Kira remained silently, settling into her seat and resting against the side of the vehicle, staring outside at the carnage in spite of Havok's advice. To be honest, it didn't bother her nearly as much as he seemed to think it would. It was...disturbing, but no more so than anything else she'd had to deal with. The only different here was the size. If anything, it was a little bit better than in other scenarios; most of the time, she couldn't make out the people's faces. Like this, it was easy for her to pretend that they hadn't had families, pets, lovers, lives. It was much easier to take it like any other bad situation that way. Besides, she needed something to look at besides the backs of Havok and Miguel's heads.

“What about ammunition? Is the magazine loaded?” Kira heard this faintly, having been caught up in her own thoughts; that was part of the reason she didn't like the idea of driving like this. With her guard down, her mind was free to roam, and she didn't particularly like the places it often chose to go. To thoughts of Julia, her old companions, her new companions, the bowling alley, and that child. Also part of the reason she didn't particularly enjoy sleeping anymore, either.

Her eyes flickered away from the scene outside and back to Miguel, her face blank for a moment as she processed his question. “Uh...I dunno...” She glanced down at the rifle clasped in her lap, lips pressing together as she began fiddling with it, trying to remove the magazine. She resented the fact that she hadn't learned more about firearms before all of this had happened; music. She'd chosen to pursue music. It was utterly useless to her now; why hadn't she learned something more practical? It took her a moment, but she got it off, and did a quick check. It looked to her like only a few rounds were missing. “It's alright... it's not full, but I think it's fine... one of you guys is gonna have to show me how to use this, though.” She said, beginning to work on putting the magazine back in place. Once that was done, she resumed her idle staring out the window, not feeling like offering up any conversation right now.

Havok had driven large vehicles like this before, like the JLTV. It responded abnormally smoothly, though, for being a truck much akin to the HMMWV of old; it was a calm ride for nearly eight miles. Havok kept a steady speed at nearly 20 miles an hour; they would occasionally pass a road sign pointing them in their direction, "Philadelphia 120 Miles". At this rate, it would take them at most two and a half days; Havok would have to stop occasionally. At about thirteen miles outside the city, the brutal scene of a massacre months prior gave way to standard New England roads. Serene wildlife placed along either sides of a winding asphalt ribbon that traced for miles through lowly coastal plains. Untouched by the atrocities that man had created.

Though the woods were probably full of those things, they probably gnawed at tree bark and chased woodland animals in an attempt to satiate their hunger-fueled anger. Havok changed lanes slowly, both Miguel and Kira seemed filled with their own minds; and Havok pulling turns and tails would only upset them. Something he didn't want to do. Easing his way inward, Havok transferred from the medium of the road onto the right lane; the four lane highway was expansive, it had been like this for the past three miles. Calmly, the JLTV made it's way into the first lane. Though the world had properly ended, and Havok wasn't expecting to get pulled over anytime soon, he still made attempts to maintain proper safety in the vehicle.



It had been a while since anyone had spoken, Kira and Miguel both seemed extremely quiet. Almost as if they were sleeping. They probably weren't though. As Havok passed beside an overturned truck, he slowly pressed a foot onto the brake pedal. The JLTV responded politely with a slow descent yet still maintained speed; Havok gave an emotionless glance toward the inside of the vehicle. A man, handgun beside him, throat ripped open, and a bullet hole that had long ago drained the innards of his skull occupied the vehicle. The passenger side door was wide open, and so were the back ones. Something had gotten in, and something else had gotten out.


Whenever something hits the side of a vehicle; due to the enclosed space, one commonly hears a deep meaty "thunk". When that something is angered and pounding at the doors, amplify the startling factor of that by tenfold. With a dark scream, an infected threw itself against the chassis of the JLTV. The vehicle heaved from the sudden attack, rocking sideways as Havok pivoted his head to view the infected. Had Kira not been staring outside the window, she probably wouldn't have looked directly into the face of an infected.
"The fuck did I tell you Firecracker!" Havok yelled angrily as he drew his weapon and aimed toward the window. In an instant, several others were smashing themselves into the side of the JLTV. Rocking the vehicle, one climbed onto the top of the hood.
"Fuck!" Havok yelled as he looked forward and stamped his foot onto the pedal. With a yell of the engine, the infected was catapulted from the hood of the vehicle and crushed beneath the wheels. As several other clung to side of the vehicle, Havok flexed the steering wheel to shed them. Bucked and thrown, they would fall to the asphalt in bitter anger as Havok smashed his foot onto the wheel once again. Speeding off.

Miguel sat quietly, every once in a while nodding off, only to reawaken again. Scenery passed by, trees, fields, et cetera. There was really nothing to do, and nothing to say either. He hummed a spanish folk song under his breath, playing a game where he tried to see how quiet he could hum and still hear the tune. His finger tapped against his leg, keeping time with the tempo. He sneezed, and then sneezed again. This set him to wondering why they always seemed to come in pairs. Always. At least, for him they did.

The landscape passed by slowly, and then he saw the truck. It was flipped over, wrecked, weather worn. Havok slowed the JLTV slightly, and Miguel got a brief glance into the inside of the dilapidated vehicle. A corpse lay inside, slumped in a unnatural position. Creepy. Miguel resumed looking ahead.

Then they attacked. The deep thud of multiple bodies slamming into the sides of the JLTV. The vehicle lurched, and Miguel fumbled for his shotgun. It slipped from his fingers, clattering around his ankles. Havok cursed vehemently, "What did I tell you Firecracker!"

More infected slammed into the vehicle, sending it rocking on it's axles. Havok cursed again, and stamped on the gas. The vehicle surged forward, engine screaming, and Miguel was slammed back into his seat. Havok yanked the steering while left and right, shaking off the attacking infected. They seemed to all fall away. "Dios mio," Miguel breathed.

Kira watched idly out the window as they went along, the scenery outside gradually changing from the outskirts of the city into seemingly abandoned highway, and then further into dense forestry on either side. The images of the corpses littering the ground still burned in her eyes; it wasn't the worst she'd seen since this whole thing started, when she bothered to think back, but it was very close. It had taken her a while to work her way down into the states from Canada, and she'd passed through many towns and cities on her way; she'd been living in Toronto when the outbreak had reached her. A memory flashed back to her out of nowhere; she was standing behind the pulpit in the church sanctuary of her college. It was a huge building, the place they held conferences, easily large enough to hold several thousand, and many had taken shelter there. The place, the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship; they taught of the love of the father, a ministry school. They weren't about to leave people defenseless. They'd barred the place up as well as they could. They'd provided food and a place to sleep. They'd prayed fervently.

Still, she stood behind the pulpit, trying to find her way to the door, watching as the Infected tore through the bodies of the strangers, the pastor, her fellow students at the college. Children and adults alike were trampled and forgotten, dying before the monsters could even reach them as people desperately tried to escape; others were ripped to pieces as the creatures feasted.

The door was near the pulpit, and she'd been able to get away. She'd fled while everyone behind her died, only to find that the city had been desamated while they were in hiding. The crucifix about her neck was covered in the blood of one of her classmates. Right now she wasn't even sure where that was; it had probably been torn from her during some fight somewhere. It didn't matter; God hadn't saved them. She didn't want that symbol about her neck anymore.

She was drawn back to the present as the vehicle began to slow, and blue eyes flickered back towards Havok, face questioning. She noticed he was looking at something, and she leaned forward in her seat, craning her neck to try and get a look. It was a turned-over truck; another death. Her lips pressed slightly and she took her seat again, resuming her staring out the window.

She had just rested her head against the glass, eyes unfocusing as she prepared to resume her blank stare; this didn't happen. Out of nowhere a hard thud rocked the vehicle and right in front of her face was the mottled face of in Infected, contorted in rage, mouth open in a violent screech. Her mind blanked for a fraction of a second, and she found herself staring into it's face, seperated from her only by glass; caught of guard, she panicked. With a scream that sounded more like the yelp of an injured puppy, she scrambled back and whipped her rifle forward, attempting to fire it at the monster. However, for whatever reason, no bullets came, so she had to be content to rush away from the window frantically, feeling the vehicle come back to life as Havok excellerated them away from the Infected that were converging on them.

She watched as the monsters fell away, but she didn't move, her tense muscles not seeming to want to function very well. She was clutching the rifle, her knuckles white, her hold body beginning to tremble; her eyes were wide, staring at the window where the Infected had been, and her breathing seemed to be coming with difficulty. Compared to everything she'd been through within the last two days, this shouldn't have bothered her in the slightest. Perhaps everything, added to a lack of sleep, was simply beginning to catch up with her. She didn't notice when Miguel spoke, and she barely noticed that they were even moving; for several minutes she was stuck that way, her heart racing. When she finally got ahold of herself, she immediately grabbed her pack of cigarettes, her fingers fumbling as she took one out and lit it. It took her a moment to even get it to light, because her hands were shaking, but she managed it in the end and brought it to her lips, inhaling deeply, trying to let the chemicals calm her down. It didn't seem to work, but whatever.

"Dammit Firecracker!" Havok barked angrily, a deep, ominous growl erupting form somewhere in his throat. Had he been closer, the Mercenary would have easily made an attempt to pull the cowering woman away from the window. Several seconds after the event, while the Infected were fading from view in the vehicles side view mirrors.
"Miguel ... You alright?" Havok huffed, exhaling loudly with satisfaction as the vehicle peeled away from the group.

"Shit ... Shit ... shit" He breathed quietly, face bent forward toward the mottled windshield of the vehicle; face contorted in a mixture of anger and raw emotion. With a flick of his wrist, a hand jutted upward and plucked the bandanna from his head, gripping with his fingers he pulled the small rag away from his skull. Almost immediately, brown locks of stubby hair fell from the confines of the bandanna; it had been years since Havok saw all of his hair.
"Jesus." He managed, his foot leaving the gas pedal as his torso contorted to look first toward Miguel, then back toward Kira. The small red haired woman fumbling with a cigarette, frantically moving to light the small stick, and inhale as deeply as she could.


Havok could give a shit less if she was smoking in the car. He knew what he was after though.
"Firecracker, quite puffin' and look for a box." He commanded, his voice gruff and daunting; it had returned to it's normal inhuman bowl. His finger cracked into a point, and he began to trace it around as he ran the digit across the rear cabin of the JLTV. If his specific knowledge of the JLTV; and it's former crew, served him well, there would be an indispensable asset sitting in the back somewhere.
"Look for a box, Firecracker. It should say TAC-SAD on it." He mumbled, quickly turning around and stamping his foot on the pedal as he fixated his mind, focusing directly onto the road as the JLTV responded with a roaring engine.

"Get this." He smiled proactively. As he did this, a sign roared by; a small blur, yet Havok could easily understand it. 'Rest Stop 5 Miles Ahead'. As soon as it had passed by, Havok smashed his foot harder; the JLTV responding with an even larger growl of the engine. 75 miles per hour quickly faded by as Havok once again rested a hand on the grip of the handgun as the vehicle rounded a corner, Havok slowly easing the vehicle into the turn. Soon, the small Rest-Stop would reveal itself.

It was made up of a rather large dirt and gravel parking lot; useless cars scattered around the empty chunk of land that lead down farther through a much smaller dirt path to a cabin. Of course, they'd have to get through the Infected that would be waiting for them.
"Firecracker, I'd get that M16 read. Miguel, check your shells!" Havok grunted as he pulled the handgun from his holster, his hand wrenching the vehicle sideways as he began to slowly decrease the speed of the vehicle. The JLTV would churn sideways awkwardly as it's speed decreased rapidly; Havok had completed maneuvers like this before on four lane highways, and they would have plenty of room to survive. Of course, they could use some of the Infected up ahead as speed bumps.
"Get ready, you're following me!"

"Miguel ... You alright?" Havok huffed, exhaling loudly.

Miguel let out a pent up breath and nodded, "Si, si amigo. I'm fine." He still sat stiffly though, and held the Mossberg as if his life depended on it.

Though it probably did.

Havok cursed under his breath, and whipped the bandanna from his head. Miguel looked sideways at him. Havok turned in his seat, telling Kira to start searching for a box. Miguel listened curiously, but didn't comment. Then Havok had turned around, and put the pedal to the metal. The JLTV lurched forward, it's powerful engine growling like a beast.

"Get this," Havok said, and Miguel looked up in time to see a sign flash past. Rest stop. Hm. Wait...Miguel looked at Havok. Surely he wasn't intending to --

Havok slammed the pedal harder than ever, and Miguel shifted in his seat, pushed into the cushion by the acceleration. They rounded a corner, and there was the rest stop. A parking lot, a few junky vehicles scattered here and there, and a path that led to a cabin, set back from the main road.

"Firecracker, I'd get that M16 read. Miguel, check your shells!" Havok grunted, pulling a handgun. Then he yanked the wheel, sending the vehicle careening sideways. Miguel's muscles tensed, his pulse quickening. He wasn't used to insane maneuvers in a vehicle traveling at such speed. Trying to obey the order, Miguel fumbled with his shotgun, checking the load on the magazine. He pumped the slider, loading a shell into the chamber.

Digging into a pocket located on the from of his backpack, he pulled out a shell, and slid it into the magazine so that it was fully loaded. His fingers shook with adrenaline.

"Get ready, you're following me!" growled Havok, and Miguel looked up, even more surprised. What?!

Kira was silent, not responding to Havok’s command, but she held the smoke in between her lips and began looking around in the back, letting herself focus on the simple task to keep her mind occupied; she slowly felt her sense of control begin to trickle it’s way back into her.

She felt a light tug of momentum as the mercenary accelerated the vehicle, continuing on his way down the stretch of highway while she searched around in the back. A little box…. What sort of box? He definitely could have been a bit more descriptive. It would have helped. She glanced forward for a moment, a tiny bit of ash falling from her cigarette and onto the leg of her jeans. She brushed it away idly. He looked downright pissed. She kept her mouth shut and continued to look.

“Get this.” She heard him say, his tone more amiable, and she glanced up just in time to see a sign flash by, but too slow to be able to read it. He was smiling now though. Apparently the sign said something decent. She watched him and Miguel for a moment, and then went back to looking.

She found something finally, a box just like he said. She pulled another breath off of her smoke before taking in between her fingers again. “Sunshine, I think I found your box.” She said idly, back to her usual self now. As she said it, she looked up and saw that they were pulling into a rest stop.

She frowned, her eyes tightening slightly. Why the hell were they stopping? Her mind ran ahead of her, to the city, all the people… she didn’t want to waste time. “Firecracker, I’d get that M16 ready. Miguel, check your shells!” Havok commanded as he pulled out his own handgun. He began to make his way into the rest stop. She felt a tingling in her body, the eagerness she’d felt as they made their way towards the bowling alley returning. Of course, there might not even be anything here. But just the same; she wanted payback for the scare she’d gotten back there. She pulled her rifle and began examining it, trying to figure out why it hadn’t fired. It didn’t take her long; she hadn’t dealt with the safety. “Ugh…” she sighed a bit, rather disappointed with herself for a moment. She took it off and took one last breath off of her smoke, then ground it out on the toe of her boot as Havok spoke again. “Get ready, you’re following me!” An eager grin flashed across her features, and she responded, her voice touched slightly by sarcasm. “Obviously, Sunshine.” She unconsciously sat up a little straighter, waiting for the vehicle to stop so they could get out already.

With a breaking skid, the JLTV barked and groaned in pain as it came to a halt. In an instant, Havok prepared for his entry into hostile territory, into war once more. As a hand moved to pull the slide of the P-99 backward, chambering a fresh .40 caliber round; with this action completed, he set about depressing his foot onto the brake-pedal, and in a fluid motion, rejected the gear-shift downward bringing it into a parked state. The vehicle's engine would respond bitterly; a hissing noise escaping the vehicle as gear locks shifted, and machinery halted.

“Sunshine, I think I found your box.” He heard Kira mumble, his own throbbing heart damaging his hearing minutely though, with handgun raised into the air; Havok would give an affirmative grunt, nodding toward her while a hand maneuvered to grip the door.
"Good Firecracker, get to the door." As Havok wrenched his hand, the door gave way and spread open; a deep ray of light flooding inward. Coming quickly with the sudden appearance of the vehicle, would be an Infected.
"Keep your shots center!" Havok barked as an Infected crawled it's way to the door, the hideous beast letting out a powerful scream. Havok reacted quickly, leaning backwards only for an instant to prepare his weapon for the gaping maw of the assailant; in a single trigger pull, the attacked went belting backwards, it's scream cut off into a bloody gurgle as it smashed into the ground. Blood pooling from the wound and brain matter seeping from the hole in the rear of it's cavity.

"Get outta' the car before they get in!" He commanded, rolling himself near instantaneously after the attack and out of the vehicle. Handgun raised in an effort to prepare himself against what awaited him. Training would kick in momentarily, the Mercenaries vision quickly flexing to compensate for the dwindling light. Attacking would be the first event on his mind; it was only an hour from sunset, they would need to get themselves indoors soon. Lest they fight blind for the night, or drive. Something Havok probably wouldn't be capable of.

The first attack would come quickly, in the form of a rather lithe infected female; her movements anger fueled and sporadic. Her small body would quickly propel her to within twenty meters in a matter of seconds; and Havok could not wait until either Miguel or Kira prepared themselves for fighting outside the JLTV. Moving to aim, Havok would crouch quietly; managing to fire off two quick shots. Each of his rounds marring the woman in some form; a bullet crashing into the Infected's thigh, his second one puncturing her hip and ricocheting out of her kidneys. His third shot would end the woman; a bullet tracing upwards to severe her spin at the base of her neck; the body collapsing in a heap barely five meters from Havok. He didn't care about Miguel and Kira, anymore, because as he took precious time to incapacitate that single attacker; a number of others would be moving to once again resume the attack.

They pulled up near the cabin, decelerated, and then...

Things started happening very quickly. "Sunshine, I think I found your box." Kira said from the back. Havok gave a grunt and nodded, before taking hold of his door, "Good Firecracker, get to the door." Then he popped the door open, just in time to meet an infected.

"Keep your shots center!" Havok barked, "Get outta' the car before they get in!" and then he was out of the vehicle, gun blazing. Miguel responded quickly, popping the door on his side. He leapt out, slinging the backpack over his shoulders, and hefting the shotgun.

the sharp reports of Havok's handgun ringing in his ears, he hurried around the front of the JLTV, where he could be of more help...

And met an infected head on. It was a man, horribly thin and skeletal, and he was sprinting straight for Miguel. There were others, but they were farther back. He frowned and swung the Mossberg around, his finger finding the trigger, firing from the hip. The shotgun's report echoed in Miguel's ears, rather louder than was comfortable, even outdoors. The buckshot sped across the short distance, splattering across the man's torso.

Rather than falling, the infected only stumbled, and kept coming. Miguel cursed. He had fired too soon. He tried to duck sideways, to avoid the man altogether, but too late. The infected hurtled past him, striking his side and knocking him to the ground. He yelped in surprise. The infected's grasping fist caught his pack, and there was a tearing sound as one of the straps broke free, and the backpack was thrown several feet away. Then the skeletal man was on him.

His fingernails scraped at Miguel's face, and the Latino tried desperately to hold him off with the gun. A stream of Spanish curses exploded from his lips, and he kicked out at the infected's knee, which buckled accordingly. Then he raised his foot again, and sent it smashing into the man's face. He felt bone and cartilage crunch under his boot, and the infected staggered back, giving Miguel some much needed elbow room. Nothing like a boot to the face to get what you want.

He rolled over, putting a bit of distance between himself and the infected. His shoulder struck something, and a momentary glance identified it as his pack. Then his eyes darted back to see the infected approaching him once again. In no mood for an encore, he gripped the Mossberg, swung it around, pumped a shell into the chamber, aimed, and pulled the trigger -- all in one swift, fluid motion.

The gun bucked against him, sending the shot hurtling straight into the face of the man. Skin peeled back, bone fragmented, tissue went flying, and the infected's entire head exploded. Gore splattered over Miguel, and he raised a hand to shield his face. The corpse collapsed, and Miguel quickly climbed to his feet, grabbing the backpack and throwing the remaining strap over his shoulder. He spit contemptuously on the body, and then turned once again to join the fray.

"Good, Firecracker, get to the door." Was the response Kira heard when she informed Havok of her discovery; he was preparing himself to head out, it was clear. He swung the door open and light and outside air flooded inside, the mercenary jumping out immediately, to be met head-on by the first Infected. "Keep your shots center!", and within a few moments, the creature's head was blown open, it's attack cut short by immediate defeat.

Kira didn't hear the rest of what he said, though she was aware of him shouting something else; she was already getting out of the vehicle, soon after Miguel, her rifle raised as she caught him getting into a fight of his own out of the corner of her eye. She would have helped, in any other situation, but she had her own problems to deal with.

As she turned away from the vehicle, she heard a snarl and a scream that were both all-too familiar to her, human, but at the same time disturbingly not. Her body insinctively flinched ever-so-slightly and she twisted on her heel, meeting a wonderful sight. The Infected husk of a tall, lanky man, who'd had dark skin during his human life, and black hair in tight curls about his head. He was rushing her, reaching out as if to tear her apart with his hands.
Her eyes narrowed, a wide grin brightening her features as she raised her weapon; she didn't fire yet. She waited, waited, her pulse pounding in her ears, until he was just four feet away, and then she opened up; the first bullets made contact with the thing's legs, knocking it down into the ground. The next hit it's head, causing it to scream out in frustration before it stopped moving.

She pumped her fist up in the air, letting out a delighted, adrenaline-induced joy-cry before turning to another scream. She shouted as she was met with the sight of another Infected, almost right in front of her face. Immediately she snapped her weapon out, striking it in the jaw with a resounding crack. It stumbled backwards and she immediately delivered a hard kick to the creature's chest, and then to it's legs as it stumbled again. It fell and she immediately pumped enough bullets into the thing's neck to cease it's movement.

She laughed again and turned back to see how the others were doing.