Part Two: The Outside

Chapter 8: The Charter

For the entire week, our fortifications of the hospital had come along nicely. We had built a gate and an elevated platform on the right side of the gate. Using a simple mechanical pulley system the gate would open without anyone pushing it open manually. We added razor wire around the fenced in areas of the hospital. The scavenging parties brought in more useful equipment every day. Jared's idea about a spotlight being on the roof went into effect thanks to scavenging teams finding several lighting hardware in one of the local stores. We built a snipers perch on the third story hole in the side of the building. The perch was a piece of a metal walkway in one of the buildings that were cleaned out. It was supported by large metal poles that were welded onto the metal wall inside the room that the hole was a part of.

There was a storage room in the back left corner of the hospital. I quickly came up with a martial law that no one was touching a weapon unless it was assigned to them. We had limited weapons and ammo. For that we turned the storage room into an weapons armory which was possible because we took a barred door from the last bank that was scavenged from and placed it in the frame of original door. After dismantling the larger two-way door nearby which led to that storage room, we fortified it. We built a cage wall with a large slot so weapons could be slid through. A desk was put there as well for the Quartermaster to use in keeping track of the weapons by computer.

We brought over several gun cabinets from the local police station that John's Group scavenged through. They also brought over body armor and riot gear such as riot shields, helmets, joint guards, tazers, and Flashbang grenades. There were several N99's, .357 magnums, and Shotguns for the taking and even something I hadn't seen out in the wastes before. Five AEP7 Laser Pistols with ammo. Nevertheless, there were enough ballistic vests for all of us plus ten left over. The original group didn't need them though as we were already armed with our ballistic vests from the vault. Doing inventory on weapons and ammo was almost murder. It took three of us eight hours to do so. We went by the serial numbers that were already on the side of the weapons. It would be easier to track the weapons that way. The information would be entered into the hospital's terminal network system. The only thing we had to do now, was assign a Quartermaster. Tom was the first to jump up and ask for the position. He was handy with regular guns and energy weapons as he used to be Aynor's Gun dealer. Now he could continue his wish to watch over the weapons.

There was a meeting room established on the third floor overlooking the courtyard. It use to be an educational room until it was converted. This meeting room would only be for the ones presently here. Jordyn was training the new guys quite quickly. As soon as they completed their training, they would be considered soldiers who would probably help train the next group or be potential recruiters. The meeting was taking place now, with Charlie included.

"I think establishing a government would be imperative," Charlie spoke, "That way there's no beating around the bush in leadership when you get more recruits. I've seen a lot of unorganized groups such as raiders. Their leadership system is based on who's brave and quick enough to kill the current leader. The Brotherhood of Steel use to be lead by one individual until he passed away. Now they operate with different chapter leaders and is now lead by elders. The NCR uses democracy as their government."

I looked at the others. "He's the boss," Matt said plainly gesturing at me, "He's the one getting us through this."

"Pretty much," Zack agreed.

"I can manage everything as it is right now," I answered to Charlie, "But when our little organization becomes larger, we'll erect a council who will help see things through on an aspect alright?"

"Agreed," Lauren spoke up for me, "But I think all outsiders should not know who the leader is. All it would do is put a big target on your back, ours included."

"She's right," Erika spoke, "I don't think it's wise for any of us to go announcing what we're up to with our names in the open. The Enclave will target us and whoever follows us."

"Point taken," I inputted, "Very well, it'll be martial law. No soldier, no matter the reason, is permitted to give out information on higher ranking officers to civilians or outsiders."

"I think we're going to have to put that in a rule book," Angela said catching everyone's attention, "Think about it guys. The only rule we have here is obey the leader. All anyone will do is think that we follow one person for his own gain."

"Another thing that will be put into effect," I continued, "I will start writing up tenants as soon as possible. What am I missing….oh of course. Angela here has brought up a very important suggestion. She intends to keep track of our history, something that I think is important. We both believe that the future depends on how things worked in these times. But what good is it if they don't know how it happened? Agreed?"

There were a lot of nods for that one. "Jordyn," I spoke, "How's the recruit's training coming along?"

"Fairly," Jordyn replied, "I've got them constantly running an obstacle course, then practicing with N99's afterwards. Afterwards, I make sure they can take care of their N99's by making them take them apart and put them back together. Soon they'll be able to do it blindfolded. So far, it seems that Benjamin and Tom are the only two who know how to actually operate with a wide variety of weaponry."

"Good," I replied, "We're going to cram in their brains what we did our entire lives into two months." I turned to Jared. "We all know Jared here is probably the most brilliant mind when it comes to technology."

"…apart from you," Jared piped up.

"I'm putting him in charge of a division that focuses on technology," I continued, "His mission is to develop our current technology into something greater, procuring undiscovered technology, and maintaining it."

"It sounds like you just took an excerpt from the Brotherhood of Steel," Charlie commented.

"I've been thinking for a long time," I replied to his comment. "The Brotherhood of Steel and the NCR are both amazingly talented in what they do. We're going to adopt the belief that technology should be maintained and preserved for the best of humanity. Charlie once told me that he saw how the Brotherhood operates out West and the Midwest. The West are pretty much selfish with their technology while the Midwest established a government of their own and rule with an iron fist. They are pretty much the Enclave only they don't shoot any wastelander they see. Now the Capital Wasteland Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel use their technology to aid the wastelanders there and have become the ruling body up there. They had a huge technology boom from the war with the Enclave. Charlie even told me there were rumors of that chapter operating with equipment from outer space. I don't know if I believe it myself, but it seems that those guys are pretty strong in their rule. We're going to adopt their ways of dealing with the relationship between their technology and civilians. I also believe in the NCR's methods. They use nothing but military might and semi-democracy as their way of ruling. We're going to combine our military strength, tactics, and technology to protect the people of the Carolina Wasteland. Eventually, we'll become the ruling body of the Carolina Wasteland."

"If the Enclave doesn't move first," Charlie added.

"Which is why our names will not be forged to those who are not with us," I continued and nodded, "That's why we're going to need a name. Something that has some prewar meaning behind it but also will give our enemies and neutrals a lot to think about when we rise to the occasion. The Enclave claim to be the last living true Americans. We were a part of the Enclave to begin with. Now, we are on our own. We're in the Carolina Wasteland. Let's change this Wasteland into something we have control of. I'm thinking that our nation should be called the United States of Carolina or USC for short. For now, Loris is the capital. Our military is despotism which will develop into council despotism when we are more in numbers. I will be writing a book called the USC Charter. It'll contain every tenant and any regulation that is deemed necessary for this Nation to operate."

"What about this bunker that's somewhere in Loris?" John spoke up, "Isn't it about time we started searching for it?"

"Of course," I said, "For the next month, the USC operations will remain in this area. I want the soldiers trained relentlessly. We will not scout one mile beyond Loris a radius."

"I wouldn't just confine yourselves to Loris," Charlie spoke, "Tabor City is right up the road from me. I don't know what you'll find when you go up there, but I do know that if it's anything like Loris and hasn't been scavenged through yet, It'll be worth it."

"I'll see what I can do about that," I replied, "Right now our first priority as far as patrolling goes is searching for the Bunker."

"About your future actions," Charlie spoke, "Do you remember the dogs I was breeding?"

"Yes sir."

"They're old enough to start training," He continued, "If you want your first order of guard dogs, I suggest you have one of your friends come and learn how to train them. Later, he or she can teach someone else the same to another person."

"Alright," I replied, "Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it," Erika volunteered immediately. I was slightly taken aback by her eagerness. Out of all of us, Erika was the least inclined to a fight. She would fight is she had to, but she didn't wish it. Training the dogs would get her out of the line of duty and danger. I nodded, seeing things her way.

"For the thing on our to-do list," I spoke, "I think we need to establish contact with the local Super Mutants. If what Charlie said is true, then they aren't hostile towards humans, just slightly mistrusting due to the persecution of their kind. If they're not hostile towards us, then we won't be towards them."

"That's a bold belief Nathan," Charlie spoke, "Trusting a Super Mutant is in fact dangerous, but these ones seem decent enough. They remember the Enclave's involvement with their creation all those years ago. You twelve and the Super Mutants have something in common. You were experimented on by the Enclave." That left a lot of thought for everyone here, especially me. If we could get some super mutants on our side, then maybe they could help us with winning this war.

The meeting was adjourned after that and we realized that we had a lot of work left to do. Lauren and I decided to share a bedroom after we tidied up a large patient's room by visiting local furniture stores and getting anything useful, like a king sized bed. For the rest of the day, we decided that we'd take a break though. Tomorrow we will resume operations. But tonight, I was enjoying the free time I had with Lauren. It made for an interesting night, considering we both lost our virginity. I remembered laying there with her, warm skin and all. I thought about the future, a perfect world where I could keep her safe. I realized later, that I was dreaming a long shot.

The next morning, waking up and untangling ourselves to find our clothes, we decided that it was time to get started on today's to do list. He set up an office in one of two cardio-exercise rooms in the hospital. This one was on the third floor directly over the entrance lobby. There were windows over the courtyard and the parking lot, a balcony on each end for the outdoor equipment during the prewar. I started to write up the USC Charter. To begin with, as I have no idea what other sorts of things I should put in it, I just started writing it down on a piece of paper. Some of the offshoot things I came up with would probably define us later on.

USC motto

To Protect the innocent, to enforce justice, to restore humanity, to eradicate evil, to acquire knowledge, to acquire and preserve Technology, to promote peace.

Tenants:

No soldier, no matter the reason, is permitted to give out information on higher ranking officers to civilians or outsiders.

Never disobey a direct order from a higher ranking officer.

Never harm the innocent.

Acquire weapons and technology to further our cause.

Never betray the USC to outsiders.

Unless given directive, do not discuss USC military operations or advances in technology with civilians or outsiders.

The Council's decisions and orders are martial Law.

Respect and maintain any policy given by the council.

Policies-

Enclave- It is the duty of a USC soldier to shoot any Enclave Military Personnel or Active hostile Enclave technology on sight. It is unlawful to kill unarmed or surrendering military personnel unless directed from Council or higher ranking officers. It is unlawful to kill Enclave civilians unless armed and hostile. Any Enclave who are not under the shoot on sight policy is to be detained and transferred to USC prisons.

Raiders- It is the duty of a USC soldier to shoot any Raider on sight in order to protect USC civilians. If the Raider surrenders, he or she must be detained.

Drug abuse- Unless medicated by doctor, the usage of any controlled substance is prohibited. Unlawful controlled substance no matter the circumstances such as Jet and Psycho are prohibited. Abusers will be fined or face jail time.

Murder/Self Defense- The murder of anyone is prohibited and will result in execution of the murderer. Self Defense is lawful and must be within reason.

Guns and Ordinance- Guns and Ordinance are regulated by a four class system. Any abusers of the regulated guns and ordinance will be detained and the weapons seized.

USC Military Contracts- Soldiers and civilians who sign the a USC military contract are required to uphold the contract's statements or will be detained, serve in prison, or executed depending on the severity of their actions.

That was what I could come up with at the moment. I didn't go too far into depth as I figured we needed more structure and more soldiers for that matter. I walked over to the front of the office overlooking the first set of recruits being trained by Jordyn. I knew Angela and Matt were probably setting up Angela's new office in the second largest room in here which was a hospital records room. I always knew there was a thing between them just like the rest of us. Those two being the youngest probably got picked on the most for it. The hospital had security cameras to it, cameras that Jared was trying to work with and make them operational once more. The boy was a genius. I had full confidence in his technical aptitude. He often called me an equal in the technical arts, but I knew better. I was second best compared to him and I was not ashamed of it. Jessica, nine times out of time, was hanging around Lauren who was downstairs probably trying to get something working or reviewing inventory. Zack and Brook were probably wandering the halls of the hospital, probably scheming up something involving the empty town outside. As for John and Christina, I honestly had no idea what they could be doing. If figured I should check on the two.

It took a few minutes, but I actually found them in the emergency room at the rear of the hospital. They were talking about exploring Tabor City, seeing if they could find something worthwhile. "I wonder if there is any worthwhile supplies up there," Christina asked John.

"I'm pretty sure there is," John replied.

"That's why we're going to be sending a team up there as soon as possible," I spoke up from behind, "You guys up for it?" They looked back at me surprised.

"Fuck yeah," John said instantly.

"Alright," I spoke, "Let's find a few of the others."

A few minutes later me, Jessica, John, Lauren, Christina, Matt, Brooke, Angela, and Zack were loading up in three vehicles. One scavenging squad would patrol from Loris to Tabor looking through the few buildings there were. The other two would have a look at the town itself. Brooke, Angela, and Zack stopped on 701 to be the team on the road. The rest of us kept going.

The outer most of the town was in ruins. The only thing I saw that actually looked decent was the gas station right on 701. The rest of the town was in ruins with the exception of the market area and the school. The market area was sort of like the street that encompassed the Warehouse the railroad, and the drugstore in Loris. The town was quiet. When we moved into the town, we noticed something. Hanging from street posts were corpses that had been mutilated. There was spray paint on the walls, blood, everything. Someone had been here recently and whoever that someone was, was sick in the head.

"Christina," I said holding my assault rifle with one hand, "Give us a scan with the SRD."

"Understood," Christina replied nodding and pulling out the SRD. "There are several contacts. Five in one building, three in the other. The Restaurant and the salon. One of them is coming out."

"Everyone," I said, "to cover. I'm going to attempt to negotiate." Everyone left the safety of the trucks and moved around large piles of debris making sure they were ready to fire. When the man walked, I saw that he had makeshift armor made of junk. The man had some kind of magnum as a weapon.

"The fuck?" The man commented then grinned, "Oh hell yeah. Come on boys we've got someone to kill!" Contrary to his statement, he pulled out his magnum only to be shot by me with my assault rifle. I ran for the corner of a building ready to fire. It was then I realized that we had stumbled upon a gang of Raiders. They fit the description Charlie gave us. Dirty, crappy armor, mutilates people while hanging them on walls like decoration, and immediately hostile towards anyone or anything. The Raider's came pouring out the two buildings only to be gunned down by the entire group. Immediately, I heard something from my left as I leaned against the wall of the destroyed building. Something was coming down this alleyway. I peaked over the dumpster next to me to see a Raider creeping up towards me with a machete. I put my gun away and pulled out my combat knife.

As soon as the Raider crept up around the corner of the dumpster where I could see him, I grabbed the arm he had the machete in, shoving against him while stabbing him in the chest right in the heart. The Raider dropped the machete and fell on the ground holding his wound as he died out, looking at me with shocked eyes. "Should've picked a different career," I spoke to him as he died. I sheathed my combat knife and scanned the area with my SRD. No more contacts that I could see. Except three. It looked like they were in another room further up the street all asleep or something.

"All clear," John announced.

"Not clear," I spoke to them, "The clothing store three buildings up. There are three contacts, presumably asleep. Jessica and Matt, start scavenging the hardware store but be on your guard. Everyone else, to the clothing store. "Christina, keep your eyes peeled with that SRD." She moved with us looking around through the SRD.

"Clear," She spoke. We moved over to the entrance of the clothing store our backs pressed against it in a formation. We were ready for them. I peered inside to see that it was clear. Walking in, I saw that several shelves were lined up like a box around the sleeping area. The place was full of blood, mutilated corpses hanging on the walls and from the ceiling. The stench was awful. I held my breath walking towards the shelves only to find an even more disgusting sight.

Two naked young women around our age had been chained by their limbs on mattresses, both having been raped obviously; one in the process of being raped. The third heat signature was a Raider and he was violating the whimpering girl. He moaned with each thrust to her cries. I saw red.

My temper overcame me as I had yanked the Raider off the woman. "Hey," He uttered as he was manhandled with little effort. With one hand I threw him into one of the shelves which it fell over with him on top of it. The others stopped and stared looking at the sight. The Raider went to get up but I shot his knee with a single shot from my N99 and then kicked him. He stumbled backwards falling out the window of the clothing store. I stepped up on the window seal then shot his other knee. "OW you shot me! You dick, you mother fucker!"

"You're a sick son of a bitch you know that?" I seethed then shot him in the right arm. The Raider was yelling in pain, screaming bloody murder. "Enjoy hell you bastard." A headshot later, silenced the Raider. The others just stared, looking disgusted. My temper started to dwindle as I walked back towards the nude girls before stopping. "Lauren, Christina." The nodded as if understanding. John and I stayed out the store so the girls could check up on the rape victims in private.

"That's some fucked up shit," John said shaking his head.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Jesus," He swore, "I didn't know what the hell happened. All I saw was you throwing that guy into the shelf then blasting his kneecap out."

"It was justified," I said huskily.

"I'm not saying it wasn't," John said, "Damn man, I didn't expect to come across something like that."

"I didn't either," I replied just looking around at the town, "I'm glad we found them when we did. Otherwise they might end up like these people on the walls."

Lauren came out of the building. "They're fine," She said, "Apart from what happened. They were just captured yesterday. The Raiders…they've been taking turns non-stop."

"Jesus fucking Christ," John uttered exasperated and appalled. I shook my head in disgust.

"They're clothed," She continued, "But they're exhausted and starving."

"Alright," I said immediately compensating for that and giving Lauren the truck key, "you and Christina get them back home. Give them food and water. I don't think a nice bed would be too much to ask for either."

"Okay," Lauren replied nodding then went to get the two women to their feet.

"Let's finish this job," I replied shaking my head. While Lauren and Christina took the two girls back to the hospital, the rest of us continued to scavenge what we could. Weapons, medical supplies, ammo, and some tools and similar equipment were all we found so far. There wasn't much else to the place. Just scrap metal and bodies. I looked at the bodies with John and the others.

"Tomorrow we're going to burn the bodies," I spoke, "There's an incinerator in the morgue near the cemetery. It just doesn't seem right to have all of these bodies lying around." The three nodded grimly. We returned to the hospital finding that Jordyn was still training his first set of initiates. Unloading our new stock into the armory, Tom started to inspect each and every weapon and all the ammo we had salvaged before he recorded their data into the computer. He also inspected the weapons that were taken out on patrol and did a count on the ammo we used. Surprisingly, we hadn't used much. With the amount of ammo we used and what we had salvaged, it evened out. I was a busy man. That was apparent. I updated the charter immediately as today's scavenging trip had given me a lesson on how fucked up things were out here.

Theft/Rape-The theft of any personal belonging of another will result in the thief's arrest. The Rape of any man, woman, or child will result in detainment and possible execution.

Afterwards, I helped Tom out in the armory as he repaired most of the weapons that were used. "I took apart two assault rifles," He said, "We had enough to have a fully restored gun. The only other thing I could salvage from the damaged rifles was the stock off of one and the trigger and feed systems of the other. The rest is just scrap. Tom had set up his own personal little workbench area off to the side of the room. He was a true gunsmith, something I admired as I too took a liking to maintaining and repairing guns.

"What about that 10mm SMG over there?" I asked.

"I hadn't gotten to inspecting it," He replied oiling down the chamber of the disassembled assault rifle.

"Let me help you then," I said getting started.

Working with Tom was a pretty cool experience. We talked about guns mostly during our maintenance of the guns. He really intrigued me when he spoke about all the weapons he had seen ranging from energy weapons like the Plasma repeater to explosives such as C4.

"Hell," He said after continuing his much appreciated rant on weaponry, "A lot of people make their own improvised weapons."

"Improvised weapons?" I asked.

"Yeah," Tom said as he started to put an Assault Rifle back together, "Take the Nuka-grenade for instance. All you have to do is get a tin can, Abraxo cleaner, Turpentine, duct tape, a nozzle with a stopper of any kind, then bam! You've got a ten second explosive Nuka-grenade that can cause a powerful explosion that can waste an entire platoon of Raiders. Of course you have to add either Nuka cola Quantum, Quartz, or even Green. All you have to do is shake the can one time, turn the nozzle, then throw."

"Sounds pretty cool," I replied, "Know any more Improvised weapons?"

"Quite a few," He replied, "Tell you what? I'll write down everything we need for these weapons. You bring back anything compatible, I'll make a weapon and we'll field test it."

"Alright," I replied nodding, "You get back to me on that and I'll have the scavenge teams pick those up if they find them."

"Okay I will," He replied.

I locked the cage door behind me as protocol dictated it. Only a few had a key to the armory and that included me and Tom. I went over to the corridor on the first floor we deemed the actual medical ward. The two girls were propped up on medical beds, Jessica being the one to check on them most of the time. Jessica was a pretty good field medic, right under Lauren and I. She did the right thing doing an initial check-up and giving me the results. One of them had a concussion while both had a lot of bruises.

"How're you ladies doing?" I asked walking in.

"As good as we can be I guess," The blonde said.

"How'd you find us?" The brunette asked.

"We were out on a scavenging mission," I replied, "A friend told us that Tabor City was right there. We have some advanced technology that allowed us to see how many we were facing. We killed them all of course, but I saw three of you on the HUD, heat signatures. It looked like you were sleeping. Initially, I thought you were Raiders but then I saw what was really going on. The rest you know from there."

"Thank you," The blonde said, "but if you don't mind me asking. Who exactly are you people? I saw what looked like a drill sergeant training a bunch of wastelanders."

"My name is Nathan," I replied, "I'm the founder of the new organization called United States of Carolina. All of us here are here for one purpose. The Carolina Wasteland is in danger from the Enclave and all the evil souls in this world like the Raiders. We're here to fight. We're not mercenaries, we're not guns for hire. We fight because it is the right thing to do."

"That sounds awfully noble of you," The brunette spoke, "But where do you get the funding and equipment from?"

"Surprisingly," I replied sitting on her bed, "We've been fortunate enough to come across Prewar banks for funding, and scavenging for most of our equipment. It's turned out quite fruitful so far as Loris was completely untouched by slavers or whoever. If you think about it, most people travel the interstates as they offer quicker routes to Myrtle City. My friends and I came out of a Vault under the control of the Enclave. We were lied to our entire time there. Under a ruse thinking we were learning survival, we were actually under a strict military training period from the time we were barely teenagers, to the time we escaped. The Enclave are further West in the Carolina's. Our goal is to stop their advancement any further East."

"Sounds like you all are lucky," The Wastelander said, "To come across this hospital."

"I do admit that our luck has impressed me so far," I spoke nodding, "But we are organized and we only have this one compound so far. I goal is to expand our influence and aid the Eastern cities such as Myrtle City. I heard that Myrtle City, no matter how wealthy it is, is constantly under threat of Raider attacks or slavers."

The two women looked at each other. "We want to be a part of it then," The Brunette said, "If you're helping people out, we want to help you help them out."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes," The Blonde spoke, "We don't want other children or women falling into the same situation we did. Being used and tormented…."

"Once you're in," I continued, "You stay in for a minimum of ten years. There's no way out."

"We'll do what we have to," The blonde said firmly.

"Very well," I said, "I'll have to get you to sign a contract. What are your names again?"

"Austin," The blonde spoke.

"Mary," The brunette spoke.

"Very well," I said, "When you two are healed up completely, you'll join the others in training. I'll come back in tomorrow to see how you're doing. Jessica will be your aid until you recover."

"Thank you," Austin spoke.

I simply nodded as I walked out the recovery room. I found myself watching over the initiates. Jordyn was teaching them fighting with hand to hand combat. After I stayed and watch them for a while, I found myself with Angela who was still writing in that history book of hers. She had a desk full of papers, all reminders and little excerpts she wrote so she could keep track of things. It seemed that she was recording every little thing she could. She wrote down things starting from when we were inducted into the survival program in the Vault to now. The thing about her was that she customized her Pipboy to record everything she wanted. She often recorded lectures on her survival lessons or even recorded meetings. It seems that she also had written down our decisions and titled the meetings in numerical order. There was even a holotape she used to record the meetings on a shelf nearby. That bookshelf was probably going to hold every meeting we will ever have. Every shelf was organized in a section. She was that dedicated. She even had her own publishing equipment in the room next to this one. In fact, if she continued with this much work, she'd probably take up the room across the hall as well. Luckily for her, this entire wing of the third floor was all for her work.

"Hey Nate!" She said as I walked in, "Hey I got a question. I think we should have members of the military write out their own biography."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Well," Angela continued, "I think it's important for each person to have their own recorded history. Think about it. Their birth, their time before here, their time during here, their achievements, their rank, their end of service whether it'd be through contract, death, or retirement….it all explains how valuable we hold each individual."

Yep, she was dedicated. "Very well," I said after deciding a few minutes later, "Do what you want. Just don't distract them too much from their training."

"Thank you!" She said giddily, "Hey don't forget about ours!"

"I won't," I replied laughing before heading out once more. I figured it was time to check on Jared's progress with the security cameras. I met him walking back from wherever he was originally to his little security room.

"Hey man what's up?" He asked busily as he went in his security room with me behind him.

"Checking on your progress," I spoke.

"Well I got all the security camera's working with the exception of one," He said, "It's strange because I can't find it in the hospital yet it says it's active. See look at this." He showed me a list of active cameras and their number. "You see, There are fifty total cameras. They're separated into five groups, F1, F2, F3/F4, O1, and then B1. Now all the F1's are on the first floor. F2's on the second. F3/F4's are all on the third and fourth floor. Okay now there are three security cameras for O1, which is outside the hospital looking at the alleyway, the parking lot, and the back lot with the closed ambulance awning. But this B1? There's only one basement that I could find and there are no camera's down there. I don't get it. It says it's active but I don't know where that active one is."

"Is it really that important?" I asked rhetorically.

"Oh course!" Jared said, "What if this is the one way someone can get through our defenses?"

"It was rhetorical," I deadpanned, "I understand your concerns fully. That's why I'm going to see if I can find this camera."

So I attempted to help Jared find all the cameras which we found all but one, which was the last one he failed to find. I spent the better part of three hours looking for the camera in the hospital. Going to bed slightly frustrated, Lauren had a good habit of taking my mind off of things. I swear she was probably the only one who could change my mood so quickly, especially if she was in my arms under the covers in the warmth of our bed.

The next day, by noon after five hours of relentless searching, I had three people looking for that fucking camera alongside me. Annoyance and frustration didn't really describe how I was feeling at the moment. I was pissed off at the pope for everything he did four hundred years ago…and that was just me trying to find a little security camera.

"Okay I'll bite," I said walking into the security room, "What the hell is this thing pointing at?" I looked at the screen.

"Some kind of door," Jared said, "Almost like….oh how can I be so stupid!?"

"Huh?" I asked. Then I noticed something too. Those doors looked exactly like….

Jared, Lauren, Jessica, and I were standing in front of the metal ambulance port, me having bolt cutters. The steel doors looked exactly like the ones on the camera only from the interior. There was a large padlock holding the doors together. "You've got to be kidding me….." Jared walked up and looked under the doors. "Anything in there?"

"Naw man," Jared said getting up, "But there's a heavily enforced large door in the ground. It's like a ramp going underground."

I furrowed my brow going up and looking under it for myself. My heart quickened as I saw a number on the front of the door with a United States Army logo on the side of the wall nearby. "Guys," I said exasperated and getting up to clamp the bolt cutters over the padlock, "Get the council here now. We'll show Erika later."

"What?" Jessica asked, "What is it?"

"If I'm correct," I said starting to squeeze on the handles as a sense of nostalgia started to form over me, "I think….we just found the Bunker of the United States Army stationed in Loris….."

The End.