"Stop here." Rose directed as the two trucks began to approach a roadside gas station in the mountains.
It didn't look too worse for wear but the power was out and no cars were sitting in the parking lot. It seemed like a good place to stop and strategize before they moved forward.
The two trucks pulled into the gas station, each one parking alongside a fuel pump.
(Y/N) was checking the other sergeant on the team whom she got to know, Dan Cheng, when she felt the vehicle stop. She was doing some small cognitive tests on Cheng to make sure her concussion didn't affect her brain functions. Fortunately, nothing much was impacted besides her reaction time and focus.
Drake noticed the stop as well and placed a hand on his pistol, moving toward the back doors to check things out. Other soldiers followed as well until it was just the nurses with the two injured members remaining. Before he left, Drake glanced back at (Y/N) who had turned to look up at him. "Stay put. I'll be right back."
"It's not like I have anywhere to go." She muttered, as she turned back to Cheng and finished wrapping her head in bandages. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I just got... beaten with the butt of a rifle." Cheng sighed and leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed. "I hope that bastard died."
(Y/N) immediately thought of Jonathan, the ex-special op. At first, it sounded a bit too extreme to wish death on the man but he did attempt to steal the team's weapons and trucks. And sent fiends on them...
And was willing to leave her and Dell for dead...
While she didn't wish death on the man per se, she hoped he got the karma he deserved at least.
"I don't think he would have survived on his own. Not with all those fiends back there." (Y/N) spoke as she placed the leftover bandages back into a bag designated for medical supplies.
"Hopefully." Those who endangered her team didn't receive the female sergeant's sympathy. Not even the three unfortunate souls Rose decided not to abandon.
Cheng then opened one eye as she glanced over to Wes who was lying across a few seats like a bed. He had an arm covering his head while the other rested on his chest. His injured leg was all bandaged up and propped up by a couple of bags to keep it suspended.
"Hey, Freckles." Cheng called, making (Y/N) look over at him too.
"Hm..?" He hummed, his tone sounding tired.
"How's the leg? You're still able to walk?"
Dell, who was sitting in a seat in front of Wes, chimed in. "I wouldn't recommend him getting on his feet for at least a week. Bullet wounds don't heal quickly."
Wes disappointedly groaned at this. He knew this as well but hearing it out loud made it that more apparent. How was he supposed to help his team if he couldn't walk for a week?
Cheng reached over to pat his shoulder. Maybe a weak out-of-commission will do the anxious workaholic some good. "You'll be fine. Just relax."
"But I don't want to..." He sadly murmured. Dell raised an eyebrow at him.
But just because the scientist was out of duty for now, didn't mean the female sergeant was. She carefully moved out of her seat and went over to the weapon rack to grab her shotgun. "Well, I'm heading out."
"What? Why?" (Y/N) just finished those cognitive tests and saw that Cheng clearly needed to heal still. "You should be sitting down as well."
"I've had worse than this. I can handle it." She spoke in her flat tone, hoisting her shotgun over her shoulder, and proceeding to leave out the same way the others went.
Both nurses met each other's confused eyes but didn't make a move to stop her. Only Wes moved to speak up. "Don't do anything rash, Dan."
"I should be saying that to you." She called back, hopping down from the truck to go join the rest of the team.
Wes could tell both nurses didn't think the decision was wise. They were still new to the team after all. "She's always like that. Don't worry."
"What part of a severe concussion does that lady not understand?" Dell muttered as she went back to relaxing in her seat.
(Y/N) decided to get up as well. She climbed toward the back of the truck and looked out the opened back doors to see a view of the trees alongside the mountain road. The asphalt road was still wet from the rain as so was the air that carried the scent. In the distance, she could make out the tops of the mountains that poked through the cloudy sky above. It would've been a nice sight to see if things weren't the way they were.
"Let's do the radio again. See if the station is back online." She heard Rose order.
(Y/N) did overhear a couple of soldiers mentioning the station the facility used had gone radio silent. They weren't certain why and weren't quick on assuming the bad what-ifs. They just simply hoped to try contacting again and get a response this time.
But after seeing that crashed military truck, the nurse didn't have as much hope.
As she took a seat on the bumper, she heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Drake return. He shoved his pistol back into its holster and saw that she wasn't where he told her to be. "Why aren't you in the truck?"
"It's stuffy in there." She replied as she traveled her eyes over the mountain view. Technically she didn't leave the truck. She chose to sit on the bumper.
Drake didn't feel like debating it with her and pulled out a map he had recovered from the gas station. The GPS had stopped working once the wi-fi went down so a physical map was the next best thing.
(Y/N) took a couple of peeks at the map as he laid it out next to her and found where they currently were on it.
"You familiar with this area?" He asked her as he used a pen from his pocket to mark the map.
"Um... sort of." Her tone sounded uncertain as she looked around the map but also dodgy as well. She hasn't traveled this way in years...
"Sort of as in yes or no?" Drake asked again, catching the way she rolled her eyes before nodding a 'yes'.
Neither Drake nor his team were from around these mountains. They all were from different places around the country. Which made traversing these roads more difficult for them. He kept his eyes on the map as he marked the road that was taken from the hospital to here. "Do you know of any places where the reception is clear?"
"The reception?" She asked before she realized what he meant. It would be hard to catch a signal this far out. "I'm not sure. Unless you want to head for the city-"
"The city is a no-go. Too many people, too many fiends." He immediately dismissed that idea. A signal would be easier to catch somewhere with a denser population but until they knew how serious the fiend threat had gotten, they needed to avoid those places at all cost.
"Shouldn't the military have it under control though?" (Y/N) asked even though she had a feeling the answer was no.
"Maybe. Or maybe they don't." Drake muttered. "Either way, we're not risking it."
His hazel eyes followed different roads that led out from where they were. Some traveled to denser areas that he wanted to avoid while others led further into the mountains. The deeper they go, the harder it could be to catch a signal strong enough to contact the facility.
Dell had overheard their conversation and was thinking of any good places to go to if they needed to contact the facility this badly. It took her a couple of seconds before an idea came to her. "What about the radio station?"
Both Drake and (Y/N) looked up at her. (Y/N) immediately grew a look on her face that wasn't so intrigued by this while Drake pressed her friend for more. "There's a radio station? Where?"
This was better than what he was thinking. A radio station could help them greatly. It would be somewhere it can catch a signal and have the equipment to do so.
"It's outside of this small town, Browford. It's actually owned by-" Dell spoke before she looked up and met (Y/N)'s eyes.
The nurse had an uncomfortable look and shook her head for her friend to not say anything.
Dell immediately understood and backtracked a bit. "This radio enthusiast. He's popular around here..."
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind us using it." Drake said as he found the small town Dell spoke of on the map.
(Y/N) sighed as she turned away, crossing her arms closer to her chest and peering out into the trees.
Browford was only 40 miles West of where they were. The quickest road to it cut through a portion of the mountain but unfortunately, it sat not too far from a much larger and denser town, Grimmire. Everything Drake wanted his team to avoid...
But this radio station was their best bet. Because with the way things were going with their radio here, they weren't going to pick up anything.
The sergeant began gathering up the map to go inform his captain. "I'm going to speak with Rose. Don't leave the truck."
Before he left, he turned back to (Y/N) again who had a distant look. "Especially you."
"I'm not going anywhere..." She muttered.
The sergeant looked her up and down a bit before he left. He wondered why she hadn't tried to be smart there but proceeded to go speak with Rose.
But Dell knew why and she moved closer to her friend with an apologetic look on her face and whispered. "I'm sorry. It slipped my mind."
"It's alright..." (Y/N) whispered back and fell silent after that.
Drake approached Rose who was at the other truck where the main radio was with other soldiers. As they repeatedly tried the station, the silence continued to spill out. What was keeping the station turned off? Rose was beginning to grow frustrated with this. They needed updates, status on the pickup, and even the state of the world way before today.
"Sir," Drake called. "I got somewhere we can head to. Could help us get into contact again."
"What is it?" Rose and the others turned to him. Anything was helpful at this point.
Drake proceeded to fill them in on the radio station, where it was, and how it can help them. While it was going off of their original track to the facility, it was a necessary detour they could take. The captain didn't take long to agree to this plan. What better place can they go to to solve their connection issue?
"We'll head that way then. Shouldn't be a problem getting in touch with somebody there." Rose then turned to two soldiers who were tasked with getting gas from the pumps. Along with medical supplies and food, gas was looking to be a greater necessity. "How are we doing on fuel?"
"Not much, sir. This place is tapped." A soldier responded and lifted up the half-empty canisters. "Only managed to get so much."
Cheng was with them as she glanced around the empty lot. Of course, a roadside gas station deep in the mountains doesn't have much gas. "We'll siphon any cars we cross then. Better than nothing."
"Agreed." Rose nodded. "Siphon cars, loot stores. If we're to reach that facility, we're taking anything we can get. Gas, ammo, food, and medicine. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir!" The team spoke.
Drastic times will call for drastic measures if it comes down to it. For now, they still had a good supply of ammo and MREs to last them for a couple weeks but not even those can last forever. They still had a bag of medical supplies from the hospital and if they're smart with it and don't go around getting themselves injured, then medicine won't be much of a worry. But gas was a different story. The trucks burn through it. And Rose would rather not traverse the rest of the way on foot.
"Take whatever we can use from that gas station. Only what we need so we're not hauling extra shi-"
*SKSHHHHHH*
Everyone stopped talking as the main radio suddenly cut on. Loud static cut the captain's order off and he focused on it.
As the static continued, they began hearing it trying to make a connection to the facility as a quiet voice cut in a out.
"......fa-...lty......g-ot......l-ea...ve....."
Drake narrowed his eyes and tried to listen for what they were saying but the loud static and cutting in and out was making it hard to understand. Rose approached the radio and took the connected microphone into his hands. "This is Captain Easton Rose calling for updates from the West Grove Satellite facility. Can you read me? Over!"
Even if the facility did respond, it would be hard to understand. Rose hit the back of the radio a few times which helped a little but only for a mere second. The message was still indecipherable. "Dammit..."
"At least we know the facility is still up." Drake spoke. "That means getting to that radio station is a priority now. We should be able to get a clearer message there."
"Ya'll heard the man." Cheng called as she gathered a group to go raid the gas station.
Rose glared down at the incompetent radio that gave its glitchy message. It continued to try sputtering out whatever the facility was trying to say but ultimately the static went silent once more as the connection dropped altogether.
Once again they were back in the dark.
"Fucking great." The older man grunted and placed the mic back onto the radio.
"We'll get there, sir." Drake reassured, also feeling frustrated by the lack of communication.
"Hopefully it doesn't take longer than I'm comfortable with." Rose sighed and nodded. Just another hurdle to jump over.
But unlike the faulty main radio, a smaller one in Drake's pocket began to spur to life and emit a soft and calming melody. He was confused for a second as he reached down to pull the device out and then remembered why he had it in the first place.
He excused himself and left to go give the small radio back to someone only the music had an effect on.