This is the third chapter of Wake of the Undead.
Theo tried to sleep, but couldn't. That name kept popping up, and this time, it was more rabid. The name was all he could think about, and strangely, he felt guilty when he thought about it. It wouldn't stop bugging him. He finally got to sleep, but it seemed like only minutes later that he woke up. The clock said 8:30, but it seemed more like 2:00 in the morning to Theo.
Theo casually got out of bed, and walked into the kitchen. Ron and Tyreese were sitting, drinking coffee. They said that Douglas was waiting outside for him, and escorted Theo out there. Douglas was waiting by a bunch of targets which he seemed to have recently put up. He was holding a sniper rifle, and a handgun. When Theo got there, he said it was time to practice. Theo wondered what he was practicing for, but concealed the thought once he was handed the handgun.
"Here, take this." Douglas said. "You are going to fire at all 6 of these targets from right here." Theo gripped the gun, which felt much different than the one he had held...however many days ago it was when he was on the highway. He aimed at the first target, which was several dozen feet ahead. When Douglas yelled fire, he shot at all six. When he finally came into focus, he saw that 4 out of 6 of his shots were close to dead center, the others were fairly close.
Douglas seemed impressed, and handed Theo the sniper. He said there were three more targets several more feet away, and wanted him to headshot all of them. Theo gripped the sniper, and when Douglas said fire, he shot at the targets. Douglas looked at them, and said one missed, and the other two were closer to the neck. He took the sniper and returned the pistol, claiming he was better with it.
He then invited him on a trip into the forest with him, Tyreese, and Ron. They told the other people what they were doing, and took off. After about 10 minutes of walking, Theo broke the silence and asked where they were going. Douglas shushed him, and everyone ducked. There was a group of zombies ahead. It was larger than the one Theo encountered, about 30 zombies.
Douglas said this was Theo's real test, and that if he lived, he was good enough, but if he died, well, he wouldn't have been much use. He asked if he was ready, and Theo said yes. They charged at the zombies. Tyreese got the first kill with his axe, decapitating a zombie. Then came Ron with his sniper, getting headshots left right and center. Douglas used his AK-47 and took down a whole pile of zombies in a few shots, while Theo shot a few in the head with his pistol, feeling very useless.
The zombies didn't stand a chance, although it seemed like Tyrese was close to being bitten a few times. Douglas, Ron, and Tyreese congratulated Theo on surviving. They then walked out of the forest, and onto a cliff. Hundreds of feet down was a school, swarming with zombies. They explained that winter is around the corner, and that they need someplace safe to keep warm, and that this school was the best bet. Theo asked how many zombies were there, and they said they weren't sure, but that it was well over 100.
Theo, frightened, asked how they would take them all down, and they said some other people would come with them, kill them, and that somebody would go back and escort the others down here once it's safe. They then headed back to the camp, to prepare for the assault.