I stand next to a silver SUV and shake hands with the two soldiers that helped Gabe search my apartment. Beardy, I find out, is actually known as Skip, which I think to be quite a lighthearted name for such a hairy man. His facial hair is dark, long, and thick, kind of like the rest of him. He’s a big man that I won’t mind having around when the greyskins attack. For one, they would surely see him first. But I’m sure he can hold his own against the undead.

Sleeveless is simply called Mendez. He has a shaved head and is, of course, still wearing a sleeveless shirt despite the frigid air that turns our breath into puffs of white smoke. Both of them are loaded with weapons, a rifle slung over their shoulders coupled with long daggers at their sides.

“So you’re the one that’s going out with us?” Skip asks with a big smile. He looks me up and down, but I’m not sure if he’s sizing me up or undressing me with his eyes.

“Got a problem with that?” I ask, giving him my best tough-guy impression. I stand as straight as possible, trying to keep my shoulders wide. My nose tilts upward just a little so I can gain a bit of height but they both have half a foot on me at least. No doubt these guys don’t want a lightweight out there. When greyskins are involved, you want only the most experienced fighters. Lucky for them I’m more experienced than I could ever wish to be.

Skip shakes his head, his beard flapping in the wind. He looks past me as Gabe comes walking up.

“I see you’ve already met the team,” he says as he walks past me and opens the back of the SUV. He’s wearing a dark, cloth jacket that reaches down to his thighs. Slung over his shoulder is a pump shotgun. On one side of his belt is a pistol and on the other side is a knife.

“How long you been here?” Mendez asks me.

“Three months,” I say.

Mendez and Skip look at each other and then at Gabe sharply, but Gabe pays them no mind. He unzips a duffle bag in the back seat and moves it to the rear storage. He sets his shotgun across the back seat and pulls out a rifle, looking straight into my eyes.

My heart jumps when I see that he’s holding my gun in one hand and in the other, my sheathed knife. “This is just for today,” he says, handing them to me slowly. “Once you’ve proven yourself and I can recommend you to be a soldier, then you will be able to keep them on you at all times.”