was snoring away. And thank goodness APC's were loud with their engines.

When someone shook me roughly, I slightly groaned as I arched my back and stretched my arms out only a little bit. I looked around me and saw the others were all having the same done to them and I asked Cody, "How far out are we?"

"I want to say only a few minutes from the outskirts of Nashville. So, get ready for anything." Cody said as he checked the magazine for his M16.

I nodded as I opened the action on my rifle and took out all of the rounds in the magazine before I put them back in one-by-one. I closed the action as I checked my sickle was still sharp and then sheathed it as I knew trying to make sure a grenade worked inside here was the stupidest thing I could do. I shook Adrianna awake and as she moaned and grumbled, I managed to look outside through one of the few armored view blocks on the side of the vehicle. I could see suburbs and many other buildings when it wasn't obscured by other vehicles and then I asked, "Wait, I know I should have said this earlier but are we the only army attacking Nashville?"

"No. Thankfully, we have another army coming down from Chicago, Illinois. They wont be here for a while but there's another coming from the east that was fighting along the coastal cities. But, we're on our own for a little while before they arrive." Cody answered as he nodded.

I let out a thankful breath.

Just then, there was squawking over the radio mounted up in the drivers seat and I couldn't make put what it all was but I knew that something was up. Cody leaned his head over as he listened to his radio and then he looked at the squad, who were all awake by now, and said, "Well, good news is that we can still get into Nashville. Bad news is, I think we just alerted every zombie in the city to our presence. We're approaching an old FOB near the football stadium. We cant cross the river yet, so we're going to be stuck on one side of the river."

"Wait? A FOB? Did they check for anyone in it?" I asked as my mind just remembered something.

Cody realized what I was thinking and got on his radio as he asked the question to  whoever was on there. And when he looked up, he said to me, "There are people there. But-"

"STOP THE CONVOY! DISMOUNT EVERYONE! Those are Bandits inside of that FOB and they have military gear to fight us with!" I shouted as I realized that of the convoy didn't dismount now and begin our attack, we wouldn't survive for too long against the Bandits here.

Cody nodded as he began to shout over his radio and I got myself ready next to the door as Knuckles said, "You better not be getting jumpy, Stiles. The general will kill us if we're getting jumpy."

That's when I heard something off in the distance: the coughs of mortars.

"SHOOT! INCOMING!" I shouted.

The driver and maybe even the whole convoy must have heard the shots because he stopped the APC and dropped the ramp as I bolted out and immediately saw where we were. The football stadium was close by and I could see the FOB set up near it. I also could see shapes flying through the air towards the convoy and though i couldn't make them out completely, I could tell that they were the mortar shells. I looked to my right and saw the opposite bank of the river that cut through Nashville and I couldn't see anything over there.

My squad formed up around the ramp and I could see the whole convoy stopping itself as everyone dismounted. I heard shouts as a nearby M1 Abram tank fired its main gun just as the mortar shells landed into the convoy. I heard screams and some gunfire as a few Bradly's and two Abrams fired their guns at the FOB. I saw more vehicles moving in while some squads began to remount but I could already see that we need to move now.

"Come on, lets go! Get to the FOB!" shouted Cody as he pointed to me, Bryce, and Tanner as himself, Knuckles, Grace, Mell, Adriana, and Sarah went back into the APC. Even as the APC's hatch closed, myself, Tanner, and Bryce all coiled up before we sprung high into the air like we had exoskeletons from CoD Advanced Warfare. As we landed down near the FOB, assault rifle fire from one of its towers came sawing around me and we scrambled away as we ducked behind a car. I poked my head up as I looked at what was in the tower and I could see everything that I didn't want to see. I got on my radio immediately.

"Cody?"

"Keeper, what's over there? The convoy is getting picked off and I don't know when the real artillery will begin firing."

"Cody, they got our worst nightmares. I see Bandits with full armor and armed with everything from assault rifles to frickin' machine guns. Tell those tanks to start firing on those towers!"

"Roger that. I'll try to get them to aim that general direction. Hunter-Alpha out."

I turned off the radio as I ducked as another shot snapped by me, the noise of the bullet actually snapping loud in my ears. I looked at Bryce and Tanner and said to them both, "Should we risk it and try to attack them?"

An explosion rocked the car as Tanner said, "I don't think I like that idea."

Then, an explosion behind us caused us three to look up from the car to see the tower coming apart in ruins, with bodies and items on fire thrown everywhere. I grabbed a bundle grenade off my belt as I ran towards the FOB. A German Bundle Grenade was similar to their normal stick grenades only because it used a stick to throw it with a pin you pulled out from the bottom. The top was a platform attached to the stick and upon that platform were four cylinders, the same ones on the Germans normal stick grenades. As I reached the walls of the FOB, I pulled the pin out of the grenades hilt and I stood back as I tossed it up and over the wall as I said, "Frag out!"

We ducked behind the wall as we heard the grenade go off, which was very loud and I heard the screams of people dying as I sprang over the razor wire that adorned the wall as I landed inside the FOB.

"Wait what?-" I began as I realized how stupid I was just as several Bandits began to fire their guns at me. I rolled behind a car near the wall as I got my Karabiner 98k up and fired a round at one of the bandits through the window of the car. The Bandits head blossomed into red mist as I worked my rifles bolt-action before I popped up and fired another shot. This one only hit a Bandit in his shoulder and he screamed as he fell over and dropped his rifle.

Then, I heard an immense explosion go off to my left and watched as the soldiers from the convoy with a Bradley come charging through the breach they had just made. I whooped as I fired another shot off and as the Bradly's gun began to fire, Bandits began to fall in pieces. I loaded my rifle till I had a full mag and then, as Bryce and Tanner landed next to me, I looked around before I said into the radio, "Hunter-Alpha, Hunter-Six, Four, and Three have secured the FOB with the help of other soldiers. What are our new orders, sir?"

"Hunter-Six, your orders are to explore the football stadium. The rest of Hunter squad will join you soon."

I almost groaned but I managed to say, "Roger that. Hunter-Six is moving out to scout out the football field. Out."

I got up in a crouch and sprang back over the wall as Bryce and Tanner followed me shortly afterword and as we hit the ground outside the FOB. I looked towards where an entrance for the football stadium was and I saw that most were barricaded but as I began to go towards them, I noticed that many barricades had been riddled with bullet holes and blown to pieces. I came to one barricade, made out of boards, random steel beams, and other junk and as I pushed it down, I finally got to see what Sarah had said back in Christmas.

"Holy crap... What happened here?" Asked Bryce as we walked down a quiet halls while decayed corpses from long ago met us, laying spread-eagle or propped up against the walls. Bullet holes were ripped in the bodies and were strung up along the walls while there were spent, brass casings and guns laying strewn about where they had fallen.

I saw military and civilian clothed corpses as we walked along and I managed to say to Bryce and Tanner, "Remember back in Christmas, when myself and Addie went here for a scout? Well, when we found Sarah, she told us that the Bandits had attacked this place... She said, they had spared no one..."

We walked down more quiet halls and as we came to a opening to outside, I almost didn't want to go outside after what I had seen. But Tanner said to us, "Come on guys." And went up first. Myself and Bryce looked at each other before we followed Tanner up to where the first level above ground level was. And as we looked around at the inside of the stadium, I wanted to close my eyes and block what I saw out. I heard the rest of our squad come up behind us and just as Cody began to say, "Hey, what-" he stopped as he saw what we saw.

"Oh... Gawd..." I heard Mel or Grace say behind me.

The place was in ruins. Craters were everywhere and what shelter the military and Survivors had set up were either blown to bits or in shambles. I saw corpses, some intact while others were blown apart to pieces. I saw blackened patches of where fires had consumed the field and as we looked at all of this devastation, I couldn't help but want to cry for all of those who died here.

When everything had died down and the sun had set, I found myself with my squad way up on the tallest point of the football stadium as we watched for anyone or anything on the opposite river bank. I had nestled down into a prone position for this one and as I just watched with my NVG's, I couldn't help but wonder if these Bandits actually knew what they were doing. They seemed like they actually could take us on but we had what seemed far more superior time fighting then most of these guys did. But just as I began to watch a nearby building over on that side, someone tapped my shoulder and said, "Hey, tomorrow we're going with our unit into the city to begin reclaiming it, bit-by-bit."

"Well, I must be crazy then. No JROTC unit is suppose to go alone, not without a more military unit helping them." I said to Cody.

"Those will be tanks and our drivers. Its up to us to do anything."

I stifled a sigh as I said, "Okay. Well, I guess I should say good night to you all. I'm going to stay up on watch duty."

"Okay, Keeper. Don't get yourself killed." Cody walked away as I went back to watching the river bank.

Just as I had gotten back to my routine of watching, someone plopped down next to me and I managed to put my goggles up as I looked over to see Adriana nestle down next to me with her M4 her goggles over her eyes. Her little pony figures jiggled on their chains on her armor.

"Geez, is everyone wanting to come visit me? What are you up here for?" I asked her as I put my NVG's back down and went back to looking.

"Someone has to watch your back. Besides, I know that you know what happened to Jennifer recently..." Adriana said.

I didn't want to seem upset but I choked up again as I kept on lookout.

"Hey, its alright. We all got upset when she went missing. Nothing we could have done." Adriana said.

I almost wanted to just rest my bead against her shoulders and just cry but I managed to stifle the crying and I kept my duty going.

"We'll find her someday. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a few years. But we'll find her, I can guarantee that."

I managed to say without looking at her, "You really believe so?"

"Gotta have hope."

I almost laughed at that. Hope was such a useless feeling in this world and I had given up quite a bit of hope even before all of this happened. I have bad depression for quite sometime and to be honest, sometimes I've wondered whether or not it showed to my friends. I bet its been showing for quite sometime I thought to myself.

But finally, I managed to get myself straightened out and and I said, "Yeah, we gotta have hope."

That next morning, our JROTC battalion mounted into APC's and HMMVW's and began to move away from the FOB as Bradly's and Abrams escorted our little convoy towards our next objective, which was a bridge near the football stadium. We were to secure it and also the other side, which was inside of the major part of the city, amongst the skyscrapers and near the Bridgewell arena. I watched from inside my squads APC as we neared the beige and though it was not that far away from the stadium, like next door, someone had constructed walls and other things around it and the stadium so we were forced to find a way around to get to it. As soon as we came to our destination, everyone dismounted from our vehicles as the tanks and APC's covered us with their guns.

"Hunter Squad, this is Command Squad. Advance ahead of us and give us a shout it gets hot over there." Came a familiar voice over the Radio.

Cody spoke into his mic, "Command, this is Hunter Alpha. We copy. Out."

We all began to part jog, part run along the long bridge as I kept my head facing forward. We ran in a tight group along the side of one half of the bridge, which was big enough for a car to go over with no problem of having no space. We got halfway when we stopped and I scanned the surrounding buildings as Cody and all the others did the same.

"Okay, it looks clear... Let's move!" Cody began to lead us and we all moved after him as we began to move down the bridge and as I kept my rifle up, I watched the rooftops and the windows while I kept an ear open for other forms of trouble. But just as we reached maybe 3/4ths the way to the end, suddenly I saw something across the way towards where the skyscrapers were and I almost swore as my rifle came up to my shoulder and my eye instantly looked down the sight as my breathing stopped all at once.

The crack of my rifle went off as my rifle bucked and I watched as the tracer shot fly through the air and smack into the chest of a figure who was trying to hide behind a palisade along a rooftop. And just as the scream was heard, I took a rifle grenade and snapped it onto my rifle barrel as I brought it up and fired it up into the air. It sailed through the wind as it arced up before it began to descend down onto the roof where it exploded among several  Bandits who had just popped up from their cover.

Body's, body parts, and blood were thrown straight off the rooftop as the grenade went off and I could hear the sound of a Horde approaching as bullets began to snap at my feet and zip by my face.

"INCOMING! GET DOWN!!!" Shouted Mel as everyone threw themselves behind the side of the bridge as bullets began to fire from the nearby building right next to the bridge.

"Ligo! This is Cody! We're under fire and pinned down. Bring backup now! And tell the tank to hit the building where the smoke is coming from!" Cody shouted into his mic as he pulled the pin on his smoke grenade and tossed it at the rooftop.

I popped up and fired my rifle as I ducked down just as the smoke grenade began to let off its smoke of white color. I heard loud booms! Coming from the opposite side of the river and I scrunched up into a ball and put my hands onto my helmet as the Abrams shots began to fall onto the Bandits positions. I managed to see the rest of our Battalion coming up the bridge as I popped up with a rifle grenade fitted on my rifles barrel. As the smoke cleared, my eyes saw the remains of bodies on the rooftop.

David Ligo, our battalion commander, appeared next to my squad with his squad as he said, "Okay, let's go. Everyone, keep your eyes out for any trouble!"

"I think we got a Horde coming our way!" I said as I looked around us.

"Well, we gotta push into a building and hold up in it till we get more help. None of our vehicles can safely cross the bridge unless they think those things can swim." Ligo said and we began to advance off the bridge at a brisk pace.

We got off the bridge an into the streets of Nashville when suddenly, the noise of a Horde drew closer and I nearly swore as I shouted, "HORDE!!!!!"

Everyone began to run from the bridge as I jumped with Bryce, Tanner, and Cody to the nearest, easily defensible position and as we approached a large enough building, I busted down the door as I shouted to the others, "Quickly! Inside!"

Everyone ran in as we helped some in and as we all got set up inside, others of us were finding every bit of furniture to use as part of a barricade. I stacked up sofas, benches, chairs, and more as we all braced the barricade and as people began to break down windows to use as firing spots, I could hear the Horde coming in closer and closer. I went to a window and smashed it open with the butt of my rifle and as I made sure I had a full clip, I kept the rifle grenade on my barrel as I aimed it out of the window. I watched as I saw a few Infected appear way down the street but I watched as more and more began to appear around the corner and I heard Ligo say over the radio, "Get ready! Here they come!"

The Horde came charging straight at us and I fired my grenade as M203 grenade launchers and other explosives were shot and hurled at the Infected tide just as they began to reach us. Explosions echoed through the city and in my ears as my rifle cracked and went off as I quickly fitted another rifle grenade and after a quick reload, fired it out the window and into the enemy Horde. More zombies went flying with blood as I fired my rifle with decent accuracy as I heard M4's, M16's, SAW's, and other weapons in my ears. I reloaded again as I used up another clip of ammo and as I looked around, I kinda hoped help would come soon.

That's probably when God above heard my cry and answered it. I heard the blades of a helicopter coming closer and I managed to see coming from the direction of the base a small group of Little Birds. I whooped as their miniguns and their rocket pods began to strafe the tide of Infected and as I watched this, the tide of enemies began to thin out some. I kept firing my rifle as I couldn't help but see the explosions of blood and gore splatter the ground as our weapons shredded the Infected around us to pieces. I reloaded another clip, the only down side of having this rifle being only 5-round clips, before I worked the bolt-action and just as I got ready to fire, that's when I heard the whoosh! of a missile and I ducked behind the wall as I head Ligo shout over the radio, "INCOMING!"

The explosion tore apart Infected but as I popped up from the window, I immediately ducked back down as gunfire began to shred the window to splinters. I kept my head down and my hands on my helmet as I said over the radio, "Bandits!"

I watched as a few of the other Cadets pop up and fire off a few shots but the sheer weight of fire was suppressing us from really fighting back. As another bullet tore a hole near my head, I risked a glance through it and saw what I really could say was our worst enemy. The Bandits had taken every available 50.cal machine gun and rocket pod and had mounted them on everything from normal trucks to small cars. A line of Bandits in stolen military armor and wielding a wide array of weapons were slowly advancing under the cover of the combines.

I managed to shout over to David Ligo, "Combines! We need support otherwise that infantry they have is going to reach us!"

"The nearest unit is also pinned down! We're on our own for now till they break the Bandit forces down on their end." David said back as he pulled the pin on a grenade and hurled it out the window he was at.

I noticed the barricade was taking a brutal beating and as I huddle behind the wall, I groaned because there was absolutely nothing we could do. That's when I realized-

"David! Do you think those tanks on the other side could lob shells over here?" I asked David as I kept my head down.

An explosion outside seemed muffled to my ears as all I could hear was the sound of machine guns ripping the building we were in apart. David thought for a very short time before he said into his radio, " Tango Bravo Alpha, what's your status? We have hostile combines of various types firing on our position. We need them gone. Can you provide a form of bombardment?"

"Rossview Commander, we can provide only a certain amount of it. Once we hit our limit, we will need to stop. Smoke us those combines or at least las them so we know what were shooting at." Came the reply and immediately I prepped a special rifle grenade.

I aimed the smoke grenade out the window and fired as machine gun for tore the air around me. I hit the floor as I heard the grenade go off and I watched from where I was as smoke trailed into the sky. I poked out my head and saw that I had hit the mark.

"Tango Bravo Alpha, light 'em up!!" Shouted David into his mic.

No reply came but instead we heard the distant artillery fire and we all covered our heads as the shells of HE and HEAT rounds began to fall in front of us. I heard screams and yells as I kept my head down and I heard the sounds of explosions. When it was all done, the thing lasting only a few minutes, I popped my head out slowly as I surveyed the scene.

The enemy vehicles were all wrecked and in pieces while the bodies of the Bandits were scattered everywhere, some torn to shreds while blood painted the ground. As I scanned the perimeter, I watched for any sign of enemy movement. Then, I nodded to Ligo as he said, "Tango Bravo Alpha, good job. Enemy mechanized units are scrap metal. Good job."

Davis looked back at everyone around him was he said, "Okay, boys and girls, we set up shop here and wait it out till help arrives. Let's get to work."

Through the rest of the day, we worked to transform the building, which was nor more than a small hotel, into a fortress that was as impregnable as they could get. Barricades were set up at the biggest entrances and any scrap metal and boards were bolted to all windows. Everyone got a room to call home and as I sat up on the roof, I surveyed for every form of trouble. Surprisingly, the Infected had stayed away and no Bandits had been seen but I kept up my vigilance as I kept looking all around me. As I looked, someone nudged my shoulder and I looked to my left to see Adriana.

"Addie... What are you doing up here?" I asked her as I looked at her.

"Taking watch with you. It doesn't help us when your all alone, since you get yourself into more trouble than the rest of us. Combined!"

I looked at her with a funny look behind my mask. "What are you talking about? I have yet to get myself into that sort of problem."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, how far do you think we are from Opry mill?" Addie asked me.

"And why?"

"You know... that one place..." She said with a tint of excitement.

Before I could answer, I heard over my radio, "Are you serious? Please tell me we aren't going there for even a short while?"

"Cody!" I practically shouted at him, "Stop eaves dropping on us! Even I'm not that rude!"

I heard something click off and I paused before I gave Addie an answer. "Okay, I do understand what you are talking about. What I don't understand is why I should be interested in it so much."

She gave a sigh as she looked at me and said, "I wonder if there are any MLP stuffed animals still there?"

That perked my ears up. "Are you actually thinking about that? Wow, even I forgot about stuff like that. But, how can we get over to there, considering its on the other side of Nashville, when we're stuck here fighting a war?"

She shrugged honestly and I nodded my head with a shrug. Boy, does she look good in- I shook my head. Don't go there, buddy-boy. Not when your right next to her in a war zone!

I kept looking around as another person tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see no one. I heard giggling to my right and my head turned around as I said, "You seriously going to do that right now?"

Addie merely giggled some more and grinned as she nodded.

I rolled my eyes as I poked her side and she gave a squeak as I said, "That's payback. Now, help me keep lookout before we have another assault on us."

She set herself up as we looked around and my mind kept drifting around her even as I tried to reel it in before it got carried away.

As night fell on Nashville, I could see where the current war front was. All I had to do was see where the smoke from fires was coming from and just see where squadrons and sorties of Helicopters were headed off to. Of course, we still were cut off, since no one had gone over the bridge in a long while and I wondered if anyone would come over the bridge. But as I had my NVG's back on and looking around us, I suddenly heard something way above us and as myself and Addie looked up into the sky, I saw a familiar dark shape pass overhead as a few items were dropped down from it, floating down by parachutes. Myself and Addie didn't move as the crates full of what must be supplies landed on the roof and myself and Addie quickly went to each of them and ripped off the parachutes as we folded them up. I said to Cody over my mic, "Cody, we need some help up here. Looks like we just got some supply crates..."

Cody and the entire squad was up here very quickly as we all opened up each of the crates. Inside, a huge load of supplies were stashed in the crates and as I opened up the last one, I noticed the language was not English but German and my heart beat went up as I finally ripped the cover off. I looked inside the crate and was astonished at what I saw.

Laying inside the crate next to a few spare rounds was a WW2 German Panzerbusche 39. It was one of the few Anti-tank rifles they had used and as I looked over it, I could tell that the Germans had upgraded it all, even the rounds so that they were more modern. I held it with reference in my hands when I saw something else in the crate and I put aside the rifle as I looked back into the crate.

And I saw a fully modernized Flammenwerfer 41 and I put both back in the crate as I looked back to see the others leaving me with their crates of supplies. I quickly got my crate and followed after them inside.

Inside, we got into our room and I immediately began to go through the weapons as I made sure there wasn't anything wrong with them. The others all did other things while I managed to catch out of the corner of my right eye Addie fixing her hair. I kept my attention on the weapons and when I finally knew that the weapons were A-Okay, I put the crate under my simple cot and I took off my mask as I wiped my glasses. That's the only downside of being me now, my glasses were still needed. I put them back on as I stretched my back and then stifled a yawn as I got on my cot and sat on it.

"Hey, Keeper, what is all that gear you got? Looks... almost like your rifle." Asked Bryce nearby.

"In what way?" I asked back, looking up at him.

"Well, it just seems those things need to be stuck in a museum, not here in a war zone." Explained Bryce.

"Well, that because they're both from WW2, like my rifle. So what? If anything, stuff like this makes me feel more unique." I said with a shrug.

I layer back on my cot as I stared at the ceiling with my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes. It wasn't long, however, before Tanner asked nearby, "Your going to start sleeping now? Here?"

"What? I can't get sleep? I don't hear you complain when I go on watch first for you all, nearly going all night." I said as I lifted my head to look at him.

Before Tanner said anything else, Mel said from nearby, "He's got you there."

"Alright, settle down guys. Don't need to be arguing about small things when we have bigger fish to catch." Cody said as he sat next to Sarah.

I put my head back down as I closed my eyes again to get some form of shut-eye while I could.

Of course, that's when our battalion Sergeant Major poked his head in as he said, "Hey, we need you all on a short scout mission. Get your stuff and go. Meet me up on the roof."

We all paused before we all scrambled to get our gear. I took my Karabiner 98k as I also took my new Panzerbusche 39 and the ammo the Germans had provided. We all got out the room as we all assembled on the roof. Fox was waiting and he was looking through some binoculars with his NVG's when we appeared. He put down the binoculars as he said, "Cody, come here."

The rest of us got low against the roof as Cody and Fox had a short discussions while they were pointing to something off in the distance. Finally, Cody came back as he said to us, "We're going to go check out a nearby Bandit FOB. Get ready, because it could have anything in it."

We all checked our weapons before we all looked at Cody, already giving him the "Ready" sign, verbal and hand signals. We left the roof top as we went down to the first floor and as we waited for the guards to wave us on, we all flipped down our NVG's. As soon as the guards gave us a thumbs up, we opened the doors and quietly slipped into the nighttime of the city.

It wasn't long before we saw the Bandits FOB. I won't lie, it was lit up like it was the Fourth of July, where every conceivable firework was being used. I could have sworn up and down that they were using more power than the world used in a single day. It was so bright, we all actually decide to put up our NVG's just so we could see it without damaging our eyes. We approached it from one of its sides and as we slowly walked along one side, I kept low and tried to be as silent as I could with the  weapons I bore on my back. I saw one guard ahead and immediately stopped everyone behind me. I unsheathed my sickle as I crept up near the guard while hiding behind some bushes. I gave a low, hunter growl at the guard and I watched as the very stereotypical guard walked over to the bushes to investigate what the noise was. So, like a stereotypical assassin, I dragged him into the bushes and killed him quietly. After making sure his body was hidden, I whistled to the others and they slunk out from the darkness as we all fell into a line and continued towards the Bandit base. When reached a building near its outskirts, showing perfect line of sight to the FOB, we went into it and set up inside of it. I opened up a window as I was tempted to just break it but I knew doing so would just alert the Bandits to our position and probably get chewed out by some high-caliber gun.

Cody set up his lookout with a pair of binoculars as he immediately began to look over the base, which was as bright as day. I took my Panzerbusche out as I set it up and focused it on the FOB as I heard Grace set up her SAW and as I got comfy using a desk as support while sitting in a chair, I chambered a round and waited for when things would finally go off with a bang.

Only a few minutes after everyone had set up did I realize something was going on in the FOB. I took my binoculars as I trained them on a specific portion of the base and I focused it in till I saw what I wanted to see in clarity.

"Cody, East side of base. Is that what I think is going on?" I said to Cody as I looked over at him using my peripherals.

He looked where I was talking about and that's when his jaw dropped as he said, "Oh...."

I winced since I knew already what I saw. But I had hoped I was dreaming, or in this case having some terrible nightmare. Huddled in cages made of pipes, wood planks, and even stuff in open top metal containers, were Infected, Survivors, and maybe even Crossbreeds. They were all bloody, dirty, and the Infected were thankfully all dead and rotting in their cages but I couldn't tell if any of the Survivors were all dead, all alive, or just mixed in. Some looked alive while some looked dead and as I watched another person get tossed into one cage, I could see a the bullet hole in his head.

"Now this is just the worst we humans can do to each other...." I muttered as I put the binoculars down and returned to my rifle.

"Why would they do that?" Asked Mel nearby.

"Maybe because they don't know?" Asked Adriana.

"No... Its because they can and they don't care about the consequences of their actions. Because if they did, they wouldn't ever do this." I said as my iron sights drifted around the Bandit filled base.

"Its almost like the Third Reich." Muttered Knuckles near me.

"Its tempting to ask the Germans for some chemical weapons to just hurl into there and eliminate them the way they deserve-" I began but Cody broke in and he said, "Don't start talking like that. Because when we start doing that, then we begin drifting towards doing it."

I almost told him something else but I bit my tongue and, yeah, it hurt but I knew it was stupid to argue. So, I just stared down the sight of my rifle as I let my aim drift around the enemy base.

When the dawn finally broke the sky, we all were sort of tired, though I didn't complain because I felt like everyone would beat me up for me. So, with dark circles under my eyes and stifling a yawn, I kept my eyes open as I continued to monitor the Bandits. But just as I was about to close them, I saw the sunlight suddenly glint off something and I immediately froze at what I saw.

"Cody..." I said as I looked over to him and saw him snoring next to Sarah. I immediately got up and shook him as I said, "Get up now!"

He groaned as he and Sarah both woke up and he asked me, "What's wrong?"

"Get yourself in gear now and get Ligo on the radio! I need authorization to neutralize Priority Alpha target!" I said as I went back to my rifle clicked off the safety.

"Priority Alpha? What could possibly be that important-" Cody was saying just as he looked through his binoculars when he saw what I saw.

I heard him scramble to get his radio on and he immediately said over it, "Command, Command, this is Hunter Alpha. We have Priority Alpha target, needing orders on how to proceed."

The reply came back: "Hunter Alpha, this is Command. What is target?"

"Target is Apache Attack Helicopter, at least ten of them side-by-side in enemy FOB. Hunter Six requests to neutralize them." Cody said as I steadied my breathing.

The reply came back after a few minutes and it actually surprised me with its answer: "Hunter Six, you are clear to neutralize enemy helo's. Turn them to scrap! Command out."

As soon as the radio clicked off, I fired a shot and reloaded another round before I shot again. The recoil was staggering but it didn't even seem bad with all of the adrenaline going through me. I reloaded another shot just as the first shots smashed into the first two helicopters in the formations and I fired again as the explosions echoed through the city. I reloaded as I fired a shot per helicopter and as soon as the last one was smoke, fire, and flames, I began to look for any problems.

10 seconds after that last shot, I heard a tank fire and the entire side of the building to my left was gone as shrapnel and smoke blasted my side. I fell over with my whole left side stinging as Cody shouted out, "TANK!!!" And David dragged me by my armor vest as I clutched my rifle. I stopped him as I risked it and aimed it at the tank and I fired where the hatch for the river was, on its top since I had a good enough angle. I watched the shot hit and watched in surprise as it punched down and then I saw an explosion of blood pop out, a red mist.

Of course, the turret turned and I scrambled up as it fired again and the round snapped by my face as it blew up the wall to my right as I ran behind the others.

"Command! Command! Tank! Tank!!!!" Shouted Cody as I heard small arms firing at the building.

"Say again, Alpha. You said a Tank?" Came the reply.

Before Cody answered, at round blew up next to us as we ran down the stairs and I heard the radio say," Okay, we're getting some help from.... An airborne unit."

We bolted out of the building as we ran down the road at full tilt but I could hear behind us the sound of running feet and a tank moving up. I was tempted to jump into the air when suddenly I realized the others had already done so and only myself and Adriana were still running. I saw Bryce carrying Mel while David was holding Grace as they all jumped after Sarah and Cody and I immediately grabbed Addie as I said, "Hold on!" As I scooped her up and launched myself as high as I could into the air. She gave a short yelp as we flew through the air and as I landed on a outcropping on a building, I jumped off the ledge almost Assassins Creed style as the ledge was blown apart from a tank shell and I felt some particles of shrapnel hit my back.

I ran across one wall as I jumped and another building exploded against that building too and as I jumped onto a roof, I heard and felt another round whistle by my entire body. I jumped as hard as I could forward and I went sailing across the sky, actually catching up with my team as they came down to jump again. I landed just ahead them and as they jumped, so did I and we finally managed to stay in a formation. We landed near our fortress and I could see everyone had posted around a window. But when we entered inside, I noticed a lot of Cadets with other unit badges and different armor looks. Ligo came to us and Cody asked him, "What's going on?"

"Command sent us some help. Clarksville High, Kenwood High, North East High, I can't even remember but all the JROTC's from our little town are here. And we're all ready for what's coming... At least, I hope we are." Ligo said as I put Adrianna down.

I raced to a window as we all set up ourselves with the other cadets and as everyone got ready to face the tank and whatever else, it almost felt like we were outgunned still.

I heard the engines of a tank approaching and I clicked the safety off my rifle as I watched the barrel come into view first, with Bandit infantry running around the corner with every imaginable weapon possible. I watched as the tank came into view and Ligo shouted something, probably "Open Fire!", and my rifle boomed! as everyone fired everything they had at the Bandits. My rifle round dinged off the turret of the tank but as I quickly reloaded, I managed to fire it off at what I thought to be the gunners view port. The shot ripped the whole thing off the turret of the tank and the turret aimed the gun up as it fired way over head.

Well that had to be it. I thought to myself as I loaded another round into my gun and aimed it at another of the view port. Rifles, machine guns, and more were firing all around me as I watched some Bandits pitch over with gouts of blood spurting out of them while others fired back. I fired again as someone nearby shouted out, "Rocket out!" as a LAW rocket whizzed out a window and smashed into the front armor of the tank. Of course, this being an M1 Abram, the rocket did nothing more than put some black paint on its front and my round knocked off the other view port on the tanks turret.

The tank fired again but this one came close to the building but still missed and I aimed at the driver viewport as I made myself steady my breathing. My finger squeezed the trigger as I kept my aim steady even as a bullet ripped by my mask. I held my aim for a second before the gun went off and I watched as the round smashed into the view port and fireworks of all sorts began to go off from inside the tank as it began to smoke. I watched as Bandits began to run and Ligo shouted from nearby, "After them!"

Every cadet, regardless of their battalion or rank, ran out of the building as we went after the Bandits. I partly wanted to grab my Flammenwerfer from the crate in the hotel but I knew I would be left behind and so I ignored the urge to go get it. Besides, I knew we would have to come back anyway. But just as the entire group rounded the corner, we all hit the deck hard as gunfire rained down on us from what seemed like everywhere. I kept my head down as we attempted to return fire but it was so bad, I knew the Bandits were using it to move up to kill us at close range.

Then, out of nowhere, a shell smashed a building to dust as the gunfire stopped and I was amazed as everyone looked around themselves, wondering what just happened. Then, a familiar voice I knew since my first day as a Cadet came over the radio, "What are you doing laying the ground? Get moving!"

I jumped up as I shouted out, "Yes, Master Sergeant!" as I ran towards the Bandit base. I knew it wouldn't be long for the others to follow my lead and so I continued to run on, even though I was all alone.

Ligo got on his radio and asked, "Who is this?"

"Ligo! don't make me cut you or your little army here!" Came the reply of our Master Sergeant Tonya Adams, the AI for Rossviews JROTC and one of the few instructors left alive from the outbreak. She was not one too mess around with.

Almost like a light flicked on, every single cadet jumped up and shouted, "Yes, Master Sergeant!!" As they ran after me while our Master Sergeant watched us from the turret of her APC.

I was running along quite fine when everyone showed up and as we all ran, I searched for smoke since I knew those helicopters had to be still smoking from when I shot them. As soon as I saw smoke nearby, I angled myself towards it and everyone followed me as I heard Master Sergeants APC follow us. Just as we got to where my squad had set up for scouting, I saw the base and I heard someone shout out, "America!" Almost everyone shouted that and I did too as we charged the base. I watched as Bandits scramble around as a few began to fire at us and I stopped for a short bit as my rifle fired a round at an enemy watch tower and the bullet ripped the thing to splinters as more cadets round me began to fire their weapons at the Bandits. Bandits fell as blood flew around their bodies as what seemed like an army of Children Soldiers of the older wars came flooding into the base. I jumped over the wall with Tanner and Bryce as I pulled the cord on the stick before I hurled the bundle grenade towards a building, where some Bandits were taking over in.

The grenade flew end over end as it hit the ground at the foot of the entrance and it hopped in as Bandits screamed just as it went off. The explosion ripped apart the door frame as it hurled blood and body parts straight out if the building entrance. Myself and the others ran to the entrance as I fired a round straight into the building as Tanner and Bryce fired a stream of lead into building after my shot. Then, I took my Karabiner 98k out as I placed on its barrel my bayonet as Tanner led myself and Bryce into the building as a few other cadets followed us through the breach. As we charged through, we could see the remains of the Bandits my grenade had wrecked and as we began to clear each and every room, I could still hear Bandits trying to put up a desperate dense outside.

Around sun down, the base had been fully secured and we had moved our supplies from the hotel over to here as we set up our residence here. Even though most of the JROTC's didn't like each other, because most of us were rivals, we all bonded together because of what we had just accomplished. As I sat on the wall with my Panzerbusche all loaded and ready to go and as I kept my eyes out for any trouble, Addie once again popped up next to me and said, "Hey!"

She startled me and I almost toppled off but I grabbed the wall as I said, "Oh, hey Addie. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She fidgeted with her mlp figurines. "I'm just surprised we didn't lose as many people."

I looked over to where two rows of twelve body bags were laid out, the cadets being from the many battalions here. Also amongst the dead, nearby in more numerous body bags, were all the dead Survivors that the Bandits had detained here. We had found no survivors.

"Well, we should be lucky we're alive ourselves... Still, all we can do is mourn for them. Nothing more." I said.

Adriana leaned on me as she rested her head on my shoulder. "Hey, I kinda miss doing all we did back in school. Especially the military ball..."

I looked up in the sky as it just got dark and as lights came on inside the camp, I looked at her and said, "Maybe when this is all over..."

She scooted closer to me as she squeezed me in her arms and my face burned a bright red that would have shown had I not had my mask on. Then, she clasped one of my hands in hers as she leaned over and gave me a peck on where my cheek was and she backed off as she said, "Well, I'm off to dinner. You coming?"

I nodded as I replied, "I'll catch up with you soon. Just give me a moment."

As she walked away, I looked up into the sky as I laid back against the wall as I muttered, "She is soooooo..." Amazing. My mind finished off the sentence. I let myself stat this way for only a short bit before I sat up and got off the wall as I walked over to where the mess hall was set up.

I cleaned my rifle up as I swabbed the barrel for anything in it so that I could keep it in working order. I had it arrayed out before me on a clean sheet of cloth. As I finally finished cleaning the barrel and closing the bolt-action, I put away everything else into my little footlocker crate before I got up and stretched. Around me, the others were doing various tasks of all sorts, mainly a lot of reports of how the reclaiming of the city was going. The garrison, basically us, had been halted short of really being able to take back some of the city besides what we already have. The Bandits were putting up a resistance unlike any I have seen and had bogged down our units in the city warfare this city faced us with. But as I took a report from Cody, who was sipping on some coffee and reading other things, I saw that a small army from somewhere up from the east coast had just met up with our forces. It was an armored division, I didn't bother with their units name, and they were helping push back the Bandits with a smattering of APC's, tanks, and SPG tanks. But as I put that report and looked at another report, I suddenly read a single part that caught my attention.

"Cody, has anyone from the north been able to contact us?" I asked Cody.

"The north is still an Infected held territory, especially Chicago. Why?" Cody said as he turned around to me.

"This report says that we have what seems to be an army coming from that direction. Its currently far away but it should reach here by maybe the day after tomorrow. Why do I get the feeling that its not our army?" I said.

Cody shrugged. "Guess we'll have to wait and find out."

I put the report away as I soon found myself reallybored. So, without further glance at the others, I took my Karabiner and my Panzerbusche and I headed out of the room as I quickly exited the building. I walked around the FOB as I tried not to be as bored as I was but, being me, that was much harder to do than it seemed like. I got up on the walls as I just watched the city around us and as I did, I could see where the Armored divisions were pounding away at the Bandits.

But just as I looked around the base some more, I suddenly saw a figure nearby to the base and I took my binoculars out as I focused in on the figure. And as soon as they came into focus, my heart froze and stopped. I keyed my radio. "Jennifer, this is Keeper. Respond over."

The figure of Jennifer stood still and I was wondering why she wasn't responding so I hurtled the wall and jogged over to where she was. And just as I reached her, she vanished into thin air and I looked all around me as I tried to see where she had gone.

"Over here." A voice whispered to me on my left and I paused, thinking I was going insane. But when the voice called again, I turned to where I thought it was coming from and walked that way with rifle ut and bayonet attached to the barrel. I walked down the very quiet street as I looked around me constantly. But just as I came to a four-way intersection, I saw a figure in the corner of my eye and my head whipped around as I searched for the figure. I walked carefully down that way as I looked for her silhouette and then, just as I passed a corner, I froze. I slowly turned to my left as I watched with wide-eys behind my mask at what I saw.

"...Cody.... I'm.... I'm gonna need a body bag....."

When the squad arrived, I had sat down against the makeshift cross and had put my knees to my chest and had cried into my mask for quite some time. When Cody landed next to me with the others, I slowly lifted my head as I heard Sarah say, "Oh gawd...." before hearing her retching her guts out nearby.

Cody opened the body bag as Bryce helped me up and as I got up slowly, I looked up at the cross and the body that hung on it. I had puffy, sore eyes inside my mask as Cody put his arm around me and said, "Come on, Jonathan... lets get back to base before dark..." And I heard the others taking th desecrated, abused body of Jennifer down from the cross and putting her into a body bag.

When we got back, no of us could talk. Well, at least I thought so when I took some time to be alone on the wall. That's when Adriana decided to show up but she wasn't herself. Seeing Jennifer's body, all mangled up and bloody and pinned to a cross of boards and wood, had rattled us all up and as I tried not to let the others hear my crying, Adriana sat down next to me and put her arms around me. I felt her lean in onto my back as her hands then unclasped my helmet and mask off as she said, "Are you okay, Jonathan?"

I almost sniffled at that but I managed to say in a not so level voice, "I'm fine."

Her hand went down my cheek as she wiped the tears off them and she said, "Then why are you crying?"

"Why aren't you? Aren't you upset as I am?" I asked her in a slight rage.

She didn't back off, to my surprise, as she held my cheeks and she put her chin on my shoulders as she rocked me side-to-side. I let her and as she did so, I began to get really sleepy suddenly so I forced myself to stay awake. "Its okay... dont hide your feelings from us... you're tearing yourself apart because of them...."

"What do you want me to do? Write some essay about them and pass a copy to the squad?" I asked her.

"No... But you don't need to hide them." She said simply as she forced my body to do a 360 degree turn until I faced her.

She fiddled with one of my figurines on my chest armor when she saw my hair and she said to me, "Your hair is a mop. I thought you liked to keep it short."

"Well, kinda hard to get a hair cut now. Oh well." I said with a shrug.

But then, to my surprise, she leaned forward and hugged me and as her arms wrapped around my body, all I could do was jug her back and let her head piston into my chest,  which made me give a slight grunt. But as she did so, my mind was going crazy and my face was getting a little warm and as I put my chin on her head, I finally forced myself to lower my head and kiss the top off her head.

She immediately broke contact and looked at me a arms length. "Wait...  did you just kiss me?"

"I- um... uh, what? What are you talking about?" I stammered off as I looked at her.

Then, she leaned forward as she gave me a small kiss on my lips, just for only a few seconds before she pulled away. And just like getting hit in the head with a hammer, I fell asleep at that.

When I woke up, I found myself inside our room at the barracks and as I groaned, I felt like a lot of guys with crowbars had hit me. As I managed to sit up, I heard someone humming and I turned to see Adriana at a nearby desk, using a small mirror and brush to brush her hair. I didn't say anything as I felt bruises on me and I wondered how I got them. So, finally done being mesmerized by Adriana, I gave a grunt as I asked her, "Why do I feel like crap?"

She spun around hurriedly as she asked, "You're awake? How long-"

"I just woke up. Now, why the frak do I have bruises on my body?" I asked her as I began to put my gear back on, which had been put next to my bed.

"Well, when  you fell asleep, you kinda fell on me and when I pushed you off,  you hit the ground pretty hard. Then, I had to carry you back to here by myself and I may have accidentally hit you against just about everything in the base. The others are all at the mess hall, getting breakfast." Adriana explained.

I finished putting on my gear as I said to her, "Alrighty then. If your done combing your hair, Rapunzel, I would like to get breakfast in a timely fashion. Shall we?"

She nodded quite happily as she grabbed her stuff and followed me out. And as we walked to the mess hall, I felt her hand hold mine and I gave off a blush from behind my mask. And when we got to the mess hall, we found it busy as ever but I saw the others still in line as Sarah saw us and waved us over. We quickly got with them as David said, "Oh look who woke up? What happened? Did you get rejected by Adriana?"

Cody elbowed him in his ribs as he said, "I cant imagine how you feel. You literally hit everything in the is base that could give you a bruise."

"Well, its not her fault. I am a little more heavy with all this on." I said as the line moved up a little bit. "And no, David, I didn't get rejected. Now zip that lip or I'll use my claws with some string to sew your mouth close."

The others chuckled at we slowly moved down the line towards our breakfast. But then, just as we reached the food, suddenly a tone began to blare and everyone froze. Then, I heard helicopters roar overhead as Master Sergeant Adams popped into the tent and screamed at us, "Get you butts moving! Now!"

"Yes Master Sergeant!!" We all hollered as we all ran to where t he vehicles were parked while some tried to get their gear. I looked at Master Sergeant as I asked her, "What's going on?"

"We just had the biggest Horde, millions of Infected, just smashed into the outer most units in Nashville. Everyone's going that way to halt them." Master Sergeant said as she mounted into her APC.

Almost immediately, as I ran to where my squad was mounting up, I knew I had been right about that army coming from the north and how it had been not friendly. As I jumped into the waiting APC, I saw on the floor a military crate and I asked Cody, "Is that my flamethrower?"

"Yeah. Might as well trade it for your rifle. Its ought to be more useful against the Infected." Cody answered.

I shrugged as I took his advice and traded out my rifle for the Flammenwerfer 41 and as I put it on, it felt heavy and just a little bit cumbersome but I ignored its awkwardness as the APC door closed and we soon got moving to the front lines.

As we neared the front lines, I could hear all sorts of things going on and radio chatter rattled off my radio as Cody said, "Get ready to deploy. The Infected are pushing us back so we're deploying with some Survivors to make a defensive line."

Just then, the APC halted as the ramp lowered and Cody shouted, "Off load! Now!"

We all jumped out as I took a small lighter and lit the end of my flamethrower. As we ran, we were joined by a flood of JROTC cadets from the other battalions as we all ran to where engineer units were building up defensive positions and barriers. Everyone piled up behind the barrier and as we did, I saw several armed Survivors also get on the wall with us. One boy, around my age, got next to me with a M16 and as I looked at him, I suddenly saw a familiar symbol on his arm and I asked him, "Oh, so the Bandits want to help us? Why?"

"Hey, we all are in the same crap. Besides, I use to live here. I'm not losing it again to an Infected Horde." The boy said as he got himself and his gun ready.

"Yeah, I hear yah. Funny thing, I never knew this would happen to all the JROTC cadets and myself. It just happened." I said as I propped up my flamethrower.

As we watched before us, I watched as the beaten, bloody remains of men, women, and vehicles pull back from the front of the Infected Horde as Apaches, Kiowas, and Little birds went over head to strafe the Hordes position. And as we watched the area before us, we finally got to see the Horde as the remaining military units joined us on the line. I could see every type of special Infected amongst the normal Infected and as they advanced towards us as an unending tide, I could already hear the guns of the vehicles behind us firing. Finally, I heard it over the radio

"OPEN FIRE!"

Every single weapon poured metal into the Horde as the zombies in the front jerked and staggered as they hit a wall of lead. Explosions ripped the Infected apart as I could see the blood fly everywhere and as the Horde got closer, my finger twitched on my flamethrower. Then, the got really close and finally I stood up as I depressed the flamethrowers trigger as a cone of liquid fire spewed into the Infected bodies and I swished it around as I doused dozens of them in fire. Some clawed at themselves while some kept going. I kept the trigger depressed as I burned many before me, all the while the Infected being cut down by our bullets. But then, the ground shook and my eyes went wide in shock as I watched a shape approach the line.

"T-t-t-Tank!!!!!" Someone screamed and I watched as the Tank, many times bigger than a normal Infected tank, as it approached the defensive line. Artillery focussed on it but the Tank shrugged off the damage as it continued towards us. And then-
Psht!

I looked and was that my flamethrower was empty and I panicked as I threw it away with the fuel tanks as I suddenly had a thought. I got up and ran from the defensive line as I ran towards where my APC was and as I reached it, I grabbed my AT-rifle before I looked into my bag of ammo.

And found I had only one shot left.
Let'smakeitcount. I thought as I ran back to the defensive lines.

But as I neared it, suddenly, I watched as the defensive line explode and I watched as Infected poured into the breach and I heard shouts over the radio as I continued to run towards where the Tank was. People ran by me with vehicles as Infected went after them and I managed to see my squad helping cover those who were retreating. Just as I reached the tank, something grabbed my Karabiner and bow on my back and I felt them tear off as I turned to see a Infected Hunter snarl at me. I drew my sickle as I jumped at me and my blade cleaved its head off as I kept running towards the Tank. I loaded the AT round in my Panzerbusche as I ran with it and I watched as the Tank looked at me.
Well, thisisit. Atleastmylifewasgoodenough. I thought as I jumped at the Tank.

It roared as it raised its arms and I let go of my sickle as I used both hands to grip my rifle just as I landed on its face. I jabbed the barrel I to its eye as I said to it, "Welcome to America. Now die!"
BOOOOMMMM!!!!!!

"..... Come on, wake up!.... Someone..... WAKE UP!"

I slowly opened my eyes as I managed a groan to escape my lips while I felt not much of my body.

"Didn't I tell you not to shout at me?" I moaned.

I suddenly was squeezed by two arms as I heard some laughter and chuckles and as my eyes came into focus, I saw Adriana squeezing the daylights out of me while the whole squad laughed at the thing. Around us, the dead remains of Infected and I could see the Super Tank nearby, half its head gone from my shot. But amongst the bodies of Infected were the bodies of the dead soldier and Survivors and as I slowly sat up, I groaned in pain as I looked at myself, which was covered head-to-toe in blood and gore.

"How long have I been out?" I asked Adriana as she clung to me.

"A few hours a most. But we won." David said from nearby.

I felt Adriana squeeze me again and I burned bright red but I hugged her back as I said, "Thanks for trying to squeeze the life out of me."

"Well, I'm sorry but you were kinda dead." She said as she kissed my cheek.

When we were taken back to our FOB, everyone was celebrating for our victory in Nashville and I was forced to endure the many hand shakes I got from the Cadets as they congratulated me on how I killed the Super Tank with my AT-rifle, which I still had with my Karabiner. But I knew that this was just the beginning for us and that it wouldn't be long before we went out to reclaim another city. But by then, we would be prepared and ready for whatever came at us.

The End......?