[center][h3]March 15, 2018 - Acton, Massachusetts.[/h3][/center]
[center]32 Degrees.  Light snow.[/center]
[center][IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/2dm8gtw.png[/IMG][/center]

Gregory Smith locked himself in the vehicle, trembling from the cold and fear as his eyes panned the surrounding forest.  Isaac's warning brought a much more bitter chill than the breeze and it left him nearly paralyzed with fear as he clutched a semi-automatic rifle close to his chest.  Every rustle above sent his heart pounding as he watched for ravenous wildlife.

Gunshots resounded from the distance, bouncing off of the icy-snow covered trees and the cold, frozen surface.  Multiple gunshots.  Then, nothing.  Silence.  An eerie silence that lingered like death over him.  Another frigid breeze clung to his body while his thin, wet clothes lent no support or comfort against its bite.  He shivered, teeth chattering, and watched nervously.

Minutes past.  Fifteen, twenty.  He was convinced after the gunshots that it was over.  That Bill and Isaac were ambushed on their way to Stan and that he would die from starvation or hypothermia out in the frozen woods.  Instead. their forms emerged from the darkened forest as the first peaks of sunlight crept up past the horizon.  Three men, two on foot and one riding on someone's back, came into view.  Isaac kept some distance, guarding their hasty walk back while Bill carried an unconscious Stan carefully toward the vehicle.

Greg stood up, looking down at Stan, who was paler and ghostlier than usual.  When he looked down further, he could see why.  A gray mass replaced his thigh with no trace of his leg below where the knee would have been.

"Is he dead?"  Greg asked, quietly.  Fearing the worst.

Bill glared at Isaac for an uncomfortable pause before looking up at Greg.  "Not yet.  Let's get moving."

Greg shifted slowly.  His cold body trembling still as he climbed out of the vehicle.  Bill and Isaac scavenged the vehicle for supplies.  Bill glanced back at Greg momentarily, then took his jacket off.  "I'm going to be carrying him, I don't need it."

Too chilled to argue, Greg grabbed the jacket and put it on quickly.  It reeked of sweat and leather, but it was dry and warm on the inside.  For a moment, Greg caught a glare from Isaac.  The icy gaze looked down at the rifle that he was carrying, which he held very close to his shivering body.  With little more than a gaze of contempt, Isaac put his mask back on, shouldered his backpack, and returned to patrolling.

[center]---[/center]

The journey back up the hill proved arduous for the group, but most particularly for Skullface.  His steps grew increasingly labored as his exhausted, sleepless body carried Nosering like a wounded animal up a rather steep incline.  Yet he still managed to keep ahead of Sticks, whose skinny form was breathing laboriously as it climbed, and Isaac, whose bruised and likely concussed body was proving to be difficult.

Solace finally came as the snow thinned and the rays of light beamed into the forest from the approaching clearing.  Upon reaching the top, the men collapsed on the dirt on the side of the road.  Heavy breaths and groans exhaled from all, but most notably from Nosering, who began to yell out from pain and shock from his severed leg.

Skullface reached out to Nosering, who grabbed his arm and held it tightly, tugging and fighting in a panic.

"Stan!  Deep breaths, Stan.  Deep breaths.  You're alive.  You're okay!  We made it."  He gripped Nosering's arm tighter, pulling up to a slightly seated position.  "Look at me!  Look right at me!"

Nosering groaned from the pain, shaking and hyperventiling all the meanwhile.  But his eyes met with Skullface.

"Look at me," Skullface said again, firmly but calmer.  "You're alive."

"It hurts!  Goddamn it, Bill, it hurts like hell!"  Nosering cried.

Skullface nodded.  "I know."

Nosering looked over at Isaac, who was the last to crawl his way up to a seated position.  He exhaled heavily through his mask and stared down the road.

"You were going to shoot me, you asshole!"  Nosering barked toward Isaac.

Skullface looked back at Isaac, then over to Nosering again.  "We need to get moving.  Stan, I'm not going to lie to you.  Your leg is in really bad shape.  I don't know if you'll make it as far as where we're going.  And it's going to hurt like hell."

"You're not going to make him try to shoot me again, Bill!  Not after this!"  Nosering cried out in pain, swearing out loud.  "Where the fuck are we going to go now?"

"[color=goldenrod]Get off the road.[/color]" Isaac said through his mask and labored breaths.

Skullface picked up a Nosering slowly, ignoring the excruciating wails, and glanced over at Isaac.  "We can't go back into that forest."

Isaac lowered his weapon after peering through his scope for confirmation, "[color=goldenrod]We need to get off the road now.[/color]"

Nosering screamed out and Sticks struggled to stand.  Skullface tried to take a step, but lowered to his knees.  He squinted off into the distance, looking for what Isaac was seeing.  What he caught was the outline of a truck coming their way.  [i]Tim...[/i]

"We can't run.  We'll have to fight."  Skullface said.

He lowered Nosering to the ground and picked up his rifle, taking a strong kneeling position for stability.  Isaac moved to his stomach, feeling his form sink with a crunch into the snow. He eyed the vehicle through the scope.  Once again, his heart was racing in his chest.  With a slow, deep breath, Isaac steadied his aim.

Within moments, the vehicle made its way fully into view.  Isaac moved the scope up to the driver, but immediately, Skullface shouted.  "Wait.  Wait!  That's not Tim."

Isaac remained skeptical, keeping his sights trained.  But he waited, patiently, for the inevitable dangerous twist that he had come to expect.  Fortunately, it never came.  Skullface stood and waved an arm to the patchily armored vehicle, a van with its roof missing and armored plating along the sides.

The vehicle came to a halt.  From the passenger side, a punk-rock woman stood up.  The sides of her head had a close shave, but showed her hairs true dark black color.  The rest of her hair, a vibrant mixture of red, greens, and purples, was haphazardly brushed forward.  For a woman who was likely in her mid twenties, she looked barely older than a teenager. The obnoxious way she chewed her gum certainly didn't alleviate her of that image.

"Gomez!"  Skullface shouted gleefully toward the woman.

"Fester!"  She shouted back with a snarky grin.

Between some groans of pain, Nosering coughed and laughed, "It's funny because he's bald."

"Buzzed, not bald, you idiot."  Skullface said.  "How the hell did you find us?"

The woman crossed her arms and leaned back a little bit, cocking an eyebrow.  "Who the hell said we were looking for you?  What, you think we're some kind of rescue party?"

She leaned forward onto the armor plating, "Some dipshits set Bromfield on fire.  We went to see if there was any shit worth saving."

Despite his mask, Isaac cold see Skullface's stoney look.  The woman, Gomez, could as well.  "No shit," she replied to Skullface's unspoken statement.  "Well, Lewis is going to be pissed."

"I need to get to Lewis right now.  Have you seen Tim?"  Skullface replied urgently.

The woman smirked, "Tim?  Which Tim?  I know a bunch."  Seeing the seriousness on Skullface's masked face, however, she changed her tune.  "No.  Am I supposed to be looking for him?"

"Nevermind.  Stan needs some help."  He stepped aside, revealing Nosering and his scaly leg.  Gomez reeled backwards and drew a handgun.  "Holy shit, Bill.  He's changing."

"No!"  Sticks said, moving to stand between him and Gomez.  Skullface raised his hand.  "Wait.  Look, we know they were doing weird shit at that school.  Right?  Well, apparently they were making some kind of drug to stop the infection.  Stan got bit.  I gave him the drug.  Now his leg is...whatever that is."

Gomez stared hard at the group, sucking on her well-chewed piece of gum.  She gave it a pop and then grinned at Skullface.  "What the hell, I dig it.  Get him in here.  If he tries to eat us, I'll shoot him myself."

"Why's everybody trying to shoot me today?!"  Nosering cried out as Skullface carried him to the vehicle.

Gomez shifted her gaze over to Isaac, "What's this guy's deal?  Looks like he wants to kill all of us and take our car.  You wanna go, you piece of shit?!"

"Go, easy."  Skullface said.  A phrase that gave Isaac pause as he wondered whether the man was saying, "Go easy" or if he was referring to Gomez as "Go".   Isaac detected a hint of affection in his tone.

The women smirked, "I'm just fucking with him.  Come on, we'll take you to Boston.  First we gotta make a few stops.  We're hitting up Natick."

"Natick?"  Skullface added as he and some unknown men loaded Nosering into the vehicle.  "What the hell is in Natick?"

"Stores, you dumbass.  We're going shopping.  And your buddy needs a bunch of medical shit."  She smirked again, "Hurry up.  It's cold as balls out here."