S7E07:

Warren POV

Warren, Cooper and George were just passing the border and heading into the United States when they noticed their radio started to pick up that odd numbers channel Citizen Z had been talking about. It confirmed they were on the right path but it would still take them a while before they were far enough south that they could start looking for Addy and 10K. However, losing two of their closest friends didn't seem to be the only thing on George's mind. Warren had been catching her spacing out, chewing on her nails and just displaying some generally distracted behavior. She knew this was unlike George, last time they'd been on a mission together – when they'd been looking to help Dante – George had been focused and full of determination. Now she seemed to be the opposite and being out in the open in a territory known for having more zombies had Warren worried about her friend's safety.

"Hey." She said, gently nudging her shoulder while Cooper walked ahead. "You alright? You've seemed kind of. . . off, since we left Altura."

George nodded but brought her finger back to her mouth and started chewing on her nail again. Warren sighed and grabbed her wrist pulling her hand away from her face.

"Hey." She repeated, this time a bit sterner, "What's bothering you?"

George sighed and dropped her hand to her side, "I'm just. . . not sure where I fit in anymore."

Her admission threw Warren off for a second and she knew she looked surprised by what George had said, "Your place is in Altura. I thought you loved it, the community, the people –

"I do." George cut her off quickly, "Don't get me wrong, I love being at the heart of Altura, overseeing all the projects that help us expand, signing off on what's best and denying things that we're maybe not ready for. And the success of Newmerica is something that just feels so rewarding, that what I'm contributing is working, that the calls I've made have been the right ones. It's just. . . I've always been a fighter, when someone has needed me I'm the first one up volunteering to help. I don't care how far I have to go or how long it will take, not if I'm helping someone. But this time, when Estes got out and I knew I had to stay in Altura in case he tried to come back and take it out from under me. . . it just felt, hard. Hard to fight off that urge to go and help, hard to stay put."

Warren nodded now understanding, "I know what you mean. When I was taking my team across the country I had to make some tough choices." She remembered the kind people on that Mennonite farm that she had to steal medicine from so Addy and 10K could live. To condemn those kind people to die slow and painful deaths had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done and a guilt she had to live with each day. Fighting to keep her team going so a cure could become reality was the only ease she got from that experience. "Being a good leader means sometimes making sacrifices and choices you wish you wouldn't have to make."

George nodded slowly, looking at the ground as they walked, "It's going to be hard putting that fighter behind me. I've been fighting for so long, we all have. I think it's going to be hard to transition out of that."

"I'm not sure if people will ever be able to let go of the violence the apocalypse taught them. But so long as that drive to fight for what's yours, your freedom, your safety, comes from the right place and we can show everyone that fighting together is the best way to make progress then this world you pulled together will only continue to grow."

"And it will need a leader, not someone who keeps running into fights." George said kicking a rock in the road.

Warren smirked, "There will still be fights, just different then how you've been fighting before, less with your fists and more with your mind."

George turned to her with a smile, "Maybe I should make you a motivational speaker instead of my sheriff." She joked and both she and Warren started laughing making Cooper look over his shoulder at them before he smiled and shook his head.

10K POV

He and Addy were being tugged along as people ran around in chaos around them. Every now and then they'd see another Molotov cocktail being thrown over the walls where it would smash into the ground, a car, or a building, several of which were already on fire. They could hear shouting and laughter coming from the other side of the wall as Rita shouted directions to the others that she passed as she led them and their guards through the blazing community. Another grenade was launched among the fire bombs and they all lunged behind a car as the grenade went off and the ground shook. 10K had a bit of trouble sitting upright with his arms still tied behind his back but he managed it as Rita crouched with her back to the car, her handgun in her grasp looking around the corner expecting a breech in the walls. The guards had their weapons drawn to back her up if need be and Addy was beside him and gave his shoulder a frim nudge making him turn to her. She looked down at the ground and 10K saw the car must have been one of the ones the mechanics here were working on since the frame was broken which left a sharp edge by the back door. He understood Addy's message as he scooted back a bit and started discreetly rubbing the rope around his antler against the sharp metal.

"Let's move." Rita called to the guards and they each lowered their weapons and grabbed Addy and 10K by the arm as they pulled them along again. 10K could feel the rope along his right arm loosen but it stayed on and given everything going on around them the guard tugging him by the elbow didn't notice anything.

They were pulled down streets and around corners passing people who were trying to put out the small fires before they could spread and do further damage. Rita stopped dead in her tracks when they turned the next bend and 10K's eyes widened as Addy's jaw dropped.

"Oh my God." Rita said in shock as they saw a small apartment building that was entirely engulfed in flames. There were crews of people below tossing sand at the building in place of water, trying to smother the fire but the building was all but lost.

"Mariah!" Rita shouted calling over a woman who was giving orders, "I need a status report!"

"We're trying to put it out Rita." She replied jogging over.

"Why not leave it? We can rebuild."

"We think there's a child stuck inside. Fourth floor, it's the Deever's kid."

"Shoot." Rita muttered under her breath placing her hands on her hips the same way Warren would. "What about a ladder?"

"The structure is too weak, anyone on a ladder would likely fall through the wall and right into the flames."

10K thought about TJ and felt the bile crawl up his throat at the idea of him being trapped in a burning building. Not far he could see a woman crying with a man's arm around her as he tried to comfort her but looked like he was living his own nightmare too. 10K didn't think much, or have a plan, but in the next second he'd elbowed the guard holding him, shook off the rope and was sprinting toward the building.

"10K!" he heard Addy shout as he ran through the door that had already burnt to a crisp. The heat hit him in the face like a brick wall and he started sweating instantly. Fourth floor, he thought as he started running blind through the fire trying to find a staircase. Luckily, it wasn't too far from the door but as he ran up it he heard the boards creak in protest under his weight which only pushed him to move faster before any of them could break and send him falling into the burning floors below him.

As he climbed higher he started to cough as he walked into more and more smoke. He had to cover his face with his arm, burying his nose in his elbow as his eyes started to tear from the sting making it even harder to see. When he got to the fourth floor he reached his hand out to feel along the wall hoping to find some doors to rooms soon so he could find this kid. It would be nice if he knew the kid's name so he could call out and try to get a response, or a clue of where to go.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Anyone in here!"

He didn't hear anything but the crackling fire and a breaking beam falling in the distance every now and then, so he kept walking. He made it down the first hall then the floor creaked under his foot and the wood gave way. One leg went in to his thigh as he fell forward onto his face. He tried to use his arms to pull himself out by pushing his body upward and using his free leg to give him the leverage he needed. He struggled and struggled but it was no use, he was stuck too good and had nothing to grab onto and nothing to push off of below to get free. He coughed some more as smoke entered his lungs and the heat started to become unbearable. He didn't want to die here, he wanted to get that poor kid out. He wanted to make it home to Bailey, he wanted to hug TJ and meet their baby when it was born. He kept struggling but with each minute the heat sucked away more of his strength and the smoke choked him more making his lungs feel like they were shriveling up. The lack of oxygen and the inhaled smoke made his chest burn from the inside and part of him wished he'd at least pass out before he burned to death.

Addy POV

"Come on, 10K, come on." She muttered under her breath as she watched the building burn with the other onlookers. If 10K didn't make it out she had no idea what she'd tell Bailey. Hearing that kind of news would crush her. And what about TJ? How do you tell a three year old that his father died in a fire? Then there was a loud creaking sound and she looked up at the roof just as it started to cave in, the fire making the structure so weak it couldn't hold it up anymore. It came crashing down leaving a cloud of smoke and orange embers rising into the air and had a domino effect on that whole corner of the building as walls and floors fell away like they were made of nothing as it all came toppling down on the doorway she'd last seen 10K go through, now making the building look like a knife had taken a large chunk out of it like a cake.

"No!" she shouted and tried to rush forward knowing her friend would need her help, if by some miracle he hadn't been in that part of the building. And if he hadn't just been crushed he still now had no way out of the part of the building that remained. The guards held her back as she heard the mother of the trapped boy sob louder into her husband's chest as he held her. Then Rita stepped forward and held up her hand telling the others to stay back. Addy followed her gaze and from behind the still standing side of the building 10K came out of a cloud of smoke, covered in black soot holding a little boy who had his arms wrapped around 10K's neck. The parents ran forward and 10K passed the child to his mother who was still sobbing as she thanked him again and again. He slowly walked back over to where Addy, Rita and the guards were. He stopped in front of Rita and didn't say a word, she looked at him with her head tilted and one eyebrow raised like she was seeing him in a new light. Then she turned to the guards.

"Let the girl go and get our doctor. He'll need medical attention." She said nodding at 10K and walking away to help her people. Then Addy stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

"You jerk." She said when she pulled back, "What would I have told Bailey if you didn't make it out of there?"

He looked down at his feet and licked his lip nervously before he muttered, "For a minute there I thought I wasn't going to."

"What?" she asked crunching her eyebrows together, her one eye looking at him confused.

He took a deep breath and looked up at her, "I fell through the floor. Well, my leg did. I tried to get out. . . but no matter what I did, I couldn't."

"So what'd you do to get free?"

"I didn't do anything." he said his eyes turning very serious, "Someone grabbed my foot and pushed me out."

Addy shook her head, "10K no one else was in there with you except that kid."

"I know. Addy I'm not crazy. But someone, something, had a good grip on my foot and pushed me out. I wouldn't have made it out on my own."

It was quiet between them for a moment before she let out a long breath, "Maybe it's fate. Like that's why we're here, why we were caught, so you could save that little boy."

"Maybe." He said turning and looking at the reunited family, and desperately wanted to go home and have a moment like that with his own.

"You should talk to Bailey about it when we get back." Addy said nudging his arm again, "She's always been a big believer of that kind of stuff."

He nodded still looking at the mother and father hugging their son, "Maybe I will."

Doc POV

The next day he and Kuruk had gone out to the far back of the Rangers outpost to check those metal storage units to see what exactly was inside them. He felt like he was on one of those hidden treasure shows where people find things in their basement that end up being worth millions.

He and Kuruk started at the unit on the far left, there were five in all and they each looked like they could hold a good amount of stuff. He unlocked the metal latch on the top corner and Kuruk undid the one on the bottom corner as she crouched by his feet. Before they opened it further Kuruk held up her hand before she kicked the metal door making an echoing ring sound. They both waited to see if they heard any snarling coming from inside.

"Man I hope someone didn't lock a whole mess of zombies in these."

"Doesn't sound like it." Kuruk said with her ear now to the door. Then they each took a handle and pulled the large metal door open. No Z's came rushing out but that didn't mean there weren't some in there; the thing was so pitch black inside they couldn't even make out the silhouettes of what had been stashed there. Kuruk moved closer to the fence and dug through the old dry leaves until she found a descent sized piece of a fallen branch and took out her knife and cut a piece of her dress off right along the hem. She wrapped it around the edge of the stick and then held it out to him. He chucked and pulled out his lighter and lit the fabric completing her homemade torch.

"You know we could have just gotten the flashlight we left in the cabin." He said smiling.

She smiled back at him and titled her head, "But where's the ingenuity in that?"

"Right on." He chuckled as she led the way inside, keeping her knife in her free hand ready just in case. He kept a tight grip on his crowbar too as they looked around at the big pieces of machinery inside.

"These were all used down at the brewery?" he asked.

"Yeah, no wonder they needed more room." Kuruk said, "These things are huge. And it looks like they had already dismantled a lot of them to fit them in here."

"Makes you wonder doesn't it?" Doc asked, "They don't make much anymore. I wonder who will come up with a way to use this stuff."

10K POV

He was sitting in West Park's infirmary – which was much more impressive than the one in Altura – holding a clear mask to his face that covered his nose and mouth. He breathed in the fresh air it was pumping before he took it away from his face and exhaled, tasting the slight smokiness on his tongue before he started coughing again.

"Good. Let it out." The doctor said walking past him as he brought the mask to his face and inhaled again. Addy was sitting next to him rubbing his back as the doctor made her way around the room checking her various equipment. The guards that had brought them here had introduced the woman as Dr. Hastings, she had pitch black hair that she wore in a bun pulling it away from her face. She had a pair of simple glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, and had a kind face - if she'd crack a smile - and looked old enough to be his and Addy's mother. She looked absorbed in her work as she moved about the room looking over her equipment and marking things down on a clipboard before pausing to check him over again to make sure his breathing was still steady and his vitals were good.

"How do you have all this stuff?" Addy asked her glancing at all the machines.

"I'm sure Rita will explain it when she gets back." The doctor said not looking up from 10K's wrist as she took his pulse. She kept giving him the same strange glances the nurse in Altura did when he got his quarantine check there.

"Do you have any heart problems you're aware of?" she asked. Luckily before he could answer, Rita came down the hall like clockwork and walked into the room the three of them were in. She stopped in the door frame and crossed her arms as she looked at them again before Dr. Hastings dropped his wrist and got back to her other work as Rita spoke.

"We thought you were with them." She began before she raised an eyebrow, "Are you really from Newmerica?"

10K nodded as he took another breath of the fresh filtered air, he tried to hold the mask so it wouldn't irritate any of the cuts on his face as they answered her questions. Dr. Hastings had been kind enough to bandage the shallow cuts and stitch up the deeper ones but it still made it uncomfortable for him to move his face.

"It's not as fake as you think it is." Addy said emotionlessly as she kept rubbing his back.

"Sorry. I just had to be sure. As you saw outside we've been dealing with a lot. We can't afford to be kind anymore."

"We get it." 10K replied taking the mask away from his face to exhale again as Rita turned her attention to him.

"Emily told me you have a family back home." She began, "Is that why you rescued Toby?"

He shook his head, "I would have done that anyway."

"Well, thank you. Now, I have to ask. If you're not with the bounty hunters and you're not with Zona, then why are you here, so far from home?"

"We had a prisoner escape one of our outposts. He's highly dangerous." Addy explained, "One of our drones spotted him getting in a truck and heading south, toward your community."

"Well, we haven't exactly been recruiting new citizens." Rita said stating the obvious.

"How did you know about Zona?" Addy asked.

Rita turned to the doctor, "Dr. Hastings, she's one of the best physicians in the world, even before it went to the zombies. She used to work for the Mount Wilson CDC." Addy and 10K looked at each other knowing that's where they were originally supposed to bring Murphy ages ago, back when they were crossing the country with Garnett. "She overheard information about The Murphy and the plan to bring him – and the cure in his blood – to Zona. But when their lab became overrun with Z's the higher ranked doctors and personnel were evacuated to their submarine laboratory. She escaped the horde and one of my supply teams found her on a run and brought her here – that was years before these attacks. We had been collecting equipment for her, there's a hospital not far from here, we were able to salvage some things."

"You must be a pretty advanced community to be able to do that." Addy pointed out.

"We were." Rita said leaning back against a table, "Then this group of bounty hunters started attacking, it started on the road, teams getting attacked and losing more and more people. Then they eventually were able to start mounting attacks on us directly."

"Any idea why there's a bounty out on you?" 10K asked.

"It's not a bounty. When you have something good there is always someone out there who will want to take it. They only have an interest in our community because they don't want to put the effort into creating their own. And why would they? When one is right here ready for them to move in."

"Bastards." Addy whispered under her breath and Rita smirked having obviously heard her. If there was anything they all agreed on it was that nothing in life was free, everyone had to work in some way, there was no room in the world for moochers and people who just wanted hand outs. Hell, if Newmerica worked like that it never would have succeeded.

"The only good news is that even if they took this place from us they wouldn't be able to hold it long." Rita continued.

"Why not?" 10K asked remembering the nukes and he really hoped Rita didn't have a plan like that in mind.

Then Dr. Hastings spoke up from where she was sanitizing medical supplies on a table. "The Z's are running out of food in the south."

That brought a whole new wave of fear coursing through both him and Addy. If the Z's weren't finding food what would happen? He remembered seeing zombies eating zombies back when he'd been traveling with Murphy and his blends. Was it possible the Z's would just devour themselves and solve all their problems? Eat themselves into their own extinction? He doubted it, though it was something he hoped for, but he highly doubted it.

"We've been seeing more and more of them as time has gone on." Hastings continued before she looked up at them, "Now they're migrating north."

"Why?" Addy asked, "Zombies hate the cold."

"It's the wind currents." Rita added from where she stood still leaning on a table, "Our communities are all full of people who ran north to escape the zombies, and that many people is creating enough of a scent that the wind is carrying south, drawing the Z's back up here."

"We've been having to deal with them more, and that's why the bounty hunters are so eager to take this place over. They need high strong walls before more of the zombies get here." Hastings went on now writing on her clipboard again. "And I'm sure they'd love to inherit a community with a working ammo manufacturing plant."

"You make your own ammo?" 10K asked surprised, he'd never heard of that before, and Newmerica had nothing like it. It was the one resource they were lacking.

"So that is what the piles of scrap metal are for." Addy said seeming glad her hypothesis had been correct.

Rita nodded, "We collect it from the parts of town further south, store it here and bring it up a few miles to an old diesel equipment building where we have the machinery to turn it into ammo. Though I'd feel better if we weren't wasting so much of it on our attackers. I'd rather be saving it for the mega horde that will be at our front door in less then half a month."

He and Addy looked at each other and he could tell they were both thinking along the same lines.

"What if we could help you with the bandits?" Addy offered and Rita turned to her looking a mix of interested and cautious.

"How so?"

"If we could use your radio to contact Citizen Z we can send able bodied men and women down here. They'd attack the bounty hunters from behind and we'd attack from the front."

"What would you want in exchange?" Rita asked knowing no one would offer that without a price and not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Well for starters, we'd need your ammo supply." Addy said and Rita's eyebrows rose on her forehead.

"Newmerica, has everything but ammo. The only reason it hasn't been a problem is because there are so few zombies up north." 10K explained.

"And that's it? That's all you'd want?" Rita asked still seeming disbelieving.

"Well any other negotiations would have to go through our leader, George. She's the one you need to talk to about terms." Addy finished before Rita and Dr. Hastings exchanged a look. Then Rita looked back at them. She took a long moment to stare at each of them, probably wondering if this was all part of some elaborate plan. But then her body language relaxed and she slowly nodded.

"Alright."

AN: 10K in the fire was inspired by a true story. A friend of mine who was a firefighter for years got stuck in a burning building and to this day swears it was his Guardian Angel who pushed his leg out from the hole in the floor.