Troy Stevens, general of the U.S. army, journeyed across the desolate landscape in the same weathered green jeep he had been driving for thirty years. Behind him followed an army of almost three hundred soldiers. They hadn’t been assigned a mission ever since the apocalypse ended, and, when a few of the army’s scouts reported sighting a lost survivor in the Appalachian Mountains, they eagerly accepted the task. Troy himself had been skeptical at first. However, as he and his army neared the mountain range, he began to consider the possibility. What if somebody didn’t know the apocalypse had ended?
He shook his head. It just seemed strange, that somebody could stay in isolation for over twenty years. He signaled to his army to stop their jeeps, and then emerged from his own.
Something told him this would be a very long night.
Troy turned to his soldiers, who had been waiting patiently for their instructions.
“All right men,” he began. “As you have heard, there have reports of a lost survivor. Apparently, she ran away to the Appalachians during the apocalypse, and has remained their ever since. While this doesn’t seem too unreasonable, I’m still unconvinced. And I have reason to be. You see, the transmission we received said the survivor was a ‘girl.’”
There was a murmur among the soldiers. Troy raised his hand for silence.
“Now let’s think about this for a moment. If a girl had been hiding there ever since the apocalypse, surely she would’ve aged? The only way there is a girl in those mountains is if she was born there, which means people must have been there before her. I’m not saying this is impossible, but it is unlikely, and we should proceed with caution.” Troy’s arctic eyes swept across the crowd. “All right?”
The men let out a small cheer. They followed Troy towards the mountain, where they found a small ovoid cave, presumably where the girl had been spotted earlier. Troy took a step inside, and immediately fell backwards, gagging. A few soldiers rushed to his side and helped him up. He gazed around blearily at them.
“Everybody have gas masks? Because whatever is down there is definitely not human.”
One of the privates stared at his leader. “Do you mean…?”
“Yes,” said Troy. “I do. Lieutenant Sabrina and I will head in first. We’ll go in order of ranking.” Then he added, in a barely audible whisper, “From this point on there will be silence.”
The men nodded. They squeezed into the cave, one by one, until everybody was inside. Because the tunnel was so compact, they had to move in single file, meaning Troy would be the only one able to fire if a threat were to appear. In that case, the other soldiers would have to hurry back to the cavern’s entrance and wait until everybody was out before firing. The walls moved closer with each step, and after several minutes Troy wondered just how long the tunnel was. He was about to turn back when he heard something.
Voices.
Troy motioned for his men to stop walking. He strained his eyes, peering into the darkness, and noticed a group of figures huddled at the end of the tunnel. Whether they were humans or not was unclear. He took a few tentative towards their direction, adjusted his gun’s sights, and waited.
Suddenly he heard a scream.
“They’re coming from behind!”
Troy whipped around, only to see a swarm of bodies erupt from the cave’s entrance. He cursed himself for not preparing for this situation. Now, rather than Troy firing, the privates would be the first to attack. The first private aimed, hands trembling, and fired, missing the approaching zombie by inches. The zombie hurled itself at the soldier and snatched his neck, sinking its teeth into the man’s flesh. Slowly the paleness of the skin receded, and was instead replaced by a darkish green. Troy watched in horror as more of his privates became zombies. He didn’t want to shoot his own men. But now he had to.
“Everybody, down!” he cried. Without question, his soldiers dropped to the ground, allowing him to shoot without hitting any of his remaining fighters. He fumbled through his belt for a grenade and hurled it at the approaching figures. Within seconds it detonated, sending a blinding flash through the tunnel. Troy turned his eyes away for a moment. When the smoke cleared, he saw that most of the zombies were dead. More were entering the cave, however.
(Sorry. That’s all I have time for. This is my first story on reddit, and if you guys like it please tell me, and I will continue it. If you don’t, I would appreciate some feedback.)