Evolved ON HOLD

Chapter 1

Haley POV
I wake up in a panic hearing explosions in the distance and grab my 9mm I keep on my nightstand out of habit. Jumping up looking for a threat to find none. It was a dream, just a dream calm down Haley. Only being home 2 months just out of the Army, I'm not used to being safe. The nightmares of memories I relive almost every night aren't much help either.

Boom Boom

I jump when more explosions go off. Nyx is whimpering on top of my bed. Nyx was my all black Pitbull, I trained her myself for the past three years she has fought by my side over in Iraq. So she knows exactly what those noises are. I go out into the living room of my small 1 bedroom house and look out the window. In the distance I see Atlanta on fire. I live about 20 minutes away from the city so I know only napalms can make that kind of destruction.

The past couple weeks I've seen on the news about a sickness that turns people into cannibals but I never imagined it would get this out of hand. Since I've been home I haven't left much not ready to fully enter back into regular civilization. I've spent my time stocking my home back up with food and basic necessities while working on my Baby.

My Baby is my truck. It's as tall as two of me, tented windows with an extended cargo bed that's has a tall camper shell on top of it. The only reason I had to add this on is because I was determined to turn it into a solar truck. After a lot of money and these past two months my baby should be ready to go after a few more final touches. My trucks name.. Baby. Only because I couldn't think of calling it anything else.

I look down after feeling a wet nose nudge my leg.
"It's gonna be okay girl" I tell her rubbing her chin which she loves. We need to get far away from the city and fast. Without even dressing I run to the garage and start working on the final wires that need to be connected. I spend 10 minutes working before I realized I should call Ford.
After a few rings his wife Ellen answers the phone. "Hello," she says in a panicked voice.
"Ellen, it's Johnson. Where is Ford?" I ask.
"Oh Jesus, Haley! It's crazy people are eating people! Abraham had to report in at the base yesterday and he's not back yet! I don't know what to do!" She exclaims beginning to cry.
"Calm down. I'm sure he will be back soon. You take the kids tell them to be quite. Shove furniture against the windows and start packing up the essentials can food, water, camping gear. Hold tight he will back soon," I say trying to calm her down. After calming her down and telling her to arm up I go back to fixing my truck. I wish they weren't all the way out in Texas so I could be more help.
After three hours I'm done just in time for sun rise and head back inside. I fed Nyx and myself when I decide it's time to put some clothes on. I put on my combat gear including my bullet proof vest not knowing what I'll run into. I start packing my weapons into one of the many army duffel bags I have.

Now I'm not like regular girls, mostly due to my childhood. Dresses and makeup have never interested me but weapons and trucks? BOOYAH. I put two 9mms, one 12 gauge shotgun, two M4 carbines, and my M24 sniper in the bag, leaving me with two 9mms to put in my belt. I put my ridiculously heavy box of ammo with it in the back of my truck and head back inside and start dumping out Christmas decorations so I can use the storage container for food. I end up filling the container full with just cans and put that in the back of the truck. Afterwards I run back to the living room and check out the window to see if anyone is around. I live in a small neighborhood with only a total of five houses around, I don't see any movement outside. I go back to the garage open the door and put the truck in neutral and let it roll outside, it needs about 2 hours of sunlight before I can even start it.

Running back in after closing the garage I grab the 40lb bag of dog food and throw it in the back of the truck. I take a look around and start to think about what else I need. I maybe going overboard but my whole life my motto is what kept me safe. 'Hope for the best, expect the worst'. I take all the frozen meat out of the freezer put it into the sink and fill it up with hot water hoping it thaws quickly. I go back to my room to grab another duffel bag and pack my extra cargo pants, two army shirts, one tank top, and all my basic toiletries. I put that next to the front door along with my medic bag that has everything I would need in order to save a life in the middle of a war. I grab my combat book bag and put a little first aid kit in it with 3 water bottles, two cans of raviolis, a few granola bars, 2 daggers, two bags of arrow heads, and a set of throwing knives. I grabbed the duffel bag that held all my tools to make bows and arrows and put that beside the door with the book bag. Checking the meat in the sink to see it's mostly all thawed I start cooking all the meat at once between the oven and the stove. While that's going I take the bags by the door and put them in the back seat of my truck. After about 20 minutes the meat is done, I give a pork chop to Nyx and proceeded to put the rest in bags and throw it in a cooler. The cooler and two 24 packs of water are put in the back of the truck. I stand there looking in the back of my truck when an idea hits me.

I start taking everything out and running back inside I take my queen size mattress, my blankets, and my numerous pillows and throw them in the back of the truck setting it up against the cab and quickly arrange it so it looks nice and cozy. Then I put everything back in but make it so if someone were to open the camper shell they wouldn't see the bed. Proud of myself I go back inside and finish suiting up.

I grab my twin ninja swords that I had specifically made a couple years ago. One blade says Apollo and the other says Artemis and they have a magnet in the handle of both that allows me to connect them. I've never used them except on fruit just to test but I have a feeling they with come in handy. I sheath them and swing them on my back where they make an X. Next I grab my quiver full of arrows and my bow and swing them on my back. Archery was my introduction into the world of weapons when I was 13 and joined the archery club in high school. My current bow was handmade by me and says Athena and Ares on the riser for each side. Next I stick a dagger in each boot, and two in my belt. I grab my good set of throwing knives and separate the 12 of them in the pockets of my cargo pants. I then suit up Nyx into her army harness it won't protect her from close range bullets but it does have stab proofing armor.

The truck has now been charging in the sun for 3 1/2 hours so it should be good to go. I take one last look around and see the only picture I own of me and my best friend, Sergeant Ford. I take it out of the frame and tuck it into the pocket of my vest. I tap my hip with a finger and Nyx comes to my side. Going to the truck I click my tongue and Nyx hops up. Starting the truck I realize that the solar makes the engine run quieter than usual. And then we are off heading south away from the city.