Groundlings

Scouts woke early, Lee had been told. They had not been told that “early” meant even before the asscrack of dawn. Apparently Anastasia King herself had woken up the first few, then sent them to rouse everyone else. And so it was that Lee awoke to an unfamiliar young face above them, grinning.
Kids.
“You’re Lee, right?” the girl asked.
Lee groaned and nodded, rolling over. The girl grabbed their shoulder. “Leave me alone,” they grumbled.
“Nah!” the girl said. “It’s your shift to run ahead.”
“Well fuck damn,” Lee breathed. This was gonna be hard. Of course, they’d worked early mornings before. Way before. And the previous day had been exhausting as all hell. “Help me up, wouldja?” they said, grabbing the kid’s arm without waiting for a response. The girl took it in stride, heaving to help Lee to their feet.
Lee thanked her and sent her off, to dress in the relative privacy their spot behind one of the supply wagons afforded them. When all was said and done, they didn’t like being looked at very much. Sure, they were a flashy person. Lee loved showing off. But their body was just a reminder that people would look at them and pin them in one direction of the other.
Lee didn’t want that. Lee wanted to be free.
And so, they dressed. A tank top and a light jacket to allow for heat regulation and freedom of movement. Shorts for the same reason. This pair in particular reached to Lee’s knees, but they assumed that on a regular-sized person they would sit at mid thigh level instead. It worked well for them, they supposed. Enough coverage to feel comfortable, but enough exposed to breathe.
After that, it was a matter of lacing up their boots, loading their guns (only their shotgun and pistol, the rifle stayed at home in its cart for now), and tying their hair up. They fished in their bag for one of the bird wraps they’d pilfered from yesterday. It would be a good breakfast on the go.
They wandered camp for a moment, weaving through the extinguished cookfires and sleeping mounds of people on the ground. It was disorganized, people stirred here and there, but overall it was peaceful. And with the forest making the same ambient noises it always did, the world seemed not to have changed too much.
Home was no longer in sight, but they were still in the protective realm of the redwoods, supported and hidden away by their might and majesty. It would hard to leave this behind.
Anastasia caught sight of them and silently waved them over. Lee picked their way through the last sleepers and met up with her.
“Morning, Lee,” she said. “You look tired.”
Lee shrugged. “Had it worse before,” they said. It wasn’t a lie. Most of those first nights in prison had been sleepless, and when they had managed to sleep it was turbulent and often left them waking more exhausted than they had been the night before.
“Well, you’ll have to get used to it,” Anastasia said firmly.
“Yes, ma’am,” Lee responded. You want official and professional? I’ll give you official and professional. “What are my duties for today? Anything in particular to watch for?”
Anastasia smiled. “You’re going northwest with a few of the others. Fan out, but make sure you can signal each other. Use one of these,” she said, fishing in her own bag and pulling out a little disk. Lee squinted, recognizing it as a makeup compact. Anastasia gave it to them and they opened it. It was empty, save for the mirror. Smart.
“Thanks,” they said.
“You’ll be on the ground for a few days to get used to it,” Anastasia said. “But after that I want you climbing to get a better view of things. Don’t be afraid to use your mirror. One flash is all clear, two flashes means ‘help me’, and three flashes means deadheads. Got it?”
Lee nodded. It was easy enough. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. Wake a guard and take them with you,” Anastasia instructed. “You’re not trained as well in combat as they are, and if you come across any deadheads I want them to help you kill them.”
“Okay.”
“Silently, mind you. Knife the head if you can. Don’t use a gun unless you absolutely have to,” she warned. “Noise draws ‘em, I’m sure you know that. It’s one of the reasons so many died in the early days.”
Lee nodded. None of this was news to them. Hell, part of their job as a sniper was to use a loud gun to draw more. Made the killing more effective. “Is that all?” they asked.
Anastasia nodded. “Good luck out there. If you can, meet back up with the group at noon or so to switch with someone.”
“Alright. I’ll get on it,” Lee said.
Anastasia clapped them on the back, smiling proudly. She really was hopeful about all this, wasn’t she? Well, she had organized a decent enough scouting department. Maybe she was right to be optimistic.
Too bad it was lost on Lee themself.

But when they had collected their guard and started away from camp, they felt something new. It was a kind of beautiful intoxication with the new surroundings. They had seen the roots of the redwoods a thousand times from afar but walking past and through them was a different thing entirely. Even the roots towered over them.
And the trees themselves were magnificent, giants that rose so high into the air it seemed they never ended. Of course it was not true, Lee had lived their entire life up to now at the tops, but things looked so different, so alien from here. It was difficult to make good time walking around slowly and going slack jawed at every new view, but Lee didn’t care. They were left in complete awe by the new and breathtaking sights.
On more than one occasion, they stopped completely to pick something off the ground. A stick here, a leaf here. They even found what seemed to be a couple of little bones, though they had no idea what kind of animal they could’ve belonged to. The lack of the rest of the skeleton definitely didn’t help either. But into a pocket on their bag the bones went. Maybe someone back at camp could identify them for Lee.
Their guard, a woman a few years older than them named Sarah. Sarah seemed largely to ignore Lee and what they were doing, paying just enough attention to stay close to them. It was nice, it left Lee to experience their awe in peace. Sarah did not seem to judge them. The few times Lee looked over at her to make sure she was still there, her eyes were wide though she tried to disguise it. A few times, she kicked at the dirt, studying it as if it was some kind of animal that hurt both of them.
And we’d get what, a scraped knee? Lee thought. It was ridiculous. Sarah took her job way too seriously. Not that Lee didn’t, but at least Lee knew how to have fun with it. And they did. Eventually, one the initial novelty and awe had worn off, Lee felt a rising excitement. They ran through the forest with their hands in the air.
They wanted to yell and whoop, but that was likely the most unsafe thing they could’ve done. They restrained themself from it, but just barely. They stopped on top of a low root, leaning over to catch their breath. This was what freedom felt like, they thought. This is what it means.
Unchained, uninhibited, just out in the wild.
Lee would have to go back to camp soon, judging by the where they could see the sun when the gaps between the trees were big enough. They really didn’t want to go back. The thought of bolting, just abandoning the group and being free for the rest of their life crossed their minds. But it was foolishness. Sarah would likely drag them back by their hair if she needed, and besides the likelihood of living alone in the forest was low.
Strength in numbers, Lee. Strength in numbers.
Besides, as long as the group kept them alive, Lee could return to this freedom as much as they wanted. It was a fantastic deal once they had given it some thought.
Sarah caught up. She was out of breath too, but not as much as Lee had been after their rampage. “Hey,” she panted. “Let’s go back.”
Lee nodded. “About time, innit?”
“Yeah,” Sarah said. “Pretty nice out here, though.”
Lee rolled their eyes at her. “Understatement, much?”
Sarah laughed. “For you, maybe. Walkin’ around and starin’ at everything you see.”
Lee shrugged. “Can’t help it,” they said. “It’s all so new. Pretty cool.”
“I’m with you there,” Sarah agreed. She said nothing more.
Lee heaved a sigh after a minute of silence. “All right. Let’s go.” They didn’t stop to see if Sarah agreed, they just started jogging back the direction they came, raising their mirror to catch the sun. Once.

They arrived back at camp half an hour past noon. It had moved forward, slowly, along the same path Lee had taken earlier. It was wide enough for the entire herd to trample through. Lee sought out Anastasia at the head, reported that they had found a relatively clear path forward and little else. After their brief exchange, Anastasia dismissed Lee from their duty for the day.
Lee went straight to find something to eat. They found three people sat around a fire with some kind of bird and vegetables roasting on a metal sheet above the flames. They approached.
The oldest of them noticed, a girl maybe a few years younger than Lee themself, with chin-length black hair and a thick muscular build. She waved them over, patting the ground beside her.
A scrawny little kid leaned forward as they sat, his face scrunched up suspiciously. “Who are you?” he asked. His voice was high. He was probably twelve or something.
Damn. Twelve, and on his way to his death. “I’m Lee,” they said. It was simple enough. “I’m a scout, I’m off for the day.”
“Ahhh, lucky,” the girl said. “I’ve got watch duty later on.”
“Groundguard, huh?” Lee asked her.
“Honorary,” she said. “I worked security back home. It’s not the same thing.”
“But it’s close enough,” Lee nudged.
The girl laughed, loud and clear. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“So. Names?” Lee asked. They felt welcome enough here.
The girl started. “Oh! Pardon me, sorry. I’m Tika. That there’s my brother Mobe,” she nodded towards the scrawny kid, “and his boyfriend Toby.” The third in the group looked more like Lee than the others. He was tall and lanky with a mop of golden hair and a generally friendly face. He was about sixteen, if Lee guessed right. That was just creepy.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Mobe whined.
Tika winked at him, poking at the cooking bird. What a good sister, Lee thought to themself. They could tell she cared. Definitely cared enough to give the little brat as much crap as she could. She was Lee’s kinda person for sure.
They decided to join in. “Besides, kid,” they said. “Ain’t you a little young to date him?”
Mobe flushed. “I’m fifteen!” he squeaked indignantly.
“For real?” Lee asked. That boy did not look fifteen.
Tika nodded. “Yeah. He’s a little runt.”
Mobe did not appreciate that. He puffed his cheeks out angrily and sunk back into the comically large jacket he was wearing. Toby laughed and slapped Mobe’s shoulder, earning him a death glance from the kid.
“Cute,” Lee said quietly to Tika, who nodded in agreement, prodding at the bird again. It looked almost ready and smelled far too good to be legal.
Good thing the wilderness was lawless.
“Mobe,” Tika said. “Be a darling and grab the flatbread? Four pieces.”
He mumbled something under his breath, but he did as he was told, rummaging through one of the large backpacks they had. He pulled out a smaller one that seemed to be entirely for food, and struggled to take the four pieces of bread out of that.
Poor thing. Had a hard time with everything, most like.
Tika began shredding the bird on the grill up, then using her knife and a fork to scoop it along with some of the vegetables into a piece of bread. The first one went to Toby, then one for Mobe. Lee accepted theirs gratefully and with profuse thanks. It was nice of her to share her food without them even asking. Definitely someone Lee wanted to be around.
Before preparing her own bread, Tika doused the fire. It was warm enough out to not need it, and the smoke would draw attention from animals and worse. It was unavoidable with a big loud group like this, but taking precautions never hurt anyone.
Lee ate and idly wondered when their first encounter with a predator would be. It was almost suspicious that the first night hadn’t yielded any scuffles, but they weren’t about to complain. The safer they were the better. Perhaps the bears and things were smart enough to stay clear of a group of several hundred people. The zombies, on the other hand, were not. It was surprising that they hadn’t seen any.
Maybe the population was dying down. It had been long enough for the original ones who started the epidemic to have decayed completely. Once the brain was destroyed, no matter by what method, the zombie was dead for good. If the brain rotted out, it finally died. If the brain got shot, they died. If they got a knife in the head, they died. Decapitation worked too, it was far more reliable than trying to punch a hunting knife through a skull, but most of the blades people carried weren’t big enough to shear a head off cleanly.
And if you were close enough to cut the thing’s head off, it was close enough to kill you. Of course, the same thing went for when you knifed it, but they usually went slack before it could do damage. If it hurt you.
Or at least, that’s what Lee had heard. They still weren’t a fan of the idea of meeting one face to face. It would happen, though, and soon. All they could do was be prepared.
Apparently Mobe was thinking similar things. His expression as he ate was dark and he gave off hardcore moody vibes. What a little ray of sunshine he was. It seemed Toby noticed his mood at the same time Lee did. He leaned over and said something to Mobe that Lee couldn’t quite hear, and they probably should be glad they couldn’t because the kid turned a bright beet red almost immediately.
Not boyfriends my ass.
Lee smiled, turning to Tika. “Is it okay if I hang around here for a little while? When’s your shift start?”
“About another hour,” Tika said, looking at her clock.
“I can watch the kids for you,” Lee offered. They lowered their voice to where only Tika could hear it, and barely. “Make sure they don’t fuck without protection and all that. Never know what kinda nasties you could get out here with all the dirt and stuff.”
Tika burst out laughing, tears in her eyes. It was loud and low. Lee thought they heard her snort once too. How cute.
Mobe looked over and raised an eyebrow, but Lee only gave him a non commital wave of their hand. He looked annoyed, but turned back to his notebook, scribbling something down furiously. A journal of some sort, Lee guessed. They knew several people that had decided to keep them, at the archivist’s suggestion.
Lee themself didn’t care for the idea. Even if they did, whatever they wrote would be useless anyway. Their handwriting was atrocious. No one would be able to read it and that was a plain fact.
They wondered what Mobe was writing in his. The way the kid spoke told them he was intelligent. Smarter than Lee themself, probably. It wasn’t that hard to achieve, if they were gonna be completely honest with themself.
Eventually, Tika packed up and left for her guard duty, thanking Lee again for keeping her little brother company while the procession blundered slowly on. Not much happened. Lee tried to get the boys to play a game, but Mobe, they found out quickly, was not a very cooperative boy. And he had absolutely no imagination.
When the camp had finally hunkered down for night, Tika returned. She made dinner for all four of them, again thanking Lee for staying. It was nice, having people around who liked you. It had been a long time since Lee had had that.
After some more small meal time chitchat, Lee excused themself and started to pick their way through the milling people to find a place to set up for the night. There was a small clearing between fires, where a small dent in the ground made pitching a family tent near impossible and undesirable at best. Lee figured they would fit into the little depression perfectly, so they unslung their pack from their shoulders and began to set up for the night.
Their second night down here proved far more comfortable than the first and when they woke in the morning, they would feel well rested and ready to head out on another adventure.