Chapter 38 Chapter Thirty Eight - The Sergeant’s Wandering Squad

Jonah Shaw had been a sergeant in the police force, briefly, as his promotion happened just a short while before the end, however even before that, he was a man who commanded respect. This was clearly revealed when it came to the members of his squad, three of whom were former police officers themselves. Jimmy and Monika had worked in the same station as the man, while Arthur had come from the city; he'd been visiting family members at a family get-together, but alas one by one they fell sick and would all become a part of the living dead.

Surprising as it may sound, Cole was actually an ex-criminal, convicted for assault and GBH and had not long gotten out on parole. Jonah had been his arresting officer, but rather than hating him or wanting to seek revenge, Cole had nothing but respect for the man and asked to follow him when the squads had first formed to seek food and supplies. Cole was built like a tank and had a questionable temper, but Johan chose not to refuse him. Better to keep an eye on him.

Eraj was somewhat underestimated within this mass of muscle, seeing as he'd been a former I.T. Technician and self-proclaimed gaming fanatic. He definitely seemed to be the odd man out, but he had still made his place within the small squad.

None of the original squad had developed abilities, but that made them no less capable.

Shaun had joined the squad in the nick of time, having found he actually had an affinity with metal. While in the refuge, he had played around with his ability to see what he could do, even finding that he could move his wheelchair about without needing touch it. He'd begged Jonah to allow him to tag along on that last expedition before they had become rootless once more.

Paul would later ask why he had not joined them once discovering his ability. Shaun had simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow querying that question before asking; "Would you have really allowed me?"

The men had grown up together as boys, had known each other ever since Paul's parents had moved next door. Paul had remained his friend after the accident that had claimed his mother's life and his legs, when all of their other small friends had drifted away. Seeing the alienation his wheelchair caused, Paul had stuck closer, even becoming slightly overprotective, which intensified over the years. Thus Shaun's question really wasn't so random.

After the squad of seven had returned to discover that the base had been lost, they had retreated, just as Dexter and his men had. They had found themselves a place to shelter and had even discussed going to the American Army base, just as the others. However, they had decided not to, setting up a new place upon the top floor of a block of apartments as everyone knew that zombies could not climb stairs. Over the next couple of weeks, they had slowly made their way down the block, clearing out any remaining zombies and claiming all of the food and bottled water that they could. And then they had focused upon the sister block, only to discover two young women residing on the second to top floor.

These women were the cousins Brooke and Autumn. Although other squads and gangs might have hurt them or abandoned them to die rather than adopt two new mouths to feed, Jonah's group took them under their wings and the girls were eternally grateful. It also turned out that Brooke had some ability to find and manipulate water, making her invaluable to them.

Later, they had discovered Nan Li Liang, a stunning teenaged boy of mixed ancestry; his mother was of Chinese descent, while his father was a migrant from India. He had survived as he had a strong sense of responsibility and had left the house to list the inventory of the fusion restaurant his parents had opened, while they were both sick in bed. He had been hoping to save it from bankruptcy... in the end, his worries had been futile and he had eaten much of the food in stock while attempting to stay alive.

Finally, they had been forced to seek refuge elsewhere, thus had abandoned their high-rise base with plans to finally join the Army base. There were a number of reasons for it, the difficulty in finding new stocks of water was just one.

"The bloody zombies seem to be changing," Jonah was telling Dexter as the vehicles were parked beside the battered truck outside the grounds.

Dexter nodded in agreement. "They're getting stronger. Did you get to meet the ones that could create balls of fire out of no where or were really fast?"

Jonah shuddered. "God forbid, no. But we did discover that they can get upstairs now, that and there were the cat and dog zombies. Those fuckers are vicious, but fortunately they were mostly preoccupied with trying to kill each other. Even in death, they can't get along!"

"You say that as if it is a bad thing!" Dexter drawled, watching as the gates were closed before opening the small metal gate in the thick hedgerow close by. He lead Jonah in as the men and women followed. Fortunately, it was just wide enough for Shaun's chair, so his dignity was kept in tact.

"As if I'm complaining," Jonah muttered, before his footsteps faltered and he stared at the huge property in the distance. "What the fuck, Dex! The hotel wasn't good enough, you took over a mansion instead?!"

"How beautiful..." one of the cousins whispered behind them.

Dexter shook his head. "Forget it," he said, depreciatively. "We're just squatting. The landlord is allowing us his grace, is all." Tyler rolled his eyes as he said this, while Harry and Winston chuckled.

"All hail Lord Nathan," Patrick joked as he moved on ahead.

"Will it be alright if we stay here?" The girl named Brooke was petite, with pretty, green eyes, high cheekbones and a pert mouth. Her small hands rested upon Jonah's thick arm as she approached to ask the question and the man possessively threw an arm over her narrow shoulders, declaring their status with a gesture. Tyler and the others couldn't help but throw each other glances; Brooke had to be more than half the man's age. "I mean, we don't have much left to offer if your landlord demands things from us in order for us to stay..."

Dexter frowned, before gesturing dismissively. "If the kid was really like that, I wouldn't be letting you in! Seriously," he muttered this last bit beneath his breath.

"Kid?" The girl seemed to visibly relax in Jonah's arms, but Dexter did not appreciate the calculating look he captured in her eyes before they were cast towards the ground. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. It's just we'd heard..."

Jonah squeezed her shoulder with his large palm in offer of comfort as he continued her words; "We passed a group of survivors who'd been rejected by the army base. They were saying that the army wanted them to hand over supplies before they were allowed entry. Only this group had nothing to give. We, ourselves are running low, but happened to find this small herd of sheep, so decided to hunt them down. We figured we could not only eat red meat for a change, but offer up one of the animals to the base. Only, the little fuckers must have eaten some magic pills or something, our van could barely keep up, let alone the RV! We chased a few of them this way, only these vines came out of no where and grabbed the sheep instead!"

"Vines?" Tyler blurted out and narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Yeah," Jonah sighed. "Of course, with finding you guys, don't know if that's a bad thing anymore. At least we won't have to try bribe our way into the army base anymore."

Tyler sneered as he crossed his arms, many knowing his views on that matter; "Why would you want to go there anyway?"

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"Ah, didn't I mention?" Jonah said as he glanced down at the girl within his embrace with gentle eyes. "My girl is pregnant! We were heading to the base in order to protect her and my baby."