Alex Owens's Story

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

"Run, Alex. Run."

The adrenaline began to kick through Alex's veins. She felt her pulse intensify with each stride as she bolted across the asphalt, her heart now racing. Sweat was trapped beneath the inside of her grey, tattered t-shit as she dashed through the empty streets, hoping to find some sort of refuge-- A place where she could shield her eyes from those things... Those somber figures that clouded every square inch of her ever-growing nightmares. The mere thought of 'them' made a chill run through Alex's spine.

A bolt of lighting cracked behind her in the distance, now summoning the rain. Her russet hair began to tharsh through the violent wind. A cry of help spiraled out of Alex's lungs in a plea for anyone... Anyone.

A languid groan echoed in the distance.

A second chill consumed Alex.

"Run, Alex. Run."

She turned around, horrified at the sight before her. It was her worst nightmare yet. A limping, yellow-toothed Roamer with a side of flesh carved out of its face let out a high pitched screech as others of its kind surrounded Alex, collapsing over her body. She felt the paralyzing emotion of fear absorb her mind once more. Her agonizing scream was swallowed by silence as she fell into a deep pit of darkness.

---

"Now loading truck eighteen! Those with that number on their ticket please proceed to the gate!

Alex awoke from her dream, her heart still thumping quickly against her chest. The lack of sleep from the past few days was finally catching up to her. She rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred; she had now stepped back into her crushing reality as she identified her sorrowful surroundings. She was at the Hartfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. She had managed to meet up with a barley functioning RV while uprooting herself north towards Georgia and away from Florida. The family owning the vehicle were Mexican, so they couldn't speak much English; but together they had managed to face the odds and make it to the last quarantined zone in the city. Eventually, they were separated amongst the bustling crowd at the airport. Alex wondered if they were alright.

She jumped off of her uncomfortable temporary bed, an iron bench, and headed towards the line of the white trucks. There was much yelling, mostly families arguing over seats or a few tickets left to collect a ride. She even glimpsed a fist-fight between a few men quarreling over something. Food? Water? A seat? It horrified her how much things had changed over the course of a few days.

She arrived at the gate of Truck 18, shaking as she did. Alex didn't know what to expect anymore. "Help me, God." She muttered under her breath. "Help these people."

Once more her eyes viewed the innocent faces of trembling citizens. What would happen to the ones left behind? Would they be murdered? Thoughts began warping through her mind. Eyeing the inhabitants, she spotted a man roughly her age begin to smoke (reminding Alex of her need for a much appreciated cigarette) while a blonde approached him as he made his way to the towards the truck line. She looked spiffy in her designer clothes; Alex wasn't sure if she was appropriately dressed for the situation at hand. It made her smile inside a bit.

"C'mon, you're holding up the line!" A gruff guard, dressed in combat-like clothes, addressed her loudly.

She scurried up to the man, handing him the ticket. He looked at it, his eyes tracing over the number '18.' He quickly tore it into two, crumpled it up and threw it in the small trash can to his right.

"You got a weapon?" He tilted his glasses downward to watch Alex's reply.

"Yes." She barley mumbled to say.

"Good," He cleared his throat. "I don't know, I haven't been on the road, but- You might need it. Proceed forward."

She hastily walked onto the boarding steps of the bus, clutching onto the rusty railing. A few eyes met her gaze, making her feel as if she was being spied on. Her fingers traced the strap of her backpack, feeling it's scratchy fabric for a sense of comfort. As she passed the onlookers, she proceeded to take a seat next to a man perhaps around her age with shaggy brownish hair, and a bit of a gritty beard.

Alex took a deep breath, curling strands of hair behind her ears to focus on what was in front of her. She viewed an older man with dark hair sitting diagonally from her, crossing his arms. A few others in the truck drifted off to sleep. She looked at the tired and worn faces of a woman and her young daughter, and a dark skinned-man fidgeting with his fingers in his lap, murmuring under his breath.

Zac looked around to see what type of people he was going to spend the next undisclosed amount of time with, a father and daughter; who wasn't really hard on the eyes either. A middle aged man with that type of look in his eye that would make even him think twice with messing the guy. That perky blonde who obviously disliked his smoking habits. That other girl who looked like she desperately needed a cigarette. A man who looked liked he looking for something or someone and a man; Zac couldn't really make heads or tails of him. More observation would be required. He smirked as he thought of something funny to say. He knew it was a terrible time for jokes but, usually the worst time for jokes were the best time for jokes.

"So, ah.... Who ordered the Sardines?" Zac said when there was a weird silence. As the words left his lips he knew that he either was a genius or pretty much going to be the first guy that gets tripped. He really hoped that it was the former.

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

Alex's eyes slowly traced a red-haired woman entering the truck, who was one of the last of the few to find a seat among the others. Behind her a man followed, perhaps her father, watching her closely with each step. The woman, who looked among Alex's age, squinted her eyes as she proceeded to take a seat. By the expression plastered onto her face, Alex could tell she was in a bit of pain. It saddened Alex that anyone had any extra problems durning this living Hell. She felt sorry for her.

Suddenly, the doors of the battered truck closed with a loud snap. Alex flinched in her seat. She watched darkness cascade over the passengers' exhausted faces as the doors barricated any sort of sunlight from entering the vehicle.

The thought of leaving any place safe made goosebumps arise across Alex's skin. Once again, her fingertips met the straps of her backpack. She tightened her grip, taking a deep breath as Truck 18's motor roared beneath her feet.

"Mommy, where are they taking us?" A small child's voice echoed at the front of the truck.

As if Alex was the young girl's mother, she felt fear consume her mind as she listened closely.

"I don't know, Sweetheart," The mother hesitated to reply. "I just know that it's somehwhere safe. Get some rest."

Alex knitted her eyebrows together frustratingly. It angered her that the military didn't even bother to tell them where they were going. She had heard all sorts of rumors of which area was safer or where you should go; but she didn't have a clue what to believe or who to trust.

"So, ah.... Who ordered the Sardines?"

Alex couldn't help but smirk at the remark; she hadn't heard any humor in what seemed like decades.

She turned her focus towards the man who made the comment amidst the awkward silence fueling throughout the truck. In the darkness she could glimpse his figure. He was tall, at least taller than she was with a muscular build. She could tell that he had dark, black hair, although the bleak atmosphere covered most of his features.

"Could he be they guy who was having a smoke earlier?" She thought to herself.

Alex looked at him carefully.

"Never thought I'd hear another joke, considering the circumstances." She smiled, trying to make eye contact with him throughout the darkness. "I'm Alex, by the way."

"I am Luca. Is nice to meet, even in bad time." Another man, who was thought by Alex to be foreign because of his broken English, also addressed him with high spirits. He had shaggy, brownish hair with a bit of a beard. She sat a short distance away from him, so she could see him along with most of his features.

Alex smiled for the first time in a few days as a result of some sociality.

Sardines? Really? Jack smirked a little at that, his shoulders falling to a less tensed position as he let his bag down gently, careful to keep the shotgun hidden under a t-shirt. He didn't choose to say anything in response, but kept the understanding smirk on his lips, At least some people can keep the jokes coming. He leaned against the wall of the truck and crossed his arms, one of legs resting on the knee of the other, a comfortable position, one of the most he had experienced in a while. Under hooded lids he watched the others as the truck started up and left the zone, watching for those that smiled at the man's joke, and those that just glared at him with a misunderstanding.

One such man piqued his interest, a foreigner, European? Jack didn't have too many tourists visit the bar, but he knew some variations of accents from the television that was on constantly overhead when he worked, let alone the fact that the man's English was broken, but understandable. Jack listened to the other passengers introduce themselves, Alex, Luca, Jeff, Beth, himself, the woman he had picked up the make-up for, another man, a serious one at that, and the joker, whom Jack could smell the smoke from. And there was the driver, who made no interaction with the passengers other than a small utterance that sounded foreboding enough for Jack to struggle to ignore it.

Perhaps I should... Socialize. Nodding to affirm his though, he offered a small wave to the others' as he stated his name, "John, you all can call me Jack if you'd please. Glad to be around people who aren't too afraid to talk." his Southern drawl thick in his voice, and a small smile tugging at his lips.

Luca shook Jeff's hand, brushing off the foriegner comment. It was true, they had picked an awful time to come to this place.

Then again. Had this spread outside of this city?

His smile faded a moment, before he forced it back to his face. At least everyone so far seemed to be willing to talk to each other, that in itself would help keep them occupied on this trip to the unknown. His gaze drifted towards Beth a moment, and... wait was she pregnant? He felt sorry for her, not even able to imagine how awful it must be for her. He'd been around pregnant women before, and running for your life? Not something you'd want to be doing. Then again, this was better than the alternative.

"Is nice meet you all." He smiled at each in turn, his lips drawing into a thin line shortly afterwards. "It seem it was bad time for holiday."

It was a rather bitter truth, and his mood soured as recent memories came washing back. His gaze lowered to the ground, and he stared at it with a soft sigh.

Jenifer glared at the foreign man, wondering why Beth the pregnant woman and her father Jeffrey took a liking to him. The accent of Luca irritated Jenifer even more than the sounds of the truck. Jack, at the moment, was the only person who she didn't have a slight hatred for. Maybe it was because of the fact that he cared enough to return her prized tube of lipstick to her. Whatever the reason, Jenifer wanted to get out of the truck and into one where she didn't feel like slapping everybody near hear.

"I see everybody's introducing themselves like we're all in some kind of happy meet-and-greet," Jenifer stated out loud, stroking the arm of her draped sweater. "I'm Jenifer. One 'n' only,"

Looking around with a fake smile, Jenifer waved, not trying at the least to come off as a caring and polite person. She knew in the back of her mind that at least one of them thought it was weird that she cared about her appearance in the situation they were in. Observing her tattered, expensive clothes, Jenifer rolled her eyes and returned her focus back to her nails.

Joe wasn't asleep. If he appeared that way it was only because he didn't intend to engage in meaningless chatter with people he will more than likely never see again. He looked up from under his hat at the young girl crying to her mother about how much the truck was bouncing. It didn't bother Joe much though, he had spent a lot of time in old trucks like this hauling material to job sites. Joe listened closely as the motor knocked at the front of the truck.

"Probably a cylonoid going out."

He spoke quietly before retreating back underneath his hat. It wasn't nothing serious so Joe didn't think he should say anything to the drivers, they more than likely already knew. As long as they didn't stop and idle for a long period of time it would be ok. He noticed that a lot of the people had began to introduce themselves and get friendly with each other. A smile crept across his face as he began to think about how not long ago some of the people in this truck were fighting with each other to get get a seat. That's life, these days it is anyway, and things were only going to get worse. The view could be worse though. Joe had managed to get in the same truck as a few decent looking women at least. A chuckle escaped his lips when he thought about whistling at the scantly clad women as they would walk by his work. Little things like that had made each day just a little more bearable, but now it was gone. In the long run it didn't really matter, he was alive and he was going to stay that way.

The truck bounced again causing Joe to lose his train of thought.

"This is gonna be a long ride."

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

Alex was surprised that the others began introducing themselves regardless of the situation at hand. But at the same time, it brought a sense of the past back into her brutal reality; people were actually socializing. Alex had almost forgotten the concept entirely.

"Is nice to meet you all." Luca, whom Alex had just met, stated amongst the others. "It seem it was bad time for holiday."

Alex pitied Luca. She imagined how terrible it must have been to be in an estranged place when mass terror struck the nation.

"It's nice to meet you all, too." Alex managed a thin smile to form across her face.

So far she had met Jeff and his daughter, Beth (whom Alex assumed to be pregnant) along with John (maybe Jack?) and Luca.

They all seemed fairly kind to Alex, each with their different personalities and traits. Some had accents, others had extra problems of their own; nevertheless, everyone seemed to have the same exhausted, worn faces.

"I see everybody's introducing themselves like we're all in some kind of happy meet-and-greet," The blonde, who was already beginning to get under Alex's skin, addressed everyone with confidence. "I'm Jenifer. One 'n' only,"

Alex had a great urge to say something back to Jenifer to wipe that selfish smile off her face. Alex clenched her palms together, fighting the nerve. She didn't want to cause any trouble- Not in a situation like this.

"Just brush it off, Alex." She thought, biting her bottom lip as she did.

She sighed, wondering how long of a ride was left and where they were even going.

"don't mind him, my father's a bit of an old codger; he doesn't mean to be impolite.

"That's no way to call your old man, dear." Jeff resented her choice of words. "You called me an old geezer before this. I don't think that is how a proper lady should act." Although Jeff was complaining, it was very obvious that he was trying to keep the tension down. [Tension isn't good for my daughter and my future grandson/daughter. I need to keep her from feeling too overly tensed.] "But anyway, it's nice to meet you all too. World's been plunged into crazy hell and it's very, very refreshing to not see people killing each other, alive or not. I hope we can actually avoid that kind of fate and stay friendly. Nothing can ever come as good from fighting."

Jeff never really looked properly, but there is actually some quite interesting people here. A smoking joker who clearly likes to joke around when possible, a foreign tourist who was thrown into this chaos by mistake; like all of them, a lady who thinks appearance is a must even in this kind of situation, another one but with a less stuck-up feel, a serious man who prefers to be left alone, the man who calls himself John but chooses to be called Jack. And, this is quite normal for them but he still thinks that they're weird, the driver who doesn't talks with the survivors behind him. It's not the same, but it'll work out. At least for once, he isn't seeing people fight each other or eating each other.

Zac smirked at the reaction he got, he was happy to see jokes still win and often got the ball rolling for meaningful conversations. Every time Zac went to introduce himself somebody else talked. After a while he just sat there quietly until the rest of the group settled down. During that five minute pause he thought about the meaning of life, universe and everything. The thing that kept popping in his head was the number 42. When he could speak he jumped at the opportunity.

"Personally I think that life was too short to begin with, and that every moment should be used to enjoy yourself. Now with everyone's life expectancy dropping and quickly I might add, it's even more important to keep a smile on your face. If you don't, you just might forget what it means to be human." Zac said as he grabbed his bag on the ground and pulled out a few multi-vitamins and started chewing. They tasted like Flintstones gummies, but worse. Now with a terrible after taste in his mouth he continued, "Zachariah's the name and making people laugh is the game. I prefer being called Zac, but I will also answer to Zachary, Taylor, Xavier, the Z-Meister, Mr. T, and Professor X." He put emphasis on the Professor X, he wondered how many would get the joke. He decided after that one, he wouldn't make any more jokes for a bit. He found it annoying when he hung around people who made jokes all day. Fun way to spend the day...If your not getting attacked by those damn things.

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

Darkness seeped throughout the truck, spreading into every visible corner. Alex had fallen asleep as she rested her head against her backpack. It had been a peaceful rest, unlike most nights for Alex. Her dreams were usually filled with memories that she yearned to return to; but of course, that was impossible. Many of the others had chosen to stay quiet as the night approached. Although there wasn't any sort of socialization, Alex felt as if she was surrounded by family. It was a silly thought, but since she hadn't talked to anyone for quite a while, she felt she had already known the strangers. She felt whole again.

Alex's eyes burst open as the sound of an eerie wail spiraled through her ears. She pressed herself up against her palms, her hands now shaking violently.

"No, no, no. This can't be happening." Her heart beat faster with each anxious thought. Was this just one of her nightmares? No, of course it wasn't. The fear was too realistic.

"Zbrane?" Luca, who seemed to also be shaking, addressed Jeff. "Uh... weapon? Are the weapon here?"

As quickly as he had uttered the question, Beth abruptly handed her weapon to Luca. Alex marveled at Beth's generosity. Hopefully everyone else in the vehicle had somehow gotten a weapon along the way to the airport. She couldn't imagine the terror of being defenseless. Hastily, she unzipped her backpack, pulling out a pistol of her own and turning the safety off. She cocked it quickly, considering she had already loaded it earlier.

"What do we do?" Beth anxiously asked towards the front of the truck in the driver's direction.

Alex wondered the same thing as the wails and cries suddenly increased. As they drove onward, she swore she felt the truck move as blatant banging noises started to multiply. Were those things trying to get in? Sweat dripped down her right hand as she clutched onto the pistol tightly.

“Hang on as best you can!” The driver, who seemed to be under a lot of stress, (Alex could imagine why) shouted to the passengers. “I need a navigator, anyone back there who can read a road map!?”

She looked through her backpack. Water, a few granola bars, and some ammo were all that was left inside the pack. Unfortunately, she had no such map.

“I need someone NOW!” The driver barked at the passengers.

Jenifer, who had just let out a blood-curling scream in her timid condition, surprisingly made a statement. "Me, I have one!" She yelled loudly amongst the riders. She clonked her way up to the driver with the stomping of her designer heels. Alex heard shouting at the front of the truck, which made her guess that Jenifer was petrified at the situation. Alex couldn't blame her this time, though. Everyone had a right to be disturbed.

The moans of distorted figures outside of the truck echoed in her ears. She had to do something. And fast. Her heart quickly thumped against her chest.

"I'm going to check out what's going on," She said anxiously, nodding towards each person she had just met.

Alex stood up abruptly, hurriedly walking towards the front of the truck. The truck shook as she made her way clumsily to the front. She then swung the door open which barricaded the rest of the passengers from the driver. There was Jenifer on the verge of a panic attack, and the driver, who seemed to be apart of the military, looking at a map. Through the windshield, Roamers, as she liked to call them, scurried across the street on which they were driving on. Their unnatural limbs and clouded eyes blocked her view as the truck desperately tried to continue forward. Alex was horrified.

She took a deep gulp, determined to help. "Excuse me, Sir." She addressed the driver cautiously. He seemed to be too assertive to reply. "Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe tell these people what to do in case," She paused, looking through the windshield again, apprehensive with the situation. "In case of an emergency?"

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

Alex watched the driver nod towards the passenger seat on his right as he lifted a map behind his shoulder, practically inches away from Alex's face.

He was clothed in combat-like attire with a camouflaged helmet sitting upon his head. Typical military to Alex.

“Yes. Sit down right there, look at that map and find out just how far we are from the spot labelled RS4. Keep an eye out for road signs, buildings, anything we can to find out where the hell we are. That spot,” The soldier shook the map in her face once more. “Is supposed to be a safehouse, help me get us there.”

She grasped the map, vigorously unfolding it to view its directions, sitting down as she did. She was careful to focus on each line of direction in front of her. Her finger traced and swiveled around pinpoints that clouded the map's various destinations.

"RS4, RS4..." She thought, centralizing on what the driver had muttered to her.

Her eye's continued to dart around each and every inch of the map, hoping to fine the label of "RS4." The wails, cries, and moans of Roamers filled the atmosphere throughout the front of the truck; it only made her determination to find the safehouse even stronger.

"There!" She couldn't contain the anxiety bursting forth from within her. Her fingernail pointed at a the diminutive label "RS4" hovering above a small bullet-point. Her eyes traced the thin black-line leading towards the destination in a backwards motion, hoping to find any familiar buildings or road signs just like he had told her to.

Alex looked up from the tattered map. Roamers sustained their constant attacks against the truck, continually running into the vehicle or getting in the way of its ongoing direction. Beyond the Roamer-fest, Alex faintly viewed a shadow of an abandoned building. She looked back at the map, sighting the conventional building, which was a motel of some sort, that matched the distant structure off the side of the road.

"Ok," She turned her gaze towards the soldier. "We're about six and a half miles from RS4. To our right is a Motel 8 which obviously sets us in the direction we're supposed to go." She took a deep breath, looking back at the faded map. "So far, you should keep going straight, but once you see Exit 112, which will be to our right, you'll go through the exit and continue straight, hopefully coming across RS4. If we see a Jasper State Park sign, we're heading in the right direction. RS4 will be about one point five miles away from there."

Alex put the map in her lap, looking back at the driver. "Got all that?" She barley uttered to say, now out of breath. "Oh, and I'm Alex. I don't think we had a chance to introduce ourselves," Suddenly, Alex flinched in her seat, watching a Roamer lurch out in front of the windshield. It scraped its decaying fingernails across the glass, leaving a minute scratch as it flailed off of the vehicle. "Shit!" Her fingers tightened onto the arm rests beside her. She wondered if Jenifer and Jack, who had been pushed back into the truck during some commotion, were alright, including the rest of the others.

The loud clanging echoed throughout the container as the screams and shouts were amplified by the hollow container. Joe immediately shot up and began looking around at the other people, each searching for answers of their own. He could hear the driver up front shouting for assistance, but from the influx of people crowding the small space that led to the cab of the truck it was a fools errand to try to speak to him. This wasn't the first time this had happened to Joe. Had had been in a U-haul with a group of survivors before he had reached the airport. The infected had surrounded the U-haul to a point that they couldn't even move. The driver had tried to run away which attracted the attention of the infected allowing a few survivors to make a break for it, Joe just hoped his luck was help him a second time.

A foreign boy was asking for a gun, and Joe finally decided to speak to the people inside the container before these kids got them killed.

"A gun wont be of any use inside here, by the way your shaking you might end up doing more harm than good. The less guns we have floating around the better"

Joe stood and braced himself up in one of the corners while he watched, and waited for the worst to happen.

When the screams started letting loose Zac dropped his usual attitude. Jokes wouldn't save them from the damn psycho's outside, and a gun would be pretty much useless right now, and when Luca asked for a gun; he wasn't jumping up to give away his baby. Yang had gotten him out of some pretty hairy situations. He couldn't believe how panicky people got when certain death surrounded them in obvious ways. He reached under his shirt and grabbed his necklace. He rubbed it three times and put it away. He wasn't really the religious type, but in times of great peril or need; God always had an open ear... and an empty heart.

"I need someone NOW!!!!"

Zacs' head shot up when the driver yelled at them, he had no clue what the guy wanted and had no intention of finding out. He was kind of relieved when he saw Jenifer walk up there. When Alex made her way up there, he wasn't to happy about that. She didn't make him want to shove screwdrivers in his ears, yet. That's when everyone started brandishing guns, 'Great, not only do I have to worry about getting eaten, now I have to worry about getting hit with a ricochet too. F#@K ME.' Zac muttered to himself.

"A gun won't be of any use inside here, by the way your shaking you might end up doing more harm than good. The less guns we have floating around the better."

The older man was the one who spoke. Zac couldn't have agreed more. He tried to resist the urge to grab Yang. The worst possible thing he could think of was the truck hitting something and started rolling, and with that all of the guns with the safeties off. It would be like the 4th of July in the truck.

"Would everybody calm down, we're in a metal truck going at least going 40. The only possible way the psycho's could enter is through the doors and they're locked," Zac didn't add the part about them probably being locked from the outside. That sure as hell wouldn't have helped morale. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and stuck one in his mouth. He didn't light it. The smoke would only irritate people more. For now only having the thing in his mouth was all he needed.

In his little dream, Jeff thought he could finally get away from all the troubles that had always been clinging onto him like a koala and finally be able to rest easily like when he did back during the days. Oh how he missed the days when he could smile freely everyday, without giving a care to anything nor anyone but his family at all. Now the times has changed, and he was sure as hell that this isn't the time for him to be reminiscing the past. Now, he had to concentrate on getting his daughter and probably the people here to safety.

The intense wails and cries of both the living and the non-living just increases the tension in the metallic truck, and he knew that he had to somehow calm everyone down, one way or another. When Luca asked him for a gun, he was about to tell him no, Beth went ahead and passed him her gun. Then she asked for a gun from Jeff. He quickly had Beth sit back down, and rested her hands on her laps. "Dear, we won't need a gun for now. If the worst comes, I'll give you one. But for now, it's awfully cramped inside here and with the safety off, any accident would mean a life gone, and a bullet wasted. Just calm down. I'm sure our driver is getting us to safety. Let's not stress him any more." He told her, making sure that everyone heard him.

Alex and Jenifer had already went to the front of the truck to help. However, Jenifer was approached by one of them when a man pulled her back and shot it. But it was expected when the driver pushed those back into the truck. Alex was the only one who was with the driver, and Jeff assumed that the driver needed her help. He stood up, hung on to the wall to prevent him from falling, and walked to the driver seat. Along the way, he had the panicking Luca sat down and turned the safety off.

"How far until we get to the next safe-house, Alex?" He questioned the girl who sat beside the driver who clearly wore like a military. He recognized it thanks to him past experience in military. Judging from his clothing, he's a Sergeant. But he ignored that and concentrated on getting himself balanced and on the answer he was about to get from Alex.

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

The night endured to grow darker with each waking minute. Alex had now grown familiar to the chorus of gripes and cries that whispered in the darkness. Although she desperately felt the need to continue to sleep, she forced her drooping eyelids to stay alert at all times. Alex couldn't feel sorry for herself; she wasn't the sergeant on the road who kept having to dodge Roamers left and right during the night.

Suddenly, the small door that hindered the passengers from entering the front of the truck opened. Alex looked up, discovering that it was Jeff who had come in.

"How far until we get to the next safe-house, Alex?" He asked with angst in his voice.

Alex frowned. She looked back down at the map once more, studying the sight of RS4. It looked like they still had a ways to go.

She sighed, biting her bottom lip.

Her gaze was now focused on the window to her right as she looked for familiar landmarks that matched the routes of the map. Outside, her eyes traced the familiar sign of a McDonald's restaurant that was a short distance away; she viewed the figures of somber Roamers trapped inside the fast-food palace, wiping their distorted limbs across the glass doors. Alex looked back down at the map, glimpsing the same local McDonald's pinpoint. It was about six miles away from RS4.

"Well, Jeff," She paused and contemplated her thoughts. "We're roughly six miles away from our nearest destination. Tell everyone we're doing our best to try and reach it," She turned towards the front of the vehicle, now looking through the scratched and stained windshield. "Although the circumstances are holding us back." She looked over her shoulder and back at Jeff. "Just try and keep them calm." Alex offered him a slight and reassuring smile. Hopefully he could keep the rest of the riders at a minimum peace.

A Roamer bluntly cried out in the distance as it ran into the side of the truck, perhaps denting the outside. She heard a shriek from one of the passengers.

"Damn these Roamers." She muttered under her breath.

"Just try and keep them calm."

Jeff slightly patted Alex's shoulders. His old and wrinkly hands somehow had a fatherly feel to it. "You focus on helping the Sergeant getting us to safety. I'll deal with the ones in the back." He turned to the Sergeant, who was giving all he got towards driving to their destination. "Sergeant, don't worry about us. I know you're more than stress enough already, so focus on driving and once we've reach safety, we'll give everything we got to secure the place. You'll need rest after this."

The shriek had worried him. It might have been one of the passengers and they might do something reckless. Even worse, his daughter is in trouble. [I need to calm everyone down. Why can't an old man have a time to relax? Youngsters these days don't know how to calm themselves down.] He sighed and turned around. He found a small dent near the entrance which was probably caused by that walker earlier. The ones sitting near it is probably terrified by that and caused the shriek. It was a mother and her young daughter. "Don't worry. We're reaching safety as we speak. I just need you all to calm down and survive. The driver is stressed enough as he is already." The mother is probably is still scared by the walkers outside, but she is doing everything she can to calm her daughter down.

"I need people who knows they can fight to stay alert. The moment we reach the safe-house, we need to secure a path for the passengers in here to safety. It might be a lot to ask, but I hope you can do it. Those who don't think they can fight or shoot these bastards, try to stay calm." As if his old habits came back, Jeff starting giving out instructions. It wasn't his intention to give orders, but because of this situation he was placed in and because he is probably the oldest one in the group, he need not to worry the others because of his age. Hopefully, the passengers heeds his instructions and stay calm. [All of us are tired already. I'm sure they need someone to help calm themselves down. This might piss some of the young ones here, but I'm doing this for my daughter.] He gripped his fist tightly. [This is all for the safety of my daughter and my grandson.]

Sergeant Henderson

Henderson gritted his teeth as he nodded to the girl, showing her that he had hear her. Once he was certain he was on the right track he did his best to tune the rest of them out which proved to only make the undead seem even louder. Gunner was between him and the girl now, eyes huge as he stared into the darkness.

"Mother of pearl..." Henderson swore to himself as he swerved around a swarm of undead that loomed suddenly from the darkness. He was certain that their numbers were dropping off though and he hadn't seen an abandoned truck in some time, hopefully they were still clustered around what remained of the last convoy.

He was impressed by his navigators nerve and had to admit some grudging admiration to himself, if they got through this in one piece he would buy her a beer, or dinner, whatever the hell she wanted. She was certainly doing her best to keep the rest of the passengers quiet which was more than he could do at the moment.

Exit 112 appeared on his right and he turned carefully, negotiating a black Lincoln town car that was flipped on its roof. The undead were scarce now and he felt himself relaxing slightly. It was a big mistake.

As the truck crested the exit he suddenly found his entire field of vision filled with undead that swung towards him as one giant creature. They filled the road from verge to verge and vanished into the darkness beyond the beams of his headlights.

"Hang on!" He roared, spinning the wheel to the left, taking the heavy truck into a 90 degree turn that must have had them standing high on only two wheels.

He mashed his foot down on the accelerator and the trucks engine screamed in protest as he plunged off the road and into the fields on the side of the road. He knew at once that they were in trouble as the heavy truck began to sink into the field, its wheels spinning and screaming in protest.

"Mother f**cker..." He muttered, the words turning into a shout of alarm as the ground in front of him vanished. He tried to hammer on the brakes but he was a second to slow and the truck heaved itself over the edge and into a deep ditch half filled with water.

The crash jerked him forward, the seatbelt preventing him from slamming face first into the metal bars as water poured in through the windows. He quickly snapped the belt, booted the door open and, with Gunner in tow, launched himself into the cold water. For a moment he feared a hand grasping at his ankle but nothing came. He looked back at the truck, its taillights burning like beacons in the darkness, the screams of the passengers inside loud in the night.

He could leave them, make his way into the woods and wait for an air evac, it would be easy. For one long moment he was tempted but then Gunner barked, grabbing his attention as the dog bounded towards the truck. He dragged himself from the creek and raced to the back of the truck, the moans of the undead getting louder, and threw the doors open, he never would know why they were locked from the outside.

"Come on, move!" He shouted at the terrified faces, turning and crouching to fire at the first of the undead that came from the darkness. There were only a few but the horde wouldn't be far behind. "Shotgun is still racked in the front, grab it if you can!"

"Hang on!"

The call came too late for Luca and soon he found himself thrown about the back of the truck like a rag doll. Water began pouring in through the window and it leaked in through the gaps of the doors.

Everything hurt, everything was loud and just when he thought he couldn't get any more scared.. it happened. Were they going to drown? Where was the driver? He managed to find his pack and he gripped it, clinging to it as if it would save him or something.

They were going to die here. Drown, or get eaten by those things. He knew it!

He clambered off of... whoever it was he'd been thrown on to, and scrambled to the doors. As he raised his hands to start pounding on them in a futule effort, they swung open and the driver stood there with the undead stumbling towards them.

"Come on, move!"

A shot was fired and Luca's ears rang, but he didn't have to be told twice. That truck was a death trap for sure, and even though they were surrounded by the infected... they probably wouldn't die quite so fast. Once he was out, he turned and helped the others get out of the truck.

Now he regretted putting that pistol down.

After being forced out of the cabin where the driver was, Jenifer just stood where she was, unknowingly squeezing Jack's arm the whole time. The panic completely blinded her from what was going on for a moment, only noticing Jeffrey rush past Jack and her and into the driver's cabin.

For a short moment, all Jenifer could feel was calmness. Maybe the horror finally got to her; Jenifer ceased breathing heavily and let go of Jack's arm. She looked around the truck, seeing the terrified expressions on most of the people in truck eighteen. I'm going to die, thought Jenifer. That sudden burst of soothing emotion ended when the truck viciously swerved. Screaming, Jenifer fell face-first onto the ground, busting her lip.

"What's going on!" cried Jenifer as she turned herself over, too afraid to pick herself up. The truck was being maneuvered wildly. The driver must have seen something alarming to cause the vehicle to drive unstably. Sounds of the driver's fierce, uninterpretable words flew out of the driver's cabin. Jenifer couldn't help but shriek due to the horrifying climax of the situation.

Suddenly, the truck felt as if it was flying in air. The ground underneath it disappeared. Jenifer's screams became louder as the truck made impact with water, the inside of the vehicle beginning to flood. She finally pulled herself off the ground and pushed through the many people dashing to the only exit of the truck. Luca scrambled to the doors and raised his hands, looking as if he was about to pound of them. Jenifer only then realized that they were locked from the outside.

The doors flew open. The driver was there, yelling for everybody to move on out of the truck. Roamers were behind him. Jenifer shoved everybody out of her way and dashed to the doors, lending her hand to the driver so that he could assist her out.

"Help me out," she demanded to the driver. Even in the predicament she was in, Jenifer was not just going to jump into freezing water. She was going to gently be let off, and what happened after that was completely up to the people who were brave enough to face the living dead approaching them.