Well that had gone well.
Maybe the first vet was simply too heavily brain damaged to know when he should crumble to proper authority? She hadn't needed to pull off any ridiculous 'plan,' she merely had to "ask" a high ranking officer. She hadn't even needed to go through half of the barage of insults before he crumpled like the sheep he was.
"N-no, it's not martial law ma'am (...) Yes, we know other camps have fallen, ma'am (...) I suppose a change in tactics WOULD be effective, ma'am (...) Why haven't we? W-well because..."
"It's because you're an idiot, officer. Acting with executive authority, I demand to be let out of this pig pen." The lead soldier of all of this had looked really downcast at being called "idiot," as if he felt he didn't deserve it? Maria added a "Now!" and the armed peasant jerked to life, ordering other soldiers, opening the gate, getting her things, a bag, and any food stuffs and medical supplies they could spare.
She was a particularly good negotiator.
Looking back, she should really be thanking the oafish veteran captain, it was his stupidity that had allowed her to realize her own, she could've done this weeks ago. They offered her a gun, but she took only a machete. The gates closed behind her, and, at last, she was alone. Her plan? Hide. Stay away from other people and the infected-- more so the infected than people, for now she'd probably need some assistance. In the end though, it's need to be her, a comfortable place to hide, and wait. Wait for what? She practically asked herself the question... Well, if this hasn't been solved by the government in a few months, she'd obviously need to leave the country-- yes. Brazil and Portugal were far, though... Somewhere in the Caribbean? An island would be easier to purify, and depending on where, she'd retain Portuguese authority.
Okay, that was a plan. For now, though, she'd walk parallel to the roads, in the woods, and look for others-- the boy and the stupid vet! The condition of her suit didn't worry her as her heels softly crunched on the leaves, safety was more important, staying out of sight.
She had gotten maybe a mile from the "camp" before she heard the first screams. She could see a plum of smoke slowly rising our of the black fortress in the distance, was it falling already? Today? Maria could not help but feel a little smug, as well as some relief, that her theory had come true. It was happening today though? That struck her hard, if she had waited even a few minutes more, she may have been trapped in that. She sat at the base of tree, a little off from the road, lit a cigarette for herself and watched the bedlam. A single infected got in, everyone collectively freaked out, as people tried to get out of the one exit, infected that had been piling around the outside are given a buffet.
That had been Maria's day thus far, she sat smoking as the Pendleton burned. She couldn't even say "I don't want to say I told you so, but..." because she definitely told everyone so, they had all been so content to do what they were told. In her mind, that earned them their fate. A few people managed to run away, here and there, probably to just as grisly deaths in the forest they knew nothing about. It took a good few minutes before a large group managed to escape the fallen Pendleton, Maria recognized the girl in front-- Sophia Harris-- she had been a major shareholder in her agency not two weeks ago.
Crazy how fast everything sinks to shit.
Maria stayed in the shadows as the group passed on the road, she considered following them. There were certainly worse things she could be doing, she noted they were heading in the same direction of the boy, she'd keep her distance, make herself known when she wanted. As she thought this, two others seemed to be hobbling along after the group, with her idea as well. A soldier and his daughter, the soldier was bitten and limping a few steps after his daughter, he appeared to have been bitten quite brutally on his leg-- they had led the infect to Maria's location.
Maria was swift. She wordlessly stalked out of the words on the road behind the injured soldier, the infected noticed her, the soldier didn't. One hand over his mouth, another holding the machete to his throat. One cut, and the grunt dropped like a sack of meat, he wouldn't die immediately, though, the infected would busy themselves with him. The little girl turned around in abject horror, clearly unsure if she should run to her soon to be deceased father, or just run away. Maria made that easy, picking up the soldier's glock, she shot the child in her stomach, the girl was blasted back and curled in on herself as she bled on the asphalt, yelling in absolute pain and sorrow. Maria coldly walked past them both, somewhat glad she had avoided spraying herself with blood, she dropped the soldier's glock as the infected closed in on the bait behind her. She followed the group with Sophia toward the houses.
Her mother made her learn archery when she was younger!
In following the group, Maria happened across a small outlet and found a
compound bow! It was in some sporting goods store, most of the stuff had been cleaned out, but Maria found the bow and a few arrows, archery was an acceptable hobby for a woman for royal birth, so she had been formally trained in the art. It had been a while, but this was a neat find for Maria.
It did appear, however, that her lacklustre skills as a tracker had lost her the group with Sophia. The complex was pretty empty of zombies, and she had an easy enough time snaking in... it appeared this would be where she slept tonight. She would need to resume her search in the morning. With a sigh, she looked at the setting sun. At least the back of the store had sleeping bags...
kapuchu