Chapter 38 Chapter Thirty Eight - The Sergeant’s Wandering Squad (1/2)

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!”