Emma's eyes flicked from the road to the gas meter. The empty light was on and had been for several miles. They hadn't started with a full tank and would be wasting time looking for more gas. As helpful as Bo and Tamsin's presence was, it wouldn't be enough if they were stuck in the open at night. The pickup started to slow and Emma pulled off to the shoulder out of habit.
Thick brush and wide trees lined the road and kept them in the open. They were almost past Boston. Tamsin wondered how much further they would have to travel, but she didn't ask.
As they rounded the top of a rise in the highway, they saw the road ahead was blocked. As they got closer, the long cement barricades became clearer. Emma tensed the moment she saw them. Tamsin noticed. She wondered if Emma's troubles started at a checkpoint like this one. Maybe her car still sat in an abandoned inspection line or was confiscated by the scared gang the army had become.
The checkpoint looked abandoned, but it didn't keep the group from feeling on edge as they wove through it. Bo could sense someone watching her. A rustle sounded in the shadowed trees beside the road. The three of them turned towards it in unison.
"Something's wrong." Bo said. This felt familiar. She and Tamsin spun around to check behind them, but still saw nothing.
A second later she felt a prick in her arm. She didn't have time to speak before everything went black.
Bo startled awake to the jump of the military truck over a pothole. The truck she was tied up in the back of. From her position on the floor it looked like she could almost stand under the cloth cover. If she could get free.
Then her eyes settled on Tamsin. Tamsin was not tied up. She watched Bo with crossed arms and a grumpy expression.
"Hey!" Bo protested. "Untie me." Though she had to admit, she wouldn't mind recreating this situation later. Tamsin was looking more delicious by the minute. She tried to suppress the hunger.
Tamsin wanted to scold Bo. We weren't thinking. We got sloppy. She didn't speak. I couldn't protect you! Her mind screamed. Bo saw the worry in Tamsin's eyes but it was gone before she could say anything.
"Emma's gone." Tamsin said as she freed Bo from the poorly tied rope. Bo wobbled a little when she stood. A wave of nausea passed over her. She braced herself against the side of the trailer with one hand until it passed.
They felt the truck slow to a stop. Tamsin kicked the wall between them and the front cabin a few times with her heel.
"Well," She said as she hurried to crouch by the back door of the truck, "They know we're awake."
When the doors swung open they were ready. One look from Tamsin dropped the pair of captors to their knees. Up close the human soldiers were no match.
As Bo climbed down from the truck she noticed how young the men looked. Barely in their twenties. Their uniforms were new but non-matching, as if pieced together from leftover stock at an army surplus.
Tamsin hopped down from the truck and scanned their surroundings. It was still daytime, but already late afternoon. They stood on a fenced-in road leading towards the massive outer wall of a safe zone. An army outpost sat just outside the wall. Through the fence they could see downtown Boston in the opposite direction. The streets surrounding them were vacant. Swaths of pavement were stained deep red.
The access gate behind them was unmanned but had several chains and padlocks. The reason the truck stopped before their destination. Ribbons of cloth and flesh hung from the barbed wire wrapped around the fence. This was a battleground not long ago.
"They still have Emma." Bo said.
"And?" Tamsin asked. She brushed off her jacket, a little annoyed that humans were the ones causing it to get dirty.
"There are people out there waiting for her." Bo added. Tamsin sighed.
"We're gonna save her, aren't we." She said knowingly.
"I made a promise." Bo said.
"To her and her arms." Tamsin said suggestively as she walked past Bo. Bo blushed. Tamsin caught her staring after all. It made Bo feel so much guiltier than she expected.
They crouched behind a truck, in the shadows of the safe zone wall. This was the hub for anyone still alive in the area, and the outpost was surely the first stop for newcomers. Tamsin was always vocal about avoiding safe zones. They had too many bad experiences with soldiers along their journey to trust them. Emma must have witnessed similar behavior. Tamsin felt bad the girl would regain consciousness alone. She pushed the thoughts away to avoid her growing concern for their new human cohort.
The soldiers were clearly getting used to the drop in infections. They weren't nearly as agitated as the last group they ran into. The guards helped move boxes and crates from scouting trucks to storage tents. One stood eating a can of something unappetizing while he watched the process. The tent closest to the safe zone was larger than the rest.
"Captain's tent." Tamsin whispered. "Great place to keep a prisoner."
"Get me in there." Bo whispered back.
"First you need to feed." Tamsin said.
"Don't worry about me." Bo said.
Not possible, Tamsin thought.
The eating soldier threw out his can of mystery food and strolled towards their hiding spot. Bo stepped into view before Tamsin could stop her.
"Hey!" The soldier yelled. The others turned towards the noise.
Tamsin leapt from the shadows and stared the soldiers down. They didn't have time to reach for their guns, or even set down their boxes. Bo walked forward through the silent group as each one fell unconscious to the ground.
Emma woke to overwhelming dizziness. She felt distant from the hard chair beneath her. She barely registered the zip tie around her wrists.
She struggled to open her eyes and had to shut them again when the bright room spun. Fuzzy voices conversed nearby. They faded even more as images flashed through Emma's mind.
She remembered Henry's phone call. The worried drive to the hospital and back. Henry's protests when they wouldn't let him stay at the Sheriff's station. The clearest memories made her heart sting. The fear in Regina's eyes. The panic she tried to swallow down. The horror movies that played over and over in their minds. The gun at her hip that Regina couldn't stop staring at.
She remembered pleading with Regina. We can fix this. We can stop it. If she'd learned anything in Storybrooke, it was that magic could do just about anything.
She remembered holding Regina closer than ever before and feeling their hearts pound in unison. She saw the white magic that engulfed them for hours and felt the hope when it seemed to be working. The white light overwhelmed the images. Through it, Emma heard Regina's voice. Her first words after Whale deemed the infection in her blood stream neutralized.
"Only in Storybrooke." She'd said. She was right. The thought stuck with Emma from the moment she heard it. She knew they couldn't keep the discovery to themselves. But now, as she strained to find Regina again through the brightness, she kind of wished they had.
Emma was pulled back to the present by strong hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and they slowly adjusted to the light. A middle-aged man in a worn army uniform stood before her.
He shook her as he yelled through bared teeth, "Where is the cure!"