“You see it?” Falcon and Forge had gone out into the field to look for supplies while Scrounge was out on a requisition mission.
“Yup,” Forge replied.
“What do you think?” Falcon put the binoculars back in his pack while staring at the small outpost in the distance. Cars had been positioned around a large Tractor Trailer Rig, which had steel plates fastened all around the cab and sleeper sections. A mix of barbed wire and razor wire stretched around the setup. A small pack of undead were surrounding the place.
“I think someone’s over there otherwise those zed wouldn’t be.”
“So?”
“Let’s check it out.”
As soon as they cleared their cover, the shots started. “Cover!” The two men jumped back behind the rusted-out minivan they had made the mistake of emerging from behind.
“Shit, man, you’re bleeding!”
Falcon felt the unmistakable burn of a gunshot; he looked at his left shoulder, blood had begun soaking his uniform, “It’s a through and through.” He grunted. Forge grabbed his IFak and began applying combat dressing, “Hold still, Old Man.” He held the dressings in place with a bandage. Falcon let out a grunt as Forge tightly wrapped and secured it. “What do you want to do?” Forge asked, knowing damn well a shoulder wound wouldn’t take Falcon out of the fight.
_____________
Before the end of the world, Throttle was a long-haul truck driver. Crisscrossing North America, bringing whatever needed to be delivered wherever it needed to be. Being a woman, and a pretty one at that, didn’t make it easy. There were a lot of self-proclaimed “old-school” truckers still on the road. They didn’t have a problem harassing her any chance they could. While it gave her thick skin, she never did “just enjoy the attention.” More often than she could count she found herself putting fist to mouth or foot to balls. She earned a reputation for her no-nonsense attitude and for not being one to back down, no matter how big the foe was.
In the aftermath, she continued traversing the West's roads, having previously mastered the back routes to evade traffic. Her knowledge came in handy when everyone attempted to use the highway to get somewhere safe. Most sections of the route were so clogged with abandoned and burned-out cars they were impassable. Eventually, she ran out of diesel and then bio-diesel. Her giant rig came to a shuddering stop for the last time. She quickly set about creating and building a safe area around the rig. She used abandoned cars as a makeshift wall to slow any zombies that came her way. Once they were in place she stabbed all their tires. She staked out distance markers so if it was the living she had a better chance of getting them before they got her.
Her encounter with Falcon and Forge was fraught with tension, marked by a standoff and a warning shot. The few Zed around her position were chained and staked to the ground as a deterrent. It usually worked. Most folks didn't want to wade into shamblers. From Falcon's point of view, it was the most tense of the recruit stalemates. She put a round through his shoulder when he pressed forward despite her warning. Forge had to drag him out of there. The rest of the team wanted to go in guns blazing, but Falcon held them back. He went back several times. In the end, he earned her trust. She was the last to join the team. Yet she is always the first to volunteer for missions, the first to join the fray, and the first to squeeze the trigger, except for the time she didn’t. That brought the Joe team one of their greatest assets, Bumble Bee.
She and the transforming car are inseparable. Whenever Throttle went out into the field, her beloved "Bug" always followed closely, much like an adoring puppy. While Drifter is known for driving fast, Throttle is known for driving hard and fast.
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