Surviving an Endless War

My 3 hours of watch was finally over and I could join Zacky in the tent. I woke up Matt and he was all smiles when he hugged me unexpectedly. I could tell that he knew about the baby my sister is carrying. I went into the tent and laid down beside Zacky and he instinctively rolled over and wrapped me in his arms. It didn't take long after I laid down that I went off to sleep.

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I woke up to the sun shining and I crawled out of the tent and stretched in the morning sun. I looked towards the hill and saw the Berry brothers taking the last watch. I went over to the now dead fire and sat down beside Zacky as Matt was telling the others about Payge's pregnancy. I couldn't help but smile at everyone's excitement as I got some food to make breakfast. Once breakfast was finished and I had ate my fill, I went over and releaved the Berry brothers so they could eat. We hardly ever had to keep watch during the day since we got here 2 weeks ago.

"Hey Blaze, can you come over here for a minute?" Ranger yelled as he waved his hand. I left my spot on top of the hill and went down to his tent.

"What's up Ranger?"

"I was wondering if you would like to go hunting with me? We can't use guns up here because the shot will lead the biters right to us but I do have an extra crossbow that you can use." he explained as he pulled the camo colored crossbow from his tent.

"I guess I could."

"Sweet. Here take this." he said handing over the camo crossbow. He pulled his from the tent along with a bag of arrows for me and one for him.

"Guys, I'm going hunting with Ranger. We'll back a little later on in the afternoon. If anything goes wrong, fire one shot in the air and we'll come running back."

"You be careful out there honey." Zacky said giving me a lingering kiss. I waved goodbye to them and Ranger and I went off into the woods.

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"Good shot!" I said smiling.

"Thanks." Ranger pulled the arrow out of the back of the squirrel and clipping it to a line.

"Is there something wrong Ranger?" I asked as we walked through the woods looking for more squirrel.

"Nothing really. Why do you ask?"

"Ranger, you're as easy to read as my sister. Now spill what's going on inside that head." I said poking him in the side of the head with my finger.

"I don't think your husband likes me taking you places."

"I have sensed that he's a little jealous but I think I'll talk to him later and tell him there's nothing to worry about." I said as I raised my crossbow and shot a squirrel down from the tree.

"You're damn right. I mean technically I'm still married to my wife even though she's no longer with the living and you know me. I'm not the kind of person to mess around."

"Yeah I know. I'll make sure to explain that completely to him. Do you think we have enough squirrel to use for dinner?" I asked looking down at my line.

"I think we could use a few more." I nodded and followed him deeper into the woods.

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We finally got enough kills for dinner and now we're walking back to the campsite. I sat down on a fallen tree to rest for a minute but that didn't last long when a single gunshot rang through my ears. I looked over at Ranger and we ran the rest of the way to camp. We got into the clearing where we had set up tents and the place was filled with biters. I growled lowly and shot one in the back of the head as it came near Payge. I joined her side where she handed me a gun. One by one the biters fell to our bullets until the ground was littered with bodies. I gathered everyone up and no one was bitten thankfully.

"Guys have you seen my son?" Ranger asked and I looked around until I seen something crawling on the ground. As the figure go closer I gasped making Ranger turn.

"Oh God.'' Ranger ran over to his son and we followed right behind him. His son's neck was ripped open and he was choking on his own blood.

"You're going to be fine son. Just hang in there." Ranger said with tears in his eyes. Skyler looked helplessly up at his father before taking his last breath. Ranger held his son and screamed in agony. I felt Zacky's arms snake around me holding me close as we looked on.

"Come on you guys. Let's give him some space." I whispered and we walked over to the hill where we could keep an eye on him. I watched Ranger lay his son back down on the ground and pull his handgun from his waist. He set it down on the ground and picked up an arrow from his bow. I could faintly hear him telling Skyler that he was sorry before plunging the arrow into the boy's head.

Ranger stood to his feet with the gun in his hand and paced the ground around his dead son. I don't think I could come up with any words to comfort the grieving father right now. I know he must be in a state of sadness that only a father could be in when he loses his only child. Ranger looked up towards us and locked eyes with me.

"Kill em' all for me Blaze. Get every last fucking one." Ranger said and he quickly raised the gun to his head before pulling the trigger.

"NO!!" I yelled as I pulled away from Zacky and started running towards my friend. I felt a pair of arms pull me backwards keeping me from going any closer. I looked on at the friend who helped me a lot during the service as he laid on the ground with a self inflicted gun shot wound to his temple. I hung my head losing another friend.