- Thank you for reading and looking forward to the feedback about the story so far. :) (still continuing)

11. Surviving

The Nathan James was on its way towards France. There was a refueling station just outside of France that they were planning to use. Kara was sitting in the CIC by her workstation. They still had work to do, even though morale was down. They had tried to contact their families, but only a few had gotten through. Kara had tried to call her mother, but she hadn't gotten any response. She couldn't stop worrying about her, was she still alive? Had she found a safe place to be? Was she alone? Or perhaps the worst possible outcome.. She was dead. She tried to focus on her work. To think about their new mission. The scientists they were housing all this time had actually been their real mission. To find the cure to the Red Flu, as they called it back home. Now the mission was to get back with the scientists and to find a secure place to develop a vaccine. Even though they had found the primordial strain in the Arctic, it would take time to make a vaccine prototype. It wasn't an easy task the scientists were facing. And then there was the likelihood of a Russian ship following them. It was too much to think and her mind drifted to a moment earlier in the day.

Alisha was preparing herself to go to the bridge for her shift. Kara looked at her. It wasn't easy to be her right now. France had been in Alisha's plans for her future travels. She was going to travel there with her girlfriend and those plans might never become real. Sarah might not have survived the Red Flu. She tried to think about something she could say, to make Alisha feel better, but as she thought about it, she felt a sting of guilt. She might have lost her mother, but she had something that no one else on the ship had, well except for Danny. She had someone she loved with her whole heart. And that someone was here on the ship with her. She had Danny. Even though she hadn't said the three words out loud to anyone yet. She was relieved that she knew where he was almost all the time. He was safe. She hoped he felt the same way about her. He had been tender and caring with her after the Captain told them the news. But she didn't know if he had deep feelings for her.

After Alisha had gone, Kara had felt lonely in their stateroom with all her thoughts. Thinking and worrying about everything. She decided to take a walk on deck. To clear her mind, she hoped. She stepped outside to the corridor, but then she saw in the corner of her eye that Danny entered the shower facilities wearing his gym gear and holding a towel in his hands. She realized she felt herself numb inside, too much of everything boiling over in her mind so that she was left with this dazed feeling. So she made a decision to walk towards the room Danny had gone into. She looked around and went inside. She heard the shower going on and saw him stand in the shower behind the shower curtain. She locked the door behind her. She needed a distraction from all that had happened, so she undressed quickly, dropping her clothes on the floor. She stepped inside before he managed to turn around. She embraced him from behind and she heard his breathing change. Felt his heart racing. She placed kisses along his spine while they were standing under the shower and the water was running down on their bodies. He turned to face her and she felt his arms around her waist. She looked at his eyes and just like the first night they had spent together.. There wasn't any need for words. She could feel the tension between them and as she kissed him, he lifted her up on his waist and pressed her against the shower wall. At that moment she felt something else than numbness, even though it would be only for a moment.

Kara was remembering how she had surprised Danny in the shower. He hadn't resisted her need to feel something, to feel something else than fear, worry or hurt. She was blushing at the thought what they had done. But as quickly as the thought came, so was the presence of guilt. Was she really enjoying the company of a man when the world was ending? When there was so much suffering and loss around them? When no one else on the ship has the chance to embrace their loved ones.

And then she was pulled away from her thoughts when the alarm came. There was a nuke coming towards them, or was it? Flying over them, she realized it was heading towards France. Someone was killing innocent people, survivors, for what purpose? What had happened to the world, she thought. In the aftermath of the events the ship was now without power and the engines were down. The radiation cloud closing in on them. They needed to move away. It seemed like their journey was full of obstacles and they would have to fight their way back. Would they ever get home, she wondered. And where was home?

Later she heard that the Captain had risked his life by getting the ship in working order and had succeeded. Dumb luck, she thought. How much of it were they going to have on this trip? Now that they couldn't refuel at the refueling station outside France, they had done a scan of the surrounding area and found a ship. A cruise ship.

The cruise ship hadn't answered to their hails. They weren't sure what was waiting for them when the TAC team would board the vessel. Kara hadn't seen Danny after what had happened in the shower. She needed to see him before he left. Before he risked his life for the mission. She excused herself, saying she needed a quick break and rushed through the ship to the helo bay where the TAC team was making their preparations for the trip. She was almost by the door to the helo bay, when she saw him coming from the other direction half dressed in a hazmat suit. She must have looked like she was going to fall apart, because he pulled her to a small storage room by the door to the helo bay as quickly as he could and placed a loaded kiss on her lips. They stood there for couple of minutes. Unwilling to let go of each other. "Just be safe out there." She finally said when their lips came apart holding her hands behind his neck. She felt his hands on her cheeks, keeping her warm. "I'll try my best." She saw his eyes which gave away his hesitation when he answered. Was he afraid of what was waiting for them on the cruise ship or was he just trying to reassure her that he would be fine, but there really was no guarantee of it?