Lacy nodded and they road, but despite their speed the 'welcome party' was closing in.

It took many struggling hours but it felt like a matter of seconds. Her dog ran off, they were running, her father was gone, then her brother. They hid in a cellar, her mother was gone, then everything became a blur...

Lacy opened her eyes and pushed and shoved against the door to the beer cellar until the rubble on top finally gave way and she clambered out. Her eyes widened as she saw the devastation of her town, bodies everywhere and not a soul to be seen.

Nick traipsed through the forgotten city, clipboard in hand, rifle slung across his back. He had filled his pockets with tags before he left base and kept a few of them on the side of "Okay, let's get this over with and then I can go practice." He approached a pile of bodies, counted them and tagged each one. Once he was done he moved on down the street, counting and tagging every corpse he saw. When he was first assigned this mission he had tried to bury everyone but he gave up after the first 200 bodies, there were just too many to count. He was just about to finish up on this street when he heard it. A banging sound coming from a cellar door. He was wary, not sure what it was. Nick bent down on one knee, clutching his rifle and aiming it directly at the cellar door. When it finally opened he realized it wasn't a zombie, it was a person, a real live person in this ghost town. Before he could even think his friendly nature took over ad he called to her. "Hello! Are you ok?"

Lacy jumped as she heard someone call to her and she began running, afraid it was one of those demon soldiers who had murdered her family. She ran as fast as she could, jumping over rubble and dead bodies, racing down the broken and blood covered streets, trying to stay away from the places where her family members were killed, where she knew their bodies would still remain.

Nick scratched his head, he couldn't understand why she had run away. The city had been abandoned for some time now and he thought she would have been excited to see another person. He shrugged and walked slowly after her, making as much noise as he could so he wouldn't accidentally sneak up on her. He made notes of all the untagged bodies he passed as he followed her, it was his job to save her but it was also his job to get a death count. He spoke loudly, clearly, and slowly so as not to alarm her any more. She was obviously traumatized and he didn't want to make it worse. "Hello? My name is Private Nicolas Wagner. I'm with the army, I'm not going to hurt you. I know this gun can be kind of scary but it's just for protection against wild animals." He slung the gun over his shoulder, back to its original position on his back and lifted his hands high in the air showing that he was otherwise unarmed. He kept his eyes trained on her just in case she became hostile but she looked for scared of him than anything and he doubted she would attack. "Are you hungry or thirsty? I have plenty of food and water back at the base, it doesn't taste too great but it's healthy, it'll get you your strength back in no time at all." He walked a bit faster and continued to talk to her with his hands in the air. "I've got a shower too, warm beds and clean clothes. I know how girls are about staying clean and whatnot. I'm not sure if there's any hair care products or such nonsense but if you come back to base with me we can look together." He pointed to the pin on his shirt, now was one of the times that he was glad he didn't take it off. "I really am with the army, no fooling. I swear I won't hurt you but if you stay out here on your own something else will."

Lacy gradually slowed down as she heard the person continue talking and she turned slowly to look at him, her eyes were nervous and cautious, like a deer, and she stood on her toes, ready to run if she needed. She listened to his explanation and kept her eyes trained on him, partially to avoid looking at the dead bodies. She nodded slowly, understanding what he was saying and she whispered. "W-What are you doing here...?"

She had finally stopped and he slowed his pace. "I'm with the army, I was stationed here and given a mission and until now I thought I was the only one here. Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?" He kept his hands high and continued walking. Nick decided against telling her the specifics of his mission at the moment, she looked to be pretty shook up and he didn't want to scare her. When he was within ten feet of her he stopped. He knelt down and slowly put his clipboard, pen, and tags down on the ground, never taking his eyes off of hers. He stood just as slowly as he had knelt, keeping his hands clearly visible and open but still able to grab his rifle if need be.

Lacy watched him, holding her arm which was bleeding from a gash she'd gotten from a broken pipe she'd scraped up against while she was running. She was also limping slightly since she had slowed down. She looked at the Private nervously, fully aware that he could reach his gun faster than she could run away, but reasoned that if he was going to kill her, he would have already done it. So she just nodded, indicating that she was in pain.

Now that he was closer he could see that she was hurt. She nodded when he asked and he took that to mean that she would let him help her. "I have medicine and gauze back at my base. I'm no doctor but I know enough to patch up that cut on your arm. It's not a far walk from here to my base, we could be there in about fifteen minutes. Your leg doesn't look too good either, I can carry you if you like." He tilted his head a bit to get a better look at her arm, it would get infected if he didn't treat it soon. He picked up his clipboard and pen and began to walk backwards, slowly. "We should probably get going if you want me to fix that arm of yours, it'll be dark soon and this isn't the safest place to be at night."

Now that he was closer he could see that she was hurt. She nodded when he asked and he took that to mean that she would let him help her. "I have medicine and gauze back at my base. I'm no doctor but I know enough to patch up that cut on your arm. It's not a far walk from here to my base, we could be there in about fifteen minutes. Your leg doesn't look too good either, I can carry you if you like." He tilted his head a bit to get a better look at her arm, it would get infected if he didn't treat it soon. He picked up his clipboard and pen and began to walk backwards, slowly. "We should probably get going if you want me to fix that arm of yours, it'll be dark soon and this isn't the safest place to be at night."

Lacy continued to watch him nervously but nodded and followed after him, not taking her eyes off of him, she wasn't very fast and her limping only got worse, but she remained silent.

Nick smiled, she wasn't so shocked that she was being irrational. This was good, once he got her back to base and got her cleaned up maybe he could get some information out of her. Like how did she survive all by herself without getting caught or dying? He didn't want to turn his back on her but from this angle he couldn't see where he was going either, he decided that knowing she was behind him was better than not knowing so he turned around. Nick looked up at the sky as they walked, it was full of smoke as usual but he could tell that the sun would be setting soon and he didn't want to be out here in the dark, not again.

Nick had been outside at night once. He thought it was a good idea to continue his work at night, if he could finish early then he could ring the army to come get him and he could be promoted to sniper. When he was out there he had his clipboard, pen, tags, rifle, and flashlight helmet. When he was out there he was so focused on his work that he didn't hear it approaching until it rammed him at full speed. He was knocked onto his back, his helmet shattering, leaving him in total darkness with the beast. It kept charging at him and trampling him, every time Nick tried to get up it knocked him down again. Eventually he was so panicked that he grabbed his rifle and began shooting blindly. One bullet must have clipped it because he heard a pained yelp and heard hooves retreating. He was so terrified and hurt that he left everything but his gun and hobbled back to base as best he could. Nick didn't leave the base for a week after that, partially because of his fear and partially because of his wounds.

When he eventually did leave the base he carried two rifles and two pistols with him at all times for 4 months until he felt safe and he never left the base after dark. While Nick was remembering this he didn't realize they had made quite some progress. He could see the base now and he looked back at her and smiled. "You're going to be alright. That's my base of operations up ahead."

Lacy had been limping the whole way and the silence had been crushing for her, all she could think about were the events from the past few days, the pain, the fear, the memories... She looked up, her eyes dead and empty and she only nodded as the Private brought her up to the base, they walked inside and she looked around.

Nick took her inside and safely locked the door behind them. They had made it just as the sun was setting and he was relieved. He set his gun down on the rack near the door along with all the other rifles. "Here we are, home sweet home. Sorry for the mess, if I'd known I was bringing a girl home I'd have tried to clean up a little." He grinned and walked to the medicine cabinet, taking out anything he thought would be useful, talking to her all the time. "You can take a seat on the couch over there, this barrack used to hold a lot more people and on their days off some of the guys used to watch t.v. I'm not sure if it still works but you're welcome to try it whilst I get all this stuff together." He took out gauze for her arm, a splint for her leg, bandages for anywhere else she might have cuts and bruises and antibacterial wipes to make sure nothing got infected. He walked over and sat on the couch, placing all the stuff on the end table next to him. "Ok, here we go, this might sting a little."

Lacy nodded quietly and sat down on the couch, staring at the tv but not turning it on, when he came back she watched him as he set down all the stuff, her eyes still dead and empty.

War looked uptowards the sky and then brought down the lighting defending what little was left of his lands, he was exhausted he looked at the arm he had lose, but it didn't matter he had lost something far more precious.