[i][color=39b54a]Late October.  Missouri.  (Approximately a week before the RP starts)[/color][/i]

Jon trudged on through the snow, the taste of blood and smoke still in his mouth.   He looked back as the group followed him, noting that the group members were in various states of disarray.  In the course of 2 hours, they had been overrun at the CDC compound, forced to flee, watched the majority of the group be overwhelmed and die.  They boarded a helicopter that ended up crashing due to having almost no fuel, and again a handful of people did not make it.  Those that did were some degree of injured and many were in shock.  

Occasionally, Jon looked back and asked people if they were ok, or mentioned that they were doing well, but for the most part, the group seemed to have little interest in talking, and rightfully so.  At least they had been given time to get as properly geared as they could based on the supplies that were available to them, that was one of the few pluses.  

Pluses were hard to come by it seemed.

It was cold, and while it was not snowing, there was just over an inch of snow on the ground.  It wasn’t bitterly freezing though, that was good.  As soon as they got far enough away, Jon would make camp and try to get a fire going, but his first objective was to get as much distance between him and the crash as was humanly possible.  He could still easily spot the smoke, and their footprints could be seen by a blind man in the snow.  Personally, he wished for some of the whiteness to come down and cover their tracks, but that was not to be.  

He looked back and saw that most of the survivors were either staring ahead with glazed expressions, not really mentally in the moment, or starting at the ground, simply walking mindlessly.    He looked back just in time to see one of the security guards stumble and fall in the snow.  Mentally, Jon grimaced and shook his head even while moving to help the woman up to her feet.  

As he helped her up and she opened her mouth to say something, Jon’s head SNAPPED to the side as he heard a loud crunch of snow and a slight crack of a small branch.  

He looked ahead and saw a group of three men about 30 yards away, having just walked out of the forested area directly in front of them.  Immediately he assessed the situation and knew it wasn’t good.  Most of the people just saw three men standing in front of them, and some would notice that one had a shotgun in hand, the other had an assault rifle at the ready, and the third had his hand on his belt, near his hip.  They stood casually and looked at the ragged group of survivors.  

Jon though, he was more.  He saw the eyes on them not looking at them in a good way, not looking to help anyone or see if Jon’s group was aggressive.  The group seemed to already know they were vulnerable and looked at the survivors as a pack of wolves observes a group of deer.  The group moved slowly, but surely and in silence.  This group knew what they were doing.

As the new trio came towards Jon and the group, they also began to spread out slightly while the one in the middle spoke up.  “Hey all.  You, you all ok?”  He looked from Jon to the man with the shotgun and nodded slightly.  

“[color=00aeef][b]We’re not in good shape[/b][/color],” Jon said quickly.  He made sure to keep his voice low and slightly scared.  He quickly stepped away from the woman as she got her feet under her.  Immediately Jon saw it.  The moment the man heard the vulnerability in Jon’s voice, and the words of them being vulnerable, the man’s chin came up and a barely visible smirk crept its way to his lips.  He also sniffed loudly, two times, in a deliberate manner.  

That was all that Jon needed.  

Jon cocked his head and looked over the leader’s shoulder, squinting his eye to look back into the forest.  Jon saw the man in the center and the man with his hand on his hip turn around to look at what got Jon’s attention while the third man didn’t seem to notice.  

The biggest threat was the man with his shotgun at the ready, because he was not looking behind.  Jon whipped out his pistol and before the woman he’d helped up realized what was happening, even as she was watching Jon, and put two rounds in the shotgun wielder.  One round caught him in the groin, the other in the neck and as Jon turned his head, he could see the blood spraying from the man’s neck.

The next threat was the man with the assault rifle as he had his hand already on his firearm.  Jon fired off three rounds by the time most people turned their heads at the initial couple of shots.  One hit the man at the bottom of his rib cage, the second in the sternum, while the third, blew out the man’s face as the round ripped through his lower jaw. 

The last man looked towards his two partners while reaching for his gun.  Jon had noticed immediately, prior to moving into action, that he had on thick fingered winter gloves.  That, coupled with the fact that he didn’t even have his hand on the weapon is why Jon left this one for left.  He opened his mouth to say something to Jon as Jon fired 2 rounds again, one finding it’s home in the man’s heart and the other just below the neck.

The entire event played itself out in just a matter of 2.5 seconds.  Jon looked back behind him for a moment, making sure everyone was alright even though he knew they were as the other group hadn’t gotten off a shot.  While some of the views were silent shock, some looked at him with a sense of confusion until Harris broke the silence.

“You ju--...you...just killed them.  You...”  

Jon just turned away and went to look at the bodies.  They’d have to move soon, as if the group had others, they’d be attracted to the gunshots...