"Kat, the sun is rising. We need to get moving." Mikey nudged Kat awake. She stirred on the old dirty mattress that laid on the floor. She blinked her eyes a few times before sitting up to see the men in her company gathering their things. John was all ready and waiting to get moving, Keith and Ross were helping each other pack their stuff, Mikey gathered the last of his things and shoved them in his bag.
"Where's Crowley?" She mumbled rubbing her eye.
"I'm here." Crowley came around the corner of the hall, his shotgun in hand. "Good morning, gorgeous." He smirked.
"Aww, Kit-Kat you're so cute...Now, come on. I'm tired of being in this place." John was not one for being kind with his words. Crowley glared at him for being so rude to Kat, but he did nothing. Instead of trying to start a fight he helped Kat get her things together.
"I hate the way he talks to you." Crowley growled in a whisper, placing her bandana in her bag.
"I know, but he is doing no harm by it. Just know that I like your pet names more." She smiled and ran her hand over his stubbled cheek. Crowley leaned in and gave her a loving kiss before handing her her knife. She grabbed her knife, standing up and securing it to her belt. She put on her shoulder holster, checking her pistol before clipping it into the holster and placing a magazine into the pocket on the other side. She pulled her jacket on and then her bag, tightening it to her shoulders, she picked up her rifle and checked it to make sure it was loaded and the safety on.
"Weapons check everyone." She demanded. Keith who was very obsessed about the care of his guns, being an ex-cop, checked his pistols. Mikey put his knives into their proper place in his holsters and checked his pistol. Ross checked his pistol, placing it in the holster, he checked his rifle. John checked his shotgun then slung it over his back and pulled out his nail riddled baseball bat. Crowley popped the magazine of his pistol, checking the barrel and then popping the magazine back in and snapping a round into the chamber. He then put it away and checked his shotgun, which was automatic with a holder for rounds on the side of the gun. After every man checked his gun they stated they were ready.
"Ready?" She whispered to Crowley.
"Ready." He copied her tone and he made a path for her to step past him. She made her way to the door that they barricaded for the night. After taking a look outside threw the slats of wood she motioned for the men to prepare to move.
"John." She called to him. He shuffled to her side and began assisting her with the barricade. Once clear she gripped onto the doorknob and yanked it open. The men look down their guns ready to shoot anything that came at them, but it was silent. John and Keith ran out to start a search of the area.
"How far do we have to go?" Ross wondered. Kat pulled a map from her inner coat pocket and unfolded it. It was a map of the current city they were in. There were many different colors and markers, marking hot spots for Croats and direct routes to safe houses. Things that were established at the beginning of the outbreak and shared over public radio. It came in handy, but since the Croats moved it wasn't exactly accurate to where the Croats were.
"Here. This is where we are trying to go." She pointed down at the edge of the city where there was a blue house marked on the map. "And we're here." She dragged her finger to a spot inside of a red circle. "We're currently in a hotspot but we need to move 30 miles to the southwest." She then folded her map again and placed it back into her pocket.
"It's clear. No Croats in sight." Keith reported.
"That's odd." She commented.
"What is?" Crowley nudged his way to her side.
"We are in the center of a hot-spot and after the fight we went through the other night I expected to see at least half a dozen." She gripped the butt of her rifle to her chest. "Let's get moving. I don't want to be out in the open more than I need to." She moved into an alley way and the rest of the men followed her.
The city wasn't that large but being in the center of town the buildings were close together. Many things littered the streets, discarded when people made a scramble for safety. A little over a year has passed since the first sign of the Croatoan virus. People became absent-minded only focusing on violence. The virus spread through bloodstream, if you were bitten by someone who was infected you were hundred percent certain you'd change into one of them. Then the virus changed it began spreading through the air and quickly we found out that some were immune to the airborne virus. Like Kat and her company and group of people brought together for the need to survive.
There was a well known base of operations run by Dean Winchester somewhere in Kansas and Kat's mission was to make it there...alive. Which hasn't been easy over the last year. Crowley and her had a tough time on their own at first, but after the addition of Mickey and Keith things got easier. Then Ross and now the newest member John. John was not well liked amongst the company, he always had a bad air about him. It was the way he spoke and held himself, like he was better than them, that he didn't need them, but yet he never left. Anyway, life is hard but in the midst of the apocalypse, who's isn't.
The convoy moved through the alleyways checking their corners for any infected people. John was whistling as he walked beside them, bored by the lack of action.
"John, can you stop that? We don't want to be found, remember?" Keith sneered at him.
"Lighten up mall cop. There's no one here." John replied.
"And we'd like to keep it that way." Kat whispered back at the boys. She sometimes left like their mother the way they fought at each other. In some ways they were her boys, she saved them, taught them the hunter way, she kept them safe from Harm and each other, and they were her family.
"Kat?" Crowley brought her out of her thought. "How much farther until we're out of these closer quarters?"
"Just a few more blocks straight then we head to the south."
"Say Kat! Can we stop to grab some grub? I'm starved." John shouted.
"Be quite!" Ross yelled at a whisper. "We don't want them to hear us."
"Relax nerd. There's no one here. No one to HEAR US!" John provoked.
Ross didn't have a successful life. Still in his late twenties he lived at home with his mom. He worked as a janitor at a local high school and didn't do much else besides play video games.
"Shhh, John. You shouldn't do that." Ross's voice was nervous.
"And why not?" John leaned into his face, challenge the thin pale man who retracted at John's actions.
"Knock it of the both of you." Kat ordered them. "John can you manage to stay quiet until we each safety."
"Yes, Ma'am." John's voice nothing but sarcasm and a fake salute to follow.
Ross's nerves getting the better of him, his hands shaking uncontrollably. Keith had to reassure him it'd be fine. The poor guy had such a harmed in intense situations, but considering his past its to be expected. Ross's father left before he was five and his step-father was no joy. Every night he'd get drunk and beat the crap out of Ross when his mother wasn't home. Ross had such a rough childhood. After his step-father died things got a lot better until his mother suffered a stroke and had a hard time remembering and moving around the house. Ross did the best he could and provided all the help he could.
"Alright everyone stick together. We're getting out into more open area." Kat commanded. The group immediate gathered closely together waiting to start the stressful mission out of town. The safe house was only twenty miles away now, fifteen of it abandoned suburban neighborhood the other five miles was farm. The safe house was base in an old church that civilians in the area fortified during the outbreak. Their were beds, food, radio and probably ammo there waiting for them.
With a quick hand gesture everyone moved together in unison, like a beautiful dance of survival they moved building to building, occasionally checking the insides for supplies. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary there were a few Croats scattered between the buildings, nothing they couldn't avoid. there was only one tense call when Kat looked around the building and there was a Croat immediately on the other side, a little detour, but everything was fine.
"We're nearly there just another five miles out of here and we're over the fence. Then another five to safety." Kat stated, putting her map back into her jacket pocket.
"Awesome, then we can get some grub." John stated resting his bat over his shoulder and cracking his neck.
"Is all that you're concerned about is food?" Keith got up in his face. "We are here in an extremely dangerous situation and all you can do is endanger us even more, with your whistling and shouting." Keith's face began to turn red and with his blonde buzzed hair he began to look like a sun. "Why don't you just run out into the open and fire your gun off. I'm sure that'd be more effective." Keith was eye to eye with John, since John was quite a tall black man that was a feet to achieve.
"You got a problem with me?" John gritted his teeth.
"I do. I sick and tired of your attitude, you think you are so much better than all of us."
"I am!" John shouted.
"Then how did someone who is so much greater managed to get his entire convoy killed by Croats?" Keith pressed his chest to John's.
John's rage boiled under his skin, the veins on his neck bulging and pulsing to his rapid heartbeat.
"Guys..." Kat slowly up to them. "We need to move. Now." Placing a hand on Keith's shoulder he turned his head behind him. His and John's shouting had attracted the attention of a large group of Croats.
"WE NEED TO GO!" She yelled pulling Keith's shirt and the group bolted in the direction of the fence line. The Croats sprinted after them, their blood shot eyes fixated on catching up to us. Keith lead the group, being trained in the police academy helped him and he was the first to reach the fence, then Kat and Crowley after her.
"Help them over the fence." She yelled to Keith. She pulled out her rifle and began picking off the few Croats that lead the pack. Crowley and John made it over the fence.
"Kat, come one." Keith warned.
"Not without Ross." She demanded, shooting another Croat. Keith began to scale the fence, Ross approaching fast.
"Crowley, get a grande." She yelled slinging her rifle over her shoulder then began to climb the fence. "Hurry Ross." Se waited at the top to pull him up. Ross reached the fence and then men from the other side began shooting the Croats behind him. Ross jumped grabbing hold of Kat's hand and she began lifting him over the fence when a Croat grabbed his leg. Ross kicked to free himself then was pulled over the fence, with Kat, both of them landing on their backs with a thud. Crowley tossed the grande and everyone sprinted out of range. When the explosive went off the Croats were scattered into many different directions, disorientated the group made their escape.
The rest of the travel was easy, mostly woodland and not a Croat in sight they were finally out of the hot spot and the sun was beginning to go down.
"Just another mile. We're really close now." Kat said breathlessly.
"Good, I'm sure how much more of this I can take for today." Crowley said. Kat looked back at her men all tired and worn out from the intense fight they had today. Ross leaned up against a tree trying his hardest to catch his breath.
"How you holding up?" Kat approached him, but he didn't respond. "Ross?" Ross hid his face from her, he seemed to be crying.
"You alight man?" She urged, placing her hands on his shoulders. Crowley at this point turned to watch her and Ross. Ross's gaze met Kat's and she saw it in his eyes, the red veining creeping to the center of his eye's.
"No, Ross." She grabbed onto him, helping him to the ground.
"Ross! Can you hear me?" Kat held his face. Crowley, Keith and Mickey then rushed to their side. She searched Ross's body and found a bite wound on his calf.
"Kat?" Ross whispered. "Please...Kat."
"What?" Kat had tears welling her eyes. She was loosing one of her boys, right in front of her. She was watching him change.
"Kill me, please." Ross pulled his pistol from his belt and placed it in Kat's hand. She stared at it then him blankly.
"No, I won't. You'll be fine, I promise." tears fell from her face.
"If I die, I'd rather you do it." Ross choked. Kat cried, she knew she had to. She gripped the pistol tight in her hand, placing it to the underside of his chin.
"I love you, Ross. You are my family." Kat said then with the pull of the trigger Ross was gone. Kat mustered herself wiping her tears and standing up she placed the pistol in her belt.
"Mickey grab his things. Keith help me with his body." Keith helped Kat carry Ross's body.
"We can't burden ourselves with him." John stated. Kat's body visually tensed.
"He is not a burden. He is our family and he will be treated as such. If you have a problem with that then you can gather the firewood for him." Kat growled at John and proceeded to carry Ross in the direction of the safe house.
The flames danced over their faces as they watched their friend be engulfed by flame. Kat held a photo of him and his mother and placed it within her jacket. A few of his prized possessions burned with him.
"Ross had a hard life." They all brought their attention to Kat. "He never felt like he belonged anywhere, like he wasn't supposed to live the life he did. You know when he really left he belonged, when he was fighting along side us...and now that's gone. All we have are our memories and no new ones will have him in them." Kat fought her tears and turned back to the safe house, Crowley following closely behind her. John who stood farthest away from the fire turned away and went into the safe house. No one would speak for the next week, the pain of loss too great to travel.