Here we are for another chapter. I'm losing momentum already and I feel like sleeping for a week, any of you know that feeling? Sucks. Maybe I should stop writing so late. Anyway, on to the chapter! Read, Review, and Enjoy! No really, review this. I could use some notes on how to improve or just general feedback to help me get motivated.

"I said 'No'! What don't you fucking get about that?!"

Cole was in a frenzy yelling at Cass who stood in front of him, tears building in her eyes and her entire body trembling with fear.

"That thing is not a pet! It is food!"

There they stood in their boxcar home where they had taken up shelter for now.

"B-but Cole we-"

"Shut it Cass!"

Stephanie was outside humming and giving out an occasional giggle.

"I don't care why you want to keep it. Did you even think what would happen if someone came looking for it?!"

Cole was infuriated by Cass's recent actions.

"What if someone finds us then brings those bastard soldiers to take us out?! This boxcar isn't very safe from gun fire!"

Cass stopped holding back and let herself go. She let her tears fall and she starting hitting on Cole's chest.

"Dammit Cole! Just let me-"

"No!"

They were quickly quieted by a noise much louder then their own. A high pitched cry from outside that sent Stephanie into a panic as she rushed inside carrying a small bundle in her arms.

"Look what you idiots did!"

She held out the small bundle revealing an even smaller face wrapped in a blanket. It was an infant that Cass had found earlier that day while out looking for food. It was an odd sight to her, a lone baby in the woods, not a human parent anywhere near. Being an infected, her first thought was eat but as she was about to grab it, the eyes had opened to show two shimmering cerulean eyes. The baby looked at Cass and in an instant started to giggle and reach out to her. Whether it was maternal instinct or she was just too weak hearted to kill it, she took the infant into her arms and carried it home. After showing it to Stephanie, who was excited about the cute little thing, Cass thought they could keep it and raise it. Cole on the other hand was excited in a bad way. And that is what lead to this point.

"Dammit... I'm outta here, you girls deal with the brat."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting some food."

It took some time for the two girls to quiet down the child but they finally succeeded. With Cole out to get food, they had time to just play with their new found "family member". These two had been at eachother's throats since they met but with this infant there they seemed much more mellow and cheerful.

"What do we name her Cass?"

"Her? I thought it was a boy..."

"I don't really know to be honest. We need to check."

"One two three, not it!"

"Ugh... OK."

While those two tried to discover the child's gender and think of a name, Cole wandered through the nearby woods where Cass had found the baby. The only food he found was a doe that had been dead for not too long but long enough to stink. The smell was incredibly offensive but he paid it no mind and started eating. Seconds into the meal and he bit into something not a part of the deer. He could tell it was small and metal in his mouth, after retrieving it with his fingers he discovered it was a bullet, and a rather large one at that.

"308 cal. rifle round. Doubt it was a miss fire from a fight, unlikely they would miss with a rifle so easily. Guess it was a hunter."

Cole wiped his mouth of the deer's blood and started to search the area for a sign of humans. He quickly found a small blood trail beside a dead common infected, a knife sticking out of the head. The blood was leading off deeper in the woods, Cole was getting curious now and followed. The farther he followed, the fresher the blood was. What ever happened had happened quite recently or else the blood would be coagulated by now. A ways along the trail he heard a painful sobbing. His first thought was a witch like Cass, but it didn't sound right. Eventually the sound lead him to a small cabin resting deep in the forest. The trail went under the door and inside.

Cole pushed the door open to be given the greeting and a shocked gasp from a woman fiddling with a rifle almost as tall as her. Cole prepared himself for a scream of terror, but was instead welcomed into the woman's arms as she wrapped herself around him and covered him in her tears.

"Oh god, it's you! I was so scared! ...Forgive me please! Please..."

"The hell is this lady's problem?"

Cole raised his claw and brushed her hair from her face to get a better look at her but as soon as his claw passed her eyes she fell backwards and crawled away.

"No...No not you!... No!...no...no..."

Cole was confused by her every action and so decided to leave her alone for now and investigate the cabin while she cried to herself. He started with the mantle peice above the fireplace. It was covered in trophies and holiday cards, the trophies were for boxing. This woman didn't look the type to be much of a hand to hand fighter, not unusual for people to change drastically in the hell of a world though. Cole continued to the couch where the woman was sitting a moment ago and rummaged through a bag, nothing of use was inside.

The entire place seemed like a waste of his time and so Cole decided to leave. As he neared the door there was a crash behind him. The woman had bumped into a table next to the couch and knocked a few things off while she was trying to load and raise her gun to Cole.

"I don't want you to be this... thing... I'm so sorry..."

Cole took three steps toward her and stared her down with the barrel of the rifle against his forehead. Her eyes were filled with tears and her hands were shaking before she dropped the gun and lowered her head, waiting to be turned to one of the infected. Cole had no such attempt in mind, instead he bent over and grabbed the things on the floor, first a candle, next some keys, then a photo... a photo. Cole lifted the photo from its broken frame and examined it closely. He reached to his back pocket and pulled the photo he had gotten from the couple in the police station just a day ago. They were the same. Cole flipped the photos over to try and reveal more about them, and luckily on the photo he had just retrieved was a note.

"Hey Bro, good to be home huh? I heard Jenny finally had that baby of hers! Congratz Cole!... Cole?... Cole?! Why is my name on here?! And what's this about a baby?!"

The woman just watched as Cole read the back of the photo. It was clear he was confused and in a panic. His eyes were wide and his teeth grit together as he read the words over and over as if it would change if he read it enough times.

"C-Cole?"

His head snapped to the side and he stared at the woman who spoke his name.

"You know me right Cole? It's me, Jen... Please remember..."

Cole's hard expression softened as she laid her hand on his cheek. Whoever he was before being the bruja, he was important to this woman, he could see it in her eyes.

"I can't believe you became one of those things..."

Cole remained silent as he examined her face, trying in vein to remember who she was to him.

"You can't remember me can you?... You loved me and I loved... I still love you..."

"I am sorry but I can't remember. Who are you? Do you know that infected that attacked me? He knew your name."

"When you left to hunt I didn't think you would ever come back."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I tried my best to take care of our baby and tried to hunt for myself but..."

"Oh right, humans only hear snarling and grunts from infected, shit."

The woman again wrapped her arms around Cole and started pleaded for forgiveness.

"One of those monsters took our baby girl! I couldn't stop him! I'm so sorry! It had these tentacles and it just grabbed her from me!"

"Wait a second, baby?! Cass!"

Without warning Cole wrapped his arms around the woman.

"I hope this is enough to make you trust me."

Cole scooped Jenny into his arms and headed for the door. The sun was rising and light shimmered through the trees, lighting the woods enough for Cole to make a mad dash to the boxcar. With a deep breath, he released a deranged scream that echoed through the woods in hoped that it would put Cass and Stephanie on high alert. Jen hanged onto Cole for dear life, both in fear and excitement. She knew nothing about where he was taking her or why, all she knew was Cole was infected now and he was stuck that way. The Cole she knew was gone for good.

After arriving to boxcar, Cole saw the door was shut tight. He let down his former lover and started banging on the side.

"Hey! You girls in there?"

The door slid open and Cass and Stephanie jumped out to greet him with hugs.

"Dammit Cole! Cass and me thought you'd been hurt when we heard you yell! You are such an ass!"

"Hey Cole we thought of a name for the baby, not that you care but her name is-"

The woman whom Cole carried the entire way there grabbed the infant from Stephanie's arms and ducked down behind Cole to hide.

"What the hell?! Cole, if you wanna eat, kill it first. Make her give me the baby back!"

Just as Stephanie tried to reach behind Cole, he grabbed her by her wrist and raised her into the air.

"Don't touch this woman, that baby is her and my daughter!"

Cass covered her mouth in shock and Stephanie became enraged at Cole.

"Dammit! The fuck are you talking about?! There's no way an infected and a human can have a baby! Now let me have it back and let go of me!"

"Shut it! I will say this once, if you hurt her I will rip off your limbs and shove them back into every orifice on you I can find!"

Stephanie promptly quieted down and as soon as Cole dropped her, she backed away slowly into the boxcar once again. Cass on the other hand tried to remain calm and figure out what was going on and what had happened while he was gone. Cole put his left arm over Jen's shoulders and lead her inside. Cole sat in the corner with the fearful woman huddling next to him for protection in case one of the infected tried to make a move against her.

"OK Cole, now can you tell me what happened?"

"When I went in the woods I found a blood trail... a blood trail, hold that thought."

Cole lifted the woman's sleeves and the bottom of her shirt which she quickly put down. Cole patted her down top to bottom looking for anything that could've been an injury. Finally he found it, a small strip hung out of her pant legging and when Cole lift it, he found a bandaged wound. He rubbed it and examined it best he could for an infection but found none. Jen was confused and embarrassed by his actions at first, but now she felt his earnest concern for her.

With a relieved look across his face Cole lied back against the wall and began telling the story of what had happened and how he knew it was his daughter. The story didn't take long at all, but it was enough to enthrall the two infected women who listened.

"So anyway, I'm taking Jenny with me later today to find those soldiers so they can keep her safe."

"But me and Stephanie need you Cole! We'd be dead without you!"

"Don't worry, I'll come back as soon as these two are safe. If I tried to stay with them too, they would shoot at me."

"Maybe we can come with? Strength in numbers and all that."

"No, you, two will make her uneasy."

"What about that infected that attacked you? What if he comes back?"

"You can handle him."

Cole smirked at his companion and started to nod off. Cass took this chance to take a look at the human cradling the infant. Cass slowly approached her and made every gesture she could to show she was friendly, once she reached her hand out, Cole, without opening his eyes, warned her.

"That threat I made to Stephanie applies to you too."

Cass set her hand gently on the woman's head and pressed her lips to her forehead. Even though she knew the woman wouldn't understand and her words would be little more then a soft moan to her, she spoke.

"Don't worry, I won't let a thing hurt you or the baby."

So this one is a bit short as well like the last chapter, to be honest I had planned on making it all one big chapter but again, I was having trouble finding the time to write. Maybe it's better this way. I hope you guys liked it though cause when I wrote this I wanted to delve a bit into who Cole was before the infection. Y'know? Give you a bit more of his character. I have something planned for the next chapter, it will be a 2 parter and I will upload both at the same time so there's a treat for you readers. After that though it will be time for the final chapter so to all of you who have ideas for infected, submit soon.