Respite, New Mexico

This time, the guards in hazard gear came worryingly close to Ulysses, stopping only to grab the seven or so year old girl squealing in terror next to him. He didn't blame her, though inwardly he was relieved that they hadn't come to take him to... wherever they were being taken. Their guards had proved reticent beyond reason, refusing even the slightest explanation as to what was going on or why the town of Respite was suddenly under quarantine. Ulysses had enough common sense to know not to trust anyone, especially the government, who was trying to keep something under wraps.

"Madre, this is wrong, though," he mused as his eyes trailed after the kicking and screaming little girl. The others knew better than to try and help by now. A young man knelt in the corner of the rec center, clutching the pulp that used to be his face; the reward for his valiant efforts. Three of his like-minded friends had simply been dragged out back.

It was the dead, he suspected, though a part of him still refused to believe despite the drastic action being taken around him. Though he'd dismissed it all as "white mom panic" over drugged psychopaths, things were looking pretty ominous right this moment.

He meandered through a noisy crowd of parents weeping to see their children and frightened townies trying to comfort one another, toward a rabble forming around a lanky kid in a Respite City College sweatshirt. "Look, this is just like in those damned movies, don't you see? They're quarantining us, and they're- look, fuck there goes another one! We NEED to get out of here, NOW!" he exhorted.

"Just what are you implying, kid," replied an older, moustachioed man with a prominent gut. "This is the National Guard here, they're good people, just like us. They're here for our protection! The last thing we need is to panic." A part of Ulysses really wanted to believe the man, but personal experience spoke otherwise. Suddenly, gunshots were heard from outside the building, and Ulysses reflexively ducked low and scanned the area with the throng. Rising warily once nothing else came, he thought, "Well shit. Guess we know what happened to those other kids," referring to those who'd resisted the guardsmen.

"You've seen the news, guys, you know what happens in these movies every single time the government tries to contain this shit. They separated us from our families; do you guys seriously trust these people?! I'm done arguing, if you want to live, come with me. If not... good luck to you, I guess," said the boy, staring down his audience. The devil's advocate reminded them all that they were safest staying here, out of the government's way. Somehow Ulysses felt that if shit was really about to go down hard, he himself wouldn't be high on the government's list of priorities. His common sense screamed at him to find a way out of town as fast as possible, and that working with others would probably be the way to do it.

JD, stood along the wall, he looked around at all of them half naked people around him. "Disgruntled, angry, and afraid... this won't have any repercussions at all." JD chuckled to himself, he wished they had given him time to grab his pants at least then he would have his cigarettes, not like he could smoke them in here but having them near by would have some sort of emotional setting for him. JD looked to his right as he noticed the Hazmat team come in, he noticed a young girl become afraid and hide behind a stranger she didn't know. JD started to think about his 2 year old son, he was spending the week in Albuquerque with his in-laws... it was then that he realized he needed to get out of here and find his son.

JD looked around and counted the number of armed service men, some of them kids with no inclining of what they were doing. He moved from the wall and approached a guard he observed ACU's (Army Combat Uniforms) he could tell this wasn't army though, these people are thin, and have maybe little to no combat experience... this was National Guard, "Heh weekend soldiers," JD moved past the main entrance, he remembered what his father told him about how the military worked. 'Kids become infantry men so they can learn some discipline, but all the military really teaches you is how to be afraid.' JD made his way through families, trying to comfort one another, when gunshots echoed through the building. People screamed an ducked down, then out of the screams JD heard "You've seen the news, guys, you know what happens in these movies every single time the government tries to contain this shit. They separated us from our families; do you guys seriously trust these people?! I'm done arguing, if you want to live, come with me. If not... good luck to you, I guess," JD laughed to himself 'Smooth pal."

JD came up behind the Mexican fellow who was barking out and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Look pal, you can't yell that kind of shit out. These people aren't gonna let us leave, and your just scaring them, but if you do intend on getting out your not going to be able to do that alone, let me help you out"

The room was filled with dozens of people, most of them in states of undress. Tyler had always been chided when he was a teen for falling asleep fully clothed, but it sure as hell paid of this time. His hoodie and jeans were more than comfortable, and his Nike running shoes were practically shining out of the box, except for a few scuff marks from being dragged across the parking lot and thrown into a military vehicle. A young mom near him was clutching her children to her, more for her own sanity than their safety. All she had on was a sheer nightie, leaving very little to the imagination. He steered his thoughts elsewhere, as there was little chance of going down that path given the current situation.

When the guard had pulled him out of his apartment he had his iPod, his cell phone, and a Gerber survival knife on him. They took it all but the iPod, going so far as to even steal his wallet out of his back pocket. That was for identification purposes he supposed, they wanted to know who they were holding. Modest Mouse's Dashboard played on in his ears, as he attempted to drown out the panic around him. Sure, he would love to get out, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself. That was when the college kid started yelling about escape, and he found a debate amongst the crowd in an older gentleman.

Tyler was interested in how it would play out. He was ready to roll with the young man and leave, though he waited to see what would happen. If he attempted to escape just to be tied down, or worse, die in a flurry of bullets, it wouldn't get him very far. Escape was of the utmost importance at some point, as Tyler had little trust in the government. He stepped back behind the mom with her kids, and a fat man with enough body hair it could be considered fur, to avoid drawing any attention to himself.

The plan was to wait and see what happened. If he thought the escape would be successful, he'd make a run of it. Timing was of the utmost importance, leaving might get easier down the line. In life, sometimes timing meant everything.

Why was it so loud? The screams, the cries, the people banding together and asking dozens of questions that hadn't yet been answered. In the middle of it all, Hannah just stood, and the world seemed to be spinning around her, even as it crashed down and the normality of her life was crushed. The words 'zombie', and 'quarantine' floated on the too hot air amid the cries for help. And in the midst of it all, she was stood there in her PJ's, and all she could do was watch.

She had just been getting into bed, having settled her little sister for the night, and letting the dog out, when she had been taken. She put a hand on her arm, the bruises there reminding her of the grip of the strangers that had taken her. She began to shake a little, panic threatening to overcome her. But whatever it was that had dragged her kicking and screaming through life up until now directed her attention to the adolescent talking about leaving.

The flooring was cold to her bare feet as she tip toed to the edge of the crowd that had congregated around the young man, so that she just caught the tail end of his speech. "You've seen the news, guys, you know what happens in these movies every single time the government tries to contain this shit. They separated us from our families; do you guys seriously trust these people?! I'm done arguing, if you want to live, come with me. If not... good luck to you, I guess," The young man seemed to be getting worked up.

Was he right? She tried to be reasonable. Her parents couldn't be relied on to look after her kid sister, not really. And did she really want to stay here? Her mind was little more than a confused jumble of thoughts. Would she even survive? The thought made her smile. Sometimes, she reasoned, sometimes one must take desperate measures. Take the plunge. Take the risk. Hannah moved closer to the group of people gathering around the young adolescent, not yet speaking, but ready to hear more.

The truck pulled up at the area the army was using for quarantine and one of the men threw open the tailgate. Alice shivered as the cold whipped in and around the huddled group of people. She wished she had some pants, hanging around in a long t-shirt and knee high socks wouldn't keep her warm for long here. Taryn was crouched next to her, his eyes darting, taking in the new area. He was always ready for a fight and had been jumpy ever since his short stint in the army. Alice stared hard at her brother. Even when he was nervous she felt safe with him. The army guys obviously did not feel the same way.
'Get out!'
A sergeant shouted at the frightened people in the van and they all scrambled to obey. Taryn jumped down first and helped to lift out Alice and some of the other, older, members in the truck. Alice looked behind her quickly and noticed that only one of the trucks had come here. The truck carrying the rest of her family either hadn't made it or wasn't ever aimed for this destination. She sighed inwardly. She wasn't sure what was going on and wasn't sure why she had been pulled out of bed in the middle of the night but as long as she had her brother she would be safe.
"You've seen the news, guys, you know what happens in these movies every single time the government tries to contain this shit. They separated us from our families; do you guys seriously trust these people?! I'm done arguing, if you want to live, come with me. If not... good luck to you, I guess,"
What was that guy even talking about? Movies? She hadn't heard anything on the radio and she tended not to watch the T.V. What was going on here? Just as Alice turned back to Taryn a couple of soldiers moved in and grabbed her brother by the arms.
'What the hell...?'
Taryn shouted at the men and started to struggle but they only gripped him harder and started to pull him away.
'Taryn!'
Alice screamed for her brother and ran at the men holding him but the sergeant blocked her way and soon another soldier moved in to fasten Alice's hands behind her back and stop her struggling. The other soldiers had disappeared around a corner and she couldn't see her brother anymore.
'Why did you do that?' She glared at the sergeant. 'Where did you take my brother?'
'Miss, I'm afraid Taryn Talbert is a dangerous man. We know him, he was dishonorably discharged from my old unit, I can't take risks in a situation like this. My aim is to keep as many of you alive and safe as possible so you are going to be kept over there until I deem you are not a danger to yourself or any of these people in my care.'
He gestured for the soldier to take Alice over to a corner of the building and secure her hands to one of the pipes. She struggled and shouted curse words at the man but it was no good. It only took a few minutes for the ropes to be tied to the pipes then the solider walked away. Angry and scared Alice surveyed the room. She guessed she had caused quite a scene from all the faces turned her way but she didn't really care. There were maybe a hundred people here. All scared, all huddled and all looked confused. What the hell was going on?

After being pretty brutally handled and tossed into the big hall, Chris was pretty shook up. Still pretty stone, he hadn't quite grasped what had just happened and tried to put the pieces togheter. He looked up at the big crowd in the hall and they all looked confused, afraid, angry and sad. People were crying, some were hurt pretty badly. None seemed to have a clue to why they were here in the first place.

"What the fuck is happening?", Chris thought as he saw people being dragged away, people screaming and crying. It was freezing in here and he had nothing but his PJ-pants and some shoes on. He needed to get something to cover himself with. As he moved around in the hall, he noticed that the rough treatment of his "abduction" had hurt his already injured foot and he needed to sit down for a while.

While looking for a place to sit, there was a young man causing a scene, telling everybody to get the fuck out of here and that the government was not to be trusted, while an older man was pleading everybody to stay, insisting that this place was the only safe place at the moment. "They're both idiots", Chris thought. "Either we try to escape and get shot down on the spot or we stay and get fucking anal probed or whatever they're doing to the people they drag away."

Sudden gunshots made Chris fall to the floor, scared shitless. He slowly looked up and saw that the gunshots didn't come from inside and slowly rose again. On the other side of the hall, a woman was causing a scene over her brother being dragged away. "Understandable", he thought. What was not understandable was the way they handled her. They grabbed her violently, marched here over to a corner and tied her to a pole.

As he walked in her direction he checked his pockets to find out what he had gotten with him. His phone, his wallet, earphones around his neck and a doggiebag with weed. "Nice, this will come in handy later.", he thought, smiling. He sat down next to the tied up woman, standing restlessly looking around. He looked up at here. "They're gone now. Want me to untie you?"

As he watched the college kid turn, a hand reached out for Ulysses' shoulder. Turning to face its owner, he found a wiry looking, tattooed fellow with glasses telling him, "Look pal, you can't yell that kind of shit out. These people aren't gonna let us leave, and you're just scaring them, but if you do intend on getting out you're not going to be able to do that alone, let me help you out."

"Wasn't my plan, homie, the one you heard is over there," replied Ulysses, leaning in close so his low voice could be heard over the mumblings and mutterings of the crowd. "But I'd agree with you that no one's getting out of here alone. Name's Ulysses," he offered, extending his hand to shake. "What's yours man?"

A small commotion across the room didn't entirely escape his notice, but the first matter at hand for Ulysses was to see if this escape fervor was going to catch on or not.

JD, laughed "Sorry man, with the plethora of people here its hard to place the voice." JD shook Ulysses hand, "Name's Jeff, but you call me JD." Jeff caught wind of a commotion happening not that far off resulting an a woman being handcuffed. "These aren't soldiers, their children... scared and confused, and like all children when put in a place of power control is the key issue." JD looked back into Ulysses eyes "War paralyzes your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that 'tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,' like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder... Alexander Berkman said that... you have any cigarettes?" JD lose track of what he was saying.

Hannah was lost. There were too many people thrumming around her, buzzing with fear and indignation at being herded like cattle. And, around the edges of the room, others stood. A motley collection of men and women, stood resolutely at attention, watching the mass of civilians in front of them. She began to feel decidedly uneasy. How could they watch so passively? Where was the humanity? And that was when she knew for certain that she couldn't stay.

It was then she noticed two men standing on the edge of the crowd. One of them looked to be the kid who had been calling about leaving. Hesitantly, Hannah edged closer. The single mindedness of them was somewhat reassuring. They knew what was going on. Tugging her shorts to make her appear more presentable, if that was even possible in PJ's, she stood at a discreet distance from them, with what she hoped was a smile holding a mixture of casual concern and interest.

"They're gone now. Want me to untie you?"
Alice glared at the boy sat next to her. He looked about the same age as her. Alice noticed shadows under his eyes and guessed that he had been pulled out of bed the same as her, the same as most of the people in the room. They were in the same situation but she still didn't know the guy.
'Get lost.'
She turned her face away from the guy and strained her eyes to try and find the guy who'd been talking about escape. She couldn't really see him from where she was sat in the corner. She wanted to get to the guy, to tell him that she would join him if he decided to leave. She had to get to her brother but she wouldn't get anywhere tied up. Alice sighed loudly and turned back to the guy.
'About what you said earlier...can you untie me?'

Slightly insulted at the response he had gotten from his offer to help, Chris didn't really know how to respond. He stared at her as she turned her head and appeared to be looking for something or someone. As he was about to get up again to leave, the girl sighed loudly and turned her head back to him. "About what you said earlier...can you untie me?".

Chris was confused and slightly more insulted that she both told him to get lost, only to ask for his help again, but he wasn't unreasonable and the situation called for people working together, not getting at eachothers throath. He glared at her, stood up and went for the ropes. "...sure.". After he untied her, he looked around to see if there was something happening, but all he saw was another man being torn away from his family by the men in hazard suits. "I really need to get out of here.", he thought and turned back to the woman.

"So, my name is Chris. Chris Edwin. May I ask yours?"