After our last contact with citizen Z, he told us about the CIA black site. After searching we found the entrance and we're currently looking for Chester. To bad he won't exactly be there. All of us or the ones who could, had our weapons drawn in case a Z happened to have gotten out of one of the rooms. Walking around Murphy bumped into something on a pipe making it clatter to the ground. "Goddamnit Murphy! Can't you keep quiet once?" I asked. "Well excuse me for bumping into something in this tight walkway." Murphy smarted off to me. "I love you, but I'm ready to whoop your ass." I said going toward Murphy making him cower away before Warren held her hand up. "Come on guys! Your just hangry. Once we get to Chester we can get some food and not be on edge." Warren said. We continued on until we saw a light flash making us stop and put our weapons up. Darren who was helping Amelia sat her back away from the potential threat. "Hold it right there." Warren said to the people. Mack flashed his light into Murphy's eyes making him hiss in pain. "Oh, it's the damn wonder twins." Murphy said making us chuckle. "Guys." Warren said. "What? The wonder..." Doc said before Addy interrupted. We all hugged and greeted each other. I looked to Addy and ran to her. "Oh god, I've missed you two. Between Murphy and Doc I thought I was gonna die." I said making Addy laugh. Addy then went to Doc. "Never. I mean never, ever, in a million years, truly did I think I'd ever see you guys again." Doc said hugging Addy and Mack.
"Citizen Z send you guys?" Mack asked. "Yeah. He told us there was food and somebody named Chester who could help us out." Cass said. "Yeah, he told us that too. We're starting to have our doubts." Mack said. "Ok, well he should be, you know what, right down there. Let's hit it." Warren said making us move out. Darren then went to Amelia and lifted her up a little. "Hey, hey. Who is that and what happened to her?" Mack asked. "Oh, that's Amelia we picked her up from South Dakota." I said. "She got caught on a piece of barbed wire. Now it's all infected." Doc finished before we continued on to Chester. Walking down the hall Warren stopped us at a door before knocking. Warren then opened it with her gun raised. "Hello!" Warren called out. "Well I guess we found Chester." Addy said walking up to Chester's corpse. "Hello Chester." Addy said before taking her bat and beating the shit out of Chester's head.
"Somebody got up in the wrong side of the apocalypse." Murphy said as we all watched as Chester's brain flew everywhere. After a minute of most of us being shocked we finally snapped out of it. Warren then walked over to Mack. "What happened to you guys out there?" Warren asked. "She's working out some stuff. You know how things can catch up with you." Mack said before we heard citizen Z. "Chester? You got them yet? You got my team? Hello? Anyone?" Citizen Z called out. We made our way to a room that the voice of citizen Z was coming from. Once entering there was a bed like thing for someone to lay on and a monitor. On the monitor was citizen Z himself. "Warren ? Addy, it's... Hey, hey, hey! Up here! It's your old pal, citizen Z. Oh, it's everyone. Hi, everyone. Hi! Addy, looking gorgeous as always." Citizen Z said before I began to drowned him out thinking about future events. Once I focused back in it was only Addy, Mack, and I. "Oh, like waterboarding, zero dark thirty, black site?" Mack asked. "Yeah, I kinda thought it would be obvious from what Chester told me. So where is the old crackpot anyway?" Citizen Z asked. Mack shook his head to the monitor. "Oh man. Bummer." Citizen Z said before Mack and Addy left. "Hey Citizen Z, you might want to tone down the Addy crush. Mack is very protective of her and I don't want things to get fucked up." I said resulting in him nodding his head. I then left after the group to the food storage. Once we stocked up on food and water we left the underground facility. Once out we began to search for a working car. After a couple of tries one of the black SUVs came to life. We all piled up and made our way west again.
—————Time skip—————
We were sitting in the SUV after passing by Salt Lake City in Utah. In the front seat Murphy was eating a can of tuna making the smell waft everywhere causing our faces to turn into a snarl of disgust. Murphy began to lick his fingers before burping up a putrid smell. Doc groaned in disgust before looking out the window. "Who, Warren. Slow up here, will ya?" Doc asked making Warren slow the car. "It's just a kid." Cass said looking at the half eaten zombie of one of the kids from sisters of mercy. "That is not a kid. It's zombie road kill." Murphy said. "Dickhead." I whispered making Darren chuckle. Driving a little down the road 10k hit the top of the SUV. "Ten o'clock." 10k said. "Another kid." Luke said. "Not anymore." Murphy butted in. "Stop. Warren , stop. It's just a boy. Stop." Addy said making Warren stop the vehicle. Addy then got out of the vehicle with her bat and began to walk to the Z. Once right at it Addy gasped and stopped. Once the Z got closer Mack yelled out. "Addy!" Making her snap out of it and hit the Z in the head. Warren then got out of the vehicle and approached Addy. "We need to talk once we find somewhere to stop." I heard Darren say to me. I looked up I him. "Ok, is something wrong?" I asked with a furrowed brow. "Nothing that you need to worry about right now." Darren said. "Fine!" Addy yelled before opening the door and getting into the car aggressively. Warren followed after and we quickly made our way on.
"Heads up, we've got a live one." Warren said slowing down. "Whoa. Another sad kid in a weird flowered shirt." Doc said. "I got this one." Warren said before getting out and approaching the kid. While waiting I looked to Doc. "Psst. Doc." I whispered making him turn to me. Once having his attention I raised both of my had a into the rock, paper, scissors shoot formation. "Oh, your on." Doc said making the same move. "Rick, paper, scissors, shoot!" I said throwing out scissors. "Ha!" Doc shouted as he had rock. We continued until the kid got in the car. "Murphy, move." Addy said. "Hi there." Murphy said. "Hey buddy, I'm Mack." Mack said before we began our trek to Helen. "Just up there." Sam said once we got to the gates. "Anybody home?" Doc questioned. "Doesn't look like it." Mack said as we came to a stop. "Mack, you want to check it out?" Warren asked. "Yeah." Mack said getting out of the trunk. Mack got out and walked in front of the car. "Get back in the truck!" Someone yelled as females began to line the rocks above us with guns pointed at us. "Your not welcome here!" The woman said. "It's ok. We're friendly here." Mack said holding his hands up in surrender before the woman began to shoot at him. We opened our car door for him to jump into. "Stop! Stop! It's fine! Just listen to me for a second! We have..." Mack then got cut off by a woman shooting at his feet. Mack quickly ran for cover behind the car door. "I thought you said they were friendly, Sam." Mack said before Warren got out of the car in a surrendering pose. "Stop! Don't shoot! Please! We have your boy! We have Sam!" Warren yelled out before we opened the car door so Sam could get out with us following him. "Hold your fire!" Someone yelled out before the gate opened to a woman.
"Ms. Helen, it's ok. They just need food. They're nice." Sam said. "It's good to see you, Sam. Why don't you go inside and find your mother? I'm sure she's anxious to see you." Helen said before turning to us. "Thank you for bringing him back. Sometimes our kids get cabin fever and decide to go exploring." Helen said making Warren fake a laugh. Amelia then grained as she put some pressure on her leg. "What's wrong with you?" Helen asked. "It's infected." Amelia said. "Oh, that could be dangerous." Helen said. "Yes, if you have anything to spare we could trade you. I only have a little supply but it's the best I can do." I said speaking up. "We can help, but the men must stay out here." Helen said. "Warren ?" I asked looking to her. "We can work with that." Warren said. "You've arrived at the sisters of mercy." Helen said. We nodded and Warren went back to the SUV. Once Warren came back they led us in. "We'll give you 24 hours. Food, water, and rest. After you will leave." Helen said. Warren put her hand out in greeting. "Helen, and you are?" Helena asked shaking Warren's hand. "Lieutenant Roberta Warren. Missouri national guard, and this is my second in command..." Warren said trailing off for me to take over. "Ellie, E.R doctor, well was in training." I said shaking her hand. Helen nodded before bringing us behind the gate and to a jeep. I helped Addy get Amelia into the jeep. Once in we rode up to there community.
"Can you help her? She has an infected leg. Take her to the infirmary." Helen said once getting out of the jeep. "I'll be there as soon as Warren and I are done." I said to Cassandra and Amelia. I walked to Warren and stood with her as Helen approached us. "It's beautiful here." Warren commented. "Come on." Helen said guiding us around. "Here we grow our own vegetables. We have chickens and cows out back." Helen said. "Cows? You get milk?" Warren asked. "You get penicillin?" I asked excited. "Milk, butter, yogurt. Most importantly for you, penicillin. Amy makes it herself. She used to be a chemist. Lina's in the kitchen. She'll show you where you can wash up. And I hope you'll join us for our mid-day meal." Helen said with a smile. "Thank you, thank you." Warren said before walking away. "Could you please show me to the infirmary?" I asked with a smile. "Yes, of course." Helen said before leading me to their infirmary.
Walking into the room they held Cassandra and Amelia in I was met with a blonde woman. "Hi, I'm Susan." The woman said. "Ellie, I'm the groups doctor." I said before walking over to Amelia. "Alright I'm gonna take off the old bandages, ok?" I asked. "Do what you gotta do." Amelia said holding onto a bar. I carefully untied the bandage and began to take it off. "Ow!" Amelia shouted out as the bandage had stuck to the wound. "Sorry, is there something she can bite into for the pain?" I asked Susan. "Yes, I'll go grab it." Susan said before leaving the room. As she was gone I searched for the penicillin and found it. I stuffed my pockets full of it before putting everything back to how it was. Susan then came back with a block in her hand.
Susan gave the block to Amelia and Amelia immediately put it between her teeth and chomped down onto it. I then began to take the bandage off again making Amelia hiss in pain. Once I got the bandage off I let Amelia relax before we continued. "Ok, just lay on the bed now." I said as I stepped away from her. "What am I aloud to use?" I asked. "Well, we have stitches for the cut, hydrogen peroxide, and penicillin." Susan said before handing me a tray with everything on it. "Ok, thank you." I said grabbing the tray and placing it on the bed next to Amelia. "Ok, this is going to be painful, but I need you to bear with me." I said making Amelia nod. I first grabbed the hydrogen peroxide and put it into the wound to clean it. Amelia hissed in pain and held tightly onto the metal bars on the bed. Once she had stopped I began to stitch. As I stitched her wound I let her rest every once in a while until we were finished and gave her penicillin.
Once finished I let Amelia rest and went to the mid-day meal. Walking out to the area I was directed in I saw that Addy was talking to that little girl and Warren was talking to Helen. I sat in the spot next to Warren and listened to their conversation. "Whoever built this place must have seen the apocalypse coming. It's perfect." Warren said I put food on my plate. "That was my husband. His philosophy was that we become absolutely self-sufficient and off the grid." Helen said eating. "Your husband?" Warren asked. "He's gone. Like the others." Helena said. "All these women?" Warren asked. "Well Zina and Emmeline were my sister wives. And when Ammon went, we had each other and this place. These other women weren't so lucky 'til we found them. Now they're safe. They're free. More strawberries?" Helen asked. "No thank you, I think I'm gonna go check on Amelia and Cassandra." Warren said getting up. Helen then turned her attention to me.
"Would you like some strawberries?" Helen asked. "Yes, please." I said grabbing the bowl of strawberries and grabbing some. "You look like you've been through things." Helen said. "Yeah, haven't we all?" I asked with a chuckle. "Yes, I guess you could say that. What have you encountered out in the apocalypse world?" Helen asked. "Well, first I lost a lot of my memories of the apocalypse when I first met the group. I had apparently grabbed Cass and ran us to a cage and locked it when the place we were at got over run. I had hit my head and was completely lost on anything but pre apocalypse. Then, I had gotten kidnapped by cannibals. They tried to make me their bait and apart of their family. It was traumatic, I had stumbled soon where they had kept their victims. I hadn't known they were cannibals until then, they had kept the people alive so they wouldn't turn." I said I was dragged into memories keeping Addy out of the conversation to hopefully keep Helen off of her. "I'm so sorry. Men are the destruction of all things good." Helen said I nodded along pretending that I agreed. Once finished with my conversation with Helen I walked away. I saw Warren and stopped her. "Hey, I'm gonna go check on the boys outside." I said making Warren nod. Seeing a jeep being loaded up I walked up to them. "Hey, can I catch a ride to the gate. I need to go check up on the rest of my group and make sure they are all ok." I said. "Yeah, we can give you a ride up to the gate." A woman said. "Thank you." I replied hoping into the jeep. We rode out of the community and to the gate.
Once to the gate I walked out and down the road. After a few minutes of walking I reached the SUV. "It's Ellie!" 10k yelled out attracting the attention of Darren and Luke. Darren ran up and hugged me. "Oh god. You're ok." Darren whispered. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just really weird in there." I said hugging him back. "Well you can hang with us for a while." Luke said hugging me as well. "Hell yeah." I said walking with him to the SUV. Doc had already gone away to see the women and the zombie bear. I stuck with the group until I spotted two Jeep's coming by us. One stopped and Warren hopped out. "Come on." Warren said. I hopped in and gave the guys a look as Doc had just explained the zombie bear.
Once we had reached the bridge Helen and the others explained the plan to us. We had made the keep look like it was broken down and Addy, Jackie and I stood by as we waited for the motorcycles to come by. Once we heard the roar of the bikes we got into position. "You got a problem there, darlin'?" The leader asked. "What do you think?" Jackie asked. "Kinda dangerous, ain't it? Three pretty little gals like you, travelin' all alone? It's not safe out here. I'll tell you what. What don't you tell me where you're headed, and sidecar here can have a look at that engine." The man said making the other two get off their bikes and approach us. Before anything could happen and gun shot rang out and Helen showed up. "Hands up, gentlemen. Your little game is over." Helen said making the others come out with their weapons raised. The scrawny biker started saying that he wasn't with them and that he was just with them until he could get away. "Drop your guns." Helen said. "That ain't happening sweetheart." The man said making one of the women shoot at his feet. "Wait! Hold your fire! Hold your fire." The man said. "You see, huh? I'm a reasonable man. I'm sure we can come to some kind of an arrangement. Why don't you just tell me what you want?" The man asked. "Let me ask. These girls with you voluntarily? Didn't think so. Ladies." Helen said making us all go up to them and tie them up. I made the suggestion of having the leader be in the middle. I went and untied the girls and took them to a jeep to sit away from the men. "Are you guys ok?" I asked. They both nodded. "Any injuries?" I asked. They told me no before I walked away from them to Warren. The man then told Helen that he had oxy that I knew I would take. Walking over to the side car I found the oxy he was talking about and took it stuffing it in my pockets and bra since I didn't want his bag cause that thing has some kind of disease on it. Once I got back I saw they were choosing who to shoot. I walked up to Helen. "Why don't you just shoot both men on the side so the leader will for sure die?" I asked. "That's a good idea. Addy." Helen said. Before I could protest Addy has already shot both men. "Addy." I whispered seeing the look in her eyes. We all loaded up and left the bikers behind. I watched as both men turned and bit into the leader.
Once we reached where the guys were camping I asked to be dropped off there. Once the jeep left I walked over to Darren and Luke and hugged them. "What happened?" Darren asked getting 10k and Doc's attention. "They made Addy kill them." I said as I replayed what had happened. "Addy isn't in a good place and Helen is feeding off of that." I said looking at Mack. "We have to get ready, Warren wants us to leave as soon as possible. But Mack, you might have a choice to make." I said. "I choose Addy. I always will." Mack said. "I understand. If this goes south and you have to make that choice I hope to see you again." I said before going over to the make shift canopy on the truck.
"Do you really think that Addy will do that?" 10k asked. "Having that little faith of hope is all it takes for you to make a grave decision. Also with Helen's manipulative skills makes it seem like heaven in this shitty earth." I said as I untied the sheet from the pole. As we finished with the canopy Addy walked up to us. "Addy?" Doc said confused. "Hey. Can I talk to Mack?" Addy asked. "Yeah, hold on. MACK!" I yelled out. "Yeah?" Mack replied. "Addy needs to talk to you." I said making Mack run out to her. They walked off as we all watched them. "You might want to start thinking of goodbyes for Addy and Mack." I said with my head down. "Where's Murphy? We need the tent." Doc said. "Uh, he's still in it with that girl." 10k said. "She's still in there?" Doc asked making 10k nod. Doc went to go over there but I stopped him. "I'll handle this doc." I said walking to the tent. I unzipped the tent and opened it wide. "Come on, get out of here." I said making the girl groan in annoyance. "Tell me you used protection." I said to Murphy as she left. "There was pie." Murphy said like it would help anything. "Get out now." I said. "Fine." Murphy replied before getting out of the tent. After getting Murphy in the car we all loaded up and began to drive toward the camp to pick up everyone. As we approached I saw that they were pushing Warren, Cass and Amelia. Cass helped Amelia in while Warren was trying to talk Mack into going.
Apparently to the group it took to long so they shot at us making Warren drag Mack into the truck. Doc hit the gas and left the camp as fast as possible. As we got farther Mack began to look back. "Stop the truck." Mack said. "No." Warren exclaimed. "Stop the truck!" Mack demanded. "Keep driving!" Warren yelled. Mack in retaliation opened the door and jumped out. Doc hit the brakes as hard as he could and Warren jumped out to talk to Mack.
As we sat there waiting I began to talk to Luke about the camp and how great but weird it was. After a few minutes the women began to shoot again. Warren ducked and ran back without Mack and we drove off.