Chapter XXIV

I was walking out in the courtyard. Things had gotten complicated.

Story of my life. I groaned.

With the arrival of Charlie things had gone all weird. I had never seen Dean acting the way he is. His head had always been in the game, on the job and the job alone. She was a distraction, I sensed that she was a good person and that she was going to do wonderful things. Both for the compound and for Dean. Yes, feel free to allow your mind to wander to whatever gutter it goes to.

Bottom line is, Dean needs someone like Charlie, she was strong, independent but also in need of support. She was gifted, Magickally and I had no doubt that they had a connection. I could feel it. It was undeniable. Suddenly I heard running steps approaching me. I turned to find Sam running up to me. I raised an eyebrow. He stopped right in front of me.

"Charlie needs you to talk to the people classified as 'M'." he stated, out of breath.

"You know, you move fast when you need your own thinking space." He said. I couldn't help but laugh.

"There further away I am from people, the better. The less voices up here." I said, tapping my right temple. Sam nodded and motioned for me to walk with him.

I followed Sam to the Conference room M. I was in the process of converting the room into a classroom. The General and I had talked about me training the Magickal people to be a secondary defense system incase something happened to the Warriors. I was to train all Magickal people.

Most of the Magickal were also Warriors, but there were others who were just Magickal. But I was having a hard time getting the classes started. I didn't have time, really. I work 12 hours a day, at least, with Sam on the Task Force, then I have to eat, sleep, clean my weapons, and keep others in line. It is a full time gig. I didn't have time to teach others, and the General insisted that there was no one else was qualified to teach. Bastard. Now I was sure that he was grooming me for a promotion.

"Jay? Honey?" Sam's voice broke my train of thought. Damn Train.

"Yeah?" I said. He looked out over the terrified faces of the newest group of refugees. I was so busy thinking about my stuff that I had forgotten about where Sam had been leading me.

"Oh, right." I said. Sam kissed me on the cheek, I heard a few giggles from the small children.

"I have to take the Warriors to get their gear for training." I nodded and watched Sam leave.

"Hello everyone. I am sure by now you are well past the point of scare and far beyond terrified." I heard some laughter. Good, I was getting some where.

"My name is Jaylynn. Call me Jay. I will be your coordinator for the next few weeks while you adjust to life in the compound. I am one of the elite members of the Task Force. I work shift one, which is 1900hrs to 0400 hrs. Other than that I am around the compound, if you need anything feel free to come and find me." I paused; I could feel the people calming down.

"Does anyone know why you are here? In this room with me?" I asked. I got blank stares and confused looks. Then, slowly a small hand raised. "Yes?"

"I am Claire." She said. She could not have been more than 7 years old. Too young to be orphaned. "We got the letter 'M' on our intake files." I nodded, getting up on one of the tables.

"What does 'M' stand for?" I asked, walking back and forth.

"Magickal." Claire was a smart girl.

Her parents must have been Magickal as well. Magickal parents don't really hide much from their children, mostly because they can't hide things. Most Magickal children were telepathic, whether or not they stayed that way is up to them. I watched as Claire's leaf green eyes sparkled. Yep, she was a telepath and she just heard the entire conversation I had with myself. I shook my head, smirking.

"Correct. 'M' stands for Magickal. Now most of you must be rolling your eyes or at least thinking about it." I felt the group laugh uneasily.

"After all the things that y'all have seen, I am not sure why it seems so unlikely that Magick, itself, exists. Now, mind you, Magick is not what fairy tales are made of. With power comes responsibility, I am sure many of you have heard it before, thanks to Uncle Ben. But here it is true. When the classes have been set up, I will be your instructor. Y'all will be come the secondary defense system for this complex." I made eye contact with everyone in the room before moving on.

"When you arrive at your rooms, there will be a stack of books that you should and will read. If question arise, write them down and when I am off shift, come and find me." Everyone was watching me intently, which made me slightly uncomfortable.

"When will the classes be finalized?" Claire asked. I stopped and turned to everyone again.

"The date itself is still up in the air." I said. Before anything else could be said a siren sounded, it was the kind of sound that one never really got use to. It was low and high pitched at the same time. Part of it made your body vibrate in a very unpleasant way, the other part made your head feel like it was going too exploded. But that siren could only mean one thing. Zombies. I cursed. I command every one's attention.

"I WANT ALL OF YOU TO STAY IN HERE. I WILL LOCK THE DOOR AFTER I LEAVE. NONE OF YOU WILL LEAVE. HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?" Everyone nodded. Sam came bursting in, he tossed my effects. My shoulder holsters that held my Desert Eagles and my sword.

My sword itself was frightening. It was longer than my torso and curved. It looked somewhat like a Pirate Lord's blade. There was a hand guard and at the end of the hilt there was a large spike. Long enough that if applied to the back of the neck with the right amount of pressure, it would severe the spinal cord.

I put on my gear, strapping the sword to my back, and rushed out the door. As it closed I made sure the handle would not move. Good, locked. I looked in the classroom one last time and found Claire standing at the door. She placed her hand on the glass of the door. I placed my hand over hers. Suddenly her face went dark. Before I knew what was happening. I was being picked up. I cried out as the Zombie launched me across the hall. I rolled out of the throw, drawing my sword out of its sheath, the metallic sound echoing in the hall. The Zombie came at me again, with one swift movement I sliced its head off. The Zombie melted into a puddle of slim and bones. Yuck. I never did get use to that. I felt my stomach seize.

"JAY!!" I heard Sam calling to me. I took off running. Sam led the way to Charlie's room. We found Dean in there.

"Their closer than you think Dean." I heard Charlie say. That saying sent shivers up my spine.

"This is an internal break. The captives escaped. You'll get them, but you need to go now." Sam reached in and grabbed Dean by the back of the collar and yanked hard.

"Dean we have to go!! The main part of the Zombies are in the living area. We have to protect the Civilians!!" Dean and Sam took off. I stood at Charlie's door and wait for her to acknowledge my concern. She paused and looked at me. It was in her eyes. The Zombie coming for her was her husband, Bryan. She nodded and I nodded back. She could handle herself. I knew it, she knew it. I took off toward the living area. I ran into Dean before getting to the living room.

"Charlie!" He said, holding his heart.

"Charlie is in trouble!!" Dean took off back toward her room. I knew there was no stopping him. Sam and I looked at each other and took off to the living area. There were about five left. It was not hard for us to kill or sedate the rest. Lucky no one was bitten. I looked around, just in time to see Charlie tearing off toward the gates. I felt her panic and Dean's panic.

"Sam …" I said, he turned to see what I was looking at. We both took off. Suddenly we heard a gun shot. My heart stopped.

Charlie. I thought, my own mind knowing what had happened. I heard Dean screaming her name. Sam took off up the compound wall stairs and took out the sniper that had mistaken Charlie for a Zombie. I took off toward her, in the blink of an eye, Dean was at my side. We watched as Charlie staggered, took a deep breath, raised her face toward the ski and screamed with all the breath she had left. Dean and I arrived as Charlie fell back into Dean's arms. She was barely breathing. Dean looked at me with tears in his eyes.

"Jay?" He asked. I hesitated, it had been a long a while since I had healed anyone.

"Dean … I…" I started.

"Just keep her alive!" He said, the tears slipping down his face. I took her head in my hands and Dean moved so that her head was resting in my lap. I took a deep breath, pooling all the energy I had in my core. I could feel my body warming up. I closed my eyes and felt the heat traveling from my body through my hands into her body. I heard her groan and I heard Dean sigh with relief. I felt Sam rushing up to us and a group of other people. I felt Sam's hands touch me, I felt the connection between me and Charlie break. Then my world went black.