Page 4 of Marked for Execution

It’s good to have some quiet long-range weapons in case we ran into trouble.

“Hey, wassup man?” Gunner tilted his head in acknowledgement as we all walked towards the meet spot.

“Looks like they rounded up a good number this time.”

With Reed’s announcement, I turned my head to find at least a good sixteen people milling about with weapons. Most of them looked like men; some of them looked like boys.

“Gentlemen, so glad you could join us.” Sergio’s tone had an underlying snark to it, but I ignored his statement and chose instead to look over the crew.

My eyes narrowed on a smaller fellow that looked to be the size of a teenager.This won’t go well at all. We don’t have the luxury of losing people.

Sergio, our makeshift governor, cleared his throat in an attempt to get my attention. I couldn’t care less. The only thing that ran through my mind was how far I could carry this kid who stood in front of me if he were to go down in a fight and we had to retreat to home base.

“Eliseo. Glad you and your men could join us,” Sergio tried again.

I ignored him.

“Kid, we don’t need any casualties today. Why don’t you stay back and protect the people back home while we go out and fight the good fight, eh?”

The boy I addressed turned; a baseball cap covered most of his face. His oversized clothes didn’t help his case whatsoever, it only made him look younger, drowning in fabric.

He didn't respond, instead just turned around and walked to the other side of the group, putting distance between us.Asshole. He would definitely be a liability. Couldn’t even take a command when he heard it.

“Reed, keep an eye out on that one.”

Reed came up behind me and scanned the people. Once he saw where I looked, he answered, “You got it.”

Sergio cleared his throat again and I turned to face him with a scowl. What the hell is up his authoritative ass? He didn’t even join us on the trips outside of the walls.

When he saw my eyes, he backed up with both hands held up, palms out. I didn’t like asshole politicians who thought they knew better than the troops. He needed to know his place and stay there.

Samuel snickered as I turned to address the people gathered. “Look, this ain't our first rodeo and if itisyour first, then you're shit out of luck, because I’m not here to teach you a damn thing. Keep your eyes peeled for bloodsuckers, stay alive, and gather as much useful supplies as we can. Stick together. Don’t go trying to be a damn hero on your own because heroes die, ya feel me? That doesn’t help us one damn bit.”

Some of the newbies squirmed where they stood.Figured.

I whistled to my guys, and they started to number people off. Samuel’s jovial voice boomed loud enough for everyone to hear. He knew my temper was short for stupidity.

“Alright, we’re splitting into three groups. Gather around, everybody.” He pulled a map from one of his cargo pockets and walked toward the wall of the closest building, spreading it out. “Team A, you will be heading east. Team B, you hit up the north area. Team C will scour the west. We meet back in this spot in two point five hours. Any questions?”

“I don’t have a watch. How will I know two point five hours have passed?” The question came from the guy who announced the group was gathering this morning.Is he shitting me? Why the hell is he even going out?

Samuel chuckled. “That’s exactly why I split you all up the way I did. Each team will have a timekeeper. Stay alive, or we’re leaving you behind. We’re not about to harbor the infected, got it? We’ve got too much at stake.”

I stared at him, emphasizing everything Samuel pointed out with a look. The guy audibly gulped and turned away. We haven’t even left yet, and I was already tired of this shit.

“Alright, let’s gather the vehicles.” Gunner’s voice was loud and clear.

Everyone started moving and my temper died down, knowing that I would get some action today. Living in a walled community was nice, but it made a person too lax. Some days I missed living on the run, hopping from abandoned building to abandoned building. It kept my skills up and my mind sharp.

We needed to be on our P’s and Q’s in this life. Bloodsuckers continuously grew in number, and for all we knew, we’d be surrounded and taken as cattle for their blood farms. I wasn’t going to let that happen. We survived too long to become mindless blood banks.

Having a crazy doctor in the camp was enough.

“Gunner, take the jeep.” He nodded at my command and moved toward our outer garages. “Samuel, you’re going to be with me.” The fucker saluted me like an imbecile, but I ignored it.

My prior military background would go with me to my grave. I hated to let people know what I was capable of, because then they started putting expectations on you. No. These days, it was everyone for themselves. We did what we had to to survive—I’ddone what I had to to survive. From thieving to murder.

I didn’t regret anything.