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some sort of weapon, counting bows and crossbows.  Most families had at least a pistol, hunting rifle, or shotgun.  Then there was Sean with a mini-arsenal.  Once everyone figured out he was the only one there with military combat experience, he was put in charge of the guard force.
                Sean proved our decision correct by producing a topographical map of the area.  He'd already figured out the best places to post armed guards.  Soon we had a roster with everyone's shift.  The group was so small that everyone had to pull one two hour shift a day.  There were three single parents, including myself, so we each received a permanent four hour, two shift block in the mornings.  That way we could gather all of our children together in one location and watch each other's children.
                I was starting to feel much better about our prospect.
                "Zombies!"
                Our position gave us a perfect view down side of the mountain, overlooking the access road winding up to us.  And there were zombies shuffling up the middle of that road.  My heart sank.  All of my optimism died right there.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
                "Sergeant Gilley, I have to speak to the First Sergeant," SFC Beatty said.  "Make sure everyone gets their basic issue."
                We were in company formation outside of the supply room.  Really, it was a GP Medium.  First Platoon was slowly filing in to receive their basic issue.  Since we were Fourth Platoon, it would be a while.
                "All right, men.  You know the drill.  Hurry up and wait," I said.  "Gotta love the Army, right?"
                That got a laugh, and I noticed the men relax a little.  I wished I could relax.  They'd dragged my ass back into the Army.  All I could think about was Jenny and the boys.  At least they made it to the cabin.  Now I had to come up with a way to get to the cabin.
                Second Platoon broke up in laugher.  I glanced at them.  We were supposedly an infantry company, but were extremely under-staffed.  Second platoon was the largest with four squads, while the other platoons only had three.
                There were four E7s in our group: two Army, one Air Force, and one Marine.  Master Sergeant Samuels was active duty Air Force, but on leave when he was rounded up.  He was a combat control soldier, so practically an infantryman in my book and was put in command of First Platoon.   Gunnery Sergeant Phillips managed to get all of the Marines and sailors assigned to his Second Platoon.  Sergeant First Class Villarosa was a retired supply sergeant, but was given Third Platoon.  Sergeant First Class Beatty was given Fourth Platoon.  I got first squad under Beatty, with Mike Huston and Charlie Bailey getting the other two squads.  We were the only NCOs in our platoon.  Mike and Charlie were both buck sergeants.
                SFC Beatty was actually Army Reserve, though active.  There would've been a time when regular soldiers would've looked down on him with derision.  Not anymore.  The reserves and National Guard units deployed to the war zones just like the rest of us.  He was a combat veteran with more deployments than me, Charlie, and Mike combined.
                Problem was SFC Beatty was a tanker.  He had no infantry experience.  I didn't understand why he was put in charge of us, since the brigade had armored units.
                He was also a hard core asshole.  I think he thought he was a Drill Sergeant or something.  We were assigned four squad tents, which we had to put up.  He didn't like them, so made us tear them down and put back up three times before he was satisfied.  Personally, I think he only did it to prove his authority.
                Then he marched us over to be issued uniforms.  Once we were all nice and