Zane stared sternly at the Corporal who was now insisting that he come along with them to the so called "safe zone" deeper in the center of the city. The last thing Zane wanted to do was be rounded up and used for manual labor, or worse, spare parts.
Such were the images his paranoid mind conjured when it came to the government and how it treated its citizens. On a normal day, you were lucky if the government didn't interfere with your lives, but during a crisis? You might as well be considered cattle. Or so was Zane's perspective.
Thus, he was quick to ask exactly what would happen if he refused. Knowing full well their answer would be that they would use force to drag him back to their base of operations.
"And if I refuse?"
Zane could tell the men near him immediately became twitchy, with some of them even going so far as to turn off the safeties on their m4 carbines. This, of course, made Zane all the more tense, as he desperately tried to think of a way out of the mess he currently found himself in.
As if the heavens were on his side, Zane immediately heard a man outside shout out information into his radio, followed by immediate gunfire.
"Contact!"
That was the only word Zane heard as the rest of the man's shouts were muffled by the automatic gunfire which his unit fired on the hostiles that had appeared out of nowhere. This, of course, caused the corporal to issue commands to the soldiers with him.
"Malone, you're with me, Ramirez. You stay here and watch over the civvie."
After saying this, two out of the three men ran off to engage in combat with the Walkers who were attacking the gas station. Private Ramirez initially watched Zane closely, he was after all the man who had confiscated Zane's weapons and gun belt.
But as the screams of his comrades echoed between the gunfire. Malone started shifting his attention elsewhere. Giving Zane a moment of opportunity. Since the gunfire began, Zane had been eying a nearby piece of shattered glass. And the moment Private Ramirez shifted his attention towards his comrades, who were now in the process of being encircled by the Walkers, Zane reached out towards it.
Where immediately upon seizing the sharp weapon, Zane stuck it in the Soldier's neck, killing him on the spot. Private Ramirez tried to shout out to his comrades for help, but Zane covered his mouth and whispered something in his ears. Which would be the last words that the man ever heard.
"You should have just let me go…"
Soon enough, the light behind the soldiers' eyes was extinguished. And knowing that he had a limited amount of time before either the soldiers were overrun and fell back to the gas station for a more defendable position, or they managed to defeat the horde and came looking for their fallen comrade.
Zane decided to be as quick as possible, as he took his gun belt back, along with his other weapons. While also scavenging the man's rifle, plate carrier, and ruck. Zane checked the chamber of the M4 Sopmod Block 1 rifle to see if a round was loaded and was happy to see that it was.
The rifle was a standard issue M4 carbine that had been issued to the US Army since the days of the Iraq War. And because of this, its attachments were fairly outdated. With an old school fixed, 4x optic, along with a piggy back micro red dot.
The weapon light was also a bit old, as was the IR illuminator, not that Erich actually needed it, because it would appear that this soldier did not even have night vision on his helmet. This was typical of the National Guard who, as far as Zane was aware, usually received the Army's hand-me-downs.
But an m4 carbine, with a fixed 4x scope, and an old school ballistic vest was still better than not having either. Thus, after briefly inspecting his new gear, Zane ran off through the back door of the Gas Station, narrowly avoiding detection from both the undead horde which was assaulting the position, and the few soldiers who were defending it.
And while Zane made a clean getaway. The soldiers eventually repelled the attacking Walkers. Where they found their comrade deceased, and Zane missing entirely. Knowing this, the Corporal who gave the orders to Private Ramirez to watch Zane sighed heavily and shook his head.
If it was just a few days ago, the loss of a friend would be inconceivable. After all, it was not like these guys were front line infantry in the active portion of the armed forces. In fact, the jobs these guys had in the national guard were far more tame.
But these past few days he had lost several good friends who had served alongside with on weekends in the national guard for several years now. Some were to the undead abominations which plagued this new world, and others to those civilians who sought to use this crisis as a means to engage in chaotic behavior.
Regardless, the man had quickly become used to the idea of losing friends, and thus all he could do was sigh and shake his head before getting on the radio and contacting their base of operations.
"Be advised, there is an armed and dangerous hostile civilian walking around with Ramirez's gear… His name is Ryan Parker… A local high school student who appears to be on his own… If you see this kid, shoot on sight!"
Zane was wise to use a false identity when revealing himself to the National Guard, as they would now look through their archives to find the identity of Ryan Parker, and put him on a hit list. If Ryan were to ever venture beyond the relative safety of the school's campus, and run into a National Guard patrol, he was liable to get himself killed, and it was all thanks to Zane using his name.