Though slowed by the slight limp caused by the wound in his thigh, Church worked as quickly as he could with Trys. Upon actually surveying the group, he counted himself among the lucky for having only taken a bullet through his armor to the leg. If he hadn’t been lucky, only God knew where one of those bullets could have penetrated his defenses and wound up.

Having a spare tire sped things along greatly. At least he didn’t have to patch it the same way he had for the last vehicle he had ridden in. That had been a small disaster in itself because it hadn’t lasted long after that. By the time they had finished working out in the heat, Church grimaced each time he moved. It wasn’t that he hurt…the sweat was starting to soak into his body armor and it squished each time he moved. He’d once heard someone say that soggy socks meant a miserable day. They had apparently never worn what amounted to an armored full-body sock and gotten it wet.

Pushing up from his stand, Church lumbered back to the HumV when Trys gave a shout, though not before actually lending a hand to the rest where needed. Though he was getting agitated with the squishing, he wouldn’t just exclude himself from work for it. The loading didn’t take near as long or as much work as changing the tire. Finally settling in, he pulled out his Bible once more, opening it and starting to polish his pistol once more.

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Nodding his head slightly, Ezra made sure to tuck the name away in his memory so that he wouldn’t forget again.

“Yes, water will do. Thank you, Jonah.”

He spoke softly, a smile on his pale lips when the other, younger male darted off to the kitchen to fetch himself something to drink. His hand came up to rub at his own throat for a moment, then down to his chest, eyes closing as he pulled the blankets tighter around his lap. When the other returned with the glass, he took it gladly, sipping slowly so as not to choke himself before speaking again.

“I’m not that fragile, Jonah. If you want to relax on the bed, too, that’s fine with me. You only really need to worry if I start coughing.”

He normally didn’t admit so much, yet he was sure Church and Trys had at least briefed the young man on what was wrong with their leader. No one was truly sure what it was that ailed him, but they did know most of the symptoms.

No Man's Land - After the rogue battle

Trys looked at Tessa and nodded. "Sure, that's fine. Oh one thing though. If you don't mind. Church and I were out here looking for the Brotherhood. I was wondering if it was possible to get us some medication." Trys looked at Church then back to Tessa. "It's for our Leader, he's just ran out and he's pretty sick, not just from the ADV. It would mean a lot to us if you could pick up the some more, so we could take it back to him."

Looking at Church, he hoped that he'd picked up the container from the base to show Tessa exactly what they needed. He hoped to that Tessa wouldn't object to helping them out with this either. Watching as Terra got herself into the HumV, he checked to make sure everyone was in - they were.

Once he'd finished talking to Tessa, they parted ways and Trys watched her walk in the opposite direction before starting the HumV back up. Looking at everyone, he nodded and quickly started driving back to the base. He'd never been into Western territory, so this was all new to him. Hopefully, Terra would be able to show them to the lab and fix everyone up.

It wasn't long before they got into the Western Territory and between Terra, Damien, Trys and Church, they carried Toby, Meg and Adelaide into the lab that was Terra's, so she and Damien could patch them up better.

East Side - Obsidian Knights - Church's Quarters

Jonah had got the water that was requested quickly, hoping that it was good. He wasn't allowing himself to relax, taking on all the responsibility needed to look after the sick man. Though nothing seemed wrong now, and Jonah hoped nothing would become wrong, he wasn't going to relax until Trys and Church returned.

"No, it's okay. If I stay alert then I can get what you want and you'll be okay." Jonah replied, though the fear of something happening did show all too clearly on the young boy's face. Truth was though, if something was to go wrong, Jonah wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Yes - he had been briefed about the seriousness of it all, but there was little he'd be able to do if something did indeed happen to the leader. All Jonah could do was pray that nothing would happen.

Toby shook himself awake in the lab, a transfusion bag dripping into his arm and fresh bandages on his new wounds. He dragged himself into a semi-sitting position, keeping his left arm from moving at all. He looked around the room and groggily smacked his lips from the taste of blood and medication. He reached to his left shoulder, and moved his left arm gently. His shoulder felt better, though there was still pain when he moved his arm up and away from him.

'Mild muscle damage. Not as bad as it could be but I'll be out of combat duty for a week or so. Probably.'

"So... I take it we won?" Toby looked at the others, made sure that he knew who they were then ran a mental checklist. Terra, the two 'Knights', the scared-and-shot girl, that weird somehow-threateningly-creepy guy from before, and... Meg.The paladin was gone, 'Thank Steel,' and the others looked like they were patching things up. He wasn't willing to stand yet, but he did did want some kind of update.

"Whats the situation? Are we safe here? Reprisals? Casualties? Do you guys need a hand with things?"

Overachiever Toby was back, with Angry Toby taking a back seat, waiting for the next fight.

Ezra again sipped at his drink, a half-smile on his pale lips, eyes closing for the moment, leaning back on Church’s headboard. He would really have preferred being home, but then again, Church did have more food. If Jonah got hungry or he did, his own room would have proven mostly barren in terms of sustenance aside from drinks.

“All right, as long as you’re sure. Umm…I need to go tinkle.”

He blushed brightly for a moment, the young man, though charismatic at times, easily embarrassed. He wriggled beneath the blanket for a moment, then looked about, spotting his pants on the table. He raised a long-fingered hand, pointing towards them and speaking in a soft voice once more.

“Could you do me a favor, please? Could you get my pants and turn around for a moment…that way I can go and relieve myself.”

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Though Church had given up the containers for the pills back in the truck, he still paced anxiously from time to time. After getting his leg checked out, he had begun to once more polish his revolver until he gleamed, then beginning on the shotgun inside his coat. Though it wasn’t productive, it was a habit that kept him calm. He’d kept an eye on most everyone else, his large blade close at hand, as always. Though he wasn’t paranoid, he never parted with his kukri if he could help it.

Only when he saw Toby move did he pause in his meaningless work, eyes moving to rove over the young man. The steady throb in his thigh bothered him, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t deal with pain before. He cleared his throat, the boy’s dark skin a bit ashen around the cheeks, but only because he hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of the battle despite not showing it. He then spoke, words slow and measured, as always.

“Yes, we won. Cost us dearly, though, I think. If not physically, mentally.”

He didn’t bother with answering the rest of the boy’s questions, letting someone else who had a better handle on speaking do so. Church wasn’t much for words, most times just nodding, shaking his head, or grunting his displeasure. If he was also truthful with himself, he didn’t really understand much more about the situation than Toby. Despite his reputation as being somewhat smart and level-headed, he wasn’t always the thinker in a group. If anything, Trys would likely know more.

Church's apartment - East Side - Obsidian Knights

Jonah nodded quickly, getting up and retrieving Ezra's pants quickly - much like a slave would follow his master's orders. Once he'd given the pants to Ezra the boy moved away and turned around to look to the corner of the room while Ezra got himself dressed. Little Jonah felt like he shouldn't even be in the room while Ezra was dressing and wondered a little about what it was like to be a leader of the Obsidian Knights.

Jonah wondered himself if he'd be able to one day be a leader of something great. He looked up to Ezra for been a leader, even when he was sick. These times were bleak, full of negativity and Jonah hoped that one day they'd be able to see through it all and come out fine the other day. He'd heard the stories of children playing and people living to 100. He hoped that if he ever became a leader, he'd be able to lead his people through that time.

Was a time like that ever going to happen though? Was the legend that everyone was hunting for true? Or was it going to lead to disappointment, just like everything did these days? They could only hope for a better, brighter future.

---

West Gang Laboratory - Thanatos Instinct

Damien walked up and down, a worried look all over his face as he waited to find out how Adelaide was. Everywhere was currently silent. Toby had woken up not long ago and had questioned everyone about everything to do with the fight and what happened when he was out cold. Trys was sitting patiently on a chair waiting and as for everyone else, he wasn't even thinking about the others, just Adelaide.

She was on a bed, out cold for now. They were just waiting for her to wake up. Terra had taken her blood and was in another part of the lab to work on it while everyone waited for her to come around. Apart from Meg's death, Adelaide had come off the worse for injuries. The fact that she'd been hit by the HumV previously didn't help. He just hoped she was okay, but was more anxious.

It was half an hour later that Adelaide came around. When she didn't know where she was, she let out a scream and tried to get up. Damien was immediately over by her side.

"Kid, it's okay. You're okay." He told her, trying to keep her still and lying down.

She looked around panicking, not sure what to do as she looked around. "Where am I? What are you doing? Let me go..." She started, trying to get herself up again.

"Miss, everythign is fine. Wel, as fine as it really can be. You got hit in that little bit of action we saw back there, so we had to bring you back here to patch you up. Or, well, they did and I was dragged myself." Toby tried to stand but as he put weight on his injured arm he was hit with pain. He winced, and stopped, then shifted o his other arm and helped himself up.

"I'm sorry if we scared you earlier. It was definitely not intended. I'm Toby, of the Thanatos Instinct. Sorry for shoving you earlier."

Adelaide looked confused, scared even, at the man in front of her. Damien had immediately rushed to the girls side, making sure that she was okay. Her eyes continued to dart between the two men, quite confused by the situation as she tried to move from where she was situated. Addie immediately winced though, pain travelling through her body.

"Can you tell us your name?" Damien asked. "We promise, we're here to help you..."

"Adelaide..." She whispered.

Trys' head shot up at the name. He recognised that name. He knew that name. No, there was no way that she could be her. Shaking his head, he tried not to get his hopes up. She was just a girl they'd found. He couldn't help but look at her though, look at her and wonder.

"Adelaide. Nice to meet you. I'm Damien. Are you from No Man's Land, or are you from one of the gangs? I found you in an abandoned apartment before you tried to run." He explained.

"I don't belong to a gang..." She answered quietly.

Trys got up and walked over. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Sore..." She muttered. As much as Adelaide just want to get up and run, she still hurt and couldn't. All she could do was let them help her, and then if she wanted to run, she could.

Church’s apartment – East Side – Obsidian Knights

Ezra turned his head once, rubbing his nose and hoping the brewing sneeze didn’t come, but he was hoping in vain. He sneezed with a jolt, rubbing his nose again. He grinned sheepishly as he looked back to Jonah, taking his pants and standing when the boy had turned away. He slid slowly into the pants, wiggling to pull them up fully. As he moved past Jonah to head into the restroom, he reached out with the hand he hadn’t sneezed into, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“Thank you, Jonah.”

The pale young man wandered into Church’s bathroom, shutting the door and sighing happily. He had once resolved not to drink so much before bed, but he frequently broke that vow. He took a few moments to wash his hands thoroughly, always one to be a bit of a neat freak. It was a habit he hid from even Church, not liking the fact that he seemed so obsessive about cleaning his hands. He then dried his hands, bringing the small towel out with him.

He moved back towards the bed, but didn’t sit upon it, instead taking a seat in the somewhat large chair beside it. He crossed one leg over the other, placing a hand on his knee. Despite his pale and sickly appearance, he smiled slightly, watching Jonah with eyes half-closed. After a moment, he cleared his throat, leaning back into the chair to relax for a bit.

“So tell me a bit about yourself, Jonah…I enjoy knowing more about people, especially those who call me their leader. Plus…what else have we to do but talk a bit?”

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Church reached down and rubbed his thigh, but not over the wound he had incurred, eyes closing for just a moment. He then pushed up onto his feet, gait stiff as he moved. He tucked away his weapons as he drifted closer to Trys and the others, teeth grinding when his leg hitched. He caught himself before he stumbled noticeably, though. When he neared enough, he leaned in, looking over at the girl. He was more intent on speaking with Trys, though.

“Do you think that anyone would mind if I caught a bit of sleep? Even a few minutes would be good. Hoping it’s more like an hour, though.”

He whispered the words, placing a hand on his own thigh to steady himself. His eyes moved to rove over the girl once more, then over the others in their small group. His breath came slightly raggedly, but other than that, he seemed fine, the ashen look to his cheeks not quite so noticeable.

Thanatos Instinct - West Side

Trys nodded to Church. "Yea, get some rest. It's been a long day. We might as well stay here the night and get back on our feet tomorrow some time. It's been a long day, after all." He told Church, though he was worried about Jonah and how he was coping back with Ezra. "We all need some well deserved rest though."

Trys looked over at Tobi, who looked exhausted, and so did Adelaide, though the young girl showed no sign of going back to sleep. She was too busy looking around the room either in paranoia, and/or curiousity. Adelaide continued to just stay up, not liking been around people much or been in a place she didn't know. There was nothing she could do though, she was hurt and couldn't get out with everyone around. Instead, she finally just lay down and tried to rest some more.

Despite his tiredness, Trys decided to stay up a little longer, watching over everyone with a certain protectiveness about him.

---

Obsidian Knight's East Side

Jonah just stood there watching Ezra until he'd sat down in one of the chairs, Jonah in one of the smaller chairs. The man wanted to know more about the young boy, but honestly, Jonah didn't really know what could or should be said.

Slowly though, Jonah started to tell Ezra his story. It was a sad one, one where he'd watched his parents die to the virus ADV, where he'd struggled on his own in no man's land until Trys had found him. And how Trys took care of him like a brother should. Young Jonah also told Ezra how he looked up to the leader and hoped that one day he could be a leader and lead people back to where children could be children and adults didn't die until they were old and wrinkly, like in the stories he'd heard Trys tell.

That's all Jonah wanted, was a better world to live in, where kids didn't have to fear dying from the ADV virus.

---

Things were looking bad though. North heading to war with South and East now in Western territory with a few rogues after a battle with rebels in No Man's Land. The 'Key' is no closer to been found, and the legend no closer to been solved. The human civilisation still at risk with no current cure towards ADV. Is all lost for the human civilisation? Or will something save them? Unfortunately, things were looking grim for them with hope dwindling in a lot of people at a chance at finding the 'Key'. So, the final question is, will the Key be found and even more importantly, will the 'Key solve/cure anything?

Find out, in ADV 2: Get Infected! COMING SOON!!!