Z-Day Chronicles: Genesis

Chapter 4

"Bravo 3-2 to Dispatch, do you copy?"

Jake woke up from his slumber, overhearing Officer Lancaster making an attempt to get in touch with the police station.

"This is Officer Arnold Lancaster, Virginia Beach P.D.," Lancaster continued. "I'm in Little Creek Cove. I've hunkered down in a residential home with 5 civilians. Do you copy?"

Jake sat up, trying not to wake up Cassandra or the others, and walked over to the officer, who stood guard at the front door.

"Still nothing?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," Arnold sighed. "I have to meet up with the rest of the guys on the team."

"What do you mean 'team?' Are you in S.W.A.T.?"

"Yeah, I am. I got injured at my last operation, so I was put on patrol duty while recovering."

Arnold then looked at Jake's memorabilia, and the pictures of the sailors that rested on that desk.

"Those guys friends of yours?" Arnold asked.

"They were," Jake answered. "They were killed in action during the Somali Ethiopian Conflict a couple years back."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too. They were good people. How bad is it out there?"

Arnold stepped out of the way so that Jake could peep through the window. What Jake witnessed was a grim reality of what he first believed to be a nightmare. Outside the house was a lot of grizzly humanoid figures staggering around the street. Some were the same neighbors they saw laying on the ground dead the night before. Some were digesting the entrails of bodies that were scattered all over. The brutality could have been compared to something seen in a horror flick.

"So that M.O.H. belonged to a father or grandparent?" Arnold then asked, referring to one of the medals in the glass case sitting on the desk. The medal was a gold star connected to a light blue ribbon with 13 stars in the center.

"No," Jake answered somberly. "That's mine."

Arnold paused for a moment, stunned by what he had just heard.

"You're not the recipient that was at that conflict," Arnold continued. "Are you?"

"In the flesh."

Arnold then chuckled in amazement, realizing that he was standing face to face with a Medal of Honor recipient.

"You're him," Arnold then continued. "You're Jaycob Riley; the guy that saved all those men in the line of fire. One of my friends on the force told me about you. He was one of the guys you saved. You have every bit of my respect."

As Jake thanked Arnold and shook his hand, Cassandra woke up and headed to where the two were. She then kissed Jake on the cheek and rested her head on his chest. Selena and Julio woke up as well, followed by Dylan. They went to check the windows, all while making sure that they weren't being seen.

"I'm gonna go and cook breakfast," Cassandra suggested.

"Alright baby," Jake responded. "Hey, Officer. You're more than welcome to go get cleaned up, and I'll keep watch."

"Appreciate it," Arnold said. "But I'll keep watch while you guys get cleaned up first."

"How long have you been up?"

"Roughly an hour before you."

"Alright. Again, I'll keep watch. You're a guest in my house. I insist."

With that, Arnold went away and laid his gun and ballistic vest on the couch. Jake kept watch at the door while everyone got cleaned up until Arnold finished up and took over watch again. Once Cassandra finished cooking a hot meal, everyone relaxed and ate while she turned the t.v. on the local news station. The riots were still being reported, but new details were addressed: