The cover of night, if only it helped

[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

St. Vincents Hospital, once a grand hospital that Aramil had visited many times in the portland area. His son was born here and it would be fitting that he died in this hospital. He was aiming not to die which was the reason he was here right now. He didn't have a choice with what had happened a few hours ago. Aramil had come down from his roof and was searching the surrounding area when searching a broken car he sliced his right shoulder on a broken window that was mangeld. It was deep and the bleeding wasn't stoping with just pressure. He had to get surgical tools and stich it up to stop it from making him bleed out.

So he came here, the closest place that would have some surgical tools to get him fixed up. Not the most enticing place he would have rather found a local clinic and got them there but he wouldn't make it that long. Aramil hid behind a van outside the entrance to the hospital holding his right shoulder as blood dropped down steadily down his arm to the flashlight silenced 9mm handgun in his hands. A pool of blood was massing where his hand was held on the asphalt. He needed to find those supplies soon or he would pass out. He could already feel the effects of the blood loss just getting to this place.

He looked through the van window and found that no zombies were around. He pushed off the van and quickly but quietly rushed into the hospital main doors. Aramil struggled to keep his pistol raised wincing at the pain in his right shoulder. He looked left then right quickly and efficently heading straight to the familiar elevators. Not coming into contact with any one or thing to Aramil that was super odd and conserning. The hospital was what got hit first and hard. There should be more zombies here then he has come to see. The elevator was running on a seperate generator so the elevator was still working amazingly. As the elevator came to the main lobby floor Aramil stepped a few feet back and held his pistol ready. It was a good thing too as the doors opened three zombies appeared immediatly smelling his blood dripping on the floor in front of them. They rushed at him and Aramil put a single bullet in each ones head dropping them quickly before they could reach him.

He examined the bodys and found one was wearing a doctors coat. He looked in the pockets only finding surgical gloves and a buisness card. Nothing of value on any of them so he moved the body's as best he could and hit the supply floor. He figured it would be better then heading to the surgery floor as it would have been hit hard and the worse place to go for supply's. As the elevator came to the floor Aramil once again raised his gun at the door. When it opened nothing was there but the other elevators on the other side. He exited and went down the hall finding a supply room. He quickly went inside checking for any zombies inside. None, Good he thought to himself and began searching through the already scewered supplys. Finding surgical tools and some disolving stiches he shoved them in his vest pockets and grabbed the last few bandages. He then exited the small supply room and entered a nearby patient room. It was empy but it had a hospital bed and a large window that when you looked out it could see the parking garage across the way.

Aramil grabbed a nearby shelf and shoved it against the door to keep the zombies out while he worked. He grabbed the rolling table and went to the bed taking his helmet off. He went to work and stiched up his arm. When he was done he felt the effects of the blood loss really taking effect so he layed in the bed pistol in his hands and layed on his lap he let the sleep and exhaustion take over him. It could have been that or that it was a real bed he was sleeping in after all this time. His dreams took him to his wife of course and his son but this time it was not of them in death it was of past memories of life and laughter.

[Abby Kramer]

[/center][/i]

The spill landed her face down in the muddy over growth in the middle of the forest, but did she stop? Only when something pulled her back while trying to jump up from her hands and knees position. The ripping pain in the side, her own wild eyes turned back to see what was this blinding pain, and that was when she had seen the broken, risen root, sticking into her side. She cried out as she watched her own blood stain the dark wood. She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut as she pushed her body off this earth made spear. She did cry as she pried her body off this point, and sat back and held her puncture wound as the blood seeped through.

That was when she removed her jacket that had been protecting her arms from those hungry cannibalistic creatures. She tied it tight around her abdomen. But that wasn't tight enough. This thin white haired woman didn't have enough strength to tie something tight enough to apply the right amount of pressure, and this former student of Portland State was smart enough to know that she needed to get to a hospital and treat this wound. Even if it meant running into one of those hordes that were still in the city. It was either that or bleed out. There was no help to call. She had to take care of herself.

So clinging to her side Abby had made her way back, it had not been easy, and she had to put pain out of her mind for some of the journey but when she walked up to the hospital she thought she was seeing white. Was she going to die when she opened those doors? Would they even open, or would their be a welcome party of infected doctors to help consume her and quicken this death.

The door was propped open. Wasn't a surprise. No one took time to lock up when fleeing for their lives. She held herself up on the door for a moment as she took a breather. The hospital smelled like death. Rotten corpses too badly mauled to rise, and then there was the unmistakable smell of a walking corpse. She would have thrown up if she had anything in her. She balanced herself on the wall, she shuffled her way down the hall, it was dark. She stubbed her foot on something soft that gave way easily. Her stomach churned but she couldn't allow herself to look down and see the once white coat dyed red.

Her right hand was on her wound, she was dizzy, dizzier than she had been when she was out there, the smell and the knowledge of what was in here was probably telling her body to give up and join the dead. Abby scolded herself, she couldn't afford to think that way, she stood all her weight balanced on both legs, a mistake the pain on the right side of her abdomen nearly forced her to collapse. She caught her balance once more and leaned against the wall. Chest heaving from the blinding pain that took over with pressure, she took the break to tighten her jacket around her waste, the last thing she needed was their blood mixing with her own.

Give it another go, she told herself. She pushed herself off and within a few strides was back to her walking, she cringed with the pain, but tightened before each step. Then she heard something, but couldn't afford to stop, if she had stopped to listen who knew how long it would take for her to get back into this rhythm. Unfortunately she was not as fast in this state as she was prior to her nasty spill, and before she knew it cold strong hands were upon her shoulders, the grip was nearly crippling, but clumsy.

She cringed away, and was able to escape the lack of coordination, she tried to run, but did trip upon another mauled corpse. She kept her mouth closed as she landed, didn't want to bite her tongue.... or have anything splash up. She quickly turned around on her back to face the oncoming attacker. She heard his snarls, and groans. Too primitive to be anything close to human, even though it pained her she curled her legs up to her stomach ready buck this creature the second it got close enough.

Abby wasn't quick enough and this creature took the same steps she had and was landing on top of her before she could thrust her legs in defense. She screamed as it landed, snarling above her. She had learned already that screaming never got her any where, but she still did it. She tried to push this snarling man's face away, with out getting any where near his mouth, so her short dirty fingernails found his eyes, and she herself cringed and screamed some more as she tried to keep him at bay.


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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

He had the story of whiskey on his breath and death in his eyes.
You never heard him say a word, but the pistol shot straight through the lies.
Looking for the new world going from dead town to town.
but his compass is cracked and north is six feet underground.

It was peaceful to Aramil just to sleep there, no moans of the dead or that he noticed. His dreams took him over first his son took his dreams, at the age of one he could barely talk but those blue eyes ever stared at him letting him know how much his son really loved him for bringing him into the world. Soon his wife entered his dreams. She was alive this time and reaching from him with his son in her hands. Aramil reached out to touch her hand but she pulled hers back and whispered "Not yet my love, Not yet." Then he awoke to the scream of the woman that was really close. He heard the moans of the dead outside the door and the stench was overbearing once more.

Aramil checked his gun and noticed he only had two shots left in his clip and a spare left on his belt. He went to the door quickly and threw off the shelf he had propped the door with and flung it open looking to the left and right quickly. To his left was two zombies down the hall headed towards the woman that was screaming on the ground tackled by a zombie. He aimed down the hall to his left and fired two shots. Both shots hitting each zombie square in the forehead. No blood was sprayed as the gun was silenced and a small caliber to do a whole lot of damage like that. He holstered his pistol and grabbed his combat knife quickly from his quick holster on his vest. He then grabbed the zombie by the back of its shirt and threw it against the wall like it was a rag doll. He took the knife and thrusted it through the zombies head so far the knife stuck to the wall pining it there.

He knelt down next to the girl that was laying there seeing she was holding her side trying to keep he blood in but it was doing very little. He still had a ton of supplies in the room next to them. They needed to get there fast before more zombies came around the corner and discovered them. Held out a hand for her to help herself up on and then told her. "Come I have supplies to get that closed up, we need to hurry into the room before more undead come." Aramil spoke plainly.

When they would get into the room, Aramil barricaded the door again with the shelf and went to the table with the other bandages along with the remaining stitches he had left. He motioned for her to come over to him so he could get her wound fixed up and cleaned. "Promise, ive done this before. I just did my arm here." Aramil motioned with his shoulder that had the white bandage over it now stopping the bleeding finally.

[Abby Kramer]

[/i] Well that didn't seem to be the case any more. Her thin arms were growing weak from holding off the body and tears began to well as she knew this would probably be the end. She never had a sibling to fight off, she had never even hit anything in an aggressive manner so how the hell was she going to keep this thing from killing her? She wasn't going to, she wasn't cut out for this world and her time here was about to end. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as she kept the pressure on the snarling infected being above her. He was clawing something fierce at her and she was sure he was going to scrape her when she heard a faint noise that made her flinch. She knew the noise of a gun. Even a silenced one.

The clawing stopped but she kept her lips sealed tight and eye closed even tighter. She knew what happened when their fluids got into one's own. The lack of aggressive movement above her did not convince her enough to take a peak. it got me, not I'm probably dying, at least their is enough mercy in the universe to prevent me from feeling the rest of the mauling... But that was when the weight was completely taken off her, and she allowed her arms to collapse at her side, she quickly sat up and her eyes were wide as a young doe. She took in the shape of a man before her.

He was kneeling beside her, she scooted back fearing that it was only another one coming to finish what the other hadn't. She rose a hand protectively over her wound. Then he spoke and her world began to tilt. Another living human? The last two she'd run into hadn't left her in very good shape. One nearly shooting her before they had even properly introduced themselves to each other. Then Jake, the British boy from the forest. He'd left her when she fell. He didn't know, she told herself. But did he even look?

Her eyes took in the shape of the man, but it was hard to see detailed features in the shadows of the dark. He was in the hospital, was he a doctor? She hoped so- but that was an insane wish. She tried to stand but her sneakers slipped on the slick floors, it took an ungraceful moment but she was able to stand. The pain was a bit much, and blinded her as she ground her teeth to prevent further screaming. She'd done enough of that, "Are you a doctor?" she asked in between a whimper of pain as she hobbled after him. She wasn't sure if he could hear her or not.

He led her to a room and he quickly began to barricade the door as they entered. She hoped he wasn't a crazy person. That would be just her luck and just the way to go. She held her side as he crossed the room when he deemed the security precaution enough. He went to a shelf where she hoped supplies would be held. When he motioned her over she silently obeyed. Crossing the room in a fair amount of time for someone in a crippled situation. He motioned to his shoulder and mentioned he had done this before. Her body stiffened. She knew what her wound was from... but what was his.... "Were you bitten?" her voice no more than a whisper and her eyes wider then before, as she gazed to his face to determine how she would handle being barricaded in a room who may just be turning into one of them.

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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

When Aramil and the new woman were in the room he finally answered her question of him being a doctor. Now that they were in a room that was light with a little light from the lamp next to the bed he showed her the writing on the back of his Kevlar vest. It read SWAT in bright white letters against the navy blue vest. It should have been obvious with his tactical gear that he was no doctor but it looked like she was losing a lot of blood just from the look of her and the blood pooling in her hands and on the floor.

"No, I am no Doctor. Name is Sgt. Aramil Cassidy I was with the Portland Police SWAT force before the whole world went to shit. My team was killed in this shit storm of a world now I'm all that's left or so I thought. Its good to see I'm not the only one left in this hell." He watched her motion to his arm asking if he was bitten. He smiled and pulled down his balaclava from his face revealing his face to her and took off his helmet placing it on the bed in front of him. "No I was not Bitten, I gashed my arm on a broken car door window scavenging it for supplies. So I came here to get it stitched up before I bled out, Speaking of that we need to get you fixed up before you bleed out yourself."

Aramil motioned for her to get on the bed and relax, he handed her a couple pain killers for the pain and began to work on her wound quickly. After stitching her up as best he could not saying a word to her while he did his work. He finally got up and washed the blood off his hands after re bandaging her wound with a clean bandage. Aramil only grabbed a few of them so there was only one clean one left for her if she needed to change the one he just put on. She needed to rest and he knew that she wouldn't be able to walk for a day or so without being in pain. He needed to go back to that closet to get more supplies.

"We need to get more supplies for your wound and more pain killers, we cant keep that wound clean without more bandages. There is a room down the hall where i got all these in the first place from. There is more there and in the morning ill get some more for you. But right now you need rest, Im not expert but you got impaled by something pretty bad. Your lucky it didn't hit a organ or major vein. What happened to you? If you don't mind me asking you that." Aramil waited for a response as he dried his hands after washing the blood off of them.

The girl really was lucky and for the first time Aramil actually looked at the woman's face. She was in her early twenty's as far as Aramil could tell, the white hair threw him off a little but she was barely a kid in a hell of a world that was now today's daily activities. What a place to grow old in now, that thought never crossed his mind once since the attacks. He always thought he would die before he grew old in this world. The day he became slow would be the day he died. But that mattered not to Aramil he had his family waiting for him. He didn't believe in god or anything like that never had and never would start. But he did believe in the end there was a place where you would see all those you lost again. He just hoped it was better then the way the world turned out today.

[Abby Kramer]

[/i] the end. So what? She'd been running long enough and was tired of it. She may be scared when the moment comes and Death reaches out to her, but for now. She was alright if he was lingering near by.

She nodded and followed his motions to the hospital bed, she staggered over there, not in very good control of her motor skills, she grabbed the iron bar with both hands and pulled herself up. Being stabbed by a risen tree root was quite an inconvenience. She managed to pull herself up and onto the clean sheet cover, and turn herself to face back to Sgt. Aramil Cassidy. There was blood on the metal bars around the bed, she tried to wipe her hands clean on the thighs of her jeans.

She took the pain killers willingly. Swallowing them down her dry throat. The small light from the lamp cast shadows all around her, wide eyes took in her surroundings, but focused back on this man as soon as he got to work. She gritted her teeth as her blood soaked shirt was pulled from the wound to reveal noting but the source of pain it's self. She tried to hold back tears and sobs, she wondered if it would scab, and how she was going to avoid scratching it... that is if she lived.

She relaxed even more when the man was finished. He walked away to wash his hands and look in the cabinets, she looked at the white wrapping and never expected to see herself in one. God, she was skinny. These last three weeks alone nearly killed her with the lack of food.

"I fell down a hill, I was being chased, I tried to tuck and roll, but it didn't work the whole way down. When I finally stopped, I had landed on a risen root." she touched the clean bandage with her hand, and rubbed, feeling the texture of it, "It pierced me right through." she sighed and looked back to him, knowing the part about her having to climb off it was gruesome and some what obvious, so she decided to omit that fact.

"You haven't seen anyone else?" she asked, referring to his previous statement. "Maybe that's lucky, the only other person I have ran into was crazy, nearly shot me- twice!" She would have put more emphasis on the twice part but the pain killers were kicking in and she wanted to let them take care of things with out having to put too much stress on her abdominal.

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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

To Aramil it was easy being shot at but clearly she was not used to it as much as he was. Even in this day and age it was good to know not all of humanity had gone to shit in what was now earth. He smiled to her and picked up his helmet from the bedside next to her. He placed it on the ground in front of the cabinets along with his rifle and sat down next to it.

"your lucky your alive if that tree was a couple mm to the left or right no one could have saved you from bleeding out, but it's good to see another human not trying to eat me for lunch who can actually converse instead of grunt and moan all the time." Aramil said

It has been ages since he actually had a conversation with a real person other then himself. Especially one as pretty as her, No, not a time like this to start thinking about that. Don't need to make the wrong impression plus he just saved her life. She needed to rest and in the morning they would figure out how to get out of this place. If they were to survive.

Aramil grabbed his pistol and ejected the mag, noting there was no bullets left in the mag. He put the empty mag in his vest pocket next to the other empty mag and a full one. He grabbed the full one and put it in his pistol pulling back the recover loading the gun. He then placed it back in its holster. He had a handful of bullets for his rifle and a clip left for his pistol. Not enough ammo to survive much longer.

He then looked up to the girl, realizing she still hadn't told him her name. "what's your name miss? I'm srgt. Aramil Marcus Cassidy with the Portland police force. You from around here in Portland?" he asked

After she answered the questions or didn't Aramil would tell her. "get some rest we can converse more tomorrow and figure out a way back out of this place then. But for now your in no condition to do anything. I'll be on watch" Aramil would tell her and rested his head but not closing his eyes. He was a light sleeper since the days of having to sleep with one eye open to stay alive. There had been many nights Aramil didn't sleep because of it but he was used to it now. Being a SWAT srgt. He had shifts of 48hrs before dealing with three crises in one day. This was cake walk compared to that, but that didn't mean Aramil wasn't scared to fully sleep waking up to being eaten alive. Not exactly the way he wanted to go.

[Abby Kramer]

[/color] Abby said as he smiled towards her and placed his helmet next to some cabinets. Abby watched him refill his gun. She wondered how many bullets he had left, and if that was enough to get out of this infested location. She heard some unintentional pounding on the other side of the door, and she shivered. Perfect timing.

She imagined the walking corpses bumping around out there. No fresh meat under there noses... or maybe they just didn't know it yet. Abby wondered if she was going to die, and if so would this Srgt leave her to be eaten, or would he lock the door on his way out? She hoped for the latter. But had to shake these thoughts out of her head. Death was all around them, but it hadn't reached out to grab her yet- if it had, then she would have never found Aramil.

"My name is Abby," she said softly. "I was going to school at the University, but I am from New York, Aurora." she always mentioned the town after New York, she wasn't a city girl. But no one usually ever knew what Aurora was, sometimes they inquired other times they didn't. She wondered when she died if anyone would know what Aurora, New York was.

She decided she wanted to make sure at least one person knew before she did, "It's a real small town, not much more than 900 people." There was a silence right after this statement, something along that silent commentary of, not anymore, huh. and Abby itched to fill it, "and yourself?" She assumed he was seeing how he had obtained such a high sounding title with the SWAT force, but it was pleasent conversation that she didn't know she had missed so much.

Abby rubbed the cleaned banage again the rough hospital linen was something she had never experienced before. She swung her legs a little as she sat over the bed. She was begginning to get a bit more drowsy, she resisted the serene feeling of sillness that was settling in. She tried to take short breaths, not the long ones used for sending one into deeper stages of sleep. This was a decent human in this room! Something she hadn't found in quite some time. What if this was all a hallucination when she woke up he was gone and she was bleeding out on a table she managed to crawl up onto. She looked at him a while more, trying to mentally pinch herself to convince the quick change of dynamics in her life on the run was real.


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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

Aramil watched her try and get up on the bed. He rose from his seat on the floor helping her a little. "You should be resting not sitting up like this. I don't plan on going anywhere until your able to walk on your own." He then went back to the cabinets and leaned on them while facing Abby.

"I was born in Eugene not far from here, only lived there for a year or so when my family moved here to Portland. They split and i bounced from mom's house to fathers house back and forth. When I was of age I joined up with the army and when I got out joined the police force eventually getting onto SWAT. After a few years on SWAT they made me Sgt. and SWAT commander. Then the infection hit the world and being a police officer is a joke now." Aramil told her.

He then looked at her and smiled, "Your a very long ways from home, did you have family back there still? is that where you were going?" Aramil asked her softly keeping a close eye on her and her wound. After all he did just do a operation on her and gave her some painkillers. Normally most people are not awake right now and sleeping soundly. This girl was tough for her age, he would give her that. She was pretty for her age too, reminded him of one of his partners daughter that was just turning eighteen.

They were so young and to see most of them have their lives cut short. Aramil hated thinking about it but it was the way the world was now. No matter how many infected he killed and days he survived there was no end to them. Eventually the resources to survive will become extinct and the human race will die out. Some days he wondered if this was gods way of starting the human race over. That it was apart of some cycle that god planned when the human race destroyed the earth to much. Aramil never believed in god or religion only what he could see and touch. nothing more nothing less but he still couldn't help but wounder why all this happened and if the world would ever go back to being 'normal'.

He shook his head and laughed "I sure do miss the days of humans killing humans. Not this hell hole we are in now, still just seems unreal." He confessed. It was true, he did miss the old days of people killing people. At least then he could go home to his wife and child at the end of the day, sleep in a warm bed and have a warm body next to him that loved him. Even in the middle of the night his son crying waking him up at 2am. He missed that the most out of all the things in the world. He missed his sons cry's in the night. "But enough with the introductions, you need to get some rest and so do I, we can talk more later and figure out how the hell we get out of here safely." Aramil said to her walking over to her.

He placed a hand on her shoulders and nudged softly for her to lay back down. He then went back to his cabinet and sat down on the floor leaning his back against the cabinet doors. He layed his pistol on his knee with his hand on it and closed his eyes. But before he did, he told her "I'm glad to have found someone left alive, place was getting lonely." Then layed his head back and fell asleep.

[Abby Kramer]

[/color] she responded. Her eyes welled with tears, and her nose stung. Not now she told herself. She'd been so strong, only breaking down every once in a while, but not here, not now, and not in front of a new potential alley, who she was sure wasn't looking to tag along baggage. She had to prove she wasn't weak, and would be an asset, eventually.

"I was heading that way," she nodded. But everything seemed to always be bringing her back to the city. Back to where all these problems started, what was the farthest she had made? Maybe to Bend? Then had to turn back because she got so lost. This wasn't her home, but every time she stepped into Portland's city limits she was thrown quite the welcome home party- hosted by the infected.

She was on the verge of asking him about his family, but then he spoke again, she allowed the reflection to take place, it was an important part of coping. She was sure- if she lived, they would talk more in the morning. She would know him soon enough, again, if the length of their lives permitted. He came over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, she lay back willingly. It was strange to lay flat on a hospital bed. Not curled up shivering under some brush, hoping not a single soul, living or dead, would stumble upon her hiding spot."Me too," she whispered as she closed her own eyes, and let the still darkness come in and shut her down.


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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

Aramil smiled as she said me too, he rested his eyes and fell asleep fairly quickly for being afraid of never waking up or a zombie tearing out his throat as he wakes up. His dreams though didn't let him sleep much. He had nightmares of his wife and child still to this day never letting him forget about them not that he would ever forget them in his lifetime however short it was.

Aramil awoke some hours later looking at his watch he had only slept for three hours. It was 3am now not even close to being light out yet. A few more hours and they would have light to move and get out of this place. First Aramil needed to get Abby some more medical supplies. She would need them to keep her wound clean and free of infection. Or she may end up with blood infection that she could die from it. What a way to go, undead roaming about and she dies from a infection of her own blood. Better that though then the alternative in Aramil's opinion.

Aramil tried to rest more but ended up just closing his eyes for abiut a hour unable to fall back asleep. So he quietly got up careful not to wake his new partner. She looked pretty pale still but seemed to be feeling better from what he could see. Food was his next priority for him and her. Aramil left his rifle on the ground and grabbed his duffle bag that had the remaining medical supplies. He dumped them onto the counter and threw the bag over his shoulder. Grabbing his helmet he pulled his balaclava over his chin and nose then put his helmet back on. Quietly he moved the cabinet from the door and slipped out. No zombies in the hallway good, he quickly ahut the door and went straight down the hall to the store room.

When inside Aramil took more time to look around. He grabbed more bandages and stitches incase either of them broke one. He grabbed more antibiotics and cleaning pads. He even found some food left in back corner. Opening it he found it was all still good, no mold or insects eating it. Grabbing it and shoving as much as he could in the bag Aramil returned to the hallway.There was no one in the hallway still which was a little eerie. But it was fine for now as Aramil slipped back into the room and put the cabinet back without a sound. He dumped everything out on the counter and took inventory on what they had and how far they could get with the small amount of food he had just found.

[Abby Kramer]

[/i]. She rested her again on the flat standard issued pillow. It wasn't a dream, and the man was still there. The man who knew how to survive.

How long had she been out? How long would this room remain safe? So many questions floated through her head and she guessed the best way to find the answers was to try to sit up and ask them. She took it slowly this time, easing herself into the ripping pain. It wasn't so bad when it dulled, she could do this. "How long have I been out?" she asked as she rested a hand on the bandage, now Abby had never really seen blood before all his started and she remembered how much she had bled last night- before Aramil had fixed her up. But her hand rested on something that she could only relate to a wash cloth that was just lightly wrung out after scrubbing a pan. She looked down at her own hand in the dark

The blood would be something she would never get used to, she looked back over to the man, her brows close together and her mouth slightly open with shock and awe, "Aramil?" she asked softly, and then looked back down to the darkened bandage.

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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

Aramil had finally sorted the supplies, it was much maybe enough to last a week. She would need more then a weeks worth of bandages if she was to keep the wound clean but for now it would have to do. As he finished sorting the supplies he heard a yelp behind him. It was faint and small but he knew at that moment she woke up. He pretended he didn't hear her hoping she would sleep longer then a few hours. She needed her rest even as strong as she was a wound like that would kill just about anyone. She was lucky to say the least, or was it fate that brought them together? Aramil didn't know but now was not the time to have a philosophical debate on it.

When the question came he took a breath and she called his name. He smiled, took his helmet off and pulled down his balaclava turning around. "im here," he said "you were only out for a couple hours. Here take this" handing her some low key meds, ones to take away the pain but not knock her on her ass.

"while you were asleep I managed to get some food and medical supplies but it's only enough to last a week, and I don't know about you but I've been in this hospital for to long to feel safe. We could always grab a car and head to new York? See if your family is still alive maybe find a place out there to hold up and secure." Aramil explained.

He grabbed a clean bandage and had her lie back down and lift her shirt slightly so he could change the bandage to a clean one. It was a simple process and one she would need to keep up so she didn't die from infection. After noticing she was staring at the bloody cloth he used to help clear the blood he grabbed it as he got up from cleaning her bandage and tossed it in the semi full garbage. It was a simple thing to throw it away, this hell hole throwing things away counted for nothing. No one to appreciate it or anyone going to be using this place anytime soon. But it was habbit for Aramil one that he would most likely never break.

"That's my suggestion, what do you think we should do? Partner" Aramil asked. Giving the word partner some extra umph trying to get her to understand they were in this together now and he had her back as he hoped she had his.

[Abby Kramer]

[/i] the words were hard to understand, she'd been along for so long, how was it now she had someone to look after her while she could. He smiled, it wasn't too bright, but she could still make out his reassuring smile. He came to her then and she felt like a small child who was about to have a band aid placed on her skinned knee. She'd never felt like more of a child since this whole catastrophe happened, even if she had never acted more like an adult. Only a couple of hours? She accepted the medication without question. She swallowed it dry, finding that it was less painful than when she had initially awaken.

Food and supplies? She looked back over to the counter. He had left the room, she looked back to him and inspected for any new wounds, "Are they still out there?" she asked, dropping her voice to a whisper. Her eyes widened in the direction where they were previously bumping into it in that way they did that chilled her to the bones. She looked back to him, big brown eyes wide with fear and confusion. She nodded as he explained the plan. It seemed so perfect, but was it one of those "now you're going to see a white light, and I want you to walk to it," kind of things? She wasn't sure, she didn't feel like she was dying, but what did she know about death aside from the fact that she may not stay that way for long. She laid back down willingly. Aramil knew what he was doing, she would have to follow his lead if she wanted to live. That was clear from the beginning.

He cleaned her up and she was fresh and white again. No need to get squeamish about blood that was no longer there. She had to compose herself and keep her cool. She nodded as he ran the plan by her again. Partner? That made her smile, she nodded again to reassure him she like that idea. But with all this talk about her family, she didn't ask about his. She danced with the idea of inquiring, but what if it was a sensitive subject that could set his focus off.

"When are we leaving?" she whispered again, feeling the dulling pain lessen and wondered what kind of medication she had been taking all this while. She'd never taken anything stronger than aspirin, and never felt effects work quite this quick. She was nervous about leaving this room which she had recently associated with being safe, after all she was still alive after being asleep for a few hours, but she was sure Aramil had a plan and she was going to follow it to the best of her abilities.



word count: 490

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[Sgt. Aramil Cassidy]

Aramil laughed a little as she asked him if they were still out there, but as he saw the fear in her eyes the genuine fear for ones life. He knew the look well. Not long ago he had that fear in his eyes and watched as his family had the same fear. It had been awhile since had seen it and it broke him down a little each time he saw that look on someone's face.

"for right now no, but once we leave this room they will be everywhere. Stay with me and do as i say i promise you will survive as long as i breathe." Aramil stated making a small oath to her to comfort her a little that she would be watched over as long as he was with her. It was good to see not everyone was heartless like he had turned out to be. This world had turned into a cruel lawless earth with no mercy to those that were able to survive turning them into killers and survivalists for no one but themselves.

She asked when they were leaving, she really was strong despite the fact that she was half scared, half starved girl in this hell. He smiled to her again glad she was eager to get going but he wouldn't let her move u till she was ready to do so. "once you feel that you can move, we will go but until then we will stay here in this room until your able to move about. Ill keep looking for supplies when i can to stock us up. Take it slow, there is no rush anymore in life anymore take sometime to rest if you need it." Aramil explained

He needed her as much as she needed him now, he gave her his word she would live and Aramil always kept his promise when he gave them. He didn't give them often but when he did he meant what he said. This girl was his chance at hope for the world. She wasn't corrupted by its cruel harsh teachings that you had to learn to make it in thus world. The world had hope again that it could feel and have emotions. To be something more then just thinking for one self again just to survive to have a human bond and leave no one behind.

Picking up his helmet he glanced it over, it was scratched and beat up from the use of it over the course of the breakout. Its not like he could just walk into a store and replace it anymore. He thought of his family and he knew he was doing the right thing by them. To live and keep hope that some day this would end but that hope for Aramil faded long ago. He didn't think there was any hope for the human race to survive but he was a soldier, and a cop, he would fight to the very end of his days for the human race.