Page 2

"Please!" she cried, "Please help me".

Though we heard the moans coming from her pursuers in the darkness beyond, we steadied our rifles on her. We knew the rules.

"Ma'am", a voice called from our wall, "Please make your way to the verification point at the east gate for identification".

She stared in surprise at us. How could she know cardinal directions in her situation?

"Please help me", she pleaded, "I have a baby".

"Ma'am please proceed to the east gate for identification".

Bewildered the woman fled to her right as the wails of the dead echoed behind her. Since she was at the South Gate her decision to go right was to her advantage. Quickly behind her the dead appeared in the searchlights surrounding our perimeter.

"Party time!" Blake shouted as the zombies came into focus.

I recognized many of them. There was the soldier identified by his uniform. Beside him was the bride in her bloodstained wedding dress. The rest were regulars as well, each given a name and point value by my colleagues and myself. Tonight money would be exchanged and stories would be told at later dates as result of these kills. Blake centered his rifle on the bride and put one right between her eyes.

"Yeah!" he shouted as the bride fell to the ground.

The soldier glanced beside him at the fallen bride. I saw his face drop as he clenched his hands into fists. I wondered if he felt the pain of her death. Before my thought was complete a bullet ripped into the soldier's neck opening a hole for his blood to flow.

"Damn!" I heard someone call beside me, obviously the sender of the bullet to the soldier.

Grabbing his neck the soldier returned to the darkness beyond our range to live another day. Seeing his retreat others in the mass retreated as well. Only a few were left to follow the woman to the east gate. Since most of the zombies were recognizable to us it was evident their hunger took precedence over their instinct for survival. They continued the pursuit through the hail of gunfire from the wall.

The woman reached the east gate and began to call for help again. As part of the regulations on ammunition expenditure during a crisis like this each man on the wall was only permitted to fire 2 shots until an identity confirmation. The crowd of zombies below in pursuit of the woman was stronger than the 2 shot minimum of each man within range. There were no allocations for guards on other posts to join the fight. She had to go through the process of identity confirmation quickly before the zombies surrounded her. She stepped to the call box and began to press the button frantically.

"Post 12 Alpha 97 can I help you?" the voice returned.

The woman stared at the box with wide eyes.

Surprised at the formality in the situation she returned, "Let me in!"

"Please identify yourself" the voice returned.

She moved her gaze from the formal box to the zombies behind her. Since we had all reached our shot limit the crowd of zombies was allowed to close in upon her.

"Jennifer Thompson" she called, "Why does this matter?"

"Ma'am Post regulations instruct me to receive identification from all stragglers".

Straggler was such a harsh word, but it was the term chosen by those who controlled the wall so it was without disagreement.

"Please stand by for confirmation" the voice from the box told her.

After that message an instrumental of Kentucky Woman from Neil Diamond was played over the box. Jennifer began to glance back and forth from the box to the hoarding zombies closing in on her. As they got closer she clutched her baby tighter.

"She ain't gonna make confirmation" Blake giggled to me.

I left my post beside him and headed to the east gate.

"Where the hell are you going?" he asked.

Ignoring him I hurried my pace towards the gate. Passing each century I was aware of their inquisitive stares. I reached the east gate and Jennifer was right below me. From here I could see the fresh tears from her eyes and feel the increase in her heart rate as the zombies moved closer.

"Campbell!" I shouted with enthusiasm.

Jennifer looked up at me. From beneath the bundle I saw the eyes of the babe looking to me also. In both of their eyes I saw a fear and helplessness that mimicked the one from my own heart.

"Say Jack Campbell!" I called in a much higher tone.

"My husband Jack Campbell is in there" she shouted.

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