18 years later;

The atmosphere was grimm, everyone of the 12 cadets was squashed in the back of the truck. No one said a thing. Today was the day they faced the outside world - the night they were made of aware of the true mature of the horrors that awaited them outside the protective barriers of the fortress.

"Buckle up, maggots. This ride is about to get real bumpy." Came the booming voice of Colonel Deidre Samson.

She was a tough woman, her greying light brown hair up in a tight bun tucked behind her helmet. Her stormy grey eyes struck fear into the soul of those who looked into them. She was unforgiving and her training methods had been described by most as torturous. She wasn't anything pretty but she strikingly fair. A true soldier through and through.

She looked down each and every one of her subordinates as she assessed just how prepared they were for the horrors that awaited them.

"Listen up! I don't like to repeat myself but I feel like today, since you're getting blooded on the battlefield, I should recite the most important rules you had best not forget.

Number 1: Aim for the head
Number 2: Don't make a sound or so help me I will shoot you if you attract a horde unnecessarily.
Number 3: Your friend gets bit shoot him in the head and put him out of his misery
And most importantly if you you realize that you've been bit a quick bullet to the head will save us all the trouble.

Any questions?!"

They all blinked up at her, no one dared raise a word in protest as they digested the words she was saying.

"Good." She said before she grasped her rifle. "We're T-minus three minutes. Get your shit together. It's about to get messy."

She moved towards the back of the truck, ready to jump at a moment's notice.

"You'd think several years of training would prepare you for the shit show we're about to endure." Came the nervous voice of one of the cadets.

Everyone shared his sentiment but nobody said a thing. They were all nervous.

"Oh yeah, one other thing! Nobody play the hero! We don't want any unnecessary casualties." Colonel Samson continued. "Now then, raise your weapons soldiers, let's go, go go!"

With those words soldiers leaped out of the back of the truck one by one onto the solid ground. No words were said as each captain signalled for his squad of rookies to follow him or her.

It was meant to be a simple mission. Raid an old abandoned base and gather as much food and medical supplies as they could. Although they hoped to somehow retake the base,no one was focused on that. They knew that retaking any land from the undead would mean numerous casualties. Humanity didn't have that much soldiers to spare unfortunately.

It was a full moon that night. Atleast they had enough light to spot the telltale signs of a horde before it was upon them. They moved quickly through each building. The formation remained the same. They'd investigate, search, recover and regroup. It sounded simple enough but there was always the impending threat of an attack.

One particular squad headed towards what had once been a pharmacy. Their captain, Jackson O'Neal signalled for them to sweep the area.

"Liz, you and Jesse hurry up and grab as much as you can carry. Phil and I will be on look out." He told two of his squad members.

The young woman Liz was petite with a short black pixie cut tucked into her helmet. Her curious brown eyes looked up at the captain before seeking out her other squad mate. He was two years younger than her, had sunny chin length blond hair and ocean blue eyes. In the solemn atmosphere, Jesse Adams somewhat had a small smile of encouragement for her.

"You ready to do this?" He asked her.

"Ready for certain death? Sure why not. Let's go." She replied, his smile easing some of the tension she felt as she carefully unlocked the door to the small pharmacy and walked into the dark building, her eyes sweeping through the building for any signs of danger.

"You know that's not what I meant, Liz." Jesse said as he shook his head, trying to hold back his laughter.

Following her into the building, he kept his riffle on the ready. Although they were supposed to gather supplies, neither of them would let their guard down.

As quickly as they entered the shop, they gathered as much medical supplies as they could get before they went back to their captain.

"Alright team, let's meet back with the main party and hopefully regroup and head back home." Jackson said as he began to lead them back to the main squad.

"Is everyone back? Let's head out. We don't want to over stay our welcome." Colonel Samson said as she looked around. "It's already fishy enough that we saw not even a single stiff."

The rest of the cadets and soldiers were weary too. They knew it was unsual for the teams to not encounter even a single hostile. Of course no one was questioning their luck in case they jinxed it.

"At least we all get to go home. It's not that bad." Liz said, her voice a bit unsure.

"Yeah... You're right." Jesse said thoughtfully. He didn't want to say it but he had a strange feeling in his gut.

He suddenly felt a pin prickly sensation at the back of his neck. Turning, his eyes scanned the darkness.

Nothing. False alarm. So what was he suddenly on edge?

"Jesse?" He suddenly heard Liz's concerned voice. "Is everything okay?"

It took the cadet a few seconds before he could blink away the feeling and steady his nerves.

"It's nothing. I thought I saw something. Must have been my eyes playing a trick on me." He said as he moved to board the truck once again.
It was time for them to move out. Tonight's mission had been a mild success. Whilst they had managed to gather enough medical supplies from the abandoned medical base, the real mission had been to see how the newly graduated cadets would fare against a real life attack. That part of the mission would most likely be postponed for another day seeing as they hadn't encountered any of the infected.

Or did they? Jesse still couldn't shake that bad feeling. Even as they drove away, he could still see those golden eyes watching them from the shadows.