Thawed

November 24th, 2077

North Carolina, U.S.A.

"Give me some stats, Janice."

"Well, to start, I hope I look this photogenic when I'm dead."

The rest of the teams had arrived in the early hours of the morning; about right after Anne and James pulled the body out of the water. Nobody had believed the duo when they described the state of the corpse, but then again, who would? They had the medic, Janice, look over the body for any reasons why it would be in such good condition. She had been examining it for over two hours, and at this point, everyone was starting to get impatient. Even James couldn't help but get frustrated at how long this process was taking.

"He's engulfed in ice." Janice stated as she tapped at the thick layer of ice covering the corpse. Anne sighed as she saw water drip from the stretcher he was on; James had put even more wood in the fire place. It was almost like an oven in here, but nobody would dare say that to the older man. He would kick their asses. "It's a good thing you fired up the fire place, James. Once this ice melts, I'll be able to do a full autopsy."

"So, what do you think happened to the poor bastard?" One of the rookies, Mike, asked with a sad expression.

"Well, I don't need the ice to melt to see he has a bullet wound in his leg." The medic began as she pointed to the hole in the corpse's leg. "I can also see bruising in his face… Possible broken ribs…"

"This guy's been through some serious shit," Anne stated. "His body may have just given out."

"That's exactly what happened, Anne."

"You think that walker got the chomp on him?" James asked as he pointed to the zombie gripping the man's leg.

"It looks they both froze over before he could get his meal."

"How the hell have they been this frozen for so long?" The leader of Team 2, Jason, crossed his arms. He was skeptical of this whole situation. "This is North Caroline, Janice. The lake would warm up in the spring; there would be no possible way someone could be frozen for nearly seventy years down there."

"Jason, I'm just as confused as you are, but we're going to need the ice to melt before I can get answers." Janice replied with a sigh. She stood up and walked over to the sofa; moving away all the pillows before sitting down. "It'll take a few hours for all that ice to melt completely, so y'all better make yourself comfortable."

The group members were all sitting at the table drinking; talking about their life and their families at home. It made James uncomfortable to join the conversations and laughter. He had never bothered to talk to anybody besides Anne and Janice. This type of chatting seemed almost inappropriate when there was a corpse of a young man in the other room. Besides, he was never much of a social butterfly anyway. He felt more at peace when he was alone and reflecting.

"Hey…" Janice's voice brought him out of his thoughts. She sat beside him on the steps; a small smile forming on her lips. "You not gonna drink with us? Elizabeth was about to tell us the story about how her dad got stuck on the toilet."

"I don't feel like going in there," He began. "It's too loud."

"Or you just don't want to socialize?"

"Yeah, I just don't want to socialize."

"Y'know, they're only trying to lighten the mood. We've all seen some serious shit for the past few days." Janice couldn't help but think back to what she saw at Parker's Run. The sight of that poor girl under the balcony and the woman sitting on the tires. She knew who they were, and it hurt her to think about it. "I saw Alvin's mother right near the museum," She stated as she pulled a cigarette out of her pocket. God, did she need a smoke.

"You did?"

"Yeah, she was all mummified… Shit, that poor guy's gonna be happy we found her." She couldn't help but think of Alvin and his desperation to find his mother; to give her a proper burial spot at the capital. "Also found that girl Sarah. We got most of the old group now…"

"Not all of them," James scoffed at her comment. "You're forgetting about the guy at the trailer park. All Team 2 could find of him was a baseball cap."

"I know where you're getting at, James." She began with a frown. "You think 'they' got him."

"Janice, let's be real. 'They' started snatching bodies the moment it was safe for them too. You know what 'their' ultimate goal is, hell, everyone knows. A human weapon."

"Seems like you're jumping to conclusions, James." Janice sighed. "That guy's been laying there for seventy years; he was probably moved somewhere or animals got him."

"Janice, you know 'they're' a threat to us."

"Of course, I'm not stupid, James!" She gave him a solid glare. "But, I'm starting to get the hunch you think I am."

"I don't think you are!" James snapped. He could hear the cheering and laughter from outside grow silent. "You know 'they're' a serious threat, but yet you don't take them seriously!"

"I do, but I'm not going to blame them for everything!"

"I-"

"Save it." She coldly responded before making her way back inside. "Forget even trying to talk to you. Have fun freezing your ass off!"

"I will." He huffed before crossing his arms.

A/N: Looks like Janice and James have some serious sexual tension, AJ's on a quest to find the cabin group's bodies and give them a burial, and everyone's partying hard inside with's Luke's corpse. But, wait! Where the hell is Nick? Who the hell is 'they'? Well, y'all have to read on to find out!