(A/N): So did everyone enjoy the last one? I certainly did! Well, here's the next installment! Hope you all enjoy this! Oh and the full character roster is now on the profile page for all to see. Check it out! I've also posted some polls on my profile so start voting ASAP!

I'm also looking for more characters to make cameos so don't think submission time is over! Keep em coming people!

Anyways, enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter Twelve: The Engineer

"The bullets are still inside Jessie you have to stay still," said Sam.

Bloodcurdling screams accompanied the next twenty minutes as Sam did her best to extract the bullet. The pressure Jessica had on Takeda's hand completely cut off circulation but he didn't care as he did his best to comfort her. Sam had already dealt with Angela and Sera but Jessica sustained multiple gunshot wounds rather than one or two. Sam was very surprised that she was able to stay so tough before the removal process began. After nearly an hour, she managed to remove all of the bullets. She disinfected all of the wounds before handing Takeda the large roll of bandages. The door opened and Daniel walked inside.

"How's everyone else holding up?" asked Sam as she wiped her hands from all the blood from Jessica's wounds.
"Angela's already up and about but Sera's still asleep," replied Daniel.
"Well Sera got a very hard hit to the shoulder so she'd naturally be out longer," she replied.
"How's Jessie?" he continued.
"Well I managed to remove all of the bullets but she's in so much pain that I had to put her out for a while so she'll probably wake up when we land," said Sam.
"Anything major?" asked Daniel.
"Well she's gonna need a solid week just to be able to move freely again," said Sam.

Takeda's eyes narrowed as he rose to his feet.

"This wasn't planned at all...now we have to sit and wait for everyone to recuperate before we can do anything about the facility," said Takeda.

He had a point; Jessica was by far the best marksman in the group, Angela was a close second and Sera was incredibly intelligent with her tactical approach to virtually everything.

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Daniel.
"Move into the residential complex and lay low until everyone's back to a bearable state," he replied.
"Berkley's not going to be amused by this development," said Sam.
"Unless he wants to go there by himself and get mauled by whatever the hell is out there, he's going to have to cooperate," said Daniel.

The cold tone in his voice showed that at this point, Berkley was irrelevant.

"I'll stay in the cockpit and watch the flight, call me if anything comes up," said Daniel.

He walked out of the room and Takeda began to leave.

"Takeda? Can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Sam.
"Sure," he replied.

He followed her out of the room.

Inside Angela's Room

Berkley examined Angela's wounds before sighing to himself.

"What's the matter?" she asked.
"With you in this state I don't think it will be a wise idea to go to the facility until you're better," he said.
"I'm a tough lass," said Angela with a chuckle.
"Try telling that to the potentially large number of BOWs we'll likely encounter at the facility," said Berkley.
"If it's necessary for your research then I think it's worth the risk; if you come up with a cure for this thing then we never have to kill another infected person who hasn't turned again," she explained.

Berkley was silent for a moment.

"I don't recall asking what you think," said Berkley.

Angela felt a pang of anger course through her.

"I can wait a week or two until all of us are well again because the last thing I would want is for all of us to die trying to get our hands on a goddamn data stick," said Berkley.

"Thought you were tougher than that smart guy," said Angela.

"Usually yes but considering that our best marksman, the tactical genius and the Irish hothead are down for the count, our chances of surviving aren't very good," said Berkley.

Angela scoffed.

"When are you going to admit that you're genuinely worried about us?" asked Angela.

Berkley rose to his feet.

"I'm getting some food," he said.

As he reached the door, he stopped for a moment.

"I'm not worried about the others, I'm worried about you," he said.

Before Angela could retort, he left the room.

Inside Another Bedroom

"How's Sera?" asked Daniel.

"She'll be fine but what I really want to know is who this chick is," said Sam pointing at the still unconscious woman.

As if on cue, the woman stirred awake.

"So the sleeping beauty awakens!" said Daniel with a smile.

And what a beauty she was. She had smooth dark tan skin, a nice slender body, short pixie cut hair with blonde highlights

The girl looked at him blankly before shaking her head.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"On a plane heading towards Ventor Town," replied Olivia.

The girl turned to look at her in the corner beside Sera's bed.

"What's your name?" asked Sam.

"Kai...Kai Vega," she replied.

Within five seconds after her introduction, Sera opened her eyes.

"Nice name...wait a minute, Kai Vega as in the NYU star Kai Vega?" she asked.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"I used to be a teacher and believe me, your engineering grades get around a lot," she replied.

"So you know what makes everything tick huh?" asked Daniel.

She nodded and Daniel smiled.

"Mind teaching me a thing or two?" he asked with a wink.

She shyly smiled and nodded.

"What happened to you? We found you practically dead in the outskirts of Pruinato," asked Sam.

"...I was running away from the infected and these...men," she replied.

"Men? What men?" asked Sam.

"Some guys dressed up like soldiers found me in the place I was hiding and wanted me to join their group...but they were slaughtering innocent people so I refused and I've been on the run since," she explained.

"Why were they so hellbent on getting you?" asked Sera.

"Because I know how to fix a lot of things and because I'm one of the best tech specialists you'll ever meet," she explained.

"Not to mention really cute," said Daniel with a wink.

Sera felt a pang of jealousy course through her veins but she ignored it.

"You're too kind..." she said blushing and turning away.

"So what's your story Miss Vega?" asked Sam.

She seemed to warm up as she strode to Sera's bed and sat in the middle of the group. She began to tell them everything.

In The Passenger Aisle

"You alright?" asked Shia.

Warren snapped out of his train of thought and looked at her before absent mindedly nodding.

"...Why did you risk your life like that?" asked Shia.

He was still silent as he turned to look out of the window.

"I didn't want anyone to die..so I acted," he said softly.

"You also risked revealing what you are to everyone," she said.

"If I didn't do it then we'd have three less friends here," he snapped at her.

He had no idea why he got so irritated all of a sudden. Shia sat beside him.

"Why do you stay with Berkley?" she asked.

"Because I would be dead if it weren't for him," he explained.

"I don't think that's all there is to this...Berkley doesn't seem like the kind of man that would do something for someone without expecting a lot or more in return," she said.

"As far as I know he's completely focused on that research of his," he said.

Shia looked at him, scanning for lies but she detected none.

"Why does it matter what he wants?" asked Warren.

"Because I don't think it's a coincidence that my brother was attacked in an Umbrella facility that was seemingly abandoned and neither of you suffered the same fate," said Shia.

"I don't know what happened to Takeda back there but all I know is that Berkley needed the files from there to continue his research," he said.

Again she found no lies in his voice.

"Whatever Berkley wants doesn't matter to me as long as he's trying to helping his own way...if he starts to go crazy then I'll put him in his place just as much as anyone else would," said Warren.

Shia nodded at his words and got up to leave but his hand shot out and grabbed hers.

"Stay," he said.

With a warm smile, she joined him in his seat.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"...I'm not proud of what I am...and I know that once everyone discovers what I am I won't be welcome here anymore," he said softly.

"That may be true but people are very understanding sometimes...especially since you have the power to kill anyone here if you felt like it but you instead chose to help us," she said.

His eyes widened as she lowered his hood. Those red eyes were evident again and he turned away.

"I'm a monster..." he said.

"Look at me," she whispered.

He reluctantly did as she wished and he felt warm lips against his cheek before she lowered her head to his chest.

"You have a heart...and you won't hurt me...you're not a monster," she said.

Whole new feelings surfaced in his mind. He had no idea how to describe them and he was dumbfounded. Despite killing all those monsters in the hotel, killing the monsters to save Jonah and even killing the men at the airport, she still thought of him as her friend and she wasn't afraid of him. He lifted his kegs onto the seat and lay down as she crawled and lay on top of him.

"With a heart as real as yours...it's hard to believe that you're not human," she whispered.

His eyes narrowed and a single arm wrapped itself around her back as silence took hold of the room. He looked down at her sleeping form before smiling to himself.

"Thank you..."

Inside The Food Storage Closet

"What's wrong?" asked Takeda.

"I just wanted to talk to you," replied Sam.

She took out the mugs that were in the microwave and handed one to Takeda as they sat on the floor. They slowly sipped the hot chocolate that Sam prepared.

"How close are you and Jessie?" asked Sam.

Takeda was silent for a few seconds.

"We're friends since we met more than a week ago," he replied.

"How did you two meet?" she asked.

"I saved her and Daniel from a psychopath," he replied.

"They needed help? I thought they were-" she replied.

"Don't ask," said Takeda with a soft chuckle.

She laughed softly at his comment.

"Why are you so curious about us?" he asked.

"You two are practically inseparable," she replied.

"We've been taking care of each other because for some odd reason, one of us always seems to be sick and or injured," he said.

She laughed again.

"How are your cuts by the way? I haven't checked them today," she said.

"I haven't felt much pain from them at all," he said.

"Let me take a look," she said.

He rose to his feet before removing the shirt he was wearing. Sam was astonished. His cuts were all in the scab stage though she noticed a particular one on his chest that she didn't notice before. Her hand ran across it.

"How did you get this?" she asked.

"Fighting off hostile men," he replied.

She could only imagine the pain that cut out him through. She knew it was done with a machete after having treated so many similar injuries in her time. She found herself staring at his toned body and she felt that extreme blush come back again just like when he first thanked her.

"Samantha?" he said noticing her long pause.

He was silenced immediately with a deep kiss. His eyes shot open wide and as quickly as the contact was made, it vanished. She then looked at him for a few seconds and realized his state of silence.

"I...like you a lot..." she whispered.

The silence grew thicker with every passing moment before Takeda looked at her.

"I...I'm sorry...but I cannot give you what you seek...if I had met you first then...maybe but...I'm sorry Samantha," he said closing his eyes.

It tore him apart to break her heart like that but he knew that if he didn't, she would continue to hope. He had to be honest that if he didn't meet Jessica first, he would've had no qualms with her.

"I'm sorry...I didn't know..." she said.

She could feel the tears well up in her eyes. She felt his hands hold hers.

"You're a beautiful woman and I know there's someone for you out there, your kindness is something that any red blooded man would kill for in a woman and you have a pure heart," he said.

She bit her bottom lip before raising her head to look at him.

"If I can't ever be with you...can you do me one thing?" she asked.

His eyes reflected his willingness to try to help.

"I've...never truly felt how it is to have a first kiss...all I want is a kiss...a real one that isn't one sided," she said.

His eyes narrowed.

"I won't tell Jessica...please...I know you feel something for me..." she whispered.

She was right about that. Throughout the past week if he wasn't spending his time with Jessica, he was spending it with her. He had definitely gotten closer to her than anyone else apart from Olivia who was her best friend. He had grown fond of her and treasured her as a friend. At the same time...he knew that if he did this, it could never be undone. If Jessica found out about any of this she would drop her feelings in a heartbeat.

"I...I do feel something...but I'm not willing to risk what Jessica and I have," he said.

He hugged her gently before leaving the closet, leaving her to her thoughts.