Realistic or Modern All That Remains

[Wordy]

"I see what you mean. To some degree, we're all smart people. But I'm worried being smart isn't necessarily going to be a big help anymore." He frowned. "If this is as bad as it seems, as bad as your brother says it is... He says this is happening across the world." He said. "If that's the case, then I don't know what's going to help us." He said. "All I know is that we have a better chance if we stick together. Hopefully... I just hope your brother knows how wrong things can go in such a short amount of time. Like, this house is great and all, it really does give me peace of mind. But you saw the same things I saw... Children with enough strength to take grown men to the ground, enough strength to rip them to pieces. What happens if there's more like them, but bigger, and they come here and..."

He paused, then he shook his head.

"I shouldn't worry about that right now. I'm sorry." He said. "I do notice your brother's quirks... Routines, avoiding eye contact, very... Flat when it comes to emotions, in a lot of ways. I get it, don't worry. I won't judge him." He said.

He knew the traits and a list of disabilities that they could link to, but, that just wasn't the sort of thing you tried to pry out of someone. He could come to his own conclusions without being rude about it.

He just looked at her for a second, then took a deep breath.

"You and your brother... I mean, him especially, he's young." He said, "Young to be on his own, anyway... Parents?" He asked. "Obviously if it's too personal then don't worry. So far it looks like it's just you guys, though." He said.

 

[Ririn]

Lin's eyes got darker as he mentioned how her brother knew that whatever this pandemic was had spread across the world. How long had Jack known before it got to Portland? How long had her own blood known and hadn't even troubled himself with letting her know? While she worked in a hospital nonetheless which ment whoever got sick would end up close to her.
Damn it Jack.

"Try not to act like I told you but... Jack actually has a nuclear shelter out the back." Lin said bitting her lower lip not because she was uncomfortable but of how funny that sounded right now. "I mean it when I say he is obsessed with the end of the world." She couldn't help but laugh eventually.

"As for our parents..." Lin finally turned away from Lee. "Our mom died when Jack was five years old. And our father commited suicide when Jack was twelve." Lin shrugged her shoulders "We had been living with our grandma since mom died and didn't really see him so its fine." It didn't sound like it was fine but Lin had made herself believe so in order to deal with it. "Now it's just me and Jack. He prefers to live out here and I come and visit as much as I can. But yeah... It's just us."

After a moment of silence Lin turned to look at Lee again. "What about you Lee? Don't you have someone you need to find in this madness? Parents? Siblings?" It was a personal question but after what they have been through today Lin felt like she could talk to him.

 

[Wordy]

"A nuclear shelter?" He laughed, shaking his head. "Wow. Fair enough." He said, "You know, there's been studies that say nuclear shelters don't actually save you in the event of a nuclear war? Me, I think it's 50/50. If a nuke lands on top of you... Yeah, no chance." He chuckled. "At least it's not nukes, right? Could be a lot worse..." He frowned a little, though. Would nukes be worse than this? At least being turned to ash in a nuclear explosion wouldn't be a painful death like being torn to pieces and eaten alive. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd prefer, but he'd take instant death over seeing what his guts looked like any day of the damn week.

"Obsessed with the end of the world, though... I guess that's helpful to us." He smiled. "Let's just hope he can handle it. I know he's obsessed with it and all, but... I mean, his age, he's still just a kid. It's going to get tough." He sighed, "I'm sorry about your parents. That's... Not okay at all. It's awful." He gently touched her shoulder, patting it. "You pulled through, though, and you're both doing well for yourselves." He said.

His family, though?

"Closest thing I had to a sibling was my cousin." He looked down, smiling weakly. "He... Yeah, he died. I was... God, it was probably about ten years ago now. He got deployed in Iraq. Even when he was a little kid he wanted to be a soldier, no one could talk him out of it. He flew out there for his tour of duty... Came back in a casket with a folded flag. It happens." He said, "My parents, they died when I was younger, too. My dad was quite a lot older than most when he had me. I was your brother's age when he passed. He died in his sleep. My mom, she followed a couple of years later." He said, "Heartbreak, we reckoned. My cousin's parents moved across country after they lost him." He said.

"So, that's me." He said, shrugging. "Just me in Portland. I guess I never saw a reason to leave." He said. He shrugged and smiled again, though. He wasn't letting the past bring him down - he lost a lot of people in the space of a few years, but, he bounced back. He owed all of them at least that, he believed at the time. "So, you always wanted to be a nurse?" He asked. "Weird, too... Can't believe we never really properly met before now. Things probably would have gone down much differently if we had." He said. "Perhaps we would have been friends drinking together instead of fighting to stay alive." He laughed once.

 

[Ririn]

Lee was a doctor. Eventually he would come to a conclusion of his own about Jack and his quirks and she was ok with that. At least Lee didn't seem to judge Jack and thanks to his knowledge he could better explain some behaviours instead of misjudging them.

"We pulled through, yeah. Mainly because of our grandma. She had to put up with a lot. Jack being.. Jack and me being a brat all the time." She said with a chuckle. But it was true what she said. They weren't easy kids to be around.

Lin listened closely to what he had to say. He was also alone. He knew what loss felt like, what grief really was but he seemed in term with the past. This was good.

"You know, I never understood them. Those kids that decide to go at the other side of the world. I always wondered how can someone be so selfish, leave their loved ones behind and the same time be altruistic? You know?" She found Lee's hand and gently squeeze it. "I'm sorry you had to see him go so young."

Then came his question about her, being a nurse. Lin chuckled again.

"Ok first? I think I'm a better survival companion that a drink buddy. Most men don't feel comfortable with a woman handling alcohol better than them." She joked giving his hand another squeeze before pulling it away. She closed her eyes for a second but the image of Maya kneeled in the snow immediately popped up.

"For someone who doesn't understand how selfish soldiers do what they do, I have been selfish as hell as well." She admitted. "I never wanted to be anything really but when I moved in Portland trying to get away from the life I had before I wanted to do something that would... I don't know, something that would help me balance the scale again I guess. Oh and by the way? Thanks for taking care of me when I fainted. I know Jack couldn't be of help. If we were alone, now that I think about it, he might had left me where I fell." She joked but it was kind of the truth. Jack would never undress her, even if it come to costing her life. It had to be Lee.
"And what about you doctor?"

 

[Wordy]

"That's just what having kids is like, I hear." He smirked. "A lot of them are brats, at first. I mean... Even in the ER, you get the kids that are too sick to move but at the same time give their parents so much trouble. Have to admit, it's funny. But I think about whenever I have kids, and..." He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm going to have a lot of grey hair." He laughed. Being a doctor in the ER and having a family seemed almost impossible. It was the whole reason he never settled down in the first place - he never had the time to do it, and whenever he did, he was too tired to do anything else anyway. Work really demanded a lot - how some of them managed family time, social time, and work altogether? It was a mystery to him.

He shrugged at her comments towards his cousin, "I know, yeah." He said. "A lot of people begged him not to go. Even I did. But nothing talked him out of it. It was... Grandparents that talked him into how heroic soldiers are and how they're the biggest heroes of the country, all of that. He didn't realize that a lot of them come home in boxes." He said. "It's a heroic thing. It's not so much selfish to the people they leave behind - it's selfish when people encourage it, when people make it out to be this big, glorious thing. Realistically, it's just kids fighting old men's wars." He said. "That's just how I see it, anyway."

"I'll have to challenge you to drinking sometime, then." He said. "You'd be surprised how much booze flows in a life like mine. Sometimes you need it to sleep at night - the white lights of the hospital sort of keep you awake at night. Mess with your head." He said. "Sometimes a shot of whiskey helps take the edge off."

Selfishness, old lives... They'd all done it, all had things to get away from.

"No worries." He said, shrugging. "I wasn't going to let you die in wet clothes. There's no worse way to go, really." He said. "Me, though... I mean, I suppose helping people is always something I wanted to do. I was studying for it around the time my cousin died, too." He said. "But it was always my dream. Not only that, some parts of my family weren't great. They were all... Not all of them were honest people, I suppose. Some of them were into some bad stuff. I was the first person in my family to get a degree, too, so there was that pressure on me." He laughed.

He looked at her for a moment, then down at her hand around his. He met eyes with her again.

"Your tattoos." He said, "I saw them, obviously." He said, "They're... Really amazing, actually. Really beautiful." He said. "Gonna' take a wild guess and say that they don't all relate to being a nurse, right?" He smiled, simply.

 

[Ririn]

"That's shitty actually, damn." She commented regarding their grandparents encouraging his cousin and to join the military. Without wanting to, her mind wondered off to those kids back in Portland. They were Jack's age she pressumed. Kids that were left there to die and for who? Military was supposed to keep the nation safe wasn't it? How had they kept anyone safe? Silently she wondered if any of them survived from that road that had started to turn into hell just as they managed to pass by them.

Following his eyes down to their hands, Lin realised she was still holding him and gently pulled her hand away, blushing a little. Though being in contact with someone eased her mind she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, the tats,yeah!" She laughed, pushing some hair behind her ear. "Yeah, uhmm no they have nothing to do with me being a nurse. They are more related to me being a brat." She admitted. "Those two are masterpieces." Lin said putting her palms down on her thighs. "A friend of mine made them. A real artist! The others are a mix you could say. Some are very well done and some I don't remember getting." She admitted with a shrug. "Actually, someone rated me out about them, at the hospital. Probably someone that noticed them at the locker room. Got called in by the administration about their "concern of my ethics and morality"." Lin laughed again rolling her eyes. "They told me they never wanted me to get any visible ones and that they would keep an eye no me. Whoever it was, must had a similar past. Not everyone knows what my back piece stands for." Lin didn't really bothered explaining what the piece ment but perhaps Lee already knew a gang tattoo when he saw one. Judging from how he talked about his family it wouldn't be weird to find out they were into some shady businesses themselves. But not Lee. He had gone to college and made himself a doctor. He dedicated his life to helping others. Lin admired that. She had become a nurse as a way to earn redemption, if there was such a thing.

 

[Wordy]

"It happens. Back in our grandparents' days, you have to remember that a lot of them chose military because it was the only thing they qualified for, or it was the only thing they could do to support their families." He said. "Grandpa on my mom's side was working from the age of six to make money for his household. Worked on a farm in... Carolina, or something." He said. "He's one of the military ones. Lied about his age to get in earlier. People were as patriotic as they were desparate, it's been proven." He shrugged.

He looked at her and listened closely while she talked about the tattoos; it was nice to hear about something that didn't revolve around medicine or the... End times or whatever the hell it was that was going on right now. She was passionate, that much he could see. Passionate people were always good to be around, always good to talk to. They could enthuse you easily about things that you knew absolutely nothing about.

"Yeah, most government jobs are funny about tattoos." He nodded. "Even so... You have to be pretty bored to report someone for it, right?" He chuckled. "Your back piece is impressive. I won't ask questions, but, I know roughly what it is." He said. "Spend enough time working the ER... You meet a lot of people with tattoos. I've seen that tattoo from place to place. Not very often, though. We've had a few transfers from other towns, and obviously you get all sorts of characters coming in."

He paused.

"Whatever it is... Don't worry. It's cool with me." He said. "We've been through too much for our pasts to get the better of us. We're in this together from now. All of us." He said, "Even Chase. He's... Interesting." He shrugged. He didn't know what other word to use to describe him - it was definitely a comfort knowing he was looking after a kid, though. At least he wasn't going to shoot them all in their sleep, or anything like that.

"Anyway." He gently poked her shoulder, "We should think about getting some sleep. You need it more than any of us." He smiled. "If you wake up before me, give me a nudge, alright? Probably best we all stick together as much as we can." He said.

 

[Ririn]

He was right of course. Back then the struggle for survival was even harder than it had been for their generation. And on top of that, their grandparents had seen wars that were certainly more worth fighting for than the wars over oil and money of today.

"My father's dad fought it WWII." She admitted "He was Irish. Died before I was born but everyone said he was great and all. I get it, about their generation. But it's a shame for ours."

But then Lee went on talking about her tattoos, how he knew what they ment even if not exactly, especially her back piece. That Lee said he had seen up close before.
"Yeah, I've treated someone with this tattoo aswell. He was a newbie when I got out. They brought him in the ER after he took three bullets. Lung failure, blood loss... We send that kid back home in a plastic bag." She remembered. Yeah, she remembered all of it. How he was screaming in pain and then cursing at everyone around him, how he had lost all his colour, the blood spilling from his mouth, the whistling sound he made as be tried to breath. His last moments the guy had turned to her. "The bike." he said mumbling "Tell them.. The bike!"
She wasn't sure what he was referring at and never got the chance to learn. The fact that he had told her that, she believed was by chance and not by choice.

Lee touching her brought her back to reality. Gosh, she was tired!
"Yeah, you are right. I think my eyes are getting blury from the exhaustion." She said with a nod.

Carefully she put herself under the blankets and adjusted her pillow. It felt marvelous.
"I'm not sure I'll be the one waking up first so you wake me up ok?" She wanted to ask about Chase, see what Lee had found out about the strange man with the guns but she was simply too tired to go over that right now. "Goodnight Lee. And thank you again for saving me. Twice."

Lin passed out faster than ever before in a dreamless world.

 

[Wordy]

"Seems like we've got some true heroes in both of our families, then." Lee observed with a smile. "I'll never criticize what they did. It's just sad how there are-" He paused. "There were kids that were fighting wars older than them, and that's the only thing in all of it that I don't agree with." He said. "Other than all of the logistics of war and whatnot, but..." He sighed. "Guess that doesn't really matter anymore, right?" He said.

Interesting story on the tattoos, though.

"We sent a lot of people home in plastic bags." He frowned. "Sad reality. Not everyone makes it." He said, "Even so." He said, "Let's get some rest." He said. "No need to thank me. You saved me a couple of times, too. God knows my little Ford Focus wouldn't have held up too well if it came down to it." He chuckled. "Alright... Whoever wakes up first, wake the other. That seems like the best compromise."

...

The night went by quickly enough, and no one really had any complaints. There were some bumps during the night, and at one point it was almost certain that there was something scrambling around on the roof of the house. But that was unconfirmed. It didn't matter, really, because how likely was it that that was the case? What exactly was there that could get onto the roof? It was likely just the wind blowing a branch across it.

Because yes, the wind had gotten bad. It was so bad that they could hear it howling more or less all night - the only person who really had trouble sleeping was Chase. He was haunted by the events of the day, and as he looked down at his sleeping daughter who had her head rested in his lap, all bundled up and warm, he dreaded to think what would happen if she found out the truth.

She didn't have to find out. There was no need.

It could stay a secret forever. Her mother had done so much to pull them apart, so much to butcher everything he did and to trash the relationship he had with his daughter.

No one needed to know. No one ever would.

Eventually, he fell asleep, too.

...

The morning came around, and when Lee woke up, he kept his promise. He rolled over and faced Lin, reaching over and nudging her shoulder. "Hey, Lin. Morning's here." He said, softly, then had a glance around the room. At least they weren't dead. The house didn't have a hole in the wall, or anything.

And better yet?

The wind had stopped. If anything, there may have been snow sprinkling, but for now the storm had passed. They could only hope that it would stay that way - if it was needed. As far as Lee was concerned, the plan wasn't exactly to go anywhere.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, stretching.

Sleep had never been so welcome before last night.

"So, what's our plan?" He asked, yawning. "Sit in the bunker and wait for this to blow over?" He asked.

Would it really blow over, though?

 

[Ririn]

Jack had woken up while still dark outside. He spend over an hour trying to get back online and eventually he did. News were of course much less than usual but then again, they were all now significant. Jack downloaded most of the data he found and saved to show to Melinda later in the day. Then, as the sun started to come out he went down in the kitchen. Tea for him, coffee for everybody else and maybe some boxed juice for Robin? He had no milk since he didn't drink it. But some roasted bread with real butter? Some strawberry jam, bacon on the grill, fried eggs. As always, Jack prepared a breakfast suited for a king. Any other meal of the day? He berarly noticed if he had any but breakfast? Well yes, that was important.

Lin opened her eyes and yawned. Finally she felt better. Pushing the hair out of her eyes she sat up, stretching. The sun berarly got in through the barriers but her inner clock still worked perfectly.

"Morning Lee." She said as she got out of bed. "Look, act as if you don't know about the shelter ok? Let Jack tell you about it. I'll take a shower, you can go down I'm sure there is breakfast ready." She said and yawned again drugging herself in the bathroom, getting rid of all her clothes before stepping under the hot water.

What did the world looked like today? How much had it changed since she last took a look at it? How many had perished? How many had... Changed for ever?

 

[Wordy]

Lee looked over at her and nodded, "Yeah, alright. I can do that." He said.

It was still all going over his head just a little bit. Breakfasts. Breakfast is the priority now? He was by no means angry at... Anyone, really. But it was all confusing. He was panicking about the end of the world - that's what this felt like, at least. It felt like the world was ending. The things he saw - if this was happening all over the world, all over the country, then what were things going to be like in a few days? What were things like already?

He didn't like the idea of it all.

Either way, he went downstairs after giving her a brief smile, and he walked through to the kitchen. Chase nodded at him silently as he walked by - Robin was still fast asleep, still curled up with him. It was probably good for her to catch up on as much sleep as she could. The cold probably took it out of her a lot yesterday.

He entered the kitchen, and he nodded to Jack.

"Hey." He said. He really needed to ask one thing, though. "I'm trying to figure out, Jack..." He scratched his chin. "Do we have like... A plan?" He asked. "I mean, do we have any idea what's going on with all of this? Any updates?" He asked. "I just... I'm worried. Are you worried? About everything that's happening?"

 

[Ririn]

"Good morning to you too." Jack said smiling and immediately got up from his chair. "Take a seat there is enough for everyone." He said pointing at what he had prepared. As if he had heard nothing of Lee's questions and concerns Jack went on to make himself another tea while pouring a cup of coffee for Lee. Bringing sugar and a spoon with him, he let everything infront of the doctor and sat back down.

"A plan uh?" Jack seemed to think it over all the while keeping his eyes on the mug before him and swirling the tea around with a spoon. It was hard to tell if he was thinking about it or he was just lost in his own head.

"I have a plan but it was never ment for... Well uhm, how do I put this? I always had a plan but it was ment for just me and Lin. Now that there is you doctor and Chase and Robin... I mean, the old plan could still might work including all of us. Not sure really, not sure no."

"You, being unsure of something brother?" Lin's voice came mocking from the door. She still wore the black sweater but she had a pair of cargo pants on that were probably hera judging from the fitting and her hair was wet.
"Chase? Can you come in here for a second?" She called him with a polite smile.

"Lin... How are you feeling?" Jack asked though he didn't manage to seem concerned.
"Much better actually. Thanks to Lee here." Well that was clearly her being mean.

Lin didn't wait for an answer. She walked past the two pouring herself a coffee then taking a seat on the table going straight for the bacon.

Jack waited for Chase to join them and then started talking.

"Alright. What I know is the first report came from Canada a few days ago. It was about two sisters being attacked by a little girl on the street with one arm missing. The girl killed one of them on the spot and severally injured the other one. The dead one rose up from the dead in the morgue and the injured one first had a high fever, started vomiting and eventually changed." Jack took a brief look around the table at all of them before going back at looking to his tea. "From what they had the time to find through research is that there was a whole DNA line added on their DNA chain. It made no sense but it had happen. Like they were mutated. Sadly, and though the Canadians did try to contain it, what ever this is was faster. Reports are coming in from all over the world but some places seem untouched. Now, to our own matters. Military reports say they will bomb all major cities than got infected, tonight. This means Portland aswell. The army is setting a few bases for the healthy ones though I'm not sure how long they will last. I'm not even sure how long the military will last. The last footage from the cameras outside the house only show a few of them. We have maybe a bit of time to make some decisions. Now..." Jack made a pause after his long speech to drink some tea and look around the table once more. "There is a shelter out the back. It's quite comfy but to be honest it's not designed to hold five people. We won't starve and we won't die because we can't breath but it will be tricky. Other plans? Sure. We can try and reach one of the clean zones the military is setting up. We can take a caravan car and just try to get somewhere. I don't have one but there is a dealership store just a few miles from here." Jack eventually stopped talking. It was obvious he had nothing else to say at this moment. He wasn't the leader of this group, he had never been a leader and he wouldn't try to become one now. Certainly nor while a doctor, a motorcycle club member and his sister sat there.

Lin wanted to say a lot but she wouldn't. Most of it was only for her brother to hear and nobody else. But knowing this was spreading everywhere... The military bombing their own cities? It made her stomach turn. Intact she had lost some of her colour. What world was this? Lin didn't recognise it, for sure.

"I know the shelter is safe. I know that. Like I know how much food you have stoked, how many medicines... Even guns. I know because I have seen everything and honestly? Going out in the middle of winter, kinda sucks. But five people? I know the shelter is not fitted for all of us. We won't last long in there. What if they can't solve it? What then? You don't trust the military will make it. So nobody will come and save us right? That's what you are saying." Lin was closing in at a panic attack but she bit down her lip, hard. She bit her lip until it bled from the inside and took short breathes.

 

[Wordy]

"You can call me Lee, Jack." Lee said.

He loved being called 'doctor', but, there was really no need for formalities anymore. Doctor was a worthless title at this precise moment in time; there was no point trying to maintain it. Right now, survival was the most important factor. There was no indication of how things were going to unfold for them and the world from here on out. The only plan Jack had completely thought out was also seemingly getting butchered by the pure fact that there were more than two people.

It made Lee's heart stop at first. What if he and Chase and Robin got thrown out onto the street with no means of survival? Got thrown out in the cold where there was nowhere for them to turn?

But no, it didn't seem like the message that Jack was trying to send.

Either way, when Chase was called he poked Robin's arm until she was awake, and as soon as she was up they both wandered through to the kitchen to join the others. He scanned between them all, then leaned against the fridge.

"Big meeting, I see?" He asked.

All were silent while they listened to Jack. Lee nodded along to all of it, not an awful lot coming in as a shock anymore. Chase was surprised, but in some ways? Relieved. Why? Clearly there was still something on his mind, too. At least he wasn't having a complete meltdown, right? The one everything was expecting but hoping wasn't the case was the military bombing cities. Lee had a feeling it would happen, but... Knowing it wasn't nice.

"Hang on," Chase held up his hand, "So you've got a bunker tucked away downstairs, and you're worried about space?" He asked. "Even if there's no room, we've got a whole house. A house with... Shutters and decent security - at least enough to brave out some of the winter." He said. "So, what's stopping us from holding up here? Who cares about space, of all things? If nothing else, the bunker can be used for... For storage, for storing essential things that we might need in the future. Plus, it sounds claustrophic. If the military come along and blow holes in the door, then we're going to be trapped. I like our chances better where you can see what's going on outside." He said. "And if the government drop bombs on us? Well, shit." He looked around. "Down in the bunker, if bombs land right on top of us, we're dead." He said. "If we live up here, we can at least hear the planes coming." He said.

Lee cleared his throat, "We should probably get an RV, though... Just in case." He said. "And I'm worried, we haven't seen any people yet." Lee said, "Not since Portland. Where is everyone around here? Jack, did you see where any of them went? This place is just a ghost town." He said.

 

[Ririn]

Jack cleared his throat, nervously. Then Jack took a sip of his tea. Then he cleared his throat again.

"Chase you haven't got the shelter thing all that right I'm afraid. It is not connected to the house, it is not under it. It's outside, in the back yard. What safety will it provide us if we live here but it, is out there?" He asked pointing at the window though of course none of them could see outside with the grates down. "The shelter will stand the bombing depending on their kind. There's been no mention of what type they plan on using. Just that it's happening."

"When you say there is not enough space for all of us" Lin cut in "What does it mean Jack? What does it actually mean? What problems might occure?"

"Well, for starters the oxygen won't be recycled as fast as we will need it to. Apart from that, we will probably have a problem with the plumbings and let's not forget about the space itself. We would need to take shifts sleeping, it's gonna be a bumper. Safe but hard to go by. As for what happened here... Honestly? No idea. By now it's certainly here aswell but I couldn't say why there aren't more of them outhere." He concluded and made a mental note to see if the streets were as empty as here in other parts of the world.

 

[Wordy]

"An outdoor shelter?" Chase laughed, "Are you kidding me? An ourdoor one?"

"Dad." Robin tugged at his arm, to no avail.

"No, no, no. The last place I'm going to be is in an outdoor shelter if the military try and firebomb the shit out of us. That's a bad idea. It doesn't matter how big and fancy it might look - if a bomb lands directly on top of that, then we're done. Hell, if a bomb drops on the next house over, chances are we're not going to have a good time." He said, "I don't even think cities in general are going to be a good idea. We've all seen what's out there, haven't we? Right. Well, bunker or not - maybe it's not a good idea." He said. "Maybe we should just pack all our shit into some bags and make tracks while the storm's clear of here. Whatever's going on in the city center? It's going to reach here, eventually. Whatever those... People, things are, they're relentless." He said. "They won't stop, as far as I've seen."

"Dad." Robin tugged his arm harder, "C'mon... Relax."

"Right. Right." He waved a hand and sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry."

"Look... If oxygen isn't any good," Lee cut in, "There's not enough space for all of us, it's going to be unpleasant and potentially deadly if whatever this is is airborne." He said. "So, I think we should just... Lay out all our options. The city is a no-go. It's too deadly there." He said. "What else do we have? I mean, we've got two people who know medicine, a guy who knows cars, and a guy who's pretty good with most technology, I'm assuming?" He asked. "And... Well, you've got guns, too." He nodded to Chase.

Chase rubbed his neck, awkwardly, but he nodded.

"Let's not stress." Lee said, "We've got time to figure this out, and we've got resourceful people between all of us, right?" He asked. "We got lucky getting out, and even luckier in the sense that the streets are quiet. We have time, guys... But not much. We just need to figure it out." He said. "Aside from a bunker... Where would the next safest place be? Like... What sort of buildings, locations, do you think would be best to head to? Somewhere secure where we can just... Wait this out, maybe even with other people." He said. "Right?"

 

[Ririn]

Lin started to drift away as she heard the others around her speak. Nothing seemed safe enough. If this had been a fictional conversation a week ago Lin would have actually been a part of it and laugh all the while. Safety. They thought the hospital was safe. They also thought the police and the military would help them but instead they had stopped them at gun point and Jack had heard about bombing the cities. Safety had become a very fragile concept in the last 24 hours. Lin remained silent.

"Any city is out of the conversation." Jack started saying regarding their choices as of now but his voice had clearly become weaker now. The way Chase had spoken had made him uncomfortable. It wasn't about the shelter it was more because of Chase's tone that made him nervous. "And really doctor, we don't have all that time you might think." Jack was calling Lee 'doctor' again like what he had told him just moments ago hadn't registered in his mind. "Maybe somewhere quiter would be safer. Less people, more nature maybe a clean water source around." Jack raised his shoulders. "I mean... This place near winter, anywhere we go will be tough. But I rather have it tough than go up against humans turned into monsters."

"Why don't you tell me about the guns?" Lin said out of the blue looking up at her brother before focusing her eyes on Chase. "I saw the leather cut on the sofa. Your club, do you have a warehouse or something? Somewhere safe and far away from busy areas? Maybe we can go there." Lin knew what she was talking about. Most clubs owned properties outside big cities where they could run their underground business in peace. She knew because her own club had a few of them. Jack also knew that and now he was staring at his sister.

What was she doing? Why try and get Chase to propose such a thing instead of telling them how close they were to one such facility already? Sure, Jack got it, Lin didn't want anything to do with her past but this was a crucial decision they were forced to take. And mentioning the guns...

"Well, as Lin here was kind enough to tell you all, I do have guns in the house. A small armory you might say. A few pistols, a few shotguns, ammo and a couple of semi automatics aswell. They could be useful though I'm not sure about who knows how to use them." He admitted deciding he shouldn't rat his sister out. Maybe Lin would tell them about the warehouse eventually or maybe Chase knew more than he had originally showed. If he had seen the tattoo that covered her back and he knew what it ment... So many maybes. So little time.

 

[Wordy]

"Even if there's not a clean water source, there are ways to make water clean." Lee said, "And we can make raincatchers, easily. That's nothing to worry about. Survivalist stuff like building water filters? Easily enough done. Build the filters, filter the water, boil the filtered stuff over a fire to be completely safe, and that's clean water right there. Clean water sources are ideal, but not compulsory. Plus, I still wouldn't chance drinking from a foreign source." He said. "No matter how clean it is or how clean it's meant to be, in times like this? Last thing anyone needs is some sort of... Stomach flu, or a parasite." He said. "Either one of those is going to expend all the nutrients and any food you put into the body. It'll purge you until it either clears itself up or you pull it out, as disgusting as that sounds. If things really get terrible, to the point where we start running out of food? Things like that are deadly." He said.

Lee paused, and he sighed.

"Then there's the cold. The winter this year is bad, and in New England we're going to get the worst of it. Some places are going to go as low as 5 degrees farenheit. Way below freezing." He said.

"Heading west is a possibility." Chase shrugged, "Just one problem with that."

"More people?" Robin looked up at her dad in question.

"Right." He nodded and sighed. Was anywhere really ideal at this point? The winter was a bastard, going west would mean a denser population. "North, maybe. If you don't mind it getting colder." He chuckled, bitterly.

Chase looked between Jack and Lin for a moment after the talk of the guns was brought up. He arched a brow. "We've got a warehouse. More of a garage these days, though." He said. "Only a few of us hold onto a piece like I do. Looks like that was the smart thing to do after all, right?" He gave a half smile. "But right now? I think we can all agree that we should cut the bullshit." He said, leaning forward. "You're telling me you bought yourself a load of guns, shoved them into an arsenal, and strangely enough, don't know how to use them? Seems a bit off to me." He said. "Because last I checked, you don't go out and buy 'a few pistols, a few shotguns, and a couple of semi-automatics' when you're 'not sure if anyone knows how to use them'." He said. "I do. No shame in that. But you didn't really know me before last night, pal, so God knows you didn't buy those for me." He said.

He leaned back.

His eyes wandered to Lin.

"On that note... You happen to know where any of those warehouses you talked about might be? I mean, right now it sounds like we're pretty open to suggestions." He said.

 

[Ririn]

"North might actually be a solution as crazy as that sounds. Everyone will try and move towards environments more easy to live in forgetting how much more crowded they already are. Not even minding the hardships of surviving in a hot, wet environment." Jack agreed with Chase but then gave them all a shrug. "Knowing the first incident of this hell was recorded in Canada though might prove bad of we decide to move north."


Lin still heard them all talk. She could hear Jack's voice getting weaker every time Chase spoke. Her genius brother was loosing infront of Chase's leadership. Not that the man was trying to play the leader of the group but he was certainly what you would call an Alpha. And then, Lee. Lee that was trying to be reasonable, explain even things they already knew, keep the spirits down. Lee and his gentle nature that had saved her life outside that kitchen and had run for his at the cold parking lot. And Robin? She was just a child.
Where did she stand in all these? Who was Lin in this group? What could she offer? How could she help those around her?

Chase criticising Jack about the guns woke her up again. Her eyebrows frowned slightly. She wasn't amused.

"He has the guns because of me." Lin said and now she was leaning forward, hands on the table. "No, he doesn't know how to use them. Maybe the pistols?" She turned to check with Jack but of course he wasn't looking at her. Instead he was again stirring the damn tea. Lin turned back to Chase. "But yeah, let's cut the bullshit." Lin pushed her chair back, getting up and stepping out in the hallway. The could hear drawers being opened and in a minute she was back with a map and a black sharpie.

"Portland is here." Lin drew a circle around it. "We are approximately here." She said making another smaller circle between Falmouth and Cumberland. "There is a warehouse here" Lin drew a circle just outside Yarmouth "another one here" she drew a circle near Maine Audubon park despite it being a protected area "another one here" she drew one up in Durham "and finally, one here." Lin made the last black circle east of where they were. "Take a pick." She let the sharpie down, taking her coffee and slowly climbed the stairs to the bedroom she had shared with Lee. She would have to speak with Chase eventually, in private but right now they could make the decisions she wasn't interested in making.

Her trick with the map had even drew Jack's attention. He just stared at those dark circles as if they ment something he couldn't understand. He knew what that had costed to his sister but the past didn't matter now. If only he had the right words to tell her that.

 

[Wordy]

"First recorded, yes." Lee said, "Doesn't mean that it was the first. In Canada, there's miles between each city, each town. The population isn't as dense, and if the outbreak first happened there, that means it was the first place that everyone would have packed their bags and started running. Evacuations, too. We've got a good chance of Canada being pretty isolated, at least for now. I get the feeling that a lot of other people are going to have the idea of crossing the border to get away from it all. Hopefully we're all one step ahead of all of them." He said. "And realistically, Canada is a lot less of a journey than out west. I can't imagine what most of the highways are like by now - the highways alone are suicide, especially after what we saw at that blockade." He added. Chase thought about it more, and it was a good point.

Back on topic of the guns, Chase smiled when the truth was finally out there.

"I admire someone who knows how to kick some ass but save a life, too. Come on, now. We've all fired a gun - except you, Robin; we need to work on that - so there's nothing to worry about." He said. "At least now we know who's competent and who needs lessons. I don't particularly like the idea of getting blasted in the back by someone who doesn't know how to shoot a shotgun right." He said, then looked over at Jack. "No offense, buddy." He shrugged.

Chase leaned over and looked at the map. He nodded after looking over them all, "Serious shit." He said. "Got a few of them, too. Someone high up has been busy, I see." He took the pen from her once he was done and circled Windham.

"We've got one here." He said, "I could do with flying by there and grabbing some stuff. Spare parts and all that." He said.

"What are all the warehouses for?" Robin asked as she watched her dad study the map again.

"Underground business. Illegal poker games. Drugs. Guns, and the like." He said.

"Oh..."

"Means a lot of these are going to be prime." He said, and he tapped on a few of them with the top of the pen and then looked up at Jack. "Your sister's gonna' help us find the best place to get what we need." He said. "Providing our warehouse hasn't been raided already, I think it's a fair trade."

Lee watched as Lin left the room. "One moment." He said.

He got up and left, too.

...

When he caught up to her, he put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from moving, if she would allow him to do so.

"Hey," He said, softly. "You okay?" He asked.

 

[Ririn]

"The one closer to us?" Jack said only after she had left the room "We can even stay there at least for a few days." He turned towards Robin for a second wondering what she should hear and what not before continuing. "They used it like a mid-stop for those hiding from the police before they continued their journey up north to the borders. If we are lucky nobody will be there because they mostly used it as a hide out. At least back when she was.. with them." He concluded. Lin wouldn't be particularly open about this but Jack had the feeling Chase needed to know. Lee too of course but Chase knew this kind of People better.


Lin stopped half way in the bedroom as Lee put a hand on her shoulder. She let out a sigh that showed how tired she was.
"Just, lost in my own head you know?" She said looking at him "This whole situation just, it doesn't make sense and my stomach is tied, my head is in pain." Lin smiled tired. "Thanks Lee. For everything. Again. I'll just have my coffee in peace and be down in a while."

 

[Wordy]

Robin nodded to what Jack said, then looked at her dad. "You do that sort of stuff?"

Chase took in a deep breath, then nodded a little. "Sometimes."

"Fair."

Chase patted her shoulder and rested his hand there, then glanced back over at Jack, "Let's not kid around here, we know for sure that her old club probably has some size to it." He said, "We go there, but if we run into a few dozen guys that'll want to kill us and take everything we have? We'll turn around and figure out something else. That's the only problem with places like this, really. There's going to be other people that had the same idea as us." He said. "I wanna' say that as long as either me or Lin know someone that may or may not be there already, we'll be okay. But if things have really gone to shit, people might shoot first and ask questions later."

He paused.

"You think I can see some of those guns?" He asked.

...

"Well, take a deep breath." Lee said. "Time like this, need to keep a clear head." He looked at her and nodded, then put his hands in her pockets. "Just so you know, this stuff with the... Gangs and the warehouses and all that, that's not... Going to change anything, okay?" He said. "It doesn't change what I think of you. You're a good person." He smiled a little. "And I just want you to know it's not going to make me turn my back on you. We survived the outbreak together, and we're going to keep on surviving it, alright?" He said.

If anything, he just didn't want her to feel alone in this - things were only going to get lonelier from here on out, for all of them. It was important to stick together, to hold eachother upright in the most dire circumstances.

Even Lee was slightly threatened by Chase. He knew he wasn't really a dangerous man, but, he was assertive. Lee had his own ways of being assertive but Chase was much more... Street smart, really. It was hard to compete with that when you had to spend your life sat in a room stitching people back together.

 

[Ririn]

Jack heard what Chase had to say and nodded in agreement. Others would have thought of what they had thought. Maybe a few, maybe more than a few. And would Lin be able to calm them down? Or would they take the chance presented and pay her back for living the club?

"Lin might be able to talk some sense into them, if they ask questions first at least." Jack agreed thinking about all they had talked about so far. Eventually he stood up. "Yeah, let's get upstairs. You and me. I mean.. no offense but I'd rather not have Robin around guns if that's ok with you." Of course Jack didn't know about Chase handing his own guns to Robin earlier.

Lin lowered her eyes, smiling. "Thank you Lee, I appreciate it. You, being ok with all this. I know it's in the past but that doesn't make me a good person." She shrugged "I could spend the rest of my life in the ER and still I couldn't take some of the things I did or allowed others to do back. It is what it is. I have to live with it, it won't get worse now."

Downstairs, Jack headed to the stairs ready to lead Chase, and Robin if her father allowed it, upstairs into his office where he kept the guns.

"Come in." Lin said as soon as she heard them coming up the stairs, stepping in the bedroom ready to close the door as soon as Lee entered behind her. She just didn't want to be with all of them yet.

At the same time, a group of ten neighbors closed in to the house. Some of them armed with knives, one with a machete but most of them, with hunting shotguns. The group only had one goal. Drive that weirdo tech kid out of his house so they could get to his shelter. They didn't know about the guns or the supplies inside the house but everyone knew about the shelter in the backyard. They had seen it be made and now they were trying to survive at any cost. None of them had seen the others arrive so of course the two bikes outside striked them as weird. And so did the metal grates on the windows. That only made it harder for them to get in but not impossible.

 

[Wordy]

"Same for my guys." Chase said, "Chances are we'll have much better luck with mine, considering I ain't a ditcher. No offense to your sis, though. Can't exactly blame her from wanting out of a club like that - it's all great for a while, but then a buddy dies and you get shot at a few times, and you start having second thoughts. Just saying... Be vigilant. Not to add pressure, either, but you might want to learn how to fire a gun before we get there. Just in case things get hairy." He shrugged. "And that doctor, too... Doesn't look like the gun type." He said. As it turns out, he wasn't completely wrong. Lee had gone shooting maybe a couple of times in his whole life, knew a tiny bit about proper posture and gun safety, but was no experienced shooter.

Chase looked at Robin, "She's fine, though. Much as I hate to say it, she's gonna' have to be strapped, too." He said. "If things are as bad as they're starting to look, I don't want my daughter running around defenseless." He said.

He thought about it more, too.

If the military lost control, that means any form of law would be long gone - if it wasn't already. To some degree, Lin and Robin were in the most danger here. It would only take a pack of criminals to come along and realize they had an easy chance for a good time, with no real repercussions. All it would take for them to get what they wanted was a bullet in all the heads of the guys in the group, and then they could run riot.

They couldn't let that happen. Robin would need a gun, and nothing could convince Chase otherwise.

Either way, they followed Jack upstairs, with Lee and Lin not anywhere in sight.

...

"Well, we all do things we can't take back." Lee shrugged, "It's not about taking them back. Once it's done, it's done. There is no taking it back. Even the little things are always set in stone. I think it's more about..." He thought for a moment. "More about how you learn from those things and what you do in the future to be different - for your own sake, more than anything." He said. "Lin, you save lives every day. You've held kids' hands when they were terrified of what was going to happen. You've told people that everything is going to be fine even when you know yourself it might not be. That's... A brave and a good thing to do." He said. "Just remember the past doesn't determine your future."

He was invited into the bedroom, though, and he nodded.

"Oh, sure." He said, and he stepped inside.

The door was shut, and for a while, they had some time to unwind. Talking of plans had indeed been stressful on Lee, too - especially given the circumstances.

 

[Ririn]

Lin sat at the feet of the bed holding her coffee mug still. Why had she pull Lee inside the bedroom with her? The answer, as weird as it was, being that she trusted him. And some things, were better not said infront of everyone.

"If I asked you what you think I fear more about that whole crazy situation I bet you would say the sick people." She said, speaking calmly as she looked at him. "Or maybe the instability as a whole. Something between this lines for sure but, honestly? What I fear about the most is the law of the jungle. Because that's what we will face out there. The law of the fucking jungle and do you know who survives in the jungle?" Lin lowered her eyes to her mug knowing that she could potentially be making Lee much more anxious about all of it than he already was and maybe she didn't have any right to do so but the need to get it out of her system was stronger. "The strongest. And though I could never speak for you, Chase or even Robin... I know Jack. And he won't survive in the jungle. I know because we were raised in it and he berarly made it out. I remember him waiting up for me, he was like.. 9?10?" She shrugged "He was waiting for me to return and make me tell him what I did, where I was, who I was with. He was a child Lee but he wanted that messed up life I had for himself and even back then he knew he couldn't have it. So he needed to hear the stories from me. That's what scares me the most. Loosing him to a world he never understood."

Meanwhile, Jack had stopped outside of his office kind of holding his breath. It felt so wrong, having people up there but he knew it was the right thing to do.
"Please, just don't touch anything." He said tensed but he did eventually open the door, turning the lights on and welcoming the father and his daughter in.
"And, here we are." He announced pressing his index finger against a small screen on a seemingly empty wall. What appeared on the wall was an opening, maybe at the size of a large square mirror because a part of the wall had moved towards the left. A lot of buzz for a bunch of guns owned by someone who didn't know how to use them.
Row after row, safely hung on a black soft material were the guns with the semi automatics coming last.

"You can look around if you want." Jack told Chase pointing at the guns. "There are three drawers underneath with ammo for all of them." With that being said, Jack moved away from the wall letting him do his thing.

So naturally, Jack took a sit infront of the computer opening up the laptop at the same time but firstly focusing at the computer screen.
"In Canada people seemed to have indeed crossed the borders towards us but there are reports of groups heading even more up north." Jack infromed them looking around still until a movement caught his eye. Jack grabbed the laptop bringing it closer and carefully looked at the six-way split image infront of him.

"Uhm,Chase? We have company." Jack said with a trembling voice as he watched two people clearly holding guns approaching his front door as three more looked at the windows and lastly, five of them going straight for the kitchen door. Before he could tell them about the kitchen door having no extra locks a loud sound came from downstairs followed by more heavy knocks on the door. Jack watched terrified as they broke the kitchen door.

"What was that?" Lin asked eyes wide open at the sudden bang.

 

[Wordy]

"Don't touch anything. Got it." Chase said, glancing around the office. He watched as the wall moved to reveal the firearms, and he smirked and shook his head. "Jesus, kid. This is all very overkill, I have to say." He said, and he walked up to the wall and reached up, grabbing an AR-15 off one of the mounts. He rotated the gun around, scannning it over. "This is a fine rifle. And to think, you've got several of these." He smiled, and he reached into the drawer below to get a magazine out. With the rifle loaded, he slung it over his shoulder. They had a fine selection, really - there may have only been a couple of different types of weapons, but it was more than enough for them.

"I know this fancy little get-up probably means a lot to you," He pulled a pistol from the wall and loaded a magazine into that before tucking it away into his pants. "But you realize that us leaving and heading north... Or whatever it is we're planning to do - you realize that means leaving all this behind, don't you?" He asked. "As shitty as that is... If it means surviving, then I say so be it." He glanced back at the weapons and sighed, "You got a duffel bag or something?" He asked. "Because I think we'd be best off taking all of the guns and ammo that we can carry. Oh, and," He took another pistol, loaded it, and held the stock out to Robin.

She looked at it with eyes wide as dinner plates, "Dad?"

"The safety's on. Take it and tuck it away somewhere." He said, "If you ever need to shoot it, both hands, both eyes open. Breathe and squeeze the trigger - don't jerk it or your gun's gonna' jump." He said. "I'll teach you more later, but, this is a last resort, got it?"

"Got it..."

While Jack looked at his laptop, Chase loaded up one of the shotguns. But that was when Jack said the dreaded words - They had company.

"Excellent." Chase groaned, but then tossed the shotgun through the air towards Jack, "Catch, kid." He said. "You know how that works? Stock against the shoulder, fire, pull the arm back to chamber another round, fire, rinse and repeat. Best thing about a shotgun is you only need to aim roughly at what you wanna' hit." He winked. "Just don't shoot one of us." He said, "What's going on, Jack? We in any trouble or are your... Defenses gonna' hold things together?" He asked.

...

Lee listened to her concerns, and honestly? He got it. He'd seen enough from Jack since last night to know that he was a little quirky and out of place, essentially a kid now living in a very horrific, adult world. They'd seen what had happened to people, what had to be done, what choices had to be made. For someone like Jack, it seemed routine was important. Breakfast, coffee, soup, tea - it was as if life was normal for him. Maybe all of this was just seeming like one of Lin's stories he'd listen to when he was younger, but, he was going to have to realize that this was no longer a story. He'd have to see that it was time for him to live and tell his own.

"I understand." He said, "Rules of the jungle, I know. Only the strongest are going to make it out there, and I get that Jack is..." He sighed. "Different." He nodded, eventually. "I don't know how leaving this house is going to affect him, but, I'm worried it's going to cause some sort of crisis once he loses this layer of security." He said. "Whatever happens, though? We can look after him. I roughly know how to use a gun, I've shot one a few times before. I know it isn't much but it's something, right? You're probably more than competent. Chase, too." He said. "Even if Jack is going to take a while to adapt, which is normal - we all have some adapting to do - we're going to look after him." He nodded. "It's not much, I know, but I promise I'll do what I can to keep an eye on him."

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"He might not understand this world right now, but, once we get out on the road he will." He said. "He's a smart guy. He just needs some time to separate the fact that out there? It's not going to be like in here. We won't have metal shutters or cameras on every corner of wherever we end up. Once he gets past that, I think he'll be okay." He smiled a little.

But then there was the slam. Lee's head turned to the door.

"Oh, fuck." He gulped, "Whatever it was, I think we better get a gun."