Jack
He was hoping that it wouldn't come to this. Despite everything that had happened, he still needed to see his brother. But he didn't expect that it would take so long to get there.
Jacob started that fateful day taking a final inventory of everything that was stashed away in his truck. Jacob was a trucker for a living, and very often slept in his vehicle. And that was completely fine given that it was made for it. There was a small living quarter in the back of the cabin. But he wouldn't be getting much sleep with all of the supplies he had packed it with.
It was still rather early, but he couldn't waste any time. The infection was spreading south at an extreme pace, despite what the government said CEDA was doing. He never trusted the government. Not even when it came to his own well-being.
He decided that it was time to go after he had double checked everything on his long-hauler. Jack climbed into his truck, and nearly felt sick. Was he really doing this? Was he really going to see his brother after all this time apart? He couldn't say. His brother lived in Philadelphia, and he could very well be dead by now. Or even worse.
Jack couldn't think that. He knew his brother, he was a fighter. And Jack needed to be to. It was only past 10am, but he still needed to head out as soon as he could. The truck was fuelled and ready to go. He jumped in and started the engine. He then took down the sun visor and found his only keepsake: the last picture of Jack and his brother. He would keep it at all costs. "Hold on," He whispered to the picture, "I'm coming." But now was no time to be emotional. That could be done once he found him.
Now that the engine was warmed up, he stepped on the gas, and headed off into what he would soon find to be the rest of his life. Jack was a very rugged man. His shoulders were very broad and his chest was extremely sculpted. He usually wore a plaid shirt tucked into a very worn pair of slacks. It wasn't the most appealing attire, but it made him constable. He always wore a pair of heavy steel toed leather boots that tended to give him a case of lead foot. Although in this situation, he wouldn't mind. The only facial hair he had has a large bushy beard the covered his lower jaw. There was a similar scene of hair on his head.
It would be a long trek to Philly. Especially since he was starting in Florida. Why did he have to cross half the country, and during an outbreak like this. It wouldn't be easy, but he would make sure that he saw him safe in the end. The first town he would have to go through was Eatonia. It was roughly a half hour drive. But with the amount of people staying at home, he could probably cut it down to about half. He managed to make great time and seemed to be about twenty miles away when he heard sirens blare behind. Despite being no drivers on the road, there was still at least some law enforcement.
The initial siren of the police car startled him, but quickly figured it was for him. With a groan and another quarter of a mile, he pulled over onto the shoulder. He had never gotten pulled over for anything before but he guessed there was a first time for everything. He waited inside of his truck, despite the major height difference from the cabin window and the ground.
Jack watched in his mirror as a young officer got out of the cruiser and blew his nose, long and noisily. The officer looked like he had just gotten out of the academy. He sneezed again after he had closed the driver's side door, blew his nose again, and made his way over to Jack's truck.
When the officer knocked on the door, Jack simply rolled down his window to peer down at the man. "Could you get out of the vehicle please?" It took Jack a few moments to figure out what had been asked as the officer's nose was still stuffed. Without a word, Jack got out. "Thank you sir." The officer stated politely. At least Jack thought it was polite.
"Do you know how fast you were going?" He continued, taking out a note pad.
"Honestly, I don't." Jack was hoping to be done of this as soon as was possible so that he may continue on his way.
"I glocked you in at….at….at….ACHOO!" and he sneezed all over Jack. It was a very wet sneeze, causing a spray that was clearly visible.
Jack was very offended. As he wiped himself off with a tissue from his pocket, he gave the officer a few choice words. "What's the big idea boy? Why didn't you call in sick today?" He then mumbled to himself "Ah, I think some got in my mouth."
"I dried." He replied in a weaker voice, obviously sorry. "When I phoned in, dey told me dat too many people have already done so. We were down to half the force already. Believe me, if I could have, I would be sitting at home drying to get rid of dis flu." It was that last word that made Jack worry. He had heard that it was a flu outbreak that first started in Philadelphia. It made him on edge, and thank-goodness to.
The officer told him that he was going nearly double the speed limit. "I don't see anything wrong with that," Jack said, "If there was anyone on the road, I would gladly slow down for them."
"Doesn't madder sir." He stated as he wrote up the ticket. "De law is de l – AHHHH" The officer unexpectedly screamed as he crumpled over in pain. The notebook went fluttering to the ground as the pen bounced downward. Jack, forgetting that the man had a 'flu', ran over to the man. He quickly remembered what had happened in Philly and jumped back just as the officer took a swing at him. The officer then turned his head at him to peer up with glossy white eyes filled with hatred and rage.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Jack yelled when he saw what had happened to the man. Scared for the moment, he was frozen in spot. Then the officer took a run at him, snapping Jack too of his senses. He did a quick side step dogging the charge, causing the infected to slam into the side of the truck. Knowing that he couldn't take off quick enough in his truck, Jack made for the police cruiser.
He rushed for it knowing that it was still on. He would take it for a bit, and then come back. All of his supplies were still inside of the truck and he wasn't about to leave it all behind. He grabbed the door handle and simply waited for a few seconds. As soon as the officer had found Jack again, it came at him full tilt. When the officer was within range, Jack flung open the door as hard as he could and hit the man full on, knocking him back to the ground.
Jack jumped inside, put it in drive, and zoomed off down the highway. He thought he had lost the now deranged person, until he heard a loud thump coming from the back. He looked in the rear view mirror and was horrified to see the officer hanging from the back. It must have had enough time to grab onto the side of the cruiser as Jack drove off.
He had to think fast. Somehow Jack had to get this mad man off of the car. He tried to put the car into a spin but it was no good. When he looked back, the man was still hanging on. He seemed a little closer in fact. Frustrated, he slammed on the gas once more and sped back down the road. He fishtailed as he drove thinking it might help instead. Still no luck. It was when the man was smashing the window did Jack finally get fed up.
He slammed on the brakes making the man's fist smash through the glass at an awkward angle. Jack then put the vehicle into reverse and sped up again. The officer couldn't brace in time with the sudden move in direction and lost grip of the car. Fortunately for Jack, the man's hand was still stuck in the back window. Jack then braked again, and this time it was successful. With the loosened grip of the officer, his extra weight caused him to slide off the back of the cruiser while the hand remained in the shattered window.
With this final opportunity, Jack knew what he had to do. He waited for the officer to get up once more, and then reversed once more. Jack caught the man square in the chest and kept reversing. He was hitting the floor with the gas pedal and still he reversed. The entire event only lasted a few seconds. He braced for impact as the median got closer to the rear end or the car. Then, it hit him.
The end of the car crumpled as the man ceased to exist. Jack hit his head on the back with such force that it broke the headrest off. It took him a few minutes to regain his senses after the crash. After he had figure out where he was once again, he stepped out of the car to inspect what he had just done. There was nothing but a red smear where the torso was and a pair of shoulders and a head resting on the crumpled rear end of the cruiser.
"Pore bastard." He mumbled. "He seemed like a good kid. Shame really." He said a quick word for the man and was about to leave when he noticed something shining in the trunk. It wouldn't be something he thought of doing under normal circumstances, but these certainly were not normal circumstances any more. He hesitantly pushed the man's remains aside and pried open the crumpled trunk. Inside was a bunch of stuff he didn't take note of, but what did catch his eye was several spike strips and a shotgun with a single box of ammo.
He didn't have a gun of any sort in his truck, so he felt obligated to take the shotgun if this was any indication of things to come. It was the spike strips that made him think. Maybe if... yes. That could work. I just need to find a big enough garage. It wasn't much but it was a plan. He grabbed the strips and left the rest in the trunk. He strapped the shotgun to his back and started for his truck which now seemed a good quarter mile away.
It took Jack about an hour to reach his truck. When he finally did, he tossed the strips in the passenger side very gently as to not damage anything, and hopped back into the driver's side with the gun laying on the dash. The engine still turned on smoothly and Jack headed down towards his next destination.
It took him roughly ten miles until he found the perfect spot to set up his plan. It was a truck stop. But it wasn't any truck stop. This one had a maintenance building in the back for repairs. He pulled into the depot and parked the truck near the door.
With shot gun in hand, he slowly turned the handle to peer inside the building. He was greeted by several sets of glowing eyes, and just as many screams of rage.
Jack quickly stepped through and slammed the door behind him. He pumped the gun once and started with the nearest infected being. He shot from the hip and hit the infected square in the stomach. It slowed to a stop as it seemed to inspect its entrails at they spilled to the floor, quickly followed by the rest of the body. Jack then Turned to face the next infected. He quickly pumped, and fired a second round hitting it in the chest. The infected then seemed to fly backwards as the round impacted. The third was right behind the second and Jack repeated the process. This round entered at the legs, effectively removing them from the body. The infected then fell to the floor instantly dead. A forth came at him and was dispatched yet again. It was the final one that made Jack stumble. It somehow came up from behind him and swatted him while he was turned. Jack stumbled forward at the sudden attack. He righted himself and spun around to face the last attacker. As it came closer for another swing, Jack did the same and struck it across the chest. It stumbled backwards at the strike and as it righted itself for a second attack, Jack had raised the shotgun to peer down the sight, aimed, and fired. The infected's head was the target and it got the full force of the shot. It quickly fell to its knees and tumbled over.
Jack stood in place for several moments thinking over what he had just done. It wasn't like him to harm anyone, but he guessed that he would have to do this much more often in the near future. He knew that his brother would absolutely love this situation. He always was a bit angry and always looked for an excuse to start a fight. But he would be able to tell him that in person, Jack would find him and finally be able to make up for what had happened.
After Jack pulled himself out of the past, he remembered what he had to do in the present. Beings the door was closed, nothing else could get into the garage. And luckily for Jack, nothing was trying to either. Jack walked over to the main door, gun in hand, and slowly pulled on the chain to lift it up. It was still fairly loud so Jack decided to quicken his pace. When he judged that it was high enough, Jack tied the chain off to one side and ran out to his awaiting truck. He pulled it inside the garage and quickly closed the door behind him.
"Now," He stated "let's see if I can't turn this into a freight train with wheels." Jack's plan was to fortify his truck enough so that if he did run into any more of these infected individuals, which he most likely would, he could just plough through them. He wouldn't feel good about it, but it must be done.
It took well over three hours to get the truck into working order. The spike strips that Jack had found in the police cruiser were now mounted to the sides of the truck along with several other modifications. Most of these were made by commandeering parts of other trucks and scraps in the shop. The additions included a plough attached to a grill that was now on the front, a set of spikes on all six wheels, and finished with a large cage like structure on the back for those just in case moments.
When he was finished, Jack stepped back and admired what he had just done. "This would never be street legal." He murmured to himself. He never would have dreamed of doing anything like this to his truck but things have changed. Now Jack is willing to do almost anything if he is going to see his brother again.
Jack didn't bother to put things away; he simply got in his truck and drove off. He didn't even put the door back down as he didn't think it mattered anymore. "Not much matters anymore."
It was a long drive to get into town. It only took a half hour, but in his new state of mind it seemed to drag on for hours.
When he did finally make it into Eatonia, he wasn't surprised to see the state that it was in. Cars were crashed on the roads, buildings were already looted, and the infected were everywhere. These infected were just like the rest; angry and violent. These were less of a problem to Jack than they were to Sam as none of them could even make a dent in Jack's truck as they all seemed to die the moment they touched any of the extrusions that had been added.
He drove around the city for a few minutes before something caught his eye. Off down the road, a small barricade had been erected. It was possible for Jack to get through it, but not with great cost. The barricade was not simple wire and boards; it was army jeeps and trucks. All of them with manned with a soldier with a gun. It would not be in Jack's best interest to try and get through by force.
So instead, Jack slowed his truck and parked in front of the barricade. He saw the looks on their faces as he pulled up and couldn't help but notice the faces that nearly every soldier put on. Most of them looked impressed at the vehicle, somewhere scared and one even seemed disappointed.
The disappointed one was the first to approach him. He made his way from the barricade and stopped at the driver's side door. He spoke in a rough voice that didn't sit well with Jack. "Sir, would you please get out of the vehicle."
"Here we go again." Jack murmured as he once again stepped out of his truck.
"What was that?" The soldier snapped back at him.
"Nothing." Jack stated back quickly. This man was extremely irritated and Jack didn't want to cause any trouble.
"That's what I thought. Now, what brings you here so late? Thought we'd send search parties to look for you, or were you too busy building your death hauler to hear the recording?"
Jack was unsure of what this man meant. "What do you mean late?"
"For Christ's sake! I don't know if you're aware of this, there are goddamned zombies running around trying to eat anything that moves. Everyone that means to stay alive is already here at this safe house." The soldier then drew Jack's attention to the bJack building behind him; the high school. "Unless you want to try and risk it on your own, I suggest you get your butt inside."
Jack didn't have to be told twice. "Fine then. I wish I could say it was nice meeting you." And Jack started to climb back into his truck.
"What! Where on earth do you think you're going?" This soldier was generally surprised at what Jack was planning to do.
Jack was all too amused at this. He had spent a lot of time doing similar things to his brother. His brother was a lot like the man that stood before him. "I'm taking my chances. I know how to fight those things and I know exactly where I'm headed."
"And where might that be?" The soldier was still mad at, everything, but he was now curious.
Jack took a deep breath before answering. "Fairfield. Pennsylvania."
The soldier wasn't going to have any of that. "Nope, no way, nadda chance. There is no way I am letting you go to the epicentre of where this all started."
Jack simply laughed. "Sir," He said once he calmed down, "there is nothing that is going to stop me from getting there. Even if I have to go through every single one of these, Infected, with my bare hands."
The soldier was silent for a few moments before beginning in a stern voice. "Son. I like your style. You don't let anyone tell you what to do. I'll tell you what." Jack was hanging from the door way the entire time and decided to step down so that he could give the soldier his full attention. "I'll put in a word with the Colonel and see if we can't let you get on your way."
"I would thank you kindly for that." Jack was surprised that this soldier would help him. He seemed to be extremely agitated not only moments ago. But then again this man reminded Jack of his brother in many ways and his brother tended to have a similar personality. "I didn't think that anyone would do something like that for me."
"Nonsense. If I see a good person that needs help, I help them. Simple as that." The soldier turned towards one of his men and shouted at them. "Corporal! Get these cars out of the way so we can get this monster into the safe zone!"
"Sir, yes sir!" And the corporal began ordering around the lesser soldiers on which ones to move first.
The man that Jack was talking to then turned back and introduced himself. "Name's Captain Zachary Klassen. Second in command at this safe zone and commanding officer of the current protection of these citizens." He offered a hand out to Jack.
He accepted Zachery's hand and returned the introduction. "I'm Jacob. No fancy titles. Just Jack."
Zachery just gave a single burst laugh. "Alright then 'Just Jack,' let's get you inside and then we can talk about getting you on your way."
"Are you MAD!" Jack had met the Colonel and decided that he didn't like him one bit. He was drastically overweight and had the voice to go with it. His entire body jiggled when he talked and he was out of his seat screaming at Zachery's proposal to let Jack keep going. "I am in charge of the safety of the people in this town and you are one of those people. If higher ups hear that I let a civilian fend for them-self, they would have my head. You're staying right here until we all ship out." Zachery was about to speak up but the colonel cut him off. "I will be having no augments about this, Captain. We should be declaring war against these infected. We need every man we can get if the world is going to survive this." And with that, he walked out of the room.
"What's his problem?" Jack questioned irritably after the man was out of ear shot.
It was the Captain that answered his question. "I think it's because his wife was in Pennsylvania."
Jack was saddened to hear about that. It was true that his brother was in Pennsylvania, but at least he could handle himself. "Really," Jack began, trying to lighten the mood, "I would have thought it was the fact that he weighed as much as I do. Despite the fact that I'm a foot taller."
"We don't talk about that." Zachery stated in an emotionless voice. Jack simply looked at the door that he had just left through, wondering if he would ever see that fat man again. He wouldn't.
Instead of wondering, he went to his assigned cot and decided to get some sleep. It was made clear to him that there would be no chance to go back to his truck before everyone was to be sent off in buses. At least it wouldn't be raided by CEDA as he waited inside. They were all too scared to leave the building to go and check if there was something to raid from it.
It was an extremely slow wait as he talked to everyone in the room. Jack had heard a loud crash coming from outside at one point, but when he asked about what had happened, he was told that the situation was under control. And a few hours later, he heard some very loud screaming and yelling from outside the door, but he was told the same as before. It worried him more when the yelling went to the floor above him. It was obvious that there were several other people that were up there that had been there even before Jack himself showed up. But what worried him the most was the gun fire. The near constant gunfire.
It scared him every time he heard a shot being fired. He thought of all of the people that were dying from each shot being fired. How many people would never feel again? How many would never see their families? How many were unlucky enough to be cursed with this infection? How many would he have to kill on his journey to find his brother? To Jack, it didn't matter. He would find his brother. No matter the cost.
He tried to socialize with everyone in the room, but found that he had too little in common with the few people that were quarantined with him. There seemed many more people upstairs. He wondered why they were there and why there were so many more people upstairs compared to the room Jack was in.
It seemed to take forever, but the captain came back in and instructed everyone to start boarding buses so that they may be taken to a safer location. "What about everyone upstairs?" Jack asked. He wasn't to let healthy people be left behind.
"They will be taking two different buses." Zachery told Jack. He seemed to be much sterner than when he tried to convince the colonel to let Jack go. "Those people upstairs," He pointed with the rifle that he always carried around, "they are possibly infected already. If we want to save as many people as we can, were going to need to make sure who is safe now." That last statement made Jack a little uncomfortable. He knew he had been in close contact with someone who had been infected, but he wasn't showing any signs of having a cold or anything of the matter. "The last of us military personnel will be heading off in front of them."
Jack could put two and two together. If the military seemed unconcerned about those people, and they were heading off before the buses, then they wouldn't blink an eye if those second set of buses didn't make it to the safer area. "Well you can go," Jack told Zachery, "I'm going to stay with those people. Someone has to make sure that they get where they're going."
It was quiet between the two before the captain slowly let a smile creep onto his face. "I knew I liked you." He let his shoulders slouch as the words exited his mouth. "But the colonel won't like it if you stay behind with these people." He thought hard about what he was going to do and seemed to get an idea all at once. "OK Jack, here's what you're going to do..."
Zachery then explained to him that there would be another set of buses arriving in about half an hour. If Jack really wanted to stay with these people, And Jack needed to reassure him that he in fact did, Then he was to drive to the off ramp of the same highway and wait their until he saw the second bus. They both doubted that there would be anyone coming into town so he would stay on the opposite side of the road.
"Thanks," Jack said in return, "it means a lot that you would care about every person that can be saved."
Zachery was almost faltered that a civilian would say something like that. "Just make sure you show up alive." He scolded Jack once the plan was laid out. "We could use a man like you for a while."
"Yes sir." Jack mocked back. He then shook his hand and headed off to head off to the appointed location.
When he got there, Jack turned off the engine and all lights as to avoid attention from any of the infected that might be walking around. He almost had an encounter but ducked until the wandering body had passed by. It was in that time that the bus had went by. For when he looked back to see if it was safe, he was startled to find a long line of infected running full hilt down the road. Jack looked in the direction that they were running and saw the tail end of a bus in the far distance. "Dammit!" He yelled to himself.
He struggled to restart the engine, by the time he did though, the bus was far down the road to the point in which he could barely see it anymore. "I hope I can catch up to them in time." This was after several more curses.
It took him several hours to make up lost distance. Day had turned to night and the world seemed ever gloomier because of it. He had finally closed to the distance of about a mile when the unthinkable happened.
Some mad man swerved on the road and headed straight for the bus. The driver's intentions were obvious and precise. Jack was horrified as he sat behind the wheel and watched as the bus flipped and rolled several yards down the road. If the military had been there to escort those people, then that might not have happened.
But Jack wasn't about to give up. He pushed the emotions of dread out of his mind and focused on what could still be done for these people. He slowed his speed as he approached the location the bus was now in and was delighted to see that two people had managed to get them self from the wreckage. He immediately stopped the truck with a screech and jumped out to try and help these poor people.
He ran over to them and yelled over "Are you hurt? Does anyone need help?" That was when one of the people turned to look at him from the ground and scared the living daylights out of Jack. The woman's eyes shone with a while light in the darkness. Jack only knew of one explanation for this. This woman was infected. As was the person beside her now that he looked.
Frightened about his well-being he ran back to his truck before the two infected could pull themselves up from the floor. He jumped in and leaned over to grab his shotgun, only to find it missing. A quick look around reviled that it was nowhere to be found.
Now in a real frantic state, Jack couldn't think of what to do. He knew that the two would be on him soon and he had no way to defend himself. "I'll be damned if I let myself go down like this!"
"My thoughts exactly!" Responded a voice in the distance. "Catch!" It instructed.
Jack turned around to see both the infected and a large tire iron headed in his direction. Jack managed to catch the iron with little effort and took a swing with the given momentum to crash into the skull of his attacker causing an explosion of bone and blood. He then looked away from the stumbling body to see a rather young man standing over a second body with a crowbar in hand.
"Thanks." Jack yelled over to him. The boy then looked over to him and smiled. A friendly face; that was a good sign. Jack then jogged over to the boy to thank him more properly. He extended his hand but stopped when he heard something awful. Jack heard a blood curtailing scream coming from out in the distance.
Jack then looked at the kid and saw a look that was both determined and startlingly happy. Jack just simply looked on in confusion at what was going on. "Do you know what that sound means?" The kid asked rhetorically.
"Uhh, no." Jack answered honestly.
"The kid then took a step forward to try and look him in the eyes. "That sound means that had best get out of here as we can. Go get Sam and I'll hold these things off." And he looked around at the general direction of the sound.
"How's Sam?" Jack had no idea of what this woman looked like of where she would even be.
The kid took several steps towards the increasing sounds coming from the brush beside the road and talked over his shoulder at the same time. He instructed quickly. "Brunet, purple and black, behind the bus." Jack didn't need to be told twice.
He immediately headed off to find this mystery woman as the bodies started to stream out of the brush. He found her curled up in a tiny pile of soft clothes. She was half buried under them and Jack just assumed that it was to hide her from the infected. "Sam," Jack whispered to get her attention without startling her, "time to go." The ball gave a small moan of protest before attempting to move. She shifted her position but didn't accomplish much else. "Well, you tried." He joked. He then reached underneath her and lifted the woman into his arms bridal style. She tried to protest at first but she soon brought herself closer to his chest.
Jack rounded the corner of the overturned bus to see the young man swinging rapidly back and forth at the oncoming horde, laughing like a small kid the entire time. "Fun time's over!" Jack yelled over the screams of the infected.
The kid gave a quick look back and nodded before he started to slink back towards the truck. Jack let go of the woman's legs as he reached the truck so that he might actually be able to open the door. It was awkward to get Sam inside but he accomplished this by releasing his grip on her and throwing her over his shoulder. He then placed her in between the seats gently as he hollered back out, "She's in, let's go." And the boy immediately broke off his engagement and ran full tilt as Jack began to pull away from the infected. The boy was smart and ran to the other side of the truck to get in the passenger side. Jack made sure to drive slow enough so that the boy would have enough time to get aboard. He latched himself onto the side handle of the truck and Jack picked up his speed as quickly as was possible. Soon the truck had left the group of infected behind and was speeding down the highway. The kid let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him and sat down.
Jack drove on for a few minutes before trying to say anything. When he did, it came out more of a demand than a question. "What was that all about?"
"Those are what some might call; zombies. They've been running around for about half a day now. Don't know if you've seen them." The boy meant everything in jest when he spoke.
"Not that." Jack was somewhat annoyed but he kept calm. "I'm talking about why you wanted to save her and leave everyone else behind?"
The boy seemed to calm down when he heard the questions. He still had a sense of joy in his voice when he replied, "We made a deal. Throughout this entire thing, we stay together. She saved me, I assume, A now I saved her."
"Technically I did that." Jack responded.
The kid appeared to think this over as Jack drove on. "Technically, yes. Let's just say that it was a joint effort."
"Guess that makes you owe me something." Jack said as a slight joke.
"Guess it does." He replied back. "What do you say? We can't watch each other's back forever. We could use someone like you."
There it was again. Everyone wanted to use him for protection. But this was the first time that he could be protected in return. But he still wasn't going to give up on his goal. "I'll watch your back," He began, "on one condition." He peered over at the kid to see his reply; he nodded, so Jack continued. "I need to find my brother. Long story short, I need to go to Pennsylvania."
The kid almost immediately went into thought, but he soon emerged and asked "How do you know he's going to stay there? With that big of a city, I would want to get out as fast as I could."
"If I know my brother, then he'd do the same thing. That's why I need to get there as soon as I can."
"Slow down big man." The boy reached over and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's a long way to Philly. You won't get there overnight, and you won't get there without help." He said his last statement in a matter of fact voice. It was not a threat, nor was it a dare. It was a question. A question of 'would you help us survive?' Jack wasn't about leaving people behind. He would help them, and they would help him.
"You guys look like you could use a lift anyhow. How about we go as far as we can together before going our separate ways?" The boy smiled at Jack and nodded his head as the body on the floor whined, "I wish to put in a second opinion."
The boy was ecstatic that the woman was alive. "Sam! How are you feeling?"
"I've still felt worse. I would ask both how you are Dillon, but judging on your conversation, you seem fine." She had a very lovely voice even despite the pain that has seeping through. Sam then opened her eyes and sat up with some strained effort and assistance from Dillon.
She cleared her head once and looked over at Jack and gave him a warm smile, one that she had practised before. "I will ask who your new friend is Dillon." Her smile soon turned into a devilish smirk. Jack had no objections, yet.
"Well Sam, this is...Um...He can answer that question." Both Dillon and Jack realized that they had yet to exchange names.
"My name is Jacob. But you two can call me Jack. It'll be a pleasure to help you guys get someplace safe."
"I know safe isn't in Philly." Sam may have been unable to move, but she was still fully aware of what had happened around her, including Dillon's and Jack's conversation.
"Look," Jack began, "it's a long way from here to Philadelphia. Who knows what will happen between now and then? Let's just get to a safe pace and think up a plan then."
Sam nodded a few times thinking to herself and stated, "Alright, alright. I just hope we can get there soon."
"Were already here." Jack announced as he approached a road block. What was odd about it was that there was no one manning it. Everyone's thoughts were relatively the same at this point. I don't like the looks of this.
Jack, realizing that no one was going to come out and remove the road block did what he wanted to do back at Eatonia. He put his foot to the gas and picked up as much speed as he could. Fortunately, this roadblock was made of simple signs and wooden structures that splintered as they gave way to the behemoth of a truck that Jack had built. "Let's find that safe house, and prey that it's still safe." Jack whispered as the bits of debris fell back to the ground behind him.
