Author's Notes: Bleh. Sorry about taking so long to write Chapter 3 people who're actually reading this story regularly. I don't have as much time on my hands as I thought, so I do the majority of my writing on the weekends. I'll try to have a chapter out each week, but no promises.

Sleep hadn't come easy for the First Lieutenant. He'd spent most of the night going over plans and plots in his head for escape, whether or not things were escalating outside of this town, how much the so-called 'infection' had spread and about the past. Eventually though, the soldier's eyes had fallen shut and he had drifted off to the world of dreams. Sleep time was short though, as expected, and Kyle was up and about in a little under four hours after falling sleep. During his time there he'd done a good job of remembering who was who.

There was the first man who'd helped them, Frank. He was a taller lanky man with bright orange hair and was very kind. He had two children, Matt and Nicole, the two red headed teenagers that had gawked at Melissa when he and her had come in. Those two were alright, though, Nicole was a bit to herself while Matt was very social and happy despite what was going on.

Then there was Glen, the elderly organ player. He was a gentle man, soft spoken and just as kind as Frank. He was always going around and doing what he could to help despite his age. There was also Steve Marcus, a brown haired man in a suit. He was pretty much a rich asshole who didn't seem to give a shit about the others. There was also Louis Christopher. He was a younger kid, in his mid-teens and a bit of a computer nerd. And then there was Tim Morgan, the hick of a man who had personally introduced himself to Kyle. Finally, there of course Melissa, Logan and Kyle himself.

Not much of a task force, but who could complain? At least they weren't shambling around trying to tear your flesh apart. Then again, there weapon supply wasn't the best either.

An M4A1 Carbine, an M16A3 assault rifle, two M9 handguns, an M21 sniper rifle, A Winchester Model 1901 shotgun (it turned out Tim's rifle was actually a shotgun), a Colt M1911, a Browning Hi-Power pistol, a Remington 870 modified to fire beanbags (not of much use) and a handful of tear gas grenades. Ammunition was in short supply for all the weapons and there supply of melee weaponry was rather pitiful as well; both soldier's bayonet's, a baseball bat, a boy axe(which Frank had used to create the barricade infront of the door) and a police baton.

From what information Kyle could gather, it appeared that everything had begun to fall apart soon after parts of the riot squad moved onto deal with other problems. After that, the police officers that had been present at St. Verbena began to fight a battle they'd already lost against the 'infected rioters.' What officers could retreated, seeming to forget about the civilians trapped in the church.

A few officers had decided to stay, doing the best they could to put up a defense, but eventually decided to take shelter inside as everyone else had. By the time the chaos was over, there only nineteen people left in the church - four of which were police officers. Others had tried to flee or just disappeared. As the day dragged on however, people got up onto the roof and tried to escape using the alley in the back, went out through the back door and one person had even shot themselves inside of the church.

In the end, only Frank and his kids - Matt and Nicole - Glen, Steve, Louis and Tim remained. Near the end of the day, the trio had shown up and added to their ranks.

Glen was talking into the CB, pleading for assistance. He'd been doing so since Kyle had woken up. Apparently it was what he spent most of his time doing while Louis helped when he could. He occasionally got responses, most of them telling him to abandon the church, that everyone there was fucked anyways, hold down as long as they could and enjoy their remaining life and other things to those extents. Mostly just crazy people talking in hysterics.

"So what's the plan?"

Kyle turned toward Sergeant Logan Wallace and frowned. "What'd you mean?"

"You know what I mean Kyle." Logan said. "Do you have a plan to get out of here or not?"

"Um..."

"Didn't think so."

"Well," Kyle cleared his throat. "maybe we should just stay here and try to hold out. I'm sure help'll be arriving soon."

"Oh yeah, because that's exactly what's gonna happen. We just sit here and hold out and at the last possible second, our friends on top are gonna come riding in on a bunch of white horses and save our asses." Logan scowled and rolled his eyes. "Come Kyle, you know what the people in control do. They don't give a shit about us, they're gonna try to cover their own asses in a situation like this. Every man for himself, ya know?"

Kyle only grunted in response. As much as he hated to admit it, most - if not all - of the people within the White House, House of Representatives and such were only concerned with themselves, the money could make and their families. Usually in that order too.

But he still had hope that someone would come. Anybody actually. Soldiers, law enforcement, a group of civilians. Someone that could help them. Kyle just wasn't going to accept that nobody at all was coming.

"Anyways," The Sergeant continued. "I went onto the roof and checked up on the Humvee. It's still in working order, but it's not going anywhere unless we can clear a path for it."

Kyle frowned at his friend's words. "You want to go out there and try to drive everyone away in the Humvee?"

"Like I said, if we could clear a path for it, we could get out of here."

"And how exactly are we gonna do that? We don't have enough bullets to clear the path and judging from what happened earlier, the gas grenades won't do shit."

Earlier in the day, everyone had gone out onto the roof for experimentation. It had been Louis's idea and he'd had Kyle set-up his rifle and shot at the infected's torsos. He fired four rounds into four separate individuals, but the bullets only seemed to stunned them. However, when he'd fired a round through one's forehead, it dropped do the ground and stayed there. Louis had concluded his theory was correct and then had thrown a grenade down into the crowd to test it's effect. When it went off, everyone had heard moans and groans from the crowd. The grenade had bothered them, but it hadn't driven them away. Once again, Louis said his theory was proven to be correct.

Logan opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by an unfamiliar voice. Both soldiers turned toward Glen who was now standing infront of the radio. "Hello? You still there?"

A woman was talking through the speaker.

"Y-yes! My name is Glen Richards, an organ player at the St. Verbena church." Glen spoke hurriedly. "Listen, um, th-there's..." He paused, doing a mental count as he glanced back at everyone who was staring nervously. "Nine people here. There's a big crowd of people outside, not good people. We need help as soon as possible."

There was a short pause before the voice replied.

"Alrightie Glen. I know where that is. The name's Norma and I'm about thirty or so minutes away from there buddy. Start getting ready for pick-up. I'm in a big rig so I'm gonna swing around the back. You've got about thirty seconds to get everyone inside and the door closed before I start movin' again. Be ready for me. Over and out, Glen."

With this, the radio went silent again. The silence though was soon shattered, replaced with whoops and cheers of joy.

"Yeah, we're gonna get outta here!"

"Woo hoo, great job Glen!"

Yeeeaaahhh! Finally, some hope!"

However, Louis looked a bit upset. Kyle frowned and walked over to the teenager and sat down. Louis glanced at him with a scowl.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked.

"That should be me getting the cheers, goddammit." Louis said, mumbling something to himself. "The stupid old man would've give up the radio when I asked."

The First Lieutenant laughed lightly and gave the teen nudge and smiled. "Don't worry about it, kid. Sometimes popularity isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Louis sighed and slumped a bit. "Yeah, yeah... It's just annoying because if he'd just handed over the damn radio, I'd be the one getting the praise, not him. I've never gotten praise before. Well, besides from my Mother, but she doesn't count."

"Of course your Mother counts." Kyle arched an eyebrow. "She's a person isn't she?"

"Yeah, but Mom's are supposed to do that kinda thing... Right?"

"Well, not exactly. They don't have to, but they do because they love you and care. They're proud of your accomplishments."

"Mmm... I guess so. But still." Louis sighed and propped his head up with his hand. "This sucks."

"Like I said, man, don't worry about it. Glen's old, managing the CB radio is one of the only things he can do. You, you're still young and able bodied. You can get around and do all kinds of stuff. And besides, I've seen you working on the radio a few times when it got kinda jittery on the old man. If you hadn't fixed it, we wouldn't have been able to get in contact with that woman."

"Heh..." The teen smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." He laughed lightly and nodded a second time. "Thanks Kyle."

"No problem man." Kyle smiled and stood up then held a hand out to the younger male. "Come on, let's go start helping the others though. You heard the lady, we've only got thirty minutes until we're getting the hell outta here."

Louis grinned and grabbed the soldier's hand, allowing himself to be pulled up with ease. "Yeah!"

And work they did. As much as everyone wanted to throw a celebration, there was no time for a party; there was still lots of work to be done. After gathering what meager supplies the group had and placing them on a table that had been set-up in the middle of the church, a quick half-baked plan was thrown together.

Logan and Tim would move out first, armed with the weapons they'd come to the church with. Meanwhile, Frank and Matt would move out next, each equipped with the M1911 and beanbag shotgun respectively. Louis, Glen and Steve would follow, Louis armed with the Hi-Power handgun while Glen and Steve would be armed with the baseball bat and boy axe. Steve had complained about not receiving a gun, but his cries had been ignored because Louis revealed he had won a couple of trophies in shooting competitions his Father had taken him to. Finally then, Kyle, Nicole and Melissa, who'd be armed with Kyle's M9, would come out and make their way to the truck as fast as possible. Not the best plan, but it would work.

Hopefully.

Weapons and supplies were distributed and everyone began going over the plan for a fourth time, just making sure everyone in the group got it down while minor details and kinks were worked out. Norma's voice once again sounded over the CB though halfway through.

"Okay Glen, I'm moving a bit faster than expected. You've got about two minutes until I get there 'cause I just swung around the corner of Sixth and Seventh street. Get your asses ready."

With this news, everyone began to quickly scramble to get things finished. Everyone began to line up by the back door as was expected; Logan and Tim infront, weapons ready, Frank and Matt behind them, ready and willing as well while Louis, Glen and Steve were prepared behind them. Kyle was just slinging the backpack with the gas grenade and a large percentage of their supplies over his shoulder when the roars from a large truck engine came from the front side of the church. Logan placed his hand on the backdoor's handle, gripping the handle of his M16 tightly and glanced at Tim who nodded slowly, body tense.

As the truck rolled past one of the boarded up windows, Logan flung open the door. Immediately, hell began to break loose.

Logan opened fired after taking about four steps outside, Tim following his lead. Automatic and lever-action fire were sounding from outside, screams of the infected mixing with it. Next, Frank and Matt moved. They followed as close as they could to the first duo, firing off rounds when they needed to. A few seconds later, the trio of Louis, Glen and Steve made their way outside. While the two girls tensed, Kyle stayed calm by counting to eight in his head.

"Alright, let's go!" The Lieutenant shouted before moving outside, bringing his M4 upwards.

There was a good six feet between each of the small groups. Norma's big rig was parked about four feet away from Logan and Tim who were a good thirty or so feet ahead of Kyle and his group. Gunfire and screams filled Kyle's ears, but he ignored it and moved forward, lightly tugging the trigger of his weapon back and burping burst rounds into the infected who closed in on his group.

Logan and Tim reached the truck, flinging open the tall door and quickly climbed inside and began to provide cover fire for the remainders of their group. Everyone moved forward as quickly as possible, doing their best to hold of the threat that surrounded them. Luckily, the numbers behind the church had been fewer then the number of those infront. Unfortunately, Kyle could already make out the screams of the infected from the front beginning to make their way around the building to where their food source was trying to escape.

Frank and Matt made it to the truck as well and also began to give the others cover fire. Meanwhile, Kyle turned on the crowd of infected who had began to come around the building and opened fire, aiming high. Many in the front began to drop and trip the ones behind them, but Kyle knew better than to focus on them for too-

A scream.

A human scream.

Kyle whirled around just in time to see an infected elderly lady pulling Matt from the truck. Frank immediately dashed over to his son, eyes wide and fired at the woman. With a shriek, the woman released Matt and reeled back. More infected began to take her place though, grabbing the poor boy by his legs. Frank continued to fire until his gun ran dry, then he chucked the weapon at the nearest infected and sent it stumbling back while he tried to pull his son further into the truck. More infected moved in.

Kyle grimaced, but returned his attention to the two he had to take care of. Melissa raised the handgun he'd given her awkwardly and fired. The slide stayed back and she stared at it wide-eyed.

"Just go!" Kyle said and gave her a light shove. Both females nodded and sprinted forward as the Louis, Glen and Steve made it to the truck.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Kyle, Melissa and Nicole made it. The soldier made sure the females were on before he began to scramble up and inside. As he did though, he felt something - or rather someone - grab his backpack. He lost his balance and began to tumble backwards until Logan grabbed him.

"Cut the straps!" He screamed. "Cut the fucking straps!"

Kyle instantly complied, sliding his bayonet out of it's sheath. The sharp edge easily passed through the left strap and with a simple twist of his body, the right strap slid off his arm and set a Chinese man tumbling backwards, ripping and tearing at the pack. Another infected however, jumped forward. Logan shoved his M16 forward and tore the trigger back. 5.56 rounds ripped through the infected's body. Unfortunately, the backpack was directly behind the infected being gunned down.

A few bullets later and the gas grenades inside began to burst, a large burst of smoke beginning to spread. Kyle brought his arm to his mouth and covered both air passageways as to not inhale the gas. Meanwhile, he could hear someone coughing intensely before the loud thunk of someone falling on metal sounded.

As Logan began to retract the gun, an infected grabbed the barrel of the rifle and yanked hard. Even Kyle could feel the strength of the pull, having both Logan and himself sliding back and toward the large doorway to hell. Logan quickly released the weapon, willing to let it go instead of being pulled out with it. The Sergeant swore as he began to pull Kyle further in the truck's hull.

Suddenly, the truck began to lurch forward.

"Close the door!" Someone screamed.

Melissa and Glen moved forward, grabbing the top of the truck's door and dragging it down. The door shut and locked with a satisfying click as the truck picked up speed. Kyle's eyes fell shut as he inhaled and exhaled heavily, gasping for breath.

"M-Matt..." A voice whimpered.

Kyle shot up, but quickly dropped back down as the feeling of light-headedness fell over him. His eyes began to water and he squeezed them shut. It seemed that he'd be suffering from the minor effects of the grenade for a few moments. And as expected, a few moments later, he could sit up without being in pain.

Glen, Nicole, Melissa, Steve, Frank... a blond woman and an obese woman with a large chunk of her arm missing.

"Wh-where're Louis and Matt? And Tim?"

Logan bit his lower lip.

"Tim and Matt... got pulled out of the truck. Tim was trying to help Matt, but they grabbed his head and jerked him out and..." Logan shook his head. "And Louis rolled out when the grenades went off. The gas got to him and apparently triggered an asthma attack or something. I dunno..."

Kyle stared wide-eyed at his friend, mouth slack jawed. How? When? No... Things had been planned; plans weren't supposed to go... No. Plans did go wrong. Kyle knew that. They'd gone wrong before, what stopped them from going wrong this time? Nothing. That was three more people Kyle had gotten to know taken from him by this plague. He sighed and laid back down, breathing evenly. He could hear Frank and Nicole whispering to each other quietly. Soon enough though, it turned into sobbing as they mourned for their lost family member. He cringed slightly at the noise.

I wonder if Mom thinks I'm dead... I wonder if she's dead. Is she crying because she thinks I'm dead? Will I cry if I find out she's dead? He exhaled again.

The truck went over what was probably rough terrain and it jumped, sending the people inside rocking. Logan swore under his breath and leaned up against the side of the truck. Kyle sat up and looked around.

Frank and Nicole were huddled up in the right corner farthest from the truck's door, mourning. Steve was leaned up against one of the hull's walls, checking himself for injuries. Logan was lying down now, injured arm over his eyes. The blond woman was doing what Kyle was doing; examining everyone. The obese woman was lying on her side, gripping her wounded arm and moaning lightly in her sleep. Melissa was closest to Kyle, knees hugged up to her chest. Kyle let out a sigh and lied back down, silently mourning.

Mourning for Tim, Louis and Matt. Mourning for all the people that had died during this suddenly epidemic - whether he knew them or not. Mourning for his Mother who was possibly dead. Mourning for his younger sister Angie, who had been spared this whole situation by dying just a little under two weeks ago. And for anyone else he'd forgotten.

Silently, everyone in the truck was mourning in their own way.