Chapter 19: Training DaysChapter 19: Training Days
The week between joining the coalition and the depot raid passed in a blur of preparation.
Day 8 - August 24th:
Lucas assigned us patrol duty around Green Lake's perimeter. It was grunt work, but necessary, zombies were constantly probing the defenses, looking for weak points.
We encountered twelve zombies during our eight-hour shift. Mostly Tier-1s, a few Tier-2s. Easy kills now that we were higher level and better equipped.
"It's almost boring," Lisa commented after her third headshot with a crossbow we'd borrowed from coalition supplies. "Remember when we were terrified of a single zombie?"
"Don't get cocky," Maya warned. "Boring gets you killed."
She was right. We stayed alert, killed efficiently, and reported back. Lucas seemed satisfied with our performance.
That evening, I spent time at the coalition's crafting station. My Crafting Basic skill let me maintain weapons and create simple items. I reinforced our armor with metal plates scavenged from cars, created better grips for our weapons, even made a crude shield for Lisa.
[ITEMS CRAFTED]
[REINFORCED LEATHER VEST x3]
[IMPROVED WEAPON GRIPS x3]
[BASIC SHIELD x1]
It wasn't glamorous, but it could save our lives.
Day 9 - August 25th:
Lucas called a strategy meeting for the depot raid. Eight of us gathered around the map: Lucas, me, Maya, Lisa, Sarah, and three coalition fighters I didn't know well.
"The National Guard depot is here," Lucas pointed to a location fifteen miles south. "According to my scouts, it's surrounded by zombies, maybe two hundred, including several Tier-3s and at least one Tier-4."
"That's a small army," one of the fighters said nervously.
"Which is why we're not fighting them all," Lucas continued. "We'll use a distraction team to draw most of them away, then a strike team slips in, grabs supplies, and extracts before they return."
"Who's on which team?" Maya asked.
"Strike team will be smaller , me, Ethan, Sarah, and Marcus." Marcus was the big man with the fire axe from the Convention Center raid. "We're the highest level and fastest movers. Distraction team is everyone else, make noise, draw zombies away, then retreat to a safe position."
"That puts the distraction team at risk," I pointed out.
"Less risk than fighting two hundred zombies head-on," Lucas said. "And the distraction team will have vehicles for quick escape. It's the best plan we've got."
Maya wasn't happy about being separated from me, but she understood the logic. Smaller strike teams were faster and quieter.
Day 10 - August 26th:
Training day. Lucas wanted everyone at peak performance before the raid.
We spent six hours running combat drills. Sarah taught urban combat tactics, how to clear rooms, how to cover angles, how to communicate without radios. Marcus demonstrated proper axe technique, which was surprisingly technical.
I worked with Lucas on coordination. His precognition let him see attacks coming, but he had to communicate those warnings to the team. We developed hand signals and shorthand for different threats.
"Tier-2, left, three seconds," Lucas would call out during drills.
I'd immediately shift position, ready to intercept. It felt like a dance, and by the end of the day, we were in sync.
That evening, I pulled Lucas aside.
"Question," I said. "In your precognition, do you ever see... possibilities? Different timelines?"
Lucas looked at me curiously. "Sometimes. When there's a major decision point, I'll see multiple futures branching out. Why?"
"Just wondering how it works. Whether the future is fixed or changeable."
"It's changeable," Lucas said firmly. "Every choice creates new possibilities. That's why precognition is useful—I can see which choices lead to death and avoid them."
I thought about the novel I'd read. That was a fixed timeline, a story that had already been written. But this world was different. Every choice I made, every butterfly effect, created new branches.
The timeline wasn't diverging. It was multiplying.
Day 11 - August 27th:
A problem emerged. One of the coalition's outposts, a small group of fifteen survivors on the east side, went dark. No radio contact, no response to runners.
Lucas sent us to investigate.
We found the outpost destroyed. Bodies everywhere, not just killed, but mutilated. This wasn't zombies. This was intentional cruelty.
"Raiders," Maya said, examining the scene. "General's Army. They left their mark." She pointed to a symbol spray-painted on the wall: a sword through a skull.
Among the dead, we found a survivor, barely. A young woman, mid-twenties, with a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
I used a health potion on her immediately. She gasped as the wound closed.
"What happened?" I asked.
"They came at dawn," she choked out. "Maybe thirty of them. Said we had to join the General or die. We refused. They... they killed everyone. I played dead until they left."
"Did they take supplies?" Lucas asked via radio when we reported in.
"Everything," I confirmed. "Weapons, food, even the furniture. Stripped the place clean."
"Get the survivor back here. We'll debrief her and figure out our response."
The woman's name was Jennifer. She joined the coalition immediately, nowhere else to go. But the message was clear: the General's Army was escalating.
Day 12 - August 28th:
Lucas called another council meeting. This time, we discussed retaliation.
"We can't let them slaughter our people without consequences," one council member argued. "We need to hit them back, show strength."
"That's what they want," Sarah countered. "Provoke us into a war before we're ready. We've got seventy-five fighters. They've got two hundred."
"Then we don't fight directly," I suggested. "We sabotage their supply lines. Raid their territory. Make them bleed resources instead of people."
Lucas nodded slowly. "Guerrilla tactics. Hit and run. Keep them off balance."
"It's risky," Sarah said. "But it might work. Better than open war."
The council voted. Five to two in favor of limited retaliation strikes.
Lucas assigned me to lead the first one, a raid on a General's Army supply cache. Small team, quick in and out, no unnecessary fighting.
"You sure you trust me with this?" I asked later.
"You're smart, you think tactically, and you don't take stupid risks," Lucas said. "Plus, you've got that information skill. You'll know if something's wrong before it goes bad."
I wasn't sure Reader's Privilege worked that way anymore, but I didn't correct him.
Day 13 - August 29th:
The guerrilla raid happened at midnight. Me, Maya, and four coalition fighters crept into General's Army territory, a neighborhood they'd claimed as their own.
The supply cache was in a grocery store. Two guards outside, more inside probably. We watched from across the street, planning our approach.
"I'll take the guards with Silent Steps," Maya whispered. "You all move in behind me."
She crossed the street like a ghost, her Silent Steps skill making her completely soundless. The guards never saw her coming. Two quick strikes with her bat, and they were down. Not dead, just unconscious. We weren't trying to start a bloodbath.
Inside the store, we found crates of food, ammunition, medical supplies. Jackpot.
We loaded everything we could carry into backpacks, probably two weeks worth of supplies for the coalition. Then we left a note:
"Stop killing innocents. Next time, we take more than supplies. - Green Lake Coalition"
We were three blocks away when alarms started blaring behind us. The General's people had found the unconscious guards.
"Run!" I hissed.
We sprinted through dark streets, using our enhanced Agility and Stamina to stay ahead of pursuit. Behind us, shouts and gunfire echoed, but they were shooting blindly. We'd already disappeared into the night.
Back at Green Lake, we delivered the supplies. Lucas seemed pleased.
"Good work. Clean, efficient, minimal violence. That's exactly the message we want to send."
The council agreed. We'd proven we could strike back without escalating to full war.
For now.
Day 14 - August 30th:
Depot raid day.
We gathered at 4 AM, strike team and distraction team, both preparing in different ways. The distraction team had two trucks with speakers rigged up, ready to blast noise and draw zombies. The strike team had minimal gear, just weapons, backpacks, and determination.
Lucas went over the plan one final time.
"Distraction team creates chaos at the south entrance. Zombies swarm toward the noise. Strike team enters through the north side, quieter, fewer zombies. We have exactly twenty minutes before the distraction team has to retreat. That's our window. Get in, grab high-value supplies, get out."
"What if we run into that Tier-4?" Marcus asked.
"Then I deal with it," Lucas said. "My precognition gives me the best chance. Everyone else focuses on loading supplies."
"And if something goes wrong?" Sarah asked.
"Then we improvise." Lucas looked at each of us. "Everyone clear? Questions?"
None. We were as ready as we'd ever be.
At 5 AM, we moved out in convoy, four vehicles heading south toward the National Guard depot. Dawn was just breaking, painting the sky orange and red. Beautiful, for the apocalypse.
I checked my status one more time:
[ETHAN CHEN - LEVEL 6]
[READY FOR COMBAT]
[SKILLS ACTIVE: DANGER SENSE, NIGHT VISION, ENHANCED STAMINA]
[WEAPON: STORMBREAKER (FULLY CHARGED)]
Beside me, Maya looked calm but focused. She'd been in enough fights now that pre-battle nerves didn't show.
"You okay?" she asked me.
"Nervous," I admitted. "This is the biggest operation we've done."
"We've got this. Lucas has a plan, we're prepared, and we've got legendary gear." She touched her bat. "We'll be fine."
I hoped she was right.
The National Guard depot came into view twenty minutes later. It was a large compound surrounded by chain-link fence, with multiple buildings inside. And everywhere, literally everywhere, zombies.
They packed the grounds like a convention. Hundreds of them, milling around mindlessly. Tier-1s, Tier-2s, even several Tier-3s I could see from this distance.
And in the center, on top of the main building, something massive.
I used Inspect from maximum range:
[TIER-4 ZOMBIE COMMANDER]
[LEVEL: 10]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
[SPECIAL ABILITY: COMMAND UNDEAD - Can direct all zombies within range]
Level 10. Higher than anything we'd faced before.
"That's our main problem," Lucas said, seeing it too. "As long as that commander is alive, the zombies will be coordinated. But if we can kill it..."
"The rest become mindless," I finished. "Easier to avoid."
"Exactly. So here's the new plan: distraction team does their job. Strike team splits, Marcus and Sarah handle supplies. You and I go kill the commander."
"Just the two of us against a level 10?" I asked.
"Just the two of us with precognition, a legendary weapon, and apparently divine luck." Lucas grinned. "What could go wrong?"
Everything, probably. But I nodded anyway.
"Let's do it."
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