Disclaimer: I don't own anything, it all belongs to people far richer than me.

Indelible

By

Silksteel

Sergeant Jim Doyle had been part of citizen defence, chosen for his skills with a sniper rifle and shipped overseas, far from home, to help with a war that no one really understood. All they knew was that the virus was deadly. They were briefed in all sorts of strategies for containment and extermination of the Infected – but not taught how to close themselves off from the living, those who needed their protection most when they'd been ordered to shoot anything that moved. Doyle had defected for reasons he hadn't yet gone into with Scarlet, and perhaps never would – though if there was anyone placed well to know what torment he'd gone through in making such a decision, it was her.

For the moment it wasn't his colleague but her younger counterpart that concerned him. The girl had seen far more than any her age should have to endure, and it was only through her almost slavish devotion to her brother that she hadn't broken yet - for that he could admit admiration, as well as no small amount of worry. He and Scarlet were trained for this, and his colleague was fanatic with her theory on Tammy's brother being the cure. Whether he was or not was moot, as far as Doyle was concerned. If that was where she got her comfort, all the better. Andy himself seemed detached from the proceedings, an eerie, fearless spectre next to his more emotive sister. Doyle hadn't forgotten the fact that it was the youngest of them to have braved the sniper back in central London.

'We'll have a better run at it once dawn comes,' Doyle promised, knowing that it was a token vow for all the truth in it. He couldn't say whether or not any of them would survive the next day, let alone long enough to reach the safety of another country – or even continent. What he meant was that they'd be rested and ready – as ready as they could be – to face whatever came their way. And Flynn would be there, hopefully, to save their collective asses.

'Jim –'

'Mmm?'

'Do you have someone waiting for you back home?'

Doyle looked over at her, surprised by the question. She seemed awkward now, worrying her lower lip with sharp white teeth. She was pretty, he noticed absently, even beneath the coat of grime they'd picked up along the way. Her face was unusually striking; huge, wide-set blue eyes giving her the look of a startled fawn, and her angular face framed by a cloud of wild blond hair. She couldn't have been more than seventeen.

'Only my momma,' he said finally, trying to interject a joking tone into his voice but it fell flat before coming to fruition. Tammy gave him an unsteady smile, the first he'd coaxed out of her since they'd met. Even though it was bittersweet, it was a relief to see it at all.

'I'm sure she's proud of you,' Tammy managed at last, and in the faint light he could see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. It was a long time coming in his opinion, given all that had happened in the last few hours. To find her mother alive only have the hope snatched away irrevocably would tax most hearts.