Zack and his friends walked along the highway; weapons were ready in case they were attacked again. They didn't want to lose another one of their group.
Shelia kept watch for any of her people's markings. She knew they could be walking into a trap. She didn't want any of these humans to get hurt. Despite Zack and Joe asking her, she still didn't want to see the map. If her people caught up with them and she was injected with truth serum, many humans could be killed.
The highway was desolate, with no signs of life. The wind blew gently, allowing scents to travel past them. Shelia hoped that no one caught their scent.
Distracted in her own thoughts, Shelia didn't notice when the group stopped, almost slamming into Jamie, who was ahead of her.
"We're stopping here to camp!" Zack called back at his friends. "Keep your weapons and supplies close in case we have to leave in a hurry. We can't afford to leave anything behind," he called.
They had been walking all day. The stars were out, twinkling above them. The moon was full tonight, giving them plenty of light to set up camp.
Joe pulled out two MREs and started assembling them. "We're going to share two MREs between us," Joe started. "We need to make our food last as long as possible. After our food is gone, we don't know what else to do."
Everyone nodded in agreement, understanding the predicament they were in. Since the invasion, all stores and homes had been incinerated, which meant there were no places to pillage for supplies.
Joe, Zack, and Carrie decided to take turns keeping watch. Zack was first.
Just as everyone was ready to sleep for the night, Shelia caught the scent of more zombies. Their toxic odor permeated the air around them. The humans couldn't smell it like she could; she was glad that she was able to help protect them.
Shelia pulled out her blaster, eyeing the perimeter of their camp. Both Zack and Joe were the first to notice Shelia's sudden change.
Shelia looked over at the two men. "Zombies!" she whispered, using the name the humans gave to them. It was more of a hiss. She couldn't stop the fear from lacing her response.
Joe motioned to everyone else to grab their weapons.
As a group, they all stood, backs together, watching their perimeter intently, scanning for the green-tinted fiends.
A small gust of wind blew past them. The scent suddenly got stronger. Sheila turned toward the direction the wind blew from and watched.
Neil hunched, grasping his blaster with both hands. Fear flowed from him as his wide eyes scanned the area. Then, behind him, a bush shook, releasing several zombies.
Everyone turned at once, shooting, trying to defend Neil. So far, it had been working. Neil was still unscathed, green-tinted blood everywhere.
On the opposite side of the camp, more zombies came rushing through, grinning widely as if they were children about to get a treat.
There were at least two dozen of the green-tinted humans. They were completely surrounded.
Both Zack and Joe fought with a machete in one hand and a blaster in the other. Tracy, Alice, Neil, and Carrie were using blasters. Sheila had seen how well the blaster/machete combo was working, so she grabbed one as soon as she was close enough to reach one without getting scratched, bitten, or killed.
The toxic horde pressed on. They were not like in the movies; slow and brainless. These zombies were coherent and quick and had a taste for blood and flesh.
As they fought, more zombies seemed to materialize out of nowhere, doubling the number.
The friends fought frantically, trying hard not to get scratched or bitten. Finally, the last zombie was dead after what felt like hours, with green-tinted blood on the ground in large puddles and green-tinted body parts everywhere. They were thankful for the blasters not needing to stop and reload them.
"Report!" Zack called. "Anyone need medical attention?" he asked, scanning Shelia and his friends.
Everyone, in unison, scanned their bodies for injuries. Neil was the only one with one. A large gash on his shoulder from one of the zombie's nails. They cleaned it as best as possible, hoping he wouldn't turn into one of the zombies. Unfortunately, they would have to keep an eye on him for the rest of the trip until they knew he was safe.
They packed up their camp, moved away from the bloody scene around them, and then reset camp for the night.
Zack took the first watch; with his weapons ready, he scanned the area for more zombies.
After two hours, he woke Joe for his watch.
Joe woke Carrie two hours later for her watch. Carrie held her blaster and a machete nearby for easy access as she scanned the area around camp.
An hour after she began her watch, she heard a burst of sinister laughter from not far away.
Turning to the sound, she saw two zombies stalking toward her, their sharp teeth dripping with green-tinted saliva. Lucky for her, she was a good shot; aiming for their necks, she took one head off. It rolled away from the body as it fell.
Carrie continued to shoot, trying to hit the second one, but missed because of his quick movements.
A blaster shot came from near her, hitting the second zombie in the neck and taking off his head.
Carrie looked to her side where the blaster shot came from, expecting to see one of her friends, but instead, she found an alien; it wasn't Shelia.
In the place of hair was a head of tiny black spiked horns with dull black spike caps. He was the same height as Shelia, seven feet two inches. He had his black body armor, blaster, and no com unit.
"What do you want?" Carrie asked nervously, her blaster raised, pointing at him. He had just saved her, so she didn't know what to do.
He smiled and shrugged. "My name is Shadick. You needed assistance with the toxic creatures," he stated, still smiling.
"Shelia!" Carrie called.
"Your name is Shelia?" he asked. Shadick looked a little confused.
"Shelia!" She yelled again, ignoring Shadick's question.
Shadick folded his arms across his body. "Your kind is strange."
Shelia rolled off her blanket and saw the confrontation between Carrie and one of her kind. Carrie had called her name; now she knew why.
Shelia wasn't the only one who heard her name being called; so did everyone else.
Shadick looked around at the group of humans; then, his black eyes rested on Shelia. "Are you a prisoner?" he asked her, his voice suddenly even.
Zack cut in before Shelia could answer. "No, she's our friend."
Joe looked at Shadick. "She's our friend, but we don't know you. Why are you out here alone? Or are there others hiding?" he asked. His blaster was at the ready. He would fire it if he needed to.
Carrie didn't know why, but she defended him. "He assisted in killing a zombie when two of them attacked."
Zack's eyebrows shot up. "You helped my sister?" he asked in disbelief.
Shadick shrugged, then looked over at Shelia. "You're Shelia? I'm Shadick," he said.
Shelia crossed her arms. "Why are you alone and without a com unit?" she asked.
Shadick shrugged, eyeing Carrie to the side and then back at Shelia. "I can ask you the same thing," he grinned.
Zack saved her from having to answer. "Shelia was with a group that attacked us. We're not murderers, so we took her prisoner. We were going to let her go when we left our previous hideout, but she elected to come with us instead. She became our friend. I can't say the same for you. We don't know you," Zack challenged, his gaze not wavering away from Shadick.
Shadick sighed. "Fair enough. I didn't like what our people were doing, so I left my group. They were on their way to murder a group of children. I draw the line on harming children," he stated. "I smashed my com unit so my superiors couldn't track me, and then I left my squad."
"That's why I didn't want to return to our ship," Shelia said quietly. "I saw the extent of our people's cruelty, and then I saw the compassion of these people and decided to help them."
Shadick nodded, then looked over at Carrie. "Are you going to tell me your name?" he asked, grinning widely.
Carrie stared at him, then noticed his hardening bulge. "Carrie," she said, then walked off, mumbling to herself about his not-so-subtle arousal.