Boom one week later and here it is. This one is much shorter than the last, just in case you haven't already notice that.

You guys make me laugh. I love all of y'all's reviews, seriously. You guys make my day. I love you! (:

My giant golden retriever is trying to curl up under my computer chair right now so I should go help her get untangled.

I don't own Danny Phantom!

Enjoy (:

Wide Awake

Chapter Nineteen

November 9, 2013

"Someone light the signal fire! Hurry up, we're gonna miss them!" Valerie screeched. Chaos exploded through the survivors as they began sprinting in all different directions, barking orders to each other as they went.

"Flag them down," Sam breathed in Danny's ear. He nodded as she dropped the shotgun and raced to support Tucker alongside Valerie. Danny fired two green, glowing balls of ectoplasmic energy high into the air, directly over their heads.

A collective gasp ran through the group when the helicopter immediately adjusted course toward them, and few began cheering when a bright search light ignited from the bottom of the aircraft. Danny squinted and shielded his eyes when the floodlight landed on him.

After a few frantic moments, they managed to direct the helicopter around to the back of the house, where the cots were quickly shoved out of the way. The helicopters landed and the engine shut off, plunging the group into a sudden uneasy silence. The windows were tinted, making it impossible for them to see who was inside.

Danny managed to clear a path through the other survivors wide enough for Valerie, Tucker, and Sam to walk through; they were just reaching the front when the door of the helicopter slid open. A brunette woman with a doughy face slid out, a look of apprehension in her chocolate eyes as she absorbed the number of people standing before her.

She cleared her throught nervously, and when she spoke her voice shook. "Do you have a leader?"

Valerie stepped past Danny, swiping latent tears away from her face. "Me." She said clearly.

"My name is Kate, and I'm here to rescue you," Kate offered her hand, which Valerie shook cautiously. "Um, I wasn't...really prepared for...how many are you?"

"'Bout fifty," Valerie mumbled.

"I can only fit four people at a time in the 'copter," Kate glanced back at the helicopter. "B-but we've got more than one, the pilot's already called for more back-up -"

"Where are you from?" Valerie interrupted sharply.

"Oh, I'm a doctor. Our main base is in Colorado, but we've been combing the states for survivors for the last four months," Kate smiled nervously. "Texas is huge, it's taken us forever to get this far -"

"You came here all the way from Colorado?" Valerie interrupted again.

"No, we've set up a temporary base just north of here. It's only a couple hours away in the 'copter."

"And it's safe there?"

"Absolutely. We've never had an incident."

"You can take all of us?" Valerie jammed her thumb over her shoulder toward the rest of the survivors.

"It'll be a squeeze, but we'll manage," Kate said, peering around Valerie as she scanned the group.

Valerie's mouth opened, but no words came. She struggled for a moment before blindly reaching backwards. Sam and Tucker came forward immediately, and Kate's eyes widened as they approached.

"He's bitten," Valerie managed to gasp.

Kate paled, but otherwise she had no reaction. "How long ago?" She asked, her voice suddenly taking a clinical tone as she stepped forward and gently cradled Tucker's face.

"Less than ten minutes," Valerie croaked, closely watching Kate study Tucker's face. Kate ran her hands over his skin, pulled his glasses off, and checked his eyes.

"Is this the point of infection?" Kate asked, pointing to his neck. He nodded, closing his eyes when she craned around to get a better look at it.

"Can you help him?" Valerie asked fearfully.

"A scientist develped a cure not long ago," Kate said, her voice distant. Danny could see Sam's grip tighten around Tucker's waist. "Right now it's only effective if administered within an hour of infection. As I understand, it is a painful process, but it has proven successful in every test that's been run."

"You said it takes a couple hours to get back to where you came from, it'll be too late by then...can you do it here?" Valerie asked, voice ringing with desperation.

"It's just a simple injection. I can administer it in the helicopter on the way there. As I mentioned before, I can only fit four people in at a time, so he makes one," Kate said, pointing to Tucker, "and she makes two," her finger gravitated to Sam.

"No," Sam said sharply. Danny jerked away to flash her an incredulous look.

"Sam -"

"I'm not going without you," She shook her head firmly. "I'll go when you go."

Danny gave her a hard look, which she met with her own defiant gaze. "Can you give us a minute?" Danny asked Kate quietly.

"Hurry," Valerie urged.

Danny stalked a few feet away from the helicopter, Sam in tow. "You have to go with them, right now." Danny growled when they were far enough away.

"Fine, then. So do you." She said firmly. "I'm not going without you."

"Sam, listen to me. You need medical attention. You're hurt, you're really, really hurt, and Kate's a doctor. She's from a camp with other doctors and scientists. You need their help."

"No, I need you to come with me. I can't go without you."

"Sam." Danny ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I need to stay here and help the others gather everything up. You need to go with Kate and Tucker right now and let them take care of you. Please, please go with them."

"I can't go without you, Danny, don't make me go without you! What if they're not good people, what if they're worse than the zacks? I'm not ready for this, I can't do this without you, I -"

"Hey, hey, sh," Danny gathered her up against his chest, brushed her hair away from her face, and kissed the top of her head. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."

"What if they take us somewhere different and you can't find us? What if they seperate us? What if I need you and you're not there?" She mumbled into his shoulder, though he could tell from her tone she was already caving

"What did I tell you last night? I will always come back for you. I will always find you, no matter how far away you are or how long it takes me. I will always be there for you, Sam," She burrowed closer to him, her hands balled into fists against his bare chest. One hand held her head in place while the other drifted up and down her back, rubbing soothing circles between her shoulderblades. "Trust me, okay? Go with Kate. I'll be on the next helicopter out there. I'll be with you before you even know I'm gone,"

He waited until he felt her nod before gently prying her off of him. He kissed her hard and deep, lingering for a moment too long, before pulling away and sighing at the suddenly dreamy quality of Sam's face. He squeezed her upper arms reassuringly and slid one hand down her arm to intertwine their fingers. Together they picked their way back to the helicopter, where Tucker was already inside. Kate watched them approach, and before she could ask, Danny called, "She makes two,"

"Okay. I can fit two more," Kate said.

"Valerie, you need to go," Eams' voice suddenly drifted out of the crowd behind them. Valerie whipped around, her hands clenching into fists. "You're pregnant, you need the attention more than any of us."

"You're pregnant?" Kate interjected incredulously.

"Uh, yeah," Valerie muttered distractedly. "Okay, yeah, I guess I need to go. Um..."

"I'll stay and get everyone together," Danny said firmly. Valerie glanced at him and nodded.

"Get the personal belonings out of the house, 'specially the pictures." She muttered.

"I still have room for one more," Kate reminded them softly.

"The kids! Take the kids!" Kee called, and suddenly she was jogging forward, pulling Charlie and Libby along. "They're pretty small, they can share a seat...right?"

"Of course," Kate said quickly. For a moment no one spoke as Kate lifted the kids into the helicopter and Danny helped Sam get into her seat. He glanced across the row at Tucker, who was slumped forward in his seat, apparently unconscious.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked fearfully.

"He's gonna be fine. The antedote goes into the body and stops the virus from spreading before killing the virus off. The body goes into a kind of comatose state because of this, but I promise he's just sleeping. He's gonna be fine,"

Sam still looked incredibly uncomfortable at Tucker's lack of movement, but she nodded. Danny planted a kiss against Sam's forehead before turning and climbing out of the helicopter. Kate leapt out as well, slid the door shut, and turned to face Danny.

"Sam's got a few broken ribs on her right side," He said quickly. Kate nodded. "She might have internal bleeding. I'm not sure."

"We'll look into it." Kate said. Danny nodded. "The next helicopter should only be about half an hour. We have six total, we'll get all of them out here to pick you guys up. Do you have any more flares?"

"What?"

"You know, the flares you guys used to flag us down? Do you have any more of them?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. We have plenty." Danny shook his head slightly and fought back the urge to laugh when Kate beamed and nodded. "We'll be able to let them know where we are."

"Good. Okay, we're off." Kate stepped toward the front of the helicopter and reached for the handle, but Danny's hand closed around her wrist before she could reach it. She whipped around and stared at him, eyes wide in alarm.

"Take care of them, okay?" Danny murmured. "Please,"

Kate nodded slowly as Danny released his grip. He stepped backwards as she climbed in beside a man shrouded in shadows, giving the helicopter plenty of room to start up as the blades began to spin over his head. He could feel Sam staring at him through the tinted glass and he hoped he was looking back at her as the helicopter lifted off of the ground, hovering for a moment before rising with earnest. He raised his hand and waved, watching the helicopter fly away until it was a mere speck in the rapidly lightening sky.