Chapter 15

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

Holly woke to a strange sight that morning. There on the floor were Cross and Blair, both doing push ups, and from the amount they were sweating and how ragged their breathing was, they had been doing it for some time. "What are you two doing?" Holly asked, her head slightly tilted to the side as she eyed them curiously. Both men instantly stopped and held their positions. Cross looked up at her and smiled "Gotta stay in shape. The apocalypse is no reason to let your fitness levels drop." Both men got to their feet. Holly couldn't help notice that the muscles in Cross' arms were bulging now and she felt her face flush at that. Cross noticed the reddening in Holly's face "Hey, you alright there?" He asked her. Holly looked away "Uh yeah...just feeling a little hot is all." She mentally scolded herself for letting her body get the better of her like that. Blair seemed to take no notice as he strode towards the room where he had slept the night before. "I need to get out of this damn flight suit, it's really not comfortable. Saw some clothes in the closet last night when I checked the room out, gonna see if any of them fit." He closed the door behind him leaving Holly and Cross alone.

Cross' breathing had relaxed, his body recovering almost instantly from the workout. He sat on the couch next to Holly and began to put on his boots. "So what's happening today?" Holly asked him. The young soldier continued to focus on his footwear "We need to reach that radio station tonight, we've lost too much time as it is. If we don't get out of this city soon, we might not have anywhere to evacuate to." His tone of voice was casual in spite of how dire the situation was. "Do you think we can make it by tonight?" Holly asked. Cross finished lacing his boots and sat up. He sighed "I'm not sure. There's a lot of ground to cover and knowing our luck, there's probably gonna be a shit load of infected in the way. But, at least we got another person with us, and he can use a gun so that's something." Holly looked in the direction of the room that Blair was currently occupying. "Do you think we can trust him?" She asked in a hushed voice. Cross was taken off guard by that question. "Why not? He's an officer of the law, he seems pretty genuine to me." He replied. Holly sighed.
"You're probably right. Sorry, just find it hard to trust strangers." Cross understood that, after what her school and home life were like, nobody could blame her for finding it difficult to trust someone else. "Well, I guess we should at least get to know him better at least." Cross said.

Blair appeared from his room moments later, now wearing a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt and black pants. "Well what do you think?" Blair said with a smile on his face as he gave an over exaggerated twirl. Cross and Holly just looked at him, confusion written all over their faces. "Alright, I know I look like I was in the cast of 'Grease', but these were the only things that fitted well enough." Both Cross and Holly laughed at that.
"Don't worry about it Blair, as long as you can fight in it, that's all that matters." Cross said to him. The pilot walked over a small table in the corner of the room and picked up the MP5 that had been placed there by him the night before. He removed the magazine and removed three rounds from it. "Don't think I can do much fighting with this, these are my last bullets. " Cross pondered for a moment. Blair wouldn't be much good without a weapon, and three bullets would do very little against a horde. Cross stood up and pulled his pistol from the holster. "Here, you can borrow this until we find you some better firepower." Blair looked at the pistol and slowly took it from Cross' hand. He turned away from the soldier and brought the pistol up to aim down its sight. Cross couldn't help notice his stance, the way he held himself, it was very military like, something he didn't expect a pilot to use. Cross pulled out two pistol magazines from his vest and offered them to Blair. "Did the police teach you how to use a weapon?" Blair pocketed the magazines and faced Cross. "Well yeah but I already knew how to shoot. My dad was a marine and he used to take me out shooting when I was a kid." Blair's expression changed when he mentioned his father. He looked down towards the floor and his body tensed. "Anyway, better get going. That is, if you two lovebirds are ready." Blair's jovial attitude had returned almost immediately. Cross and Holly both blushed at that comment. Did he think there was something going on between them? Or was it just a joke? Blair laughed and punched Cross' shoulder and he walked past him towards the door. "Relax man, I'm just kidding. You should have seen your face though." Cross looked over towards Holly who just shrugged her shoulders. Cross sighed before picking up his backpack and finally his rifle. Holly stood up and walked towards the door with Blair.

Cross gave himself one final check over before walking to join them. "Okay, we don't know what we're gonna run into out there. I'd like to avoid a fight if possible because we don't have much in terms of ammunition, food and medical supplies. We'll try and get what we need along the way but until then, stay frosty and keep your head down. Understood?" Both Blair and Holly nodded at Cross' words. Cross felt like a Sergeant giving orders to his men. Although Cross was only a Private, it wasn't like he couldn't lead. He actually thought he would make a good squad leader but sadly his superiors never gave him his chance. But now, in this city of death, he had to take charge. Holly needed someone to lead and to look up to. Blair was older, could handle a weapon and had proved he was a survivor. But he was no soldier, he was not trained like Cross was and Holly didn't trust him fully. So here he was, about to lead his men to war. And he was completely honest with himself, he couldn't wait.

Blair gripped the doorknob with his left hand and raised his pistol with his right. He turned to Holly and Cross. "You guys ready?" he asked. Cross clicked off the safety on his rifle and nodded. Holly also nodded with her head. For the first time, she was feeling a lot more confident about the situation. She had survived this long with just Cross, and now there was another willing to fight by his side. Just as Blair began to open the door, Cross heard Holly whisper.
"Once more unto the breach."

Cross cracked a small smile. Shakespeare. She knew Shakespeare.