Italic=Thoughts
I do not own Znation, just Jay.
Chapter 1: Puppies and Kittens.
"If availability of amo is all you care about, then the .22 is the way to go." Doc, Addy, Mack and I were out looking for supplies for camp blue sky when we came upon Sketchy and Skeezy. Now we're seeing if we can trade for anything useful. "But if you really want to make an impression, check out this smoke wagon." Walking over to Addy, Sketchy pulls out a gun handing it to her. Checking out the weight, Addy frowns.
'Guess she doesn't like it.' I thought as I scanned the area for Z's. It's been quiet lately, and it's never quiet for long in the apocalypse.
"I was thinking something more silent, like a club. And sharp." Addy says as she hands the gun back. Sketchy nods his head, agreeing with her. Like any salesman would do when a customer doesn't like what their given. Walking over to his car, sketchy goes to look for something that is to Addy's liking.
"Yeah, I like how you think. Silent but effective, huh?" Opening the back of his car, Sketchy pulls out a metal bat with spikes on the end. Looking over to Addy, I nod in approval. The bat looked brutal. Taking a hold of the bat, Addy test it out on the air. Poor air, what did it ever do to her?
"I made it myself, I call it 'The Z Wacker.'" Wow, I bet it took you a while to come up with that. "You start with an aluminum bat , then customize it for the task at hand." Handing the bat to me, Addy walks over to discus trade while I try it out. I'm stabbing the ground when Doc and Skeezy catch my attention.
"How about a straight across trade? A dozen of these aspirin, for a dozen of these reloaded .223's." Doc offered. Thinking about the deal, Skeezy shook his head pointing at the aspirin. Walking over to them, I lean 'The Z Wacker' against the table.
" you can't kill a zombie with aspirin." He said fidgeting. Taking the open space beside Doc, I decide to cut into the argument.
"Well you can't kill a fever with a bullet, and they ain't making anymore aspirin." I explained as I look up at Skeezy. Turning his head towards me, Doc throws me a smile. Looking back over to Skeezy he nods his head, showing that he agrees with my words. Fidgeting some more, Skeezy looks to me then back to Doc.
"Make it a dozen Oxycontin and you got yourself a deal." Scoffing, I look up at Doc to see his reaction.
"I'd have to take a dozen Oxycontin before I make that deal. How about some meth? Huh? You want some crystal? I baked it myself.? Skeezy face goes from excited to disgusted.
"That same pink crystal stuff you made before? No, that stuff gave me an axe to the skull headache."
"No, that's what the aspirin's for." Getting bored with their argument, I walk back over to Addy who's done talking with Sketchy. Handing her, her bat back, I walk over to Sketchy.
"Hey, you got any strong light metals? Maybe some screws?" Looking in his trunk, Sketchy pulls out a semi small sheet of metal. Taking it from his hand, I test out it's durability. It was strong. Light too. "What is it?" I asked as I look it over more closely.
Putting his hands on his hips, Sketchy shrugs his shoulders. "I have no idea. Picked it up from the side of the road, thought it would be useful in the future. Looks like I was right." Handing the metal back, I look up at him.
"What you want for it?"I asked as I start taking my backpack off. Sketchy stops me, a gentle smile on his face.
"For you. On the house." Taking the metal from his hands, I careful put it into my backpack, giving him a grateful smile. That's when I hear the growls. A zombie emerges from the woods, running straight for Addy.
"Behind you." Mack warns her, however she's already on it. She swings her bat as if she's been playing ball for her whole life. And if we were playing ball, she would have gotten a home run. The Z falls to the ground lifeless, well, more lifeless than it was. "Nice. You alright? That was a close one." Mack components Addy as he check to see if she's ok. She nods, looking down at the Z.
"Yeah, that… that was a close one." Turning around, Addy looks at Sketchy and points her bat at him. "Brutal." With a smug smile on his face, Sketchy takes her compliment with a nod. Walking over to the Z, I crouch down to get a better look at it.
"Hey, isn't this Red Hanson?" I ask as I look over at Sketchy and Skeezy. Looking past me, Skeezy huffs in disappointment.
"Z's got Red? Damn, he was one of our best customers. Tough as bullets. I wonder if his brothers know." Speak of the devils, I think when growls echo out of the woods.
Two Z's bolt out of the woods, Mack shoots one, while Addy while Addy attacks the second one. One hit, two hits it's still up. Just when Addys about to hit it again, Mack shoots it. Suddenly a Z pops out of the woods behind Mack. Mack struggles with the Z, trying not to get bit when two gunshots are heard from my right. The Z falls to the ground, motionless. Looking over to my right I see Sketchy and Skeezy pocket their guns.
"Closing time." And with that, Sketchy's and Skeezy's trading truck is packed up and speeding away. Following their example, we pack up and leave back to camp blue sky.
~•Time-Skip•~
"Mayday, mayday. Calling camp blue sky. This is Doc with Thompson, Carver and Haress. What is your situation? Over." Camp blue sky was in flames, Doc was trying to get in contact with anyone still alive. I sigh in relief when we get a reply.
"Hey, Doc. Whats going on? What's going on?" Thank god. Garnett was still alive. I hope Warrens with him.
"Garnett? Thank god you're alive. We thought everyone was dead." From the what I can see, everyone is.
"I'm not at camp blue sky, what's happening?" Well, the camps on fire and everyone's dead. But besides that, everything's going great.
"Batteries are dying man." Doc said as the radio started to frizz out. "Blue sky's been over run. The whole place is...on fire."Really Doc? I thought they were having a light show.
"Survivors?" He asks hopefully.
"Well there was a ton of gunfire a while ago, but nothing since." And that's when the radio goes to shit. Banging on the radio a few times, Doc huffs and shoves the radio in his bag and turns to us. "Come on let's go." Now were running through the woods trying to find Garnett. That's when we see the school bus.
"There's the escape bus." Peering into the windows, I sees the children from camp. "They got the kids out!" And that's where the good news goes bad. In the end of the bus I see a Z slam against the window. Great, Just Great. Running after the bus,It starts to sway. Crashing into the bank, Z's pour out of the back of the bus as we turn around. My breathing's uneven as we run up a hill. And guess what we find up their? More fucking Z's. Thankfully, a truck runs their asses over, and it just so happens to be Garrett.
"Get in!" The back of the truck opens to reveal a black man in army clothes. Ignoring that for now, Me, Addy and Mack hop into the back while Doc gets into the truck. Banging on the side of the truck, I signal it to go. While speeding off, Mack fires two shots at the group of Z's before we're out of site.
~•Time-Skip•~
So apparently, we're heading to an abandoned high school to drop off some guy named Murphy so this other guy, Hammond, can bring him to some lab in California. But for now we're stopping at the high school so they can get reinforcements.Ok then. Pulling up to the high school, we find it in ruins. Hammond steps out of the truck to check if anyone's still alive. They're not.
"My reinforcements are dead. We need to make a quick search for survivors and any supplies. You!" Hammond points to Murphy, who is currently peeing on the truck tire. "Zip it up and stay close to me." Wow man, don't you think it's a bit rude to interrupt a guy while they're peeing? Cause I do.
"Where'd all the Z's go?" Addy was right, there hasn't been any Z's since back in the woods. That's where Doc decides to blesses us with his words of wisdom.
"Movin' on, Like locust." Thank you Doc for blessing us with your words.
"Yeah, but they'll be back. Garnett and Warren, you clear the building. And you four, check the vehicles." Jumping out of the back of the truck, I walk over to Hammond.
"Hey, you mind if I stay back here at the truck? I got something important I need to do." Looking down at me, Hammond huffs in annoyment.
"Fine, you can stay here and do whatever you need to do. You know where to find everybody if you need them." Walking over to Doc, I tell him that I'll be here if he needs anything. Nodding, Doc,Addy and Mack head off to search the vehicles while Warren, Garnett, Hammond and Murphy clear the place. Jumping into the end of the truck, I shrug off my bag. Opening it up, I pull out the piece of metal I got from Sketchy.
A sudden chill runs down my spine, I look around feeling like i'm being watch. However I see nothing, and look back to what I was doing. Taking off my right boot, I reveal a metal foot. That's right a metal foot. In the beginning of all this I got bit. So I did what the people did in the movies when they got bit. I cut it off.I know, stupid idea. But it worked so I'm not complaining.
Rolling up my pant leg, I expose the rest of my metal leg. It's not really a leg, just metals screwed together to make sure I don't fall. At the top where the metal meets my leg is a leather strap. The strap goes around my knee in an X formation and is tightened by metal clip buttons and a buckle. Unbuckling and unbuttoning the strap, I carefully pull off the leg and set it down in front of me. I run my hand over my now nude nub, tracing the scar where I sewed it up.
Turning my attention back to my metal leg, I search through my bag for my screw driver. The metal on the front of my leg is going to snap soon, so I'm using the metal Sketchy gave me as a replacement. Unfortunately I'm interrupted by a Z. I go for my gun on my thigh and aim for it's head.
'Click'
SHIT. I go for the gun in my jacket, but the Z's too fast. I'm knocked to the ground, the Z on top of me. I struggle to keep it from biting my face off. With one arm on its neck holding it up, I reach for the knife in my boot. Successfully getting it out, I stab the Z in the head. The Z falls limp on my chest, I grunt as I shove it off. Panting, I grab a hold of the end of the truck and pull myself up. Heavy footsteps are heard behind me. Tensing up I reach for my gun in my jacket.
"Jay-Jay, You ok there little guy?!" Relaxing, I remove my hand from my jacket and turn around. Doc comes running over to me, right behind him is Addy, Mack and some girl in very revealing clothing. Doc stops in front of me and takes ahold of my face, checking me over for any injuries. Pushing his hands away I chuckle.
"I'm fine Doc. A Z just snuck up on me while I took my leg off." reassuring him, I hop to the back of the truck and grab my leg. Strapping it back on I head into the building with Doc, Addy, Mack and the girl in front of me. Guess i'll have to fix it later.
The cries of a baby welcomes me as I step into the building. My eyes widen as I look over at Garnett who is holding a small, crying infant.
"Someone better shut up that kid up, before he attracts Z's like flies."I glare at Murphy as I walk over to Garnett.
"It's a baby. He makes noise." I say as I carefully take the baby away from Garnett and hold him in my arms. Instantly he stops crying. He giggles as I tickle his nose. Hey what can I say, I'm good with kids. My attention gets caught by Hammond and the girl. Hammond gives the girl a canteen, only to rip it away from her soon after and throw it to Addy.
"Why would someone lock you in a cage and leave you to die, what did you do?" Hammond said as he looked at the girl. The girl looks around nervously.
"I didn't do anything. I locked myself in the cage for protection." She said with some what confidences in her voice.
"You have the keys?" Hammond asked. Her face dropped. Fidgeting with her hands, she replied nervously.
"I..Lost them." Then we don't really have any proof that you locked yourself in there for protection now do we? Warren looks her up and down and gives her a skeptical look.
"Why are you dressed like that?" The question caught the girl off guard, looking up at Warren in anger, the girl replied.
"I don't have to justify myself to you-" And with those words, Hammond cut her off with a yell.
"Maybe you do!" Everybody stops what they're doing and looked at Hammond. "We were supposed to meet the men in those vehicles. What happened here?" He said with anger as he slowly crouched to her level.
"Those men showed up about a week ago. They cleared out the school and set up some kind of camp. But word got out that there was food. Lots of it from the bomb shelter. Yeah, it didn't take long. There was to many people. The soldiers shot some of the locals, and that brought the Z's. You can guess the rest." She answered. That's when Murph had to open his big mouth.
"What are we wasting time talking to her for? Give her the baby and let's go." Garnett did not like that. Walking up to Murphy, Garnett gives him a glare.
"You can't give this girl a baby and leave." Garnett argued.
"Well they can't come with us." Murphy replied with annoyed.
"No way am I leaving the baby and her behind. It's not gonna happen." Garnett shot back as Hammond tried to cut in. Bringing his hands into the air, Murphy argued back.
"It's just a baby. It's not like he's gonna grow up and be a fine young man some day." Shoving Murphy away from Garnett, Hammond decided to step into the argument.
"You know what, Shut up! We'll take them to the next safe outpost. God I hate moral dilemmas." And of course Murphy just had to get the last word into the argument.
"Yeah, what next chief? You wanna start a college fund for him?" Is it bad that I really want to hit him? Suddenly Warren comes in with her gun out and ready to shoot.
"Puppies and kittens. 200 yards away." Handing the baby back to Garnett, I take the unloaded gun that almost lead to my death and reload it. Placing it back into the holder on my thigh, I look up and see Hammond looking at us in confusion.
"Zombies." Garnett clarified for him. Snapping back into leader mode, Hammond once again started to order us around.
"Alright everybody, time to five, I want you to gather all the food and weapons you can find. Load them in that truck. The keys are still inside." He ordered while pointing at me, Doc, Addy, Mack and that girl.
"Hey! We haven't talked about this." Mack yelled as he walked up to Hammond. Turning around, Hammond gave Mack a deadly look.
"We can talk about it later. Right now, you do what I tell you. Garnett! You stay with the baby and Murphy until we get back. Warren. You and I are gonna see if we can start up that deuce and a half. Everybody meets back here in five." Everybody stays in place, looking around Hammond gets a aggravated. "Go!" Looking over to Garnett, we silently ask him for directions. Nodding at us, Garnett signals us to go. And so we do.
~•Time-Skip•~
We're all now looking around to see if we can find anything. Walking around a corner, we find an empty area, with Z's littered on the ground. I kneel down next to one of the dead Z's and search it. Finding nothing but a wallet and a few crumpled up pictures, I move on to the Z that's a couple feet away. As I'm about to kneel down, I hear Doc yell. Turning my head I see Doc being attacked by a Z he was searching. I'm about to help when the Z infront of me come to life as well. It grabs my arm and pulls itself up. I'm now in the same position as Doc. Arm on the Z's neck, trying to keep it's mouth away from us. Addy and Mack hesitate on who to help. Looking over to me then Doc I help them with their decision.
"Help Doc! I got this, don't worry!" I yell, moving my free hand to my thigh. Mack and Addy nod and head for Doc. The Z i'm holding off looks to be a middle age man. Well he looks like he used to be one. I hear a gunshot go off as I finally get a hold of my gun. Assuming it was Mack, I bring my gun up, only to hear a snap and then suddenly fall to the ground. The metal that was holding my leg together had finally snap. And at such a convenient time as well.
When I land on the ground I get the wind knocked out of me, not even a second the Z's on top of me. Trying to get a bite of my neck. I had dropped my gun in the fall and was now trying to get the knife in my boot. Another shot goes off and blood splatters onto my face. The Z goes limp on my body, but not for long when Addy and Doc pull it off of me. I sit up and take in deep breaths trying to catch my breath. Looking up, I catch a glimpse of somebody moving on the roof of one of the buildings.
"You ok Jay-Jay?" Doc asked with worry as he checked me over. I nod, grabbing a hold of my pant leg I pull it up to reveal my now broken metal leg. The metal that was holding it together was split in half, the other metals that made up the leg were still in good condition, however if I wanted to walk again anytime soon, I would have to get right to work when we got back to the truck.
"Damn, you were right when you said that, thing was about to snap. Come on, let's get back to the others." With that said, I draped one arm over Mack and hopped my way back to the truck.
~•Time-Skip•~
Walking, well more like getting dragged by Mack, we arrive to find Warren and Garnett blocking up the door to the building we were just in a while ago. Peering around, I notice that the baby is nowhere in sight.
"Where's the baby?" I questioned while Mack lifted me into the back of the truck as if I was a piece of driftwood. Ok, so i'm light. It's the apocalypse, sue me. Glancing my way, Warren answers me.
"Turned." Well i'm not gonna say that i'm shocked. I mean it's a baby, in the apocalypse.
"Surprise, surprise." Murphy commented sarcastically. Wrong choice of words Murphy. Stalking away from the doors, Garnett grabs ahold of Murphy and slams him against the wall. Hammond pulls out his gun and aims it at Garnett. Intently, I pull out my own gun from my back pocket and aim it at him. Hammond shifts his gaze to me for a split second when he hears me pull out my gun. His stance faltered for a second before he remembered what was at hand and looked back over to Garnett with a glare.
"Let him go." Hammond demand. "Or I will send you to walk among the dead." Hammond declared as he moved his aim from Garnett's head to his chest. He did not just say that. I cocked my gun, giving Hammond a scowl. Looking over at me, Garnett signaled me to lower my gun. Doing as he says, Garnett slowly released Murphy from his grip. Lowering his gun, Hammond demands that we leave.
"What about the...the baby, thing? We can't leave it like that." Warren says. The baby, thing started to cry or growl. Whatever you would call it. That's when Mack jumped into the conversation.
"Warren's right, we can't leave it like that. Even if it is turned." Mack stated as the baby, thing cried louder. I see Addy looking at the door, sadness laced her face.
"It sounds so sad." Doc looked over at her with a surprised face.
"It's not sad, it's a zombie." Ok, I kind of agree with that.
"Amen, brother. Let's go." I guess someone else agreed as well. I thought as Murphy agreed with Doc as well. Warren looked over at Murphy, a hint of disgust on her face.
"We can't leave it like that." That was a silent message saying that someone had to mercy it. Sighing, I push myself off of the truck and grip the side of it for support.
"I'll do it." I announced. Taking a step forward, I'm quickly lifted back into the back of the truck by Mack. Looking up at him, Mack had a bitter face. Glancing around I noticed that Garnett, Warren, Doc and Addy also had sour faces. Getting the message, I sit down besides Mack and grab my bag full of tools so I can try and fix my leg.
"I'll do it." Garnett said with a shaky breath as he turned around. Grabbing a hold of Garnett's shoulder, Warren gives him a look. Sighing in annoyance, Hammond walks over to Garnett and grabs his arm stopping him from entering the building.
"I'll do it. I need you to pull it together. Two minutes. Be ready to go." Loading his gun, Hammond darts inside of the building. A sudden shudder runs down my back. Snapping my head up, I quickly glance around. We're being watched. Making sure my guns are loaded, I returned to my work. Hoping that whoever watching doesn't decide to do something stupid.
"If we wanted to ditch these two, take the truck and run, now would be the time." Thank you Doc for the information, however I don't think that's gonna happen with the way Warren and Garnett are looking you. "Just sayin." He said as he raised his hands in defeat.
Not long after Doc's proposal, Hammond's scream broke the silence. Running inside, we find Hammond on the ground, guts spilling everywhere being eaten by the baby Z and another Z. Wow, death by baby. That's a new one. Pulling out our guns, we all shoot at Hammond and the Z's.
Walking out I stand by the door and watch everyone exit. "You know, none of this would have happened if you just left that damn baby." Murphy bitched to Garnett. Looking over at Murphy, Garnett gave him a hard look. Pointing up to the building, Garnett shot back at Murphy.
"I didn't tell Hammond to go get eaten by a baby." Oh he just went there. Sensing a fight, Warren jumps into the argument.
"Never mind that now. We need a plan." Thank you Warren for stating the obvious. Murphy moves over to the truck door and grabs its handle. Turning his head over us, Murphy gives us a glare.
"My plan is, I am taking this truck and I am forgetting about vaccines and labs, and all of you. I've wanted off this train from day one, and now's my chance." Opening the truck door, Doc steps forward with his hands in front of him stopping Murphy.
"Wait, wait, wait. You can't just go. What about California? What about the vaccine?" Addy looks up from the ground with hope in her eyes.
"What if it's real? What if there's a chance? And what if it's you?" Shifting his body to face Addy, Mack gives her a negative look.
"Addy how do we know this isn't all just bullshit?" And there's the negative comment. Murphy buts in once again.
"How does anybody know anything anymore?" Suddenly I hear static from the inside of the building. The group looks around in confusion, wonder what was making that noise and where it was coming from.
"Delta-xray-Delta." Hopping over to Hammond's lifeless body, I crouch down and push Hammond onto his stomach finding the source of the noise. I pick up the radio from the ground, hearing Warren question what the noise was. The radio comes to life once again.
"Delta-xray-Delta, this is Northern Light. Operation Bite mark. Do you copy? Delta-xray-Delta." What the hell is Operation Bite Mark? I question to myself as I wobble over to the door way. I hold up the radio in the air so the others can see.
"It's Hammonds radio." I inform the group as I toss it over to Addy. Turning it over in her hand, Addy inspects the radio.
"Delta-xray-Delta. This is Northern Light." The radio says as it comes to life once again. That voice seem familiar. But why? Pressing the button that lets her speak, Addy finally replies to the man on the other end.
"Hello?" she asks into the speaker. The man responded immediately, relief and happiness in his voice.
"I copy you Delta-xray. This is, this is Northern Light. Who am I speaking to?" He asks. I swear i've heard that voice before. Addy gives him her name, and he continues. "Okay. I need to speak to lieutenant Hammond." Sorry to break it to you buddy, but Hammond is not among the living anymore.
"Hammond's dead." Thank you Addy for breaking the news gently to him. It's a few moments before the radio starts up again.
"I'm..i'm sorry. I..I didn't copy that, Delta-xray. Did you say that Hammond is dead?" He stuttered. Addy tells him that, yes, Hammond is dead. "Is the package safe?" The what now? Package? Addy shares my confusion.
"Package? What..what package? Who is this." She asks, getting louder in the end. Well Addy he said that he was Northern light so he kinda already told you.
"Listen." Well didn't you get demanding all of a sudden. "I need to speak to whoevers in charge." Warren asks who is on the radio. Addy tell her that they won't say and that they want to speak to the person in charge. We all turn our heads over to Garnett. Addy passes him the radio so he could speak to the guy that has a very familiar voice.
"This is sergeant Garnett of the National guard. Who is this?" Garnet questions.
"Sergeant Garnett. Lieutenant Hammond was transporting a civilian named Murphy to California. Is he alive?" The guy on the radio asks with worry. Garnett calms his nerves by telling him that Murphy is still alive. And that's when it clicks. Almost tripping, I quickly scurry over to Garnett and take the radio out of his hand.
"Simon you fucking asshole! Where the hell have you been!? Do you know how much you worried me, you bastard!?" I yell into the radio. Garnett gives me a worried look.
"Wh-who is this?" Simon stutters from the other end.
"Wow, you're gone for not even a year and you already forget who I am. Its me, Jayden fucking Haress. Does that ring any bells you twat?" I replied angrily. I'm upset, he just disappeared a few months before the whole apocalypse starts and now here he is talking about some operation bit mark. Like what the fuck.
"J-Jay? You're alive?" He asks in disbelief.
"Of course i'm alive you asshat." I reply quieter than last time, starting to calm down.
"Listen to me Jay. it is imperative that you get Murphy to California. I repeat. It is imperative that you get Murphy alive to California. Do you copy?" He say starting to break up. I hit the radio, trying to get it to work. "Jay, do you copy?" He asks urgently.
"Yes I copy. But-Simon? Are you still there?" I get nothing but static as a reply, seconds later the radio goes dead. Hitting the radio once more, I curse under my breath. "Its dead." I say handing it over to Garnett.
"So?" Warren questions Garnett.
"So… It looks like we're taking here to California." Garnett tells us. However Murphy doesn't seem to happy with his plan.
"Says who?" Murphy says with his arms crossed.
"Says me." Garnett responded. And that was the queue to move out. Hobbling over to the truck, Mack lifts me up into the back and then gets into the car with Addy and Doc. After everyone is in a car, we head out. Scooting to the side, I grab my bag and start working on my leg once again.
We suddenly come to a stop, looking over the edge I see a boy. He had shaggy black hair and a pair of beautiful light blue eyes. He was wear a dirty camo shirt shoes on his shoulders, I'm assuming their shoulder pads, a scarf and some black jeans. A sniper rifle was slung over his shoulder and many other weapons all over him.
Doc rolls down his window from the drivers sit and starts talking with that boy."Hey there. You that sharp shooter that saved me and Jay-Jay's ass aren't you? Oh man, I want to thank you. Do you need a ride?" Doc asks as he points to the back of the truck. The boy merely shrugs and jumps into the back. He then bangs on the side of the truck, signaling Doc to go. We are then off once more.
The boy sits down across from me as I go back to working on my leg. His eyes watch my every move, whether it's when I screw in a bolt or when I lean over to my bag to get something. He only looks away once and awhile to check for Zs. It's half an hour later before I'm finally done.
Picking up my tools along and the leftover scraps of metal I put them away neatly in my bag. I then roll up my pant leg, the boy's eyes following my hands. I roll up the pant leg to just above my knee and then proceeded to attached my now fixed leg. Pulling it over my knee, I taking the straps and buckle them tightly and button them in place. Feeling that the boy's gaze is no longer on my leg, I look up to see him looking into my eyes.
"Thanks." I say looking past his eyes. "For you know, shooting that Z that was on
top of me. I owe you one." I quickly look to the side and pull my legs up to my chest, trying to make myself smaller. From the corner of my eye I could see the corners of his mouth curve up in a small smirk.
"Your welcome." He finally replied. Looking over the side of the truck, the boy scanned the area. I have a feeling that this boy is going to be the death of me.