Team A and Gate Two

Kettely has changed amazingly in the past couple years, not just the people but the city itself. For one thing it’s only about a third of what it was. The rest is outside the fence. Or more like the remains of what was the rest of my city is outside the fence. The only thing left is rubble and remnants of homes. Some things I have forgotten, but the way my city looked like? Where everything was? That I remember. I remember the movie theatre was on Haven Blvd. That’s where I used to work. My friends were always over using my employee’s discount to watch all the latest films for cheap. I remember the park, where me and my boyfriend at the time used to hang out, was right across the library on Whiffe and Washington. I remember the old diner where I had my first kiss used to be right on the corner of Francis and Overton St. About five blocks from there on 67th and 110th St. was my school, KHS. That’s were I was when it all happened. In the cafeteria, writing a love story…

Unfortunately, all of that was outside The Fence and for all intents and purposes, no longer exists.

“Hey Ames,” said a voice as I stared out the window of the bus I was on, reminiscing of my past life. I pulled my eyes away from Hunter Lane, where my ex lives, and focused my attention to the person addressing me. It was Tomas Barter, second in command at Gate Two. Tommy, as we all called him, looked a lot like me. In fact we’re often thought to be twins. The only difference being that he's five inches taller than me and has stunning blue eyes while I have green.

“Hey Tommy,” I say trying not to look to "out of it", as I clearly was a minute ago. “What's up? How’s Kevin?”

“Recovering,” he replied. Kevin, whose mother had died recently, was Tommy’s boyfriend. Although Tommy was gay he was almost never like the stereotypical gay guy. If you didn't know him you'd think he was straight. “But he has me to take care of him, you on the other hand… well you’re all alone. No boyfriend to support you. So I think the better question is not how is Kevin doing, but how are you doing?”

“I'm fine. You know me, I'm surviving.”

“Alright, if you say so... Anyways… did you hear what happened in Hillsbury?”

But before I can answer another Team A member hops on the bus and interrupts our conversation.

“That’s not at all important or true. How about what happened at my house last night? Now there’s a story worth putting in the papers!” says a dark haired woman with sparkling gray eyes.

“Hello Sandy,” Sandra Hafton who we called Sandy was another one of the few women who worked at The Gate. She, like Tommy and I, was wearing the same brown uniform but to this she added a small fancy scarf “which adds color to this horrific thing we have to wear almost every day”, and a silver brooch which her husband had given her. He had died about a year ago. Despite this she was a lively person although when she thought no one was looking I could see the pain in her eyes. For years she had tried to get pregnant but that dream had died along with her husband.

“So here's the scoop," she began and told us of how she had had to face an undead walker in the apartment next door.

“Anyways the lady was all hysterical like and you won’t believe it! She tried to hide the fact that she was bitten.”

“Oh my God”

“Yeah I know. I was the one who noticed. I had to kill her. It wasn’t pleasant.”

“...”

“Speaking of unpleasant things, our stop is coming up,” I said slightly disturbed. It was one thing to kill some creature of hell that was trying to kill and eat you. It was another to kill a living being that can think, talk and feel. So I pushed it to the farthest part of my brain and, along with Tommy and Sandy, I got off the bus and walked to the entrance where we had our ID's checked. When all was clear we entered Gate Two.

Gate Two, like the others, consisted of a large stone gate that was greatly reminiscent of medieval times complete with little flags with a huge red 2 on it. The Gate itself was a little more than three stories high and twice as wide. This was because the “living quarters” were located inside The Gate itself. There were cots for a quick nap, a kitchen, bathroom, even a living room. It was a mini house inside, designed for us. There weren’t too many people willing to risk their lives for the city so those who were, had to stay long hours to make sure the Gates were always protected. The minimum anyone stayed in one shift was 12 hours. It wasn’t too bad once you got used to it.

On the sides of The Gate were stone walls that stretched around Kettely, ending only to include the other Gates. These walls weren’t too high, resources being low at the time they were built. They were about ten feet high. Occasionally other Gate soldiers would pace these walls or to my annoyance, race across them.

We climbed the stairs to the Waiting Posts where the Teams waited, either for their shift to end or start. There we found the rest of my team, Team A, chatting away. Then there was Team B, slightly tired from their 12 hour night shift.

Because Kettely was so small, not that many people were needed so each Team had anywhere from thirty to fifty people, mine had 37, but out of those thirty seven, four were closest to me.

“Morning Scotty,” I said to Scott Harborman, Team B leader.

“Morning Ames,” he replied. “So… I heard about that promotion…”

“You and half the city. But don’t worry; I'm not leaving you guys for those asses.”

“Good, honestly I was a little afraid the money would get you. I've seen that half apartment you live in."

"Hey, I like my half apartment!"

“Ames!!” yelled a voice all too familiar from behind me. “Wow, you were almost late.” Said Mark Washington or Mac as we all called him; pronounced Mahk. Mac had an accent that made it sound as though he omitted the ‘r’. So we pronounced it like he did.

“Damn it! Ames why couldn’t you have been late for once. You just cost me fifty bucks. Fifty!”

“That’s not really my fault now is it? You know I'm never late.” I told Bill Everett. The oldest one of my closest friends. While the most of us were in our twenties or thirties, he was in his 40's. Forty-two to be exact. However sometimes it was hard to believe because of his childish behavior. This was, of course, a mask to hide the real him. The one suffering from pain, the pain of losing his entire family, the pain of having been the one who was forced to kill them permanently.

“So Amelia… how did you like our little wake up dedication this morning?” Bill asked with a sly look on his face.

I flashed a fake smile at him and the others who had helped with his evil plan.

“It was lovely!” I said sarcastically about their “short little lady” comment. They all enjoyed making fun of my height. I was three inches shorter than the second shortest, Mac and a whole foot shorter than Bill, the tallest. “One day, I’m gonna get you guys.”

“And on that day we’ll all make sure to bend down so you can reach us,” said Bill.

Rolling my eyes I turned to the window that faced the Road to the Gate. It was a large road, made to hold several trucks. On the sides, for about a mile was a clearance. But beyond that there was a large forest that seemed to never end. Recently we had complained that the forest was preventing us from seeing the undead until they were close, giving us less time to react. Plans were now being made to cut it down further.

I stared absentmindedly out the window. Somewhere in the back of my head I could hear the others talking, laughing, living… but I didn’t pay any attention to it. My mind was somewhere else. Somewhere in the past, to when I first came to work at Gate Two, three years ago… But I was abruptly brought back to the present as I noticed something heading towards us. Blinking a couple times I turned and grabbed a binocular to see the closing in object better.

“What is it Ames?” Someone asked me. A pause...

"Ames...?

I turned.

"Grab your guns, we've got a medium group."

Faces broke out into smiles as Team A jumped up from their seats and ran to their lockers.

I headed out to my own where I grabbed my sniper rifle, a favorite. I ran to the top of the Post as I loaded my gun. Finally with a cloudy sky above me, the city behind me and the walking dead ahead, I took aim ready to blow them off one by one.

The others would be there too of course but they would be aiming to delay. A group was harder than one or two, obviously, and procedure was to hit them in the legs to stop them from getting too close and to kill them later. But as Team Leader I didn't have to follow this procedure and I could go straight for the kill. And that's exactly what I did.

After a moment of focusing, I had a thirty something in my scope. His face was gashed horribly and there were signs that at one point there had been heavy bleeding, but that had stopped by now. His blood soaked shirt was torn and it appeared as though a whole chunk of him had been bitten off by some large creature. Pieces of once vital organs now dangled through that hole. I aimed for between its bloodshot eyes and pulled the trigger. In an instant, his head was ripped apart by the force of the bullet.

"Nice shot!" said someone next to me but I had no time to look at who.

Quickly I aimed for the next target, a teenage girl who wore what was once expensive brand name clothing and was now bloody rags. She wore one gold earring, the other one probably being attached to her other ear that had been torn off some time ago. Her fingers were bent in ways that would be very painful were she still alive. Her other arm was missing from the elbow down. Her mangled flesh hung loosely, dripping. Her hair was matted and muddy. I knew that were she still alive she would have killed herself if her hair was ever that messy but she was no longer alive and as soon as I pull the trigger she wouldn't be moving either.

Several gun shot filled moments later, the group was down and then the Team went for head shots. Once that was done with, Flamers set the bodies on fire to ensure that they were dead and would no longer bother anyone.

It was a very dirty and messy job, but it was our job. Whether it be to take down, kill, enflame or clean up, we did it as best as we could. What else could we do?

Back at the Waiting Post we settled down. I took my normal place near the window. And then once again I quickly reached for my binoculars.

"What is it Ames?"

“Just a truck… C’mon we have to open The Gate,” I said and turned to face the disappointed Teams.