"Whoo hoo!" Ellis bellowed as he watched the Tank below roar angrily down below. The helicopter lifted into the sky, moving away from the bridge which had been blown up and collapsed into the bay.

"I can't believe we made it!"

Rochelle smiled solemnly as she helped Nick sit on the wall of the chopper. "Amazing, huh?" She rolled up his pant leg, which was stained a fresh deep red. She sucked in her breath, pulling the last bit of bandages out of her med kit. A sudden lurch sent her sprawling onto Nick with a wince.

"Ouch.."

"Sorry," She said, pulling herself off.

As she cleaned Nick's wound, she thought out loud, "You know, I can't help but think that we're finally home free."

"I'll believe that when we see it." Nick said.

"Aw, c'mon, Nick. We're finally in a military whirly-bird, we're out of New Orleans, what else could happen? We're safe, man."

"I dunno. We've been safe about twice, Overalls. I won't say it until we're in the camp, entirely safe and never have to stare at the face of a gosh-freaking Tank ever again."

"Speaking of Tanks," Rochelle cut the bandage, "I never thought I'd see you do that for anyone."

Nick gave a smug grin, "You always said I could change a bit. There, are you happy?" He had shoved Rochelle and Coach out of the way when a Tank had been running towards them, ready to send them flying into the bay below. After shoving them away, the Tank had hit a car towards him, pinning him under it.

"Thanks, anyway." She leaned against a wall beside him, sighing relief. "I'm still glad to be on this chopper, at any rate. Hey Coach, got any thoughts? You've been awfully quiet."

Coach looked up, "Yeah. I've been thinkin', what are Carriers? I heard the soldiers talk about something like that when we picked up the radio."

Rochelle look up, "I remember reading something on the graffiti on the walls of safe rooms all over the city. I can't remember what they said, though.."

"If ya can't remember," Ellis leaned back, "Then it ain't important. Let's just forget about it for now."

Coach nodded, "Might as well. We can find out in the safe zone."

"Speaking of the safe zone, where is it?"

"I heard it was somewhere out west. Seems like the infection didn't spread there." Rochelle folded her legs under her as she adjusted to the bumps and creaks of the helicopter.

"Yet." Nick added.

"Looks like we're goin' cross-country! Man, I wish that Zoey was with us! We coulda had our weddin' right here!"

"Keep dreaming, overalls."

"So, since we're on a long flight, what should we do?" Coach asked.

Ellis came up with another idea. "Ya know, this reminds me of the time my buddy Kieth and I..."

"Ellis, I swear to God that if you don't shut up right now, I'll shoot you."

"No, Nick. I was just trying to say that when we first met, we made a game out of learning about each other. Then we guessed each others' names. Seems like a good idea since we're stuck here for a while."

"Actually, that's a great idea, Ellis." Rochelle glanced at Nick. "But we can just learn about each other, since we already have our names set."

Ellis grinned, "I'll go first. I had a beagle, favorite color's blue, I lived in Savannah, I worked at a car shop, I played bass in a band with a bunch of my friends, and I'm 23."

Rochelle sat up. "I'll go then. I had a cute little calico, I love orange, I lived in Cleveland, I was a "vice producer" in Channel 5 News. I totally wasn't, though. I was treated like an intern, though I finally got my break...when I met you guys." She laughed, "Some break, huh? Anyway, I'm 29."

"I've a large St. Bernard, purple or yellow, since they were my school's colors, I lived in Savannah, like Ellis, I was a school coach and the coach of the football team, and I'm 44."

Nick remained silent, leaning his head against the wall and his eyes were closed.

"Hey Nick, aren't you gonna share?"

Nick cracked open one eye. "No. Feeling the blood pool out of your leg is very tiring. And I want to get some sleep before something happens. Alright? I don't know about you guys, but good night." He closed his eyes again.

Coach chuckled. "Nick's right. We've haven't slept right in a few days. Let's get some sleep. 'Night, y'all." After a few minutes, however, Ellis did not fall asleep. Instead, he stood up and headed towards the front of the chopper, where the entrance to the pilot's area was.

"Hey," He tapped on the wall where a small slit could be seen. "Thanks for waiting for us, sir. We'd still be stuck in New Orleans without ya."

Suddenly, he heard a gun click and was staring down the barrel of a magnum pistol.

"Get back to the area and don't move. Please stay with your friends...sir." Came the voice of the pilot.

"A-Alright..." He wobbled back to the middle to the helicopter, sitting beside Coach. He though of waking him up but the deep sleep lines in his face made him stop. Instead, he kept it in the back of his mind to tell his team mates later. Settling into the rocks and creaks of the helicopter, he fell asleep.

–

"Ellis, sweetie, wake up."

"Huh?" Ellis opened his eyes. "What's up?"

"We've stopped moving." Nick supported himself on the wall of the helicopter. He looked out of the tiny window. "We're surrounded by fences. I don't like the look of this, you guys."

Suddenly, the sound of the back door of the helicopter opened, revealing several people dressed in what seemed like modified hazmat suits.

"Drop your weapons on the floor now." demanded one.

"What? What are we-" Nick was cut off by having an M16 pointed at his face. "Drop them on the floor. Now."

They slowly put their guns onto the floor, then unstrapped their grenades and objects onto the floor, but they kept their med kits as well as their adrenaline and pills.

"Those are not allowed in camp, sir." The man nearest to Ellis gestured to his adrenaline.

"Alright, alright." Ellis dropped it onto the floor.

"Stand in front of the wall, hands up." The survivors complied.

They felt their hands being pulled behind them and being restrained behind their back.

"Hey! What are your doing?"

"Safety concerns. You all have said that you've encountered the infected, right?"

"Of course we have! We've fought our way from freaking Savannah to New Orleans. Of freaking course we've encountered the infected!" Nick snapped.

Without a word, the men escorted the handcuffed survivors to a large building at the end of a long alley fenced in on either side. From where they were, they could see a few houses that seemed like apartment buildings.

"See?" Ellis whispered, "I told you, Nick. We're safe here."

"I bet a Hunter could easily jump over those walls."

The men behind them hit them with the butt of their guns. "Keep walking and be quiet."

After arriving inside of the building, they were led to a man who was wearing less than the soldiers.

"This is Dr. Serven. He'll be taking your tests and determining your camp."

"Um, yeah, one quick question before you go," Rochelle finally said as they took the handcuffs off, "Why are we being 'tested?'"

"To test for the Green Flu. Now, I need the men to go over there," Dr. Serven gestured to

a door to the right of them, "And I need the miss to go over there. Don't worry, a female doctor will take care of your tests."

Rochelle seemed to light up at the idea of a female doctor.

She went into the room while the men pondered over their situation.

"Well, this won't hurt, right?" Ellis asked, rubbing the sweat off of his head. "And besides, where are we?"

The doctor led them into the room, "Welcome to the Beehive State. The only safe haven in the midst of the infection."

The door closed behind them.