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Chapter 32
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Clara.
My feet tap out a steady rhythm as I walk across the landing, I keep my eyes mostly directed in front of me or towards the ground floor, I made the mistake earlier of paying the residents too much attention and all it earned me were a ton of questions I couldn't answer.
"Hey West." Rigs calls quietly stepping on to my floor. "Swap floors with me, your parents want to speak to you." He states slapping my back lightly and offering a small smile that I return with a head nod before glancing down towards Jake once more.
He looked so at ease, leaning against what was the old guards post back when this was actually a prison, his fingers ran through his hair as he glanced across the open floor towards the cells on either side and I smiled when memories of earlier surfaced.
Thoughts of naked Jake was the last thing I should be thinking about as I made my way up to see my parents but I just couldn't help myself,
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Clara. The rest of our shift guarding D block had been exhausting, emotionally more than physically as we spent hour after hour answering the same questions but not really having an answer to give. The team refrained from idle chit chat, barely speaking at all unless it was to try and calm the fears of one resident or another but Jakes silent presence by my side was more reassuring than any words could have been, he was my rock, my shoulder to lean on and that fact had a small smile building inside me, even given the circumstances.I had resigned myself to the fact that this would never happen, that we would never share comforting looks or the slight brush of a hand on my back, that I would never get to see him relaxed and carefree but the reality of our relationship was better than anything I had imagined.We had escorted the kitchen staff to their work posts after change over in D block and left for our six hours o
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Clara.The days passed in a blur, every hour consumed by one action, one task. The compound had been on lock down for almost a week, and everyone was starting to feel the strain of it, but we were no closer to answers than we had been in the beginning.I had barely seen my parents since that first day and I had seen Matt even less. My days were filled with all things security, working six hour shifts on protection detail of one area or another my off hours were spent brainstorming with my team members and other members of the army, catching up on sleep, eating or spending hours wrapped up with Jake losing ourselves in our own bubble of happiness.Everything between us was great, we hadn't had any profound conversations about our relationship but neither of us was in a rush, instead just happy to enjoy the time we had together.It was Wednesday when a commotion on the main floor of A block had us all sprin
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ClaraThe room hummed with nervous energy while we waited for Jake to return with the Leaders everyone once again on high alert now that we knew there actually was a way for the infected to breach our walls, the impenetrable compound no longer seemed so safe.A shuffling of bodies shifted to reveal the grim faces of our leaders, each one looking tired and haggard, as though none of them had slept in a week and I contemplated that just maybe they hadn't.“Mr Jones said that you found something?” Jade questioned.“Yes, there are sewer tunnels running directly under the compound, the closest point of impact would be D block showers, none of the other tunnels are large enough to fit bodies. The tunnels run in either direction and fork off to four surrounding towns then carry on to the towns after that. They could literally enter these tunnels from anywhere and sneak up on us at any moment and we w
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ClaraBy the time they reached me my hands were shaking and tears had built in my eyes.“You okay baby?” Jake asked, pulling me into his arms and kissing the side of my head. Our moment only lasted a minute but it was enough for me to pull myself together, he was okay, he was alive. I let my eyes run over him from head to toe checking for damage before looking him in the eye.“I love you.” I stated figuring that it could be now or never, I could have lost him then and if anything were to happen to me, I needed him to know how I felt.His answering smile was breathtaking. “I love you too.” He whispered back before attaching his lips to mine in a short hard kiss.“Come on you two.” Bubble stated pulling our attention and I nodded letting Jake grab my hand and pull me towards the other side of the landing where no one had taken up posts yet. They had finished
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Jake.“Wont be long guys, make sure your shots count.” I spoke up loud enough for my voice to carry across the landing to the other soldiers waiting for our nod. My finger itched as I let it rest against the trigger of my gun, I had spent way too long being inactive and it was making me nervous, well the nerves probably had something to do with the hundreds of dead that were clawing at the walls beneath our feet trying to find their next meal, their next target.I took a deep breath, Clara was ready at my side, her gun clenched in her hand, her eyes roaming the masses below us. I still couldn't get over how well she had been handling herself. Joining the army was a huge adjustment under normal circumstances and this was far from normal.“Okay coming up to B block, corridors are mostly clear.” Wheelers voice sounded through my earpiece and my shoulders tensed. “Okay guys w
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ClaraI wiped the tears from my cheeks and followed Jake out onto the landing. He was right, there was work to do. I hadn't known Wheeler all that well but still my heart hurt knowing that I wouldn't get to see him again, and my heart hurt for Jake too, the look on his face when Porter screamed just about ripped me in two, he had been close with the team leader I knew that, hell he was close with all his team mates. He pushed his back straight and walked across the landing towards a guy I didn't recognise, he hadn't been with us earlier.A glance around the room let me know that the fighting here was over, the dead were nothing more than heaped bodies on the ground and the first floor landing was filled with soldiers. I spotted the chief across the landing and I sighed, at least he wasn't harmed, the last thing we needed right now was for one of our leaders to fall. Which briefly had me thinking about the other leaders and w
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ClaraThe corridors around E block were packed to capacity with dead who were trying to gain access to the living and the sight made me shudder as we came up behind them, it was like deja vu again only this time we had more men and better weapons.Three bombs were thrown into the midst taking out almost half off the dead before they even knew we were there. Then the fight was on. They raced at us, their bodies moving in strange ways and I opened fire on those closest to me. Five down. Another bomb and more firing. Slowly but surely we edged closer. The other hallways I knew were filled with soldiers fighting their own battles and a team were firing from behind the barricade in E block but still half an hour of fighting, of throwing bottles filled with a strange looking chemical mixture and shooting anything in our path and we still hadn't made it to the entrance. Porter Jake Bubble and Rigs fought along side me, none of us w
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Clara. The next few days at the compound were the busiest I had ever seen it, all army personnel were working overtime, patrolling the prison, searching through every room before declaring it clear. Cleaning out the bodies of the dead and filling the massive whole that now resided in D blocks shower room. The funerals started on the third day after the attack. It turned out that a lot more than just Wheeler had died, although his death was the one I felt the hardest. Thirty two people lost their lives in the attack. It would be a while before any raids were organised, too much needed to be done at the compound but the leaders were already planning to send teams out to collapse the tunnels that ran under the prison. Our team had been inseparable since the attack, maybe it was losing Wheeler, maybe it was fear of the unknown but almost every waking moment we spent side by side, only going our separate ways of a night. Jak
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ClaraThe corridors around E block were packed to capacity with dead who were trying to gain access to the living and the sight made me shudder as we came up behind them, it was like deja vu again only this time we had more men and better weapons.Three bombs were thrown into the midst taking out almost half off the dead before they even knew we were there. Then the fight was on. They raced at us, their bodies moving in strange ways and I opened fire on those closest to me. Five down. Another bomb and more firing. Slowly but surely we edged closer. The other hallways I knew were filled with soldiers fighting their own battles and a team were firing from behind the barricade in E block but still half an hour of fighting, of throwing bottles filled with a strange looking chemical mixture and shooting anything in our path and we still hadn't made it to the entrance. Porter Jake Bubble and Rigs fought along side me, none of us w
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ClaraI wiped the tears from my cheeks and followed Jake out onto the landing. He was right, there was work to do. I hadn't known Wheeler all that well but still my heart hurt knowing that I wouldn't get to see him again, and my heart hurt for Jake too, the look on his face when Porter screamed just about ripped me in two, he had been close with the team leader I knew that, hell he was close with all his team mates. He pushed his back straight and walked across the landing towards a guy I didn't recognise, he hadn't been with us earlier.A glance around the room let me know that the fighting here was over, the dead were nothing more than heaped bodies on the ground and the first floor landing was filled with soldiers. I spotted the chief across the landing and I sighed, at least he wasn't harmed, the last thing we needed right now was for one of our leaders to fall. Which briefly had me thinking about the other leaders and w
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Jake.“Wont be long guys, make sure your shots count.” I spoke up loud enough for my voice to carry across the landing to the other soldiers waiting for our nod. My finger itched as I let it rest against the trigger of my gun, I had spent way too long being inactive and it was making me nervous, well the nerves probably had something to do with the hundreds of dead that were clawing at the walls beneath our feet trying to find their next meal, their next target.I took a deep breath, Clara was ready at my side, her gun clenched in her hand, her eyes roaming the masses below us. I still couldn't get over how well she had been handling herself. Joining the army was a huge adjustment under normal circumstances and this was far from normal.“Okay coming up to B block, corridors are mostly clear.” Wheelers voice sounded through my earpiece and my shoulders tensed. “Okay guys w
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Clara.The noise in D block had settled considerably since the residents had calmed down, Peters Trundle and I spent close to an hour answering questions as best we could before they gave up and settled into their temporary housing, my parents were sharing a cell with an elderly woman by the name Bridie when I finally got around to speaking with them.“I cant believe that you are okay with that, with dealing with that every day.” Mum muttered glancing out the cell door towards the ground where the dead were still making a racket as they tried in vain to climb towards the higher levels.“It's my job Mum.” I state not knowing what else to say, this job, my job wasn't for everyone, I had known that before I signed up but more so now that I was an active soldier and had been out in the world, I still saw visions of my fist kill behind my closed eyelids, dreamt about the horrors in the world. I hid
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ClaraBy the time they reached me my hands were shaking and tears had built in my eyes.“You okay baby?” Jake asked, pulling me into his arms and kissing the side of my head. Our moment only lasted a minute but it was enough for me to pull myself together, he was okay, he was alive. I let my eyes run over him from head to toe checking for damage before looking him in the eye.“I love you.” I stated figuring that it could be now or never, I could have lost him then and if anything were to happen to me, I needed him to know how I felt.His answering smile was breathtaking. “I love you too.” He whispered back before attaching his lips to mine in a short hard kiss.“Come on you two.” Bubble stated pulling our attention and I nodded letting Jake grab my hand and pull me towards the other side of the landing where no one had taken up posts yet. They had finished
The Compound (The Compound series book1) Chapter 35
ClaraThe room hummed with nervous energy while we waited for Jake to return with the Leaders everyone once again on high alert now that we knew there actually was a way for the infected to breach our walls, the impenetrable compound no longer seemed so safe.A shuffling of bodies shifted to reveal the grim faces of our leaders, each one looking tired and haggard, as though none of them had slept in a week and I contemplated that just maybe they hadn't.“Mr Jones said that you found something?” Jade questioned.“Yes, there are sewer tunnels running directly under the compound, the closest point of impact would be D block showers, none of the other tunnels are large enough to fit bodies. The tunnels run in either direction and fork off to four surrounding towns then carry on to the towns after that. They could literally enter these tunnels from anywhere and sneak up on us at any moment and we w
The Compound (The Compound series book1) Chapter 34
Clara.The days passed in a blur, every hour consumed by one action, one task. The compound had been on lock down for almost a week, and everyone was starting to feel the strain of it, but we were no closer to answers than we had been in the beginning.I had barely seen my parents since that first day and I had seen Matt even less. My days were filled with all things security, working six hour shifts on protection detail of one area or another my off hours were spent brainstorming with my team members and other members of the army, catching up on sleep, eating or spending hours wrapped up with Jake losing ourselves in our own bubble of happiness.Everything between us was great, we hadn't had any profound conversations about our relationship but neither of us was in a rush, instead just happy to enjoy the time we had together.It was Wednesday when a commotion on the main floor of A block had us all sprin
The Compound (The Compound series book1) Chapter 33
Clara. The rest of our shift guarding D block had been exhausting, emotionally more than physically as we spent hour after hour answering the same questions but not really having an answer to give. The team refrained from idle chit chat, barely speaking at all unless it was to try and calm the fears of one resident or another but Jakes silent presence by my side was more reassuring than any words could have been, he was my rock, my shoulder to lean on and that fact had a small smile building inside me, even given the circumstances.I had resigned myself to the fact that this would never happen, that we would never share comforting looks or the slight brush of a hand on my back, that I would never get to see him relaxed and carefree but the reality of our relationship was better than anything I had imagined.We had escorted the kitchen staff to their work posts after change over in D block and left for our six hours o
