"I won't order you to stay," Colonel Anderson said as he addressed Kara Seagal and his remaining battalion who had remained at the camp since the outbreak. "Our numbers are dwindling rapidly, and I know you have families that you're worried about, so I'm letting you decide what you want to do."

Kara stood there at ease, her hands clasped behind her back, as she weighed her options. The situation was grim. They've been unable to get a handle on the spread of the virus, and the Public Health Agency of Canada had nothing. Now her superior was giving her an out. It was something you didn't often get amidst a war, especially one they were losing. Fear and excitement zipped through her like electricity, her heart beating erratically.

She would finally be able to find out if her husband and child were okay. She hadn't seen them since she was shipped out to try and contain the outbreak in Calgary, ground zero, two months ago. New reports indicated that the disease had spread despite their best efforts. On the night that their commander told them the news, she hadn't slept a wink because she'd been unable to get a call through to her husband.

They were supposed to have been transported to a safe zone in Green Haven— a small town north of Vancouver—but hadn't heard whether the convoy made it. Phone lines went down a week ago and that had everyone up in arms. That meant instead of getting better, things were getting worse.

"You won't be court marshaled if you go," Colonel Anderson said reassuringly.

The tension in her shoulders released, and she let out a breath. That had been the army's number one threat for anyone deviating from their duties. It was a relief that they could now go and nothing would happen. She'd been hoping for this all week.

"Just know that it is dangerous out there, and with our weapons depleting, we don't have much to offer you in the way of help."

Kara nodded when he looked her way. They'd had in-depth discussions in the recent past about her going home. She knew he was doing this for her. He had every right to demand that they stay. They had pledged their allegiance and promised to give their lives for their country. But never in a million years did she think that she'd be fighting against zombies. A shiver slithered down her spine. Give her a gun and she could face any man, any enemy, but there was something about the undead that sparked a fear in her unlike any other.

She couldn't even watch any of the popular zombie movies without feeling like she was going to be sick. Maybe it was because their glossy eyes reminded her of the eyes that broke her soul as a child. Her dad was always high or drunk, and that's what his looked like when he had her backed into a corner while she waited for what no kid should have to face.

Kara squeezed her eyes closed and breathed in deep, then let the air out, hissing between her teeth. And then she repeated the action, forcing the images from her mind. She couldn't let her mind run away on her. Her dad was gone, and he couldn't hurt her anymore. But they could.

When she reopened her eyes, the room was empty, except for her and the colonel. She hadn't even heard any of them leave. "Are you okay, Kara?" he asked, as he grabbed a bottle of water from the crate.

Lowering her eyes, she reached for a water bottle, too. She was happy to finally be able to leave and look for her family, but it scared the bejeebers out of her at the same time. Her job on the team was mostly to train the officers and help them prepare mentally and physically for what they were going to face. As an expert martial artist, they'd recruited her to train the crew in close combat, with weapons and without. That meant she stayed within the walls so that she was safe and available to do her job. They protected her. She didn't have to face the monsters.

"Have you ever known me not to be?" she responded.

"You put up a brave front, but I know you too well." And it's true. He did. He'd been like the father she never had.

"I won't lie. I'm scared, but it's not like I can't take care of myself."

"This is different."

Yes. It was. Nothing could have prepared them for the plague that had just about wiped out mankind. Life had literally become an apocalyptic movie. The sad part was there was no end in sight. No solution. Nothing. They were playing a game of survival now. All thanks to a little boy that was brought back from the dead. It was a scientist's desire to know more about their world—about life—that became mankind's undoing. Why couldn't they have left it well enough alone?

Kara picked up her sword off the nearby table and shoved it into the sheath on her back. "I have to do this."

"I could always send a truck to look for them," Colonel Anderson suggested, worry etching itself into the lines across his forehead above his big bushy eyebrows.

She reached up and brought her palm to rest on his cheek and tenderly kissed the other. "Thanks for the offer, but you don't have any men to spare."

"Let me go," a voice said from behind them.