You know what I'm finding really sexy right now? Guys with tattoos, small ear ring gauges, septum peircings and lip rings. My Goth, rocker, and emo friends are getting the best of me. What can I say, I'm all three :P

Either way, this chapter should be WAY better than the last chapter (which was complete and utter shit by the way). I usually don't put myself down over my work, but that was just bad. Ooo, and just a random fact about me (I just really wanted to share this with someone) I learned four songs on my guitar and I've had it only for a week. That's pretty fucking talented right there. But the drums are what I'll always love. (I play drums, guitar and piano, and I sing. That's right, I'm awesome) :D

IMPORTANT: This chapter is based on Phil's group and it skips a couple of hours into the evening where Casper's group would still be camped out somewhere. So it's basically before the events of the last chapter.

Chapter 7:
The New Dilemma

The orange sun began to set behind the ruins of Seattle, Washington. Smoke continued to fill the air and cars slowly moved less than a mile an hour down I-5. Within the gigantic mass of traffic on the freeway was the school bus from Brimmington High school. It didn't stand out much; there were plenty of other buses as much as cars trying to leave town. Once Phil and the others had gotten out of the school, it didn't take them long to realize that a majority of the cars from town were leaving and getting onto the freeway.

It seemed like a smart idea at the time to follow them, and once Phil saw all the soldiers guarding the freeway and helping cars pass through he knew he wouldn't regret his choices. So there the bus sat in traffic, watching as more smoke clouds formed in the distance.

Everyone's mind was a bit at ease now, seeing as there was no sign of Them in sight and that there were trained men and women with guns guarding the roads. Phil, and probably everyone else on this road, had no idea where exactly they were being escorted to. Should I be worrying about that? He wondered.

For now he wasn't. Everyone had gone through enough stress already and now was the time for them to relax.

Phil rested his arms and chin on the steering wheel as he sighed, his eyes growing heavy from exhaustion. He could hear Faith, Tamara, and Kendra socializing about whatever in the background while Levina, Leonia, and Daisy sat quietly in their seats, thinking about their new lives as well as their old ones.

Faith sat up straight and rubbed her black hair as she looked out the window. "Man, where's a shower when you need one?" she asked, resting her head on the window. "I could really use one after all the crap I've just gone through today."

"You're telling me, I ran back and forth in that damn school trying to find people," Tamara stated.

"Me too," Kendra added.

Faith crossed her arms and pouted as she watched each car move about an inch from where they were. "Man, where the hell are they taking us anyway? We've been sitting here for an hour now. And I'm starving," she complained.

She was going to continue her rant when someone suddenly tapped on the bus door. Everyone's heads popped up as they looked at the front of the bus.

Phil pressed a button and the doors slowly began to open. Once it was fully open, in came two soldiers. The first soldier to step in looked to be in his early twenties and stood at a height of 6'2. He had short faded blond hair and was quite muscular. He stared everyone down with an intense glare as he held onto the Barrett .50cal sniper he walked in with. Another soldier then walked in, holding a giant box. He was shorter than the blond soldier, standing at 5'9 and looked no older than anyone else on the bus. He had shaved brown hair and brown eyes.

The tall soldier looked a little shocked to see that everyone on the bus was a high school student.

"Wow, you guys are a lot younger than I expected," he commented. "How old are you guys?" he asked.

"None of us are older than eighteen," Phil answered quickly.

The soldiers gave each other a comical look as the man looked around at everyone joyfully. "Well I'm Corporal Jackson Crook, this is my friend Private Andrew Vicent," Jackson shoved the private slightly.

Andrew set the box down and stood up straight, revealing the M16 he was carrying on his back.

"Anyway, we brought you guys some food," Jackson informed them. "I'd advice not eating it all so quickly because there's enough food in here to last you a week. You eat it all before the end of the week then I guess that's too bad unless some of you guys managed to bring in your own food."

Jackson looked over at Andrew as he grinned teasingly. "Well don't just stand there, go 'head and pass it out," he told him.

"Y-Yeah, OK," he said, grabbing a handful of MRE's, chips, and soda cans. The young soldier walked down the bus aisle and handed each teen some food as he walked back over to Jackson.

Kendra opened up the MRE and made a disgusted face. "What the hell is this?" she asked.

"What? You've never seen an MRE before?" Jackson said, scratching the back of his head. "It tastes pretty good once you try it, don't mind how it looks. And if you don't like it I guess you can just eat the chips and hand them back in. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who would be more than happy to eat it."

Jackson and Andrew began to make their way out of the bus when they heard Faith suddenly stand up from her seat. "Where is this road taking us?" she spoke. Jackson turned towards her as he crossed his arms. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"Where the hell are we going? We've been backed up here for hours and I don't exactly see any camps or buildings," she said.

Jackson sighed as he said, "You'll know soon enough."

"I don't want to 'know soon enough'," she mimicked him ,"I want to know now. I don't know what you soldier boys are up to; You guys could be taking us out to execute us or something. We have a right to know where we're going-"

"You know, if you're that concerned you can hit the road," he interrupted. "I've got bigger problems right now rather than to deal with some bratty teenage girl who's running her mouth. You best be keepin' your mouth shut and enjoying the freakin' ride." And with that, Jackson exited the bus.

Andrew stared at everyone as he looked back to see where Jackson was. He then turned his gaze over to Faith.

He took a few steps over to her and stopped at her seat. "Hey... can you come with me real quick?" he asked.

"Why?" she stated.

"Because I need to tell you something."

"I don't think I trust you much... or you're little friend out there," he spat out.

Andrew sighed as he rubbed his fingers through his brown hair. "Can you please just come with me?" he asked calmly.

Faith sat there for a moment before she finally gave in. She stood up and followed Andrew off the bus as they stood on the freeway. They zipped through literally parked cars, and Faith clutched onto the hem of her gray skirt as she followed the soldier to a small army tent. There were nurses running around, carrying boxes and helping the wounded. Faith noticed that some of the nurses had pistols on them and were shooting those who were infected. The more she got farther from the bus, the more uneasy she felt.

They finally stopped at the wall barrier of I-5 as Andrew turned around to face her. The moon was rising behind him and it was officially night time.

He wasn't much taller than her, and Faith barely took him as any sort of threat because he looked just as young as she did.

Andrew rubbed his chin and cleared his throat. "Now... what was it you were asking earlier?" he asked her.

"Where are we going?" she asked rudely.

"No one's getting killed if that's what you're really asking," he answered. "Everyone's just getting escorted out of the city and back into Lakewood. McChord AFB and Fort Lewis are that way and there's plenty of camps for everyone to stay at and take shelter. And... Until we figure out what the hell's going on, everyone that we can find that isn't infected with this virus will be escorted onto base," he explained to her.

Faith crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side as her eyes connected with his. "Do you guys know what's going on..? I mean- what's happening to everyone? Why is this suddenly happening to us, why now?" she questioned him, her voice more shushed.

Andrew tapped his foot on the ground lightly as he took a step back, looking around to see if there was anyone that saw him. He took a couple of steps closer to Faith as he invaded her personal space slightly. "I believe you're a smart girl, I mean you made it this far... So a word of advice: Don't go around asking questions like that. If you still want to get onto base, just keep that to yourself," he warned her.

Faith pouted as she backed away from him slowly, looking away from him. Andrew could slightly relate to her confusion and felt a bit bad as he held his hand out to the sixteen year old. "Believe me, that question's been floating around for hours. I guess we're all just too afraid to ask it, or maybe even answer it. I'm Private Andrew by the way," he smiled.

Faith stared at his hand, not sure if she should give into his friendly greeting. She looked into his eyes however and saw genuine honesty, something that she probably wasn't going to see for miles. A small hand met his glove covered one as she shook it. "I'm Faith Yamura," she half smiled.

Andrew let go off her hand and stepped back as he placed his in his pockets. "If you've got any questions... or problems you can always come to me. I'm more than happy to help you or your friends out," he told her.

Faith nodded a little and she began to walk back over to the bus. She waved, "I'll keep that in mind," she told him.

Andrew watched as she walked back onto her bus, vanishing behind metal walls. He chuckled lightly as he adjusted the gun strap on his shoulder and walked through the tent. Right when he exited through the other side of the army green tent, someone grabbed him by the neck and put him in an arm lock. He pried at the man's arms, but stopped struggling a little less as they ruffled his hair and let go of him.

"What the hell man?" he exclaimed.

Jackson laughed to himself as he shoved him a little, smiling at his best friend. "What was all that about over there with that girl from the bus?" he asked.

"Nothing I think you're thinking about. I just told her that they were going to McChord AFB down in Lakewood, but I didn't say anything else," he explained. Jackson gave Andrew a smug look as they walked over to one of the tents being used as a barrack at the moment.

The two soldiers stepped inside the tent as they saw three other soldiers sleeping in their sleeping bags.

As soon as they stepped inside, Andrew took off the camouflaged overcoat, revealing a light brown t-shirt as he fell down onto one of the sleeping bags. "Going to bed so soon Drew?" Jackson asked him.

"Fuck yeah," Andrew breathed out heavily. Jackson chuckled and said, "Well sleep tight then Private."

Jackson made his way to the exit. "Jack," he called his name. Jackson turned to face him.

"How long do you think we'll make it before we go like the rest of our squad? There was so many of Them... and They just-"

"Don't think about that stuff Drew," he told him. Jackson frowned as he stared at Andrew sternly. "There was nothing we could do about it, so don't let that one incident get to you. I'll be honest, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better and we've still got a mission to carry out. Keep your head up and keep moving. That incident's history now soldier. The moment you signed those papers and enlisted, you knew what risks you'd be taking," he consoled him.

Andrew looked at Jackson, his face slightly pale, his eyes lifeless. "This isn't anything I was expecting though," he said bluntly and emotionlessly.

Jackson swallowed back his spit as he turned his back to his friend. "Get some sleep Drew," he said, "You need it."

...

The bus was quiet, everyone on the bus asleep... except for Phil.

He sat in the driver's seat still, lying on the wheel as he looked up ahead. The traffic was making slow progress but they were moving, and now the city was becoming a bit more distant. The boy was about ready to doze off when he suddenly heard his name being called. "Phil," he heard.

His dreary eyes moved to his right as he suddenly saw a girl standing before him. She was somewhat hazy, glowing almost, and she had a soft smile on her face. She was six foot exactly with tan skin and glowing green eyes. Phil knew this girl, and he was more than happy to see her presence once again. Her name was Lane, and she was a girl who passed away too soon for the both of them to handle. He never really understood why her spirit seemed to literally haunt him, or if he was just going insane, but he didn't mind it at all.

"Back so soon Lane?" he asked her happily.

"Of course I am, I'd never leave you." Lane stepped over to her beloved as she stared down at him. "How are you holding up?" she asked.

"Enough to make it through the day. I'd ask you the same question... but you're dead," he chuckled. Lane laughed a faint laugh; a laugh he loved most about her as she wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "I miss you Phil, I really do," she said.

"Words can't describe how much I miss you right now Lane. I'd give up anything just to hold you again-"

"Who are you talking to?" Phil suddenly heard another voice behind him. Phil and Lane looked behind the seats and saw Tamara standing in the aisles, staring at him with a concerned and almost disturbed expression on her face. Phil watched as Lane left once again, and that small piece of joy in his heart went with her as he looked back out the front of the window.

"Nothing..." he said, "...I'm just tired."

Tamara sat down in the seat behind him as she rested her head on it. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

Phil took in a deep breath, wondering if he should really tell her about his problem. He exhaled and looked over at her. "I was just remembering things- A girl I knew awhile back," he said.

"Did you like her or something?" she asked.

"Yeah but... it was a while ago, she's not around much anymore. I like to believe she's in a better place, but... nowadays I don't really know if she left at all."

"What do you mean-"

Tamara was cut off when a scream suddenly filled the air outside the bus. There was shouting and guns were being fired.

BOOM!

Oh the soldiers are evacuating everyone to safety on a crowded freeway, what could possibly go wrong (-_-;)

When Jackson and Andrew were talking, all I could think about was Band of Brothers for some reason. I really like Band of Brothers, that is one of the best drama/documentaries ever made to date. I like the Pacific too :)

Either way thanks for reading, hope you liked all the stuff that happened. Question of the day, what is your opinion on the soldiers so far?