Ch 6

-Grounded-

(Warning, this chapter contains some slightly more intense expletives then previous chapters, in order to characterize dark antagonistic characters, the content is rather light but still read cautiously)

Phoebe and Harold loomed at the window. It was early in the morning and the red orange flare of the sun was just starting to peek over the trees. The two had their faces huddled around the largest window in Gerald and Phoebe's bedroom. Outside, they had their eyes settled on the single dark figure Phoebe had noticed the night before. However, at this moment, the dark figure appeared to have company. Four other figures surrounded him all in tattered clothing and swaying left and right. Harold looked at Phoebe.

"How the hell do you think they found us?" He asked.

"Beats me. I figured we had enough slop getting pumped out there to keep them away." She responded.

"I see you guys noticed the walkers too." Said a voice behind them. Phoebe and Harold turned around to see Nadine in the doorway, still in pajamas and both hands hanging on the door frame.

"What's going on Nadine?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, slop not getting pumped out enough?" Harold added.

"I was just about get Mr. Hyunh up and we were gonna take a look at it. How many are out there?" Nadine asked.

Phoebe looked back out the window, "Four, maybe five. They're too far away to tell." She said.

"Arnold and Gerald were supposed to get more ingredients for the slop but I don't know where they are."

"They're out there." Phoebe said almost instantly, her hands clenched, "Just taking their sweet time." She said again, shakiness in her voice. Harold lifted an arm and set his hand on her shoulder, Phoebe grabbed it in comfort.

Harold looked at Nadine, "We'll give them till noon and then we're going out to look for them, Get Eugene and Stinky up." He ordered.

"I'll get them. I hate looking out this window anyways." Phoebe said. All three of them left the room. Nadine walked upstairs and turned toward her room. Instead of going in, she turned toward Hyunh's room, inside she could hear heavy moaning and breathing. Slowly she opened the door and saw Mr. Hyunh curled up on his bed. His forehead was covered in sweat and saliva drooled from his tongue to his pillow. The moans he made echoed in Nadine's head. Familiar to her, she quickly reminisced about the helicopter that carried her parents. While she waited for another to pick her up, she watched as it burst in flames and went down, crashing into the side of a building.

Nadine took baby steps toward Hyunh as he violently shook in his dreams. She could hear him saying "Mai" repeatedly. She knew Mai was his daughter, he was dreaming about her. She took a couple more steps till she was in arm length. She lifted her hand and carefully set it on Hyunh's shoulder. Hyunh stirred with a violent jolt and his eyes spread open. He stared straight into Nadine's eyes with fear and then realized he was awake.

"Nadine?" He asked.

"Yes, Mr Hyunh, it's me. Bad dreams again?" Nadine asked.

"Yes Nadine, yes. Bad dreams. I miss Mai very badly." Hyunh responded.

"I know, I'm sure she's fine. Didn't you say she was in D.C. for school?" Hyunh sat up straight.

"Yes, she was supposed to come home after school was out. But then people starting attacking each other in this big mess. I never heard from her after that."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hyunh." Nadine said.

Hyunh then lifted his head and looked into Nadine's eyes. He lifted his hand and set it on her shoulder, "Nadine, you are like Mai in so many ways."

Nadine started to choke, "Thank you, Mr. Hyunh."

"Nadine, please, call me Tai." As Nadine looked into Hyunh's eyes, she felt comfortable.

"Tai…" she started, a tear trickled down her cheek. "I miss my family!" And with that she burst into tears and leapt into Tai's arms. Tai embraced her back, stroking her back like she would when Mai was much younger. Nadine's tears soaked into Tai's shirt as she cried. She had found a father in Tai Hyunh.

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(FTi Station Kappa Hangar 7)

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"I'm telling you Miles. She'll fly like a bird after my team's done with her." Jamie said to Miles as the two stared at a silver plated rusty plane. Miles remembered this old junker, it belonged to his old friend Eduardo. It had never looked so nostalgic to him: the silver plating, the red stripe that wrapped around its body. Strange to find it in the hands of Future Tech, Miles thought.

Under the plane, near its gears, two army outfitted boys twisted on the wheels with wrenches in their hands. Miles put his good arm on Jamie's shoulder, "Thank you Jamie." Just then, the exit door swung inward and Victor entered the hangar. He noticed Miles and raised his arms in excitement.

"Miles! How's it coming in here?" Victor said.

"Doing fine Victor. Corporation types aren't allowed here unfortunately."

"Cute, may I remind you what's at stake here? Remember who I have sitting in a cell adjacent to a locked up infected human being?" Victor said as he casually strolled toward Miles.

Instantly, Miles was reminded of his wife. He remembered Victor telling him earlier that day, "Get the plane working and you'll see Stella again." The words echoed in Miles' head as Victor walked up beside him, "She's looking good Miles. You picked a good team to work on her."

"Yeah, sure." Miles responded with a sigh.

"Do you know Lieutenant Johannson?" Victor asked. Miles looked at him in stunned shock, "The Lieutenant. I see you around him quite often, almost like you're old friends."

Miles thought quickly, as to not blow his cover, "Well he's got better hospitality matters than certain other individuals in this shit hole." Miles responded.

"Oh Miles, don't say that. Remember we let you out of your cell to supervise the trip preparation." Victor said.

Miles clenched his fists, ready to slam them into Victor's face. Instead, Victor got in close, "I've got my infected subject ready to let loose on her if you don't do as I say." Victor whispered violently into Miles' ear. Miles looked at him in disgust.

"You go to hell." He murmured.

"Well that's exactly where we're going right?" Victor replied with a callous grin and a pat on Miles' shoulder.

Miles watched as Victor walked away back toward the hangar exit. When he was out of ear shot, Miles looked back to see Jamie looking back at him. Miles slowly morphed his lips into a smile, Jamie did the same and gave Miles a small nod.

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(Back at the House)

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A knock on the door disturbed Nadine's and Tai's embrace. The knock reverberated through the living room, drawing the attention of Eugene and Stinky who were in the living room. Both stood up and walked over to the front door. Stinky stood by as Eugene gripped the doorknob and twisted it Eugene pulled the door back a couple inches until it was thrusted open and slammed him in the face.

It launched him backward but Stinky caught him before he hit the floor. Just then, the front door swung open completely and standing in the frame was Arnold, hands behind his back and a piece of duct tape over his mouth. Ending next and have a shorter height was sitting up in the inner over his mouth and clutching a shotgun in his free hand.

"We made it." Sid said joyously. He shoved Arnold into the house and following after him. Then came a parade of Sid's thugs as Brig came in dragging Gerald and Charlie while CHET Fdragged Helga, a sack over her head.

"Bring them all in here, the ginger and country boy too." Sid ordered. By then, Sid's gang and their hostages were all in the living room. Drawn in by the raucous downstairs, Tai and Nadine treaded slowly down the stairs to see the hostages and Sid towering over them. He turned around and saw the two, instantly aiming his shotgun at them.

"Oh good, more company. Please come on down guys, don't be shy." Sid said. Carefully, Tai and Nadine walked down, Tai holding Nadine's shoulder tightly. Brig saw Phoebe and Harold in the kitchen and caught them before they could hide, thrusting them into the living room as well.

Once they sat down on the couch, Sid walked over everyone and untied his bandana, tossing it aside.

"Sid?!" Eugene cried in surprise.

"Eugene! In the flesh!" Sid chuckled, "Glad to see you're alive and still as gingery as ever!" He said, "And Stinky! Man you haven't grown since 6th grade."

"Why are you here Sid?" Phoebe asked.

"Well Arnold here invited me to your humble abode for a scavenger hunt. How could I say no to that football headed face?" Sid said, gesturing to the bound Arnold slumped on the floor against the wall.

"Fuck that Sid, What do you want?" Harold chimed in.

"I see that yuppie fun bag girlfriend hasn't destroyed your backbone eh Harold?" Sid snickered.

"Fuck you Sid, at least I'm not threatening my friends at gun point."

Sid just shrugged, "Look, if you guys work with us, we'll be out of your hair in minutes. We're gonna take what we want but we'll leave you with something to work with for a couple days' time. You guys can head on west in that humvee of yours and we'll head north. Everybody gets a merry Christmas."

"That's flat out robbery, Sid. We won't last two days if you take even a tea spoon of what we've got left." Stinky said.

"Grow up Stinky, you can live on tree bark can't you?" Sid replied. Stinky clenched his fists.

"Okay Brig and I are gonna sift through the house. Chet is gonna keep an eye on all of you. Let's go Brig." With that, Brig and Sid disappeared into the house while Chet stood guard over everybody else. In particular, he eyeballed Arnold, still gagged, waiting for his revenge.

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(FTi Station Kappa East Wing)

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A new guard had been posted. Phil slumped in his barely stable cot after breaking off the leg from his earlier stunt. He pinched the cell keys in his hand, pondering his next move.

"Hey Gramps." Bob called.

"What is it Bob?" Phil asked.

"When are we gonna get outta here?" Bob asked.

"In due time Bob. We had to obtain the means to get out first, remember?" Phil said as he jingled the keys in his hand.

"Well make it snappy old man. I'm not gonna rot in this prison while my little girls are out there with those flesh addicts."

"You'll be sipping a strawberry shake with Helga in no time." Phil said.

"That'd be nice save for the fact Helga is allergic. You'd remember that if you took time to remember her god damn name and spent time with her!"

"Excuse me Boberoni, these old bones ain't what they used to be. Pardon me when I ever mistook your daughter for a man with that one eyebrow of hers!"

"Hey you're senile, what can you do?" Bob said sarcastically.

"Better watch it Bob." Phil growled, "This mind may be aging, but these muscles, as you could see, are still full of life."

"Guys stop it." Suzie hollered, "Knock it off. You guys are family, remember? We all are, Even in the darkest of situations we can't lose our heads." She said again.

"Eh she's right Suzie. Calm your liver spots gramps." Bob snickered.

Just then, a metal grinding sound echoed the hall, jumping the three to their feet. They looked to the door as it slid open. First in came two guards, then a man in a white lab coat. But it wasn't Victor. It was a much shorter man, slim body and lanky arms. He walked past the guards and stood in the middle of the hall. As he turned back toward the exit, he observed each individual in their cell. Once he finished his 180, he said,

"Bring all of them." He said, "Boss' orders."

"Like shit you are." Bob hollered. The scientist walked up to the guards.

"You know how to deal with him." He said. Just then the guards whipped out their nightsticks and approached Bob's cell.

"You boys wanna dance again? Guess you don't wanna have children after all." Bob growled. While the guards struggled with him, the scientist politely walked over to Suzie's cell and walked her out. As he did this, Phil quietly took the cell keys out of his overalls and jammed them between the cell wall and the cot, successfully hiding them from plain view.

Once Suzie was out, the scientist walked over to Phil's cell and opened the door, "Alright old timer. On your feet." Phil walked out and followed the scientist, walking next to Suzie. Behind them came the two guards, dragging an unconscious Bob between their arms.

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(Back at the house)

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Sid and his gang had finished with the basement, grabbing the remnants of the group's slop ingredients and the twenty gallons of water stored away in the broken fridge. All of it was taken and stored away in Sid's truck as well as Stinky's. The one they planned to take.

Arnold looked over to Eugene who was next to him on the couch. Eugene saw his eyes and looked at him. Arnold proceeded to nudge his eyes toward his hands which were still tied. As Eugene got up to undo Arnold's bindings, Chet cocked his rifle.

"Watch it ginger, another step and you're dead." He said.

"Come on man. You've already got a gun in our faces, the least you can give us is some leg room." He said.

"Slowly." Chet said. Eugene proceeded to rip the tape from Arnold's back side, and the piece that was on his mouth.

Arnold proceeded to stand up, "Now how about the girl?" He asked.

"Blow me." Chet replied.

"How about no. Come on, at least take the fucking bag off her head." Arnold then said.

"Okay," Chet said, "You can take off the sack after you take my gun barrel up your ass. Sound good?"

Angrily, Gerald stood up and walked over to Chet who cautiously turned his gun in Gerald's directions. "Take the sack off her head, now…" Gerald ordered.

"Sit back down kid, don't do anything stupid." Chet said.

Gerald clenched his fist, "I'm gonna tell you one last time."

Chet, knowing a random death would not sit well with the general population, looked right into Gerald's face, "Any sudden movements and you're dead."

Gerald looked back at Arnold, "Go ahead brother." Arnold then got up and walked over to Helga and knelt down by her, "Don't know why you'd want to free that annoying bitch." Chet mumbled.

Arnold heard him and walked towards him, "What'd you just say? What the fuck did you just say?" Without thinking twice, he shoved Gerald out of the way and threw a punch at Chet, who was much faster and quickly retaliated with a dodge and a hit to the stomach with the butt of his rifle. Arnold fell to the ground, grunting in pain.

"Knew it wasn't a good idea to free you, pussy." Chet murmured. Sid heard the commotion and trampled down the stairs.

"Hey, what's going on down here?" Sid asked.

"This asshole tried to jump me." Chet replied.

"Stay away from him. I'll handle this." Sid said as he walked over to Arnold on the ground.

"Arnold, we had a deal remember? If the boys hear I think you're going back on it, then it won't be a good time for anybody in this room, understand?" Sid asked.

"Fuck you Sid." Gerald said, standing off to the side. Sid looked at him and nodded, "I'm trying to keep you guys alive. If you wanna get out of here with Helga in one piece, shut the fuck up and let us work."

"Going soft Sid? Why not kill them all right here right now?" Chet asked.

"Shut up Chet. Get this guy back on his feet and on the couch. Brig and I are gonna look upstairs." Sid ordered. Chet sighed in frustration, a hint of doubt in his breathing.

Just then, Brig came down the steps quickly, "Guys, come check this out!" Sid and Chet looked at the stairs and quickly raced up the steps. Sid looked back.

"Don't go nowhere ladies and gentlemen." With that, Sid disappeared to the second floor. Sid and Chet entered into Nadine's room where Brig stood victoriously over a small cooler.

"What'd you find Brig?" Chet asked. With that, Brig lifted the cooler lid with his foot to reveal a canvas of small round red objects, it was an apple stash. Nadine heard the commotion and realized what it was they found.

"Arnold" She whispered loudly.

"What?" Arnold whispered back as Gerald helped him back to his feet.

"They found the apples I kept under my bed."

"Let them drool over them, in the mean time we're getting out of here." Get Gerald some cold water and untie Charlie." With that everybody stood up, Phoebe ran to Gerald's arms, the two wrapped each other in a tight hug.

"I missed you so much." Phoebe mumbled as she smeared her face into Gerald's shirt. Meanwhile, Arnold walked over to Helga who was still slumped against the wall and the sack still over her head.

"Helga?" Arnold started, "It's Arnold." He knelt down and grabbed the sack, slowly lifting it off her head. Instantly, Helga turned her head sideways. Arnold leaned in closer and set his hand on her cheek, slowly pulling her face back towards him.

"Look," Arnold started as he looked into her eyes, the sweat on her forehead being soaked into her black ski cap, "I want to assure you, I tried to look for you after we left Hillwood. Gerald told me you went silent after looking for supplies. I can't tell you how afraid I was, thinking what could've happened to you…"

Helga started to mumble through the tape that covered her mouth. Arnold very subtely and quickly ripped it from her mouth. Helga grunted in pain a few times and looked back at Arnold.

"It's not that you dumb football head…" She started, "I saw how you were treating Charlie. I never could figure it out till I realized I had to break him out."

"You.. you saw us?" Arnold asked.

"I staked out your house from across the street for two days. I wanted to be sure it was just you guys and not more creeping bandits like I had to put up with. When I saw Charlie locked up in that room I knew I had to do something."

"But Helga," Stinky whispered loudly, "Charlie was locked up with probable cause. He was bitten."

"What?" Helga asked, surprised.

"Yeah, on the leg. He didn't change right away and he hasn't yet. We had to put him away to know for sure." Gerald said.

Helga looked at Gerald then back at Stinky, and then back to Arnold, "They're right Helga. We never meant to harm him."

"It's okay Helga, they never hurt me. Even I was scared." Charlie knelt over and chimed in.

Helga continued to stare into Arnold's eyes as he started to smile.

Her lip started to quiver, it became a bit crooked and almost instantly she leapt into Arnold's arms, and broke out sobbing. Arnold stroked her back and could hear her say, "I'm so sorry."

Their touching moment was interrupted by a loud "Fuck you!" from upstairs. Arnold broke his and Helga's embrace.

"You guys wait here." Arnold said as he walked up the stairs.

"Arnold are you crazy?!" Harold murmured.

"Sid's not a bad guy. He'd never go this far. I'm gonna try to talk him down." Arnold replied as he continued to head upstairs. From behind the wall, he could see a half of Brig's body in a stout posture. As he got closer, he saw more of Brig's body, his hands raised a bit. When he saw the entirety of the room, he saw Sid and Chet aiming their guns at each other and Sid had one hand raised.

"Fuck you Sid, you're skimping us with this fucking deal." Chet hollered.

"Just cuz I want the apples in my truck?" Sid replied.

"You've been going stingy on us for a long time, you get the luxury and we get the shit." Brig said. Sid saw Arnold out of the corner of his eye.

"Arnold go back downstairs and stay with the others. Just having a little argument with my buds here."

"Buds? You're gonna fuck us over and at the same time call us buds?" Chet said, "You know what? I'm tired of your shit."

" You promised us a luxurious life and you tell these fuckers you're gonna leave them supplies for two days? That's all they have dumbass!" Brig added.

"Look, I'll get you food and water I promise. They had those twenty gallons remember? We've got the jackpot! All we gotta do is take their cars and go north."

"Bullshit. That's all you've given us is bullshit. We're taking these apples, and we're taking the cars. You can stay here and rot with these fuckwits…" Chet said. Sid kept his pistol aimed toward Chet. "What if we just killed you? How's that? What if we tied you down and sliced you open. Maybe you'll how full of shit you are!" Chet said.

"Like hell you are!" Sid snapped.

"Like hell you ain't!" Brig replied, with that he lunged at Sid who tried to turn but before he got a shot off, Brig had him thrown on Nadine's bed. They struggled as Chet approached them. Brig reached for Sid's gun, still gripped in Sid's hand. Sid was underestimated by the two. As Chet towered over them.

"Hold him down Brig, I'll get my knives." But then out of nowhere, Sid got the upper hand, the gun still in his hand. He twisted his arm, aiming the gun at Chet and fired three shots.

Chet launched backwards. Brig was so stunned, Sid was able to pelt him with the butt of the gun and regained his freedom. Chet laid down, breathing heavily, clutching his chest where the bullets pierced him. Sid aimed the gun at Brig who was on the ground.

"Sid…don't." Arnold mumbled, laying against the wall, covering himself from what had just happened, "Remember who you are."

Sid just stood there, his eyes wide open in fright. Brig felt just as scared. Sid's hand holding the pistol shook violently, "Sid," Arnold said, "Please."

With that, Sid slowly lowered the pistol. Brig jumped up and sped out of the room, topping down the stairs and burst out the front door, running up to Sid's truck for which he had the key. As Brig sped off in the truck, Arnold approached Sid up in the bedroom. He held out his arm.

"Sid, give me the gun." Arnold said. Sid just stood there motionless, realizing that he had just killed a human being….for the first time, "Sid.." Arnold whispered.

Sid loosened his grip on the gun and Arnold slowly pulled it away from his hand. Once he got full control, he popped out the clip and emptied the bullet from the chamber. As Arnold put the pistol in his pocket, Gerald came running up the stairs.

"What happened?" He asked. Arnold motioned to Chet's motionless corpse.

"What do you think?"

"Jeez," Gerald exclaimed, "Sid you okay?" Sid gave no response. He just stood there lifeless.

"Gerald, get Chet's body out of here and go get the stuff out of Sid and Stinky's truck." Arnold said.

"Brig took off in Sid's truck." Gerald responded.

"Just grab everything that they took. We'll go after Brig later. Sid…take a deep breath. You killed someone, but you had right to. Know that." As Arnold spoke, Gerald grabbed Chet by his limp arms and dragged the body all the way out of the room, leaving a small trail of blood behind.

Sid slowly lowered his arm and slumped onto Nadine's bed. He put his hands on his forehead and took a deep breath, letting it out in sobs. As he cried, Arnold and Gerald stood over him. They looked at each other and left Sid alone.

"He'll be alright." Arnold said as he closed the door.

"What makes you think he's not gonna kick the window out in Charlie's cell and book it?" Gerald asked cautiously.

"It's Sid Gerald. He'll be back to normal I know it." Arnold said, he looked down at Chet's body, "Let's get this thing out of here."

As the two lifted the corpse to toss it outside, Gerald said, "With Helga and Sid back…sheesh, gang's all back together again…what a day."

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(Fti Station Kappa, West Wing)

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Victor walked down the dimly lit hallway till he came to a door. He scanned his thumb on the wall scanner and entered. Inside, the scientist that had taken the three prisoners out of their cells was sitting at a computer. On the opposite wall was a large plate glass window, on the other side were Susan, Bob, and Phil lined up in chairs, handcuffed and looking around. Next to them was a fourth party, she had brown hair that drooped over her face. Phil was looking at her the whole time, trying to comfort her from his locked up position. Victor read his lips and could read him saying,

"Stella…Stella it's gonna be okay."

"How are our subjects?" Victor asked.

"Impatient, serum still hasn't been delivered yet." The scientist said.

"And our subject?" Victor asked. He and the scientist looked to the right where on the other side of a large set of bars, an infected being waltzed around, a chain tying his neck to a loop in the wall.

"He's hungry. We're gonna attempt extraction one more time before the year is out." Victor observed all his test subjects.

"I want testing and results done immediately. We leave for San Lorenzo in four months." He said.

The scientist replied, "Yes sir."

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To be continued.