Last Alarm

Chapter 11

"Crossroads" -Part One

I slammed the door of the bus as hard as I could in disgust, and walked away half-hoping the little jerk would come busting through the door trying to start something. I knew he wouldn't follow me though. It's easy for people like him to assault an injured boy who's lying helpless on the ground, and also even brazenly try to kill a man in his sleep. But as Kouta had just proven, if you stand your ground against such people, they'll back down in a hurry when the advantage is NOT in their favor.

Of course it helps to be well armed to defend yourself against such people too.

Shizuka and the teens were still waiting for me at the foot of a flight of stairs that went up to a walkway leading to another street level on a hill. There wasn't any visible danger around, but just to be safe, I looked up and down the street that we were on just to make sure no one had noticed me and all my hardware, not to mention looking out for any of our Infected friends still shuffling around. Seeing nothing but scared civilians running for the hills, I joined up with the group at the bottom of the stairs, keeping an eye open towards the door of the mini-bus.

As usual, Saya was chewing out Kouta again, probably for coming damn near close to killing the teacher earlier.

I swear though, these two sounded like an old married couple whenever they were together. I don't know what it was that Kouta saw in the girl, but he sure was one heck of a patient kid for putting up with all her constant nagging, even though she wasn't even his girlfriend. I can't imagine what life would be like for these two if they ever did end up together.

"You okay, son? I said looking at Kouta as he cringed under the onslaught of Saya's barrage of words. I was more worried about how he was feeling after nearly coming so close to killing the teacher. But it seems he was well over that, and the current source of his anxiety was coming from the missus right now.

The poor kid didn't answer me, not that I blamed him. Against a sadistic murderer, he had risen before the threat, defiant and courageous. Under this tiny girl's fury though, he cowered like a beaten mule. Guess that's why they call it being "whipped" eh, guys?

"What are you screaming at him for NOW, pumpkin?" I asked Saya as I walked over and stood near Kouta.

"I was yelling at him for being so stupid, pig-headed, and reckless for confronting Shido-sensei like that." She said glaring at him as she spoke.

"He was only trying to protect all of you. It was a very brave thing to do, all things considered. What's so wrong about that?" I asked with a smirk.

"It's not funny!" Saya said, looking at me, highly annoyed. "What if Shido-sensei or one of the other boys had tried to fight back?"

"Then they would have been shot by ME." I said, nonchalantly.

I wouldn't have really, but Kouta and the rest were in no real danger by that jerk as long as I was still alive and kicking.

"But I suppose your right." I said, seeing an opportunity to both tease Saya and also give Kouta a big boost to his morale, especially now that Saya had pretty much mashed what was left of it into the dirt.

" Kouta could have been hurt by doing that, not to mention that he could have shot your teacher or one of the other boys and would have had to live with that guilt the rest of his life."

"EXACTLY!" Saya said giving Kouta a serious case of the stink-eye.

"You see Kouta? I knew she liked you." I said, trying to keep a straight face. "I figured all that yelling was because she was just worried about you and didn't want you to get hurt."

"Wha-wha WHAT!" Saya said turning beet-red. "I DIDN'T SAY I LIKED HIM!" She sputtered, trying to reverse herself out of the trap she had accidentally fallen into. "I SAID NO SUCH THING!"

"You didn't have to." I said, doing my best to sound nonchalant. "Sometimes during periods of the strongest emotion, you can easily read what's in a person's heart by the things they say, and in your case, you were yelling at him because you were afraid he'd get hurt. So it only makes sense that the only reason you would do that is because you like him."

"That's actually very sweet , Saya-chan. I said trying to keep from laughing as she blushed more and more.

"Word of advice though pumpkin? " I continued, giving her a wink as I did so.

"Save the screaming and nagging for AFTER you're both married. It's expected then. If you want a boy to know you like him, a kiss or even holding his hand will work wonders and achieve much better results than nagging and yelling at him all the time to get his attention, believe me."

"WHAT?! I -I'm NOT,….. SHUT UP!" Saya screeched, as she ran behind Shizuka trying to hide.

Kouta meanwhile, was in la-la land. I guess the idea of him and Saya kissing and holding hands, had overloaded his brain.

Saeko and Shizuka both looked at me with an expression on their faces that said "BEHAVE YOURSELF", and I couldn't help but smile innocently at them.

"WHAT?" I said, acting dumb.

Of course, it really wasn't the time to be screwing around here out in the open with panicked civilians, armed police, and blood-thirsty monsters lurking around, so I put my game face back on and started heading towards the stairs.

"Ok guys." I said being serious now. "We need to get moving if we want to make the police station before dark. So everyone, I need you to stay in a line and follow behind me a few feet away as we move. Saeko, you're behind me, Shizuka, you walk behind her, and Saya , stay behind Shizuka, and KOUTA?"

"KOUTA!" I said trying to snap him out of his romantic haze.

"Yes Sir?!" He said, finally snapping out of it.

"Focus, son. How many rounds do you have left?" I asked.

"About twenty left, SIR!" He said smartly.

"Easy on the caffeine, son." I said, trying to be patient with his extreme enthusiasm of yelling out "SIR!" every time I said something.

"All right then, your rear security, so you make sure no one is following us and signal if you see something. Ok?"

"Yes SIR!" He said again, with even more enthusiasm.

"Well, hero worship or just plain overzealousness aside, his love and devotion for all things military would be useful as our journey continued. It had saved a life today, and very well might be what pulls ALL of us through this ordeal." I thought in the back of my head as I carefully walked up the stairs.

If not for my addressing him as "Private Hirano" as I would have a real soldier, he would have undoubtedly shot that weasel a while ago and the thought of him coming so close to doing exactly that still bothered me. However, I began to believe, that other than that incident, I could count on him just as I did with Saeko and Takashi to be able to handle things if he and the rest ever found themselves alone again.

Still, being called "SIR!" all the time, was getting a little annoying.

"Son, I'm not some blankety-blank , ranker." (Officer) "I WORK for a living dammit." I used to say, whenever some young rookie ever called me "sir" back in the days when I was still a fireman.

I was always joking of course, it was a joke I would pull on a new recruit we just hired who was so jumpy trying to make a good impression of himself, that he started talking to everyone as if he was still in the Academy. I'd tell them that joke in an effort to help the newbie to relax a bit.

And also, to irk my commanding officer as well.

I told you, we firemen love our practical jokes.

Oh man, all the lieutenant's I used to work for would get so pissed off when I told that to a rookie in front of them.

Which is one of the reasons why I did it in the first place.

"Ah, the good old days, before monsters and murderous psychos" I thought, as I raised my carbine to my shoulder as I neared the edge of the stairs. I did a quick sweep of the walkway right and left as I neared the top, and seeing nothing, I walked up past the stairs and went to my right, lowering my rifle.

I heard the others following me, and I kept scanning the area ahead as I moved, just as I would if I had been on patrol with the guys, keeping my rifle at my shoulder, but muzzle pointed down. I could still pull it up quickly if I needed to shoot.

If this were a combat patrol in the bush, things would be done a LOT differently. But our biggest fear was the Infected who didn't use firearms and the police whom I really didn't want to appear as a threat to either. I really didn't want another show-down with the local police like yesterday again, so I tried to not look too aggressive. Even though one look at me, and anyone could tell, I was definitely NOT your usual American tourist.

I heard a loud shout from Saya suddenly, and I quickly spun around with the muzzle of my carbine half-way up thinking something had happened, when I saw that it was only Saya yelling at Kouta in anger, AGAIN.

Watching these two bicker constantly was normally hilarious usually, but right now, this was getting REALLY old, REALLY fast.

"Will you two, KNOCK IT OFF?! " I said annoyed at their latest little tiff. "What's wrong now?"

"I CAUGHT HIM LOOKING UP MY SKIRT!" Saya said, extremely annoyed and blushing again as she held the back of her skirt against her butt with both hands, trying to keep Kouta from getting another glimpse of her undies. Kouta meanwhile, had this dumb, dreamy-eyed look plastered all over his face which only proved that he had obviously snuck a peek at something he wasn't supposed to as they had climbed up the steps..

I sighed, as did Saeko and Shizuka.

THIS was going to be a very LONG day with these two.

Since the kid only had a nail gun and 20 nails to shoot with, I figured it was best to put him at the rear where it was safer, and I had purposefully left Saya with him, hoping that since he was so protective of her, he'd be more vigilant on keeping an eye out for trouble.

Seeing as how I haven't known what it's like to be a teenager in a very LONG time now, I hadn't considered that raging teenage hormones and a cute girl's butt will overrule duty and vigilance any day.

This was getting ridiculous.

"Keep your eyes OFF her butt, and ON your SURROUNDINGS for potential THREATS when we're in the field, KOUTA." I said, trying to once again sound authoritive.

"And YOU," I said pointing at Saya. "Quit yelling all the time pumpkin. That loud yelling of yours is gonna compromise all of us. I'm surprised we're not being surrounded right now by an entire herd of Infected as loud as you yelled. I don't wanna hear you yelling again, understood?"

"Someone gets hurt because you guys were too busy playing PANTY PEEK-A-BOO, and then squabbling over it loud enough for all the world to hear, I'm not just gonna chew you out next time. I'm gonna send BOTH of you packing. GOT IT?"

I wouldn't have done that of course, but it was no time for silliness, and I had to be firm.

"Yes, sir." They both said, looking at the ground.

I had to admit, they looked extremely funny all embarrassed the way they were at that moment. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Still, enough was enough, especially with danger all around.

"Ok, let's go." I said, shaking my head.

I couldn't help but wonder how many military commanders in the field ever had to experience leading a patrol as ridiculous as this one was turning out to be.

For the next couple hours, our journey proved uneventful. And without any more panty peeks.

We could see people in the distance trying to head for some unknown sanctuary, but we saw no Infected for a while. A few families carrying some hastily packed suitcases passed us by every now and then, but they didn't stop to converse.

They did little more than stare at our strange procession as we walked by, and then quickly moved on.

I guess the sight of a heavily armed Latino-American, a blond Japanese woman wearing a medical pack while dressed in formal attire, and a group of kids, one with the brightest shade of pink hair anyone ever saw, and all of them armed with home-made weapons walking down the street, was not as weird this particular day as it probably would have been before the Outbreak started.

We continued to walk in silence, stopping to rest every hour for about ten minutes. It was after hour number four, after we had walked around a bend in the road. That we finally came across a bridge going across the river. It was also then, that I noticed Shizuka was slightly limping on her right foot.

"What's wrong with your foot, hon?" I said concerned as she limped over to the side of the road and sat down on a large stone.

"Oh, it's nothing, really." She said, trying to pass it off.

I wasn't buying it though. I could plainly see the discomfort she was really in, and I walked over to her and took off my pack.

"What hurts?" I asked as I kneeled down to pick up her foot and remove her shoe.

Shizuka though, was more concerned with protecting her modesty than my examining her foot and nearly fell off the rock trying to pull her torn dress together.

"Take it easy hon." I said trying to put her at ease. " I'm not some horny teenager trying to sneak a peek like Kouta did a while ago." I said grinning at her as she laughed, and Kouta and Saya blushed.

I moved to the right side of her anyway, just to be considerate of her modesty. I then lifted her foot and placed it on my knee and slowly and carefully removed the shoe.

"Owwwwww." She said under her breath as the shoe came off.

Yup, just as I had thought, a big blister had formed on the side of her foot next to her baby toe, right where the shoe pinched the toes together. And as she walked, the shoe leather had rubbed the skin pretty badly. The blister that had formed had now burst and the area was pretty raw and slightly bleeding.

I'm sure that by now, it was no doubt, pretty painful for her to try to keep walking in these shoes. The shoes she was wearing were designer shoes made for office use only and not for long distance travel, so it was only a matter of time before she started to have problems with her feet.

"How long have you had this blister, Shizuka-san?'' I asked, frowning at the wound.

" A couple of hours now. But it really started hurting an hour ago, after the last break." She said all apologetically. "I'm so sorry, I should have said something sooner. I didn't want to be a bother."

I looked up at her and smiled trying to put her at ease. The old friendly neighborhood paramedic in me still surfaces every now and then.

"Don't ever worry about being a bother hon." I said opening the med bag on my pack. "The time to say something though is BEFORE it gets worse, not WHEN it's already gotten worse, next time, ok?"

"Ok." She said, blushing slightly as I held her foot on my knee, while I rummaged through the med bag. I took out a small packet of antibiotic ointment and smeared it on a large Band-Aid I had taken out of its wrapper, and placed it over the raw skin.

She made a groaning sound as I placed the bandage on the wound that was now pretty tender, and seeing as how she had been walking on it for so long, I decided to let her take an extended break.

What she really needed was some sort of mobile transportation and a decent pair of walking shoes though. For now since neither was available, a longer break would have to do.

"We'll rest here for a while, and when you're up to it, we'll move on and try to cross that bridge." I said looking at everyone.

"Then again." I said aloud, looking over at the bridge not very far away from us, with a large amount of vehicles parked on it.

"Maybe I can just commandeer one of those cars and just pick them all up so she doesn't have to walk anymore. At least until we get to the bridge." I thought.

The bridge wasn't that far away. Even if we couldn't drive across it, it would be a lot easier on Shizuka if she didn't have to walk and I could just grab a car. Right now, anything that would help our situation would be worth trying for.

I opened a pouch on my combat vest and took out a small monocular from it. It's not extremely powerful, but it's handy for quick recon. I saw the vehicles of all makes and models lying parked on the bridge pretty clearly all right, but there didn't seem to be any drivers or panicked civilians around on the bridge at all. Matter of fact, there was no movement of ANY kind on the bridge as far as I could see.

"Not a good sign, but might be worth a shot anyway." I said aloud.

"What's that?" Saeko said curious.

"I'm gonna try to get us some transportation, and see if we can cross over there." I said pointing at the bridge and handing the monocular to Saeko. I pulled the map case off my belt and unfolded it as she peered through the glass.

"Ok Shizuka-san, we're about here, right?" I said as I kneeled next to Shizuka and unfolded the map on my knee and pointed to a bridge outlined on the map.

"Yes." Shizuka confirmed, staring at the map.

"Allright, and here's the jail. So if we cross here, we can be at the jail hopefully before sundown if I can get us a car that runs, and the bridge is clear enough."

''It doesn't look clear." Saeko said still looking through the glass.

"No, it doesn't." I said nodding my head. "But it wouldn't hurt to take a look and at least try to get a working vehicle anyway, that way we can ride instead of walk. All this walking isn't doing her feet any good, and I'm tired of us having to hump all over the city myself, so I'm gonna head over that way and try and get us a ride."

" BY YOURSELF?" Saeko said, looking at me alarmed.

"I'll be OK." I said. " I was up and down the entire city yesterday. A few hundred yards in plain view of you guys ain't gonna hurt me."

"I don't like it." Saeko said, her face getting serious. "It seems too risky to go alone. I'll go with you."

"Negative." I said looking at her, as I put away the map and donned my pack again. "I need you here, standing guard watching Shizuka along with Kouta and Saya."

"Hirano-kun and Takagi-san can stand guard over Marikawa-sensei." Saeko said, suddenly defiant. "I see no reason why you should go alone. It's an unnecessary risk, and foolish."

Normally, one would expect for me to be upset with a teenager arguing with me when it came to making a decision like the one I was making right now. But I understood her fear, and she was right.

It was EXTREMELY risky, no doubt about it. But it needed to be done and arguing about it wasn't going to solve anything. Saeko was a very level-headed girl, and I appreciated her concern and good sense.

I was growing quite fond of her to be honest, even if she was too smart for her own good in this case.

"Saeko-chan," I began, trying to reason with her.

"NO." She said, crossing her arms.

"No?" I said surprised at her comment.

"Waddaya mean NO?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"NO. You are NOT going out there by yourself Jimu-san, it's too dangerous to go anywhere alone and you take too many risks as it is."

"You are NOT going all alone out there by yourself, and that's final." Saeko said, giving me "THE LOOK."

"THE LOOK? What's that?" you're probably wondering.

If you're married or have a girlfriend, you have already experienced it, and know what I'm talking about. If not, then that would be the facial expression that a woman gives you when she's really pissed off that says, " YOU are about to lose your manhood right here and now if you even THINK about arguing with me."

I saw Kouta, Saya and Shizuka cringe a bit at Saeko's ultimatum.

"WHOOOA!" I thought, laughing inwardly.

I couldn't help but be a little amused by her rebuff, honestly.

This young girl that I had only met yesterday was now laying down the law to me.

I was thrown for a loop, to say the least. This was a strange turn of events. It had been a long time since a woman had backed me in a corner in quite a while.

As I said before, I've been on the receiving end of a woman's wrath before, but for some reason, this young woman stopped me cold for a second. I guess I was just taken back by her showing such inner strength all of a sudden. And at the same time, I was touched by her concern.

I knew she was only worried about me and not being argumentative. She had a good point, but there was a reason for my decision, and we were wasting time.

I looked at her face that was devoid of emotion and smirked.

"My goodness, for a moment there I thought I had gotten married and didn't even know it." I said jokingly.

There was NO reaction at ALL from the stone-faced princess.

"Oh boy." I thought. "Jokes were NOT gonna break the icy stare I was getting right now. Better just be up front and honest about it."

No wonder she won that Kendo championship last year. I'd hate to have been the opponent to go up against her myself.

"Ok, hon. You made your point, and it's a good one." I said looking at her eyes that were pretty scary to look at right now I must admit.

"But right now," I continued. "This is our current situation. We have one walking wounded who has no weapon or fighting skills of any kind." I said, speaking low, so Shizuka and the others couldn't hear.

"You have one boy with a nail gun and only twenty shots left and a girl whose only weapon is her ego and her ability to be a brat. Myself on the other hand, I have my weapons and my training, and the ability to drive a car."

" So you tell me Saeko-chan, what would you do in my place?"

The emotionless mask Saeko wore fell, as a frown formed on her brow and she thought long and hard at what I had just said. There was just no getting around it. Shizuka's foot was a problem. Walking long distances for her now was a serious concern. Her having to run on an injured foot to escape the Infected would end up being a disaster.

Also, having ANY of the teens go up to the bridge alone was a definite NO. None of them knew how to drive, and if a problem occurred, they would have to deal with it all alone.

Neither could one of them go with me.

Kouta's nail gun was a good weapon, not a great one, but good enough. Still, he couldn't back me up very well with only 20 shots left and his home-made weapon only having an effective range of only two meters, which would be useless against a rushing horde.

Shizuka couldn't fight very effectively with an injured foot even if she did have some fighting skills.

Saya's fighting skills beyond yelling were yet to be seen, but she could at least help Shizuka get away by helping semi-carry her.

I didn't want to take Saya along anyway. Don't get me wrong, I liked the pumpkin a lot, but Kouta wouldn't be able to stop worrying about her and still be able maintain his focus on protecting everyone else.

And besides, with Saya and her sarcastic mouth, I might lose my cool and end up putting her over my knee if I had to be alone with the spoiled princess for an extended period of time and she persisted in mouthing off.

And that left only Saeko, and she was just too valuable here.

I moved closer to Saeko and gently put my hands on her shoulders as she looked up at me, still frowning.

"Saeko-chan. I know you don't like what I'm telling you. But do you understand now why I chose you and Takashi to be in charge of everyone if I'm NOT around anymore?" I said to her again as if I were talking to my own daughter, just like I had done before.

"You of all of these people standing here are the only one I know, that can make the right decisions in a crisis. You are the strongest fighter, without a doubt. But you don't go looking for a fight and you don't act without thinking first. And then there's something else that I truly like about you. You always put others before you, and you don't ever think of yourself first. That makes you a great leader."

I could see she was beginning to understand, but she still didn't like it one bit.

"Sometimes a leader has to make hard choices hon. Even the ones that he or she hates to make, for the greater good, sweetie." I said, as she looked at me. I could see the conflict in her eyes, and it was a horrible thing for her to have to deal with so early in her young life.

I leaned forward and hugged her.

"Don't worry hon," I said to her gently. "If there's any sign of trouble, I'll turn back and we'll work something else out. I promise, OK?"

Saeko felt a little strange being hugged by the American. Traditionally, for many years in Japan, men seldom embraced their wives or children in public. Such open displays of affection were simply not done, and her father rarely did so himself when she was a little girl growing up. This man however, seemed to not have any issues whatsoever with trying to offer comfort or affection to anyone when the occasion arose.

" Takagi-san is right, Americans are strange people. And this one is definitely different." Saeko thought. Yet, at the same time, Saeko was not uncomfortable or offended by the man who had just embraced her. Neither had she felt that the man was treating her like an immature child either.

"He knows I'm afraid, and he's treating me as if I were his own daughter that was afraid that he was going to be hurt or killed if he left." Saeko thought.

Despite herself Saeko allowed herself to hug him back, feeling both sad and yet, strangely comforted also by his embrace.

Saeko then began to feel her eyes beginning to tear.

"Hey." I said as I let Saeko go and saw her eyes getting moist. "I won't get into any trouble, OK? I PROMISE. And I'll be back soon."

"Ok hon?" I said.

"Allright." Saeko said looking away.

"Hey." The man said leaning in close to her face. "Try not to worry so much, all right Saeko-chan? I'm old, but I'm not THAT senile and decrepit yet where I'm gonna get hurt that easily." He said smiling, trying to make her laugh.

"I'll try not to." Saeko said smiling a bit, although she was not happy at all about what the man was about to do.

Saeko to her horror, started to sniffle a bit, and she quickly turned away, hating that she was losing control. She had NEVER let anyone see her get emotional before. Now it seemed the strong defensive walls that she had surrounded herself with all of her life, were quickly crumbling down.

The man wiped the tears running down her cheeks with his hand.

"It'll be okay, hon." He said. 'And thank you, for caring so much about an old guy like me."

"That's why you're my favorite." He said as he let her go and checked his rifle.

"Just don't tell Saya I said that." The American said winking at her as he turned towards the others.

Saeko laughed and wiped her face with her hands as the man began to speak to the others.

"Ok guys, I'm gonna go find us a car on that bridge if I can, and maybe scout out that bridge and see if we can get across. If we can't cross there, then we can at least drive around and find us another way across the river by driving around town instead of walking all over the city on foot. I'll be back soon. Stay here until I get back. If you run into trouble, YELL. And I'll come running. Saeko is in charge until I get back."

Of course, who do you think DIDN'T like THAT idea? You only get one guess.

What?! Waddaya mean you don't know?

HAVEN'T you been paying attention to this story at all?!

Geez, go back to Chapter One and start over. :P

"Why is SHE being put in charge?" Saya asked defiantly.

Oh yeah, I knew THAT was coming.

"Because she's smart, strong, and dependable, and I trust her" I said looking at Saya directly in the eye.

"Of course, if you want to argue over it, I suggest you take it up with HER." I said walking off.

Saya looked over at Saeko and gulped as Saeko gave her "The LOOK."

"Yup, I thought so. See you in a bit guys. Behave yourselves." I said as I started walking down the road. Hopefully I'd be driving back with a car and a plan in no time at all.

Saeko looked at the back of the man as he walked away. In such a short time, the man had affected each and every one of them so immensely.

He had burst into their lives unexpectedly, under the worst possible conditions imaginable, in the middle of a horrible nightmare none thought possible. Yet throughout all that, he had tried despite everything that was happening around them, to take the time to treat them with a care, compassion and genuine respect that few adults normally would before.

He had also treated them with the same affection as if they were his own children that he really cared about, instead of treating them as if they were a burden he was involuntarily stuck with and a bother.

"Such a strange person that has come into our lives so suddenly." Saeko thought as the man walked away.

And then, for no apparent reason, a sudden sadness gripped her heart as she watched him go.

For some reason she could not explain, somewhere deep within her heart, she felt as if she were watching him walk away for the very last time.

Author's Notes:

As I was writing this chapter it occurred to me that this part of the story was turning out to be longer than I expected, and so to make it easier for me to post, I decided to break down this chapter into smaller parts.

So this will be Chapter Eleven-Part One, followed by the rest of the smaller chapters as I finish them out. "Last Alarm" is a story that has grown bigger as I've gone along, and I'm happy that so far, everyone seems to enjoy it. As always, suggestions are welcome, and I hope to keep hearing from all of you as the story progresses.

As you can probably tell by now "Jim" is the "father" figure in this story, and the teens are pretty much adopted by him as they travel together.

While most fans of the original series may not be all that happy having an adult lead in a story that had originally put teens in the lead role instead of the adults, the main reason I did this was because as the story progresses, the adults and the teens both began to appreciate each other as the dangers increase, and in time, the teens are going to have to fight for their lives against living humans, as well as Infected ones.

In the anime, the teens show considerable bravery and super-human feats of strength and so forth.

I'm not trying to water down the teen's abilities. I'm just trying to be more realistic about what human beings are more likely to do in such a horrible situation and how they would react with one another.

"HOTD" and "The Walking Dead" are both great shows that deal with how humans react in this kind of situation. But I thought I'd try to show the more positive side of how people would act and the bonds that could form in a group that relied more heavily on each other as each day passed.

Please bear with me, this story is still a work in progress and I'm still trying to work out the kinks.

The kids start to really be more assertive in future chapters, especially Part Two of this chapter, so hang in there, it gets better.

As for "Jim" and his being so fatherly with the kids?

Well, I treat all victims as if they were family if possible. And it's not just me either. That has been a standard taught to EVERY rescue worker in every EMS and Fire and Police Academy for years. And I know the guys in the Military do it too.

Doing that personally for me though I believe, has helped me be a better medic and a better human being I think, and ALWAYS when it came to kids, I always treated them as if they were my own too.

And I'd like to think, naïve as it may sound to a person who doesn't do this for a living or volunteers to do it, that ANY adult, especially one who is a firefighter, paramedic, police or military of ANY nation would be moved in his or her heart to treat anyone's child that was scared, lost, and alone, as if their lives were important.

And I honestly believe that they would too.

Again, as always, my sincerest thanks to all of you for reading my story and all your kind reviews.

I'll be working on Part Two now. Thanks! Jim