The helicopter was still flying even though it's been about half an hour since our stand at the football field. This safe zone it's taking us to must be a good distance away. Eleanor had fallen asleep on Hawkeye's shoulder. Hawkeye, himself, was still unconscious. James was also asleep. Alexis was trying to contact John through her radio, but she was getting nothing. I was polishing all my weapons with a handkerchief that was inside my bag. At the far end of the chopper was the hooded figure sitting alone, he was starting to creep me out. Seriously, the figure has not said a word since I've first seen him. The three soldiers that covered us were talking amongst themselves.

As I was polishing my shotgun, Hawkeye started to stir. Both me and Alexis noticed that he was starting to regain consciousness and stopped what we were doing. He noticed Eleanor fast asleep on his shoulder and probably decided not to wake her by not moving too much.

He looks towards both me and Alexis and asked, "Where are-! Ahhh, My arm."

"Careful, don't move too much. You took quite a blow out there." I said.

Hawkeye nods, then asked, "What happened?"

"Don't ya remember?" Alexis asked.

Hawkeye paused. Then, he says, "...oh yeah. I remember now. That stupid giant."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Probably...but I can't move with Eleanor-...Who is that hooded figure over there?"

"Ah don't know, he hadn't said ah thing." Alexis said.

"That's what creeps me out. We should keep an eye on him." I said.

It was at this point that one of the three soldiers approached us. When Alexis noticed him coming towards us, she stands up from her seat and does a salute. Why was she doing this? Why didn't she do this back when she met John?

The man said, "Corporal...there is no need for that on here...Just relax. We're all survivors here." Oh yeah, I forgot that Alexis was a corporal in the US Army before the infection outbreak.

"Yes, sir." she said.

"Now, allow me to introduce myself. Staff Sergeant Henry Sinclair at your service." he said.

Then, we all took turns introducing each other, myself being last. Henry Sinclair wore almost the same exact uniform as Alexis; The CRV, the soldier's uniform under the CRV, the works. The only minor difference was the rank insignia that was on his shoulder. It had four strips instead of Alexis' two strips. He also had a hip holster that had the same kind of pistol that John used, an M1911. He was holding onto the rifle that he had used back in the football field. I guess there was no way for him to holster it.

Then, my radio started to go off. I took it off my belt and answered it. Sinclair was talking to James, so now would be a good time as any to answer the radio.

"Hello? Who's this?" I asked.

"Ryan..." a familiar voice said.

"John? You're alive!" I said.

"Yep, I'm glad to hear from you." John said.

"Where are ya right now?" Alexis asked. She was on her own radio.

"I'm in a saferoom that's on top of a bell tower right now. I have plenty of food to last me a good bit. And plus, I still have my weapons." He replied.

"Good to hear." I said.

"How's James?" John asked.

"He's awake right now. He should be as fit as a fiddle." Alexis said.

"Oh, you don't know how relieved I am to hear that." John asked.

"Thanks to you. If you haven't done what you did, who knows what would have happened..." I said.

"You're welcome. Guys, the helicopter should take you to Fort Red Night. Don't worry, you're in good hands now. Captain John Halls over and out." John said.

Then, he went silent. That would be the last time I would hear from him. I would try to contact him again in the future, but I would get nothing but static.

I looked over and saw that the hooded figure was now sitting next to me, startling me out of my skin. I almost dropped my radio out of fright.

"Gahh! What the hell? How long have you been sitting there?!" I asked.

The hooded figure replied, "I've been here for several minutes. But don't worry, I'm no menace." Oh great...he talks in rhyme.

"Okay...I'm-" I started.

"Ryan, Theodore Reid is my name. But Ted is all the same." He said, interrupting me. Why am I always interrupted by someone or something?

So, everyone introduced themselves to Ted, even Sinclair did. As we were introducing ourselves, I got a closer look at him. Ted had a slender built. He wore a white hoodie sweater that had a bow tie at the collar. Despite the hood covering most of his face, I could still make out some of his facial features. I saw that he was clean-shaven, no facial hair. He also had dress shoes and white jeans that matched his sweater.

On Ted's chest, I saw that he had a chest holster. In the holster was a pistol, although, I couldn't see what kind of pistol it was since it was covered by the leather of the holster. He did have a gun that I did recognize, the MAC-10. The sub-machine gun was strapped to his back. On his hips was a type of sword that was inside a sheathe.

Then, I hear the pilot of the chopper say into, what I assumed, to be his headset, "HQ, This is plane retriever 02, picking up third set of survivors over." I didn't hear how "HQ" responded. I called Sinclair over. He had gone back to sitting with the other two soldiers after he introduced himself to Ted.

"Sinclair, are we really picking up more survivors?" I asked.

"Yes, this is our third stop. Our first stop gave us Ted over there. Then, it was you guys. After this stop, we're going back to HQ." He said.

"Where is dis evacuation center, sir?" Alexis asked.

"It's on the roof of a mall over yonder. You guys can help keep the infected at bay if you want." he replied.

Soon, the mall that Sinclair mention appeared in view. Surprisingly, it was a mall that I was familiar with. It was called "The Green Light Shopping Plaza." I remember I use to go there with my family back during my middle school years. Sure it would take about an hour and a half to get there by car, but the long car ride was always worth it.

From the helicopter, I saw lots of the infected getting to the top of the roof. From taking the stairs or from literally climbing the walls of the building, the infected were converging on a single location on the roof, the dead center. In the center, I made out three survivors.

The helicopter lands close to the survivors. I get out of the heli to help them. Behind me were Ted, Sinclair, and the two soldiers. Sinclair and the two unnamed soldiers all had their M16s. I was using my diamondback. Ted was using his katana.

I yelled at the three survivors, "Quickly! Get over here!"

There were infected everywhere I looked. I even saw a leaper and cougher coming towards them. I saw the leaper and fired a bullet at him, killing him as soon as the bullet touched him.

The three survivors, two guys and a black woman, eventually made it to the chopper. Everyone got back on the chopper, but it seems like someone was missing. Who's-?

"AHHHHHHHH!"

I looked outside of the helicopter and saw that the missing person was one of Sinclair's soldiers. The soldier was still on the ground, being eaten alive by the horde. The soldier couldn't even escape because the cougher that I saw earlier had him ensnared in his tongue. I guess he has been left for dead.

"Private...I'm sorry. Jerry, just go! He's a dead man!" Sinclair said. The greasy-haired pilot looked at him and nodded. The helicopter left with us on it.