SET Initiative

"I just.. the boys.. he took the boys.." She bit into her lip to fight back tears.

"And then you were..I didn't know if I could save you..And I can't do this alone. I can't." She let her head fall back against the headboard, wincing. She was in so much pain, and she was so upset. She was exhausted, to be truthful. Her eyes shut for a moment.

"I think we're going to die."

Austin didn't realize the boys were gone until now.

"What?" He looked over at her again, and shook his head.

"But you did. And you don't have to do this alone. Please don't think of me as a dead weight." He leaned over and hugged her tightly, whispering into her ear.

"I won't let that happen."

He felt awful that she was so tired. He was supposed to make this trip easy and without any bumps in the road. Instead he had gotten himself and Addison seriously hurt. And the only other remaining members of the group had just been kidnapped.

Addison crumbled when his arms draped around her again, and though she was mindful of his injuries, she buried her head against him, and cried quietly for a few minutes.

Those boys were her whole world now, especially since the other children had met such awful fates. Whether she would admit it or not, Austin was rapidly becoming a big part of her life, besides the fact that he was here to help keep her alive.

"Thank you for not dying." She winced, sighing and lifting her head to just rest it against his and the headboard.

Austin just held her as she cried, rubbing her back gently and whispering soothingly. "You're doing fine. You're doing perfectly fine."

He nodded and gave her arm a light squeeze. "Thank you for not letting me die."

~~~~

Around three weeks or so passed, giving both of them ample time to rest up and recover. Austin's wounds healed with the help of the medicinal side of the Infection, which had apparently been mostly cancelled out by whatever that computer chip did to him. He was able to better and better take care of Addison and her wounds. Soon, they were able to get around without wincing at every move. Not perfectly full health (this wasn't exactly a Pokécenter,) but they could move soon.

Austin had found a shirt that fit him in somebody's leftover laundry in the room: It was a light grey shirt with a Phoenix on it. It struck him as ironic.

Today he wanted to at least get moving again. Start walking.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked. "You think you could handle hitting the road?"

Addison glanced up as he came on. She had changed her own bloody clothes for a pair of jeans, and an oversized shirt she had found.

"Yeah, let me finish packing up our supplies and I'll be ready to go." She managed to smile weakly.

Having him up and around had really lifted her spirits. She was still sore, but the three weeks of rest had helped, a lot. Unfortunately, there was no way to ignore the fact that, despite being naturally slim and petite, Addison had dropped an alarming amount of weight. She managed to be upbeat, however, as she finished packing their food and water.

"How far do you want to try and go today?"

Austin smiled at Addison. "Alright, take your time. I'll help."

There wasn't much to pack up: All of the food/water was already in the bags, (and there wasn't much left,) and they already had the weapons and ammunition they needed in the watch. He found some extra clothes that they could fit in the bags, though.

"I think if we could just make it to the next town. I don't know how far that is, but I'm betting we could find a decent car and at least start to drive. It'll be enough for today."

Austin himself had lost a lot of his spirit. The bulk of his muscle had been reduced significantly, and he felt tired a lot of the time. This wasn't the time to be down, though. Today they were going to try and head out again. Hopefully find some more supplies. Maybe a clue as to where the mysterious stranger had taken the boys off to.

Nodding, she shifted, looking around the room for anything they might need or want. Seeing nothing, she glanced over at him.

"...Do you want the armor?"

Despite all of the experience she had gotten with it, she was still uneasy with it. She took a moment to grab a hairtie she had found a few days ago, and twisted her curls into a bun. She turned back to him, nervous.

"We should find more water, too.. if we can, something more than a protein bar wouldn't hurt if we can find some food."

Austin shrugged. "I'd prefer that you have it, but if you feel strongly about it then I can take it. That stuff can seriously take a beating."

He nodded as Addison suggested that they go scavenging as well. He pressed everything down into the bags and zipped them up.

"You're probably right. More food and water will probably be necessary soon anyway. I guess we could look for some." He shouldered one of the bags and groaned. This was going to take some getting used to.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the watch, attaching it, and waiting for the armor to mold itself around her. Once she was ready, she grabbed the other bag, then held out her rifle to him, taking her trusty rifle in hand, pistol remaining on her thigh.

"Let's go."

She began to move the barricaded furniture out of the way, until the door was clear. Seeing as she had the armor, she stuck her head out, peering out around the courtyard. The coast seemed clear, so she stepped out, waiting for him to follow her.

Austin took the rifle and caused it to fold into a more compact shape, allowing him to put it in his bag. He nodded and followed her to the door, waiting for her to check and make sure that they could go out safely.

He followed her out into the courtyard and glanced around. It was cooler now than it was a few weeks ago. Austin looked at the various other motel rooms and wondered who was here before attacks became more and more frequent.

"Alright, let's try and find a decent car."

He was stupid to think walking was a good idea the first time, and they had paid a serious price for it. He wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

Addison nodded. She led the way out to the roadway, keeping her head on a swivel for any movement , and a decent vehicle. She spotted a few promising possibilities further down a few yards, and so she jerked her head for him to help her check them out. Cars were just..not..her forte.

The first vehicle, some ancient thing, was definitely a no. The second, Hyundai Sante fe, was banged up, but in decent condition. She glanced at him.

"What about this?"

Austin followed Addison towards the cars and nodded when they came to the Hyundai.

"Yeah, it seems decent enough." But will it run?

Luckily, the keys had been left in the ignition and the car had a good tank of gas left. (Call it a stroke of good luck.)

Austin hopped in the drivers' seat and tossed the bag behind him into the passengers' area. If Addison got into the side passenger seat, he would shut the door and start the car.

"You can take the armor off now. I don't think you'll need it while we're driving.

Addison patted the side of the car. Oh, she loved it. Tossing the bag she carried in the back seat, she climbed into the passenger seat, resting back with a grateful sigh.

Nodding at him, she pressed the button on her arm, and once the armor dematerialized, she glanced over to him, smiling faintly. Reaching to pat his shoulder, she finally spoke with a yawn.

"Want some water or anything?" She turned in her seat to reach around to the bags behind her, offering him a bottle.

Austin turned his head and smiled at Addie. "Sure."

They pulled out of the motel's parking lot and onto the main road, and began the long drive towards Whatever The Hell The Next Town Was, Texas, USA.

They began their drive, and Austin remained silent. After a few moments, though, he decided to strike up a conversation.

"What time of year is it now, do you think?"

Having retrieved water for them both, Addison was now settled comfortably in her seat, gazing out her window as they started off down the road.

When he spoke, she glanced over to him, and thought for a moment. That was a good question, actually.


"Hmm.. I think it's getting into fall.. it's Texas, so it doesn't get real cold here, but it's definitely cooling off, and the days aren't lasting quite as long.. maybe September? Possibly October.. crazy to think a year or two ago I was working on Halloween decorations at my studio and handing candy out, and now.." She chuckled slightly. "I bet it's getting close to November, even.. last time I saw an accurate date was..shoot, back in February or March..and it's been a long time.."

Fall was nice. Well, would be, anyway.

But this was the zombie apoc- ahem, Infection apocalypse. And they didn't care what the weather felt like. Just so long as something was bleeding out from horrible, painful mortal wounds, it was a good day.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." He nodded as she spoke. It was good to listen to someone talk. (A la The Bourne Identity)

There was a gas station up ahead. It looked relatively untouched. (Well, as untouched as one could get around here, anyway.) Austin looked over at Addie. "I think this is a good place to stop. Find food. What do you think?"

observing the gas station they were approaching, Addison slowly nodded. It seemed safe enough. Of course, that didn't mean a thing anymore. Things could be just lurking, waiting for someone to stop.

"Looks promising.. might have some water, at the very least.." She shot him a glance. "Might as well take a look around." She reached for her wrist, and as the armor materialized over her, she sighed. She never thought she'd be stuck in a high tech suite of armor, fighting monstrous infections that used to be people.

Austin unbuckled his seat belt, turned off the ignition, and opened the door to step out. Fairly normal, no cause for alarm. He followed Addison to the gas station entrance.

Again, nothing unusual.

The automatic doors were busted open, shattered on the ground and smattered with a fair amount of blood.

Still, nothing sketchy.

The building's aisles were mostly in tact. A lot of the items on the shelves were, of course, missing. But there was an entire (no longer cold) freezer filled with drinks, and quite a few boxes of energy bars, bags of candy and chips, and small tools like a keychain flashlight or a USB-AV converter.

Not bad.

"Alright, we'll split up. If anything seems off, give me a yell."

Nodding, Addison stepped away from him, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings, and after grabbing a few of the plastic bags that were scattered around the place, began to fill them with what she thought would be useful; mostly energy bars and water.

A breeze blew through and rattled the door, which caused her to gasp and whirl around, startled. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She hurried to gather her bags, and set off to find Austin.

Austin had found an old backpack on the ground. He picked it up and used it to gather up supplies, mostly energy bars, chips, and things like bandages and stuff you'd find in a first aid kit.

After a while, the backpack was full. Austin went to find Addison.

"Hey, did you find anything good?"