Alex Owens's Story

Jenifer was a bit irritated when Sarge didn't reveal his true name. She hated nicknames, titles, or whatever else that's used to replace a person's name. Before she could ask another question, Sarge motioned for her to kneel down. Jenifer grunted, following his command. Once her knee made contact with the ground, Jenifer heard what Sarge was hearing. Something was heading towards them quickly. When Sarge leveled his pistol, fear struck Jenifer, and the need to scream arose in her system.

A black dog emerged from the dark and Sarge looked like he was about to burst with joy. They had a little reunion party, which Jenifer kind of admired. She was about to comment on how cute she thought the dog was when the sound of gunshots fired through the air.

Sarge focused Jenifer's attention on him and told her that they were going to head towards the distant buildings in the darkness. When he mentioned that they were both dead if she made a noise, Jenifer's heart began to beat much more swiftly. That little task she was given already seemed too much to handle. She nodded anyways and Sarge began to fix and adjust his weaponry. A folding shovel was one of the weapons he had and Jenifer started to become more afraid of the incoming events. Sarge took her hand and they began their journey to the others of Truck Eighteen.

What came next dashed by to Jenifer. All she could remember was Sarge attacking a zombie with a shovel and that's it; everything else was a giant blur. She was urged into darkness with Sarge's dog and soon Sarge joined them. They all waited in darkness for a short moment. Jenifer could hear muffled voices inside the building they were in.

Sarge called out for Truck Eighteen. When he got no response, he repeated. Jenifer observed the darkness, trying to see if she could make out any human bodies.

"Hello?" whispered Jenifer, shortly after Sarge's second call. His dog snuggled close to her legs, making Jenifer feel safe for just a short moment.

As Zac started moving his toes in his fresh pair of socks his lovely nurse was heading towards him. He wasn't worried about being forgotten about. He knew he wasn't going to die of blood loss. No, his two biggest concerns about the wound was either it was going to get infected or he could get blood poisoning. That's not counting the fact his bloody arm smelled like turkey dinner on Thanksgiving to those things.

"How you holding up?" Alex asked getting close to him. It was a difficult question, instead of the searing stabbing pain he was expecting his arm to experience; he got a dull ache pain that just kept reminding himself that he was badly hurt and he should stop moving and let it heal. Before he could answer her she popped out, "Mind if I have a look?" He nodded and prepared himself for the terrible pain from taking off a bandage.

Once again Zac couldn't bear looking at his cut. He knew that if he looked at it, it would feel a whole lot worse. Instead of focusing on his wound he decided that he would concentrate on her. He saw the subtle differences from when she's concentrating and when she isn't. When she took off the bandage Zac couldn't stay completely quiet. Some of the blood had dried on the fabric and on his cut. So when she took it off; his arm hair, the edges of the cut, and some skin patches came with it. He let out a tiny whimper. Today was not going his way.

"How'd this happen, anyways?" She asked looked at his wound.

"Honestly, I don't remember. The last thing I remember before the crash was the moment I knew we were crashing. All I could think was fuck over and over again. Then the next thing I knew two people were on top of me and my right arm was wedged under something. Even that part is still fuzzy. Anyway, long story short, I push the dead guy off of me with my bad arm and got my arm free and proceeded to jump out of the car and get patched up by the coolest person here." He said as he smiled.

Almost as soon as he finished she told him she would be back and keep his arm elevated. He silently agreed and held his hand horizontal and facing up. He forced himself not to look at it. A few moments later he thought he heard somebody call out. Then again, and finally he heard Jenifer. As soon as he heard her voice he almost considered not even acknowledging her. Then he realized that Sarge went back for her. He couldn't leave him out to die, her on the other hand well... Zac looked around and tried to discover the location of the sound. He decided to inch his way to the ledge of the loft.

"Sarge is that you?" He didn't exactly yell it, but he really didn't whisper it either.

☣ Alexandria "Alex" Owens ☣

---

"Don't worry, Beth. I found one!" Alex called over towards the front of the barn, addressing Beth.

Alex clutched onto the first-aid kit tightly. After rummaging through vacant shelves and cabinets, she managed to find it squeezed between various supplies in a rotting cardboard box. The kit didn't have much inside of it except for basic medical tools; nevertheless, Alex thought she could make it work.

"Here we are, Zac." She muttered quietly, walking over to the wounded man. Dried blood ran across the edges of his arm, cracking as he moved.

She quickly bent down to his level, opening the kit to display its contents. Medical gauze, scissors, a sewing needle and thread, disinfectant, and probes populated the inside. Since Alex didn't have any advanced sterilizing liquid, the disinfectant would have to do. She took the small bottle of disinfectant and poured a small amount onto the base of the box. To sterilize the materials, she laid the medicals tools out to soak in the liquid.

"We'll just have to wait a few minuted for the medical tools to sterilize. After that, I'll sew you up." She managed to crack a reassuring smile. "Just try and relax. It will be over with before you know it." She took a small cloth out of the kit and poured the disinfectant across it. "For now, I'm going to clean the blood up." She met his gaze. "It might sting a bit." Carefully taking the cloth, she grazed the fabric and started dabbing it across his wound, cleaning up the blood.

After cleaning the wound, she could now see the gash clearly. Alex winced.

"Truck eighteen."

Her eyebrows raised at the familiar voice. She turned towards the sight of the sound. Some of the passengers stirred amongst themselves, most likely frightened. Could it be-

"Sarge is that you?" Zac cut off her thoughts.

"Hello?" Whispered the familiar tone of Jenifer in the loft. How did Sarge find her with those flesh-crazed creatures outside the barn?

Alex quickly grabbed her backpack, yanking out a small flashlight. She shined it up at the loft through the darkness. She smiled.

They had made it out alive.

Everyone was tired. Very, very tired. Especially Jeff. But he was more mentally exhausted than he was physically. Probably because he had to secure the entire group while at the same time keeping a very close eye on Beth and because it's been long since he had a chance at getting a shelter and a group. Beth looked too lonely whenever they tried to stop for a rest. Jeff figured she needed companions to lift some of her burden. Anytime soon, and Beth might break down of severe stress from the burden of having to take care of the living child inside of her and to take care of this old fart.

Sigh... Jeff sighed heavily. He was resting against the wall of the barn, the small blanket covering on his legs. he raised his wrinkled arms up to block the light shining right above him. He used to do that whenever he visited the beach during the holidays. The sun used to cook the oil off his fat stomach he accumulated over the past year. He knew it was stupid to believe that but hey, it's the time of his life. He could do whatever he wanted. Jeff smirked at the stupid remarks he used to make back during the years. But that life is long gone and shattered now. The future he could see now is either him dying and everything ending, or his daughter dies and he has no more reason to life. However, that was not about to happen. No matter what happens, he will protect his daughter. Even if it meant leaving first. He knows that it's selfish, and he may have chose some other choice when this vision happened in his mind, but he still thinks that it better to leave first than feeling the pain of seeing his beloved daughter leaving first.

"Truck eighteen." A faint but loud enough voice echoed throughout the building. All voice ceased, and there was only dead silence. Jeff didn't whose voice was those, and no matter how he tried to remember, he couldn't remember a similar voice. Maybe his old friend who was probably dead by now did, but it was impossible. His voice was much more arrogant than this. Seconds later, a similar voice answered.

"Sarge is that you?" That was definitely Zac, but from how he answered with 'Sarge', he assumed that it was the Sergeant who was driving the truck. Then another voice cut in.

"Hello?" This time, Jeff recognized it immediately. The owner of this voice was the arrogant girl from the truck who actually cared about her appearance rather than survival in a life-or-dead situation and nearly abandoned the old man in the sinking truck. [Oh, no, it's that girl again. Who was it? Jenifer, was it?] He pondered about this when a flashlight flickered on and shone onto the entrance. There stood the man in military suit and a young girl, who was both catching their breaths. Jeff quickly stood up, and slowly walked towards them. He was relieved that the Sergeant was alive, but the girl? Not very much, but she's still human.

"Glad to have you back, Sarge."

Henderson gave a sigh of relief and smiled slightly at the people welcoming him back as he helped Jenifer climb up onto the upper level of the barn before he heaved Gunner up next to her. A final look around the lower level and then he climbed up, letting the older man give him a hand.

"Thanks." He said, nodding to the man, before glancing about the space at the survivors who had made it this far. "Not many huh?" He said with a heavy feeling in his chest. "Thanks for your welcomes, I appreciate it."

The truck had started with twenty one people and now there looked to be no more than nine. Not good odds but at least he had managed to save a few. He found himself a space near the girl who had navigated and was now acting as nurse, leaning back against a hay bail with a grunt of pleasure.

"Right everyone. I am sure you know this but we need to be damn quiet." He looked around at them. "It looked like you already set up a sentry rotation. If that's the case those of you who can should probably get some sleep. Gunner and I will take the first watch."