When they were done with their search, they had found some additional first aid supplies, a couple flashlights and a few extra batteries.
They packed the items, found seats in a room down the hall and sat down. Brad got up and asked everyone what they wanted from the vending machine outside. Requests were taken and they heard the loud crack of breaking glass and he came back a moment later and passed everything around. They finished their food silently, and then sat thinking about different things.
Sarah and Brad walked over to the other side of the room and sat down by the bed, quietly talking to each other.
"So how did you guys come to be in this line of work?" asked Leon.
"It's a long story," said Jess.
"It's a long wait," said Leon.
"Well, Brad, Sarah and I have all known each other for a long time." Jess sighed, looked at Sarah, then smiled and looked at Leon. "I had a small family growing up. I lived with my brother and my parents. My dad's job required that we move a lot when I was younger and until I was about six, it was rare for us to live in the same state for more than a year or two. We finally ended up in Alaska, here and got to stay. I didn't have too many friends until I met Sarah in fourth grade. After that, my life was pretty normal until ninth grade. I was spending the night at Sarah's house and the next morning, my brother and parents went shopping it town. On their way back, when they were coming to pick me up, they were hit by some guy driving a semi truck. He ran a red light thinking he could make it across. My family was killed instantly in our little car and the guy responsible later died of his injuries because he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. Since I had no extended family left, they tried sticking me in an orphanage.
"Sarah finally convinced her parents to 'adopt' me because the orphanage was going to send me to some kind of facility because I kept running away for weeks at a time," Jess said looking at Sarah again. "Not long after that, we met our friend Alex whose parents were involved in stopping Byol Co. She was also involved in the little ways that she could be at the age of sixteen. Sarah and I joined her and started our team. A year after that, Brad moved up here and he and Sarah got together. He became our fourth member. After we graduated, we became official agents thanks to Alex's parents.
"Alex was the only one with experience so she became our leader. The rest of us just followed her. We did well and got through many clean-up missions, being the only team assigned to them. We just had to go into affected cities and towns, rescue any survivors and find out why the outbreak had occurred. We had to do all this before the location was bombed. On one of our missions Alex was killed. After that I was appointed leader and we were given many more mission opportunities. That's about all to my life," Jess finished.
"I'm sorry to hear about your family and your friend," said Leon. Jess shrugged and said nothing more.
"Hey Jess, come on," Sarah said from the door about a half hour later.
Jess got up without a word and followed Sarah to the bathroom down the hall. They did their business, and then stood at the cracked sinks cleaning up as best they could.
"You like him don't you? I can see it in your eyes," said Sarah smiling at Jess through the mirror.
"What? Like who? Who are you talking about? …Leon?" she asked, knowing what the answer would be before it came. Sarah nodded to her, still smiling.
"What? No way! I do not like him. I gave up on guys a long time ago, you of all people should know that," said Jess defending herself.
"Then why do you gawk at him so much when he's not looking? Why do you blush when he talks to you? I've never seen you blush so much. You can't hide it, he's going to find out eventually," said Sarah smiling.
"Okay, okay, stop it. So I do like him. Who cares? With my luck he's probably married or something," Jess countered.
"No ring," Sarah shot back.
"Fine, whatever, just promise not to say anything. Not even to Brad, he'd be all over me about it," said Jess.
"Scout's honor," said Sarah laughing. "Leon's still going to find out though."
Jess shook her head as they walked out of the bathroom and quietly walked back into their room. Sarah giggled when they walked past Leon. Jess nudged her hard in the side but still couldn't keep from blushing. The men looked a little confused for a moment, and then shrugged it off.