When we got to the garage I seen Aiden and Will standing next to a VEE and I made my way to the other while Myles was behind me.
"You three ride together." I told him once we were close enough.
"What? Why?" Will asked.
"Because I am going to check out what the east of town and I need you three to go to the Hospital and go to the maternity ward, grab all the things in the cabinets. Go to the pharmacy and grab all the medicine. Go to the nursery and grab all the baby stuff there. Take one of the electric carts with you. They should be charged." I told them.
"But wouldn't it make more sense to have one of us go with you in case you run into trouble?" Aiden asked.
"I'm with Aiden on this Lo." Myles said, "let one of us go with you."
"No." I answered. "I will go alone. You three head to the hospital. Put everything you find in an ambulance and head back to the bunker. Will keep Myles with you and all three of you keep in contact with me via the ear piece."
"Alright Laurell." Aiden said and got into the VEE.
I hopped into the second VEE and headed out of the bunker when I heard Ben over my ear piece.
"You're being stupid Lo." Ben said.
"I'm not. I'm not putting anyone else at risk when we don't know what the hell is going on to the east." I told him. "Link their ear pieces to mine now please so we can stay in contact and you stay on as well."
"Will do." He said.
Once we got in to town, the boys and I split off. I headed to the east of town, where there were houses, a couple of small stores and the library; while the boys headed to the south of town, where the hospital is.
"You're getting close now Lo." I heard Ben say over the ear piece, "You should park and continue on foot. Check the library first, then sweep through the stores. Don't spend too long in the stores though Lo, I have a bad feeling about this."
"I will be alright Ben." I told him. "I can take care of myself but I will park here and continue on foot."
After parking and locking the VEE, I headed to the library.
It was weird that there were no Rotters at this part of town. It's almost like someone had already wiped them out. I cautiously made my way to the front door of the library and tried to open it, to no avail. The front doors were locked so I headed around back. I tried the back door and it was unlocked so I unsheathed my katana walked into the library. I stood still for a few seconds, letting my eyes adjust to the dim lighting before I walked in further. I heard some noises coming from above me as I weaved my way in between the bookshelves, once I made my way to the stairs, I quietly ascended the stairs the noises began getting louder. I continued quietly making my way to the source of the noise and seen that there was a light coming from the café area of the library.
"There is a light coming from the café. There might be a survivor or survivors in there. I am going to check it out." I whispered to boys through the ear piece.
"Be careful. Be safe." I heard Aiden say.
"Always am." I replied.
I tried opening the door but it was locked so I knocked three times, waited and knocked three more times. I heard the door unlock and swing open, I came face to face with the librarian.
"Mrs. Underwood?" I said.
"Hello Laurell. What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Looking for survivors." I told her. "Are you alone?"
"Yes." She replied.
"We need to get you somewhere safer." I told her. "I have to go check a couple more stores and a few of the houses, if I find anyone I will send them here and you all wait for me. Okay?"
I heard a noise behind me and Mrs. Underwood smiled.
"I'm sorry Laurell." She said.
I turned around and seen three guys I went to school with make their way towards me.
"Just give us your pack and the keys to your vehicle. You can keep your hunting knife on your side but we want the rest of your weapons." Billy, the biggest said.
I looked at them and out the corner of my eye I looked over at railing. I decided to take my chances. I took off running and when I got to the railing, I put my hands on it and jumped over the side, landing on my feet. Billy and the other two with him started cussing and started shooting at me. I did the same thing I did on my way in, I weaved in and out of the isles, doing a zig-zag pattern so I wouldn't get shot. I burst through the back door and continued to run, then ducked in an alley between the two stores a block down. I hit behind a dumpster and when I thought I was caught, a door opened behind me and a hand slipped over my mouth as I was dragged into the building.
Once inside the building the person that grabbed me, let me go long enough to lock the back door and turn around to me.
"Laurell!" I heard Will yell in my ear piece.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Jace Emerson." He replied.
"You're not from around here." I said. "What are you doing here?"
"You're right. I am not from around here. My brother and I made our way here from Denver Colorado about three weeks ago. We have been looking for a woman. You see, my brother and I use to serve in the Navy SEALS but got honorably discharged and we decided we wanted to be cops, to help the people here at home. We climbed the ladder and are now detectives, well, we were until this outbreak." He said as he watched me.
He is a gorgeous man. He is six foot five inches, give or take an inch. He has black hair and curly, it undercut style. It was long at the top and shaved on the sides. He had it slicked back a little bit to keep it out of his face and he had light brown eyes. He was pretty muscular and he had on a pair of tight black jeans, a pair of black boots, a brown skin tight t-shirt and a black leather jacket that was unzipped. His badge was hanging from a chain around his neck and was at the center of his chest. He noticed me checking him out and smiled. His smile was gorgeous. He had perfect white teeth and nice, kissable lips.
"Who are you looking for?" I asked.
"I think they are looking for you Lo. You need to get away from him." I heard Ben say. "I did a check on him. He served with Jake. Get away from him."
"We were looking for you." Jace said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well, my brother and I served with your husband." Jace relpied.
"Ex-husband." I told him.
"Yes. Ex. Since we served with him, we thought we'd do him a favor and help him find you. All he had was a number for you, he said he wasn't able to get anymore information on you. Like you just disappeared off the map. With his child." He told me.
"Ha. Is that what he said?" I asked rhetorically. "You don't know the whole story and right now, I don't have time for this. Thank you for helping me out back there but I have to go, I have to go round up as many survivors as I can before heading back for the night."
"I will help you." Jace said and made his way to the front of the store to see if Billy and the others had left yet. "It looks clear."
"We should stick to the alleyways and shadows." I told him. "You said you and your brother came here, where is your brother now?"
"Honestly, I don't know. He came here two days before I headed here. I haven't been able to find him yet." He told me.
"Okay. Let's go." I said and quietly opened the back door and headed out to the alley.
"Don't trust him Lo." Aiden said through the ear piece. "He's already admitted to knowing Jake, don't take any chances. Be safe."
"Always am." I whispered.
"What was that?" Jace asked from behind me.
"Nothing." I told him as I peered around the side of the building. I darted in between to cars that were parked next to each other. I ducked down and waited for Jace to catch up with me. Once he caught up to me, I ran to the wooded area across the street and waited for Jace then ran toward the houses. When we got to the first house, I checked to make sure the way was clear and ran to the back door. I turned the knob and was surprised to find the door was unlocked. I made my way into the house and stopped inside the door to unsheathe my katana.
"Do you have a knife on you?" I asked quietly.
"No. I have my gun." Jace replied.
I got in my backpack and took out a silencer.
"Use this. Noise draws the Rotters. We need to be as quiet as possible." I whispered to him and made my way through the kitchen. I checked the dining room, the living room, and made my way upstairs. I checked the bedrooms and the bathrooms with Jace closely behind me then I noticed the cord leading to the attic. When I pulled it, a Rotter fell out of the attic and landed on top of me. Before Jace could get a shot off, I had my hunting knife out of it's sheath and had it deep inside the head of the Rotter on top of me. I shoved the rotter off and got up.
"You're fast." Jace said.
"You've got to be fast. One wrong move, being too slow or hesitating will get you killed." I told him and made my way back downstairs.
"You grew up here right? You know all of these people." He asked.
"Yes and I don't hesitate. Hesitating will get me killed, if it's me or them; I choose me every time. You'd do best to remember that." I told him as I walked into the living room and looked out, "Looks like we've got about another half hour, forty five minutes tops before it gets dark. I'd prefer to be on my way back by then. If you want to come with me, fine but if not, you can stay here and I will get you tomorrow on my way out of town."
"I can't leave without my brother." He said. "He's out here somewhere and I need to find him."
"You can find him tomorrow. I will even help you, I will have a couple of hours to spare before heading to Thermopolis. I know what it's like to not know. My oldest brother and his family, including kids, are in Thermopolis. I haven't had any form of contact from him since the day of the outbreak. If you want to stay here, fine by me but I am going to search one or two more houses then head back to the VEE." I told him as I put a hand on his shoulder. "If he is here; dead or alive, we will find him but it's not safe here at night."
"Why?" He asked.
"Because the screechers come out at night as well as the hunters." I told him.
"Screechers? Hunters?" He asked confused.
"Yes. Screechers will screech when they hear a noise, drawing all the Rotters in the area to that spot. The hunters can pretty much sniff out survivors, we aren't sure how that is possible but it is. They smell out the living and Rotters will follow the hunter to the survivors. It's not safe at night. Plus the survivors I ran into today will probably be out at night." I replied as I dropped my hand and headed towards the back door. I peered out the kitchen window to make sure there was no Rotters or Billy and the gang. When I made sure it was clear, I took off. I ran to the fence, grabbed on and climbed over to the next yard. Not checking to see if Jace was behind me, I went to the back door and turned the knob. This one was locked so I did what I always do when I come to a locked door. I knocked three times, waited and knocked three more times. When no one answered, I looked through the door. There was blood all over the floor and a trail leading out of the kitchen. I ducked down and stayed crouched as I made my way to the front of the house.
I made sure there was no Rotters around and climbed on to the front porch. I tried the front door and it was locked; just like the back door. I went to the back of the house again and tried the basement door. This time, it was unlocked. I made my way into the basement and to my surprise, Jace was behind me. We went through the basement quietly, making sure there was nothing in the room with us before heading up the stairs.
Jace put his hand on my shoulder and put his finger in front of his lips indicating for me to stay quiet, then pointed to his ears and then to the door. I stopped moving and listened. There was movement above us, so I drew my katana and continued up the stairs. I grabbed the spare knife on my hip and handed it to Jace. I put my hand on the door knob and turned slowly and quietly. Despite my pulling the door open slowly, it still creaked. Causing the movement to stop.
Once I came out of the basement, I had a gun pointed in my face.
"Kai?" I heard Jace say from behind me before he embraced the man in a one armed hug and slapped his back.
"I wasn't sure you were alive." the man named Kai said.
"I was thinking the same thing about you." Jace told him. "How long have you been holed up here?"
"Two days after the outbreak I ended up here. I narrowly missed a few guys, they were trying to steal my shit." Kai told Jace.
"Sounds like you ran into Billy and the gang." I said as I side-stepped them and walked into the living room. "How have you been surviving in here for so long, have you been out foraging from the other houses?"
"Yes." was all Kai said.
"Did you run into any other survivors, other than Billy and the boys?" I asked as I turned around to face him and Jace. They looked just alike, there was no mistaking them for anything other than brothers. Instead of having black hair like Jace, Kai had light brown hair and green eyes. Everything else was identical. They complete opposites when it came to clothing. Kai wore skinny jeans tucked into a pair of combat boots with a black skin tight shirt, showing off the tattoos on his arm. I must have been staring and blocking them out because Jace cleared his throat and gave me that one hundred watt smile, a smile that would make my knees buckle in the right environment.
"No, I haven't ran into anyone else." Kai said annoyed.
"Okay. We still have about thirty minutes, you two can stay here but I am going to keep searching the houses." I told them and headed for the back door. I looked around to make sure the coast was clear before opening the back door and heading out.
"She seems bossy." I heard Kai tell Jace. "Does she know Jake hired us to find her?"
"Yes, she does." Jace answered.
"How'd she take that?" Kai asked.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think there was something that Jake didn't tell us." Jace told him.
"Listen guys, if you are going to talk, do it quietly please. I don't want the Rotters or Billy to hear us. And to answer your question, there is quite a bit that I am sure Jake didn't tell you. If you want, when we get to safety I will tell you everything. Hell, I will even show you the pictures just please, be quiet." I whispered to them and ran for the fence. I grabbed on and hauled myself over, landing right on top of a Rotter. I let out a whimper and grabbed my hunting knife, sinking it into the forehead of the Rotter.
By the time the brothers got over the fence, I was up and headed towards the door. Where there was one rotter, there was bound to be more. I was even more alert as I made my way to the back door. I tried the knob but it was locked. I started making my way around front but seen that there was Rotters everywhere so I went back to the backyard. I went back to the back door and knocked three times, waited and knocked three more times. When no one answered, I made my way to the other side of the fence. There was a patio table next to the fence so I climbed on top of it to look on the other sized of the fence. There was about forty rotters all over the street and that was between me and the next house. I huffed out a breath and turned around to head back to the house we found Kai in.
"Why aren't we going that way?" Kai asked as he pointed to the fence behind me.
"Because there is about forty rotters over there, three of us. I mean, yeah we could take them if I gave you my knife because noises from the gun brings more rotters." I told him. "It will be safer to go back, them go around the back of the houses across the street. We have about twenty minutes before we have to head back to the VEE."
"Vee?" Kai asked.
"Yes. You were in the military, you should know what a humvee is." I told him as I grabbed on to the fence I had just climbed over and climbed over it again. I landed in the backyard and said, "Aiden, Will, Myles. Can you all hear me?"
"Yes." They answered at the same time.
"How's it going at the hospital?" I asked as I ran for the opposite fence and jumped up and over.
"We are almost done. Do you need any help?" Will asked.
"No. I've got things here under control. You all be safe." I told them.
"Always am." Will and Aiden replied.
I waited in the woods to see if Jace and Kai were following. When they jumped over the fence and ran up to meet me I smiled to myself.
"Listen." I said quietly and pointed in front of me, "the VEE is parked three blocks that way. We have to get passed the library without Billy and the gang seeing us, after we get passed the library we need to make sure no rotters are near the VEE."
"Okay." They said in unison.
"You're going to have to be quiet." I turned to face them. "I just met you Kai and I can tell that's going to be a challenge for you but be quiet and you can talk all you want once we get into the VEE."
They nodded and I turned around and took off. We were coming up on the library when I crouched. I looked over at the library and noticed there was no movement. I turned back to the guys and whispered, "I don't think they are in the library right now. They might be by the VEE. Be alert."
We darted out from the woods and stopped beside a truck then looked around. I seen the VEE and I didn't see anyone next to it so I told the guys I was going to make a run for it but before I did, I took a silencer out of my bag and handed it to Kai.
"If anyone gets close, if anyone follows; shoot. Survivor or not, shoot. Billy and his friends are bad news. If you can't shoot to kill, tell me now so I don't have to rely on you two to have my back." I told them.
"Don't do that Lo. You don't know if they will have your back. Don't put your life in their hands." I heard Myles say through the ear piece.
"Hush!" I whispered through my teeth, causing Kai and Jace to look at each other.
I took off running towards the VEE when I heard a gun shot from a building to my left. I made it to the VEE door when someone grabbed a handful of my hair from behind me and yanked. I grabbed my hunting knife off my leg and sliced behind me causing the person behind me to cuss loudly.
I turned around to see Billy standing there with a heated look on his face. He was pissed. I kicked him in his crotch and when he bent forward to grab his crotch, I brought my knee up and it made contact with his nose making a crunching sound. When he was on the ground I took the keys out of my pocket and unlocked the VEE. I climbed in the drivers seat and drove to where Kai and Jace were. I waited for them to hop in before I turned around and headed back towards the bunker.
"SHIT!" I heard Will yell through the ear piece.
"What's going on guys?" I asked.
"We could use some back up Lo." Aiden said.
"On my way." I told them. "What are we looking at?"
"I don't know where they came from, we are pinned in the pharmacy. It's like the more we kill, the more show up." Will said.
"I'm about five minutes out." I told them and stepped on the gas.
"Who are you talking to?" Kai asked me.
"I have an ear piece in my ear right now, allowing me to stay in contact with my brothers and the other survivors we have rescued, along with our tech guy." I told them. "My brothers and friend is pinned down at the hospital, so I am going to provide them back-up. You can stay in the VEE if you'd like but to be honest, all that matters right now is saving them."
As soon as we got to the hospital, I parked next to the VEE Aiden drove and got out. As soon as I shut my door, I unsheathed my katana and my hunting knife and turned to Kai.
"If you are going in, there is spare machetes, knives and crossbow in the back. Take your pick but if you are staying out here, do not let anyone in the VEE." I told him and made my way into the hospital. Jace was behind me and Kai was behind him, it was good to know that they weren't chicken shits like a few of the other people we rescued.
We passed the ER and I whispered into my ear piece, "A, Will, Myles, we just passed the ER. We will be there in just a second. If you can come out of the pharmacy, we can take them from in front and behind."
"Will do." Will said as I heard a door open.
I ran to the end of the hall and seen the pharmacy. He wasn't lying. They were pinned. There was about thirty Rotters in between my brothers and I. I went in swinging and stabbing. Cutting off heads and stabbing those in the head that got too close. When we had it cleared, I hugged Aiden and Will.
"What all do you have left to get?" I asked.
"Just the medicine. Everything else is in the ambulance ready to go." Aiden replied.
"Myles, you alright?" I asked.
"Yes." was his reply.
"Let me run to the doctor's office and grab some more boxes for the medicine." I told them and headed down the hall.
When I got to the doctor's offices, I pushed the double doors open and a foul stench hit my nose. Causing me to gag a little bit. I made my way from door to door, grabbing the boxes that I could. Emptying out those that had things in them and walked to the last door. Unlike all the others, this one was locked. I knocked three times, waited and knocked three more. I waited for the door to unlock but it didn't and when Aiden appeared next to me, I jumped and almost stabbed him. If he wouldn't have ducked, I probably would have. He jimmied the lock and opened the door.
What we seen was not what I expected. The doctor that tried to help Lauren weeks before, was sitting in the chair with a gun pointed to the door. I put dropped the boxes and put my hands up.
"Doctor Kendrick?" I said slowly.
"What do you want?" He said. His lips were cracked and he looked sickly.
"We are looking for survivors and getting some supplies we might need." I told him and started making my way towards him. "Would you like to come with us? It's safer and we have food and water. You can even keep your gun, I guarantee you'll hand it over once we get you to safety."
"Okay." He said. "Anything is better than here. If you are going to kill me, that would be better than slowly dying while locked in a room."
"We aren't going to kill you. I meant what I said, we will get you to safety." I told him and waited for him to stand up.
He lowered his gun and stood up, if I wouldn't have caught him, he would have collapsed on the floor.
"Aiden, grab the boxes. I will help Doctor Kendrick out to the VEE." I told Aiden.
"Alright." He said and picked up the boxes I dropped by the door.
We headed out of the doctor's offices and headed back to the pharmacy.
"Call me Liam." Doctor Kendrick said in a cracked voice.
When we got to the pharmacy, I got into Will's backpack and took out his canteen.
"Here." I told Liam. He looked at me like I was trying to poision him, so I took a drink first.
"If we wanted to kill you, Liam, we would've done it back in your office." I told him. "We are going to help you, we are going to get you to safety. I promise."
After loading all the supplies we needed in the boxes and stacked them on the electric cart, Aiden and Myles took them out to the ambulance while Will and I helped Liam to the VEE that Aiden was driving.
"You better head back in and get in the ambulance." I told Will.
"Myles is driving the ambulance back. I am riding with Aiden." Will told me.
"Alright. You all can go first, we will have Myles drive second and I will bring up the rear; keeping the ambulance in the middle." I told Will, "and Myles, don't even think about turning the sirens on."
"Wouldn't dream of it Boss." Myles said sarcastically.
When everyone got into their vehicles, we headed out. Aiden first, Myles in the ambulance second, me and the Emerson brothers bringing up the rear. We got to the garage door of the bunker and it opened with the push of a button. Once everyone was in, the door shut behind us.
"We have three more survivors Ben. Jace and Kai Emerson and Liam Kendrick." I said into my ear piece. "Can you have their ear pieces ready for them? We need to get Liam to medical and start an IV drop. He is severely dehydrated. Connect to Angie."
After the familiar beep I heard Angie.
"What is it?" Angie asked.
"You are a nurse, correct?" I said.
"Yes." She replied.
"Good. I need you to get an IV drop ready. We have a doctor out here who is severely dehydrated." I told her.
"No problem." She said.
"Thank you." I told her. "Disconnect. Then said Connect to Aunt Tina."
"What is it dearie?" Aunt Tina asked.
"Can you get some food prepared for the new survivors? Have one tray sent to medical because one of them is severely dehydrated and he will need an IV." I told her.
"Of course. What would you like me to prepare?" She asked.
"Do pizza." I told her. "Can't go wrong with pizza and beer."
After disconnecting with her, I heard Ben over my ear piece. Saying what he said every night over the town speakers and I often wondered if it could be heard all over the state; I wouldn't put it past him.
"It is almost night. If you haven't found a safe place to hunker down, do so now. You have ten minutes before the sun sets. Do not try to be heroes. Get somewhere safe. If there are any survivors out there, we will find you. Let us know you are out there; hang a sign, paint help or SOSU on the ground. Do something to let us know you are out there so we can bring you some place safe. Protect yourselves, if you are out there, don't lose hope. Stay safe."
Then I heard Noah over the bunker speakers,
"Survivors inside the bunker, we ask that you stay inside at night. Do not attempt to go outside. The bunker doors are locked at night and will remain locked until the morning. As usual, say a prayer for those outside the bunker. Those survivors that haven't been found yet. All the new survivors please report to security so we can assign jobs to everyone. Everyone that is in this bunker has to contribute somehow."
Once we parked in the garage, everyone started unloading the ambulance on to carts. I helped Liam out of the VEE and told everyone I was going to take him to medical and that I would meet them in the bunker for the briefing. I told Jace and Kai that I would talk to them privately after the briefing.
Liam and I made our way to medical and I helped him into a hospital bed in the emergency part of the 'hospital'. After getting him into the bed and getting his IV drip started, I walked out of the room to let him sleep and made my way to security on level one.
When I walked in, Jace and Kai was waiting there for me.
"We were waiting on you Lo." Ben said.
"You didn't have to do that but okay. I suppose I can start." I said. "As you two know, I am Laurell. This is my best friend Benji, his boyfriend Noah, my brothers Aiden, Will and Danny. These are my parents. My dad, Carter. My mom, Kathy and my step-dad Nick is down in their room. Lisa and Kendall are downstairs with the kids. Lisa is Will's girlfriend and Kendall is Danny's girlfriend. My oldest brother Gabe isn't here but I am going out tomorrow to search for them. I am a Scout Runner. Which means, I go out to look for supplies that we don't have here; even though we pretty much have everything covered and I look for survivors."
"Before you ask." Ben said. "Yes we did know this was going to happen; which is why we prepared. We didn't tell anyone because we weren't one hundred percent sure it would happen. We are trying to make up for that by finding anyone we can that might have survived the outbreak and the Rotters."
"This bunker is eight stories. We are on the first floor. This is security and control room. Ben still has access to things that others might not have access to. We have back up power but this bunker is run on power from the solar panels. The second floor has the Common room, the Mess Hall, the greenhouse and the Medical room or 'Hospital'. The third floor are the apartments, which is where my family and I stay. The fourth floor is the dorms, which is where you will stay. You can share a room if you'd like but if not, that's fine as well. You can have your own rooms. The fifth floor is the school with a playground and the dog park. The sixth floor is the back up power. We have generators and gas down there in case the solar panels stop working for some reason. The seventh floor is the gym and shooting range. The eight floor is where we came in at, the garage. We have stairs and elevators leading from the top to the bottom. If you haven't noticed, we have cameras everywhere. The secondary door and the main door has two doors off to the side, if you bring someone in that hasn't been cleared, the door on the left will open; making you go to security. The elevator only opens up on the first floor, right there." Will pointed to the elevator. "There is a process we go through. If we find a survivor, we ask their names and Ben does a background check to make sure they are good people. If you are cleared, the door on the right will open. We have ear pieces that we have to stay in contact with each other. If you go out for whatever reason, you have to stay in contact with home base."
After going through the rest and assigning jobs for everyone, Jace, Kai, Will, Aiden, Danny and I stayed in the security room while everyone else went about their business. Aunt Tina walked into the room with food and I introduced Kai and Jace to her. When she handed them each a plate that had two pieces of pizza and each a beer, they thanked her and she left the room.
"Okay. I told you there was somethings that Jake probably didn't tell you. Everyone in here is a witness and know everything I am about to tell you is the truth." I said as I walked over to the desk and opened the locked drawer. I took out a folder and began to tell them my story.