System Of The Undead

Chapter 204: Colonel Sanders

Clementine didn’t know who these people were and she didn’t recognize any of them either.

She didn’t know if stating she was in the military would do more harm than good so she kept her mouth shut. Clementine was smart and knew that they would perceive her differently once they knew who she was. For now, she was a harmless girl that was just saved by the military, this perception would help greatly in the interaction that was about to be had.

Samantha was brought there and from the look of things, she wasn’t forced either.

Samantha was skeptical when it came to people but she also knew as long as she did what she was told, she would be good.

This has been the key to her survival but there was something different about these men.

They didn’t look at her strangely and this allowed her to drop her guard but one could say that seeing the military uniform also put her at ease.

Clementine realized that they were encountering a lot more evolved zombies and she also noted that the zombie that was ’observing’ had been gunned down.

Clementine walked towards the zombie, not minding the military present as she ducked down with a dagger in hand.

They watched curiously as Clementine dissected the zombie, looking for the fragment that Jason seemed to have an appetite for but there was nothing inside this zombie.

This confused her because a fragment would explain its abnormal behavior but there was nothing.

"I see, you’re aware of the fragment as well," The man said and Clementine froze, how could she have been so careless?

There was no telling what else these men could know and the fact that she assumed they didn’t was a mistake on her part.

"Fragment? What are you talking about?" Clementine responded calmly as she wiped her dagger on the shrewd clothes of the zombie.

"I’m checking to see if this dead fucker ate my friend," Clementine said, kicking the zombie.

Her quick thinking saved her and a man with a tattoo on his neck and a blonde buzzcut stepped forward. The man was approximately 6’2 and weighed 260lb, he was buff and had an intense look in his golden eyes.

"I’m sorry but we haven’t seen any sign of life in this area for the past few weeks, whoever you’re looking for, I hope he got away," The man said, Clementine was surprised by how friendly he sounded.

"I hope so too and thank you for saving us, I cannot thank you enough," Clementine said with a head bow.

"The world fell, not our morals. It is our duty to make sure every citizen of the United States of America is safe, ma’am. We’re just doing our job, do you have somewhere to go?" The man asked.

"Yes, I’m looking for my friend," Clementine said but she was hesitant to tell them who.

"Who may that be?" The man asked and before the conversation could go any further, his walkie-talkie came to life.

Clementine was surprised that these things were still functional, telling her that they had a base of operation.

"Colonel Sanders, we have found traces of human activity here, over." The voice at the other end said and Clementine was surprised that a Colonel was this far out on the field.

Colonel was the highest field-grade rank in the military and this took Clementine aback.

Why the hell were they looking for human activity?

That would explain why they were here, they were not for the zombies but for them.

"Keep on its trail, this was a false lead, over." The Colonel responded before putting the talkie aside.

Sanders looked at Clementine and noticed she didn’t want to give him more information about who she was looking for and he didn’t care much about it.

"It seems like you ladies have it handled, if you need any help, keep walking south. We have a base there," Sanders said before gesturing for him and his men to leave the area.

They were done here and Clementine was glad that she kept her affiliation with the army under wraps because who were these men looking for that was so important to get the Colonel himself involved?

"Why didn’t we go with them?" Samantha asked Clementine the moment they were gone.

"It was for the best, we will check out the base that they told us about. Hopefully, there is a safe zone there for you to stay," Clementine said but this confused Samantha.

"You aren’t staying there with me?" Samantha questioned.

"I can’t, I have to find Sam and something tells me if I don’t soon, I will never see him again," Clementine warned.

What she had seen here so far couldn’t have been a coincidence and this included the duffel bag that she found.

It all had to be connected and this included the sound in the bushes, someone was watching them and it could very well have been the military.

But they wouldn’t make that rookie mistake of running away or even generating that much noise. Maybe this was the person that they were looking for?

"Colonel Sanders..." Clementine muttered under her breath, the name didn’t sound familiar which meant that he wasn’t from around here.

"Where are we, Samantha?" Clementine asked, this had to be a new territory for a different military base of operation to exist here.

"Vermont, I believe," Samantha responded and this explained why this man was unfamiliar.

"Vermont... that is quite far..." Clementine muttered but she had something to think about.

"Well, I guess off to base we go...?" Samantha asked, she didn’t take it personally that Clementine wasn’t staying with her because she knew she would be fine.

If the base was guided by the military then there was no way that any harm would come to her.

She wouldn’t need to run anymore but like everything in life, was everything as good as it seemed? That would be known soon enough as the ladies took a detour and ended right at the base.